ADVERTISEMENT. "LESSONS of a noble kind may be extracted from some works which promise nothing better than mere entertainment, and which will not, to ordinary readers, appear susceptible of any higher purpose. In the hands of a judicious preceptor, many of SHAKSPEARE's Tragedies, especially of his historical pieces, and still more such as are rendered peculiarly interesting by local circumstances, by British manners, and Royal characters who once filled the English throne, will furnish themes on which to ground much appropriate and instructive conversation. The remorse of the timorous Thane, the conflicting passions of the capricious Lear, the beautiful and touching reflections of Henry IV, the pathetic soliloquies of the repentant Wolsey,— these and a thousand other instances may, when properly selected, and judiciously animadverted upon, not only delight the imagination and gratify the feelings, but carry instruction to the heart." HANNAH MORE's Hints toward forming the character of a young Princess. CONTENTS. xili 51 67 79 Memoir of Shakspeare 99 133 161 197 219 247 283 MEMOIR OF SHAKSPEARE. Thus while I wond'ring pause o'er SHAKSPEARE's page, High o'er the wrecks of man, who stands sublime, Its cities humbled, and its glories past, WOLCOTT. SUMMARY CHARACTER OF SHAKSPEARE. “SHAKSPEARE was an eminent instance of the truth of FULLER. BRIEF MEMOIR OF Shakspeare and his Writings. Peerless Shakspeare brightly shone LADY MANNERS. It is almost incredible how little is known of The BRITISH BARD. "By a strange kind of fatality," says Miss Aikin in her interesting Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, "which excites at once our surprise and our unavailing regrets, the domestic and literary history of this GREAT LUMINARY of his age are almost equally enveloped in doubt and obscurity.” Tho account of his career, therefore, is dark and imperfect throughout the whole of its progress. Gleanings alone may be said to constitute his scanty biography. WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE was born April 23, 1564, at Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire. His father, a pious Catholic, was a respectable woolstapler, and a member of the Corporation; |