The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-07-03

5ifkespeare, meaning Snakspere Ol ccurse, 1t may have been shaksperc
 O. Smith. So. what have we gained We have gained may have. Tt is, at least most probably to cur
 way of thinking. that Shakspere re- tained his lodgings at Mountjoys-tha'
 was his workshop, 70 reads the paper
 At what did he work in his workshop
 Why, bless you,i this workshop. which has existence only la the hypothesis ol
 this new discoverer. shakspere, hers
 in 'Muggles'' street, worked at his
 dramas. writing Hamlet, Othello, As You
 Like It. Julius Caesar, and it is mos'
 likely that he wrote his subsequent plays
 here here in .Muggles" street. The mys-
 tery of the plays forever vanishes before
 the talismanic name of 'Muggles" street. I Shakspere wrote his plays in the
 home of Mountjoy and honored his
 host by naning a herald in Henry V
 "Mountjoy' This we are also told This settles 1t. Hide your diminished
 heAds. Oh, ye logicians. Thackeray
 nemed a character Pendennis; therefore.
 he once sojourend in the home of Pen
 dennis, and thus honored his whilom
 host In the same wayI reached the conclusion that Dickens used to sojourn
 at the home of Dick Swiveller and in
 propria persona, frequently consorted
 with Bill Sikes. | The curious part of all this Is, that 1 the new discoverer takes himself serious | ly. One wonders If he ever read the
 following opinions:
 i Emerson, after studying the life Of Shakspere and learning his real oharac- | ter. which, as I said. was unsavory at times, wrote. T cannot marry this fact
 to his verse. Who and what he was,
 that sang and sings, we know not.'' | In the Baconian. published in 1901, an E-rsr 1fch aSfto ic cd trfne
 sI am quite sure now that the player | Shakspere never wrote a line of the works commonly ascribed to him.
 | In Short Stories of the Origin of the Plays" published in Birmingham. Eng.
 land, sthe author says. 'To believe
 Shakespeare to have written these won drous works, saturated through and through with the reforming spirit ot Francis Bacon, containing his philosophc theories and discoveries. advocating his
 new philosophy over that of Aristotle, containing the Nporite forceful phrases
 of his mother, the Lady Anne. his
 brother Anthony and the Earl of Essex | to believe that William Shaksperc
 wrote these Is to violate every principle | of common sense, and to be blind to
 truths plain as beacon lights for our | guidance.
 | Thus I might go on. multiplying quota | tions from unprejudiced men of learning
 throughout the world, but forbear. | have thus far written only of the
 negative side oe the subject. That is. I have, speaking for the Baconians, denied that the player shakspere had anything
 to do with the authorship of the dramas and the sonnets. I now give some facts | to show that Francis Bacon was the
 concealed author of them. I begin with Bacon's pseudonym
 If one asks why Bacon concealed him
 self behind the pen-name of Shakespeare
 or non de plum at all, I answer by re- ferring him to two subjects on which much has been written, and some of the books on these themes are at everybody's hand First the Life of Sir Francis Ba- con, in which one will find accounts of the ambition of Bacon to shine as a statesman and courier; here, also, will
 be found Bacon's relations with Lord Burleigh. his influential but opposing re- lative who seems at times to want noth- ing better than to thwart the plans of his young kinsman. The second subject to read Is almost any standard work On
 which the drama and theatrical stand ing of the Elizebethan period are fully treated. I should recommend particular ly Taine's History of English Literature. To be iramatist or to be associated in any way with actors at that time was species of degradation that barred the
 way of any young man to preferment. The condition of the theatres and the scenes enacted among the spectators were most revolting, to say nothing of the acting witnessed. Taine, at times, does nc more than hint at some of the prac- tices that prevailed, while some writers, with less delicacy. Speak right out
 The friends of Bacon would not have sanctioned his filling the role of a play wright, and of course. his enemies would have used the fact against him. There
 fore, he could not let his predilection be- come matter of public knowledge. Even Ben Jonson seems to have been in ig
 norance of the fact for a long time;
 though Thomas Freeman appears to have known Bacon's responsibility for the ex- istence of the dramas and poems, when
 he wrote the lines beginning,
 Shakespeare, the nimble Mercury" John Davies of Hereford, was apparently cognizant of Bacon's authorship of the
 poems and plays. for. to him Bacon wrote in 1898 and referred to himself as "cor- cealed poet" Bacon trusted these friends
 with hints of his authorship of the poems. But why was he a concealed poet?" For the reasons above gi, en.
 which never could have applied to ShaI.- spere. What was there in his life to prompt him to conceal his identity? He WOulQ nave SlOfleQ III DoitiB lDo CTcdIOI of the great dramas that cast those of Nfarlow into the shade It would. also. have been money in his pocket. Then, too there is nothing in the life of Shak.
 spere to show that he ever entertained the hope of becoming anything other than that which he was. namely: the atrical manager, rich man and lender of money.
 It was far different with another young
 man. Edmund Spenser. He, like Bacon hoped for political preferment, and. therefore. concealed his name, when. un.
 der the inspiration of the Muse, he sent forth his early poetry. Indeed, among | the nobility writing poetry of any sort,
 except that of a religious sort. was con- | sidered unworthy man who had hopes
 of position of responsibility in the state. As late as 1889 Selden said. ''It is fool ishness for lord to print verse; lis well enough to make them to please himself, | but to make them public Is foolish.' Nu- merous are the instances at the period and subsequent thereto of poets writing over assumed names Milton did it fre- quently. Tn 1s37 the Comus appeared. and we are told in the dedication, written | by Henry Lawes, Milton's friend, that the poem had not been openly ec-
 knowledged by the author;" while the ply signed 'J. M" Lord Bacon, there fore. did no unusual thing when he con- cealed his name under a pseudonym Having decided to choose nom de plume
 what could have been more natural upon
 the part of Bacon than to take a name
 somewhat similar~to one already known | nconspcuous actor by the name of
 Shakspere or Shagsper. as 1t was often
 spelt It could do him no harm should