-W- m ' ----- ^ ou, /ool 1 io tV conp7 CHAPTER XVIII. Play of " The Stranger." Speeches inParliament. Pizarro. Ministry of Mr.Addington. French Institute. Negotiations with Mr Kemble. 58; CHAPTER XIX. Slate of Parties. Offer of a Place to Mr. T. Sheridan Receivership of the Duchy of Cornwall bestowed upon Mr. Sheridan. Return of Mr. Pitt to Power. Catholic question. Administration of Lord GrenvillcaudMr. Fox. Death of Mr. Fox. Representation of West- minster. Dismission of the Ministry. Theatrical Negotiation. Spanish Question. Letter to the Prince .............. 44 CONTENTS. vij CHAPTER XX. Destruction of the Theatre of Drury-Lane by Fire. Mr. Whitbread. Plan for a Third Theatre. Illness of the King. Regency. Lord Grey .ind Lord Grenville. Conduct of Mr. Sheridan. His Vindication of himself. 43o CHAPTER XXI. Affairs of the new Theatre. Mr. Whitbread Negociations with Lord Grey and Lord Grenville. Conduct of Mr. Sheridan relative to the Household. His last Words in Parliament. Failure at Stafford. Correspondence with Mr. Whitbread. Lord Byron. Distresses of Sheridan. Illness. Death and Funeral. General Remarks. . . 44g PREFACE. THE first four Chapters of this work were written nearly seven years ago. My task was then suspended during a long absence from England ; and it was only in the course of the last year that I applied myself seriously to the completion of it. To my friend, Mr. Charles Sheridan, whose talents and character reflect honour upon a name already so distinguished , I am indebted for the chief part of the materials upon which the following Memoirs of his father are founded. I have to thank hjm, not only for this mark of confidence, but for the delicacy with which, though so deeply interested in the subject of my task , he has refrained from all interference with the execution of it; neither he, nor any other person, beyond the Printing- office , having ever read a single sentence of the work. I mention this, in order that the responsibility of any erroneous views or indiscreet disclosures, with which I shall be thought chargeable in the course of these pages, may not be extended to others, but rest solely with myself. The details of Mr. Sheridan's early life were obligingly * PREFACE. communicated to me by his younger sister Mrs. Lefanu , to whom, and to her highly gift d daughter, I offer my best thanks for the assistance which they have afforded me. The obligations, of a similar nature, which I owe to the kindness of Mr. William Linley, Doctor Bain , Mr. Bur- gess, and others, are acknowledged with due gratitude, in my remarks on their respective communications. MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN. CHAPTER I. Birth and education of Mr. Sheridan. His first attempts in Literature. RICHARD BRINSLEY ' SHERIDAN was born in the month of Sep- tember, 1751 , at No. 12, Dorset Street, Dublin , and baptised in St. Mary's Church , as appears by the register of the parish , on the fourth of the following month. His grandfather, Dr. Sheridan , and his father , Mr. Thomas Sheridan , have attained a celebrity , independent of that which he has conferred on them , by the friend- ship and correspondence with which the former was honoured by Swift , and the competition and even rivalry which the latter so long maintained with Garrick. His mother, too , was a woman of consi- derable talents, and affords one of the few instances that have occur- red, of a female indebted for a husband to her literature; as it was a pamphlet she wrote concerning the Dublin theatre that first attracted to her the notice of Mr. Thomas Sheridan. Her affecting novel , Sidney Riddulph , could boast among its warm panegyrists Mr. Fox and Lord North , and in the Tale of Nourjahad she has employed the graces of Eastern fiction to inculcate a grave and important moral , putting on a fairy disguise , like her own Mandane , to deceive her readers into a taste for happiness and virtue. Besides her two plays , The Discovery and the Dupe , the former of which Garrick pronounced to be " one of the best comedies he ever read," she wrote a comedy also , called the Trip to Bath , which was never either acted or published, but which has been supposed by some of those sagacious persons , who love to look for flaws in Hie ' He was christened al&o Ly ihe name of Butler, after the Earl of Lanesborongli. 4 MEMOIRS lilies of fame, to have passed, with her other papers , into the posses- sion of her son , and after a transforming sleep, like that of the chry- salis, in his hands, to have taken wing at lenglh in the brilliant form of The Rivals. The literary labours of her husband were less fanciful, but not, perhaps, less useful, and are chiefly upon sub- jects connected with cducalion , lo Ihe study and profession of which he devoted the latter part of his life. Such dignity, indeed, did his favourite pursuit assume in his own eyes, thai he is represented (on the authority, however, of one who was himself a schoolmaster) to have declared, that "he would rather see his two sons al the head of respectable academies , than one of them prime minister of Eng- land , and the other at the head of affairs in Ireland. 