The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-12-11

TO THE Merchant Of Venice we ohsortn r
notonly was Shakespeare indebted for NJ
the plot to a fourteenth century colectior
Italian novels. called I'll Pecorone." hn, NJ vi
scenes In which Antonio nogotiates with Sby'
lock. were roughly anticipated by dialoc"s.
between a Jewish creditor and a Chris,Isss
debtor in the extant play OF ''Tho TN
Ladies' OF London by Robert Wilson nv
play OF King john first acted in 1fn,
but not printed till 1923, was directly adnn,oI
from a worthless piece called 1.-THE Trnnhio
some Rnlgne OF King John" brought M, =.
1891. The three chief characters. howeyss
John. Constance and Faulconbridge, arc in ali
essentials OF s~hakespeare's invention.
In Arden OF Feversham' and Edward TIT ~
Shakespeare's hand has been traced on m.
score OF their dramatic energy. but our autbn,
can find no external evidence in favor Of NJ,
authorship in either case. Two other popula,
plays OF the period, "Mucedorus" and Fat.
EN-, have also been assigned to Shakespeare
on even sliRhter grounds. Our author does M,
hesitate to aver that It was with anothrr-s al
that Shakespeare composed "Timon Of Athensp
and "Pericles," In his opinion. internal eyI.
dence makes IL clear that Shakespeare,
colleague was responsible for nearly the wbo,.
OF the third and Nth acts OF the former drama
The character of Timon himself. however and
all the scenes which he dominates. are from
Shakespeare's pen. There seems TO he som.
basis for the belief that Shakespeare's coad.
jutor In "Timon" was George wilkins. a writor
| OF ill-developed dramatic power, who may also
our author holds. safely be credited with nor.
lions OF "Pericles." 10 which Shakespeare con.
tributed only Acts Ill. and V. and parts Of Act
w.. which together form q self-contained
whole. The presence OF a third hand Of In.
ferior merit to wilkins has been suspected.
This drama was not included In Shakespeare,
collected works till 1864. The Tempest
seems to have been the latest play that Shake.
speare completed. but there are indication,
that in 1911 he left with the manager of hi,
company unfinished drafts of more than on,
piece which others we're summoned at n later
date to finish. or these. some are no longer
extant, but two OF them. THE Two Noble
Kinsmen" and Henry VIII. - survive. Tho
former. when first printed In 1884, was attrlb.
uted on the title page to John Fletcher and
William Shakespeare. Henry VIII" shows
traces of moro hands than one. The thres
chief characters. the King. Queen Fdiherins
and Cardinal Wolsey. bear clear marks Of
Shakespeare's best workmanship. but only
five scenes, and not the whole of one OF these.
can be confidently assigned to him. There are
good grounds for attributing nearly all the re.
naming thirteen scenes to the pen Of Fletcher.
with occasional aid from Massinger. wolsey's
familiar farewell to Cromwell recalls at every
| p0hhO Sho osyio VI bShV ullu VIZ lnhL
OF Shakespeare. yet 1t is invested with a great.
ness that is not matched elsewhere in Flet.
cher's work. In our authors judgment the
conjecture put forward by Mr.. Robert Boyle
that Massinger and Fletcher alone collaborated
in Henry WILL" to the exclusion Of Shake.
speare altogether, does not deserve serious
consideration.
In a chapter on contemporary and post.
humous reputation we are reminded that
1 Ia N~n~1 Ist
canons. while he noted that Shakespeare
wanted art" yet. in verses prehxed to
the first folio. allowed him the first place
among all dramatists. including those OF Greece
and Rome. In 1880 Milton pennedin like strain
an epitaph on THE Great Heir Of Fame" A
writer OF fine insight. who yelled himself un.
der the initials Of /. N. S.. contributed to the
second folio Of 1882 a splendid eulogy OF
Shakespeare. He was followed in his ex-
pressions of admiration within ten years
by critics OF tastes SO varied as the
dramatist Of domesticity. Thomas Hey
ward. the gallant lyrist. Sir John Sucking. the
philosophic John Hales OF Elton. and the untir.
ing v~ersif1er, Sir William Davenant. before
1910 Hales is said to have established. in
public dispute held with men OF learning, the
proposition that there was no subiectrof which
any, poet ever writ but he could producegit
much better done in Shakespeare Leonard
DlRk0S, III Uu6 lO4U eQlUlOn OF the pOemE,'
asserted that every revival of Shakespeare's
plays drew crowds to pit. boxes and
galleries alike. At a little later date
the dramas were the closet compan-
ions", of Charles rs solitude 1t is true
that after the Restoration public taste in
England veered toward the French and classi-
cal dramatic models. and Shakespeare's work
was subjected to some unfavorable criticism as
the product of nature. to the exclusion of art.
The eclipse. however. proved more partial and
temporary than is commonly admitted. From
the accession Of Queen Anne to the present day.
the tide of shakespeare reputation. both on
the stage and among critics. has flowed onward
almost uninterruptedly.
In the short appendix on the Bacon and
Shakespeare controversy, a reference is made
to a certain letter upon which great stress has
been laid by those who impu g the authorship
OF the plays to Bacon. In this letter. which
was written from abroad at an uncertain date
after January. 1921. by Toby Matthew to Ba.
con. then Viscount st. Adams. We read: The
most prodiRlous wit that ever I knew OF my
nation. and of this side of the sea. Is Of your
lordship's name. though he be known by an
other" This sentence has been distorted
into conclusive, evidence that Bacon wrote
works OF commanding excellence .un-
der another's name. and among them, prob
ably. Shakespeare's dramas. The author Of
the book before us holds that. according TO the
only sane Interpretation OF Matthews words.
his most prodigious wit" was some English.
man named Bacon. whom he had met abroad.
probably a 'pseudonymous Jesuit. like most Of
Matthew's friends. As q matter OF fact. ths
real surname OF Father Thomas Southwel.
who was a learned Jesuit. domiciled chiefly In
the Low Countries. was Bacon. He was born
in 1882 at Soulthorpe, in Norfolk. being q
son OF Thomas Bacon of that place. and he
died In 1887. Many close parallelisms be-
tween passages In Shakespeare's writings and
passages in Bacon's works have also been
adduced. Mr.. Lee points out that most OF theSe
are phrases which were in ordinary use by all
writer's OF the day. The only point Of any in
terest raised In the argument from parallelislns
OF expression centres about the quotation from
Aristotle which Bacon and Shakespeare not
merely both make. but make in what looks. at
q first glance. to be the same erroneous form,
Aristotle wrote In his Nichomachean Eth!
political philosophy. Bacon, In the Advance