The New York Herald Newspaper, October 11, 1874, Page 8

—— — SHAKESPEARE OR BACON ? The War for the Honor of the Plays. {PROrfSSOR HART’S VIEWS. {Progressive Development Shown ; in the Dramas. ANOTHER BACONIAN SPEAKS. Opinion of Professor John S. Hart. PRINCETON, Oct. 3, 1874, I Dave recently had ap interesting interview Upon the Shakespearian discussion with Professor Jonn 8. Hart, Professor of Engiish Literature in Princeton College. There are but few, perhaps, ‘who have given the subject greater attention, who Gre better prepared to speak concerning it, or whose opinions are entitled to greater considera- tion, Knowing that the relation which he bore to the College-was such as to confine his strict atren- tion to this particular subject year alter year, and ‘that the fulfiiment of his obligations was perfectly ‘consistent with his greatest pleasure, I felt sure that, by coming here, I could secure something that ali persons of literary culture or taste, whether Shakespearian studeuts or not, would be delighted to read. {To the literary world the Pro- tossor is weli known; better, perhaps, for bis nu- Merous works upon English language and litera- ture than for the remarkable and highly tnterest- ing article recently pubiished in Scrtdner’s Month- ty, under che title ol “The Shakespearian Death Mask.” “What do you consider the most powerful argu- ‘Ment in favor of the authenticity of Shakespeare's plays?” | asked. “The fact thai Shakespeare was recognized as their author by ali bis contemporaries,” was the prompt response, “But, Professor Hart,” I continued, ‘‘almostevery, One that I have ever approached has given me an answer similar to yours. Toerefore presaming that 2am an ignoramus; \nat | do not know anything; that I have not the faintest idea concerning either Shakespeare himself or any of the writers that Hourished about his time—presuming me to bea party whom you were exceedingly anxious to con- vince, from what man that lived in Shakespeare's time would you quote?” “Well,” said the Professor, somewhat amused at my earnestness, “1 would quote from Francis Meres. He was the author of a work on gen- eral literature called ‘Palladis Tamias; or ite’ Treasury,’ in which he makes mention of Shakespeare in a Way which sets eternally at Yestthe question whetuer lie was or was not tue guthor oj his plays and whetver he was or was mot recognized as such by his contemporaries, Enumerating the great tragic poets who bad dourished in Greece and Kome, Meres says we have in English (lollowing the reguiar curono- logical order) Marlowe, Peele, Watson, SHAKESPEARE, Drayton, Chapman, Decker, Ben Jonson. Again, in like manner, concerning writers of comedy, ne mentions Lilly, Greene, | SHAKESPEARE, | Reywood, &c, Again, quoting the writers who bad excelled 1n iyric poetry, he mentions Spen- | er, Daniel Drayton, SHAKESPEARE, dc. Still again, referring to tue eregi monumen- tum of Horace, he says:—‘We have in English like enduring monuments in the works of sidney, Waniel Drayton and SHAKESPEARE.” | Some of his particular expressions are remark- able: ‘As the soul of Eupborbus was thought to live in Pythagoras, so ihe sweet, witty.soul of vid lives in meliiferous, houey-toagued Suake- eare’—wituess his “Venus and Adonis,” his “Lucrece,” bis sugar’d sonnets among his private friends. As Epicus stolo said:—‘ihe Muses Would Speak in Plautus’ tongue if they would speak Latin,” so I say the Muses would speak with Sbakespeare’s fine-filed pirases U they ‘would speak English. As Plaatus and Seneca are accounted the best for comedy and tragedy among the Latins, 80 Shakespeare among the Englisu is the most excelient 1m both Kinds ior the stage. For comedy witness bis “Gentlemen of Verona,” bis “Errors,” fis **! st,” Mis Labor Won,’ his end his “Merchant of Veni * for tragedy, his “Richard LL,” “Richard Il.” “Henry Iv.,” “King “Titus Audronicus’” and “Romeo and duitet.’’? “Here, then,” continued Professor Hart, “in 1598 Night’s Dream’? we have Shakespeare publicly quoted im a text | book as among the great English authors whose works alone are a@ mobument «ere perenne.” His name is piaced conspicuousiy in four suc- cessive lists of writers who bave distinguisned Wemselves severaily in comic, tragic, lyric and elegiac poetry. Again we have quoted by name his ‘Venus and Adonis,’ ‘Lucrece,’ and his sonnets, and no less than twelve of nis great dramas, tbe whole accompanied with the significant judgment of the critic, aiver naming aj] the great lig.ts of English literature down w that day, except Chau- cer, (Even other early Kngtish poets were but litvie known— ED.} unat the sweet soul of Ovid seemed to live tn meillifuvus and hovey-tongued Shakespeare, and that if the Mases should ever aeign to speak English they would speak With Shakespeare's fine-tilled parases. To say, alter this, that Shakespeare was not recognizea in nis own day is as absurd as it would pe to say the same of Speuser, Sidney, Raleigh and Ben Jonson. What admirer ot the great dramaust could now speak of bim in higher terms of praise ‘han did this Francis Meres in 1598? Ben Jouson himself (who was as competent to speak of phake- speare as would be Longteuiow to speak of Tenny- son; even more competent, for Jonsoa and Shake- gpeare were intimately acquainted, wrore for the @ame stage, lived in the same city, dined at the game tavern, where they had those famous wit combats)—I say Jonson himsel/, in the lines pre- fixed to the Orst folio, speaks of Shakespeare in terms not only of the greatest affection, but of the most exaited eulogy, speaks pot ‘only of his unparalleled genius, but of his consummate art, and extols him as sarpassing not only Chaucer, Spenser, Marlowe and all other English writers, but even the ancients, whom Ben greatly wor- snipped, Viz., Aristophanes, Terence and Plautus, apd mauy others.” “Has any writer that you can recall—contem- poraneous writer | mean—ever thrown out a hint as to how Shalt espeare came into possession or tie | remarkable yee” aap knowledge uisptayed iu bus works 7” | asked. “{ would answer the question by saying that to bis contemporaries the genius of Shakespeare was as mach the subject of admiration and wouder as itis tous. We koow little of Shakespeare's life, but the little we know of it makes us to under- stand the fact that during his lietime he was re- garded asa man of genius. This tact comes to us with so much corroborative proof from contem- raneous writers that we cannot contradict {t, aad when we admit this {fact we of course admit everything else. Ii he were a genius we cannot at this day decide upon what that genius was or was not capable of accom) lishing. I couid in no vetter way, perhaps, answer your question concernin; Shakespeare than by repeating to you what M. Taine has spoken of Chaucer :—‘Unaucer is like @ Jeweller,’ says Taine, ‘like a jeweller with his hands toll; pearis and giass beads, sparkling diamonds and common agates, black jet and ruby roses, ali that history and imagination bad been abie to gather and fashion during hundreds of years, all that roiled hia way, dashed together by the stream of centuries and by the great jumble of human memory he holds in is hands, arranges it, composes therefrom a long, kung ornament, with twenty pendants, a thousand facets, which, by its splendors, varie- ties, contraste, may attract and satisfy the eye of the most greedy for amusement and novelty.’ Taine,” continued the Professor, ‘in the same essay remarks that the genius of Chaucer of its simple self enabled bim to know and depict a ‘whole world, aa it was with the genius of Svake- speare, 80 that before we can account for the encyclopediac knowledge (as you cail it) tast the dramatist displays, we must first account for the existence Of his genius, which is impossible, ior ius im its nature can no more be analyzed than it can be circumscribed in its works, A bint, @ stray word—nay, the most indirect allasion, which, to aii who heard it, conveyed nosni of import, to a mun Oo! Shakespeare's gentus woul open’a new world of thought, imagination and poetry, through which his consummate art en- abled ‘him to wander and select treasure after treasure and dress them up in form 8e lovely and uncommon that they are still the glory and of our literature. Shakespeare has out lived all his contemporaries, aba he will ve still ‘the same man through centuries to come, He Is \ways novel; in bis plays are many innovations from the stage prevedents and customs of his day, and in thisonce m we see the genius of tae man he great Frenchman remarks, ‘when infused with great ideas some man will, raving to express 1t, invent new forms of peare haa that pos- with oi art apd new groups oi figures.’ Shak done this, and Jor aus wore, | Deke rity, unaffected by Boost, ‘wilt give him praise, gratitude and gior ye The Progressive Development of Shake- apeare’s Education in His Play Yo rus Eprtor op Tus HanaLp:— In « former communication I presented the argument, in proof of Shakespeare’s author- @uip of the works attributed by & fas to the date of Addison, Chaucer and | tn, or Holmes, or Delta | NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, OCTOBER Ri, 1874——QUINTUPLE SHE&&T. [ spectante minority to Bacon, ‘hat the plays | themselves indicated @ progressive acquire- ment tn knowledge, and that tion of so many excellent literary offsprings waa in no wise tpeompatible with @ limited university education. [now wish to extend the argument by & general and particular review of Shake- Speare’s works in their chronological order, a8 near as it can be arrived at by the Knowledge and Opinions of early commentators, This review will also partly explain the reason for the composite character of his works. “PRRIOLES" 1s one of the disputed plays, The firgt known quarto | edition was published in 1609, Wnder the title, “The late and much admired play called ‘Pericles,’ and vore William Shakespeare’s naine as author. It had been registered the previous year. A prose tract, founded upon this drama, was published by George Wilkins in 1608 The incidents are found in the ancient romance of “King Apollonius, of | Tyre,’ and also m ao prose transiation from the “Gesta Kumanorum,”’ This drama bas been thought to be Shakespeare's first production, alterward retouched and revised by bim. den, in a certain prologue written tn 1075, says:— Shakespeare’s own muse his Pericles first bore. That it Was mainly if not entirely Shakespeare's | composition is internally proved. HENRY VI, 197, 2D AND 3D PARTS, In Henslowe's Diary there is record that “Henry vj.” was first acted March 3, 1591-2, This referred to the play now styled the First part, of which there is no copy earlier than that of the follo of 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto, That the Second and Tnird parts were published without the First is strong evidence that they were surreputiously obtained, Mr, Malone bases as his argument a aissimilarity of style and diction to prove that the First part of Henry Vl. was not composed by Shakespeare, and that the Second and Third parts were but altered by him from the old piay entitled “The Contention of the Two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster,” printed in two parts in 1504-5. The authorship of this last named work 1s unknown, and it 1s not improbable that it was @ juvenile production of Shakespeare. The | historical transactions of the First part take in thirty years; the Second part ten years; the Third sixteen years. In the three parts there is no pre- cise attention to dates, and events are shuMed backward and forward against the order of oceurrenc ‘TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.'’ This play bears on its face the stamp of youth. Malone supposes it was written about 1591, It was fixst printed in the 1623 folio. It is presumed to be wholly Shakspeare’s, “THE COMEDY OF 8RRORS.’’ was first printed in the 1623 folio, Meres alludes to it as early as 1598, showing that it was written prior to that year, The plot was taken from Plautus’ “Menechmi,” or perhaps from an English translation thereol, Chalmers places the composi- tion In 1691. “LOVE'S LABOR’S LOST!” was published in quarto in 1598, with the follow- ing title:—“A pleasant comedie called Love’s Labor's Lost. By W. Shakespeare.” It stands seventh in the Jotio of 1623, If tounded on any novel, commen- tators have not been abie to discover the act. Malone placed the composition of the comedy in 1691, afterwards in 1594. Dr. Drake thought it might be safely assigned to the earlier period. “RICHARD IL” This play was first entered on the stationers’ | books in 1597. There were four quarto editions published during the life of Shakespeare—viz., 1597, 1598, 1608 and 1615, There was an old play on the subject of Richard IL; but Shakespeare founded nis drama chiefly upon Hollinshed’s “Chronicles,” trom which he adopted several pas- sages With notable closeness. The date of the com position is placed py Malone in 1593; Chalmera in 1596. “RICHARD III.” Five quarto copies were published previous to the one in the first folio, It was first entered at Stationers’ Hall in 1597, with the following title, “The Tragedy ot King Richard the Third; contain- ing his treacherous Plots against his Brother Clarence; the pitiful Murther of his innocent Nephewes; his tyrannical Usurpation; with the whole course of his detested Lie and most de- served Deato.” Kecween the quarto copies and the 1623 folio there are many variations of text. | Commentators variously pluce the dace of com- position at 1595 to 1696, The action of the piay comprises fourteen years. . “TITUS ANDRONICUS.”” Jounson raises a doubt about the authorship of this play, asserting that it had been exhibited twenty-live or thirty years before 1614. It might have been Shakespeare. Its scenes of baroarity are cer- tainly no credit to any author of taste. A few commentators have discovered similarity in | style, but Iimcline to think it the style of anew beginner aad very like Shakespeare's. Anony- | mous copies were published in 1600 and 1611. plece was only publishea with Shakespeare's mame after his death. In 1598 Meres enumerates this among five, other tragedies as proof of | Shakespeare’s dramatic power. “MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.” The plot of tnis play seems to have neen | Shakespeare’s own, Those who speak of the in- congruity of Greek characters being mixed up | with English actors should remember that this is | @ “dream,” and no dream was ever yet consistent in itself. Malone places the date of the cumposi- | tion in 1594. in 1600 there were two quarto edi- tions, “THE TAMING OF THE SHREW? stands eleventh in the 1623 folto, An anonymous play, Was printed in 1594 (by Pope ascribed to Shakespeare and by Malone to George Peele or Robert Greene) with the same titie. This Shake- speare rewrote, adopting the order