The Washington times., 1921-04-21

his document, Dr. Newbold discussed
the part of the life OF Bacon which
would have led him to write such n
manuscript In cipher. His address IN
part was as follows:
That Bacon was the author OF the
possessed by Mr.. Voynicn
Is proved by the fact that hts name
is written in cipher on the last page
The key to the cipher also 10 written
on the last page, partly In Roman.
partly in cipher characters. AmonS
the former one finds the syilables
Observation-Disclosures Those let
tcrs spell r.. Baconi.'
Bacon ventured into new ana un'
known fields in the pursuit OF knowi-
edge, into fields closed by the church.
1t was necessary for hi INTO hide much
cf his knowledge. Thus In his pub
lished works he hints at the use OF
the microscope and telescope, but as
he also spoke of several other lnstra-
rients and devices which were known
TO be false. he was not taken seriously
On these points. But Mr.. Voynich
discovery of the manuscript has en-
tirely dispelied the doubts ~ to ba-
cons discovery of these and other
scientific Instruments.
PROOF IN DRAWINGS.
Tho drawing which accompany
Mr. Voynich's manuscript prove thst
the author possessed both the micro
scope and the telescope with lens OF
considerable power
About the year 1857 Bacon Joined
the Franciscan order for reasons that
are not known to US. 1t Is PROBABLE
that he did little scientific thereafter.
A.. n monk he had no money ana ne
could write no book without the per-
mission of his superiors. II anything
written by him was published. with
or without htS consent he would
have been subject to severe punish
ment. And his superiors did not en-
courage him to work.
Denied tho privilege OF sxprsssion
by his own generation. Bacon appeal
ed to the generations TO come he
had taken steps to train young men
in his own ideas. One such boy,
John. whom ne found destitute and
starving in the streets OF Paris. he
fed, clothed and educated, tntrusted
with him secrets too precious FOR
writing and eventually sent him as
his messenger to the Pope with the
books for which the Pope had asked
It was for some such friend as John
that this, the Voynich manuscript. was
written.
WRITTEN IN MONASTERY.
TT Is more than likely that many
monks at the monastery in which
Bacon was confined were his friends.
and his conhdants. and that his con-
fnement was not unduly rigorous;
that by them he was permitted TO
occupy his lonely hours in preparing
this manuscript and that among them
he found friend to whom he in
trusted the secret of reading the
cipher
ITO guard against any possibility
of the essential features OF the COM
pick system being forgotten, he wrote
upon the last page a condensed key
giving instructions for its use, and
now. after a lapse of six centuries,
there is reason for believing that
his expectations may be realized and
his discoveries proclaimed to an in
terested world.
"what were his discoveries? At
present Il is possible only to conjec-
ture their extent and Importance, for
the art of reading the cipher is yet
In only its earliest stages, and II Is
not certain that the whole manuscript
can be read. A study of the draw
ings alone. however. proves their i'm
portance.
les is found in the drawings OF the
second and third sections.
"a drawing in the second section,
the late Prof. Eric Doolittle asserted,
was a drawing of a nebula, and he de-
clared the man who drew 1t must
have had a telescope, as he correctly
depicted features invisible to tho
naked eye. The legend attached to
this picture says the object was seen
in a concave mirror. and gives its To-
cation in the sky. The location Ia
that Of the great nebula of andre
media.
This is the first record OF the use
of the telescope.
HISTORY OF sCRIPT.
Voynich made public for the
first time that he had discovered tho
manuscript in an ancient castle In
southern Europe with other less rare
manuscripts and volumes. He made
public what he has been able to trace
OF it's history. particularly that IT had
been In the possession of royal fam
lilies and noted scholars OF the jesuit
Order.
In 1912 voynich bought a large part
OF a collection OF precious illuminated
manuscripts which were stored in an
ancient castle in southern Europe.
Those manuscripts originally formed
part Of the private collections OF the
Dukes of Parma, Fcrrara, Modena
and other now extinct ruling houses
OF Italy. The Roger Bacon manu-
script m cipher was found among the
papers. which had been locked up In
chests several decades.
yoynich thinks that in the eight
eenth century the Bacon manuscript
was in the possession of n member OF
the family of tho Duke of Parma,
coming about 1850. either as a gift or
otherwise. from the celebrated Jesuit
scholar. Athanhslus Kircher. Documen-
tary evidence shows that kircher re-
ceived the manuscript as "A gift in
S86 from his friend. Marcus Marci.
one time PRESIDENT OF the University
Of Prague Apparently. Marci had