The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-06
How DonneIIy Found the Cinher


day, was not me inventor OF the theory
that Francis Bacon wrote the pays at
Jrlouted 70 Shakespeare, nor was he Us
only prominent advocate The idea was
first advanced oy Miss Della Bacon. who
was born in ONO in lSll and who Cd
IN 1s5S hopelessly insane after spe16i z
years in vainly attempting TO secure q :
general acceptance or her views
The drst Englishmsn TO aeclara--his
conviction that Bacon should have the
credit for writing Shakespeare plays
/ was William Henry smith, who publish
ed q pamphlet in support o. his theory
a few months after Miss Bacon had first
made known her conclusions.
All these apostles Of the Bzconial the
/ Ory based their belief on general argu-
ments. Ii remained for Ignalus Dounel-
~ to ind N the plays of Shakespeare
what ne ard most Of The BacOnlans con
sidered proof, positive and direcJ of tie
truth Of their contention TIE story of
how he found the alleged cipher O.
den in The text Of the plays is suite enC
10 win for Mr.. Donnelly credit for be-
ing one of the most ingenious, persever-
ing, and industrious OF men, no matter
what one may think OF MS conclusions.
As monument OF hard work and de-
termined courage D5nneuy's book. The
( Great Cryptogram,' has few rivals in
literature.
Donnely started by studying the tes-
( t.mOuy of Shakespeare's contemporar es
and of those who lived only a little
T later. Thus he quotes the Rev. JChl
! Ward, who wrote at Stratford only
/ forty-seyen years after the death Of the
I greatest of poets. II have heard, he
says that Mr. Shakespeare was a nat
ural wit without any art at all" Ben
than, writing seventy years after
I IA L IA .
had little learning" There are many
/ authorities all bearing the same tesu-
mOny.
/ The next step in his argument is the
/ contention that the man who wrote the
( plays attributed to Shakespeare w2s a
+ scholar Of profound learning. Donnely
quotes Grant White Kmght, and other
great Snakesp earean critics and common
tators in evidence of the fact that for
instance. the author Of the three Roman
plays attributed TO Shakespeare had
profound knowledge Of the whole range
of Roman history, only to Be had in
those days by 'dilgent and unCeasing
7 reading. He quotes obscure classical
illusions from the plays, which must
have required a vast acquaintance VITA
I originals, since no TRANSACTIONS then exc
isted and sets over against this the
statement of Ben Jonson that Shake
speare knew small Latin and less
Greek"
When Shakespeare was born StratfOrd
was a village Of 800 people. Ii was
composed of rude matched cottages, with
narrow streets. filthy to a degree unim-
aginable at this time. OF the inhabitants
it is not likely that more than fifteen or
twenty could even write their names
There were no newspapers almost no
books. 1t cost the equivalent of $50 I'm
our money to send a letter few M j, s.
The people ate out Of wooden platters
with wooden spoons. The churches had
no pews and We're full of feas A town
twelve miles away was farther Of for
practical purposes than if t. We're hun
bred miles distant at the present day.
Shakespeare was the son Of q Warwi OK
shire peasant" Dounely quotes from
Richard Grant White Neither his
father nor mother could write their
names. When he fled from Stratford t.
London at the age of . we may be
sure he had never seen half dozen
books outside of his horn book, o Latin
accidence. and a Bible" when. then,
asks Donnelly triumphantly, did he
acquire the vast learning demonstrated
by the plays?"
Donnelly goes on to sum up the ira
ditions and records. so far as they so,
of Shakespeare's youth. He shows him
as drunkard. notorious poacher. VINO
was oft whipped and sometimes i'm
prfsoned" He had married a woman
much older than him elf and had al
ready considerable family on his hands.
His father was bankrupt his cCmpau-
ions degraded. his home dirty. bookless
and miserable" He went up to Lordon
in disgrace and probably penniless.
There he became a householder a The
doors Of the theaters. Later he bacame
a prompter's call bow. and at last an
actor but never a great one.
Almost as socn as Shakespeare reached
London. says Donnelly the plays which
he is credited with writing began to APP
pear. though his name was not connected
v ;h them until later.
Going on. Donneuy declares il may BE-
taken as certainly improbable and prob
ably impossible that Shakespeare could
have written the plays Who, then. did
write them? He answers. Francis Ia
con. The author of the plays was a
poet, a philosopher, and a politician.
Why, then, If Bacon wrote the pays
did he wish to deny tncir authorship
Because he was first a lawyer, with m
bitions TO be made Lord Chancellor
Ejc was at the same time Door. On ore
occasion he wrote pay which was
acted with success by Shakespeare
company at law school What more nat
ural than that, needing money and hud-
ing he could write plays which were
success ful. he Should continue Go do So
allowing another TO cain the authorship
while he took the sains2 Bacon wish
first 10 be great statesman His poetry
was a recreation OF Whcl Zee is haIt
ashamed To DE- known az writer for
the stage might have injured his re1u-
tadon as a grave and learned laws r.
4 the time actors were Clle-FU p