Bacon Or Shakspere

The announeement of Tinutina DonelIv's torth-cominr work on the BaconShakespeare controversy ha? awakenad new interest In IBitBubJect. The followna Is h continu.ition fróin lnt wet-k ol a synop-is of ii paper re.rently re:ul hpfore l Bne n Kociety of f. !ijon hy Mr. Francia Kearon, umi present In i eompaet form Hip reasons why a srreat naa'iy Intelligent STnUrtiTs nf t'ho Hhukesic:ir,.'s Playa nscribe tli ir autliorhii to Lonl Bacon : II. THE HA COMAN THEORT. The thcory that Franci I! icon wis the nimi behind the scènes is not n new mie, lth ul'Ii it Iras tnken long in forcini; lts wiiy to the tiiiiit, pecially In Will 81iHkeMM!re'8 own country. Dr. Thompson of Melboui ne, points out that the first to rajse the quesiion WH8 Hornee W Ipole, in liis " Ili-toric D(Mll){." Mr. Spcdding, the writer of BttcónV llfe, na enrly as Fubnc-iry, 1863, prinied a paper, ' Who Wrme Khakesptre's Henry VIII V tracingsignurf two hands in the play. He was rbrföwW hy au annnyntmi writer la OhstBberV Edinburgll Journal who tor the first time discDwed the qiléëtion, "Who wrote Sli:ikeicic? " aiul 11 rr i ved it, the concluslon tluit W'illiam Shakespere kept a poet. Neither of these writers sujfjiegted Hny cliiimant fnr the honorg in Shakespere's pi ice. Ii was r pervi d for i lady, au American lady, Misa Délln Bacon, Cour yeafa liter, to tirst propound the tbenry, in a piper pithlislied in l'utnam'tt American Magazine, n 1S5Ü, tliut Lil Bacon, her immoakc I y colncidence, was the Shakesicie Wii n led. Jlcn ftoofl :i)fhmt and si'iMMed at hri in ..wii owuntiy. tílic CHIttt lo Kutrlaml lo liml all men and woinen nirayed aaainst her. She womanlikefuUy adlnared tn and preacbad the belief whioli liail taken p 'psession of her. Soose u-w people rere conviin-ed, bnt her book feil deart. Slie retnrned to her own country and toon ilterwurds dil, disappointed and broken-hearted, lier book is tnll of knowledifi: and thouirlit, hut is so nivst cal, obscure and allusive that few people have ever manaed tci read it thorouahly. [11 September, 185U, an Enjflishnian, Mr. Win. 11 iSinith, vln had not heard of Miss Delin JSuc.in, appeared on the Beid with hN pamphlet, entitled, " Was Lord Bacon the Author of Shakespere's Plays? " - i letter to Lord Heemere, in wbich the B iconian tlie'iry was plainly l.iid down and Diaintained - and the next year published a book on the subject. Tilia book tunde a covert of Lord PulinerStntl. X ii 1868, Judjie Holmes, flien residlng in St. Iriuis, in bis book, " Tlie Authorsliip ol Sbakespere," lirst pointeU uut iu print a nuinber of C'inciilences or Idenniics of thoiiüht and languas;e between the two wriler', B.icni and Shakêspere, and expresad liis olear opinión that Shakespeare, as a dratuattat, could huve been Boneotlier lliaD Bacon in disguise. I ii 1880, Dr. Tnonip-on, nf Melbourne, II IÚ-. "'Pile 1(;I1 iscellce U la 111 I, Or Histoi y limite Vi-idle," preseuted un accitn 1 11 1 1 1 11 ni of fact and argument in favor of the BiK'oniau Ibeoiy. I u issl, .Mr. Appletou Morgnn, a lawyer, pu hlished at Ciucinnati, a book, ' 'l'he Shakespeare Myte," In which he stafed the strons; clruunwtantfal evidenot againH the 9bakepearean authorship of the Playa. Ilia theny was that they were the work f Lord B:icon, Sir Waker Italeigh, and others. The late.