14
TIIE SUNDAY OREGOyiAN, PORTIiAND. FEBRUARY 1, 1914,
E. H. SOTHERN SCORNS "BACONIAN
FLAPDOODLE" ABOUT SHAKESPEARE
Actor Declares Bard Never Horse Tender Nor Unlettered, and Pronounces These as Slanders of Slab-Sided
Zealots, as He Points Out the Young Poet's Influential Friends n London.
BY E. H. SOTHERN.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE was 24
years of age when he left Strat
ford and journeyed to London, a
distance of about TO miles. Of his do
' ings upon his arrival there; of how he
managed to become an actor and Anally
co-manager of one of the leading play
houses, we are in well-nigh, abysmal
darkness. In point of fact, by some
curious turns of affairs, there seems to
have been what might be called "a
conspiracy of silence."
Shakespeare is not alone in the
shadow. All of his wonderful contem
poraries suffered a like fate among
others Jonson, Beaumont. Fletcher,
Massenger and Marlowe. Of these men
Emerson said: "Since the constellation
of Great Men who appeared in Greece
In the time of Pericles, there was never
any such society." Yet what we act
ually know of "these mighty men of
old" could be written on the label of a
medicine bottle.
It has long seemed to me, however,
that so far as Shakespeare is concerned,
there has been too ready an acceptance
of silly tradition. With many Impor
tant facts at hand, which cannot be
well sniffed away, most of the biog
raphers have given ear to the tale that
Shakespeare, upon arrival in London,
made a precarious living holding horses
outside of the playhouses. This tradi
tion gets short of breatii, wheezes dis
mally, and expires Anally when we read
in Brandes' Shakespeare, that at the
time in question "the practice of riding
to theaters had entirely fallen into dis
use. People then went to the play by
water, Shakespeare may, indeed, have
held horses; but that a man of his ca
pabilities should have been pushed into
such a paltry business, seems extremely
unlikely.
Acquaintance Thought Likely.
It does not seem to have occurred to
finybody to inquire 'whether or no
Shakespeare did 'not have acquaint
ances in London who would have giv
en him ready assistance. That ' there
was at least one such acquaintance, and
that he assisted Shakespeare on his ar
rival in London, seems beyond the
shadow of a doubt. This is not a here
theory, one of those incongruous tradi
tions which sprung up, nobody knows
how, but an incontestable fact.
It may as well be stated here that
Shakespeare's father was High Bailiff
when the first traveling company of
players visited Stratford; and during
the years of 1569 and 1587, the latter
year being the one that Shakespeare
. left Stratford for London "24 travel
ing troupes visited the town." On ar
rival, it was the custom for the players
to wait upon the High Bailiff and in
form him "in what nobleman's service
they were enrolled." . That young
Shakespeare sa"w these performances
and became acquainted with the actors,
who must have visited his father's
house, is beyond doubt.
Yet eight years before Shakespeare
left Stratford for London, then a city
of about 300,000 inhabitants, Richard
Field, son of John Field, a local tanner,
had taken up his residence in the me
tropolis. Richard Field and William
Shakespeare had been play-fellows at
the Stratford grammar school. On ar
rival In London, young Field, on Au
gust 10, 1579, "put himself at prentis
to George Byshop, citizen and stationer
of London for the VII yeres from Mi
chaelmas next." A month later Byshop
placed Field with "ye said Vantrollier
to learne ye arte of printing." This
Thomas Vantrollier, by the way, was
one of the important printers of Lon
don. Field, the year Shakespeare ar
rived in the metropolis, became a free
man, and on "Vantrollier's death soon
after, married his widow and succeed
ed to his business as publisher. All of
this is to be discovered in the "Station
ers' Registers."
Schoolfellow Is Publisher.
So, when William Shakespeare left
Stratford, what do we know of him
that is not mere conjecture? There
was living in London his schoolfellow,
Richard Field, now an important pub
lisher, and it is beyond doubt that he
was already acquainted, on account of
the frequent visits to his father's house,
with all of the Important actors of the
London stage. George Greenwood, the
English barrister who has been at
great pains in his weighty book, "The
Shakespeare Problem Restated," to
prove that Francis Bacon was the au
thor of the plays seems to have scent
ed the important matter of Field and
Shakespeare's friendship. As it would
be fatal to his argument to acknowl
edge that Field and Shakespeare were
acquaintances, he dismissed the whole
matter whiffingly in ti.ese words:
"There ia absolutely nothing to show
that Field had any acquaintance with,
or knowledge of Shakespeare."
