The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-12-19
Did shakespeare Write shakes
Dc:ITc:

~ Hamlet would say, That's tie question:
That l.. did William Shakespeare, born ut STRAIT
lorl-Dn-Ayon, write those Plays, commonly us
cribcl To- him? Was lac the ycritablc author
.Oi course he did says. everybody. Vino
else could have written them? Has he not been
regarded and Acknowledged as their author for
more than two hundred years? 1t is not for us
to assert that William Shakespeare did not write
=. Hamlet, &" &. Othello,' Julius Casnr.'' and n
score more of the most remarkable Plays which
were ever composed, but we have Il few thoughts
upon this subject, which tie readers of the 4d-
r~erfisc- may or may not pcrusc, according to their
fancy.
One thing is certain, for more than two hun
drcd years the best critics of England and the
world nj large, have pronounced these Plays rs
the most remarkable work Of human genius.
Whoever wrote them, must have been n pct of
the highest order, and vastly learned in the arts
and sciences. Some have declared that he must
have been n physician, because he wrote with 50
much accuracy upon medical science as under
stood in the 18th century, and others for n SINH
lar reason have asserted that lac must have been
Il lawyer, while no one doubts that hc must have
been thoroughly acquainted with ancient and
modern history. The real author of those Plays
must have been 4 riro scholar, expert linguist,
subtle rcnsoncr, deep philosopher. and learned
divine.
The question returns, was William Shakespeare
this man? lie was a gpCd-naturcl, joyial, easy
going. third-Htc actor, and proprietor of a thea
tire, III Part, in the city Of London, hut history
fails - inform liz where hc was educated, or
whether he ever read much. Rare Ben Jon
son., who was intimately acquainted with him,
says that hc knew - small Latin and less Greek.
No writer can assert that lac ever saw one of these
Plays in William Shakespearc's own landwrit-
ing. Samuel Taylor Colcridge, n critic of no
mean Pretensions, in view of the wealth of learn
ing displayed in these Plays and transcendcnt
genius therein apparent, thus exclains: What.
are we to have miracles in sport? Does God
choose idiots by whom to convey divine truths TO
man?'' The opinion of the American critic, Il.
w. Emerson, is worthy of attention. After
dwelling upon the leading incidents in Shakes
pearc's life, considering that he was n 'veritable
farmer and businessman IN general, cxclaIms:
81 cannot marry this fact 70 his verse. Other
admirable men have led lives in some sort of keep
ing with tlcir Thought; but this man in wide
contrast"
Ii is n problem which critics are unable fully
to solve, how William Shakespeare could have
written Hamlet The Tempest and his
other Plays. In order to throw light upon this
enigmatical subject. Nathaniel Holmes, an Amer
lean, and brother, we believe, of Holmes the Poet.
has written IL book Of COO pages, which has been
published by Eurd * Iloughton of New York, to
prove that William Shakespeare was not their
author, but that the true author was Francis
Bacon, commonly called Lord Bacon. This was
the man pronounced the greatest and Me mcanesi
Of mankind, by the late Mr.. Macaulay. II our
readers wish to pursue this subject and learn all
that can be said, pro and con, we recommend to
them Holmes e Authorship of Shakespeare, - This
book will richly repay the perusal. 1t contains
a vast amount of literary lore, relating 10 the
close of the 10th and the commencement of the
18th century.
This question may never be settled so rs fully
to satisfy those who would either regard Shakes
pcarc OF Bacon as the author, yet the discussion
Of the subject opens Il vast field for research and
Investigation. Unless we arc much mistaken, il
il a subject which will more and more attract
the attention of literary men with an antigua
riun turn of mind.
Since writing the foregoing paragraphs, we
Glanced to open a volume of Shakespeare con-
tanning 4 sketch of his life. The following at
oar notice: THAT William Shakespeare
born in Stratford-upOn-Avon; that he mar
and had three children; that hc wrote n GER
number of dramas; that he died before lie
rad attained old age, and was buried in his na-
town,-arc positively the only facts in the
'ersOnal history of the extraordinary man of
which we are certainly possessed"
Great efforts have been made by numerous bio
and eruditc editors of his dramas to fill
Up this outline of his life, but it has been impos-
iblc, for friend or foe, to supply materials suhi-
lent to account for the lcarRing, science and
philosophy which arc requisite to make him out
: the author Of those wonderful and mastery
Of genius commonly ascribcd to him.
he idea has been initiated and Is now growing
ltp favor, that Lord Bacon was the true and
critablc author Of these Plays. His learning,
ssclrch, scholarship, philosophy and surround
eminently fitted him for this style Of COM
Osi;iOn. Another question will naturally sus-
itself, why should Bacon, surposing that he J
a. the author, have 50 scrupulously concealed 4,
i name? I'm answer is at hand. Bacon was a
l%rristcr. n c%ourticr, Il scholar, Il philosopher. and
II him to have Appeared in the character of a
ramati-t, in the age Of Elizabeth. would have i
%-cntiai!y damaged his reputation and prospects.
he earnest, practical and matter-of-fact world
u never looked with n favorable eye upon the
ieatre, and this was cmPhaticaIiy true of the
&C in which Shakespeare and Bacon lived: hence
r Bacon TO have been known a a patron and 1
ritter for the stage. would have efcctually re- c
rdcd his career, in those departments Of learn
z which he deemed most worthy Of his superior
,wers and gifts.
=. Stat nomini- umbri' he shadow ola name =
ls the motto selected by Junius. when he pub
-hed those anonymous letters which have rem
the name of JUNrUS immortal. We think a r.
ic Of the old Roman Poet Lucan, - Stat magni
umhrI'-. lie stands IL the shadow Of
great namc"-would have been not an iuappro-
motto for Shakespeare? Literary men C
vc been studying for one hundred years To as-