New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-16
POOR DELLA BACON.
THE STORY OF A DELUSION.
svo. PIP.

,vcu no believed that neither the subject OF the
rrceent bool, nor her nearest relatives would have
desired or sanctioned the publishing Of her tragic
story Mr. Theodore Bacon, the writer OF thlS
biography, has not the incentive OF personal pe-
lief in her supposed Shakespeare discoveries 10
stimulate him, but he seems 10 think the lact
that the world still talks of Della Bacon sufil
Gent reason for chroncling her life. II may be
so. The age is one which recognizes few or no
RIGHTS ~ privacy. That a person should have
becn unhappy. ill-fated, afflicted with mental
alteration NAV he possibly thought valid ground
for noradnc their inmost and diSmale secrets.
There was time when different views and prih-
cin,os nrevailed So Door Dclm Bacon Is had up
ia the public clinic, and ono OF her own Dloou
and name straps her on the operating table, anu
the exhibition proceeds Mr.. Bacon may imagine
that the evidence he adduccs OF his suoIeots
intellectual gifts is enough TO vindicate the wrolc
affair. and he may be right; only the narra'''c
sbould be regarded rather study in mental
pathology than as an ordinary biography,
Della Bacon came Of an old Ncw-EngIand
ton,i1r brt not n fortunate one Poverty and
rororo1 narrowness on the one hand and fever
ishly active intelligence on the other drove n'r
very Young into attempts at creative nuera,S
work far too mature for her linen aPP"'en'is
On tho slcndcrest capital of knowledge, she took
70 teaching she and sister trying 10 hl'maS'
q girls school of ambitious extent, and fai!lng
inst rs should have been expected Next we III"
her after writing a play which proved neither
actable nor readable, undertaking 10 del'er
lectures on history in Boston That the poor
creature knew ANYTHING of history herself beyond
what odd ideas she might have evolved from her
| irror consciousness Mr. Theodore Bacon presents
M evidence 1t is not shown that she had at
this period ever had the opportunity OF consult,
inc n public library Of examining any or's'iI"i
authorities Yet her lectures were success'ui-
| they were it is true attended solely ny women
- clio ,ror cuitc q considerable local reputation
who,bcr the cstima' ion in viii h her mental attain
| mcnts were held rested on the principle conveyed
| in the French proverb " In the kingdom OF inc
| blind the one-eyed man is n prince III Is prooa"N
TOO late to ascertain, nor is 1t OF much cohSe-
ouonco though it is possible that the praise she
| received at this time drove her on 10 tIau ll'"i
| inouest which was so to absorb her alto
| gether.
L. was soon after this that she was drawn
| IN the study of Shakespeare and his period. MIR
| Racon does not give details enough TO enable
tho reader TO perccve Just when the little rift
within the lutte" first made its appearance Inc
nresumption is that deusion formed slowly; that
! for some time Della BacOns studies were con-
| ducted sanelv enough and that mOnomania de-
veloped when the inadequately trained mind
become too hurriedly convinced OF the soundnesS
| and completeness of its discoveries. but ludglnc
| from her wrtings-a very fair example OF which.
in tho preliminary Putnam article, is given al
dongtb in this volumc-there must always have
been defect of 1ucidity in her intellect. 1magin-
| alton she had, even in excess. But she had not
the co-ordinating power which subjects 1t to real
uses The Putnam article is intolWaby dllluse.
-,
She talks around and about her subject; envelopes
il in clouds of rhetoric, many-hued, picturesque
| fanciful she eXpatiates and expands ana re-
iterates ideas: she betrays a pcnchant for the
language Of undignfcd vitupcration and acerblty
at times: but she does not advance her subject
greatly. and the reader who has honestly followed
her TO the last page finds himself considerably
more perplexcd than enlightened. At what point
speciic deusion sprang into being we do not
know. When she went TO England and broke
| with her clear-headed brother, the mischief was,
| in his opinion, begun.
| II must be said that the relations Of Emer-
son to this Della Bacon episode are not
altogether satisfactory. In the unquestlonable
encoura cement he gave her. though at no moment
did he believe in her theory. it is only too clear
that the Sage OF Concord did her an i'll service
Perhaps. when she approached him the dominant
idea was already rooted in her mind. Perhaps
however, firm and iudicious refusal TO give
aid or countenancc TO her visionary project
might at this critical juncture have arrested the
| mischief Emerson. not believing in her fancied
| mission. certainly showed rather n weak faciii-
ty than ripe judgment in furtherlng the futile
| enterprise. Much the same may be SAID oil
Carlyle and his wife, though in their case the
| kindly desire TO do something for solitary
stranger, whose obvious sincerity title
| into hn nj lar ~
! " alters its aspect As TO Hawthorne. when
| he came TO know Della Bacon her destiny was
| fixed she had written much of the Shakespeare
book and no power earth could have in
duced her TO relinquish the purpose Of pub
| fishing it, Mr.. Bacon has been able to print
| the correspondence between Hawthorne and the
poor monomaniac, as also many Of Emerson's
and Carlyles letters, all of which are inter
csting and exhibit unaffected kindness and desire
TO he serviceable llawthornes relations with
Della were, as is we'll known difficult, deli
cate, and in the end painful For she was bit
terly proud with that morbid pride Of poverty
which looks asance at all the world, and sus-
poets an insult in every friendly word and
gesture; and she could not endure even hint
Of doubt concerning the genuneness Of her
Shakespearean revelations
Ii is a ptiful story, that long residence
in London with its fierce labor, its shrinking
seclusion, its enforced appeals 10 srangers-pre-
ferred, as saviors from starvation, 20 relatives
its wrcstlings with finty-hearted publisheSs.
, The dreary struggle is indeed somewhat cheered
and frightened presently by the appearance of
Hawthorne on the Never did he demean
himself more admirably than in his transac-
tjons with Della Bacon. lie IS knightly,
as gentle as delicate as considerate. rs patient
with the poor, captions, hot-brained, impul-
sive creature as Colonel Newcome might have
been. lie finds no self-sacriice too heavy 10
undertake for her. He even reads her terri
BILE book in manuscript and praises it, and be-
stirs himself 10 find n publisher for II, and