1 ' At the age of seven years , Richard Brinsley Sheridan was , with his elder brother, Charles Francis, placed under the tuition of Mr. Samuel Whyte, of Graflon Street , Dublin , an amiable and respectable man , who , for near fifty years after, continued at the head of his profession in that metropolis. To remember our school- days wilh gratitude and pleasure , is a tribule al once lo Ihe zeal and genllencss of our master, which none ever deserved more Iruly from his pupils than Mr. Whyle , and which the writer of these pages , who owes to lhal excellenl person all the instructions in English literature he has ever received , is happy to take this oppor- tunity of paying. The young Sheridans, however, were little more than a year under his care and it may be consoling to parents who are in the first crisis of impatience, at the sorl of hopeless slupidily which some children exhibil, lo know, lhat the dawn of Sheridan's intellect was as dull and unpromising as its meridian day was bright; nnd lhal in Ihe year 1759, he who, in less lhan Ihirty years after- wards , held senales enchained by his eloquence and audiences fas- cinated by his wil, was, by common consenl both of parent and pre- replor, pronounced lo be " a mosl impenetrable dunce." From Mr. Whyte's school Ihe boys were removed to England , where Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan had lately gone to reside , and in the year 1762 Richard was sent to Harrow Charles being kept al home as a filter subject for the inslruclions of his father, who, by another of Ihose calculations of poor human foresight , which the deity , called Evenlus by Ihe Romans , lakes such wanlon pleasure in fal- sifying , considered his elder son as deslined lo be Ihe brighter of Ihe Iwo stars. At Harrow, Richard was remarkable only as a very idle , careless, but, at the same time, engaging boy, who conlrived to win Ihe affeclion , and even admiralion , of Ihe whole school , both masters and pupils , by Ihe mere charm of his frank and genial manners, and by Ihe occasional gleams of superior inlellecl , which broke Ihrough all the indolence and indifference of his character. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 6 Harrow , at this time , possessed some peculiar advantages , of which a youth like Sheridan might have powerfully availed himself. At the head of the school was Doctor Robert Sumner, a man of fine talents, but unfortunately one of those who have passed away with- out leaving any trace behind, except in the admiring recollection of their contemporaries. His taste is said to have been of a purity al- most perfect, combining what are seldom seen together, that critical judgment which is alive to the errors of genius , with the warm sen- sibility that deeply feels its beauties. At the same period, the distin- guished scholar, Dr. Parr, who, to the massy erudition of a former age , joined all the free and enlightened intelligence of the present , was one of the under-masters of the school-, and both he and Dr. Sumner endeavoured , by every method they could devise , to awaken in Sheridan a consciousness of those powers which , under all the disadvantages of indolence and carelessness, it was manifest to them that he possessed. But remonstrance and encouragement were equally thrown away upon the good-humoured but immove- able indifference of their pupil-, and though there exist among Mr. Sheridan's papers some curious proofs of an industry in study for which few have ever given him credit, they are probably but the desultory efforts of a later period of his life , to recover the loss of that first precious time , whose susceptibility of instruction , as well as of pleasure , never comes again. One of the most valuable acquisitions he derived from Harrow was that friendship, which lasted throughout his life, with Dr. Parr, which mutual admiration very early began , and the " idem sen- tire de re publicd ," of course , not a little strengthened. As this learned and estimable man has , within the last few weeks , left a void in the world which will not be easily filled up, I feel that it would be unjust to my readers not to give, in his own words, the particulars of Sheridan's school-days , with which he had the kind- ness to favour me , and to which his name gives an authenticity and interest too valuable on such a subject to be withheld : " DEAR SIR , * Hatton , August 3 , 1818. " With the aid of a scribe I sit down to fulfil my promise about Mr. Sheridan. There \vas little in his boyhood worth communication. He was inferior to many of his school-fellows in the ordinary business of a school, and I do not remember any one instance in which he distinguished him- self by Latin or English composition , in prose or verse '. Nathaniel Hal- hed , one of his school-fellows, wrote well in Latin and Greek. Richard Archdall, another school - fellow , excelled in English verse. Richard- 1 li \\ill be been , however, though Dr. Pan was not aware of the circumstance, ''.it Sheridan did try his talent at English verse before he left Harrow. 6 MEMOIRS Sheridan aspired to no rivalry with either of them. He was at the upper- most part of the fifth form , but he never reached the sixth , and if 1 mistake not, he had no opportunity of attending the most difficult, and the most honourable of school business, when the Greek plays were taught and it was the custom at Harrow to teach these at least every year. He went through his lessons in Horace, and Virgil, and Homer well enough for a time. But in the absence of the upper master, Doctor Sunmer , it once fell in my way to instruct the two upper forms , and upon calling up Dick Sheridan , I louud him not only slovenly in construing , but unu- sually defective in his Greek grammar. Knowing him to be a clever fel- low, I did not fail to probe and to teaze him. I stated his case with great good-humour to the upper master, who was one of the best tempered men in the world ; and it was agreed between us , that Richard should be called oftener and worked more severely. The varlet was not suffered to stand up in his place ; but was summoned to take his station near the master's table , where the voice of no prompter could reach him ; add , in this defenceless condition he was so harassed , that he at last gathered up some grammatical rules , and prepared himself for his lessons. While this tormenting process was inflicted upon him, I now and then upbraided him. But you will take notice that he did not incur any corporal punish- ment for his idleness : his industry was just sufficient to protect him from disgrace. All the while Sumner and I saw in him vestiges of a superior intellect. His eye, his countenance, his general manner, were striking. His answers to any common question were prompt and acute. We knew the esteem, and even admiration which, somehow or other, all his school- fellows felt for him. He was mischievous enough , but his pranks were accompanied by a sort of vivacity and cheerfulness, which delighted Sumner and myself. I had much talk with him about his apple-loft, for the supply of which all the gardens in the neighbourhood were taxed , and some of the lower boys were employed to furnish it. I threatened , but without asperity, to trace the depredators, through his associates, up to their leader. He with perfect good-humour set me at defiance, and I never could bring the charge home to him. All boys and all masters were pleased with him. I often praised him as a lad of great talents, often exhorted him to use them well ; i>ut my exhortations were fruit- less. I take for granted that his taste was silently improved, and that he knew well the little which he did know. He was removed from school loo soon by his father, who was the intimate friend of Sumner, and whom I often met at his house. Sumner had a fine voice, fine ear, fine taste, and, therefore, pronunciation was frequently the favourite subject between him and Tom Sheridan. I was present at many of their discus- sions and disputes; and sometimes took a very active part in them , but Richard was not present. The father, you know, was a wrong-headed, whimsical man , and, perhaps, his scanty circumstances were one of the reasons which prevented him from sending Richard to the University. He must have been aware, as Sumner and I were, that Richard's mind was not cast in any ordinary mould. I ought to have told you that Richard when a boy was a great reader of English poetry ; but his exercises afford- ed no proof of his proficiency. In truth, he , as a boy, was quite careless about literary fame. I should suppose that his father, without any re- OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 7 gular system, polished his taste, and supplied his memory with anecdotes about our best writers in our Augustan age. The grandfather, you know, lived familiarly with Swift. I have heard of him, as an excellent scholar. His boys in Ireland once performed a Greek play, and when Sir William Jones and 1 were talking over this event, I determined to make the experiment in England. I selected some of my best boys, and they performed the OEdipus Tyrannus, and the Trachinians of Sophocles. I \vrote some Greek Iambics to vindicate myself from the imputation of singularity, and grieved I am that I did not keep a copy of them. Milton, you may remember, recommends what I attempted. '* I saw much of Sheridan's father after the death of Sumner, and after my own removal from Harrow to Stanmer. I respected him, he really liked me, and did me some important services, but I never met him and Richard together. I often enquired about Richard , and , from the fa- ther's answers , found they were not upon good terms , but neither he nor I ever spoke of his son's talents but in terms of the highest praise." In a subsequent letter Dr. Parr says : " I referred you to a passage in the Gentleman's Magazine, where I am represented as discovering and encouraging in Richard Sheridan those intellectual powers, which had not been discovered and encouraged by Sumner. But the statement is incorrect. We both of us discovered talents, which neither of us could bring into action while Sheridan was a school-boy. He gave us few opportunities of praise in the course of his school-business, and yet he was well aware that we thought highly of him, and anxiously wished more to+e done by him than he was dis- posed to do. " I once or twice met his mother, she was quite celestial. Both her virtues and her genius were highly esteemed by Robert Sumner. I know not whether Tom Sheridan found Richard tractable in the art of speak- ing, and, upon such a subject, indolence or indifference would have been resented by the father as crimes quite inexpiable. One of Richard's sisters now and then visited Harrow, and well do I remember that, in the house where I lodged, she triumphantly repeated Dryden's Ode upon St. Cecilia's Day, according to the instruction given to her by her father. Take a sample : None but the brave , None but the brave , None but the brave deserve the fair. " Whatever may have been the zeal or the proficiency of the sister, naughty Richard, like Gallio, seemed to care nought for these things. " In the later periods of his life Richard did not cast behind him clas- sical reading. He spoke copiously and powerfully about Cicero. He had read, and he had understood, the four orations of Demosthenes read and taught in our public schools. He was at home in Virgil and in Horace. I cannot speak positively about Homer, but I am very sure that he read the Iliad now and then; not as a professed scholar would do, critically, but with all the strong sympathies of a poet reading a poet '. Richard 1 II was not oue of the least of the liiunij>hs of