The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1864-05-19

one left OF his fathers tamlIy. They
were, a shortliyed race, though, his
sister Mrs. Hart, survived him thirty.
years. Hiswife, Ann Hathaway, who
lived till 1923, his unmarried daughter
Judith; and his eldest daughter, Mrs
Hall, her husband, DR.; Hall,
and their little daughter, Elizabeth,
formed, the Shakespeare family circle
at Stratford in, the, last years Of his
life. His will seems to have been pre-
pared about the, time of his daughter
Judith's marriage with Thomas Quin-
cy Of ofStratford, 4 4s,llo tra,
ellis eldest and favorite daughter,
had been married in 1907 to
John Hall, a physician of Stratfofd.-7
1t is pleasure again to repeat the
testimony borne to her worth, in an
epitaph widely differing from the rou>
tine praise of monumental oinscrip-
tioni5l8r aIG, ,5GG,dat 64a a0l ed ssa
q ",Witty above her sexe, but that's not tpll, son
Wise to salvation was good Mistress Hall,
4 Something Of Shakespeare was In that, but this
MHOilyOI HIM, WIN Sne'S now IN Ull5be.
~ Then, Passenger, hast ne 'er teare 9''"' A'',
{ To weep with her that wept with alljI5 aa
g. That wept yet set herself to chere e..
Them up with comforts cordiall2 ,Au
vi Her lore shall hye her mercy spread, ri-rrF
When thou hast ne'er teare to She'd
This meager, account is eked out by
some traditions and anecdotes to which
I shall have to refer in future; some Of
them are, plainly mythical, others rest
upon good evidence. 1t is well known
Chiefly on account of the strange story
of poor Miss Bacon's connection with
the theory, that some able critics have
believed that Lord Bacon really did
the vast work attributed to Shake
speare, and that still more have beliey-
ed that many, players united in the
composition of the plays and, in kind
of freak, put to them the name of this
theatrical call-boy. The theory Of
Miss Bacon had already been ably ad,
yocated in a work on the subject by q
Mr., Smith Of this country. There was
muchcircumstantial evidence to rem
der the theory plausible. Sufficient
evidence from the position of Lord
Bacon and the estimation Of the drama
at that time was collected to show that
he would have been unwilling to be
known as the author Of stage-plays
and even that such knowledge would
have been inconsistent with his office
of Chancellor. Mysterious hints in
his papers of some important work
that he had done for mankind. which
they would not know until after hii
death, were found. The fact that il
the quotations from the classics found
in the known works of Bacon til,
same text was followed as where th,
same passages occur in Shakespeare
and exactly the same errors found il
both, was certainly remarkable, Oc
currences in the private life of Mis-
Bacon, had already worn upon tn,
health of that gifted woman, when sh,
became filled with this idea. She wa
by it led to this country and to thi
village. l have heard form many her
how single and overpowering her en-
thusiasm was. Her insanity was in
deed suspected, but she was kindI.
treated by all, She did not declar
the real object of her visit, which wa
to open the grave of Shakespeare 70
she believed that the mysterious adju
ration upon it not to disturb thes
bones, was connected with the secre
of the authorship Of the plays. He
enthusiasm prevailed on the sexton 0
the church to give her the keys,
was after midnight when she entere
the church, with a dark lantern an
impliments with which to open tn
tomb. When she came to the grave
when she was within arms reach {
tho object she had so long cherished
and which had brought her over tn
ocean-her heart and strength failec
j Reason them and there gave way tn
bones were not disturbed, and the mex
day Mr.. Hawthorne, then at Liver
pool, was written to, and came to tax
charge of her. OF course there wa
much food for superstition in all thi
and amongst the more ignorant res
dents of the villagers, those may |
found who regard tho insanity Of til
poor lady as the fulfillment of the ours
written on the grave, against all WI
disturb it. .l-', 80, 'I' ''
But the theory concerning 1or
Bacon's. authorship Of the plays, ca
scarcely be held when one regards I'll
cotemporarv notices Of Shakespeare
Robert Greene and other rival pla.
! writer's, Of the time mention the play
! at least, with envy, and it is scarcel
to be supposed that they would hay
: failed TO know if the apparent nan
: had been that OF one uttered incomp
tent to the task, There must hay
been reasonableness in the suppos
ton that the manager wrote them
, That the lines ofSpencerih the "Tea
of the MUSES." concerning "our plea
, ant Willy" referred to him by mar
2 -amougst others by Charles Knigf
lis an utterly untenable suppositio
I when we remember that the poe
:, which speaks Of him as "dead of late
! was published long before Shakespea
y died. The allusion may, as is allege
: be fgdrative Of his retirement ffo
! the stage, but there is nothing in &
9 whole passage to show that tWilly
8 meant Shakespeare, Spehsef'su poe
9 appeared in 1891, and there is reas'
j to believe that it was written sor
9 years before And when it isremel
Fl r1bered that the bard was born in 15t
D ] q snill hal ~ nt1na Ihaann that he con