New-York tribune., 1902-03-20
IRVING AT PRINCETON.
THE EMINENT ACTOR DISCUSSES THE
SHAKESPEARE BACON CONTROVERSY
SHAKESPEARE An ACTOR.

Princeton. Y. J. March 70 CSpeciaD.-Nearly
all Princeton present when Sir Henry II
wing delivered one OF the annual Trask lectures
in Alexander Hall this afternoon The univer-
s:ty students and professors were out in force.
and the o'clock recitations in the Theological
Seminary were suspended to Jet the students
hear the celebrated actors lecture on shake
speare and Bacon The big hall was filled TO
overhowing when Sir Henry driven up TO
the building in the carriage of Mrs. Laurence
Hutton. At whose, home he had been entertained
at luncheon.
The appearance of Sir Henry on the platform.
clad in his scarlet robe brought forth storm
OF applause. President Patton spoke briefly,
saving that the lecturer needed no intrOduc-
ton 10 any American audience The lecture
was listened 10 throughout with close attention,
and at its end the students gave the 'locomo-
tive" cheer. Sir Henry accepted honorary
membership in the Cliosophic Literary Society,
hut being pressed for time To get his train for
Nev-York was una BILE to 20 through the formal
initiation ceremonies
Among those present were Mrs Patton. Mrs.
Laurence Hutton, Mr. and Mrs. George Armour.
Professor and Mrs John II. Finley Professor
and Mrs. George ". Harper. Professor and Mrs.
A 7. Ormond. Professor and Mrs J. Mark Bald
win. Professor and Mrs John @. Hibben, Pro-
fessor and Mrs. Henry r. Fine and Professors
Y. Brenton Green, Casper ". Hodge and Henry
" Smith, Of The Theological Seminary.
Sir Henry was accompanied TO Princeton ny
his manager. Bran Stoker and two other mem
bers Of his company.
Sir Henry Irving said in his address
Il has occurred TO me that the opinion Of an
actor may have some interest in the controversy
curiosity Of the pubiic am encoaFaged TO ex
press TINS opinion by judge Allen. OF Boston. Mno
Shakespeare Question" does me the honor of sum
When the Baconians can show that Ben Jonson
vas either fool or knaXg or thhl q me NM "p9,s p
IN 4 conspiracy TO palm off on the ages the most
astounding cheat IN history, they VIII De worthy
submit that this is exactly how the matter
The sembance. Of reason to the, assuInption that that
Bacon Meucea le & %oie i ~"IrI + % ,s % Mo had
relations with the theatre men. like Southampton
were brought into constant and close contact win
speare wrote the n1asterpeces for which ne had the
Close that nobody breathc1 a word Of it, nobody
it to the grave? Shakespeare was man whose
He was stismatized by Robert Greene as the 10
rsfs alsSf busHe1 vi" He ~s Vas tha upstart crow
beautihed with feathers'-that is to say, the
theatrical custom 6f The time were wholly at the
disposal Of the manager who had bought them
Shakespeare was called in to revise these works.
and Greene cried aIoud 70 all the supplanted that
such presumption Mas MAS not to be Borne Why od was was
II noI pIoclaled llen Ina Sou % 80! @
the plays he presumed TO turn from cqmmonpace
laid the magic spell upon them What spell did
Bacon employ 70 IreLent I5reele rom neCIsfls @ ie
closed in the wOndr0us cipher that he wrote the
plays Of Greene. This makes the complication stin
more entertaining. First Bacon writes Greene:
then he beautites shakespeare With Greene rec ,
not let Greene denource Shakespeare i'm
Is emitted 70 our syInpsthes because it is Oh
yi9us thar n rs name Bacon W wrote pooT stdf,
Gently Why this wanton injustice 10 Greene The
notice and when yol consider that its chief bust
ness is 10 stagseT US with the revelation that
you cannot expect moro light on anybody 50 trivial
son" OF UNNATURAL MOTHER
The only explanation ! can conjecture is that
when Bacon suspected any writer a likely
10 find Shakespeare out he proceeded TO bribe that
At any parts Of tbs amazing storTe still Bacon is
alleged TO have written. in addition TO Shakespeare
ana Greene. the works Of Ben Jonson and Marlowe
spenser's ,'Iaerie Queene" and Burton,s Anatomy
of MeanGhoIy" 1E This is pretty we'll bat it is not
ms hlstorlcai PLAYS 70 ne reekoned WITH: 50 Bacon
must nave done the cola s6oration himself or 81
VIII" To sgusrs Fletcher Bacon had also -
Of Beaumont and Fletcher Bacon's account. If
how else could he have secureI their compcity2
he had no Honey even for his own needs He had
career Although h was the Legitimate son Of
What could he do, then. for the various poets and
Shakespeare. except write their plays and poems
Is il probable that they would have held their
The Baconian theory requires our belief in con
federscy the Ike OF which never entered the wild
side il How vain and chiidIke seem all the secret
societies counpared with this hrotherhood which to
the supreme genius Of our llteraturei / don't
think the Baconsns have fully grasped tho magnI-
tude Of their own conception They are still apt
II suggest that Shakespeare was very little known
70 his contemporaries a critic in The National
rag Of evidence that Shakespeare could write at
air; whereas there Is abundant evidence Of what
Webster, his fellow dramatist. called his 'copious
industry" His first editors Hemnge and Condell,
his friends and fellow actors report that he wrote
almost without a blot. Ben Jouson. repeating that
testimony. expresses the wish that Shakespeare
greater poet had TOO much facility and TOO little
were oeslgned 70 deceive me word that ft-in
and CondeU deliberately He'd. that JOnson blamed
that he could not write line; that when Jonson
said Sha hakespeare had small Latin and less
ing mat Sha akespeaIe never WehI 10 7chooI, kile"
neither Greek nor Latin. could barely scrawl an
spelling Of his name. The name is spelled in
the municipal records Of Stratford in sixteen ways;
DAYS was illiterate body. ana the contemporary
records were written by Bacon Sir Walter Ra-
was iIliJerate and Bacon wrote ms works. No
eIijr % 81 ms bis parne. fber@fGre " Ra@op %rot ali
snel1ed Tie 1a1oa v,itb = *. whence sprines
bDT5 sgion trat he NAV have been teTate
and that We have Yet to learn who wrote Bacon.
THE GROssEsT ABsURDITIEs.
Is this whit more extravagant than the whole
basis Of the BaConian theory The moment II Is
touched at any point II dscoses & the grossest ab-
surdties defy any man 10 give me a coherent
account Of the conceivable circumstances IN which
which the shakespearian drama could not have
been written ne pays Were NOT eEolved ny a