Alfred Dodd, a Past Master of the Craft, having discovered the Secret of the Sonnets, that was "veiled in Allegory and illustrated by Symbol," considered it to be for the Honour of the Fraternities, the Benefit of Humanity, and the Vindication of Genius that the TRUE SONNET ARRANGEMENT AND INTERPRETATION should be made known to all the World.

Francis Bacon is the greatest genius and one of the most lovable men that the world has ever seen.

Pope said: "Lord Bacon is the greatest genius that either England or perhaps any other country ever produced." Lord Macaulay admitted that "he had the most equisitely constructed intellect that has ever been bestowed on any of the children of men." Ben Jonson declared that "he stands as the mark and acme of our language. It is He that hath filled up all Numbers," all forms of versification.

"He was retiring, nervous, sensitive, unconventional and very modest"(Spedding); "a man most sweet in his conversation and ways"(Tobie Matthew, his friend); "all who were great and good loved him....a poet but concealed"(John Aubrey, a contemporary writer); "he was deeply religious for he was conversant with God and able to render a reason for the hope which was in him"(Dr. Rawley, his chaplain).

Francis Bacon was a great lawyer....the Great Code Napoleon is based on his digest of law; a great statesman...he prevented the depopulation of England; a Founder of new States, the Virginias and the Carolinas.... thus making the New World English instead of Spanish; a great philosopher, for he acted as bell-ringer to all the Sciences and taught men to experiment for the good of humanity.

To comparatively few is it known that he is also the greatest dramatist and poet of all time; that he is the Immortal Bard"Shake-Speare"; and that he used the word as a pen-name, taking it from the Goddess Pallas Athene- the Shaker of the Spear of Knowledge at the Serpent of Ignorance.

No one has been more maligned and abused than Frncis Bacon. The lie against his name has sunk deep into the souls of men. Macaulay is largely responsible with his brilliantly shallow Essay for the criminal slander which alleges him to be a corrupt judge and a cold hearted hypocrite. It is repeated in elementary School Readers. We were taught to believe the lie in our childhood. Few are aware that biographers like Montagu, Spedding and Dixon---irrespective of the testimony of contemporary writers like Ben Jonson, Aubrey and Bushel--long ago refuted this infamous fiction.

Writing as one would not wantonly mislead anyone, as one who has closely examined all available documents, as one familiar with the various biographies pro and con, as a juror who actually entered the box severely prejudiced against him, I unhesitatingly declare that Francis Bacon not only leaves the dock without a strain on his character, but that his public actions give him rank with those immortal souls who preferred to suffer martyrdom rather than be false to the ideals they espoused.

His character and life place him with martyrs like Socrates. He commited hara-kiri, socially and politically, at the bidding of his master King James...to save him from a possible constitutional conflict with the Commons.

He was the victim of a plot as diabolical as ever stained the pages of history.

There is not, in fact, a single act, for which he has been condemmed by purists who have suppressed vital evidence and distorted details to fit their preconceived prejudices, that even requires apology. This is the opinion of one who, misled by academic teachers, had never any time for Francis Bacon. From my youth upwards, I felt that "genius" was no excuse for corrupt double dealing.

An examination of the bed rock documents has convinced me, however, that Francis Bacon's greatest "crime" was his VIRTUE in a corrupt era.... not his alleged sins.
Forget, then, the harsh things that have been written against him. There is a complete reply to every charge. Suspend your judgment, at least, until you have become acquainted with the other side. Do not believe that the truth about such a myriad minded personality is accurately mirrored in the pages of Campbell, Church, Abbott, Macaulay. The actual documents, letters and a knowledge of the times in which he lived are sufficient to clear his name.

There is, moreover, a greater mystery in Francis Bacon's life than such biographers ever dreamed....a hidden life.... the life of a man who was building great bases for Eternity to the glory of God and the good of humanity.

In one of his lectures, Ruskin says in effect,"In my early days I trusted the Authorities. I thought they would tell me the truth of things. I now discover I have been deceived."

I am, therefore, in good company when I say that pedants, with jaundiced eyes, are not safe guides. The "Authorities" are suspect, not only on Francis Bacon's character, but also the entire Shakespearean Problem, except, perhaps, purely textual matters. I have been driven to regard the orthodox mind---with its a priori judgments-- as I would a "slippery customer." There are, I find, twisters in the Literary World as there are in the Marts of Commerce.

When Academic Scholarship libels the character of a man who cannot defend himself, when it robs a genius of his"good name which makes him poor indeed,"when it disseminates misleading views, whether ignorantly, or wilfully respecting the truth of matters regarding our National Poet, it is little short of criminal. The nation has a right to demand the custodians of our Literary and Historic Heritage, the Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. The wilfull manipulation of facts by men like Sir Sidney Lee in his Life of "Shaksper," in order to bolster up a tradition, and by Lord Macaulay in his "Life of Bacon," to perpetuate and largely originate a wanton lie merely to display rhetorical flourishes, is not only dishonest, it is CORRUPT.

It poisons the fountain of knowledge at the well-head.

Read full PDF:

The Secret History of Francis Bacon (Our Shake-Speare)

SirBacon.org - Sir Francis Bacon's New Advancement of Learning