of the gvenes, but retaining only a few lines which be thought worth preserving. The composition seems to be of an early date, and Malone piaces it in the year the anonymous copy was printed, “ROMEO AND JULIET." From a line in act i, scene 1, spoken by the Nuise—‘’Tis since the earthquake now eleven | years’’—the date of this play has been traced to 1501, again in 1599, the latter publication being “newly corrected, augmented and amended.” The story of the piay had jong been extant. “THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.” ‘The earliest known publication 1s that of two quarto editions in 1 play im the 1623 folio, Chalmers places the date of the composition in 1597, Malone in 1598 It has aiso been ascribed to an earlier period, and was believed to have been acted by the company of actors of whom Shakespeare was one, in 1604. The matin incidents in the plot are traditic . From @ passage in Stephen Gosson’s “School of Abuse” (1579) it appears that a play comprehending ita | distinct. features had been exhibited, under the ttle of “The Jew,’’ iong before Shakespeare com- menced writing. Ita plot, like Shakespeare's, was @ combination irom the “Pecorne” and the “Gests Romanorum."? “HENRY IV., FIRST PART.”? Malone places the date of this composttion tn 1597 (the year of its entry), Dr. Drake a year sooner. ve quarto editions were pupiished during the author’s life. The first quarto bore the titie—''The History of Henrie the Povrth, with the | Battell at Shrewsburie betweene the King and Lord Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspar of the North. With the Humorous Conceits of Sir John Falstaffe.” The action of the play embraces about ten months. “HENRY IV., SECOND PART.” Entered at Stationers’ Hall in 1600; two copies in quarto printed that year. Malone places the date of composition in 1593, ‘Ine second 1600 arto bears this vitle:—-‘The Second Part of enrie the Fourth, continuing to his death and coronation of Henrie the Fit. With the humours o1 Sir John Falstaffe and swaggering Pistol. Writ- ten by Wiliam Shakespeare.”’ The action of the play takes in about nine years, “KING JOHN”? ands fifteenth in the 1623 folio, and the date of mposition is placed by Maione in 1596. it was | founded on @ play entitied “The Troubiesome Raigne of John, King of Engiand, &c.,’’ 1691, which ‘was republished in 1611 with the name of William Shakespeare on the title page. Dr. Farmer thinks there is no douot that Rowley wrote the o'd play, | which Shakespeare has followed only in the con- | auct of the plot, The spurious pubiication toisted on the public as Shakespeare's was what we de- | nominate nowadays as a ‘Yankee trick.” | “ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELLL" | Malone places {n 1608, The fable is found in Boccaccto’ iletta of Narbonne,” and was trans- “Palace of Pleasure,” 1666, In has simply made use of the of the story, and has intro- duced characters of his own. “HENRY V.!? | ‘This play, according to Malone, appears to have | been written in the middle of the year 1599. Thero Were three quarto editions in the pvet’s lietime— | 16.0, 1602, 1908—but they are so imperfect as to in- | dace the belief that they were printed from mere oral transcript taken during performance. Not One ot these copies bears the author’s name, The first complete copy—coniaining choruses, scenes, Speeches and passages, which were omitsed in the quarto copies—is the one In the folio of 1623, where 1t follows the ‘second Part of Henry IV.’ “aS YOU LIKE IT.” The first known copy is that of the follo of 1623, An entry in the “Statione bp coil believed to be for 1600, is thus given:—‘4 Auguste, As you | like vt. @bOOK.”” Malone daves the commasitian of | the produc- | Dry- | Newly corrected and augmented. | 80, and yet be reconstructed by | The | In 1697 @ qnarto copy was published, and | and it appears as ninth | | the drama m 1599. ‘The plot 18 supposed. to bo taken trom the romance of ‘“Rosalynde,” 1590, by | Thomas Lodge, from which the principal charac- ters are sketched; but Jaques, Touchstone and Audrey are of Shakespeare’s own creation. There | 18 a tradition that Shakespeare played the charac- | ter Adam. | “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.’ This play, according to Vertue’s MSS., formerly | Itts supposed to have been written in 1600, in | which year it was first! printed. Of the serious | Part of the plot there are traces to be found in | Ariosto’s “Orlando Furiogo,” and Spenser's “Faery Queen,” also in an Italian novel by Bandello, “HAMLET? It 18 said that a play called “Hamlet” was known and acted in London as early as 1598, The next | reference to the play is anentry in the Stationers’ | Registry on July 26, 1602, a8 l0llows:—*A booke, ‘Tne Revenge of Hamlett, prince of Denmarke,’ as | yt was latelie acted by the Lord Chamberlayne his. Bervantes.” An edition Was published in 1603 | from @ surreptilious vopy, which differed widely | Irom that published tn 1604—containing scarcely two-thirds as many lines, and its inferiority was | still more marked. Three other additions were published, in 1605, 16L1 and an undated one | entered at Stationers’ fall on November 19, 1607. | The main story 18 to be found in the “Curonicles of Saxo Drammaticus,” the Danish historian; | from thence reveated in & novel by Belletorest, and from Pim translated into English as “The Hystorie of Hambiet.’? Of this latter work no earlier edition than 1608 is known, | “MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR’? was probably written in 1601, The Orst edition | Was printed in quarto in 1602, bat probably from stage recitations, 11 being @ very inferior version. | Another quarto, printed in 1619, lacked the com- pleteness of the folio of 1623, Dennis, in bis dedica- tion to his alteration of this play under the titie of “The Comical Gallant,’ says what Shakespeare wrote this comedy at the instance of Queen Eliza- | beth, who, in ner eagerness to see Falstaff im the | character of a lover, limited the production of tne | gorepon non to two weeks, in which time it was B13 “TWELFTH NIGHT. ”? This comedy forms the thirteenth play in the | folio of 1623, the earliest Known date of its publica- tion, The composition of the play is piaced in 1600, based on an entry in a memorandum book of Jonn Manningham, apparently a Temple student, under date of February 2 1601-2, wherein he “At our feast we had a piay called ‘Twelve- ght; or, What fou Will,’ * * * most like and neere to that in Italian called ‘Inganaoi.’ A good practise in 1¢ to make the steward believe bis lady widdowe was in love with him, by counterfayung @ letter, as trom his lady, in generall terms telling him what shee liked best in him, and prescriving his gestures, inscribing his apparaile, £0, and | then when he came to practias, making him be- | leeve they tooke him to be mad,”” ‘“TROILUS AND ORESSIDA,”? The date of composition is placed by Malone at 1602; Dr. Drake, 1601; Mr. Chalmers, 1600. Li 1609 | | there were two quartos printed. The first bore the title, “Tue Famous Historie of ‘froyius and | | Cressena,” and a long sub-title, and the | ; Second the name of the play with a! | Correct spelling of the name of “Cressida;” both | editions under Shakespeare’s name, The sources | obtained jor the material were evidently Chaucer’s | | poem of the same title, Chapman’s translation of Homer, Lydgate’s ‘Iroy Book” and Caxton’s “History of the Destruction of Troy.” HENRY VIL. This play. it is conjectured, was written about 1600, Or peraps two or three years later, Alter having lain by some years unacted tt was revived in 1613 at the Globe Theatre under the title “All Is Trae.” During its recitai the theatre caught fire aud burned down, the cause of the fire being the | careless use of some small ordnance in one of the | scenes, Doubtless the manuscript copies of man. of Snakespeare’s piays were consumed. Henry Vill, Was first published in 1623, Its action comprises a period of twelve years, There is a deviation irom history in placing the death of Queen Catherine beiore the birth of Elizaveth, when she did not die | | tilt turee years thereafter. MEASURE FOR MEASURE was written, Malone supposes, about the close of | 1603, The story was taken trom Whetstone’ “Pro- mos and Cassandra,” a narrative so imperfect in analysis and so insipid in style that it was but an | embryo which Shakespeare’s culture grew to a beauteous development, fertile in entertainment, OTHELLO. The first printed copy is one 1m quarto to 1622, credited to Shakespeare and republished the fol- lowing year. In 1630 andther quarto edition a beared, with some textual variations, There is record that a play by “Shaxberd” (one of the many forms in which Shakespeare was then written), entitied “fhe Moor of Venice,” was per- formed at Whitehall on November 1, 1604. There- fore, the period of its composition was before that date. The plot is found in Cintbio’s “Hecatom- mithi,” of which Shakespeare must have seen an English transiation, althougu we have no knowl- edge wat there was such, KING LEAR. Three quarto editions were published in 1608, varying in many respects irom tue folio of 1623, the differences consisting in curtailments in the early copies, made ior stage representation. The period of its composition was probably subsequent to 1603, and it is known to have been acted at vourt in December, 1606, Hints ior the pilot are presumed to have been taken from a variety of sources at command, There was an anonymous Ee melas entitied «The True Chronicle History | ol King Leir and bis Three Daughters, Gonorti, Ragan and Cordelia,” and also an old ballag on | the subject, MACBETH. The composition of this tragedy can only be | laced between 1603 and 1610, Malone’s conjecture | ing 1606, [tis known to have been acted in | 1610, The historical incidents are according to Holinshed, JULIUS CAESAR No earlier copy than the lolio of 1623. Coulier endeavors to prove it was written before 1603, some years earlier than the date Malone assigned | | it. The main materials of the drama appear to be derived trom North’s “Plutarch.” The action | embraces about three years. ANTONY AND OLROPATRA. First printed in the folio of 1623. It is believed | the play Was written in 1607 or 1608. The histori- | incidents are drawn from the same source as ‘Julius Cwsar.’? OYMBELINE. Like the severallast preceding plays no early copies are known. Chalmers piaces the date of composition in 1605, Malone in 1609. The pilot is of Italian origin, asresembiance being traced to Bo- caccio’s ““‘Bernabo da Genova,” CORIOLANUS, Entered and first printed in 1623, Malone con- Jectures it was composed in 1610. The historical material 1s derived from North’s “Piutarch,” and some speeches differ only in the versification, TIMON OF ATHENS. There was No other copy but that of 1623, Ma- lone dates the period of composition at 1609. It | would seem to me, from its crudeness and want ot Polish, to have been @ youthful production of Shakespeare and much negiected, TEMPEST. | The folio of 1623 contained the earliest printed | copy. lt was probably written about icll and known to have been acted early in 1613, The plot | 1s derived {rom no specific source, WINTER'S TALK. | This play was first licensea in 1611 and probably | then just written. Tne story is taken irom ‘Ine Pieasaot History of Dorastus and Fawnia,” 1533, | by Robert Greene. Mauvy of the circumstances of | the novel are omitted, neither are the names | adopted, and the characters of Antigonus, Paulinw and Autolycus were newly introduced. DEDUCTIONS. From the foregoing it will pe seen that where- ever a paucity of evidence might seem to raise a | doubt a8 to the authorship ol any o! these plays | there 18 No indication of the slighvest pretenion assed under cue title of “Benedick and Beatrix.” | | arms to | California was entitled from the War Department what tnadequate and eEoly dull book of Judge Holmes 1s an indication of this, Two Judges of | the United States Supreme Court—Swayne and Miler, 1 belleve—are understood to have been converted by Jui if Holmes’ book. Even bard- headed old Lord Palmerston, an Englishman of | | Englishmen, bad to yield to the jorce of the argu- ment i0 favor of Bacon, But I pause at the threshhold of this discussiop, #0 rich | in suggestiveness, and forbear to treat, even in Uns cursory way, other points, more conciusive, peraps, which might be urged, feeling | mny total inaiequacy for the task. There ts, prob- | | ably, but one man in America fully competent to | treat this subject in all its fulness and richness as | adefender of the Baconian or sntt-Shakespeare theory—I refer to Mr. William D, O’Connor, now | occupying a subordinate position in the Treasury Department at Washington, but well known to | literary men as one of the most eloquent and effective of living writers. He 1s steeped to the very lips im the Elizabethan literature, having been a close atuuent of it from bis boyhood, and he | | has watched witn the iptensest interest the whole | | question, from its development in the work of | Delia Bacon to the present time, and has carefully | | investigated every phase of the subject. He ts the one to whem Hawthorne reters in “Our Old Home” as the “young man of genius and enthu- | 8lasm,”? who was the only person he had ever met | | Who had read Miss Bacon's book entirely through, | | and whom he (Hawthorne) called upon to vindi- cate the great dead scholar in her grave. Mr. | O'Connor bas long contemplated an exhaustive | work on this subject, and when his poweriul and | vivid pen snall have fully treated it [ beiteve that 1c will be settled im the minds of all candid men | forever. INDEX. * A Good Chance for the Dramatic Fund. To THR EDITOR OF THE HERALD:— Will you not arrange with some publisher to give us a pamphiet containing all the learned dis- courses on the authenticity of the great dramas, known under the name of “Shakespeare’s Works,” ag they appeared in the HERALD, with, of course, your own powerful edituriais on the subject? You have waked up a new interest in the Bard of Avon | which has never been equalled in journal contro- versy here or in the Qld World, The men who have written are our best intellects; aud what they have said, for and against, 1s argued in plain lan- guage, and, for the most part, logically sustained, The Shakespeare students have read every line | with intense delight, and 80 Lave ali educated men throughout the country; but tue papers are now Scattered, and those who will wish to read those mstructive documents again will find 1t | dificult to coliect them, Gan you uot, or rather, | Will you not, give us the whole in a neat volume, With a portrait of the great Wiluam and another of Kacon, if itis worth while? This, of course, when the controversy is conciaded, all the learned men baving given the public their opinions fully aud exhausted