PUBLIC OPINION.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 188, 21 April 1914, Page 4

PUBLIC OPINION.

A COLUMN FOR THE PEOPLE William Shakespeare - Protests. TO THE EDITOR.] Dated from Mauku, a correspondent forwards the following letter which he humourously claims was found on his pillow, direct from Elysium Sir, —During the last throe hundred years I have beon subjected to many indignities, some of them almost sufficient to make me . materialise. Colley Gibber practically i rewrote much of my best work ; Mr , Donnelly satistied himself, if not the British public, that Francis Verulam was really the author of ' my plays, but had allowed mo to | put my name to them because he , was ashamed of them ; Mrs Gallop ■ professed to read into them a Machiavellian cipher absolutely , foreign to my unsecretive nature, 1 and Charlie Lamb turned them into 1 absurd children's stories. I can forgive Lamb, who, by the way, is 1 the only one of those I have men- . tioned who has reached here, for he ' is not a bad fellow at bottom, and : would be quite popular were it not 1 for his inveterate propensity for making bad puns and delivering them with a tiresome stammering that trio 3 even angelic patience. Last of all Bernard Shaw, whom I , understand you still have with you, ' has discovered that I am a vastly over-rated man. In mv days on earth I do not remember to have heard much about Pukekohe, but wo Elizabethans were a narrow-minded and self-centred set, and our purview rarely extended further afield than the great new Western Continent. But a couple of years ago I found on the readingroom table of my club the first issue of your invaluable journal, and have since taken a great interest in the progressive centre of civilisation you represent, and always look forward to the " Times" on Tuesdays and Fridays. It came, therefore, as a painful shock to me, though I trust I am not more sensitive than other authors, to find in a recent issue that 1 had been so grossly misquoted by your distinguished statesman, Mr Rogers, who makes me say:—"He who steals my purse steals tra*h, 'tis naught, 'twas mine, 'tis his; but he who robs me of my good name enriches himself not but maketh me poor indeed." Oh! Mr Rogers! Mr Rogers! "This was the most unkindest cut of all," as Mark Antony once rematked with much less reason. I shall never have the opportunity of meeting you personally, Mr Rogers, tor, as you know, politicians are not allowed up here—not even the most enlightened Liberals. It is said, I however, that an exception will probably be made in the case of Mr Massey, not solely on account of his good works, but because it wculd be too dreadful for the inmates of 1 even an abode of punishment should : you and he be thrown etsrnaily together in "another place."

In the hurry of my translation fiorn a 1 wer to an upper plane my copy of Oth llj was ui fortunately left behind, and as tiag;ciies are forbidden in this happy land I am unable to look up what I really - w:ote in the late autumn ol 1611. At first I thought of applying to Sir Henry Irving, who is sairl to have a tifßt elass working acquaintance with many of my plays, but his wellknown dislike to talking "ehop'' and a slight coolness between us arising from a easu-1 remark of mine about his awkward management of his wings during the lirst few daja after his arrival, made me feel a delicacy about approaching him. Fortunately, the excellent m mory of my faithful friend. Ben JonEon, enables me to supply tr.e • lines:— ' "Whost.als my purse steals irash; 'tis something, nothing,— • Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been 1 slave to thousands; i But ha that filches from me my > good name , Robs me of that which not enriches him And makes me poor indeed." 1 There, that is poetry. You can always tell poetry because each line begins with a rapilal letter. But Mr Rogers' version is prose of the most i sordid description. 1 showed it t*> Lord Bacon, and he at cnce sugge ted a joint action for libel, for . hs has always looked upon me aa a . Eort of partner since "The Great . Cryptogram'' was published. How--1 ever, the imfossibility of doing • anything during Mr Rogers' lifetime, and the great expense of | having th* writ 3 and affidavits engrossed on asbestos is a deterrent. Since then recent [arrivals ' from Puktkohe have assured me that t Mr Rogers is by no means wholly ; bad. They say that the late Con--1 stable Dogberry's description of his I neighbour, Mr Verges, fits Mr ' Higerj to a tee—"'lis a good old ) man, your Worship, but he will be ■ talking." Probably he has not wil- » fully misquoted me, would not have ) erred at all perhaps had not try > plays been so long out of prii.t, , By the way, Mr Editor, who is [ this Mr Henry? That he is a [ play-wright I gather from Mr t Rogers saying that on the whole he prefers me to him, though apparr ently his preference is not a very t definite one. Tell him from me to j stop writing plays and turn his r attention ti problem novels. They i pay better, and his spirit will not be vexed centuries after by misquotations.—l an, etc., WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 28 Paradise Row, " Elysium.