BACONIAN ESSAYS
" I asi a sort of ' haunted with the conviction that the divine William is the biggest and most successful fraud ever prac- tised on a patient world." This quotation from the recently published letters of Henry James ushers in the latest addition to the perennial series of arguments in favour of Bacon. Sir George Greenwood, is his position as an " agnostic on the subject," and Mr. E. W. Smithson, an ardent Baconian, unite in giving the usual anti-Stratfordian theories a new coat of paint. These theories have beendealt with from time to time in. our columns and call for no discussion here. We are a little tired of parallels and hypothetical hidden meanings, and the Northumberland manuscript has likewise had its day. No doubt this reiteration of a thrice-told tale will please. the un- believing, but the spectacle of Shakespeare being torn to death by wild Baconians is too familiar to disturb the orthodox. Indeed, until some fresh and-trustworthy evidence is discovered, Shakespearians have little cause to worry. •
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