the subject. “i No doubt the book would Sell well among all classes, and especially the admirers of the drama, and they are legion, And here iet me suggest that the proceeds be given to the ‘Dramatic Fund,’ which needs constantly a helping hand, because the calls on it are irequent; and the good work it does needs no comment irom NEWARK, What the Old Actors Thought. Hien Brings, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1874. To THE EDITOR OF THE HERAL The controversy in your paper in relation to the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays having created 60 much discussion among playwrights, professors, actors and others leads me, as an old New Yorker and an intimate friend of the late tragedian, Thomas S. Hamblin, to say to your readers that I | was present, over twenty-aix years. ago, in Win- dust’s house, in Park row, in company with Ham- bhn, Jonn R. Scott, Manager Mitchell, of the old Olympic; Tom Flynu, W. R Blake, William EH. Bur- | ton and other well known actors of that day, when | the subject matter ol the present controversy was discussed, and the opinion of all was at that time that Shakespeare wrote the plays which bear his name, DAVID POLLOCK. THE LOUISIANA DIFFICULTY. Similarity Between the San Francisco Vigilance Committee Insurrection and the New Orleans Coup d’Etat-The Application of the Governor of Calt- fornia for Federal Aid Refused— General Sherman’s Course During the Pacific Difficulty—Policy of Pierce and Grant Contrasted. During the Vigilance Committee outbreak in San Francisco in 1856 Governor Johnson, of California, applied to President Pterce for aid to suppress the | insurrection. He represented that the legal au- thorities of the State were defiled in more lachry- mose terms tnan Kellogg; that an armed force of about six theugand men had taken possession of the city; that they had shot and hung, contrary to law, several men charged with crime, and had | forcibly deportea many others to foreign countries; that they had attacked the armories occupied by the militia, who were compelled to surrender with their overwhelming numbers, and had also attacked a vessel conveying arms from the United States ordnance stores at Benicia; seized their cargoes and made prisoners of the men in charge. The Governor turther represented that he had issued a proclamation declaring that an insurrection existed in San Francisco and called upon the militia to assemble and place themselves under orders of GENNERAL WILLIAM T, SHERMAN, then commander of the First Division of California Militia and now General of the United States army. At the time in question the quota of arms to which had not been, it was understood, delivered, and Governor Johnson asked the President that direc- tions might be given tor their issuance, General ‘Wool, who commanded the Pacific division, had promised, he (the Governor) stated, at first to fur nish the weapons to General Sherman, put after- ward deciined' to do so. Affairs were in a critical condition, and there were good reasons for believing that the insurrection would spread to other parts of the State; and there were, also, fears entertained that a scheme was on foot to push matters to a far greater extent by making an effort to ESTABLISH A PACIFIC REPUBLIC, the State authorities had not fulfilted what the law required, Had that been done, and a demand made by that body for succor to suppress insurrection, the whole constitational power of the President could tnen_ be Properly brought into operation ‘if the State forces proved unable to cope withthe insurgents. ORDER WAS SOON AFTER BESTOBED. But it is only correct to remember that it wae more through the decided course of Commander Boutwell (who acted according to his own notions of the situation) than any other that this result Was attained, Adunirai Farragut was in command at Mare Island Navy Yard, bat ne took very little part in the proceedings. A comparison, however, with the Louisiana difculty will not ‘be out of place, There was fear of the secession of Callfor- Nia and the establishment of @ Pacific Republic in 1856. None are so wild as to dream of secession in Louisiana to-day, it would have been idle to attempt to convene the Legislature in the former State, for the Vigilance Committee had ample re- sources to send wen to Sacramento ana disperse it—a course they would nos have hesitated to take. Kellogg .couid have far more easily brought his Legislature together than Johason could nave dope, The State authority was as completely overthrown by iorce in San Francisco as it was in New Orleans; and, Mr. Cushing to the con- trary, there were collisions between the insur- geuts in California and the law and order troops, ‘The federal courts and oficers were threatened with suppression and arrest if they proceeded in certain cases contrary to the Wishes of the com- mittee. The Chief Justice of the highest tribunal in Caliornia and the United States Navy Agent were prisoners. The State armories were at- tacked and their lawful defenders made captives in San Francisco in the same manner as the police stations were in New Orleans, and measures were openly discussed to board and carry the sloop-of- war John Adams, Johnson only asked for the arms to which the milttia were entitied by law, and he was told he could not get them In ali this there ts to be seen that soouer than interlere im the domestic dificulties of. A SOVEREIGN STATE, President Pierce's Cabinet were willing to incur & very serious risk, Caleb Cushing weighed well Chief Justice Taney’s decision in the Dorr case, but be was averse to furnish either men or arms in @ controversy which he considered (it turned out correctly) would soon come to an end, <Attor- ney General Williams, om the other hand, came hastily 10 @ different conclusion in the Louisiana business. No one disputed the legiti- macy of Governor Johnson's authority, and it was overthrown even more sud- denly than Kellogg’s, Kellogg was certain to have at least the moral support of the United States forces, and communication is instantane- ous with New Orleans. General Wool, rape upon his own responsibility, arrayed himself Veer tively against Johnson, and two months would necessa- Tily elapse before instructions could come from Washington. The grievances compiained ‘of by a rtion o! the people of San Francisco in 1856 were ut the merest trifles1n comparison with the {raud, corruptions and illegality ol the present govern- ment of the entire State of Louisiana; and the in- surgents of San Francisco were to blame almost solely themselves for the wrongs that existed. ‘They had the remedy in their own hands. But they were so completely taken up in the pursuit Ol wealth thot they neglected every political duty, including that of going to the pollg to youe when elections took place, Consequently many unscru- pulous men were chosen to ofice. To crown all, the democratic parts, asa party, took from the very beginning the strongest ground against the Vigilance Comuittee. The sympathies o1 Pierce's administration must have gone with ita supporters, but notwithstanding the persistent appeals for federal interierence it was not coneeded. Generali Sherman, who was very anxious to sup- press the lawless acts of the organization, related hat General Woot clearly promised arms. Tne reply Of the latterjwas:—‘*No one but the President Of the United States can issue arms toa State in case of insurrection. But here im