g up in great wrath, he exclaimed, 'My lords, I
have to tell you, that that old sorceress, my brother Edward's widow,
and her partner, that common prostitute, Jane Shore, have by witchcraft
and enchantment been contriving to take away my life, and though by
God's mercy they have not been able to finish this villany, yet see the
mischief they have done me; (and then he showed his left arm,) how they
have caused this dear limb of mine to wither and grow useless.'" (Vide
_Richard III._ Act iii. Scene 2.)

Shakspeare was contemporary with Bacon, and he no doubt valued and
studied with attention, the writings of that great man. The working up
of the splendid dialogue between Iago and Othello, may not impossibly
have been suggested by this sentence of Lord Bacon: "Breaking off in the
midst of what one was about to say, (as if he took himself up) breeds a
greater appetite in him with whom you confer, to know more." (Vide
_Essays_.)

But let us drop the tone of attempted criticism, which ill becomes an
embryo writer at any time, and still less so when Shakspeare is the
theme. Having mentioned Bacon, perhaps the following authenticated
dialogue may not be uninteresting to the reader, especially as it is
only to be met with in one or two scarce books:

(_Shakspeare._) "I have heard, my lord, that a certain arch in Trinity
College, Cambridge, would stand until a greater man than your lordship
should pass through it."

(_Bacon._) "Did you ever pass through it, Mr. Shakspeare?"

(_Shakspeare._) "No, my lord, I never was at Cambridge."

(_Bacon._) "Then we cannot decide which of us two is the greater man. I
am told that most of the professors there pass under the arch without
tear; which indeed shows a wise contempt of the superstition."

(_Shakspeare._) "I rejoice to think that the world is yet to have a
greater man than your lordship, since the arch must fall at last."

Several of Shakspeare's least amusing plays are supposed to be not of
his composition, such as _Henry VI._, and _Troilus and Cressida_, with
the exception of the master-touches and some of the finer speeches,
which probably were introduced by him. This, however, is a trick of
trade in every department of science; and when we see, for instance, the
collected works of some great artist, it would be ridiculous to suppose
that his whole lifetime could have sufficed for so much handicraft, and
perhaps in reality, only the faces and more delicate parts were the wo