WIGSTOW 
 Discoveries in the Bacon Problem
 
 DISCOVERIES 
 
 IN 
 
 THE BACON PROBLEM 
 
 W. F. C. WIGSTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "BACON, SHAKESPEARE, AND THE ROSICEUCIANS ; " "HERMES STELLA; 
 "FRANCIS BACON, THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE." 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 TURNBULL & SPEARS, EDINBURGH 
 
 FROM WHOM COPtKS MAY UK MAI)
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In publishing this little pamphlet, I am in the position of a man 
 who is in pursuit of thieves who have robbed him. Indeed, I 
 am told it is useless my trying to recover my stolen property, 
 for the modern literary thief, having robbed an author of his 
 labours, is at liberty to blow out his victim's brains with the 
 weapon he has stolen. It is a peculiarity of the Bacon-Shake- 
 speare problem that it affords endless opportunities for the malice 
 of private enemies, and the latest form of literary persecution 
 is to extinguish a writer by means of his own discoveries and 
 writings. This is very easily effected by unscrupulous persons, 
 who, oblivious of the rights of private property, would pluck 
 out even the heart of Hamlet's mystery by prying into his port- 
 manteau or papers. To lovers of fair-play I must leave the 
 judgment, whether I have been robbed of the discoveries which 
 form the argument of the following chapters, and which, by 
 word of mouth, have been handed about London some little 
 time 1 I lay claim to these discoveries, and everybody knows 
 whence they came from. It is very easy to cut a man out 
 by means of his own labours. It may not, be a very pleasant 
 process for the sufferer, but it can be borne, for is it not his 
 own work after all? The truth of being and the truth of 
 knowing are all one.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 POLLIO AND EUPOLIS IN BACON'S "HOLY WAR." 
 
 The persons who speak in Bacon's "Holy War," which is cast 
 in the form of a dialogue, are Eusebius, Gamaliel, Zebedseus, 
 Martius, Eupolis, Pollio. Bacon opens the piece thus : " There 
 met at Paris (in the House of Eupolis) Eusebius, Zebedaeus, 
 Gamaliel, Martius ; all persons of eminent quality, but of several 
 dispositions. Eupolis himself was also present. And while 
 they were set in conference, Pollio came into them from court. 
 And as soon as he saw them, after his witty and pleasant 
 manner he said : — 
 
 " Pollio. Here be four of you, I think were able to make a 
 good world ; for you are as differing as the four elements, and 
 yet you are friends. As for Eupolis, because he is temperate, 
 and without passion, he may be the fifth essence. 
 
 "Eupolis. If Ave five (Pollio) make the great world, you alone, 
 may make the Little." (Bacon's "Holy War," 1G22). 
 
 In examining this dialogue, the first thing thai strikes one 
 (throughout the entire writing) is the prominence given to 
 Pollio and Eupolis. In the first place the meeting is in the 
 house of Eupolis. The next point to notice is the importance 
 of Pollio, who opens the dialogue and is described as coming 
 from court and as a wit. Hut, in the description of Pollio, as the 
 Little World, or Microcosm, of which Eour others are described as 
 the Great World, or Macrocosm, it is remarkable to find Eupolis 
 left out, and Pollio playing as it. were a representative part, in 
 himself. 
 
 A
 
 POLLIO A VD EC/Pi '//.s 
 
 l have already pointed out in my last work wa a 
 
 drnn i roll known. Eupolis was the name oi a Comic 
 
 right who was born B.C. 146. Like Pollio, he seems 
 
 fond of bringing <>ut his pieces anonymously or under 
 
 •• In lii- \ - ■ - he ridiculed the 
 
 handsome pancratiasl of thai name." Eupolis is Baid i" have 
 
 ;it tlii- piece under the name of Demostratus, probably 
 
 the -.inn' as Demopseetus, .1 comic ]><»-\ mentioned by Suidas (v. 
 
