  A CAREFUL examination of the First Folio of "Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies," 1623, which are generally known as "The Plays of Shakespeare," will prove that Bacon signed the plays in very many ways. I will place a few examples before my readers, and when they have carefully studied these they may perhaps (if they can get access to a photographic facsimile copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare's Plays, 1623), be able to discover additional traces of the great author's hand. For reasons which it is not now necessary to discuss, Bacon selected as one of the keys to the mystery of his authorship of various works the number 53. The Great Folio of the Plays of 1623 is divided into Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Each of these, although they are all bound in one volume, is separately paged. It follows therefore, that there must be three pages numbered 53 in the Folio Volume of Shakespeare's Plays. I must also inform my readers that every page is divided into two columns, and it is absolutely certain that the author himself so arranged these that he knew in what column and in what line in such column every word would appear in the printed page. Let us examine, in the first instance, The First Page 53 in the plays. The second column of this page 53 commences with the first scene of the fourth act of the "Merry Wives of Windsor" In this act a Welsh schoolmaster, "Evans," "Dame Quickly," and a boy named "William" appear. The object of the introduction of the Welshman seems to have been that he might mispronounce "c" as "g," and so call "hic" "hig," and "hoc" "hog." William also is made wrongly to say that the accusative case is "hinc" instead of "hunc," and Evans, the Welsh schoolmaster, who should have corrected this error made by the boy, repeats the blunder with the change of "c" into "g," so as to give without confusion the right signature key-words which appear in the second column of the first page 53, as follow:— Eva. I pray you have your remembrance (childe) Accusative, king, hang, hog. * * Note.—In the folio Ac-cusativo king, hang, hog are in italics as here printed. Qu. Hang-hog, is latten for Bacon, I warrant you. Observe that "Bacon" is spelled with a capital "B," and also note that in this way we are told quite clearly that Hang-hog means Bacon. In very numerous instances a hog with a halter (a rope with a slip-knot) round its neck appears as part of some engraving in some book to which Bacon's name has not yet been publicly attached. I shall again refer to "Hang-hog" as we proceed. Next, let us carefully examine The Second Page 53 in the Folio of the Plays, which in the first column contains the commencement of the first scene of the second act of the first part of "King Henry the Fourth." Two carriers are conversing, and we read:— 1 Car. What Ostler, come away, and be hangd; come away. 2 Car. I have a Gammon of Bacon, and two razes of Ginger, to be delivered as farre as Charing-crosse. Observe that gammon is spelled with a capital "G," and Bacon also is spelled with a capital "B." Thus we have found Bacon in the second page 53. But I must not forget to inform my readers that this second page 53 is really and evidently of set purpose falsely numbered 53, because page 46 is immediately followed by 49, there being no page numbered 47 or 48 in the Histories, the second part of the Plays. Having found what appears to be a revelation in each of the first two pages numbered 53 in the First Folio, we must remember that a Baconian revelation, in order to be complete, satisfactory, and certain, requires to be repeated "three" times. The uninitiated inquirer will not be able to perceive upon the third page 53, on which is found the beginning of "The Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet," any trace of Bacon, or hog or pig, or anything suggesting such things. The initiated will know that the Great "Master-Mason" will supply two visible pillars, but that the third pillar will be the invisible pillar, the Shibboleth; therefore, the informed will not expect to find the third key upon the visible page 53, but upon The Invisible Page 53. Most of my readers will not fail to perceive that the invisible page 53 must be the page that is 53, when we count not from the beginning, but from the end of the book of Tragedies, that is, from the end of the volume. The last page in the Folio is 399. This is falsely numbered 993, not by accident or by a misprint, but (as the great cryptographic book, by Gustavus Selenus [The man in the Moon], published in 1624, will tell those who are able to read it) because 993 forms the word "Baconus," a signature of Bacon. Let me repeat that the last page of the Great Folio of the plays is page 399, and deducting 53 from 399 we obtain the number 346, which is The Page 53 from the end. On this page, 346, in the first column, we find part of "The Tragedie of Anthony and Cleopatra," and we there read, Enobar. Or if you borrow one another's Love for the instant, you may when you heare no more words of Pompey returne it againe: you shall have time to wrangle in, when you have nothing else to do. Anth. Thou art a Souldier, onely speake no more. Enob. That trueth should be silent, I had almost forgot. Now here we perceive that "Pompey," "in," and "got," by the manner in which the type is arranged in the column, come directly under each other, and their initial letters being P. I. G., we quite easily read "pig," which is what we were looking for. But on this "invisible" page 53, in which the key-word is found, other very important revelations may also be discovered, because it is the "Shibboleth" page. If we count the headline title and all the lines that come to the left-hand edge of the column on this page 346, we find that "Pompey" which begins the word, "pig" is upon The 43rd Line. (Example 1.) Bacon very frequently signed with some form of cypher the first page of his secret books. Let us, then, look at the first page of the Great Folio of 1623, on which is the commencement of the play of "The Tempest." In