-t piiblications on the subject have been by Mis. Henry Pott. The idea of the jjaconinn authorship of the Playa of Shakespeare presented itself to her niind indepeiidently about twenty yeais aj;o. Tlie lielief carne to her froni the ooiucidenee of her equal laste for both the irreat aulhors, Buon and Shakespeare, and the fact that tlie more die read thein, the more the identities of the Hiithors' iiiiuds and ideas protiudejd theiüselves trom their writinirs and impressed thems( lves on her mimi. L'itterly the subject has been extensively dlKUMPd. Up to April, 1884, no legs than 2.r5 b oks, iiainplie's and artic'es have been publi-hed OU the subject, of wbieh 70 were English, ltil American, 10 Australian, 4 Scotch, 3 C'anadi ui, 2 (ierinan, 2 Fiencb, 1 lndian, 1 Italian and 1 Dutc.h. This list will soon be aug mented into the publication of "The Great Cryptogram," by Ignatius Donnelly, who is recognized to-day as the inot eminent of the Baconians, and who inakes the startüng annoiincement tlmt he has discoveted in the Plays thetnlelTOt, in the lirst collected edltion of tbeni, the Folio ot Ki2, a curinusly infolded otpber narriitive which be claims will forever settle the controversy. The incidente and associatlons in the life and carcer of Francis Bacon .stand out in remiukable contrast to those of Shakespeare, and fit f'ir better one's notion of' those requirtd to form and mold the character of a man capable of heilig the author of iheJPlays. Bacon was bom in 15G1, three yenrs before Shakespeare, at York Hpuae, Strand, sou of Sir Nicholas Bicon, hrd treasmer, and Lady Anu Bacon. It 's said that men are wliat their inothers make them. Lady Ann wiis the daimh ter of Sir Anthony Cooke, tutor to Eüward VI, a lady of superior learniiiir and Httaiiinienty. She was well read In the classics, corresponded with Archbishop Jewell in Greek. and translated Into BnglUh from the luliaii khm deep theological works. In boyhood, Bacon, intelli;ent beyond bit years, exliibits early a (iiiiek observation, love ot inituie and curiosity about pbysical facts. Introduced in childhood into tlie blgllMt aud most intellectlial society, hls readiuess and wit attract attentlon. Queen Eliz.ibeth notices hitn and oalls liim her young lord keeper. He outMnps his tutor at home, and i sent at tlie early age of twelve to jom bl brotlier, Anthony, two years bis senior nt Triuity College, Cambrige. Wlílls at Cambridite it ís said tliat lie ran tliroiighout "the wholecircleof the libera arts," but left Cambridge without takinf, bis degiee, dissatlsfied, it issaid, with ttit metliods of study he found tliere. Sent at seventeen, as un attaché to the court of France. he travels In the wake of the court th ron ;h the provinces wblcl ure the scènes of lst Henry VI., leitrnitig Freiich, Italian and Bpnniüli, and study ing foreigu poUcy. Vhni he is eightpen his futher Hei, leaving liini badly off'; lie is drlvei against bis inclination to the prófessioi "t the law. Meauwhile he resides wit! his motlier at Gorhainbiiry, St. Albans the scène of Í(J Henry VI. Hls brother Anthony, at this time goes to Haly aml resides there for thirteen j ears. The eorreupondenee betweei tlis brothers conoRrning Aiitlionv' travols and vxpenence1 in Haly are beliereü by ikcoiihins to have siiiijjestii tlie scènes and particular in playi ol the Seeond period. At tweiity oue Francis is called U the bar. Little is now hemd of' him exeept tliHt lie n-miiiiiR studying at (iiav's lm visiting his motlier Hl Ir.jrhamhiiry j nol loving bis law Ét üd fes, but laboring dogJteiily iitthein, nd mak ing hiniself mm ter of the sulijcci, liis hours of rrerealioii spent in literary and phlloophlf pur suits. ']' this period Bacouiuns allrihiit' skeicliesol st-vcral of the )lavs afterwards produced. 11 is studies and occupalions continue to be unrcinutu-rativi ; he fuik) IntO d-h ; app.