Shakespeareans was that Bacon had not claimed the authorship of the
Plays. That argument, if it has not now been thrown down, is, at least,
suspended. The existence of the bi-literal cipher which Mrs. Gallup
preaches, though vigorously attacked, has not yet been exploded. But
if the cipher which contains these claims is verified, in the face
of all circumstantial evidence that prove the claims to be baseless
and preposterous, we are practically convicting Bacon of one of the
greatest and most impudent literary frauds that was ever perpetrated.
Yet that is what I am prepared to find is the case. Nor am I without
warrant for holding this opinion. When the existence of the bi-literal,
and the word-cipher has been acknowledged, we shall find that there are
four other forms of cipher, the “Capital Letter; Time, or as more oft
called, Clocke; Symboll; and Anagrammaticke ... which wee have us’d in
a few of owr bookes.” These ciphers are now being applied to decipher
other messages which Bacon sent down the ages by this secret medium. Of
the nature of these claims, I am, at the moment, unable to speak, but
I am in a position to say that the contents are more sensational than
any that have yet been revealed. The absolute proof of the authorship
of the Plays is promised--but again we shall get no more than what
Bacon considered constituted proof. In reality, it will form part
of a gigantic fraud committed by one of the cleverest men that ever
lived, it will disclose the flaw in “the most exquisitely constructed
intellect that has ever been bestowed on any of the children of men;”
it will prove, up to the hilt, the madness of Francis Bacon.
FINIS.
_E. Goodman & Son, Phœnix Printing Works, Taunton._
Works by the same Author
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A HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA
THE DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA
_SECOND EDITION._
THE
EXPLORATION OF AUSTRALIA
_SECOND EDITION._
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Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not
changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
Page 37: Paragraph beginning “In spite, however, of all positive
evidence to the contrary” contains an unbalanced quotation mark.
Page 56: Removed an unmatched single quotation mark just before “the”
in “Imagine Juliet as the party, loved”.
Page 63: Paragraph beginning “The inaccurately described bi-literal
cipher” contains an unbalanced quotation mark.
Page 69: Closing quotation mark added at the end of the two-line verse
beginning with “So long as men can breathe, or eyes”.
Page 99: Paragraph beginning “Even at the risk of wearying my readers”
contains an unbalanced quotation mark near the end of the paragraph.
Page 119: Paragraph beginning “Spedding, himself a genius” ends with an
unbalanced quotation mark.
End of Project Gutenberg's Bacon and Shakespeare, by Albert F. Calvert