THE OBJECTION OF COURT ETIQUET
There is another objection to the Lord Chamberlain's censorship
which affects the author's choice of subject. Formerly very
little heed was given in England to the susceptibilities of
foreign courts. For instance, the notion that the Mikado of Japan
should be as sacred to the English playwright as he is to the
Japanese Lord Chamberlain would have seemed grotesque a
generation ago. Now that the maintenance of entente cordiale
between nations is one of the most prominent and most useful
functions of the crown, the freedom of authors to deal with
political subjects, even historically, is seriously
threatened by the way in which the censorship makes the King
responsible for the contents of every play. One author--the
writer of these lines, in fact--has long desired to dramatize the
life of Mahomet. But the possibility of a protest from the
Turkish Ambassador--or the fear of it--causing the Lord
Chamberlain to refuse to license such a play has prevented the
play from being written. Now, if the censorship were abolished,
nobody but the author could be held responsible for the play.
The Turkish Ambassador does not now protest against the
publication of Carlyle's essay on the prophet, or of the English
translations of the Koran in the prefaces to which Mahomet is
criticized as an impostor, or of the older books in which he is
reviled as Mahound and classed with the devil himself. But if
these publications had to be licensed by the Lord Chamberlain it
would be impossible for the King to allow the licence to be
issued, as he would thereby be made responsible for the opinions
expressed.
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