The New York herald., 1874-09-20
authOrship OF the great dramas contained in thls


Tne friendship that existed between the Earl OF
southampton and Shakespeare has been clearly
SHOWN ana also That honorable mention was made
oy this wen known peer oi the manager, actor and
poet to third person; the testimony OF Ben JON
son, John Heminge and Henry Conuell has been
added, so that IL must be concluded that the Ba-
CONAN theory Is an absuruity and yet it is ching
10 py many real lovers of shakespeare This is
perhaps que 70 me demoiishing character Of the
age-an age IN wnlcn everything NOT solved by the
analytS faculty Is suspected-an age in which
sclentlnc men would reach the soul with the DIS
sec'ilig kne. Inc leaders in this demoiishing age
are last to believe that man. who had not gone
thro9eh the curriculum OF Cambridge ana Oxford.
al rhetorical rules, could have written these great
araihas, Sda, pnt prefer to attribute them to the
the "Novum Organum."
II IS also urged against Shakespeare that he was
not IN position TO acquire the learning that Is
evinced oy his plays; such men recognize but one
avenue through which one may enter the temple OF
knowiedge-the analytic intellect is made to over
rlde everything else. and that other grand source
through which genius obtains its knowledge is lett
OUT OF view. In their opinion the Elizabethan
period furnishes put one man who has this un-
limited analyuc power, and they make him the
'protagonist in the arena Of poetry" But in
the dramas OF shakespeare there is little learn
kind OF knowledge that comes only through
"mediumistic, powers-powers so peculiarly be-
men may walk through q forest beautiful land
scape, or one OF the grand gorges near Ithaca;
ia scientihc man} watches the vegetation. ex-
amines the rocks In his path or the spiders build
Ing their nests his intellect Ia analytic and he may
add 1acts TO his knowledge OF botany, geology or
minerolosy; but the other man is a Wordsworth,
ne has a highly impressible nature and drinks In
the whole beauty and grandeur Of the scene and
their relations to the human spirit, that the other
has probably not noticed, and OBTAINS more real
wisdom. He Is more negative, the scientific man
more positive, and proportionally less impressive
Yet granting that Shakespeare obtained his know-
edge IN the usual way, his position was much more
favorable for this than the majority OF writer's OF
his day. He was connected with the two thea
tres. he was a stOckholder an actor and
an excellent business man. His knowledge OF
princely characters has been questioned man
OF Shakespeare's genius can OBTAIN more know-
edge OF court life In one hour than an analytic IN
teliect could In years residence at court. Edwin
Booth once said that the author OF the plays in
question must have had an intimate knowledge Of
stage business, and such knowledge must be the
result OF actual theatrical experience 1t Is the
want Of such nOwledge on the part OF many
writers Of merely literary plays that has been the
secret OF their failure on the stage. Some In their
blind support Of the BaCOnlan theory even affirm
that Bacon furnished the material and Shake
speare made the artistic construction; but this
tnat they must be born of the same grand genius.
Parallelisms of thought have been cited rom the
tity of their authorship. They are amusing, as
showing now infatuated man may become with
q iayorits theory: ANY one who has read the
dramatic literature OF the reign OF Elizabeth and
James will easily recognize this general coloring
Of thought anu even of pecullarity OF diction.
Yet for this reason he does not conclude that it
was period OF literary plagiarism In which one
author was constantly pilaging from another.
shakespeare's character, save that shown by his
works, has been made point of by the advocates
OF this bizarre theory. 1t is true that Of many men
not to be compared with Shakespeare we know
much more, but OF many who rank next to him
our knowledge Is much more meagre. This lgnOr
ance OF the great poets character Is not peculiar
to Shakespeare alone, but to all literary
men OF the Eltzabethau period. The in
difference in regard to the lives OF these great
men Is owing to the political commissions following
the death Of Shakespeare and also to the degen-
Grated taste OF the school that came in with the
restoration OF Charles II. and prevailed for SO
many years. This indifference IN regard to the
private lives OF poets, painters and scientific men
continued among people Of all ages and countries
Shakespeare than the Greeks knew Of their great
tragedlan, 4Eschylus, or OF their comedian, Aris-
tophanes, two centuries after their death. OF
M0llere, the greatest OF French dramatlsts who
lived flty wears alter Shakespeare, there Is almost
total ignorance. Not page Of his manuscript Is
know to exist. The personal history OF Bacon Is
extensive and well known. but had he not been
the Kings Attorney General, Sir Francis Bacon,
ViscOunt st. Adams and Lord High Chancellor OF
England, Bacon might have written his essays in
unObserved Obscurty. OF Beaumont and Fletcher,
both born in the ranks OF the gentry-one de-
sCended from judge, the Osher from bshop-we
know less than we DO Of Shakespeare. The only
clew that we have to the year OF Chapmans birth
is the mark that time has lett upon his portrait,
while the minor stars OF the Elizabethan galaxy
pens. And Ben J0nson himself owes the favor
that history has SHOWN him to the longevity oil his
life, for over his earlier years hangs the same dark
clouds that shroud the lives OF his great contempo-
raries.
ITHACA, N. Y, Sept. 18, 1874