Both authors carefully distinguished between Pluto, god of mines, and Plutus, god of gold. Bacon certainly could not have made a mistake of this kind, for he probably was the most thorough student of ancient mythology that ever lived. He expounded some of the prominent myths of Greece and Rome in a book entitled De Sapientiâ Veterum and published in 1609. In the passage from his 'History of Henry VII.,' quoted above, he means that King Ferdinand of Spain was more fortunate, after the death of Isabella, as owner of mines than as civil governor. It is, to say the least, remarkable that classical scholars, editing the drama of Julius Cæsar, should have changed the name of the god from Pluto, as it was plainly printed in the folios, to Plutus, on the ground that Shake-speare had blundered. Mrs. C. F. A. Windle, of San Francisco, was the first to point out this singular misconception. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY "Knock at his study, where (they say) he keeps." "I remember in Trinity College in Cambridge there was an upper Titus Andronicus, v. 2 (1600). chamber, which, being thought weak in the roof of it, was supported by a pillar of iron of the bigness of one's arm, in the midst of the chamber; which if you had struck, it would make a little flat noise in the room where it was struck, but it would make a great bomb in the chamber beneath.". Natural History (1622-25). Bacon was educated at Cambridge University; so also, we have good reason to believe, was the author of the Plays. Under the latter head, we make the following points: 1. In a book printed at Cambridge and published anonymously in 1595, the author (that is, the true author) of Venus and Adonis' is said to have been matriculated at Cambridge, Oxford, or at one of the Inns of Court in London.1 1 See 'Bacon vs. Shakspere,' 8th ed. 2. The author of the 'Merry Wives of Windsor' held up to ridicule a notorious character attached to a college at Cambridge.1 3. The author of Titus Andronicus' was familiar (as shown above) with a dialectical expression peculiar to Cambridge University.2 My boon I make it that you know me not Till time and I think meet." King Lear, iv. 7 (1608). The word weed, in the sense in which it is used in the above passages on either side, means garment, but a garment such as one wears to express condition of some sort. Shakespeare makes use of it over and over again in this signification, as the following examples will show: To express bereavement: "My mourning weeds are laid aside.” —3 Henry VI. "My mourning weeds are done." Ibid. - "Victorious in thy mourning weeds." - Titus Andronicus. Ibid. It will be observed that in King Lear' Cordelia asks. Kent to change his garments (weeds) because the circumstances of the wearer had changed. To express humility: "With a proud heart he wore His humble weeds."- Coriolanus. "With contempt he wore the humble weed." Ibid. This was the "gown of humility," put on by candidates for office in Rome. "Weeds of Athens he doth wear.". A Midsummer-Night's Dream. "I'll disrobe me of these Italian weeds."— Cymbeline. To express servitude: "Away with slavish weeds, and servile thoughts! I will be bright, and shine in pearl and gold, To wait upon this new-made empress.". Titus Andronicus. To express official character: "Were they but attir'd in grave weeds, Rome could afford no tribune like to these.". Titus Andronicus. To express peace (in the garb of a citizen, as distinguished from a soldier's uniform): "Hector in his weeds of peace."— Troilus and Cressida. In character of a flower-girl, symbolic of spring: Peering in April's front."- Twelfth Night. It is to its use by both authors to signify a disguise (as shown in our parallelism), however, that we wish to call the particular attention of our readers. In Sonnet 76 the word unquestionably is so used; for, notwithstanding the fact that these sonnets had been in private circulation for years, and were openly published in 1609, as Shakespeare's, the writer confessed in the stanza quoted that every word did almost tell his name. The true name of the author must, therefore, have been concealed. This inference is greatly strengthened by a confession in one of Bacon's prayers; a prayer composed by him on the occasion of his downfall, and said by Addison to resemble the devotion of an angel rather than that of a man. confession is in these words: The "I have loved thy assemblies; I have mourned for the divisions of thy church; I have delighted in the brightness of thy sanctuary. This vine, which thy right hand hath planted in this nation, I have ever prayed unto thee that it might have the first and the latter rain; and that it might stretch her branches to the seas and to the floods. The state and bread of the poor and oppressed have been precious in mine eyes; I have hated all cruelty and hardness of heart; I have (though in a despised weed) procured the good of all men." That Bacon used the word weed in this confession in the sense of a disguise appears from the following considerations: |