This Is a fatal and egregious state
ment on Greenwood's part. We know
absolutely that Richard Field and Wil
liam Shakespeare were schoolmates at
the Stratford grammar school, and we
read in Halliwell-Philips' "Outlines"
that at the time of Greene's Lampoon
of Shakespeare, then in London, that
the poet's father was busily engaged
with his counters in appraising the
goods of Richard's father, Henry Field,
tanner of Stratf ord-on-Avon. Surely,
that Richard Field and William Shake
speare were school-fellows, and that
when Richard's father died, William's
father was his executor, argues Green
wood absurd when he says that there
is "absolutely nothing to show that
Field had any acquaintance with or
knowledge of Shakespeare."
It takes a Baconian to make a posi
tive statement that is as easily refuted
as that two and two make five. It
seems, too, beyond reason that Mr.
Greenwood was unaware that Richard
Field published Shakespeare's "Venus
and Adonis," called by the poet "The
first heir of his invention." Even with
out the knowledge that Shakespeare's
poem, "Venus and Adonis, was pub
lished by Field, the averment by this
Baconian would not hold water. That
young Shakespeare was Intimately ac
qualnted with Field: that he "hung
about" his printing office upon his ar
rival in London, and met there the lm
portant literary men of the time, seems
unquestionable. , As has been seen.
Field published Shakespeare's first
poem, which may have been carried
with him from Stratford. Then, Blade,
In his book, "Shakespeare and Topo
graphy," points out that the author of
the plays must have been intimately
acquainted with topography. Blade,
for instance, points out that in four
lines in "The Winter's Tale" there are
five distinct typographical words
three of which are especially technical
Richard Field was the publisher of
the most Important literary works ot
the time, and so his office must of ne
cessity have been frequented by the
leading literary men of the metropolis.
That Shakespeare was- at hand was
proved by the fact that Field, his school
fellow, published his first work, and
furthermore that he was Intimately ac
qualnted with the printers' trade. That
Shakespeare was not discreditably en
gaged about the theater la further lm
proved by the fact, that so important a
person as the Archbishop of Canterbury
sanctioned the publication of 'Venus
and Adonis," which was inscribed to so
celebrated a person as Lord Southamp
ton, who we well know was warmly at
tached to the young poet. Surely,
Shakespeare could not have gained the
good will and patronage of such people
had he been a mere horse-holder about
the theaters of the day. And what la
further proof of this contention that
the young poet was busy at some other
pursuit than a mere hltchlng-post is
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the fact that we very soon find him en
rolled as one of the actors in one of the
leading London theaters.
Because nobody has taken the trouble
to point out these facts, and impress
tnem upon tne public mind, the so
called Shakespearean scholar has fool
ishly accepted absurd traditions, which
should long ago have been laughed out
of court, it is evident, then, that the
life of Shakespeare must be re-written
unassailable facts taking the place of
silly tradition and Baconian flapdoodle.
In the first place, we should have ample
correction of that sickening falsehood.
that the greatest poet of humanity was
tne unlettered son of a rustic butcher."
Shakespeare was neither unlettered, nor
was his father a butcher. Shakespeare's
father descended from a distinguished
and honorable family, while his mother.
Mary Arden, came from an ancient fam
ily of knights. To refer to John Shake
speare as a "rustic butcher" is to argue
yourself as being an ignoramus, or slab,
sided Baconian zealot.
All of these absurdities have been
grist to be ground up in the mills of
the greedy Baconians. The pettifogging
Greenwood was the first to see, that to
acknowledge that Richard Field ana
William Shakespeare were friends, the
E.H. SOTHERN REPLIES TO
"TRUE BLUE BACONIAN"
Actor Who Believes Shakespeare Wrote "Shakespeare" Advances More
Arguments in Answer to One Who Credits Francis Bacon.
SAN FRANCISCO, CaL, Jan. 30. (To
the Editor.) My attention has
just been called, to a letter in
The Oregonian, in which your corre
spondent, "True Blue Baconian," pro
pounds a number of questions to me In
re the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy.
"True Blue Baconian" may rest his
soul in peace in one particular I shall
not treat him with discourtesy. The
worst that need be said of him is what
Dr. Furnivall replied to one of his
kind: "Some men are born color blind
and cannot distinguish tints; those
must be born color blind that cannot
distinguish Bacon from Shakespeare."
