Shakespeare has been accused of profaneness. I for my part have acquired from perusal of him, a habit of looking into my own heart, and am confident that Shakespeare is an author of all others the most calculated to make his readers better as well as wiser.
S. T. Coleridge (1772-1834). “Outline of an introductory Lecture on Shakespeare,” 1812.
Let no man blame his son for learning history from Shakespeare.
Id. Seven Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton. Ed. J. P. Collier, p. 19.
The greatest genius that, perhaps, human nature has yet produced, our myriad-minded[232:1] Shakespeare.
Id. Biographia Literaria, 1817, chap. xv.