One of the most famous lines from the play, from Act III: "It is terrible to contemplete how few politicians are hanged." The play was not successful and has seldom been produced, yet most critics judge that it could be produced successfully. The character portrayal of Johnson, as read, is captivating and complex. Chesterton was a master at portraying ideas in conflict with others, and being most fair to even those ideas he most strongly disagreed with.