" It is also
singularly true that, even in such a work as this, Shakspeare really
requires only brief notice at our hands, because he is so universally
known and read: his characters are among our familiar acquaintance; his
simple but thoughtful words are incorporated in our common conversation;
he is our every-day companion. To eulogize him to the reading public is
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To lend a perfume to the violet ...
The Bible and Shakspeare have been long conjoined as the two most
necessary books in a family library; and Mrs. Cowden Clarke, the author of
the Concordance to Shakspeare, has pointedly and truthfully said: "A poor
lad, possessing no other book, might on this single one make himself a
gentleman and a scholar: a poor girl, studying no other volume, might
become a lady in heart and soul."
MEAGRE EARLY HISTORY.--It is passing strange, considering the great value
of his writings, and his present fame, that of his personal history so
little is known. In the words of Steevens, one of his most successful
commentators: "All that is known, with any degree of certainty, concerning
Shakspeare, is--that he was born at Stratford upon Avon--married and had
children there--went to London, where he commenced actor, and wrote poems
and plays--returned to Stratford, made his will, died, and was buried.
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