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PREFACE
xi

old, of either sex, of any country, or of any age, barring jealous contemporaries, who, being able to read Shakespeare, did not in the main like him? I do not. I say "in the main" advisedly; because what he or she does not like in Shakespeare is to him or her, but not to all, a sealed book.

In conclusion, I have to discharge the most pleasant duty of expressing my gratitude to the various scholars whose works or lectures or personal contact were of great help to me in attacking the original poems. I should mention in particular three famous scholars of Christ's College, Cambridge, the Rev. Prof. W. W. Skeat, Litt.D., Dr. I. Gollancz, Professor, King's College, London, and Mr. A. J. Wyatt, M.A., who all created in me a taste for the earlier part of English literature. I also sat for Old and Middle French at the feet of Mr E. G. W. Braunholtz, M.A., and Mr. W. Rippman M.A.; for Latin at the feet of Mr. E. J. Brooks, M.A., and Mr. S. Bloxsidge, B.A. (Oxon); and for Vedic Sanskrit at the feet of the late Prof. C. Bendall, M.A., and Dr. L. D. Barnett, Professor, University College, London. In my first studies of the French language I received the kind help of the Rev. J. W. Cartmell, M.А., Tutor of Christ's College, and of M. Vital de la Motte, M.A., of Christ's College. My passion for Scottish literature was early bred in me by five Professors, all Scotsmen, under whom I read at Calcutta; there also I learnt Old English from Mr. A. C. Edwards, M.A. and some classics, as well as most of the Eastern languages rendered in these pages. I was encouraged in my renderings of Greek and German by my friend Mr. E. J. Thomas, B.A., of Emmanuel College; and I received the judgment of Mr. J. H. Sleeman, M.A.,