_Question_. What is your opinion of Ignatius Donnelly as a literary
man irrespective of his Baconian theory?
_Answer_. I know that Mr. Donnelly enjoys the reputation of being
a man of decided ability and that he is regarded by many as a great
orator. He is known to me through his Baconian theory, and in that
of course I have no confidence. It is nearly as ingenious as
absurd. He has spent great time, and has devoted much curious
learning to the subject, and has at last succeeded in convincing
himself that Shakespeare claimed that which he did not write, and
that Bacon wrote that which he did not claim. But to me the theory
is without the slightest foundation.
_Question_. Mr. Donnelly asks: "Can you imagine the author of
such grand productions retiring to that mud house in Stratford to
live without a single copy of the quarto that has made his name
famous?" What do you say?
_Answer_. Yes; I can. Shakespeare died in 1616, and the quarto
was published in 1623, seven years after he was dead. Under these
circumstances I think Shakespeare ought to be excused, even by
those who attack him with the greatest bitterness, for not having a copy
of the book. There is, however, another side to his. Bacon did
not die until long after the quarto was published. Did he have a
copy? Did he mention the copy in his will? Did he ever mention
the quarto in any letter, essay, or in any way? He left a library,
was there a copy of the plays in it? Has there ever been found a
line from any play or sonnet in his handwriting? Bacon left his
writings, his papers, all in perfect order, but no plays, no sonnets,
said nothing about plays--claimed nothing on their behalf. This
is the other side. Now, there is still another thing. The edition
of 1623 was published by Shakespeare's friends, Heminge and Condell.
They knew him--had been with him for years, and they collected most
of his plays and put them in book form.
Ben Jonson wrote a preface, in which he placed Shakespeare above
all the other poets--declared that he was for all time.
The edition of 1623 was gotten up by actors, by the friends and
associates of Shakespeare, vouched for by dramatic writers--by
those who knew him. This is enough.
_Question_. How do you explain the figure: "His soul, like Mazeppa,
was lashed naked to the wild horse of every fear and love and hate"?
Mr. Donnelly does not understand you.
_Answer_. It hardly seems necessary to explain a thing as simple
and plain as that. Men are carried away by some fierce passion--
carried away in spite of themselves as Mazeppa was carried by the
wild horse to which he was lashed. Whether the comparison is good
or bad it is at least plain. Nothing could tempt me to call Mr.
Donnelly's veracity in question. He says that he does not understand
the sentence and I most cheerfully admit that he tells the exact
truth.
_Question_. Mr. Donnelly says that you said: "Where there is
genius, education seems almost unnecessary," and he denounces your
doctrine as the most abominable doctrine ever taught. What have
you to say to that?
_Answer_. In the first place, I never made the remark. In the
next place, it may be well enough to ask what education is. Much
is taught in colleges that is of no earthly use; much is taught
that is hurtful. There are thousands of educated men who never
graduated from any college or university. Every observant, thoughtful
man is educating himself as long as he lives. Men are better then
books. Observation is a great teacher. A man of talent learns
slowly. He does not readily see the necessary relation that one
fact bears to another. A man of genius, learning one fact, instantly
sees hundreds of others. It is not necessary for such a man to
attend college. The world is his university. Every man he meets
is a book--every woman a volume every fact a torch--and so without
the aid of the so-called schools he rises to the very top.
Shakespeare was such a man.
_Question_. Mr. Donnelly says that: "The biggest myth ever on
earth was Shakespeare, and that if Francis Bacon had said to the
people, I, Francis Bacon, a gentleman of gentlemen, have been taking
in secret my share of the coppers and shillings taken at the door
of those low playhouses, he would have been ruined. If he had put
the plays forth simply as poetry it would have ruined his legal
reputation." What do you think of this?
_Answer_. I hardly think that Shakespeare was a myth. He was
certainly born, married, lived in London, belonged to a company of
actors; went back to Stratford, where he had a family, and died.
All these things do not as a rule happen to myths. In addition to
this, those who knew him believed him to be the author of the plays.
Bacon's friends never suspected him. I do not think it would have
hurt Bacon to have admitted that he wrote "Lear" and "Othello,"
and that he was getting "coppers and shillings" to which he was
justly entitled. Certainly not as much as for him to have written
this, which if fact, though not in exact form, he did write: "I,
Francis Bacon, a gentleman of gentlemen, have been taking coppers
and shillings to which I was not entitled--but which I received as
bribes while sitting as a judge." He has been excused for two
reasons. First, because his salary was small, and, second, because
it was the custom for judges to receive presents.
Bacon was a lawyer. He was charged with corruption--with having
taken bribes, with having sold his decisions. He knew what the
custom was and knew how small his salary was. But he did not plead
the custom in his defense. He did not mention the smallness of
the salary. He confessed that he was guilty--as charged. His
confession was deemed too general and he was called upon by the
Lords to make a specific confession. This he did. He specified
the cases in which he had received the money and told how much,
and begged for mercy. He did not make his confession, as Mr.
Donnelly is reported to have said, to get his fine remitted. The
confession was made before the fine was imposed.
Neither do I think that the theatre in which the plays of Shakespeare
were represented could or should be called a "low play house."
The fact that "Othello," "Lear," "Hamlet," "Julius Caesar," and
the other great dramas were first played in that playhouse made it
the greatest building in the world. The gods themselves should
have occupied seats in that theatre, where for the first time the
greatest productions of the human mind were put upon the stage.
--_The Tribune_, Minneapolis, Minn., May 31, 1891.