New-York tribune., 1902-02-03

they collected one-half had never been published
in any shape. There is nothing TO show
that fair copies were ever made. in those days,
for the prompters So far from being
astonished at the textua imperfectons of the
folio. ought to he profoundly thankful for
what is. under the circumstances, it's marvellous
state Of comparative excellence. Heminge and
Condell did the best they could. to the best of
their judgment. 1t never could have entered
their imagination that the day would arrive for
the comfort Of intellectual life to be marred by
the distorted texts Of Hamlet or Lear There
cannot, indeed. be doubt that, according 10
their lights. they expressed a sincere conVlc-
ton when they delivered the immortal dramas
TO the public as being absolute in their numbers,
as he shakespeare conceived them.
There is nothing in the writings Of Heminge and
CondeH to warrant a suspicion that there was
single wilful misrepresentation of facts.
Statement that the entire volume was
printed from the authors own manuscripts
would have been a serious misrepresentation,
but the language of Heminge and Condeu does
not necessarily under any line of tnterpreta-
ton express so much, and, in all pronabllty'
they are here speaking themselves in their man
ageral capacity, referring TO the sngularly lie"
alterations that they had observed in the manu-
scripts which he delivered TO them for the use
of the theatre Nor in our measure of
gratitude for the first fOnO,--the gre1IeSL h'ei-
ary treasure the world possesses,-should we
neglect to include tribute TO Ben Jonson
The First Shakespeare Folio distinctly ana
unequivocally declares that its contents (an the
Shakespeare plays except "Percles'D, were writ
ten by William Shakespeare.-then 1923. de-
ceased-and It is prefaced with noble tribute
to him. by his great contemporary Ben Jonson'
and with portrait of him, authenticated by
Jonson's verses. The authenticity Of that book
was not questioned by any person living at the
time Of its publication. its validity
assailed until many generations had passed
away. It remains authentic and no amount or
pettffogging as to its defects,-an Of which
are easily comprehensive and expcable,-will
ever destroy it's force as conclusive evidence of
the authorship Of Shakespeare
It is not forgotten (strange If II were con-
siderlng how continuously and strenuously the
fact is proclaimedD, that actors and dramatic
authors. in the time of Eliza and our James"
were legally liable to severe penalties for satire
Of the great" What of it? Penal legislation
did not make actors less industrious in their
vocation. or authors less prolific or the theatre
less popular. Shakespeare, Greene, Haywood
Marlowe Lyly, Nash, Lodge, Ford, beaumont
and Fletcher. and all the rest continued to
write plays and continued not to be ashamed
Of them or afraid Of the law. Nature also has
laws; and the product Of the English poetic
drama. between 1880 and 1910, surpasses in
wealth. variety. and splendor, every kindred
product in the history of mankind.
Direct conclusive. final evidence that Henry
Chettle referred TO Shakespeare in the apology
that he made for having published Robert
Greene's attack on "ShaIe-scene." does not
exist: that is to say. the name Of Shakespeare
is not actually mentioned by Chettle; but. If
"imputation and strong circumstance, which
lead directly to the door Of truth" are evidence,
the rational conclusion is irresistible that the
reference was TO Shakespeare. Upon a careful
reading Of Greene's "Groatsworth Of Wit and
Chettle's Kind Hearts Dream" no ether con-
clusion seems possible. Shakespeare scholars
have invariably accepted 1t.
Inquiry as to the authenticity OF the Beau
mont and Fletcher Folio Of 1647 need not here
be pursued There might be a time to consider
analogy" between the circumstances Of that
book and those Of the First Folio Of Shake
speare If. primarily, it could be shown that
Beaumont and Fletcher were actors that they
bequeathed money to two fellow-actors with
which to buy memorial rings and that those
two fellow actors, careful to show their graft
tude TO the dead" collected and published their
plays, as a duty Of affectionate friendship and
ito do an Office for the dead" At present the
two books stand before the world in a totally
different light-for the Beaumont and Fletcher
Folio OF 1647 (on it's face authentic in
troduced by a stationer who had never known
seen those authors and knew nothing about
them their works what he had CLEANED
at second hand.
No case can be made for Bacon the author
of Shakespeare by aspersing the memory OF
Heminge and Condell or by assailing the au-
thenticity of their Folio. The Baconian delu-
sion is not product Of scholarship but of per-
verse increduity and crazy and mschievous
conjecture. Della Bacon went mad over il,
years ago, and since her time there has been a
procession Of harmless lunatcs steadily moving
in the way. Every little while some new
crank starts up with theory that something
we'll known TO have happened never could have
happened" and upon that gratuItous assump-
tion prodigious structure Of phantasy is very
soon reared Lately, for example. it has i'm
pressed several persons (the vigilant and OBJ
servant Mr.. Appleton Morgan has instructiveIy
though inconclusively, discussed the subject in
his excellent Study of the Warwickshire Dia-
lect'D, as remarkable that a scantily educated
youth reared in a little rural village and ad-
venturousiy migrating to the capital TO seek his
fortune, should have acquired. so soon and so
readily, the correct style that appears in the
poems of Venus and Adonis,' "Tarquin and
Lucrece,' and the Sonnets. Instances of ad-
mirably correct versifcation made by novices,
illiterate well scholastic throughout the
history of poetical literature. meantime cause
surprise. The youthful achievements Of
Cowley and Pope and Chatterton are taken quite
as matter Of course. James Hogg the Et-
trick Shepherd. who had no education at all,
nevertheless could, and did. write verse as har-
monious. as correct. and finished that Of
Sir Walter Scott, who possessed every advan-