The complete online text of The Present State of Wit (1711) by John Gay.

The English playwright and poet John Gay (1685-1732) is best known for "The Beggar's Opera," a skillful blend of literary, political, social, and musical satire. John Gay was born on June 30, 1685, in Barnstaple, Devonshire. Orphaned at age 10, he was se...

Even if John Gay had never written his bestknown poems and plays--The Shepherd's Week (1714), Trivia (1716), Fables (1727), and The Beggar's Opera (1728)--we would know him through his friends, some of the wittiest and most influential writers, poets, co...

John Gay's masterpiece, The Beggar's Opera, has so dominated the landscape of his subsequent reputation that many theatergoers are not aware he did anything else. The Beggar's Opera is a great work, indisputably, and deserves the acclaim it enjoys; every...

The right of criminal defendants to present witnesses should be 'reconceived' by the Supreme Court as a right to equal treatment, not an entitlement to override the rules of evidence. Reconceiving the right to present witneses is supported by legal history, the right to...

Massacre witness presents account From Journal Sentinel wire reports. Friday, June 8, 2001 Katmandu, Nepal -- After six days of official obfuscation and public confusion, the government on Thursday publicly presented a single eyewitness to the gruesome palace massacre of King...