-als to iliose in pmvci to (flvê liini work wliich will en liini to live os a gentleman aml aiford liini cangcni.il ocCUpMtiOI). In 158G, when only twentyfive years old, be is mide a beiicher of Gray's Inu. liis late bouM, mysterious occupatious :ini] Ptiiaious seclusion are invidiously coniniented on by his mother. Ia IOS", when he is twenty-six, his dranii'ic iticliuationa show tlieinsclvcs. He asists in ircttin up the U-ray's Inn revelp, the presentation on the stage of The Tragedy of Aitlmr, and soine DHUqaea, perfoinird before öueen Eli.abcth. At twenty-seven he Is elected M. P. for Liverpool; for Beveral years after this a brielless barrister, with tuuch time at his disposal, which Bnconians think tliMt he oecupied In sketchiug the plays and the sonnets which are pupposed to have been written about this time, and in aequlflng tlio knowlodjB and erudition n04(Hry for the production of thein and bis gmtfer pro wurks. The beinniliir of 1Ö92 linds Anthony returnins to Euglmd, residinsr w'Uh Francis In Cfcstnbers, the two brothers fullilliuj; their duties of secretarles to the Barí of Eseex; their salarie uupaid. Francia 6mbftriiMied iiir wnt of money, is foiced to get help fiom tlie Jews; laler on, actually eist into a sponginj; hous,; by a "hard .Few" on account of a bond debt. Anthony, on recurning trom abroad, tiiuling his brotlier thus distress;d, mortgages his property to pay hla liiother's det)ts and pledges hls own credit to relieve him. Baconians believo that The Mercliant of Venice derives its origln froul these episodes, that In Khylock Bacon iminor:alized the " hard Jew," and la Antonio tiis own genereus and unselflsh brother Anthony. In 1592-3 the poem, Venu? and Adonis, to which I have referred, Is puhlished wltli a dedication, and glven bv Shakespeare to Bacon's young friend, Lord Sontliaiiipton. Bacon afterwards became alieuated froin Southainpton on the fcore of his disloyalty. When the poem was republished the dedicatlon to Soutblamptou was omitted. In the autumn of this year, 1593, the '1 igaq breaks out in Loudon ; Bacon suspenda bis lec'ures in Gray's Inn and removes to Twickenham Park. In 151)4 we ttnd bino takiiijr a leading iart in a grand dramatic entertainment it Gray's Inn. Anthony, about this time, eaves hls bruther and goes to live near he Buil Inn, in Bishopsgatestrcet, where ten or twelve of the Shakespeare plays were acted. In 1595, on bis soliciting the office of at tur n ey or solicitor-genernl, he is passed over, and retires, innen liurt, to Twickinliiim. About this time he innkcs the follown{ enliy hl his private collectiou of lotes (PromiH Note 1160). "Law at [vickeiihiin for merry tales." The merry tales for which he was tlius ireparing are believed to have been some f those plays (especially The Taining of he Shrew, Midummer Night's Dream, l'he Merchant of Venice, 2d Henry IV., ind Alls Well That End-t Well) soon to appear, fnll of legal poluta and allusions wliich so mnch exercisi-d the mind of jord Campbell. Bacon's life is now retired and private ; lis time and atteiition are inainly devotd to philosopliical and literaiy work. l'he plays appe.ir at intervals, and coninue to do so during the next twelve rears. In a letter of about this date to liis Inimate and coiilidential frieud, Sir Tobby Vlatthew, B icon, whilst alluding by laine to ceitain of bis own published woiks, apuka of hi.s " other work?," ' works of li ia recreation." 11e also writes " Tliose other works of the alphajet are, In my opiuion, of less value whare you now are than at Paris, but in regard that ome friendR of yours have still insUted, 1 send them to you.'' " What these works of the alpliabet may have been," aays S)eddin;i, Bacon's biographer, "I canuot teil, uuless they related to Baoou's cipber." In 1623, Bacon writes toSlr T. Matthew about " putting the alihabet in a frame;" if this was their cipber, the frame was the Iüi3 Folio. Such enigmatical talk betweeu two frleuds evldencethat they werc both interested in souie secret which tliey would not openly refer to. In lüOÜ Bacon writes, speaklng of bis mutherat Gorhatnbury and of bis desire to keep her from anxiety, her liealth beIng very worn. From this time unül her death, nothing is heardof this