To write out their ideas in my own language I found
impossible. I have had the same result with Thucydides in trying to do
this with his description of the plague in Athens. Now, I reason from
this in the case of Shakespeare and Thucydides that their thought was so
concise they themselves got rid of all redundancies; hence to effect the
reproduction of their ideas in any but their own language is practically
impossible.

It is related of Macaulay somewhere in his "Life and Letters," that in a
moment of despair, when he instituted a comparison between his
manuscript and the work of Thucydides, he thought of throwing his into
the fire. I suspect that Macaulay had not the knack of discarding
material on which he had spent time and effort, seeing how easily such
events glowed under his graphic pen. This is one reason why he is prolix
in the last three volumes. The first two, which begin with the famous
introductory chapter and continue the story through the revolution of
1688 to the accession of William and Mary, seem to me models of
historical composition so far as arrangement, orderly method, and
liveliness of narration go. Another defect of Macaulay is that, while he
was an omnivorous reader and had a prodigious memory, he was not given
to long-continued and profound reflection. He read and rehearsed his
reading in memory, but he did not give himself to "deep, abstract
meditation" and did not surrender himself to "the fruitful leisures of
the spirit." Take this instance of Macaulay's account of a journey: "The
express train reached Hollyhead about 7 in the evening. I read between
London and Bangor the lives of the emperors from Maximin to Carinus,
inclusive, in the Augustine history, and was greatly amused and
interested." On board the steamer: "I put on my greatcoat and sat on
deck during the whole voyage. As I could not read, I used an excellent
substitute for reading. I went through 'Paradise Lost' in my head. I
could still repeat half of it, and that the best half. I really never
enjoyed it so much." In Dublin: "The rain was so heavy that I was forced
to come back in a covered car. While in this detestable vehicle I looked
rapidly through the correspondence between Pliny and Trajan and thought
that Trajan made a most creditable figure." It may be that Macaulay did
not always digest his knowledge well. Yet in reading his "Life and
Letters" you know that you are in company with a man who read many
books and you give fa