 Uhen. \. 216 D.). I Donaldson's "Theatre of the 
 
 i ■ Eupolis, ch. \ i. sect, i.) 
 
 hanes in the parabasis "t his Nubes, accuses Eupolis 
 
 pying his Maricas from the Equites, which bad 1 n repre 
 
 its before : — 
 
 . . . 
 
 a, : i name, 
 An 
 
 — (Nubes, i 
 
 Eupolis was a Comic playwright nearly of the same ;i,u r <' as Aris- 
 tophanes. The titles of more than t unity of his Comedies have 
 been collected by Meursius. U<- was a bold and severe satirist 
 of bis day and city. Es Eupolis introduced by 
 •i for Shakespeare by parallel, or for himself? Eupolis is 
 intei ecause as Comedist, Athenaeus ascribes to him a 
 
 play, called y.u.-j.- -■ ■ . which was, according to 
 
 Elerodian -■• Eustathius <m Iliad, ii. p. 297), a satirical 
 drama, in which the Helots, as chorus, dressed up like Satyrs 
 (Athenaeus, iv. p. 1! I in honour of Bacchus. 
 
 The student will notice the date oi "Holy War" 
 
 is 1622 and the next year 1623, the I'ii-t Collected Edition 
 
 * \ . .'•. of t}»- 1 i Pollio iii hi.L'li terms. — 
 
 .iii. 10: Hor. Cam. ii. 79: Sat. i. 10-12: Charis. i. 
 
 t Horace, " K tae," 
 
 i to liav<- brought f hia plays on the stage in tin- 
 
 name of Apollcclorus. — (Athen. v. 216 D.).
 
 IN BACON'S "HOLY WAR." 3 
 
 of the Plays are published, whilst we hear of a meeting of the 
 Kosicrucians in Paris this year. Seeing the Folio Plays must 
 have taken a long time to print, we may fairly adjudge 1622 
 as the year they were in the press. Pollio answers to Bacon, 
 inasmuch as he is a Courtier and wit. 
 
 It is to be noted Eupolis is termed the fifth essence, which 
 is a synonym for the quintessence, that is the sum total and 
 abstract of the best of the four other characters. It strikes me 
 that by the introduction of two names which were borne by a 
 Tragic and Comic Poet, we have a hint for two concealed poets. 
 For Eupolis see Fabricius (Bib. Graec, ii. p. 445, Harb.). Persius 
 calls him " iratum " : — 
 
 Audaci quicunque adflate Cratino, 
 
 Iratum Eupolidem praegrandi cum sene pallcs, &c. 
 
 —(Persius, i. 123). 
 
 Quintilian classes him with Aristophanes and Cratinas : "Plures 
 ejus auctores, Aristophanes tamen, et Eupolis, Cratinusque prae- 
 cipui (x. 88.). In the Mapixag he attacked Hyperbolus, in the 
 A-Jro'Auy.og, an Athenian so named, in the Affrpdnura Melanthius. 
 In the Ba-T<xi he inveighed against the effeminacy of his 
 countrymen. In his AaxsdaiiMvsg he assailed Cimon, accusing 
 him of an unpatriotic bias towards everything Spartan. His 
 death was generally ascribed to the vengeance of Alcibiades. 
 By his orders he was thrown overboard during the passage of 
 the Athenian armament to Sicily, B.C. 415. But Cicero refutes 
 this story ; since Fratosthenes, the Alexandrian Librarian, had 
 shown that several comedies were composed by Eupolis some 
 time after the date assigned to this pseudo-death. In this 
 point there is a parallel for the plays, for it has been shown 
 plays appeared in 102.'$, in the first folio edition (known as 
 Shakespeare), which had never been published before, and 
 comparison between the latest quartos and the folios show 
 emendations and enlargements. Eupolis it is said was divert- 
 ing in his mirth and ingenious in covert insinuation and double
 
 POLL/0 AND EUPOZJS 
 
 •• I iramatic Art and Lit."), I [e wan 
 
 onlj Id when he began to exhibit The pro 
 
 found thinker will observe how greatly this discovery (thai 
 
 ilia belonged to a celebrated dramatic and 
 
 trengthens the case of Pollio, being introduced as 
 
 mi- iii Bacon's "Holy War" for Asinius Pollio, the cele 
 
 • 1 writei dies. It can hardly bechance these two 
 
 names are introduced. For Pollio evidently wrote privately 
 
 and left bis dramatic authorship a matter of doubtful certainty, 
 
 known only to a few friends like Virgil and Horace. 
 
