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THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
THE 
 
 COLUMBFS OF LITERATURE 
 
 OR, 
 
 BACON'S 
 
 MW WORLD OF SCIENCES. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. F. C. WIGSTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 A New study of Shakespeare," "Bacon, Shakespeare and the Rosicrucians, 
 " Hermes Stella," " Francis Bacon, Poet, Prophet and Philosopher." 
 
 And now ^ve have Tvitli a small bark, sncli as we were able to 
 Bet out, sailed about the universal circumference, as well 
 of the old as the new, World of Sciences, with how pros- 
 perous winds and course, we leave to posterity to judge. 
 {Book ix. p. 467, Advancement, 16M. ) 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 TE & CO., : 
 298 Dearborn Street. 
 
 F. J. SCHULTE & CO., PUBLISHERS. 
 
Copyright, 1892, 
 By W. F. C. WIGSTON. 
 
 ^^i^^J,t.^.^^M^ /^^^ 
 
GREAT CLASSICAL SCHOLAR 
 
 AND 
 
 UNFAILING FRIEND, 
 
 Sir Stewart JVIacnaughten, 
 
 OF 
 
 BITTERN MANOR. SOUTHAMPTON, 
 This Work is Dedicated 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1 our 
 
 M639207 
 
COETENTS. 
 
 CHAPTKK. rxas. 
 
 Introduction - - 9 
 
 I.— The Tempest 33 
 
 II. — Bacon's Advancement of Learning, 1640 - 49 
 III — Father Paul and Father Fulgentio, Francis- 
 can Friars of Venice - - - - - 71 
 IV. — Pan, Dionysus or Bacchus, and Perseus (Bacon's 
 three fables illustrating parabolical 
 Poesy and Stage Plays in the '^DeAug- 
 
 MENTIS") 82 
 
 V. — The Comedy of Errors - - - - - - 108 
 
 VI. — Midsummer Night's Dream and Bacon's Thir- 
 teenth Deficient of a New World of 
 
 Sciences, or Magia Naturalis - - - 129 
 
 VII. — Bacon's New World of Sciences - - - - 140 
 
 VITI.— Title Page Engraving of Advancement of 
 
 Learning ------- 155 
 
 IX. — Ben Jonson's Discoveries or Explorata - - 161 
 
 X. — Cipher — Continued ------ 169 
 
 XL — Measure for Measure ------ 184 
 
 XII. — The Kosicrucians - 192 
 
 XIII. — Gorhambury and Verulam 212 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This work follows close upon the heels of Mrs. Henry Pott's re- 
 markable work, Francis Bacon and His Secret Society. I venture to 
 cherish the hope, some of the chapters in this work of mine, may 
 throw fm'ther light upon her theories; and prove a humble corollary 
 to her book. The arrangement of my chapters, it must be confessed, 
 are somewhat erratic, but not without design and method. The 
 first chapter is intended to point out the fact, that there are 
 Rosicrucian affinities and parallels in Tlie Tempest, showing 
 the author of the plays was well acquainted with the Utopian 
 literature, which finds its reflection in the New Atlantis. In the 
 fact. Bacon corresponded with the martyr. Father Fulgentio, we 
 obtain a powerful hint as to his sympathies with the Reformation, 
 and a proof he was secretly in communication with a wide move- 
 ment abroad, which could at that period only be furthered by means 
 of a secret society or brotherhood. I am in hopes my notes upon 
 the water-marks in some of Bacon's works may throw a further light 
 upon. Mrs. Pott's plates in her learned work. 
 
 This work has been written to stimulate curiosity, and excite 
 interest, in just those works of Bacon's, which are hardly known at 
 all. I refer to the Advancement of Learning of 1640, which is the 
 first English edition of the De Augmentis of 1623. This valuable 
 and rare book is difficult to obtain, and has never been reprinted. 
 It is really the only work of Bacon's which contains the ground 
 plan, method and proportions of the Instauration as a whole. It 
 was written for the " better opening up, " or unlocking of the 
 Instauration, which latter was, I maintain, a perfectly complete and 
 developed scheme in Bacon's mind, connected with the second half 
 of his works missing, and which latter are described as examples of 
 inquisition and invention. It is, indeed, a most remarkable thing, 
 that no one, with the exception of Delia Bacon, has pointed out, or 
 recognized the fact, the Instauration is not merely a design widely 
 directed toward inductive research in science and nature generally, 
 but also a purely creative scheme, perfect in its apprehension, and 
 borrowed from the six days of Genesis, as a god in art might be 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 humbly imitating creation. All Bacon's works massed together, 
 are as nothing to this one work I refer to, in the Distribution Pref- 
 ace of which, he unlocks his intentions, in guarded language, but, 
 nevertheless, with assured confidence of his designs. 
 
 This book is founded upon three great principles, — History, 
 Poetry, Philosophy, — which he respectively terms Memory, Imagina- 
 tion, Reason. And on a table or platform of the design of the work, 
 we find the entire structure of the third principle. Reason or Philos- 
 ophy, emanating and aflShated upon the former two, bracketed 
 together as History and Poesy, or Memory and Imagination. When 
 we further examine his treatment of the philosophy, we find it has 
 nothing whatever to do with metaphysics, or philosophy in its gen- 
 erally accepted sense, but find it a strictly inductive method of dis- 
 covery, by means of parallels, analogy, logic, and a great method of 
 ciphers, which are to deliver the things invented, — whatever they 
 may be, — by means of memory or recollection. All this is involved 
 in the subtlest possible language, and has been written with two dis- 
 tinct objects, — reserve and secrecy, — discovery and penetration of 
 his design. His own words to Doctor Playfer establishes this fact, 
 and the critic who questions my theory, must explain why Bacon 
 wrote this work first in English, and had it translated into Latin, 
 reserving the Enghsh version for a posthumous publication % Was 
 he afraid of a premature discovery of its real character ? Why should 
 he write a work of this sort in obscure language? Why, was it 
 to " choose its reader? " Why was it to " fly too high over men's 
 heads?" What is the design hidden behind the fourth, fifth and 
 ^ixth parts of the Instauration ? It is quite impossible to convey 
 to the reader any idea of this work, unless he has it by his side to 
 collate my statements and study them further. The curious part 
 of all this is, even Englishmen well acquainted with the Two Books 
 of the Advancement of Learning of 1605, know nothing, or next to 
 nothing; of the DeAugmentis, (Bacon's chief work,) which embraces 
 the Instauration, as a whole with parts, and with a distinct end or 
 aim (by discovery) hidden under its mispaging, its strange italicizing, 
 its dark language and its inspired character. Critics who deny any 
 poetic inclinations to Bacon's mind, seem oblivious of the astonishing 
 fact this work is mainly based upon poetry, although entitled the 
 Partitions of the Sciences. Did Bacon consider poetry a science ? Yet 
 he distinctly states poetry, " to be a play of wit, " and not a science. 
 In this self-same work ! It is not as the imagination of the scientific 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 mind he introduces poetry, but as stage-plays, and dramatical or rep- 
 resentative poetry upon pages 106, 107, corresponding to the num- 
 bers of the columns of the comedies and histories upon which we 
 find the word Bacon, and Francis, twenty-one times ! 
 
 Another great mystery pertaining to the Instauration is its per- 
 fectly divided character; that is, it consists of two globes or hemi- 
 spheres, compared to the old and new worlds. This book of the 
 Advancement of Learning I refer to, deals entirely with the Intel- 
 lectual Globe or New World of Sciences, of which we absolutely know 
 nothing, being concerned entirely with the three missing parts of the 
 Instauration, generally supposed to have never been completed by 
 Bacon. What object had Bacon to veil his language with regard to 
 these Prostermitted Parts, which he states he " onlp coasts along " ? 
 What part has Bacon's Wisdom of tM Ancients to play in the Instau- 
 ration as a whole ? And here, let me remark, those critics who ques- 
 tion Bacon's poetic predilections receive another rebuff; for Bacon 
 terms this collection, examples of parabolical poesy, and the pieces 
 consist of just those classic subjects which the Latin poets, — like Ovid, 
 for example, — selected for their poems. Why embrace this collection 
 in his New World of Sciences f My object is to point out, these 
 Deficients are always introduced in cautious, guarded language, 
 behind which some profound design lies obscured. The human 
 mind is so framed that, unless attention is directed and ques- 
 tions asked upon certain points, it blanches and passes over 
 everything difficult, as if it did not exist. The difference between 
 perception and sense (one of Bacon's Deficients) is immense. All 
 art is an appeal to sense, and the highest art is to cheat sense at 
 the expense of perception. Bacon presents us, at the commence- 
 ment of his Distribution Preface, }\x^t the sort of hint we should 
 take in studying his works and his designs. He writes : " For the 
 nakedness of the mind, as once of the body, is the companion of 
 innocence and simplicity " (p. 22). This follows on the heels of the 
 statement " that everything be delivered with all possible plainness 
 and perspicuity. " How are we to reconcile these paradoxes, which 
 run through the entire work? They will easily be understood 
 directly the world recognizes the fact Bacon intended to come down 
 invisible to posterity as a god in art. Directly the literary world 
 seriously apprehends the nature of this, the greatest literary 
 problem the world has ever seen, as the spiritual hidden behind 
 art, waiting for us to interpret it and to understand nature by its 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 light, <i thousand unheeded facts, a thousand hints by parallel, by 
 cipher and analogy, will be discovered. For nothing is spiritually 
 discerned without faith and toil, and a text may be studied a 
 thousand times ere it yields up its secret. Just consider for a 
 moment how, only a few years ago, Mr. Smith first started the 
 theory of the Bacon authorship of the plays with about a dozen 
 parallels. This was deemed too extravagant a theory to 
 obtain decent hearing, but was relegated to that class of insanity, 
 allied to circle-squaring. Since then hundreds of works have ap- 
 peared, each contributing some new parallel, — some fresh indica- 
 tion in the same direction. " The cry is, still they come, " and they 
 will soon arrive so quickly, that the world will rub its eyes and won- 
 der it was never discovered before. That is the nature of the 
 spiritual in the world, that we cannot apprehend it, unless directed 
 by others to do so, or accustomed by education and discipline to 
 search for it. I take it, one of Bacon's complete objects was to 
 bring this lesson directly home to our minds, that we are most 
 assured of what we are most ignorant of, and that nature is infi- 
 nitely more subtle than the senses of man. His doctrine of the four 
 idols of the mind, which obstruct and confuse the intellect, is all 
 part and parcel of this, my theory. It was only by examples of art, 
 and discovery by posterity, he could illustrate in full force his teach- 
 ing. One of the idols of men's minds has been Shakespeare, and I 
 think it highly probable, from the character of Bacon's mind, he 
 foresaw such a lesson could be taught on those points by self-sacri- 
 fice, as would efi'ect a revolution in men's ways of hastily judging 
 and accepting conclusions upon insufficient grounds. The probability 
 Shakespeare wrote the plays, does not fulfill the terms of a true 
 induction. Men have before, like the author of Junius, denied and 
 obscured their authorship ; tradition, like authority, is a mere idol 
 of the understanding, which has enslaved men's minds for hundreds 
 of years in every department of thought, in religion, government, 
 society, science, and still rules the intellect as a form shapes a soft 
 substance. It has been said '' Give a lie a quarter of an hour's start 
 and who shall overtake it I" But what of those lies branded in for 
 centuries from father to son, from generation to generation ! Prej- 
 udice in everything, that is the nature of human thought. There 
 is only one education worthy of the name, and that is allied to inde- 
 pendence and freedom of the intellect. Shelley rightly declared half 
 his^ life had been spent in unlearning what he had been taught. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 There is only one word for all this, it is slavery of the intellect — 
 summed up in the old proverb, " To cure the ears is most difficult ! " 
 Bacon, I submit, knew very well, that all the writing in the world 
 would not cure this ingrained evil, nor could it be cured by any per- 
 saasions. Examples, by means of art, are quite on a different platform 
 — and that is what he intended to illustrate by. 
 
 With regard to the Comedy of Errors, and Midsummer Nighfs 
 Dream, it is just here the critic will fall upon me. But I beg to 
 state, my chapters on those two plays are merely written in a spirit 
 of humble suggestion, and require each a volume to themselves 
 instead of a few brief pages. Because I have not made out my case 
 with regard to my theories, in a complete or satisfatory fashion, it 
 does not follow somebody else may not better my instructions. The 
 Dream is the profoundest play ever penned, and is as philosophical 
 as nature itself, and I am convinced that the fairy element has been 
 intended to represent the occult, invisible spiritual powers behind 
 the curtain of nature's theatre, — in short, the magical, or rather 
 the intellectual in nature. 
 
 With regard to the Rosicrucians, I wish to say I do not intro- 
 duce this subject from a vulgar desire to appear to know more than 
 I do know, or from the impostor's standpoint of mysticism. Th^re 
 is excellent evidence of various kinds, some published already, some 
 unpublished and most important, that Bacon was the head of the 
 brotherhood. And I am advancing and pushing a theory that 
 admits the approval of such authorities as Mrs. Henry Pott, the Hon. 
 Ignatius Donnelly, and even criticism has gone so far as to allow, the 
 cipher problem stands or falls with the allied theory of the Rosicru- 
 cian source of the plays. [" Notes and Queries, ^^ on^^ Bacon, Shake- 
 speare and the Rosicrucians. "] I held the intention of publishing in 
 this work certain evidence, which would, I am convinced, establish 
 the theory on firm ground once and forever. But as I am running 
 great risk of losing whatever is of importance in this work by pi- 
 racy, or clever forestatement by theft, I shall wait before I place 
 all my eggs in one basket. It is the interest of all literary people 
 taking some intellectual pleasure in this problem, to see justice is 
 done to an author's claims whilst going through the press. These 
 sort of things cannot be kept quiet, and everybody knows, 
 when two claims to the same discovery, upon such a recondite 
 problem, spring up together, at the same moment (though it be even 
 in distant places), some sort of direct or indirect plagiarism, or, 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rather, theft, has been going on. Those who cannot discover for 
 themselves anything in this problem, feed their malice by discount- 
 ing the discoveries of others. But all right-minded people, and 
 literary men of honor, who recognize the risks, labors and difficulties 
 attending publication of these cipher mysteries, know very well 
 whence stolen property comes from. The reader cannot believe 
 me so simple as not to be aware my claims to my own discoveries 
 maybe questioned, and my chief enemy may be my own labors. It 
 is hard to be forestalled and ridiculed where one should be pro- 
 tected, but I am not the sole person interested in this matter, but 
 all who come after me. It is easy to devise expedients to meet the 
 evil, such as typewriting and copyriglit thereon, but this cannot 
 checkmate any unscrupulous person setting up counterclaims by 
 proxy in other countries or in Europe. Besides, these things, like 
 ill-fame, travel fast, and the world, at first cynical and incredu- 
 lous, dubs the same person fool, who, a moment before, was 
 called an impostor. I say, I have well weighed and fore- 
 seen all this, but in spite of it all, I accept the sacrifice, if so 
 it be, with the example of Francis Bacon before me, who toiled 
 on without a hope of earthly reward for the sake of humanity. 
 
 Here let me remark, the study of Bacon's works is a very 
 serious task, and requires infinite more patience, toil and loving 
 attention than can be adequately even suggested. There are per- 
 sons and even students, who imagine once they have read a few 
 times Bacon's Essays, two books of the Advancement of Learning, 
 1605; History of King Henry the Seventh, and otherwise peeped 
 into his Natural History, imagine they are in a position to form 
 opinions upon Lord Bacon's ends and aims, and decide ex cathedra, 
 upon the problem and mystery of the plays. I am sorry to say 
 there are even persons who arrogate to themselves the position in 
 England of being representative Baconian men, who may be in- 
 cluded in this category. Anybody professing to understand the 
 Instauration without knowledge of the De Augmentis (and particu- 
 larly of its translation, 1640, which dififers from it), maybe com- 
 pared to one studying Hamlet with the Prince left out. As 
 Kuno Fischer states, the De Augmentis (1623), is the ground plan 
 of the Instauration, and explains Bacon's scheme as a whole. Yet 
 there are men who have never read Bacon's De Augmentis, and 
 never seen the Advancement of Learning of 1640 (which they con- 
 
INTEODUCTION. 15 
 
 fuse frequently with the two books of 1605), who, nevertheless, 
 imagine they are familiar with Bacon's works. 
 
 Again, very few people are aware that each edition of Bacon's 
 Essays differ as to text. The editions of these Essays began 
 1597, 1607, 1612, 1625, 1638, and all these five editions vary, —there 
 being nineteen hundred alterations in five, six or even seven diflfer- 
 ent editions. To study this sole branch would be a very serious and 
 laborious matter, yet without a perfectly exhaustive collation of 
 these several editions, with the plays, no one can say he knows 
 Bacon. Another man will think, if he possesses Spedding & Ellis' 
 excellent edition of Bacon's works, he is fortified with all that is 
 needful, — quite and utterly ignorant of the fact that Spedding's 
 edition leaves out entirely a great number of Bacon's posthumous 
 pieces, and what it does give is presented in a mangled and mutilated 
 form ; besides, for cipher discoveries, these works are useless. Even 
 the Latin text of many works by Bacon materially differs from the 
 English version ; that is, a great deal may be gathered from one 
 which cannot be from the other. For example, of the Fourth Part 
 of the Instauration missing (which was to consist of types and 
 models of invention as examples in certain subjects, to which the 
 Baconian logic was to be applied), how much is learned by the 
 Latin text. Bacon using the word Plasmata to express models. 
 Plasmata appears to be a word connected with models formed in 
 wax or clay and to be thus connected with the potter's wheel. 
 
 The theory I have held all along, and which I am convinced 
 will prove ultimately the right one, is that the true direction to 
 search for proof of the authorship of the plays, is in Lord Bacon's 
 works, in conjunction or marriage with the plays. The idea that 
 Bacon (if he wrote these plays), should have planned nothing in con- 
 nection with them of a key nature, or as explanatory of his rightful 
 claim as author is absurd. If these plays are not bound up with the 
 entire Instauration, it is useless to imagine a cipher exists alone in 
 the 1623 folio. The greatest and most conclusive proof of Bacon's 
 authorship of these plays, is to find collusions, parallels and cipher 
 congruities between them and his prose or acknowledged works. 
 The particular work of Bacon's to study, is therefore the one contain- 
 ing the ground plan and entire scheme of the Instauration as a 
 whole. That is embraced and contained solely in the Latin Dd 
 Augmentis, published the same year as the plays, 1623, and con- 
 tains not only a rational inductive design, based on poetry and 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 history, but is largely made up of a great book of secret methods of 
 the delivery, or discovery of knowledge, by means of ciphers. The 
 Latin version was originally written by Bacon in English and trans- 
 lated into Latin by Doctor Playfer and others. Bacon, during his 
 lifetime, never gave the world the original English edition. But 
 after his death, in IGiO, a supposed translation of the Latin is issued 
 under the auspices of the University of Oxford, and with a declaration, 
 under the frontispiece portrait of Bacon, that the Universities had 
 fulfilled (in publishing this English edition) a vow promised {voto 
 suscepto), to the author living ( vivus). This work bears in every line 
 evidence of Bacon's unique and profound style. It is largely mis- 
 paged, and experts upon printing assert this mispaging could not 
 have been accidental. There is little doubt from ^he translator's 
 preface, it was written by Bacon himself, and reserved for safety's 
 sake, for a posthumous publication. It is therefore the most impor- 
 tant work Bacon ever wrote, and I hold it is the key-work to the 
 entire Instauration, as well as to the authorship of the plays. Upon 
 the second title page we find this motto, which is a profound hint 
 for the mathematical and orderly disposition of the work, in relation 
 to subject matter and secret cipher : 
 
 " Deus omnia 
 
 In mensura, et numero et ordine 
 
 Disposuit. " 
 
 This is borrowed from Solomon, and signifies, the author (like the 
 Almighty Architect of the universe) has " disposed all things in 
 proportion, number and order. ''^ 
 
 One of Bacon's Deficients of A New World of Sciences is entitled, 
 Georgics of the Mind, and deals with the basis of the drama motive, 
 that is, ethic rightly employed, in tragedy and comedy. This is to 
 be found in his seventh book of his D3 Augmentis, and described in 
 these words : 
 
 *' We will briefly re-examine and endeavor to open and clear 
 the springs of moral habits, before we come into the doctrine of the 
 Culture or Manurance of the Mind, which we set down as 
 Deficient." (p. 337, Lib. VII., Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 Throughout the plays we find a vast collection of metaphors, 
 applied to character, in an agricLiltural sense as weeds, herbs, etc., 
 which I have pointed out in my last work, Francis Bacon. Parallel 
 the above with this from Hamlet : 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 Hamlet. Confess yourself to heaven ; 
 Repent what's past; avoid what is to come, 
 And do not spread the compost on the weeds, 
 To make them ranker. 
 
 (Hamlet, act iii. 4.) 
 
 A work might be filled to illustrate these Georgics of the Mind, 
 applied in the plays to virtue and vice, and it is evident Bacon 
 borrow^ed this idea and title from Virgil's Georgics, which are dedi- 
 cated to Ceres, Apollo, and Bacchus, the classical protagonists of 
 the drama. It is just these Deficients which we are to work out in 
 harmony with the interpretation of the plays, and which I intro- 
 duce here as an example of the connection between Bacon's New 
 World of Sciences and his Instauration as a whole. The dramatic 
 or classical bias of Bacon's mind is made evident by a thousand 
 parallels. For example, the fifth and sixth centuries of Bacon's 
 Sylva Sylvarum, or Natural History, deal with trees, plants and 
 vegetables, and are evidently in touch with Virgil's second Georgic, 
 dedicated to Bacchus or Dionysus, the protagonist of the drama, 
 upon arboriculture : 
 
 Nunc te, Bacche, canam, nee non Silvestria tecum 
 Virgulta et prolem tarde crescentis Olivse. (2.) 
 
 It is highly probable Bacon's title, Sylva Sylvarum (or Wood of 
 Woods), is borrowed from this Georgic. I hope in my next work to 
 be able to prove Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum, is the Deficient entitled 
 a Mechanical History, and is really a great cipher commentary or 
 dictionary in collusion with the plays, and constructed of endless 
 particulars, all in inductive connection with each other and the 
 folio 1623 text. It is this work, I take it, which is really also 
 understood under the Deficient Venatio Panis or Literate 
 Experience. There are one thousand experiments numbered in the 
 natural history by Bacon. I have sufficiently proved (for myself, ) the 
 numbers of some of the experiments, are in cipher touch with 
 the text in the plays. But this is too subtle and too elaborate a 
 theory to do more than just hint at here, nor can I afford space to 
 illustrate, at present, this discovery. 
 
 The two illustrations given in this work, represent Temple House, 
 Gorhambury Park, Hertfordshire, as it once existed, and as it now 
 stands, a mere ruin. This house was built by Sir Nicholas Bacon, 
 father of the illustrious chancellor, about the date 1564, and it was 
 here Queen Ehzabeth was wont to pay her Lord Keeper visits, on 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 one occasion of which, Francis Bacon being asked "by the Queen his 
 age, rephed, " He was so many years younger than her Majesty's happy 
 reign." The house was constructed, tradition reports, out of the 
 stones of the ruins of the old Abbey of Saint Albans, and it was 
 reduced to its present condition when the house of the existing 
 family, — the Lords Grimston, was constructed in the years 1775- 
 1778. The illustration, representing its perfect state, is taken from 
 an old history of Hertfordshire, bearing date a few years previous 
 to its destruction. 
 
 The preseent ruin is hardly recognizable in the illustration of 
 the house as it once proudly stood. The reason for this is explained 
 by the circumstance, that the chief parts now left standing, consti- 
 tuted the inner side of a court, or quadrangle within the main build- 
 ing, on the right side of the perfect engraving. These are the ruins 
 of a hall, and a lofty octagonal tower, which are all that remain of 
 the one seen in the other picture in a complete state. This hall, 
 appears from Aubrey's manuscripts, to have been richly ornamented 
 in the splendid style of the age. Aubrey describes this hall, as hav- 
 ing '* a large story, very well painted, of the feast of the Gods, 
 where Mars is caught in a net by Vulcan. On the wall over the 
 chimney is painted an oak, with acorns falUng from it, with the 
 words Nisi quid potius; and on the wall over the table is painted, 
 Ceres teaching the sowing of corn, with the words Moniti Meliora.^^ 
 In the garden, close to the house, was a statue of Orpheus, and one 
 of King Henry VIII., part of the latter, but without a head, still 
 remaining. The wall in which the statue of King Henry VIII. stood, 
 formed part of a noble piazza or portico, and can be distinctly seen 
 in the complete illustration of the unruined mansion, on the left, 
 indicated by a succession of niches or recesses. The ruins are situ- 
 ated upon an eminence, commanding a noble prospect of the park, 
 which is richly covered with fine timber, — a remarkable old oak 
 tree, hollow from age, known as the 'Kissoak,^ standing within a few 
 hundred yards of the remains. A more beautiful or more romantic 
 site than this is not to be found in all England, quite independently 
 of its historical associations as the home of Francis Bacon. 
 
 There are a considerable number of trifles in the 1623 folio plays, 
 showing the writer was well acquainted with both the history and 
 neighborhood of Saint Albans, Lord Bacon's home. For example, 
 in the second part of King Henry the Sixth, we find the death of the 
 Duke of Somerset at the battjle of Saint Albans, underneath an 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 ^^ Ale-house' paltry sign, the Castle in St. Albans.''^ The duke had 
 heeu warned to beware of castles, and the prophecy is fuhilled by 
 his death at St. Albans, underneath an ale-house, whose sign was 
 that of the Castle. 
 
 Richard. So lie thou there, 
 For underneath an Ale-house paltry sign. 
 
 The Castle in St. Albans, Somerset 
 
 Hath made the wizard famous in his death. 
 
 {2 King Henry VI., act v. so. 2.) 
 
 This is a trifle which reveals local knowledge ; so also does the 
 play of Cymbeline, whose coins have been abundantly unearthed 
 upon the site of ancient Verulam. 
 
 In Camden's Brittania he writes {Conjecture upon British Coins), 
 describing certain early British coins, of which there are plates : 
 
 *' The first is Cunobelins, who flourished under Augustus and 
 Tiberius, upon which (if I mistake not) are engraven the heads of 
 a two-faced Janus ; possibly because at that time Britain began to 
 be a little refined from its barbarity. The second, likewise, is 
 CuNOBELiNS, with his face and name; and on the reverse, the 
 mint-master, with the addition of the word Tascia, which in 
 British signifies a tribute-penny (as I am informed by D. David 
 Powel, a man admirably skilled in that language), perhaps from 
 the Latin taxatio, for the Britain s do not use the letter X. The 
 third is also the same Cunobelins, with a horse and Cuno, and 
 with an ear of corn and Camr, which seems to stand for Cama- 
 LODUNUM, the palace of Cunobelin. The fourth, by the Ver, seems 
 to have been coined at Verulam. The fifth, likewise, is Cunobelins. 
 The seventh, which is Cunobelins, with this inscription, Tase 
 Novanei, with a woman's head, I dare not positively affirm to 
 have been the tribute-money of the Trinovantes, who were under 
 his government; Apollo, with his harp, and the name of Cunobelin 
 on the reverse, being to my mind what I have somewhere observed 
 of the god Belinus ; namely, that the ancient Gauls worshipped 
 Apollo under the name of Belinus. And this is confirmed by 
 Bioscorides, who expressly says that the Herba Apollinaris (in the 
 juice whereof the Gauls used to dip their arrows) was called in 
 Gaulish Belinuntia. From which I durst almost make this infer- 
 ence, that the name of Cunobelin, as also of that of Cassibelan, 
 came originally from the worship of Apollo, as well as Phcebitius 
 and Delphidius. The twentieth is of Cunobeline, son of Theo- 
 mantius, nephew to Cassibelan, by the British writers called Kymbo- 
 LiNE. (pp. Ixxxviii. xciii.) 
 
 How closely the author of the play of Cymbeline had studied all 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 this, may be inferred from the allusions to the tribute money, to be 
 paid the Romans, to be found in the text : 
 
 Cymheline. Well ; 
 My peace we will begin. And, Cains Lucius, 
 Although the victor, we submit to Caesar, 
 And to the Roman empire, promising 
 To pay our tvonted tribute. (Act v.) 
 
 Cym. Now say, what would Augustus Csesar with us ? 
 
 Luc. When Julius Caisar, whose remembrance yet 
 Lives in men's eyes and will to ears and tongues 
 Be theme and hearing ever, was in this Britain 
 And conquer'd it, Cassibelan, thine uncle, — 
 Famous in Csesar's praises, no whit less 
 Than in his feats deserving it, — for him 
 And his succession granted Rome a tribute. 
 Yearly three thousand pounds, which by thee lately 
 Is left untender'd. (Act iii. sc. 1.) 
 
 In The Gossiping Guide to St. Albans, by Charles Henry Ash- 
 down, F. R. G. S. (1891), describing the ancient city of Yerulam, or 
 Verolanium : 
 
 " It is believed that the ancient Britons lived on this spot for 
 many centuries before Christ; they built a town, dug the ditch, put 
 up palisades where those walls are, made covered ways out of it for 
 their cattle, and were reigned over by many princes, whose coins 
 we find in the soil, one of whom was the Cymbeline of Shakespeare. " 
 (p. 24.) 
 
 This is endorsed by the word '^ Ver " found upon one side, and 
 " Tascia '' on the other, of Camden's fourth coin. 
 Mr. W^alker writes of Camden's first coin and plate: 
 
 " I am not satisfied in the first of Mr. Camden. If it be a Janus, 
 I had rather apply it to the shutting of Janus^ temple by Augustus, 
 in wJiose time Cunobeline lived at Borne ; and both himself and the 
 Britains were benefited by that general peace. " (xcii.) 
 
 Now this is indeed very remarkable, and may account for the 
 apparent anachronism of the introduction of Jupiter in the play. 
 It may be noted Posthumus goes to Borne. The play concludes with 
 repeated references to peace : 
 
 Cym. Laud we the gods ; 
 
 And let our crooked smokes climb to their nostrils - 
 From our blest altars. Publish we this peace 
 To all our subjects. Set we forward: let 
 A Roman and a British ensign wave 
 Friendly together : so through Lud's-town march : 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 And in the temple of great Jupiter 
 
 Our peace we'll ratify ; seal it with feasts. 
 
 Set on there ! Never was a war did cease, 
 
 Ere bloody hands were wash'd, with such a peace. 
 
 (Act V.) 
 
 It seems pretty certain the author was well acquainted with the 
 exact history of King Cymbehne and the shutting of the temple of 
 Janus. The same writer adds : 
 
 " The twentieth coin is of Cunobehne, son of Theomantius, 
 nephew to Cassebelan ; by the British writers called Kymboline (or 
 Cymbeline), on the reverse a Sphnix, a figure so acceptable to 
 Augustus that he engraved it upon his seal." (lb.) 
 
 The student may observe how the play of Cymbeline lays 
 between Rome and Britain, with frequent introductions of Augustus 
 Caesar. 
 
 I may, I suppose, deliver myself of a conjecture, which recom- 
 mends itself to my imagination ? It is, that Bacon selected this 
 period, and this king, as fit subjects for a terminal play, with the 
 object of bringing his art into touch with the classical world, of 
 which, indeed, it is a restoration. Ben Jonson recognized this, and 
 moreover, I think Cymbeline not only brings the play locally home to 
 Bacon, but stands as a representative Apollo, affiliating England 
 with Italy and Rome in the past. 
 
 In the chapel of Sopwell Nunnery, St. Albans, Henry VIII. and 
 the unfortunate Anne Boleyn were privately married, at least so 
 says tradition. This Sopwell Nunnery was founded by Geoffrey.de 
 Gorham (whose abbey gave its name to Bacon's ancestral seat, 
 Gorhambury Park), sixteenth abbot of St. Albans. In the play of 
 King Henry VIII. may be found introduced Dunstable and 
 Ampthill, two neighboring towns, — the former about six miles 
 from St. Albans, — showing local knowledge on the poet's part. 
 Not only (as has already been pointed out by others) did Wolsey 
 afford Bacon a perfect parallel for his own disgrace and fall, but in 
 the fact, he was endowed as Abbot and Prelate of Saint Albans, 
 was locally, so to speak, associated with the poet. The two salient 
 features of the play of King Henry the Eighth are the rise and fall 
 of Anne Boleyn and Cardinal Wolsey, both of these historical 
 characters being curiously associated with St. Albans. Then, 
 again, what an enormous local interest gathers about Saint Albans 
 in the War of the Roses, two of its most famous battles being fought 
 within the town. And all this we find reproduced in the Chronicle 
 
22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Plays, St. Albans being introduced as the scene of the miracle worked 
 by good Duke Humphry, Duke of Gloucester, who was buried in 
 the Abbey. The only incidents relating to Warwickshire in the 
 plays, are the allusions to Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote Park, in 
 The Merry Wives of Windsor, and to Wilmecote in the Taming of 
 the Shrew. But it is not generally known Bacon was cousin to the 
 Lucy family, some letters written to Sir Thomas Lucy by Bacon 
 being extant. And with regard to the reference to Wilmecote put 
 in Christopher Sly's mouth (in the Taming of the Shrew), it is plain 
 Sly is a portrait of an impostor, set up to personate a nobleman, as 
 a jest, in relationship to actors. The references to Warwickshire, 
 put in Sly's mouth, are, I maintain, fine touches of local coloring 
 probably pointing at Shakespeare and to the traditions which say he, 
 had an acquaintance by name of Sly. But is it likely Shakespeare 
 would recall these incidents of his own life, or introduce a drunken 
 peasant, like Sly, as a portrait of himself? 
 
 A volume might be written to show the author of the Plays, was 
 a man who had been educated and saturated not only in classical 
 learning, and in courtly society, but evidently was acquainted with 
 state-craft, and possessed that wide political view of government 
 only to be gathered from the society of statesmen, all of which it is 
 unlikely the circumstances of Shakespeare's life could furnish or 
 allow of. 
 
 There can be little doubt the poet associated himself with the 
 imagery of the Swan. Ben Jonson wrote : 
 
 Sweet Swan of Avon ! What a sight it were 
 To see thee in our water yet appear, 
 And make those flights upon the hanks of Thames 
 That so did take Eliza and our James. 
 
 (Folio 1623.) 
 
 The Globe Theatre, where the plays of Shakespeare were acted, 
 stood near Blackfriars, close to the banks of the Thames, and in the 
 following passage from Bacon, may be perceived not only a profound 
 allusion to the Swan, but to some river also, as a hint possibly for 
 the theatre near it. Bacon opens this subject as follows : 
 
 '^ As for lives, when I think, thereon, 1 do find strange that these 
 our times have so little known, and acknowledged their own virtues; 
 being there is so seldom any memorials or records of the lives of 
 those who have been eminent in our times. For although kings 
 and such as have absolute sovereignty may be few: and princes in 
 free commonwealths are not many; yet, however, there hath not 
 been wanting excellent men (though living under kings) that have 
 
INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 deserved better, than an uncertain and wandering fame of their 
 memories, or some barren and naked eulogy. For herein the inven- 
 tion of one of the late poets, whereby he hath well enriched the 
 ancient fiction, is not inelegant. He feigns that at the thread of 
 every man's life, there was a medal or tablet, whereon the name of 
 the dead was stamped ; and that time waited upon the shears of the 
 fatal sister, and as soon as the thread was cut, caught the medals, 
 and carrying them away, a little after threw them out of his bosom 
 into the river Lethe. And that about the bank there were many 
 birds flying up and down that would get the medals ; and after they 
 had carried them in their beaks a little while, soon after, through 
 negligence suffered them to fall into the river. Amongst those birds 
 there were a few swans found, which if they got a medal with a name 
 they used to carry it to a certain temple consecrated to immortality. 
 But such swans are rare in our age. " 
 
 (p. 96, Advancement of Learning, 1640. 
 
 There can be very little doubt to an unprejudiced and reflective 
 mind, Bacon is presenting us in this passage, a profound hint for the 
 memory and records of one who was eminent in his own times, as yet 
 to be written. This image, Bacon presents jis of the Swan is the 
 most tremendous hint possible for Poetry, seeing Swans were sacred 
 to Apollo, the God of Poetry and Song. It was for this reason Ben 
 Jonson terms Shakespeare ^^ Sweet Swan of Avon.''"' But let the 
 reader study the entire passage cited, and what does he find ? He 
 will perceive the entire extract turns upon the oblivion suffered by 
 names (or title rights) stamped upon medals, which others got hold 
 of and carried about a little while. The whole of the passage cited 
 points at some difficulty, connected with the rescue of the name and 
 fame of some poet from oblivion. '^Will somebody assist us as to 
 whom Bacon refers, with regard to the invention of one of the late 
 poets f " 
 
 With regard to my chapter upon Measure for Measure I desire to 
 remark, I have only just touched lightly a subject which requires a 
 volume to itself. To illustrate my thesis fully would necessitate a 
 vast number of quotations from Bacon's religious and moral writings, 
 all of which would go to show he was a cabalist, and held profound 
 and mystic tenets concerning creation, the fall of man and the first 
 sin. No enlightened or educated person in these days understands 
 the parable of the temptation and fall literally, or otherwise than a 
 parable ; and to those who may consider my theories extravagant, I 
 say, read St. Augustine's fifteenth book of the City of God upon this 
 subject, and Sir Thomas Brown's Enquiries into Vulgar Errors ; 
 and even such modern writers as Madame Blavatsky, in her Secret 
 
24 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Doctrine, inculcates similar doctrines. Bacon undoubtedly held 
 peculiar views upon this subject, and considered the occasion of the 
 fall to have been a moral lapse. 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 " It was that proud and imperative appetite of moral knowledge, 
 with an intent in man to revolt from God, and to give laws unto 
 himself, which was indeed one project of the primitive temptation. ^^ 
 (page 18 Preface Instauration.) 
 
 Those who are acquainted with that profoundly learned work 
 of the Secret Doctrine, by Madame Blavatsky, will there find incul- 
 cated something very akin to this, viz., that the state of man on 
 earth has not always been what it is now; that there was a time, 
 prior to the fall, when the continuation of the human race 
 rested on different principles ; that man took upon himself to be 
 his own creative God, and to depend entirely on himself, and that 
 this was the fall. 
 
 There are certain points with regard to Bacon's religious and 
 moral views, which may seem contradicted by my theory of the class- 
 ical tendencies and teachings I postulate, applied to the plays, and 
 suggesting heathen opinions. But I take it, these seemingly op- 
 posed views are theosophically reconcilable, seeing that the restora- 
 tion of the Gnosis of antiquity has for object a grand synthesis of 
 principle, which underlaid the classical mysteries just as much as it 
 did Christianity. The Gnosis is that secret knowledge, or doctrine 
 concerning the soul, and origin of man, which has existed from the 
 hoariest antiquity, and which has been overlaid and obscured by 
 parables or allegory, ceremony and forms, traditions and denomina- 
 tions. It can be distinctly traced to the East, going to Ephesus, 
 which became the center of the secret doctrines of Persia and India, 
 and these culminated in the worship of Diana, giving rise to the 
 sects of the Manichees and Gnostics, and finally it was recovered in 
 its perfect form by the Rosicrucians. To restore that Secret Doct- 
 rine is the aim of the Theosophists, of whom Madame Blavatsky 
 was the head, and are now represented by Mrs. Besant. 
 
 There are others who, like Doctor Maitland, whilst being per- 
 meated with the spirit and belief in Christianity, and all that ema- 
 nated from Christ, are striving to recover what went before and led 
 to it, and who perceive Christianity was nothing new, except in 
 form and delivery, but that something anterior existed, enshrined 
 in the teaching of secret societies like the Essenes to whom Christ 
 belonged. My belief is Bacon was profoundly imbued with this 
 
INTBOBUCTION. 25 
 
 knowledge, and sought to embalm it in art, for delivery to after ages 
 by what he terms ' tlie handing on of the Lamp for posterity^ ; that is, 
 the transmission of certain secret doctrines, which have been pre- 
 served in the works of such great poets as Dante, Virgil and even 
 Homer. In Virgil's sixth book of the ^neid may be found just what 
 I postulate; that is, the history of initiation into the Eleusinian 
 mysteries and the philosophy taught therein, — all of which is a 
 sort of ancient Freemasonry. The great poets in all times and 
 ages, have been the guardians and transmitters of these mysteries, 
 and the wanderings of Ulysses by Homer, belongs to the same cate- 
 gory, being a history of the soul, combined with a history of the 
 race, that is to say, in the adventures of Ulysses we have presented 
 to us parables and allegories of every description, some relating to 
 the temptations of the flesh and the transformations or disguises 
 of the spirit, as in the incidents of Calypso and Circe, others again 
 being historical and dim echoes of the explorations of mankind in 
 a vast prehistoric past, when probably as much of the world was 
 known and open to navigation as it is now. 
 
 It has been the fashion to talk of i)aganism, as synonymous with 
 everything that went before Christ, and to include the Greeks and 
 Komans in the category of heathens, but it is forgotten, how full of 
 most excellent morality, is much of the best classical writing of the 
 best men, like Socrates, Seneca and Cicero. The latter was initiated 
 into the mysteries, and can we not gather from the following pass- 
 ages what may be classed with the highest Christian ethic ? 
 
 '' How various were those sufferings of Ulysses, in his long con- 
 tinued wanderings, when he became the slave of women (if you 
 consider Circe and Calypso as such): and in all he said he sought 
 to be complacent and agreeable to everybody, nay, put up with 
 abuses from slaves and handmaidens at home, that he might at 
 length compass what he desired ; but with the spirit with which he 
 is represented, Ajax would have preferred a thousand deaths to 
 suffering such indignities.'' {Cicero's Offices, ch. xxxi.) 
 
 Again : 
 
 " For listen, most excellent young men, to the ancient speech of 
 Archytas of Tarentum, a man eminently great and illustrious, 
 which was recorded to me when I, a young man, was at 
 Tarentum with Quintus Maximus. He said that no more deadly 
 plague than the pleasure of the body was inflicted on men by 
 nature ; for the passions, greedy of that pleasure, were in a rash 
 and unbridled manner incited to possess it; that hence arose 
 treasons against one's country, hence the ruining of states, hence 
 clandestine conferences with enemies: in short, that there was 
 
26 INTBODUGTION. 
 
 no crime, no wicked act, to the undertaking of which the lust of 
 pleasure did not impel; but that fornications and adulteries and 
 every such crime, were provoked by no other allurements than 
 those of pleasure. And whereas either nature or some god had given 
 to man nothing more excellent than his mind; that to this divine 
 function and gift, nothing was so hostile as pleasure : since where 
 lust bore sway, there was no room for self restraint ; and in the 
 realm of pleasure, virtue could by no possibility exist. And that this 
 might be the better understood, he begged you to imagine in your 
 mind nny one actuated by the greatest pleasure of the body that 
 could be enjoyed ; he believed no one would doubt, but that so long 
 as the person was in that state of delight, he would be able to con- 
 sider nothing in his mind, to attain nothing by reason, nothing by 
 reflection : wherefore that there was nothing so detestable and so 
 destructive as pleasure, inasmuch as that when it was excessive and 
 very prolonged, it extinguished all the light of the souV^ 
 
 {On Old Age, ch. xii.) 
 
 Lastly, I should hke to observe, the study of Lord Bacon's works 
 and these plays, deserve the earnest attention and application of 
 the best heads upon both sides of the Atlantic, seeing they promise 
 us a new gospel, or rather explanation and restoration of all that 
 has been preserved from the shipwreck of ancient mystery sources — 
 whether it be in the Bible, in the Classics, or in the Kabbala. If 
 one or two heads only, have hitherto already discovered a few things 
 of value, how much more of greater interest may be gathered, when 
 there is some sort of collaboration and systematized labor given to 
 the problem ! This mystery is entitled to the same sacrifice of time 
 and labor we give to the study of a science, or to the acquiring of 
 three or four languages, and the result is certainly framed on a 
 larger scale of promise than any science, or any individual self-cult- 
 ure, seeing in my humble, though profound opinion, the solution 
 touches all that concerns the spiritual and future welfare of man. I 
 am convinced, one of Bacon's ends, was to establish, by means of 
 examples based upon art, the predominance and priority of the 
 spiritual in nature, acting behind phenomena, or the curtain of 
 Nature's Theatre — a matter which can truly be brought home to 
 men's minds, by interpretation of the symbolism of his types or pat- 
 terns of invention, the plays. When one contemplates the cease- . 
 less industry and energy of men's minds, applied to solely material 
 progress and advancement, one cannot refrain from thinking of the 
 comparatively neglected field of intellectual and spiritual industry 
 or progress. The former is visible, the latter is invisible, but, 
 nevertheless, it is the latter which concerns man as much and even 
 
INTBODUCTION, 27 
 
 more than the former. The mind performs what the visible or 
 simply material never can effect; that is, it penetrates walls and 
 doorS; enters the heart and mind of man, crosses oceans, bridges time 
 and brings about revolutions, which neither force of arms, or even 
 money, can effect. In all ages, in all times, humanity is overpowered 
 by the predominance of the purely sensual, and what comes under 
 local and particular interests only. Nevertheless, the absolutely 
 real and abiding problems of life are those which revolve upon just 
 those questions of man's destiny hereafter, for guidance upon which 
 we have to turn to our inspired teachers, the poets, the philosophers, 
 the great thinkers of all ages, and this is all the revelation we can 
 obtain upon these mysteries. When we think of Greece, we do not, 
 recall to mind the Parthenon, or the Acropolis of Athens, so much 
 as we do Socrates and Plato, ^schylus, Euripides and Sophocles. 
 Lord Bacon was the Plato of the modern world, so to speak, a man 
 charged with a tremendous message to mankind, which he could not 
 deliver in his own age, on account of its inability to receive it. He, 
 therefore, I submit, embodied his spiritual teachings in art, for time 
 to discover, for the spiritual development of mind to unfold as 
 mankind advances and overtakes a giant peak or mountain, hitherto 
 out of sight because of the greatness of the distance. It is a start- 
 ling and novel theory to advance, I admit, that by means of pure 
 art, one single man has addressed himself to speak to another gen- 
 eration, by means of a cipher hidden in his written works. Never- 
 theless, it has been done, as many are beginning to realize, and the 
 time is approaching when it will bo established as a scientific fact, 
 beyond question or dispute. The first thing necessary is to awaken 
 sufBcient interest in order to enlist workers and students, and to 
 obtain a respectful hearing, and I hope the efforts being made in 
 America to establish a periodical devoted to the subject, will meet 
 with the success it undoubtedly deserves. A writer often does as 
 much good by drawing attention to unsolved and obscure questions, 
 as by discovery. Lord Bacon's works are full of enigmas and 
 mysteries, so also is his life and correspondence, as has lately 
 been ably pointed out by Mrs. Pott. And this is in the 
 right direction, inviting attention and inquiry as to why these mys- 
 teries exist, and to what they point to ? For example, why did 
 Bacon term himself a concealed poet, as Aubrey even admits? Why 
 are the dedicatory poems attached to many of his works full of 
 mysterious allusions to Hehcon, Parnassus, Apollo and the Castahan 
 
28 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 spring ? Why did Powell compare Bacon to Seneca, the tragedian, 
 in the following verses, which I have already published in Francis 
 Bacon f How was it he writes of Bacon's worth clouded in obscurity^ 
 seeing Bacon's prose and philosophical wTitings received their full 
 meed of recognition and praise during his lifetime? 
 
 " 0, give me leave to pull the curtain bye. 
 That clouds thy tvorth in such obscurity ; 
 Good Seneca, stay but awhile thy bleeding, 
 T' accept what I received at thy reading. 
 Here I present it in a solemn strain : 
 And thus I pluck the curtain back again. " 
 (From the Attorneys^ Academy, Thomas Powell, 1630.) 
 
 This one poem proves. Bacon never received full recognition of 
 his worth, and the comparison to the dramatist Seneca, with the 
 imagery of the curtain of a theatre, gives us, as it were, a peep at the 
 concealed actor behind the curtain of. his own theatre, revealed for a 
 moment by one who knew perfectly well what he was writing about. 
 Bacon observes " Affirmatives have more force with men's minds 
 than Negatives. " That is, when once the ears have been captured 
 by auricular traditions, and the rights of possession, it is almost 
 impossible to undo what has, so to speak, been burnt in the mind. 
 Shakespeare is just such an affirmative. Bacon's claim to the au- 
 thorship of the plays being a negation of Shakespeare's prescriptive 
 right, unquestioned for nearly three hundred years. The truth is, 
 Bacon has conspired against himself, if I may so express it; a theory 
 abundantly revealed in the so-called Shakespeare sonnets. In the 
 35th sonnet we read of time : 
 
 *^ That I an accessary needs must be 
 To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me." 
 
 In Sonnet 48 can be perceived evidence the poet author was 
 striving to conceal something, and taking pains to hide his identity: 
 
 " How careful was I, when I took my way, 
 Each trifle under truest bars to thrust. 
 That to my use it might unused stay 
 From hands of falsehood, in sure wards of trust. " 
 
 Why was this necessary ? Because, I submit. Bacon lived in an 
 age, which he states, was crippled by authority. 
 
 " And art made tongue-tied by authority 
 
 And simple truth miscalled simphcity." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 And here is evidence of his inability to claim his own during his 
 lifetime : 
 
 "' Wander a word for shadows like myself 
 That take the pain, but cannot pluck the pelf. " 
 
 The whole of these sonnets are full of evidence pointing to a 
 creative scheme, of extraordinary character, allied to some termi- 
 nal revelation, connected with time and posterity. Just as we find 
 Bacon repeatedly appealing to far-off ages, so in these sonnets there 
 is textual evidence of a spiritual heir, who is the poet himself, per- 
 sonified as his son or friend, in reality his wisdom sacrificed as the 
 Logos, in his works. 
 
 '' Then what could death do, if thou shouldst depart, 
 Leaving thee living in posterity f' 
 
 In Sonnet 124 is evidence of some secret connected with time, 
 which is to be revealed : 
 
 ^^ Her audit though delayed, answered must be. 
 And her quietus is to render thee." 
 
 The sonnets by themselves, carry proof of what I have, in A New 
 Study of Shakespeare, called the New Life, after the manner of 
 Dante's Nuova Vita. The poet opens his theme with the image 
 of marriage for the sake of immortal ofispring, an idea entirely, 
 I submit, borrowed from Plato's Banquet, that is a perfect art 
 scheme, wherein the marriage of truth and beauty, or of wisdom 
 through art, shall imitate nature, and give back to the poet his own 
 immortality through rebirth. 
 
 Such a theory of revelation by cipher, as Mr. Donnelly and 
 myself postulate, could only have emanated from the mind of an 
 extraordinary man assisted by others. The mystery relating to 
 Shakespeare bears the imprint of careful calculation and plan. No 
 letters exist of Shakespeare's to any body of his age, yet it is cer- 
 tain, if he wrote the plays, he must have had an immense corre- 
 spondence with his contemporaries, and with his publishers. Why 
 did he suppress them "i How did he manage to destroy every ves- 
 tige of this correspondence? Surely the Earl of Southampton and 
 the Earl of Pembroke, Ben Jonson and others, would have preserved 
 the letters of a Shakespeare, and that somewhere in boxes and 
 trunks, such letters should have been found ere now? As Mr. Don- 
 nelly has pointed out, neither library or letters or manuscripts exist 
 belonging to Shakespeare, and all this is proof either Shakespeare 
 
30 INTBOBUCTION. 
 
 never possessed a library or wrote letters, or indeed, wrote anything, 
 or else we arrive at the inevitable conclusion, Shakespeare was con- 
 spiring against himself, taking extraordinary pains to destroy every 
 vestige of his own personal history and life, gathering deliberately 
 a veil of mystery around his individuality, as if ashamed that 
 posterity should learn anything whatever about him, — perfectly 
 indifferent to his own writings, — destroying the manuscripts of the 
 plays, — burning his library (The Horn-book?), — entreating those 
 he had corresponded with to return or tear up his letters, — all of 
 which is contradicted by the Sonnets ascribed to him, where the 
 consciousness of immortality is enforced in every verse and line, 
 associated, however, always with some far-off age, some revelation 
 or disclosure ! All this proves plan, purport or design, because no 
 person who reflects for a moment, can believe all this mystery arose 
 by accident, or was the result of pure carelessness ! Just at this 
 same period Shakespeare dies, we hear in literature of a mysterious 
 society arising on the horizon of Europe, — a society whose princi- 
 ples were those of invisibility and sacrifice, — the Kosicrucians. Here 
 was a secret sect, which distinctly cultivated mystery as an art, and 
 suppressed themselves very much, as we find Shakespeare seems to 
 have done, and we find their headquarters in England, for their real 
 champion was ostensibly Eobert Fludd, who was publishing his 
 works abroad at Gouda, Oppenheim and Frankfort, and this has 
 partly occasioned the belief, the Rosicrucian Brotherhood arose on 
 the continent. In both Bacon's and the reputed Shakespeare's works 
 there is a great deal of occult or Cabalistical doctrine, which reflect 
 each other, and in one of the Rosicrucian manifestoes, evidently writ- 
 ten 1616, or the year of Shakespeare's death, and published 1617, at 
 Frankfort (where Fludd was publishing also), the public are cautioned 
 to beware of a Stage Player, '' a man with sufficient ingenuity for 
 imposition." This I have called attention to in my last work, Francis 
 Baoon. Shakespeare figures as an actor in the list of players 
 attached to the 1623 Folio plays. This reference to a stage-player is 
 upon pages 52, 53 of the Confession of the Hosier ucian Society I allude 
 to. The objection, it was printed abroad in German, is met by the 
 argument of the danger attending its publication in England. In 
 these Rosicrucian manifestoes there are strong parallels pointing to 
 Bacon's ends ; his inquiry Into nature, his plus ultra simile and his 
 antagonism to Aristotle. In support of all this we find Burton, in 
 his Anatomy of Melancholy, in 1621, stating the real founder of the 
 
INTBODUCTION, 31 
 
 society of the Eosie Cross was then living, and he describes him 
 as the Instaurator of all arts and sciences in a foot-note. How is 
 it Burton and Ben Jonson, both Englishmen, dwell so much upon 
 the Rosicrucians and know so much about them ? How is it Bacon's 
 death is followed by a string of writers, all English, who profess 
 themselves Rosicrucians, and one of whom describes the Land of 
 the Rosicrucians, word for word, in the same text as Bacon's New 
 Atlantis f There are some few facts pointing or suggesting St. 
 Albans was connected with some secret society of the Rose. In St. 
 Peter's church, St. Albans, is a grave-stone with a brass rose upon 
 it, and a curious epitaph. Sir John Mandeville (from whom I have 
 quoted in my chapter upon the Rosicrucians) writes upon the 
 occult history of the Rose. He was a native of Saint Albans, a 
 great traveler, and lies buried in the Abbey. The abbeys were 
 indeed the depositories and shrines in past ages of much mystic 
 and occult lore, and in the works of Matthew, of Paris, who was a 
 monk of St. Albans Abbey, I find a great deal of history concern- 
 ing the Knights Templar. It is round Melrose Abbey and Rosslyn 
 Chapel, we find Sir Walter Scott associating these Red Cross 
 Knights, and it is not going too far to suggest they were closely 
 associated with all the great churches in England and Scotland, as 
 with the Temple Church in London, which, through its association 
 with the law, was also associated with Bacon's life. The Eliza- 
 bethan literature was strongly tinctured with the chivalry of these 
 Crusaders, as may be perceived in Sidney's Arcadia, in Spenser's 
 Fairy Queen, and in such plays as The Two Noble Kinsmen. 
 Going further back in literary history, we find it influencing 
 Chaucer, and Cower, Meung and all the Italian sonneteers like 
 Petrarch, Boccaccio, and even Dante. This literature is known as 
 the Love Philosophy, and is partly borrowed from platonic doc- 
 trines and philosophy, but also traces back its origin to King 
 Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. At Winchester might 
 be seen, a few years ago, the supposed round table in the court- 
 house, with a rose in the center of the twelve seiges or seats of the 
 Knights ranged round it. There is distinct evidence in the Shake- 
 speare Sonnets (as they are called) of this Love Philosophy con- 
 nected with the knightly chivalry of the Middle Ages, which was, 
 so to speak, the ideal in the literature of romance, uniting religion 
 and philosophy, love and adventure, mysticism and occult lore, with 
 the ideal figure of the soldier hero fighting for religion : 
 
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 Pd rt 
 ID bB 
 
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 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEMTUEE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The Tempest. 
 
 " It is an immense ocean that surrounds the island of Truth." — Bacoi?'. 
 
 Ben Jonson's masque of The Fortunate Isles and their Union, 
 designed for the Court on the Twelfth Night, 1626, contains the most 
 complete proofs (possible to obtain by parallels) pointing to the 
 play of The Tempest on the one hand, and to Bacon's New Atlantis, 
 as the Land of the Rosicrucians, on the other. In 1626 Bacon died. 
 In 16261 was first published the fable of the New Atlantis. John 
 Heydon's Land of the Bosicrucians (which is word for word identical 
 with Bacon's New Atlantis) was not published till many years later, 
 so that the reader will perceive from the complete parallels I am 
 about to adduce, Ben Jonson could not have copied from Heydon, 
 and must have been acquainted with Bacon's Atlantis. The entire 
 masque is a satire upon the pretensions of the Rosicrucians and 
 upon their extravagant promises and Utopian schemes of scientific 
 attainment as prefigured in Bacon's New Atlantis. But first, as to 
 the relationship of this masque to the play of The Tempest. 
 
 The title itself. The Fortunate Isles, recalls at once, by parallel, 
 Prospero's magic isle, which had been published, for the first time, 
 three years back in the collected edition of the 1623 folio. 
 
 The opening of the masque at once introduces us to an ironical 
 portrait of Ariel, who, in The Tempest, is described as an airy spirit. 
 
 I think no student of The Tempest will question the fact that 
 Prospero, by his introduction of the vision or masque of Juno, Ceres 
 
 1 Spedding states 1627 to be the date of the first edition of The Atlantis and 
 Sylva, but he is wrong. I possess a copy bearing date 1626. 
 3 33 „ 
 
34 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and Iris, coupled with the text, is intended to prefigure some sort of 
 Jupiter. There is one passage which almost proves this : 
 
 Pros. Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves, 
 And ye that on the sands with printless foot 
 Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him 
 When he comes back ; you demi-puppets that 
 By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make, 
 Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime 
 Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice 
 To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid, 
 Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd 
 The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds, 
 And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault 
 Set roaring war: to the dread ratthng thunder 
 Have I given fire and rifted Jove^s stout oak 
 With his own bolt. 
 
 In the last play of the folio, as well as in this, the first, we find the 
 classical element strong. In Cymbeline Jupiter is introduced as 
 some deus ex machina, connected with oracular dreams and divina- 
 tion. It must be plain to the classical student the last eflbrts in art 
 of the poet were based upon a profound classical undercurrent of 
 idea connected with the protagonists of the Mysteries, — Ceres, Pros- 
 erpine, Jupiter. Now Ben Jonson's masque opens with the entry of 
 one Johphiel, described as follows : 
 
 Entreth in, running, Johphiel, an aeri/ spirit, and (according to the 
 Magi) the Intelligence of Jupitefs sphere : attired in light silks of 
 several colors, with wings of the same, bright yellow hair, a chaplet 
 of flowers, blue silk stockings and pumps, and gloves, with a silver 
 fan in his hand. 
 
 Johphiel. Like a lightning from the sky, 
 Or an arrow shot by Love, 
 Or a bird of his let fly. 
 Bee't a sparrow or a dove : 
 With that winged haste, come I, 
 Loosed from the sphere of Jove 
 To wish good-night 
 To your delight.i 
 
 lln the Dramatis Pcrsonse of The Tempest Ariel' is described as an airy spirit 
 just as Johphiel is represented, and we may refind in the following text the original 
 of the lines cited above : 
 
 Unter Aeiel. 
 Ariel. All hail, great master ! grave sir, hail ! I come 
 To answer thy best pleasure ; be't to fly, 
 To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride 
 On the curl'd clouds, to thy strong bidding task 
 Ariel and all his quality. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 35 
 
 To Jiim enters, a melancholic student, in hare and worn clotheSj 
 shrouded under an obscure cloak and the eaves of an old hat, fetching 
 a deep sigh, Mr. Mere-Foole. 
 
 Mere-Foole. Oh! Oh! 
 
 Johphiel. In Saturn's name, the Father of my Lord 1 
 What over-charged piece of melancholy 
 Is this breaks in between my wishes thus 
 With bombing sighs'? 
 
 Mere-Foole. No! No intelligence ! 
 Not yet, and all my vows now nine days old. 
 Bhndness of fate ! Puppies had seen hy this time I 
 But I see nothing ! that I should ! or would see ! 
 What mean the brethren of the Bosie Cross 
 So to desert their votary ? 
 
 Johphiel. ! t'is one 
 Hath bow'd himself unto that airy order, 
 And now is gaping for the Hy they promised him ; 
 I'll mix a little with him for my sport. 
 
 In the following passage may be perceived mimistakable allusion 
 to the marvels prefigured {prodromi or anticipations being the 
 fifth division of the Instauration) in Bacon's New Atlantis, as the 
 secrets of the College of the Six Days : 
 
 Johphiel. When you have made 
 Your glasses, gardens in the depth of winter, 
 Where you will walk invisible to mankind, 
 Talked with all birds and beasts in their own language; 
 When you have penetrated hills like air, 
 Dived to the bottom of the sea like lead. 
 And risen again like cork, walked in the fire 
 An 'twere a Salamander, passed through all 
 The winding orbs like an Intelligence, 
 Up to the Empyreum j when you have made 
 The world your gallery, can dispatch a business 
 In some three minutes with the Antipodes, 
 And, in five more, negotiate the globe over. 
 
 All these things are ironical descriptions of the pretensions of 
 the Rosicrucians, and are described in the New Atlantis: 
 
 " We have also glasses and means to see minute and small bod- 
 ies perfectly and distinctly, as the shapes and colors of small flies 
 and worms, grains and flaws in gems, which cannot otherwise be 
 seen. We make artificial rainbows, halos and circles about light. 
 We represent also all manner of reflections, refractions and multi- 
 plication of visual beams of objects. " 
 
 *' We have also large and various orchards and gardens. And we 
 make, by art, in the same orchards and gardens, trees and flowers to 
 come earlier or later than their seasons, and to come up and bear 
 more speedily than by their natural course they do. '^ 
 
36 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEEATURE. 
 
 " We represent and imitate all artificial sounds and letters, and 
 the voices and notes of beasts and birds. '^ 
 
 " We have large and deep caves of several depths. The deepest 
 are sunk six hundred fathoms, and some of them are digged and 
 made under great hills and mountains; so that if you reckon to- 
 gether the depth of the hill and the depth of the cave, they are 
 (some of them) above three miles deep." 
 
 " We have also means to convey sounds in trunks and pipes in 
 strange lines and distances. " 
 
 In Ben Jonson's News from the New World Discovered in the 
 Moon, published 1620 (presented at court before King James I.), I 
 find a great many satirical allusions to the Kosicrucians. Indeed, 
 the masque reads as if it were a hit at their pretensions, and pos- 
 sibly at Bacon's New World of Sciences, by which he designates 
 many of the marvels promised in the future by means of his induct- 
 ive method of scientific research : 
 
 First Herald. The brethren of the Bosie Cross have their col- 
 leges within a mile o' the moon; a castle in the air that stands upon 
 wheels with a wing'd lanthorn. 
 
 Printer. I have seen it in print. 
 
 Second Herald. All the fantastical creatures you can think of 
 are there. 
 
 Factor. Are there no self-lovers there ? 
 
 Second Herald. There were, but they are all dead of late for 
 want of tailors. 
 
 Factor. V light, what luck is that? We could have spared 
 them a colony from hence. 
 
 Second Herald. I think some two or three of them live yet, but 
 they are turned moon-calves by this. 
 
 Printer. 0, I, moon-calves! What monster is that, I pray 
 you? 
 
 Second Herald. Monster ? None at all. A very familiar thing, 
 like our fool here on earth. 
 
 Factor. And they have their new wells, too, and physical waters 
 I hope to visit all time of year? 
 
 First Herald. Your Tunbridge, or the Spa itself, are mere pud- 
 dles to them. When the pleasant months of the year come, they all 
 flock to certain broken islands, which are called there the Isles of 
 Delight. 
 
 Factor. By clouds still? 
 
 First Herald. What else ? Their boats are clouds, too. 
 
 Second Herald. Or in the mist ; the mists are ordinary i' the 
 moon. A man that owes money there needs no other protection; 
 only buy a mist and walk in't ; he's never discerned; a matter of a 
 baubee does it. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEM ATUBE. 37 
 
 It may be observed we have in this passage proof that these 
 Isles of Delight were associated with the Bosicrucians, and therefore 
 Ben Jonson's title of The Fortunate Isles, in connection with the 
 Kosicrucian subject of the piece, explains itself. The connection of 
 the moon with all this is not purely fanciful (borrowed, as it cer- 
 tainly is, from a piece by Lucian of Samosata), and finds some 
 strange parallels in the play of The Tempest (a Fortunate Isle), as 
 follows : 
 
 Gonsalo. You are gentlemen of brave mettle; you would lift 
 tJie moon out of her sphere, if she would continue in it five weeks 
 without changing. 
 
 Sebastian. We would so, and then go a bat-fowling. — (Act ii., 1.) 
 
 It is also well worthy note to find Caliban termed a moon-calf 
 and monster. 1 
 
 Stephano. How now, moon-calf! how does thine ague ? 
 
 Caliban. Hast thou not dropped from heaven 1 
 
 Stephano. Out of the moon, I do assure thee : I was the man i' 
 the moon when time was. 
 
 Caliban. I have seen thee in her and I do adore thee : My mis- 
 tress showed me thee and thy dog and thy bush. 
 
 Stephano. Come, swear to that ; kiss the book. I will furnish 
 it anon with new contents. Swear. 
 
 Trinculo. Bv this good light, this is a very shallow monster ! I 
 af eared of him? A very weak monster! The man i' the moon! 
 A most poor, credulous monster! Well drawn, monster in good 
 sooth ! 
 
 In the same masque, by Ben Jonson, News from the New 
 World in the Moon, I find the following passage : 
 
 Factor. But to your news, gentlemen, whence come they ? 
 
 First Herald. From the moon, ours, sir. 
 
 Factor. From the moon ! Which way ? by sea ? or by land ? 
 
 First Herald. By moonshine, a nearer way, I take it. 
 
 Printer. Oh ! By a trunk I know it, a thing no bigger than a 
 flute case ; a neighbor of mine, a spectacle-maker, has drawn the 
 moon through it at the base of a whistle, and made it as great as a 
 drumhead twenty times, and brought it within the length of this 
 room to me, I know not how often. 
 
 Chronicler. Tut, that's no news; your perplexive glasses are 
 common. No; it will fall out to be Pythagoras' way, I warrant 
 you, by writing and reading i' th' moon. 
 
 lit has been pointed out (in Halli well's Notes to Outlines of the Life of 
 Shahespeare, p. 294) that Ben Jonson, in the following extract from the induction 
 to Bartholomeio Fair, alludes to the play of The Tempest and The Winter's Tale : 
 " If there he never a servant-monster i' the Fair, who can help it," he says: "nor a 
 nest of antiques? He is loath to make Nature afraid in his plays, like those that 
 beget Tales, Tempests, and such like drolleries.''^ Phillips, in combating the theory 
 of allusion to The Tempest in this passage, OYerlooks another satirical parallel in 
 the play itself— moon-calf. 
 
38 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE, 
 
 Printer. Right, and as well read of you. I' faith; for Cornelius 
 Agrippa has it In Disco Lunce, there 'tis found. 
 
 First Herald. Sir, you are lost, I assure you ; for ours came to 
 you neither by the way of Cornelius Agrippa, nor Cornelius Dribble. 
 
 Second Herald. Nor any glass of 
 
 First Herald. No philosopher's fantasy. 
 
 Second Herald. Mathematicians Perspicil 
 
 First Herald. Or brother ot the Bosie- Crosses intelhgence, no 
 forced way, but by the neat and clean power of poetry. 
 
 Second Herald. The mistress of all discovery. 
 
 First Herald. Who, after a world of these curious uncertain- 
 ties, hath employed thither a servant of hers in search of truth 
 — who has been there. 
 
 Second Herald. In the moon ? 
 
 First Herald. In person. 
 
 Second Herald. And is this wight returned ? 
 
 Factor. Where f Which is he f I must see his dog at his 
 girdle, and the bush of thorns at his back, ere I believe it. 
 
 First Herald. Do not trouble your faith, then, for if that bush of 
 thorns should prove a goodly grove of oaks, in what case were you 
 and your expectation ? 
 
 I am not the only writer who, besides D'Israeli, has perceived 
 (Curiosities of Literature), the Eosicrucian character of the magic 
 Prospero deals in. I quote the following from a modern journal 
 entitled The Bosicrucian,^ which professes to elaborate the ancient 
 doctrines of the Society : 
 
 " The beautiful play of The Tempest was written five or six years 
 after the outburst of the Rosicrucian controversy in Germany; and 
 Shakespeare seems to have had a vivid impression of the elemental 
 sprites in his mind when he drew the sweet portraiture of Ariel, 
 though the name of Sylph is never once mentioned by the great 
 bard. She is not, however, exactly the Sylph of the Rosi- 
 crucians, but partly a nymph, and partly a fairy. Silvester 
 Jourdan's account of the discovery of the Bermudas, which is 
 supposed to have furnished Shakespeare with some hints for this 
 play, describes only a sort of monster, whom Shakespeare rarefied 
 into Caliban, but no Ariel. Stowe, who mentions in his annals the 
 shipwreck of Sir George Somers upon this isle, speaks of it as being 
 inhabited only with 'witches and devils, which grew by reason 
 of accustomed monstrous thunderstorms and tempests ! ' But, as we 
 have before remarked, the Rosicrucians had begun to erect a brighter 
 superstition than the old and hideous one of devils and witches; and 
 Shakespeare, from slight hints heard perhaps in conversation, and 
 
 1 The Bosicrucian and Masonic Becord, "Vol. I. Gossip about the Kosicrucians, 
 p. 46. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 39 
 
 not derived from books, caught the first idea of his ^delicate Ariel;' 
 who, at the command of the philosopher Prospero — 
 
 ' could fly 
 
 Or swim, or dive into the fire, or ride 
 On the curled clouds ; ' 
 
 and who, bound by the potent spell of the magician — and not only 
 by that, but by his love and kindness — did him in all things worthy 
 service — 
 
 and who 
 
 ^ Told him no lies, made no mistakings, served 
 Without or grudge or grumblings; ' 
 
 ' trod the ooze of the salt deep, 
 
 And ran upon the sharp wind of the north, 
 And did his business in the veins o' the earth 
 When it was baked with frost; ' 
 
 who played delicious music iu Ferdinand's ear, and 'allayed the 
 wind's fury and his passion with its sweet air' — who made music to 
 the 'varlets,' and beat her aerial tabor with her dainty fingers — 
 
 ' At which, like unbacked colts, they pricked their ears, 
 That, calf-like, they her lowing followed through 
 Toothed briers, sharp furzes, pricking gorse and thorns 
 Which entered their frail skins ; and at last left them 
 r the filthy mantled pool beyond the cell; ' 
 
 and who, when not employed in Executing the behests of her sover- 
 eign master, sang to herself, describing her mode of life — 
 
 ' Where the bee sucks, there suck I : 
 In a cowslip's bell I lie ; 
 There I couch when owls do cry : 
 On the bat's back I do fly 
 After summer merrily — 
 Merrily, merrily.' " " 
 
 In the same masque of The Fortunate Isles and Their Union, 
 the following verses are addressed to the King, which convinces me 
 Ben Jonson knew more of the Eosicrucians than may appear from 
 his external text. For example : 
 
 " When all the fortunate islands should be joined, 
 Macaria, one, and thought a principal, 
 That hitherto hath floated as uncertain 
 Where she should fix her blessings, is to-night 
 Instructed to adhere to your Britannia. 
 That where the happy spirits live, hereafter 
 Might be no question made hy the most curious, 
 Since the Macarii come to do you homage. 
 
 " Here the scene opens, and the masquers are discovered sitting in 
 their several sieges. Tlie air opens above, and Apollo with Har- 
 
40 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEEATUBE. 
 
 MONY and the spirits of music sing the while the island moves for- 
 ward — Proteus sitting below and Jiearkening. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 " Look forth the shepheard of the seas 
 And of the ports that keep the keys, 
 
 And to your Neptune tell, 
 Macaria, prince of all the isles, 
 Doth here put in to dwell. 
 The winds are sweet and gently blow, 
 But Zephirus, no breath they know, 
 
 The father of the flowers; 
 By him the virgin violets live, 
 And every plant doth odors give, 
 
 As new as are the bowers. " 
 
 In the following description of this isle we may perceive an 
 echo of Gonzalo's Utopia in The Tempest : 
 
 " There is no sickness, nor no old age known 
 To man, nor any grief that he dares own. 
 There is no hunger there, nor envy of state. 
 Nor least ambition in the magistrate. 
 But all are even-hearted, open, free, 
 And what one is, another strives to be. " 
 
 This is all in context with the Rosicrucians, and no question this 
 is a portrait of their Fortunate Island, Macaria. The latter may 
 seem a fanciful name, picked up at random, but it is not so. 
 Macaria was one of the ancient names of Rhodes, viz.: Macaria, or 
 the Blessed, which name has been derived from one of the four 
 sons of Macar, who colonized Lesbos. The three other brothers, 
 respectively, seized Chios, Samos and Co, so that these four islands 
 obtained the name of Macares. Now it is well known the Rosicrucians 
 derived their origin and history from the island of Rhodes. It was 
 there the Knights Hospitallers of St. John fixed their abode, their 
 order having arisen out of the piety of certain traders of Amalfi, in 
 the Kingdom of Naples. The map of the world prepared by 
 Andreas Bianco, in the fifteenth century, represents Eden, Adam 
 and Eve, and the tree of life. On the left, on a peninsula, are seen 
 the reprobated people of Gog and Magog, who are to accompany 
 Antichrist. Alexander is also represented there. The paradisaical 
 peninsula has a building on it with the inscription Ospitius Macarii. 
 This legend has reference to the pilgrims of St. Macarius, a tradi- 
 tion that was spread on the return of the Crusaders of three monks, 
 who undertook a voyage to discover the point where earth and 
 heaven meet, that is to say, the terrestrial paradise. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 41 
 
 I have now an important piece of evidence to adduce, which I 
 think will go far to connect Bacon's New Atlantis with Prospero's 
 magic isle in the play of Tlie Tempest. 
 
 There is clear evidence of the attention with which Shakespeare 
 read Florio's Montaigne : 
 
 " When Shakespeare, in The Tempest, represents the kind old Gon- 
 zalo as inventing talk to divert the King's mind from the grief on 
 which it broods, he imagines what he would do if he had the shap 
 ing of a commonwealth to his own fancy and says : 
 
 ^ r the commonwealth, I would by contraries 
 Execute all things; for no kind of traffic 
 Would I admit: no name of magistrate; 
 Letters should not be known; no use of service, 
 Of riches, or of poverty; no contracts, 
 Successions; bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none; 
 No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil; 
 No occupation; all men idle, all; 
 And women too ; but innocent and pure : 
 No sovereignty.' 
 
 It has frequently been pointed out by editors of Shakespeare that this 
 passage is a paraphrase from the thirtieth essay of Montaigne's First 
 Book, as translated by Florio: — 'A nation . . . that hath no 
 kind of traffic, no knowledge of letters, no intelligence of num- 
 bers, no name of magistrate, nor of politic superiority; no use of 
 service, of riches, or of poverty; no contracts, no successions, no 
 partitions, no occupation, but idle; no respect of kindred, but com- 
 mon; no apparel, but natural; no manuring of lands; no use of 
 wine, corn, or metal. The very words that import lying, falsehood, 
 treason, dissimulation, covetousness, envy, detraction, and pardon, 
 were never heard of amongst them.'" 
 
 No critic, however, has called attention to the fact that all this 
 cited out of Montaigne's thirtieth essay is in close context with a 
 description of Atlantis, or tJie Great Island described by Plato. The 
 title of Montaigne's thirtieth essay is Of the Cannibals: 
 
 " Plato maketh Solon to report that he had learnt of the Priests 
 of the Citie of Sais in ^gypt, that whilom, and before the generall 
 Deluge, there was a great Hand called Atlantis, situated at the 
 mouth of the strait of Gibraltar, which contained more flrme land 
 than Affrike and Asia together. And that the kings of that countrie 
 did not only possesse that Hand, but had so farre entred into the 
 maine land, that of the bredth of Aflfrike, they held as farre as 
 ^gypt; and of Europes length, as farre as Tuscanie : and that they 
 undertooke to invade Asia, and to subdue all the nations that com- 
 passe the Mediterranean Sea, to the gulfe of Mare-Maggiore [the 
 Black Sea], and to that end they traversed all Spaine, France and 
 Italic, so farre as Greece, where the Athenians made head against 
 them; but that a while after, both the Athenians themselves, and 
 
42 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 that great Hand, were swallowed up by the Deluge. It is verie 
 likely this extreme ruiue of waters wrought strange alterations in 
 the habitations of the earth : as some hold that the Sea hath divided 
 Sicilie from Italie. 
 