the first column of that first page we shall read is perfect Gallowes: stand fast good Fate to his han ging, make the rope of his destiny our cable, for our owne doth little advantage: If he be not borne to bee hang'd, our case is miserable. Here, reading upwards from hang'd, we read hang'd, H. O. G., the "h" of hang'd being twice used. And just as "Pompey" the commencement of Pig, is upon the 43rd line of page 346 (the invisible page 53), so here on page 1 the commencing word "hang'd" is also upon The 43rd Line (Example 2.) counting all the lines without exception, including as before the head-line titles. Observe, that it is only made possible for us to read "hang'd hog," because by the printer's "error" hanging is divided improperly as han-ging instead of hang-ing. This apparent misprint is a most careful arrangement made by the great author himself. I must once again repeat that there are no misprints or errors in the First Folio, 1623, because the great author was alive, and most carefully arranged every column in every page, and every word in every column, so that we should find every word exactly where we do find such particular word. Hang'd hog is, therefore, clearly the signature of the great author upon the first page of the Folio, just as 993 is his signature upon the last page of the Folio. But, as I have already said, in order to obtain a full, certain and complete revelation we must discover a third example. This we shall find in the second column of The First Page 43. (Example 3.) wherein is the first scene of the second act of "The Merry Wives of Windsor," where we read as follows:— Mis. Page. What's the matter, woman? Mi. Ford. O woman: if it were not for one trifling respect, I could come to such honour. Mi. Page. Hang the trifle (woman) take the honour. Here, reading the initial letters of each line upwards from "Hang," we get quite clearly S. O. W., and we perceive that "Hang sow" is just as much Bacon as is Hang hog. Thus, we get a triplet of No. 43, as we had a triplet of page 53, but we should also realise that we get a third triplet, because we find Hang HOG (Example 1.) on page one in the Comedies, the first portion of the plays, and we find Hang SOW (Example 2.) which is practically the same thing as Hang hog, upon page 43 in the Comedies, the first portion of the plays, and we find that Hang-hog is latten for Bacon (Example 3.) is on page 53 in the Comedies, the first portion of the plays, and "Hang-hog is Bacon," gives the Shibboleth, and affords the explanation of the two previous examples. Thus we have a revelation of Bacon's authorship in "three times three" forms, and the revelation is, therefore, "absolutely perfect." The Number 36. There are thirty-six plays in the First Folio. This is not accidental. Thirty-six is a cabalistic number, and is used in several of Bacon's works when he refers to the Stage or to Plays. The 36th Essay, in the Italian edition of Bacon's "Essays," published in London, in 1618, is entitled "Fattioni" (Stage Plays). The 36 th Antitheta. In the Latin edition of Bacon's "Advancement of Learning," published in 1623, the same year in which the Folio of the Plays appeared, the XXXVI. Antitheta commences "Amorum multa debet scena (stage plays)," and when the English edition was brought out in 1640, the XXXVI. Antitheta commences with the word "The Stage." The 36th Apophthegm. In the collection of Bacon's "Apophthegms," printed in 1671, Apophthegm 36 reads as follows, and fully explains the meaning of "Hang-hog is latten for Bacon, I warrant you." "Sir Nicholas Bacon, being appointed a Judge for the Northern Circuit, and having brought his Trials that came before him to such a pass, as the passing of Sentence on Malefactors, he was by one of the Malefactors mightily importuned for to save his life, which when nothing that he had said did avail, he at length desired his mercy on the account of kindred: Prethee said my Lord Judge, how came that in? Why, if it please you my Lord, your name is Bacon and mine is Hog, and in all Ages Hog and Bacon have been so near kindred, that they are not to be separated. I [Aye], but, replyed Judge Bacon, you and I cannot be kindred except you be hanged; for Hog is not Bacon until it be well hanged." Page 53. At an early date Bacon selected the number "53" to give in numerous books revelations concerning his authorship. In Florio's "Second Frutes," published in 1591, on page 53 we read:— H. A slice of bacon, would make us taste this wine well. S. What ho, set that gammon of bakon upon the board. Florio was always a servant of Bacon's, and received a pension for "making my lord's works known abroad." The above is inserted on page 53 to inform us that Bacon's name may be spelled in many different ways, as students of various books will find to be the fact. In the "Mikrokosmos," * of which editions both in Latin and in French were published at Antwerp in 1592, we find on page 53 a picture of Circe's Island, which the intelligent reader will perceive represents "the Stage." Beneath it are the words from Proverbs ix. 17, which in our English authorised version read, "Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." Examining this engraving, we perceive in the forefront Bacon's boar, drawn exactly as it is heraldically portrayed in Bacon's crest, but with a man's head surmounted by a "Cap of Liberty," and we should remember the words in Shakespeare's play, "As You Like It" (which means'"Wisdom from the mouth of a clown"): "I must have liberty:... to blow on whom I please, for so fools have... Invest me in my motley: Give me leave to speak my mind, and I will through and through cleanse the foule bodie of th' infected world, if they will patiently receive my medicine." In Bacon's "Advancement of Learning," 1640, first edition in English, we find a first page "53." In the margin of this page we find "Alexand": (Bacon sometimes alluded to himself as Alexander). But the page 55 is misnumbered "53," and on this second and false page "53" we read in the margin S. FRAN |
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