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FRANCIS BACON'S CRYPTIC RHYMES 49
poems. With a view to keep up a certain connection
with the player William Shakspere, upon whom
the people looked as the author, Ben Jonson had
taken the precaution to get the dedicatory epistle to
the Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery, and also
the preface to the reader signed by two players, former
colleagues of William Shakspere. That the dedicatory
epistle did not emanate from the mind of those men
is
proved by the fact alone that one-half of it is a
direct translation of the preface to Plinius' " Natural
History" dedicated to the Roman Emperor.
An enormous portrait, intended to represent the
is poet, shown in the title of that Folio Edition. But
the picture
is not really a portrait,
it is a mask. And
one need but look straight at the expressionless,
perfectly oval face, to see that it is nothing but a blind.
Between chin and ear, where it closes on the face, one
can see how it contrasts with, and stands out from, the
flesh. Beneath the mask, however, is plainly to be
seen the costume of a high Courtier, not that of a
simple player or author.
Besides, the question forces itself
upon us, how could
the manager of a theatre, who had hitherto always
been too eager to print pieces of a less high standard of
excellency, let the masterpieces Julius Ctzsar, Macbeth,
Anthony and Cleopatra, The Tempest, etc., lie in his
desk, unprinted?
What must surprise us almost more still is the fact
that, in the plays published subsequently, allusions are
made to events that did not occur till after the player's
death, i.e., after the year 1616. We would but mention
the parallel between the fall
that of Chancellor Bacon.
of Chancellor Wolsey and
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