 ime of Eusebius, given to one of the pei in this 
 
 dialogue, is a pregnanl hint for the subject matter of the entire 
 ement of this " Holy War." For Eusebius has been justly 
 ■ ailed the father of ecclesiastical history, writing as he did 
 whilst Christianity was yet in the freshness of its morning sun. 
 His history is undoubtedly the most interesting and mosl mi- 
 nt work that appeared in the first ages of the Church. 
 But what really is to the point is, that Eusebius lived during 
 time of Constantine, and first saw him when journeying 
 through Palestine in the suite of Diocletian Augustus. In 
 ■• Holy War," Bacon introduces Constantino's motto, "In hoc 
 . ' and this motto we re-find inscribed within the 
 pentai le R< se given by the Rosicrucian Khunrath in his 
 
 It is we'll known to students of 
 
 • rid Freemasons that this motto and the sign of the 
 
 ' elected with the mystic brotherhood. Eusebius 
 
 7 mixed up with the Arian heresy, siding with 
 
 Anus. At the synod held at Nicea in Bithynia, and sum- 
 
 moned by Constantino, Eusebius had the first seat on the right 
 
 '., and in the name of the- whole synod, addressed the 
 
 Em] I tine, who sat. on a golden chair, between 
 
 of the opposite parties. Constantine honoured him 
 
 . many marks of favour. The ecclesiastical history of 
 
 bracing as it does tin- persecution of tie- early 
 
 rsion of Constantine, and the estab-
 
 IN BACON'S " HOI Y WAR." 5 
 
 lishment of Christianity, is most important and relative to the 
 subject discussed in Bacon's " Holy War." I submit, this name 
 was selected for a still more subtle reason. That is, the pro- 
 found connection known to exist between the tenets of the 
 Rosicrucians and Neo-Platonism, which flourished during the 
 period Eusebius writes upon. The doctrines of the Rosicrucians 
 have been deduced by some profound writers from Animonius 
 Saccas, whom Eusebius mentions (Book vi. ch. xix.) ; and Origen, 
 who was a student of Plato, also comes under notice. In short, 
 this history, containing the lives of Apollonius, Simon Magus, 
 Constantine, and other writers, is conspicuously Rosicrucian in 
 its sources and period.
 
 (HAITI i; II. 
 BACCHUS AND WINK IS SYMBOLS OF DRAMATIC INSPIRATION. 
 
 Bacon writes: "But, as Philocrates sporteth with Demos- 
 thenes, you may nol marvel (Athenians) thai Demosthenes and 
 I do differ; for he drinketh water, and I drink ioim (Bk. II., 
 xxii. 16, ].. 216, "Two Bks., Adv." Aldis Wright). 
 There is no mistake about this hinl for poetry or the drama. 
 . in his essay upon Truth, gives us the key or proof of his 
 meaning. He writes thus:— "One of the fathers, in greal 
 ity, called poesy vinum dcemonum,* because it filleth the 
 imagination, and yet it i< bu1 the shadow of a lie." Jerome (a 
 father)— possibly to whom Bacon refers, calls the works of 
 of demons." In Plato's " Republic'' (ii. -"»77) is to 
 and a similar view of poetry. And for poetry and truth 
 the whole discussion (ch. x. 595-608). St Augustine calls 
 ■mi erroris ab ebriis dodoribus propinatum (Gonfes. i. 16). 
 The passage in .leronie runs (in one ni his letters to Damasus) 
 'Dcemonum cibus est carmina poetarum " (Epist. 146). Cor- 
 nelius Agrippa combines both these citations (Do Incest, c. 4). 
 • the "De Falsa Legatione" of Demosthenes, p. 
 