 " The other testimouie of antiquitie, to which some will referre this 
 discoverie, is in Aristotle (if at least that little booke of unheard of 
 wonders be his), wbere he reporteth that certaine Carthaginians 
 having sailed athwart the Atlantike Sea, without the strait of Gibral- 
 tar, after long time, they at last discovered a great fertill hand, all 
 replenished with goodly woods, and watred with great and deepe 
 rivers, farre distant from al land, and that both they and others, 
 allured by the goodnes and fertility of the soile, went thither with 
 tbeir wives, children, and household, and there began to inhabit and 
 settle themselves. The Lords of Carthage seeing their countrie by 
 little and little to be dispeopled, made a law and expresse inhibition, 
 that upon paine of death no more men should goe thither, and ban- 
 ished all that were gone thither to dwell, fearing (as they said) that 
 in successe of time, they would so multiply as they might one day 
 supplant them, and overthrow their owne estate. This narration of 
 Aristotle hath no reference unto our new found countries. '' 
 
 Montaigne, after this discusses Plato's Ideal Eepublic or Utopia, 
 in the words already quoted, and which are plagiarized in The Temp- 
 est. I think there is decided proof in the play the poet's magic 
 island, where he locates Prospero, was suggested by the paragraph 
 cited from Montaigne, giving Aristotle's testimony as to the exist- 
 ence of Atlantis. I have placed in italics the words showing how 
 the Carthaginians discovered a great fertile island, and I think no 
 unprejudiced critic will deny that by the introduction in the play of 
 Claribel and Tunis (which latter was the site of ancient Carthage) 
 there is proof the poet borrowed from Montaigne. This is shown by 
 the description of the island as fertile, twice used in Montaigne's 
 essay. Compare : 
 
 Caliban. I'll show thee eveTy fertile inch o' the island. (Act ii., 
 2, 152.) 
 
 Caliban. And show'd thee all the qualities o' the isle, 
 The fresh springs, brine pits, barren place and fertile. 
 (Acti.,2, 338.) 
 
 The name of Caliban seems but an easy anagram upon Cannibal, 
 which is the title of Montaigne's essay. In the following passage, 
 we have evidence the shipwrecked king and his followers come 
 from Tunis or Carthage : 
 
 Gonzalo. Methinks our garments are now as fresh as when we 
 put them on first in Afric, at the marriage of the king's fair daugh- 
 ter Claribel to the king of Tunis. 
 
 Sebastian. 'Twas a sweet marriage; and we prosper well in our 
 return. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 43 
 
 Adrian. Tunis was never graced before with such a paragon to 
 their queen. 
 
 Gonzalo. Not since widow Dido's time. 
 
 Antonio. Widow! A pox o'that! How came that widow in? 
 widow Dido! 
 
 Sebastian. What if he had said " widower ^neas ''too? Good * 
 Lord, how you take it! 
 
 Adrian. "Widow Dido," said you? You make me study of 
 that : she was of Carthage, not of Tunis. 
 
 Gonzalo. this Tunis, sir, was Carthage. 
 
 Adrian. Carthage f 
 
 Gonzalo. I assure you, Carthage. (Act ii., scene 1 ) 
 
 I think it is pretty clear the poet's magic island is connected with 
 the Great Atlantis, described by Aristotle and by Montaigne, which 
 the Carthaginians discovered. These shipwrecked characters are 
 pictured returning from Carthage. Directly we turn to Bacon's 
 description of his island' of the New Atlantis (which was published 
 three years after the first appearance of The Tempest in the first 
 Folio, 1623), we find this: 
 
 '' You shall understand, that which perhaps you will scarce think 
 credible, that about three thousand years ago, or somewhat more, the 
 navigation of the world, especially for remote voyages, was greater 
 than at this day. Do not think with yourselves that 1 know not 
 how much it is increased with you within these sixscore years; I 
 know it well ; and yet I say, greater then than now. Whether it 
 was that the example of the ark that saved the remnant of men 
 from the universal deluge, gave men confidence to adventure upon 
 the waters, or what it was, but such is the truth. The Phoenicians, 
 and especially the Tyrians, had great fleets ; so had the Carthaginians 
 their colony, ivhich is yet further tvest. Toward the east the shipping 
 of Egypt and of Palestina was likewise great; China also, and the 
 great Atlantis, that you call America, which have now but junks 
 and canoes, abounded then in tall ships. This island, as appeareth 
 by fafthful registers of those times, had then fifteen hundred strong 
 ships of great content. Of all this there is with you sparing mem- 
 ory, or none; but we have large knowledge thereof. 
 
 ^^ At that time this land ivas knoivn and frequented hy the ships 
 and vessels of all the nations before named, and, as it cometh to pass, 
 they had many times men of other countries that were no sailors 
 that came with them; as Persians, Chaldeans, Arabians; so as 
 almost all nations of might and fame resorted hither, of whom we 
 have some stirps and little tribes with us at this day." 
 
 Thus it appears both the author of the plays and Lord Bacon 
 at about the same time, or within a few years, were studying the 
 story of the submerged island of Atlantis, and dwelling upon voy- 
 ages to and from Carthage. 
 
 It may be here remarked Anthony Bacon was at Bordeaux in 
 
44 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 close intimacy with Michael de Montaigne just at the period the 
 essays were being written. It is possible, from the striking parallels 
 which have been found between Bacon's essays and Montaigne's, some 
 collusion or secret plan was carried out by the two brothers. In 1592 
 Montaigne published his essays ; in 1597 Bacon published his. The 
 former is a sort of French Bacon, the latter an English Montaigne. 
 The styles are undoubtedly unlike, but it is just possible Montaigne 
 amplified, filled out or translated ideas communicated to him by 
 his friend, Anthony Bacon, brother to Francis. 
 
 It may rationally be inquired, what object the poet had in intro- 
 ducing in the play of TJie Tempest the King of Naples, and marrying 
 his son to Miranda, Prospero's daughter ? In answer to this ques- 
 tion it may be as well to point out that there is a powerful under- 
 current visible in the play of VirgiVs Art, revealed in the allusions 
 to Tunis or Carthage, Dido and ^neas, and the introduction of 
 Ariel as Harpy, together with the snatching away of the banquet 
 set before the shipwrecked king and his followers. This latter inci- 
 dent is entirely borrowed from the third book of the ^neid, which 
 pictures the Wanderings of ^neas and his visit to the isles of 
 Strophads. Let us reflect how much there is in this play of The 
 Tempest to recall Virgil's sixth book of the ^neid, with its Elysian 
 Fields, or Fortunate Isles. For part of the ancient imitations con- 
 sisted in, first, a descent to hell, or the infernal regions, with a 
 re-birth or return to the Elysian Fields or Paradise, which was 
 always placed on an enchanted island. In this symbolic transition 
 there was history as well as allegory portrayed. Now the place 
 where ^neas is pictured making his descent to Avernus (in the sixth 
 book of the ^neid) was at Cumas, on the coast Euboia, near Naples. 
 The association of the shipwrecked Duke of Milan and Alonso, 
 King of Naples, with -^neas is clearly implied by the text 
 declaring they have come from Tunis, which was Carthage, and where 
 JEneas was also cast awaij, and which, with the history of Dido, mingles 
 so powerfully in Virgil's entire epic. The two Sicilies, that is, the 
 kingdom of Naples, were, so to speak, the vestibule of the fabulous 
 world of Homer and even of Virgil. Two historical races were 
 placed by Homer in Sicily, named the Sicani and the Siceli. It 
 is from here to the west we find Homer placing near to 
 the entrance of the ocean the Cimmerians, '' an unhappy 
 people, constantly surrounded by thick shadows, and who 
 never enjoyed the rays of the sun." Still farther away 
 and in the ocean itself, and therefore beyond the limits of earth 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEM ATUBE. 45 
 
 (Europe), the poet paints for us a fortunate land, which he calls 
 Elysium, where the elect of Jupiter enjoy a perpetual felicity. The 
 whole of Hesiod's and Homer's deities of the isles and coast of ocean 
 — the Hesperides, Gorgons, Harpies, Cyclops, Giants, Laestrygonians, 
 Sirens, etc., belong to the west of Europe — to the Atlantic Ocean, 
 heyond the pillars of Hercules. In all this we have, as Bacon asserts, 
 echoes of traditions from prehistoric times, which fell into the pipes 
 and flutes of the Greek poets, gathered from Tyrian and Phoenician 
 navigators, traditions of race migrations, connected with the Car- 
 thaginians who traded, according to Aristole, with the once existing 
 island of Atlantis. I have gone back to Homer, because to every 
 classical scholar the fact is known Virgil's Wanderings of JEneas are 
 in a great measure borrowed from the Wanderings of Ulysses.^ 
 
 Naples, therefore, stands as representative of Cum^, where 
 ^neas made his descent into the infernal regions. Bacon, I suggest, 
 imitates Virgil's plagiarisms from Homer by borrowing again from 
 the Roman poet. In these references to ^neas. Dido, Carthage, 
 Naples, in The Tempest, the deep observer may perceive the hand 
 of the same splendid genius who wrote in his Advancement of Learn- 
 ing (1605), " That if all arts ivere lost they might he refound in Virgil, " 
 and that other pregnant hint (upon page 95 Advancement of Learn- 
 ing, 1640), " That ancient oracle given to ^neas, which presaged rest 
 unto him, Antiquam exquirite matrem (Virg. ^n. 3), should be ful- 
 fill'd upon the most noble nations of England and Scotland, now 
 united in that name oj Britannia, their ancient mother. " 
 
 By arts, with reference to Virgil, Bacon does not mean solely the 
 art of writingpoetry or metre, but he means thoserecomZi7eawc?e50^mc 
 doctrines which are veiled and obscured by Virgil, which he had 
 learned in the mysteries, and of which the sixth book of the ^neid 
 is a striking example. 
 
 It is highly probable the play of The Tempest owes part of its plot 
 origin to the history of Ludovic Sforza, Duke of Milan, who, like Pros- 
 pero, was banished by Ms brother^s party, but afterward became 
 restored to his duchy. There are other parallels of a striking char- 
 acter between the play and the history of this Duke, connected as it 
 is with Naples, which may interest the reader if I give them here : 
 
 " Ludovic Sforza was brother to Galeas Sforza, duke of Milan, 
 
 1 Servius writes of this sixth book -^neid, ^^ Totus quidem Virgilius scientia 
 plemis est, in qua hie liber possidet principatum, cujus ex Hoviero pars major smnta est. 
 WMicimtiir atiqtia simpliciter, mnlta de historia, multa per altam scientiam philosoph- 
 orum Theologicorum ^gyptior%m, adeo ut plerique de his singulis hujus lihri integras 
 scripserint Ttpa^^juareia^. 
 
4G THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 
 
 named hy some John Andrea, whom he nourished and brought up, 
 and slew in the church of St. Stephen, in Milan, as he was there 
 present at the hearing of mass, albeit they were both sous of the 
 ftimous warrior, Francis Sforza. By the death of Galeas, a son of 
 his named John, very young in years, remained his successor in the 
 tutelage of Bona, his mother, and of Chico, a native of Calabria, 
 who had been much favored by his father and grandfather. This 
 Chico immediately banished Ludovic, wlio wandered as a fugitive 
 through strange countries, and tasted the mutabilities of fortune.''^ 
 
 Ludovic, like Prospero in the play, possessed the next right to 
 the duchy of Milan, inasmuch as his brother's son, John, was a 
 minor, and at the least he held the right to the administration as 
 regent in his nephew's favor. Nevertheless, he found means to re- 
 turn from his banishment, and, forcibly entering Milan, expelled 
 Bona and Chico, where he ruled for twenty years with great wis- 
 dom and spirit. He married his nephew, the Duke Ferdinand, to 
 the King of Naples^ daughter, and herein we may again perceive 
 something of a parallel or reference in the play to this subject. For 
 in The Tempest we not only have the King of Naples introduced, 
 but his son Ferdinand marries Prospero's daughter, Miranda. It 
 is certainly very striking to find these names and parallels, although 
 somewhat altered in their respective bearings, reflecting closely 
 each other both in the history and the play, viz., a banished Duke 
 of Milan, his restoration and an alliauce by marriage with Naples. 
 I have given the passage, in inverted commas, as it stands in the 
 Treasury of Ancient and Modern Times (translated out of the Span- 
 ish of Pedro Mexia and Francesco Sansovino, laggard, London, 
 1613-1619). The reader will perceive the strange introduction of 
 the name John Andrea, because a certain John Valentine Andreas 
 has been credited by De Quincey with the entire authorship of 
 those remarkable Eosicrucian Manifestoes of 1614, 1615, viz.: A 
 Heformation of the Whole Wide World, and The Fame and 
 Confession of the Eosicrucian Fraternity. Is it just possible the 
 poet selected this historical incident for the sake of its relationship 
 to the name of John Andrea ? I cannot say I understand the 
 passage quoted clearly myself, but I have a shrewd suspicion Gon- 
 zalo in the play of The Tempest is a portrait of John Valentine An- 
 dreas himself, because the speech describing a philosophical republic, 
 or Utopia, is delivered by Gonzalo, and John Valentine Andreas was 
 the author of a work entitled Christianopolitance Bepuhlicce, which, 
 like Sir Thomas More's Utopia, Bacon's New Atlantis and Campa- 
 nella's City of tJie Sun, is just such a vision or ideal of reformed 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITER ATUBE. 47 
 
 society as pictured by Gonzalo. It may be observed how Gonzalo 
 is brought in with the usurping Duke of Milan. 
 
 The first Rosicrucian manifesto, entitled A Reformation of the 
 Whole Wide World, was almost entirely borrowed from Boccalini's 
 Ragguagli di Parnasso, 77th advertisement. It is, therefore, well 
 worthy of note that under the 53rd advertisement we find one 
 Francisco Sforza introduced as follows : 
 
 *' Apollo at last grants admittance into Parnassus to Francisco 
 Sforza, Duke of Milan, which he had long denied to do, upon a hard 
 condition, which he accepted of." 
 
 We also find a certain Prospero Colonna admitted into Parnassus 
 in this work, on account of his extraordinary virtues and literary 
 acquirements. The reflective reader will, I am sure, perceive not 
 only an affiliation obtaining between Bacon's position as president 
 of the Assizes held at Parnassus hy order of the god Apollo (pub- 
 lished by George Withers, the poet) and all this, but also recognize 
 the strange parallel that Prospero in The Tempest is Duke of Milan. 
 
 In Lord Bacon's Essay upon Fame, published in the Resuscitatio 
 of 1671 (part I., p. 212), there is the following passage which 
 should be paralleled with a passage from the Turris Babel, of John 
 Valentine Andreas (Strasburg, 1619). 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 '' We will therefore speak of these points. What are false Fames, 
 and what are true Fames; and how they may be best discerned; 
 how Fames may be sown and raised ; how they may be spread and 
 multiplied, and how they may be checked and laid dead.^^ 
 
 " That in the day time she (Fame) sitteth in a Watch Tower. ^^ 
 Now, in John Valentine Andreas' Turris Babel or Tower of 
 Babel, he writes of the Rosicrucian Fraternity as follows : 
 
 " Satis superque hominibus illusum est. Eheu, mortales? nihil 
 est quod Fraternitatis expectetis: fabula peracta est. Fama 
 astruxit : Fama destruxit. Fama aiebat: Fama negat,^^ etc. (Page 
 69. 1619.) 
 
 '' Mankind has been deceived sufficiently, and more than enough. 
 Forsooth, mortals ! there is nothing now to expect of the Frater- 
 nity. The play is acted out. Fame built; Fame demolishes it. 
 Fame asserted it ; Fame denies it, " etc. 
 
 The reader will perceive Andreas uses almost the same language 
 as Bacon. The Fame of the Rosicrucian Fraternity was sown and 
 raised by some one, who, after having built it, checked it and laid it 
 dead by denial. It may also be asked whether Bacon, in placing Fame 
 
48 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 in a Watch Tower, is not giving us an indirect hint by parallel for 
 the Turris Babel of John Yal. Andreas ? Of the latter's direct impU- 
 cation in the authorship of these Rosicrucian manifestoes, I think 
 the following passage, which I borrow from his Mythologia Christi- 
 ana, 1619, will be sufficient. He introduces Alethea (Truth) 
 declaring : 
 
 " Planissime nihil cum hac Fraternitate commune habeo. Nam 
 cum paulo ante lusum quendam ingeniosorum personatus aliquis in 
 literario foro agere vellet credidissem, hac imprimis a^tate, qua) ad 
 insolita quseque se arrigit, nihil mora dum LibeUis inter se con- 
 iiictantibus, sed velut in scena prodeuntes subinde alios histriones 
 non sine voluptate spectavi. At nunc, cum theatrum omne variis 
 opinionumjurgiis impleatur, et conjecturis et suspicionibus maledi- 
 centia potissimum pugnetur, subduxi ego me, ne imprudentius me 
 ulli rei incertae et lubricai immiscerim. '' 
 
 '' Most assuredly I (Alethea) have nothing in common with this 
 Fraternity. For, when a short time back, I believed some on the 
 literary stage were performing a piece of certain ingenious parties, 
 I was, especially in this age, which attaches itself principally to 
 new-fangled notions with avidity, a looker-on, and not without a 
 certain degree of enjoyment, at the Battle of the Books, and the 
 scene with its subsequent entire change of actors. But now, when 
 the theater is filled with altercation and a diversity of opinion, and 
 the fight is carried on by innuendoes and malevolent conjectures, I 
 have withdrawn myself, that I may not be imprudently mixed up in 
 a matter uncertain and slippery. '' 
 
 It may be noted from this passage that the author employs met- 
 aphors of language borrowed from the theater and stage. 
 

 
 ^/■^'^ 
 
 <., 
 
 
 t N S TAVKrMXGTM^H 
 
48 OfTheAdvancement 
 
 C A P. VII. 
 
 The Dignity of Learning from humane Arguments and Tcftimonics. 
 I. Naturall Inventours of New x^rts for the Commodities of 
 Mans life,c9nfecrated as Gods, 1 1. Politicall,C/i>ii? EftAtes and Af- 
 faires advanced by Learning, ^ the beft and happieft times under 
 Learned Princes andothers, § Exemplified in the immediat fuC" 
 ceeding Emperor Sy from the death of Domitian. III. Military, 
 The concurrence of Armes and Learning ^ ^ Exemplified in Alex • 
 ander the Great. ^ lulius Casfar the Dilhtor, § Xenophon 
 ihi: Philofopher. 
 
 S for Humane Tefiimmies and .Argument sy k is fo 
 large a fields as in ^ difcourfe of this compendious 
 nature and brevity^ it is fit rather to ufe choice? than 
 to imbrace the variety of them* 
 
 I. Firft therefore in the degrees of Honor amongft the 
 Heathensj it was the higheft> to attain to a Veneration and 
 Adoration as a Godj this indeed to the Chriftians is as the 
 forbidden fruitj but we fpeak now feparately of Humane 
 Teftimony. Therefore, ( as wc were faying) with the 
 Heathens, that which the Grecians call c/4p<?r/j^<3/r. and the 
 Herodia.l.4Latines Helatio inter Dittos -^ was the fupreme Honour 
 DicRcU- vvhichman could attribute unto Man; fpecially, when it 
 ^** w^s given, not by a formall Decree or Ad of Eftate, (as it 
 
 >^as ufed amongft the Roman Emperors,) but freely by the 
 aflentofMen and inward beliefc. Ofwhichhigh Honour 
 there was a certain degree and midle terme: For there were 
 reckoned above Humane Honours^ Honours Heroicall-^ and D/-. 
 yine^ in the Diftribution whereof, Antiquity obferved this 
 order. Founders of StateSjLawgiversjExtirpers of Tyrants^ 
 Fathers of their Country, and other eminent Perfons in Ci* 
 vile Merit, were honoured with the title of Worthies only, or 
 Demi'GodS'^ Inch as were Thefeus^ Minos ^ "Rpmult*^-, and the 
 like, on the other fide fuch as were Inipentors and Authors of 
 new ArtS'^ and fuch as endowed mans life with new Commodities^ 
 and afcejiims were eyereonfecratedamongthe greater and En^ 
 
 tira 
 
Of Learning. Lib. L 
 
 49 
 
 tire GfldS'j which hapned to Ceres^ Bacchw^ Mercury^ .yipollo^ 
 and others, which indeed was done jiiftly and upon found 
 judgement. For the merits of the former^ arc commonly con- 
 fined wichin the circle of an Agcdr a Nation, and are hot 
 unhke (eafonablc and favoring fhowers, which though 
 they be profitable and defirable, yet ferve but for that feafon 
 only wherein they fall, and for a Latitude of ground which 
 th^y \j\j2iX.tx: Lut the benefices of the latter^ Hke the influences 
 oftheSunne, and the heavenly bodies, are for time, perma- 
 nentj for place, univerfall; thofe again are commonly mixt 
 with ftrife and perturbatiouj but thefe have the true chara- 
 cter of Divine prefencc, and come in Aura leni without 
 noife or agitation, 
 
 11, Neither certainly is the Merit of Learning in Qiyile 
 affair es-i and in repr/fiwg the inconveniences which growfrofn 
 man to fnan^ much inferior to the other xi^hich felieye mans necef- 
 fities^vphich arife frm Nature. And this kind of merit \Vas 
 lively fet forth in that iained relation of Orpheui Theatre^^hWodAn 
 where all beafis and birds aflcmbledjWhich forgetting their ^'^P^* 
 propet naturall appetites of Prey , of Game, of Quarrell, 
 flood all iociably and lovingly together^ liftning (into the 
 Aires and accords of theharpej the (bund whereof no foo- 
 liercea{ed,orwasdrown'dbyfbmelowdernoife,but eve- 
 ry beaft returned to kis own nature. In which Fable is ele- 
 gantly deicribed, the nature and condition of men, who are 
 tofledand difordered with fundry favageandunreclaim'd 
 defireSjof ProfcofLuft, of Revenge 5 w^hichyetaslongas 
 they giveeare to preceptS) to the perfwafion ofi Religion," 
 Lawe^) and Magiftratess eloquently and fweetly coucht in 
 Bookes,to 5crnions and Harangesj fo long is fbciety and 
 peace maintaind- but if thefe inftruments be filent? or that 
 (editions and tumults make tKem not audible » all things 
 diflolve and fall back into Anarchy andConfufion. 
 
 § But this appeareth more manifeftly, phen Kings or 
 ^erfofis of Authority under them, or other §oyernors iff States^ 
 are endowedmth LearningiVdi although he mightbe thought 
 partialltQ his own profefsion that faid Than Jhotdd People or Plato <Jc 
 i!- Q Statci^'^'^' 
 
5t Of The Advancement 
 
 States be happy when either Kings were Philofuphers ar 
 Philofophers Kings -^ yec fo much is verified by experi- 
 ence > that under wife and Learned Princes and governors of 
 State ^ there hath bin eyer the befl and happiefi times. For how- 
 foever Kings may have their errors and imperfe(5lionsj that 
 is,behableco Pafsionsand depraved cuftomes, hke other 
 me,yet if they be illuminated by Learning, they have certain 
 anticipate notions of Rehgion, PoHcy, and Morahty,which 
 preferve and refrain them from all ruinous and peremptory 
 errors and exceffes , whifpering evermore in their eares, 
 when Councellors, and Servants ftand mute and filent . So 
 hkcwiCc Senators and Councelloi^ which be Learned, doe pro- 
 ceed upon more fafe andfubftantiallprinciplesi than Councellors 
 which are only men of experience: Thofe (eeing dangers a farre 
 ofF,and repulfing them betimes- whereas thele are wife only 
 neere at hand, Teeing nothing, but what is imminent and 
 ready to fall upon them, and thantruft to the agility of their 
 witj in the point of dangers,to ward and avoid them. 
 
 § Which felicity of times under L^^r«^^ 'Tnwf^x (to 
 
 keep ftill the law of brevity by ufing the mod feleded an d e- 
 
 minentexamplesj doth beft appear, in the Age which paf- 
 
 fed from the death of D(}w/f/\^i« the Emperor, untill the 
 
 raigne o( Qommodtn, comprehending afuccefiion of fixe Princes 
 
 aU Lear nedior lingular favourers and advancers of Learning, 
 
 and of all ages(ifwe regard temporal! happineffe) the moTtflcri^^ 
 
 ing that eyer Romefaw^ whit h was then the Modell and Epitome of 
 
 the world: A matter revealed and prefigured unto Domitian in 
 
 Suet, in a dream, the night before he was flaine, for he feem'd to fee 
 
 Dom parag^^^g,^ y^hiy^il f^pg^ his fhoulders a neck and a head of gold; 
 
 ^' which Divination came indeed accordingly to paffc, in 
 
 thofe golden times which lucceededj of which we will 
 
 imakefome particular, but brief commemoration. l<Jerya 
 
 was a Learned Prince, an inward acquaintance, arid even a 
 
 Difciple to ApoQonita the Pythagorean; who alio almoft ex- 
 
 . pired in a verfc ofHomers, 
 
 DioH, 1. 68. Telis *Th*/be tms^ lachrimUS ulcifcere noflras 
 
 Plin.Pan. Tr/?j<^» wasforhis Perfonnot Learned, but an admirer of 
 
 Learn- 
 
Of LEARNiNfG. Lib. L 51 
 
 Learning, and a naunificeiit benefa<5bol: to the Learned, a 
 Founder of Libraries, and iii whole Court (though a war- 
 like Prince) as is recorded^ Profeffors and Preceptors were 
 of moft credit and eftiitiatioii. Adrian was the moft curious ^l^""* ^^ 
 man that lived, and the infatiable inquirer of all variety and 
 Iccrets. Anconmus had the-.patient and fubtilc wit of a 
 ^choole-man, in fo much as he was called Cjmitti-ScSlor^ ^ Dion, in 
 Career ^or a diyider of Cummin-feed: And of the Dm fratres^^^^^' ^' 
 Luctui Commodus was delighted witha fofter kind of Learn- 
 ingj and Marcm was furnarn'd the Philofdpber . Thefe Trtn- 
 cesas they ecccel'dthe re^ iH Learnings fo they excdl^d them like- 
 'tpifemyirtue md goodnefe. Nerioa was a moft mild Empe- 
 rour^and u>ha (if he had done nothing elfc) gaye Trajan tovMn.Vm. 
 theWorld. Tr^j^^, ©fall that raigned, for the Arts, both of^JJ^*^**^- 
 Peace and Warre, was moft famous and renowned ; the * 
 (ame Prince enlarged the bounds of the Empircj the fanie, Xyphil. ek 
 temperately confind the Limits arid Powei: thereof j he wa^ jraSn.. 
 lalfo a great Buildet in (b mudi as Qonfiantinnhc Great, in e- 
 mulation was wont to call him^Pariaanity Wall- F lower ^bc^ 
 caufe his name was carved* upon fo mjmy walls. Adrian 
 vwas Times rivall for the vi<5tory ofpe'rpetttity>forby his care 
 and munificence in every kind, he repaired the decaies and 
 .rumcs of Time. Anton inus, as by name, lo nature,a man ^ . • 
 exceeding Pi<?iiy> for his nature and inbred| goodnefle, vvasinArit>; 
 .beloved and moft acceptable to meri of all forts and degrees; 
 whofe raigne, though it was long, yet was it peacfefull and 
 happy. Luaw Commodm (exceeded indeed by his brother) m Vcro. 
 .^xceldmanyoftheEmperours for goodneffe. Marcus for-inM.Ant. 
 •med by nature to be the pattern and Platfbrme of virtue, a- 
 gainft whom that le^er in the banquet of the Gods had no • 
 .thing to objedtjOr c2irftSitfarjf>ehispatiencetowards the humors luVuni C»i 
 if his wife. 5o in this continued fe^uence of /^^ *Tri»r^x, ^f^r^; 
 fnanmay fee thehappy fruits of Learning in Sdyeraignty^ Pain- 
 ted forth in the greateftTable of the world. 
 
 JIT- Neither hath Learning ah influence or operation 
 upon Qiyill merit and the Arts of Peace only^ but likewiie it 
 hath no leffe Power and Efficacy in Martiall and Military 
 
 G 2 >/rf«^ 
 
Of The Advancembnt 
 
 Wtue^^s may notably bereprefcnted in the examples of A- 
 iexander the Greatj and lulm C^far the DiUator^ mention'd 
 by theway befote, but now in fit place to be refumedj oi 
 wholfi Military 'virtues andA^s in warre^ there needs no note 
 oirecitall, having bin the wonders of the world in that 
 kind- butjof Ji&^ir affeSiionand prgpef^ficm towards Learning^ 
 and peculiar perfedimtherein^ it will not be impertinent to 
 fay lomething. 
 
 § ^/^x^w^^r was bred arid taught under Ariflotley (cer- 
 tainly a great Philofopher) who dedicated diverfe of his 
 Books of ^bilofophy unto him; he wa^ attended with Qa-^ 
 liUhencs ^^nddiyctk otheE Learned perfons that followed 
 him in Campe, and were his perpetuall affociatesj in all his 
 Travailes and Conquefts. What Pric^ and Eflimation he had 
 L^^W«^m, doth notably appear in many particularsj as in 
 the envy he exprcfled towards AchiUe*^ great fortune,in this, 
 Pluc in That he hadfogeoda Trumpet of hit Anions (Ufproyefe oj Homers 
 Alcxand. yerfesAn the judgement he gave touching th^ precious Cabinet 
 ^D^r /w,which was found amongft the reft of the fpoiles; 
 whereof} when queftion was mov'd, what thing was wor« 
 thy to be put into it> and one faid one thing, another, ano- 
 Plut.ut thtv ^ he gaye fentence for Homers works. His reprehenforic 
 "^"* letter to Arifflotle, after he had fet forth his ^ook of Nature^ 
 < wheiwin he expoftulates with him, for puUiftiing the fe- 
 crets artnyfteries of Philofophy, andgavehim tounder- 
 Vtfupra. flandj That himfelfeeflimedit more to excell others in Learn- 
 ing and Knowledge ^than ini Power and Empire, There are 
 many other particulars to this purpofc. But how excellently 
 huinind was endowed with Learnings doth appear, or rather 
 fhine in all his Speeches and <i«/B?^rx,fullof knowledg & wif- 
 domcj whereoHhough the Remain es be fmalU yet you flial 
 find deeply imprefled in them, the foot-fteps of all fciences 
 in Moral knowledge; Let thejpeech of Alexander be obferved 
 touching Diogenes ^3c iee(if yee plcafe)if it tend not to the true 
 eftate of one of the greateft queftions in morall Philofophy? 
 whether the enjoying of outward thingsyor th^ contemning ofthemy 
 be the greater happinejfeJcox when he faw .Diogenes emtented 
 
 with 
 
Of Learning, Lib. L 5j 
 
 tPfth /q litki turning to thofe that flood about jiim, chat 
 niock»t at the Cyniques condition, he faid, Jf Iw^re n(^t J- Vtfuprai 
 kxanderyj could mjh to be Diogenes, But Sen.ecaty in this com- 
 parifonjpieferies Diogenesy when he faith, Piu$ erat quodOeBcn- J 
 Piogenes noUet mcipere , qmm quod Alexander pojfet dare-^ 
 There were more things which Diogenes would haye refu/ed, than 
 tbofe were which Alexander could hayegiyen. Jn Natural! hnaw^ 
 ledge J obferve that fpeech that was ufuall with h im^ Thaf Plut. In 
 be felt his mortality chiefly in two things^ Jleep^and Lufl: which ^^^^^^* 
 fpeech, in truth, is extradted out of the depth of Natural] 
 Phil^fophy, tafting rather of the conception of an Arijiotlept 
 ^Democrituf^ than ^a Alexander^ feeing as well the indi- 
 gence, as redundance of nature, defign'd by thefe two A<5ls, 
 ^re,as it wercjthe inward witnefies and the carneft of Death. 
 In P^ejy, let that fpeech be obferved, when upon the bleed- 
 ing of his woundes, he called unto him one of his Flatterers, 
 that was vvont to af^ribe unto him divine h6nor; look (faith Vt Sipn^ « 
 he) thUifthe blood of a many notfuch liquor as Homer Jpeaks of^ ^^^^^* 
 i^kifhranne from Fepi^ handyj^ben it was pierced by Diomedes: 
 with this fpeech checking both the Poets ^ and his flatterers 
 and himfelfe. Jn Logiq^e obferve that reprehenfion of Dia,- 
 le^ique Fallacies Ati repelling and retorting Arguments) in 
 that faying of his wherein he takes up Cajfander^ confuteing 
 the in formers again ft his rather M«^/^/i^^r» For when Alex- 
 ander hapned to fay, Doe you think thefe men would come fo Plut. in 
 farreto complain^ except they had jufi caufe^ Caflander an*^^^^"^* 
 fwered) Tea^ that was it thai made them tbm bold, becaufe they 
 hoped the length of the way would dead the difioyeryofthe ajperfi^ 
 on-^ See (faith the King ) the fubtlety of^riflotle wrefting the 
 matter bothwaies^n^ro and Contra, Yet the fame Art which 
 he reprehended in another, he knevV well hovV toule him^ 
 felfe,whenoccafion required, to fervehis own turne. For 
 fo it fell out that Califthenes, ( to whom he bare a fccrec 
 grudge , bedaufe he was'againft the new ceremony of his a- 
 doration) being movM, at a banquet) by fome of thofe that 
 fate at table with him, that for entertainraentfake( being he 
 was an eloquent man) he would take upon him forae 
 
 G J Theame > 
 
54 
 
 Ot The Advancement 
 
 Theme, at his own choices toMcoiirfe upon, which Calh 
 Uhenes did^ and chufcing the PraifesoFthe Macedonian 
 Nation, performed the fame With the great applaiifepf all 
 that heard him. whereupon Alexander^ nothing pleafed^ 
 Plutarch. ^^^^> ^'^^^ ^P^^ ^ goodfuhjeSi it mas cajj fir afly man ta be elo- 
 ut fiipra. {^uenti but tur ne, faid he, your ftile, and let us hear what you 
 can iay againft us. Califthenes undertook the ckarge, and 
 performed it> with that fting Sc lifcthat Alexander was fainc 
 to interrupt him^fayingj AnillmindalfoxuweUai agoodcaufh 
 might infufe eloquence, For Rhetorique yWhcvcto Tropes and 
 Ornaments appertaincj fee an elegant ufe of Metaphor, 
 wherewith he tajred Antipater^ who was an Jmperious and 
 Tyrannous Governor. For when one of Antifaters friends 
 commended him to ^Alexander for his moderation , and 
 that he did not degenerate? as other Lief-tenants did, Into 
 the Perfian Pridc» m ufcmg Purple^but kept the ancient Ma- 
 Plutarch, cedon habit , But Anttpater (faith Alexander) ts aU Purple 
 Did.Not. within. So iikewife that other Metaphons excellent^ vvheii 
 Parmenio came unto him in the plain ofArbella-^ and fhewcd 
 him the innumerable multitude of cnimies which viewed 
 in the night? reprefented, by the infinite number of lights, a 
 new Firmament of ilavresj and thereupon advifed him to 
 I»\ut in A-. affaile cnem by night, / rpiO not-, faid Alexander, fiealea yi* 
 Icxan. ^ory. For matter cf Policy ^ weigh that grave and wife di- 
 fltnclion, which all ages have imbraced, whereby hc<liffi*- 
 renced his two chief friends> Epheflion and Cratertu^v^htxi 
 Vtfupra. \i^(gi\6^Thatthe one ioyed Alexander, and the other looped the 
 King^ Defcribeing a Difference of great import, amongit 
 even the mod faithful! fervants of Kings, that fome infincere 
 affe^ion loloe their Terfons , others in duty loye their Crowns. 
 Obfervehow excellently he could taxe an error, ordinary 
 with CounfiUors of Princes, who many times give counfjH, 
 according to the modellof their own mind and fortune, 
 and not of their Mafters. For when Darim had made great 
 plut. in oScr s to Alexander: I ^faid Parmenio^ vould accept thefe con* 
 ^^^^' ditions^ifjwere (ts Alexander, faid Alexander Jiirelyfo would 1^ 
 were las *Tarmenio, Laftly, weigh that quick and acute re^ 
 
 ply 
 
Of Learning. Lib. li 
 
 5i 
 
 ply? which he made to his friends asking him, n;hat he would ^ r 
 refirye fir hmfelfigiyingaxifaj Jo many and great guift SI Hope ^ 
 laid hci as one who well knew that when all accounts are 
 caft up aright, Hope is the true portion and inheritance of all * 
 
 chat refolve upon great enterprizcs. This was JuHni Q^^er's 
 portion when he went into QauH^ all his eftate being exhau- 
 fiedbyprofufeLargeffes. This was likewife the portion 
 of that noble Princejhowfoevertranfported vvich Ambiti- 
 onj Henry Duke of(juyfe^ of whom it \a as ufually fsLid^.That S- Frar. 
 he wcu the greateft ufurer in all France^ becaufe that all hu ^^^^^ 
 wealth was in nameSi and that he had turned his wkle eftate into 
 obligations. But the admiration of ?/?w *Trince whirftl re- 
 prefenthim to my felfe, not as Alexandi* the Greats but as 
 Jriflotles SchoUer^hsLih perchance carried me toofarre. 
 
 § As for luliui Ccefar the excellency rfhu Learnings needs Cic. dc cl* 
 not to be argued? either from his education, or his compa-^^^^* ^^ 
 ny^or his anfwersj For this, in a high degree? do:h declare it rat.i. j. 
 felfe in his own writings? and works, whereof fome are ex- Saetinlul. 
 cant?iome unfortunately perifh't. For firft; there is left un- 
 to wsthat excellent Hi ftory of his own war res y which he entitled 
 only a CoMMbNTARV; wherein all lucceeding times have Suet, m 
 admired the folid waight of matter; and lively images ofP^"2'5<^- 
 Actions and Perfons, expreft in the greateft propriety of 
 words?andperfpicuityofNarration,that ever was. Which 
 endowments J that they were not infufed by nature) but ac- 
 quired by Precepts andinftruUions of Learning^ is well wic 
 ncflcd by that work of his entitled De Analogia, which Parag.5tf, 
 was nothing elfe but a Qrammaticall Phihfophy^ wherein he 
 did labour, to make this, T?OA}^fi^P/^a>M?Mi to become yox ad 
 Licitum, and to reduce cuftome of fpeech> to congruity of 
 fpeechjthatwords?whicharethe images of things, might 
 accord with the things themfelves? and not ftand to the Ar- 
 bitrementofthe vulgiir. So likewife we have by his edi6t> 
 a reformed computiitionoftheyearycotTcCfondcntiQ the courfc ^^^^ ^j. 
 of the Sunne- which evidently (hewes, rhat he accounted it parag.46, 
 his ecjuall glory? to finde out the lawes,of the ftarres ia hea- 
 vcnj as to give lawcs to men on earth. So in that Book of 
 
 bis 
 
56 Op The Advancement 
 
 Plut. in his entitled AnITI-Catoj it doth eafily appear > that he did 
 Cxliu afpire,as well to vidtory of vVitj as victory of warre^underta- 
 king therein a Conflict againff th^ greateft Champion 
 with the Penne,thatthenklivedjC/V(fro thd Oratour, Agai ne in 
 his Book of Apophthegmes, which he colkiSledj we fee 
 he eftimed it more honour, to make himfelfe but a paire 
 of Tables, or Codicills, wherein to regifter the wife and 
 graVe fayings of others^ then if his own words were hal- 
 lowed as Oracles , as many vain Princes by cuftome of 
 Flattery, delight to doe. But if I fhovjld report diverfe of 
 his Speeches y^jis I did in xAlexander^ they are truly luch, as 
 Ecclcf. la.Salomon notes, "X^^r^^ SapienUm funt tanqmm aculeiy ^ 
 tanquam clavi maltum defixi :vA\crcfovc I will here only pro- 
 pound three, not fo admirable for elegancy, as for vigor and 
 efficacy; As firft, it is reafon he be thought a matfterrfwordsy 
 that could with one W;ord appeafe a mutiny in his army • 
 the occafion was this- The Romans, when their Generalls 
 did fpeak in their Army did ufe the word, Militesy when 
 the Magiftratesfpake to th« people, they didufe the word, 
 §luirites: C^fars fouldiers were in a tumult, and feditioufly 
 prayed to be cafTed , not that they fo ment , but by cxpoftu- 
 lation thereof, to draw C^far to other conditions^ //^, no- 
 thingdaantedand refblute, after fomefilence began thus 
 Suct.inlul. Egpy G^rites% which word did admit them aljready caffee- 
 P^g7®* rcdi vvherewith the foUldiers werefo furprized, and fo a- 
 niazedja$ they would not fuffer him togoe on in his fpeech- 
 andrelincjuifliing theirdemands ofDifmifiitm, made it now 
 their carneftfuit, that the name of Milites^ nilght be again 
 reflored them. The fecond fpeech was thusj Ccefar did ex- 
 treamlyaffed the name of iC/^g-j therefore fome were fet 
 on, as he parted by, in popular acclamation to falute him 
 'King! he finding the crie weak and poore, put off the matter 
 Suct.parag. with a jeft, as itthey had mift his fur-name, ^m ^ex fum^ 
 7i» ( faith ht)fedQ<6piry indeedfuch a fpeech as if it be exadly 
 
 fearcht, the life and fiilnefle of it can fcarce be expreft. For 
 firft it pretended a refufall of the name, but yet not ferious; 
 againit did carry with it an infinite confidence, and magna-^ 
 ' ,nimity- 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 Bacon's Advancement of Learning, 1640. 
 
 '^^ Another erro) induced hj the former is, a suspicion and diffidence, that anything 
 should he noiv to be found ont, which the world should have missed and passed 
 
 OVER so LONG TIME." — P. 36, ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING, 1640. 
 
 In Lord Bacon's Distribution Preface of the Advancement of 
 Learning, 1640, lie explains the scope, end and divisions of his 
 Instauration, which he divides into six parts. Of these we only 
 possess the three first completed parts. A mystery pertaining both 
 to language and Bacon's intentions surrounds the fourth part, as 
 also the fifth and sixth. The fourth part was to consist of Examples 
 of Inquisition and of Invention, which Bacon suspiciously terms 
 " T7/pes and platforms, which may present as it were, to the eye, the 
 ivhole procedure of the mind, and the continued fabric and order of 
 invention in certain selected subjects ; and they various and of remark. 
 For it came into our mind, that in Mathematics, the frame stand- 
 ing, the demonstration inferred is facile and perspicuous ; on the con- 
 trary, without t)iis accommodation and dependency, all seems involved 
 and more subtle than indeed they be." (Pp. 35, 36, Distribution 
 Preface, 1640.) 
 
 It is plain from this passage the Examples Bacon alludes to 
 are closely connected with mathematics. Inasmuch as theory is 
 always necessary to discovery, and hypothesis is the first step to 
 finding the true terms of induction, and inasmuch as the 1623 Folio 
 and Bacon's Advancement of Learning are both largely mispaged, 
 the question arises, is there no possible connection between the lan- 
 guage quoted above and this mispaging? It is certain, if a cipher 
 be introduced by means of mathematics and dates, Shakespeare's 
 age when he died would be the most simple and pointed way of ex- 
 pressing Shakespeare. It is, therefore, very striking to find the 
 first pages mispaged in Bacon's Advancement of Learning of 1640 
 are 52, 53, which represent Shakespeare's age 1616, as re- 
 corded upon his monument at Stratford. Directly we turn 
 to the Folio 1623 plays, we find the only four entries of 
 
 4 49 
 
50 TSE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 
 
 the word " Bacon " upon pages 53 Merry Wives of Wind- 
 sor and 53 1st King Henry IV., and upon page 52 1st King Henry 
 IV. (mispaged 54). i I think, therefore, it is important the closest 
 possible examination should be given to everything recorded by 
 Bacon upon the mispaging of his Advancement, 1G40. I, therefore, 
 give the pages 48 to 56 in fac-simile reproduction, whereby not 
 only the mispaging, but the extraordinary system of italicizing may 
 be studied. If Lord Bacon wrote the plays ascribed to Shake- 
 speare with a view to revelation of their real authorship by poster- 
 ity, nothing would be more probable than that he should furnish a 
 key work to their unlocking. The question is, are the '' Examples 
 of Inquisition and Invention,^^ to which mathematics are to be ap- 
 plied (evidently; in some way by, *' demonstration, facile and per- 
 spicuous "), the 1623 Folio plays? Is the mysterious expression, 
 " The frame standing, ^^ a subtle hint for the margin of the 
 letter-press carrying the paging as a portrait in the frame f 
 Thus, 52, 53 woald stand for Shakespeare, 1616; 55, 56 for Lord 
 Bacon at the same date, 1616 ; 62, 63 for Lord Bacon, 1623. It will 
 be noticed the mispaging 53 does actually mask the real 55 on the 
 reproduced page. Shakespeare and Bacon are thus, as it were, 
 identified by mathematics, the false paging 53 supplanting the real 55, 
 which latter was Bacon's full or completed years, 1616. We all have 
 two ages ; that is, the years completed and the year entered. To the 
 thoughful reader two numbers like these, employed as cipher, (mis- 
 paging, or otherwise), would greatly assist discovery by double 
 repetition, and assist induction. It is for this reason, I have 
 already suggested, we find Troilus and Cressida omitted from the 
 1623 catalogue of the plays, thus giving the two numbers 35, 36. 
 It may be remarked the passage of the Preface, from which we quote 
 as to the Examples of Inquisition and Invention, is upon pages 35. 
 36. All this has already been discussed in my work Hermes 
 Stella, but without any fac-simile lithographs of the pages, which I 
 now reproduce. As the translation or English version of the 1623 
 Be Augmentis is an excessively rare work to obtain, I have thought 
 it as well to reproduce some of its pages here. The reader is, there- 
 fore, in the position of having the work itself before his eyes. 
 
 The profound student will recognize the extraordinary force of 
 
 1 The mispaging commences in the play upon page 47, which will be found 
 mispaged 49, the previous page being 46. This error is carried on continuously, 
 and, if corrected, reduces page 54 to 52, page 53 to 51. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 51 
 
 the hint BacoD gives us in these Learned Princes, upon pages 52 
 (false), 51, 52 (correct), 53, 54, 53 (false), of the Advancement of 
 Learning, 1640, when we discover most of them were patrons of 
 poets. For example, the first illustration is of Doraitian (page 52, 
 false). Domitian, although a had man, gave great honors and gifts 
 to the Poet Eustathius, who wrote a history from >^neas to 
 Anastasius, the emperor. At a solemn feast, he caused him to sit at 
 his table, crowned with a garland of laurels. Antoninus Pius, whom 
 Bacon quotes upon page 51, we find (according to Suetonius) giving 
 Appian so many ducats of gold, as there were number of verses in a 
 great work, which he had written concerning nature and fishes. 
 Bacon writes of this emperor, *^ Antoninus, as by name, so native, a 
 man exceeding pious, for his nature and inbred goodness was be- 
 loved and most acceptable to men of all sorts and degrees " (p. 51). 
 Of Nerva Bacon writes: " Nerva was a learned prince, an inward 
 acquaintance, and even a disciple to ApoUonius, the Pythagorean, 
 who also almost expired in a verse of Homer's: 
 
 " ' Telis Phoebe tuis, lachrimas ulciscere nostras.' " (p. 52.) 
 Bacon could not allude directly to Shakespeare, but, by analogy, 
 he introduces upon this page (bearing a frame portrait of Shakes- 
 peare, 1616, aged 52) Shakespeare's greatest prototype. Homer. 
 
 But it is Alexander the Great Bacon dwells on the most — that 
 is for four pages — (52, 53, 54 and half of 53) — and I do not think 
 the reason Bacon so dwells upon him and finally compares him to 
 himself is far to seek — that is, Alexander's love of Homer. And 
 mark the following passage is upon page 52 (Shakespeare's com- 
 pleted age 1616), and in the margin against the passage are the 
 words ut supra, which are repeated page 53 (false). 
 
 '' Alexander was bred and taught under Aristotle (certainly a 
 great philosopher), who dedicated divers of his books of philosophy 
 unto him. What price and estimation he had learning in doth nota- 
 bly appear in many particulars, as in the envy he expressed towards 
 Achilles' great fortune in this, that he had so good a trumpet of his 
 actions and prowess as Homer's Verses. In the judgment he gave 
 touching the precious cabinet of Darius, which was found amongst 
 the rest of the spoils ; whereof, when question was moved, what thing 
 was worthy to be put into it, and one said one thing, and another, 
 another, he gave sentence for Homer's Works. '^ (p. 52, correct.) 
 
 Upon page 53 (correct) it may be seen Bacon once more intro- 
 duces Homer in context with Alexander, 
 
 " In poesy, let that speech be observed, when, upon the bleeding 
 \. of his wounds, he called unto him one of his flatterers, that was 
 
52 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 wont to ascribe unto him divine honor. ' Look (saith he), this is 
 the blood of a man, not such liquor as Homer speaks of, tvhich ran from 
 Venus^ hand when it was pierced hy Diomedes,' with this speech 
 checking both the poets. ^' 
 
 Nor does Bacon end his admiration for Homer here, but by a 
 most profound and subtle analogy introduces him again upon pages 
 62 and 63, in context with the subject of Renovation through 
 Time and the immortality of learning, which he compares to a shipi 
 — thus touching this very work itself, whichhe presents as a ship sail- 
 ing through time. In 1623, when the first collected edition of the folio 
 Shakespeare plays were published, and also when this actual work 
 in Latin (the De Augmentis) was also published side by side tvith it, 
 Francis Bacon was 62 years old and in his 63rd year. There can be 
 no question about that fact, for his monument, erected by his faith- 
 ful friend. Sir Thomas Meavtys, states he died in 1626, at the age 
 of 6G ; that is, he was in his 66th year — had lived 65 years and a 
 fraction of a year. Now, if Bacon alludes to Homer upon pages 
 carrying Shakespeare's two ages (as a portrait in the frame paging), 
 viz., 52 and 53 (see Stratford menument), is it not remarkable to 
 find Bacon again introducing Homer upon pages bearing his own 
 age in 1623, when the folio plays and Be Augmentis went forth to- 
 gether ? Bacon tells us in an entire book (VI th) '^ Analogy is one of 
 his great methods of transmission of secret knowledge. " I don't know 
 any profounder possible hint than Homer's works for Shakespeare's, 
 seeing the former is the crown and representative poet of the ancient 
 world, as the latter is of the modern. Bacon gives us in his 
 preface to the Instauration just the sort of hint as to ciphers by 
 means of mathematics, or portraits in the frame paging, viz., in the 
 blank margin of the letter press, we require. " For it came into our 
 minds, that in mathematics, the frame standing, the demonstration 
 is facile and perspicuous. '^ 
 
 Now, mark upon page 62 Bacon writes the following : 
 
 " It is an ancient observation that Homer hath given more men 
 their living than either Sylla or Caesar or Augustus ever did.'' 
 Upon page 63: " But we see how far the monuments of wit and 
 learning are more durable than the monuments of material me- 
 morials and manufactures. Have not the verses of Homer continued 
 
 1 "For there are found in the Intellectual Glohe as in the Terrestrial, soils im- 
 
 S roved and deserts." (P. 22, Distribution Preface, Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 in the title page engraving of this work may be seen this Mtindus Intellectualis, 
 faintly dotted out and suggesting the neio world., in opposition to the old tcorld 
 which is presented by a globe on the other side. Bacon's ship is sailing for the 
 former, and may be seen below passing what Bacon calls the " latal columns." 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 53 
 
 twenty-five centuries of years and above tvithout the loss of a syllable 
 or letter f During which time infinite number of places, temples, cas- 
 tles, cities, have been decayed or been demolished. The images of 
 men^s wits remain unmaimed in books forever, exempt from the 
 
 injuries of time, because capable of perpetual renovations how 
 
 much more are letters to be magnified, which, as ships passing 
 through the vast sea of time, connect the remotest ages of wits and 
 inventions in mutual trafiic and correspondency.''^ 
 
 I do not myself question the hint Bacon is giving us in context 
 with the metaphor of the ship. For this work itself he compares to 
 a ship, and the title page engraving carries the emblem of a ship 
 sailing through the columns of Hercules in search of a new ivorld 
 of sciences; that is, Bacon's Deficients, which he calls by this name, 
 are part of the new world, hemisphere, or intellectual globe of the 
 theater which can only be reached by means of this key book, " for 
 the better opening up of the Instauration.'^ 
 
 Alexander was scholar to Aristotle five years together, and the 
 learning of Aristotle, under whom Alexander was tutored, took 
 such root and efiBcacy in the scholar, that he became so excellent a 
 king as no one in the world was able to compare with him. Being 
 in the midst of his armies, he would not give over study, but ever- 
 more laid (with his sword) on the pillow of his bed the Iliad of 
 Homer and other books ; and it appeared that such was his love to 
 learning, that he could as easily apprehend it as he conquered king- 
 doms by force of arms. Plutarch, Aulus Gellius and Themistocles 
 do affirm, that Alexander had published certain books of natural 
 philosophy, whereof he had been an auditor under Aristotle, in 
 regard whereof he wrote a letter unto him. 
 
 The letter of the great Alexander to his master, Aristotle : 
 
 " Truly, Aristotle, thou hast done ill in publishing those books 
 of speculative philosophy, by thee composed. For, in thine own 
 judgment, wherein can I possibly excel other men when the science 
 wherein thou hast instructed me cometh to be common to all men f I 
 would have thee to know that I more covet to precede all men in learn- 
 ing and knowledge than in riches, pomp, power or dominion. Fare- 
 well. '^ 
 
 " When this was understood by Aristotle, to comfort and please so 
 puissant a prince, he commanded that his books (formerly common) 
 should be so obscured that it was not possible to under- 
 stand THEM, BUT BY HIS OWN INTERPRETATION. " ^ 
 
 1 Treasury of Ancient and Modern Times, translated out of the Spanish by 
 Pedro Mexia and Francisco Sansovino. Jaggard, London, 1613, 1619. 
 
5i THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE, 
 
 Now, I maintain Bacon's reference to Alexander upon tMs false 
 page 53 of the Advancement of Learning, of 1640, in context with 
 himself and his own name, Francis Bacon, in the margin, is ex- 
 pressly made with reference to this passage placed by us in capitals 
 viz., " That his hooks should he so obscured, that it was not pos- 
 sible TO understand them, but by his OWN INTERPRETA- 
 TION." The words " ut supra,^' over Francis Bacon, point to the 
 false paging, 53, to indicate, hi/ the portrait in the frame paging, 
 Shakespeare (who died in his 53d year, 1616) ; that is to say, Bacon 
 compares himself and Shakespeare to Alexander and Aristotle. 
 Upon page 52 Bacon writes of Alexander. " His reprehensory letter 
 to Aristotle, after he had set forth his Book of Nature [Lihrum 
 Naturce) wherein he expostulates with \mn. for publishing the secrets 
 or mysteries of philosophy, and gave him to understand, that himself 
 esteemed it more to excel others in learning and knowledge than in 
 power and empire.-^ (p. 52, his, Advancement of Learning, 1640. )i 
 
 It cannot bo questioned Bacon is referring to just those works of 
 Alexander which the latter intended should not be published so as 
 to be understood. I am convinced Bacon has selected Alexander's 
 example as typical of his own method of obscuration and conceal- 
 ment, Bacon likewise intending to furnish in this Be Augmentis his 
 own key and interpretation. We may perceive in the Preface to his 
 Instauration, he obscurely compares himself to Alexander, as a Cap- 
 tain, coming (in this very work? ) to take possession of his own — 
 " For we come not hither as augurs, to measure countries in our 
 mind, for divination, but as Captains 2 to invade them eor a 
 CONQUEST. " (P. 23, Distribution Preface, Advancement of Lear- 
 ning, 1640.) 
 
 It may be seen from the letter to Aristotle I quote, that Alexander 
 was concealing his own authorship under the name of Aristotle. Though 
 Alexander attributes the work to Aristotle, — ^^ by thee composed.''^ 
 nevertheless, it is plain he is blaming Aristotle on his (Alexander's) 
 own account, because he is desirous of remaining unknown. Plu- 
 tarch, Aulus Gellius, and Themistocles, assert what is evident on the 
 face of the letter, that Alexander was the real author of this work. 
 
 1 "Alexander the Great was an initiate. The Jewish High Priest in Jerusalem 
 received Alexander the Great into the Temple, and led him into the Holy of Holies 
 to offer sacrifice." — The Tarot (p. 6) Pajous. 
 
 2 'Tor Alexander's expedition into Asia was prejudged as a vast and impossible 
 enterprise; yet, afterwards it pleased Livy, so to to slight it as to say of Alexander, 
 '■Nilalind quam bene ausus est vana contemnere. The same thing happened unto Colum- 
 bus in the western navigation.^ " (P. 36, Advancement of Learning ^ 1640.) 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 55 
 
 ( Vide Plutarch, in vita Alex. Aul. Gellius in lib. xv. cap. 3 -, Themls- 
 toclesin Alex.) 
 
 If the reader will carefully study the first paragraph of page 53 
 (false for 55) he will perceive a seeming contradiction or paradox, 
 inasmuch as Bacon represents Henry, Duke of Guise, to himself, " not 
 as Alexander the Great, hut as Aristotle^ s scholar. " But Alexander 
 was Aristotle's scholar, as Bacon himself states upon page 52 : " Alex- 
 ander was bred and taught under Aristotle. " Bacon is plainly draw- 
 ing a profound and subtle distinction between Alexander the Great 
 and Aristotle's scholar for some purpose, though both are identical. 
 And this hint in connection with the Duke of Guise, '' whose tvealth 
 consisted only in names .^ " I think the profound thinker will 
 recognize Bacon's intention is to refer to Alexander as the scholar of 
 Aristotle, who refused to attach his name to a work of his own, and, 
 therefore, he lays stress upon their literary relationship, whicli 
 relationship is compared to the Duke of Guise, who put all his credit 
 out in obligations, in the hope of a future throne. And this was 
 Bacon's position with regard to the plays known as Shakespeare's. 
 He was, de facto, the heir and king, hut not in name. 
 
 Plutarch writes of Aristotle : 
 
 *' Alexander gained from him not only moral and political knowl- 
 edge, but was also instructed in those more secret and profound 
 branches of science, which they call acroamatic and epoptic, and 
 which they did not communicate to every common scholar;! for 
 when Alexander was in Asia, and received information that Aris- 
 totle had published some books in which those points were dis- 
 cussed, he wrote him a letter in behalf of philosophy, in which he 
 blamed the course he had taken. The following is a copy of it: 
 
 " ' Alexander to Aristotle, prosperity. You did wrong in pub- 
 lishing the acroamatic parts of science.2 In what shall we difler 
 from others, if the sublimer knowledge which we gained from you 
 be made common to all the world? For my part, I had rather excel 
 the bulk of mankind in the superior parts of learning, than in the 
 extent of power and dominion. Farewell.' 
 
 " Aristotle, in compliment to this ambition of his, and by way of 
 excuse for himself, made answer, thaf those points were published 
 and not puhlished. In fact his book of metaphysics is written in 
 such a manner that no one can learn that branch of science from it, 
 much less teach it others ; it serves only to refresh the memories 
 of those who have been taught by a master. 
 
 ''■ It appears also, to me, that it was by Aristotle, rather than any 
 other person, that Alexander was assisted in the study of physic, for 
 he not only loved the theory, but the practice too, as is clear from 
 
 1 The scholars in general were instructed only in the exoteric doctrines. Aul. 
 Gell. lib. XX. cap. 5. 
 
 2 Doctrines taught by private comiiiuiiication, and delivered viva voce. 
 
56 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 his epistles, wliere we find that he prescribed to his friends medi- 
 cines and a proper regimen. 
 
 " He loved polite learning too, and his natural thirst of knowl- 
 edge made him a man of extensive reading. The Iliad, he thought, 
 as well as called, a portable treasure of military knowledge ; and he 
 had a copy corrected hy Aristotle, ivhich is called the casket copy.'^ 
 Onesicritus informs us that he used to lay it under his pillow with 
 his sword. As he could not find many other books in the upper 
 provinces of Asia, he wrote to Harpakis for a supply, who sent liim 
 the works of Philistus, most of the tragedies of Euripides, Sophocles, 
 and ^schylus, and the Dithyrambics of Telestus and Philoxenus. 
 
 " A casket being one day brought him, which appeared one of 
 the most curious and valuable things among the treasures and the 
 whole equipage of Darius, he asked his friends what they thought 
 most worthy to be put in it? Different things were to be proposed, 
 but he said, ' The Iliad most deserved such a case.' This particular 
 is mentioned by several writers of credit. And if what the Alexan- 
 drians say, upon the faith of Heraclides, be true, Homer was no bad 
 auxiliary, or useless counselor, in the course of the war. " — [PlutarcNs 
 Lives: Alexander. Langhorne; pp. 123, 107, vol. II.) 
 
 If the student will turn to the sixth book of Bacon's De Aug- 
 mentis (or its translation by Wats, 1640), he will find Bacon, in 
 Chapter II., describing the Wisdom of Delivery and Traditive 
 Knowledge, with their different methods, as Magistral or Initiative 
 (which he terms the Delivery of the Lamp), Exotericall or revealed 
 — ACEOAMATicAL, OR THE co:ncealed METHOD, with many oth- 
 ers. Of the latter he writes : 
 
 " For the same difference the Ancients specially observed, in 
 publishing books, the same we will transfer to the manner itself of 
 DELIVERY. So the Acroamatic method was in use with the writers 
 of former ages, and wisely and with judgment applied, but that 
 Acroamatic and Enigmatical kind of expression is disgraced in 
 these later times by many, who have made it as a dubious and false 
 light for the vent of their counterfeit merchandise. But the pre- 
 tence thereof seemeth to be this, that by the intricate enveloping of 
 Delivery the profane Vulgar may be removed from the secrets of 
 sciences, and they only admitted which had either acquired the 
 interpretation of parables by tradition from their teachers or, by the 
 sharpness and subtlety of their own wit, could r»ierce the veil. " 
 (P. 273-274, Lib. YI., Advancement of Learning, 1640.. 
 
 There can be no question this work itself is written in just such 
 an Acroamatic style as Bacon describes. Bacon, in a letter to Doc- 
 
 1 He kept it in a rich casket found among the spoils of Darius. A correct 
 copy of this edition, revised by Aristotle, Callisthenes and Anaxarchus, was pub- 
 lished after the death of Alexander. " Darius," said Alexander, " used to keep his 
 ointments in this casket; but I, who have no time to anoint myself, will convert 
 it to a nobler use.'* 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 57 
 
 tor Playfer, refers to his Be Augmcntis as " flying too high above 
 men's heads, " on account of the " ohscurity of the stt/le, which must 
 select its reader. " 
 
 All these pages are italicized with a direct cipher purport. ^ Let 
 the reader count the italic words upon the second false page (53), 
 where he sees Fra. Bacon's name placed in the margin, with the 
 words ut supra, referring evidently to Shakespeare^ s portrait in the 
 frame paging, viz., his age 53, when he died, 1616. The Stratford 
 monument says ^^ obiit cetatis 53.''^ Bacon was 55 in 1616, and in 
 his 56th year. This page 53 is false for 55, the correct number. So 
 that, if this cipher speaks, it declares plainly " Francis Bacon" ap- 
 plies the parallel of the Duke of Guise (as having pawned his inher- 
 itance) to himself in his relationship to Shakespeare, indicated by 
 53. Directly we count these italic words from the top of the page 
 we find: 
 
 all 34, 105 all counted. 
 
 Ms 35, 106 '' " 
 
 wealth 36, 107 '' " 
 
 Is it not striking to find the play numbers 35, 36 against " his 
 wealth f " Upon pages 106, 107 of this same work, dramatic poesy 
 and stage plays are introduced for the first and last time. More- 
 over, the word " Bacon " is upon page 53, column 106, of The Merry 
 Wives of Windsor, and " Francis '' (Bacon's Christian name) twenty- 
 one times upon column 107 of the Histories (p. 56, false for 54) , 1st King 
 Henry IV. Bacon indicates himself the heir and successor to the 
 literary throne held by the false Shakespeare (53), Bacon being 
 the true 55 usurped by the false 53, both being frame portraits 
 of Shakespeare and Bacon in 1616. The Duke of Guise was, 
 de facto, King of France; he compared himself to the greatest 
 usurer in all France'; that is, he had given away all his present 
 interests for the sake of their return in his inheritance and 
 lawful succession to the throne, i Henry, the reigning king, 
 was a roi faineant — a mere puppet, and in this parallel we 
 may guess Bacon's profound simile as applied to Shakespeare and 
 himself, viz., that Bacon held the rightful claim to the succession of 
 literary authorship", and had pawned it, or laid it out to interest, 
 
 1 In a letter to the Earl of Devonshire, touching Essex, Bacon writes : ' ' My 
 answer, I remember, was, that for my fortune it was no great matter ; but that his 
 Lordship's offer made me call to mind what was wont to be said when I was in 
 France of the Duke of Guise, that he was the greatest usurer in France, because he 
 had turned all his estate into obligations ; meaning that he had left himself nothing, 
 but only had bound numbers of persons to him." 
 
58 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 that tlie capital might return to him tenfold. No subtler parallel 
 can be imagined. For a usurer parts with his money conditionally 
 only J — it is lent for awhile, given for use during a term, but always 
 with the reversionary right of returning to its laivful oivner again. 
 Bacon's literary wealth was thus laid out in others'' names, who were 
 bound to him for the obligation. By introducing Alexander the 
 Great, in connection with the Duke of Guise, Bacon points out the 
 literary parallel we adduce as to the publication, under Aristotle^ s 
 name, of a tvork by that great scholar. A usurer's wealth is parted with 
 for the sake of the obligations which the parties borrowing it lay 
 themselves under. They sign their names to bills, and these 
 signatures or names are really the potential wealth of the 
 lender. Bacon pawned or lent his name or wealth to Shake- 
 speare, and this work is the key by which he intended to repay 
 himself. He refers to this by the marginal text of 
 his own name standing against the passage we allude to, and 
 points as it were with the Latin " ut supra " to the portrait in the 
 frame of Shakespeare, aged 53, 1616, masking the correct paging 55 
 (Bacon's full years also, 1616), as much as to say, by figures, '* all 
 this refers to myself in relationship to Shakespeare, as you may see 
 by my mispaging ; I am the true 55 of 1616, who has paivned his 
 literary right to the false 53. " I consider this page 53 [bis] the most 
 important in this work. The reader may see, by Bacon's introduction 
 of his Analogy or Grammatical Philosophy, he is giving us a 
 hint for just the sort of analogy, by means of Notes of Things, which 
 he discusses under the head of Traditive Knowledge or the Art of 
 Delivering the Things Invented, in the sixth book, page 259. Upon 
 page 252, under the thirty-fourth star, he thus explains DeAnalogia 
 Bemonstrationum, or, Proofs from Analogy : 
 
 " There remains one part of judgment of great excellency, which 
 likewise we set down as deficient. The subject of this point is this, 
 the different kind of demonstrations and proofs, to different kind of 
 matter and subjects; so that this doctrine containeth the indication of 
 indications. For Aristotle adviseth well, that we may not require 
 demonstrations from orators, or persuasions from mathematicians.^'' 
 (P. 252.) 
 
 The reader will observe, then, that analogy is one of Bacon's 
 systems of judgment and proof by means of mathematics. Upon the 
 same page, 53, to which we allude, he writes, '' De^m^/o^/m, which was 
 nothing else but a grammatical philosophy, " alluding to Csesar's 
 book upon analogy. Upon page 261 Bacon writes : '^ We have con- 
 ceived and comprehended in our mind a kind of grammar, which 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUUE. 59 
 
 may diligently inquire not the analogy of words with another, hut the 
 analogy between words and things or reason. " (P. 261.) We do not 
 require persuasions from mathematicians, l)ut proofs which we find 
 out for ourselves. Bacon is hinting that his analogy is above per- 
 suasion and must carry its own proof by investigation. The fact 
 that these observations can all be referred to page 53 (from Bacon's 
 hint for his own grammatical philosophy upou that page) is a proof 
 that the mathematical analogy I have already adduced in regard to 
 the portrait in the frame of the text embracing these hints is true. 
 Bacon does not refer us upon page 53 to his own system of analogy 
 and grammatical philosophy (star 36) directly, but by analogy only. 
 The three deficients of a new world of sciences, entitled, respect- 
 ively, De Analogia Bemonstrationum, Be Notis Berum and Gram- 
 matica Philosophans, are the thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth 
 (stars or asterisks) in order of the catalogue at the end of the work, 
 and thus correspond with the italic words '^ all his zvealth/' already 
 quoted, page 53, as also with the words Hing, Hang, Hog, page 53, 
 Merry Wives of Windsor, which are also the thirty-fourth, thirty- 
 fifth, thirty-sixth words in italics down that page. 
 
 '* Hang-Hog is Latin for Bacon, I warrant you. " 
 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 
 Upon page 53 Merry Wives of Windsor we find a grammatical 
 scene in which the demonstrative pronoun, hie, hcec, hoc, or noun 
 standing in the place of a proper name, is declined, and mark identi- 
 fied in the accusative case with Bacon, as pointing to that partic- 
 ular person or thing. A demonstrative pronoun is a noun which 
 distinguishes or points out somebody as a proper name — Rex the 
 King, CsBsar, or, as we postulate. Bacon as a proper name. It is 
 the accusative case which lays accent and stress on the particular 
 thing or individual named. If this word Bacon can be proved to be 
 the surname of Francis Bacon, by analogy or proofs mathematic, 
 then, indeed, this actual scene harmonizes with Bacon's definition of 
 a grammatical philosophy which shall inquire into the analogy be- 
 tween words and things. It is the accusative case, hinc, hanc, hoc, 
 which is identified by travesty or mispronunciation of the words, 
 
 " Hang Hog is Latin for Bacon, I warrant you " 
 — with Bacon, in order to identify the 36th Apophthegm of the collec- 
 tion by Bacon in the 1671 Besuscitatio by means of cipher con- 
 gruity with this line. 
 
 In Bacon's essay Of Unity in Beligion, he writes : 
 
 " The quarrels and divisions about religion were evils unknown to 
 
60 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 the heathen. The reason was because the religion of the heathen 
 consisted rather in rites and ceremonies than in any constant behef. 
 For you may imagine what kind of faith theirs was, wJien the chief 
 doctors and fathers of their church zvere the poets, '' (1625, British 
 Museum copy.) 
 
 Now, remark how Bacon, in his Be Augmentis, lets the '^ cat out 
 of the bag, " and gives us a hint for the hand that introduced 
 Jupiter in Cymbeline, and Ceres in The Tempest, Theseus (one of the 
 founders of the Mysteries) in the Midsummer NighVs Dream, and the 
 endless classical parallels, with names such as Camillo, Autolycus, 
 Hermia, Demetrius, Lysander, Helena, Hermione, all of which are 
 more or less allied to the Mysteries. 
 
 " But, to speak the truth, the best doctors of this knowledge are the 
 poets, and writers of histories, where we may find painted and dis- 
 sected to the life, how affections are to he stirred up and kindled, how 
 stilled and laid asleep, how again contained and refrained, that they 
 break forth not into act? Likewise how they disclose themselves 
 though repressed and secreted'? What operations they produce? 
 What turns they take ? How they are enwrapped one with the other ? 
 How they fight and encounter one with another ? '' (P. 355, book vii., 
 Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 Each of these sentences concludes ivith a note of interrogation, 
 although the propositions are not framed in an interrogative way. 
 And this is curious, because we may indeed ask with Bacon, who 
 
 ARE THE PAHTICULAE DOCTOES AND POETS HE ALLFDES OR 
 
 POINTS at ? It is indeed plain all he suggests can only be found in 
 action, that is, in the x>lay of character against character, as in the 
 drama, and not in epic or lyric poetry at all ! We may ask in vain for 
 any art, save that called Shakespeare^ s, answering to this description! 
 Inasmuch as we quote from a supposed translation of Bacon's 
 De Augmentis, I give here the Latin text of the Be Augmentis itself, 
 1623, where the same anomaly between the notes of interrogation 
 and the framing of the sentences may be observed. Bacon writes 
 with a magistral air of reference to these doctors and poets, yet asks 
 a question as to whom he is referring ! 
 
 *' Sed si verum omnino dicendum sit, Doctores hujus scientice 
 prsecipui sunt PostcB et Historici ; in quibus ad vivum depiugi et 
 dissecari solet, quomodo affectus excitandi sunt et accendendif 
 Quomodo leniendi et sopiendi ? Quomodo rursus continendi ac re- 
 frffiuandi, ne in Actus erumpant ? Quomodo itidem sc, licet compress! 
 occultati, prodant? Quas Operationes edant? Quas Vices subeant? 
 Qnalitor sibi mutuo implicentur? Qualiter inter se digladientur et 
 opponautur? Et innumera hujus generis. Inter qua? hoc ultimum 
 plumiri est usus, in Moralibus et Civilibus ; Qualtiter (inquam) 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 61 
 
 affectus affectum in ordinem cogat ; et alter ius auxilio, ad alt^rum 
 subjugandum, uti liceat f " (Page 371, liber septimus Be Augmentis 
 1623.) 
 
 The italic words are as in the original. Likewise the notes of 
 interrogation concluding each sentence. Does the Latin support 
 this curious, suggestive query? I think not. And here, let it be 
 remarked, the word " Bacon " is the 37lst word upon page 53, 
 First King Henry IV., as Mr. Donnelly pointed out in The Great 
 Cryptogram. Mark, the passage we cite is upon pages 370, 371, 
 Be Augmentis, 1623. Yet there are literary men who declare 
 Bacon's mind was totally opposed to poetry! Here is proof that 
 the Great Father of the Inductive Method considered Poetry the 
 best Boctor to inculcate Ethic or Morality! ! ! 
 
 The reader will notice the contradiction of Bacon's two passages 
 cited, showing the heathen poets were close at his heart, and 
 accounting at once for the profound classical character of the 1623 
 theatre. I unhesitatingly assert the plays called Shakespeare's are 
 saturated to an extraordinary depth {not capable of adequate expres- 
 sion by words) in the spirit of classical learning, and contain mar- 
 velous, recondite scholarship! The author could have instructed 
 ^Eschylus or Sophocles upon their own art and its source in the 
 Mysteries. The fact that scholars like Mr. Gladstone do not 
 recognize all this is extraordinary. It is nothing short of 
 an entire restoration of heathen religion ! i And where 
 do we find an echo to all this in Bacon's writings? I reply, 
 in his collection entitled The Wisdom of the Ancients, where 
 the central fables of the Mysteries and Poets may be found as 
 examples of Philosophy applied to Parabolical Poetry! Is it not 
 pretty plain Bacon was studying the origin of the classical drama, 
 when he gives us a dissertation twice upon its chief figure, Bacchus 
 or Dionysus; and another upon Proserpine; another upon Prome- 
 theus ; and others upon Styx, Achelous, Memnon, Tithonus, and 
 Orpheus, who is the reputed founder of the Mysteries f No wonder 
 Ben Jonson declared that he had done more than insolent Greece 
 or all haughty Eome had performed. And this is what, I take it, 
 he means by the Restoration of Knowledge, which he proposes as 
 
 1 "For we are carried, in some degree, with an equal temper ef desire, both to 
 improve the labours of tlie Ancients and to make further progress." (p. 22, Distribu- 
 tion Preface, Advancement of Ijearning, 1640. ) 
 
 " Surely the advice of the Prophet is the true direction in this case, state super 
 vias antiq^ias et videte qiio^iam sit via recta et bona, et ambulate inea. Antiquity 
 deserveth that reverence, that men should make a stay awhile and stand there- 
 upon " (p. 35, Lib. 1, Advancement of Learning, 1640 
 
62 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 
 
 one o{ his ends in his Instauration prefaces. To the profound critic 
 of modern thought, it must be striking to note, how all advanced 
 attempts to solve the problem of religion, take a retrograde move- 
 ment, and seek to unfold the hermetic gnosis of antiquity. Such 
 works as Madame Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine, and Isis Un- 
 veiled, The Perfect Way, Clothed in the Sun, by Anna Bonus 
 Kingsford and Doctor Maitland, are attempts to restore the 
 classical gnosis of the Mysteries. They are going the road 
 Bacon and the Rosicrucians anticipated, and have gone long* 
 before them ! Postel and his brother, Hermetists, of the six- 
 teenth century, prophesied all this. They declared that the end of 
 the times would be signaled by a complete classical revival of re- 
 ligious sources, and an unfolding of the Gnosis. But Postel was 
 only a forerunner of Paracelsus and the Rosicrucian revival, or 
 reconstruction of the commencement of the seventeenth century, 
 and of which our English Robert Fludd was at the head ! The mod- 
 ern critic may also notice the curious Elizabethan revival which 
 characterizes in many points this age in England and America. In 
 architecture, in study of the occult sciences, astrology, palmistry, 
 fortune telling by cards,-^Theosophical societies, esoteric interpre- 
 tation of scripture, revived interest in Rosicrucian literature and 
 philosophy, — Eastern Buddhism, a return even to the spirit that ani- 
 mated the secret societies of the Middle Ages, and of Elizabeth and 
 James I.'s reigns ! Christianity, we know is founded on something 
 that went before it, and was not confined to Judasa. With the dead 
 letter we are no longer satisfied. We seek the philosophy and 
 spirit. If Christianty is true, we desire to know why and how it 
 arose? Whether philosophically implied in creation, as Bacon 
 asserts, or an introduction afterward ? If, before creation could be 
 manifested, the Lamb of God was implied as sacrifice in the act — 
 which is the Logos doctrine — then Christ was its expounder. The 
 wisdom and love, or atonement of God prefigured ideally, as the 
 reconcilement of man's mind and heart with the divine will. 
 
