The great Shaksperean scholars have considered it beneath their dignity to answer the assertions of the Baconians. “Silence” may be “golden” in regard to the character of the living, but in defence of the character of the dead, I think that speech is golden when it answers speech; and proof, when it contests proof. Hence I thought it not in vain to put together the main results of the studies I had undertaken on my own account during the past two years. These may help to turn the balance of opinion in some wavering minds, or to aid some warm Shakspereans (that are too busy to go through original work on their own account) to reconsider the subject justly, and “give a reason for the faith that is in them.”