 " And bo we mast repeat <>f ourselves (especially us it hits off the 
 readily) that jest, that 'water-drinkers ami wine-drinkers cannot 
 
 ly tliink alik<-.' For all other men, both ancientB and moderns, have in 
 drunk a crude liquor like water, either springing spontaneously 
 Uect nr drawn ap by logic, as by wheels from a well. But 
 iik and pledge our neighbours in a liquor made from countless grir/»s, 
 ivd gathered by clutters : CKF8HET) intiti: wine- 
 am- LASTLY, PIKED AXD CLARIFIED in Tin: vat. And so no wonder 
 if we I - ich in common with others" (exxiii. Book I., "Aphorisms 
 
 on the Interpretation of Nature." " Novum Organum.").
 
 SYMBOLS OF DRAMATIC INSPIRATION. 7 
 
 355. It is very worthy of note that Bacon introduces again 
 this story in his "Novum Organum " (i. 123), expressly for the 
 purpose of illustrating how his own method or philosophy 
 (which he compares to wine), and the philosophy of his own times 
 differ. Dionysus or Bacchus as God of the Vine, grape and 
 wine, was the originator of the vintage and Goat-songs, which 
 gradually from choruses became the arts of Comedy and 
 Tragedy. 
 
 Bacon writes : " Wherefore I do conclude this part of moral 
 knowledge, concerning the culture and regiment of the mind; 
 wherein if any man, considering the parts thereof, which I have 
 enumerated, do judge that my labour is but to collect into an 
 art or science that which hath been pretermitted by others, as 
 matters of common sense and experience, he juclgeth well : but 
 as Philocrates sported with Demosthenes, ' You may not marvel, 
 Athenians, that Demosthenes and I do differ, for he drinketh 
 water, and I drink wine.' And like as we read of an ancient 
 parable of the two gates of sleep — 
 
 Sunt geminre sonini portffi, quarum altera fertur 
 Cornea, qua veris facilis datur exitus umbris : 
 Altera candenti perfecta nitens elephanto, 
 Sed falsa ad coelum mittunt insomnia manes : 
 
 so if we put on sobriety and attention, we shall find it a sure 
 maxim in knowledge, that the more pleasant liquor of wine, is 
 the more vaporous, and the braver gate of ivory sendeth forth 
 the falser dreams" (p. 215-216, xxii. 16, Book II. "Advance- 
 ment of Learning," Aldis Wright). 
 
 This is a most important passage, so important that, indeed, 
 if there existed no other indication of Bacon's mind save this, it 
 would suffice to prove he was profoundly conversant with the 
 Mysteries of the Ancient Poets, and had discovered some secret 
 relationship between Virgil's "Georgics" and the sixth hook of 
 the " Aineid," from which Bacon quotes, because Bacon's " Cul- 
 ture and regiment of the Mind," which he terms Db GrEORGICIS 
 ANIMI, is clearly borrowed for its title from Virgil's " Georgics."
 
 AND WINE AS 
 
 And the double reference t" Wink, with which the passage is 
 
 mint, i- undoubtedly ;i profound hint for the Theatre or 
 
 [ins, the li 1 '• ots using the word Wine frequently 
 
 nym for poetic inspiration and dramatic enthusiasm. The 
 
 stud. m will also observe the important and Btriking fact that 
 
 the Philocrates and Demosthenes touching water and 
 
 is introduced with purpose by Bacon. Aldis Wrighl points 
 
 out in his ni'tr- thai this Btory is made use of by Bacon in the 
 
 "N< ■ ■■ Organum"(i. 123) for illustrating th differenct bet 
 
 ■In/, which li> compares to wine, and the philosophy 
 which was current in his time (p. 32 1-322, notes, A. Wright, 
 " Two 1'" of ] ■ aj ning "). 
 