California we are so far away [rom the President that a general of division might assume the respo! lity in cer- tain Cases, and this might be one.” With all the circumstances a8 stated before him Mr, Cushing said he was reiuctact to go beyond the actual case in undertaking to pronounce an opinion on law applicable to the gravest and the most critical of all emergencies possible to occur in the rela- tions between the United States and the respect- ive States of the Union. He remarked:—‘‘i am not wiiling to say that circumstances may not arise in which tue President might fur- nish arms without Set men af the same under the authority of the act of and on the principle that as the whole is incloded ‘in its parts so the furnishing of arms alone may be compre- bended in the power to employ all the land and naval lorces of the United States.” This power, Mr. Cushing held, should be reserved ior cases in which all the constitutional powers of the State bad been exerted in vain wo prevent or SUPPRESS DOMESTIO WAR. Governor Kellogg certainly used no efforts to assemble his Legislature in New Orleans or at any point in Louisiana, though General Grant in us Proclamation asserts that it could not be con- veced. {his document appeared almost on the very day the coup d'état was effected. There isa lesson to be studied in the course of Pierce and Grant under circumstances in poy a 8 closely corresponding with each other, e Vigilance Committee was anti-democratic, The great ma jority of its leaders and members were tor Fre- | mont as cf Buchanan for the Presi- dency; yet Mr. Pierce and Caleb Cushin, earnest sensitive as to federa! interference in Statd matters, let the insurgents | maintain their sway undiscurved, though they were not free irom suspicion of contemplating the setting up Of an independent Republic. General Grant and Mr. Williams ee rushed to upnoid the disgracelul régime under Kellogg. ‘This recital of jacts may serve to give the eminent jurists, Messrs. O’Conor and Johnson, matter for consider- ation. Toe opimon of Caleb Cushing, when con- gulted by President Pierce, Luther case passed upon by Chief Justice Taney, and a New York case decided in 1814 by Chief Justice Marshall, aMirming the power of the President to callout the militia to suppress in- surrection, OUR EBONY IDOL. Present and Prospective Condition of | the Negro in His Home—Uncle Tom Without a Cabin—Questions of Labor, Production, Finance, Commerce and Religion—Was Emancipation a Bless- ing? SAVANNAH, Ga., Oct. 5, 1874. Whether the negro will succeed in so shaping the new condition of life imposed upon him as to secure the iull advantages of freedom and ad- vanes the general welfare of his race is a ques- tion that can only be answered by another gen- eration. The experiment for nine years has cer- tainly not been encouraging, for except among the School children there are nowhere visible signs of mentalor moral improvement. At his feet were Two special commissioners were sent to Washing- ton to present this fetter. Communication be- tween California and the Eastern States was not frequent or rapid in 1856, Steamers left only every fortnight, and it took fully two months to send a letter to Washington and receive areply. In the meantime General Wool declined to render assist- ance to the local authorities in any way, and de- nied that he haa promised to supply General Sher- | rom any quarter that Bacon had anything to do | With them. By tous engrossing the chronology we | can more éasily draw conclusions, We tind that | the plote were rarely wholly Shakespeare's inven- | tions. A collection of Italian and Enyglisn tales, | some books on Englisu, Greek and Roman history, | served as foundation, and the lecundity of shake- | speare’s mind supplied the rest. fo this ada a | | lew plays of feebie authors rewritien by Shake- | speare, and we have @ process of drama-making | which Was as easy to Shakespeare as rolling of a log. We Can thus see that much of bis special | knowledge was derived from many sources. He was not onlya writer but a preparer of manuscripts for | the stage, and doubtless sume came invo his nands which he changed 80 as not to leave auything | | traceable of the original but the style of coimposi- | ton, Still [cannot belleve that there were many | Of these rewritten plays. I have been only solicit us to show that his first Peis Were bis most in- ferior, antil custom and a faciiity in thinking gave him exactness of expression. FRANKLIN, | One More Baconian Heard From. | WasHINGTON, D. C., Oct. 6, 18 To THs EDITOR OF THE HERALD: I have watched with interest the discussion inaugurated in your cosmopolitan columns rela- tive to the authorship of Shakespeare. There | | must be some correspondence between a man's | life and his works, All history and all science | Drociaim it, Yet in Shakespeare’s case there is none, and this is the Gibraltar against which the | defenders of the ‘divine William” beat their | heads in vain, The Baconian theory bas been | rather feewly defended in your columns, pat I | | have reason to believe that it 18 much stronger | among the people than is there indicated. It comes | | home with peculiar iorce to the legai pro.ession, | | who realize, probably more than others, not only | the learned and accurate use of legal terms in | the plays, but the strong legal bias shown every. where, especially in the historicai ones, which | leads the author to seek legal metaphors con. | | stantly as @ favorite form of illustration. No tyro | uses these edged tools with impunity. The best modern writers have biuderea sadly in thetr | attempts to introance legai phraseoloxy and cases | into their works, But Shakespeare, as Lord Chief | Justice Campbell Das ¢lavoravely shown, never | ; Makes mistake. He knew law not only } as @ profound lawyer, but as a jurist. | No supposititions experience as an attorney's clerk will expiain this phenomenon. contemptuously said that Lord Bacon wrote phi- josophy like a Lord Chancellor. It will hereaiter — that he also wrote plays like a Lord Chan- cellor, The powerful character of this internal evidence in favor of Bacon few legal minds can \ way, | naif a mile of the position, and announced that if | grant it. Coke | man with arms, though the latter averred that such ® promise had been made. Meanwhile the | Vigilance Committee grew bolder. They defled the courts and refused to obey their mandates. They continued to make arrests and fortified themselves im the heart of the city. Cannon were placed at the street corners and squads of armed men ‘were continually passing from one point to another. There could be no doubt as to a serious revolt being in existence, and that the Executive power was not only disregarded but reviled and threatened. General Sherman could do nothing, for all the State arms had been carried off by the | committee, and General Wool would not raise a hand. He refused the application of the United States Marsbal and the Judges of the United States Circuit and District Courts provection in the discharge of their duties, they having stated, on wnat they had reason to believe good grounds, that the committee nad turcatened to rescue and event the trial oi men charged with piracy. The igilance Committee had everything their own with one very important drawback. The Navy Department nad ordered a man-o+war to be kept in the harbor and to watch the action of the insurgents, The vessel se- lected