Napier, the editor of the Edinburgh Review, dated April 18, 1842, given in full in Trevelyan, but too long to be quoted here. His reading was so wide, and his memory so retentive, that his phraseology frequently came to him in the choicest coinage of older literature, either in the form of direct quotation, or of that vague, indirect reference which may be characterized by such a word as echo, reflection, or allusion. Instances of this, from Shakespeare, from Milton, and from the Bible, may be found in the Notes at the end of the volume. Moreover, he does not hesitate to repeat a phraseology that he has found serviceable. Some instances of this, also, will be found in the Notes. Nor does he hesitate to use over and over a character of history or of fiction. Thus, of the characters used in Clive, his Essay on Hallam's Constitutional History uses Marlborough, Captain Bobadil, and Machiavelli; his Essay on History, Voltaire, Lucullus, Ugolino, Sir Matthew Mite, and Machiavelli; his Essay on Byron, Monsieur Jourdain, Turgot, Cowper, and Voltaire. References to theophilanthropy occur in many of his papers. He loves the definite, the positive, the concrete. Thus, instead of "to a very advanced age," he says "a hundred years," p. 78, 1. 14; so "half an hour," p. 136, 1. 4: instead of "his sustenance," he says "his rice and salt," p. 78, 1. 14; so "to lay by a rupee," p. 109, 1. 16 His sentences, as a rule, are neither long nor short;` and are seldom involved with relatives, participles, or other words whose connection may be mistaken. When, however, he writes a long sentence, its construction is usually symmetrical and easily grasped. Instances of this may be found in the sentences beginning p. 1, 1. 12, and p. 144, 1. 12. So, too, when he has a number of more or less closely related thoughts to express, he well knows how to make each one stand out clearly and distinctly by crystallizing it into one single short sentence. Instances of this may be found in passages beginning p. 9, 1. 17; p. 64, 1. 3; p. 91, l. 7. In his descriptive passages he understands how to bring a scene before the mental eye of the reader by` selecting the important details, and piling them up, one upon another, until the whole stands out in boldness and fulness of relief. His usual process is to suggest, sometimes in a single word, the idea to be conveyed, and then to enlarge upon it by addition after addition. Examples may be found in passages beginning p. 17, 1. 10; p. 18, 1. 12; p. 22, 1. 14; p. 48, 1. 23; p. 51, 1. 22. Sometimes, after a list of particulars of this sort, he sums them all up in a single word or phrase used as the grammatical representative of the whole. Thus he uses this, p. 25, 1. 10; such, p. 104, 1. 16; these, p. 121, 1. 12; and all, p. 140, 1. 21. In his narrative passages he realizes that he is deal ing, not with coexistent details, as in description, but with a succession of events. Usually, therefore, he carefully avoids all digression, and refrains from dwelling long upon any one detail, unless it is one of great importance; and confines himself closely to those matters that are essential to bring out the main line of progression of affairs. Examples of his narrative style may be found in the paragraphs beginning p. 32, 1. 17; p. 34, 1. 19; and (three paragraphs) p. 53, 1. 14. In argumentation and discussion, he follows a process similar to that used in narration. Passages of this kind begin p. 60, 1. 10; p. 75, 1. 22; and (two paragraphs) p. 80, 1. 22. A feature of Macaulay's style that gives to it much of its vividness and force is his free use of comparison. He loves to give an idea of the unknown by comparing it with the known. To say that a territory is "large and populous," even that it is "very large and very populous," gives but an indefinite idea of it; but to say that it is "larger and more populous than Great Britain" (p. 72, 1. 8) gives an idea much more definite. Some of his multitude of comparisons are very short, as, p. 20, 1. 6; p. 49, 1. 25; p. 58, 1. 1; p. 98, 1. 10: some are longer, or are composed of several subordinate comparisons, as, p. 2, 1. 13; p. 15, 1. 4 and one great comparison of the early history of France with that of India begins p. 17, 1. 1, and runs through four paragraphs. In a somewhat similar way he loves to intensify an idea by contrasting it with another. See his contrast between the Mexicans and the East Indians in the first paragraph, where his object is to glorify the deeds of his countrymen in India. He glorifies them again, and in a somewhat similar manner, in three paragraphs (p. 25, 1.24) by painting in glowing colors the power of the French which the English overcame. MACAULAY'S WORKS (1) Poetry Epitaph on Henry Martin, 1812. Lines to the Memory of William Pitt, 1813. Pompeii: Prize poem winning the Chancellor's medal, Cambridge, 1819. A Radical War Song, 1820. Evening Prize poem winning the Chancellor's medal, Cambridge, 1821. Ivry, 1824. The Battle of Moncontour, 1824. The Battle of Naseby, 1824. The Cavalier's March to London, 1824. (The last two are known as "Songs of the Civil War.") Sermon in a Churchyard, 1825. Translation from A. V. Arnault, 1826. Dies Iræ, 1826. The Marriage of Tirzah and Ahirad, 1827. The Country Clergyman's Trip to Cambridge, 1827. Song: "Oh, stay, Madonna ! stay!" 1827. The Deliverance of Vienna (translated from Filicaja), 1828. The Armada, 1832. Inscription on the Statue of Lord William Bentinck, at Calcutta, 1835. Epitaph on Sir Benjamin Heath Malkin, 1837. (The last two are always classed with his poems, but they are not poetic in form.) The Last Buccaneer, 1839. Horatius. The Battle of Lake Regillus. Virginia. The Prophecy of Capys. (The last four are known as "The Lays of Ancient Rome." They were published in 1842.) Epitaph on a Jacobite, 1845. Lines Written on the Night of the Thirtieth of July, 1847. Paraphrase of a Passage in the Chronicle of the Monk of St. (2) Prose Papers Published in Knight's "Quarterly Magazine" Fragments of a Roman Tale, June, 1823. On the Royal Society of Literature, June, 1823. Slavery in the West Indies, June, 1823. |