Macaulay, Catharine (1731-1791) to Revd [John Collett] Ryland
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC01794.21 Author/Creator: Macaulay, Catharine (1731-1791) Place Written: London Type: Autograph letter signed Date: August 1773 Pagination: 3p. : docket ; 34 x 21.5 cm. Order a Copy
She states her opinion on the state of the country and the proper candidate for Parliament. She highlights the need for piety, virtue, sobriety, and modesty. The lack of values and courage have led to "the eve of a National Bankruptcy." The proper leader must be devoted to the public and have a good understanding, not coveting a Parliamentary seat but must sacrifice for the principle of justice, with charity and love of God and country.
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After the death of her husband George Macaulay in 1766, Catharine Macaulay married an Anglican minister William Graham. Letters from her female descendents are in GLC 1795. Notable in that collection are letters of her daughter, Catharine Sophia Macaulay [Gregorie], to Macaulay while the latter toured America and France. This collection of Lady Catharine's correspondence was broken-up for public sale in 1993. The Gilder Lehrman Collection has also acquired other letters written to her, including GLC 1784.01-1800.04. There are approximately 190 items between these accession numbers. GLC 1784-1793 and 1796-1800 are individual documents written by important American figures including John Adams, Ezra Stiles, John Dickinson, William Cooper, Richard Henry Lee, Mercy Otis Warren and the pseudonymous "Sophronia." Most of the documents relate to the events leading the Revolution. A few, notably the letters from Mercy Otis Warren and "Sophronia" concern the new Constitution and the French Revolution.
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