I shall reply to the various questions
in order:
1. Lord Macaulay proclaimed Bacon a
great poet. Is this not significant?"
Lord Macaulay's opinion would be
significant were it that his opinion on
the subject might be accepted as of
value. One of the truest things that
was ever said of Macaulay. was this:
"Everybody reads, everybody admires,
but nobody believes1 Mr. Macaulay." In
Lord Bacon's works there will b found
a number of translations of the Psalms.
These translations are little else than
crude and clumsy doggerel. Here, for
Instance, are the first four lines of
Bacon's translation of the First Psalm:
"Who never gave the wicked reed
A yielding and attentive ear;
Who never sinners' paths did tread.
Nor sat him down in scorner's chair."
Can "True Blue Baconian," in the
warmth of his fervor, imagine for an
instant that these verses ever came
from the pen of William Shakespeare?
2. "Is it not a fact that Shakespeare
was unknown to the'people of his own
time except as a play.er not as a
poet?"
No. Shakespeare was known not
only as a player, but as a poet. Proof
positive of this fact is found in a
play called "The Pilgrimage to and
Return From Pernassus," printed in
1606 10 years before Shakespeare died.
In this play there Is Introduced Kempe
and Burbage, two of Shakespeare's
players. The following dialogue Is put
Into their mouths:
"Burbage A little teaching will mend
their faults, and it may be, besides,
they will be able to pen a part."
"Kempe Few of the university pen
plays well; they smell too much of
that writer, Ovid, and talk too much
of Proserpina and Jupiter. Why, here's
our fellow Shakespeare puts them all
.down, aye, and Ben Jonson, too. .Oh,
that Ben Jonson is a pestilent fellow!
He brought up Horace giving the poets
a pill, but our fellow Shakespeare hath
given him a purge that made him
bewray his credit."
I think that our friend, the- "True
1 Blue Baconian," will admit that this
Baconian theory fell to the ground. And
for Greenwood to deny that Field and
Shakespeare were intimates is too pre
posterous for words to express.
Field's . friendship for Shakespeare
had a greater part Wi the advancement
of the young poet than doubtless, has
yet been suspected. Take Richard Field
out of Shakespeare's life, and the many
speedy advancements in his career can
not be accounted for. It seems beyond
question, that, when Shakespeare left
Stratford, probably with "Venus and
Adnis" in his pocket, he went at once
to his old school fellow. Even though
he did not, which is unlikely, he was not
long in gaining the good will of his
fellow Stratfordian. That Field influ
enced Shakespeare's muse is proved by
the fact that he was tne publisher of
"Plutarclt's Lives," from which Shake
speare derived many rich dramatic ar
gosies. Curiously enough. Field's shop was
located in Blackfriars where also were
the players who, when they appeared at
Stratford, must have called at the poet's
home to secure the right to play in the
village. Among these players was
Richard Burbage, later a partner of
William Shakespeare's In the Globe
Theater.
passage serves to identify Shakespeare,
the player, as being Shakespeare, the
poet.
3. "Is It not a fact that the only
books in Stratford at the time of
Shakespeare were chained to tables in
noblemen's houses, and so Shakespeare
could not have had access to them?"
Statement Declared False.
This statement is entirely untrue.
From 1564 to the time of Shakespeare's
death. In 1616, there were over -700
printers and publishers in the city of
London, all turning out books and
pamphlets. Books at that time were
relatively cheap and England flooded
With them. This question might well
be called an "aberatlon from the path
of accuracy." Our friend is at least
100 years out of the way in his cal
culation. 4. "What significance do you give to
the fact that Shakespeare was not
mentioned In any biography of his
timer'
I give no significance to this fact,
and for the reason that there were
no biographies written during Shake
speare's time In which he could be
mentioned.
The first biographical collection in
English was Fuller's "Worthies of
England." This book was begun in
1643 and issued in 1662, and in it
Shakespeare is given prominent men
tion. The data may be accepted as be
ing authentic and, for the reason, that
Fuller was able to converse with at
least two actors who had been mem
bers of Shakespeare's company: with
Sir William Davenant, who had known
the poet as a child, and, with Thomas
Heywood. a contemporary dramatist.
But this does not mean that Shake
speare was not mentioned during his
time. I would suggest that our friend,
the "True-Blue Baconian," should in
spect Hughes' "The Praise of Shake
speare." He will then, hereafter, be
saved from asking, at least, one foolish
question less.