 The passage cited from Demosthenes is closely connected with 
 the Theatre, for it was in the Theatre of Dionysus thai Demos 
 thenes was to accept the crown. ' " Athenians," 1 said, " it' any 
 of this comes true, be sure you praise and honour and crown 
 men, and not m ; but if it turns out differently, lei them 
 ntment. lam out of it altogether." "Don't be 
 out of it now," said J'.srliinr-, interrupting; "mind yon don't 
 want to !»■ in it another time ''Certainly," said 1, "or 1 
 should be acting unfairly." At which Philocrates rose in a 
 flippant manner and said. " No wonder, men of Athens, thai 1 
 and Demosthenes agree nol in opinion, for he drinks water, 
 
 I drink mm " and you laughed.' ("De Falsa Legati 
 
 ]>. 355, and Bohn, vol. ii. 133.) 
 
 "It i> to Wine," says Athenaeus, "thai the invention of 
 
 matic pieces is due; they were attributed to Icaria during 
 
 the vintagi Athen., lib. ii. cap. 3). According to Rolle, al 
 
 Athens, in the Temple of Rhea, there was a spot consecrated 
 
 under the name of Olympias, where a hole was shown through 
 
 which it was supposed the waters of the deluge of Deucalion 
 
 ped, and where every year honey was poured. It was added 
 
 that Deucalion built this temple, and it was believed Deucalion 
 
 had been at Athens. Close to this temple the tomb of Deucalion 
 
 pointed out (" Diod. Sic," lib. v. p. 223). It is well to point
 
 SYMBOLS OF DRAMATIC INSPIRATION. o 
 
 out one of Bacon's fables of the Wisdom of the Ancients is upon 
 Deucalion (Rolle, p. 159, 160, vol. iii.). Another is upon 
 Icarus. 
 
 Aristotle assures us that tragedy derived its invention from 
 the Dithyrambs which were sung in honour of Bacchus. There 
 was no species of poetry more ancient than Dithyrambie poetry. 
 It was a kind of poetry which was supposed to be composed in 
 the intoxication inspired by the God Bacchus, whom it cele- 
 brated, and Bacchic fury was indispensable for its composition. 
 Athenseus quotes this passage from Archilochus : — " Oui, je sais 
 entonner un brillant dithyram.be en l'honneur de Bacchus, lorsque 
 jai'le cerveau foudroye par le vin." And this other passage of 
 Epicharmus in his Philoctetus : — " II n'y a pas de dithyrambe 
 ou Ton ne boit que de l'eau." — (Rolle, p. 511-513, vol. iii., vide 
 "Athen. Deipnos.," lib. xiv. cap. 6). 
 
 Rolle writes : " La tragedie etoit uniquement consacree a 
 Bacchus " (" Schol. Arist. Rom." v. 406 ; Tacitus, lib. ii. ; Rolle, 
 p. 195, vol. iii.). Even the Actors were consecrated to Bacchus : 
 " Les acteurs appeles," riyj7rai biovuftaxoi (artists or workmen 
 of Bacchus), " formoient a Athunes un corps nombreux et im- 
 portant." When they quitted the theatre they laid their masks 
 in the temple of Bacchus — 
 
 Quisnam dixerit puer ? 
 
 Quod Baccho teniplum, ulii personam adpenduntur. 
 
 Horace invokes Bacchus as the God of Poetry. 
 In the " Knights " of Aristophanes we read : — 
 
 Nicias. It is best for us to drink bull's blood, for the death of Themistooles 
 is preferable. 
 
 Dem. No, by Jove, but pure xoinc to tlic good genius;* for possibly we 
 may hit upoa some good thought. 
 
 Nicias. "Pure Wine" — see now ! Are your thoughts, then, on the wine ! 
 How could a mau when drunk hit upon any happy device ? 
 
 Dem. Is it so, fellow ? You are a trifling, bubbling water-drinker. Have 
 you the audacity to abuse wiue as an enemy to the intellect? What than 
 
 The "good genius" was Bacchus {vide Potter, vol. ii, p. 379).
 
