C. Plempii Emblemata, 1616

It is in Latin, the universal language of scholars of that day and long after.
The " author " prints his name " Cornelii Griselberti Plempii." Add the
62
REVELATIONS OF ROSICRUCIAN ARCANA 63
figures representing the letters in this name. The total simple count is 259. But in Kaye method 259 represents the total value of the letters in the name " Shakespeare."
On the page containing the first Emblem, count all the letters from top of the page downwards until you have counted 287. Mr. W. T. Smedley has pointed out something curious in the line (the 9th) which immediately follows the 287 count — viz., the initial letters of the words in that line are o n c F B. Next to the B is " a." Turning to the Emblem picture, it will be seen to depict the goddess Fortune pushing an actor off the top of a pin- nacle, and also assisting a man, garbed like Francis Bacon, to rise from his knees.
The Repertorie of Records, 1631
This is a strange and a rare book.
It describes itself as " The Repertorie of Records, remaining in the four Treasuries on the Receipt side at Westminster. The two Remembrancers of the Exchequer, with a briefe introductive Index of the Records of the Chancery and Tower, whereby to give the better Direction to the Records abovesaid.
" As also a most exact Calendar of all these Records of the Tower, in which are contayned and comprised whatsoever may give satisfaction to the
Searcher for
Tenure or Tytle
of anything."
It is anonymous and dedicated " To the Unknowne Patron." On the following page are a few words, " To the same PatroA, the Great Master of this Mysterie." After this, two hands with forefinger pointed at one another.
The short address to the Reader is signed " Sub rostro Cyconie." It has been assigned to the authorship of Thomas Powell, who wrote the Attorney's Academie, with its mysterious verse dedication to Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor.
Title page:
Roman words before the word " Tower," which seems to
have been printed separately from a plate . . . . 33
Roman words on whole page . . . • . . 66
Roman letters up to the printer's rule . . . . 273
Roman words below printer's rule . . 16
Less italic words below printer's rule . . 2 14
' — — 287
64 SECRET SHAKESPEAREAN SEALS
Dedication :
Roman words, except words indicated by brackets 181
Roman letters in heading . . , . . . 19 Letters in italics and in above excepted words
(wkich include the word " unthankfulnesse ") 70
Italic letters in heading . . . . . . 19
289 Deduct letters below printer's rule . . . . 2
— 287
On page 31 you obtain, by adding the two words of heading, 33. Deduct the italic words from the roman words until 33 is again obtained; you come to a passage:
" Item in a box contayning a booke of the enormities of Cardinall Woolsey, and his surrender of Yorke-house and Saint Albans, with other Lands."
The curiosity is the special mention of two places closely associated" with Francis Bacon.
An account of the contents of the fourth Treasurie begins on page 92. A count of 81 roman words leads to :
" Item, a bag of Cordover sealed with a scale of Privy Councellers, and it is not to be opened but by the Prince and those of the privie Councell, wherein are secret matters."
Note that there are 33 words in the sentence. 81 is said to be a number of the highest importance in Freemasonry.
The item immediately above is Henry the Eighth's Will. The item next below is of matters " of King Henry the Eighth's time, Queene Elizabeth's, and King James."
On the last page of the book :
Page number . . . . . . . . . . 217
Roman words . . . . . . . . . . 54
Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
287
On page 33 commences a curious lettering of the chests. The first three are marked A B, as though to draw attention to the alphabet or ABC, the letters referred to specially on page 34. The list is begun again on page 85 with C, which is above a description containing 28 words, and the figure 1 = 29, which is the value of C in Kaye cipher. The enumeration pro- ceeds to Z, which is said to indicate the 24th chest. The 25th chest is marked
REVELATIONS OF ROSICRUCIAN ARCANA 65
&, and the 26tli with E. The 27th chest is " a " and the 28th " b." It is this marking which suggested to Mr. W. E. CHfton, the owner of the book, that here was a direction concerning the cipher referred to in the De Augmentis, 1623, as a Kaye cipher, because K is the first letter in the EUzabethan alphabet to be expressed by two numerals.
The discovery of the Kaye cipher has proved of great utility in arriving at the threshold of Rosy Cross secrets. The count of A in Kaye cipher as 27 is further indicated in the message pasted over by blank paper on one of the early title-pages of the Resuscitatio, 1671.
John Milton, 1632
There is practically no doubt that the poet Milton was well aware who was the real " Shakespeare." He had a particular genius for devising acrostic signatures, as Mr. W. Stone-Booth, of Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., has fully demonstrated in his brilliant book on the subject.
John Milton wrote a poem extolling " Shakespeare," which was printed in the Shakespeare Folio, 1632. Mr. Stone-Booth has shown some acrostic renderings of the name Francis Bacon in this poem. That we like best is the one which Keys upon the N in " unvalued booke," both counting from the first F upwards and the first F downwards. (After the F you take the next R, then the next A, and so on.)
Milton's poem goes much further. It is a mass of disclosure.
The first line of the heading has 33 roman letters.
The poem has 66 roman letters.
There are 32 italic capitals which begin words. Two words " starre- ypointing " and " slow-endevouring," ought not to be hyphenated.
Add all the letters of words in which are no italic capitals 349
Deduct for the words beginning with italic capitals 32
Also the letters in the wrongly hyphened words 30 62
287 It would seem that Milton, while extolling " Shakespeare," was stating occultly that Shakespeare was " Francis Bacon," was " Bacon," was " Fra. Baconi," and was " Fra. Rosicrosse."
