New-York tribune., 1902-02-21
SHAKESPEARE AGAIN.
SOME FURTHER OBSERVATIONS On THE
BACONIAN THEORY.

The letter on 'ShakeSpe2re ana Bacon tldI was
printed in The Tribune Of February l9 furnishes
practical illustration singular freedom,-or,
DR.. Johnson called il, the airy petulance, -
with which casual and needless writers think them
selves warranted TO trife with great name. 10
discharge iustrious renown. and TO fout the
scholarship Of nearly three centuries Of study and
thought; and : such it may perhaps usefully be
made the occasion for a few general observations
on the authorship Of Shakespeare.
There is no more reason for dstrustins the
Shakespeare Folio Of 1923 evidence that the
plays contained in were written by Shakespeare.
than there IS for distrustng the first edition Of
LongfeIlows "Evangeline as evidence that Evan
geline" was written by Longfellow. Yet here is
writer who in obviously bad English. rejects the
authority Of the Shakespeare Foio,-together with
all other authority whatsoever, bearing on this sub
9ect,-merely because he has formed the opinion
that Shakespeare was ignorant and iterate."
snd therefore could not have written the plays and
poems ascribed 10 him. Reasoning OF this kind, if
reasoning II can be called, once admitted, would
make fritters of I'll knowledge, and would turn
history and literature into chaos If for example.
we happen TO think that a ploughman cannot write
poetry, justified in contending, because
Robert Burns q ploughman, that Burnss
poetry could not have been written by Burns, but
must have been written by Dugald Stewart or
Adam Smith?
Shakespeare was not "a poor. ignorant boy His
father. John Shakespeare. was, at time G556 10
l57n 5cSsessed OF considerable property. and, dur
ing SVeral years he occupied high official stations
ss his place Of residence. In 1855 the year after
the poets tirth, John Shakespeare was an alder
OF the Borough of Stratford. In 1868 he be-
came its bailiff. the head of the corporation In
751 he chief alderman II not till 1913
that his fortunes began seriously decline and it
was not till 1856 that his circumstances became
those Of inpoverishment. These facts shown
by the records of Stratford Borough. The boy
hood Of the poet, accordingly. could not nave been
3 boyhood of penury.
John Shakespeare was married TO Mary Arden
daughter OF Robert Arden. of Wilmcote and Mary
Arden was an heiress. Common sense, which
nay as properly be invoked for Shakespeare as
against him.-compIetely justihes the assumption
that John and Mary Shakespeare provided for their
children well as they could Free tuition at
The Grammar School OF Stratford-an excellent
preparatory institution founded by Thomas Jolyffe
IN 1882 re-endowed by Edward VI, and still eXtant
and prosperous,-was easily cbtainable for any child
seven years Of age and able 10 read II is reason
sble TO believe that this educational privilege was
improved by the chief alderman Of the Borough OF
Stra tford and that WILLARD Shakespeare, as lad.
attended the Grammar School Among the BOOKS
used in that school were the ''Sentents i'ueriles
and Iily's Grammar. The latter is compendium
Of copious knowledge and any student well ground
ed in il would possess ample means OF mental
development That Shakespeare was well sroundeo
in II be seen in his wrltings-speclhcaIiy IN
Loves Labor's Lost and The Merry Wives OF
Windsor which contain phrases extracted from
it Latin authors. such as Seneca Plautus'
Virgil and Ovid. were studied in the Grammar
School. shakespeare's familiarity with Ovid and
Indebtedness 10 him have often been noticed The
hoyhood Of Shakespeare. accordingly, could not
have been 2 boyhood Of ignorance
The story that Shakespeares first employment
At the Theatre in London was that OF servant
hired 10 take OF the horses OF visitors lacks
good authority. It seems TO have originated Win
Tor been first promulgated byb the nalscreaht
Tbeophilus Ci5ber who supervised a compilation
Of biographical sketches, made by several mack
writers in London. about the middle OF the
eighteenth century in one OF which sketches ms
warn is imputed Davena1t If IL were true,
bovezer II would not in the least discredit Shake
snesre as the author OF the plays anu poems |
sscribed 10 him. He might have started as an
hostIer'': he did not remain one Aubrey VINO |
wrote before 1880 says that he began as "a
butcher" II may all be true Many man OF
genius has risen from low social conditions ana
has been constrained, at the beginning OF dcuNe
life TO accept the humblest employinehlS ileio
is nothing in the vocation even OF an hosIeI
that might be expected naturally TO quench the
divine fire in the soul Of a poet John Keats was
the son Of stable keeper and was born IN a Lon
don news; but purer poetry was never written Oy
ANYBODY thar was written by Keats
If there were any reason TO doubt (Which there
&c NON that the plays in the Folio written by
William Shakespeare, the allegation OF unlike
lihood"-incorrecty called an argument whereas
Il is only surmise.-might possess some force
although indeed, the history Of mankind Is repete
with unlikely happenings, which, nevertheless, have
happeped But. as already stated. the testimony
of that Folio which nobody has ever impaired IS
conclusive on this subject. Heninge and CondeIl |
who gathered and furnished its contents had hVeo
with Shakespeare on terms OF intimate friendship
had done business with him, had received MS
7,lavs from his own hand and had acted with him
in the theatre. Their description OF him as
writer is minute and particular, and it IS marked
nv that expressive felicity which comes OF per-
sonal KNOWLEDGE They call him "a happy imitator
of nature" and "a most gentle eXpresser OF 1t
They say that his mind and hand went together
and tbev add that he able easily 10 utter
whatever he thought. Surely their presehIlhehI
OF this matter,-Inade in 1913. WITHIN seven Yeas
IF Shakespeare's death, and made IN Lonoon' on
-be Creme of the poets labors, and when men OF
rte own generation were yet living 10 cha4ehge
,ts truth had there been any reason 10 GO So
vastly more significant, and vastly better enttIed
= cradence than the idle theories OF sceptlcaI
.o-,oars N 1902 who have nothing which
- rear the frnsy and ludicrous structure OF their
.o-a6,,Ii+1 except frivolous notion that Shake
.neare could not have written" the plays because
in their completely groundess opinion he was IL
literate and ignorant
s-C errors long widely prevalent, have done
.,nch 10 1erplex rational popular judgment as
10 shakespeare One Of them is the proposluon
that the poet was unlettered; and the oIAeI Is lhe
rropostion that his works are miracuousIy perIecI
Roth Of these delusons ought 10 be discarded
sbalesneare although his early scholastic training
was incomplete. certainly was well schooled In the
r,.5irn ents OF knowledge. and Shakespeares WORKS
although. as poetry, they tower above all kindred
achievements in the literature Of the world, are, IN
,,ario,ls ways defective. There is nothing in them
that Is -superhuman," or even approximately so.
They contain errors; they are dishgured with de-
pIorable puns; and the slaughter house stun mat
they occasionally present IS barbarous. Inelr Huch
extolled grasp OF history is not comparable with
that Of Gibbon They TEEN with the evidence OF
inexacI scholarship But Shakespeare was sufh-
cently well educated every practical purpose OF
his life. and he able. with instantaneous pre-