The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1885-04-03
~sHAKsPEARE A FRAUD.
Ignatius DOnneIIy Claims That Bacon
Wrote his Plays.

Washington Dispatch to PHILADELPHIA NEWS.
Ignatius Donnelly is engaged in his leis-
ure while in Washington, in writing on his
forthcoming book on the Shakespeare
Bacon. controversy He claims TO have
discovered running through the plays a
cipher history Of the times in which they
were written. the real secret Of Bseon's
authorship and Of Sh~akspeare's connection
with them.
Mr.. Donnelly, i'll an interview with Tie
Ners' correspondent, says that his atten-
ton was drawn to the subject by a Boys
Own book that was given one of his sons.
In this book was a chapter on ciphers and
an ~allusion to what Bacon had written
about them. Taking down his Bacon he
found that the philosopher showed a pref
erence for a cipher of words, and laid down
the rule that the best cipher is one where
''the secret story is unfolded by a larger
body Of words, holding a quintuple relation
to the writing unfolded, omnia per omnia."
Said Mr.. DonneIly:
FAMILIAR WITH CIPHERs
Bacon was a man of secretive nature.
After Queen Elizabeth's death, when he
was advanced to the CHARACTERISTIC of
England by King James, in that capacity
and all through his life previous he had
had occasion to use a cipher in his govern
ment correspondence. In those times let
ters were Intercepted, and not only suspic-
ious language. but that which bore any signs
of mystery would endanger the writer's
safety.
Bacon was an expert in ciphers. and
the very year that the Shakspearean plays
appeared revised with the cipher inserted
in the folio edition. Bacon published his
DE Augmentis, which contained an ex-
haustive treatment on ciphers. Thus the
puzzle and the key appeared together, but
no one opened the secret.
\ MARVELLOUS MOSAIC.
''In studying the subject merely with
historical evidence. it occurred to me that
possibly Bacon had made some reference
to his authorship in a cipher woven into
the text of the plays, and with this in mind
l began reading them, and found that they
were, from beginning to end, one marvellous
Mosaic work of interesting narrative, ar
ranged by a system as accurate, unvarying
and precise as a sum in arithmetic. By
systematic method in Henry w | found
the following sentence: Francis Bacon, of
st. Alban's, Sir Nicholas Bacon's son,
Chancellor and Lord Keeper of the Treas
ury.' The cipher seemed SO plain to Ba-
con that he had no doubt as to its ultimate
discovery, and so he said in his Will: As
to my memory, leave it TO mems chart
table speeches, to foreign nations and to
my own country after some time be passed
I nave not gone through all the plays, but
I ave now put together pages of a eonsec-
utive story dug out Of the cipher. 1t tells
the story of Shakspeare's life and how he
stood before the world as the author of the
plays. That he was paid for this is told,
and how Bacon trained the actors in secret.
When this system is revealed the wonder
of the world will be as great over the mar
velous mechanism of these plays as it is
now over their literary merits.
Mr.. Donnelly's book will contain the
plays of Henry VI and the Merry
Wives of Windsor with the cipher fully
worked out. With the clue once revealed.
anyonecan pursue the task to completion
successfully.