Francis Bacon and his secret society - Grand Lodge of Colorado

AND HIS SECRET SOCIETY. 137
" deeds -without a name, " which, in this correspondence, are referred
to as the Alphabet, a pass-word, perhaps, for his Tragedies
and Comedies, since, in his private notes, or Promus, there
is this entry (before 1594)
1
" Iisdem, e Uteris efficitur tragcedia et comedia."
" Tragedies and comedies are made of one alphabet."
In 1598 the Queen, who had again quarrelled with Essex, was
greatly offended by the play of Richard II., which plainly
alluded to the troubles in Ireland, with which he was concerned.
Not ouly had this new play drawn crowds of courtiers and citizens
to the Globe Theatre, when first it appeared, but it had a
long and splendid run, being played not only in the theatre,
but in the open street and in the court-yards of inns. The
Earl of Essex (who, before his voyage, had been a constant
auditor at the Globe) lent the play his countenance; it is even
said that he ordered it to be played at his own expense, when
Phillips, the manager, declared that the piece had been so long
before the public that another performance could not pay. No
wonder, then, that the Queen was angry and disturbed by this
play, which, she thought, was part of a plot to teach her subjects
how to murder kings. " I am Richard, " she said; " know
you not that?"
A pamphlet by a young doctor of civil law, John Hayward,
published almost simultaneously with the play, increased the
Queen's wrath and apprehension. Taking as its basis the story
of the play, this pamphlet drew from it morals which were supposed
to be seditious. In one place it even affirmed the existence
of a title superior to the Queen. 1 This book proved too
much for Elizabeth's patience, and, sending the scribe to prison,
she summoned Francis Bacon " to draw up articles against
him," says the biographer; but, perhaps, also, because she had
reason to think that Bacon would know more than others about
the matter. Bacon, in his Apophthegms, or witty sayings, and
again in his Apologia concerning Essex, relates this episode.
l See Emblems and Metaphors, Queen. We think that time may alter
judgment and interpretation of this pamphlet.