clever, cmninaiidiug woman Mept Bishop Goodman's remark that she was "littel botter than frantlc," in her old age. It is a coincidence that at this time the gymptoins of madness had -vidently been i-'loM'ly studietl by the aulhor of ilundit and Lear, wboever he may have been. In 1601 trial of Lord Essex (in which Bncon hnd, by express commauü of the Queen, been compellud to take an unwilling part) followed by bis execution munt bave bcn a great inisery to Francis and Anthony Bacon. To Anthony, who had bee:i ín bad bealtb, the shock was puch as to basten his death. Tbis further terrible blow to Francw, the death of "Anthonie hls comfort," bis " beloved aml loving brother," added to hls mothr'l lamentable mental conditlon, and Cont Inutd on Uh Itqt. Conlinvcdrorn ítf Page. the ollier trying circtimstatices of liis lile til thU time, rcndered it indeel a dark per I itd such as Sbnkespcarean commentators have diseovcred in the pl:iy, Kivg John, Jutius ('ii-Kiir, Hamlet, Lear and OtlttHn, wiiicii ilute trom iliis perind, an) whir-h Shakespeareans have Httemptetl ratber nnsucoeMfully to harmonice wnh fads in the life of tbe now neb and prosperous manager of tin1 Globe Theater. About tliis time Sir Tobby Matthew, in one of hU eniginktlcal lettere to Bacon, pa'9, In acknowledgment of some work not specified, " I will not return yon welght for welght, iut nuaturtfur m ature." ComparTng this wtth the rest of tht mystleal talk passing between tliem, it Menu plalD iliat th plays were cmnected witb the enigma, and tbat Sir Tobie MatthewN and Bicon'i Jargon abont the "alplmbrt" lu-longt to tlie same topic a " intaturt fr uien"" " In UHM Qiieen Kli. ibctli died and JoDiet I. Ucrówoad Kiug. Bacon w-rites to Sir John Davis, the poet, nsklng lihn to give, 1 1 i 111 a gnod word with the k inir, concluding his lettel with the mystic words, "80 de.-iriiiir yon to be good 10 pottt, 1 nu," etc. To t li - y.Tir, 1Ü(:, Otheüo and Kin, Lear aro atlributed. Both plnyi h ive a hit at the patent'' and monopolies, the abolitktn of whicii Bacon was concerned in bclnging tibmit. In 1605-9 is papseri iin ad of Paria nei t agninst witches, James belleTlng In tbeir iniliii-noc, and Bacon p irtly sbaring In the belief. M irhetli appearg in Ibisyear; in it, mixed up with Baeon's irquirits into witchcraft, is found inuch whleo exhihits his studies of Ihe wiuds, of denpe and rare, and of the ictiou of miad up n body, etc. Iu 160ö, when in hU forty-iixth year, Bacon manies Alice Barhuin, a lady oi firti n . Tlic niarriiige dnesnot appear to have úeen n Imppy one. In 1007 Bacon is t last proinoted to the oiliee of sollcitor-srencral In I (i 1 0 Winttr'ê Tale and Cymbeline are publlshed. Winter's Tule. Includes a numlier ol Bacons obsei vations on lionicultuie, the virtues of plant! and other matters connerted with his notes on the " Régimen of Health." Winter's Tule n80 contaiiK Bieon's peculiar doctrine abont ai t as beihg " nat 11 i-p in bonds " - a doctrine whieh Bueon claims as bis own, nevor reoognlied bef ore. Cymheline reflecta sume of ii ts mnarin on rlTlwolton, and his (iloervatioiis on tbe fffectfi ol poisons, s also doc Aníhcny and Citepotra. ' H icon is a fellow member with the Karls of Pembioke, öoulbampton and Montgomery In the Viijrinl m Cumpanjr, wliicli sends out to the West Indias a Heet, wliicli is tiTiibly vixed by stormt ; tbe sliip ' Admirar is wrecked on the Bernindas. To thee incidents ve probably owe the prodiietion of The Tompttt In The Tcmpett, un, we sep distilled Into poetrv BaconV 1 ter " Slurties of Heat iind'Colil." ¦Hlülory of Wlndê," " Kbb and Plow of the Se 1," " S nllng ot 8blw," a'id ollier iabJeCtB. Froni thls time unlil 1023 new p'nys cense to appear. Bncon w;.s durlng t s period engnwued In his work as soliuitorgencial, and, luier, on the bench. In