The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-07-10

vate notebook. How Is it explained?
Why, by aff~ming that he copied from
the book when writing the plays.
Bacon quotes from six books in his
Sylvia Sylvarum and uses facts from
these books; and when he turns to his
poetic work, the dramas and sonnets.
these identical six books are quoted by
him.
The man who wrote the Shakespeare
dramas was historian with an almost
boundless range of knowledge, such as
the uneducated actor of Stratford could
not have acquired. for he had no books
that anyone ever heard of; and though
COPY of Montaigne's Essays Is pre-
served in the British Museum with the
name of SHAKESPEARE written on it, the
signature is held by many of the critics
to be a forgery. No man can be his
torian without books. Bacon had hand
some collection of books on all subjects.
He was a historian. In the plays we
have in dramatic form the histories OF
Henry the Fourth, Henry the Fifth,
Henry the Sixth and Henry the Elshth.
Why was there break in the continuity
of the history of the Henrys? why did
the historian leap from Henry the Sixth
to Henry the Eighth, and give us no
drama setting forth the life Of Henry
the Seventh? The reason is plain enough
In Bacon's prose works you VIII ma tne
reason He gave the history OF the Lie
of Henry the Seventh in prose, so why
repeat 1t?
fv-leaf of the celebrated "Northumber-
land Manuscript" This manuscript
volume contained several essays uni
versally acknowledge to have been
written by Bacon, as we'll as some
speeches written and delivered by MIN.
Listed in this volume also, were the
PLAYS orchard H." and Richard Ill"
On this fy-leaf there are many lit
tie scribblings. scraps of Latin. also
line that we find a little modified in
the poem 1.-The Rape of Lucrece." Now,
remarkable to tell, at the top or TINS
hy-leaf we read Mr.. Francis Bacon.
AS we read down the page we find the
name Bacon again and again. At one
place. at which l have just looked, we
read, by Mr.. Francis William Shakes
peare." Nearer to the end of the leaf
we find this, william Shake (your)
Speare" then. as If Bacon had been
trying to settle upon suitable pseu-
donym and had at last gotten one that
he liked we read civilian Shakes
peare." Bacon and Shakespeare seem
to be one.
land manuscript is vouched for by the
librarian of the Lambeth public library,
London.
How else, than as above suggested,
can we explain the 1y-leaf of this man
uscript? There Is no other explanation
that explains. At one place. about mid
way in the "scribblings" we read,
Earle of Arundels letter to the Queen,
by Mr.. Francis Bacon. Essais by the
same author" 1t is all in one and the
same handwriting, a script that is
acknowledged to be Bacon's. "Essais'';
did SHAKESPEARE ever write any essays?
If so, where are they? what has be-
come of them? where. In the world of
letters is there any reference to them!
There Is absolutely none. But everyone
knows Francis Bacou's essays.
There Is another fact disclosed by
the Northumberland Manuscript The
name of Nevil, in Bacons handwriting,
appears. Everybody knows the social
dignity of the Nevis, and the stately
folk of the Northumberland line. They
were people of the highest social dis
nifty, such as man of Bacon's stand
ing might easily know. But the actor OF
Stratford can be ,reckoned among their
associates only by a herculean effort of
the Imagination.
To these his friends and perhaps his
kinsmen, he secretly committed tenn
porarily this manuscript. with their
word as bond, that they would keep
secret the name of the real author. That
the manuscripts was never returned to
Bacon may be explained in many ways,
ways that are natural and simple Ba-
con may have loaned the manuscript
volume after he himself had made a
copy of the most important parts and
had no need for the manuscript loaned
or perhaps he gave 1t to his friends.
BE ltat as IL may. the fact stands, that
hsre In his own handwriting. is Francis
Bacon coupling his, name with one that
had never appeared in literature before,
Shakespeare.
have just turned my magnifying