The Macaulay Nobody Reads: Second Thoughts and ‘Warren Hastings'

Abstract

Argues that overlooked differences between Macaulay’s writings on Indian education, specifically the 1840 essay “Lord Clive” and the 1841 essay “Warren Hastings,” may help explain Macaulay’s inability to finish his History of England. Notes that while the more familiar “Lord Clive” declares Clive’s offenses to have been redeemed by his reform of the civil service, “Warren Hastings” describes the later governorgeneral’s transgressions as having produced enduring stains on England’s record, tracing colonial misgovernment to past and present defects in domestic institutions and practices. Observes that Macaulay aligns himself with Hastings’ antagonist Burke, whom he praises for exercising imagination to grasp that injustice abroad is as disturbing as at home. The account of Hastings’ impeachment trial begins with celebration of English culture and institutions but proceeds to describe the audience as shallow, the Peers as biased, and the procedure as compromised, concluding that England still has no adequate means of dealing with great state crimes. Believes the fiasco of Hastings’ trial conflicts with the vision of England Macaulay wished his History to display.