“Turn hunters then
Again
But not of men.
Follow his ample
And just example,
That hates all chase of malice, and of blood,
And studies only ways of good.
To keep soft peace in breath
Man should not hunt mankind to death,
But strike the enemies of man.
Kill vices if you can,” etc.
Here was yet another hit at George Wither, but who was he whose “ample and just example” was held up as a model for imitation? [Ed.]
[37] Mr. Smithson’s references to Sir Sidney as Mr. Lee show that this Essay was written many years ago. [Ed.]
[38] But an impresa was much more than this. Imprese were employed in tournaments (e.g.). Puttenham says, “The Greeks call it Emblema, the Italians Impresa, and we a Device, such as a man may put into letters of gold and send to his mistresses for a token, or cause to be embroidered in Scutcheons of arms on any bordure of a rich garment, to give by his novelty marvel to the beholder.” On this matter of the Earl of Rutland’s Impresa (it was Francis Manners, the Sixth Earl for whom the work was executed), see my “Is there a Shakespeare Problem?” pp. 16-21. It is to be noted that in the year 1613, after all the great Shakespearean works had been written, we find Shakspere, the (alleged) great dramatist, then, as we must assume, at the zenith of his fame, engaged with his fellow-actor, Dick Burbage, to work at Lord Rutland’s new Device, for the magnificent reward of 44s.! [Ed.]
[39] Alas, that rich harvest has never seen the light. [Ed.]
[40] In the portrait Bacon has an open book before him, across whose pages are written the words “Instaur” and “Magna.” On the left-hand page appear the words “Mundus Mens,” and on the right-hand page the words “connubio jungam stabili.” [Ed.]
[41] I venture to refer to my short article on The Tempest in “The New World” of April, 1921. The reader may also profitably consult Mr. Looney’s “Shakespeare” Identified on this matter, at p. 513. [Ed.]
[42] The better opinion now seems to be that Henry VIII is not Shakespearean, but was written by Fletcher and Massinger in collaboration. Mr. James Spedding long ago tendered reasons which have convinced most of the “orthodox” critics that the better part of this play, including Wolsey’s and Buckingham’s speeches, was the work of Fletcher, and recently Mr. Dugdale Sykes, in his Sidelights on Shakespeare, published at the “Shakespeare Head Press” at Stratford-upon-Avon (1919), with preface by the late A. H. Bullen, appears to have proved that all that part of this great spectacular drama which was not written by Fletcher came from the pen of Massinger, who, as we know, frequently collaborated with him. [Ed.]
[43] Milton’s versification of the Psalms is much worse than Bacon’s, and if there were any doubt as to the authorship of Paradise Lost, and Lycidas, and L’Allegro, and Il Penseroso, and Milton were known only as the writer of this versification of the Psalms, it would be confidently asserted that he could not possibly be the author of the above-mentioned works. [Ed.]
[44] This Essay was written by Mr. Smithson in the year 1919.