IV. — The Bacon- Shakespeare Controversy; a Contribution. 

 By CARSON HILDRETH. 



The purpose of this paper is to make a comparison, in cer- 

 tain aspects, of the writings of Shakespeare and of Bacon. 

 The end sought is evidence touching the authorship of the 

 works bearing the names of these writers; whether Bacon 

 wrote the Shakesperian works — a question more or less dis- 

 cussed the past few years — or, at least, whether the Baconian 

 and Shakespearian writings were the work of one and the same 

 person, or of different persons. 



Ten years or more ago Professor Sherman, while investigat- 

 ing the course of stylistic evolution in English prose, made the 

 discovery that authors indicate their individuality by constant 

 sentence proportions, personal and peculiar to themselves. 

 This was demonstrated especially with respect to the number of 

 words used per sentence in large averagings. It was found that 

 DeQuincy, Channing, and Macaulay, if five hundred periods or 

 more were taken, evinced this average invariably, and in the 

 earliest as well as in the latest period of their authorship. 

 This discovery led to the suspicion that good writers would be 

 found constant in predication averages, in per cent of simple 

 sentences, and other stylistic details. Acting upon a sugges- 

 tion to this effect, Mr. G. W. Gerwig, then a pupil of Professor 

 Sherman, undertook an investigation that established the con- 

 stancy of predication, as well as simple-sentence frequency, in 

 given authors. Professor Sherman afterwards extended his 

 work to include an examination of Macaulay's sentence-length 

 throughout the History of England. Mr. Gerwig was induced 

 later to continue his tests to the end of the same work. 



Professor Sherman and Mr. Gerwig have thus established 

 by the examination of a great many authors, that writers are 



University Studius, Vol. II., No. 2, January, 1S97. 147 



