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36 \FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES
I am not ignorant, that those kind of Writings,
would, with less pains, and embracement (perhaps), yield more
Lustre, and Reputation to my Name, than those other, which I
have in hand.
That means : Bacon was the possessor of works,
which would be sure to add to the fame of his name
already so celebrated through numerous ingenious
works! Must he not be referring to works of a very
particular nature Were ? they really nothing but "some
curiously rhymed books " ?
In his Essays, Bacon ridicules those who write
books on the contempt of fame, and who yet are vain
enough to entitle such books with their name. In the
same Essays he speaks of things that have no name,
of false names, of people who hide behind a veil, or
bring another person upon the stage, &c. &c. We
shall hear more details about these insinuations con
tained in the Essays, later on.
An absolute proof, however, that Bacon did write a
great deal and works of great significance under another
name, is contained in the postscriptum to the letter
written by his intimate literary counsellor, Sir Toby
Matthew, dating from the year 1623 (the year of the
large Shakespeare Folio Edition), which letter we
have already mentioned, and of which the following
is
the exact wording
:
P.S. The most prodigious wit that ever I knew of my
nation, and of this side of the sea, is oj your Lordship's name,
though he be known by another.
Matthew wrote from the continent ;
hence the words
" of this side of the sea
" refer to the French, Italians,
and Spaniards.