Analysis of the essay, Lord Bacon, by Lord Macaulay, with the purpose of revealing early Victorian values

Abstract

The essay Lord Bacon (1837) by Lord Macaulay, is an excellent source for ideas which Macaulay and early middle class Victorians considered important. The Victorian Age, also called the Age of Faith, the Age of Reform, and the Age of the Industrial Revolution, was similar to the Renaissance decades of England in being a time of great literature, world trade expansion, political change and social mobility. In Macaulay?s essay the Whig Liberal view of government is clearly defined: the mistrust of monarchy, the need for checks and balances in government, the importance of Parliament, the need for adherence to law, the value of middle class participation in business and government, and individual responsibility. The creed of Evangelicism, providing much of the framework of the essay, is apparent in the subjects discussed: the Reformation, Anti-Popery, the Bible, sermons, repentance, family influence, death, and most important, moral righteousness. The idea of progress, at its peak in the early nineteenth century, and the idea of utility which paralleled scientific development, are used by Macaulay to illustrate Bacon?s genius. Also discussed are modern language translations and their value in relation to the classics.