Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-26

WIZ Reed, \ VI. Boston: Charles F. Good
speed
BACON AND SHAKESPEARE; Parallelisms. BY
Edwin Reed. AN. Boston: Charles f. Good
speed.
More than one commentarian on the
works Of Sir Francis Bacon has noted that
they are comprised in not more than 1000
printed pages Every one familiar with the
quarto edition of the plays of William
Shakespeare knows also that both dramas
and poems are of about the same length.
Yet the inquiry into the relationship, real
or fictitious, which exists between these two
records Of mental activity now exceeds il
printed pages the original works twenty
times over.
Ii is probable there can never be any end
to this discussion. That any actual proof
of the authorship of the Shakespearean
drama should now be discovered is too much
to be expected. The field of priori argu-
ment is limitless. and the deeper the inves-
tigatiOn is carried into the works of the
two pCsthumous claimants the thicker The
tangIe becomes. Today many of their
champions have attained to the plane OF
abuse: Shakespeare is verse than rOys-
terer. and Bacon more venal than Judas IS
CARROT. The sO-called CIPHER, wherein
Lord Bacon is said to have spoken his au-
thorship Of the immortal compositions, is
alternately espCused and derided hysterlcal-
ly; and il is now generally disregarded on
the gruIHd that it takes no account or the
Shakespearean sonnets. But the real spec
Observation-Disclosures seems too strong a
term for the discussions of earnest
thoughtful students of Shakespeare-will al
ways rest on these tive evident contentious:
that Shakespeare the man was apparently
untitled by occupation. training and incli-
nations for tie composition Of such mar
velously varied. rich and scholarly works !;
and contra that none Of his contempora-
Nc 1gf fitl1h -
plays in the least degree suspicious.
With his several earlier books on this
same subject DR.. Reed has written Fran
els Bacon Our Shakespeare" and the
.'PareIIeIisms" in the hope of melting his
readers to a more thorough and earnest
study of the two great authors of Victoria s
reign. His own knowledge of them seems
to be exhaustive. He has searched through
them untiringly. Ard the result is more
nearly complete understanding of both phil
us0pber and poet.
No one can read these two books
and not be impressed with the prima
facie weight of the BacOnian contention.
In the "Parallelsms" he cites ,191 senti-
ments from Shakespeare which find loo
prototype or antitype renderings in Bacon
As he has himself expressed 1t: "One par
al!clism has no significance; five parallel
iSms attract attention. ten suggest inquiry
twenty raise a presumption; fifty establish
a probability: and it may be the reader
will agree that one hundred or one thou
sand dissolve all doubt DIR. Oliver Wen
dell Holmes was deeply impressed by even
Il smaller number The wonderful pardl-
leliSmS must and will be wrought out" he
wrote, TO such fair conclusions as they
stall he found To force honest minds to
adept" The other book is tG the "Paral-
lelisms" what map IS TO a history. In it
are contained the several arguments, prop
erly set forth in sequence, which DIR. Reed
aad other CONNIE ntarians draw from this
strange similarity in subject matter and eX-
preston. 1t will no doubt impress the stu
dr. Er1r he "a ltlf ara he al ar
gUment.
Whoever loves the plays of William
Shakespeare Will be glad of the publiCa-
ton of these two new books The reading
of them cannot but entail a fuller knOwl-
edge Of the ShdkesPearean drama, more
highly colOred and clearer picture of the
times in which they were written. and a
fuller understanding of the many cOllGquial
phrases in which they abound. The Bacon
fans will find them bulwark of strength
The believers in the author vino was &C
cePted in the authors own day will be
Eratified at the spirit in which the books
were written and the intimate acquaintance
they bespeak with all the accredited writ
ings Of the Bard of Stratford. But he who
VIII be most benefited by the reading of
DR. Reeds two books is the man who now
dismisses the whole Shakespeare-Bacon dis
cussion with the pungent verdict, It's all
rank nonsense"
AN ISLAND CABIN. BY Arthur Henry New
YORK: Mcclure. Phillips & Company. Wash
There is chance that the charm of this
book will cause an exodus from the crowd
ed cities TO the unclaimed islands of the
New England shore. of which the author
asserts there are large numbers He found
one Of them off Noank. Conn, and thereon
he built cabin in which he lived for at
least one summer. covered by the story, at
peace with the world save in some small
measure that part of it which penetrated
to MS haven. In these days of high food
prices it is interesting to note that Mr.
Henry subsisted at the rate Of 81 a week
He paid nC rent car fare, supplied him
self with food mainly from the sea. and
was as nearly independent Of the CONNER
C.dl necessities as it is possible to be in this
complex civilization. The book is a delight
ful invitation TO the city pressed man to
move abroad 10 breathe the freshest of
ar and 10 taste the salt of the sea, to hard
On his muscles with long pulls against
strong tide when the wind fails, to cope
with the scores of emergencies which life
on lonely island develops. Mr.. Henry
was not absolutely happy on his island. for
he discovered by sad experience that a
friendship that thriVes In the atmosphere
of town does not always prosper in the mar
row confines Of Sea-girt home where the
luxuries OF life are esChewed and at every
hand Is compromise between necessity
and taste Rut there were friendships that
did survive this strain and others that de-
veloped. and the human interest in the
book is at all times in competition for the
readers sympathy with the charm of the
outdoor life.
DOROTHY VERNON OF HADDON HALL By
Charles Major. Author If When knighthoOd
Was IN Flower. etc Illustrations by Howard
Chandler Christy. New York: The Macmillan
Company
This story, like the first from Mr. Ma
jor's pen, lies in the days of the Tudors
But ii is the reign of Elizabeth, rather
than that of her father. Henry VIII There
are love affairs and in;rigues. In place of
the bluff King Hal' read an irascible
wealthy father. Sir George Vernon. other
wise known as King of the Peak" He
tries 70 force his daughter into marriage
distasteful 10 her. but she clings TO the
man Of her choice and finally wins him
The author departs somewhat in this from
his other theme. The lover is at bitter en-
nifty with the heroines father. This gives
opportunity for clan1estine meetings, dis
guises and narrow escapes, and adds TO the
romantic history of the tale. although II
necessitates prOdigious amount of expla-
nation by the narrator, who, as in the
other story, is a participant in the affair
This man, Malcolm Vernon. is lCquacious