John Philips From Milton one can pass to his nephew Philips, who issued a new transla- tion of Don Quixote in Folio in 1687. Shelton's was the only previous Enghsh
edition.
9
66 SECEET SHAKESPEAEEAN SEALS
Title-page. Tke English rendering of the name of author as given in Shelton is Michael Cervantes. But there is no author's name on the Phihps' title-page.
The first square on this title-page, as bounded by printer's rules, contains exactly 33 roman words.
The bottom square has :
Eoman letters . . . . . . . . . . 58
Italic words . , . . . . . . . . 8
66 Also roman and italic words spell out . . . . 23
Add, page 10, figures in date, MDCLXXXVII . . . . 10
33
The Dedication gives roman words . . . . . . 121
Deduct italic words . . . . . -. . . 18
103
Which is the simple count of " Shakespeare.
Second page of Epistle to Eeader has roman words . . 269 Italic words, including wrongly hyphenated, counted at two each . . . . . . . . . . 19
288 Deduct turnover word . . . . . . . . 1
287
Last pagC; 616 :
Add roman letters not in brackets . . . , . . 138
Italic words . . . . . . . . . . 147
Large italic words " The End " . . . . . . 2
287
Page 211. The 111th roman word down is " Bacon." The 111th word up is also " Bacon." Ill is the Kaye cipher total of the name " Bacon." 211 is Kaye cipher for " Eosicrosse."
Page 384. The 111th roman word is " Bacon." 384 is Kaye cipher total of " Michael Cervantes."
Page 385. The 33rd word is " Bacon."
REVELATIONS OF ROSICRUCIAN ARCANA 67
Page 513. From the word " Bacon " two-thirds way doAVn the page there are:
Roman words . . . . . . . . . . 256
Italic letters . . . . . . . . . . 31
287
This count is difficult, as it is impossible to be sure whether one or two odd letters connected by apostrophes with words are to be counted singly or not.
It is curious to find these references in a translation of Don Quixote.
King John, 1623 (Folio, page 2, column 2)
287 roman words down the column takes the "Teller" to a phrase: " Catechize my picked man of Count-ries."
The cross-examination commences: "My deare Sir. Thus leaning on mine elbow, I begin."
This is said to be the starting-point of a clever word-cipher. The American gentleman who claims to have successfully followed it has at present not explained how the cipher is worked with sufficient elementary detail to enable the " man in the street " to check its accuracy. A mere statement of general rules is not enough. A narrative, showing step by step how the decipherer was guided from word to word and sentence to sentence, would be very helpful, if given. There is a character called " Elbow " in Measure for Measure, and special prominence is given to the leaning on the elbow in the Bacon statue at Gorhambury, and the Shakespeare statue in Westminster Abbey.
Baconiana, 1679 Considerable store appears to have been made of this book, having regard to the many copies of it which have survived to the present day.
Count all words on pages 3 and 4 of the Introduction (but leave out words in italics, words not fully spelt, and words in brackets), and you will arrive at a total of . . 276
Add the first eleven words on page 5 . . . . . . 11
287
This takes you to the words " I begin." The compiler seems so anxious about the 287 count that one of the eleven words above mentioned is " buteven," which we have never seen as one word elsewhere. The vestibule of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Introduction being thus provided with
68 SECRET SHAKESPEAREAN SEALS
tte Privy Seal, it is a matter of course to expect to find it at the end of the same Introduction.
Page 103. All words (not in brackets)
Page 104 (last page). All words (not in brackets)
Deduct roman words in brackets And shortened roman words of prefix
176
124
300
6
1
—
13
287
Last page of the whole book :
Page number . . . . . . . . • ■ 270
Italic letters . . . . . . • . . . 17
287
Tenison's Introduction distinguished between " ordinary " or " inferior " readers, and presumably those who were able to read the concealed information in the book.
It shows that Tenison knew of Bacon's intentions with regard to a particular explication and application of the Second Part of The Great Instauration. Also that Tenison was aware of bequests and directions not disclosed in Bacon's administered Will.
Tenison wrote: "Posterity (I hope) will do his Lordship Honor and Benefit to themselves in a larger and more accurate Collection of his Works."
Shakespeare Folio, 1623
Much Adoe About Nothing (page 111)
The page number being suggestive of Bacon's mysterious activities in- duced to an examination of the text. A line in the 1st column says, " If it please you yet. Count." A telling of the words from " Count " to " Exit " (latter on top of the 2nd column) gave 316 roman and 29 italic words. The usual deduction having revealed a Seal we noticed in the text of the 2nd column a direction to watch the sequel. George Seacole was ordered to carry the lanthorn because of his special suitability. A seacoal lanthorn is a beacon (pronounced bacon). Shortly comes a direction by Dogbery to presently " call the rest of the watch together;" 287 lines from this passage leads to another remark by Dogbery, " goe, get you to Francis Seacoale." Seacole became Bacon and Greorge became Francis.
REVELATIONS OF ROSICRUCIAN ARCANA 69
Tragedies (page 287) King Lear
The change from " Leir " to " Lear " had its uses, as it enabled the reputed elder son of the alleged secret marriage of Queen Elizabeth with Lord Robert Dudley to describe himself allegorically as having been thrust out of the throne which rightfully was his. " Lear " should read " Real," it is said.
At the bottom of the right-hand column Mr. W. E. Clifton noticed the five terminals, " Sir . France . is . bee . con." They occur in fines which both begin with an italic word and go right up to the outer margin. Each line in which one of above terminals occurs has exactly 33 letters before the terminal. Comparison with the Quarto of the play indicates a special arrangement in setting the type of the Folio.