Evening star., 1925-07-01
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Shakespeare so dominates his lit
| erary age that the prose writer's OF
the period are more or less forgotten
yet there were three excellent ones
| that no reader interested in English
literature should overlook.
They were Francis Bacon, Sir
| Thomas Browne and Robert Burton
given here in the order of merit. Per
haps 1t is hardly fair to say that
Bacon is forgotten. He is rather neg
lected, except in the schools.
Bacon still exercises sway over
| mems minds by the charm Of his
familiar essays, which come home to
| their hearts and bosoms, by his posi-
ton as primary instigator of modern
scientific progress, and through the
belief by many that he in reality
wrote Shakespeare's plays.
l have no desire to even begin to
go into the merits of the Shakespeare.
Bacon controversy. That requires a
lifetime of study. and even then one
cannot be positive. Certainly there
are some very ingenious and plaus.
lble theories to show that Bacon
wrote the tragedies and comedies.
From the standpoint of the Bacon
lists, one of the most telling argu.
mentS is that Bacon was familiar with
court life. and could more easily have
aspect of society.
He was a prolific writer, a regular
III. G. Wells, in his way. On the
| theory that the more a man has to
do the more he can do, Bacon could
have written all the plays-but, did
he?
The controversy still RACES, and
probably always will. The average
reader perhaps will be content to as
sumo that Shakespeare wrote the
plays, and forget about it. Anyway
that is more or less what the world
has been doing.
The idea that an old writer con
cealed, in some clever way, great
truths which he was afraid to tell his
own age. yet wanted to leave to pos.
terity, has always been an appealing
one. Bacon almost annually crops up
as subject for this sort of thing,
yet the general reading public is still
waiting for the great discovery"
Until the mystery is solved. then,
most of us will be content to take our
Bacon in his essays, where he deals
calmly - perhaps too calmly - with
such subjects as books, friends etc.
His are among the very first ia
miliar essays in the English Ian
guage, and. as such. are still among
the best. The point is that when a
decent man puts his mind to thinking
about books. say, he is very likely to
say all there is to be said upon the
subject. in the abstract.
Later writer's can only make the
subject theirs by fresh viewpoint
They in no way alter the truths of
the former writer. Thus every age
has its men who write upon the same
subject, yet each does it in his own
way, aided by the spirit of his age
So we of today will find much still
to interest and instruct us in Bacon S
essays. which the sophisticated prob
ably will insist on calling trite, but
which are simply true. To some any
thing that Is true is trite.
Taine, in his History of English
Literature" gives a sample of Bacon S
style. and says:
This is his mode of thought. by
symbols, not by analysis; instead of
explaining his idea. he transposes and
translates it-translates it entire. to
the smallest details. inclosing all in
the majesty Of a grand period, or in
the brevity of a striking sentence
Thence springs a style of admir-
able richness, gravity and vigor. now
solemn and symmetrical. now concise
and piercing, always elaborate and
full of color. There is nothing in
English prose superior to his diction. -
Taine declares that this is especially
true in the Essays.
Bacon lived from 1861 to 1926. Rob
ert Burton, celebrated author of The