The New York herald., 1874-09-08
BAICONIANS RATHER RARE.
Was the Bard Of Avon a Genius, a
Plasiarist or a BOucicault?
DlOTS THEORY FROM EXPERIENCE.
The Press and Public Taking Up
the Discussion.
B0UCICAULT'S AND BRET HARTE'S
BELIEF.

bELlEF.
vending our way to where Fifteenth street JOINS
Union square We entered snug house between
finauy's store and the Manhattan Club and ad-
dress'ng IN agreeab French assistant at the door
nquired II Mr.. BoucCault were at home. "O,st,
Aonsteus; nontez," aud we mounted. On enter
ing the TWO adjacent rooms, forming study and
library On the second moor we found them occupied
BY three gentlemen. In the nrst who rose to meet
"a We recognized the Shakespearean get up OF Mr.
Boactcauik The two other gentlemen who were
seated In the room did look so very darkly upon
~ va began to feel they were witnesses brought in
% protect the dramatst from mlsrepresen tation.
We bowed toward q detected figure who was
concealed behind big cigar, and turned to be-
STOW similar greeting on q severe vsage, with q
penetrating eye and mOurniul mustache, who
Stared steadily at us from q corner OF the sofa.
"Ar. Bret Harte. Mr.. Howard Paul." said my host,
Indicating the TWO gentlemen. champagne cock.
tai" he added, In the same tone, indicating glass
Jug on the taole.
'sSir," said we, 'T am deputed to call on You to
got your opinion on the question now agitating
the lecture worldwide wrote Shakespeare; was
= Baconr'
''Baconp cried HI. Paul: mo, sir. There is the
nan who wrote 1t. There he sits; look at him."
'Whari" we replied you do not meap to assert
seriously that Mr.. Bouctcault wrote Shakespesrei"
~Every line oiit was present wnen he did
a." said Bret Harte, with the gravity of profound
conviction. "He was assisted BY Mr.. Colley Cbber,
but they only allowed Shakespeare's name to 20
up. he was sham."
"Whl you be good enough to speak seriously.
The question Is an important one. and many
serious minds have been engaged uron it. Have
you read the article In Frdser's kogaztns2"
hov iod kSp
much Of It as appeared in the HERALD; and se-
siously, Thought 1t was not worth thinking
about The internal evidences OF the plays of
shakespeare being the work OF jus. such an untu-
tored mind. such o barbario genius as shakes.
peares are to be found In every page and in every
Hne. Do you think that mind like that OF Bacon,
shaped in classical mould by the exercise and
education Of the period, could have conceived or
rather heaped together such mass OF glorious
lncongruity as the Midsummer Nights Dreamp
where Bottom and his fellows, all Stratford trades
folk, are brought into contact with Tneseus Deme-
irtus, Lysander, Helena and the Queen of the
Amazons IN wood near Athens, and mixed up
with Gothic fairies Do y0u think hat Bacon
could nave illustrated the nOblest subjects with
sropes and hgnres drawn from the most vulgar as
eoclatlOnsS lake, Tor example, the s0liloQuy in
Hamlet, such lines as these:-
With bare % bodsin. s Who i,' would tsrdeis bear.
10 grunt and sweat under q weary lie,
Who but Shakespeare would nave dared to charge
Ais sneer with the cant expression OF making Q
descend to the ridiculous agure @ Of a Sodkin' to to
render the sublime meditation the more intensef
TINS is !. she e nandwrtins Of Shakespeare; that any
Bacon was philosopher, q mind OF analytical
power, one which investigated. took to pieces and
subjected all matters to reason. ShakespeareS
mind was Numerically opposed to that OF bacon;
Ais was the mind oi q poet, on. OF syntaetic
templated all things from an ssinetlo point OF
:But how DO you account for his extraordinary
information on all suojectsf Where did he get
" Sir" said Bret Harte, :" he adapted 1t from the
there, l shall show tine hole where he got 1t out
and It wil be found to 1T the hole exactly"
plored, "waere 90 you think no Obtained It air Ali
He was little Of everything"
aG
last business" drawled out Howard Paul. He
pade everything sublime, even tneft II he had
Lamar and making a fine play OF It'll wonderful'
We looked hopelessly and heplessly to the
Bret Harte to answer my question.
"You must know" said the novelist, "that In
our degenerate times the dives aud drinking
saloons OF tie city have come down TO politics and
eurbstone speculation. But In those Of Snake
speare the Bowling Green and Pearl street were
and philosophers Of the day were wont to drink
their cocktails. The c0nvei sation jewellers
can't pretend to figure the variety and richness Of
the information and OPINION that flowed sponta.
NcOuSly, gushed and tumOled around. That was
the school where Shakespeare learned. In tnat
school, Sir, nothing came out but the choicest bits
o. each mans mind, the most valuable and most
curious Information. 1t was a mother lode"
"But, sir, he had read the Greek ana Latin clas-
scs some OF which had never been transated,n
We suggested.
Mr.. Bret Harte handed me back to Mr.. Bouci.
cault
FINE THEORY.
read nOthfnO Of ~
plays were sent into the theatre Of
which shakespeare was the reader. Shakespeare |
seleCted those ne thought had some good IN them,
Shls day Ol ours The author gets o lew pounds;
We cut up mis- work. rcmaKe H. reiashion, rewriie,
retain as much as may be good. The original work
peers through the new form. and thus o dozen
snese works all the flowers and odd TIT bits,
and these went pel nell into the immense store
house OF MS mind. from whence they were poured
out their on!y real value being the marvellous
manner in winch he applied them; buJ he some-
eincs applied them wrong, which Bacon never !
would have dOne.."
not have written play If he had tried 2"
81 am sure he could have written play" said |
Howard Paul, th0ughtfilly and slowly, land am |
equally sure 1t would have been very stupid |
'Just such a play" suggested Boucicault las
Professor TyndaI would write"
'Or,n said Howard Paul, "the Century Club"
NO." said Bret Harte, dejectedly, "just such
play as am writing"
At THIS moment kind OF melancholy seemed
70 pervade the group, and 80 we arose and took |
Mr.. Paul followed us to the staircase, and
suggested that We might mention promlscuously
that he had just come over from England and was |
here, generously Offering 70 do as much for US
,ther tlme
ND pTCuApn NpAMT Tu1rC,c |