Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-11-19

this their styles are radically different. Bacon
has written nothing under his own name
which possesses the Shakespearean style, the
very essence of which is sympathy. Now
the writings of Bacon, however wise and
subtle and suggestive, are conspicuously
wanting in this particular quality. They are
completely and even remarkably unsym-
pathetic. They are cold. calm, philosophic,
at times almost poetical, but they never dis
play that marvellous acquaintance with hu-
manity, that profound sympathy with its
passions and weaknesses and aspirations,
which constitute the secret of Shakespeare's
powers. In searching, therefore, for an au-
thor who could have written these plays, we
must go beyond my Lord Bacon, and yet
when we are obliged to exclude MIN there re-
mains no other man capable Of performing
the work. Raleigh was poet, and wrote a
history, though he was no historian. But
nothing of Raleigh's survives which could
warrant us in supposing him capable Of reach
ing up to the level of these plays and poems.
As for the others, southampton, Essex, Rut-
land and Montgomery, it would be as easy to
persuade US that Lyly, Peele, Green, Chett!e,
or any of that school. wrote Shakespeare's
plays, as that these intellectual pismies were
capable of such feat.
But having shown that the names sug-
geated cannot be accepted as even possible
substitutes for Shakespeare, it is necessary to
point out the inherent absurdities of MIR.
Morgan's hypothesis. The idea that these or
any other half dozen men could have carried
out such scheme successfully; that none of
them felt the least desire to enjoy the fame
their works had earned: that a secret
SO widely known could have been kept from
all their contemporaries, and have found no
exposure in sll literature this is nothing less
than prepcsterous, and to credit it would
demand far grosser and binder credulity
than that with which Mr.. Morgan taunts the
believers in Shakespeare. Nor is contempo-
rary history less against his new theory, where
the question of Shakespeare's status is con-
cerned The evidence in support of the fact
that all his own contemporaries regarded him
as the author of the plays and poems bearing
his name. is abundant. The statements of
Ben Jonson, both in verse and prose, are
emphatic on this head. Mr.. Morgan quotes
from the Discoveries to show that Jonson
eulogized Bacon as highly in prose as he had
done Shakespeare in verse, butsof course this
does not prove anything beyond the fact that
Jonson was literary hack, and prone to
employ the same eulogistic phrases repeat
edly. There is. however. a passage in the
discoveries which Mr.. Morgan does not
refer to, yet which, as it appears to us, may
throw some light upon the manner in which
Shakespeare worked, and which, if indeed he
is the person referred to, must also be
regarded as in part explaining the mys-
terry of his productive period. The passage
to which we refer is under the headq,
" "Otium-.StudiOsuna. and is as follows
Ease and relaxation are profitable to all
" studies. The mind is like bow, the
" stronger by being unbent. But the temper
" in spirits is all, when to command mans
"wit, when to favor it. / have known man
" vehement on both sides, that knew no
mean, either to internit his studies, or call
"upon them again. When he hath set him
self to writing, he would join night to day,
"press upon himself without release, not
" minding it, till he tainted and when he left
"off, resolve himself into all sports and
"looseness again, that it was almost a
despair to draw him to his book; but
once got to it, he grew stronger and more
"powers were renewed; he would work
"out of himself what he desired; but
60 with such excess, as his study could not be
ruled; he knew not how to dispose of his
"own Abilities or husband them, he was
I" of that immoderate power against himself"
1t is evident that Bacon is not re-
ferred to here, for Jonson devotes an
entire article (Doaainus Yerulamius) to him,
little further on. Nor is the description at
all applicable to Bacon's literary habits. He
was composed, methodical, perfectly regu-
lated in his methods of working But even
the loose tradition which has come down con-
corning Shakespeare justifes the conjecture
that he was man of strong passions and
impulses, and, in fact, such man as might
very well have furnished the original of
Jonson's anonymous portrait.
The Baconian Theory and the New Theory
are open to much the same objections
They are explanations which do not explain.
The idea that Bacon wrote the Shakespearean
plays is really as fantastic as would be the
assertion that Herbert Spencer had written
the "Idylls of the King" In fact the
upon which Bacon has been selected
for this posthumous honor seems to US on a
par with that which the negro in the story
so acutely punctured. He was asked by a
child why, being so big, he could not read.
And he answered, "A cows big enough to
catch mice, honey, but she can't do it !"
Now to suppose that because Bacon was a
wise and learned man, therefore he should
have been able to write the Shakespearean
plays, is as irrational as to suppose that
because cow is big. she ought to be able to
catch mice. Had Mr.. Morgan undertaken
careful study of Bacon's writings he would
probably have perceived that this trail at
least was assuredly blind one. But when
Bacon is eliminated there is no one left among
the contemporaries of Shakespeare whom it is
possible to think of for moment as the
author or joint author of these works. As to
the hypothesis that certain unknown men of
education and parts are represented here, it
does not deserve consideration, for it is
obviously much less credible than the original
theory. The fact moreover that Shakespeare
had enemies, and that these enemies
were literary men, and consequently
familiar with all the literary gossip and ru-
mors of their time, may be taken as DEM
onstrating that no report casting the least
doubt upon his identity with the author of
the plays and poems which bear his name,
ever appeared. Greene's fierce attack upon
him is evidently deliberate endeavor to