 ORPHEUS. 
 
 " Herodotus declares that the rites called Orphik and Bacchic 
 are in reality Egyptian and Pythagorean (Herod, ii. 81), and Diodo- 
 rus represents Orpheus as introducing the greatest part of his mys- 
 tical ceremonies and orgies from Egypt (Diod. i. 96). It is thus to 
 be observed that the early Orphik and Bacchic rite?, were practically 
 identical. Orphean and Bacchian orgies expressed quite the same 
 thing. . . . The worship of Bacchus formed the central point of 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 63 
 
 the religious brotherhood." (K. 0. Miiller, Scientific Mythol, p. 43, 
 vol. i., Brown's Great Dionysiak Myth,) 
 
 Again : 
 
 " The connection in the Orphik Theogony between Dyonisus and 
 Zeus is naturally exceedingly close." (lb. p. 60.) 
 
 But Bacchus was the god of the drama and tragedy, and there- 
 fore it is not surprising to find Bacon writing of Orpheus Theatre. 
 (P .49, Advancement of Learning.) 
 
 Bacon gives us again in his Wisdom of the Ancients the story 
 of Orpheus, and also twice repeats that of Dionysus, whom he calls 
 Bacchus ! What greater hint do we want than this for the drama 
 and stage plays? 
 
 Euskin writes: 
 
 " Wine, the Greeks, in their Bacchus, made rightly the type of 
 all passion, which noble word, including in its sweep a wide range 
 of ACTION from righteous auger to holy suffering, leads us to 
 Tragedy, the eldest daughter of Dionysus, Lord of the Drama, 
 herself often styled the Drama, inasmuch as in this world's history 
 the tragic element is the stronger and prevailing one. Tragedy, 
 considered etymologically and with reference to its historic origin, 
 is a song accompanied by a satyric dance; i. e., one performed by 
 persons in the garb of satyrs, and these songs in early Hellas were 
 the choric dithyrambic odes in honor of Dionysus; and so Aristo- 
 teles tells us that Tragedy originated in a rude, unpremeditated man- 
 ner from the leaders in the dithyrambic hymns. " ( '' Unto this last, " 
 p. 124. Great Dionysiak Myth.) vol. i., p. 322.) 
 
 Lucian, in his dialogue upon Astrology, says that Orpheus, the 
 son of Calliope, '' was the first who introduced the rites of Bacchus into 
 Greece. " This is as much as to say, the art of comedy and tragedy, 
 or dramatic art, is due to Orpheus. Orpheus is repeatedly referred 
 to by Euripides, in whom we find allusions to the connection of 
 Orpheus with Dionysus or Bacchus (Rhes. 944, 946). He mentions 
 him as related to the Muses, and connects him with Bacchanalian 
 orgies in Hippol (953), and ascribes to him the origin of sacred mys- 
 teries (Rhes. 943), and places the scene of his activity among the 
 forests of Olympus (Bacchus, 561). 
 
 Mtiller (in his Hist. Lit. of Ancient Greece, p. 231) writes : 
 
 *' The followers of Orpheus {oi Opquxoi), that is to say, associa- 
 tions of persons who, under the guidance of the ancient mystical 
 poet, Orpheus, dedicated themselves to the worship of Bacchus. The 
 Dyonisus, to whose worship the Orphic and Bacchic rites were annexed 
 {to. 'OpcpiHcx HaXeojueva xai BanxiHcc) (Herod. ii., 81), wastheChtlio- 
 nian deity, Dionysus Zagreus, closely connected with Demeter and 
 Cora (Ceres and Proserpine), who was the personified expression, 
 
64 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE, 
 
 not only of the most rapturous pleasure, but also of a deep sorrow 
 for the miseries of human life. " 
 
 When, therefore, Bacon writes of Orpheus Theatre, upon 
 page 49, Advancement of Learning, 1640 (the next paf?e being mis- 
 paged 52, Shakespeare's age, 1616, when he died), it is a pretty 
 plain hint for the Drama, or Theatre of Bacchus. " I going the 
 same road as the Ancients, " writes Bacon; and Ben Jonson uses 
 exactly the same words for Bacon, he employs to eulogize Shake- 
 speare, viz., that he had beaten all that *' insolent Greece or haughty 
 Borne " had done. 
 
 That Bacon connotes Ceres and Bacchus with Orpheus may be 
 seen upon page 49 of the Advancement of Learning, 1640, the next 
 page being mispaged 52 (for 50), which was Shakespeare's full age 
 in 1616, when he died. I take it, Orpheus with Bacon is an obscure 
 and a guarded hint for the theatre or drama, the origins of which 
 Orpheus founded; his name (as we have seen from Mr. Brown's 
 Great Bionysiak Myth) being synonymous with the Bacchic (or 
 dramatic, rightly interpreted) Mysteries. On this page Bacon 
 writes : 
 
 *' Founders of states, law-givers, extirpers of tyrants, fathers of 
 their country, and other eminent persons in civil merit, were hon- 
 ored with the title of worthies only, or demi-gods — such as were 
 Theseus, Minos, Koniulus, and the like. On the other side, such as 
 were inventors and authors of new arts, and such as 
 endowed man's life with new commodities and accessions, weie 
 ever consecrated among the greater and entire gods, which hap- 
 pened to Ceres, Bacchus, ^Mercury, Apollo, and others." 
 (II. 49, Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 Note the distinction Bacon introduces touching New Arts, and 
 how he here classes and brackets together, the four chief protagonists 
 of the classical drama, round whose worship it indeed arose. Upon 
 the same page, and in close context with all this, he says : " And this 
 kind of merit was lively set forth in that Feigned Relation of 
 Orpheus Theatre." {lb. p. 49.) Directly we turn to Bacon's 
 description of dramatical poesy, we read : " For there are feigned 
 chronicles, feigned lives, and feigned relations, — in this, that it is 
 either Narrative or Representative, or Allusive. Narrative is a mere 
 imitatioil of History. Dramatical or Representative is, as it 
 were, a visible History, for it sets out the image of things as if they 
 were present, and history as if they were passed." {Ih. p. 106.) 
 The reader sees how determined Bacon is to hint, in context with 
 the theatre and drama^ of some feigned relation. And to give us 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 65 
 
 another and still more forcible hint, he describes the difficulties 
 attending the writing of Lives as History. ^* Of these, Chronicles 
 seem to excel for celebrity and name, Lives for profit and examples, 
 Relations for Sikcerity and Verity. " {lb., p. 93.) 
 
 Again, *' As concerning Belations (of Lives), it could be, in truth, 
 wished that Viere were a greater diligence taken therein. For such 
 collections might be as a Nursery garden, whereby to plant a fair 
 and stately garden, when time should serve.'' {lb., p. 97.) 
 
 In 1616 Bacon was in his 56th year, that being the year Shak- 
 spere died, in his 53rd year (Stratford monument: obiit cetatis 53). 
 The reader will, therefore, perceive pages 55, 56 represent Bacon's 
 two ages 1616 — full years and year he had just entered. But 55 is 
 mispaged 53, thus Shakespeare and Bacon are identified by cipher 
 mispaging 1616. I am convinced Julius Caesar is another portrait 
 for Bacon by analogy. Caesar was king, de facto, in all but name. 
 That was also Bacon's position with regard to the plays. Bacon 
 writes (page 56) : 
 
 " Caesar did extremely affect the name of Icing, therefore, some 
 were set on, as he passed by, in popular acclamation to salute him 
 king; he finding the cry weak and poor put off the matter with a 
 jest, as if tlwy had missed his surname, Non Bex sum (saith he), 
 sed Ccesar. Indeed such a speech, as if it be exactly searched, the 
 life and fullness of it can scarce be expressed.''^ 
 
 The profound student must here perceive the striking analogy 
 presented between Bacon and Caesar in this passage, touching sur- 
 names and authorship of the plays. Bacon, like Caesar, lacks the 
 title or kingship of the 1623 Folio Plays, which revolves upon a sur- 
 name only. Like Caesar, he is, de facto, king, but without the title, 
 and it is probable Bacon, like Caesar, was the victim of some con- 
 spiracy against him. " The truth of being, and the truth of know- 
 ing are all one, " Bacon writes ; and this is reflected in the passage 
 quoted. 
 
 Upon page 53 (false). Bacon quotes from Suetonius Tranquillus^ 
 Life of Julius Ccesar, twice referring to paragraph 56 in the margin. 
 It is very striking, upon reference to the paragraph alluded, to find 
 it opening with the question of Julius Caesar's authorship with 
 regard to certain doubtful works, ciphers, and that Ccesar was sup- 
 posed to have written plays. Another hint is Asinius Pollio, who 
 was an anonymous or concealed playwright. In the Holy War, by 
 Bacon, there is a character called Pollio, probably Bacon himself It 
 is also striking, upon page 56 of the reproduced page of the 
 Advancement, there is reference to the Apophthegms of Csesar, men- 
 
66 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 tioned by S. Tranquillus (Dicta Collectanea). We may thus see, 
 BacoD, in selecting Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Pollio, 
 presents us with three great concealed authors, some of ivhose 
 works ivere doubtful. 
 
 " (56.) Reliquit et rerum suarum commentarios, Gallici civilisque 
 belli Pompeiani. Nam Alexandrini, Africanique et Hispaniensis, 
 incertus auctor est. Alii Oppium putant, alii Hirtium, qui etiam 
 Gallici belli novissimum imperfectumque librum suppleverit. De 
 commentariis Cicero in eodum Bruto sic refert : ' Commentarios 
 scripsit, valde quidem probandus : nudi sunt, recti, et venusti, omni 
 ornatu orationis, tamquam veste detracta: sed, dum voluit alios 
 habere parata, unde sumerent, qui vellent scribere historiam, ineptis 
 gratum fortasse fecit, qui ilia volent calamistris inurere; sanos qui- 
 dem homines a scribendo deterruit.' De iisdem commentariis 
 Hirtius ita prsedicat : ' Adeo probantur omnium judicio, ut praerepta, 
 non prsebita, facultas scriptoribus videatur. Cujus tamen rei major 
 nostra, quam reliquorum, est admiratio. Caeteri enim, quam bene 
 atque emendate, nos etiam, quam facile atque celeritur eos per- 
 scripserit, scimus.' Polho Asinius, parum diligentur, parumque 
 Integra veritate, composites putat, cum Caesar pleraque, et quae per 
 alios erant gesta, temere crediderit, et quae per se, vcl consulto, vel 
 etiam memoria lapsus, perperam ediderit: existimatque, rescripturnm 
 et correcturum fuisse. Eeliquit et 'Be Analogia^ hbros duos, et 
 ' Anticatones^ totidem, ac praeterea poema, quod inscribitur 'Iter.' 
 Quorum librorum primos in transitu Alpium, cum ex citeriore Gallic, 
 conventibus peractis, ad exercitum rediret : sequentes sub tempus 
 Mundensis proelii fecit; novissimum, dum ab Urbe in Hispaniam 
 ulteriorem quarto et vicesimo die pervenit. Epistolae quoque ejus ad 
 senatum exstant, quas primus videtur ad paginas et formam memor- 
 ialis libelli convertisse, cum antea consules, et duces non nisi trans- 
 versa charta scriptas mitterent. Exstant et ad Ciceronem, item ad 
 familiaris domesticis de rebus ; in quibus, si qua occultius perferenda 
 erant, per notas scripsit, id est, sic structo literarum ordine, ut 
 nullum verbum efflci posset; quce si quis investigare etpersequi velit, 
 quartam elementorum liter am, \d est, B. pro A, et perinde reliquas 
 commutet. Feruntur et a puero et ab adolescentulo quondam scripta : 
 ut * Laudes Her cutis,' tragoedia ' (Edipus,' item ' Bid a collec 
 tanea:' quos omnes libellos vetuit Augustus publicari, in epistola, 
 quam, brevem admodum ac simplicem, ad Pompeium Macrum, cui 
 ordinandas bibliothecas delegaverat, misit." (Suetonius Tran- 
 quillus.) 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 67 
 
 If the reader will count the words in italics upon the second (or 
 correct page) 52 of the Advancement of Learning, which we repro- 
 duce, he will find these numbers against these words : 
 Booh 61 counted 55 up 
 of 62 down 54 up 
 Nature 63 the page 53 up 
 
 These figures are remarkable, because 62-63 represent Lord 
 Bacon's age in 1623, when the first folio edition of the plays were 
 published; that is, Bacon was 62 years old and in his 63d year. 
 This we know from the monument in St. Michael's Church, St. 
 Albans, which states Bacon died in his 66th year — 1626. (^tatis 
 LXVI.) On the Stratford monument Shakespeare is stated to have 
 died in his 53d year. (Obiit, setatis 53, 1616.) It is, therefore, curi- 
 ous to find 53 against 63, suggesting 1616, 1623 with regard to 
 Shakespeare's and Bacon's respective ages at these two dates. 
 Bacon was 55 years old and in his 56th year in 1616, when 
 Shakespeare died. That number may also be seen against the 
 word Book. Seeing all this is to be found upon page 52 of his 
 Advancement, I am seriously postulating the theory, this Book of 
 Nature may refer to the plays. The reader will also note the words 
 " PRECIOUS CABINET OF Daeitjs, " in which Homer's works were 
 kept by Alexander the Great. A similar crossing of the numbers 
 53 and 63 may be found on counting the Italicized words as before, 
 up and down. 
 
 Of 52, 64 
 Darius 53, 63 
 
 In the first part of King Henry the Sixth (scene vi.), these lines 
 are to be found: 
 
 A stateher pyramid to her I'll rear 
 Than Rhodope's or Memphis' ever was 
 In memory of her when she is dead. 
 Her ashes, in an urn more precious 
 Than the rich, jewelled coffer of Darius. 
 
 All this is excessively suspicious. *' An urn " are the fifty-second 
 and fifty- third words from the bottom of column 201 (page 101, His- 
 tories, 1623 Folio). Homer is the fifty-eighth word (up and down) in 
 italics, upon this page 52 of the Advancement I allude to. The 
 first mispaging of the 1623 folio falls upon page 50, and is 58. 
 
 In Bacon's Advertisement of a Holy War, one of the characters 
 of the five persons who make up the dialogue is called Pollio. This 
 name evidently is borrowed from Virgil's fourth Eclogue, entitled 
 
68 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURK 
 
 Pollio, and which treats of the Beturn of the Golden Age, as 
 prophesied by the Sybil. I suspect Polho is meant for Bacon 
 himself, by the way he is introduced, and the part he plays in the 
 dialogue. In Virgil's eighth Eclogue or Bucohc, entitled Chemistry 
 (Pharmaceutria), a comphment is paid to somebody, who is evidently 
 a tragic play writer , and whom commentators suppose to be PoUio : 
 
 En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem 
 Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothuruo. 
 
 Servius remarks " Alii ideo hoc de Pollione dictum volunt, q^uod 
 et ipse utriusque linguce tragoediarum, scriptor fuit. Cothurnus 
 autem calciamentum tragicum, cujus usum quidam Sophoclem 
 primum scsense intulisse volunt " (p. 93 Comm. in Verg. Buc. 
 viii.1-12). 
 
 This is the more striking, because a line out of this Eclogue or 
 Bucolic is quoted by Bacon in his De Augment is,, svis,]}ic\ous\y in 
 context with what he calls, The Pkudence of Private Speech, 
 page 210 (false for 282, Advancement of Learning, 1640), evidently a 
 hint for writing obscurely and guardedly by allusion indirect, or by 
 parallels, analogy and hints. It is given us in order we may prick up 
 our mental ears and try to fathom his language. This line he quotes 
 is 56 (Bacon's age, 1616): 
 
 Certent et Cycnis ululas : sit Tityrus Orpheus : . 
 Orpheus in sylvis ; inter delphinas Arion. — 55. 
 
 It is only this last hue in itahcs Bacon quotes, but the context 
 is the really important to quote. Because Shakespeare was 
 known by the name of the " Sweet Swan or Avon," and Bacon, 
 on page 96 of the 1640, Advancement of Learning, makes some 
 strange remarks relating to swans, and their immortality ; lost 
 names engraved upon medals being carried off by swans and other 
 birds. We find Arion was the Inventor or the Tragic Chorus 
 OR Dithyramb ! Thus, if Bacon wanted to give us a hint, and 
 to laugh profoundly at Shakespeare, or the Swan of Avon, no possi- 
 ble lines could be more forcible. Because in the person of Tityrus, 
 some incompetent, arrogant, well-known person, pretending to be a 
 poet, is satyrized, and compared ironically to Orpheus and Arion. 
 All this receives further force when we find Bacon, in this same 
 work, writing of " Orpheus Theatre " (p. 49), and also, in his fable 
 upon the same subject, introducing Helicon. Thus, both by Pollio 
 and this line, there seems to be parallels for the drama and tragedy. 
 Servius remarks upon this passage of Virgil's, " Sit Tityrus 
 Orpheus. Vilissimus rusticus Orpheus putetur in sylvis, Arion 
 
THE C0LU3IBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 69 
 
 vero inter delphinas " (p. 101). Owls contend with swans, Shake- 
 speare pretends to be Bacon, and just in this point touching tragedy, 
 invented by Arion ! But the strange part is upon the title page 
 engraving of this work, the Advancement of 1640 (translated by 
 Wats) are two owls holding up a torch in their talons ! 
 
 " As a poet Pollio was best known for his Tragedies, which are 
 spoken of in high terms by Virgil and Horace. (Virgil Eclogue iii. 
 86, viii. 10; Horace Carm. ii. 1. 9, Sat. 1, 10, 42; Charis 1, p. 56, ed. 
 Luid.) The words of Virgil (Eel. iii. 86) — 'Pollio et ipse facit nova 
 Carmina/ probably refer to I>•a^e<^^■e5 of a new kind, namely, such as 
 were not borrowed from the Greek, but contained subjects entirely 
 taken from Eoman story." (Welcker, Die Griechischen Trago- 
 (lien, p. 1421, etc.) (Vide diet. Greek and Moman Myth., Wm. Smith, 
 vol. iii. p. 439.) The authorities for the life of Pollio are Cicero {ad. 
 Fam. ix. 25, x. 31, xi. 9, ad. Att. xii. 2; 38, 39, xiii. 20; Appian B.C. 
 ii. 40, 45, 82, iii. 46, 74, 97, iv. 12, 27, v. 20-23, (50 64; Veil Pat. ii. 
 63, 76, 86; Dion Cass xlv. 10, xlviii. 15, 41;) and among modern 
 writers Eckhard and Thorhecke. 
 
 It is well worthy note Virgil's Eclogue entitled Pollio, carries 
 also the title Pharmaceutria ; that is, it is Alchymical. This is per- 
 fectly comprehensible, inasmuch as it refers to the Age of Gold, or 
 Saturn. And it is highly probable Virgil, who was fully initiated 
 into all the mysteries, refers to some alchymical knowledge extant, 
 and hidden under the recondite lore of the mysteries of his age. It 
 is highly significant Bacon imitates this in his Hoty War, for he 
 describes the five speakers as the four elements and the fifth essence. 
 The scheme or aim of the Holi/ War is ideal; that is, perfectly 
 Saturnian. For the aim of the Knights Templar was the rebuild- 
 ing of the Temple of Solomon, or House of Wisdom ; that is, a 
 restoration of the church. I think on this ground Bacon's term, 
 Instauration, or Bestoration (as he repeatedly calls it), may be 
 understood. The Rosicrucians always write of a restoration of arts 
 and sciences, of morals, of religion, and their end was a restoration 
 of the estate of man before the fall — to his original state of 
 dominion over nature — the Golden Age of Atlantis and of Saturn. 
 Bacon hints at all this in many ways. He writes : 
 
 *' That sailing of Hercules in a cup (to set Prometheus at liberty) 
 seems to represent an image of the Divine Word, coming in 
 tiesh, as in a frail vessel, to redeem men from the slavery of Hell.'' 
 (Prometheus, Wisdom of the Ancients.) 
 
 Bacon here clearly identifies the Divine word with the Logos, 
 
70 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 and Spirit of Christ, made flesh ; that is, humanity must be imbued 
 and saturated with this spirit to set themselves free. Virgil's 
 Eclogue, written at the time of the appearance of Christianity, is 
 supposed to embrace the wonderful prophecy of the Sybil concern- 
 ing Christ. It may be read in two ways : either as the end for 
 which Christianity was about to work, viz., a return of the golden^ 
 age unfulfilled as yet, or as a prophecy of its immediate advent- 
 But the reader must see how in keeping all this is with the ideal 
 spirit in which Bacon's Holi/ War is written; that is, a Restoration 
 or rebuilding of the Temple ; that is, the house of which men are 
 the stones. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Father Paul and Father Fulgentio, Franciscan Friars 
 
 OF Venice. 
 
 Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, 
 Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced ; 
 No hat upon his head ; his stockings foul'd, 
 TTngarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle ; 
 Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other ; 
 And with a look so piteous in purport 
 As if he had been loosed out of helL 
 To speak of horrors, — he comes before me. 
 
 [Hamlet, Act 11. , Sc. I.) 
 
 A great deal may be discovered concerning Lord Bacon's ends 
 and aims by study of his times, contemporaries, and the people he 
 corresponded with. We know he was in secret correspondence with 
 Father Fulgentio, for a letter of Bacon's is extant, in which he 
 explains to the former the plan and scope of his Instauration. Arch- 
 bishop Tenison, in his Baconiana or certain genuine remains of Lord 
 Bacon (1679), opens his work with a suspicious reference to Bocca- 
 linVs Ragguagli di Parnasso, from which work was borrowed the 
 first Rosicrucian manifesto entitled, A Beformation of the Whole 
 Wide World. 
 
 "In this last and most comprehensive account, I have, on pur- 
 pose, used a loose and Asiatic style, and wilfully committed that 
 venial fault with which the Laconian (in Boccalini) is merrily taxed, 
 who had said that in three words, which he might possibly have 
 expressed in tivo. I hop'd, by this means, to serve the more effectu- 
 ally, ordinary readers, who stand chiefly in need of this Introduc- 
 tion ; and whose capacities can be no more reach'd by a close and 
 strict discourse, than game can be taken by a net unspread. '' (p. 4.) 
 
 It is easy to preceive the author is hinting that his style is not 
 laconic but circumlocutory, and that there is an object for ambiguity 
 in order to catch or deceive the ordinary reader. 
 
 Upon the next page we read : 
 
 '^ It is true, there lived in part of the last, and this, century, 
 many memorable advancers of philosophical knowledge. I mean 
 not here such as Patricius, or Telesius, Brunus, Severinus the Dane, 
 or Campanella. These, indeed, departed from some errors of the 
 
 71 
 
72 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 ancients, but they did not frame any solid hypothesis of their own. 
 They only spun new cobwebs, where they had brush'd down the 
 old. Nay, I intend not, in this place, either Descartes or Gas- 
 sendi. They were, certainly, great men, but they appeared 
 somewhat later, and descended into the depths of philosophy, after 
 the ice had been broken by others. And those I take to have been 
 chiefly Copernicus, Father Paul the Venetian, Galileo, Harvey, Gil- 
 bert, and tlie philosopher before-remembered, Sir Francis Bacon, 
 who, if all his circumstances be duly weigh'd, may seem to excel 
 them all." 
 
 The first thing striking us, is the introduction of such names as 
 Bruno, who was martyred in 1600, and whose theory that the stars 
 were fixed fires, is palpably introduced in Hamlet. Of Father Paul 
 the Venetian, I have a great deal to say. For I happen to possess 
 his letters written to Monsieur Del Isle Groslot, a noble Protestant 
 of France, Monsieur Gillot, and others, in a correspondeuce of seven 
 years. (Translated out of Italian by Edward Brown, rector of 
 Sandridge, in Kent, 1693.) The interesting part of these letters is, 
 they contain a great many references to Father Fulgentio, Bacon's 
 friend. Before I proceed to touch upon this, I would like to point 
 out, how Father Paul invents a cipher and frequently alludes to it, 
 showing how cipher writing was one of the safeguards, and indis- 
 pensable literary accomplishments in those days, of all who had 
 important secrets to reveal, or were at war with the Papacy. Both 
 Father Paul and Father Fulgentio were excommunicated by the 
 Papal power, and it will appear plain to the reader, from the 
 advertisement of the second volume, that Father Fulgentio and 
 Father Paul were upon t^rms of the closest intimacy, inasmuch as 
 the life of the latter was written by the former. 
 
 The translator of the first volume writes : 
 
 *' The second volume will consist of the Life of Father Paul, 
 written by Father Fulgentio, with Notes upon many passages of it ; 
 and a Treatise of the Interdict, written by Father Paul, and of other 
 divines of Venice, in the time of controversy between Pope Paul V., 
 and the most serene Republic of Venice, never published in English 
 before; together with the answer of John Marfllio, Father Paul, 
 and Father Fulgentio, to the sentence of excommunication, citation 
 and admonition issued out against them." 
 
 Father Fulgentio was a brother of the order of St. FrA]N'CIS — 
 in short, a Franciscan friar. It may not be amiss to observe that 
 Father Lawrence, in the play of Romeo and Juliet, is described also 
 as a Franciscan friar. 
 
 Archbishop Tenison describes Father Paul as follows : 
 
 " Father Paul was a more general philosopher, and the head 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 73 
 
 of a meeting of virtuosi in Venice. He excelled in mechanics, in 
 mathematics of all kinds, in philological learning, in anatomy. In 
 his anatomical studies, he exercised such sagacity, that he made 
 further discoveries in the fabric of the eye, and taught Aqua- 
 pendente, those new speculations which he published on that sub- 
 ject; he found out (saith Fulgentio) the valvulse in the veins, and 
 began the doctrine of the circulation of the blood. Though there 
 is reason to believe, that he received the hints of it from Sir Henry 
 Wotton, himself had taken them from Dr. Harvey, i But, the 
 present state of the affairs of Venice so requiring. Father Paul bent 
 his studies to ecclesiastical polity, and chiefiy employed his pen in 
 detecting the usurpations and corruptions of the Papacy ; endeav- 
 ouring (so far as books could do it) to preserve the neck of that 
 repubhc from the bondage of Paul the Fifth, who attempted to 
 set his foot upon it.'' {Baconiana, pp. 7-8.) 
 
 In the letters of Father Paul, I find a number of references to a 
 Father Molino. Bacon, in his letter to Father Fulgentio, concludes 
 with a reference to the former, showing he was in correspondence 
 with him : 
 
 " I pray your Fatherhood, to commend me to that most excel- 
 lent man, Signior Molines, to whose most delightful and prudent 
 letters I will return answer shortly, if God permit. Farewell, most 
 lie verend Father." ♦ {Baconiana, p. ^00.) 
 
 I now proceed to give a number of extracts from the letters of 
 Father Paul, touching his use of ciphers : 
 
 *' If Monsieur Aleaume would be pleased to put the cypher into 
 some method, he would do a very worthy work. I am mightily 
 afraid that the matter is not capable of such art, and the infinity of 
 it makes me think so; nor can I perceive how that is possible to 
 be reduced to art, which is not reducible to number. I am of the 
 mind that I have a cypher which may be kept in memory (which is 
 very considerable, in case the key or counter -cypher should be lost 
 or stolen), and I believe 'tis impossible to get it read without a key, 
 because it varies infinitely ; and one character hath never the same 
 signification twice . but 'tis difi&cult to write for the danger of 
 mistaking, which if a man should do but in one character, his friend 
 may go whistle to understand it ; which makes it of no great use." 
 (Ch. xxiv. p. 110.) 
 
 " The collection of ray memoirs {ivhich you know) is grown to a 
 great bulk; and there are some reasons which you may guess at to 
 make me keep it by mc, and not being able to be idle in the mean 
 while, I have transcribed the very words ; but those reasons do still 
 follow me, and increase upon me, which keep my mind in a state of 
 suspense. I wish I could communicate them to you; and for 
 
 1 " Descartes diff^ de Methodo, p. 46, Herveo laiis hcec tribneiida est quod primam 
 ill ista materia glaciem fregerit, <fec." 
 
74 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 this reason I was thiuking to send yon a cypher by this dispatch, 
 but I have not time to compose it, By the next courier I will come 
 a httle to some particulars with you, and through your means, with 
 Monsieur Thuanus, to try if any good can be done/" (Letter xxxv. 
 p. 138.) 
 
 In chapter xli. we read of the " Fathers cypher j and the neces- 
 sity for it, by reason of his backfriends : " 
 
 " 1 have made some small matter of cypher, as you seemed to 
 desire of me in yours of February the third, having tried to make 
 it fit common words, and the French tongue also, that you may not 
 be put to writing in Italian. And though the cypher is but barren of 
 words, yet we may daily make it more copious by the alphabet. 
 But so long as Signer Folcarini stays in France, letters will come 
 always safe. 
 
 '^ There will be the greatest difficulty of all when he goes away, 
 because there will be nOne to succeed him, that is comparable to 
 him ; and if letters should be sent by themselves out of the public 
 cover, ^tis a million to one but they would be intercepted; so many 
 there are that look out for such business, to gratify my back- 
 friends. " ( Letter xli.) 
 
 In chapter xliv. page 153, we read : 
 
 " The cypher must needs be imperfect, as it is done by me, who 
 understand nothing to speak of in that sort of art. I must intreat you 
 to complete it, when it fails in syllables, as you show me, and any- 
 thing else where you see fit. " 
 
 These letters commence with September, 1607, and conclude with 
 the date December, 1609 ; that is, they stretch over a period of two 
 years, and are mostly written from Venice, with a few from Padua. 
 Here let me note that Boccalini (who was cudgeled to death, 1612) 
 was a Venetian, and that the Bagguagli di Parnasso, by him, which 
 is so interesting a work (on account of its enigmatic style, and for 
 its Kosicrucian connections), was first published at Venice. 
 
 " I have oftentimes thought to enlarge the cypher by notes for 
 the most usual syllables, but because they are not the same in your 
 language with those of ours, I could not well do it. The most usual 
 ones with us are those which are in the declining of verbs ; but the 
 French declension is so different, that tliose will not serve here. As 
 for the letter X, not to confound it with any other, the character 
 for it may be Z Z, and so I have it in my cypher " (p. 202). 
 
 '^ Out of a desire of the continuance of our correspondence by 
 letters, which we cannot keep on without a cypher, nor that thor- 
 oughly, unless the cypher be easy; I have therefore often tried to in- 
 large that which we have had with each other hitherto; but I have 
 met with insuperable difficulties in it, as I have had a mind to have 
 it serve your language and ours; and therefore I have at last pitched 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 75 
 
 upon this present one, which I now send you, which has no need of 
 any great attention to anything, nor search for characters, either in 
 writing it or undrstanding it; but the only copying of it will be 
 enough. In the writing we go by Arabic numbers; and it is copied 
 out by Roman numbers." p. 234.) 
 
 This will, I think, suffice (as to extracts) to show how indispens- 
 able a weapon of defense and security, was the art of secret 
 writing or steganography, at the period we allude to (1607-1609), 
 when Lord Bacon was from 46 to 48 years old. We can hardly bo 
 astonished he turned his attention early to the Invention of a cypher 
 when he was at Paris. This cypher he introduces in his Be Aug- 
 mentis, pp. 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, and it may be as well to quote 
 Bacon's words with regard to it : 
 
 ^' But it may be, that in the enumeration, and, as it were, taxa- 
 tion of arts, some may think that ive go about to make a great muster- 
 roll of sciences, that the multiplication of them may be the more 
 admired; when their number, perchance, may be displayed, but 
 their forces in so short a treatise can hardly be tried. Neither have 
 we (in our opinion) touched these arts perfunctorily, though cursorily ; 
 hut with a piercing style extracted the marrow and pith of them out of 
 a mass of matter. The judgment hereof ive refer to those who are 
 most able to judge of these arts. For seeing it is the fashion of many 
 who would be thought to know much, that everywhere making 
 ostentation of words and outward terms of arts, they become a 
 wonder to the ignorant, but a derision to those who are masters of 
 those arts. We hope that our labours shall have a contrary success^ 
 which is that they may arrest the judgment of every one 2vho is best 
 versed in every particular art, and be undervalued by the rest.'^ 
 (p. 270 Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 This passage demonstrates forcibly, Bacon's cypher (which he 
 designates " the organ of speech, " p. 271) was not introduced without 
 purport, or as a mere member of his sciences for the sake of swelling 
 their muster-roll. He tells us plainly that it has been extracted, " out 
 of a mass of matter,^' a hint we should do well to digest. We are 
 further challenged, and invited to examine and judge upon it, if ive 
 are masters of these arts! In the final words of the passage cited. 
 Bacon hopes this cypher " may arrest the judgment '''of the capable 
 decypherer ! The whole of this passage is pregnant with a profound 
 undercurrent of irony, pointed at purposeless examples of cyphers. 
 It is indeed a curious coincidence that Bacon introduces the subject 
 of cyphers, upon page 264 (upon the heels of an allusion to poetry), 
 and that the subject, with examples of a bi-literal alphabet, is 
 continued through pages 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, and concluded upon 
 
76 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE, 
 
 pages 270, 271. These figures constitute the exact numbers of 
 the line : 
 
 Hang Hog is Latin for Bacon, I warrant you, 
 
 upon page 53, Merry Wives of Windsor. This coincidence, taken 
 into consideration with the fact the same work (Advancement of 
 Learning, 1640), is mispaged twice, 52, 53 (being Shakespeare's age, 
 1616, when he died, as stated on the Stratford monument), can 
 hardly be the result of accident. 
 
 The character of the age and times when Father Paul wrote 
 these letters may be gathered from the following extract : 
 
 " What a strange unhappiness is the present age surrounded 
 with ! It looks to me like the time of a plague, wherein every dis- 
 ease turns to that: so now every quarrel is about religion. 'Tis pos- 
 sible that there is no other occasion for war but that." (p. 125 ch., 
 
 XXX.) 
 
 These letters are full of implacable hatred of the Jesuits: 
 
 " Your letters are always most welcome to me, as being full of 
 excellent zeal for the common good of the world, which is a rare 
 thing in these times, when the Jesuits have done all that is possible 
 to establish an universal debauchery in the world." (p. 134, Letter 
 xxxiii.) 
 
 '^ 1 heartily thank you for writing into England for a De modo 
 agendi. I advise Monsieur Castrine of it, who is getting me the 
 Constitutions of the Jesuits copied out, in order to the sending them 
 hither. I long to see them ; for surely 'tis a strange thing to think 
 how close they keep them here in Italy. 'Tis not long since Gregory 
 the XlVth made a brief in favor of them, and yet I cannot for my 
 life get a copy of it; they keep their secrets so unknown to the world, 
 and you will excuse me if I make no difference between a Spaniard 
 and a Jesuit, except in that (wherein I agree with you) that I take 
 the greatest Spanish rogue in the ivhole tvorld to be a better man than 
 the least-ivicked Jesuit that is ; for a Spaniard hath guts in his brains, 
 and hath a capacity of learning some good, if he be but taught it; 
 but the Jesuits are ail Hint, and their consciences are darkened, and 
 there is no speaking to them [unless you have a kingdom to em- 
 broil, or a parliament to toss up into the air] . 
 
 '' I believe there never was a race of men that zvere such sworn 
 enemies to goodness and truth. ^^ (p. 96.) 
 
 I could multiply these passages endlessly. Father Paul's hfe was 
 attempted by an assassin, and he complains of the plots of the Jes- 
 uits against him in almost every other letter. But space does not 
 permit of further illustration on this point, and I now give Father 
 Paul's account of the end of Father Fulgentio : 
 
 '* Father Fulgentio hath preached just as you neard him do two 
 years ago ; he has met with great opposition from this nuncio, who 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 77 
 
 has complained of him, saying, that he could not deny hut Ids 
 doctrine was good ; but nevertheless he was not bound to stay till the 
 preacher was declared a heretic: and the pope making a complaint 
 against him, has said, that that preaching of the scriptures is a 
 suspicious thing; and he that keeps so close to the scriptures will 
 ruin the Catholic faith. , 
 
 '' The audience which uses to be at his sermons, hath been very 
 numerous and flourishing, there having been there sometimes six 
 hundred of the nobility: he has still gone on speaking the plain 
 truth, and proving it by the Word of God, without reproving any 
 one by name : and above all, it has been his way to reprove that 
 ignorance which is for pinning men^s faith upon other men^s sleeves, 
 and against the express knowledge of every one^s duty. 
 
 " Now there cannot be a more mortal offense to the Jesuits than 
 this is, who have no other foundation for all their divinity than the 
 public ignorance, (ch. xxiv. p. 106.) 
 
 " Father Fulgentio hath done as became a true Catholic preacher ; 
 he has preacbed the gospel of Christ our Lord, forbearing to person- 
 ate anyone whatsoever : be hath dissatisfied Rome and her adherents, 
 because it is impossible to please them any other ways, but by 
 preaching them and leaving Christ out. 
 
 " The Pope's last words of him were, that he has indeed made some 
 good sermons, but bad ones ivithal ; that he stands too much upon 
 scripture, which is a book (quoth he) that if any man will keep close 
 to, he will quite ruin the Catholic faith. Which words of his have 
 not been very well liked of here: but I, for my part, commend 
 them, and hold them true; because there he pulls in his tail and 
 shews where he builds his greatness " (ch. iv. p. 112.) 
 
 Father Fulgentio at last was seized and brought before the 
 Inquisition. Father Paul writes : 
 
 *' As for Friar Fulgentio, 'tis not true that he is put into the 
 galleys; nor have we any certainty of him further, since he was 
 clapt up in the Inquisition prison. A month ago the fathers of his 
 order wrote from Rome that he was hanged in prison and so they 
 believe for certain, but I have no other proof of it.'' (p. 172, Letter 
 xlvi.) 
 
 Alas ! It was all too true, and this is Father Paul's description of 
 the end of his friend : 
 
 " I dare say you have a great mind to know the truth of the miser- 
 able end of Friar Fulgentio, because you knew him, and that you 
 are the more willing to know it, because it has been told divers 
 ways. 
 
 " I myself do not as yet know the whole of it certainly; and I am 
 very cautious in believing, where I have not good grounds for it. 
 Wherefore the narrative that I shall give you, shall be nothing but 
 truth, though it be not the whole truth. 
 
 " Father Fulgentio went away, as yourself know, in the beginning 
 
78 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of August, 1608, with a most ample patent of safe conduct, and a 
 particular clause in it that nothing should be done against his 
 honor. Being got to Rome, they tampered with him to abjure, and 
 do public penance; but he still denied it most resolutely, referring 
 himself to his safe conduct. At last, persisting in the negative of 
 doing public penance, he was wrought upon to make a very secret 
 abjuration before a notary and two witnesses, by the new declaration 
 of the cardinals that it should be understood as done without any 
 dishonor, and without any prejudice to him. 
 
 '' Matters passed on with him sometimes well, sometimes ill, 
 according as he was look'd on, till February last, and then one 
 evening Cardinal Pamphilio, the Pope's vicar, sent some Serjeants 
 to apprehend him, pretending that he had done something, I know 
 not what, that did belong to his office; they put him in prison in the 
 tower of Nona, where men of ordinary offenses are thrust. 
 
 " Then they went to seize upon his papers; and having looked 
 into them, they removed him from that prison to the Inquisition jail; 
 there they drew up three charges against him. One, that he had 
 amongst bis books some prohibited ones; the second, that he kept 
 correspondence by letters with the heretics of England and Germany; 
 the third, that there was a writing all of his own hand, which con- 
 tained divers articles against the Catholic Roman doctrine, particu- 
 larly that St. Peter was not superior to the other apostles; that the 
 pope is not head of the church ; that he cannot command anything 
 beyond what Christ had commanded; that the council of Trent was 
 neither a general council nor a lawful one; that there are many her- 
 esies in the Church of Rome, and a great many such things. 
 
 " To these charges he answered: 
 
 *' 1. As to the books; that he did not know that they were 
 prohibited. 
 
 '^2. As to the commerce of letters that passed between him and 
 those persons, and those persons and him, that they were none of 
 them declared heretics. 
 
 '' 3. As to the writings that were under his own hand, that they 
 were imperfect, and that they were not his opinions, but only mem- 
 orandums to make consideration upon those points. 
 
 *' At which answers of his, the Inquisition being unsatisfied, they 
 resolved to proceed against bim by way of torture, which being 
 intimated to him, he answered that he (as a priest) was not a 
 person to be put to torture; but, however, they might do as they 
 pleased, for he put himself upon tbeir mercy. 
 
 " The 4th of July he was brought into St. Peter's, where there 
 was an unspeakable throng of people, and there, being placed upon 
 a floor, his faults were rehearsed, and the sentence passed upon him 
 that he should be excluded from the bosom of the holy church, as a 
 heretic relapsed, and delivered to the governor of Rome, to be 
 chastised, but without fetching blood. 
 
 '^ At this ceremony, which lasted about an hour, Father Ful- 
 gentio stood- with eyes lifted up to heaven, and never spake a word. 
 People thought that he had a gag in his mouth. The ceremony 
 being over, he was conducted to the Church of St. Saviour's, in 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LlTEBATUHE. 79 
 
 Lauro, and there degraded, and next morning he was brought to 
 Campo di Fiore, and there hanged and burnt." 
 
 Thus it may be seen, Father Fulgentio's martyrdom was a repe- 
 tition of Giordano Bruno's, a few years before — IGOO. I think to 
 the reflective reader, the fact that Lord Bacon was in correspond- 
 ence with men of this type abroad, will prove a potent factor to 
 prove Bacon, was active on the Continent for the cause of the 
 Keformation, and, that all his sympathies and energies for good, were 
 employed secretly, and in divers subtle ways, to encourage the Prot- 
 estant church, and combat the Papacy. In the picture which con- 
 temporary literature presents us of the end of the sixteenth and 
 commencement of the seventeenth centuries, we have just such a 
 portrait, as is presented to us by the play of Hamlet. That is, 
 Europe was a " tvor Id prison. ^^ To question dogma or authority, to 
 scrutinize the church too closely, as Hamlet does Ophehn, was to 
 biing powers to bear that were " loosed out of hell " Such men as 
 Bruno, Galileo, Fulgeutio, Campanella, Yanini, like Prince Hamlet, 
 were '* dreadfully attended,^'' and like him, stood helpless and alone, 
 environed with enemies and spies, set in order to catch their words 
 and pluck out the heart of their mystery, even as liosenkrantz and 
 Guildenstern go about to recover Hamlets. 
 
 Like Hamlet they were born to set the times, that were, " out of 
 joint, " right, and expose wickedness. Like Hamlet, they were in a 
 miserable minority, overshadowed, watched and suspected by the 
 enthroned and kingly power of the Papacy or Roman Catholic 
 church, with v/hose monstrous wickedness and usurpation they were 
 at deadly war, but with no weapons of defense save mind and knowl- 
 edge. The irresolute will of Hamlet's was theirs also. In the " dis- 
 tracted globe " of the world of that period, the Reformation stood 
 like an accusing angel, detecting the crimes of the Papacy, denying 
 its right to its usurped throne, and bidding for its place— as the heir 
 with the true right, but without possession and without power, and 
 accused of madness, as in Hamlet's case. Prince Hamlet is presented 
 as a reformer, as a genius whose pessimism springs out of a profound 
 recognition of the evil days on which he has fallen, and whose desire 
 is to '' tveed the rank garden " of the world. It was the church that 
 was the " breeder of sinners ;^^ it is Ophelia Hamlet scrutinizes with 
 the words, ** Are you honest f " The entire action of the play 
 revolves to a large extent upon Hamlet's conduct to Ophelia. It is 
 his doubts and questioning of her honesty, that set the kin,i>' and his 
 myrmidons to watch and scrutinize Hamlet's conduct and words in 
 
80 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 relationship to her. Ophelia's passive obedience to her Father 
 Polonius, is a perfect reflection of the passive obedience of the 
 Catholic church at that period, to infalhbility and dogma, which 
 latter, like Polonius, was nothing but " words, words, tvords,^^ and 
 already in its dotage. The church was the child of traditional 
 authority and infallibility, of that certainty that would find truth out 
 " tJiough it were hid indeed within the centre. " Hamlet's scrutiny of 
 Ophelia, and ironical mockery of Polonius, go hand in hand 
 together, the killing of the latter being a turning point in the 
 tragedy. 
 
 In a note of Bacon's, an entry is to be found (under the note of a 
 query) ** Of men to be made beyond seas? If so inclined f " I think 
 the date is 1G08. It is a plausible inference to draw, that Father 
 Fulgentio's corresi)ondence with Bacon was one of the results 
 of this memorandum. It is striking to find Bacon selecting 
 for his friendship, a man who died a martyr's death in the 
 Protestant cause of the Eeformation. But anyone acquainted with 
 Bacon's intense hatred of the Romish church will not be astonished. 
 What Duessa is to the Faerie Queen the papal power was 
 to Bacon. In all this may be found suggestive hints for the 
 founding of a society like the Kosicrucians, whose emblem, a rose, 
 was borrowed from the rose or seal of Luther. Much doubt has 
 been expressed as to the real tenets of the Roscicrucians. But one 
 thing is certain, they were a deeply rehgious sect, imbued with 
 socialistic and Utopian dreams of bettering and reforming society. 
 They aimed in the far-ofl' future at restoring the fallen condition of 
 man to its primeval purity. Their doctrines were drawn from the 
 Bible chiefly, and based upon recondite Hermetic lore, in connection 
 with the Gnosis. They were not mere mystics, but men who under- 
 stood thoroughly the secret language of the past. They believed in 
 cycles of time, during which man ascended and descended from a 
 low^er to a higher state and again reascended to his former condition. 
 They read everything symbolically. The fall of man according to 
 their views was not a particular event, but a declension of man 
 from comparative purity or uprightness of living, (complete 
 reversal of the first intention,) to an animal or sexual life, where 
 the passions, appetites and affections determine individuality, rather 
 than the heart and intellect. 
 
 All this is to be found reechoed in Bacon's dialogue of a IIoli^ 
 War, not only in the general scope and purport of the work, but 
 even in the concluding text. His Holi/ War is nothing short of a 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 81 
 
 suggestion for a peaceable crusade, a revival of the spirit of the 
 Knights Templar, for the freeing of the church. 
 
 ''Now, if there be such a tacit league or confederation, sure it is 
 not idle; it is against somewhat or somebody. Who should they 
 be? Is it against Wild Beasts? Or the elements of Fire and 
 Water? No, it is against such routs and shoals of people as have 
 utterly, degenerated froyn the laws of Nature. As have in their very 
 body and frame of estate a monstrosity. And may be truly counted 
 (according to the examples we have formerly recited) common enemies 
 and grievances of mankind, or disgraces and reproaches to human 
 Nature.''^ {Holy War.) 
 
 Bacon's religious predilections are not only loudly proclaimed by 
 his Confessions of Faith, his Translation of the Psalms, and his 
 explication of thirty-four of the Parables of Solomon, but are far 
 more suggestive when studied by tbe light of his friendships. I 
 allude to Archbishop Tenisou, who edited his Remains; Herbert 
 the Poet, to whom he intrusted some literary executorship; the 
 martyr, Father Fulgentio; his letters to the Bishop of Lincoln, etc. 
 The entire style of Bacon's literary works is highly colored by 
 divinity. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 Pan, Dionysus or Bacchus, and Perseus (Bacon's three 
 
 FABLES ILLUSTRATING PARABOLICAL POESY AND STAGE PLAYS 
 IN THE " DE AUGMENTIS"). 
 
 Silenus — old drunken Silenus — 
 
 On his ass, with his paunch full of wine, 
 Comes, folio w'd by crowds of Bacchantes, 
 
 "With their brows all braided with vine ! 
 Evohe ! Evohe ! Zagreus ! They rend 
 
 With their shouts the light air, 
 And Bacchus, led slow on a leopard, 
 
 Sweeps by with his ivy-bound hair ! 
 
 The fact Bacon introduces; in context with the subject of stage 
 plays and parabohcal poesy, in his De Augmentis (book ii.), the 
 fables of Pan and Dionysus (or Bacchus) ought to constitute a 
 sufficiently profound hint for the theatre, if properly understood at 
 all. Dionysus or Bacchus was god of comedy and tragedy, in 
 short, he was the classical protagonist of the drama, and Pan 
 always followed in his train. Let me quote Lucian on this point : 
 
 " Bacchus, the general of this spruce band, had ram's horns, a 
 circlet of vine leaves and grapes round his temples, and the hair 
 plaited in tresse's like a woman's coiffure, and rode in a car drawn by 
 leopards. Under him were two other commanders, one a short, 
 thick, old, shriveled fellow, with a pendulous paunch, a flat, apish 
 nose, and long pointed ears, mounted generally on an ass. The 
 other, a most grotesque figure, his lower half resembhng a goat, 
 with shaggy haired thighs, a long goat's beard, just the same horns, 
 and of a very warm temperament. In one hand he held a pipe of 
 reeds, in the other a crooked stick; and so he hopped and frisked 
 and skipped about in great leaps among the whole troop, and 
 frightened the women, who, at the sight of him, ran up and down 
 with disheveled hair, crying, ' Evohe, Evohe,' which, I suppose, was 
 the name of their commander-in-chief." (pp. 781-782, vol. i. 
 Lucian^ s Works, translated by Wm. Tooke, 1820.) 
 
 These three are, of course, Bacchus, Silenus and Pan, who 
 Lucian presently designates by their real names. Pan, in short, 
 was part of the equipage of Bacchus or Dionysus. I think, to the 
 
 82 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUME. 83 
 
 reflective student, the fact Bacon introduces the fables of Pan, 
 Perseus and Dionysus altogether in his De Augmentis, as examples 
 of parabolical poetry, on the direct heels of his description of Stage 
 Plays (p. 107), is a tremendous and overpowering finger-post for 
 the Theatre. 
 
 PAN. 
 
 Pan was called by the Arcadians the Lord of Matter {rov rtji 
 vXr/? Hvpiov,M.acYoh.^Sit.l, c. 22); which title is expressed in the Latin 
 name Sylvanus, Sylva, and vAt; being the same word, written 
 according to the different modes of pronouncing different dialects. 
 In a choral ode of Sophocles, he is addressed by the title of 
 author and director of the dances of the gods, as being the author 
 and disposer of the regular motion of the universe. According to 
 Pindar, this Arcadian Pan was the associate or husband of Rhea, or 
 Matter (Schol, in Pind. Pyth. iii. 138). It was his music of the Syrinx 
 or seven reeded pipe, which, like Orpheus' harp, ordered everything 
 harmoniously. Pan was the principle 'of universal creative order, 
 and the Cnossian dances sacred to Jupiter, and the Nyssian to 
 Bacchus, were under the directiou of Pan. (Payne Knight's Sym- 
 holical Language of Ancient Art and Mythology, 186, 187.) 
 
 Macrobius describes him: " Universae substantise materialis 
 dominatorem significari volentes. Cujus materise vis universorum 
 corporum, sen ilia divina sen terrena sint, componit essentiam.'^ 
 (p. 214 Saturnalia, lib. i.) 
 
 We may guess one of Bacon's objects in introducing him, in con- 
 text, or sequence, to stage plays and parabolical poetry. For he 
 was the minister and companion of Bacchus or Dionysus, the god of 
 tragic art and protector of theatres, whom Bacon introduces on the 
 heels of this fable of Pan, in his De Augmentis. Sacrifices were 
 offered to him in common with Dionysus. He instructed Daphnis in 
 the use of the Syrinx (Virgil Eclog. i. 32, iv. 58). The student may 
 well note here that one of Lord Bacon's Deficients of a new world of 
 sciences, in his De Augmentis, is entitled Venatio Panis, the hun- 
 ting of Pan, or Literate Experience, and is allied to his induct- 
 ive method and has nothing to do with nature, but only literature. 
 
 The hints Bacon gives us in his De Augmentis for the theatre and 
 plays are so frequent and pointed, that it seems, indeed, as if 
 nothing but willful blindness, or prejudiced stupidity, prevented our 
 seizing them. For example, at the termination of the fable of 
 Dionysus (the protagonist of the classical drama, please mark,) 
 Bacon writes : 
 
84 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 '' Lastly, that confusion of the persons of Jupiter and Bacchus 
 may be well transferred to a parable ; seeing noble and famous acts, 
 and remarkable and glorious merits do sometimes j^roceed from 
 virtue and well-ordered reason and magnanimity, and sometimes 
 from a hidden affection and a hidden passion ; howsoever both the 
 one and the other so affect the renown of fame and glory, that a 
 man can hardly distinguish between the acts of Bacchus and the 
 gests of Jupiter. 
 
 " But we stay too long in the theatre ; let us now pass on to the 
 palace of the mind." (p. 130, book ii.; Advancement of Learning, 
 1640.) 
 
 By gests {gesta) Bacon undoubtedly hints at plays. Is it not 
 somewhat remarkable to find, the first tidings of the earliest acting 
 of the supposed Shakespeare plays, connected with Gray^s Inn and 
 reprinted in 1688 under the title of Gesta Grayorum f 
 
 '^ In 1594," writes Hallewell Phillips, " there were rare doings at 
 Gray's Inn in the Christmas holidays of 1594. " 
 
 Bacon, moreover, in writing of the Acts of Bacchus, is undoubtedly 
 alluding to Action and the Theatre. For tragedy and comedy arise 
 out of the acts of Bacchus ; that is, out of the action of the affections, 
 passions and appetites (with each other), of which latter he was the 
 representative. Bacchus is an emblem of passionate life, of which 
 the vine, or wine, its juice, is the emblem. Noise, riot, joy, laugh- 
 ter, all follow in his train, and it may be well noticed Bacon has 
 evidently drawn a subtle distinction between the characters of 
 Bacchus and Jupiter. 
 
 Bacon gives us in his Wisdom of the Ancients, a sketch of 
 this Dionysus, or Bacchus, with explanations. Now, I think there is 
 sufficient in this fable of Bacon's, alone to prove he clearly appre- 
 hended the ethical character of the meaning attached to Bacchus, 
 as lying at the bottom of tragedy and comedy; that is, as the action 
 of passion and affections against each other. He writes : 
 
 " This fable seems to contain a little system of morality, so that 
 there is scarce any better invention in all ethics. Under the 
 history of Bacchus is drawn the nature of unlawful desire or affec- 
 tion and disorder ; for the appetite and thirst of apparent good is 
 the mother of all unlawful desire, though ever so destructive; and 
 all unlawful desires are conceived in unlawful wishes or requests, 
 rashly indulged or granted before they are well understood or con- 
 sidered " ( Wisdom of the Ancients, XXIV.) 
 
 Now, mark Bacon in his seventh book (treating of Morality 
 or Ethic) of De Augmentis declares the poets and historians to be 
 the best doctors of this knowledge, that is, of Ethic. Bacchus from 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 85 
 
 the citation, is clearly apprehended as ^^ apparent (7006Z,"that is, 
 pleasure of the body, and of the moment, ungoverned by judgment 
 or understanding. Bacon evidsntly intends to imply that it is the 
 yielding to Bacchus, as the temptation of the moment (the good of 
 the senses), which is the mother of all unlawful desire. These two 
 are, then, *' Reason and Will, " which elsewhere he says, '' turn 
 faces.'''' (p. 218, Lib. v., Advancement of Learning.) Bacon con- 
 tinues : 
 
 " That Bacchus should be the inventor of wine, carries a fine 
 allegory with it; for every affection is cunning and subtle in discover- 
 ing a proper matter to nourish and feed it ; and of all things known to 
 mortals, wine is the most powerful and effectual for exciting and 
 inflaming passions of all kinds, and being indeed like a common fuel 
 to all." (lb.) 
 
 Of the Ivy, he writes : *' Nor is it without a mystery that the ivy 
 was sacred to Bacchus, and this is for two reasons : first, because ivy 
 is an evergreen, or flourishes in the winter ; and, secondly, because 
 it winds and creeps about so many things, as trees, walls, and raises 
 itself above them. As to the first, every passion grows fresh, strong 
 and vigorous by opposition and prohibition, as it were, by a kind of 
 contrast or antiperistasis, like the ivy in winter ; and for the second, 
 the predominant passion of the mind throws itself, like the ivy, 
 round all human actions, entwines all our resolutions and perpetu- 
 ally adheres to, and mixes itself among, or even overtops them.'' 
 (lb.) 
 
 These two similes find their exact parallels in the plays ; in the 
 Comedy of Errors wo find Adriana exclaiming : 
 
 Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine, 
 Whose weakness married to thy stronger state 
 Makes me with thy strength to communicate. 
 
 (Act ii. sc. 2.) 
 
 Vines were always trained in Italy upon elm trees. In the Mid- 
 summer Nighfs Dream, we read of Bottom : 
 
 Titania. Sleep, thou, and I will "wind thee in my arms. 
 Fairies be gone, and be always away. 
 So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle 
 Gently entwist ; the female ivy so 
 Enrings the barky fingers of the elm. 
 
 (Act iv. sc. 1.) 
 
 The Latin word for vice was vitium, borrowed from vitis, the 
 vine, from the emblem of wine and its parasitical effect upon the soul 
 and body, that is a symbol of passion. Adriana is pictured as unbridled 
 will in direct contrast to her sister Luciana. We shall see, how Bacon 
 has worked out the Comedy of Errors, in harmony with his fable of 
 
86 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 the " Syrens or pleasures," in our next chapter. Symbols borrowed 
 from vine dressing and agriculture, were applied ethically in the 
 Mysteries, as we may gather from Cicero : 
 
 " Those things, too, which the earth produces have a sort of 
 gradual growth toward perfection, not very unlike what we see in 
 animals. Therefore we say that a vine lives, and dies; w^e speak of a 
 tree as young, or old ; being in its prime, or growing old. And it is 
 therefore not inconsistent to speak, as in the case of animals, of some 
 things in plants, too, being conformable to nature, and some not; 
 and to say that there is a certain cultivation of them, nourishing, 
 and causing them to grow, which is the science and art of the farmer, 
 which prunes them, cuts them in, raises them, trains them, props 
 them, so that they may be able to extend themselves in thedirection 
 which nature points out; in such a manner that the vines themselves, 
 if they could speak, would confess that they ought to be managed 
 and protected in the way they are. And now indeed that which 
 protects it (that I may continue to speak chiefly of the vine) is 
 external to the vine : for it has but very little power in itself to keep 
 itself in the best possible condition, unless cultivation is applied to 
 it. But if sense were added to the vine, so that it could feel desire 
 and be moved by itself, what do you think it would do ? Would it 
 do those things which were formerly done to it by the vine-dresser, 
 and of itself attend to itself? ( Chief Good and Evil.) 
 
 The student may perceive Cicero is hinting at the culture of self, 
 and pruning of vices, which he applies by the simile of vine-dress- 
 ing. Cicero had been initiated in the Mysteries, and it is highly 
 probable this metaphor, which he introduces again and again, was 
 borrowed from what he had gathered in the rites, which, mark, were 
 Bacchic, that is the tutelary deities were Ceres and Bacchus, the 
 goddess and god of Agriculture. Indeed the Georgics of Virgil 
 which treat of the dressing of the vine, the tillage of the earth and 
 the culture of trees (in short, agriculture), open with an invocation to 
 Ceres and Bachus, as the guardians of these rustic arts : 
 
 " Quid faciat laetas segetes, quo sidere tei-ram 
 Vertere, Maecenas, ulmisque adjungere vites 
 Conveniat, quae cura boum, qui cultus habendo 
 Sit pecori, apibus quanta experientia parcis, 
 Hinc canere incipiam. Vos, o clarissima mundi 
 Lumina, labentem coelo quae ducitis annum ; 
 Liber et alma Ceres, vestro si munere tellus 
 Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit arista, 
 Poculaque inventis Acheloia miscuit uvis ; 
 Et vos, agrestum praesentia numina, Fauni, 
 Ferte simul Faunique pedem Dryadesque puellae : 
 Munera vestra cano. " ( Georgic I. ) 
 
 Now, is it not indeed striking and convincing, to find Bacon entit- 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEIiATUME. 87 
 
 ling his system of morality, or ethic, treating of character, as The 
 Georgics of the Mind, which title he gives in capitals, and makes it 
 one of his Deficients of a New World of Sciences ? The origin of comedy 
 and tragedy arose around agriculture, and the chief or centre myth 
 of the Mysteries was the story of Demeter (Ceres) and Proserpine, 
 as an allegory of summer and winter. Bacon writes in the Two 
 Books of the Advancement of Learning : 
 
 '^ Neither needed men of so excellent parts to have despaired of 
 a fortune (which the poet Virgil promised himself, and indeed 
 obtained), who got as much glory of eloquence, wit, and learning 
 in the expressions of the observations of husbandry, as of the 
 heroical acts of ^neas. And surely, if the purpose be in good 
 earnest not to write at leisure, that which men may read at leisure, 
 but, really, to instruct and suborn Action and active life, tbese 
 Georgics of the Mind, concerning the husbandry and tillage thereof, 
 are no less worthy the heroical descriptions of virtue, duty and 
 felicity, wherefore the main and primitive division (of moral 
 knowledge), seemeth to be into the exemplar or platform of good, 
 and the regiment or culture of the mind; the one describing the 
 nature of good, the other prescribing rules how to subdue, apply 
 and accommodate the will of man thereunto." (Book ii. Advance- 
 ment of Learning, 1605.) 
 
 Mark how Bacon writes, '' really to instruct and suborn action ; " 
 that is, to make use of action in lively representation or plays, 
 so as to enforce his ethics as Georgics of the Mind. The student of 
 Shakespeare (save the mark!) must have noticed the enormous 
 amount of agricultural metaphors, or similes, introduced into the 
 text in connection with character f 
 
 *' Dionysus was regarded as the patron of the drama, and at the 
 state festival of the Dionysia, which was celebrated with great 
 pomp in the city of Athens, dramatic entertainments took place in 
 his honor, for which all the renowned Greek dramatists of antiquity 
 composed their immortal tragedies and comedies. " (p. 130, Myths 
 and Legends of Ancient Greece and Borne. E. Besens, 1879. )i 
 
 " The Greek drama, as is well known, owed its origin to the 
 dithyrambic choruses in the festivals of Dionysus, who was, in fact, 
 the patron-god of the stage ; the theatre at Athens was the theatre 
 of Dionysus; his altar stood in the center of the orchestra; the 
 middle stall in the foremost row of reserved seats was assigned to 
 tlie priest of that god, and is still to be seen carved with the inscrip- 
 tion, IEPEn:S JIONT^Or EAETGEPEn^.^' {The BacchcB of 
 Euripides, byT. E. Sandys, Introd. p. xxii.) 
 
 1 Lord Bacon introduces the story of Pentheus in his fable of Dionysus (in his 
 De Avgmentis), I am convinced, with the object of suggesting the drama, for there 
 was a trilogy of J^schylus on the doom of Pentheus. "To Thespis himself is 
 attributed a play called the Pentheus.'^ (Heraclides Ponticus, Diogenes Laertius v. 
 $ 92, referred to by Wecklein.) 
 
88 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 
 
 The Anthesteria, or flower gathering festival, was another great 
 Bacchic institution, connected closely with Proserpine and the drama, 
 as the revival of the dead and sleeping earth after winter. Surely 
 in the flower gathering scene in The Winters Tale we may rediscover 
 all this? 
 
 The reader will find Euripides connecting Orpheus with the 
 Bacchanalian orgies in Hippolytus, 953. It is very striking to find 
 Bacon frequently quoting and alluding to Euripides in his marginal 
 notes upon the fable of Dionysus. Twice he refers the reader to the 
 Bacchse of Euripides. And here I should like to observe, critics 
 constantly object that Lord Bacon's philosophical turn of mind was 
 quite contrary to poetry or dramatic inspiration. To this we reply 
 by the striking parallel afforded by Euripides, who devoted himself 
 to philosophy, studying physics under Anaxagoras. Athenaeus states 
 Euripides committed to memory certain treatises of Heraclitus, 
 which he found hidden in the temple of Artemis, and which he 
 brought to the notice of Socrates. (Athen. i., p. 3 a ; Tatian, Or. c. 
 Graec, p. 143 b; Harling, Eur. Kest., p. 131.) Traces of the teach- 
 ing of Anaxagoras have been remarked in many passages of the 
 existing plays, and especially in Alcestis (v. 925 etc.; comp. Cic. Tusc. 
 Disp. iii. 14). Miilleris so much impressed with this anomaly of philos- 
 opher turned dramatist that he writes : " We do not know what 
 induced, a person with such tendencies, to devote himself to tragic 
 poetry.''^ {Greek Literature, p. 358.) Plato in Protagoras gives the 
 key to his anomaly : 
 
 " The art of a sophist or sage is ancient, but the men who proposed 
 it in ancient times, fearing tlie odium attached to it, sought to con- 
 ceal it, and veiled it over under the garb of poetry, as Homer, 
 Hesiod, Simonides, and others, under that of the Mysteries, such as 
 Orpheus, Musseus and their followers." Sir Philip Sidney, in his 
 Defence of Poesie " maintains, that the old philosophers dis- 
 guised or embodied their entire cosmogonies in their poetry, as, for 
 example, Thales, Empedocles, Parmenides, Pythagoras and Phocy- 
 clides, who were poets and philosophers at once. '' 
 
 In Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum of 1658 (the seventh edition), there 
 are a great number of water-marks to be seen, if the pages are 
 held up to the light. There is one evidently intended for a bunch 
 of grapes, and it may be found frequently repeated at intervals of 
 pages. It sometimes consists of exactly thirty -five grapes with a stalk. 
 This is remarkable, because the catalogue of the 1623 Folio plays con- 
 tains thirty-five plays, and grapes, (as the emblem of the god of the 
 vine, Bacchus), are symbolical of the Drama or Theatre. Donaldson 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 89 
 
 in ]]is Greek Theatre, points out how the drama arose with the Vin- 
 tage SONGS. The reader will find a great number of repro- 
 ductions of these grape water-marks upon plates XI, XII, XIII, 
 .(numbers 4, 16, 31, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 49, 50, 68), in 'Mrs. Henry 
 Potts' interesting work, Francis Bacon and Ms Secret Society, 
 1891, Francis Schulte, Chicago. In Bacon's description of Bacchus 
 (Dionysus), in his De Augmentis, he writes: " He invented the 
 planting and dressing of vines; the making and use of wine. " 
 
 The same mind may be refound associating Bacchus with the 
 vine and the grape in this passage : 
 
 Come thou monarch of the vine, 
 Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne : 
 In thy vats our cares be drown'd. 
 With thy grapes our hairs be crown'd. 
 
 (Anthony and Cleopatra.) 
 
 I think it is very possible Bacon is alluding to these water-marks 
 when he writes : 
 
 " The Turks have r pretty art of chamoletting of paper. They 
 take divers oiled colors, and put them severally (in drops) upon water, 
 and stir the water lightly, and then wet their paper (being of some 
 thickness) with it ; and the paper will be waved and veined, like 
 chamolet or marble." {Sylva Sylvarum.) (Exp. 741.) 
 
 In Bacon's " Literate Experience " {Experientia Liter ata), in the 
 De Augmentis, (1623 its translation of 1640), this experiment of 
 chamoletted paper is introduced as an example, page 227. This 
 proves conclusively Bacon refers this experiment, as also the ones 
 upon grafting of elms and roses, to a book (or Literate experience), 
 and not to nature at all. Bacon seems to hint at water-marks, 
 for the very name "water-mark," is derived from the waved 
 (as he writes) appearance of paper so treated, like watered silk. 
 
 In Bacon's New Atlantis we read: 
 
 " The Tirsan doth also then ever choose one man from amongst 
 his sons to live in house with him, who is called ever after the Son 
 of the Vine. The reason will hereafter appear. On the feast day 
 the father, or Tirsan, cometh forth after divine service into a large 
 room where the feast is celebrated; which room hath an half pace at 
 the upper end. Against the wall in the middle of the Half Pace, is 
 a chair placed for him, with a table and carpet before it. Over the 
 chair is a state made round or oval, and it is of Ivy ; and Ivy 
 somewhat whiter than ours, like the leaf of a silver aspe ; for it is 
 green all winter. And the state is curiously wrought with silver and 
 silk of divers colours, broiding or binding in the Ivy; and is ever of 
 the work of some of the daughters of the family. And veiled over 
 at the top with a fine net of silk and silver, hut the substance of it is 
 
90 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 TRUE IVT, whereof, after it is taken down, the friends of the family 
 are desirous to have some leaf or sprig to keep." (page 19, mis- 
 paged 27, yil. edition, Sylva Sylvarum, 1658.) 
 
 The reader will observe the vine and ivy, the two plants 
 SACRED TO Bacchus, here introduced toqether. In Bacon's 
 fable of Dionysus, or Bacchus, which he introduces (mark) twice, 
 first in the Wisdom of the Ancients , and again in his De Augmentis 
 (Book ii.), to illustrate philosophy according to parabolical poetry 
 or stage plays, he writes : 
 
 " The invention of the vine is a wise parable, for every affection 
 is very quick and witty in finding out that which nourisheth and 
 cherishes it, and of all things known to men, wine is the most 
 powerful and efficacious to excite and inflame passions, of what kind 
 soever.'' (p. 128.) 
 
 '^ Neither is it without a mystery, that the ivy was sacred to 
 Bacchus ; the application holds two^ ways : First, in that the Ivy 
 remains green in winter.'^ (p. 121) 
 
 Here are the same words as cited from the New Atlantis. I 
 must therefore quote from Virgil and his commentators, to show 
 this is classically exact. 
 
 Virgil in his seventh eclogue writes of the poet's ivy crown : 
 
 ''"Pastores, hedera crescentem ornate poetam, 
 Arcades, invidia rumpantur ut ilia Codro ; 
 Aut, si ultra placitum laudarit, baccare frontem 
 Cingite, ne vati noceat mala lingua futuro. " (25-28.) 
 
 Vossius remarks on this : 
 
 *' Pastores genere Arcadico (v. 4) cantus ex hominibus agricolis 
 peritissimi hederam, prsemia, quod Horatius dicit, doctarum frontium 
 Bacchicum istum honorem (iii. 39, iv. 10) qui in vates tantum altis- 
 simorum, spirituum cadit incipienti poetae non tantum decernere, sed 
 ipsi circum tempora hgare jubenter." (p. 80, Ecloga, vii. 25-28.) 
 
 " Baccho sive laccho praeter vitem Jiedera quoque sacra erat." (p. 
 93, Ecloga, vii. 61-64), viz.: — 
 
 The ivy was also sacred to Bacchus, besides the vine. 
 
 In Eclogue viii. : 
 
 '^ En erit, ut liceat totum mihi ferre per orbem 
 Sola Sophocleo tua carmina digna cothurno ? 
 A te principium j tibi desinet : accipejussis 
 Carmina coepta tuis, atque banc sine tempora circum. 
 Inter victricis hederam tibi serpere laurus. (10-13.) 
 
 Poets were crowned with the ivy. Liber or Bacchus was the 
 father of song and Apollo the god. Ennius, Horace and Varro 
 each say, poets were crowned with ivy. Upon the same pages of 
 the New Atlantis ^ already cited, we read: 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 91 
 
 ^' The young lads whereof one carrieth a scrowl of their shining 
 yellow parchment, and the other a cluster of Grapes of Gold. " 
 
 (p. 27.r 
 
 " Then the Herald taketh into his hand from the other child the 
 cluster oi grapes, which is of gold, both the stalk and the grapes, but 
 the grapes are daintily enamelled. And if the males of the family be 
 the greater number, the grapes are enamelled purple, with a little sun 
 set on the top, if the females then they are enamelled into a greenisli 
 yellow, with a crescent on the top. The grapes are in number, as 
 there are descendants of the family." (p. 28.) 
 
 Is there no connection between this crescent, these grapes and 
 their number, with the water-marks I allude to f The crescent is 
 evidently meant for the moon as female^ in opposition to the sun 
 as the generating power. But the most sceptical reader will observe 
 these two, vine and grapes, belong to Bacchus, the god of the theatre 
 or drama. Is there no reference in the number of the grapes to 
 the number of the plays, 35 ? Upon the next page we are presented 
 with a jewel, made in the form of an ear of wheat : 
 
 " And withal delivereth to either of them a jewel, made in the 
 figure of an ear of wheat, which they ever after wear in the front of 
 their turban or hat. " (p. 28, New Atlantis.) 
 
 This was the emblem of Demeter or Ceres, the goddess of 
 agriculture, and also the symbol of her daughter Proserpine, who is 
 Virgo in the heavens, with the star Spica, or the ear of wheat, near 
 her. Ceres and Demeter are often one and then the other. So that 
 we have here in order suggested to us, by these emblems, Bacchus and 
 Ceres, the two divinities of the drama. The title page engraving of 
 Bacon's History of King Henry the VII., is one mass of vines and 
 grapes circling up two columns. And it is very curious to find this 
 very same frontispiece to Ben Jonson's play of Cynthias Bevels, 
 1616 (the year Shakespeare died), in the first collected edition of his 
 works, a copy of which I possess. The coincidence does not arise 
 from identity of printers, for both works (Bacon's K. H. VII. and 
 Cynthias Bevels) bear different publishers' names. 
 
 The Indian Bacchus was called Lenseus, from Titfvoi, a wine-press, 
 because he taught the use of it in making wine. {Antiquity 
 Explained, Montfaucon, part ii. vol. i, p. 144.) 
 
 In the plates Montfaucon gives in his Antiquity Explained, may 
 be seen how universally Bacchus was represented, crowned with 
 grapes, or carrying a bunch in his hand. In others the corymbi, or 
 ivy-berries predominate. Sometimes Bacchus is to be found 
 
91 
 
 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 crowned with vine leaves and grapes, sometimes with the ivy, often 
 both combined. Montfaucon writes : 
 
 *^ The crowns of ivy are as common with Bacchus as those of 
 vine-leaves. Therefore, it is (according to Phny, 16, 33) that the 
 ivy is called Bacchic. The ivy is consecrated to Bacchus, because 
 he formerly lay hid under that tree; as others will have it, because 
 the leaves of ivy resemble those of the vine. Anciently (says Pliny, 
 16, 4), a crown was given to none but a god. Homer attributes one 
 only to heaven, and to battle, taken in the universal sense, no man 
 wore it, even in fight. Father Bacchus is said to have been the first 
 that put a crown on his head, and that, too, was made of ivy. We 
 also find him crowned with vine-branches, the grapes sometimes 
 hanging down from them." (lb. p. 147.) 
 
 Montfaucon gives over twenty plates of Bacchus, taken from 
 gems, vases or statues, where the vine, grapes or ivy are to be seen, 
 either on the head or in the hands. Frequently Bacchus holds a 
 vessel in the shape of a jug, out of which he is pouring wine. It is 
 just such a vessel as is represented by the water-marks given by Mrs. 
 Henry Pott, in her work Francis Bacon. 
 
 Nothing is more common than the jug or vase (in connection with 
 the Dionysiak, or Bacchic wine jar), which was carried in the proces- 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUME. 93 
 
 sions of the Anthesteria or Feast of Flowers (February — March). 
 The type of this renewed earth-hfe of spring was wine ; and so we find 
 that in the Bacchian mysteries, a consecrated cup of wine was 
 handed round after supper. The second day of the festival was 
 called the Pitcher Feast, when every toper had his own cup and 
 vessel. Thus the Herald, in the Acharnes, proclaims, " Hear ye 
 people : according to ancient custom the pitchers must be emptied 
 at the sound of the trumpet.'' (vs. 1000, 2; cf. vs. 1070-1234 ) It 
 is probable that the tragedians read to a select audience the 
 " tragedies which they had composed for the festival in the follow- 
 ing month." {Donaldson's Theatre of tlie Greeks, 213.) (Vide The 
 Great Bionysiak Myth, pp. 233, 234, vol. i. Brown.) This ampelus 
 or wine jar, may be refound in the plates given by Mrs. Henry Pott, 
 in her work Francis Bacon and his Secret Society. (Plates xv., xvi., 
 xvii., xviii., xix., xx., xxi., xxii. — xxvii.) The bunch of grapes and 
 the jar, ampelus, or amphora, often with grapes coming out of it (or 
 crowned with them), are the most frequent and constant water marks 
 to be found in Bacon's works, as these plates testify, and I am con- 
 vinced they allude to the vintage songs, which gave rise to the 
 origin of the drama, that is, the dithyambic chorus and Bacchic 
 measure : 
 
 '' Dance we thy Bacchic measure. Oh lacchus! God of the vine, 
 
 Treading thy endless treasure in juice of the purple wine. 
 
 See how the wine waves flowing, waft the ivy wood bowls o'er each 
 
 crest. 
 Brightly the nectar glowing, bears them like boats on its breast ; 
 Filling them high with laughter, we pledge as we closely stand, 
 Needing no crystal water, poured fresh by a Naiad's hand." 
 
 {AgatMas.) 
 THE PERSEUS MYTH. 
 
