Among the most industrious in
this deposing scheme, have been Miss Delia Bacon and Mr. Nathaniel Holmes,
who concur in attributing his best plays to Francis Bacon. That Bacon did
not acknowledge his own work, they say, is because he rated the dramatic
art too far beneath his dignity to confess any complicity with it. In
short, he and other great men of that day wrote immortal works which they
were ashamed of, and were willing to father upon the common actor and
stage-manager, one William Shakspeare!
While it is not within the scope of this volume to enter into the
controversy, it is a duty to state its existence, and to express the
judgment that these efforts have been entirely unsuccessful, but have not
been without value in that they have added a little to the meagre history
by their researches, and have established the claims of Shakspeare on a
firmer foundation than before.
WHAT IS KNOWN.--William Shakspeare (spelt _Shackspeare_ in the body of his
will, but signed _Shakspeare_) was the third of eight children, and the
eldest son of John Shakspeare and Mary Arden: he was born at the beautiful
rural town of Stratford, on the little river Avon, on the 23d of April,
1564.
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