for this purpose was the corvette John Adams, Commander Boutwell. As matters proceeded this officer brought his ship to tne foot of the street on which the committee had ea- vablisned their neadquarvers, He ancbored within any furtuer executions were attempted he would OPEN FIRE ON THE REBEL FORTRESS. A hot-beaded section of the committee proposed capturing the John Adams by boarding, but the leaders were not prepared for this extreme course, However, no more men were hung, and several other armed vessels having put in an ap- arance, there Was a caiming down of excite- | ment, and the adherents of law and order began to recover courage. The answer to the Goverpor’s request for arms at lengtn arrived. Secretary Marey, speaking for the President, declined wo ‘The subject had received careiul consid- eration and had been relerred to Attorney General Cushing. That officer, in bis opinion, reierred to the views of Chief Justice Taney in the Rnode Island rebellion case; and as the California out- break had many features in common with the re- cent revolt in Loutsiana, some of Mr. Cashing’s | views are here given :—t was not alleged, he | in Governor Jonnson’s letter, that the Legislature | could not be convened, and so lar the matter | failed to come within the constitutional provision, The ‘Governor only applied for arms and not tor the aid of the militia, There wa: obstruction of the laws, but no shock of arms between the In- surgenis and the State, and the exercise of the President's unquestioned power in doutful cases | ought to be reserved except in the most exigent emergency. A month, he said, had passed witnout realist when once oregented wo them. The some- any steps Lng. to cali the Legislature to- ether, which should be viewed aa evidence that laid all the paraphernalia of the Freedmen’s Bureau, books and teachers and soldiers to protect him whenever he was threatened in his material interests. Northern men stood by to see that he ‘was not imposed upon in making contracts, Churches were given to him in which to worship, and the government spent millions of dollars to supply him with rations while prepaming for the start upon his new career. Never did a people begin life with fairer opportunities for success or greater inducements to achieve it. Thus far, however, the country may look in vain for substantial re- sults jrom all this effort in behalf of the nation’s wards, except in one respect. Politically his vote has been conscientiously given to the republican party since the hour when he was entitled to the ballot Thatis all. Other phases of his present condition It may be interesting to analyze here. | First, UNCLE TOM I8 WITHOUT HIS CABIN! It 1s @ significant fact that, while there has been ®@ coustant demand for negro labor and at good prices, not one in five hundred owns the cabin in which he lives. Land may be had for @ song and be paid for out of the crop; yet somehow the biack man fails either to buy or produce, though the end of a Season will find in the pooket of almost every worker, if he has not ‘wasted his substance in riotous living,” from $150 to $200, and more than double this sum if the family have assisted. It ts however, one of the curious resuits of emancipa- tion that fleld labor has been almost entirely aban- doned by the females and children, The former, in imitation of the whites, look after home affairs, and perhaps the latter go to school, Around the cities, where negroes do more or less of ‘job work,’’ you will now and then find a shanty which 18 the property of the occupant. If he takes board- ers, which is not unfrequently the case, it will be crowded worse than @ tenement house in Bax ter street, and the surroundings are anything but savory. 80 little, and eventually, uniess he has become quite well to do, he pulls up stakes, emigrates and relapses into his former condition, The ordinary hut of the lower class of negroes is simply a pile | of logs laid at right angles, with a door and one or two wooden window shutters, and a chimney out- side. Within, you will finda few planks knocked together for a bedstead, sorry looking blankets and bedclothes, and in all sorts of odd utensils the Provisions with which they live from hand to mouth, Inshort, the negro ts taking care of him- sell, and Knows none of the best how to doit Is it @ wonder that the rate of mortality among them, and especially among the children, is eo great ? UNCLE TOMS LABOR, ‘The Southern people view with no little concern the gradual deprectation of colored labor. Those who grew up ina state of slavery and acauired touches upon the | But he does not like to pay taxes on ever | industrious habits will still work, though with leas result by fifty per cent than formerly, The rising generation nave no such habits, and are not likely ever to become productive members of society. It iseven more diMcult to obtain and retain @ faithful negro servant here than an Irish servant at tne North. They come and go at will, stay long enough to earn a@ few dollars to spend, then leave and find another place when their iunds are ex- bausted. Unfortunately, desirable as is an educa tion, thetr improvement in books is temporarily having the effect of teaching the poor creatures te aim above the level which somebody must always occupy in the social scale, Should these infuences continue the blacks will gradually work themeelves out of employment, and thelr laces will be supplied by industrious and willing borers of another race. It must not be under- stood irom the foregoing remarks that the people of the South are averse to the education of the colored race. On the con: ry, they are using every effort for the moral amelioration of the negro, and desire his advancement. He was (re- quently taught to read and write before the war, in order that his usefulness might be augmented, and to-day Georgia 18 arene papendink $38e, tee as @ school fund, the benefit of which is equally divided between the whites and the blacks. Tne colored peopie are also establishing lodges of the Order of Good Templars for the promotion of tem- erance and private benevolence among them, there are already some fourtecen oF fifteen lodges in this tate in sno cessiul operation, under the direction of the white Grand Lodge, and one in Atlanta now numbers between 300 and 400 members, All these things show how the people of Georgia are striving to solve the problem of the negro’s wel fare, and how they view any present demoraliza- tion a8 One of the natural and possibly to be ex- pected stages in his progress, believing that time ana experience Wili eventually cause the scales to drop from his eyes and enable him to see clearer than now how he may become a uselul member of on and coworker with themselves. In Savan- nan the Commissioners of Public Schools have made provision for 1,400 colored pupils, and re- centiy secured premises in which 600 more may be educated. Eleven teachers are colored and three are white. In Macon the colored public school ts one of the handsomest edifices in the cit In Atlanta they have a _ coiored Jege which annually receives from the State_the same donation that Is given to the white college—to wit, $8,000—besides schools amply capacious for the accommodation of all who seek aamission. The whites of Georgia do not, there. fore, a8 Many suppose at the North, “hate the nigger.” If they do, tnis 18 certainly a curious method of showing their antipathy, COTTON