and
comforts to assist his family, even in their greatest need.

[340-14] This probably alludes to some temporary affliction, for Charles
Lamb was not lame.

[340-15] John Lamb died just before this essay was written.

[342-16] It is not known positively whether Alice Warren was a real or
an imaginary character.

[342-17] _Lethe_ was among the ancient Greeks the name given to the
river of oblivion, of whose waters spirits drank to gain forgetfulness.

[342-18] Bridget Elia is his sister, Mary Lamb.

READING SHAKESPEARE

The greatest author the world has known is William Shakespeare, and his
writings will afford more pleasure, instruction and information than
those of any other author. They may be read again and again, for so
charged are they with living knowledge and so full of literary charm,
that no one can exhaust them in a single reading. Not every reader of
Shakespeare loves him, but that is because not every reader appreciates
him. He wrote in the English of his times, and used many words and
expressions that have since dropped out of the language, changed their
meaning, or become unfamiliar in common speech. Then again, his
knowledge of life is so profound and his insight into human nature so
keen and penetrating, that the casual reader is liable not to follow his
thought. In other words, Shakespeare must be studied to be appreciated;
but if he is studied and appreciated, he gives a pleasure and exerts an
influence that cannot be equaled.

[Illustration: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 1564-1616]

Young people are liable to think that study is laborious and
uninteresting, a nuisance and a bore. Nothing of that sort is true of
the study of Shakespeare, because for every effort there is a present
reward, there is no waiting to see results. Of course there are right
ways and wrong ways to study, just as there are right ways and wrong
ways of doing anything. Sometimes teachers fail entirely to interest
their classes in Shakespeare, and parents say they cannot make their
children like Shakespeare. None of this is the fault of the poet or of
the children; the fault lies in the methods used to create an interest.
If a person begins properly and proceeds as he should, there will never
be a lack of interest. Teachers are not needed, and parents may leave
their children to learn to be happy in reading by themselves, if the
books are prepared properly for them.

In the first place, one of the wonders of Shakespeare