 There can be very little doubt Bacon has introduced this fable of 
 Perseus, in his De Augmentis, as a hint for his Holy War, and the 
 Rosicrucians. Bacon introduces three examples of parabolical poesy 
 in his De Augmentis, in touch with stage plays, and in touch also 
 with his Wisdom of the Ancients. Indeed, he writes, '' We thought 
 good to refer philosophy according to ancient parables, to the num- 
 ber of Deficients. " (p. 108, Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 Upon referring to the catalogue of the Deficients or A New 
 World of Sciences, at the end of the volume, we find this Deficient 
 the sixth star, entitled Sapientia Veterum. Bacon gives us three 
 examples, viz.. Pan", Perseus and Dionysus. Now, the story of 
 Perseus is not only a central myth of the Rosicrucians, which we 
 
91 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 fmd Michael Maier introducing in context witb direct allusions and 
 enigmas concerning the fraternity. But it is a myth which relates to 
 the freeing of the Church, and to the House of Wisdom, and there- 
 fore particularly applicable to the Rosicrucian ends, implied in freeing 
 the Church from the papal power, and assisting the Reformation. 
 In the preface of that learned work. The Perfect Way, the authors, 
 in describing this myth of Perseus, write: 
 
 '' The names of Medusa and Andromeda have a common root, 
 and signify, respectively, 'guardian' or 'House of Wisdom,' and 
 the ruler or helpmeet of man. They are thus typical names, the 
 first of the church, the second of the soul. And the two myths, of 
 which their bearers are the heroines, together constitute a prophesy 
 — or perpetual verity — having special application to the present 
 epoch. Medusa is that system which — originally pure and beauti- 
 ful, the Church of God, and the guardian of the Mysteries — has, 
 through corruption and idolatry, become the hold of 'every unclean 
 thing,' and the mother of a monstrous brood. And, moreover, like 
 the once lovely face of Medusa, the doctrine which bore originally 
 the divine impress and reflected the Celestial Wisdom Herself, has 
 become, through the fall of the church, converted into dogma so 
 pernicious and so deadly as to blight and destroy the reason of all 
 who come under its control. And the Perseus of the myth is the 
 true humanity — earth born, indeed, but heaven begotten — which, 
 endowed by wisdom and understanding, with the wings of courage, 
 the shield of intuition, and the sword of science, is gone forth to 
 unite and destroy the corrupt church and to deliver the world from 
 its blighting influence." (pp. vi., vii. Preface, Perfect Way.) 
 
 It is to be noted that in the Proficience and Advancement of 
 Learning of 1605, these three examples of parabolical poetry, are not 
 introduced by Bacon in context with the subject of parabolical 
 poetry. They are first found in the 1623 De Augmentis. I wish to 
 point out, they are evidently introduced with a profound purpose — 
 that is, to connect or show a connection between Bacon's Wisdo^n 
 of the Ancients and his theatre. Nobody will doubt that who reads 
 the final words with which he closes these three fables, on pag3 109 
 of Advancement, 1640: " We stay too long in the theatre; let us 
 pass on to the palace of the mind. " It is just as examples of para- 
 bolical poetry, which are to serve as illustration and obscuration, or 
 which tend *' to the folding up of those things the dignity whereof 
 deserves to be retired and distinguished, as with a Drawn Cur- 
 tain; that is, when the secrets and mysteries of religion, policy 
 and philosophy are veiled and invested with fables and 
 parables " (p. 108), that Bacon introduces the examples of Pan, 
 Perseus and Dionysus, with these words : 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUHE. 95 
 
 " And we will annex an example or two of this work, not that 
 the matter, perhaps, is of such moment, but to maintain the pur- 
 pose of our design. That is this : that if any portion of these works 
 which we report as deficient, chance to be more obscure than ordi- 
 nary, that we always propose either precepts or examples for the 
 perfecting of that work, lest, perchance, some should imagine that 
 our conceit hath only comprehended some light notions of them, 
 and that we, like augurs, only measure countries in our minds, but 
 know not how to set one foot forward thither. As for any other 
 part defective in poesy, we find none ; nay, rather, poesy being a 
 plant coming, as it were, from the lust of a rank soil, without any 
 certain seed, it hath sprung up and spread abroad above all other 
 kind of learning" (p. 109). 
 
 The student is entreated to mark, Bacon repeats the same 
 language in his Distribution Preface touching these Deficients, which 
 play evidently a first part in the unlocking of the Instauration. 
 
 *' Concerning those parts which we shall note as Praetermitted, 
 we will so regulate ourselves, as to set down more than tbe naked 
 titles, or brief arguments of Deficients. For where we deliver up 
 anything as a Desiderate, so it be a matter of merit ; and the reason 
 thereof may seem somewhat obscure, so as upon good consideration, 
 we may doubt, that we shall not be so easily conceived what we 
 intend, or what the contemplation is, we comprehend in our mind, and 
 in our meditation, there it shall ever be our precise care, to annex 
 either precepts for the performing of such a work, or a part of the 
 
 WORK ITSELF PERFORMED BY US ALREADY, for example tO the 
 
 whole, that so we may in every particular, either by operation or 
 information, promote the business. For in my judgment, it is a 
 matter which concerns not only the benefit of others, but our own 
 reputation also, that no man imagine we have projected in our 
 minds some slight superficial notion of these Designs; and that they 
 are of the nature of those things which we could desire, and which 
 we accept only as good wishes. For they are such as, without ques- 
 tion, are within the power and possibility of men to compass, unless 
 they be wanting to themselves ; and hereof, we for our parts, have 
 certain and evident demonstration, for we come not hither as 
 augurs to measure countries in our mind for divination, but as 
 captains to invade them for a conquest, (p. 23, Distribution 
 Preface, 1640 Advancement.) 
 
 The reader notices the repetition of the same language quoted, 
 page 109 of this Advancement, 1640. It is plain and certain Bacon 
 is here describing, one of the most important keys to the opening of 
 the Instauration — that is, works already completed hy Bacon, in 
 their relationship to the Instauration and its ends, as an entire whole. 
 He shows plainly that he is intentionally obscure, and that part of 
 the work " performed by us already, " is hinted at by these Deficients 
 The subject we treat of illustrates exactly in point. The fables of 
 
m THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Pan, Perseus, Dionysus, given by Bacon as examples of parabolical 
 poetry, exist in bis collection, entitled tbe Wisdom of the Ancients, 
 showing we are to study tbe entire collection in reference to para- 
 bolical poetry and stage plays, witb wbicb tbe examples cited are 
 connoted. 
 
 From tbis digression, I return to tbe subject of this cbapter, tbe 
 fable of Perseus. Bacon interprets it as an example of war and as 
 political. Now, we must remember tbe Rosicrucians entitled tbem- 
 selves militia crucifera evangelica — soldiers of tbe cross. Tbey were 
 tbe lineal inberitors of tbe Knigbts Templar or Red Cross Knigbts. 
 Tbeir ends or objects was like tbe Templars, tbe rebuilding or restor- 
 ing of Solomon's Temple — wbicb really means a restoration of man's 
 estate to primeval purity — a restoration of arts and sciences, of 
 morals, and a rescuing of man from bis fallen condition by means of 
 tbeir cornerstone, Christ. Like tbe Salvation Army of to-day, tbey 
 considered themselves soldiers fighting for the good cause, and tbe 
 myth of Perseus as tbe redeemer of the drawn sword or cabir, was 
 their selected and particular emblem. Tbey called themselves Invis- 
 ibles. And we can see Bacon slyly hinting at this as an art poli- 
 tique, when be writes that Perseus borrowed from Mercury wings, 
 Pallas a shield, and Pluto a helmet. 
 
 " Now tbe helmet of Pluto, which bath power to make men 
 invisible, is plain in the moral, for the secreting of counsels, next to 
 celerity, is of great moment in war^^ (page 124 Advancement of 
 Learning). Bacon's Holy War was evidently written with a pro- 
 found view to some secret society, or order, which I am convinced 
 was tbe Rosicrucians. For example, be writes : 
 
 '' Tbe church, indeed, maketh her missions into tbe extreme part 
 of the nations and isles, and it is well ; but tbis is ecce unus gladius 
 hie. The Christian princes and potentates are they that are 
 wanting to the propagation of the faith by tbeir arms. Yet our 
 Lord that said on earth to tbe disciples, ite et prcedicate, said from 
 heaven to Constantine, in hoc signo vinces. What Christian soldier 
 is there that will not be touched witb a religious emulation to see 
 an order of Jesus, or of Saint Francis, or of Saint Augustin do such 
 service for enlarging tbe Christian borders ; and an order of Saint 
 lago, or Saint Michael, or Saint George only to robe and feast and 
 perform rites and observances? " {Holy War, p. 34.) 
 
 Now there are three distinct allusions or references here to the 
 Rosicrucians, direct and unmistakable! — Tbe first is Ecce unus 
 gladius hie, — this is the fiery sword that revolved in front of the 
 cherubim, which smote all tbe sinful who sought to re-enter Para- 
 dise. , 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 97 
 
 " It is the sword of the Knights Templar among the Mazons, 
 when the newly initiate is ordered to lay aside the staffer rod of the 
 twelfth messenger, and take up the sword. It is the Red-Cross 
 Sword of Babylon; the badge of the sword of the East.'' (Kenealy 
 Enoch, ii. 83). It is the sword of the arch-angel Michael, and, as 
 Nimrod points out, was a Rosicrucian emblem — a naked sword! 
 Bacon next refers to the Rosicrucian motto of Constantine, in hoc 
 signo vinces, or the emblem which gave rise to the red cross by the 
 emperor himself, and which the Knights Templar bore ever after- 
 ward on their cloaks and banners. But note how finally Bacon 
 refers to the orders of Saint Michael, and Saint George, in an interro- 
 gatory way ; and there is no doubt the Rosicrucians, were most 
 intimately connected with these two orders. For I find the great 
 Rosicrucian Michael Maier referring to the order of Saint George in 
 direct context with the fraternity. 
 
 Hargreave Jennings writes : 
 
 " The bond and mark of this brotherwood is the Red Cross of 
 Crucifixion. The ' Red Cross ' which is the cross of the ' Rosicru- 
 cians, ' thence their name." (p. 100, vol. ii. The Rosicrucians, their 
 Rites and Mysteries.) 
 
 Again : 
 
 " Even the badge and star and symbol of this most Christian 
 order, which presents this red or sanguine cross of the Redeemer, 
 imaged in the cognisance of His champion or captain, or chief sol- 
 dier, St. George or St. Michael, the trampler of the dragon and 
 custos of the keys of the bottomless pit. " (lb. p. 101.) 
 
 In the seventh chapter of this work (volume ii.), may be found 
 proofs of connection of the Rosicrucians with the order of the Garter, 
 or St. George. There can hardly be a doubt. Bacon is proposing a 
 peaceful crusade of a reforming tendency, in this tract of a Holy War. 
 It was not written for the Rosicrucians or initiated alone, but to fur- 
 nish a side key or hint for posterity in these allusions. 
 
 ** God, say the Rabbins, conferred upon Michael his own name, 
 Shaddai Omnipotence ; he is the depositary of God's secrets. " (p. 
 83, vol ii. Enoch.) 
 
 Of the sword, Nimrod writes : 
 
 " The age of paradise was golden, the fruit in the fortunate gar- 
 dens of Medusa was golden ; and chry-saor, the golden sword (a title 
 of Apollo) probably alludes to the cruciform fire which stood between 
 the Cherubim, at the eastern gates of paradise." (p. 11, vol. i. 
 Fable and History.) 
 
 7 
 
&8 TH:^ COLUMBUS OF" LiTEHATlTRJE:, 
 
 Bacon in his fable of Perseus, writes : 
 
 " After the war was finished, and that victory was won, there 
 followed two effects : the procreation and raising of Pegasus ; which 
 evidently denotes fame that flying through the world proclaims 
 victory. " (125-126, Perseus. ) 
 
 Bacon takes care to avoid stating the other procreation of 
 Apollo ! But the fact, he introduces in italics Pegasus or poetry ^ 
 shows what he is really alluding to, viz., Apollo and poetry. Now 
 the protagonist of the Eosicrucians was Apollo. Bacon figures as 
 Apollo, in " The Great Assizes, held at Parnassus, by order of 
 Apollo,'' given by George Withers, the poet. 
 
 Sir William Brown writes of St. George: "As for the story 
 depending hereon, some conceive as lightly thereof as that of 
 Perseus and Andromeda, conjecturing the one to he the father of the 
 other. ''^ {Enquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors, booli v. p. 
 211, vii. edition, 1686.) St. George was the patron saint of the Eosi- 
 crucians ; and Hargreave Jennings, in his Rites and Mysteries of the 
 MosicrucianSj points this out. The legend of St. George is, without 
 doubt, horroivcd from the classic fable of Perseus and Andromeda, as 
 is made clear by so great an authority as Mr. Kuskin, in his second 
 supplement to St. Marks Best, entitled the place of Dragons : 
 
 " The earliest and central shrine of St. George, " writes Mr* 
 Ruskin, " rose at Lydda, by the stream which Pausanias, in the sec- 
 ond century, saw running still red as blood, because Persenshad 
 bathed there after his conquest of the sea monster. 
 
 " There is a large body of evidence proving the origin of the story 
 of St. George and the Dragon from that of Perseus. The names of 
 certain of the persons concerned in both coincide. Secondary, or 
 later variations in the place of the fight appear alike in both legends. 
 For example, the scene of both is laid in Phoenicia, north of Joppa. 
 The stories of the fight given by Greeks and Christians are almost 
 identical. There is scarcely an incident in it told by one set of 
 vn^iters but occurs in the account given by some member or mem- 
 bers of the other set, even to the crowd of distant spectators, and to 
 the votive altars raised above the body of the monster, with the 
 stream of healing that flowed from them. And while both accounts 
 say how the saved nations rendered thanks to the Father in heaven, 
 we are told that the heathen placed beside His altar, altars to the 
 maiden wisdom and to Hermes, while the Christians placed altars 
 dedicated to the maiden mother, and to Saint George." 
 
 This is most important evidence, because it is a fact (not theory 
 or surmise) the Eosicrucians held St. George with his Eed Cross 
 (their emblem) as their chief tutelary patron, and this is one of the 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 99 
 
 reasons the society is connected with the noble order of the Garter — 
 as Mr. Hargreave Jennings truly asserts. But first I will adduce 
 Michael Maier as evidence to the part St. George played in the his- 
 tory of the society. 
 
 In his Themis Aurea, or, Laws of the Fraternity of the Rosi- 
 crucians, he writes : 
 
 " Habent ordines equestres quique sua insignia, Rhodii sen 
 Maltenses duphcis crucis, Burgundiaci Velleris Aurei, S. Georgii 
 fasciae tibiahs (olim de crure mulieris in chorea delapsa?) et alii 
 alia. Hi vero fratres, qui non minus Deo militant bonam militiam, 
 habent R. C. pro suo sigillo, quod non auro ostentant, sed in papyro. 
 Melitenses scimus equites magno pietatis zelo elegisse imaginem 
 geminsB crucis in memoriam Christi salvatoris, qui in ea pepende- 
 rat, accipientes signum pro signato, vel continens pro contento. 
 Idem de Velleris aurei signaculo statuendum est que, licet prima 
 origine magis sit allegoricum et Chymicum quam historicum, ut in 
 Hieroglph. (lib 2,) satis demonstravimus, tamen ad agnum Dei 
 tropice referri potest in pietatis exercitium. An tale quid de 
 periscelide sen tibiali muliebris cruris vinculo intelligi possit, nescio, 
 an non magis ad partem spectet, cui illigatum fuit, corporis que 
 mentis, non est meum judicare. Veritas hie loquat nuda et S. 
 Georg (Utopiensis) sit arbiter '' (pp. 157-158 Themis Aurea hoc est 
 De Legibus Fraternitalis R. C Michael Maier. Francofurti Typis 
 Nicolai Hoffmanni, 1618). 
 
 It is easy to see Mr. Hargreave Jennings borrowed much of his 
 subject matter, concerning the Order of the Garter, its mystic origin, 
 and its connection with the Rosicrucians, from this passage. 
 
 " Perseus conquered the head of Medusa, and did make Pegasus 
 the most swift ship, which he always calls Perseus' flying horse" 
 {Destruction of Troy.) It is very striking to find this idea repeated 
 in Troilus and Cressida, which deals with the siege of Troy : 
 The strong-ribbed bark through liquid mountains cut 
 Like Perseus' horse. {Troilus and Cressida, i. 3.) 
 
 It is well worthy note, Bacon introduces this fable of Perseus, in 
 his De AugmentiSf as an example of parabolical poesy, and that the 
 entire emblem of the De Augmentis is that of a ship. This simile 
 connects possibly the De Augmentis with poetry as Pegasus or a 
 ship. 
 
 The whole of Lord Bacon's Wisdom of the Ancients, were 
 written expressly for application to the plays, is my profound con- 
 viction — I might say my knowledge. It does not require much 
 classical erudition to discover the fact, these pieces are all more or 
 less part and belongings of the Ancient Mysteries, and treat just of 
 those heathen antiquities, which not only possess a meaning, but 
 
100 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 which carry to the initiated, certain knowledge of the migration of 
 races, and arcana of nature, which myths and parables were vehicles 
 by which the secret doctrines of antiquity were veiled and handed 
 on to posterity, from the times of the institution of the Panathenaic 
 games by Erichthonius, back to the times of Sais and Atlantis. 
 
 There are certain pieces of this collection which reveal their esoteric 
 character out of hand, viz., the fable of Proserpine, of Prometheus, 
 of Styx, of Dionysius, of Narcissus, of Pan, of Acteon and Pentheus, 
 of Daedalus, of Ericthonius, all these belong to the Mysteries of 
 Eleusis, Bacchus, Apollo and Ceres, round which the Greek classical 
 drama had its origin. It is impossible for me to go into such details 
 of proof as I should wish, but I can briefly indicate a few prominent 
 features of importance. 
 
 Proserpine or Persephone, formea the leading myth center of the 
 Elusinian Mysteries, and she and her mother Ceres (or Demeter), repre- 
 sented the earth life, with its yearly death and resuscitation. Those 
 who desire to study this myth, will find in Thomas Taylor's Bacchic and 
 Eleusinian Mysteries, proof that Dionysius or Bacchus, Ceres and 
 Proserpine belonged to the very heart and center of the sacred 
 shows, and were the protaganists of the drama and agriculture. 
 Virgil's Georgics prove the latter case. Bacon, therefore, terms his 
 ethics, which deal (mark) with characters, or the motives of passion 
 acting on passions, and affections (the drama motive) Geokgics of 
 THE Mind. (Book vii.. Advancement of Learning, 1623.) 
 
 In Perdita and Hermione of the Winter^ s Tale, we may perceive 
 Persephone (or Proserpine), Ceres (or Demeter), as plainly as we per- 
 ceive the sun in the heavens. 
 
 Prometheus again was a mystery parable of Man^s Fall — a 
 heathen story generically applied of the divine within us, joined to 
 the animal — the soul bound in the bonds of the flesh, and preyed 
 upon by the vulture of concupiscence, which latter the ancients 
 placed in the liver, ^schylus wrote a ijlay or tragedy upon it, and 
 narrowly escaped death, from the charge of revealing the secret 
 doctrines of the mysteries, of which this myth was a leading feature. 
 
 Narcissus was also a story allied to the Mysteries, for it was the 
 Narcissus Flower Proserpine was gathering when she was carried 
 off by Dis or Pluto. 
 
 Bacon writes in his fable of Proserpine : " And it is elegantly 
 added that Proserpine was ravished whilst she gathered Narcissus 
 flowers, which have their name from numbness or stupefaction." 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITER ATUBE. 101 
 
 The Sirens or Pleasures Bacon has apphed to the action of the 
 Comedy of Errors. 
 
 Let us glance at the view Bacon took of these poetical fables in 
 his preface to the collection. I propose to note the reasons apparent 
 for his selection of these particular pieces, and in the first words he 
 ■opens his preface, may he perceived that it is the remotest antiqity 
 he is studying, as a vehicle of truth through these supposed myths: 
 
 " The earliest antiquity hes buried in silence and oblivion, 
 excepting the remains of it we have in sacred writ. This silence 
 was succeeded by poetical fables, and these at length by the 
 writings we now enjoy ; so that the concealed and secret learning 
 of the ancients seems separated from the history and knowledge by a 
 veil or partition wall of fables, interposing between the things that 
 are lost and those that remain." 
 
 *' But the argument of most weight with me is this, that many 
 of these fables by no means appear to have been invented by the 
 persons who relate and divulge them, whether Homer, Hesiod, or 
 others ; for if I were assured they first flowed from these later times 
 and authors that transmit them to us, I should never expect any- 
 thing singularly great or noble from such an origin. But whoever 
 attentively considers the thing, will find that these fables are 
 delivered down and related by those writers, not as matters then first 
 invented and proposed, but as things received and embraced in 
 earlier ages. Besides, as they are differently related by writers 
 nearly of the same ages, it is easily perceived that the relators drew 
 from the common stock of ancient tradition. And this principally 
 raises my esteem of these fables, which I receive, not as the product 
 of that age, or invention of the poets, but as sacred relics, gentle 
 whispers of the breath of better times, that from the traditions of 
 more ancient nations came at length into the flutes and trumpets of 
 the Greeks." (Preface to Wisdom of the Ancients.) 
 
 It is as SACRED RELICS, Bacou esteems these fables, and we 
 easily may perceive in his selection of Atlantis, for the seat of his 
 philosophical romance, the source with which he associated the 
 secret doctrines of prehistoric antiquity. The author of Tlie Tarot 
 of the Bohemians, writes : 
 
 " If we would condescend to waive, for one moment, our belief in 
 the indefinite progress and fatal superiority of later generations over 
 the ancients, we should at once perceive that the colossal civiliza- 
 tions of antiquity possessed science, universities and schools." 
 (Papus, p. 4.) 
 
 The same writer : 
 
 " Moses had chosen a people to hand down, through succeeding 
 ages the book which contained all the science of Egypt; but before 
 Moses the Hindu Initiates had selected a nation to hand down to the 
 
102 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 generations of the future the primitive doctrines of the Atlantides.^^ 
 (lb. p. 5.) 
 
 Dionysius of Samos (or Mytilene) chose the tvestern coast of Africa 
 as the original abode of the deities adored in Greece. And Homer, 
 whose authority we cannot gainsay, calls Oceauos, whose abode 
 was placed in the West, as the origin of the gods, 
 
 DiHsavov re, OecSv j^srsdiv uai pirjTspa Trfivv. 
 
 {Iliad, xiv. 201.) 
 
 " According to those writers the coast of Ocean was inhabited 
 by a race of people named Atalanteians.'^ (p. 23, Keightley^s Myth- 
 ology.) 
 
 The same author writes : 
 
 " But the great authorities of the Greeks were the Phoenicians 
 respecting foreign lauds, who, in the most distant ages visited the 
 shores of the Atlantic, and it is likely, after the fashion of travelers, 
 they narrated the most surprising tales of the marvels of the 
 Remote regions to which they had penetrated." (lb. 29.) 
 
 Plato tells us the priests of Sals informed Solon, out of '' their 
 temple archives, that the goddess Neith or Athena was the founder 
 of both their cities, but Athens was the elder by one thousand years. 
 When in those remote ages the people of the Isle Atlantis invaded 
 the countries within the pillars of Hercules, the Athenians bravely 
 repelled them, and in the war Cecrops, Erechtheus, Erichthonios 
 and Erysichthon distinguished themselves '' {Timceos, 21, et seq.; 
 Critias, 108, et seq.) 
 
 It is well worthy a passing note that two pieces of Bacon's Wis- 
 dom of the Ancients bear title " Erichthonios or Imposture, " 
 '* Metis or Counsel. " The former is most intimately connected both 
 with the Mysteries and Atlantis. 
 
 " Erichthonios was reared by Athena in her Temenos. He set 
 up the statue of Athena on the Acropolis, and instituted the festival 
 of the Panathensea. " {Keightley Myth. 335.) "The two kings, 
 Erechtheus and Erichthonios, are the same person, and in reality 
 nothing more than the name by which Poseidon was worshipped on 
 the Acropolis. " (lb. 350.) 
 
 To these two have been attributed the founding of the Eleusinian 
 Mysteries, and no doubt they belong to a period of extreme anti- 
 quity in which Sais, in Egypt, sent forth the Greek colonists, under 
 Cecrops and when Atlantis still flourished. In Bacon's " Metis or 
 Counsel" we have, of course, Minerva or Athena, and I should like 
 to observe that Olivia in Twelfth Night has certain text connotations 
 suggesting a veiled goddess. The olive was sacred to Athena and the 
 name Olivia is derived from it. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 103 
 
 It may be noticed Olivia is presented just as Isis and Athena, or 
 the goddess Neith of the Egyptians at Sais was presented, that is. 
 Veiled. This goddess, by the way, is supposed to have been the 
 original from whence Mr. Rider Haggard borrowed his immortal 
 SJie. 
 
 Vol. So please my Lord, / )night not be admitted; 
 But from her handmaid do return this answer : 
 The element itself, till seven years' hpat 
 Shall not behold her face at ample view 
 But like a cloistress, she will veiled walk. 
 
 {Act i. sc. 1, Twelfth Night.) 
 
 Viola. Good madam, let us see pour face. 
 
 Olivia. Have you any commission from your Lord to negotiate 
 with my face f You are now out of you text; but tve tvill draw the 
 curtain and show you the picture. Look you, sir, such a one I was 
 this presents, is't not well done? [Unveiling.] 
 Viola. Excellently done, if God did all. 
 Olivia. ^Tis in grain, sir; Vwill endure wind and weather. 
 Viola. 'Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white. 
 Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on. 
 
 (Act i. sc. 5.) 
 It is certain Olivia is intended to be a statue, if we can go by 
 the text: ^Tis in grain, sir, Vwill endure wind and weather. 
 . All this is reinforced by the opening of the play, in which Orsino 
 compares his love for Olivia, to the fable of Actaeon, who was torn in 
 pieces by his dogs, after he had been turned into a stag for gazing 
 upon Diana naked. 
 
 Curio. Will you go hunt, my lord ? 
 
 JDuke. What, Curio? 
 
 Curio. The hart. 
 
 Buke. Why so I do, the noblest that I have : 
 when mine eyes did see Olivia first, 
 Methought she purged the air of pestilence ! 
 That instant was I turned into a hart ; 
 And my desires like fell and cruel hounds 
 E'er since pursue me. 
 
 (Act i. sc. 1.) 
 
 Lord Bacon, in his collection Wisdom of the Ancients, writes^ 
 under " Act^o:?^ or a curious man " : 
 
 " The ancients afford us two examples for suppressing the imperti- 
 nent curiosity of mankind in diving into secrets. Actaeon, undesign- 
 edly chancing to see Diana naked was turned into a stag and torn 
 to pieces by his own hounds. " 
 
 The profound student must observe here, how very aptly such a 
 fable (interpreted by Bacon as, curiosity or diving into secrets), 
 
104 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUME. 
 
 applies to the duke's love for Olivia, which though subtly disguised 
 as ordinary love, I am convinced is a representative allusive picture 
 of an attempt to lift the veil of Isis or Athena {wisdom) or Olivia. 
 The Olive was sacred to Minerva, or Athena, and hence the name 
 Olivia very aptly falls in with my theory. Moreover the student 
 will notice Viola is presented as Eunuch, the priests of all these 
 great goddesses like Diana and Isis being eunuchs. Viola speaks 
 in many sorts of music, as her name implies, and, moreover, the hart 
 or stag was the emblem of the great nature goddess, Diana. 
 
 I would here draw the student's attention to chapter iii.. Liber. 
 V. 9, the Be Augmentis (or its translation by Watts, 1640, page 237). 
 That chapter deals with '' The partition of the inventive arts of 
 arguments J into promptuary or places of preparation, and topics or 
 places of suggestion.'^ Bacon describes this in the following words: 
 " For it may be as well accounted a chase or finding of a deer, which 
 is made within an enclosed park, as that within a forest at large. But 
 setting aside curiosity of words, it may appear that the scope and 
 end of this kind of inventio:n' (discovery), is a certain promptitude 
 and expedite use of our knowledge, rather than any encrease or ampli- 
 fication thereof. " (p. 237. ) 
 
 In the fifth chapter of the same book. Bacon once more reintro- 
 duces this image of the deer, in connection with Prenotion and 
 Emblem. In recovering knowledge, or memory, we must possess 
 some prenotion or emblem which, as it were, narrows the search and 
 cuts off the infinite. He suggests : 
 
 '^ This art of memory is built upon two intentions, Prenotion and 
 Emblem. We call prenotion a precision of endless investigation, for 
 when a man would recall anything to memory, if he have no pre- 
 notion or preception of that he seeketh, he searcheth, indeed, and 
 taketh pains, sounding this way and that way, as in a maze of 
 infinity. But if he have any cert Sim prenotion, presently that which 
 is infinite is discharged and cut off, and the questing of the memory 
 is brought within a narrow compass, as the hunting of a Fallow 
 Deer within the Park.'' (p. 255.) 
 
 Nobody can fail to perceive what Bacon is driving at, for he is 
 giving us the emblem for the prenotion, which we are to follow up in 
 the plays as a promptuary place of suggestion for assistance and 
 guidance. In Love's Labor's Lost, we have Kosalind presented, with 
 unmistakable text allusions, connecting her with Diana of Ephesus, 
 goddess of nature, whose emblem was a stag or deer. Moreover, in 
 the play a great deal of enigmatic and utterly incomprehensible 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 105 
 
 dialogue turns upon the hunting of a deer, which is identified with 
 Rosalind herself. 
 
 Boyet. And who is your deerf 
 
 Rosalind. If we choose by the horns, yourself come not near. 
 
 Of all the plays of the 1623 Folio, Lovers Lahor^s Lost is the most 
 esoteric and enigmatical. The text is clean away from simplicity or 
 the action of the characters, — less art of concealment has been intro- 
 duced in this than any other play of the collection. It is my convic- 
 tion Bacon's emblem of the Beer, (quoted) as hunted in a Park, is a 
 prenotion he gives us as promptuary place of suggestion for this play. 
 
 Hoi. I will something afifect the letter, for it argues facility. 
 The playful princess pierced and pricked a pretty pleasing pricket ; 
 
 Some say a sore ; but not a sore, till now made sore with shooting. 
 The dogs did yell; put l to sore then sorel jumps from thicket; 
 
 Or pricket sore, or else sorel ; the people fall a-hooting. 
 If sore be sore, then l to sore makes fifty sores one sorel. 
 
 Of one sore I an hundred make by adding one more l. (Act iv. 2. ) 
 
 This is clearly a rebus, an acrostic connected with a cipher and 
 the deer, as indeed is the entire play. 
 
 Armado. A most fine figure. 
 
 Moth. To prove you a cipher. (Act i.) 
 
 All this may, and will appear preposterous, impossible, and too 
 subtle for the critic, and so it will remain until the Instauration 
 begins to be opened up, and the world recognizes in these pieces, 
 Philosophical Play Systems (Bacon's own words), which are married 
 to an inductive system, and will have to be worked out by help of his 
 Advancement of Learning, and evolved out of a labyrinth of matter 
 as subtle as nature itself. 
 
 MALVOLIO, OK MALICE AND VANITY. 
 
 I am convinced MalvoUo is an ironical portrait of human Vanity, 
 Ignorance, Malice or Malevolence, which latter word agrees much 
 with his name. He is steward to Olivia, and it is very striking to 
 find he is made the victim of a plot, turning upon a cipher or letter. 
 It is impossible to review the crass imbecility and folly connected 
 with much Shakespearian criticism, without thinking of Malvolio. 
 Like him, whilst constituting themselves the stewards of Bacon^s 
 art, a host of commentators and emendators have gone 
 about pluming themselves, with the literary conceit, they could hft 
 the veil of the text, and that they could interpret this art, they all 
 the while being shut up " in a dark house of ignorance.^' It was 
 jtQpossible such secrets, as I postulate this art is full of, could be 
 
106 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 nakedly published in an age (by Bacon), when even even slight dif- 
 ferences in matters of religion were entailing persecution, and even 
 death, upon their holders. Nor in any age can certain esoteric 
 doctrines be revealed to the multitude. The poet knew this, and 
 wrote : 
 
 To give away yourself keeps yourself still, 
 
 And you must live drawn by your own sweet skill. 
 
 {Sonnet XVI.) 
 
 It was only by art aided by cipher, the poet could escape the malev- 
 olence of enemies, and by bringing his poetry into harmony with 
 popular judgment disarm and delude (by depth of concealment) 
 those who should be constituted his admirers, stewards or lovers, at 
 whom all the time he is laughing, for the reason of the cipher trick 
 he has played upon them : 
 
 They that have power to hurt and will do none, 
 That do not do the thing they most do show, 
 Who, moving others, are themselves as stone. 
 Unmoved, cold and to temptation slow, 
 They rightly do inherit heaven's graces 
 And husband nature's riches from expense ; 
 They are the lords and owners of their faces, 
 Others but stewards of their excellence. 
 
 {Sonnet XGIV.) 
 
 " There is no darkness but ignorance in which we are more puz- 
 zled than the Egyptians in their fog " is applied to Malvolio, in the 
 play. His madness (which he denies and cannot perceive) belongs 
 to that class of universal insanity, deplored by Bacon to one of his 
 Sons of Wisdom, and which Bacon proposes to conform to, by means 
 of art. It is by an artifice of art, based upon what is very signifi- 
 cant of a secret cipher (that is, by fragments of the alphabet, which 
 Malvolio cannot read), the steward is led into the conceit of self-love, 
 which would make him master of Olivia's house and herself. The 
 whirligig of Time brings its revenges, and the moral of this incident 
 is briefly expressed in the words that conclude the play : 
 
 ^''Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate. 
 For the rain it raineth every day." 
 
 Here, let me remark, this work should be read by the light of the 
 Advancement of Learning. It is only by turning over its pages the 
 profound student will gain light. To the ordinary reader this work 
 cannot be of much interest or assistance, except to make him, per- 
 haps, smile. But he is begged to remember, I have been studying this 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 107 
 
 problem for years, and he, probably, has not wasted so much time 
 over it (he comments inwardly). So be it. Posterity must judge, 
 whether I am right and whether these Plays are not the examples of 
 Bacon's inductive system, to be interpreted by the aid of his great 
 commentary— the S^lva Sylvarum! 
 
CHAPTER y. 
 
 The Comedy of Errors. 
 
 "It dccidcth also the controversies between Zemt and iSocrates, and their 
 schools and successions on the one side, who placed felicity in virtue simply or 
 attended, the actions and exercises whereof do chiefly embrace and concern society ; 
 and on the other side the Cirenaics and Epicurceans, who placed it in pleasure and 
 made virtue (as it is used in some Comedies of Errors, wherein the mistress and 
 the maid change habits) to he hut as a servant, witlumt which pleasure cannot he served 
 and attended.''^ (Advancement of Learning, 1605, book it. p. 74.) 
 
 The object of this chapter is to briefly point out how Bacon, in 
 the Comedy of Errors, has symbohzed the workings of the Will and 
 Understanding, in accordance with the emblems of Bacchus, the 
 vine, — typical of passion and vice, and in harmony with his text of 
 the Be AugmentiSj concerning etJiic and logic, and also in parallel 
 context with his fable of the Syrens or Pleasures. This history of 
 the soul is, in my opinion, entirely borrowed from the classical Mys- 
 teries known as the Bacchic and Eleusinian. Bacon wrote 
 his collection of the Wisdom of the Ancients with direct refer- 
 ence to the plays. The fact that almost every piece of the collection 
 is in close connection with the origin of the Greek drama, through 
 the Mysteries, is a significant fact in itself. His object, I submit, 
 was to restore the ancient, classical, philosophical and religious origins 
 of the drama, connected with agriculture, through a system of 
 inductive logic applied symbolically, and finding its reflection in his 
 prose writings, as ethic. 
 
 One object Bacon had in this play, I maintain, was to reduce 
 ACTION (which he identifies with Bacchus as passion, affections and 
 appetites), to logic and understanding. He, therefore, takes the chief 
 emblem of Bacchus, — the vine (which stood with the ancients as 
 the emblem of vice or passion, tvhen unpruned or undressed), to illus- 
 trate the workings of " unbridled will,^^ as the cause of error in the 
 understanding. One text of the Comedy of Errors is, I believe, this 
 passage : 
 
 Adriana. Thou art an elm, my husband, 1 a vine. 
 Whose weakness married to thy stronger state 
 Makes me with thy strength to communicate : 
 
 108 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEMATUHE. 109 
 
 If ought possess thee from me it is dross, 
 Usurping ivy, briar or idle moss, * 
 Who, all for want of pruning, with intrusion, 
 Infect thy sap, and live on thy confusion. 
 
 (Act ii. 2, Comedy of Errors. ) 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 '' The third example of philosophy, according to ancient para- 
 bl'es in morality. Of passion, according to the fable of Diony^sus. " 
 (p. 126, lib. 2, Advancement of Learning, 1640.) *' He invented 
 the planting and dressing of vines; the making and use of wine." 
 (lb. p. 126.) " The inventing of the vine is a wise parable, for 
 every affection is very quick and witty in finding out that which 
 nourisheth and cherisheth it; and of all things known to men, wine 
 is most powerful and efficacious to excite and inflame passions ; of 
 what kind soever; as being in a sort a common incentive to them 
 all.'' (lb. p. 128.) 
 
 Now, the vine was always trained upon the elm in Italy, which 
 the author of the passage quoted well knew. Virgil's first Georgic, 
 dedicated to Bacchus and Ceres, opens almost with the words : 
 
 Ulmisque adjungere Yitis conveniat (line 2.) 
 
 The term married trees was a classical expression, used gener- 
 ally with direct reference to the vine and elm : 
 
 " Aut si forte eadem est ulmo conjuncta marito. " 
 
 {Catullus de Vite.) 
 
 ' ' Nee melius teneris junguntur vitibus ulmi. " {Martial, lib. iv. ) 
 
 " At si tenerum ulmum maritaveris novam sufferet ; 
 Si vetustam vitem applicaveris, conjugem necabit; ita 
 Sibi pares esse setate et viribus arbores, vitesque convenit." 
 
 {Columella, lib. v., cap. v.) 
 
 " Stratus humi palmes viduas desiderat ulmos. " {Juvenal, sat. 8.) 
 
 All this was well know to Bacon. He writes : 
 
 " And in France the grapes that make the wine, grow upon the 
 low vines bound to small stakes. It is true that in Italy and other 
 countries, where they have hotter sun, they raise them upon elms.^^ 
 (Ex. p. 432, Sylva Sylvarum.) 
 
 In the Mysteries of Bacchus, the vine being his chief emblem 
 (thus a type for wine and the passions excited by it), the pruning and 
 dressing of the vine, became a metaphor, morally applied to self- 
 restraint and to vice. The Latin word vitium, or vice, was derived, 
 (as I already have remarked,) from vitis, a vine. In a passage 
 already cited from Cicero, it may be seen he employs the pruning of 
 
110 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 the vine to illustrate ethic or morality. Adriana exclaims in context 
 with her metaphor of the vine : 
 
 Thou art an elm, my husband, I a vine. 
 
 Who, all for want of pruning, with intrusion. 
 Infect thy sap and live on thy confusion. 
 
 Passions confuse and illaqueate the understanding, and are one of 
 the great causes of error, a theme Bacon is never tired of inculcating 
 in his Instauration. The mind is macerated in the affections, and 
 prejudges, not according to what is true, but to what it rather likes. 
 
 At the commencement of the fifth book of the De Augmentis, 
 Bacon writes : " The Will of man and the Understanding of man are 
 TWINS hy birth. " It may be noticed the Antipholi and their servants, 
 the two Dromios, (of Syracuse and Ephesus, ) are twins. Bacon writes 
 again : " That the mind hath over the body that commandment which 
 the Lord hath over a bond-man," (lb. book v. 218.) Both the 
 servants of the two Antipholus' are slaves or bondsmen. In the 
 two books of the Advancement of Learning, 1605, Bacon writes: 
 " The knowledge which respecteth the faculties of the mind of 
 man is of two sorts: the one respecting the Understanding and 
 Reason, and the other his will, appetites and affections. Quales 
 decet esse sororum (whom it behooves to be sisters)." (Book ii.) 
 Now Adriana and Luciana are not only two sisters, but are 
 drawn in direct contrast to each other, as revolt of will and submis- 
 sion of will, evidently with an ethical purpose in each delineation. 
 In discussing duty to husbands Luciana exclaims : 
 
 Luciana. 0, know he is the bridle of your will. 
 Adriana. There's none but asses will be bridled so. 
 
 (Act i. 2.) 
 
 This is another text illustrating the play, pointing out the un- 
 pruned vine is revolted will, which, fastening upon Antipholus of 
 Syracuse, will transform him into the ass Adriana satirises. 
 Directly on the heels of the passage on the vine already cited : 
 
 Bromio S. I am transformed, master, am I not ? 
 
 Ant. 8. I think thou art in mind, and so am I. 
 
 Bromio S. Nay, master, both in my mind and in my shape. 
 
 Ant. S. Thou hast thine own form. 
 
 Bromio S. No, I am an ape. 
 
 Luciana. If thou art changed to aught, His to an ass. 
 
 Bromio S. 'Tis true; she rides me and I long for grass. 
 'Tis so, I am an ass; else it could never be 
 But I should know her as weU as she knows me. (Act ii. 2.) 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. Ill 
 
 " Apelles drew a picture of the life of man and the abuse of drunk- 
 enness. In the first place, he painted a garden with a very pleasant 
 arbor in it, which was embellished with herbs and flowers of all 
 sorts. At the entrance to this garden there stood a great gate on 
 the right hand, the way and passage whereof was very delightful 
 and much frequented. On the other side there was another little 
 door, very straight and narrow, to pass in and out of, which had a 
 sharp and difiQcult way thereto, all covered with bushes, brambles 
 and thorns, and that way seemed very little frequented. Before the 
 first gate, there were goodly tents erected, and before them stood 
 tables, loaded with viands and goodly things. At the entrance of 
 an arbor sat a woman in garments like a queen, with a crown of 
 young vine upon her head, and she was intoxicated. She was 
 attended by three waiting-maids who were respectively called Folly, 
 Madness and Luxury. This company were guarded and environed 
 (as by hedges and bushes), with bears, bulls, goats, great asses, 
 horses and apes, and all other kinds of beasts, that (of living men) 
 had been metamorphosed into such monsters, after they had drunk 
 of the wine from the hand of the lady, out of a cup which one of 
 her handmaids called slothfulness. When they entered first to her 
 they were all men, and so continued (for some time) in their human 
 shape, but when they had thoroughly tasted of her drink, they lost 
 their true forms and were transformed into beasts. " {Tlie Treasury 
 of Ancient and Modern TimeSj book vi. ch. xxvi. Translated out 
 of the Spanish of Pedro Mexio and Francesco Sansovino. laggard, 
 1613, London.) 
 
 Socrates, in Plato's PhcBdo, writes : 
 
 *' For instance, those who have given themselves up to gluttony, 
 wantonness and drinking, and have put no restraint on themselves, 
 will probably be clothed in the forms of asses and brutes of that 
 kind." (p. 85, Bohn's edition, Plato Gary vol. i.) 
 
 It may be actually perceived the passage quoted gives these three 
 animals. Dromio of Syracuse compares himself to the horse, ape and 
 ass. Archbishop Warburton, in his Divine Legation of Moses, 
 points out that the transformation of Apuleius into an ass, (pictured 
 in his fable of the Golden Ass), represents that he had been living a 
 vicious and bestial life, and that Apuleius only regained his proper 
 shape by initiation into the Mysteries. It may be noticed, the 
 passage cited, recalls the transformation of Bottom into an ass, in the 
 Dream. Very remarkable it is to find, tJie other plant sacred to 
 
112 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Bacchus, the ivy, introduced in direct context with Bottom's sleep 
 in the arms of Titania : 
 
 Titania. Sleep thou, and I will wind the in my arms. 
 Fairies, be gone, and be always away. 
 So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckles 
 Gently entwist ; the female ivy so 
 Enrings the barky fingers of the elm. (Act iv. 1.) 
 
 Now in the plays, ivy is always treated as Bacon describes it, — 
 that is, as a parasite of a deadly nature, killing, strangling and 
 overrunning whatever it fastens upon. 
 
 " Neither is it without a mystery, that the ivy was sacred to 
 Bacchus; the application holds two ways. First, in that the ivy 
 remains green in winter; secondly, in that it creeps along, em- 
 braceth and advanceth itself over so many diverse bodies as trees, 
 walls, edifices. '^ 
 
 '' Secondly, every predominant affection in man's soul, like the 
 ivy, doth compass and confine all human actions and counsels, 
 neither can you find anything so immaculate and inconcerned, which 
 affections have not tainted and clinched, as it were, with their ten- 
 drils." (p. 129, Advancement, 1640.) 
 
 It seems to me the elm stands for the soul, ivy for the predomi- 
 nant affbctions which clinch, as it were, the soul, and set it to sleep 
 in the body, killing and stifling it as the parasite often kills the elm. 
 In the second part of King Henry IV. (col. 169) Falstaff" is addressed 
 
 thus: 
 
 Answer, thou dead Elm, answer. 
 
 This has puzzled commentators, but by the theory I propound, 
 and which is supported by ancient classical lore, it is perfectly in 
 consonance with the idea of a man, who, like Falstaff, had ruined 
 his body and soul, by overindulgence in wine and passion,^ both of 
 which Bacon connotes with the vine and ivy, both of which are 
 peculiar to elm trees. Bacon writes : '' But it was ordained that 
 this winding ivy of a Plantagenet should kill the tree itself. " (Bacon's 
 History of King Henry the VII.) This passage finds its perfect 
 parallel in Prospero's mouth : 
 
 " That now he was 
 The ivy which had hid my princely trunk 
 And sucked my verdure out onH. " 
 
 {Tempest, Act i. 1.) 
 
 The elm tree held a peculiarly recondite, and mystic symbolism 
 
 with the Ancients. It was sacred to Diana, who Ovid in his meta- 
 
 1 Sir Walter Raleigh : "It were better for a man to be subject to any vice than 
 to drunkenness, for it dulleth the spirits UTid destroyeth the body as ivy doth the old 
 tree." 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 113 
 
 morphoses calls Titania. {Metamorphoses iii. 173; see Keightley 's 
 Fairy Mythology.) Alias demde arbores praeclarae Dianae s.icrae 
 habebantur, velut Ephesia? antiquissimum sacellum ulmi aut fagi 
 truncus erat." (p. 54 De JDian^e Antiquissima, Glaus, vide Guhl 
 Ephesiaca, p. 78 et seq.) Bat it is in Virgil's sixth book that we dis- 
 cover the elm tree of the Mysteries, the tree of false dreams placed 
 on the threshold of hell, a symbol of the delusions and vain 
 dreams of the soul arising from our material nature : 
 
 In medio ramos annosaque bracchia pandit, 
 Ulmus opaca, ingens ; quam sedem Somnia vulgo 
 Vana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus hcerent. 
 
 (282 iEneid, vi. book.) 
 Full in the midst a spreading elm displayed 
 His aged arms, and cast a mighty shade, 
 Each trembhng leaf with some light vision teems, 
 And heaves impregnated with airy dreams. 
 
 It may indeed be asked, whether Bottom's vain dreams, spring- 
 ing out of his vanity and desire to play the lion's part, and hold up 
 his tiny lanthorn to Nature, are not in touch with the hint we are 
 given of the elm tree? That is to say, is it not possible Titania is 
 a picture of the invisible magical powers of passive Nature, which 
 lull and overpower the soul of man, and make his efforts to compre- 
 hend or explain nature ridiculous? It is the deformity of the soul 
 which is pictured in Bottom's transformation into an ass. It is the 
 body which, like the ivy, overpowers, stifles and strangles the soul 
 and the intellectual comprehension of things; but the body is part of 
 Nature, that is matter, in which the soulis bound. Man ismarried to 
 Nature, and in his ignorance of the secret and magical powers which 
 environ him, is very much in the position of Bottom in Titania's 
 arms, — he is, in short, asleep, an ass when he goes about to explain 
 what is beyond him, and is fooled by just those powers of Natural 
 Magic, which invisibly override the entire action of the p^.ay, — the 
 Fairies. I only introduce all this in order to point out, there is an 
 evident connection between the Dream and the Comedy of Errors. 
 Antipholus of Syracuse exclaims (in context with the passage of 
 the Vine married to the Elm). 
 
 ''To me she speaks; she moves me for her theme: 
 What, tvas I married to her in my dream f 
 Or sleep I now and think I hear all this? 
 What error drives our eyes and ears amiss? '' 
 
 (Act ii. 2.) 
 
114 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 
 
 The student will notice the expression ^^ my dream,^^ "not a 
 dream. ^' Bottom in his transformation is subject to /ames. Com- 
 pare the Comedy of Errors : 
 
 Bromio S. 0, for my beads ! I cross me for a sinner. 
 This is the fairy land : spite of spites ! 
 We talk with goblins, owls and sprites : 
 If we obey them not, this will ensue, 
 They'll suck our breath or pinch us black and blue. 
 
 (Actii. 2.) 
 
 Antipholus of Syracuse exclaims to Luciana : 
 
 '' 0, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note, 
 To drown me in thy sistefs flood of tears ; 
 
 Sing, siren, for thyself and I will dote. 
 Spread o^er the silver waves thy golden hairs. 
 
 And as a bed I'll take them and there lie, 
 And in that glorious supposition think 
 
 He gains by death that hath such means to die." (iii. 2.) 
 
 And again, further on in the same scene, he adds — 
 " I^ll stop my ears against the mermaiWs song." 
 
 Staunton considers that in these passages the allusion is 
 obviously to the long- current opinion, that the Siren, or Mermaid, 
 decoyed mortals to destruction by the witchery of her songs. 
 
 This is a most excellent illustration of Bacon's fable of the Sirens 
 or Pleasures ( Wisdom of the Ancients), and supports very strongly 
 my theory of the play. Adrian a is accordingly the Siren or 
 Pleasures, which Bacon describes as follows : 
 
 " The fable of the Sirens is, in a vulgar sense, justly enough 
 explained of the pernicious incentives to pleasure; but the ancient 
 mythology seems to us like a vintage ill-pressed and trod; for 
 though something has been drawn from it, yet all the more excellent 
 parts remain behind in the grapes that are untouched. " 
 
 '^ These sirens resided in certain pleasant islands, and when, 
 from their watch tower, they saw any ship approaching, they first 
 detained the sailors by their music, then, enticing them to shore, 
 destroyed them. 
 
 '* Their singing was not of one and the same kind, but they 
 adapted their tunes exactly to the nature of each person, in order to 
 captivate and secure him. 
 
 " Two different remedies were inventedto protect persons against 
 them, the one by Ulysses, the other by Orpheus. Ulysses com- 
 manded his associates to stop their ears close with wax.^^ ( Wisdom 
 of the Ancients.) 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 115 
 
 The reader cannot fail to perceive the parallels in all this to the 
 Comedy of Errors. Antipholus of Syracuse, exclaiming : 
 '' I'll stop my ears against the mermaid's song." 
 Bacon continues : 
 
 " And so destructive had they been, that these islands of the 
 Sirens appeared, to a very great distance, white with the bones of 
 their unburied captives. " 
 
 Now mark, Antipholus of Syracuse, and his servant, Droraio of 
 Syracuse, are presented in the play as arriving in a ship at Ephesus. 
 They are represented, in the last scene of the fourth act, as seeking 
 safety by flight on board their ship, from Adriana and her friends, 
 whom they term witches : 
 
 Ant. S. I see these witches are afraid of swords. 
 
 Dro. S. She that would be your wife now ran from you. 
 
 Ant. S. Come to the Centaur ; fetch om' stuff from thence. 
 Ilong that we were safe and sound aboard. 
 
 Dro. S. Faith, stay here this night; they will surely do us 
 no harm ; you saw they speak us fair, give us gold ; methinks they 
 are such a gentle nation that, hut for the mountain of mad flesh that 
 claims marriage of me, I could find in my heart to stay here still and 
 turn witch. 
 
 Ant. S. I will not stay to-night for all the town. 
 Therefore away, to get our stuff aboard. 
 
 We can perceive the poet's intention in the symbolical hint, 
 " mountain ofmadflesh/^ which Dromiois depicted flying from, and 
 which claims marriage with him. As to this St. Augustine writes : 
 
 " What is said to Cain about his sin, or about the vicious concu- 
 piscence of his flesh, is here said of the woman who had sinned ; and 
 we are to understand that the husband is to rule his wife as the soul 
 rules the flesh. " 
 
 It may almost be imagined Bacon, in opening this fable witli a 
 refei-ence to vintage and grapes, is thinking of the vine, to which 
 Adriana is compared (as being trained to the elm, her husband), 
 which union Virgil calls " married trees^^^ in his Bucolics; that is, the 
 flesh and the sotd are compared to wife and husband. 
 
 1 Sic et vitis coniiubiuiii et maritationem cum arboribus passim celebrant poetos 
 et scriptores res rusticse. Inter quos Columella, (lib. 5, cap. 6,) cui ulmus pro 
 Mare est vitis Femina. Ex quo conjugio feracissima proveniat uvarum soboles. 
 (Vide Juven. saty. 8:) 
 
 Stratus' bumi palmes viduas desiderat ulmos. 
 
 Quasi vites languidse sint et minus fructiferse, si arceantur a complexu nlmorvm, 
 quas amant. Qnaiiqiiam vites in Campauo agro, non tam ulmis. quam papulis 
 nubere dicantur Plinio, lib. 14 c. i. {Pancirollias, p. 59.) 
 
 ' ' And so both the union and marriage of vines with trees the poets and writers 
 on agriculture celebrate on all sides. Amongst whom Columella (lib. 5, ch. 6), who 
 
116 THE COL UMB US OF LITER A T URE. 
 
 In the term witch, applied to Adriana, we may perceive 
 Bacon's mind again, when he describes, "love as a witch.^' St. 
 Augustine writes : 
 
 " That there were reported to be certain witches in Thessaly, 
 who had the power of transforming men into animals, as horses and 
 
 asses." 
 
 This he introduces in touch with Apuleius. 
 In Virgil we read : 
 
 Me tamen urit amor ; quis enim modus adsit amori ? 
 Ah, Corydon, Corydon, quae te dementia cepit ! 
 Semiputata tibi frondosa vitis in ulmo est. 
 
 {Eclogue, ii. 70.) 
 
 This metaphor applied to Corydon's folly, in giving way to 
 love and its madness, shows he is in the condition of the vine 
 unpruned. " You have left (your) vine unpruned on the elm, ivhich 
 itself requires to have its superfluous foliage dipt off. " This proves 
 that in Virgil's time, virtue and morality, were compared to the 
 pruning of exuberant vines, running to leaf, and not to fruit. 
 Servius states that there was a superstitious belief that any one who, 
 in sacrificing, used wine made from unpruned vines, was seized with 
 madness. 
 
 There was also a law of Numa, " Diis ex imputata vite ne libando, " 
 i.e.," that libations were not to be made to the gods from unpruned 
 vines," which suggests this image stood for purification of morals, 
 or the agriculture of the soul, applied probably typically in the 
 Mysteries of Bacchus. But, to return to the quotation, it is plain, 
 from the metaphor applied by Adriana to Antipholus, (" and live on 
 thy confusion,^') the poet signifies the confusion and havoc the 
 passions and appetites create, typified by wine. Wine and love are 
 almost interchangeable words. The proverb runs, " without Ceres 
 and Bdcchus, (bread and wine), Venus cannot be nourished." 
 
 In Lucian's Trip to the Moon, we read of some vines that were 
 half women : 
 
 " We passed the river in a part of it which was fordable, and a 
 little farther on met with a most wonderful species of vine. The 
 bottoms of them, that touched the earth, were green and thick, 
 
 makes the elm the male or husband^ and the vine female or wife. From which union 
 arises most fruitfully the progeny of grapes." 
 
 Et te Bacche, tuas nubentem junget ad ulmos (Manil 5, 238). 
 
 This line shows Bacchus was closely connected with the elm. 
 
 All this proves the extraordinary classical attainments of the author of the 
 
 plays, and is almost prohibitory to the Shakespeare authorship. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE 117 
 
 and all the upper part most beautiful women, with the limbs per- 
 fect from the waist, only that from the tops of the fingers, branches 
 sprung out, full of grapes, just as Daphne is represented as turned 
 into a tree, when Apollo laid hold on her. On the head, likewise, 
 instead of hair they had leaves and tendrils. When we came up to 
 them they addressed us, some in the Lydian tongue, some in the 
 Indian, but most of them in Greek. They would not suffer us to 
 taste their grapes, but, when anybody attempted it, cried out as if 
 they were hurt.'' (p. 80, Francklin's Transl) 
 
 It is very certain Lucian's romance was not all drawn from his 
 imagination, but was inspired by a great deal of knowledge bor- 
 rowed from the Mysteries. This we may gather from his introduc- 
 tion of Endymion, with whose history divination by dreams was 
 closely connected. The translator, from whom I quote, in a foot- 
 note writes : 
 
 " Lucian, we see, has founded his history on matter of fact. 
 Endymion, we all know, was so handsome that the moon, who saw 
 him sleeping on Mount Latmos, fell in love with him. Lucian 
 makes him Emperor of the Moon." (p. 82-83.) 
 
 It is the deformity of the soul, that is pictured in the transforma- 
 tion of Bottom, — it is the deformity of the soul confounded with the 
 body{oT other self), which is represented in the claiming of Antipho- 
 lus of Syracuse by Adriana, as her husband, in place of her real hus- 
 band. See how this is hinted at in the first act : 
 
 Ant. S. They say this town is full of cozenage. 
 As nimble jugglers that deceive the eye, 
 Dark-working sorcerer's that change the mind, 
 Soul-killing witches that deform the body, 
 And many such like liberties of sin. 
 
 (Act i.) 
 
 Adriana is just such a ^^soul-killing witch,^^ as Vice, — repre- 
 senting, the " Will as passions and appetites, fastening upon the soul 
 (Antipholus of Syracuse), and transforming the body into the likeness 
 of a beast, — hence Dromio of Syracuse declares he is transformed 
 into]an ass ! — For the body is the servant of the soul if properly gov- 
 erned, as a horse is led by a bridle, but if these are capsized or 
 reversed, the master or soul become identified with the servant 
 (the body), and we may thus understand the author's subtlety in 
 ascribing the transformation to Dromio. My theory is that Dromio, 
 as attendant and servant to Antipholus of Syracuse, signifies virtue 
 as soul, overridden by vice. In fact these two, as master and 
 servant, are soul and body in action with virtue and vice, portrayed 
 by the sisters Luciana and Adriana. 
 
118 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 The student will mark the simile " bridle of your will, " applied 
 by Luciana to the husband of Adriana, ( Antipholus of Ephesus, ) whom 
 I have maintained is a philosophical personified abstract of the bet- 
 ter angel or spirit, as reason and understanding. " Vice knows no 
 bridle to the will/' and therefore recognizes no such person, as 
 reason, its lawful master or husband. Adriana exclaims : 
 There's none but asses will be bridled so. 
 
 It has been truly often remarked, in seeking liberty we find 
 bondage, for in the revolt of the will, as vice (pictured in Adriana), 
 we lay ourselves under the subjection of our worse half, — the body, 
 and Adriana is thus the cause of the transformation metaphorical of 
 Antipholus and his attendant. Observe in the following passage 
 how the direct contrast to Adriana, (submission to reason and grace, 
 as DIVINE WISDOM,) is sketched in this portrait of Luciana : 
 
 Ant. S. Sweet mistress, — what your uame is else, I know not, 
 
 Nor by what wonder you do hit of mine, — 
 Less in your knowledge and your grace you show not 
 
 Than our earth's wonder, more than earth divine. 
 Teach me, dear creature, how to think and speak; 
 
 Lay open to my earthy-gross conceit, 
 Smother'd in error's, feeble, shallow, weak, 
 
 The folded meaning of your words' deceit. 
 Against my soul's pure truth why labor you 
 To make it wander in an unknown field? 
 Are you a god? would you create me new f 
 Transform me then, and to your power Til yield. 
 
 (Act iii.) 
 Mark the hint of the regeneration, or regenerated man of the 
 second birth: " Would you create me newf " It is, indeed, by sub- 
 mission of the will to reason, we become transformed and recognize 
 Luciana as virtue in place of Adriana or vice. This was taught in 
 the Mysteries and was called the second birth ; that is, the recogni- 
 tion of the godlike in our souls, led and governed by wisdom, — the 
 heavenly creative virgin of the Hermetic school. Observe how in 
 the following passage, the subjection of the mind to the body, is 
 hinted at with regard to one particular vice, which finds its reflec- 
 tion in every line : 
 
 Enter Dromio of Syracuse. 
 Ant. S. Why, how now, Dromio ! where runn'st thou so fast ? 
 Dro. S. Do you know me, sir ? am I Dromio ? am I your man? 
 am I myself? 
 
 Ant. 8. Thou art Dromio, thou art my man, thou art thyself. 
 Dro. S. I am an ass, I am a woman^s man, and besides myself. 
 Ant. S. What woman's man ? and how besides thyself? 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 119 
 
 Dro. S. Marry, sir, besides myself, I am dae to a woman one 
 that claims me, one that haunts me, one that will have me. 
 
 Ant. S. What claim lays she to thee ? 
 
 Dro. S. Marry, sir, such claim as you would lay to your horse ; 
 and she would have me as a beast; not that, I being a beast, she 
 would have me; but that she, being a very beastly creature, lays 
 claim to me. 
 
 Ant. S. What is she ? 
 
 Dro. S. A very reverent body : ay, such a one as a man may 
 not speak of without he say ' Sir-reverence.' I have but lean luck 
 in the match, and yet is she a wondrous fat marriage. 
 
 Ant. S. How dost thou mean a fat marriage ? 
 
 Dro. S. Marry, sir, she's the kitchen wench and all grease ; and 
 I know not what use to put her to but to make a lamp of her and 
 run from her by her own light. I warrant, her rags and the tallow 
 in them will burn a Poland winter ; if she lives till doomsday, she'll 
 burn a week longer than the whole world. 
 
 (Act iii.) 
 
 I venture humbly to maintain, this passage is applied to the flesh. 
 What this " she " in question is, may be answered by the irony of 
 the text with regard to the implied maxim " Beverence the body. " 
 We may see that all this refers to the passage already quoted, in 
 which Adriana fastens as a vine upon the sleeve of Antipholus of 
 Syracuse. The text placed by me in italics proves this. Vice trans- 
 forms men into beasts, and the poet would hint to us the servant's 
 reflections upon himself, are (I make bold to maintain) reflections 
 upon his master's condition, who is part of himself. It is part and 
 parcel of the regenerated man he should recognize vice and flee from 
 it. Dromio is so pictured, as aghast at his own condition, flying 
 from it and in revolt against his servitude to the body. The only 
 way to escape vice is to make a lamp of it and set it up as a caution 
 for our escape. But we may see in the passage I adduce a perfect 
 reflection of Cicero, who writes : 
 
 ''Can I call the man free whom a woman governs, to whom she 
 gives laws, lays down directions, orders and forbids what to her 
 seems fit, while he can deny and dare refuse nothing that she com- 
 mands? Does she ask? He must give. Does she call? He must 
 come. Does she order him off? He must vanish. Does she 
 threaten ? He must tremble. For my part, I call such a fellow, 
 though he may have been born in the noblest family, not only a 
 slave, but a most abject slave." 
 
 Sir Thomas Brown writes : 
 
 " To well manage our affections, and wild horses of Plato are the 
 highest circenses; and the noblest digladiation is in the theatre of 
 ourselves ; for therein our inward antagonists, not only like common 
 
120 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE, 
 
 gladiators, with ordinary weapons and downright blows make at us, 
 but also like retiary and laqueary combatants, with nets, frauds 
 and entanglements fall upon us.'' {Christian Morals, part i. ch. 2.) 
 
 The names of the twin Protagonists of the play (which are 
 original, and not borrowed from Plautus) bear out, in a certain 
 degree, my hypothesis of the symbolical intention of the author. 
 In Plato, and even in Cicero, we frequently find the action of 
 ethic, as self- discipline, compared to a theatre, wherein we are com- 
 batants with ourselves, and where reason is a gladiator at strife 
 with the temptations of the body. This simile of circuses and the 
 amphitheatre, was borrowed from the discipline of the rider over his 
 horse {as a bridle to passion), and in The Lesser Hippias of Plato 
 we find Socrates employing this metaphor. The names of the twin 
 servants in the Comedy of Errors are each Dromio, which word has 
 an affinity to Dromos, or the Circuses. 
 
 "These are the exercises of the understanding; these are the 
 race-courses of the mind," writes Plato in his treatise on old age 
 (chap. xi. p. 234, Three Books of Offices, Bohn, 1850), referring to 
 the Olympic festival, at which the contentions between the different 
 schools of morality and philosophy took place. In the Lesser Hippias 
 of Plato Socrates exclaims: " Happy is the situation of your mind, 
 Hippias, that, as often as the Olympic festival returns, you can pro- 
 ceed to the temple with a soul so full of alacrity and hope. " Soc- 
 rates borrows the simile of runners in the races to illustrate good 
 and bad men : 
 
 "Which horse is it best to be the owner, — whether of a 
 horse with such a kind of temper and spirit, as may serve his rider 
 in riding ill purposely, and through choice only, or of a horse upon 
 which his rider must of necessity ride ill '^ " {Lesser Hippias.) 
 
 It is, indeed, curious to find how readily the Greek word dpo/ioi, 
 with its meaning of a racecourse, running, flight and escape, seems to 
 be reechoed in the running and flight scene of Dromio of Syracuse. 
 Af)op,oi is derived from dpajusiv, which is the aorist (second imp.) 
 of the verb rpExoo, which means, metaphorically applied, {dycSvai 
 dpajusiv TtEpi iavrov), to run a race for one's life or safety, (as Tpex^iv 
 TtEpi rifi ip^xv^}) to run a race for one's life, or soul, {i^vxrj means 
 the soul of man as opposed to his body.) Any struggle or 
 contest was called generally ayoov, (as ayoov TtEpv rrji t'^xv'^y) 
 and was particularly applied to the great national games held at 
 Olympia. Hence the word came to mean a wrestling with self, as 
 anguish; or even agony of mind — {ay^^y^oc), our English word 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 121 
 
 being derived from it, and thus by metaphor the contest of the 
 spirit with the body for victory, borrowed its imagery from the race- 
 course and amphitheatre. The name Antipholus is probably com- 
 posed of the preposition avn, (which means opposed to or against^) 
 and cpvXXdi, which means the leaves and foliage of a tree. (The 
 verb q)v\a66oOf means to keep watch, to guard against.) It may 
 be observed this derivation lends itself readily to our theory of 
 morality, or ethic, allied to the pruning of vines. 
 
 It may be perceived in the Comedy of Errors, it is Dromio of 
 Syracuse, the servant to Antipholus of Syracuse, who is really the 
 virtuous character. It is he who is presented fleeing from vice, and 
 commenting upon his own transformation into an ass, and bewailing 
 his condition with regard to the temptations he and his master are 
 exposed to. This is thoroughly in keeping with the text or motto 
 of this chapter from Bacon, who, in citingthe CirenaicssLVLdEpicurceans 
 as to virtue and pleasure, writes : '' And made virtue (as it is used in 
 some Comedies of Erroks), to be but as a servant, without which 
 pleasure cannot be served and attended. " {Advancement of Learn- 
 ing, book V. p. 74, 1605. ) 
 
 In yielding to Adriana, Antipholus of Syracuse has trampled 
 virtue, his attendant, under foot. Virtue is transformed by vice 
 into the likeness of an animal. It is only by escaping and fleeing 
 vice, virtue can find its better self or other half. 
 
 We may perceive in the following extract from Plato's Banquet, 
 from whence, perhaps, the idea of the Comedy of Errors has been 
 borrowed. In Socrates' repetition of the instruction concerning 
 Love, (he received from Diotima,) he says: 
 
 *^ There is a saying, continued she, that lovers are in search of 
 the OTHER HALF OF THEMSELVES. But my doctrinc is, that we love 
 neither the half nor even the whole of ourselves, if it happen not, 
 my friend, to be good." (p. 171, The Banquet, Sydenham.) 
 
 What Diotima means is that we only discover another self when 
 we elevate the soul and separate it by virtuous living from the body. 
 
 Every man is endowed with two geniuses, — a good and a bad 
 one. The former of these two belongs to his understanding or 
 reason, as a bridle to his passions, affections and appetites, which 
 latter, when in revolt, constitute his evil genius. The good genius 
 belongs to the spirit, and to the future welfare of an individual. 
 The bad genius arises from the body as will, suggesting pleasure in 
 the present. Bacon writes: " The will of man and his understand- 
 
122 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 ing are twins at bieth." — " Saving that this Janus is bifronted, 
 and turns faces. ''^ (Book v. ch. i., De Augmentis.) 
 
 Now let the reader note Autipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus 
 of Ephesus are twins, and are brought into direct rivalry and oppo- 
 sition by their relationship to Adriana (the wife of Antipholus of 
 Ephesus). They resemble each other so closely that, though they 
 really are separate individuals, they appear as identical. Is not this 
 the exact parallel of the relationship obtaining between the soul and 
 the body of man ? Do we not identify our ego with our body, and 
 often deny the soul, — particularly if we exalt the passions and deny 
 the spirit? Yet a time and moments come to all of us, when we 
 apprehend another real self, apart and separate from our bodily and 
 everyday individualism, and which real self is the direct opposite to 
 the passions, affections and appetites of the will and moment. Let 
 the reader study this passage from the Comedy of Errors: 
 
 Adriana. I see two husbands, or mine eyes deceive me. 
 Buke. One of these men is genius to the other: 
 And so of these. Which is the natural man 
 And which the spirit ? Who deciphers them f 
 
 (Act V. 4.) 
 
 My hypothesis is, these twins represent the natural man and 
 the SPIRITUAL MAN, both in one body, yet separate as to logic and 
 ethic. Suppose Bacon thought fit to illustrate, by means of a 
 " philosophical play system," the relationship of the Understanding 
 (or reason) to the Will (appetites, affections, passions) or body ? He 
 has stated they are, (he considers,) twins by birth. That is, they con- 
 stitute, like Hermia and Helena in the Dream, a dual unity, at once 
 separate as to essence, though identical as to habitation. The good 
 and evil in us are always in rivalry, opposition and at cross-purposes- 
 We are often in action with ourselves, j ust as Antipholus of Syra- 
 cuse is with Antipholus of Ephesus. The present pleasure supplants 
 the future good, and excludes the better angel. We each possess a 
 character purely sensuous drawing us on to pleasure. Wo possess 
 another arguing us away from it. Directly we yield to vice or the 
 body, and it fastens upon us as Adriana does on Antipholus of 
 Syracuse, in the shape of vice (beautfully represented by the vine), 
 our better half or lawful husband (understanding and reason as the 
 spiritual self) is recognized no more, and is denied entrance. We 
 may see this, I suggest, pictured in the denial of recognition the 
 real Antipholus of Ephesus receives at the hands of his wife, who, 
 reveling with Antipholus, of Syracuse, refuses to admit or recognize 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 123 
 
 him as her real and lawful master. The sophistry of the passions 
 and affections is such that they illaqueate the understanding, and, 
 when we allow the bad genius to oust the good one, we confound the 
 present good of the senses with the individuality, and we no longer 
 distinguish clearly between good and evil — our twin characters! 
 
 The fact there are twin servants introduced by the poet to match 
 their twin masters, betrays the philosophical intention of the author. 
 In the play of the Twins by Plautus there are no twin seconds or 
 servants of the protagonists of the action. Bacon alludes to the 
 dispute of the schools of Zeno and Socrates, against the schools of 
 the Cirenaics and Epicurseans as to happiness simple or attended. 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 " As in some Comedies of Errors, where the mistress and maid 
 change habits. " The student mu^t perceive at once that such like- 
 ness as furnished by twins, amounting to mistake of identity, is 
 exactly the same thing as the disguise intended by change of hab- 
 its! The same philosophical purport is served by this deceitful 
 resemblance. 
 
 Both the Antipholi are attended by themselves, and yet separate 
 from their real selves. Thus in life we are always attended by our 
 good and evil angels, by the master, (our mind and understanding) 
 — by our bodies, (our servants and our pleasures) — the will. If we 
 allow our servants to master us, and we give rein to the " wild 
 horses^^ of the body, we become servants of the animal in us, and 
 are, like Bottom and Dromio, translated into their likenesses by 
 metaphor. 
 
 Cicero writes : " It has been said, then, by the most learned men, 
 that none but the wise man is free.'' {Paradoxes, part v.) 
 
 Lord Bacon writes at the commencement of the fifth book of his 
 JDe Augmentis: " The purity of Illumination and the liberty of the 
 will began together, fell together. " This is as much as to say that 
 in had men the will is not free, and identifies free will with the light 
 and strength of the understanding, — knowledge and virtue. The 
 same doctrine is repeated by Socrates in one of Plato's Dialogues 
 entitled Ttepi i/^evSoi, concerning Error, and I think the Comedy of 
 Errors, is largely indebted for its philosophical purport, as intention, 
 to this idea. In this Dialogue is argued 
 
 *' Whether error in the will depends on error in the judgment. 
 Socrates takes the affirmative side of the question ; and his end is to 
 prove the necessity of informing the understanding in moral truths, 
 that is, of acquiring moral science j together with the necessity of 
 
124 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 maintaining the governing part within ns in full power over that 
 which is inferior, that is, of acquiring habits of virtue ; through 
 want of such science and of which power or virtue man is led blindly 
 or impelled into evil. This design is executed in three parts. The 
 first is concerning words, the second part is concerning actions, the 
 third proves that in dishonest or bad men the understanding is 
 either unenlightened and blinded by passion, or else suffers in both 
 ways, and therefore, that, with the ignorance or impotence of mind 
 under which they labor, they labor at the same tiuje under a neces- 
 sity of doing ill : from which necessity they can be freed only by 
 inward light and strength, that is, by science or virtue. Here we 
 find the Sapiens sibique Imperiosus of Horace {Satyr vii., book ii.) 
 
 ''Thy master does himself some master serve, 
 Some impulse sets in action every nerve. 
 Think not the puppet in his own command; 
 His strings are governed by another's hand. 
 Who then is free? Who, not by passion fool'd, 
 In every motion is by reason ruled. 
 To all but reason, he superior still 
 Moves, but as bids him, his own better will. " 
 
 *' Agreeable to this is that doctrine of the stoic derived immedi- 
 ately, it would seem, from this dialogue of Plato, 'that only the wise 
 man is free,' upon which maxim the fifth satyr of Persius is a lively 
 comment. But this being a philosophical parodox, Plato employs 
 great address in insinuating into the mind a truth, which our own 
 consciousness seems to contradict; for who is there, not under out- 
 ward restraint, and only influenced by inward motives, who does 
 not think himself free? Our subtle philosopher, therefore, argues 
 upon the supposition of the freedom of will in bad men, and by thus 
 arguing proves an absurdity, ' that such as do evil wilfully arc better 
 men than those who do evil without intending it.^ The consequence 
 of which is this: that the argument proceeded upon a false suppo- 
 sition; for that none do evil with a clearsighted and distinct view, 
 and that in bad men the will is not free. '' {Sydenham's Plato, vol. i.. 
 Argument of Lesser Hippias.) 
 
 The reader will perceive, how very closely the play of the Comedy 
 of Errors, approximates in the main action, the thesis embraced in 
 this dialogue of Plato's entitled the Lesser Hippias, by Sydenham. 
 The latter sums up the argument of the dialogue in the words already 
 quoted: " Whether error in the will depends on error in the judgment. " 
 Now, please mark, Adriana is plainly connoted with revolt ofivill. In 
 reply to her sister's remark that " The husband is bridle of the will, " 
 she replies, " None but asses will be bridled so." And it is a very 
 remarkable thing, we find Dromio, the servant of Antipholus of 
 Syracuse, directly Adriana fastens on his master, declaring he is 
 ridden and transformed into an ass. I maintain the vine is a 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 125 
 
 metaphor for the revolted will, as passions, appetites, in opposition 
 to the understanding, typified by her sister Luciana, who preaches 
 self government. It may be seen Adriana mistakes Antipholus of 
 Syracuse in this scene for her husband, which exactly parallels our 
 text from Plato : '' Error in the will depends on error in the 
 judgment." Antipholus of Syracuse, we maintain, is seeking him- 
 self — that is his better genius or good angel typified by his twin 
 brother, — whom he can only find by submission of his will to his 
 understanding, that is, by virtue. Adriana is therefore introduced 
 representatively to show the result of " Error in the will, " when 
 influenced by passion, and independent of judgment or understand- 
 ing. The working on the master (or mind) is shown by the working 
 on the servant or body. Directly the evil angel steps in, the good 
 angel is known no more, and is confounded or unrecognized. That is, 
 the illumination of the soul, by which we recognize another self, 
 depends upon purity and virtue. The intention of the play seems 
 to me to prove the existence of another self as soul, and to show it is 
 not to be discovered, whilst we remain slaves or servants of the body 
 and its passions. 
 
