I do not, however, appeal to Lord Gorell’s judgment on all points. It is inevitable that a judge should be deeply impressed by his professional experience with a sense of the impotence of judges and laws and courts to deal satisfactorily with evils which are so Protean and elusive as to defy definition, and which yet seem to present quite simple problems to the common sense of men of the world. You have only to imagine the Privy Council as consisting of men of the world highly endowed with common sense, to persuade yourself that the supplementing of the law by the common sense of the Privy Council would settle the whole difficulty. But no man knows what he means by common sense, though every man can tell you that it is very uncommon, even in Privy Councils. And since every ploughman is a man of the world, it is evident that even the phrase itself does not mean what it says. As a matter of fact, it means in ordinary use simply a man who will not make himself disagreeable for the sake of a principle: just the sort of man who should never be allowed to meddle with political rights. Now to a judge a political right, that is, a dogma which is above our laws and conditions our laws, instead of being subject to them, is anarchic and abhorrent. That is why I trust Lord Gorell when he is defending the integrity of the law against the proposal to make it in any sense optional, whilst I very strongly mistrust him, as I mistrust all professional judges, when political rights are in danger.
Short Plays
Chapter List-
Short Plays
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Preface
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Preface
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Dramatis Personae
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ActI
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ActII
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SceneI
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SceneII
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ActIII
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Note on Modern Prizefighting
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How He Lied to Her Husband
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Preface
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Chapter_14
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Chapter_15
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Dramatis Personae
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How He Lied to Her Husband
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Passion, Poison, and Petrifaction
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Preface
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Dramatis Personae
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Passion, Poison and Petrifaction
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The Interlude at the Playhouse
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Dramatis Personae
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The Interlude at the Playhouse
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The Fascinating Foundling
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Dramatis Personae
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The Fascinating Foundling
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The Glimpse of Reality
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Dramatis Personae
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The Glimpse of Reality
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The Showing-Up of Blanco Posnet
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Preface
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Chapter_33
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Chapter_34
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Chapter_35
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Chapter_36
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Chapter_37
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Chapter_38
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Chapter_39
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Chapter_40
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Chapter_41
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Chapter_42
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Chapter_43
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Chapter_44
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Chapter_45
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Chapter_46
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Chapter_47
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Chapter_48
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Chapter_49
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The Rejected Statement—PartI
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Chapter_51
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Chapter_52
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Chapter_53
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Chapter_54
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Chapter_55
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Chapter_56
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Chapter_57
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Chapter_58
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Chapter_59
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Chapter_60
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Chapter_61
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Chapter_62
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Chapter_63
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Chapter_64
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PartII
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Chapter_66
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Chapter_67
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Chapter_68
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Chapter_69
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Summary
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Preface Resumed
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Chapter_72
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Chapter_73
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Chapter_74
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Chapter_75
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Chapter_76
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Chapter_77
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Chapter_78
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Chapter_79
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Chapter_80
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Chapter_81
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Chapter_82
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Chapter_83
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Chapter_84
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Chapter_85
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Dramatis Personae
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The Showing-Up of Blanco Posnet
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Press Cuttings
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Chapter_89
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Dramatis Personae
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Press Cuttings
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The Dark Lady of the Sonnets
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Preface to the Dark Lady of the Sonnets
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Chapter_94
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Chapter_95
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Chapter_96
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Chapter_97
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Chapter_98
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Chapter_99
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Chapter_100
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Chapter_101
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Chapter_102
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Chapter_103
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Chapter_104
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Chapter_105
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Chapter_106
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Chapter_107
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Dramatis Personae
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The Dark Lady of the Sonnets
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Overruled
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Preface to Overruled
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Chapter_112
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Chapter_113
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Chapter_114
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Chapter_115
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Chapter_116
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Chapter_117
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Chapter_118
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Chapter_119
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Chapter_120
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Chapter_121
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Chapter_122
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Chapter_123
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Chapter_124
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Dramatis Personae
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Overruled
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The Author’s Apology for “Great Catherine”
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The Author’s Apology for “Great Catherine”
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Dramatis Personae
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TheFirstScene
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TheSecondScene
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TheThirdScene
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TheFourthScene
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The Music Cure
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Chapter_135
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Dramatis Personae
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The Music Cure
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The Inca of Perusalem
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Preface
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Dramatis Personae
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Prologue
-
The Play
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Augustus Does His Bit
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Preface
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Dramatis Personae
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Augustus Does His Bit
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O’FlahertyV.C.
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Preface
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Dramatis Personae
-
O’FlahertyV.C.
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Annajanska
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Preface
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Dramatis Personae
-
Annajanska
-
Endnotes