which can only be the result of common authorship; that Bacon's
notes, called 'Promus,' are notes for Shakespeare's plays; that, in
style, Bacon and Shakespeare are identical. Then we shall glance at
Bacon's motives for writing plays by stealth, and blushing to find
it fame. We shall expose the frank folly of averring that he chose
as his mask a man who (some assert) could not even write; and we
shall conclude by citing, once more, the irrefragable personal
testimony to the genius and character of Shakespeare.

To render the Baconian theory plausible it is necessary to show that
Bacon had not only the learning needed for 'the authorship of
Shakespeare,' but that he gives some proof of Shakespeare's poetic
qualities; that he had reasons for writing plays, and reasons for
concealing his pen, and for omitting to make any claim to his own
literary triumphs after Shakespeare was dead. Now, as to
scholarship, the knowledge shown in the plays is not that of a
scholar, does not exceed that of a man of genius equipped with what,
to Ben Jonson, seemed 'small Latin and less Greek,' and with
abundance of translations, and books like 'Euphues,' packed with
classical lore, to help him. With the futile attempts to prove
scholarship we have dealt. The legal and medical lore is in no way
beyond the 'general information' which genius inevitably amasses
from reading, conversation, reflection, and experience.

A writer of to-day, Mr. Kipling, is fond of showing how easily a man
of his rare ability picks up the terminology of many recondite
trades and professions. Again, evidence taken on oath proves that
Jeanne d'Arc, a girl of seventeen, developed great military skill,
especially in artillery and tactics, that she displayed political
clairvoyance, and that she held her own, and more, among the