 We stand between ourselves and our better selves, and are 
 claimed by our worse selves. 
 
 Our passions, vices and pleasures of the moment say, this is the 
 man, pointing to the glass of our individuality. The judgment and 
 reason, (when purified,) say, no, the real man is within, and in the 
 directest contrast with appearance and the actor. 
 
 Adriana is just such a worse self as vice, laying claim to Antiph- 
 olus of Syracuse, and refusing to recognize the spiritual man, 
 who, by this very act, is kept out. It is only those who have 
 wrestled with the flesh and clearly recognized the two souls, which, as 
 Goethe says in Faust, " exist in every breast, " who will understand 
 the theory of the play, I propound. It is, in fact, a history and 
 personification of the spirit and soul — twin brothers to the body, 
 born at the same moment and lost, until, by virtuous living, we 
 become as little children and are born again. 
 
 Those who question the ethical purpose of the play, may receive 
 a hint from the third scene of the fourth act, where Adriana (as 
 vice I maintain) is introduced with a courtesan. 
 
 Enter a Courtesan. 
 Cour. Well met, well met, Master Antipholus. 
 I see, sir, you have found the goldsmith now ; 
 Is that the chain you promised me to-day ? 
 
126 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Ant. S. Satan, avoid! I charge thee, tempt me not. 
 
 Dro. S. Master, is this Mistress Satan? 
 
 Ant. S. It is the devil. 
 
 Dro. S. Nay, she is worse, she is the devil's dam, and here she 
 comes in the habit of a light wench, and thereof comes that the 
 wenches say " God damn me; " that's as much to say " God make 
 me a light wench." It is written, they appear to men like angels of 
 light; light is an effect of fire, and fire will burn ; ergo, light wenches 
 will burn. Come not near her. 
 
 Cour. Your man and you are marvelous merry, sir. 
 Will you go with me? We'll mend our dinner here? 
 
 Dro. S. Master, if you do, expect spoon-meat, or bespeak a long 
 spoon. 
 
 Ant. S. Why, Dromio? 
 
 Dro. S. Marry, he must have a long spoon that must eat with 
 the devil. 
 
 Ant. S. Avoid then, fiend! what tell'st thou me of supping ? 
 Thou art, as you are all, a sorceress; 
 I conjure thee to leave me and be gone. 
 
 Adriana is most probably copied from Erotium in the Menaechini 
 of Plautus, who is represented as a courtesan, and whose Greek 
 name speaks for itself, in its (erotic) root, meaning, as love or passion. 
 It may be again noticed Dromio of Syracuse, in the above passage, 
 is the good character who is continually cautioning his master, like 
 some virtuous conscience, to avoid evil and eschew temptation. 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 " The first means of escaping is to resist the earliest temptation 
 in the beginning, and dihgeutly avoid and cut off all occasions that 
 may solicit or sway the mind; and this is well represented bt/ shut- 
 ting up the ears, a kind of remedy to be necessarily used with mean 
 and vulgar minds, such as the retinue of Ulysses. " 
 
 {The Sirens or Pleasures, Wisdom of the Ancients.) 
 
 The student will observe Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant 
 Dromio escape by flight from the temptation of Adriana and her 
 siren witchery, on board their ship. Thus by leading a virtuous 
 life, and shutting up their ears, they discover and arrive at their 
 true selves, their twin brothers in the end. My theory is, the Antipholi 
 are really two personified aspects of one man, the false man and the 
 real man, and these two revolve upon virtue and vice or character. 
 Throughout Bacon's writings there is a strong distinction drawn 
 between the real man, and the outward man, or actor. He writes 
 with profound irony and truth. " He that is only real had need 
 have exceeding great parts of virtue, as the stone had need to be rich 
 that is set without foil." {Of Ceremonies and Respects, Essay 52). 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 127 
 
 In his Essay on Truth, he writes : 
 
 " Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of men's 
 minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginati6ns 
 as one would, and the like, but it would leave the minds of a number 
 of men poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and Indisposition, 
 and unpleasing to themselves? One of the fathers, in great severity, 
 called poesy " vinum dsemonum," because it fiUeth the imagination, 
 and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie." 
 
 Oliver Wendel Holmes has wittily observed, that every man has 
 three distinct selves, — ''what he imagines himself to be, what 
 others think he is, what God knows him to be." 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 " A mixture of a lie doth ever add pleasure. This same truth is 
 a naked and open daylight, that doth not show the masks and mum- 
 meries and triumphs of the world half so stately and daintily as 
 candle-lights " {of truth). 
 
 Bacon is here clearly identifying the World with plays, and with 
 the aetor^s art. 
 
 Or study this, from the Conference of Pleasure, written about the 
 same time the Comedy of Errors was being acted for the first time 
 at Gray's Inn : 
 
 " My praise shall be dedicated to the mind itself. The mind is 
 the man, and the knowledge of the mind. A man is but what he 
 knoweth. The mind itself is but an accident to knowledge, for 
 knowledge is a double of that which is. " {Bacon^s Works, ii. 123.) 
 
 Our true self is a thing constantly denied recognition, and 
 against which we ourselves conspire, in proportion as we allow the 
 unpruned vines of vice to luxuriate, and envelop our souls in the 
 Dionysiac excitements of life, be it passion or wine, folly or temp- 
 tation. The mind and the body are two distinct twin characters 
 in conflict and at cross-purposes with each other, and out of this 
 dualism all error arises. To find our true selves, or the regenera- 
 tion by restraint is the aim of a perfect life. Bacon's doctrine of the 
 will and the understanding, which he says " turn faces and are Janus 
 like, " is simply body and intellect, in other words, the great dualism 
 of matter and mind. 
 
 Kobert Fludd, the great Enghsh Rosicrucian, writes : 
 
 " Concludimus igitur quod lesus sit templi humani lapis angularis, 
 atque ita, ex mortuis lapides vivi facti sunt homines pii, idque trans- 
 mutatione reali ab Adami lapi statu in statum sua innocentiae et per- 
 fectionis, i. e., a vili et leprosa plumbi conditione in auri pursissimi 
 perfectionem. " {Summum Bonum, 1 29, p. 37.) 
 
128 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 This is the parable of the Caskets, in the Merchant of Venice, over 
 again. That is, the real gold is within, and not external. The king- 
 dom of heaven is within us, not outside. This is the regeneration of 
 the Spiritual Man ! It is just what the parable of the Caskets 
 enforces, — the invisible and internal against the visible and the 
 external. This is the Restoration (or part of it) Bacon and the Rosi- 
 crucians endlessly propose, — that is, that man should again return 
 to his condition before the Fall, and live upright, — that is, with 
 his entire body in subjection to his intellect and heart. 
 
 The reader may perceive, that the parable of the Caskets in the 
 Merchant of Venice is purely Alchymical or Bosicrucian. Bassanio 
 discovers Portia's portrait (and so wins her), in the despised lead 
 CASKET which contains the real gold so to speak. General Hitch- 
 cock has ably pointed out in his works {Alchymy, Bemarks on, 
 Shakespeare^ s sonnets, etc.,) that the expression ^' transmutation of 
 metals " (particularly lead, into gold), was a mere figure of speech 
 with the Hermetists and Alchymists, to signify regeneration through 
 the spirit. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Midsummer Night's Dream and Bacon's Thirteenth Defi- 
 cient OF A New World of Sciences, or Magia Natur- 
 
 ALIS. 
 
 Arcana publicata vilescunt, et gratiam prophanata amittunt. 
 Ergo: no Margaritas objice porcis, seu Asmo substernerc rosas. 
 
 [Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosy cross, 1459.) 
 
 Oberon first appears in the old French romance of Huon de 
 Bourdeaux, and is identical with Elberich, the dwarf king of the 
 German story of Otriet in the Heldenbuch. The name Elberich, or, 
 as it appears in the Nibelungenlied, Albrich, was changed, in pass- 
 ing into French, first into Auberich, then into Auberon, and finally 
 became our Oberon. Now, it is very striking to find Bacou, under 
 the thirteenth of his Deficients of a New World of Sciences, entitled 
 Magia Naturalis, or Natural Magic, writing : 
 
 " As for the natural magic (which flies abroad in many men's 
 books), containing certain credulous and superstitious traditions and 
 observations of sympathies and antipathies, and of hidden and 
 specific properties, with some experiments commonly frivolous, 
 strange rather for the art of conveyance and disguisement than the 
 thing itself, surely he shall not much err, who shall say that this sort 
 of magic, is as far differing from such a knowledge as we require as 
 the books of the gests of Arthur of Britain, or of Hugh of Bordeaux 
 differs from Ccesar^s Commentaries in truth of story." (p. 169, Ad- 
 vancement of Learning, 1640. 
 
 This is the more striking, inasmuch as Oberon and Titania 
 evidently are intended, in the play of the Midsummer Nighfs Bream, 
 to depict the magical, invisible and occult powers of nature, over- 
 riding the entire mechanism or action of the play. That these two 
 are personifications of the higher powers of nature cannot be ques- 
 tioned by a close observer of the text. It is owing to their quarrels 
 ^^ the seasons alter, ^' and they term themselves the '^parents and 
 origlnaW^ of the elements. 
 
 129 
 
130 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 An important proof of the intention of the poet's mind with 
 regard to Titania, is made manifest in the choice of her name. 
 
 *' The name Titania for the queen of the fairies appears to have 
 been the invention of Shakespeare, for, as Mr. Ritson remarks, she 
 is not 'so called by any other writer.' Why, however, the poet 
 designated her by this title, presents, according to Mr. Keightly, no 
 difficulty. 'It was,' he says, 'the belief of those days that the 
 fairies were the same as the classic nymphs, the attendants of Diana. 
 The fciiry queen was therefore the same as Diana, whom Ovid (Met. 
 iii. 173) styles Titania. " 
 
 In Chaucer's Merchants Tale Pluto is the King of Faerie, and 
 his queen Proserpina." (Folk-Lore of Shakespeare. Thiselton- 
 Dyer, p. 4. ) 
 
 This theory of the identity of the fairy element with the classic 
 nymphs, is borne out by the classic names prominent in the play,— 
 Theseus, Hyppolita, Egeus, Demetrius, Lysander, Helena and 
 Hermia, even to the site or locahty chosen — Athens ! It is my con- 
 viction the fairy element has been conceived, as the magic or spiritual 
 in nature, which gives to the world its character of all encircling 
 wonder, and which plays fantastic tricks with our reasoning faculties, 
 deceiving us by its invisibility and mystery, setting us at cross- 
 purposes with ourselves and the objective world, — in short, the 
 contradictions existing between the senses and the intellect, matter 
 and mind. 
 
 It is excessively curious to refind the Rosicrucians repeating all 
 this exactly. One of the most illustrious of the Rosicrucian Frater- 
 nity was Joseph Francis Borri, who appeared shortly after the 
 death of John Heydon. His work La Chiave del Gahinetto contains 
 their chief tenets. This book fell into the hands of the Abbe Vil- 
 lars, who founded upon it his cabalistic romance, The Count de 
 Gabalis : 
 
 " In the second conversation between the Count de Gabalis and 
 his interlocutor, the former says, ' When you are enrolled among 
 the number of the children of philosophy, and when your eyes are 
 strengthened by the use of our most holy medicine, you will see that 
 all the elements are inhabited by a race of perfect creatures, which 
 are concealed from the general eye of humanity in consequence of 
 the sin of Adam. That immense space which lies between the earth 
 and heaven has inhabitants far more noble than the birds and flies. 
 The vast seas have other dwellers than whales and dolphins; the 
 depths of the earth are not for the moles alone ; and the element of 
 fire, nobler by far than the other three, was not made to remain void 
 and uninhabited. 
 
 " ' The air is filled with an innumerable multitude of beings in 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 131 
 
 human shape, — proud and majestic in their appearance, but very 
 mild in reality. They are great lovers of science, subtle, fond of 
 rendering service to the wise, but great enemies of the foolish and 
 the ignorant. . . . The seas and the rivers are inhabited in like 
 manner. The ancient sages named these people the Undines or the 
 Nymphs. The males are few among them, but the females are in 
 great number. Their beauty is extreme, and the daughters of man 
 cannot be compared to them. The earth is filled almost to the cen- 
 ter with Gnomes — people smaller in stature, who guard the treas- 
 ures of the mines, and keep watch over precious stones. These are 
 very ingenious, very friendly to man, and easy to command. They fur- 
 nish the children of philosophy (the Rosicrucians) with all the money 
 they require, and think themselves sufficiently rewarded by our 
 friendship. The Gnomides, their females, are small, but very beau- 
 tiful and agreeable, and their dress is very curious. As regards the 
 Salamanders, inhabitants of the fire, they also render service to the 
 children of philosophy, but do not seek their company so eagerly as 
 the others; and their wives and daughters are very rarely seen by 
 mortal eyes They are by far the most beautiful of the ele- 
 mentary spirits, being compounded of the most subtile and beauti- 
 ful of all the elements. By becoming a member of our fraternity, 
 you will be enabled to see and converse with all these glorious mul- 
 titudes; you will see their mode of life, their manners, and make 
 acquaintance with all their admirable laws. You will be charmed 
 by the graces of their mind, much more than with the beauty of 
 their body ; but you will not be able to refrain from sorrow and pity 
 for their miserable fate, when you learn that their soul is mortal, 
 and that they have no hope of eternal felicity in the presence of that 
 Supreme Being whom they know, and whom they religiously adore. 
 They will tell you that, being composed of the purest particles of 
 the element they inhabit, and having within them no opposite and 
 antagonist qualities, being made but of one element, they live for 
 thousands of years. But what is time, however great, to eternity? 
 They must return into nothingness at last ; and this thought embit- 
 ters their existence, and we have great difficulty in consoling them. 
 Our fathers, the philosophers (the founders of the Rosi crucian doc- 
 trine), speaking to God in their prayers, remembered the sorrow of 
 the elemental people, and interceded for them; and God, whose 
 mercy is without limits, revealed to them that the evil is not without 
 a remedy. He inspired them with the knowledge that, as man, by 
 the alliance of holiness which he contracts with his Maker, may be 
 made a participator in the divinity, so may the Sylphs, the Gnomes, 
 the Nymphs and the Salamanders, by contracting an alliance with 
 man, be made participators in man's immortality. Thus, a Nymph 
 or a Sylphide becomes immortal, and has a soul like man, if she can 
 inspire one of us with love toward her ; thus a Sylph or a Gnome 
 ceases to be mortal, if one of the daughters of man will consent to 
 marry him. ^ And oh, my son,' continued the Count de Gabalis, 
 'admire the felicity of the Rosicrucians! Instead of women, whose 
 charms wither in a few short years, and are followed by ghastly 
 wrinkles, we ally ourselves with beauties whose charms never fade 
 
132 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE, 
 
 away, and whom we have the glory and liappiness of rendering 
 immortal.' " 
 
 In reality, the Eosicrucians were philosophers who recognized the 
 vast priority and predominance 'of the invisible and spiritual in 
 nature over the visible and merely sensuous. Bacon is to be refound 
 in his Natural History enforcing everywhere this same doctrine of 
 Spirit, which he calls Proserpine. It is, in short, the intellectual 
 in nature undiscovered by us, and wedded to cause and effect, as 
 mechanical history which overrides and governs the destiny of man. 
 Edison's phonograph to a savage would appear magical; Bacon, 
 therefore, has purged the word " magic" as a word used improperly, 
 and belonging to those things in nature not understood, or dimly 
 apprehended as yet. Godwin writes of the Kosicrucian Fairies: 
 
 " To be admitted to their acquaintance, it was necessary that the 
 organs of human sight should he purged. " {Lives of the Necroman- 
 cers, " p. 36, Wm. Godwin, 1834.) 
 
 It is very remarkable to find Titania in the dream addressing 
 this doctrine to Bottom : 
 
 And I will purge thy mortal grossness so 
 That thou shalt like an airy spirit go. 
 
 (Act iii. sc. 1.) 
 
 One of Bacon's ideas is, that everything sensible that we are 
 acquainted with, contains an invisible and intangible spirit, which 
 it works and clothes as with a garment (vol. iv., p. 195; vol. v., p. 
 224). This seems to be very near to the idea expressed in Goethe's 
 Faust by the Erd-Geist. 
 
 The alchymist Paracelsus asserts that the elements were peopled - 
 with life, — the air with Sylphs and Sylvains, the water with Undines, 
 the earth with Gnomes, and the fire with Salamanders. 
 
 Paracelsus indeed was one of the great authorities of the Eosi- 
 crucians, and it is excessively strange to find amongst some " Char- 
 acters of the Lord Bacon, " there is one given by Dr. Peter Heylin 
 (In his Life of Archbishop Laud, Part i, page 64, 1620, which may 
 be found in Baconiana, or Certain Genuine Bemains of Sir Francis 
 Bacon, 1679), as follows: 
 
 '^ The Lord Chancellor Bacon was a man of a most strong brain 
 and a Chymical Head ; designing his endeavors to the perfecting of 
 the Works of Nature; or, rather, improving nature to the best 
 advantages of life, and the common benefit of mankind. Pity it 
 was, he was not entertained with some liberal salary, which, had it 
 been, he might have given us such a body of natural philosophy, 
 and made it so subservient to the public good, that neither Aristotle 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 133 
 
 or Theophrastus amongst the ancients ; nor Paracelsus, or the rest 
 6f our later Chymists, would have been considerable," 
 
 The student will observe the incomprehensible allusion to 
 Theophrastus, who described Characters, and also the allusion to 
 Paracelsus. 
 
 In the third book of TJie Advancement of Learning, 1640, page 
 169, Bacon, under the head of the deficient " Magia Naturalis, 
 or the setting of Forms on Work " (Cap. v. s. i ^ i. 13th Deficient), 
 discusses just the sort of natural magic which we refind hinted at 
 in the persons of Oberon, Titania and Puck. Indeed, it is not going 
 too far to declare there is little doubt, if carefully considered, he is 
 writing with a direct eye upon The Midsummer NigMs Dream, for 
 he immediately mentions the sources of the fairy mythology of the 
 Dream, in the passage already cited. 
 
 Bacon continues : *' Of this kind of learning, the fable of Ixion 
 was a figure ; who, projecting with himself to enjoy Juno, the God- 
 dess of Power, had copulation with a cloud, of which he begot Cen- 
 taurs and Chimeras. So, whoever are carried away with a frantic 
 and impotent passion, and vaporous conceit to those things which 
 only, through the fumes and clouds of imagination they fancy to 
 themselves to see, instead of substantial operations, they are deliv- 
 ered of nothing but airy hopes (spes inanes), and certain deformed 
 and monstrous apparitions. The operation and effect of this super- 
 ficiary and degenerous Natural Magic upon men, is like some 
 soporiferous drugs, which procure Sleep, and withal exhale into 
 the fancy, merry and pleasant Dreams in Sleep. (P. 169, Lib. iii., 
 Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 Now, this passage, profoundly studied, approximates very closely 
 to the character of Bottom, and his transformation as a deformed 
 monster. He is stirred by a vaporous conceit, and impotent passion, 
 to play before the Duke, and he finally falls asleep under the 
 influence of Titania, or Nature, overcome by the encircling power of 
 her arms as by ivy. This plant is well known to possess a soporific 
 power, taken as a drug. The whole of Bottom's transformation is 
 figured as a dream he has undergone in sleep. 
 
 The female ivy so 
 Enrings the barky fingers of the elm. 
 
 (Act iv. 1.) 
 
 Bottom's transformation is not a reality, but only a dream, in 
 which he sees himself as he really is, or has been. Besides just what 
 
134 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 Bacon terms " a deformed and monstrous apparition, '' is presented 
 by Bottom's translation. 
 
 Quince. monstrous ! O strange ! We are haunted. 
 
 (Act iii. 1.) 
 
 Bottom Wakes. 
 *' Bottom. I have had a most rare vision. I had a dream, past the 
 wit of man to say what dream it was. Man is but an ass if he go 
 about to expound this dream. Methought I was, and methought I 
 had. But man is but a patched fool, if he will oifer to say, what 
 methought I had. The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man 
 hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to con- 
 ceive, or his heart to report, what my dream was. I will get Peter 
 Quince to write a ballet of this dream ; it shall be called Bottom's 
 Bream, because it hath no bottom ; and I will sing it in the latter 
 end of a play, before the Duke. Perad venture, to make it the more 
 gracious, I shall sing it at her death." (Act iv.) 
 
 Now, I believe this vision of Bottom's is closely connected with 
 Virgil's Elm of Vain Dreams (282-274 JEneid vi. ) . Please note in 
 the passage cited from Bacon, he introduces the Centaurs and Chim- 
 ceras, both of which Virgil introduces in context with the elm or tree' 
 of airy hopes. 
 
 On the Golden Ass (written by Apuleius), Warburton writes : 
 
 " The priest or Hierophant of the rites leads up the train of the 
 initiated with a garland of roses in his hand. Lucius ap- 
 proaches, DEVOURS THE ROSES, and, according to the promise of the 
 goddess, is restored to his native form, by which, as we have said, no 
 more was meant than a change of manners from vice to virtue. 
 For an ass was so far from being detestable that it was employed in 
 the celebration of her rites, and was ever found in the retinue of Osiris 
 or Bacchus. The garland plainly represents that which the aspirants 
 were crowned with at their initiation, as the virtue of the roses 
 designs the mysteries. At his transformation he had been told that 
 ROSES were to restore him to humanity, so that amid all his adven- 
 tures he had still this remedy in view." (p. 319, vol. i., Divine 
 Legation.) 
 
 Now, please note this parallel,— Titania places musk roses on 
 Bottom^ s head, evidently a garland. 
 Puck describes this act: 
 
 " For she his hairy temples then had rounded 
 With coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers.^^ 
 
 (Act. iv, 1.) 
 
 It is plain, Bottom is being initiated, and Titania, probably the 
 same Nature goddess as Isis, Diana, Luna (invoked by Apuleius). 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. ^ 135 
 
 Not only this, Bottom's sleep is really the symbolical death of the 
 mysteries : 
 
 Ohe. Silence awhile. Robin take off this head. 
 Titaniaj music call; and strike more dead 
 Than common sleep of all these Jive the sense. {lb.) 
 
 The initiation was to refine and purify the senses from the animal 
 passions and ass-like stupidity afthe initiate. 
 
 The reader may perceive that Bottom's restoration to his own 
 shape again, like that of Apuleius, is closely connected with the 
 roses placed on his head ! For within the same scene, and indeed 
 within a few lines of each other, this is effected. 
 
 I am convinced the whole of the interlude is not only a reflec- 
 tion of the play itself, but closely connected with the Bacchic Mys- 
 teries. For example, the Lion was a symbol of Bacchus. 
 
 " Thus the Chorus of Bakchai call upon Dionysus to put forth 
 his dreadful might, and to appear as a flaming lion with radiant 
 mane (Euripides Bakchai, 1018). Dionysus, as Peter Bromius the 
 ROARER, sometimes appears as Leonto Kephilik on Mithraic and 
 Gnostic symbols." (Vide King the Gnostics, 54, 101.) {Great 
 IHonyiak Myth. Brown, vol. ii., pp. 61, 62.) 
 
 Compare : 
 
 Snug. Have you the Lion's part written? Pray you if it be, 
 give it me, for I am slow of study. 
 
 Quince. You may do it extempore, for it is nothing but roar- 
 ing. 
 
 Bottom. Let me play the Lion, too. I will roar, that I will do 
 any man's heart good to hear me. I will roar, that I will make the 
 Duke say. Let him roar again, let him roar again. (Act i.) 
 
 Next, the Apples of Dionysus were called Quinces. " A quince 
 was given in token of fruitfulness to the brides of Alliens upon the 
 day of their marriage." {Theocritus, ii. 120; iii. 10. Peacham- 
 Potter's Antiquities of Greece, i. 202. ) Now, one of the characters in 
 this interlude is named Peter Quince, and they are all rude mechan- 
 icals of Athens, which locality is a powerful hint for the mysteries 
 we are alluding to, — the Anthesteria or Feast of Flowers, yearly 
 celebrated in the month Anthestrion (February-March). This is 
 evidently repeated in Perdita's flower-gathering scene in the 
 Winter^ s Tale. 
 
 Thucydides calls the Anthesteria, the more ancient festival of 
 Dionysus (ii. 15), and it is closely connected with Theseus and held at 
 Athens! In these festivals Dionysus was lampter, or the lamp or 
 
136 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUEE. 
 
 lantern, which recalls the lantern in the interlude. Besides comedy 
 and tragedy were thus represented at Athens, for the stage was 
 religion and philosophy at once. 
 
 Thomas Taylor, quoting Empedocles, and discussing that pass- 
 age in Virgil, touching the Vestibule of Hell, (in the vi. Book 
 ^neid,) writes : 
 
 '' This division is threefold; representing, in the first place, the 
 external evil with which this material region is replete ; in the sec- 
 ond place, intimating that the life of the soul when merged in the 
 body is nothing but a dream ; and, in the third place, under the 
 disguise of multiform and terrific monsters, exhibiting the various 
 vices of our irrational and sensuous part." (P. 17, Bacchic Mys- 
 teries.) 
 
 This is exactly what I take to bo portrayed by Bottom's transfor- 
 mation into a monster, or rwls, which animal represents just this 
 sensuous, irrational, sluggish or stupid part of our animal nature. 
 It is striking Taylor makes these observations in context with the 
 *' Tree of Dreams '' of Virgil, viz.: The Elm. I think, therefore, 
 the student will perceive that there is a palpable connotation between 
 Bottom's dream and Virgil's Tree of Dreams, the Elm. 
 
 In Dante's Purgatorio (Canto xxvii.) the story of Pyramus and 
 Thisbe is clearly associated with purification by fire. The Angel 
 of Grod appears to Dante and cries, outside the fiame : 
 
 " No one farther goes, souls sanctified, 
 If first the fire bite not; within it enter. 
 And be not deaf unto the song beyond. 
 
 Upon my clasped hands I straightened me. 
 Scanning the fire — 
 
 " Now, look thou, son, 
 'Twixt Beatrice and thee there is this wall. ' 
 As at the name of Thisbe, oped his lids 
 The dying Pyramus, and gazed upon her, 
 What time the mulberry became vermilion 
 Even thus my obduracy being softened 
 I turned to my wise guide. 
 
 Again, Canto xxxiii., Purgatorio, we find purification by water. 
 
 ** And if thy vain imaginings had not been 
 Water ofElsa round about thy mind, 
 And Pyramus to the mulberry their pleasure 
 Thou by so many circumstances only 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 137 
 
 The justice of the interdict of God 
 Morally in the tree would recognize. 
 
 From the most holy water I returned 
 Begenerate, in the manner of new trees 
 That are reneived with a new foliage, 
 Pure and disposed to mount unto the stars. 
 
 xxxiii. 143-145. 
 
 That the Dream deals in creative principles, platonically applied 
 cannot be doubted. 
 
 Theseus. What say you Hermia? be advised fair maid 
 To you your father should be as a god. 
 One that composed your beauties, yea and one 
 To whom you are hut as a form in wax 
 By him imprinted, and within his power 
 To leave the figure or disfigure it. (Act i.) 
 
 This is nothing but Plato's eternal image to illustrate the 
 imprinting of the Divine ideas upon creation, as a seal stamps its 
 image upon wax. That is, entire creation is fashioned according to 
 mind, and bears the impress, even as the poet stamps ideas upon his 
 creations. This theory was revived by the Rosicrucians, and par- 
 ticularly by Jacob Boehmen, the seer of Grorlitz, one of whose works 
 bears the title Be Signatura Berum, or The Signatures of Things. 
 Lord Bacon writes: 
 
 " For God defend, that we should publish the airy dreams of our 
 own fancy, for the real ideas of the world. But rather may He be 
 so graciously propitious unto us, that we may write the Apocalypse, 
 and true visions of the impressions and signets of the Creator upon 
 His creature! " (p. 38 Preface, Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 " Neither are all these whereof we have spoken, and others of 
 like nature, mere similitudes only, as men of narrow observation 
 perchance may conceive, but of the very same footsteps, and seals 
 of Nature, printed upon several subjects or matter.^' (p. 135, Lib. 
 iii.. Advancement of Learning.) 
 
 This metaphor of printing and sealing (signets) upon matter 
 may be seen to be repeated in the play quoted, as by Bacon. The 
 Dead were classically called Demetrians, as subject to matter, over 
 whom Demeter, the earth goddess, presided. 
 
 Existence is a coin with two faces. On one side is matter or 
 phenomena, on the other side rationalism. A child untaught sees 
 in letter-press, only certain uniform figures, the adult sees only the 
 meaning. In the same way. Bacon, like Robert Fludd, the great 
 Rosicrucian, always regards nature as a volume of God^s creatures, 
 as a text, in which very few can read, but whose spirit is at the bot- 
 
138 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 torn of everything. I take it, with this idea firmly fixed in his mind, 
 he set to work to illustrate the " Book of Nature," by another 
 " Book of Nature," with a spiritual meaning behind it — Shake- 
 speare's so-called plays, — the 1623 folio — " PhilosoDhical Play Sys- 
 tems," as he terms them. 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 " To close in a word, let no man, upon a weak conceit of sobriety 
 or ill- applied moderation, think or maintain that a man can search 
 too far, or be too well studied in the Booh of God's Word, or in the 
 Book of God^s Works.''^ (Lib. i. p. 9, Advancement of Learning.) 
 
 " First, the volume of Scriptures, which reveal the will of God; 
 then the volume of creatures, which express His power. " (Lib. 
 p. 47, Advancement of Learning.) 
 
 It is the Hermetic, or concealed spiritual meaning, which is 
 stamped upon nature and phenomena, upon the reverse side of the 
 coin of nature, or its visible text. The name Hermia carries a sus- 
 picious root origin and affinity to the Greek verb to ''interpret," and 
 means anything concealed. She is in love with Lysander, but her 
 father's creative purpose is she should be crossed in her desires, and 
 not wed with her natural affinity, but rather with Demetrius, whom 
 she loaths, as the very pole opposite to her. Here let me remark, 
 philosophically existence has its root essence in the marriage of con- 
 tradictions, or out of antagonism; that is, out of conflict, or opposi- 
 tion of mind and matter. This crossing springing out of a father's 
 purpose, is the basis of the action of the play, as far as the two pair 
 of lovers are concerned. 
 
 Hermia. Cross ! too high to be enthrall'd to low. 
 Lysander. Or else misgraffed in respect of years. 
 Hermia. spite ! too old to be engaged to young. 
 Lysander. Or else it stood upon the choice of friends. 
 Hermia. Hell! to choose love by another eye. (Act i.) 
 
 Here let me remark that the whole of Shakespeare's style, (if it be 
 Shakespeare's,) is antithetical, and he delights in the union of con- 
 traries, amounting to paradox, just as Bacon reveals in his Antitheta, 
 '* For who knows not if the doctrine of contraries be not the same," 
 writes Bacon. In this play we are discussing this doctrine of para- 
 dox is very strongly visible in the text. Theseus exclaims (in 
 scene 1, act v 
 
 " Merry and tragical ! Tedious and brief* 
 That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow 
 How shall we find the concord of this discord? " 
 
 (Act V. 1.) 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 139 
 
 It is impossible to imagine a world constructed out of one princi- 
 ple. Just as art consists of light and shadow, so the world reveals 
 in winter and summer, heat and cold, night and day, gravity and 
 centrifugal force, love and hate, an everlasting opposition which 
 continually run into each other. The magianism of Zoraster, and 
 of the Manichees, was adopted by the Rosicrucians, and Bacon, in 
 his discussion upon the Persian magic, evidently was imbued with 
 this philosophy, which Heraclitus and Empedocles strongly enforced 
 and delivered, and wh'ch may be summed up in the words of the 
 former, *' War is father of all things," Bacon repeats this in the 
 words, " Strife and friendship are the spurs of action and the Jcei/s 
 0/ works." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Bacon's New World of Sciences. 
 
 I think I am right in saying, the general public imagine this 
 problem of the Bacon-Shakespeare authorship, revolves only upon a 
 question of names, as to who really wrote the 1623 folio plays. 
 Interesting as such a literary acrostic might be, I myself think very 
 little of it, and don't see what is particularly gained by a change of 
 names, seeing a rose is just as sweet by any other name. The 
 object of this work is to suggest in a humble way (and very incom- 
 pletely, it must be confessed, but to the best of my powers), that the 
 folio plays are symbolical, and examples of Bacon's inductive system, 
 to which they are wedded by means of every sort of syllogism, 
 analogy and parallel, joined to a great system of cipher. This 
 assumption must, in its initial statement, excite incredulity and 
 laughter, and I am not unprepared for it. If I had heard, a few 
 years ago, such a theory, I might have myself smiled at such an 
 airy flight of imagination. But I have well weighed the evidence 
 presented by the most extraordinary book in the world. Bacon's 
 De Augmentis of 1623, and particularly its supposed translation by 
 Wats of 1640, which I believe is the real original English version first 
 written by Bacon, and from which the former was translated into 
 Latin. (For which proofs see my work, Hermes Stella.) 
 
 Bacon speaks of this work as a key for the better " opening up 
 of the Instauration.^^ Without the reader knowing this work, it is 
 impossible to convey the slightest idea of its scope, chacacter and 
 mystery. One of its most striking features is its praetermitted 
 parts. Deficients, or Sciences, which are fifty in number, and which 
 are catalogued at the end of the work, as A New World of 
 Sciences. It has generally been understood these Deficients are only 
 sciences. Bacon proposed the world should augment and perfect. 
 But this idea, (though possibly in some few particular cases correct), 
 cannot be applied to many of them, and in no way whatever 
 applies to some. Bacon evidently wrote guardedly and with reserve 
 upon these Deficients. He took even pains to conceal some of their 
 real titles, and it was long before I recognized the true character of 
 some of them, though well acquainted with the work. They are 
 
 140 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEEATUBE. 
 
 141 
 
 really, just those dangerous subjects, allied to Bacon's secret inten- 
 tions and reserved plans, which cover under a fictitious disguise the 
 entire Instauration. A great many of these Deficients belong to 
 Bacon's completed works, others leave us completely in the dark, 
 but they are all introduced with a profound object and plan, only 
 hinted at in the darkest possible language. As this statement may 
 arouse scepticism, I will here introduce the catalogue titles of this 
 New World of Sciences. 
 
 A NEW 
 
 WOELD OF SCIENCES, 
 
 OR THE 
 
 DEFICIEI^TS. 
 
 LIB. II. 
 
 * Erkoees Nature or the His- 
 tory of Preter — Generations. 
 Cap. 2. Sect. 3. 
 
 * ViNCULA Nature, Experi- 
 mentall or Mechanical History. 
 Cap. 2. Sect. 4. 
 
 * HiSTORiA Inductiva, Nat- 
 urall History for the building up 
 of Philosophy. Cap. 3. Sect. 1. 
 
 * OcuLUS PoLY^EMi, Or the 
 History of Learning from age to 
 age. C. 4. Sect. 1. 
 
 * HiSTORIA AD P.HOPHETIAS, 
 
 The History of Prophesy. C. 11. 
 Sect. 2. 
 
 * Sapientia Veterum, Philos- 
 ophy according to ancient para- 
 bles. C. 13. S. 3. 
 
 LIB. III. 
 
 * Philosophia Prima, Or the 
 Common and Generall Axioms 
 of Sciences. Cap. 1. Sect. 3. 
 
 * AsTRONOMiA Viva, Living 
 Astronomy. Cap. 4. Sect. 3. $ 1. 
 
 * AsTROLOGiA Sana. Sound 
 Astrologie. Cap. 4. Sect. 3. $. 2. 
 
 * Problemes Naturall, a con- 
 tinuation thereof. Cap. 4. Sect. 5. 
 
 * Placites Of ancient Philoso- 
 phers. Cap. 4. Sect. 5. §. 1. 
 
 * FoRM^ Rerum: a part of 
 Metaphysique of the Forms of 
 things. Cap. 4. Sect. 6. 
 
 * Magia Naturalis, or the 
 setting of Formes on work. Cap. 
 5. S. 1. $. 1. 
 
 * Inventarium Opum Hu- 
 man arum, An Inventary of the 
 Estate of Man. Cap. 5. Sect. 2. 
 
 * Catalogus Polychresto- 
 RUM, a Catalogue of Things of 
 multifarious use and application. 
 Cap. 5. Sect. 2. $. 1. 
 
142 
 
 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 LIB. IV. 
 
 * Triumphi Hominis, or of th e 
 SuMMiTiES and highest pitch of 
 Humane Nature. Cap. 1. Sect. 2. 
 $.2. 
 
 * Phtsiognomia Corporis in 
 MoTU, a Physicall discovery of 
 the Body upon Motion. Cap. 1. 
 Sect. 3. $. 1. 
 
 * Narrationes Medicinales, 
 Medicinal Reports, or Historical! 
 observations in Physique. Cap. 2. 
 Sect. 3. $. 1. 
 
 * Anatomia Comparata, 
 Comparative Anatomy. Cap. 2. 
 Sect. 3. $. 2. 
 
 * MORBI INSANABILES, Of the 
 
 curing of Diseases counted incur- 
 able. Cap. 2. Sect. 2. $. 5. 
 
 * De Euthanasia exteriore, 
 Of a faire and easy outward pas- 
 sage out of life. Cap. 2. Sect. 3. 
 §.6. 
 
 * Of AuTHENTiQUE and ap- 
 proved Medicines. Cap. 2. Sect. 
 3. $. 7. 
 
 * Artificiall Imitation of 
 Naturall Bathes. C. 2. Sect. 3. 
 
 * FiLUM Medicinale, An or- 
 derly course and sequele in Phys- 
 ique. Cap. 2. S. 3. $. 9. 
 
 * Prolongation of the space 
 or course of life. C. 2. Sect. 4. 
 
 * Of the substance of the Sensi- 
 ble, or meerely producted Soule. 
 Cap. 3. Sect. 1. 
 
 * Of the impulsion of the Spirit 
 
 in voluntary Motion. Cap. 3. 
 Sect. 3. $. 1. 
 
 * Of the Difference between 
 Perception & Sence. Cap. 3. Sect. 
 3. $. 1.- 
 
 * Radix Perspective, The 
 originall of the Perspectives, or 
 of the Forme of Light. Cap. 3. 
 Sect. 3. $. 4. 
 
 LIB. V. 
 
 * Venatio Panis, Or Literate 
 experience. Cap. 2. Sect. 1. $. 1. 2. 
 
 * Organum Novum, or true 
 Directions for the Interpretation 
 of Nature. Cap. 1. Sect. 3 $. ult. 
 
 * Topics Particulares, Or. 
 Places of Invention, appropriate 
 to Particular subjects and sci- 
 ences. Cap. 3. Sect. 2. $. 1. 
 
 * Elenchus Idolorum, Soph- 
 isme-Images, imposed upon the 
 understanding from the nature 
 of Man, Oenerall, Particular, or 
 Communicative. Cap. 4. Sect. 3. 
 
 * Analogie Of Demonsrta- 
 TiONS according to the nature of 
 the subject. Cap. 4. Sect. 4. 
 
 LIB. VI. 
 
 * Notes Or Impressions Of 
 Things, from Congruity, or from 
 ad Placitum. Cap. 1. Sect. 1. $. 2. 
 
 * A Philosophicall Gram- 
 mar, Or the Analogy between 
 words & Things. Cap. 1. Sect. 
 2. $. L 
 
 * Traditio Lampadis, Or the 
 Method deliver'd unto the sonnes 
 of Wisdome. Cap. 2. Sect. 1. $. 1. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 
 
 143 
 
 * Of The Wisdom of Private 
 Speech ; Or respective Deliveries 
 of a mans selfe. Cap. 3. Sect. 1. 
 $. 1. 
 
 * The Colours of G-ood and 
 Evill in Apparance, simple and 
 compar'd. Cap. 3. Sect. 2. $. 1. 
 
 * Antitheta Kerum, the Con- 
 tre-positio of things. Cap. 3. 
 Sect. 3. 
 
 * Formula Minores, lesser 
 formes or stiles of speech. Cap. 
 3. Sect. 4. 
 
 LIB. VII. 
 
 * Satyra Seria, or of the 
 subtile Reaches, Cautels, and im- 
 postures in professions. Cap. 2. 
 Sect. 3. $. 3. 
 
 * GrEORGiCA Animi, the culturc 
 of the mind. Cap. 3. Sect. 1. 
 
 LIB. VIII. 
 
 * Amanuensis Vit^, or of 
 
 Sparsed Occasions. 
 L $. 1. 
 
 Cap. 2. Sect. 
 
 * Faber Fortune, the Con- 
 triver of Fortune; or the course 
 of Life for advancement. Cap. 2. 
 Sect. 1. 
 
 * Consul Paludatus; Or the 
 Art of enlarging the bounds of a 
 Kingdome or State. Cap. 3. Sect. 1. 
 
 * Idea Justiti^ Univer- 
 salis; or the Fountains of Law. 
 Cap. 3. Sect. 2. 
 
 LIB. IX. 
 
 * Sophron; Or of theright use 
 of Humane Reason in Matters 
 Divine. Cap. 1. S. 1. 
 
 * Iren^us, Or of the degrees 
 of Unity in the Citty of God. 
 Cap. 1. Sect. 1. 
 
 * Utres Ccelestes; or the 
 Emanations of SS. Scriptures. 
 Cap. 1. Sect. 3. 
 
 (1640, Advancement of Learn- 
 ing.) 
 
 Take the first, Bacon's Mechanical History. What it 
 really is, nobody can tell us. Or what is his Magia Naturalis, 
 or tJie Setting of Forms on Work f What literary man will kindly 
 explain to us Bacon's object or intentions, with regard to Venatio 
 Panis or Literate Experience, or what is signified by his Topics 
 Particulares, or Places of Invention (discovery), or by Traditio 
 Lampadis, or the method delivered unto the Sons of Wisdom f Or by 
 the Wisdom of Private Speech ? Nobody can throw one ray of hght 
 on these subjects, except to charge Bacon with his own ignorance ! 
 A study of the text, where these subjects are introduced and dis- 
 cussed, only thickens the darkness, though it is plain the writer is 
 master of his subject, is cautiously reserved, and alluding to matters 
 rather implied than stated. What right have we to arrogate our 
 ignorance to the author of these Deficients? Why should Bacon 
 introduce those curious cipher and secret-knowledge methods of the 
 
144 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 sixth book, — Notes or impressions of things, from congruity, and 
 A Philosophical Grammar (being the thirty-fiftb and tbirty-sixtli 
 Deficients in order of the catalogue) ? Why, indeed, should the 
 Instauration require ciphers to open it, seeing Bacon denies their 
 introduction in order to swell his muster-roll of sciences'? (p. 270.) 
 What does Bacon conceal under private speech, to whom does he 
 prepare to talk privately? Why should it require prudence'^ All 
 this to the reader unacquainted with the work, may appear simply 
 super-subtle trifling on my part. But he would change his 
 opinion, after a few hours' serious study of the text in connection 
 with these subjects. Why did Bacon select in this work a style 
 that was to choose its reader, and purposely write obscurely, as he 
 states to Doctor Playfer ? How can these subjects assist in opening 
 the Instauration, which is commonly held to be allied only to nature 
 and inductive science ? Why introduce poetry as one of the great 
 bases of the work, from which and with which the entire Instauration 
 is bound up ? What is meant by Amanuensis Yit^ or of sparsed 
 occasions? It is easy to blanch these obscurities and discourse 
 upon the plain, but behind each of these subjects is a great plan 
 and a great mystery, also an entire whole and systematic logic 
 affiliating one part to the other. In short, I maintain this work was 
 written expressly for the purpose of not only establishing Bacon's 
 authorship right to the 1623 plays, but also for discovery of the 
 symbolism of those same plays, by means of induction leading us on 
 step by step from one discovery to the other. The reader will per- 
 ceive the Sixth Deficient is entitled Sapientia Veterum; that is. 
 Bacon's Wisdom of the Ancients. This subject is introduced page 
 108, on the heels of stage plays (p. 107), and betrays its object 
 out of hand; that is, the application of the entire collection to 
 the stage plays of the 1623 theatre. The forty-second Deficient, 
 Satyra Seria, is undoubtedly Bacon's Essays, disguised under 
 this strange name. Then we find the Organtjm Novum, but 
 why it should be included in this work is a mystery, unless 
 we believe it is to be used in relationship to discoveries allied 
 to the entire Instauration as a whole. Let the reader reflect over 
 the fact, Bacon's secret methods of tradition, or of delivering 
 secret knowledge, belong and are included in this New World of 
 Sciences. In Bacon's age secret writing was nothing new, and are 
 we sure these ciphers of Bacon's do not and will not lead to the dis- 
 covery of the real meaning of his New World of Sciences f Few of 
 the subjects of this catalogue are really sciences at all, in the proper 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEM ATUBE. 145 
 
 sense of tlie term, as may be seen in the including of his Sapientia 
 Veterum, or Wisdom of the Ancients, his Colors of Good and EvU, 
 his TopiccB Particulares (or Places of Invention), his Venatio PaniSj 
 and many others in this catalogue. They are all really, I maintain, 
 secret parts of the Instauration, belonging to the intellectual glob© 
 or interpretation of the plays, which Bacon was obliged to leave 
 half obscured in esoteric language, which sharpness of wit was 
 to discover through time. They are introduced in the text of th^ 
 Be Augment is, in just such relationship to the entire work as a whole, 
 as may become emergent upon discovery and practice. A proper 
 comprehension, use, application and interpretation of the real 
 significance of these New World of Sciences, will open up the entire 
 Instauration. 
 
 There are only thirty-five plays registered in the catalogue of the 
 1623 first edition Folio Plays. Troilus and Cressida, though in the 
 volume (with only one page numbered) is, for some purpose, left out 
 of the catalogue, which the reflective reader cannot believe was an 
 accident. There are, therefore, really thirty-six plays in the Folio 
 1623 edition plays. I have found these two numbers, playing such 
 a frequent and important part, in my cipher discoveries, either 
 with regard to the text in connection with the paging, or in words 
 italicised, that I have come to the certain conviction, this omission 
 of Troilus and Cressida from the catalogue, was expressly done to 
 furnish two cipJier numbers, 35 and 36. Their sum is 71, and this is 
 a frequent number (upon some pages of the 1640 Advancement of 
 Learning) of words italicised. Shakespeare likewise furnishes in 
 his completed years, and year just entered (1616) when he died, the 
 the two numbers 52, 53. Bacon, in like manner, was 55 and 56 the 
 same year, 1616, and 62, 63 in 1623. Now, I am about to point out tp 
 the reader, that the two Deficients of Bacon's New World of ScienceSf 
 entitled Notes of THijfGS and Philosophical Gbammar, are 
 also the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth in order of the catalogue I have 
 given, counted from the commencement. Now, it is important the 
 reader should understand what these subjects treat of. They belong 
 to the sixth book of the Be Augmentis, which treats of 
 Tradition (which Bacon explains as secret knowledge, on 
 pages 258, 259 Advancement of Learning , 1640). What Bacou 
 intends to suggest is, we should take Notes from congruity of numbers^ 
 from figures, pagings, and, above all, to note this is the thirty- 
 fifth Deficient. This is one of his methods of traditive knowledge, 
 or handing on to the interpreter the things invented. This is <me 
 
146 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 of the Deficients which is to open up Bacon's New World of Sciences, 
 if properly understood and applied.. The reader may, perhaps, 
 dimly apprehend my somewhat too ambitious title to this work, the 
 Columbus of Literature, when I maintain these Deficients, 
 (and particularly the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth), are intended to 
 open up by cipher the new world, or intellectual hemisphere of 
 Bacon's entire Instauration, of which the plays are the old world, 
 and this book of the Advancement of Learning, from which I quote, 
 is the ship (or ark if we like) sailing and carrying the precious argosy 
 of discovery. It was written as a great key-book for the better 
 opening up of the globe theater plays. This theory may not be 
 proved by me, but it will be by others. On the title-page engraving, 
 the reader may perceive Bacon's design, prefigured by the two 
 globes, joining hands (the old world and the new), with the ship 
 beneath, passing or about to pass the pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) 
 for America. Now the reader is about to see from Bacon's 
 text, touching this thirty-fifth Deficient of his Netv World of Sciences, 
 how it deals with Notes of Things from Congruity of Numbers, and 
 therefore I claim right in postulating cipher proof by agreement 
 (or congruity) of mathematical numbers. 
 
 " § Notes therefore of things, which without the helpe and media- 
 tion of Words signifie Things, are of two sorts ; whereof the first sort 
 is significant of Congruitie ; the other ad placitum. Of the former 
 sort are Hieroglyphiques and Gestures ; of the later are those which 
 we call Characters Reall. The use of Hieroglyphiques is very 
 ancient, and had in a kind of Veneration ; especially amongst the 
 Egyptians, one of the most Ancient Nations : So that Hieroglyph- 
 iques seem to have bin a first-borne writing, and elder than the Ele- 
 ments of Letters; unlesse, it maybe, the Letters of the Ebrews. 
 As for Gestures they are, as it were, Transitory Hieroglyphiques. 
 For as words pronounced vanish, writings remaine ; so Hieroglyph- 
 iques expressed by Gestures, are transient, but Painted, permanent. 
 As when Periander being consulted with, how to preserve a Tyranny, 
 bid the Messenger stand still, and he walking in a Garden, topt all 
 the highest Flowers ; signifying the cutting of, and the keeping low 
 of the Nobility ; did as well make use of a Hieroglyphique, as if he 
 had drawne the same upon Paper. This in the meane is plain, that 
 Hieroglyphiques and Gestures ever have some similitude with the 
 the thing signified, and are kind of Emblemes; wherefore we have 
 named them the Notes of things from Congruitie. But Characters 
 Reall have nothing of Embleme in them ; but are plainly dumbe 
 and dead Figures, as the Elements of Letters are ; and only 
 devised ad Placitum, and confirmed by Custome, as by a tacite agree- 
 ment. And it is manifest also that there must needs be a vast 
 number of them for writing , at lest so many as there are Radicall 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 147 
 
 words. Wherefore this portion of Knowledge concerning the Organ 
 of Speech, which is of the Notes of Things, we report as Deficient. 
 And though it may seeme of no great use, considering that Words & 
 writings by Letters are the most apt Organs of Tradition ; yet we 
 thought good to make mention of it here, as of a knowledge not to 
 he despised. For we here handle, as it were, the Coynes of things 
 Intellectuall ; and it will not be amisse to know, that as Money may 
 be made of other matter besides Gold and Silver ; so there may be 
 stamped other Notes of things besides Words and Letters. " 
 
 Now, let us take the next Deficient, the thirty-sixth, correspond- 
 ing with the whole number of plays in the 1623 folio. 
 
 " ^ We will divide G- rammer into two sorts, whereof the one is 
 Literary ; the other Philosophicall. The one is meerly apphed to 
 Languages, that they may be more speedily learned ; or more cor- 
 rectedly and purely spoken. The other in a sort doth minister, and 
 is subservient to Philosophic. In this later part which is Philosoph- 
 icall, we find that Caesar writ Books De Analogia; and it is a 
 question whether those Books handled this Philsophicall Crammer 
 whereof we speake? Our opinion is that there was not any high 
 and subtile matter in them, but only that they deliver'd Precepts of 
 a pure and perfect speech, not depraved by popular Custome; nor 
 corrupted and polluted by over- curious affectation; in which kind 
 Caesar excelFd. Notwithstanding, admonish't by such a worke, we 
 have conceiv'd and comprehended in our mind, a kind of Grammer, 
 that may diligently enquire, not the Analogic of words one with 
 another, but the Analogic between Words and Things, or Reason; 
 besides that Interpretation of Nature, which is subordinate to 
 Logique. Surely Words are the foot-steps of Eeason; and foot- 
 steps doe give some indications of the Body; wherefore we will 
 give some general description of this." {lb. pages 261-262.) 
 
 I refer the reader to page 53 of this work, reproduced, where he 
 will find CcBsar^s Analogy introduced upon the mispaged 53, show- 
 ing Bacon gives us a sly hint for this Philosophical Grammar, upon 
 a page carrying Shakespeare's age 53 and Bacon's age, (full age, or 
 completed years) in 1616, viz., 55, masking each other! The 
 reader may see this Philosophical Grammar, consists chiefly of 
 Analogy, that is, of resemblances, by parallel, and does not apply 
 to languages, but to a strictly philosophical method of hunting out 
 by means of Notes of Things, and quick-sightedness, the analogy 
 between words and things. These words, these things, may be 
 seen, are subordinate to logic or the footsteps of reason. I main- 
 tain stoutly, all this refers to the Philosophical Grammar scene 
 upon page 53 Merry Wives of Windsor, where the pronoun HiCf 
 
148 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 H(Bc, Hoc, is declined and identified in the accusative case, by- 
 travesty with Bacon in the line : 
 
 Hang Hog is Latin for Bacon I warrant you. 
 The words Hang Hog are twice repeated together thus : 
 
 Evans. I pray you, have you your remembrance, child : 
 Accusative, Jdng^ hang, Jiog: 
 
 Quickly. Hang- Hog is Latin for Bacon I warrant you. 
 
 (P. 53, M. W. W.) 
 
 The words hang-hog, are the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth in 
 italics, counted down this column 106 of the comedies, and 261 
 and 262 all counted down, agreeing with the page from which the last 
 passage cited (from Bacon^s Advancement of Learning, viz., 261, 262,) 
 on which this Philosophical Grammar, or the thirty-sixth Deficient 
 of A New World of Sciences is continued. This is just an example of 
 what Bacon means by Notes of things from congriiity. I wish the 
 reader could see the work, or I could present it to him, he would 
 indeed be speedily convinced. For the great page of cipher, Bacon 
 gives, as example of his bi-literal alphabet, is upon pages 267, 263, 
 269, agreeing with the words ^' For Bacon I, " or " Latin for Bacon, " 
 in the line quoted, which are exactly 266, 267, 268, or 267, 268, 269, 
 just as we count the second hyphenated word hang-hog, singly 
 or doubly (see column 106 M. W. W. reproduced). Mr. Ignatius 
 Donnelly has seen this proof of congruity. Mr. Francis J. Schulte, of 
 Chicago, possesses a copy of this rare work (almost unknown) which 
 I was happy to be able to persuade him to purchase. I hope he 
 will reprint it, and give the great American public the opportunity 
 of possessing, certainly the most extraordinary book in the world, 
 to which they hold a special right, inasmuch as it was designed to 
 cross the seas and open up Bacon's new world of sciences, — the 
 America of his inductive system applied to the plays. A great deal 
 of all this I am striving to draw attention to, has already been pub- 
 lished by me in Hermes Stella, and in Francis Bacon, my last work, 
 but, like trying to sell bank notes for a song, it goes by unheeded, 
 just because the world won't examine it, and won't believe in it, and 
 the book itself is almost unattainable. It is really the original 
 English version of the De Augmentis, which Bacon held back for fear 
 of premature discovery of his cipher secret, and published posthu- 
 mously. For this see proofs in Hermes Stella. No words or quoted 
 matter, can carry the weight the work itself does, and the public 
 will question all assertions of this sort, or cipher counts, until proved 
 by authority. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEMATUBE. 149 
 
 I now give page 264 of this same tidrty- sixth Deficient or Fhilo- 
 sopJdcal Grammar, whereon the reader will perceive poetry intro- 
 ducing us to ciphers. And here let me state the printers have the 
 pages quoted from before them, and there can be no cooking of fig- 
 ures, that common charge brought against every author on this 
 subject. From page 263 : 
 
 III But the measure of words hath brought us forth an im- 
 mense body of Art, namely Poesie ; not in respect of the matter (of 
 which we have spoken before) but in respect of stile and the forme 
 of words, as Metre or Yerse ; touching which the Art is very small 
 and briefe, but the accesse of examples large and infinite. Neither 
 ought that Art (which the Grammarians call Prosodia) to be only 
 restrained to the kinds and measures of Verse ; for there are Precepts 
 to be annext, what kind of Verse best fitteth every matter or sub- 
 ject. The Ancients applied Heroicall Verse to Histories and Lau- 
 datories; Elegies to Lamentations; lambiques to Invectives; 
 Lyriques to Songs and Hymnes. And this wisdome of the Ancients 
 is not wanting in the Poets of later Ages in Mother-tongues ; only 
 this is to be reprehended, that some of them too studious of An- 
 tiquity have endeavoured to draw moderne Languages to Ancient 
 Measures (as Heroique ; Elegiaque; Saphique, and the rest) which 
 the fabrique and composition of those Languages, will not beare ; 
 and withall is no lesse harsh unto the eare. In matters of this Na- 
 ture the judgment of sense is to be preferred bsfore precepts of Art, 
 as he saith, 
 
 Coenae Fercula nostra3 
 
 Mallem Convivis quam placuisse Cocis. 
 
 Nor is this Art, but the abuse of Art, seeing it doth not perfect, 
 but perverts Nature. As for Poesie (whether we speak e of 
 
 264 Or The Advancement. 
 
 Fables, or Metre) it is, as we have said before, as a Luxuriant 
 Herb brought forth without seed, and springs up from the strength 
 and ranknesse of the soyle. Wherefore it runs along every where, 
 and is so amply spread, as it were a superfluous labour to be curious 
 of any DEFiciEjjfTS therein; the care therefore for this is taken 
 already. 
 
 $ As for Accents of Words, there is no need, that wee speake of 
 so small a matter; unlefife, perchance, some may think it worth the 
 noting, that there hath bin exact observation made of the Accents 
 of Words, but not of the Accents of Sentences; yet this, for most 
 part, is the generall Custome of all men, that in the close of a 
 Period they let fall their voice, in a demand they raise it, and many 
 such like usages. 
 
 $ As for writing, that is perform'd either by the vulgar Alphabet, 
 which is everywhere receiv'd; or by a secret and private Alphabet, 
 
150 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 which men agree upon between themselves, which they call Cyphers. 
 But the Vulgar Orthography hath brought forth unto us a Con- 
 troversie, and Question, namely, Whether words should be written 
 as they are spoken, or rather after the usual manner. But this kind 
 of writing, which seemes to be reformed, which is, that writing 
 should be consonant to speaking, is a branch of unprofitable sub- 
 telties; for Pronunciation itself every day encreases and alters the 
 fashion; and the derivation of words, especially from forrain 
 Languages, are utterly defac'd and extinguisbt. In briefe, seeing 
 writing, according to the receiv'd Custome, doth no way prejudice 
 the manner of speaking, to what end should this innovation be 
 brought in? 
 
 $ Wherefore let us come to Ctphars. Their kinds are many, as 
 Cyphars simple; Cyphars intermixt with Nulloes, or non-significant 
 Characters; Cyphers of double Letters under one Character; 
 Wheele- Cyphars; Kay-Cyphars; Cyphars of words {Ih. p. 264.) 
 
 The reader will see these two pages carry the same numbers as 
 the first words of the line. 
 
 Hang Hog is Latin for Bacon I warrant you. 
 
 That is, Hang Hog are 263, 264 counted down page 53, Merry 
 Wives of Windsor (see reproduced page). Col. 106. 
 
 Let the reader count the words down page 264 from the top, and 
 he will find the words, Deficients theeein, the 52d and 53d, to 
 tell us that the poetry, which " is so atnplg spread, and, as it were, a 
 superfluous labor, to be curious of any Deficients therein," refers 
 to the Shakespeare Theater, indicated by Shakespeare's life, 52, and 
 his 53d year (Stratford monument). The critic will most likely 
 question my figures and my printed matter. Let him ask Mr. 
 Schulte, of 298 Dearborn street, Chicago, if his copy of the said 
 work, declares my figures and printed matter correct, or no? I will 
 lay one thousand pounds I am right, provided the words every tvhere 
 are counted (as they are printed) as two words. Even if they are 
 counted singly (which they cannot legitimately be, as they are not 
 hyphenated), the word '^ therein,^' is the fifty-second word. Every 
 page of this extraordinary book reveals these cipher hints, and I, 
 who have made tables of the pages for the last three years, must be 
 pardoned smiling when I hear people doubting Bacon's authorship 
 of the plays. It is like hearing the existence of the sun questioned, 
 and I cannot allow it is any more a questionable theory, or open to 
 doubt than the Greek language, except on the score of ignorance or 
 of those not in possession of the facts. 
 
 It may be also noted the words " every where, '^ are the 34th and 
 35th in order down page 264. This is to tell us, *' the Poesy 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 151 
 
 WHICH KUNS ALONG EVERYWHERE,'^ is the 1623 foliO; Sliakespeare 
 indicated by tlie number 35. 
 
 With regard to Bacon's quotation from Martial: 
 
 Coenae Fercula Nostras 
 Mallem Convivis quam placuisse Cocis 
 
 it may be interesting to note, Ben Jonson in his masque of Nep- 
 tune's Triumph; (1624), introduces a humorous dialogue between a 
 poet and a master cook, in which their arts are compared and criti- 
 cised respectively to each other. 
 
 Poet. You are not his majesty's confectioner, are you ? 
 
 Cook. No, but one that has as good title to the room, — his Master 
 Cook. What are you, sir ? 
 
 Poet. The most unprofitable of his servants, I, sir, the Poet. A 
 kind of a Christmas surprise, — one that is used at least once a year 
 for a trifling instrument of wit or so. 
 
 Cook. Were you ever a cook ? 
 
 Poet. A cook ! No, surely. 
 
 Cook. Then you can be no good poet; for a good poet differs 
 nothing at all from a Master Cook, either arts is the wisdom of the 
 mind. 
 
 Poet. As how, sir ? 
 
 Cook. Expect, I am by my place, to know how to please the 
 palates of the guests, so you are to know the palate of the times, 
 study the several tastes, what every nation, the Spaniard, the Dutch, 
 the French, the Walloon, the Neapolitan, the Britain, the Sicilian, 
 can expect from you. 
 
 Poet. That were a heavy, and a hard task to satisfy expectation, 
 who is so severe an exac tress of duties, ever a tyrannous mistress, 
 and most times a pressing enemy. 
 
 Cook. She is a powerful Greek lady at all times, and must be 
 satisfied. So must her sister, Madame Curiosity, who hath as 
 dainty a palate as , and these will expect. 
 
 Poet. But, what if they expect more than they understand ? 
 
 Cook. That's all one, Mr. Poet, you are bound to satisfy the^l. 
 For, there is a palate of the Understanding as well as of the senses. 
 The Taste is taken with good relishes, the Sight with fair objects, 
 the Hearing with delicate sounds, the Smelling with pure scents, 
 the Feeling with soft and plump bodies, but the Understanding with 
 all these : for all which you must begin at the kitchen. There, the 
 Art of Poetry was learned, and found out, or nowhere, and the same 
 day with the Art of Cookery. 
 
 Poet. I should have given it rather to the cellar, if my sufirage 
 had been asked. 
 
 Cook. 0, you are the Oracle of the Bottle, I see. Hogshead 
 Trismegestus. He is your Pegasus. Thence flows the spring of 
 your Muses from that hoofe. 
 Seduced Poet, I do say to thee, 
 A boiler, ranger, dresser were the fountains 
 
152 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEEATUME. 
 
 Of all the knowledge in the universe, 
 
 And that's the kitchen. 
 
 A Master Cook ! why, he is the man of men, 
 
 For a professor ! He designs, he draws, 
 
 He paints, he carves, he builds, he fortifies, 
 
 Makes citadels of curious fowl or fish. 
 
 He has Natui'e in a pot ! 'hove all the chemists, 
 
 Or hare-breech'd brethren of the Rosie Crosse. 
 
 It is interesting to note in the first part of King Henry the 
 Fourth, this: 
 
 Poins. Where hast been Hall ? 
 
 Prince. With three or four loggerheads, amongst three or four 
 score Hogsheads. (Act iv, 4.) 
 
 This last word was evidently a nickname given to those 
 who frequented the Boarsheacl Tavern in Eastcheape, the Prince 
 exclaiming in direct context with the above : 
 
 When I am King of England I shall command 
 All the good lads in Eastcheape. {lb.) 
 
 There is no question some of Rabelais' works and language 
 are covers for secret cipher. The broad language he introduces 
 into his writings conceals a profound purport of cryptic language, 
 which was probably understood alone by the initiated brotherhood 
 of which he was a member. I therefore desire to point out how 
 Bacon opens his sixth book of tlie De Augmentis (containing secret 
 cipher and embracing Tradition, or the Delivery of Secret or Cryptic 
 Knowledge), with an allusion to certain works of Rabelais by par- 
 allel. The reader will, moreover, perceive there is aflQliation of 
 some sort, purely Masonic, suggested by the Utopian literature of 
 Rabelais, Sir Thomas More and Bacon. They are each and all ideal- 
 ist reformers, and, therefore, men of advanced views, whose opin- 
 ions, openly expressed, would have been impossible in their ages, 
 and their refuge had to be cryptic, their meetings probably held in 
 vaults, their writings cipher jargon (like some of Rabelais' works) or 
 acroamatical. The reader may perceive, from the passage about to 
 be cited from the opening of Bacon's sixth book of the Advance- 
 ment of Learning, 1040 (translation of the De Augmentis, 1623), 
 how Bacon hints at concealment or cryptic (underground) storage 
 of " new harvests of knowledge:" 
 
 " It is permitted to every man (excellent king) to make merrv 
 with himself and his own matters. Who knows, then, but this work 
 of mine is copied from a certain old book found in the most famous 
 library of St. Victor, of which Master Francis Rabelais made a cata- 
 logue? For there is a book there entitled The Ant-hill of Arts. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 153 
 
 And certainly I have raised up here a little heap of dust, and stored 
 under it a great many grains of sciences and arts, into which the 
 ants may creep and rest for awhile, and then prepare themselves for 
 fresh labors. Now, the wisest of kings refers sluggards to the ants, 
 and, for my part, I hold all men for sluggards who care only to use 
 what they have got, without preparing for new seedtimes and new 
 harvests of knowledge." (Book vi. Dc Augmentis.) 
 
 It is worthy of note that Rabelais' Ahhey of Thelema is a Utopian 
 dream, holding much in common with Bacon's New Atlantis, and 
 the Rosicrucian commonwealths of John Val Andreas. McKenzie 
 (in his Boyal Masonic Cyclopcedia) writes of Rabelais : 
 
 " The Gargantua and Pantagruel of Rabelais, probably the pro- 
 foundest Masonic problem yet to be unriddled." (p. 614.) 
 
 Again (under his name): 
 
 " Many of his notions were purely Masonic, but whether he 
 knew anything of Masonry, it is difiBcult to say. Many passages, 
 however, prove that he was acquainted with the Hermetic branch 
 of the subject. The description of the Abbey of Thelema, where 
 every one was to do just as he pleased, together with its govern- 
 ment, may take its place beside More's Utopia, Plato's Bepublic, 
 and Bacon's Atlantis. Rabelais is a' forbidden book to many, on 
 nccount of its containing much that a thin-skinned modern century 
 does not like to see expressed in writing, but has no scruple, as 
 daily experience shows, to put in practice." 
 
 Bacon's New Atlantis was evidently an imitation of Sir Thomas 
 More's Utopia. These sort of works bespeak for themselves not 
 only advanced views, but, in consequence, carry esoteric or acroa- 
 matical writing. The one involves the other, inasmuch as any 
 Utopian or ideal visions of regeneration of society (in the ages these 
 works were written), necessarily carried with them danger to the 
 author and impossibility of open writing. The Abbey of Thelema, by 
 Rabelais, belongs to this class of literature, of which the earliest 
 prototype is Plato's New Bepublic. Now, it is very curious to find 
 a sort of brotherhood connecting Rabelais to More, who, in his 
 second book of Pantagruel, introduces Sir Thomas More, under the 
 title of Thaumast. In chapter xviii. we find •' How a great scholar 
 of England would have argued against Pantagruel, and was over- 
 come by Panurge." In chapter xix.: " How Panurge put to a non- 
 plus the Englishman that argued by signs. '^ In chapter xx.: " How 
 Thaumast relat^th the virtues and knowledge of Panurge." 
 
 Bacon, under the title of Belations (that is, of the historical rela- 
 tions of men to each other), discourses of the records of the past, of 
 Lives, Times and Chronicles, which is a subject touching himself 
 
154 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 and his relations to Shakespeare. He divides Perfect History into 
 Chronicles of Times, Lives of Persons, Relations of Acts and their 
 explications. That all this relates to himself is most unquestionable. 
 
 " $ J.5 concerning Relations, it could be, in truth, wish't that there 
 were a greater diligence taken therein, for there is no action more 
 eminent that hath not some able pen to attend it, which may take 
 and transcribe it. And because it is a quality not common to all 
 men to write a perfect Jiistory to the life and dignity thereof (as may 
 well appear by the small number even of mean writers in that 
 kind); yet, if particular actions were but by a tolerable pen 
 reported as they pass, it might be hoped that in some after age 
 writers might arise that might compile a perfect liistory by the help 
 and assistance of such notes, for such collections might be as a 
 nursery garden whereby to plant a fair and stately garden when 
 time should serve." 
 
 What stately garden is this that Bacon refers to ? The answer 
 must be given in his own words : 
 
 " The gardens of the Muses keep the privilege of the golden 
 age ; they even flourish and are in league with Time. The monu- 
 ments oftvit survive the monuments of power; the verses of a poet 
 endure without a syllable lost, while states and empires pass many 
 periods. Let him not think he shall descend, for he is now upon a 
 hill as a ship is mounted on the ridge of a wave ; but that hill of the 
 Muses is above tempests, always clear and calm, a hill of the good- 
 liest discovery that man can have, being a prospect upon all the 
 errors of wanderings of the present and former times. " 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 Bacon's Title Page Engravings. 
 
 " On a soil that has hitherto been unoccupied, and with instruments that have 
 never jet been used, he will build altogether anew. The instrument that he em- 
 ploys is the N<rvum Organum; the ground-plan, according to which he proceeds, is 
 composed of the books De Dignitate et Augmentis Scientiarum, which form, as it 
 were, the new map of the Globus Intellectnalis; the whole edifice itself he calls 
 the Instauratio Magna^ (Kuno Fischer, Francis Bacon of Verulam, 214.) 
 
 In Bacon's chief works is to be found a title-page engraving, 
 the chief features of which are the two Masonic columns or pillar Sj 
 which sufficiently prove Bacon's Masonic afifihations. These two 
 columns may be refound upon the title-page engraving of the first 
 edition Novupi Organum (1620), Sylva Sylvarum (1626-1627), and 
 the engraving given in this work is a reproduction of the title- 
 page engraving of the 1640 translation of the Advancement of 
 Learning^ published at Oxford, under the supervision of the two 
 Universities, which work is included by Bacon's chaplain. Doctor 
 Rawley, in the list of his lordship's true works {Besuscitatio, 1657, 
 1671). As this subject is interesting, and evidently the design of 
 the frontispiece is symbolical, I offer here a few theories which, I 
 believe, will ultimately be found' to be not far from the truth. 
 
 GOLDEN PILLARS. 
 
 <' Hiram, King of Tyre, according toMenander, dedicated a pillar 
 of gold to Jupiter J on the grand junction he had formed between 
 Eurichorus and Tyre " (los-con-Apion). In the Temple of Jupiter 
 Triphylius, in the fabulous island of Panchaia, there was a golden 
 bed of Jupiter six cubits in length and four in breadth, upon which 
 there stood a golden column, and a chronicle of the actions of 
 Uranus, Saturn and Jove was inscribed upon the column in Pancha- 
 ian letters, or, as Diodorus says in another passage, in the sacred 
 Egyptian letters. 
 
 0, rejoice 
 Beyonci a common joy, and set it down. 
 With gold on lasting pillars : In one voyage 
 Did Claribel lier husband find at Tunis, 
 And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wife 
 Where he himself was lost. {Tempest, Act v., 1.) 
 
 155 
 
156 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 THE TWO PILLARS OF SOLOMON. 
 
 " Pillars or obelisks were often used to commemorate remarkable 
 events iu the private annals of nations. The wisdom of Solomon, 
 therefore, induced him to construct a pair of commemorative pillars, 
 and to place them at the entrance of the porch, for a leason which 
 will shortly appear. He called their names Jachiu and Boaz, which 
 signified strength and erection, and their union stability. The right 
 hand pillar was named after Jachin, the son of Simeon, and that on 
 the left from Boaz, the great grandfather of David. Our traditions 
 say that Hiram gave a name to one pillar and Solomon to the other. 
 Boa:3 referred to the Sun, because he rejoiceth as a strong man to 
 run his course ; and Jachin to the Moon, because it was predicted of 
 Solomon that in his kingdom, peace and righteousness should flour- 
 ish so long as the Sun and Moon endure." (Lect. ix., p. 219, The 
 Theocratic Philosophy of Freemasonry, by Oliver). 
 
 The two pillars appear on the title pages of both the Sylva Syl- 
 varum and Novum Organum. In the Sylva Sylvarum there is the 
 creative motto from Genesis: 
 
 Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona. 
 
 "The Phoenicians and Hebrews had two pillars, the embodi- 
 ments of the two hostile powers, and Movers declares they were re- 
 garded as the greatest Gods of thePha3nicians " {Movers, 394.) " The 
 Phcenicians called the pillars of Hercules, Uso and Hypsuranius, 
 and celebrated great festivals in honor of these pillar gods. They 
 were the Darkness and the Light. " {Dunlap's Spirit History of Man, 
 p. 301.) (See Movers, 294, 295, also Sanchoniathon, in Movers, 344.) 
 "The shadow that fell from the top of the sun pillar upon the sun's boat 
 and always accompanies the sun upon its annual course, is Typhon. 
 Sol becomes Typhon." {Movers, 300.) " Zoroaster taught that 
 from the beginning the principles of things were two, one the Father, 
 the other the Mother; the former is Light, the latter Darkness" 
 {Munter Bab., p. 46.) " The Chald^ean Zaratas taught Pythagoras 
 that there were two original causes of all things, called the Father 
 and the Mother. The father is Light, the Mother Darkness (Movers 
 265, Origenis Philosophumena, p. 38. Dunlap^s Spirit History, 
 306.) 
 
 The title page of the Sylva Sylvarum (in which work the 
 New Atlantis is included) contains a globe, entitled the Intellect- 
 ual World, resting (between two pillars) upon the waters. Stud- 
 ( nts of Bacon need not be reminded, that his simile is that of circum- 
 navigating (in the ship of his Advancement of Learning) the entire 
 navigable globe. The piece entitled a Description of the Intellectual 
 Globe is, as Spedding states, a further draft or sketch of the 
 Advancement of Learning, abandoned in favor of the 1623 De Aug- 
 mentis. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 157 
 
 At the end of the Advancement of Learning (1G05) Bacon writes : 
 
 " Thus have I made, as it were, a small globe of the intellectual 
 world, as truly and faithfully as I could discover." {Aldis and 
 Wright, p. 2C8). Again : " In substance, because it is the perfect 
 law of inquiry of truth, that nothing be in the globe of matter, which 
 should not be likewise in the globe of crystal or form; that is, that 
 there be not anything in being and action, which should not be 
 drawn and collected into contemplation and doctrine. " 
 
 Doctor Thompson, of Trinity College, Cambridge, has pointed 
 out that the origin of Bacon's " globe of matter,^'' and " globe of crys- 
 tal or form, " is probably the dcpaipo? aidOT^roi, and the dcpaipoi 
 vor/ro? of Empedocles, as interpreted by Proclus. (See Proclus in 
 Timceum, 160, D. and Simplicius in Physica, p. 7, b.) In that 
 mysterious work, Chester's Lovers Martyr, in which Shakespeare's 
 poem of the Phoenix and Turtle was first published, is the following 
 verse by Ben Jonson in praise of the Pha3nis and Turtle : 
 
 Judgment (adoi-n'd with learning) 
 
 Doth shine in her discerning, 
 
 Clear as a naketl vestal 
 
 Closed in an orb of crystal.— 5ew Jonson. 
 
 " In the beginning, " saith the first book of Moses, " Elohim 
 made the essence of the earth and the essence of the two heavens. 
 There were two heavens, the Invisible and Spiritual, which the 
 eye hath never seen, and tvhich the heart of a man cannot conceive ; 
 and the Visible, consisting of the planetary spheres, the empyreum, or 
 elastic firmament, and the day or Crystaline Sphere, where the waters 
 above the firmament, and beyond the solar heat, are suspended in 
 radiant globes. {Babel Nimrod, vol. i., p. 184.) 
 
 2(paifDoi at6Qrjr6<; means the sensible globe (or world), just as 
 6cpaLf)o<; vorjTr)^ means the intelligible, or intellectual globe. 
 In fact. Bacon's statement amounts to what he elsewhere states, 
 '' That the truth of being and the truth of knowing are all one." 
 Now, on the frontispiece, facing Bacon's portrait, in all the editions 
 of the Sylva Sylvarum, there is a globe resting (between two pil- 
 lars) upon the sea, and on it is written Mundus Intellectualis. It is 
 faintly mapped out with dotted lines, as if invisible or undiscovered. 
 On the title-page design of the Advancement of Learning, 1640., 
 given, we find two globes, or worlds, facing each other; one mapped 
 out, the other dotted, and respectively entitled Mundus Visibilis 
 and Mundus Intellectualis, with sun and moon beneath. From each 
 globe or hemisphere an arm is stretched, with clasped hands in the 
 center, with the motto, ratione et experiantia foederantur^ which 
 
158 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 explains itself. These two globes are as Matter to Mind, as the Sen- 
 sible to the Intellectual, as the Visible to the Invisible. 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 " And therefore it was most aptly said by one of Plato's school, 
 that the 5ew5e of man carrieth a resemblance with the sun, which 
 (as we see) openeth and revealeth all the terrestrial globe; but then 
 ag'ain it obscure th and concealeth the stars and celestial globe: so 
 doth the sense discover natural things, but it darkneth and shut- 
 teth up divine. " (P. 9, Book 1, Advancement of Learning. Aldis 
 and Wright.) 
 
