REVIEW.

Evening Star, Issue 4145, 9 June 1876, Page 4

REVIEW.

Th& Authorship Shakespeare, by Nathaniel Hdlufea. Third edition, Hurd and • Houghton, New York : ■ Reith- and Wil^e^.Dunedin, i/. There-' are- sceptics in literature .as ■'well as {it religion aUd'sofenCe, and the work under notice is one of the consequences. To some it maybe matter for surprise‘that there should 'Shadow of doubt as to the authorship of that mine of philosophy, Wit, and learning, “ the plays, of Shakespeare;’ yet modern—teaearch-has done-muoh-to give at least an air of probability to the theory that name has been enshrined in laurels that should have ornamented that of another. Nor is the inquiry Without scientific value. There was for many yearsj and it even now exists, a' .vagud idea that genius confers, powers ftgohvits possessor that enable him to less minds can fit themselves , for attainments in ,the- fine arts. In. literature generally, but* especially in-poetry, fthose gifted witfe femd imaginations seem to flivnlt the fire within them—will stand in the stead of mental culture, and some are found tugo-so far as to say that culture has a cramping effect; Their-'favorite hirt-mis-Understood maxim is ' : pdeta -non fit , sed nateifar. To thjis cause mainly is owing the volumes of jingle'that lie unread upon booksellers’ shelves, .and: which would never have been written had the true idea of genius been realised by tbe authors. Jamieson, in his Grammar of Logic, remarks Aa therprUdUbliona of genius accumulate, Taste may be formeebby a careful perusal of the works of others j and, as formerly Imagination served as a necessary i foundation for Taste, so xaste now begins to . invade tbe province of Imagination. die multiplicity and variety of the combinations which, for a long 'succession of ages, Imagination has formed, present ample materials for a judicious selection. A high standard of excellence 1h now continually present to tbe artist’s thoughts. He may, therefore, by industry, assisted by the most moderate degree of Imagination, produce, in time, performances, not only more free from faults,-but iucomporab y more powerful in their effects than the most original efforts of untutored, genius, which, guided by an ' uncultivated tastej copies after an Inferior model of perfection. , • The truth thus .laid. .down is the foundation of the : doUbt as to Shakespeare being the author of the plays that hear his name; and Mr Holmes has accumulated a mass of proofs that although not absolutely dbnclnsive, point in the direction oi confirming the claim put forward by Delia Bacon to her ancestor, the celebrated Lord Bacon, being the true author of Shakespeare’s plays. Mr HoMes’s hypothesis is that nothing less than miracle could have enabled William Shakespeare, whose early habits, employments,.and defective education, had not fitted him for the work, to have written plays evincing extensive knowledge of aheient inedieval classics and philosophy,, -laW, medicine, history, dead and living langUaghsvpolitica, and metaphysics; Lord Bacon, on the other hand, -was perhaps the only man in England equal tc the task. For our own parts we express nc opiniop,r although-we have no doubt many, With on. reading some of Shakes peare’a.inimitable works, have mentally ex claimed; ‘‘-Whence had this man this learn ingt” It certainly is remarkable, foi Stevens,- one of the editors of Shakespeare, says, “All that is known with any degre* of certainty concerning Shakespeare is—that he was born, .at - Stratford-upon-Avon—-married and had’ children there-wont t< Lonfijoja, yfherp he commenced actor anc wrote ppems and plays—returned, to Strat ford^ will, died, and was buried.’ Mk Haßapa Says ;. “ All that insatiable curi oaity and unwearied diligence have detectec - £srvea rather to-dis appoint and perplfix us than to furnish th< slightest illustration .of his character. It ii not the, register of his baptism, or the draf; of his trill,; or-theorthography of' his name that we No letter of his writing, nc record of his .conversation, no character o: him drawnwith any fulness by a contem porarv, can beproduced,” Fuller, in hi; Worthies of England,' says _df Shakespeare : Indeed his Teaming whS but very little;: so that «a Cumfo/i diamond? are' not, polished by any lapi dory, bnt ore pointed and amothed even as thej are taken ont of theearthi so Nature itself was at the art which was need Upon him.

So much of-piyatery surrounds the life and tire immortal bard that it will be hard to deprive Him of his immortality, upr are we quite sure that we should altogether * relish the wrenching of our old faith in his genius, although required to trausferjit to so supereminent a name as that of Lord Bacon; Whether accepted as a true theory or not Mr Holmes’s work is:worth reading, both as a critical study, and: as containing a vast mass of information, ably, classified and collated.