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intricate trade; that awe…compelling trade; has competent ways of

knowing whether Shakespeare…law is good law or not; and whether

his law…court procedure is correct or not; and whether his legal

shop…talk is the shop…talk of a veteran practitioner or only a

machine…made counterfeit of it gathered from books and from

occasional loiterings in Westminster。



Richard H。 Dana served two years before the mast; and had

every experience that falls to the lot of the sailor before the

mast of our day。  His sailor…talk flows from his pen with the

sure touch and the ease and confidence of a person who has LIVED

what he is talking about; not gathered it from books and random

listenings。  Hear him:





Having hove short; cast off the gaskets; and made the bunt

of each sail fast by the jigger; with a man on each yard; at the

word the whole canvas of the ship was loosed; and with the

greatest rapidity possible everything was sheeted home and

hoisted up; the anchor tripped and cat…headed; and the ship under

headway。





Again:





The royal yards were all crossed at once; and royals and

sky…sails set; and; as we had the wind free; the booms were run

out; and all were aloft; active as cats; laying out on the yards

and booms; reeving the studding…sail gear; and sail after sail

the captain piled upon her; until she was covered with canvas;

her sails looking like a great white cloud resting upon a black

speck。





Once more。  A race in the Pacific:





Our antagonist was in her best trim。  Being clear of the

point; the breeze became stiff; and the royal…masts bent under

our sails; but we would not take them in until we saw three boys

spring into the rigging of the CALIFORNIA; then they were all

furled at once; but with orders to our boys to stay aloft at the

top…gallant mast…heads and loose them again at the word。  It was

my duty to furl the fore…royal; and while standing by to loose it

again; I had a fine view of the scene。  From where I stood; the

two vessels seemed nothing but spars and sails; while their

narrow decks; far below; slanting over by the force of the wind

aloft; appeared hardly capable of supporting the great fabrics

raised upon them。  The CALIFORNIA was to windward of us; and had

every advantage; yet; while the breeze was stiff we held our own。

As soon as it began to slacken she ranged a little ahead; and the

order was given to loose the royals。  In an instant the gaskets

were off and the bunt dropped。  〃Sheet home the fore…royal!〃

〃Weather sheet's home!〃〃Lee sheet's home!〃〃Hoist away; sir!〃

is bawled from aloft。  〃Overhaul your clew…lines!〃 shouts the

mate。  〃Aye…aye; sir; all clear!〃〃Taut leech! belay!  Well the

lee brace; haul taut to windward!〃 and the royals are set。





What would the captain of any sailing…vessel of our time say

to that?  He would say; 〃The man that wrote that didn't learn his

trade out of a book; he has BEEN there!〃  But would this same

captain be competent to sit in judgment upon Shakespeare's

seamanshipconsidering the changes in ships and ship…talk that

have necessarily taken place; unrecorded; unremembered; and lost

to history in the last three hundred years?  It is my conviction

that Shakespeare's sailor…talk would be Choctaw to him。  For

instancefrom 〃The Tempest〃:





MASTER。  Boatswain!



BOATSWAIN。  Here; master; what cheer?



MASTER。  Good; speak to the mariners:  fall to 't; yarely;

or we run ourselves to ground; bestir; bestir!

(ENTER MARINERS。)



BOATSWAIN。  Heigh; my hearts! cheerly; cheerly; my hearts!

yare; yare!  Take in the topsail。  Tend to the master's whistle。

。 。 。  Down with the topmast! yare! lower; lower!  Bring her to

try wi' the main course。 。 。 。  Lay her a…hold; a…hold!  Set her

two courses。  Off to sea again; lay her off。



That will do; for the present; let us yare a little; now;

for a change。





If a man should write a book and in it make one of his

characters say; 〃Here; devil; empty the quoins into the standing

galley and the imposing…stone into the hell…box; assemble the

comps around the frisket and let them jeff for takes and be quick

about it;〃 I should recognize a mistake or two in the phrasing;

and would know that the writer was only a printer theoretically;