 No small part of the entire Baconian philosophy is contained in 
 these passages. In the engraving to the Advancement of Learning, 
 already mentioned, there is the Sun, placed underneath the Visible 
 Globe, and the Moon under the Invisible or Intellectual World. As 
 the stars are to be only seen by night, so the Moon is the emblem of 
 the reflection of things invisible. 
 
 Under the description of the first part of the Great Instauration 
 in his preface (or distribution of the work into six parts). Bacon 
 writes (page 22, Advancement, 1640) : 
 
 " For there are found in the Intellectual Globe, as in the terres- 
 trial, soils improved and deserts. Wherefore let it not seem strange 
 if now and then we make a departure from the usual divisions, and 
 forsake the beaten path of some partitions : for addition, whilst it 
 varies the whole, of necessity varies the parts and the sections 
 thereof; and the accepted divisions are accommodated only to the 
 accepted sum of sciences, as it is now cast up." 
 
 This passage plainly tells us (applying as it does to the first part. 
 Partitions of the Sciences, of the Instauration) that The Advance- 
 ment of Learning, (that is, the work entitled Be Augmentis of 1623 
 and 1640), is the Intellectual Globe, or Mundus Intellectualis, which 
 we perceive upon the engraved title-page by Marshall of the 1640 
 supposed translation by Gilbert Watts. A very great deal may be 
 gathered from this engraving, inasmuch as this globe of the intel- 
 lectual world is a species of new world only faintly dotted out, sug- 
 gesting discoveries, which fully falls in with Bacon's words, " For 
 there are found in the intellectual globe, as in the terrestrial, soils 
 improved and desert," — meaning that this work, like a new hemi- 
 sphere, has to be explored, its deserts mapped out, and discovered. 
 This throws a light upon Bacon's ship device, inasmuch as this voy- 
 age of intellectual discovery, between the visible world and the invisi- 
 ble, suggests a voyage of discovery to the New World of Sciences of 
 the Deficients. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 159 
 
 Now, the striking part of this frontispiece is, that if the reader 
 will run his eye from the visible world down to the base of the coir 
 umn inscribed Oxford, he will find poesy and Bacon's completed 
 portion of the Instauration under the base. In like manner we 
 see the other half of Bacon^s uncompleted, or the three missing por- 
 tions of the Great Instauration, under the intellectual or invisible 
 globe, which is joining hands with the visible. In all this there is a 
 distinct meaning, for how is it (as any one can plainly see), half 
 Bacon's Instauration under Oxford, is shaking hands with the other 
 half (which we do not possess) under Cambridge? And, as if to 
 complete and point out the connection, the title of this Advance- 
 ment hangs on a curtain, (from a line connected between the tops of 
 the plinths of the two colleges), as if to again suggest, that the grasp- 
 ing of hands, or marriage of the visible to the invisible world of 
 intellect, can only be bridged over and effected by the Advancement 
 of Learning. 
 
 It maybe objected, that all this is only emblematic of the two 
 universities, and their respective characteristics ; namely, that as 
 Cambridge has always been associated with mathematical or in- 
 ductive science, so Oxford is representative of the classical or 
 literary element. True, but how is it Bacon's six divisions of his 
 Great Instauration are found divided between the two universities 
 one half being with Oxford, the other half with Cambridge ? It is 
 curious to perceive the missing last three divisions of the Instaura- 
 tion associated with Cambridge, with the invisible or intellectual 
 globe above them, as much as to suggest, that the Scala Intellectus 
 the Prodromi, and the second philosophy, emergent upon practice, 
 are associated with mathematics or numbers, and hold out their 
 hands to the other three completed parts (across the sea), in the vis- 
 ible or poetic world of the plays ! These two plinths, representative 
 of the two realms of induction and deduction, of the real and visible, 
 and of the intellectual or invisible, are plainly a reproduction of the two 
 pillars of Hercules, of the two columns of the Masons, that are to be 
 refound in both the engravings attached to the 1620 Novum Organum 
 and the Si/lva Sylvarum. They represent two distinct worlds, sep- 
 arated as an old world from a new world, and Bacon's ship is noth- 
 ing but his method bridging and crossing the seas which sep- 
 arate them. That ship, we believe, is associated with the Advance- 
 ment of Learning m nine books, and that is why the title is displayed 
 upon a banner hanging from a line stretched from university to 
 university. There is a complete understanding in this engraving, 
 
160 , THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 for the joined hands, the connected title on its cord, the ship cross- 
 ing the seas, from world to world, are all in perfect harmony with 
 each other. 
 
 As Bacon's intellectual globe answers or corresponds to his invisi- 
 ble world, pictured upon the frontispiece given (facing the portrait 
 of himself in the 1640 Oxford edition), something may be gathered 
 by a closer study o^his Description of the Intellectual Globe, a tract 
 published in 1612. 
 
 The first thing that strikes us as curious in commencing the 
 treatise entitled the Description of the Intellectual Globe, is to find 
 it opening with the division of all human learning into history, 
 poesy, and philosophy, as we find in the second book of the 
 Advancement af Learning, 1605 (p. 85, Aldis & Wright), and the 
 first chapter of the second book De Augmentis. But we must 
 be careful to note a most important fact, and that is, that while 
 (for some chapters) following the argument and subject mat- 
 ter of both the (1005) Advancement and De Augmentis, it differs 
 from both as to text. Spedding writes : 
 
 " This tract, published by Glruter in 1653, mnst have been written 
 about 1612. This follows, from what has been said of the new star 
 in Cygnus, which was first observed in 1600. It is therefore inter- 
 mediate in date between the Advancement of Learning and the 
 De Augmentis, and, though on a larger scale than either, it is to he 
 referred to the same division of Bacon's writings. The design of all 
 these is the same, namely, a survey of the existing state of 
 knowledge. The commendation of learning which forms the first 
 book of the other two works being in this one omitted, it com- 
 mences with the tripartite division of knowledge, which Bacon 
 founded on the corresponding division of the faculties of man — 
 memory, imagination and reason. History, which corresponds to 
 memory, is here as in the De Augmentis, primarily divided into nat- 
 ural and civil, whereas in the Advancement the primary division 
 of history is quadripartite, literary and ecclesiastical history 
 being made co-ordinate with civil history, instead of being, as here, 
 subordinated to it. " 
 
 It is therefore perfectly clear, Bacon at one time contemplated 
 calling his De Augmentis by the name of the Intellectual Globe, and 
 though he ultimately abandoned this title for the former, it is equally 
 certain, the De Augmentis (and its translation of 1640) answered, 
 in Bacon's mind, to the idea embraced under the early title and 
 draft of 1612, that is the Intellectual Globe. 
 
roz T^ifGOtferies* 
 
 " ~ . 3ffe«Stions more in his power. The fearc of every man that heard him, 
 was, left hcefliouid make an end. 
 ScrlptorHm Ctcerfih laid t(> bee the only wit j Jthat the people of Rome had cquall'd 
 cJd(ygui . to their Bmptt'Ci. Ingeniam far imperh. We havchad many, and in their 
 Sir Thoma4 feyeral I Ages, ^to take in but the former Seculum, > Sir Thomas Moon , the 
 Mwre* e}qcr WtAt^ Hmrf , Eatle of Surref-^ Chalmr , Smithy ClioP, B . Gardiner, 
 faxThomi^ were for. theu' times ad riiiriiblc: and the more, becaufe they began EIo* 
 ^^^' V ^^^'^^ with «S. S'liMca: Bacony wds fingular, and almoft alone , in the 
 jien: Earie j^^g j^ning of Qiieene ElizAbeths times. Sir PhilipSidney, and Mr. Hooker 
 %ii^b?^M Ci<?<iiffercnt mjacter) grciv great Matters of wit, and language^ and in 
 Chftloner, whomall vigour of Invention , and ftrength of judgement met. The 
 SvcThinds Earleof £^jr, noble and high-, and Sir IValter Ratvlei^h , not to be con* 
 ^mithi temn'd^ citlier for j udgeraent, or ftile. Sir Henry Savile grave jand truly 
 Sir Thsmoi ktter'dj Sir Edwin Sandes, excellent in both; Lo:Egerton, theChan- 
 Cliot. celior, a grave y and great Orator •, and beft , When hce was proVok'd. 
 B.CaKdi-f But his learned, and able ('though unfortunate) 5«fr^j(/ir) is he, who hath 
 Sr *iV:V- ^^^'^ MP ^^^ numbers » and perforni'd that in our tongue , which may be 
 £ac0H.LX. f ompar'd, or preferred , either to inlolcnt Greece , or haughty Rome, In 
 Sir Huip flipr^;, within liis view, and about his times, were all the wit's borne, that 
 Sydney. cpuld'honour a language, or helpe ftudy. Now things daily fall: wits 
 yii.Rkh^d grow downe^ ward, and £/^^//<r»r(r growes back- ward ; S6 that hee may 
 jjoaker. ijq nam'd, and ftand as the marke^ and aKM« of our language. 
 jiolf.EarJe i have eyerObfcrv'dxt^ to have becnc the office of a wife Patriot, a- 
 *'f ^^^^' mong tlie gr^ateftaffaires of the State^ to take care of the C&mmoff-malfh 
 Rdlekh'^ ofj^earning. Fpr Schooles, they are the -Sfw/Tz^r/Vj of State: and no- 
 Sir Henry thing is worthief the ifudy of a Statef-man , the n that part of the Reptib' 
 S4v[le. Sir liche^ which wee call the advancement of Letters, WitnefTe the care of 
 Edw'm ItdifuC/tfar-y whointhejieatof theciviU warrc,writ hisbookesof y^/t;^ 
 Sanis.SXt logic ^ and dedicated them toT*//;. This made the late Lord S. Albane, 
 Thomoi: entitle his worke , npimm Orgamm. Which though by the moft of fu- 
 Egerton. perficiall men ^ who cannot get beyond the Title of Homtmls , it is not 
 \'t^F cts penetrated^. nor underflpod; it really openeth all defeds of Learning, 
 ^AcoC" whatfocvex 5 and is a Bookei 
 L.C. * 
 
 T>e Aug- O m longum notofcripionporHget jivum^ 
 
 mentisjci- 
 
 emi*rttm. j^ly conccit of his Perfon was never increafed toward him , by his 
 jultHs C<e- pjgj-^ ^ Qj. honours. But I have , and doe reverence him for the great- 
 Lord S Al' ^^^'^* ^^^^ "^^ onely proptr to him felfe, in thathee feem'd to mee e ver, 
 ^ane " ' ^V ^^^ worke one of the greateft men , and moft worthy of admiration, 
 Hwat'.dt that bad beene in many Ages* In his adv^rfity lever prayed, thatG^^ 
 0Xti?oeuca. wCJiDld giyc. felm ftrength : -for Gre&tne(fe hee could not want. Neither 
 Decorrnp- coald I condolc~in aword , of fyllabfc for him ^ as kn6wing no Acci- 
 teU m(frnT». deiitEOulddoe hiiime to t^.cttue $ but rather helpe to aiake it manifeft . 
 Th^re cannot ht onecoldur of the mind % an other of the wit. If the 
 mind beiiaitl,gravCi and composed 5 the wit is fo, that vitiated,the other 
 is blown^i and deflowr'd., Doe wee not fee, if the mind languifli , the 
 members arc duil . Lookc upon an effeminate perfon : his very gate 
 confcffethhim. If amao be fiery, his motion is foi if angry^'tis trou- 
 bled, lind violent. So that w?c may conclude: Whcrcfocvcr,flianncrs, 
 
 and 
 
 S ^/ 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 Ben Jonson's Discoveries or Explorata. 
 
 The jewel that we find, we stop and take it, 
 Because we see it ; but what we do not see, 
 We tread upon, and never think of it. 
 
 The evidence I am now about to adduce is derived from a quo- 
 tation from the poet Horace, applied by Ben Jonson to Bacon's 
 De Augmentis Scientiarum, which latter was published 1623, the 
 same year as the first collected edition of the plays, known as the 
 1623 folio Shakespeare. 
 
 The Latin quotation applied to the De Augmentis is borrowed 
 from Horace's Arte Poetica, and is found in direct context with the 
 invention of the art of play-writing. But, first, let me give Ben 
 Jonson's words : 
 
 " Witness the case of Julius Ccesar, who, in the heat of the civil 
 war, writ his book of Analogy and dedicated them to Tully. This 
 made the late Lord St. Albans entitle his work Novum Organum, 
 which, though by the most of superficial men, who cannot get beyond 
 the titleof NominalSyit is not penetrated nor understood, it really 
 openeth all defects of learning whatsoever, and is a book.'* 
 Qui longum noto scriptori porriget sevum. 
 
 {Discoveries, p. 102, 1641.) 
 In the margin we read, De Augmentis Scientiarum^ and against 
 the citation, Horat : De Arte Foetica. Now, very curiously, in the 
 same volume of Ben Jonson's works, I find a translation by him of 
 this, De Arte Poetica, by Horace — the Latin on one side, the trans- 
 lation on the other : 
 
 Ficta, voluptatis causa, sint proxima veris. 
 Nee quodcunque, volet ; poscat sibi fabula credi : 
 Neu pransse Laml^ vivum puerum extrahat alvo. 
 Centuriae seniorem agitant expertia frugis : 
 Celsi praetereunt austera poemata Ehamnes. 
 Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci, 
 Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo, 
 Hie meret cera liber Sosiis ; hie et mare transit, 
 Et longum noto scriptori porriget cevum, 
 
 (Printed 1640.) 
 The last line is the one quoted by Ben Jonson, and applied to 
 
 161 
 
162 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the De Augmentis, which latter, please note, was translated into 
 English for the first time in 1640, by Gilbert Wats ; therefore, ap- 
 pears the same year as this poem (quoted from) by Jonson. Ben 
 Jonson's translation is thus : 
 
 Let what thou feign'st for pleasures sake, be near 
 The truth ; nor let thy fable think what e're 
 It would, must be: lest it alive would draw 
 The child, when Lamia has dined, out of her maw. 
 The poems void of profit, our grave men 
 Cast out by voices ; want they pleasure, then 
 Our gallants give them none, but pass them by; 
 But he hath every suffrage can apply 
 Sweet mixed with sour, to his reader, so 
 As doctrine and delight together go. 
 This book will get the Sosii money ; this 
 Will pass the seas, and long as nature is, 
 With honor make, the far known author live. 
 (p. 23, Horace of the Art of Poetic, 1640.) 
 All this is a description, by Horace, of Dramatical and Poeti- 
 cal Composition, its laws, with directions for success. Horace in- 
 troduces Orpheus, Amphion, Homer, TyrtcBus. — 
 
 Ludusque repertus 
 Et longorum operum finis, ne forte pudori 
 Sit tibi Musa lyrse solers, et cantor Apollo. 
 
 Ben Jonson's translation : 
 
 Plays were found out ; and rest the end and crown 
 Of their long labours was in verse set down. 
 All which I tell, lest when Apollo's named. 
 Or muse upon the Lyre, thou chance be ashamed. 
 
 (p. 23.) 
 The fourth line from the last introduces the passage already 
 quoted: 
 
 Ficta voluptatis causa, sint proxima veris. 
 Now the reader will perceive how extraordinarily apposite these 
 lines are to describe the De Augmentis, which Bacon compares to a 
 ship sailing through time, an emblem he borrowed from the dis- 
 covery of the New World to illustrate his '' New World of Sciences, " 
 which the Be Augmentis is to open up : 
 
 This (book) 
 Will pass the seas, and long as nature is, 
 With honor make the far known Author live. 
 
 But this single parallel is not all ; for in context with Orpheus 
 (who Bacon introduces as " Orpheus Theatre," page 49 Be Aug- 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 163 
 
 mentis, translated by Wats 1640), I find a few lines preceding, and 
 leading to those already cited, the following, which is an exact 
 description of the sort of Acromatical or Parabolical Style 
 in which the De Augmentis is written: 
 
 Silvestres homines sacer, interpresque Deorum, 
 Csedibus et victn fsedo deterruit Orpheus, 
 Dictus ob hoc lenire tigres, rapidosque leones. 
 Dictus et Amphion Thebanas conditor arcis 
 Saxo movere sono testudinis, et prece blanda 
 Ducere quo vellet. Fuit hcec sapientia quondam, 
 Publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis, 
 Concubitu prohibere vago. 
 
 Here is Bacon's favorite Orpheus, and just that enigmatical and 
 veiled parabolical style described, which Bacon introduces in context 
 with Dramatical Poetry, pages 107, 108 of this same Be Augmentis 
 (which he describes as " flying too high over men's heads from the 
 obscurity of the style which was to select its reader"). Ben Jonson's 
 translation of the lines I have placed in Italics runs : 
 
 This was the wisdom that they had of old. 
 Things sacred, from profane to separate ; 
 The public from the private to abate. 
 
 (p. 23 H.) 
 
 Compare : " There is another use of Parabolical Poesy, opposite 
 to the former, which tendeth to the folding up of those things the 
 dignity whereof, deserves to be retired and distinguished, as with 
 A DRAWK CURTAIN. That is whcu the secrets and mysteries of 
 Rehgion, Policy and Philosophy are, veiled and invested with fables 
 and parables." (P. 108, Advancement of Learning, 1640.) This is 
 in context, and follows out of Bacon's description of Dramatical 
 Representative Poesy, upon the previous page 107. And to show 
 what Bacon means upon this same page, he introduces, with an 
 asterisk, his '' Wisdom of the Ancients, " as a Deficient of his " New 
 World of Sciences." {Sapientia Veterum 6th star or asterisk of 
 A New World of Sciences or the Deficients. Catalogue at end of 
 Advancement, 1640.) 
 
 The hint Bacon gives us for the theatre and its drawn curtain, is 
 one of those felicitous touches, which, like one of the titles of the 
 Advancement, (Bacon applies to it), y\z., the Intellectual Globe, recaWs 
 the Globe Theatre itself, where the immortal pieces ascribed to 
 Shakespeare were acted. 
 
 If the reader will count the italic words upon page 102 of Ben 
 Jonson's Timber or Discoveries (1641, first edition), he will find the 
 
164 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 word (applied to Bacon, " mark and acme of our language "), mark 
 is the 36tli word in order, counting from tlie top of the page. There 
 are 36 plays in the 1623 folio. If the count is continued, it is remark- 
 able to find the first word of the Latin quotation from Horace's 
 '' Art of Poetry J " is the 52d or 53d word in italics, according as we 
 count the word '* Commonwealth^^ as a single hyphenated word, or 
 as two words. The words in italics are: Cicero, Bome, Empire, 
 Ingenium par imperio, Seculum, Sir Thomas More Wiat, Henry, 
 Surrey, Chaloner, Smith, Cliot, Gardiner, Nico Bacon, Elizabeths, 
 Philip Sidney, Hooker, Essex, Walter Bawleigh, Henry Savilc, 
 Edivin Sandes, Egerton, Successor, Greece, Bome, Eloquence, Markc, 
 I have, State, Commonwealth, Seminaries, Bepublick, Advancement, 
 Julius Ccesar, Analogic, Tully, Albane, Novum Organum, Nominals, 
 Qui longum nolo scriptori porriget JEvum. If the reader will 
 kindly check and number these words in succession, he will find I 
 am correct in my numbers, and that the line cited from Horace, 
 carries Shakespeare's age 1616, — that is 52 and 53. If the italicized 
 words in the marginal notes, entitled Scriptorium Catalogus, are 
 likewise counted down, it is curious to again find the number 36 
 brings us to Francis (Bacon). If in the same marginal text we 
 count all the words together (initials also), we find Sir (Francis 
 Bacon) the 53d word. If these coincidences stood alone they might 
 be attributed to accident, but there are such a number of them 
 elsewhere, it is impossible to escape conviction, all this is part of a 
 profound system of cipher by means of mathematics. 
 
 I particularly desire to draw the student's attention to column 
 106 of the Comedies, whereon we find the line (p. 53, Merry Wives 
 of Windsor) : 
 
 Hang-Hog is Latin for Bacon I warrant you. 
 
 The reader will perceive this word Hang- Hog is hyphenated, and 
 therefore it may be counted as one or two words. The column pag- 
 ing is very important in this cypher, and it stands to reason- the 
 columns must not only be correctly numbered, but are real factors in 
 the problem. The fact Shakespeare died in 1616 in his fifty-third 
 year, as recorded on the Stratford monument (erected whilst his 
 widow and family were alive), and that we refind the word 
 Bacon not only on this page, but also twice on page 52 of 1st 
 K. H. IV. (which page is mispaged 54 from false 49, two in advance 
 of the real number), is a re-indorsement of the theory I hold of the 
 portrait standing in the frame by mathematics. Bacon being brought 
 
To the memory of my beloucd, 
 The AVTHOR 
 
 Mr. Will I AM Shakespea re: 
 
 And 
 
 what he hath left vs. 
 
 1 dram m enuy (^Shakefpearc) on thj name, 
 ' Am I thus ample td thy Boeke and Fame t 
 
 \iVhile I confeffe thy writings tobefuch. 
 
 As neither Man, mr Mufc » canprai/e too much, 
 'Tii true^ and all mens fuffrage. But thefe waves 
 
 ff^ere not the paths I meant vnto thypraife : 
 forfeeltefi Ignorance on thefe may light ^ 
 
 Whieh^ when it founds at beftjbstt ecchos right , 
 Or bltnde jffeSiion^ vphich dcth ne're aduance 
 
 The truth ^ but gropes^ and vrgtth all by chance 5 
 Or crafty Malice^ might pretend thisprai/e^ 
 
 And thinke ta ruine^ where itfeem'dto raife. 
 Thefe are^ as fame infamous Baud^ orffhore^ 
 
 should prai/e a Matron. iVhat could hurt her mere f 
 But thou artproofeagainjlthem^ andtndeed 
 Aboue th' ill fortune of them ^ or the rued, 
 7, therefore will begin, Soule of the Age / 
 
 The applaufe ! delight ! the wonder of our Stage [ 
 My Shakcfpearc, rfe j / will not lodge thee by 
 Chaucer, or Spcnfer, or ^/^f Beaumont lye 
 A lit tie further ^ to make thee 4 roome : 
 
 Thou art a Monifnent^ without a tombe, 
 And art aliuefiU^ while thy Booke doth liue^ 
 
 And we haue wits to ready andpraife togiue^ 
 That J not mixe theefo, my braineexcufes 5 
 
 I meane with great ^ but dijprtportion d Mufts : 
 For^ifj thought my iudgement were ofyeeres, 
 ijhould commit thee furely with thy peeres. 
 And tell^ h<fwfarre thou didHjl our Lily out-Jbine, 
 
 Orfuorting Kid , or Marlowcs mtghtj line. 
 And though thou hadffnt&ll Latine, and leffe Grccfce, 
 
 From thence to honour thee^ i would mtfeehe 
 Tor names- but call firth thund'ring iEfchiluSj 
 
 Eurlpicfcs, and Sophocles tot/s^ . - 
 Paccuuius, Accius, him e/Cordoua dead^ 
 
 To life againe^ teheare thy BuskiH tread. 
 And (hake a Stage :0r, when thy Sockes vert on^ 
 teattc tke alom.fer theeomparifm 
 
Rom the moft al)le,to him that can but fpelh There 
 you are number'd.We had rather you were weighd. 
 Efpccially, when the fate of all Bookes depends vp^ 
 on your capacities : and not of your heads alone, 
 but of your purfes. Well ! It is now publicjue, & you 
 wilftand for your priiiiledges wee know: to read, 
 and cenfure . Do fo,but buy it firft. That dothbcft 
 commend a Booke, the Stationer faies. Then^how odde foeuer your 
 braines be, or your wifedomes, make your licence, the fame^andlpare 
 not. ludge your fixe-pen'orth, yourlbillings worth, your fiue (hil- 
 lings worth at a time, or higher, fo you rife to the iuft rates, and wel- 
 come. But, what euer you dOj Buy. Cenfure will not driuc a Trade, 
 ormake thelacke go. And though you be a Magiftrate of wit, and fie 
 on the Stage at !B/dc^-Fr/>rj,orthe (;oc%/>, to arraigne Play es dailie, 
 know, thefe Playcs haue had their triall alreadie, and flood outaH^p- 
 pealesj and do how come forth quitted rather by a Decree of Co'^rt^ 
 then any purchased Letters of commendation. . 
 
 It had bene a thing, we confefle, worthie to hauebene wi{hed,that 
 the Author himfelfe had liu d to haue fet forth, and ouerfeen his o wne 
 "writings ,- But fince it hath bin ordain d otherwifcjandheby death de- 
 parted from that right,we pray you do not envie his Friends^the ofEce 
 of their care, and paine, to haue colledted & publiCh'd them,^ and fo to 
 hauepubliQi'd them, as where (before) you were abus'd with diuetfe 
 ftolne, and furreptitious copies, maimed,and deformed by the frauds 
 and ftealthes of iniurious impoftors, that expos'd them : euen thofc, 
 are now offerd to your view cur d, andperfe(5t of their hmbes,- and all 
 the reft, abfolute in their numbers, as he conceiued the.Who,as he was 
 a happie imitator of Nature,was a raoft gentle expreffer of it.His mind 
 andhand went together: And what he thought, he vttered with that 
 eafihefle, that wee haue fcarfe receiued from him a blot in his papers. 
 But it isnbt our prouince,who onely gather his works, and giue them 
 you, topraifehim. It is yours that reade him. And there wehope,to 
 your diucrs capacities, you willfinde enough, both to draw, and hold 
 you : for his wit can no more lie hid, then it could be loft. Reade him, 
 therefore 5 and againe, andagaine : And if then you doe not like him, 
 furely you are infomc manifeft danger, not to vnderftand him. And io 
 weleaueyou to other of his Friends, whom ifybu need,can bee your 
 guides : if you neede them not, you can leade jour felues^aad others, 
 And fuch Readers we wifti him< 
 
Vpon the Linesand Life of the Famous 
 
 Scenickc Poet, Matter W i l l i a m 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 I Hofc hands, which you To clapt, go now, and wring 
 You BritMfKs brauej for done are shAkejfures c/aycs : 
 His daycs arc done, that inadc the dainty Playcs, 
 J Which made the Globe ofhcau n and canh ro ring. 
 _____ SPry'dc is that vcinc, dry'd is the Thef^'an Spring, 
 Tura'd all to tearcs,and ?heehuiA^\xA^ hisrayes : 
 That cor p's, that coffin now bcftickc ihofc baycs. 
 Which crown'd him foet firft, then foeti King. 
 XiTngedies might any ?rtfiig«^hauCj 
 Allthofe he made, would fcarfe make one to this * 
 Where Fdme^ now that he gone is to the graue 
 (Deaths publique tyring-boufc^ the Nund/uis, 
 For though his line oi life went foone about. 
 The lifcycc of his lines (hall neucr out. 
 
 nVGH HOLL^i^D 
 
The Mtrry Wtues o/ffindfir. 
 
 t3 
 
 P«rd. A Buck-baiket > 
 
 Fdd. Yes : a Buck-basket : ram'd mec In with foute 
 Shirts and Smockes, Socks, fou!e Stockings, greafie 
 Napkins, that (Mafler Brttme) there was the ranked 
 compound of rilUnous (ateW^ that cuer offended no- 
 ftrlll. 
 
 Ford. And how long l«y you there? 
 
 iW. ,Nay, you fliall hearc (M after Brcome) what I 
 bauefuffcro, to bring this ^otnan to cuill, for youi 
 goodt Being thus eram'd in the Basket, a couple of 
 ftr«^knaUes, hi« Hind«,vfere cald forth by their Ml- 
 ftris»to carry mce in the flame of foule Gloathes to 
 'Dtitchet-ldnt : they tooke me on their fhoulders i met 
 the ieaiout knaue their MaRer in the doore ; who 
 aik'd them, once or twice what they had in their Baf- 
 ket ? I quaVd for feare leaft the Lunatidue Knaue 
 would haue feat ch'd it : but Fate (ordaining he ftiould 
 be a Cuckold) held hit hawdi well, onwcnthce, for 
 a ifeacch , and away went 1 for fouie Cloathes r But 
 markethefequell(Mafter5rw«^) Ifuflfcred the pang* 
 of three feuerall deaths : Firft, an btollerable fright, 
 to be dete^ed -with a iealious rotten Bell-weather : 
 Next to be compafs'd like a good Bilbo in the circum- 
 ference of a Pecke, hilt to point, heele to head. And 
 theniobeftoptin like a ftrong diftillation with (link- 
 ing Cloathcs, that fretted in their owne ereafc: 
 thinke of that, a man of my Kidney; thiiikeof that, 
 that am as fubie6l to heate as butter ; a man of conti- 
 nuall difTolution, and thaw: it was a miracle to fcape 
 fuffocaiion. And in the height of this Bath (when I 
 was more then halfc ftew'd in greafc (like a Dutch- 
 difh) to be throwne into the Thames, and 
 coold, glowing-hot, in that ferge like a Horfc- 
 ihoo; thinke of that ; hiding hot : thinke of that(MaRer 
 Br»eme,) 
 
 ford. In good fadnelTe Sir,I am forTy,that for my fake 
 you haue fufferd all this. 
 
 My fuite then is defperatc : You'll vndcrtake her no 
 more? 
 
 Fal. Martcr Broome x I will be throwne into Etna, 
 as I haue becneincoThames,ere I will leauc her thus; 
 her Husband is this morning gone a Birding : I 
 haue receiued from her another ambaflie of mee- 
 ting .• *twi« eight and nine is the hourc ( Maftcr 
 Broome.') 
 
 Ford. 'Tis paft eight already Sir. 
 
 F/tl. Is it ? I will then addreflc mee to my appoint- 
 ment : Come to mce at your conuenient leifure , and 
 you (hall know how I fpeede : and the conclufion 
 fhjll be crowned with your enioyingher: adiew.* you 
 fliall haue her (Maftcr Broome) Maftcr Broome^ you (ball 
 cuckold f«r</. 
 
 Ford. Hum: ha? Is thi4 a viiion ? Isthisadreame? 
 doc 1 fleepc ? Maftcr Ford awake, awake Mafter Ford : 
 ther'sahole made in youtbeft co>te (Mafter Fordi)x.h\% 
 'tis to be married}' thii'titto haue Lynnen, and Buck- 
 baskets : Well, I will ptoclaimc my felfe what I am : 
 1 will now take the Leather; hec i»8i myhoufe : hcc 
 cannot fcape me ! 'tis impoflible hee ftiould: hce can- 
 not crecpeintoa halfe-pennypurfe, nor into a Pcppcr- 
 Boxe: But Icaftthe Diuell that guides him, fbould 
 aide hitn , I will fearch impoflible places : though 
 what] ana, I cannot auoide; yet to be what I would 
 not, (hall not make me tame : If I haue homes, to ftiake 
 onemai, letViiepMuecbegoe with me, Hebe horne- 
 ' inad. Sxtunt. 
 
 r 
 
 JBus Quartus, Sccena Trima, 
 
 E»terMijiru P*ie,^Kkly,mii4mj£»Mt. 
 
 Mifl.Pag. Is he at Wi.fords already think'ft thou ? 
 
 ^», Sure he is, IjY this; or will be prefently } but 
 
 truclyheisverycouragiotismad, about his throwing 
 
 into the water. Miftris Ford defires you to come fo- 
 
 dainety. 
 
 THifi.Pag. liebewithhct by and by:llebt« bfJng 
 myyong-nian here to Schoole : looke where his Mafter 
 come* ; 'tis a playing day I fee : how now Sir hmrh^ d6 
 Schoole to day? . 
 
 Em4. NoiMafter Slender is let the Boyei Icaue to play. 
 
 Q»i. "Ble(ring of his heart. ' 
 
 Mifi.Psg. Sir Hugh.my husband faies my fonne pro- 
 fits nothing in the world at his Booke: 1 pray you aske 
 him fome queftions in his Accidence. 
 
 Em. Come hither IKiUumi ^oW vp your hcadjcome. 
 
 Mifl.V4g. Come-on Sirba I holdtp your head; an. 
 fwere your Maftcr, be not afraid. 
 
 Eh4. fyilli4m,hovt many Numberris inNownes? 
 
 mS. Two. 
 
 ^Mi. Truely^ I thought there had bin one Nambet 
 more,becaufc they fay od's-Nowncs. 
 
 Ei*4. Peace.your tatlitigs. What is (FmreJnUidm ? 
 
 fVta. Pnleher. 
 
 Si»' Po wlcats? there ate/airer things then Po wlcaa, 
 fute. 
 
 E»4. You are a very (implicity ©man: Iprayyoo 
 peace. What is (£,4tpftr) ;f/&v«w ? 
 
 lyil. A Stone. 
 
 EuA. And what is a Stone (mUiam f) 
 
 fFiB. APeeble. 
 
 Eud. No J it IS Lapis : I pray you remember In TOnr 
 praine. 
 
 ma. Lofit. 
 
 Eua. That is a good mSidm: what is he{1Fillutm)thlit 
 do'slend Articles. 
 
 (ViM. Articles arc borrowed of the Pronoune ; and be 
 thus declined. Siogultfriter tomindtiuehic bdc,hoc, 
 
 Eua. Nominating hig^agjhog : pray you matke : gent' 
 tiuohHita: Well ; what \%yom j1ecmfatlMe.cafe} 
 
 fVitt, j4ccufatiftohi»c. 
 
 Sua. I pray you haue your remembrance (childe)^^- 
 cnfatiuo hi>ig,ha»g^hog. 
 
 Qh. Hang-hog, is latten for Bacon J warrantyott. 
 
 Sua. Leaueyour ftihles^o'taui^V/iminheFcct' 
 tiuecafe^fKlHamf) 
 
 mil. Off^tcatiMOfO. 
 
 Sna. Remember fflllsam,Pocatiue, is C0«t. 
 
 Q»^ And that's a eoodroote. 
 £m. 0'man,forDeare.' 
 
 ■MtJt.Pag. Peace. 
 
 Eho-. \f^hin9yo\iTGtnitiiieeafiffyiraS(mli4m}) 
 
 jViH. Genitiuecafe} 
 
 Eua. 1. 
 
 It^ill. GenitiHeboriim,harKm,hartim. 
 
 Qh. 'Vengeance ofGinyes cafe ; fie on her ; netiet 
 namcherfchilde) if(he'bea whoie. 
 
 Eita. Forfhameo'man. 
 
 _<Vf*. You doe ill lo teach the childe fuch words : hee 
 teaches him to hie, and to hac ; which they 11 doe faft 
 enough of themfelucs, and to caWhorttm; fie f pon you. 
 E 3 ^,'Oman 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 165 
 
 in as a word on these pages, 52, 53. Now, if ttie reader will care- 
 fully count the words both down and up this column 106, he will 
 find the line quoted is as follows : 
 
 Down column 
 106. 
 
 ( Hang 263. 
 Hog 264. 
 
 or; 
 
 263. 
 
 ( 100. 
 99. 
 
 I 99 (up column, 
 
 106) 
 
 p. 53 M. W. W. 
 
 is 265. 
 
 Latin 266. 
 
 for 267. 
 
 Bacon 268. 
 
 I 269. 
 
 warrant 270. 
 
 you. 271. 
 
 
 264. 
 
 265. 
 
 266. ■ 
 
 267. 
 
 268. 
 
 269. 
 
 270. 
 
 98. 
 97. 
 %Q. 
 95. 
 94. 
 93. 
 92. 
 
 
 
 Amongst the chief verses dedicated to the author of the plays, 
 one stands preeminent, written by Bon Jonson (which already has 
 claimed attention from Mr. Donnelly's pen), and is to be found at 
 the commencement of the 1623 Folio Plays. If the student will 
 turn to this poem, commencing : 
 
 To draw no envy (Shakespeare) on thy name, 
 Am I thus ample to thy Booke and Fame, 
 
 While I confesse thy writings to he such. 
 As neither Man, nor Muse, can praise too much, 
 
 he will find on the 32d line these words : 
 
 I would not seek 
 For names — 
 
 If the reader will carefully count every word in succession, from the 
 commencement of the poem, down to these words, he will find the 
 words, "■ Seek for names,'' the 266th, 267th, 268th, or 267th, 268th, 
 269th, according as we count '' out-shine,'' as a single word or two 
 words. If the reader will now count the words upon page 53, 
 Merry Wives of Windsor, column 106, he will find the words : 
 
 Bacon I warrant 
 
 the 267th, 268th, 269th, likewise down the column, counted from the 
 top, " Hang-Hog " being treated as a single word. 
 
 As the critic may object to any arbitrary treatment of hyphen- 
 ated words, of which there is a single example in each collated pas- 
 sage, I will give the alterative counts in each case, viz., counting 
 " Hang-Hog " as one, and then as two words, and also counting out- 
 shine as one, and then as two words. The reader will perceive, no 
 matter how we collate the poem with page 53, column 106, Merry 
 Wives of Windsor, the suspicious words, " seek for names," falls into 
 congruity with and against the word '* Bacon ! " 
 
166 
 
 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 Hog treated 
 single word 
 
 i as a S 
 
 Hang Hog treated as 
 two words, 
 
 For 266 
 
 Bacon 267 
 
 I 268 
 
 For 267 
 
 Bacon 268 
 
 1 269 
 
 Out-shine as 
 
 single word 
 
 Out-shine as 
 
 two words, 
 
 A 
 
 Seek 266 
 
 for 267 
 
 ames. 268 
 
 267 
 268 
 269 
 
 for 
 
 If we count a hyphenated word in one case as a single word, it is 
 only rational we do likewise in the other case. But even if we out- 
 rage this rule, and try the cipher collusion by the next possible 
 count, of treating " Hang-Hog " as one word, and " out-shine '' as. 
 two words, we get the same result : 
 
 Hang-Hog, 
 
 one word, 
 
 Hang-Hog, 
 
 two words, 
 
 Bacon 267 
 
 I 268 
 
 warrant, 269 
 
 For 
 Bacon 
 
 267 
 268 
 
 Out-shine, 
 
 two words. 
 
 Out-shine, 
 one word. 
 
 Seek 
 for 
 
 For 
 
 names. 
 
 267 
 268 
 209 
 
 267 
 268 
 
 The impartial critic will do me the justice to allow, I have evaded 
 no dif&culty, or possible collating of the figures, which may be hostile 
 to my discovery. The only four possible alternative counts and 
 collusions (by congruity of cipher counts) have been exhausted, with 
 always the same result, that the words, ^^ seek for names, ^^ agree 
 with the words, " Bacon I warrant,'^ or hold an apparent answer to 
 the implied query, in the words, ^'For Bacon. " It may be observed, 
 Ben Jonson writes : " I would not seek for names, " and then praises 
 Shakespeare solely/ as an actor! Extraordinary as this cipher con- 
 gruity of figures is, I am quite ready to confess, if it stood alone, it 
 might be open to criticism to declare it mere coincidence. But it 
 does not stand singly or unsupported by other evidence, all tending 
 to show page 53, col. 106, of the Merry Wives of Windsor, is a 
 great cipher text page, or Philosophical Grammar, to which this 
 cipher problem of the authorship of the plays is to be tested and 
 referred to. 
 
 For example, in one of the prefaces to this same folio Plays (first 
 edition 1623), is an address by John Heminge and Henry Condell (the 
 pubhshers), " To the Great Variety of Beaders,'^ which I here also 
 reproduce in fac-simile. The second paragraph opens, *' It had 
 been a thing, we confess, worthy to have been wished, that the 
 AUTHOR HIMSELF had Uvcd to havc set forth his own writings. ^^ 
 This is the only entry of the word author in this preface. If the 
 reader will count the words up, from the bottom of the page, he will 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 167 
 
 find " AUTHOR " the 267th word, agreeing with the word " Bacon ^^ 
 267 {Hang- Hog coxmted as one word), page 53, col. 106, Merry Wives 
 of Windsor. It may be observed there are no hyphenated, double, 
 or ambiguous words, in this count. It is open to the critic to include 
 the names of John Heminge and Henry Condell in the count if he 
 likes, but I think this is hardly legitimate. 
 
 If we now collate again with page 53, col. 106 Merry Wives of 
 Windsor, we get : 
 
 P. 53 M. W. W. 
 
 Jiang Hog. 
 
 { One word. ) 
 
 P. 53 M. W. W. 
 
 Hang Hog. 
 
 ( Two woi'ds. ) (^ 
 
 If we include the four words of the names of John Heminge and 
 Henry Condell in the count, we get this extraordinary result; a 
 cipher statement, that Bacon had lived to set forth and oversee his 
 own writings: 
 
 p. 53 M. W. W. ( I 269. Preface ^ had 269. (counted up). 
 
 Hang Hog. } Bacon 268. Folio 1623 } lived 268. (counted up). 
 
 (Two words.) (. 
 
 
 5 Author, 267. 
 \ himself 266. 
 
 Up the page. 
 
 Bacon 267 
 
 
 For 266 
 
 
 
 Bacon 268 
 
 5 the 268. 
 
 Up the page. 
 
 For 267 
 
 ; Author 267. 
 
 
 You 270. ( himself 270. 
 
 Hang Hog. J "Warrant 269. J had 269. 
 
 as one word.) 1 1 268. 1 lived 268. 
 
 Bacon 267. I to 267. 
 
 If we read the last collated passage in sequence, (up, from left to 
 right, down), we get part of a complete sentence, Bacon I warrant 
 you, himself had lived to (set forth and oversee his own writing?) 
 The reader will see this is a second endorsement of my theory, that 
 page 53 M. W. of W., col. 106, is a table of cipher reference. 
 
 I present the reader now with a fac-simile reproduction of page 
 21, Bacon's History of King Henry the Seventh, first edition 1622. 
 This page has already been commented upon, and the cipher con- 
 nection between it and page 53, Merry Wives of Windsor j col. 106, 
 established in my last work, Francis Bacon, Poet, Prophet and Phi- 
 losopJier, (Kegan Paul, French, Triibner & Co., 1891, London). But 
 as this page 21 alluded to, was not reproduced in fac-simile, but only 
 set up in type, doubts may exist as to the genuineness of the figures. 
 I therefore place the reader in the position of having Bacon's 
 History, (so far as this page 21 is concerned) before his eyes. The 
 only way of establishing the validity of this cipher problem in the 
 eyes of the public, is to present the pages themselves. I am con- 
 
Page 21. C This 268, or 267, or 268, or 267. 54 up. 53 over- 
 
 Hist K. H. YII. ■? Stage I 269 268 > 269 268 53 the 52 thr 
 
 168 THE GOLUMUBS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 vinced no statements of any kind have the weight or force, that one 
 single self-made discovery of the correctness of the counts (proving 
 cipher congruity) has on the individual mind. The reader is there- 
 fore asked to audit these figures for himself ? There is no more 
 convincing proof in the world than that of mathematics. For it is 
 impossible these congruities of numbers, occurring over and over 
 again, can be the result of chance. In proportion as they multiply, 
 — which they will, — the plea of coincidence must disappear. 
 
 Upon counting the words down the page, we find two hyphen- 
 ated words, withdrawing -chamber and stage-play, which I count 
 respectively as double and single words: 
 
 C This 
 . } Stage > 
 1622. ( Play \ 270 269 ^ one word, do 52 page 51 one word. 
 
 This collated with page 53, Merry Wives of Windsor, is very 
 remarkable, because, whether we count " over-throw " as a single or 
 double word, the number 53 is brought against 267, or 268, or 269. 
 Now, upon page 53 (Shakespeare's age 1616, when he died). Merry 
 Wives of Windsor (column 106) the word Bacon, as we have shown, 
 is either 267 or 268 (counted down the column), according as Hang- 
 Hog is counted doubly or singly. The result of collating, by con- 
 gruity of numbers, these two pages is : 
 
 P. 21, 
 K. H. YII. 
 
 No student who audits these numbers will question this cannot 
 be the result of coincidence or chance. This page 21 of the History 
 of King Henry the Seventh, therefore, identifies the word or words, 
 " stage-play^^ (by a cipher portrait of 52, 53), with Shakespeare, 1616, 
 and also with Bacon, whose name we find upon page 53, Merry 
 Wives of Windsor, 267 or 268. To my mind nothing could be more 
 simple, for if numbers could speak they here say : '* This stage 
 play belonging to Shakespeare belongs to Bacon as well. " 
 
 This 268, 
 
 53 ( 
 
 r Bacon 268 1 
 
 ) 
 
 Stage'Zm 
 
 < 
 
 I 269 
 
 > p. 53, M. W. W, 
 
 Play 270 
 
 { 
 
 { warrant. 270 J 
 
 > 
 
K^ng H E .V R ^ the Seventh, 
 
 21 
 
 education j or in fit arifwcres to queftions, or the like, 
 any wayes to come nearc the refemblancc of him 
 whom he was to reprefent. For this Lad was not to 
 perfonate one , that had beenc long before taken out 
 of his Cradle, or conueighed away in hisinfancie, 
 knowne to few -, but a routh thattill the age almoft of 
 ten yeares had beenc brought vp in a Court where 
 infinite eyes had beene vpon him. For King Ed- 
 ward touched with rcmorfc of his brother the 
 Duke of Clarences death , would not indeed rcftorc 
 his fonnc,(of whom wee fpcafec) to be Dukeof C/tt- 
 rence^ but yet created him Ezrlcoi PFarwich ^teuu 
 uing his honour on the mothers fide, and vfed Wnti 
 honourably during his time , though Ri chard 
 the Third afterwards confined him. So that it can- 
 not be, but that fome great Per/on , that knew particu- 
 : larly, and familiarly E d wa r o P l a k tj^ g e h B t^ 
 had a hand in the bufineflt^ from whom the Prieft 
 might take his ayme* That which is moft p robablc, 
 outof the precedent and fubfcqucnt Acts,is,thatit 
 was the Qjieene (Dowa^er^ from whom this action had 
 the principall fourcc and motion* 'For certainc it 
 is,flieewas a bufie negotiating woman, andin her 
 Vtthdrawing-ChAmber had the fortunate Qonjpiracie for 
 the King againft King Richard the Third, 
 beenc hatched; which the King knew, and temena- 
 bred perhaps but too well v and was at this time cx- 
 treamely difcontent with the King , thinking her 
 daughter(as the King handled the matter^ not aduah- 
 cedjbutdcpreflTed: and none could hold the&o^<r 
 fo well to prompt and inftruct this Stige-fUj ^^s ibe 
 could, ^^fcuerthdef^c it was not her meaning , nor no 
 more was it the meaning of any of the better and la- 
 ger fort that fauoured this Enterprifc and knew the 
 Secret, that this difguifcd IdoU fliould poffcfTc the 
 Crownei butat hispcrill lomakeway to the Oiicii. 
 
 throw 
 
^ng He NRr the SeueAfb. 
 
 n 
 
 his Efcapc^ the cunning Priefl changed hk Copic, ahd 
 chofc now Pla ntaoenet to be the Subic(5l his 
 Puinll fliould perfonate , becaufc he was more in the 
 prelenr fpcech, and votes of the people ; and it pieced 
 better, and followed more clofeand handfomely.vp- 
 on the bruit ofPtANTAoENETs efcapc. But yet 
 doubting that there would be too necrc looking, and 
 too much PeifpeSiiuemio hisDifguifc, if he {nould 
 fhew it here in England ^ hee ihoughc good (after the 
 manner of Seems in Stage-flaycs and Mashs) to flicW 
 itafarreoff^ and thertfore faylcd with his SchoUct 
 into Ireland^ where the Affcdion to the Houfc of 
 Y o R K B was moft in height The King had bccne 
 a little improuident in ch^ matters odreiand, and had 
 not remoucd Off'uen and Counfellorfi and put in theif 
 places, or at Icaft inteimingled perfons. of whom hcd 
 Uood afTurcd.as he fhould hauc done, fince hee knew 
 the ftrong Bent of that GDuntrey towards the Houfc 
 of Y o R K E j and that it was a ticklifht and vnfctlcd ■ 
 Stare, more cafic to recciuc diftcmpcrs and mutaci- [ 
 ens, then England wsls. But trufting to the reputation 
 of his Vidorics and SuccefTcs in Enghnd^zt thouj^hi 
 hcc (hould haue time enough to cxtcnid his Cares af- 
 terwards to that fccond Kingdodnc. 
 
 Wherefore through this neglcdl , vpon the com- 
 ming of Simon with his pretended Pi a n t a- 
 GENET into Ireland^ all thioga were prepared for 
 Rcuolt and Sedition, almoft as if thcyhad becncfct 
 and plotted before bund. Sii<MONS firft addrfcflfe 
 was to the Lord Thoma© Fitz-Ge^ard^ 
 Earle of Kjldare^ and Dcputie of Inland : beford 
 whofc Eyes hee did call fuchaMift (by bis ownc 
 infinuation, and by the carriage of his Youdi, kbat 
 cxprefifcd a naturall Princely behauloLic)aaioyntd 
 perhaps with fome inward Vapours of Anabitkm 
 and AfFcdion in the Earlcs ov^ibj ]!nkidc»^(iefc him 
 1 fully 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Cipher Discoveries — Continued. 
 
 Daus omnia in mensura, et numero, et ordino disposuit. {Motto to second title page 
 Advancement of Learning, p. 61, 16W.) 
 
 I believe all the prefatory pieces attached to the 1623 folio con- 
 tain cipher connections going to prove Bacon's authorship of the 
 plays. I have introduced a fac-simile of one which is worthy of note, 
 signed Hugh Holland. 
 
 This poem is found amongst the pieces prefacing the 1623 folio 
 Shakespeare. The reader's attention is called to the line : 
 " Which crowned him Poet first, then Poet's King. " 
 
 If we count the words up from the bottom of the poem, it is 
 curious to find this result, accordingly as we count tyring-house as 
 one or two words : 
 
 {Poet 55 or 56. 
 first, 54 or 55. 
 then 53 or 54. 
 Poet's 52 or 53. 
 King, 51 or 52. 
 
 Now Bacon's two ages 1616 were 55 and 56, that is, he was 55 
 years old, and in his 56th year. Shakespeare at his death was 52 
 years old and in his 53d year. (Stratford monument.) Is this coin- 
 cidence only ? Is it not possible the first poet (55, 56) is intended 
 for Bacon, the King of Poets and {poets), King of Shakespeare 
 (52, 53)? The word tragedies will be found the seventy-third word 
 down and the fiftieth or forty-ninth word up the poem. Upon pages 
 106, 107 {Advancement, 1640), tragedies and stage plays are dis- 
 cussed; there are seventy-three words in italics, page 106 {Dramat- 
 ical Poesy), seventy-three or seventy-four words in itaUcs, page 107 
 {Stage Plays.) 
 
 1 now wish to draw attention to page 23, King Henry the^Sev- 
 entWs History, by Bacon, which is even a more important page than 
 21. This page has already been discussed in my last work, Francis 
 Bacon, but as there are some further points I should like to illus- 
 trate, I reintroduce it. There can be little doubt this page 23, like 
 page 21; is in cipher touch with the plays. Indeed I am convinced 
 
 169 
 
170 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 the whole of Bacon's King Henry the Seventh was expressly written 
 to furnish proof of his authorship of the 1623 folio plays. As I have 
 already remarked in Francis Bacon, this reign is the one which is 
 omitted in the orderly succession of the chronicle plays, Richard the 
 Third being followed by the play of King Henry the Eighth. No- 
 body can imagine for a moment this reign was passed over on 
 account of its uninteresting art character. On the contrary, it was 
 full of events, and in the union of the Eoses, the discovery of America, 
 the revival of the classics, furnished abundant material for art- 
 Bacon made use of it, I submit, to illustrate through the impostors 
 Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck the parallel of Shakes- 
 peare with regard to himself. Henry the Seventh was chosen as 
 protector to the Knights of Rhodes (the originals of the Rosier u- 
 cians), and in his private life, religious character and succession to 
 a bad man like Richard the Third, presented Bacon with a perfect 
 analogy to represent his own literary succession to Shakespeare. 
 
 The date of the first folio Shakespeare plays was 1623. Bacon 
 was 62 and in his 63d year. It is therefore curious to find these words : 
 
 Pa^e 23. 
 
 History 
 
 King Henry VII. 
 
 Sixty-one is the number of " Disguise, " {without counting the 
 italic and capital tvords down the page). The reader will notice a 
 remarkable thing, — if we add the paging (23) to 61 (" Disguise " ), we 
 get 84, the number of '' Stage, '' (or " Stage Plays " ). 
 
 \ his 60 plus 23 equals 83. ( In 83. 
 
 I Disguise 61 plus 23 equals 84. ( Stage Plays 84. 
 
 In the same way, if we add the paging 23 to 63 (Perspective) 
 we get 86 (Masques): 
 
 Perspective 63 plus 23 equals 86, Masques 86. 
 
 In the sonnets (ascribed to Shakespeare) we read : 
 
 Perspective it is best painter's art. 
 
 For through the painter must you see his skill. 
 
 • {Sonnet xxiv.) 
 
 Compare : 
 
 Like perspectives, which rightly gazed upon 
 Show nothing but confusion, eyed awry 
 Distinguish form. 
 
 {Richard 11. , act ii. 2.) 
 
 Too 
 
 61. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 Much 
 
 58, 62. 
 
 Scejies 
 
 82. 
 
 Perspective 
 
 63. 
 
 in 
 
 83. 
 
 into 
 
 59, 64. 
 
 Sta^e Plays 
 
 84 and 85. 
 
 his 
 
 60, 65. 
 
 and 
 
 85 or 86. 
 
 Disguise 
 
 61, 66. 
 
 Masques 
 
 86 or 87 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 171 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 '' Like perspectives which show things inward, when they are but 
 paintings." — [Natural History.) 
 
 One of Bacon's deficients of ^ New World of Sciences is entitled 
 Kadix Perspective, or the Original of the Perspectives, and is con- 
 nected with the Novum Organum. I am convinced it deals with 
 the cipher problem in its radical and initiative form. 
 
 What we just want is the right perspective of the authorship of 
 the plays, as to the disguise of the real poet, behind the Shakespeare 
 mask. My theories and manipulating the numbers may be termed, 
 perhaps, ingenious, but I am convinced, from a vast mass of such 
 particulars, that ages and dates are prime factors, and root cipher 
 steps in this problem. The italicizing of words, or the " accent of 
 words (as Bacon terms it, page 264, Advancement of Learning), 
 form part of the cipher scheme. The words of every suspicious page 
 must be counted with and without the italicized or accented words, and 
 also in relationship to the paging. What more likely than upon page 
 23, standing for 1623 (just as 92 stands for 1892), Bacon should 
 introduce Stage Plays ±i^d Masks ? Or what more ingenious than 
 to identify his own Perspective (as disguise) with his own age in 
 1623, that is, 62, 63 ? 
 
 Too 61. 
 
 Much 62. 
 
 Perspective 63. 
 
 The reader will notice, if we add the paging 23, to the numbers 
 83, 84 (against In Stage Plays), we get 106, 107. It is upon column 
 106, page 53, Merry Wives of Windsor, the word Bacon occurs, and 
 Francis (Bacon's Christian name) is entered twenty-one times upon 
 column 107 of the Histories, page 56 (really 54, page 47 First King 
 Henry IV. is mispaged 49). 
 
 If we deduct the paging number 23 from the numbers against 
 Stage Plays and Masques, it is very remarkable to find we get 61, 
 62, 63 or 62, 63, 64, — two of these figures (in each possible count) 
 being Bacon's age. 
 
 C Stage Plays 84 — 23 = 61 ; or 85 — 23 = 62. 
 <and 85 — 23 = 62; or 86 — 23 = 63. 
 
 i^Masqites 86 — 23 = 63; or 87 — 23 = 64. 
 
 These hyphenated words seem to embarrass the counts, but I 
 am convinced they are introduced with a profound purpose. For 
 example, it may be seen this is the only possible method by which 
 the same numbers 62, 63, can be both brought to bear upon two 
 
172 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 words,— '^ Stage Pla7/s and Masques, ^^ separated by a word {and). 
 If we collate the passages by figures we get this congruity : 
 
 CToo 61. CSt(we Plays 61. 
 
 <Much 62. ^and 62. 
 
 (^Perspective 63. (^Masques 63. 
 
 By perspective Bacon means things seen at a distance. 
 
 It may be perceived how very apposite this introduction of Stage 
 Plays and Masks was to Bacon's own relationship to Shakespeare, 
 inasmuch as all this is introduced with regard to the impostor Lam- 
 bert SiMNEL, who was personating Richard, Duke of York, sec- 
 ond son to King Edward the Fourth. Simnel was setting himself 
 up falsely, after the manner of an actor, to be the rightful King, 
 whereas he had no right or real claim. Bacon terms him, *' this dis- 
 guised idol," — ''the counterfeit Plantageuet, " — "an airy body or 
 phantasm." I am convinced he has been selected as a hint for 
 Shakespeare by analogy. This may appear a far-fetched theory. 
 But inasmuch as Bacon could not write Shakespeare without discov- 
 ery, what other course was open to him, except to select parallels of 
 counterfeit impostors, and apply them by ciphers to his own case ? 
 But there is text proof, Bacon has made use of Lambeet Simnel 
 in this History of King Henry the Seventh to establish par- 
 allels for Shakespeare as an impostor poet. Upon page 126 Bacon 
 gives us Doctor Warham's speech upon Perkin Warbeck. Upon 
 pages 127, 128 we read : 
 
 " But (my Lords) I labor too much in a clear (page 128) busi- 
 ness. The King is so wise, and hath so good friends abroad, as now 
 he knoweth Duke Perkin from his cradle. And because he is a 
 great Prince, if you have any good Poet here, he can help him with 
 Notes to write his life; and to parallel Mm with Lambert Simnel j 
 now the King's Falconer." (1st edition, 1622.) 
 
 The words Lambert Simnel are the fifty-first and fifty-second 
 words counted down from the top of the page. Upon page 20, 
 Bacon writes of Richard Simon (who got up the plot of personating 
 Lambert Simnel as the heir to the throne), — "That this Priest — 
 should think it possible for him to instruct his ' Player,^ " etc. 
 Shakespeare was an actor or player, and his arms were a Falcon. 
 
 Upon page 112, Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck are intro- 
 duced in these words : 
 
 " At this time the King began again to be haunted with sprites, 
 by the Magic and curious arts of the Lady Margaret, who raised up 
 the ghost of Richard, Duke of York, second son to King Edward 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEMATUBE, 173 
 
 the Fourth, to walk and vex the King. This was a finer counter- 
 feit stone, than Lambert Simnel; better done and worn upon 
 greater hands ; being graced after, with the wearing of a King of 
 France, and a King of Scotland, not a Duchess of Burgundy only. 
 And for Simnel, there was not much in him, more than that (page 
 113) he was a handsome hoy and did not shame his robes. But this 
 youth (of whom we are now to speak) was such a Mercurial, as the 
 lilvc hath seldom been known, and could make his own past, if at 
 any time he chanced to be out. Wherefore this being one of the 
 strangest Examples of a Personation that ever teas in elder or later 
 times; it deserveth to be discovered and related at the full. Al- 
 though the King's manner of showing things, by pieces and dark 
 lights, hath so muffled it, that it hath left it almost as a mystery to 
 this day." (Page 113, History King Henry VII., Bacon, 1622.) 
 
 If the first paragraph is counted from Lambert will be found the 
 fifty-third word. If, from the top of page 113, the words are counted 
 down, we find this up and down the page : 
 
 Wherefore 268. 
 
 this 267. 
 
 being 266. 
 
 One 51 — 265. 
 
 Page 113, of 52 — 264. 
 
 Histonj \ the 53 — 263. 
 
 King Henry VII., Strangest 54 — 262. 
 
 1622. Examples 55 — 261. 
 
 of 56 — 260. 
 
 a 57 — 259. 
 
 , Personation 58 — 258. 
 
 It may be seen the words the strangest examples are the fifty- 
 third, fifty-fourth, fifty-fifth words, embracing Shakespeare's age 
 (53) and Bacon's (55), 1616. Moreover, the words, '• wherefore this^^ 
 are the 267th, 268th up the page, in congruence with the number 
 of the words, *' For Bacon' ^ upon page 53, Merry Wives of Windsor. 
 
 The name Lambert Slmnel will be found (repeatedly) to be the 
 eighty-fifth and eighty-fourth words all counted down and up the 
 following pages : 
 
 Bacon's f ^^S^ 20, Lambert Simnel, 84, 85, down the page. 
 K H VII i Page 113, Lambert Simnel, 84, 85, up the page. 
 to+ A-iif i«9o 1 Page 114, Lambert Simnel, 87 or 85, up the page. 
 1st edit., \bii. I^p^gg J25. Perkin, 52 up the page. 
 
 Moreover, in terming Lambert Simnel a disguised idol, we have a 
 hint for Bacon's idols of the theatre. 
 
 The tabled page 264, from the Advancement of Learning of 1640. 
 may be tested as to correctness of printed matter, by reference to 
 Mr. F. J. Schulte, of 298 Dearborn Street, Chicago, who possesses a 
 copy of the said work. The expense connected with fac-simile repro- 
 
174 
 
 THE COLUMBUS OF LITER ATUBE. 
 
 (luctions has preveoted my giving the page in original. I may here 
 observe for those persons who imagine they may anticipate me by 
 means of my own labors, this page 264 has already been discussed in 
 Hermes Stella, and, therefore, this cannot be discounted. 
 
 308 
 307 
 306 
 305 
 304 
 303 
 302 
 301 
 300 
 299 
 298 
 297 
 296 
 295 
 294 
 293 
 292 
 291 
 290 
 299 
 288 
 287 
 286 
 285 
 284 
 283 
 282 
 281 
 280 
 279 
 278 
 277 
 276 
 275 
 274 
 273 
 272 
 271 
 270 
 269 
 268 
 267 
 266 
 265 
 264 
 
 Fables 
 
 1 
 
 
 146 
 
 352 
 
 or 
 
 2 
 
 
 145 
 
 351 
 
 Metre 
 
 3 
 
 
 144 
 
 350 
 
 it 
 
 4 
 
 
 143 
 
 349 
 
 is, 
 
 5 
 
 
 142 
 
 348 
 
 as 
 
 6 
 
 
 141 
 
 347 
 
 we 
 
 7 
 
 
 140 
 
 346 
 
 have 
 
 8 
 
 
 139 
 
 345 
 
 said 
 
 9 
 
 
 138 
 
 344 
 
 before, 
 
 10 
 
 
 137 
 
 343 
 
 as 
 
 11 
 
 
 136 
 
 342 
 
 a 
 
 12 
 
 
 135 
 
 341 
 
 Luxuriant 
 
 13 
 
 
 134 
 
 340 
 
 herb 
 
 14 
 
 
 133 
 
 339 
 
 brought 
 
 15 
 
 
 132 
 
 338 
 
 forth 
 
 16 
 
 
 131 
 
 337 
 
 without 
 
 17 
 
 
 130 
 
 336 
 
 seed, 
 
 18 
 
 
 129 
 
 335 
 
 and 
 
 19 
 
 
 128 
 
 334 
 
 springs 
 
 20 
 
 
 127 
 
 333 
 
 up 
 
 21 
 
 
 126 
 
 332 
 
 from 
 
 22 
 
 
 125 
 
 331 
 
 the 
 
 23 
 
 
 124 
 
 330 
 
 strength 
 
 24 
 
 
 123 
 
 329 
 
 and 
 
 25 
 
 
 122 
 
 328 
 
 rankness 
 
 26 
 
 
 121 
 
 327 
 
 of 
 
 27 
 
 
 120 
 
 326 
 
 the 
 
 28 
 
 
 119 
 
 325 
 
 soil. 
 
 29 
 
 
 118 
 
 324 
 
 Wherefore 
 
 30 
 
 
 117 
 
 323 
 
 it 
 
 31 
 
 
 116 
 
 322 
 
 runs 
 
 32 
 
 
 115 
 
 321 
 
 along 
 
 33 
 
 
 114 
 
 320 
 
 every 
 
 34 
 
 
 113 
 
 319 
 
 where. 
 
 35 
 
 
 317 
 
 and 
 
 36 
 
 
 112 
 
 is 
 
 37 
 
 
 111 
 
 316 
 
 so 
 
 38 
 
 
 110 
 
 315 
 
 amply 
 
 39 
 
 
 109 
 
 314 
 
 spread, 
 
 40 
 
 
 108 
 
 313 
 
 as 
 
 41 
 
 41 
 
 107 
 
 312 
 
 it 
 
 42 
 
 42 
 
 106 
 
 311 
 
 were 
 
 43 
 
 43 
 
 105 
 
 310 
 
 a 
 
 44 
 
 44 
 
 104 
 
 309 
 
 superfluous 
 
 45 
 
 45 
 
 103 
 
 labour 
 
 46 
 
 46 
 
 102 
 
 to 
 
 47 
 
 47 
 
 101 
 
 be 
 
 48 
 
 48 
 
 100 
 
 curious 
 
 49 
 
 49 
 
 99 
 
 of 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 98 
 
 any 
 
 51 
 
 51 
 
 97 
 
 Deficients 
 
 
 52 
 
 96 
 
 therein; 
 
 52 
 
 53 
 
 95 
 
 The 
 
 
 54 
 
 
 care 
 
 
 55 
 
 
 therefore 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 for 
 
 
 57 
 
 
 this 
 
 
 58 
 
 
 is 
 
 
 59 
 
 
 already 
 
 
 60 
 
 
 taken. 
 
 
 61 
 
 
 As 
 
 53 
 
 62 
 
 94 
 
 for 
 
 54 
 
 63 
 
 93 
 
 Accents 
 
 55 
 
 64 
 
 92 
 
 of 
 
 56 
 
 65 
 
 91 
 
 Words, 
 
 57 
 
 66 
 
 90 
 
 there 
 
 
 67 
 
 
 is 
 
 
 68 
 
 
 no 
 
 
 69 
 
 
 need, 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 that 
 
 
 71 
 
 
 we 
 
 
 72 
 
 
 speak 
 
 
 73 
 
 
 of 
 
 
 74 
 
 
 so 
 
 
 75 
 
 
 small 
 
 
 76 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 77 
 
 
 matter; 
 
 
 78 
 
 
 unless 
 
 
 79 
 
 
 perchance. 
 
 
 80 
 
 
 some 
 
 
 81 
 
 
 may 
 
 
 82 
 
 
 think 
 
 
 83 
 
 
 it 
 
 
 84 
 
 
 worth 
 
 
 85 
 
 
 the 
 
 
 86 
 
 
 noting. 
 
 
 87 
 
 
 that 
 
 
 88 
 
 
 there 
 
 
 89 
 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 175 
 
 hath 
 
 
 90 
 
 
 263 
 
 been 
 
 
 91 
 
 
 262 
 
 exact 
 
 
 92 
 
 
 261 
 
 observation 
 
 
 93 
 
 
 260 
 
 made 
 
 
 94 
 
 
 259 
 
 of 
 
 
 95 
 
 
 258 
 
 the 
 
 
 96 
 
 
 257 
 
 Accents 
 
 58 
 
 97 
 
 89 
 
 256 
 
 of 
 
 59 
 
 98 
 
 88 
 
 255 
 
 Words, 
 
 60 
 
 99 
 
 87 
 
 254 
 
 but 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 253 
 
 not 
 
 
 101 
 
 
 252 
 
 of 
 
 
 102 
 
 
 251 
 
 the 
 
 
 103 
 
 
 250 
 
 Accents 
 
 61 
 
 104 
 
 86 
 
 249 
 
 of 
 
 62 
 
 105 
 
 85 
 
 248 
 
 Sentences; 
 
 63 
 
 106 
 
 84 
 
 247 
 
 yet, 
 
 
 107 
 
 
 246 
 
 this, 
 
 
 108 
 
 
 245 
 
 for 
 
 
 109 
 
 
 244 
 
 most 
 
 
 110 
 
 
 243 
 
 part 
 
 
 111 
 
 
 242 
 
 is 
 
 
 112 
 
 
 241 
 
 the 
 
 
 113 
 
 
 240 
 
 general 
 
 
 114 
 
 
 239 
 
 custom 
 
 
 115 
 
 
 238 
 
 of 
 
 
 116 
 
 
 237 
 
 all 
 
 
 117 
 
 
 236 
 
 men, 
 
 
 118 
 
 
 235 
 
 that 
 
 
 119 
 
 
 234 
 
 in 
 
 
 120 
 
 
 233 
 
 the 
 
 
 121 
 
 
 232 
 
 close 
 
 
 122 
 
 
 231 
 
 of 
 
 
 123 
 
 
 230 
 
 a 
 
 
 124 
 
 
 229 
 
 Period 
 
 
 125 
 
 
 228 
 
 they 
 
 
 126 
 
 
 227 
 
 let 
 
 
 127 
 
 
 226 
 
 fall 
 
 
 128 
 
 
 225 
 
 their 
 
 
 129 
 
 
 224 
 
 voice, 
 
 
 130 
 
 
 223 
 
 in 
 
 
 131 
 
 
 222 
 
 a 
 
 
 132 
 
 
 221 
 
 demand 
 
 
 133 
 
 
 220 
 
 they 
 
 
 134 
 
 
 219 
 
 raise 
 
 
 135 
 
 
 218 
 
 it 
 
 
 136 
 
 
 217 
 
 and 
 
 
 137 
 
 
 216 
 
 many 
 
 
 138 
 
 
 215 
 
 such 
 
 
 139 
 
 
 214 
 
 like 
 
 
 140 
 
 
 usages. 
 
 
 141 
 
 
 As 
 
 64 
 
 142 
 
 83 
 
 for 
 
 65 
 
 143 
 
 82 
 
 Writing, 
 
 66 
 
 144 
 
 81 
 
 that 
 
 
 145 
 
 
 is 
 
 
 146 
 
 
 performed 
 
 
 147 
 
 
 either 
 
 
 148 
 
 
 by 
 
 
 149 
 
 
 the 
 
 
 150 
 
 
 vulgar 
 
 
 151 
 
 
 Alphabet, 
 
 
 152 
 
 
 which 
 
 
 153 
 
 
 is 
 
 
 154 
 
 
 every 
 
 
 155 
 
 
 where 
 
 
 156 
 
 
 received 
 
 
 157 
 
 
 or 
 
 
 158 
 
 
 by 
 
 
 159 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 160 
 
 
 secret 
 
 
 161 
 
 
 and 
 
 
 162 
 
 
 private 
 
 
 163 
 
 
 Alphabet 
 
 
 164 
 
 
 which 
 
 
 165 
 
 
 men 
 
 
 166 
 
 
 agree 
 
 
 167 
 
 
 upon 
 
 
 168 
 
 
 between 
 
 
 169 
 
 
 themselves, 
 
 
 170 
 
 
 which 
 
 
 171 
 
 
 they 
 
 
 172 
 
 
 call 
 
 
 173 
 
 
 Cyph ers. 
 
 67 
 
 174 
 
 80 
 
 But 
 
 
 175 
 
 
 the 
 
 
 176 
 
 
 vulgar 
 
 68 
 
 177 
 
 79 
 
 Orthography 
 
 69 
 
 178 
 
 78 
 
 hath 
 
 
 179 
 
 
 brought 
 
 
 180 
 
 
 forth 
 
 
 181 
 
 
 unto 
 
 
 182 
 
 
 us 
 
 
 183 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 184 
 
 
 Controversy, 
 
 
 185 
 
 
 and 
 
 
 186 
 
 
 question, 
 
 
 187 
 
 
 namely, 
 
 
 188 
 
 
 Whether 
 
 70 
 
 189 
 
 771 
 
 213 
 212 
 211 
 210 
 209 
 208 
 207 
 206 
 205 
 204 
 203 
 202 
 201 
 200 
 199 
 198 
 197 
 196 
 195 
 194 
 193 
 192 
 191 
 190 
 189 
 188 
 187 
 186 
 185 
 184 
 183 
 182 
 181 
 180 
 179 
 178 
 177 
 176 
 175 
 174 
 173 
 172 
 171 
 170 
 169 
 168 
 167 
 166 
 165 
 164 
 
17S 
 
 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Words 
 
 71 
 
 190 
 
 76 
 
 163 
 
 should 
 
 72 
 
 191 
 
 75 
 
 162 
 
 be 
 
 73 
 
 192 
 
 74 
 
 161 
 
 written 
 
 74 
 
 193 
 
 73 
 
 160 
 
 as 
 
 75 
 
 194 
 
 72 
 
 159 
 
 they 
 
 76 
 
 195 
 
 71 
 
 158 
 
 are 
 
 77 
 
 196 
 
 70 
 
 157 
 
 spoken, 
 
 78 
 
 197 
 
 69 
 
 156 
 
 or 
 
 79 
 
 198 
 
 68 
 
 155 
 
 rather 
 
 80 
 
 199 
 
 67 
 
 154 
 
 after 
 
 81 
 
 200 
 
 66 
 
 153 
 
 the 
 
 $2 
 
 201 
 
 65 
 
 152 
 
 usual 
 
 $3 
 
 202 
 
 64 
 
 151 
 
 manner. 
 
 84 
 
 203 
 
 63 
 
 150 
 
 But 
 
 
 204 
 
 
 149 
 
 this 
 
 
 205 
 
 
 148 
 
 kind 
 
 
 206 
 
 
 147 
 
 of 
 
 
 207 
 
 
 146 
 
 writing 
 
 
 208 
 
 
 145 
 
 which 
 
 
 209 
 
 
 144 
 
 seems 
 
 
 210 
 
 
 143 
 
 to 
 
 
 211 
 
 
 142 
 
 be 
 
 
 212 
 
 
 141 
 
 reformed, 
 
 
 213 
 
 
 140 
 
 which 
 
 
 214 
 
 
 139 
 
 is, 
 
 
 215 
 
 
 138 
 
 that 
 
 85 
 
 216 
 
 62 
 
 137 
 
 writing 
 
 86 
 
 217 
 
 61 
 
 136 
 
 should 
 
 87 
 
 218 
 
 60 
 
 135 
 
 he 
 
 88 
 
 219 
 
 59 
 
 134 
 
 consonant 
 
 89 
 
 220 
 
 58 
 
 133 
 
 to 
 
 90 
 
 221 
 
 57 
 
 132 
 
 speaking. 
 
 91 
 
 222 
 
 56 
 
 131 
 
 is 
 
 
 223 
 
 
 130 
 
 a 
 
 
 224 
 
 
 129 
 
 branch 
 
 
 225 
 
 
 128 
 
 of 
 
 
 226 
 
 
 127 
 
 unprofitable 
 
 
 227 
 
 
 126 
 
 subtleties; 
 
 
 228 
 
 
 125 
 
 for 
 
 
 229 
 
 
 124 
 
 oronunciation 
 
 92 
 
 230 
 
 55 
 
 123 
 
 it 
 
 
 231 
 
 
 122 
 
 self 
 
 
 232 
 
 
 121 
 
 every- 
 
 
 233 
 
 
 120 
 
 day 
 
 
 234 
 
 
 119 
 
 increases 
 
 
 235 
 
 
 118 
 
 and 
 
 
 236 
 
 
 117 
 
 alters 
 
 
 237 
 
 
 116 
 
 the 
 
 
 238 
 
 
 115 
 
 fashion; 
 
 
 239 
 
 
 114 
 
 and 
 
 
 240 
 
 
 the 
 
 
 241 
 
 
 derivation 
 
 
 242 
 
 
 of 
 
 
 243 
 
 
 words, 
 
 
 244 
 
 
 especially 
 
 
 245 
 
 
 from 
 
 
 246 
 
 
 foreign 
 
 
 247 
 
 
 languages. 
 
 
 248 
 
 
 are 
 
 
 249 
 
 
 utterly 
 
 
 250 
 
 
 defaced 
 
 
 251 
 
 
 and 
 
 
 252 
 
 
 extinguisht. 
 
 
 253 
 
 
 In 
 
 
 254 
 
 
 brief, 
 
 
 2^5 
 
 
 seeing 
 
 
 256 
 
 
 writing, 
 
 93 
 
 257 
 
 54 
 
 according 
 
 
 258 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 259 
 
 
 the 
 
 
 260 
 
 
 received 
 
 
 261 
 
 
 custom. 
 
 
 262 
 
 
 doth 
 
 
 263 
 
 
 no 
 
 
 264 
 
 
 way 
 
 
 265 
 
 
 prejudice 
 
 
 266 
 
 
 the 
 
 
 267 
 
 
 manner 
 
 94 
 
 268 
 
 53 
 
 of 
 
 95 
 
 269 
 
 52 
 
 speaking, 
 
 96 
 
 270 
 
 51 
 
 to 
 
 
 271 
 
 
 what 
 
 
 272 
 
 
 end 
 
 
 273 
 
 
 should 
 
 
 274 
 
 
 this 
 
 
 275 
 
 
 innovation 
 
 
 276 
 
 
 be 
 
 
 277 
 
 
 brought 
 
 
 278 
 
 
 in? 
 
