ked form, and that is as great a lack in
poetry as it is in sculpture. He was the author of some great
lines, some great thoughts, but he was obscure, uneven and was
always mixing the poetic with the commonplace. To me he cannot be
compared with Shelley or Keats, or with our own Walt Whitman. Of
course poetry cannot be very well discussed. Each man knows what
he likes, what touches his heart and what words burst into blossom,
but he cannot judge for others. After one has read Shakespeare,
Burns and Byron, and Shelley and Keats; after he has read the
"Sonnets" and the "Daisy" and the "Prisoner of Chillon" and the
"Skylark" and the "Ode to the Grecian Urn"--the "Flight of the
Duchess" seems a little weak.

--_The Post-Express_, Rochester, New York, June 23, 1890.

SHAKESPEARE AND BACON.

_Question_. What is your opinion of Ignatius Donnelly as a literary
man irrespective of his Baconian theory?

_Answer_. I know that Mr. Donnelly enjoys the reputation of being
a man of decided ability and that he is regarded by many as a great
orator. He is known to me through his Baconian theory, and in that
of course I have no confidence. It is nearly as ingenious as
absurd. He has spent great time, and has devoted much curious
learning to the subject, and has at last succeeded in convincing
himself that Shakespeare claimed that which he did not write, and
that Bacon wrote that which he did not claim. But to me the theory
is without the slightest foundation.

_Question_. Mr. Donnelly asks: "Can you imagine the author of
such grand productions retiring to that mud house in Stratford to
live without a single copy of the quarto that has made his name
famous?" What do you say?

_Answer_. Yes; I can. Shakespeare died in 1616, and the quarto
was published in 1623, seven years after he was dead. Under these
circumstances I think Shakespeare ought to be excused, even by
those who attack him with the greatest bitterness, for not having a copy
of the book. There is, however, another side to his. Bacon did
not die until long after the quarto was published. Did he have a
copy? Did he mention the copy in his will? Did he ever mention
the quarto in any letter, essay, or in any way? He left a library,
was there a copy of the plays in it? Has there ever been found a
line from any play or sonnet in his handwriting? Bacon left his
writings, his papers, all in perfect order, but no plays, no sonnets,
said nothing about