Viscount Ipsden, aged twenty-five, income eighteen thousand pounds per year, constitution equine, was unhappy! This might surprise some people; but there are certain blessings, the non-possession of which makes more people discontented than their possession renders happy. Foremost among these are "Wealth and Rank." Were I to add "Beauty" to the list, such men and women as go by fact, not by conjecture, would hardly contradict me. The fortunate man is he who, born poor, or nobody, works gradually up to wealth and consideration, and, having got them, dies before he finds they were not worth so much trouble. Lord Ipsden started with nothing to win; and naturally lived for amusement. Now nothing is so sure to cease to please as pleasure -- to amuse, as amusement. Unfortunately for himself he could not at this period of his life warm to politics; so, having exhausted his London clique, he rolled through the cities of Europe in his carriage, and cruised its shores in his yacht. But he was not happy! He was a man of taste, and sipped the arts and other knowledge, as he sauntered Europe round...

Author Biography

Charles Reade (1814 - 1884) was an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth. In 1861 Reade published what would become his most famous work, based on a few lines by the medieval humanist Erasmus about the life of his parents. The novel began life as a serial in Once a Week in 1859 under the title "A Good Fight," but when Reade disagreed with the proprietors of the magazine over some of the contentious subject matter (principally the unmarried pregnancy of the heroine), he abruptly curtailed the serialization with a false happy ending, Reade continued to work on the novel, and published it in 1861, thoroughly revised and extended, as "The Cloister and the Hearth." It became recognized as one of the most successful historical novels. Returning from the 15th century to modern English life, he next produced Hard Cash (originally published as Very Hard Cash, 1863), in which he highlighted the abuses of private lunatic asylums. Three more such novels followed: Foul Play (1869), in which he exposed the iniquities of ship-knackers and paved the way for the labors of Samuel Plimsoll; Put Yourself in His Place (1870), in which he dealt with trade unions and A Woman-Hater (1877), in which he continued his commentary on trade unions while also tackling the topic of women doctors.