6. "Is it possible that a butcher's
son of 24 could have written the son
nets attributed to Shakespeare?"
Not only possible, but very likely.
Cardinal Wolsey was a butcher's son,
so also Michael Drayton. Ben Jon
son worked as a bricklayer and Mar
lowe, a shoemaker. Keats, was an
apothecary's boy and Francis Thomp
son a street-crossing sweeper In Lon
don. 6. "Shakespeare gave his second
best bed to his wife can you "marry
this to his verser"
Our Baconian friend has evidently
not taken the trouble to read Bacon's
will for. oddly enough, Francis Bacon
gave his first best bed to his servant,
Stephen Palse.
- 7. "That Shakespeare wrote his
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na-me In several ways 1 ourteen In fact
is indicative of illiteracy."
It does not indicate anything of the
sort, for it was, strangely, a habit of
the time. If Shakespeare is to be
branded as illiterate on this account,
what about the other great men of his
time? Marlowe's name occurs in 10
different spellings; Gascoigne's in 19;
Percy's in 27, and Jonson's in various
forms. Sir Walter Raleigh spelled his
name Rauley, Rauleigh, Raleghe and
Raleigh. Sir Philip Sidney and Ed
mond Spenser were guilty of the same
crime of Illiteracy.
8. "Would Francis Bacon, as Lord
Chancellor of England, be likely to
put his name to a stage play?"
Quite true; only Bacon did not be
come Lord Chancellor until two years
after Shakespeare was dead. Bacon,
however, was sent into retirement in
1621, having been found guilty of
treason. Then was the time for him to
have acknowledged the authorship of
the plays. He died 10 years after
Shakespeare, and never a whisper or
a suggestion that he had anything to
do with the sonnets Lucrece or the
plays.
9. "It is not likely that Ben Jon
son was bribed into silence?"
It is the most unlikely thing in the
world. Nothing on earth could ever
keep Ben Jonson quiet.
10. "If Ralph Waldo Emerson was
a Baconian, do you think it fair to
call us idiots?"
I do not think it fair, or good man
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ners, to call anybody an Idiot. But the
point is that Ralph Waldo Emerson
was not a Baconian. Some dishonest
person has taken a garbled sentence
from Emerson's famous "Eulogy of
Shakespeare" and attempted to make
it appear that he doubted Shakespeare
was the author of the plays. I would
advise our friend, "True-Blue Baco
nian," to read this essay by Emerson,
which will be fonud in his "Represen
tative Men."
11. "Is not Bacon and Shakespeare's
style the same?"
It positively is not. Shakespeare
often mixes his metaphor and crowds
his illusions in a way that Bacon never
did. Shakespaare never wrote in the
first person. Bacon almost always
did. It is evident that our friend, the
"True-Blue Baconian." has not read
Francis Bacon's works. Can he im
agine that Shakespeare was the author
of the following, to be found in the
writings of Bacon:
"Witches cannot hurt kings."
"The rainbow touching anything
causes a sweet smell."
"Eggs laid in the full of the moon
breed better birds."
"Bracelets made from snakes are
good for curing cramps."
"The skin of the wolf might cure the
colic, because the wolf has a good di
gestion." 'True-Blue" Held In Error.
12. "Is it not a fact that all the
great students of Bacon's works have
been of the opinion that he was the
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author of the plays attributed to
Shakespeare?"
Our "True-Blue Baconian" is here
woefully at fault. It is generally ac
knowledged that James Spedding knew
more of Bacon and his works than any
man who ever lived. Spedding was
challenged by Judge Holmes to reply
to his book, "The Authorship of
Shakespeare." In this book Judge
Holmes undertakes to demonstrate that
William Shakespeare did not, and that
Francis Bacon did, write the plays.
Spedding made the following reply:
"I have read your book on the au
thorship of Shakespeare faithfully to
the end. I must declare myself not
only unconvinced, but undisturbed.
Asking me to believe that Bacon was
the author of these dramas is like
asking me to believe that Lord
Brougham was the author of not only
Dicken's novels, but Thackeray's also,
and of Tennyson's poems besides. ' If
there were any reason slor supposing
that somebody else was the real au
thor. I think I am in a position to say
that, whoever it was, it was not
Bacon."
I trust that I have replied to True
Blue Baconian In a manner that will
not be a Jar to his' gentler feelings.
I trust that I have convinced him of
his errors and that hereafter, we may
count upon him as one of our enthusi
asitc Shakespeareans.
E. H. SOTHERX.
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