The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-02-11

ID IL poset6l0y' believe me" what eS6f''
nothing loss. your reason?" what's the
mattsrf" The authors. who used them perhaps
two or three times. were for the most part men
who ara known TO have boon acquainted with
Bacon. while some OF them were associated
with his literary pursuits. Such were Sir
Thomas Haywood. Sir John Davis. Beaumont
and Fletcher. and Bon Jonson. No other author
OF Bao0n's time. nor for many years later.
adopts 80 many Of the Promus turns Of ex-
presaion as Ben JonsoA. but even he only uses
ten out OF tho 200. and most OF these ten only
once or twice apiece Now In the Promus these
200 turns Of expression arc manifostly pro-
pounded ~ useful and effective novelties.
How. thon asks Mrs. Pott are we to account
for the fact that while they are virtually un-
known or unvalusd by all other contemporary
wrlters. they enter 90 constantly and largely
into the texture Of tho Shakespeare plays2
Before taking leave Of this useful and In
teresting contribution to our knowledge OF
Elzabethnn literaturc-not the less interesting
and useful because many readers will be indis-
posed to accept the hypothesis for which the
writor Is contending we should point out that
under the head OF Shakespearean plays Mrs.
Pott comprohends not only the dramas unan-
imously attributed to the author Of Hamlet"
but several OF tho doubtful works In which
acute critics nave believed they could detect
traces Of shakespeare hand. In the =" Two
Noble Kinsmen." for example. which tho MA
jOrity OF students agree In thinking was
written by Shakespeare. or by him and
Fletcher together. there are upward OF 1870 al
lusions to the subjects Of the notes in Bacon's
Promus. or uses Of tho turns OF expression re-
corded In them. As to the play Of Edward
Ill" stron. reasons have been assigned for
thinking that the King and Countess scene
WAS pcnned by the creator Of Henry ""
obviously enough. there are in this scene TWEEN
ty-four illusions to the entries In the Promus
but not ono in any other scene. with the OK
ception OF n single provcrb quoted In tao third
act. There are also four plays attributed to
Sir 4. Haywood. which alone OF all the dramas
said TO have boon written by him singly or In
conjunction with Rowley. contain references
to the Promus notes. or such illusions there
are moro than $50 in these four plays. Another
play. by an unknown hand. Sir Thomas
More" prcsonts numerous points Of coin
cidence with tho Promus entries including
some discovered nowhere eye. Finally. there
arc four dramas attributed. one to Thomas
Kyd. two to Nahum Tate. and one to Shadwoll
which bear strong Indications Of familiar
ity with tho Baconan commonplace book. In
tho production Of one play. The Misfortunes
of Arthur" u5S7l. there is absolutely no doubt
that Francis bacon had u share. In the old
record Of the piece no is accredited with having
contributed only the dumb shows" but in
certain passages and scenes are traceable the
same pscuiarities of thought and expression
which Mrs. Pott has observed to connect the
Shakespeare plays with entries in the
Promus. W. should add that In an nppen-
dix to this volume Is printed letter from Ba-
con to Lord Bur,cigh respecting n masaue
which the former purposcd to assist in getting
up at Gray's Inn With positive evidence be-
fore us that in tho years 1897 and 1888 Bacon
WINS engaged in theatrical enterprises. the au-
thor submits that it should not I've deemed
impossible that such plays and masuIes were
but the seeds and weak beginnings Of the
mighty series 81 works which began to appear.
according to DIR. Delus. before 1891. and which
followed each other in rapid snrcsssion until
about 1913. when Bacon's appointment ms At
torney- General placed him beyond tho necessi-
ty OF working for money. while IL deprived him
OF tho leisure hours previously devoted to
those unnamed works which no designated
vaguely M the works of his recreation"