 
 279 
 
 
 Wherefore 
 
 97 
 
 280 
 
 50 
 
 let 
 
 98 
 
 281 
 
 49 
 
 us 
 
 99 
 
 282 
 
 48 
 
 come 
 
 100 
 
 283 
 
 47 
 
 to 
 
 101 
 
 284 
 
 46 
 
 Cyphers 
 
 
 285 
 
 
 Their 
 
 
 286 
 
 
 kinds 
 
 
 287 
 
 
 are 
 
 
 288 
 
 
 many, 
 
 
 289 
 
 
 113 
 
 112 
 
 HI 
 
 110 
 
 109 
 
 108 
 
 107 
 
 106 
 
 105 
 
 104 
 
 103 
 
 102 
 
 101 
 
 100 
 
 99 
 
 98 
 
 97 
 
 96 
 
 95 
 
 94 
 
 93 
 
 92 
 
 91 
 
 90 
 
 89 
 
 88 
 
 87 
 
 86 
 
 85 
 
 84 
 
 83 
 
 82 
 
 81 
 
 80 
 
 79 
 
 78 
 
 77 
 
 76 
 
 75 
 
 74 
 
 73 
 
 72 
 
 71 
 
 70 
 
 69 
 
 68 
 
 67 
 
 66 
 
 65 
 
 64 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 177 
 
 as 
 
 Cyphers 
 
 Simple; 
 
 Cyphers 
 
 intermixt 
 
 with 
 NulloeSj 
 or 
 non- 
 significant 
 characters; 
 Cyphers 
 
 of 
 
 double 
 
 letters 
 
 under 
 
 one 
 
 character; 
 
 Wheel 
 Cyphers; 
 
 Key 
 Cyphers; 
 Cyphers 
 
 of 
 
 Words; 
 
 others 
 
 But 
 
 the 
 
 virtues 
 
 of 
 
 them 
 
 whereby 
 
 
 290 
 
 
 63 
 
 102 
 
 291 
 
 45 
 
 62 
 
 103 
 
 292 
 
 44 
 
 61 
 
 104 
 
 293 
 
 43 
 
 60 
 
 105 
 
 294 
 
 42 
 
 59 
 
 106 
 
 295 
 
 41 
 
 58 
 
 107 
 
 296 
 
 40 
 
 57 
 
 
 297 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 298 
 
 
 55 
 
 
 299 
 
 
 54 
 
 
 300 
 
 
 53 
 
 103 
 
 301 
 
 39 
 
 52 
 
 109 
 
 302 
 
 38 
 
 51 
 
 110 
 
 303 
 
 37 
 
 50 
 
 111 
 
 304 
 
 36 
 
 49 
 
 112 
 
 305 
 
 35 
 
 48 
 
 113 
 
 306 
 
 34 
 
 47 
 
 114 
 
 307 
 
 33 
 
 46 
 
 115 
 
 308 
 
 32 
 
 45 
 
 116 
 
 309 
 
 3L 
 
 44 
 
 117 
 
 310 
 
 30 
 
 43 
 
 118 
 
 311 
 
 29 
 
 42 
 
 119 
 
 312 
 
 28 
 
 41 
 
 120 
 
 313 
 
 27 
 
 40 
 
 121 
 
 314 
 
 26 
 
 39 
 
 122 
 
 315 
 
 25 
 
 38 
 
 
 316 
 
 
 37 
 
 
 317 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 318 
 
 
 35 
 
 
 319 
 
 
 34 
 
 
 320 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 321 
 
 
 32 
 
 they 
 
 
 322 
 
 
 31 
 
 are 
 
 
 323 
 
 
 30 
 
 to 
 
 
 324 
 
 
 29 
 
 be 
 
 
 325 
 
 
 28 
 
 preferred 
 
 
 326 
 
 
 27 
 
 are 
 
 
 327 
 
 
 26 
 
 three; 
 
 
 328 
 
 
 25 
 
 That 
 
 123 
 
 329 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 they 
 
 124 
 
 330 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 be 
 
 125 
 
 3il 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 ready, 
 
 126 
 
 332 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 and 
 
 127 
 
 333 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 not 
 
 128 
 
 334 
 
 19 
 
 19 
 
 laborious 
 
 129 
 
 335 
 
 18 
 
 18 
 
 to 
 
 130 
 
 336 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 write; 
 
 131 
 
 337 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 that 
 
 132 
 
 338 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 they 
 
 133 
 
 339 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 be 
 
 134 
 
 340 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 sure. 
 
 135 
 
 341 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 and 
 
 136 
 
 342 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 lie 
 
 137 
 
 343 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 not 
 
 138 
 
 344 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 open 
 
 139 
 
 345 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 to 
 
 140 
 
 346 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 Deciphering; 
 
 141 
 
 347 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 And 
 
 142 
 
 348 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 lastly 
 
 143 
 
 349 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 if 
 
 144 
 
 350 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 it 
 
 145 
 
 351 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 be 
 
 146 
 
 352 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 I now come to the really striking and fairly astonishing 
 grouping, or congruity of figures, touching the " Maxner of 
 Speaking," by means of ciphers, wherein Bacon evidently gives 
 us the mathematical method, and its relationship of paging, by 
 which he speaks. I have tabled this page on aqcount of its impor- 
 tance ; that is, the first column deals with the italicized words only, 
 counted down. The second column deals with the words altogether, 
 or indiscriminately, counted down the page. The third and fourth 
 columns repeat this double process up the page, and thus the only 
 four possible counts are exhausted : 
 
 up the page. 
 
 Every-where — 
 
 The 
 
 ■) 266 or 267 
 
 ' 
 
 86 
 
 Counted first singly, 
 
 Manner 
 
 267 268 
 
 53 
 
 85 
 
 then doubly, down 
 
 of 
 
 268 269 • 
 
 52 
 
 84 
 
 the page. 
 
 ^ Speaking. 
 
 J 269 270 
 
 51 
 
 83 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
178 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 Here are all our old friends of page 53, M. W. of Windsor (col. 106), 
 against each other, — the paging 53 and the number^ 267 or 268, which 
 we have found to be the number of the word Bacon, according as we 
 count Hang -Hog singly or doubly ! The reader will also recognize 
 in the last column (the last column counted up the page), the same 
 numbers already found upon page 23 Bacon^s History of King Henry 
 the Seventh (1622) : 
 
 In ] 83 
 
 ^Xli^'' mZm (s^^eP^^, two words., 
 
 Masques. j 86 or 87 
 
 If numbers, by congruity, can speak, they tell us Bacon's method 
 of speaking hy cipher numbers, in Stage-Plays and Masques, is to be 
 found on pages 51, 52, 53 of the comedies and histories, upon which 
 pages we do actually find the word Bacon four times, viz. : page 51, 
 1st K. H. IV., mispaged (from false 49) 53. Page 52 (mispaged 54) 
 twice, page 53, Merry Wives of Windsor : 
 
 {53 false) page 51, 1st K. H. IV. Gammon of Bacon (369, 370, 371). 
 (54/aZ5e) page 52, 1st JT. ^. /F. " 0;i Bacon's, on," ^' JBacon fed Knaves^^ 
 
 (158, 198). 
 53 (correct) p. 53, Merry Wives of W. Bacon I warrant (267 oi* 268). 
 
 These are the only four entries of the word Bacon in the plays. 
 
 THE TAROT OY THE BOHEMIANS. 
 
 It seems there is very little doubt the Rosicrucians were in pos- 
 session of the real Tarot, as is proved by a book of St. Martin, where 
 the divisions are those of the Tarot, and this passage of an enemy of 
 the Rosicrucians : 
 
 " They claim to possess a volume, wherein they can learn, all that is 
 to be found in other books, which now are, or which can even come into 
 existence. This volume is their own reason, in which they find the 
 prototype of all that subsists by their facility in analyzing, summa- 
 rising, and creating a kind- of intellectual world, and of all pos- 
 sible beings. See the philosophical, theosophical and microsmic 
 cards." {Conspiracy against the Catholic Religion and against 
 Crowned Heads. By the author of The Veil raised for the Curious. 
 Paris: Crapard, 1792.) 
 
 This is highly probable, if not almost certain, because in the 
 celebrated Rosicrucian manifesto of 1614, — TJie Fama Fraternitatis, 
 — we find repeated mention of a work called Rota Mundi. 
 
 " Yet there came into our memory a secret, which, through dark 
 and hidden words and speeches of the hundred years. Brother A., the 
 successor of D. (who was of the last and second row of succession, 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 179 
 
 and had lived amongst many of us), did impart unto us of the third 
 row and" succession; otherwise we must confess, that after the death 
 of the said A., none of us had in any manner known anything of 
 Brother C. E., and of his first fellow-brethren, then that whicli was 
 extant of them in our philosophical Bibliotheca, amongst which 
 our Axiom ATA was held for the chiefest, RotaAIunde for the most 
 artificial, and Protheus for the most profitable." 
 
 (p. 75, Wane's Beal History of the Bosicrucians.) 
 *' Although we do now freely confess that the world is much 
 amended within an hundred years, yet we are assured that our 
 Axiomata shall unmovably remain unto the world's end, and also the 
 world in the highest and last age shall not attain to see anything 
 else ; for our Rota takes the beginning from that day when God 
 spake Fiat, and shall end when he speakes Pereat " ( p. 72, Fama 
 Fraternitatis. ) 
 
 This is exactly what the Tarot claims to be, — of unknown pre- 
 historic antiquity dating back to creation. According to Eliphas 
 Levi and William Postel, this book, which is called the Genesis of 
 Enoch, is anterior to the Bible; for, on the ring of his symbolic key, 
 he reads the words Rota, Tarot; Tora, the last being the sacramental 
 name which the Jews give to their sacred book. 
 
 T 
 
 B 
 
 In fact this is the Tora of EzekieVs Wheel, — which, according to 
 Postel, is the key of things hidden from the beginning of the world. 
 William Postel was, like Paracelsus, a forerunner and anticipator of 
 the Rosicrucians of the Seventeenth Century. He preached the 
 same promise of the restoration and reformation of things of the 
 world, with prophecies of an Elias about to appear. The Rosicru- 
 cians borrowed their origin from the Templars and particularly Con- 
 stantine's motto, In hoc signo vinces, and Cygnaeus tells us so directly. 
 The word Tarot is composed of the sacred letters of the monogram 
 of Constantine, — A Greek P, crossed by a T, between the Alpha and 
 Omega, the beginning and the end. Ehphas Levi calls the Tarot 
 
180 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEM ATUBE, 
 
 the veritable key of Solomon. Postel dedicated his work upon it to 
 the Fathers of the Council of Trent, by the title — " Clavis abscond- 
 itorium, a constitutione Mundi,^' key of things kept secret from the 
 foundation of the world. 
 
 There is very little doubt this Tarot was used in some way as a 
 secret cipher. For, in a work of the celebrated Doctor Dee, titled 
 " A True and Faithful Belation of what passed for many years be- 
 tween Doctor John Dee (a mathematician of great fame in Queen 
 Ehzabeth's and King James' reigns) and some Spirits^'' (1G59), 
 I find in a great square table (full of the letters of the alphabet 
 and numbers, with forty-nine characters each way and thirty-five 
 letters,) each corner filled with a little numerical square of seven 
 ciphers each way, making the sum of the square (7x7 =49) equal 
 to the length of the sides of the great Square. It is entitled '' A 
 Specimen of the Tables or Book of Enoch. '' Doctor Dee iu 1583 left 
 England and took up his headquarters in 1585 at Prague, then the 
 metropolis' of alchemy, and the headquarters of adepts and adept- 
 ship. Now, it is very curious to find Bohemia the land where the 
 Tarot particularly has survived. In fact, Eliphas Levi asks if 
 the Tarot of the Bohemians be not the Genesis of Enoch ? The 
 Taro really (means Bota, or Wheel of Destiny) is an elaborate system 
 of divination in one of its aspects, and a process of mental and 
 spiritual evolution in another. Our common cards are but imper- 
 fect or degenerated sets derived from the original Taro. Like- 
 wise fortune-telling by cards, is a relic of the original system 
 which the Gypsy tribes j — particularly of Bohemia, — possessed and 
 handed over by tradition. Diamonds were symbolized by the Rose. 
 It is worthy to note Bohemia is introduced in that profound play 
 The Winter^s Tale. 
 
 " The ancient sages divided the perfect panoramic picture of the 
 Taro, into a number of tablets solely as a means of convenience and 
 practical utihty in the presentation of truth. They made the 
 symbolical hieroglyphics of each tablet or card, correspond in its 
 symbolism, to the esoteric significance and meaning of one page or leaf 
 of the sacred book of Enoch, the perfect man, who occupies the point 
 of equilibrium in the celestial sphere. The first set of tablets con- 
 tain fifty-six cards and in twenty-two keys, or seventy-eight in all. 
 
 " Down the spiral course of time there has come to us the tradi- 
 tions of a primitive book. Its symbols in later days furnished, to 
 writing its letters, to geometry its lines, and to occult philosophy, 
 its mysterious signs and pentacles. Anciently it was known as the 
 
 SACRED BOOK OF ENOCH; LATER IT HAS BEEN ENTITLED THE 
 
 TARO. Its authorship as well as its date are both lost in the night 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 181 
 
 of time, but vestiges of it are to be found in the lore of peoples. 
 Tradition says that tbe original book consisted of detached plates 
 or leaves, of fine gold, whereon were engraved its mysteries, which 
 remind us of the ^teraphim' or golden images of Labau." (The 
 Taro, by T. H. Burgoyne. The Platonist, August, 1887.) 
 
 Papus, in his Tarot of the Bohemians, writes : 
 
 " The Mysterious Fraternity of the Eosicrucians (1604) LaFama 
 Fraternitatis Rosce Crucis (1613) shows the initiate that the Eosi- 
 crucians possessed the Tarot, which is described thus: ' Thet/ pos- 
 sess a book from which they can learn everything that is in the books 
 already ivritten and to be written.^ " 
 
 " We must not forget that the Eosicrucians are the Initiators of 
 Leibnitz, and the founders of actual Free-Masonry through Ash- 
 mole." (p. 298). 
 
 " Guillaume Postel was one of the greatest initiates of the Six- 
 teenth Century. He discovered the key to the Tarot, but did not 
 disclose the secret, in spite of the promise given in the title to his 
 work. The Key to the Hidden Mysteries^'' (1580). (lb.) 
 
 Now it is very striking to find Bacon in his History of Life and 
 Death (which note is on all fours with the History of Life and 
 Death, written by the great English Eosicrucian, Eobert Fludd) in- 
 troducing Postel thus : 
 
 " In our age William Postel, a Frenchman lived to an hundred 
 and well-nigh twenty years. The top of his beard on the upper lip, 
 being black and not grey at all. A great traveler, mathematician, 
 and somewhat stained with heresy." (Ex. 19, p. 20, History of 
 Life and Death, 1658.) 
 
 I am very strongly inclined to the belief Bacon has employed the 
 Eota and the Tarot in his cipher. There are seventy-eight num- 
 bers or cards in the Tarot. Papus, in his recently published and 
 profound work upon The Tarot of the Bohemians, writes : 
 
 " The Tarot pack is composed of seventy-eight cards or plates; 
 twenty- two of them bear symbolical names, and they should be 
 separated from the fifty-six others, which are divided into four 
 great series: Scepters, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. The twenty- 
 two symbolical cards are the Major Arcana (Greater Secrets), — the 
 Minor Arcana (or Lesser Secrets) are formed of fifty-six cards." 
 (page 307, Paris, 1889.) 
 
 Upon page 51 he writes : 
 
 " There are twenty-two Major Arcana, but one of them bears an 
 0, so that in reality there are only twenty- one Great or Major 
 Arcana. " 
 
182 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 The reader is begged to keep all this in mind, because I am 
 going to point out, Bacon is fond of mispaging with the number 
 21, and it is upon page 21, History/ of King Henri/ the Seventh, the 
 words " Stage Plays and Masques " are found as already adduced. 
 Upon page 78 {mark, this is the number of the entire Tarot) of Lord 
 Bacon's Advancement of Learning, 1640, there is the following mys- 
 terious and enigmatical passage relating to Distribution, and what he 
 terms " the Originals of Intellectuals," in relation to Beason, 
 Memory and Imagination (the three foundations of his Instaura- 
 tion), and also in relation to philosophy. The entire passage is as 
 dark as Erebus, with the exception Bacon challenges us to examine 
 the distribution of his work as " truly made,^^ and this is to be dis- 
 covered by recourse to the *' originals of intellectuals " 
 (p. 78). What are, these originals of intellectuals? It is 
 remarkable this passage follows the proem of the second book, and 
 is entitled Cap. I., which chapter is entirely devoted to expla- 
 nation of the three bases or foundations, History, Poesy, Philoso- 
 phy, upon which the Advancement, if not the entire Instauration 
 is grounded. The passage I now cite is brought under philosophy or 
 reason, — " abstract notions, ^^ Bacon terms them: 
 
 " Philosopjiy dismisseth individuals and comprehendeth not the 
 first impressions, but the abstract notions thereof, and conversant 
 in compounding and dividing them, according to the law of nature 
 and of the things themselves. And this is wholly the oflSce and 
 operation of reason. 
 
 '* And that this distribution is truly made, he shall easily con- 
 ceive, that hath resource to the originals of intellectuals." 
 (p. 78.) 
 
 By compounding and dividing. Bacon is giving us, seemingly, a 
 hint for mathematics. 
 
 In Bacon's New Atlantis (seventh edition, 1658), page 13 is mis- 
 paged 21. It concludes page 34. Upon the next page is a loose 
 leaf entitled '^Magnalia Naturae, praecipue quoad usus Humanos. " 
 This is paged 21 (instead of 35, the right and sequent number to 34, 
 the previous page). That it is not a printer's error, is shown by the 
 fact, if we turn the leaf over, the correct number, 36, follows the 
 false 21, as follows : 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE, 
 
 New Atlantis Magnalia Naturae 
 
 183 
 
 next to 36 
 and other 
 side of 
 21 
 
 The reader will at once be struck with the coincidence that 35 
 and 36 (the correct numbers of the loose leaf), represent the num- 
 bers of the plays in the 1623 folio catalogue, (35), and the entire 
 36, counting Troilus and Cressida, omitted mysteriously from the 
 catalogue. No reflective reader can imagine an entire play was 
 uncatalogued and unpaged without a purpose ? Moreover, the 
 reader will, I am sure, at once be struck with the astonishing dis- 
 covery, that if we add the correct paging to the false paging (taking 
 its place), we get 56, which is the number of the Minor Arcana 
 (Lesser Secrets) of the Tarot : 
 
 35+21 =56. 
 
 Moreover, 56 is the page of 1st K. H. IV., where we find twenty- 
 one entries of Francis Bacon^s christian name. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 "Measube for Measure." 
 
 "That at the first, the soul of man was not produced by Heaven or Earth, but 
 was breathed immediately from God. So that the ways and proceeaings of God 
 with Spirits are not included in Nature. Tliat is, in the laws of Heaven and Earth ; 
 but are reserved to the law of his Secret Will ; wherein God worketh still, and resteth 
 not from the work of redemption.'''' {Bacon's Confession of Faith, p. 97.) 
 
 Very few people are aware of the depths of the art known as 
 Shakespeare's. Fewer still are aware of the parallels borrowed 
 from scriptural parable and applied to the plays, even to the mi- 
 nutest particulars. The story of Shylock is that of the Unmerciful 
 Servant, and in the three caskets we have scriptural allusion to the 
 parable of the pearl of great price. The opening of the silver casket 
 is found thus described : 
 
 The fire seven times tried this, 
 Seven times tried that judgment is 
 That did never choose amiss, (Act ii.) 
 
 Compare — " The words of the Lord are pure words : As silver 
 tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times. '^ (Psalm xii., 6.) 
 
 The entire play of Measure for Measure is a parable of the fall 
 OF MAN, and of the ATONEMENT, Man being personified in the char- 
 acter of Angela, as the fallen angel generically applied. The Duke 
 in this play is a representative portrait of Providence, allied to the 
 parable of the talents. 
 
 That the poet's intention was to shadow forth in the Duke, 
 Divine Providence, invisible, but from whose all- seeing eye nothing 
 can be hid, is plain from these words : 
 
 Angela, Oh, my dread Lord, 
 I should be guiltier than my guiltiness. 
 To think I can be undi seer noble, 
 When I perceive Your Grace, like Power Divine, 
 Hath look'd upon my passes. (Act v.) 
 
 Lord Bacon opens the fifth book of the Be Augmentis with the 
 words : 
 
 " The knowledge respecting the understanding of Man (excellent 
 King), and that other respecting his Will, are, as it were. Twins by 
 birth. For the Purity of Illumination, and the Liberty of Will 
 
 184 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 185 
 
 began together, fell together. Nor is there in these in the Uni- 
 versal Nature of things so intimate a sympathy, as that of Truth 
 and Goodness. The more shame for Learned men, if they be for 
 Knowledge like Winged Angels; for base desires they be like 
 serpents, which crawl in the dust, carrying indeed about them 
 minds like a mirror or glass, but menstruous and distained." 
 (p. 217, Book V. Advancement of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 Compare this in Hamlet : 
 
 Hamlet. What a piece of work is a man ! How noble in reason! 
 how infinite in faculty! In form and moving, how express and 
 admirable ! In Action how like an Angel ! In apprehension how 
 like a God! (Act ii. sc. 2.) 
 
 The author often seems to have the Garden after the Fall, 
 before his mind. 
 
 Fie on't ! Oh, fie, fie, 'tis an unweeded garden 
 That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature 
 Possess it merely." (Act i. sc. 2.) 
 The poet author gives us a direct key to his intention : 
 Oh, what may man within him hide, 
 Though Angel on the outward side? 
 The authors of the Perfect Way write of the parable of the fall : 
 " For a parable it is and not a history, as ordinarily understood, 
 but having a hidden, that is, a mystic meaning; a parable, more- 
 over, which, while founded upon a particular fact, is true for all 
 time, in that it is perpetually being enacted. Being thus, the par- 
 able of the fall constitutes an eternal Verity. " (p. 175, third edi- 
 tion.) 
 
 This is exactly how the Kosicrucians considered this problem. 
 The fall of man is allied and embodied with the parable of the tal- 
 ents, with which Measure for Measure opens. The sin Angelo is set 
 up, (in the Duke's absence), to put down and weed out, is just the sin 
 he falls under, and constitutes the key center of the action of the 
 play. It is evident the poet- author considered this sin, not only the 
 occasion of the fall (as also stated by the Rosicrucian, Robert Fludd), 
 but like Goethe constituted it the master temptation and chief 
 source of evil. 
 
 That the Duke has instructed Angelo to weed the particular vice, 
 with which the motive of the play is pregnant, is apparent in these 
 lines : 
 
 Twice treble shame on Angelo 
 To weed my vice, and let his grow. 
 In the biblical story, this particular sin brought death into the 
 world. So in the play we at once find the parallel of Claudio under 
 sentence of death for the same vice. 
 
186 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 Blood, thou art blood, 
 Let's write good angel on the devil's horn ; 
 ^Tis not the deviVs crest. (Act ii. sc. 3.) 
 
 Here we have a hint as to what the poet considered the devil's 
 crest, — viz., the sin Angelo tempts Isabella to commit with him, and 
 which Faust also falls under in apostasy to the talents he renounces. 
 
 That strange writer, Alphonse Louis Constant, better known by 
 his nom deplume Eliphas Levi, writes : 
 
 " The Sphinx has not only a man's head, but also the breasts of 
 a woman — canst thou resist feminine attractions ? No ; is it not so ? 
 And here thou dost laugh in replying, parading thy moral weakness 
 for the glorification of the vital and physical power within thee. 
 Be it so, however ! I allow this homage to be paid to the Ass of 
 Sterne or Apuleius; that the ass has its merits I dispute in no way; 
 it was sacred to Priapus, as the goat was to the god of Mendes. 
 But leave it for what it is, and decide if it shall be thy master, or 
 if thou wilt be master of it. He alone can truly possess the pleas- 
 ure of love who has conquered the love of pleasure. To be able to 
 make u.«e of anything and to abstain from doing so, is to be twice 
 able. By thy passions the woman enchains thee; he master of thy 
 passions, and thou wilt enchain her.''^ (InitiatoryExercises and Prep- 
 arations, p. 23, Mysteries of Magic. Waite.) 
 
 Give me that man 
 That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 
 In my heart's core ; ay, in my heart of hearts, 
 As I do thee. {Hamlet, act iii. sc. 2.) 
 
 And in the poems : 
 
 cxxix. 
 
 The expense of spirit in a waste of shame 
 
 Is lust in action ; and till action, lust 
 
 Is perjured, murderous, bloody, full of blame, 
 
 Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust, 
 
 Enjoy'd no sooner but despised straight, 
 
 Past reason hunted, and no sooner had 
 
 Past reason hated, as a swallow'd bait 
 
 On purpose laid to make the taker mad ; 
 
 Mad in pursuit and in possession so ; 
 
 Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme ; 
 
 A bliss in proof, and proved, a very woe ; 
 
 Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream. 
 
 All this the world well knows ; yet none knows well 
 
 To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell. 
 
 This I consider to be the key note of the entire play, and of the 
 poet's conception of evil as lust. In that purely Kosicrucian legend 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 187 
 
 of Doctor Fanstus, may be perceived exactly the same lessou incul- 
 cated. The temptation of Marguerite, presented by Mephistopheles 
 to Faust, is the arch temptation of the flesh, for which Faust for- 
 sakes all his higher seeking after knowledge, to find a fool's paradise 
 with hell behind and after it. Faust sells his immortality for brief 
 pleasure. It is an epitome of the temptation and fall, — the conflict 
 of the two souls in man, one of which draws him down to earth, and 
 the other lifts him up to heaven, which idea Goethe has fully 
 seized. 
 
 The authors of Tlie Perfect Way write : 
 
 *'The doctrine of the soul is embodied in the parable of the 
 Talents. Into the soul of the individual is breathed the Spirit of 
 God, divine, pure, and without blemish. It is God. And the indi- 
 vidual has in his earth life to nourish that spirit and feed it as a 
 flame with oil. When we put oil into a lamp, the essence passes 
 into and becomes flame. 80 is with the soul of him who nourishes 
 the spirit. It grows gradually pure and becomes spirit. By this 
 spirit the body is enhghtened as a lamp by the flame within it. 
 Now, the flame is not ihe oil, for the oil may be there without the 
 light ; yet tbe flame cannot be there without the oil. The body 
 then, is the lamp case, into which the oil is poured, and this, the 
 oil, is the soul, a tine and combustible fluid; and the flame is the 
 Divine Spirit, which is not born of the oil, but is communicated by 
 God from within. We may quench this spirit utterly, and thence- 
 forward we shall have no immortality; but when the lamp case 
 breaks the oil will be spilt on the earth, and a few fumes will for a 
 time arise from it, and then it will expend itself, leaving at last no 
 trace. Thus, as the parable of the Talents, where God has given 
 five talents, man pays back ten; or he pays back nothing and per- 
 ishes." (p. 52, Perfect Way, 1887.) 
 
 This parable finds its perfect reflection at the commencement of 
 Measure for Measure, in the Duke's speech to Angelo : 
 
 Duke. Thyself and thy belongings 
 Are not thine own so proper as to waste 
 Thyself upon thy virtues, they on thee. 
 Heaven doth with us as we with torches do, 
 Not light them for themselves ; for if our virtues 
 Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
 As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touched 
 But to fine issues, nor Nature never lends 
 The smallest scruple of her excellence 
 But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines 
 Herself the glory of a creditor, 
 Both thanks and use. (Act i. sc. 1.) 
 
 This is the parable of the talents, which can only be obeyed by 
 
188 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUHE. 
 
 purity, — that is obedience to the first intention that man should 
 live upright. In obedience to this injunction man is an angel, and 
 bears upon himself the impress or signet of his Creator as such : 
 
 Ang. Now, good my Lord, 
 
 Let there be some more test made of my metal, 
 Before so noble and so great a figure 
 Be stamp'd upon it. (Act i. sc. 1.) 
 
 Here is the figure of speech, so to speak, saying as much, — that 
 the talents rightly used, constitute the Divine coinage, undebased, 
 and that Angelo, as a representative of Providence, is worthy to bear 
 its figure. Now, mark, Angelo falls to the very vice he is set up to 
 put down. The entire play is full of pregnant hints for my theory, 
 Mistress Overdone and Pompey furnishing keys for the repulsive side 
 of the vice which constitutes as it were the darkest depths of the 
 abyss into which man can fall by one particular sin. 
 
 The authors of TJie Perfect Way identify *' the serpent with the 
 will of the body." Again, *' It is thus no specific act, but the 
 general tendency towards matter and sense, that constitutes the 
 fall.'' (p. 166.) ''Into this sin of idolatry the human heart 
 declines, by listening to the monitions and beguilements of the 
 lower will of the sensual nature." {Ih.) 
 
 " Whatever is given to the body is taken from the spirit. " (p. 224. ) 
 
 The authors of The Perfect Way, describe the spiritual part of 
 man as " The leaven taken by the woman — the divine Sophia or 
 Wisdom, — and hidden in three measures of meal, namely, the soul, 
 the perisoul and the body, until the whole is leavened; until, that 
 is, the whole man is so permeated and lightened by it, that he is 
 finally transmuted into spirit and becomes 'one with God.'* " (p. 5.) 
 
 Is it not possible the title, Measure for Measure, has some con- 
 nection with this parable? Man fell by woman, man is restored by 
 the Divine Woman, — the soul. So it is with Angelo; he falls by 
 that which, through the aid of invisible Providence, is to be the 
 unknown means of his salvation — the substitution of Mariana for 
 Isabella, by the Divine Power. 
 
 " To the masculine function is accorded precedence in point of 
 time ; to the feminine in point of dignity. And it is thus that the 
 manifestation of the Divine will and power in creation is followed by 
 the manifestation of the Divine Love and Wisdom in Redemption, 
 and that the agent of this last is always the woman. She it is who, 
 by her intuition of God, bruises the head of the serpent of matter, 
 and her sons they are who get the victory over him." {Perfect 
 Way, 61.) 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 189 
 
 " Maria, the sea, is the water mystically appointed for the wash- 
 ing away of sin." (p. 30, Clothed in the Sun. Anna Kingsford.) 
 
 It may he noted how alike the name Mariana is to Maria. It is 
 Mariana's substitution by the Duke in place of Isabella that saves 
 Angelo from the fall he intended, the sin he conceived. Like Eve, 
 Maria, and the sea, are mystical synonyms for the soul, which is 
 called '' Bitterness of the Deep.'' {Clothed in the Sun, p. 30.) All 
 this is closely connected with the flood, and creation. One of the days 
 appointed to the Eleusinian mysteries was dedicated to a visit to the 
 sea, as allotted to purification. 
 
 It is bighly probable Angelo's reconciliation to his wife, Mariana, 
 is a symbolical hint for the Atonement. The authors of the Perfect 
 Way write : 
 
 " The uniting of the human will with the Divine Will, or, as it is 
 sometimes called, the Reconciliation, which is but another word for 
 the Atonement." (p. 3.) 
 
 I am convinced the author intended something akin to this in 
 the way Angelo is reconciled by the Divine Will of the invisible 
 ubiquitous Duke to his wife Mariana. I am certain Angelo is a 
 generic name for man in a collective sense. 
 
 There is a vast moral in all this if we chose to see it rightly. The 
 author's seeming intention is to show how universal, how powerful 
 this peculiar vice is, and how all ages, all times smack of it. 
 Authority being even unable to act from falling under the same 
 indictment. The fact that one so high in position as Angelo, set up 
 to represent what seems an invisible, ubiquitous godhead as vice- 
 regent, should fall a prey to the offense he is to root out, shows how 
 wide, how radical was this sin, in the author's mind, — a universal 
 fall,— a general declension from the Divine injunction. Man is 
 incapable of dealing with it, because no one can show the example; 
 that is, the moral. And against all this in high relief, like some 
 alabaster statue of purity, set against a dark background, stands 
 that perfect picture of chastity — Isabella ! The author's intention 
 here can hardly be mistaken. He sets purity or chastity at a higher 
 figure than life or death, — outweighing even a brother's execution. 
 
 The authors of The Perfect Way write : 
 
 " It is through the soul, and the soul only, that man learns the 
 Divine will, and, learning it, saves himself. And the clearness 
 with which the soul, on her part, discerns and transmits that will 
 depends upon her purity. In the word purity lies the essence of all 
 religion. It is the burden of the whole Bible, and of all Bibles. 
 
190 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUHE. 
 
 Always is purity insisted on as the means to salvation ; always 
 impurity as the cause of condemnation. To this uniformity of doctrine 
 the parable of the Fall is no exception. With the soul pure man 
 dwells in Eden and 'sees God.' With the soul unpure, he is driven 
 forth into the wilderness." (p. 184.) 
 
 Bacon writes in his Confession of Faith : 
 
 " That God created man in his own image, in a reasonable soul, 
 in innocency, in free-will, and in sovereignty. That He gave him 
 a law and commandment, which was in his power to keep, but he 
 kept it not. That man made a total dejection from God, presuming 
 to imagine that the commandments and prohibitions of God were 
 not the rules of good and evil, but that good and evil had their own 
 principles and beginnings. 
 
 " That upon the fall of man, death and vanity entered by the 
 justice of God, and the image of God in man was defaced, and 
 heaven and earth, which were made for man's use, were subdued to 
 corruption by his fall." (p. 97, part 1, Besuscitatio, 1671.) 
 
 In the virgin chastity of Isabella may be seen the hint, that it is 
 chastity alone which can bring about the atonement of Angelo. 
 In the action concerning the Duke, his pretended journey, his dis- 
 guise as a friar, and his ubiquitous, though invisible, presence over- 
 ruling the entire plot of the play, we may easily perceive the 
 parable of the Steward, who made a journey into a far country, 
 and to each of his servants gave so many talents. That is, it is the 
 parable of Divine Providence, invisible but ubiquitous, searching 
 out the hearts of men, and overriding, with Divine action, indi- 
 vidual good and evil. The Duke is a type of God as spirit, bring- 
 ing about the atonement and restitution of fallen man, — pictured 
 In the character of Angelo, — the fallen angel man ! 
 
 Isabella is, I am convinced, the heavenly yirgin of the 
 Hermetic philosophers; that is, the soul and intellect, whom we find 
 represented in Beatrice, as Dante's guide. Therefore, in seeking to 
 seduce her, Angelo is conspiring against himself, that is, employ- 
 ing his will, or worse self, to debase and defile that which is truly 
 divine in him, and god-like. In like manner, the student may 
 observe, it is through Isabella the reconciliation or at-one-ment 
 (atonement) between Angelo and Mariana is effected. That is to 
 say, it is through the virtues of Isabella and all she symbolizes, that 
 fallen man can, like Angelo, be restored once more to divine grace 
 and pardon. With regard to my theory of the occasion of the fall, 
 the reader may be referred to Saint Augustine, where he will find 
 the same idea inculcated in The City of God. Sir Thomas Brown, 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 191 
 
 the author of the Beligio Medici, hints at the same doctrine, and all 
 the Cabalists are as one upon this point. Kobert Fludd, the great 
 English Rosicrucian, " detects the origin of evil in the union of the 
 sexes; the sensual organs of the mother of mankind were first opened 
 by the fruit which blasted the future human race. ( D'Israelis' Ameni- 
 ties of Literature.^' Fludd.) 
 
 The temptation and fall is a parable, applying itself to every indi- 
 vidual life, that surrenders nobler gifts and future ends for present 
 passions and pleasures. The entire parable of the garden is an 
 allegory of man as angel, and pure spirit, living in comparative 
 purity and peace with nature, and from this paradise he drives him- 
 self out, by losing control over his body and passions. In Measure 
 for Measure wc find exactly the same enunciation of the liberty of 
 the will as lost with the purity of illumination, as Bacon enunciates. 
 In reply to Isabella's entreaty for pardon for her brother Claudio's 
 life, we find Angelo exclaiming : 
 
 Angelo. I will not do't. 
 
 Isab. But can you if you would ? 
 
 Angelo. Look, zvhat I will not, that I cannot do. 
 
 (Act. ii. sc. 2.) 
 
 Saint Augustine writes: *' The will, therefore, is then truly free, 
 when it is not the slave of vices and sins. Such was it given us by 
 God ; and this being lost by its own fault, can only be restored by 
 Him, who was able at first to give it. " (Book, xiv. TJw City of 
 God.) 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 • The Rosiceucians. 
 
 I lift mine eyes, and all the windows blaze 
 
 With forms of saints and holy men who died ; 
 Hero martyred and hereafter glorified ; 
 
 And the Great Kose upon its leaves displays 
 Christ's triumph, and the angelic roundelays, 
 
 With splendor upon splendor multiplied ; 
 And Beatrice again at Dante's side 
 
 No more rebukes, but smiles her words of praise. 
 
 {Longfellmo.) 
 
 THE ROSE. 
 
 " There can be little doubt that the Rose came from Damascus, 
 probably introduced into Europe by the Crusaders or some of the 
 early travelers in the East, who speak in glowing terms of the beau- 
 ties of the gardens of Damascus. The author oIl Eothen, describing 
 the gardens of Damascus, writes : * High, high, above your head, 
 and on every side all down to the ground, the thicket is hemmed in 
 and choked up by the interlacing boughs that droop with the 
 weight of Roses, and load the slow air with their damask breath. 
 There are no other flowers. The Rose trees which I saw were all of 
 the kind we call " Damask; ''they grow to an immense height and 
 size" {Eothen, ch. xxvii.). It was not tilllong after the Crusades that 
 the Damask Rose was introduced into England, for Hakluy t in 1582, 
 says: 'In time of memory many things have been brought in 
 that were not here before, as the Damask Rose by Doctor Linaker, 
 King Henry the Seventh's, and King Henry the Eighth's physi- 
 cian' {Voyages, vol. ii.)" (p. 252. Plant Lore of Shakespeare. 
 Ellacombe.) 
 
 It is interesting to note that the Rosicrucians, whose emblem was 
 the Crucified Rose, evidently trace back their origins, or at least 
 connect their secret lore with Damascus. In the Fama Frater- 
 nitatis we read of the founder of the society, Christian Rosy Cross: 
 
 " Hereby was that high and noble spirit of brother C. R. C. so 
 stirred up, that Jerusalem was not so much now in his mind as 
 Damasco. There the wise men received him not as a stranger (as 
 he himself witnesseth), but as one whom they had long expected; 
 they called him by his name, and showed him other secrets out of 
 his cloyster, whereat he could not but mightily wonder." 
 
 (pp. 66, 67; History of the Bosicrudans. Waite.) 
 192 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUHE. 193 
 
 The Damask Eose figures as a drug in, '' a bill of medicynes fur- 
 nished for the use of Edward I., 1306-7:" — " Item pro aqua rosata 
 de Bamaso lb. xl, iiiilf {Archceological Journal, vol. xiv. 271.) 
 
 Lord Bacon introduces roses into his receipt for the gout, and in 
 the description of the chemist's shop, in Borneo and Juliet, we read : 
 
 Eemnants of pack-thread and old cakes of Roses 
 Were thinly scattered to make up a show. 
 
 (Act V. sc. 1, p. 47.) 
 
 The Rev. Henry Ellacombe, in his Plant Lore and Garden Craft 
 of Shakespeare, remarks : 
 
 " There is no flower so often mentioned by Shakespeare as the 
 Hose, and he would probably consider it the queen of flowers, for 
 it was so deemed in his time." (p. 248.) 
 
 There are over seventy introductions of the Rose in the plays. 
 And there can be no doubt the Rose is introduced by the author 
 often with an esoteric or masonic signification. There has been a 
 dispute as to the origin of the word ^ Rosicrucian,' some deriving it 
 from a rose and cross, and others, like Mosheim, from ros dew and 
 light or lux. But both these explanations are perfectly reconcile- 
 able with each other. It is common to find dew associated with 
 roses in a profoundly mystic sense. 
 
 " The water that did spring from ground 
 She would not touch at all, 
 But washed her hands with dew of Heaven 
 That on sweet Roses fall. " 
 {The Lamentable Fall of Queen Ellinor. Moxburghe Ballads.) 
 
 It is evident the author of the plays alludes to the same con- 
 nection of Dew and Boses. 
 
 So sweet a kiss the golden sun gives not 
 To those fresh morning drops upon the Bose. 
 
 {Love's Labor'' s Lost, act iv. sc. 3.) 
 
 Many dictionaries write under the word ^Bosicrucians,^ " not rosa 
 crux, rose cross, but ros crux, dew cross. " This is all very fine, but 
 the emblem of the Rosicrucians, a Crucified Rose, mounted on a 
 Calvary, with rays issuing from it, proves the Rose and Cross did 
 play a first part in the imagery The truth is the Rose is one of the 
 most ancient and most profound symbols in existence, and is con- 
 nected by Dante with the ineffable Light of the Shekinah. We have 
 only to recall how Apuleius regained his original shape, from that 
 of an ass, by eating roses, to feel assured that in classical times the 
 Rose had a recondite meaning, as we may indeed know by the fact 
 
 13 
 
194 THE COLUMUBS OF LITEBATUEE. 
 
 that the statue of Diana of Ephesus was covered with roses and bees. 
 The EosC; in Christian art, is associated with Saintship, and Saint 
 Dorothea is depicted carrying roses in a basket; Saint Elizabeth of 
 Portugal, Saint Rose of Viterbo, Saint Rosalia, Saint Angelus, Saint 
 Victoria, Saint Rose of Lima, wear crowns of roses. " The Red 
 Rose," says Sir John Mandeville, "sprang from the extinguished 
 brands heaped around a virgin martyr at Bethlehem. " Virginity, 
 and purity, were associated with the Rose by the author of the plays: 
 
 Olivia. Caesario, by the Boses of the spring, 
 By maidliood, honor, truth and everthing, 
 I love thee so. {Twelfth Night, act iii. sc. 1 ) 
 
 Sir John Mandeville writes: 
 
 '' A Jewish maiden of Bethlehem (whom Southey named Zillah) 
 was beloved by one Hamuel, a brutish sot. Zillah nijected his suit 
 and Hamuel, in revenge, gave out that Zillah was a demoniac, and 
 she was condemned to be burnt; but God averted the flames, the 
 stake budded, and the maid stood unharmed under a rose tree full of 
 white and red roses, then first seen on earth since Paradise ivas lost.''^ 
 
 The '' Mystical Rose," was one of the titles of the Virgin, and 
 the head roll or Rose Article, known by the name Rosaet, and con- 
 nected with the repetition of prayers, was said to be given by the 
 Virgin to Saint Dominic. The Rosary consists of three parts, each 
 of which contains five mysteries connected with Christ or his Virgin 
 Mother. Dante hints at the same thing. Beatrice asks Dante : 
 
 " Why doth my face so much enamor thee, 
 That to the garden fair thou turn'st not, 
 Which under the rays of Christ is blooming? 
 There is the Rose in ivhich the Word Divine 
 • Became incarnate ; there the lilies are 
 
 By whose perfume the good way was discovered." 
 
 (Canto xxii. Paradiso. Longfellow, 567.) 
 
 This is the Virgin Mary, Rosa Mundi, Rosa Mystica. This evi- 
 dently is also connected with the story of Fair Rosamond, and refers to 
 the Logos doctrine, or Divine Wisdom, which, indeed, is the Heavenly 
 Virgin, who is instructing and guiding Dante. Fair Rosamond was 
 buried at Godstow, in a house of nuns, with these lines on her tomb : 
 " Hie jacet in Tumba Rosamundi, non Rosa munda ; 
 Non redolet, sed olet, quae redolere solet." 
 
 The maze or labyrinth which Henry the Second made for Rosa- 
 mond, is evidently a myth alluding to the world, and to the mys- 
 teries, which guard under the Rose, the path to its wisdom incarnate 
 in it. The reader will perceive at once how the Rose crucified of 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 195 
 
 the Rosicrucians hints at the entire Christian Logos legend in a 
 mystical sense. That is, the wisdom of the world hidden in its foun- 
 dation of sacrifice. The entire problem of Bacon's sacrifice and 
 renunciation of the authorship of the plays, is a repetition of this 
 doctrine, I believe. And when we find such entries in his diaries as 
 " Secrets de Bieu " (vide Mrs. Pott's learned and interesting work, 
 Francis Bacon and His Secret Society): " The glory of God is to con- 
 ceal a thing, but it is the glory of a King to find it out; " we not only 
 find hints for the Solomon of the Rosicrucians, but proof Bacon's 
 mind was concentric with Creation, and that he has {in an humble 
 ivay), endeavored to imitate God in the silence and reserve of his 
 wisdom sacrificed by himself {as spirit) in his works. My own hum- 
 ble opinion is, Christ was an expounder of the Logos Doctrine, the 
 wisdom being always typified as the Son of God, and this idea is 
 repeated in the Sonnets of Shakespeare. 
 
 Sir Thomas Brown writes: 
 
 The Rose of Jericho that flourishes every year just about Christ- 
 mas Eve is famous in Christian reports. Though it be dry, yet will 
 it, upon imbibition of moisture, dilate its leaves and explicate its 
 tiowers contracted and seemingly dried up. Which quality being 
 observed the subtility of contrivers did commonly play this shew 
 upon the Eve of Our Saviour's Nativity, when, by drying the plant 
 again , it closed the next day, and so pretended a double mystery, 
 referring unto the opening and closing of the womb of Mary. '^ 
 (Book II. p. 76, Enquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors.) 
 
 It is in Ecclesiasticus we read : '' I was exalted like a palm 
 tree in Engaddi, and as a Rose in Jericho'^ (cap. 24, 14). The 
 Rose of Jericho is sometimes called the Rose of Saint Mary. 
 It is in connection with Solomon we find the Rose and the 
 Lily. In Canticles, 2 : " I am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily 
 of the Valleys.''^ This Lily is known as Lilium Convallium, or 
 the May Lily. It is with these words Bacon addresses King James I. 
 in a letter. (The name of Solomon's wife was JSosa. Purchase his 
 Pilgrimage, p. 271, eleventh edition.) " It is observed upon a place in 
 the Canticles by some : Ego sum fios campi et Lilium Convallium; 
 that, a dispari, it is not said Ego sum, fios Horti et IJlium Montium, 
 because the Majesty of that Person is not enclosed for a few, nor 
 approximate to the great. " {A Letter of offer of his Service to King 
 James I. upon his first coming in. Part I. p. 20, Resuscitatio, 1671.) 
 
 This is proof King James I. was at the head of the Masons, — 
 Bacon probably a representative Solomon. 
 
196 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 
 
 In a valuable and rare little liosicrucian pamphlet published in 
 1614, in my possession, I find the following passage, which is reflected 
 again in Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum : 
 
 Livor iners stimulos generosis mentibus addit : 
 Sic per foeda Rosis alha crescit odor. 
 
 (p. 29 Conspicilium Notitice Inserviens Oculis ^gris, Euchario 
 
 Cygnceo, 1614.) 
 
 This signifies that " Envy acts as a stimulant upon generous minds, 
 just as the rose gains in sweetness by the neighborhood of Garlic, " 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 '' Rue doth prosper much and becometh stronger if it be set by a 
 fig tree. Which (we conceive) is caused, not by reason of friend- 
 ship, but by extraction of contrary juices. The one drawing juice 
 fit to result sweet, the other bitter. So they have set down hke- 
 wise, that a rose set by garlic is sweeter.'' (Exp. 481, Century V., 
 Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum.) 
 
 The Rose was also associated with Bacchus, for we read of 
 chaplets of roses crowming the heads of those who indulged in 
 Bacchanalian orgies. It was a symbol of silence, or of secrecy : 
 
 Utque latet Rosa Verna suo putamine clausa 
 Sic OS vincla ferat, validisque arctetur habenis, 
 Indicatque suis prolixa silentia labris. 
 
 Adonis was slain by a boar. Now, it is very interesting and 
 curious, to find the coat of arms of some noble German families, 
 combining the Boar and the Rose. I allude to the famous family of 
 Eberstein, who lived near Baden, and who were Marquises and 
 Counts of Brandenburg. Bacon adopted and introduced, during 
 his life time, the emblem of a Boar into his coat of arms, with 
 what object it is impossible to say, unless as a device associated 
 with the name of Bacon. In Sonnet liii. we read : 
 
 Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit 
 Is poorly imitated after you. 
 
 And in the next the rose as truth is described : 
 
 0, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem 
 
 By that sw^eet ornament which truth doth give I 
 
 The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem 
 
 For that sweet odor which doth in it live. 
 
 The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye 
 
 As the perfumed tincture of the roses. 
 
 Hang on such thorns and play as wantonly 
 
 When summer's breath their masked buds discloses : 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE, 197 
 
 But, for their virtue only is their show; 
 
 They Uve unwoo'd and unrespected fade^ 
 
 Die to themselves, i Sweet roses do not so ; 
 
 Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odors made : 
 And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth, 
 When that shall fade, my verse distills your truth. 
 
 (Sonnet liv.) 
 
 1 Sweet roses do not so ; 
 Of meir sweet deaths are sweetest odors made ; 
 And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth. 
 When that shall fade, my verso distils your truth, 
 
 (Sonnet liv.) 
 Thomas Yaughan, a famous Rosicrucian, (known by the name, Eugenius Phi- 
 lalethes) , writes : "In regard of the ashes of the vegetables, although their weaker, 
 exterior elements expire by violence of the fire, yet their earth cannot be destroyed, 
 but is vitrilied. The fusion and transparency of this substance is occasioned by 
 the radical moisture, or seminal water of the compound. This water resists the 
 fury of the fire and cannot possibly be vanquished. ^In hac Aqua Bosa latet in 
 hieme.'' These two principles are never separated; for Nature proceeds not so far in 
 her dissolutions. When death hath done her worst, there is a union between these 
 two, and out of them shall God raise us at the last day." The Rose is here repre- 
 sented as pent up in a crystal, and evidently typifies the sleeping powers of Nature 
 during Winter, repeated in the beautiful story of Bkiae Rose — the Sleeping Beauty 
 in the Wood. Yaughan is enunciating the principle of immortality, known scien- 
 tifically as the conservation of energy, that is, that the spiritual in nature is in 
 reality her economical law of return and recuperation, by which the eternity of mat- 
 ter is established. Now, it is very curious to find this idea forming the ground 
 idea of the sonnets ascribed to Shakespeare. In the sonnets, the same simile of 
 the crystal is introduced : 
 
 Then, were not Summer's distillation left, 
 A liquid prisoner pent in walls of glass. 
 
 (Sonnet v.) 
 Sidney introduces exactly the same image : 
 
 "Have you ever seen a pure Rosewater kept in a crystal glass ? How fine it 
 looks ! How sweet it smells, while that beautiful glass imprisons it ! Break the 
 prison and let the water take his own course, doth it not embrace dust and lose 
 all his former sweetness and fairness ? Truly so are we, if we have not the stay, 
 rather than the restraint of crystaline marriage." 
 
 Compare this conservation for two immortalities : 
 
 Then let not Winter's ragged hand deface 
 In thee thy Summer, ere thou be distill'd ; 
 Make sweet some vial ; treasure thou some place 
 With beauty's treasure, ere it be self kill'd. 
 
 (Sonnet vi.) 
 ** All this is part of the opening argument of the sonnets — the preservation 
 and continuation of the Rose ; that is, of Truth in heauty dyed.'''' , 
 From fairest creatures we desire increase, 
 That thereby beauty's Base might never die. 
 
 (Sonnet i.) 
 Zoroaster consecrated wine, a rose, a cup and the kernel of a pomegranate. 
 {Univ. Hist., V. 400.) The Rose was sacred to Dionysus. In fact, we may under- 
 stand by the Rose, the spiritual in this art, so to say, concealed as wisdom (under 
 the Rose) behind art. In the emblem of the Rosicrucians, a Crucified Rose, may be 
 perceived the Logos doctrine at work, as sacrifice, secrecy and beauty, in connec- 
 tion with Plato's philosophy. I may be here allowed to remark, I have been, I 
 believe, charged with plagiarizing the Rosicrucian theory of the origin of the plays, 
 and of Bacon's Atlantis from others in London. I, therefore, here cite from A 
 New Study of Shakespeare, written by me (published in 1884, by Messrs. 
 Trubner & Co., Paternoster Row, London, E. C): " It is more likely, however, that 
 
198 THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE, 
 
 For nothing this wide universe I call, 
 Save thou, my rose; in it thou art my all. 
 
 (Sonnet cix.) 
 
 It was also sacred to Venus and to Adonis, and I think the 
 poem of Venus and Adonis has a great deal in it pointing to the 
 mystic symbolism of the Society of the Rose or Rosicrucians : 
 
 Est Rosa flos Veneris, cujus quo facta laterent, 
 Harpocrati matris, dona dicavit Amor ; 
 
 Inde Rosam mensis hospes suspendit Amicis, 
 ConvivBB ut sub ea dicta tacenda sciant. 
 
 The sonnets open with an address to the Rose as Truth'. 
 
 From fairest creatures we desire increase, 
 That thereby beauty's rose might never die. 
 
 (Sonnet i.) 
 
 Ah ! wherefore with infection should he live, 
 And with his presence grace impiety, 
 That sin by him advantage should achieve 
 And lace itself with his society ? 
 Why should false painting imitate his cheek 
 And steal dead seeing of his living hue? 
 Why should poor beauty indirectly seek 
 Roses of shadow since his rose is true f 
 
 (Sonnet Ixvii.) 
 
 It is the marriage of Truth and Beauty, pretigured as the Rose, 
 and the Secrets under art (or the Rose), which open the theme of 
 these sonnets. 
 
 Saint Augustine writes of King Solomon:— *' Solomon — had 
 Peace according to his name, for Solomon means pacific.'^ 
 
 \The City of God, Book xvii., p. 190, bods vol. ii.) 
 
 Now the Rosicrucians frequently called their society, The Valley 
 of Peace, which is perfectly in accordance with Solomon's flower, 
 The Lily of the Valley. Lord Bacon in his Holy War, and elsewhere, 
 frequently introduces the word Peace, as ascribed to his objects and 
 methods. I am convinced Bacon was the representative Solomon 
 
 in Love's Martyr, we have the secret society hinted at in the New Atlantis, and 
 that the author of the plays is not ' that affable familiar ghost,' William Shakespeare, 
 whom Greene accused of 'beautifying himseif in others' feathers,' but the great 
 mind who wrote : ' Since I have lost much time with this age, I would be glad, as 
 God shall give me leave, to recover it with posterity.' Have we not in the title 
 (Love's Martyr) of this strange work a hint in connection with the love philosphy 
 
 of Plato and the Rosicrucians at the same time ?" (page 200.) The whole of this 
 early work by me is more or less impregnated by the theory of the Rosicrucian 
 character of the plays. I went so far, even, as to furnish a photograph of Shake- 
 speare's monument, in order to show the two Cupids placed overhead — one with a 
 torch, the other with a spade — are the Rosicrucian emblems of Love and Death. 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUHE. 199 
 
 of the society of the Rosie Cross. Like Solomon, he wrote a natural 
 history, comprised chiefly of the history of plants from the moss on 
 the ground to the cedar of Lebanon. And in his Two Books 
 Advancement of Learning j 1605, he inserts twenty-five of the prov- 
 erbs of Solomon, with lengthy comments upon them. Solomon was 
 a type of Christ. The Temple of Solomon (which Archbishop Tenison 
 twice applies to Bacon's Instauration) standing for the " House of 
 Wisdom," of which Christ is the cornerstone. 
 
 Bacon's parables of Solomon consist of thirty-four proverbs 
 inserted in his De Augmentis. Curiously his New Atlantis, which in 
 scheme and ends is the typical New Jerusalem, also consists of 
 thirty -four pages, (vii Edition.) 
 
 With regard to Saint Augustine (St. Austin), who was the great 
 authority of the Knights Templar, it is certainly worthy of note to 
 find Lord Bacon devoting part of an entire book of his Advancement 
 of Learning, or Be Augmentis Scientiarum, to that Father. The 
 forty-ninth deficient of a new world of sciences being entitled " Irenceus 
 sive de gradibus unitatis in civitate Dei, or of the degrees of unity in 
 the City of God. " 
 
 This is another hint for a brotherhood founded upon the doc- 
 trines of Peace, which, indeed, Bacon dwells much upon in this Defi- 
 cient. Bacon commences this section : 
 
 '' It imports exceedingly the Peace of the Church. That he that 
 makes mention of Peace shall bear away that answer, Jehu gave to 
 the messengers, "Is it Peace, Jehu? What hast thou to do with 
 Peace f Turn and follow me. " Peace is not the matter that many 
 seek after, but parties and sidings." (p. 473 Advancement, 1640.) 
 
 The Rosicrucians open many of their manifestoes with an allusion 
 to Peace. Thus Eugenius Philalethes, ^^ To the most illustrious and 
 truly regenerated brethren R. C, to the peace-loving apostles of the 
 church, in this contentious age, salutation /row the Centre of Peace. ^^ 
 {Anthroposophia Theomagica of Thomas Vaughan. ) 
 
 Bacon writes : 
 
 " I like better that entry of truth which cometh peaceably 
 with chalk, to mark up those minds which are capable to lodge and 
 harbor it." {Bedargutio.) 
 
 This forms the thirty-fifth aphorism also of the first book of the 
 Novum Organum. In the 1614 Fama Fraternitalis we read : " Truth 
 \& peaceable, brief, and always like herself in all things." 
 
 Of Free Masonry we read : " During the reigns of Edward V. 
 and Richard III. it again declined, but came again in repute on the 
 
200 TEE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 accession of Henry VII., in 1485. It was then patronized by the 
 master and fellows of the order of St. John of Rhodes {now Malta), 
 who, at a Grand Lodge meeting in 1500, chose Henry for their pro- 
 tector. On the 24th of June, 1502, a lodge of masters was formed 
 in the palace, at which the King presided as G. M.; and after 
 appointing his wardens, proceeded in great state to Westminster 
 Abbey, where the foundation stone was laid of that excellent piece 
 of Gothic architecture, called Henry the VII.^s Chapel. The cape 
 stone of this building was celebrated in 1507. The following noble 
 structures were all finished in this reign : The Palace of Richmond, 
 the College of Brazen-nose in Oxford, as also Jesus and St. John's 
 College in Cambridge.'' 
 
 Bacon, in his History of King Henry the Seventh, introduces the 
 passage I have italicized, viz., that Henry VII. was chosen by the 
 Knights of St. John of Rhodes for their protector. I need hardly 
 inform the reader, the Rosicrucians traced their order to the island 
 of Rhodes, or Boses, which latter is the Greek original of the name. 
 St. John was their patron saint. Bacon writes : 
 
 '^ With this answer Jasper Pons returned, nothing at all dis- 
 contented. And yet this declaration of the King gave him that 
 reputation abroad, as he was not long after elected by the Knights 
 OF THE Rhodes, protector of their order." {History King 
 Henry the Seventh, 1622, p. 202.) 
 
 Notice, Bacon does not write *' Knights of Bhodes,^^ but of *' the 
 Bhodes, " most hkely implying " Knights of the Boses. '' This fact, 
 I imagine, had a powerful effect upon Bacon's mind in making him 
 select this reign for a history which should contain many profound 
 SECRETS WRITTEN AND HIDDEN UNDER THE RosE. In the Collec- 
 tion of laudatory poems in Latin, prefixed to the translation of 
 Bacon's He Augmentis, (by Gilbert Wats, 1640), entitled Manes 
 Verulamiani, is one signed by Thomas Randolph, which has 
 these lines : 
 
 '^ Sed quanta effulgent plus quam mortalis ocelli 
 Lumina, dum regni mystica sacra canat? 
 Dum sic naturae leges, arcanaque Regum, 
 Tanquam a secretis esset utrisque, canat : 
 Dum canat Henricum, qui Rex, idemque Sacerdos, 
 Connubio stabili junxit utramque Rosam." i 
 
 1 There is another Latin poem upon Bucon^s King ffem-y the Semnth, to be found 
 in the Oj^era Moralium et Civilium, 1638, signed T. P. : 
 De Connubio Rosarum. 
 Septimus Henri cus non acre et mannore vivit ; 
 Yivit at in chartis, magno Bacone, tuis. 
 Junge duas, Henrice, rosas; dat mille Baconas ; 
 Quot verba in libro, tot reor esse rosas. 
 The last line is very curious, signifying Bacon's History of King Henry the 
 Seventh is full of Secrets or Koses, — for the Rose means a secret — under the Rose / 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LJTEBATUBE. 201 
 
 On the frontispiece portrait of Bacon, by Marshall {Advancement 
 of Learning, 1640), Bacon may be seen, writing upon the book in 
 front of him, the words : 
 
 Connubio jungam stabili 
 
 On the other page is written : 
 
 Mundus mens. 
 
 With regard to Bacon's ancestral home, St. Albans, it claims 
 rivalry with the City of York, to be the original and first seat of Ma- 
 sonry (and even of the Bardic traditions, connected with Glastonbury 
 and the Arthurian Legend) in England. There is every reason to 
 believe Saint Alban was the real founder of Masonry. I, therefore, 
 give here some account of the manuscripts of Elias Ashmole, the 
 Kosicrucian, who is reported to have been one of the members of the 
 great meeting held at Warrington in 1646 by the Masons, when they 
 adopted Bacon's two pillars. 
 
 An old manuscript, which was destroyed with many others in 
 1720, said to have been in the possession of Nicholas Stone, a curious 
 sculptor under Inigo Jones, contains the following particulars : 
 
 *' St. Albans loved Masons well, and cherished them much, and 
 made their pay right good ; for he gave them 2 shillings per weeli, 
 and 3 pence to their cheer; whereas, before that time, in all the land, 
 a Mason had but a penny a day, and his meat, until St. Albans 
 mended itt, and he gott them a charter from the King and his 
 counsell for to hold a general counscll, and gave it the name of 
 assemblie. Thereat he was himselfe, and did helpe to make masons, 
 and gave them good charges. " 
 
 In some of Mr. Ashmole's manuscripts there are many valuable 
 collections relating to the History of the Free Masons, as may be 
 gathered from the letters of Dr. Knipe (of Christ Church, Oxford,) to 
 the publisher of Ashmole's life, the following extracts from which 
 will authenticate and illustrate many facts in the following history : 
 
 " What from Mr. Ashmole's collection I could gather, was, that the 
 report of our Societies taking rise from a bull granted by the Pope 
 in the reign of Henry VI. to some Italian architects to travel over 
 all Europe to erect chapels, was ill founded. Such a bull there 
 was; and those architects were Masons. But this bull, in the 
 opinion of the learned Mr. Ashmole, was confirmative only, and did 
 not by any means create our Fraternity, or even establish them in 
 this kingdom. But as to the time and manner of that establishment 
 something I shall relate from the same collections. 
 
 *' St. Alban, the protomartyr, established Masonry here, and 
 from his time, it flourished, more or less, according as the world 
 
202 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATURE. 
 
 went, down to the days of King Athelstane, who, for the sake of his 
 brother Edwin, granted the Masons a charter. 
 
 *' Carausius, a Roman general, patronized the fraternity, and 
 encouraged learning. He also collected the best artificers from many 
 countries, particularly Masons. He appointed Albanus, his steward, 
 the principal superintendent of their meetings. Under his govern- 
 ment, lodges began to be introduced, and the business of Masonry 
 regularly carried on. They obtained, through the influence of 
 Albanus, a cliarter from Carausius to hold a general council, at 
 which Albanus presided, and made many new members. This 
 Albanus was the celebrated St. Albans, the first martyr in Britain 
 for the Christian faith. 
 
 *' In the year 557 A. C, when St. Austin with a number of 
 monks, among whom the arts had been preserved, came to England. 
 By these the principles of Christianity were propagated with such zeal, 
 lliat a number of Kings were converted. St. Austin then became 
 the patron of the order, and by the aid of foreigners introduced the 
 (rothic style of building. He appeared at the head of the fraternity 
 in founding the old Cathedral of Canterbury, in the year 600; that 
 of Rochester in 002; St. Paul's, in London, in 604; St. Peter's, in 
 Westminster, in 605; as well as many others." 
 
 In the Harleian MSS., No. 2054, Circa A. D. 1650 :— " Of the many 
 curious old MSS. preserved in the British Museum, the Bodleian 
 Library at Oxford, etc., there are few extant more interesting to the 
 antiquarian student than the Harleian MSS. They appeal also to 
 us as Masons, as we shall endeavor to point out. Speaking of 
 Masonry, the author or authors begins with a dissertation on the 
 seven liberal arts and sciences, viz.: " Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, 
 Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, and Astronomy." After tracing 
 Masonry through Noah and Moses to David and Solomon, it carries 
 it into France by one Nymus Gra3cus, who had been at the building 
 of Solomon's Temple. From France it takes Masonry into England 
 in the time of St. Alban, then on to the time of King Athelstane. 
 Reference is also made in these MSS. to Prince Edwin, therein called 
 Hadrian." 
 
 I find Professor Buhle, in his Ur sprung und ScMcksale der Or den 
 der Bosenkreuzer und Freymaurer^ alluding to both orders as having 
 their first origin in England : 
 
 " Allerdings hat die altere Geschichte sowohl des Rosenkreuzer 
 als des Maurerordens, auch wenn man gewisse historische Thatsa- 
 chen als dahin gehorig erweisen kann, viele Liicken, zumal was das 
 Detail betrifift, die sich bis jetzt iiberhaupt nicht ausfiillen lassen, oder 
 die ich nicht auszuflillen vermag, da dieses von historischen Docu- 
 menten uu'l Nachrichten abhangt, die wahrscheinlich in England und 
 Schottland, den ersten Wohnsitsen heider Orden, noch hier und da exis- 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE, 203 
 
 tireu, die aber mir unbekannt sind, oder die ich, falls ich auch von 
 diesen und jenen eineliterarische Notiz gehabt hatte, nicht beweisen 
 konnte." (p. 26, 1804.) 
 
 I now give the conclusions at which Frederick Nicolai arrived 
 upon the same subject : 
 
 '^Dass durch die Eosenkreuzerische Physik, und durch 
 Bacon's Atalantis veranlasst (nach welchen beiden die physi- 
 kalischen Entdeckungen sollten gelieim gehalten werden,und durch 
 die bildische Sprache der damaligen Chemiker wirklich geheim 
 gehalten wurden), eine Anzahl von verschiedenen Personen sich 
 zusammengethan habe, um eine Gesellschaft zu errichten, welche 
 Bacon in dek Atalantis das Salomonische Haus genannt 
 HATTE, d. h. eine Gesellschaft zu errichten, welche die Werke 
 Gottes in der Natur, und die Ursachen der Dinge zu erforschen 
 suchte." (p. 61, Einige Bemerkungen iiber den Ursprung und die 
 Geschichte der Rosenkreuzer und Freymaurer, 1806.) 
 
 Mr. Soane asserts the same theory : " That Freemasons are 
 either deceived or deceivers," and adds, " Their society sprang out 
 of decayed Rosicrucianism. " 
 
 Let me here state, to the authority and opinion of Buhle and 
 Nicolai can be added the German philosophers and writers, 
 Meiners, Gatterer, Dornden, Semler, and other mystics of the 
 Eighteenth Century, who each and all held up Freemasonry as a 
 branch of their own Rosicrucian Cabala, and this opinion was cor- 
 roborated by the practice of Fustier, Peuvret, Pyron and others, 
 who knew perfectly the actual source of Freemasonry in the 
 Knights Templar order, through the secret society of the Rose, which 
 sprang out of the ruins of the former, rescued by one faithful 
 brother, states John Valentine Andreas. This we can well believe, 
 for it has been thoroughly established by Rossetti (in his Anti-papal 
 Spirit that Preceded the Beformation), that Dante has been initiated 
 into the nine degrees or rites of the Templar order. That is why 
 the Divine Comedy is so full of mysticism and symbolism, and the 
 introduction of the Red and White Rose, points out the source of the 
 society, known later by the name of the Rosicrucians. Somebody at 
 the end of the Sixteenth, and at the beginning of the Seventeenth 
 Centuries (1603), remodeled in England, and reconstructed the 
 society, states Robert Fludd, in his Tractatus Apologeticus (1617), 
 wherein he takes up the cudgels, to defend the society against the 
 attacks of Libavius. 
 
 In 1646 we hear of a meeting or lodge held at Warrington, 
 where Elias Ashmole, the celebrated Rosicrucian, is present, and 
 
204 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE, 
 
 Bacon's two pillars, with their globes on the top (known to every 
 Mason), are adopted and his New Atlantis discussed. And this is 
 the first authentic and trustworthy evidence we possess of modern 
 Freemasonry and its origins. De Quincey indorses Buhle's state- 
 ment, that Masonry was modified Rosicrucianism and sprang out of 
 it. Buhle and Nicolai, in the passages in German, state that 
 probably both orders had their dwelling-place in England and 
 Scotland, (according to historical documents and traditions,) and 
 that Bacon's Atlantis or Solomon^ s House was the original of the 
 society. What made Bacon invent his Atlantis, his pillars, and the 
 entire scheme ? Masonry did not exist in its modern form in his 
 age. My opinion, nay, my conviction, I may say is. Bacon, (a pro- 
 found student of Dante and Virgil,) living in an ancient Masonic 
 center like St. Albans, contemplated the revival and resuscitation 
 of a secret brotherhood and knightly order, borrowed from the 
 Templars and their mystic Rose. His dialogue of A Holy War 
 is the most conclusive possible hint for the Temple, audits peaceful 
 soldiery, possible to conceive. It proves, beyond doubt. Bacon was 
 a propagandist for the reformation and the restoring of man's 
 fallen condition. 
 
 In the Sonnets we read : — 
 
 Was it the proud full sail of his great verse, 
 Bound for the prize of all too precious you. 
 That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse. 
 Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew ? 
 
 (Sonnet Ixxxvi.) 
 Of Dante's Divine Comedy, Blake writes : 
 
 " This poem is at once a tomb and a cradle, — the tomb of a world 
 that was passing, — the cradle of the world that was to come; a por- 
 tico between two temples, that of the past 'and that of the future. 
 In it are deposited the traditions, the ideas, the sciences of the past, 
 as the Egyptians deposited their kings and symbolic Gods in the 
 sepulchres of Thebes and Memphis. The future brings into it, its 
 as[)irations and its germs, enveloped in the swaddling clothes of a 
 rising language, and a splendid poetry, — a mysterious infant, that is 
 nourished by the two teats of sacred tradition, and profane fiction, 
 Moses and St. Paul, Homer and Virgil." {Astronomical Myths. 
 Blake, p. 307.) 
 
 This is perfectly true, for Dante was initiated into the nine 
 degrees of the Knights Templar, who were the Free Masons, so to 
 speak, of the Middle Ages, and who from their travels in the East, 
 and all over Europe, had become the guardians of the secret 
 doctrines gathered from every source, and which eventually passed 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUME. 205 
 
 into the hands of the Rosicrucians, — a society ^^ formed out of tlieir 
 ruins and decay hy one faithful brother j^^ writes John Valentine 
 Andreas, their reputed head. (Christ. Mythol.) Virgil takes up the 
 lighted torch of Homer and hands it on to Dante, who passes it to 
 the genius behind the Shakespeare mask, Francis Bacon. Thus the 
 " handing on of the lamp for posterity, ^^ has been kept going, by 
 a chain of giant poets, who, like the distant peaks of some mighty 
 range of Alps, beckon and nod to each other, o'er the cloudland of 
 ignorance, and above the mists of the ages. No wonder Bacon writes, 
 *' The heathen antiquities are like Fame Caput inter Nuhila Condit, 
 her head is muffled from our sight.^' Dante's Rose of Paradise 
 shows the society of the Rose existed in his age, and I think from 
 Sonnet 86, we can gather a hint, Dante (and possibly Virgil also,), 
 were the inspiring sources of Francis Bacon. 
 
 Two of Michael Maier's works, published just after Shakespeare's 
 death, 1616, and bearing date in the prefaces September, 1616, have 
 for titles Lusus Serius and Jocus Severus. My opinion is these 
 titles refer to Bacchus or the theatre, which indeed is made up of 
 comedy and tragedy; that is, of the jocose and the grave, the 
 ridiculous and the serious, which both these titles indicate. In 
 Plato's Cratylus we read : 
 
 Herm. But what will you say concerning Dionysius? 
 
 Socrates. You inquire about great things, Son of Hipponicus. 
 But the mode of nomination, belonging to these Divinities, is both 
 Serious and Jocose. 
 
 There is no doubt, in both of these works by Maier, there is a 
 serious purpose hidden behind the allegories or fables, in wliich he 
 disguises his real meaning. 
 
 Ridentem dicere verum 
 
 Quid vetat f 
 
 In Maier's Jocus Severus we find the title, " Tribunal ^quum 
 quo Noctua Regina avium, Phoenice arbitro, post varias discepta- 
 tiones et querelas volucrum eam infestantium pronunciatur, et ob 
 sapientiam singularem, Palladi sacrata agnoscitur." (Francofurti, 
 1617.) The dedicatory epistle concludes : " Babam Francofurti 
 ad moenum mense Septembri, Anno 1616, transitu ex Anglia in 
 Bohemiam.^^ That is to say, it was written evidently in England, 
 and this preface was written Jive months after Shakespeare's death. 
 That Maier is alluding, by his chief title, to tragedy and comedy 
 
20G THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 may be inferred by the preface. He writes, in allusion to the title 
 Jocus Severus : 
 
 Vita hominum scena est, lususque, aut ludere discas 
 Cur is sepositis, aut miser anda /eras. (p. 3.) 
 
 The protagonist of the piece is the Owl, who being persecuted 
 by other birds, refers to the Phoenix, as a tribunal of justice upon 
 the question. By the Owl (Noctua) I understand alchemy, — and 
 the fraternity of the Rosycross, who, persecuted by the age, take 
 refuge in night and occult wisdom. 
 
 " Est autem Noctua non noctua, sed (de mundanis loquendo) ars 
 artiura et scientia scientiarum, chemia, quas a diverso hominum 
 genere quotidie accusatur, contumcliis aflflcitur et couvitiis pros- 
 cinditur, nempe primo, a stultis, stupidis, indocilibus, et indoctis, 
 quales describuntur sub nomine coruicis, graculi, pica?, corvi, anseris, 
 hirundinis; secundo a hteratisquidem,sed rei veritatis ignaris, iique 
 denotantur sub nomine philomele, psittaci, gruis; tertio ab avnritia 
 prseoccupatis, mente improba, cervice dura, nimis credulis, incon- 
 stantibus et sumptus expeudere deti-ahentibus, qui signiflcantur i)er 
 CLiculum, monedulam, picum, ardeam. Noctua dicitur, quia in tene- 
 bris vivit, multisque uoctium laboribus acquiritur, de qua, Avicenna 
 {lib. de anima diet. 6 cap. 17) ^ Ego hoc totum,^ inquit didici fre- 
 quenter legendo, et parum dormiendo, et parum comedendo et minus 
 bibendo, et quantum expeuderunt socii mei in lumine potandum 
 vinum de nocte, tantum ego expendi ad vigilandum et legendum de 
 nocte in oleo, et quantum expendebant in couversione, amplius 
 expendebam ego in lumine ad vigilandum, et discendum de nocte, 
 et nisi hoc facerem, non scirem de magisterio. " 
 
 '' Quae vero causa fuerit, cur Noctua Palladis et sapientise avis 
 Athenarumque doctissimarum quondam propria fuerit, eruditis forte 
 inolevit, licet vulgo fortuitum quid videatur. Eadem certe nobis in 
 proposito est, cui Noctuara Reginam Avium dignemur et indigite- 
 mus. Phoenix vero illi judex appellatur, nempe ex avium genere 
 justissimus et opulentissimus, ne quid in gratiam illarum aut odium 
 hujus dicat : qui an unquam, qualis putatur, vixerit, an vero alio 
 modo, cuilibet disquirendum relinquo. Qualis autem fuisse haec 
 avis credita sit antiquis temporibus, ex Tacito hue adscribam. Is 
 {lib. 6 annalium) sic narrat. Anno urbis 787 Paulo Fabio L. Vitellis 
 Coss. post longum seculorum ambitum avis Phoenix in ^gyptum 
 venit, pra3buitque materiam doctissimus indigenarum et graecorum 
 multa super res miraculo disserendi : de quibus congruunt, et plura 
 ambigua sed cognitu non absurd a promere libet. " 
 
 In some of Bacon's Latin works there are a great number of 
 ornamental headpieces or colophonS; and the first letter (com- 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATUBE. 2?? 
 
 mencing chapters and books) of the first word and hne, are bor- 
 rowed from scriptural things. A favorite one is David playing on 
 his harp, which recalls the 49th Psalm, (4) : 
 
 " Hear this all ye people; give ear all ye inhabitants of the world : 
 both low and high, rich and poor together, my mouth shall 
 speak of wisdom, and tbe meditation of my heart shall be of under- 
 standing. I WILL INCLINE MY EAK TO A PAKABLE ; I WILL OPEN 
 MY DARK SAYINGS UPON THE HAKP. " 
 
 So, upon page 56 of the Advancement of Learning, 1640, repro- 
 duced, there are the words Verba Sapientum sunt tanquam aculei, et 
 tanquam clavi in altum defixi. (Eccles. 12.) The words of the 
 wise are as goads and as nails fixed in. Of course this means^ that 
 profound wisdom, always contains something in its words to excite 
 our curiosity, and stimulate our minds, to search out the keys and 
 secrets written in the depths of its dark profundities (altum), like 
 stars, (or even, keys,) far off in the Heavens. All this applies to 
 Bacon's entire works. They have been written with the double 
 purpose of obscuration and revelation, and can be best compared to 
 the Bible, and particularly the wisdom of Solomon and David's 
 Psalms. It is useless to approach Bacon's w^orks from the stand- 
 point of common sense, or as an open problem. They are purely 
 esoteric and spiritual, profoundly dark, and obscurely written, and 
 he must indeed be a Delian Diver, who hopes to pluck out the heart 
 of the mystery, save by illumination, which latter is a species of 
 intellectual instinct, or intuition, sharpened by practice and mental 
 discipline. 
 
