"guess" of an antiquary of 1680); held horses at the door of a
theatre (so tradition says), was promoted to the rank of "servitor"
(whatever that may mean), became an actor (a vagabond under the Act),
and by 1594 played before Queen Elizabeth. He put money in his
pocket (heaven knows how), for by 1597 he was bargaining for the best
house in his native bourgade. He obtained, by nefarious genealogical
falsehoods (too common, alas, in heraldry), the right to bear arms;
and went on acting. In 1610-11 (?) he retired to his native place.
He never took any interest in his unprinted manuscript plays; though
rapacious, he never troubled himself about his valuable copyrights;
never dreamed of making a collected edition of his works. He died in
1616, probably of drink taken. Legal documents prove him to have
been a lender of small sums, an avid creditor, a would-be encloser of
commons. In his will he does not bequeath or mention any books,
manuscripts, copyrights, and so forth. It is utterly incredible,
then, that this man wrote the poems and plays, so rich in poetry,
thought, scholarship, and knowledge, which are attributed to "William
Shakespeare." These must be the works of "a concealed poet," a
philosopher, a courtier moving in the highest circles, a supreme
legist, and, necessarily, a great poet, and student of the classics.

No known person of the age but one, Bacon, was a genius, a legist, a
scholar, a great poet, and brilliant courtier, with all the other
qualifications so the author of the plays either was Francis Bacon--
or some person unknown, who was in all respects equally
distinguished, but kept his light under a bushel. Consequently the
name "William Shakespeare" is a pseudonym or "pen-name" wisely
adopted by Bacon (or the other man) as early as 1593, at a time when
William Shakspere was notoriously an actor in the company which
produced the plays of the genius styling himself "William