PRODUCTION. It1s not an argument against the idleness of the negro that the production of cotton has been 8@ weil maintained aince the war. First, @ large aud unusual amount of white labor has been applied to the crop. Secondly, py the use of lertilizers one acre has been made to perform the work of three acres, and the crop in northern sections Las heen thus hastened to iraition in time to anticipate the early frost, wnich besore the war was aimost anau- ally destructive, The upper poruons of Georgia, South Carolina, ‘Yennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, through this means have been thrown open to cotton culture | and utilized, and hence the deficiency of other lo- calities has been supplied. As an illustration of the great changes that have taken place within @ few years, the apening of the Air Line Railroad bus fed to an increase of cotton in the oeighbor- hood through which tt passes @ thousandiold, while in the great South belt—the home of thé staple—the decline amounts to forty or fifty per cent. In the one place white labor is doing the bulk of the work;in the other the black man. Time will demonstrate whether, with such @ small minority of labor, the whites, even with all their agricultural advantages and all the profit likely to accrue therefrom, can without accessions main- tain the crop at the present standard and estab- lish @ basis of calcniation on which the capitaliss and manufacturer may safely count his gains, THE IDOL AS A CHRISTIAN. lt is an unfortunate fact that in religious mat ters the negroes, since their separation from the whites in the churches, have gone into every vart- ety of excesses, both in worship and bellef, Some | of their congregations are little better than so niany pandemonia, where you may witness the wildest spasma, the most approved torms of Ghrig- Liauized catalepsy, and sometimes death itself Giving loose rein to naturally excitable natures, they exhaust themselves in an ideal form o Vion until at last faish has stition, wherein @ spook hi preacher. Among the ignorant, voudou practices are rife, and a bit of sroune glass, sewed up in a cotton bag oscattered upon a door sill is regarded | aga charm thas will irighten away every UL Witchceratt, sorcery and conjuring are growing consequences of the rence demoralization, They are Worse now than beiore the war, for the blacks | have not the restraining influences of better, asse- Cistion and example. NEGRO SUFFRAGE. Where the ballots of the negro are thrown with- out inielligence and under the influence of false | and wicked representations, and where the race | can thus insensibly exercise control in publie affairs, 1b is impossible ior a good government to exist. A bad man from the North may come here, | i himself a radical, and in three months so far win the confidence of these ignorant people as | that they will follow his advice blindly to the pistol point. The love for the old master is tor- | gotten, ali the benefits of past or present life are ignored, and jor no other reason than that this | Man is Delieved by them to represent what they cali liberty, and, bad as he may be, they will obey nis voice as if he were an autocrat, and do his bidding like slaves. Jt is for this reason that t | people of the South never have been able to make | Political headway with the negroes, and even | ag repubdlicans bave been thrown aside for the carpet-vagger and thief. Itis only a little while | ago that the race made deposits of their sav! | in tue Freedman’s Bank. ‘To-day it 1s said to @ hopelessly insolvent institution and yet the | poor dupe takes no lesson, and even kisses the | hand that gave the cruel blow. Itisa curious race, A year ortwo ago one of their number, @ Northern vegro, named Alvah Peoria Bradley, | went among them and collected their poll taxes, amounting to several hundred dollars, and de- | camped, He is now back again seeking for office | or another swindle, and it will not be astonishing | Uf, for no other reason than that hels a Boston radical, he succeeds in securing under some plundering pretext a considerable share of More power than @ their year’s hard earnings. It is this class of people to whom the whites reier, when they say, “Let us alone!’ It is but lair to say, however, that even if there were ne radical party in the State or nation the negro, as @ voter, would probably still be a political evil, for he would naturally aMliate with that Class of whites who approach him nearest in character and condition, and who ure base enough to cheat him out of his ballot for no other object than to put the worst elements of society forward in the admintstration of the government. If the colored man were less afflicted with political prejudice there would be less danger Of political corruption, | for the whites have the strongest inducements to secure to him all of his rights as a citizen, ana to promote mutual harmony and prosperity. This | they have sought in vain to do ever since the close of the war, nor will they succeed in the tuture until the chief disorganizing element of the country ig removed by moral force—I mean the carpet-bagger, THE SPENDTHRIFT PRINCES. w YORK, Oct. 6, 1874. To THe EpiTor OF THE HERALD:— Your article in this day’s HERALD on the “princely Extravagance of the Three Princes of Wales”—Frederic, George and Albert Ziwere— | reminds me of the bitter lampoon "that was | written on the death of the first named Prince. It ‘was called ao epitaph, but it expressed the toath- } ing and contempt the English people of that day | felt for the greedy, grasping, licentious royal house that the great whig families of the aris tocracy had seated on the throne of England te keep out the Stuarts or ‘the Commonwealth,” £& | quote irom memory :— | AN EPITAPH. Here lies Fred, ‘Who was alive and ts dead, Had it been his tather Thad much rather. Had it been his mother It were better than another, Had is been his atster, No one would have mis’d her. Had it been tne whole goneration It were better for the nation. But since 'tis ouly Fred, 10 wa e and is dead, There's po more to be said. Respectfully you! ‘ THE AROTIO REGION, European Commerce Endeavoring for @ | New Vent to Asia. | [From tne London Telegraph, Sept. 26.) Captain Wiggins nas just returned to Dundee, tm | the steamship Diana, from a voyage of explora | tom in the Arctic regions, having started from | that port on the 4th of June last. His object was to reach the Guif of Obi by way of the Kara Sea, | im order to ascertain whether commerce could be carried on by water between Europe and Ast | He arrived at the mouth of the Gulf on the 5th of | August, and then retarned home, after having en- deavored to find the Austrian expedition. Uap. tam bd oe is of opinion that the Kara Sea wii | be entirely open till the miadle of Uctober, am | Sees no reason why steam navigation should ne be carried on anuually between Kogiand and the Gull of Obi, Physical Reqairements for Polar Navie gation. {From the Eastern Budget (Vienna), Sept. 24.) It is remarkable that the sailors who took part in the Austrian Polar expedition all come from the coast of the Adriatic, near Fiume, Captaim Weyprecht selected these men in preferen North Germans and Norwegians, bei ne of opint A that they would endure the cold of Potar reqiond better than nortnerne: nd the hardships of the expedition certainly m to have had rather @ beneficial effect than otherwise om their heale® ead goirita,