 Everybody w^ho knows the least bit in the world about Free- 
 masonry will allow Lord Bacon was a Mason. His pillars or 
 columns prove that. De Quincey writes : 
 
 '' The two pillars, also, Jachin and Boaz (strength and power), 
 which are amongst the memorable singularities in Solomon's 
 temple, have an occult meaning to the Free-masons, which, how- 
 ever, I shall not undertake publicly to explain. This symbohc 
 interest to the Enghsh Eosicrucians in the attributes, incidents and 
 legends of the art exercised by the literal Masons of real life, natur- 
 ally brought the two orders into some connection with each other. 
 They were thus enabled to realize to their eyes the symbols of their 
 allegories; and the same building which accommodated the guild of 
 builders in their professional meetings, offered a desirable means of 
 secret assemblies to the early Free-masons. An apparatus of imple- 
 ments and utensils such as were presented in the fabulous sepulchre 
 of Father Rosycross, were here actually brought together. And 
 accordingly, it is upon record that the first formal and solemn lodge 
 
208 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 of Freemasons, on occasion of which the very name of Free-masons 
 was first publicly made known, was held in Mason's Hall, Mason's 
 alley, Basinghall street, London, in the year 1646. Into this lodge 
 it was that Ashmole, the antiquary, was admitted. Private meet- 
 ings there may doubtless have been before, and one at Warrington 
 (half-way between Liverpool and Manchester) is expressly men- 
 tioned in the life of Ashmole; but the name of a Free-masons' 
 Lodge, with all the insignia, attributes and circumstances of a 
 locge, first came forward in the page of history on the occasion I 
 have mentioned. It is, perhaps, in requital of the services at that 
 time rendered in the loan of their hall, etc., that the guild of 
 Masons as a body, and where they are not individually objection- 
 able, enjoy a precedency of all orders of men in the right to admis- 
 sion, and pay only half fees. Ashmole, by the way, whom I have 
 just mentioned as one of the earliest Free-masons, appears from his 
 wiitings to have been a zealous Rosicrucian. " {Essay on Bosi- 
 crucians. ) 
 
 For the account of these columns or pillars see the First Book of 
 Kings vii. 14-22, where it is said, " And upon the top of the 
 pillars, was Lily work." Compare: ''And he reared up the pil- 
 lars before the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the 
 left; and called the name of that on the right hand Jachin, and the 
 name of that on the left Boaz." (Chronicles II., chap. iii. 17.) This 
 proves Bacon's entire Instauration is the House of Wisdom, as 
 indeed Archbishop Tenison twice states in his Baconiana, 1679. 
 (See Francis Bacon.) 
 
 I have stated in my last work {Francis Bacon), that most of the 
 Rosicrucian literature appeared (and most certainly the Rosicrucian 
 mania was at its height,) about the date of Shakespeare's death, 
 1616. Here is the proof: 
 
 '' The sensation which was produced throughout Germany by the 
 works in question, is sufficiently evidenced, by the repeated editions 
 of them, which appeared between 1614 and 1617, but still more by the 
 prodigious commotion which followed in the literary world. In the 
 library at Gottingen, there is a body of letters, addressed to the 
 imaginary order of Father Rosycross, from 1614 to 1617, by persons, 
 offering themselves as members." {De Quincey^s Essay.) 
 
 Again : 
 
 " To a hoax played off by a young man of extraordinary talents 
 in the beginning of the seventeenth century {i.e., about 1610-14), but 
 for a more elevated purpose than most hoaxes involve, the reader will 
 find that the whole mysteries of Free-masonry, as now existing all 
 over the civilized world, after a lapse of more than two centuries, 
 are here distinctly traced : such is the power of a grand and capa- 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 209 
 
 cious aspiration of philosophic benevolence to embalm even the 
 idlest levities, as amber enshrines straws and insects ! " {Ih.) 
 
 " Thus I have traced the history of Rosicrucianism from its birth 
 in Germany; and have ended with showing that, from the ener- 
 getic opposition and ridicule which it latterly incurred, no college 
 or lodge of Rosicrucian brethren, professing occult knowledge, and 
 communicating it under solemn forms and vows of secresy, can be 
 shown from historical records to have been ever established in Ger- 
 many. I shall now undertake to prove that Rosicrucianism was trans- 
 planted to England, where it flourished under a new name, under 
 which name it has been since re-exported to us in common with the 
 other countries of Christendom. For I affirm, as the main thesis of 
 my concluding labors, that free-masonry is neither more nor 
 
 LESS than rosicrucianism as modified by those who trans- 
 planted it to ENGLAND. " [lb.) 
 
 This is a thesis difficult to prove, because there exists abundant 
 evidence St. Alban cherished Free Masons, and that it existed in 
 King Henry the Sixth's reign. I should here do well to caution the 
 student against taking De Quincey as an absolute authority upon 
 this subject. His essay upon the Rosicrucians and Free Masons 
 seems a very recondite and exhaustive study to the uninitiated. So 
 I once thought myself, and I dare say thousands have read the 
 essay, with the idea, De Quincey had deeply read himself up upon 
 the subject. I happened, however, to come across Ruble's famous 
 Dissertation (read by the professor in 1803, to the Society of 
 Gottingen) upon this subject, and I recognized at once the source 
 of De Quincey's information and inspiration. In short, De Quincey's 
 essay is entirely borrowed from Buhle, even to the learned foot-notes, 
 and I question, De Quincey had ever read any of the genuine and real 
 Rosicrucian literature for himself at all. De Quincey cuts up Buhle's 
 dissertation, as the Abyssinian is reported to do with regard to the 
 living animal, carves a steak, helps himself, and tortures his subject, 
 without killing him. De Quincey contradicts himself, and is just 
 as confused over his subject as Buhle whom he ridicules for this 
 identical reason. De Quincey tells us of the lodge meeting at 
 Warrington in 1646, but omits to state what Oliver (in his 
 Discrepancies of Freemasonry) adds, that Bacon's New Atlantis was 
 there discussed and his pillars adopted. This proves Bacon's Rosi- 
 crucian (or at least Masonic) affiliations, and it gives the evidence 
 all in favor of Nicolai, Buhle and many other German writers on 
 this subject. 
 
 In Bacon's Resuscitatio, 1671, there are certain psalms translated 
 
 14 
 
210 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 
 
 by him, I am of the belief, with the purport of Masonic symbolism. 
 For example, the 137th Psalm is translated by Bacon, and this 
 psalm is part of the reception or rite of the degree of super-excellent 
 master in cryptic Masonry : 
 
 '' When as we sat all sad and desolate 
 By Babylon upon the river's side. 
 Eased from the tasks, which .in our captive state 
 We were enforced daily to abide, 
 Our harps we had brought with us to the field 
 Some solace to our heavy souls to yield.'' 
 
 (Resuscitatio, 1671.) 
 
 In Mackey's Cryptic Masonry he gives this verse as part of the 
 reception into the degree mentioned, thus : 
 
 By Babel's stream we sit and weep; 
 
 Our tears for Zion flow ; 
 Our harps on drooping willows sleep; * 
 
 Our hearts are filled with woe. 
 (p. 83 Cryptic Masonry Manual of the Council, 1867.) 
 
 Here, let me state, I am not a Freemason, and have never been 
 one at any time, or taken any degree whatever. I am, therefore, 
 under no consciousness of betraying any secrets of the craft. 
 
 THE ACORN ORNAMENT. 
 
 An Acorn ornament in the headpieces of Bacon's works is very 
 frequent and conspicuous, found often with colon dots and 'notes of 
 interrogation. A little work entitled Historical Memoirs on the 
 Eeigns of Queen Elizabeth and King James, fell into my hands, of 
 date 1658, and in this work appears exactly the same head orna- 
 ments as in Tennyson's Baconiana (1679), with a single Acorn in 
 the center. In the Epistle to Lucilius I found this (in curious 
 mixture of italics and non-italicized words) : 
 
 ** So far as the stationer's mere zeal to gain, rather than any 
 propensity to the advancement of learning, did for a while keep 
 Bacon, Rawleigh and divers incomparable spirits more from perish- 
 ing at the bottom of oblivion, good books (anciently written in the 
 bark of trees,) and now turning in their progress, so exactly the 
 fate of Acorns, that if their chance be to withstand the sivinish 
 contamination of their own age, and trampling into the dirt of con- 
 tempt, they do not seldom afterwards become the gods of the 
 nations and have temples dedicated to their worship. As their 
 authors, in this participate with other good men, who attain not to 
 a state of glory till after this life." 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITERATURE. 211 
 
 Now this is very curious. Because the Acorn parable is the one 
 of " cast not your pearls before swine, " which we find so fully 
 expressed in Sir Philip Sidney's frontispiece to the Countess of 
 Pembroke's Arcadia, viz., the picture of a pig smelling some 
 flowers; on a scroll of which is written : " Non tibi Spiro,^^ — I do 
 not breathe for thee. 
 
 It shows that this Acorn mark was a sign for the initiated of 
 some secret society, who cast their pearls (acorns) before the swine, 
 guarded by a cipher, written within, of which this Acorn was 
 probably the emblem. This little book (by Francis Osborn) con- 
 tains some ** Political Deductions from the History of the Earl of 
 Essex, executed under Queen Elizabeth." Seeing that Bacon 
 played a great part as the friend of Essex, and "finally was his state 
 prosecutor, and further seeing Bacon's name is introduced in con- 
 text with the Advancement of Learning, and the Acorn simile, it 
 must indeed strike the profound critic that this Acorn mark, which 
 we reflnd only in particular works (like Boccalini's Ragguagli di 
 Parnasso) has something in it. The reader will find this Acorn 
 ornament in many works of Lord Bacon's, and on page 271, 
 Advancement of Learning, with cipher context. 
 
/ 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 GOEHAMBURY AND VeRULAM. 
 
 Bare niin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. 
 
 (Sonnet LXXIII.) 
 
 Ruskin writes of the stars of Virgil, or of the Spring : 
 
 *' Those stars are called not only Pleiades, but VergihaB, from a 
 word mingling the ideas of the turning and returning of spring-time 
 with the outpouring of rain. The mother of Virgil, bearing the 
 name of Maia, Virgil himself received his name from the seven stars, 
 and he in forming first the mind of Dante, and thi'ough him that of 
 Chaucer, became the fountain-head of all the best literary power 
 connected with the love of vegetative nature among civilized races of 
 men. Take the fact for what it is worth ; still it is a strange seal 
 of coincidence; in word and in reality, upon the Greek dream of the 
 power over human life, and its purest thoughts, in the stars of 
 spring. But the first syllable of the name of Virgil has relation also 
 to another group of woids, of which the English ones. Virtue and 
 Virgin bring down the force to modern days. It is a group contain- 
 ing mainly the idea of spring or increase of life in vegetation, — the 
 rising of the new branch of the tree out of the bud, and of the new 
 leaf out of the ground. It involves secondarily the idea of green- 
 ness and of strength, but, primarily, that of living increase of a new 
 rod from a stock, stem or root; (^ There shall come forth a rod out 
 of the stem of Jesse'), and chiefly the stem of certain plants — either 
 of the rose tribe, as in the budding of the almond rod of Aaron; or 
 of the olive tribe." {The Queen of the Air, pp. 43-44.) 
 
 It is very curious to find Bacon's home on the banks of the river 
 Ver(or the spring), and his title of Lord Verulam connected with it. 
 For Verulam (the modernized form of the Latin Verulamium) simply 
 means the town on the river Ver. , Indeed, during Bacon's lifetime, 
 he built himself a house upon the river itself, behind the Byzantine 
 fish ponds, which were fed by the river. And he gave this mansion 
 the name of Verulam House. It was here he wrote his St/lva Sylvar- 
 um, and spent the greater part of the last five years of his life, in the 
 company of men like Hobbes and Eawley, his chaplain. One wing 
 or gable of the house still stands. The Pleiades, or the stars of 
 spring, are a group of stars closely connected with the lost island 
 of Atlantis. For their names are each called after one of the 
 seven daughters of Atlas, known as the Atlantides. Bacon writes: 
 
 " Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the 
 bands of Orion ? Where the settled and immovable configuration of 
 
 212 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 213 
 
 the first stars, ever standing at equal distance, is with great elegancy 
 described." So in another place, '' Which maketh Arcturus, Orion 
 and Pleiades, and the secret chambers of the south. Where he 
 (Job) again points at the depression of the Southern Pole, design- 
 ing it by the name of the Secrets of the South. " (p. 44 Advancement 
 of Learning, 1640.) 
 
 Halliwell Phillips writes: "According to Matthew Paris, the 
 story of St. Catherine was dramatized about the commencement of 
 the twelfth century, by one Geoffrey, a learned Norman then in 
 England, in a play which was acted at Dunstable at that period. 
 This is the earliest notice of the drama in this country which has 
 been discovered." (p. 321, Outlines of Shakespeare's Life.) This 
 Geoffrey was Geoffrey de Gorham, a bishop of St. Albans, who 
 built Gorhambury Abbey, and from which Bacon's seat and park 
 borrowed its name. In fact, the earliest notice of the drama in 
 England takes us to Temple House, Bacon's home, built within a 
 stone's throw of the site of Geoffrey de Gorham's abbey. This, 
 to those who believe in the Baconian theory of the authorship of 
 the plays, must appear very remarkable, almost fatality. Indeed, 
 there are many trifles in the history of St. Albans connected with 
 Bacon, which appear as almost omens or portents pointing to 
 Bacon. His final title. Viscount St. Albans, appears to have 
 impressed itself upon his mind, for he wrote, just after obtaining it 
 in 1621, " I may now be buried in Saint Albans habit, as he lived, " 
 probably a profound hint for Bacon's literary and political 
 martyrdom, as a parallel for the death of the martyr saint, who was 
 put to death on the site of the abbey. 
 
 The man who possessed the best head that the world has as yet 
 seen, and whose brain was actually concentric with the universe, 
 died under a strange roof, almost alone and friendless. 
 
 " No ministering hands of feminine love soothed his fevered 
 brow, moistened his parched lips; no gentle woman's voice, modu- 
 lated by sympathy and sorrow, fell upon his ear. He was worse 
 than wifeless, for the alderman's daughter, the ' handsome maiden to 
 his liking,' had not shared his sorrows; she was gone from him, 
 living upon an allowance spared with difficulty from his narrow 
 means. It is said she was faithless; at any rate, she honored the 
 memory of the great philosopher, by marrying 'her gentleman- 
 usher', ere the funeral baked meats grew cold. Bacon was not only 
 worse than wifeless; he was without children." 
 
 This opinion rests upon the following extract from his will, the 
 inference of his biographer, and perhaps, traditional gossip : 
 
214 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE, 
 
 *' Whatsoever I have given, granted, confirmed, or appointed to 
 my wife in the former part of this will I do now, for just and great 
 causes, utterly revoke and make void, and leave to her her right 
 only." {Francis Bacon, p. 169. B. G. Lovejoy.) 
 
 There is something awful in the reflection that this great man, 
 who sacrificed himself for the cause of humanity, died alone, almost 
 friendless, the Christ of literature, upon the day of the resurrection 
 of our Lord ! There does not exist even an account of his burial 
 or funeral ! All is mystery, — mystery which repeats itself around 
 Shakespeare as well. 
 
 Aubrey observes : 
 
 ^'' All that were great and good loved and honored Mm, '* Professor 
 Playfair said : "He is destined to remain an instantia singularis 
 among men, and as he had no rival in the times which are past, so he 
 is likely to have none in those which are to come. Before any par- 
 allel to him can be found, not only must a man of the same talents 
 be produced, but he must be placed in the same circumstances, the 
 memory of his predecessor must be effaced, and the light of 
 science, after being entirely extinguished, must be again beginning 
 to revive. If a second Bacon is ever to arise, he must be ignorant 
 of the first." 
 
 Aubrey relates how Bacon would often drink a good draught of 
 strong March-beer, to lay his working fancy asleep, which, other- 
 wise, would keep him awake the greater part of the night {Aubrey, 
 vol. II., pp. 223, 226, 235). This is a considerable proof of the 
 Imaginative character of his mind, and shows the poet behind the 
 philosopher. 
 
 Thomas Fuller (in his Worthies) relates as follows : 
 
 '' Since I have read, that his grave being occasionally opened, his 
 skull (the relic of civil veneration), was by one King, a Doctor of 
 Physic, made the object of scorn and contempt ; but he who then 
 derided the dead, has since become the laughing-stock of the 
 living. " 
 
 This cited by a correspondent in Notes and Queries (2d S., 
 viii. 354), elicited from Mr. C. Le Poer Kennedy, of St. Albans, an 
 account of a search that had been made for Bacon's remains, on the 
 occasion of the interment of the last Lord Verulam. " A partition 
 wall was pulled down, and the search extended into the part of the 
 vault immediately under the monument, but no remains were 
 found. " 
 
 Mrs. Henry Pott related to me, how she was informed by Lord 
 Yerulam, of an attempt to carry away Bacon's monument from 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 215 
 
 Saiut Michael's Church, Saint Albans, — the monument being found 
 detached from its niche, and lying with a broken leg under the chan- 
 cel window. The robbers, who planned this mysterious sacrilege, evi- 
 dently had hoped to have lifted the statue through the window, but 
 found it too heavy, and had to relinquish their task. The mystery 
 attached to Bacon, applies also to Shakespeare's grave. Washington 
 Irving relates, that the old sexton who made bold to peep through 
 a partition hole into Shakespeare's grave, saw neither dust or 
 bones. 
 
 Doctor Ingleby writes {Shakespeare^ s Bones, p. 31) : 
 
 " In the year 1796, the supposed grave (of Shakespeare), was 
 actually broken into, in the course of digging a vault in its imme- 
 diate proximity; and not much more than fifty years ago, the slab 
 over the grave, having sunk below the level of the pavement, was 
 removed, the surface was leveled, and a fresh stone was laid over 
 the old bed. It is certain, I believe, that the original stone did 
 not bear the name of Shakespeare, any more than its successor, 
 but it is not certain that the fourlines appear upon the new stone in 
 exactly the same literal form as they did upon the old one. ( Tradi- 
 tionary Anecdotes of Shakespeare, 1883, p. 11.) I wish I could add 
 that these two were the only occasions when either grave or grave- 
 stone was meddled with. I am informed, on the authority of a free 
 and accepted Mason, that a brother Mason of his, has explored the 
 grave which purports to be Shakespeare's, and that he found 
 nothing in it but dust." 
 
 In Baconiana (1679) we read of Bacon : 
 
 " Such great wits are not the common Birth of Time ; and they, 
 surely, intended to signify so much who said of the Phoenix (though 
 in hyperbole as well as metaphor), that Nature gives the World that 
 individual species but once in five hundred years." 
 
 Amongst the curious pieces in this work are some verses by Abra- 
 ham Cowley, who, Mrs. Henry Pott tells me, was cipherer to the king. 
 He compares Bacon to Beubens and Vandyke, calls his words "pict- 
 ures of the thought,^^ and describes Bacon as gathering bunches of 
 grapes and extracting the juice from them. 
 
 " Like foolish birds to painted grapes we flew. 
 He sought and gather'd for our use the true ; 
 And when, on heaps, the chosen bunches lay. 
 He pressed them wisely the mechanic way, 
 'Till all their juice did, in one vessel pQur, 
 Ferment into a nourishment divine, 
 The thirsty soul's refreshing wine. " 
 
 It must be owned that this is a close approximation to the subject 
 of the Drama, to Bacchus and the Dionysian Festivals around the 
 
216 THE COLUMBUS OF LITEJRATUME. 
 
 autumnal wine presses. Bacchus, it need hardly be stated, was not 
 only God of the Grape, but it was around his worship at the time of 
 the vintage that the drama first took its origin in songs sung in 
 praise of the wine {Donaldson^s Greek Theatre). 
 
 " Who to the life an exact piece would make 
 Must not from others' work a copy take ; 
 No, not from Beubens or Vandyke ; 
 Much less content himself to make it like 
 Th' ideas and the images which lie 
 In his own fancy, or his memory." (Cowley.) 
 
 In a prayer, or psalm, composed by Bacon, and to be found on 
 page 17 of the Hesuscitatio (1670), he writes : " I have, though in a 
 DESPISED WEED, procured the good of all men." 
 
 Now, the student will note this is exactly the same language he 
 uses for poetry, upon page 264 cited : " As for poesy (whether we 
 speak of fables or meter), it is, as we have said before, as a lux- 
 uriant HERB, brought forth without seed " (p. 264). The original 
 Latin text of the De Augmentis, gives luxurians herba, which 
 means rank or luxuriant grass, or weeds. Bacon evidently intends 
 to hint his own poetry differs from other poetry, in that it contains 
 spiritual seed, a doctrine which, as Proserpine or spirit, may be 
 refound everywhere in his Sylva Sylvarum and Advancement. It is 
 the philosophy of the Sonnets; that is, store for the sake of a new 
 harvest, and for a second immortality through interpretation and 
 growth of these seeds sown in our minds by his text. The modern 
 critic quite forgets, the art of the playwright was considered a 
 despised weed, in Bacon's age, as is testified by abundance of evi- 
 dence. The literary encomiums given Shakespeare by his contem- 
 poraries, are simply the praises poets gave each other, but speak 
 nothing for the general public, or society standing of the poet 
 playwright. The lives of Greene, Marlow, speak volumes for my 
 theory. Selden declared " It would be impossible for a lord to 
 write verses," and for a man in Bacon's position, whose legal 
 career depended upon soUd character and rational learning, to 
 have figured as a play writer, would have exposed him to the mercy 
 of his enemies and ruined him in Elizabeth's eyes, to say nothing 
 that the writing of such treasonable plays as Henry the Fourth 
 would have taken him to the Tower, as it did, indeed, Hay ward 
 for the same thing. Everlastingly critics cry out, *'Why did not 
 Bacon acknowledge his writings f " If he had it is certain he would 
 never have died Viscount St. Albans, or been Lord Keeper I The 
 
THE COLUMBUS OF LITEBATUBE. 217 
 
 critic thinks of the modern standing of the actor, he sees the stage 
 ennobled to an art, the theatre a splendid structure of magnificence, 
 the drama now on a level with all that is best in literature, and 
 acknowledged (as a profession) in society, — but he does not see the 
 Globe, or the Fortune, the Bose, or the Curtain, as they once stood, 
 mere cockpits full of gods and apple-gnawing rabble, seated on rude 
 benches, and the structures themselves (like the Globe) mere 
 mountebank edifices, as they are represented in engravings and 
 woodcuts handed down to us ! Poetry and playwriting in the serv- 
 ice of the court, as the composition of masques and barriers, might 
 raise a man like Ben Jonson, who had been a bricklayer, or even a 
 reputed Shakespeare, but it would degrade a nephew of Lord Bur- 
 leigh, a son of Queen Elizabeth's Lord Keeper, an aspirant at court 
 and on the bench, — a man whose mother, Lady Anne Bacon, held 
 every eccentricity in abhorrence, with the severity of a straight- 
 laced rigid puritan. Even Bacon's splendid talents and prose writ- 
 ings raised the voices of his enemies against him. Coke, his great 
 rival and life-long foe, declared the Advancement of Learning a 
 work none but a fool would have written, and said Bacon's ship 
 device deserved to be freighted with fools. " 0, that mine enemy 
 would write a book ! '^ Nothing raises enemies so much as literary 
 talent of any serious kind or super-excellence above contemporaries. 
 
Jt n®^^ S^^^I/" ^^ Shakespeare. 
 
 By W. F. C. WiGSTON. 
 
 " Certainly the most noteworthy and valuable of all the works elucidating the 
 inner meaning of the greatest poet of modern times which have appeared. The 
 books on Shakespeare, and his writings, would of themselves make a respectable 
 library, numerically considered. Most of them, however, are superficial and of 
 small value, and many are absolutely worthless. The book under consideration, 
 published anonymously in 1884, seems not to have received the careful attention 
 which it undoubtedly merits. It is evidently the production of a scholar and 
 thinker who has given the Shakespearean writings a critical and exhaustive exami- 
 nation." — The Platonist. 
 
 ^acon, gbal^espeare, and the Rosicpucians. 
 
 By the Same Author. 
 
 "A most remarkable book. Like its predecessor, 'A New Study of Shake- 
 speare,' one cannot open it without learning something. . . . But all the same 
 the book is a curiosity, and no Shakespeare-Bacon libeary should be without 
 IT." — Shakexpeariana {New York). 
 
 " A noteworthy attempt has been made to fix the disputed authorship of the 
 Shakespearian, and likewise of other writings, upon a set of literary eccentrici- 
 ties who existed in Shakespeare's time under the name of ' Rosicruciaus,' after one 
 Christian Rosenkreuz, a German noble of the fifteenth century. The fame of this 
 curious literary 'sect' has just been revived by Mr. W. F. C. Wigston. He en- 
 deavors to show that there existed in Shakespeare's day a learned college of men 
 who wrote in secret, among whom were Lord Bacon, Sir Philip Sidney, Shake- 
 speare and Ben Jonson, and that these together concocted the plays." — West- 
 minster Mevieiv. 
 
 " If Mr. Donnelly's ' great cryptogram ' should turn out to be a real discovery, 
 we do not see why Mr. Wigston's should not be so too. We fully believe that the 
 two theories must stand or fall together." — Notes and Queries, 
 
 Opinion of Mr. James Hughan, author of many Masonic books, and reputed 
 to be the highest Masonic authority in England: — " 1 have carefully read your able 
 article in the journal of the Bacon Society with great interest and miich appreciation. 
 Prima facie, the case is made out, it appears to me, but beyond that I cannot go 
 at present; but the evidence is so remarkable, as well as curious, that no one of 
 a thoughtful mind could possibly refuse your claim to consideration. The New 
 Atlantis seems to be, and probably is, the key to the modern Rituals of Free- 
 masonry. Your Noble Volume on Bacon, Shakespeare, and the Rosicruciaus 
 does much to clear the way." 
 
 "The most powerful argument yet issued on the Baconian side." — Information. 
 
 " I have found it an intensely interesting work. You are steadily pushing 
 open a door that leads to a great discovery." — Ignatius Donnelly, Author of 
 " The Great Cryptogram.''^ 
 
 ""We hail with satisfaction the publication of Mr. Wigston's remarkable and 
 learned work on a subject of which others have thought and discoursed, especially 
 with regard to the sonnets, but which is for the first time brought forward in 
 print with a boldness and ability which must rank the author as first among the 
 pioneers in this newly opened mine of truth." — The Bacon Journal. 
 
 " It is further admittedly curious, and we readily give Mr. Wigston the benefit 
 of the fact, that among the ' misleaders ' whom the Confessio advises its disciples 
 to have nothing to do with, ' one of the greatest' is stated to be a ' stage player, a 
 man with sufficient ingenuity for imposition.'" — Light. . 
 
 " The volume contains much that is most interesting." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 1 
 
"This invaluable book (The Real History of the Rosi crucians, by A. S. TVaite, 
 London, Redwaj, 1887), should be read in connection with another important 
 volume which has since been published, and which follows the subject into 
 recesses whither it is impossible now to attempt to penetrate. Mr. Wigston enters 
 boldly and learnedly upon the connection perceivable between Bacon's philosophy 
 and Rosicrucianism, and the whole book goes to prove, on very substantial 
 grounds, that Bacon was probably the founder and certainly the mainstay of the 
 society." — P. 204, Fraricis Bacon aiid His Secret Society. Qj Mrs. Henry Pott, 
 r. J. Schulte & Co., Chicago, 1891. 
 
 jQermes gtella; or, 
 
 notes and Jottings upon the jgacon Gip^GJ** 
 
 By the Same Author. 
 
 "I read your book with the highest interest and pleasure, from the first page 
 to the last. / think you have 'proned your case, and brought forward some curious and 
 novel facts. There is, I think, no doubt that there is a cipher in the prose works of Lord 
 Bacon, as you suygest." — Letter from Honorable Igkatius Donnelly, Author of 
 " Great Cryptogram;' etc., 12th July, 1890. 
 
 " Mr. Wigston apologizes for the style of this book on the ground that it is 
 * only a collection of rough notes hurried into print by circumstances connected 
 with the theft of a portion of the manuscript.' No douot he fears lest some future 
 Shakespeare, who is the thief, may hereafter get the credit of a work so erudite 
 and so valuable." — Tlie Bookseller. 
 
 "Rough and unmethodical as the book is, however, it shows prodigious 
 research and study, and a really extraordinary ingenuity." — PuhlisJiers' Circular. 
 
 " Your book, Hermes Stella — admirable alike for perspicuity, correctness and the 
 great labor bestowed upon it — has been in my nanus for some months. As close 
 study as a very busy life permitted me to give to the investigation of the cipher 
 theory after Mr. Donnelly published the Cryptogram, led mo to the conclusion that 
 the evidence was to be found, if at all, in Lord Bacon's acknowledged works and 
 the plays in combination. You are much nearer the mark, I think, than Mr. Don- 
 nelly will ever attain from his stand." — Letter from Warren Montfort, Owenton, 
 Ky., December 1, 1891. 
 
 ^^ In Hermes Stella, or Notes and Jottings upion the Bacon Cipher (George Red- 
 way), Mr. W. F. C. Wigston greatly interests us by the curious illustrations 
 which he has reproduced in fac-simile from contemporary editions of Bacon's 
 works, showing what certainly seenied to bo secret marks occurring in the typog- 
 raphy, such as the evidently intentional insertion of notes of interrogation m 
 various ornamental head-pieces and page-borderings." — John Bull. 
 
 "Mk. Wigston's Baconian Books. I am indebted to Mr. W. F. C. Wigston 
 for a copy of his Hermes Stella, to which I devoted a long note in The Cntic of 
 October 18, 1890. I do not know that I can add anything of importance to what 
 was there said of it. The supposed cipher in the 1640 edition of Bacon's ' Advance- 
 ment of Learning ' is very fully illustrated by fac-similes of portions of that book, 
 tables of numerical coincidences with the Folio of 1623 in significant words, etc. 
 The treatment is like Donnelly's in * The Great Cryptogram.'" — The Critic. 
 
 N. B. — This work is valuable to students of tbe Bacon-Shake- 
 speare problem quite independently of any literary claim, on account 
 of the Tables given ofanumber of suspicious pages in the 1 623 Folio 
 Plays, — particularly those upon which the words Francis Bacon are 
 found. Also page 228 of Lord Bacon's " Resuscitatio " (1671), an 
 excessively rare work, is figured correctly. This last page contains 
 the apophthegm story relating to Hog and Bacon, which is undoubt- 
 edly in cipher connection with page 53 Merry Wives of Windsor. 
 
 2 
 
yraneis ^acon, Poet, prophet, pbilosopber. 
 
 By the Same Author. 
 
 " Mr. Wigston canwHte sensibly etumgh, and his parallel passages in Shakespeare 
 and Bacon are interesting. " — Court Circular. 
 
 " Mr. Ignatius Donnelly has an industrious rival or fellow-laborer in Mr. W. F. 
 C. Wigston, who gives us 'Francis Bacon, Poet, Prephet, Philosopher versus 
 Phantom Captain Shakespeare, the Rosicrucian Mask.' (Kegan Paul.) Mr. Wigston 
 bases his case largely on parallelisms in passages of Bacon and Shakespeare." 
 — Graphic. 
 
 ' ' A valuable addition to the bibliography of our Baconian literature. It brings 
 together, besides a number of parallels between Bacon and Shakespeare, many eru- 
 dite bits of knowledge ; evidence from books generally unknown or vary rare ; 
 points which connect Bacon with the Rosicrucians and with Rosicrucian litera- 
 ture. It also furnishes fresh evidence as to the existence of cipher in Bacon's 
 acknowledged works. 
 
 " If wo may venture to suggest an improvement to any future edition of this 
 work, it is that, in order to make its value duly felt, a good index should be added. 
 The table of contents gives an inadequate notion of the amount of learning and 
 curious information contained within these covers. 
 
 "Mr. W. F. C. Wigston has discovered traces of cipher in Bacon's acknowl- 
 edged works, and I am cqiially sure of its existence in many of his nna^knowledged 
 works. Therefore it is of the greatest consequence that these matters should not 
 only have a fair hearing, but that they should be met with all the respect and 
 encouragement which befits pioneer discoveries of great difficulty : 
 " ' Day and Night, but this is wondrous strange ! 
 And therefore^ as a stranger, give it welcome.^'''' 
 
 — Journal of the Bacon Society, January, 1891. 
 
 " That Mr. W. F. C. Wigston, the author of Feakcis Bacox versus Phantom 
 Captain Shakespeaee (London: Kegan Paul & Co.), has spared no pains in 
 research and comparison of passages and authorities in the compilation of his 
 work is plainly manifest upon every page. The volume is interesting from its 
 theories as to the identification of Rosicrucian doctrines, with many of the philo- 
 sophical views expressed in the plays in question. To keen students of literary 
 problems and curiosities the volunie will be of practical interest, whether they 
 agree with its theories or hold them to be heterodox to the last degree." — Court 
 Journal. 
 
 ^' In the present volume we have much interesting matter concerning the Rosi- 
 crucians and their literature, together with an elaborate attempt to show that ' all the 
 curious and recondite doctrines held by them are repeated by Bacon, and are also 
 to be found in the plays.' Some of these, for instance, the music of the spheres, 
 the notion that 'the mind of man is a miiTor or glass reflecting nature,' that 
 natui*e is 'a book or volume of God's creatures,' etc. — had become a part of 
 the rhetorical capital of both poets and prose writers in Shakespeare's day ; and 
 the theories of 'fascination and divination,' the influence of the seven planets in 
 mundane afi"airs, the 'philosophical or ideal republic;' imitated from Plato, were 
 equally familiar to other than professed Rosicrucians. Mr. Wigston would even 
 have us note ' how remarkable a thing it is to find the Rosicnicians and their litera- 
 ture appearing on the stage, and making themselves first known on and about the 
 date of Shakespeare^ s death, 1616' (the italics are his own). But to review the book 
 with anything like thoroughness would take far more space than I can give it hero 
 Suffice it to say that it is well worth reading, aside from its connection with the Bacon, 
 and Shakespeare controversy.''^ — The Critic, Feby. 7, 1891, Ne%o York. 
 
 " The Mystery of Shakespeare. Mr. W. F. C. Wigston, who has committed 
 himself heart and soul to the theory of the Baconian authorship of Shakespeare's 
 plays, has supplemented his preceding works with a portly volume under the defi- 
 ant title : Francis Bacon, Poet, Prophet, Philosopher, versus Phantom Cap- 
 tain Shakespeare, the Rosicrucian Mask. To those who would dismiss inves- 
 tigation of the subject with the question, ' What, after all, if Bacon did write these 
 plays ? ' he replies, ' If the problem ended here with simply a claim to authorship, 
 
 3 
 
I confess I should not care much either whose name the plays carried. But it is 
 certain this is, perhaps, the least part of the problem, and only the entrance to a 
 complete system of cipher revelatory matter. . . . The Rosicrucians are at the 
 bottom of the mystery.' Bacon, in his view, was the founder of the Rosicrucians, 
 whose purpose was to collect material for Lihmm Naturae, information which 
 would suffice to command all the avenues to the secrets of Nature. Writing to 
 Father Fulgentio, at Venice, he remarked: *I work for posterity ; these things 
 requiring ages for their accomplishment.' Bacon, it is contended, concealed the 
 fact of his foundership of the order on the principle to which the members were 
 committed by their designation 'invisibles.' Hence his choice of the text which 
 he frequently quoted, ' The Glory of God is to conceal a thing, but the glory of the 
 king is to find it out,' and his selection as motto to the 'Novum Organum and 
 Advancement of Learning ' of a passage from the book of Daniel, the immediate 
 context of which reads, ' But thou, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the Book 
 even to the time of the end. ' One of Bacon's promises was * Examples ' to illus- 
 trate the system set forth in the ' Instauratio. ' The second part was to be applied 
 to the fourth, which was to exemplify the method of the mind in the comprehen- 
 sion of things upon models. This 'fourth part,' as well as the fifth and sixth, is 
 missing, although in some of his writings, posthumously published at Amsterdam 
 in 1653, two of the parts are referred to as though they existed. The suggestion is 
 that these ' examples ' are to be found in the plays.'' — Tlie Literary World. 
 
 "Mr. Wigston's quotations are frequently interesting." — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 "The literature of the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy grows apace. Mr. W. 
 F. C. Wigston, whohas already written a work on Bacon, Shakespspeaee and the 
 RosiCKUCiANS, and another entitled Heemes Stella, dealing with the Bacon 
 cipher, once again returns to the charge in Fkancis Bacon", Poet, Pkophet, Phi- 
 LosoPHEE, veesus Phantom Captain Shakespeaee, the Rosiceucian Mask. 
 (London: Kegan Paul <fc Co.) The author has already endeavored to show that 
 there existed in Shakespeare's day a group of writers who used a secret cipher, and 
 that these individuals together concocted the plays." — Liverpool Post. 
 
 " The Baconian theory of Shakespeare, as it is sometimes called, will die hard, 
 as, indeed, was clearly shown by the fact that it was not killed by Mr. Ignatius 
 Donnelly's cryptogi-ammatical performances. Yet another thick quarto volume 
 devoted to the exposure of the person whom its author calls ' Phantom Captain 
 Shakespeare, the Rosicrucian mask,' has been published by Messrs. Kegan Paul 
 <fe Co., and there is at least this much to be said m its favor, that, however much 
 it may fall short of establishing its point, it is at least possible to regard it seri- 
 ously, and it does not provoke laughter at every turn. The Rosicrucian notion is just 
 the kind of thing in which ' the curious' delight, and to them the book may be 
 safely recommended as a storehouse." — Morning Post. 
 
 " Amongst recent curiosities of literature a foremost place must be accorded to 
 Mr. Wigston's learned work on Feancis Bacon veesus Phantom Captain Shake- 
 speaee. The notes lohich Mr. Wigston supplies on Rosicrucian literature are often 
 interesting as well as curious." — Leeds Mercury. 
 
 ' ' In this volume are given other curious fac-similies of the same character as 
 those just mentioned. They include a reproduction of the Rosicrucian mark 
 adopted by Bacon. There is also a fine portrait of our great English sage." — John 
 Bull. 
 
 These works may be procured in America, from Messrs. F. J. 
 Schulte & Co., Publishers, 298 Dearborn Street, Chicago j in England, 
 they are to be had at Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Com- 
 pany, Paternoster House, Charing Cross Road, London. 
 
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 F. J. SCHULTE & Company. 
 
 THE WORKS OF IGNATIUS DONNELLY. 
 
 CESAR'S COLUMN : A Stoky of the Twentieth CEiq-- 
 TUKY. By Edmund Boisgilbert, M. D. (Ignatius Don- 
 nelly). Large 12mo, cloth, $1.25. Paper, 50c. 
 The same in Swedish. Cloth, $1.25. Paper 75c. ^ 
 The same in Norwegian. Cloth, $1.25. Paper, 60c. 
 In preparation, a German translation, at same prices. 
 
 "The most remarkable and thought producing novel that the disturbed 
 industrial and social conditions of the present have produced." — Arena. 
 
 "A Gabriel's trump." — Frances E. Willard. 
 
 "A very extraordinary production." — Et. Rev. Henry C. Potter. 
 
 "The effect of an honest purpose is felt in every line." — Pioneer' Press. 
 
 "It is exceedingly interesting as a narrative, and is written by a man of 
 thcmght, learning and imagination. I consider it the best work of its class BvacQ 
 Bulwer's * Coming Eace.' I was impressed with the power of the book — the 
 vividness and strength with which the incidents of the tale are described 
 and developed. The plot is absorbing, and yet nothing in it seems forced. 
 The conception of the ' Column ' is as original as its treatment is vigorous. 
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 The analysis is reasonable and sagacious, and the breadth of the author's 
 
2 Notalle PuUications of F. J. SchuUe & Co. 
 
 mind, as well as his careful study of social conditions, is made evident hj his 
 treatment of the discussions put into the mouths of his characters. Justice is 
 done to each side." — Julian Hawthorne. 
 
 "As an example of the highest literary form it deserves unstinted praise.'" 
 — Cardinal Gibbons 
 
 DOCTOR HUGUET : A Novel. By Ignatius Donnelly. 
 Large 12mo, cloth, gilt top, $1.25. Paper, 50c. 
 
 ** This latest work of Mr. Donnelly is fully equal, if not superior, in origi- 
 nality and strength to all that have preceded it. The plot is based on one of 
 the burning questions of the day — the race problem — and it is one of the most 
 original and striking conceptions in literature. . . . We are safe in saying 
 that no book of recent date has created the sensation which ' Doctor Huguet' 
 will create Mr. Donnelly's acknowledged power as a writer is seen to a 
 marked degree in this new work, and many remarkably fine passages attest 
 his skill and scholarship." — St. Joseph (Mo.) Neus. 
 
 RAGNAROK: The Age of Fire an^d Gravel. By 
 Ignatius Donnelly. Illustrated. Large 12mo, cloth, 
 $2.00. 
 Mr. Donnelly himself considers this his greatest work. 
 
 "The title of this book is taken from the Scandinavian sagas, or legends, 
 and means ' the darkness of the gods. ' The work consists of a chain of argu- 
 ments and facts to prove a series of extraordinary theories, viz.; That the 
 Drift Age, with its vast deposits of clay and gravel, its decomposed rocks and 
 its great rents in the face of the globe, was the result of contact between the 
 earth and a comet, and that the Drift-material was brought to the earth by the 
 comet; that man lived on the earth at that time; that he was highly civilized; 
 that all the human family, with the exception of a few persons who saved 
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 mammoth and the other pre- glacial animals ; that the legends of all the races of 
 the world preserve references to .and descriptions of this catastrophe; that 
 following it came a temble age of ice and snow, of great floods while the 
 clouds were restoring the waters to the sea, and an age of darkness while the 
 dense clouds enfolded the globe. These startling ideas are supported by an 
 array of scientific facts, and by legends drawn from all ages and all regions of 
 the earth." 
 
 " The work will be read with curious interest by' the learned, and, though 
 it draws perpetually on the treasuries of scientific and ethnic lore, the un- 
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 rok ' is a strong and brilliant literary production, A^hich will command the in 
 terest of general readers, and the admiration and respect, if not the universal 
 credence, of the conservative and the scientific." — Prof. Alexander Win- 
 CHELL, in tlie Dial. 
 
 ATLANTIS : The Ai^tediluviai^- World. By Ignatius 
 Donnelly. Illustrated. Large 12mo, cloth^ $2.00. 
 
 "These propositions are startling, and would be incredible if they were 
 not supported by adequate testimony, which, however, Mr. Donnelly has col- 
 lated from a great variety of sources. He brings to bear upon the question an 
 amount of classical, historical, geological, ethnological and miscellaneous 
 knowledge which is altogether surprising, marshaling his arguments in the 
 clearest and most efi"ective manner, and presenting them in perfect English, 
 frequently rising into eloquence. . . . It is a marvel of erudition and in- 
 genuity, and a work of immense research." — Tlie Guardian, Banbury, Eng- 
 land. 
 
Notable Publications of F. J. Schulte S Co. 3 
 
 THE GREAT CRYPTOGRAM: Francis Bacon^s 
 
 Cipher ii^ the so-called Shakespeare Plays. 
 
 By Ignatius Donnelly. Large 8vo, 998 pages, cloth, 
 extra, $2.50. 
 
 DONNELLIANA: Excerpts from the Wit, Wisdom, 
 Eloquence and Positry of Ignatius Donnelly. 
 With a Biography. By Everett W. Fish, M. D. Large 
 12mo, cloth, gilt top, $1.50. 
 
 LE ROY ARMSTRONG. 
 
 AN INDIANA MAN. By Le Roy Armstrong. 12mo, 
 cloth, extra, $1.00. Paper, 50c. 
 
 " a powerful novel, ehamiiiigly written. So true to the real life of mod- 
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 " Of intimate personal knowledge of the phases of life described, of fault- 
 less discrimination in the choice of essential facts, and of the power to write 
 them well, Mr. Armstrong has proved himself a master." — Evening Post. 
 
 "Its purpose is to purify personal living and correct politics. No man 
 could have a nobler or a more needed motive." — Frances E. Willaed. 
 
 " Out of the everyday happenings of a country town the author has con- 
 structed a stor}' that holds the reader's attention from beginning to end."— 
 Chicago Herald. 
 
 " The story centers in the saloon of an Indiana town. . . . There is not 
 a line of moralizing in it, but it is a faithful, realistic, dramatic, moving recital 
 of events. The scenes of rural life are depicted with a graphic skill that would 
 not have done discredit to the immortal author of 'Adam Bede.'" — Voice. 
 
 ROBERT H. COWDREY. 
 
 A TRAMP IN SOCIETY. By Robert H. Cowdrey. 
 12mo, cloth, gilt top, 11.25. Paper, 50c. 
 
 "Thrilling and fascinating. . . . No one who'reads it can restrain ad- 
 miration for the man who can write a story that contains in its warp and woof 
 so much that is helpful and bettering to humanity." — Arkansaw Traveler. 
 
 " "Wo have had a dozen or more novels of late that have had new eco- 
 nomic schemes for a basis, but mostly advocating state socialism. At last we 
 have the individualistic novel, and it ought to win widespread favor. Mr. 
 Cowdrey has strong conviction, a good command of English and strong im- 
 agination." — St. Louis Republic. 
 
 C. C. POST. 
 
 DRIVEN FROM SEA TO SEA ; or, Just a-Campin'. 
 By 0. C. Post. Large 12mo, illustrated, cloth, $1.25. 
 Paper, 50c. 
 
 " Since the days that Mrs. Stowe wrote the doom of the slave-driver in 
 ' Uncle Tom's Cabin ' no author has struck a more vigorous blow in favor of the 
 rights of the laborer." — Chicago Inter Ocean. 
 
4 Notable Publications of F. J, Schulte S Co. 
 
 OPIE READ'S FAMOUS NOVELS. 
 
 A KENTUCKY COLONEL. By Opie Read. Large 
 12mo, cloth, gilt top, $1.25 Paper, 50c. 
 
 "In these days of endless foreign importations in the line of literature, 
 when readers are constantly hobnobbing with lords, dukes and princes in Eng- 
 lish novels, and characters with unpronounceable names or undefinable morals, 
 in Russian, French or Italian fiction, it is an unmistakable relief to pick up a 
 book like 'A Kentucky Colonel. " — Book Talk. 
 
 Hon. Hexky C. Caldwell, who is not only one of the greatest of 
 American lawyers, but one of the best of literary critics, says: "I 
 have never read a better story. It is the most beautifully written, the 
 most strikuK/ in character, and upon the whole one of the most thrilling and yet 
 chaste piece's of fiction that has been produced in many a day. It will create a 
 sensation. " 
 
 " A book the popularity of which will not be temporary. It has virility, 
 tenderness, striking character pictures and the American flavor." — Chicago 
 Journal. 
 
 " There is a rich vein of true humor and of healthy and vigorous senti- 
 ment, and it has a fresh and breezy atmosphere which is heartily welcome in 
 view of the hot-house character of much of our fiction." — Philadelphia 
 Record. 
 
 EMMETT BONLORE. By Opie Read. Large 12mo, 
 cloth, gilt top, $1.25. Paper, 50c. 
 
 A book combining all ihe qualities which have made " A Kentucky 
 Colonel " so popular, with even greater variety of action and incident and 
 character, and full of rich and sparkling humor. 
 
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 " A notable contribution to recent literature." — Booh Buyer. 
 
 LEN GANSETT. By Opie Read. 12mo, cloth, $1.25. 
 Paper 50c. 
 
 * ' So beautiful, so chaste, . so full of simple, rugged honesty and pure, 
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 . . , It is full of gentle humor that has just enough tart in it to make it 
 appetizing. Some of the word-painting is almost sublime, and everywhere 
 there is that broad, sweet touch of tenderness that is a part of the author's 
 very self." — Am. Commercial Traveler. 
 
 SELECTED STORIES. By Opie Read. 16mo, cloth, gilt 
 top, $1.00. Paper, 50c. Sixteen gems set in one beau- 
 tiful volume. 
 
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Notable PuUications of F. J. ScliuUe & Co. 5 
 
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 clever story that should commend itself to the general reading public," — Neio 
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 ALVAH M. KERR. 
 
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 cloth, extra, gilt top, $1.25. Paper, 50c. 
 
 A volume which is certain to attract general attention, not only in the 
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 because of the fascinating interest of the story and the mastetful style in 
 which it is written, it will commend itself, aside from the lessons conveyed, 
 to all who admire the virile and original in literature. 
 
 THOMAS AND ANNA M. FITCH. 
 
 BETTER DAYS; or, A Millionaire of To-morrow. 
 By Thomas and Anna M. Fitch. 12mo, cloth, extra, 
 gilt top, 11.25. Paper, 50c. 
 
 A wonderful book, filled with wit, eloquence and philosophy, and a nar- 
 rative of such thrilling interest as to carry the reader without stop from cover 
 to cover. 
 
 " It is one of those volumes which the reader feels called upon to finish 
 at a single sitting." — St. Louis Mepublic. 
 
 " The authors of this fascinating book are Tom Fitch, our silver-tongued 
 orator, and his gifted wife, and their combined talent has produced a work 
 which is far superior to anything that has appeared for years in our literary 
 world. The authors treat, in a lucid manner, some of the most important 
 questions of the day. The arguments of both sides are given in a fair and im- 
 partial manner, and a plausible solution ofiered. The treatment of the labor 
 question shows great power of observation, and the volume on the whole indi- 
 
G Natalie Puhlications of F. J. ScUulte & Co. 
 
 cates sound common sense, a great gift of demonstration, eloquence of lan- 
 guage and high moi-al views. The romance forming the skeleton of the book 
 hokts the attention of the reader throughout." — San Francisco News Letter. 
 
 FRANC B. WILKIE ("Poliuto"). 
 
 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF THIRTY-FIVE 
 YEARS OF JOURNALISM. By Franc B. Wilkie 
 ('^'^Poliuto"). Large 12mo, cloth extra, gilt top, ele- 
 gant cover design in gold and silver, $1.50. Half mo- 
 rocco, $3.00. 
 
 '' A valuable addition to the history of journalism. It is written in Mr. 
 Wilkie's best and most trenchant style, and typographically it is a model of 
 beauty. . . . This book is as fascinating as a novel. It is the story of a 
 typical American youth, sprung from the soil, who, through poverty, distress, 
 defeat and hardship, at last fought his way to eminence and command. It is 
 such a story as perhaps, with change of circumstances, might describe the lives 
 often thousand living Americans. It is the story of a boy born close to the 
 bleakest of New England hills, whose earliest childhood saw life surrounded 
 with but little sunlight, and whose horizon was bounded, if not by poverty, 
 yet Avitli such amelioration as hard manual labor could compel. But it is these 
 res angusta domi men — the farmers' boys, who have wrested success in life 
 from the most untoward circumstances —that have made this country what it 
 is. Air. Wilkie was one of these." — Chicago Herald. 
 
 " To newspaper men this book will prove as great a joy as Anthony Trol- 
 lope's ' Autobiography' was to the thousands who found it the most readable 
 book that prolific writer produced." — Booh and Neicsdealer. 
 
 WM. E. BURKE. 
 
 FEDERAL FINANCES ; or. The Ii^come of the Ukited 
 States. By Wm. E. Burke. Illustrated. 12mo, clo 
 
 11.25. 
 
 "Supplies a need of the times, inasmuch as it furnishes an intelligible ex- 
 planation of our American system of taxation, written in such a simple and 
 direct style that the ordinary intellect can readily grasp its meaning. . . . 
 Abstruse tables of figures and all other and kindred wearisome forms are dis- 
 carded, and his exposition of the nation's finances and methods of obtaining 
 the income required to perpetuate the goverment reads like a well-told story. 
 He makes no attempt to discourse upon the dry subject of political economy, 
 but deals entirely with the facts involved. Beginning with the first Biblical 
 account of taxation, he traces his subject in the most interesting way from a 
 period anterior to the advent of coin money, through the era of tithes and 
 tenths, the methods of oriental countries, Greek and Roman systems, down to 
 the first recorded attempt of England to secure governmental revenue, and 
 the subsequent artifices of British kings and governing bodies to establish 
 taxes. Then follows the history of taxation in the new world down to the 
 
 S resent, a chapter on the sources of federal income, a description of collection 
 istricts and customs ofiicers, of the revenue marine and all its ramifications, 
 discriminating duties and reciprocity, avoidance of duties by dishonest people 
 and their practices, a chapter on smuggling, another on the peculiarities of the 
 Mexican n-onticr and Pacific coast and others, on internal revenue in its sev- 
 eral departments, revenue frauds, seigniorage, miscellaneous revenues, public 
 lands, etc." — Burliiigton Hawkeye. 
 
Notable PuUications of F. J. SchuUe <& Co. 7 
 
 MRS. HENRY POTT. 
 
 FRANCIS BACON AND HIS SECRET SOCIETY : Aif 
 Attempt to Collect aistd U:NriTE the Lost Lin^ks of 
 A LoKG AN^D Strong Chain^. By Mrs. Henry Pott, 
 editor of '^ Bacon's Promus.^' Illustrated with twenty- 
 seven full-page plates. Post 8vo, 421 pages, cloth 
 extra, gilt top, $2.00. 
 
 S. F. NORTON. 
 
 TEN MEN OF MONEY ISLAND ; or. The Primer of 
 
 Fika:n"CE. By S. F. Norton. 16mo, cloth, gilt top, 
 11.00. Paper, 25c. 
 
 "It makes the money guestion, which has bothered so many brains, as 
 simple as the alphabet. It is a literary wonder in this, that it mates posting 
 one's self on the fundamental principles of righteous finance as easy and pleas- 
 ant reading as 'Robinson Crusoe.'"— Lester G. Hubbard. 
 
 MRS. MARION TODD. 
 
 PIZARRO AND JOHN SHERMAN. By Mrs. Marion 
 Todd. 12mo, paper, 25c. 
 
 " This book treats exclusively on the money question. It handles the 
 subject both historically and argiimentatively, and: Avhen the reader lays it 
 down he will have a comprehensive knowledge of this momentous topic." — 
 Faryners' Voice. 
 
 PROTECTIVE TARIFF DELUSION. ^ By Mi;s. Marion 
 Todd. 12mo, cloth, 75c. Paper, 25c. 
 
 " The best book ever written upon the subject for the general reader." — 
 Col. B. S. Heath. 
 
 " This book should be in the hands of every public speaker." — Hastings 
 Journal. 
 
 THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN ; or. Prof. Goldwik Sx¥Ith 
 AKD HIS Satellites ik Congress. By Mrs. Marion 
 Todd. 12mo, cloth, 75c. Paper, 30c. 
 
 "The brightest defense of woman's natural rights that we have ever 
 read. " — Nonconformist. 
 
 "A clear and cogent presentation of the facts relating to the suifrage 
 question. "We are free to say that, although Mrs. Todd cannot vote, she can 
 argue with ability and skill"— CAica^o Herald. 
 
 MICHAEL J. SCHAACK. 
 
 ANARCHY AND ANARCHISTS. By Michael J. 
 Schaack, Captain of Police. With over 200 original 
 illustrations. 698 pp., 8vo, cloth, $2.00. Half mo 
 rocco, $3.00. 
 
8 Notable Pnhlications of F. J. Schulte S Co. 
 
 RICHARD L. GARY, JR. ("Hyder Ali "). 
 
 TALE8 OF THE TUEF and ^^Kank Outsiders." By 
 Eichard L. Gary, Jr. (^^Hyder Ali"); with illustrations 
 by Gean Smith. Quarto, cloth, $2.50; half calf, $3.50; 
 full morocco, $5.00. 
 "The author has succeeded in clothing turf history, fancy and romance 
 
 in the garb of poetry, in verses that are not only smooth and flowing, but clean 
 
 in tone. The publishers have been lavish but tasteful in the typographical 
 
 production." — Horseman. 
 
 K. L. ARMSTRONG. 
 
 THE LITTLE GIANT CYCLOPEDIA : A Treasury 
 OF Eeady Eeferekce. By K. L. Armstrong. A 
 million and one facts and figures. Eighty-two colored 
 plates and maps. 16mo, full leather binding, flexible, 
 red edges, $1.00. 
 
 This remarkable book has had a sale reaching into the hundreds of thou- 
 sands, and is steadily growing in popularity. It is constantly revised, and 
 brought up to date with each new edition. 
 
 " This wonderful book will add a year to any man's lifetime if it is true 
 that time saved is time snatched from the grave." — Ottawa TriJ)une. 
 
 ELI F. BROWN, M. D. 
 
 SEX AND LIEE : The Physiology and Hygiene of 
 THE Sexual Oeganization. By Eli F. Brown, M. S., 
 M. D., author of *^ The House I Live In,^' etc., etc. 
 Illustrated. 16mo, cloth, extra, $1.00. Paper, 50c. 
 
 A clean, popular, scientific book, by an author of high repute, on a subject 
 of the utmost importance, but which has never before been treated in a manner 
 suitable for general circulation. 
 
 C. ROPP. 
 
 EOPFS COMMERCIAL CALCULATOR: A Practical 
 Arithmetic for Practical Purposes. Containing a 
 complete system of accurate and convenient tables, to- 
 gether with simple, short and practical methods for 
 rapid calculation. By C. Ropp. Leatherette, 25c. 
 Artificial leather, with pocket silicate slate and account 
 book, 50c. Am. Russia, 11.00. Genuine Russia, $1.50. 
 
 F. J. SCHULTE & COMPANY, Publishers, 
 
 298 Dearbork Street, 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
CESAR'S COLUMN 
 
 A Story of the Twentieth Century. 
 
 By EDMUND BOISGILBERT, M. D. 
 
 [IGNATIUS DONNELLY] 
 
 This wonderful book was first issued in June, 1890. The 
 name on the title page was Edmund Boisgilbert, M. D., and 
 it was given out that this was a pseudonym. The leading 
 magazines and reviews, with one exception, and many of the 
 great newspapers entirely ignored the book, and everything at 
 first was agfainst its success. It created the most profound in- 
 
C/tSAR'S COLUMN— WHAT THE CRITICS SAY. 
 
 terest, however, among those who read it, and soon became 
 talked about. Julian Hawthorne, Bishop Potter, Fran- 
 ces E. WiLLARD and others spoke highly of it, and Cardinal 
 Gibbons praised it as an example of the highest literary form. 
 Opie p. Read summed up its charm in these words: "// will 
 thrill a careless reader of novels ^or profoundly impress a 
 statesman. It is gentle as a child and yet it is rugged as a 
 giant." In six months "Caesar's Column" passed through 
 twelve editions, and considerable guessing was done as to the 
 real name of the author, among those prominently named be- 
 ing Judge Tourgee, Mark Twain, T. V. Powderly, Robert G. 
 Ingersoll, Chauncey M. Depew, Benj. F. Butler and others. In 
 December it was finally announced that Ignatius Donnelly, 
 author of "Atlantis," " Ragnarok " and " The Great Crypto- 
 gram," was also the author of " Cassar's Coiumn." Mr. Don- 
 nelly had escaped general suspicion because his previous writ- 
 ings are more distinguished by laborious industry and wide 
 information than by the qualities that go to make the creator 
 of romances. 
 
 " In ' Caesar's Column ' Mr. Donnelly takes as his text the 
 dangerous tendencies of our age and gives a picture of 
 what the world will be a hundred years from now, if the 
 spirit of invention and material progress remains the same 
 and the moral spirit of society moves along in its present 
 channels. The San Francisco Chronicle aptly says: In a 
 startlingly original and fascinating novel he presents a pro- 
 found study of sociological conditions. 
 
 WHAT THE CRITICS SAY. 
 
 "A Gabriel's trump."— Frances E. Willard. 
 
 "A very extraordinary production."— Rt. Rev. Henry C. Potter. 
 
 " The effect of an honest purpose is felt in every line." — Pioneer Press. 
 
C/£SAR'S COLUMN— WHAT THE CRITICS SAY. 
 
 As an example of the highest literary form it deserves unstinted 
 praise." — Cardinal Gibbons. 
 
 " A wonderfully fascinating book. It will hold the attention of the 
 world as no other book has held it for years." — Chicago Saturday Blade, 
 
 " ' Caesar's Column,' in its vivid portrayal^ will lead many to realize 
 the many dangers to which our country is liable." — Hon. Wm. Larrabee. 
 
 " I was unable to lay it down until I had finished reading it. It 
 should be read by every farmer in the land." — H. L. LouCKS, President 
 National Farmers* Alliance. 
 
 " Bellamy looks backward upon what is impossible as well as im- 
 probable. * Caesar's Column ' looks forward to what is not only pos- 
 sible, but probable:' — MiLTON GEORGE. 
 
 " 1 have read * Caesar's Column ' Wice and am convinced that it has 
 \>ttvi written in the nick of time. * * * I predict for the book an 
 immense sale and a world-wide discussion." — Corinne S. Brown, Sec- 
 retary Nationalist Club, Chicago. 
 
 " The story is most interestingly devisea and strongly told. It is not 
 the work of a pessimist or an anarchist, but rather of a preacher who 
 sees the dangers that all thoughtful men see in our time, and, appreci- 
 ating the importance to humanity of maintaining what is good in ex- 
 isting systems, utters his warning as a sacred duty." — Free Press. 
 
 " The book points out tendencies which actually exist and are in 
 need of cure. It warns us with vehemence and force of the necessity 
 of guarding our liberties against the encroachments of monopoly and 
 plutocracy, and of disarming corruption in government by every device 
 that a vigilant ingenuity can supply." — George Gary Eggleston. in 
 New York World. 
 
 ' The most remarkable and thought-provoking novel ih2ii the disturbed 
 industrial and social conditions of the present have produced. * * * 
 The purpose of this book is to arrest attention— to make men think 
 wisely and act justly, and with dispatch. The write • holds it as a sig- 
 nal of danger before the on-coming train. Will the warning be 
 \eeded ? "—The Arena. 
 
 " The author writes with tremendous feeling and great imaginative 
 po?ver. The picture gives in startling colors what would be the case 
 if many of our business methods and social tendencies were to move 
 
CiESAR'S COLUMN— WHAT THE CRITICS SAY. 
 
 on unimpeded to their legitimate results. The book is a plea, and a 
 striking one. Its plot is bold, its language is forceftil, and the great up- 
 rising is given with terrible vividness." — Public Opinion. 
 
 '^ Intense y stirring and eloquent. No SUCh book has ever before 
 appeared in the annals of literature. Its story is here and there bright- 
 ened by the sweetness of a pure love, but the general tone is one which 
 should make every honest heart shiver for the future. The truth peers 
 out from every page. No man will read this book without a new sense 
 of duty and responsibility to his country." — The Great West. 
 
 " One of the wonderful features of this wonderful book is that it 
 anticipated Dr. Koch's great discovery. It represents a philosopher 
 living a hundred years from now as finding out that all bacteria are 
 accompanied by minute hostile forms of life that prey upon them; 
 that these preserve the balance of nature, and by destroying the other 
 bacilli which infest the animal world, prevent the utter destruction of 
 mm:'— Book Talk. 
 
 " It is exceedingly interesting as a narrative and is written by a man 
 of tho^ighty learning and imagination. I consider it the best work of 
 its cla^s, since Bulwer's * Coming Race.' I was impressed with the 
 power of the book — the vividness and strength with which the inci- 
 dents of the tale are described and developed. The plot is absorbing, 
 and yet nothing in it seems forced. The conception of the * Column' 
 is as original as its treatment is vigorous. There is no padding in the 
 book; the events are portrayed tersely and clearly. The analysis is 
 reasonable and sagacious, and the breadth of the author's mind, as 
 well as his careful study of social conditions, is made evident by his 
 treatment of the discussions put into the mouths of his characters. 
 Justice is done to each side."— Julian Hawthorne. 
 
 One Volume, Large 12mo, 367 Pages. 
 
 PAPER COVERS, - - $ .50 
 
 CLOTH EXTRA. - - - 1.25 
 
 Sent postpaid to any address on receipt of price. 
 
 F. . SCHULTE & CO.. Publishers. Chica' o. 
 
A KENTUCKY COLONEL 
 
 By OPIE p. read. 
 
 
 A SYMPOSIUM OF OPINION. 
 
 THIS is pre-eminently an American book by an American 
 author. ^^^/^ T'*:?/^ says of it: "In these days of 
 endless foreign importations in the line of literature, when 
 readers are constantly hobnobbing with lords, dukes, 
 
 and princes in English 
 novels, and characters 
 with unpronounceable 
 names or undefinable 
 morals, in Russian, 
 French or Italian fiction, 
 it is an unmistakable 
 relief to pick up a book 
 like ' A Kentucky Col- 
 onel."' 
 
 Hon. Henry C. 
 Caldwell, who is not 
 only one of the greatest 
 of American lawyers, 
 but one of the best of 
 literary critics, says: "I 
 have never read a better 
 story. It is ifke 77iost beautifully written^ the most striking in 
 character y and upon the whole one of the most thrilling and 
 yet chaste pieces of fiction that has been produced in many a 
 day. It will create a sensation." 
 " A novel of remarkable power and interest." — Spirit. 
 " A notable contribution to recent literature."— ^^^/^ Buver 
 
 (3^053^. 
 
« A KENTUCKY COLONEL "—SOME OPINIONS. 
 
 " The sketches of Southern life in this book are exquisite " — Book 
 Chat. 
 
 "The book does not read like a romance. It seems to be a record 
 of an actual experience." — New York Herald. 
 
 "Full of action and vigor, with descriptions of scenery that are 
 , always poetic and sometimes exquisite in their word-painting." — Chi- 
 cago Hsrald 
 
 *" A Dook Ihe popularity of which will not be temporary. It has 
 viriiity tenderness, striking character pictures, and the American 
 flavor ' — Chicago Journal. 
 
 •' W Read is by no means a realist, but his characters come nearer 
 tha* Ideal than the studied and overwrought efforts of Howells and 
 James." — Atchison Champion. 
 
 " If the author has not actually known the people he writes of in his 
 romance, he makes one feel that he must have known them, and no 
 literary art can do vaoxo..''— Louisville Critic. 
 
 " Mr. Read's genius finds its best examplification in this delightful 
 book, which equals in human interest and surpasses in dramatic finish 
 any of his previous productions." — Chicago Evening Post. 
 
 "In * A Kentucky Colonel' I find the best and brightest pictures oj 
 Southern Life, That young fellow Savely — what a type — and how 
 many of them went down during the war."— Alex. E. Sweet 
 
 " A sparkling gem among recent literature. The characters live and 
 breathe a perfect mirror of Kentucky life, from the backwoods revivals 
 down to the recipe for making a mint julep." — Northwestern. 
 
 " The book will interest, not merely for its plot, but for the bold 
 character-drawing. Mr. Read does nothing by inference. His figures 
 are solid and imposing, and as sturdy in action as they are bold in out- 
 line." — Boston Globe. 
 
 " There is a rich vein of true humor and of healthy and vigorous 
 sentiment, and it has a fresh and breezy atmosphere which is heartily 
 welcome in view of the hot-house character of much of our fiction." — 
 
 Philadelphia Record. 
 
 " The deepest thinker and the most progressive of all the writers of 
 humor in this country is Opie P. Read. * * * His writings ?"€ 
 
"A KENTUCKY COLONEL "—SOME OPINIONS. 
 
 fresn, sparkling, witty, agreeable, and so pleasant that he is of more 
 service to humanity than are scores of long-faced teachers and preach- 
 ers." — "Brick" Pomeroy. 
 
 " It is a novel that bears on every page the seal of authenticity. It is 
 realism, it is romance, it is photography, and it is caricature. * * * 
 What we most like it for is the sincerity of its coloring. Of the many 
 stories, short and long, of Kentucky life, it gives the most realistic 
 pictures." — New York Independent. 
 
 " ' A Kentucky Colonel,' the latest novel to have the name of big- 
 bodied, big-hearted, genial Opie P. Read on its title-page, is having an 
 immense sale. It is a powerful piece of fiction and the best of his pro- 
 ductions to date. It will be read and enjoyed long after its author haf 
 passed away." — New York Journalist. 
 
 " * A Kentucky Colonel ' will be read and appreciated by the scholar, 
 for as a work of art it is highly pleasing; and it will be read and 
 appreciated by the people, for it is pure, is pervaded by a moral 
 atmosphere most refreshingly wholesome, and is intensely interesting 
 from beginning to end." — Little Rock Republican. 
 
 " One reads it from first to last with keen delight, and sighs when 
 the end comes. The tale is so simply and sincerely told, the men and 
 women who wander through the pages are so evidently men and 
 women, with so true a tang of the Kentucky soil, the humor is so local 
 and unaffected, the pictures of nature so delightful, that the book is 
 closed with the comfortable sense of time well spent." — Chicago Inter 
 Ocean. 
 
 *• So beautiful, so chaste, so full of simple, rugged honesty and pure, 
 wholesome sentiment, that no one can read the book without being 
 Dettered. * * * The book is full of a gentle humor that has just 
 enough tart in it to make it appetizing. Some of the word-painting is 
 almost subl me, and everywhere there is that broad, sweet touch of 
 tenderness that is a part of the author's very self. * * * Ther^ is 
 not a single dull line." — Am. Commercial Traveler. 
 
 " A delightful novel. Kentucky has been productive of an enormous 
 quantity of self-assertive, self-respecting humanity, which has been the 
 theme of the floating humorist and paragrapher; but unfortunately 
 the type has not heretofore been fixed in permanent literature. *A 
 Kentucky Colonel ' is an attempt to do this, and it is certainly not an 
 unsuccessful attempt. The simple, stalwart honesty of the Kentucky 
 
«A KENTUCKY COLONEL "—SOME OPINIONS. 
 
 man, tue unaffected naturalness of the Kentucky woman, both proof 
 in their honesty and naturalness against the inroads of artificiality and 
 convention, are exhibited in a style as honest and natural as the sub- 
 ject. Mr. Read feels the force of the Colonel's remark when he 
 proudly speaks of his daughter as a • Blue Grass girl, suh, not afraid to 
 be natural.' " — S^. Louis Post- Dispatch. 
 
 " I don't think I ever saw a more truthful portrayal of character. 
 l*rhe story is new^ strong in every pointy and cannot help being a suc- 
 #^^j."— Henry Clay Lukens. 
 
 " Your * KentucKy Colonel ' has taken my household by storm. It is 
 a delightful story admirably told — a great pen picture which I, as a 
 Kentuckian, pondered over at times until I had to shake myself back 
 into every-day life."— Will Visscher. 
 
 A Kentucky Colonel " is Published in one Large 12mc Vol- 
 ume, OF 342 Pages. 
 
 CLOTH EXTRA, - - - $1.00 
 
 PAPER COVERS, - - - .50 
 
 Sent by mail to any address on receipt of price. 
 
 F. J. SCHULTE & CO., Publishers, Chicago. 
 
A Tramp in Society 
 
 By ROBERT H. COWDRLY. 
 
 Cloth, Extra. $1.25. 
 Paper Cover, 60 Cents. 
 
 One of the most striking features of the thnes is the fact that so many 
 pens are turned upon finding some solution for the portentous labor ques- 
 tion. Bellamy's ideal has come and gone without affecting any great 
 change in the tendencies of the times or the nature of our laws. Ignatius 
 Donnelly has given us a startling view of the next century in " Caesar's 
 Column," a book which has aroused to serious thought the people of both 
 hemispheres. It remained for Robert H. Cowdrey to give us the individ- 
 ualistic novel, and perhaps no man is better fitted for this task. His address 
 before the Tariff Commission of 1882 attracted wide-spread attention, 
 and, having been the United Labor Party candidate for President of the 
 United States in 1888, his writings have a prestige and standing with 
 thousands of readers even regaraiess of their literary merit. 
 
 " Robert H. Cowdrey, the author of * A Tramp in Society,' is well 
 known in Chicago as a philanthropist who has devoted much of his time 
 to investigating the evils of our social system, and methods of alleviating 
 the distress of the working classes. Containing no fine-spun theories, this 
 book is a practical exponent of the evils which oppress the people, and 
 indicates practical methods by which they may be aided," — Chicago 
 Graphic. 
 
 " We have had a dozen or more novels of late that have had new 
 economic schemes of living for a basis, but mostly advocating state social- 
 ism. At last we have the individualistic novel, and it ought to win wide- 
 spread favor. Mr. Cowdrey has strong conviction, a good command ol 
 English, and fertile imaginaticn. The influence of ' A Tramp in Society' 
 will at least extend the growing feeling that the Kingdom of Heaven maj 
 be nigher than we think." — St, Louis Republic. 
 
 "As a criticism of existing conditions it is sensible and incisive."— 
 Chicago Times. 
 
 " In the form of a novel, • A Tramp in Society ' presents a series oi 
 terrible indictments of our social system and of the thing we call law. If 
 all the children of to-day were made to read this book, the men of twenty 
 years hence would be apostles of a new social dispensation. Mr. Cowdrej 
 tells the story of the wrongs he has seen, and he deserves a wide hearing," 
 — New York Morning yournal, • 
 
 " There is not an uninteresting page in all the book." — Hugh O. Pente^ 
 cost. 
 
 " * A Tramp in Society * shows that he who controls the land has the 
 power to control all industries, and therefore the lives and fortunes of the 
 people. As a thought-inspiring book there are few better, and we bespeak 
 for it a wide circulation.'* — Hartford Examiner* 
 
A TRAMP IN SOCIETY; By ROBERT H. COWDREY. 
 
 *' The author of * A Tramp in Society ' is a thinker of no mean order. 
 He believes the time is ripe for men to speak as 'angels, trumpet-tongued,' 
 but also that they should make ready for the fearful battle which confronts 
 modern civilization. The creations of his imagination are quite realistic in 
 their eloquence, and the words he makes them utter may have some good 
 effect, if read in the right quarters. But when one gets away from the 
 spell of his arguments, the question arises whether there is here in free 
 America any such condition of affairs as he pictures, and supplements by 
 quoting the forebodings of Mill, Spencer, and Lincoln. Was Tolstoi right 
 when he said, * We are willing to help the poor in every way, except by 
 getting off their backs and letting them help themselves ' ? " — New York 
 Recorder. 
 
 " ' A Tramp in Society " is a strong, natural, and therefore realistic 
 piece of work. The first thought it suggests is that in Edgar Bartlett we 
 have an overdrawn picture of the ups and downs which an able and refmed 
 man can experience in a land like ours. A second sober thought, how- 
 ever, corrects this impression, and convinces the reader that here is a real 
 character, whose prototypes exist in great numbers in all our large cities, 
 and that they are the legitimate results of our present imperfect social con- 
 ditions. The fact that the book is from the pen of Robert H. Cowdrey, a 
 well-known labor leader, may prejudice some minds against it before they 
 have read its thrilling and fascinating pages; but no one who reads the 
 work carefully can retain that prejudice or restrain admiration for the man 
 who can write a story that contains so much that is helpful and bettering to 
 humanity." — The Arkansaw Traveler. 
 
 " * A Tramp in Society ' is written with considerable force. The author 
 has made a photograph of existing social conditions, with terrible poverty 
 on one hand and heaped-up wealth on the other. The hero is a man who, 
 from a station of wealth and independence, falls, through no fault of his 
 own, into the depth of poverty, and becomes an outcast tramp. Rescued 
 'rom his degradation, he is made to give the result of his study of the evils 
 that exist, and he makes a wonderfully strong showing." — Toledo Blade. 
 
 " As a sociological treatise it has claims on our attention by offering a 
 solution of the social problems that are now disquieting the world. The 
 thought fulness shown by the author in his dealing with these hard questions 
 entitles his opinions to respect." — Chicago Inter Ocean. 
 
 " A very clever book. No wise saws and little theoretical drivel, but a 
 story well and strongly written." — Minneapolis Journal. 
 
 " Mr. Cowdrey has succeeded in mingling such apparently hostile ele- 
 ments as political economy and fiction. His hero delivers frequent talks 
 on the questions of wages, rents, money, ownership of land, etc., but he 
 makes them interesting and really presents his ideas in very attractive 
 form." — San Francisco Chronicle. 
 
 Price in cloth, extra, gilt top, $1.25. Paper covers, 50c. 
 For sale by all book-sellers, or will be mailed, postpaid, to any address 
 on receipt of price. 
 
 F. J. SOHULTE & CO., Publishers,^ 
 296 Dearborn St., CHICAGO. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 BERKELEY . , 
 
 Return to desk from which borrowed. 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
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