 (< , 7;7'.s AND WINE AS 
 
 ... < tame, 1 t'll you, 
 oaf bubbling -\ bumper of pure wine, 
 
 \ i! • tiki' tin' cup of libatien, and offer it in tin' name of tin' 
 
 1' \ Rolle writes in his " Recherches sur le Culte de Bacchus": 
 
 '• , ilit Athcnee, que I6n doit Vinvention des pieces 
 
 • •lies fluent imaginces .1 [carie, bourgade de 
 
 I'Attique, pendant les vendanges" (p. 160, vol. iii., vid< Athen., 
 
 lil>. ii. cap. •">!. "Lea partisans d'Euhemere pr<5tendoien1 que 
 
 bus avoil lui-mdme invente les Theatres «'t Lee pieces 
 
 dramatiques, qu'il avoil ■ t .i l >1 i des ecoles de musique, <|u'il 
 
 ptoil de boutes fonctions militaires dans bos armies " (76. 
 
 '• Diod. Sic." iv. 2). 
 
 B cchus was surnamed Maroneus, after the wine: — 
 
 uravi tantum Marona, nee bibi. 
 
 Vi< : i M irom o fo datus lumina Baccho. 
 
 (Tibull. lib. iv. . Eleg. i. v. 57.) 
 
 Rolle writes: "Les fetes de Bacchus cele'brees par les poetes, 
 . toienl aussi solennelles que celles qu'ils ce'le'broienl <•]] I'honneur 
 d'Apollon, mais avec cette difference, qu'ils Be couronnoient de 
 lierre au lieu de laurier, et qu'ils faisoienl des libations de vin 
 .-in- ses autels. 
 
 Tu tamen •'• sacris bederse cultoribua unum 
 Numine debueraa Bustinuisse tuo. 
 
 (OvH. Eleg. iii. lib .">, v. 15.) 
 
 "Perse, dans son prologue, abandonne les deites de la pfile 
 
 ne, les habitans de I'Helicon, a ceus donl un lierre flexible 
 
 jse les images. On placoil dans les bibliotheques les statues 
 
 (.11 les bustes des poetes illustres, el ils etoient couronnes de 
 
 lierre. tels Etoient ceuxqui ornoienl le beau portique qu' Anguste 
 
 avoit fuit construire dans le temple d'Apollon, sur le monl 
 
 Palatin. I.- pontes chantoient en I'honneur de Bacchus un 
 
 hvinne Bolennel. lis le cel/'broient Burtoul pa/rce que le rin 
 
 issi Bacchus avait-il le Burnom de A/oatrxa?.o; 
 
 (pp. 212-213, voL iii, Rolle).
 
 5 YMBOLS OF DRAMA TIC INSPIRA TION. 1 1 
 
 Bacon's profound distinction between Water and Wine is fully 
 explained and illustrated by the poet Horace : — 
 
 Nulla placere din nee vivere carmina possunt 
 Qua; scribuntur aqua; potoribus. 
 
 (Horat., lib. i., Epist. 19.) 
 Martial, in the same sense, writes : — 
 
 Possum nil ego sobrius : bibenti 
 SuccuiTunt mihi quindecim poetse. 
 
 ("Epig.,"lib. ii.) 
 In the "Anthology ": — 
 
 Yinum est instar equi gestat tollitque poetas. 
 
 (" Antbol. Grrec.," lib. i.. Epig. Soter.) 
 Pindar writes : — 
 
 Audax est ad poculum senno. 
 Lucian : — 
 
 Pariter cum vino ingrediente loquendi accedit tiducia. 
 The name Bacchus is derived by some from the Eolian word 
 fta.Ti.yia, ftorpvg, a bunch of grapes, and the Athenians, according 
 to Hesychius, called Bacchus Theoinios, and his festivals Theonia. 
 The prize of Comedy was a jar of wine and a basket of figs. 
 
 In Bacon's Essay upon Judicature, he writes : " Qui fortiter 
 emungit elicit sanguinem, and where the wine-press is hard 
 wrought, it yields a harsh wine, that tastes of the grape stone." 
 The following is Mr ttpedding's translation of a passage in 
 the De Augm. : " Certainly as we find it in wines, that those 
 which flow freely from the first treading of the grape are 
 sweeter than those which are squeezed out by the wine-press, 
 because the latter taste somewhat of the stone and the rind ; so 
 are those doctrines most wholesome and sweet which ooze out 
 of the Scriptures when gently crushed, and are not forced into 
 controversies and common places." 
 