not practically。



I have been a quartz miner in the silver regionsa pretty

hard life; I know all the palaver of that business:  I know all

about discovery claims and the subordinate claims; I know all

about lodes; ledges; outcroppings; dips; spurs; angles; shafts;

drifts; inclines; levels; tunnels; air…shafts; 〃horses;〃 clay

casings; granite casings; quartz mills and their batteries;

arastras; and how to charge them with quicksilver and sulphate of

copper; and how to clean them up; and how to reduce the resulting

amalgam in the retorts; and how to cast the bullion into pigs;

and finally I know how to screen tailings; and also how to hunt

for something less robust to do; and find it。  I know the argot

and the quartz…mining and milling industry familiarly; and so

whenever Bret Harte introduces that industry into a story; the

first time one of his miners opens his mouth I recognize from his

phrasing that Harte got the phrasing by listeninglike

ShakespeareI mean the Stratford onenot by experience。  No one

can talk the quartz dialect correctly without learning it with

pick and shovel and drill and fuse。



I have been a surface minergoldand I know all its

mysteries; and the dialects that belongs with them; and whenever

Harte introduces that industry into a story I know by the

phrasing of his characters that neither he nor they have ever

served that trade。



I have been a 〃pocket〃 minera sort of gold mining not

findable in any but one little spot in the world; so far as I

know。  I know how; with horn and water; to find the trail of a

pocket and trace it step by step and stage by stage up the

mountain to its source; and find the compact little nest of

yellow metal reposing in its secret home under the ground。  I

know the language of that trade; that capricious trade; that

fascinating buried…treasure trade; and can catch any writer who

tries to use it without having learned it by the sweat of his

brow and the labor of his hands。



I know several other trades and the argot that goes with

them; and whenever a person tries to talk the talk peculiar to

any of them without having learned it at its source I can trap

him always before he gets far on his road。



And so; as I have already remarked; if I were required to

superintend a Bacon…Shakespeare controversy; I would narrow the

matter down to a single questionthe only one; so far as the

previous controversies have informed me; concerning which

illustrious experts of unimpeachable competency have testified:

WAS THE AUTHOR OF SHAKESPEARE'S WORKS A LAWYER?a lawyer deeply

read and of limitless experience?  I would put aside the guesses

and surmises; and perhapes; and might…have…beens; and could…have…

beens; and must…have…beens; and we…are…justified…in…presumings;

and the rest of those vague specters and shadows and

indefintenesses; and stand or fall; win or lose; by the verdict

rendered by the jury upon that single question。  If the verdict

was Yes; I should feel quite convinced that the Stratford

Shakespeare; the actor; manager; and trader who died so obscure;

so forgotten; so destitute of even village consequence; that

sixty years afterward no fellow…citizen and friend of his later

days remembered to tell anything about him; did not write the Works。



Chapter XIII of THE SHAKESPEARE PROBLEM RESTATED bears the

heading 〃Shakespeare as a Lawyer;〃 and comprises some fifty pages

of expert testimony; with comments thereon; and I will copy the

first nine; as being sufficient all by themselves; as it seems to

me; to settle the question which I have conceived to be the

master…key to the Shakespeare…Bacon puzzle。







VIII



Shakespeare as a Lawyer '1'





The Plays and Poems of Shakespeare supply ample evidence

that their author not only had a very extensive and accurate

knowledge of law; but that he was well acquainted with the

manners and customs of members of the Inns of Court and with

legal life generally。



〃While novelists and dramatists are constantly making

mistakes as to the laws of marriage; of wills; of inheritance; to

Shakespeare's law; lavishly as he expounds it; there can neither

be demurrer; nor bill of exceptions; nor writ of error。〃  Such

was the testimony borne by one of the most distinguished lawyers

of the nineteenth century who was raised to the high office of

Lord Chief Justice in 1850; and subsequently became Lord

Chancellor。  Its weight will; doubtless; be more appreciated by

lawyers than by laymen; for only lawyers know how impossible it

is for those who have not served an apprenticeship to the law to

avoid displaying their ignorance if they venture to empl

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