Page:On Shakespeare, or, What You Will, Furness, 1908.djvu/27

1908.] dear and revered Master, the late Professor Child, I am convinced that were I told that my closest friend was lying at the point of death, and that his life could be saved by permitting him to divulge his theory of Hamlet, I would instantly say, “Let him die! let him die! let him die!”

Before I close, let me offer to you, here and now, my congratulations on the happy star which rains its Shakespearean influence on this favored region. Within this town of Cambridge there once lived an eminent aesthetic commentator; it is, happily, still the home of one whose careful and friendly edition is most deservedly popular; it is also the home of two editresses (instance unprecedented in Shakespearean annals!) from whose fair and laborious hands an edition is now issuing, admirable in all respects; from within these walls there have been put forth by your own honored Professors a “Life of Shakespeare,” and a volume on “The Development of Shakespeare as a Dramatist,” both of them learned, thoughtful, and attractive; and lastly, in a town not far from here there is preparing by a ripe and admirably equipped scholar an edition, which, when finished, no student of Shakespeare can afford to overlook. There must be something in this rich, rich soil, thus to bear the spring and foison of Shakespearean lore.

And now, in conclusion, as we have been companioned by Shakespeare throughout, let our very last thoughts, as “the last taste of sweets is sweetest last,” be his, and let us in his own words bow down in acknowledgement that

Horace Howard Furness, ’54.