Iül2 B-ioon, ihen an offlfr of the Cruwn, hut sti.J liaving driinalic fervor strong 011 h lm, takes a landing pirt In :i grand mnque presenten bv the S' lltlniien (f (!r:y's Inn ind Inner Temple on tl'e orcnsi,, 11 of tlie inarriaire ot the Princesa Elizubeth M the Elector Palatine. and in tlic followina ye ir, 1013, he prepare and defmys the whilc ot' Ihe large cost. f'2,000, of another mafque in honor of Ihe man iaireof his patrón the Kirl of Someraet with Lady Ksscx. In KiH, Beon Is retnrnt-d M. I'. tor Cambridge Dnlvenlty. In 1016, the year ot V illiiini iShakcspere's de.ith, he is ap pointed p'ivy cMinrilnr. In 1617 he i made lord keeper. His extraordinarv assidnity, qaieUneM and energy in bU work are the wonden ol hls biograpbeis. It is reeorded that in his first fonr termo as a jndj;e he made 8,798 orders. In 1G1 he is appolnted lord übancelor. In this year the di crees mude by hini anmunted to not Icaathan 9,181, not one of tbelii appcah il a'ainst. Diiiinir ihis period to 1621, ivlien he k created Vl'COUnt S!. Albín?, he ípeiv S nioney fn ely and is over-:eneroiis anil induljceiit lo bis peivunt.i and retulnei, like Timon of Alhens, the pilnclpol charueler in Hih pi iy nf th t name, wh 1 h he l mpposed to h ive wr tien in mi'íhof'iisuKn vveakne-s in Ibtt respect, In ltiil be falN Accused by dlaappnintpil suitors, Hgailtfl wlioin had jíiven jndgincnts, ol liavini; taken brille, he admita recp H of (flftf, ti es. fres and pre-ent", some by bis oflicers, and some by himxelf, in ccoidunee with tie custoinary mode of payment in those times His salary as lord chancello! WM L130 per aiinnni, a snni wbicb WOlllil nianifestlv have been inadequate lol maintenance of the dignities of bis office, without the suitors' lees, wbich were pari ot the aeknowledged pertinislte of tli'n olüce. He confesses tu Ihiü abuse, wliicli belonged to the eourt, but denles that he evi r in the least degree accepted fees t( the perversión of jiKttee. and this Utti-r charjre ajiainst hlm bas practically been of recent years abandoned; hé resigna the seáis and retires to (Jorhambury. In 1621 be writes hls " History of Henry Vil.," a very remarkable bistorical narrative of the only reign of that period whlcb had nor been deemed suffleiently lateresting to form the subject of a play of Shakespeare. In 1622 two years aftei hls fall, in a letter to the KI ng, he quotes in his original draft the followliig wod-, omitied In the fair copy: "Cardinal WoNev said tbat if he bad pleasel Gol as he had pleased the Kinf, he had not been ruintd. My oooictencfl saith nol siich thin;; but it uiay be if I luid pleasei; men hs I have pleasid you, it would have been beller with me." In the followingyrar the play of Henry VIU. appears for the tirst time, seven years afler Shakespeare's dealh, and in it the sinee well known words iu Wolsey's moiith. In 1023 Sir Toble Mattbew, in iinswer to a letter trom Bacon wbh-h was accon.panii-d by a present to Sir T Matlhew, which tbe lalter refers to as beinjj "t great and notable token of your lorddhip's favor" (query, was the present a copy ot the new edition of the Plays just publishedy), snys in the P. S. : " The most prodirious wit that I ever knew of my nat Ion, and of tb is side the sea, is of yoi r lordship's nam?, though te be known by another." Il is ti significant fact Unit in this year. when Bacon had fallen into poverty, B n Jonson, hls Iriend. cxerted himself rreaily to procure the s ile of Shakespear's Plays, though Shakespear had died rieh in 1610. In Iü3.") B icon publishrs " Translatlon of (jertain Psalms" ihe poetirat beauty of which is commented upon by Mr. Spedding. These translations were composed during a severe illness and are dedicated to Qeorge Herbert, a relative of Mr. William Herbert, the " W. II.," to whom the