 This throws light upon Bacon's epithet of Vintages in the 
 "Novum Organum." This proves he understood and applied 
 the word and its connotations to the extracting of doctrines or 
 interpretation out of his own writings. Applying as it does to 
 Bacchus and the drama, nothing could be more apposite for the 
 Theatre.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BACON An All \ \\m R I in i . i : I \ l. 
 
 Bai >n writes: "Bui if any ono of ripe age, unimpaired sen 
 and purified mind, would apply himself bo Experience and bo 
 Particulars anew, better hopes might be entertained of him. 
 A n< 1 herein we promise ourselves the fortune of Alexander the 
 • -. and let no one charge us with vanity before he hears 
 the result, which has in \ iew the putl ing off of all vanity. 
 
 •• Foi concerning Alexander and his exploits -iEschinea spoke 
 thus : • We certainly do not live the life of mortal men, bul are 
 born t'> the end thai posterity may relate and declare wonders 
 concerning us "' (Aph. xcvii. bk. L, "Nov. Org."). 
 
 Alexander the Great, in his conquesl of India, proposed 
 Bacchus as his model, and during >i.\ days his soldiers cele- 
 brated bhe feasts of thai God with all the excesses of intoxica- 
 tion. Alexander the Great imitated Bacchus. For the latter, 
 having collected an immense army, consisting both of men and 
 women, Bet out for the conquest of India. Instead of spears 
 and shields, his broops were armed with drums and bhyrsuses. 
 This riotous broop spread universal consternation, but bhe 
 intention of [Bacchus being only bo beach the cultivation of the 
 vine, he was everywhere received as a benignant deity. Bacon 
 writes : " When a youth, he first introduced the cultivation and 
 dressing of vines, the method of preparing wine— whence be- 
 coming famous, he Bubdued the world, even to the utmost 
 bounds of the Indies" (Dionysus). 
 
 Bacon's self-comparison bo Alexander the Great is again made 
 upon pa-.- 55 (mispaged ■<:',)><{ tin- "Advancement of Learning" 
 oi 1640. In his Distribution Preface, he declares : "Wecome 
 not a.- Augurs bo measure countries in our minds, butas Captains
 
 BACON AS ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 13 
 
 to invade them for a conquest." I am convinced Bacon's self- 
 parallel with Alexander is intended as a side hint for Alexander's 
 'pomp of Bacchus, — that is the Theatre, and its presiding God 
 or genius. 
 
 Plutarch writes : — " With much difficulty Alexander traversed 
 this country in sixty days, and then arrived in Gedrosia. There 
 he found provisions in abundance ; for besides that the land is 
 fertile in itself, the neighbouring princes and grandees supplied 
 him. After he had given his army some time to refresh them- 
 selves, he marched in Carmania for seven days in a kind of 
 bacchanalian procession. His chariot, which was very magnifi- 
 cent, was drawn by eight horses. Upon it was placed a lofty 
 platform, where he and his principal friends revelled day and 
 night. This carriage was followed by many others, some 
 covered with rich tapestry and purple hangings, and others 
 shaded with branches of trees fresh gathered and flourishing. 
 In these were the rest of the king's friends and generals, crowned 
 with flowers and exhilarated with wine. 
 
 "In this whole company there was not to be seen a buckler, 
 a helmet, or spear ; but, instead of them, cups, flagons, and 
 goblets. These the soldiers dipped in huge vessels of wine, and 
 drank to each other, some as they marched along, and others 
 seated at tables, which were placed at proper distances on the 
 way. The whole country resounded with flutes, clarionets, and 
 songs, and with the dances and riotous frolicks of the women. 
 This disorderly and dissolute march was closed witli a very 
 immodest figure, and with all the licentious ribaldry of the 
 bacchanals, as if Bacchus himself had been present to carry on 
 the debauch." — (Alexander.) 
 
