Pierre—Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais wrote the famous play The Marriage of Figaro in 1778, while the American Revoltuion raged. It was first performed in 1784, the delay owing to censorship. Ibn Warraq, via Dr. Andrew Bostom, commends our attention to this famous monologue from Act V, Scene 3: "I cobble together a verse comedy about the customs of the harem, assuming that, as a Spanish writer, I can say what I like about Mohamme without drawing hostile fire. Next thing, some envoy from God knows where turns up and complains that in my play I have offended the Ottoman empire, Persia, a large slice of the Indian peninsula, the whole of Egypt, and the kingdoms of Barca, Tripoli, Tunisi, Algeria, and Morocco. And so my play sinks without trace, all to placate a bunch of Muslim princes, not one of whom, as far as I know, can read but who beat the living daylights out of us and say we are 'Christian dogs.' Since they can't stop a man thinking, they take it out on his hide...(Read Full Post)