Shakespeare sonnets were addressed. In l(i2G he dies frota a chili contrncted in the course of a drive in a snowstorm in March, when he trled, by stutling a chicken with snow, to learn whether putrefaction could be arrested by cold. He tlnis seeni8 to have been the tirst to attempt in England the presei vation of meat by freezinir, a subject which alter the lapse ot 2G0 years has come luto prominence. By hls will he refers to the durable paits of hls memory, which eonsists of his writiiüís, and desires t luit hls manuscript compositions ghouldj be given to his brother-ln-law, Constable; íefers to the fragmenta of some that were not tiiii-hed nnd mlgbt be til to be publlshed. Such is the career, contemporaneous with and overlapping at both t-nds that of VVilliam Shakespeare, of a man who, it is hardly too miicli too 11 ver, alone of all men of the day had the knowledge enabllng hini to write, the time and opportutity, as well as the energy and Inclinatlon, for writlnt the Plays and poems wbich have hitherto pass-d as Shukespear's. The dates of Bacon's life lit perfectly into the dates of the Plays - the dates of Will Shakespeare's lite are alwoluteJy out of barmony with the dates of their ppearance - the later plays liever appeared till long after hls death espei - ally Othello, flrst published In 1622; relublished with changes, additlous and mlssioiiB in 1623. No one who has studied Fruncís con's ncknowledged works will willinply grillige li f ui any lionor which sliould prove to be his due. If If should be estahlished, even at thin late honr, that hn is the real uthor of ihe wniulrihil Shakespeare Plays. as well hh of the yreit prose works whi;h bmr I ris name, I venture U tliink that tlmt there ar.' few bat will rejoice thnt If Will Shakespeare is to come down Frutn ihc pi'dastiil (on vhleh hedid nnt liltnself duim to lie placed), Francia Bacon slmnld he the pereon declared to be the rijjhtt'ul oootipant of it. Such a result would amonjist other thinps, dl.prove once more the thiMiry tlmt mküc eiiiun, without palnétHklDK Miidy :inil labor, can produce leanicd Mud cnidite words; that it was (ïiven lo Shakespeare alone of mort B la to desplse the !oUlen rule, " There is no royal ro:l to knowledge." It would prove, wliat would nutii i nlty have been predictrd, thnt the Plays were not the production of a licaven-liorn frental and ntuitioii, hut ot jjeoius andability, nndded and titrenjïthened by intense índnatry and .-tndv; thiit the writer of the i'iays Folio wed bUown Injunotton, and put into the uiouth of one of his characters, " Take piiins, be perfect." 'J'his ie an age of inquiry, and thequeation of the real authosihip of the fainous and iinniortal Tlays is falrly one upon which iiujuiry Éhoald be encouruíffd by all lovers of tlie truth, and slmuld not be, 8 soine stminch 8h;ike-l1( ¦ireans woulil h;iv' it, BQppnened iiüd stifled. If there is a "Shakespearean-Bacon erase," 1 huinbly ïuaintai that the criize may have been with our ancestors, who have lm 11 de. 1 down to im a traditioii against which intelligence rebels - tlio tradition that an illiterate min componed soiiie of tUe most cultured inaterpieies of the dramatic and poetic art that ever adorned any country, and ttiat the craze has hitluTto aflected ourselyes who have blindly folluwed tliis vain tradition of our cldrrs. If Shakspere's claim to the authorshii) fails.that Ot B0OD, in iny huuible opinión, will be fmind lo liold the riild. A Mis. Pott puts it: "If the evidenee in favor ot Baoon'g authorship can be di-pruvtd, by all nieaiiK let lliose disprove It who can. Tlie caue Uj opcMi ; let the pleadings on bolh sid(S be t.urly hcaid. Uut Ihe question which has been calnily and thoujelitf nlly asked must be wisely inquirud (nto and answered: ' Did Fkancis HACON WrITR SlIAKKSrEARK?"