, 1874-12-13

oeo' Win the hangings." II the traditions
oseat1ofd, IS related by the father OF John aC
tna1les henble, be true, Shakespeare died in
n'cn' INTO which he fell when returniu
nome from drunken banquet. Til
DUET IN the church Of Standardization
doubtless the most Trustworthy reprcsentatio
Oh the dead dfamatist, Hawthorne calls it, i
our Old Home, d "duli mask, " and describe
II as representation OF ia pcrsouage Of
fuody English complexion, with 8 REASONABLE,
oapaclous brow, Intelligent and. quickl7-ol
6oeFaot eyes, a nose curved slightly outward
u 1one' queer upper-lp, with 4 mouth q littl
uncloeed beneath it, and cheeks oonsiderabl
developed in the lower part and beneath thu
| ch1n-" This is burgler Of Stratford, not g noe
I OF tho world
Iho fourth and final argument against Shak
| speare is his Indifference to tho plays. He neye
e4a1aeo them tie Tas anxious to be credited
Win 'Lucrece " and "Venus and Adon,s," bu1
ne apparently toDk no pride in ''Hamlet," ane
othe1so, and the " Merchant OF Venice" The
pays were not ail published at the time of his
aeato. Up to l59S. l1ls name does not appear OF
INC ut1e-pages Of the dramas .tl1ea in nrint,
Altef mat date, 1t ia addcd. The authorship was
generally attributed to him before aud he did
MOI oeny it; but neither did ho deny that Of
otaef plays which are now known not to be his.
oonlo an author 10 go suprene1y indifferent to
tne fate Of the children OF his brain?
6acoh's main claims to the authorship Of the
plays may be reduced to five:
Eafst, he possessed all the knowledge which
the unknown nuthor displays. "This goes With
cut Saying, as the Italian provcrb 1ns it. He,
LIE the unknown, knew most Of law; but his
education almost fulfilled the ideal of "eyery-
thang about something, and something about oy-
erythlng." DR.. Uucknill says, in the book al-
ready mentioned, that t. There iB moro Of medi-
cine than of law ih Bacon's Essays ard Ad-
yancement Of loarcins.'" The1e is uotoyor-
thy coincidence on this question Of medicine,
The expressions Of the plavs coincide exactly
With the riews Of Galen aud Hppocrates. b.
con WAS especially familiar with tho writings of
these authors.
Second, Bacon served nn apprenticeship at
play-making. LIE is known to be- the author of
several excellent masQues. Even as late as De-
cember, 1913, he prepared nansque for James
l., which he expected to sell for $4,000. His
pious mother .writeB, on one occasion. that her
two SONS are having pl.ys at Antony Bacon's
house, Every much to the delight of Essex and
his jogial crew, but, I fear, to the peril of my
sons souls"
Third, Bacon had the leisure to write tho
plays. He was bfieaees young barrister. deep
iy in debt, with nothing to do save study. When
he became Attorney-Generd in October, 1913,
the plays ceased to appear. During the three
years between this time and that Of Sha kspeare's
death, the latter wrote not 3 line, except atray
bit OF dogserel now and then.
Fourth. Bacon had cause for writing the
huI to- l..
We hare said, deeply in debt. What more nat
11al than that he should take this easy method
Df coming eovereigns and should Use IS an
agent the man who was shareholder, manager.
and actor, in the Globs Theatre, and could.
therefore, readily serve his ends
Fifth, Bacon WAS possessed OF considerable
poetical power George barley called him q
= poetlcal imasinator." Macaulay credits him
Nth poetical power. Some Of his Mosques
comets contain beautiful passages, and his n.t-
7cal version Of the Psalms shows "an elegance, |
are OF rnythnic flow, and pathetic sweetness, |
lot unworthy Of George Herbert himself"
There are some minor proofs of Bacon's |
nams Shakespeare WAS suspected, in lis life |
Inc, OF acting ns tue agent OF another His I
manuscripts we're, ns Zen Jonson tells un With
'ut blot. If he copied them from Bacon's
riginals, this would naturally be So The play
"1To1us and Cressida" appeared in 1GC9. ]
ts preface announces it thns: IA naver-writer
, an ever-reader- hewcs." This *'noyer-Trl-
r" was utterly inapplicable to Shakespeare.
udge Holmes has made list OF Eaany hundred
a1allelisms in the works OF Bacon and Shax-
peaze- Perhaps the most remarkable is in the
lay just mentioned. In the 94Adyanccmont Of
earning" Bacon quotes Aristotle as saving that
Young men ara no ft auditors Of moral philos-
ply" because "They are not settled from the
bling heat OF their affections nor attempered
lth time and experience" This passage occn1s
90 Troilua and Cressida ~:
Not so much
Unlike young men, whom Aristotle thought
Unfit to hear moral philosophy |
The reasons you zle:,e do rlnrr ccrdnce
TO The hot passion OF Gis:emperod blood
Ih2n to make up free determination
Iwi7t right and wrong. il
Iae truth u. that Aristotle speaks OF POLITICAL
It moral. philosophy. Bacon and Shakespeare :.
LEG the same mistake, and put it in the same +
'sds! Prot. John Weiss tried to explain these
1ncidences. IN q lecture ia New York CITY last Z
sex. on the hypothesis that Bacon and Ehak- I
caro- knew each other well, and we're wont to in 5
rchange thoughts. If this, howo1er, was all, is
not strange that Bacon. who had the fordness | ,
IN old gossip for mentioning the sayings and 3
lngs of his intlmates. never mentions SHAH o
care once, and that Shakespeare preserves the
ne dead silence about Bacon !? This is reali- I \
e1p1ainable if Shakespeare Was only the mask v
con wore On the stage. \
There are more proofs still. The " COMEDY .
Errors " is an almost Htoral rendering OF tho n
n9chnat Of Plnutus- This latter was not r
nslated into English before 1895. In 1884, :
Conody Of Errors" was acted ut festl- I !.
, for which Bacon furnished a masaue, | Il
>on was in the habit Of quoting from plautus. Il
1607-'8. Bacon WAS busy on his IL Characters y
Julius and Augustus Cesar" Very Eooa in
ar, Shakespeare produced his Julina Cnsar." -
kspeaie's historical plays cover the period cr
n the deposition OF Richard II. to the birth =,
elizabeth, with ona exception,-the reign Of to
,ry VII. Bacon's papers contain history G.
hat reign, beginning abruptly with the close fo
shakspeares preceding play. 1t is "a b,
> without beginning; tho beginning of it &c
'und IL tbs drama" Again, when the states 70
Davis was to be presented at Court Bacon On
To him, asking him to mention his CORE
,dent to the King, and closed with this sen en
e: So, desiring you to be good to concealed mr.
$, continue" etc. Finally, the famous en
2tthev postscript" comes into p,av. Sir ~;