New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-09

lent his name TO woman friend.
INSTRUMENTATION / quote at second
hand-tells us that Miss Bacon wished
her own country to have the glory of
solving the enigma of these mighty
dramas. and thus adding a new and
higher value to the loftiest productions
I of the English mind" He adds:
1T is for the public 10 say whether
my countrywoman has proved her
| theory. In the worst event II she has
failed. her failure Will be more honor
able than most peoples triumphs: since
il must fling upon the old tombstone of
STAFFORD on-Avon the noblest tribu-
tary wreath that has ever lain there
1t is not easy TO understand why
Hawthorne should have thought II a
| tribute TO Shakespeare to prove. or try
10 prove. that not he but Bacon and
other writer's were the true authors or
the plays But Hawthorne was car
ried far by his humor and by his per-
sonal sympathes. Miss Delia Bacon
was the Gifted Woman" Of whom he
wrote ''ReCOllections" in Our old
/ Home" Gifted she no doubt was She
lived in Boston, where-at that time
all men and women were gifted; she
delivered lectures; she published Tales
Of the Puritans" and a drama. The
true question Is what usc she made Of
her gifts. The origin OF the theory was
sick womans fancy: q morbid child
OF q woman who had no other. | used
to hear from her friends-Miss Bacon
herself never knew nor saw-that the
| Identity Of name was what first sug
gested 10 her this conceit. She held
/ herself TO be, in some mysterious and
altogether unhistorical way, the de-
scendant Of Bacon. Therefore il was
that she set TO work 10 exalt the
memory Of her supposititious ancestor;
TO push Shakespeare off his pedestal
and put Bacon In his place Whatever
her motive. she Is entitled TO all the
dismal credit Of precedence in this pre-
postercus adventure. She was just in
time. and her book is still perhaps as
good or as bad as any or the great
company OF volumes to which, or 10
most Of which. it gave birth
To one il did not give birth. Some
years after Miss Dclia's book appeared
Mr.. Nathaniel Holmes. Of somewhere
in the state OF Missouri, wrote me that
he had become possessed by the belief
that Shakespeare was Bacon. He had
| thought and studied and ! suppose
dreamed and had presently become so
| convinced Of il that he had written a
| book about il; a book, as he thought
entirely original. and with this he pro-
| posed to startle the world. He de-
clared himself in a position not only 10
announce but TO prove his theory.
| forget why he chose me as. in the
, first instance. his conhdant. We had
never met. His name was unknown 10
me. He told me he was a LAWYER and
] think a judge. He wished to send
me his book In manuscript. and asked
me 10 read ii and advise him whether
TO publish II or not. Not a word about
Miss Bacon In his letter.
! answered that could. OF course.
give no opinion about "A book had not
seen. but that he was. in any case.
mistaken in supposipg ne was first in
the field with these wares. The true
original inventor was Miss Della
Bacon. and as he seemed never 10 have
heard of her or her book ! thought he
would do well Ia read il before decid-
ing what 10 do with his own. From
! the account he gave me. inferred that
he was only proposing TO enter upon
ground already occupied lie replied
politely but evidently chagrined "a
! find that he had been anticipated: and
promised TO read Miss Bacon. Thele
our correspondence ended. The next
! thing | knew was that. undeterred by
her prior rights. he had published his
own book. ] cannot say that 1 ever
read it, or that, at the time. IL at
tracted much attention. Mr.. Lang men
/ lions it. with an error as 10 its au-
thorship. Holmes called his treatise
The Authorship Of Shakespeare" 4
man. / Judge OF real ability In the law,
since from 1865 10 1872 he was Royal
! Professor of Law at Harvard: and was
I there known as a fervent advocate OF
, the Baconian inhdelity.
Mr.. Lang points out that the whole
weight Of authority. tradition and his
| torcal evidence is on Shakespeare s
, side. Never in his lifetime was his
authorship of the plays questioned
| Never was II questioned during 30
! years after his death. II his associates
never doubted that he was capable Of
| writing. and did in fact write, the plays
which then bore his name. why should
we doubt now? There are few events
| in history supported by better evidence.
| OF evidence. properly so called, for
| Bacon there is none.
The plain truth is that the whole case
Of the Baconians, II ii can be called II
case, rests on a petite principu. They
! beg the question from the start. They
cannot start otherwise. They beg il
all through, and at every step. They
assume or take for granted that which
involves obviously the point 70 be
proved. They assume as a premise
what no one whom they seek 10 con-
vince will admit They assume that
/ Shakespeare could not have written
,hot no did write In that ASSUMPTION