The Counsel resumed.
Now that this indecent laughter is over, tell me, sir, do you not know that Lord Bacon was the author of the plays contained in the folio volume?
I do not know it, and never until now have I heard a doubt cast upon the authorship of Shakespeare.
Did you never have any communication from Lord Bacon in respect of the publishing the folio volume?
Never. I never received a paper of any kind from him, nor did I communicate any portion of the manuscript to him.
Did not Mr. Benjamin Jonson bring you the manuscripts, or some of them, from which you printed?
“My lord, my lord!” said Jonson.
“Pray be quiet, Mr. Jonson, you will have your turn directly,” said the Judge.
He did not, nor did he touch any sheet of them. As I have told you, I never communicated with him until I spoke to him about writing some lines for the portrait.
Did not Mr. Jonson write the Dedication or Preface?