SOURCE: “Mrs. Macaulay,” in The Fortnightly, No. 1022, February 1952, pp. 116-21.

In the following essay, Hobman argues that Macaulay was one of the most celebrated and influential women of the eighteenth century, as evidenced by the impression she left on men like Washington, Boswell, and Disraeli.

Boswell, in his recently published London Journal, relates the story of Mrs. Macaulay and Dr. Johnson which is also told in the Life. He quotes the doctor as saying: “Sir, there is one Mrs. Macaulay in this town, a great republican. I came to her one day and said I was quite a convert to her republican system, and thought mankind all upon a footing; and I begged that her footman might be allowed to dine with us. She has never liked me since. Sir, your levellers count down only the length of themselves. They would all have some people below them; why...