=26= 8. =Wilhelm Meister.= The hero of Goethe's novel of the same name. You may have read this passage on _Hamlet_ in Rolfe's edition (p. 14), quoted from Furness's _Hamlet_, Vol. II, pp. 272 ff. Sprague also quotes it in his edition, p. 13. =26= 26. =Ben.= The eighteenth-century Johnson has been followed by the nineteenth-century critics in putting a high estimate on the Jonson who wrote _Every Man in His Humor_. We are told that Shakspere took one of the parts in this play, acted in 1598. If you are not satisfied with the account in _The Century Dictionary_, or with any encyclopædia article, see _The English Poets_, edited by T. H. Ward, Vol. II (The Macmillan Company). =26= 33-34. =Æschylus, Euripides, Sophocles.= Three great contemporary Greek tragedians. =27= 3. =Fletcher.= Point out why an editor of Shakspere's plays should be familiar with the work of this group of Elizabethan dramatists. =27= 11. =Royal Academy.= "His Majesty having the preceding year [1768] instituted the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Johnson had won the honour of being appointed Professor in Ancient Literature."--Boswell. Goldsmith was Professor in Ancient History in the same institution, and Boswell was Secretary for Foreign Correspondence. Look in _The Century Dictionary_ under _academy_, the third meaning, and recall whatever you may have heard or read about the French Academy. =27= 12. =the King.= "His Majesty expressed a desire to have the literary biography of this country ably executed, and proposed to Dr. Johnson to undertake it."--Boswell. Read Boswell's account of the interview. In consulting the index look under _George III._ =27= 22. =colloquial talents.= Madame d'Arblay once said that Johnson had about him more "fun, and comical humour, and love of nonsense" than almost anybody else she ever saw. =28= 23. =Goldsmith.= Macaulay's article on Goldsmith in _The Encyclopædia Britannica_ is short, and so thoroughly readable that there is no excuse for not being familiar with it. Boswell is continually giving interesting glimpses of Dr. Oliver Goldsmith, and by taking advantage of the index in the _Life of Johnson_ one may in half an hour learn a great deal about this remarkable man. According to Boswell, "he had sagacity enough to cultivate assiduously the acquaintance of Johnson, and his faculties were gradually enlarged by the contemplation of such a model."