The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-03-27

comedies: and Dryden records that IN his day
the works OF Beaumont and Fletcher wore
acted far oftener than Shakespeare's.
The charge that Shakespeares personal
character was consistent with the theory that
he was a literary impostor whose wealth en-
abled him to make use OF needy scholars will
be found to rest almost solely on the sneering
imputation made In Greenc's Greats Worth
Of Wit" This hns been exhaustively discussed.
and Mr.. White IL probably the only surviving
person who supposes that the sneer settles the
question Of Shakespeares character and capa-
bilities. No one disputes that poor scholars
we're numerous in London In tho Elizabethan
and Jacobcan age. as. indeed. they have heen
ever since. but. although he devotos three
chapters to the purpose. Mr.. White does not
succeed in proving that any particular poor
scholar was employed by Shakespeare to write
any given play As to the contemporary as
sertion mado In 1891 that the author OF
Hamlet was lawyer, Mr.. White argues that.
while Shakespeare was none. Francis Bacon
was the only lawyer OF the time likely to on
gage in playwriting and the only one capable
ofcomposing Hamlet" But Bacon was very
great lawyer: indeed. hc declared his willing
ness to let posterity Judge whether he or Coke
were the greater Now. it is well known that
Lord Campbell carefully reviewed tho Shake
spearean plays with d Wow OF seeing whether
the legal requirements exhibited would even
Justify the theory that thOy were written by
lawyers clerk. His verdict was not proven"
Mr. White has the courage Of his convictions.
and does not connne Himself to scncralities.
He does not hesitate to attribute to Robert
Greene. Christopher Marlowc. Thomas Nash.
George Pcele. Samuel Daniel. Thomas Lodge.
George Chapman. and Francis Bacon. rcspec-
lively. the authorslfbo or Loves Labor's Lost"
and The Comedy OF Errors;" the second and
third parts Of Henry VI" and Richard ILL.,
1.-THE Winters. Tals;" "A Midsummer Nights
Dream" Romeo and Juliet" las You Like
IT." MA ctcth" and "The Tempest" and
Hamlet He further maintains that. in con-
sequence OF the great favor with which Ham,
let" was received Shakespeare engaged
Francis Bacon under u promise OF secrecy to
revise the plays he had obtained. or should
obtain. from other authors, and that Greene
and others. ascribing the revision to Shake
speare himself. tainted him with pretending
he could " bombaet out blank verso as we'll
as the best of them" That Bacon wrote Ham
let" is pronounced proved by the parallel
passages found in his acknowledged works.
His revision Of tho other Shakespearean plays
except Titus Andronicus." Loves Labors
Lost" and Tho Comedy Of Errors lis de-
duced not only from parallel passages. but
l
mode OF illustration. and personal experience.
Not only Hamlet" but Julius Cesar"
Antony and Cleopatra" "Coriolanus."
"Timon Of Athens" and Henry VIII" are
alleged to have been entirely composed by
Bacon. What Mr.. White deems conclusive
evidence does not seem to us worth recitng
in detail. We will only point out what he over
looks. viz. that the only manuscript copy OF
" Henry Will" in existence was DESTROYED at
the burning OF the Globe Theatre. and that
scarcely any Shakespearean scholar doubts
that Fletcher. at all events. and perhaps
Massinger. had hand in the reconstruction
Of the piece.
Mr.. Whites final conclusion is that. so far
as the Shakespearean dramas are not repro
auctions OF more archaic plays. but have
original beauties OF their own. Francis Bacon.
with some assistance from Samuel Daniel. was
the genius Of Shakespeare. He will not even
credit the actor-manager with tho lyrical and
descriptive poems commonly ascribed to him.
The Sonnets are declared to be the produc-
tons OF Anthony and Francis Bacon. and OF
some Of the latter's friends: while to Christie
pher Marlowe are attributed "Venus and
Adonis" and the Rape OF Lucrece."
1t is to DO expected that. since We know very
little about Shakespeare's private or profess
sional life. his claims to tho authorship OF the
dramas will be from time to timc disputed.
But above all that the mass OF controversial
literature on the subject can be said to have
is the probability that among the
and Jacobean playwrChts there
was some secret as we'll as some avowed col
liberation. It is therefore possible. though
scarcely proven. that in other plays OF Shake
speare. besides Henry WILL" We have neatly
pieced together. the work Of several hands,
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