 It has been truly said of Alexander the Great, " Not less in 
 art than by his wonderful undertakings has he acquired the title 
 of 'The Great.' He was the greatest promoter of ail that the 
 Avorld has ever seen, and all the artists of his time shared his 
 munificence." The mother of Alexander the Great is said to 
 have wandered about at the foot of Pieria, with the Mimalloncs
 
 .; V AS ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 
 
 of Bacchus, and of her son it was Baid, "thai he would make 
 the statue of * hrpheua to -w eal ." 
 
 Hence may be -rru the reason Bacon introduces the fable of 
 Pan in his " De lugmentis " on the heels <>i' Stage Plays. The 
 expedition « » t" Bacchus, ;it the head <>t an army, into the East, is 
 described as <>t' men and women armed with thyrsuses and 
 cymbals, accompanied by Pan, Silenus, and ;ill the Satyrs, In 
 the history of Pan is t" be found a myth thai goes back i«> 
 \ idia, and is closely related to that of Silenus, for the Satyrs 
 sometimes called Sileni. Midas pretended thai Silenus 
 instructed him in the orgies <>t Bacchus. 
 
 K. < >. Muller writes, "The Bwarms <if subordinate beings, 
 -. Pans, and Nymphs by whom Bacchus was Burrounded" 
 (p. 289, vol. i., " I-it. of Aik i.-iit Greece"). 
 
 l*]M>n page 53, "Merry Wives of Windsor," we find the 
 line : — 
 
 Hang-Hog is latin for Bacon, I warrant you. 
 
 Upon page ^ v . " King Henry the Fifth," we find Alexander 
 called a pig: — 
 
 . What call you the town's name where Alexander tin pig was 
 I 
 
 •. Alexander the Grea 
 
 . Why. I pray you, is not pig great! The pig, or the great, or 
 the mighty, or the huge, or the magnanimous, are all one reckonings, save 
 the i . . little variation. 
 
 p. I think Alexander the Great was born in Macedon. 
 
 This is, I consider, a case of Induction, of which the plays are 
 
 full, [f Hog is Latin for Bacon, and Alexander is a pig (or Hog), 
 
 then Bacon stands for Alexander, and vice versd. 1 should nol 
 
 dream of suggesting such an apparently inconsequenl deduction, 
 
 if I did nol | abundanl evidence that otic of Bacon's 
 
 ids of opening up the plays (or Instauration as an entire 
 
 duction by analogy. The student will find, on 
 
 il collation, this sort of relationship <>r identity by a middle 
 
 term most frequent in the plays, if he uses a Concordance.
 
 APPENDIX FOR PAGE 8. 
 
 In the De Corona, the decree of Ctesiphon respecting the 
 crowning of Demosthenes, directs, that the Crown should be pro- 
 claimed in the theatre at the Dionyxia — or festival of Bacchus. 
 ./Eschines reproached Demosthenes with being too vain to be 
 content with the applause of his own fellow citizens, since he 
 must needs have the crown decreed him proclaimed at the 
 great Dionysia when all Greece was present ("Contra. 
 Ctesiph.," vol. iii. p. 469, Orat. Att., Oxford). It is there- 
 fore very easy to perceive that Philocrates made a smart hit 
 at Demosthenes when he exclaimed: "He chinks water and I 
 drink wine " — implying Demosthenes had no right to be crowned 
 at the Dionysia. For ./Eschines and Philocrates were colleagues, 
 the former belonging to the theatrical profession, and when 
 Demosthenes says: "If any of this comes true, be sure you 
 praise and honour and crown these men, and not me, I am out 
 of it altogether " — he is inviting the smart letort : " No wonder, 
 men of Athens, that I and Demosthenes agree not in opinion; 
 for he is out of it altogether, and does not drink wine" — i.e., 
 does not belong to the theatrical profession at all. To under- 
 stand all this properly, it must be understood that the great 
 rival of Demosthenes, ^Eschines, objected on these grounds to 
 the crowning of Demosthenes in the Theatre of Bacchus, as if 
 he were a dramatic writer, who had won in the contests the 
 ivy wreath or crown given. In the Oration on the Crown, 
 ./Eschines is ridiculed by Demosthenes as playing third parts, 
 and assisting his mother in the rites of l'>.uclni>.
 
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