Sheridan's talent, to hav* been 8 MEMOIRS did not , and could not forget what he once knew, but his path to know- ledge was his own , his steps were noiseless, his progress was scarcely felt by himself, his movements were rapid but irregular. " Let me assure you that Richard, when a boy, was by no means vi- cions. The sources of his infirmities were a scanty and precarious allow- ance from the father, the want of a regular plan for some profession , and, above all, the act of throwing him upon the town, when he ought to have been pursuing his studies at the University. He would have done little among mathematicians at Cambridge ; he would have been a rake, or an idler, or a trifler, at Dublin ; but I am inclined to think that at Oxford he would have become an excellent scholar. "I have now told you all that I know, and it amounts to very little. 1 am very solicitous for justice to be done to Robert Sumner. He is one of the six or seven persons among my own acquaintance , whose taste I am accustomed to consider perfect, and were he living, his admiration * During the greater part of Richard's stay at Harrow, his father had been compelled by the embarrassment of his affairs to reside with the remainder of the family in France , and it was at Blois , in the September of 1766, that Mrs. Sheridan died leaving behind her that best kind of fame , which results from a life of usefulness and purity, and which it requires not the aid of art or eloquence to blazon. She appears to have been one of those rare women, who , united to men of more prelAsions but less real intellect than themselves , meekly conceal this superiority even from their own hearts , and pass their lives , without a remonstrance or murmur, in gently endeavouring to repair those evils which the indiscretion or vanity of their partners has brought upon them. As a supplement to (he interesting communication of Doctor Parr, I shall here subjoin an extract from a letter, which the eldest sister of Sheridan , Mrs. E. Lefanu , wrote a few months after his death to Mrs. Sheridan , in consequence of a wish expressed by the tatter, that Mrs. Lefanu would communicate such particulars as she remembered of his early days. It will show, too, the feeling which his natural good qualities , in spite of the errors by which they were obscured and weakened , kept alive to the last , in the hearts of those connected with him, that sort of retrospective affection, which , when those whom we have loved become altered , whether in mind or person, brings the recollection of what they once were, to mingle with and soften our impression of what they are. able to persuade so acute a scholar as Dr. Parr, that the extent of his classical acquirements was so great as is here represented , and to have thus impressed with* the idea of his remembering so much, the person who best knew how lillle he had learned. 1 The remainder of ihe letter relates to other subjects. OF R. B. SHERIDAN After giving an account of the residence of the family in France , she continues : " We returned to England, when I may say I first became acquainted with my brother for faint and imperfect were my recollections of him, as might be expected from my age. I saw him; and my childish attach- ment revived with double force. He was handsome, not merely in the eyes of a partial sister, but generally allowed to be so. His cheeks had the glow of health, his eyes the finest in the world the brilliancy of ge- nius, and were soft as a tender and affectionate heart could render them. The same playful fancy, the same sterling and innoxious wit, that was shown afterward! in his writings, cheered and delighted the family circle. I admired I almost adored him. I would most willingly have sacri- ficed my life for him, as I, in some measure, proved to him at Bath, where we resided for some time, and where events that you must have heard of engaged him in a duel. My father's displeasure threatened to involve me in the denunciations against him, for committing what he considered as a crime. Yet I risked everything, and in tine event was made happy by obtaining forgiveness for my brother. * * * * You may perceive , dear sister, that very little indeed have I to say on a subject so near your heart, and near mine also. That for years I lost sight of a brother whom I loved with unabated affection a love that neither ab- sence or neglect could chill, Lafways consider as a great misfortune." On his leaving Harrow, where he continued till near his eighteenth year, he was brought home by his father, who, with the elder son , Charles, had lately returned from France, and taken a house in London. Here the two brothers for some time received private tui- tion from Mr. Lewis Ker , an Irish gentleman , who had formerly practised as a physician , but having , by loss of health , been obliged to give up his profession , supported himself by giving lessons in Latin and Mathematics. They attended also the fencing and riding- schools of Mr. Angelo , and received instructions from their father in English grammar and oratory. Of this advantage , however, it is probable, only the elder son availed himself, as Richard, who seems to have been determined to owe all his excellence to nature alone, was found as impracticable a pupil at home as at school. But, how- ever inattentive to his studies he may have been at Harrow, it ap- pears, from one of the letters of his school-fellow, Mr. Halhed, that , in poetry, which is usually the first exercise in which these young alhleta3 of intellect try their strength , he had already distin- guished himself and , in conjunction with his friend Halhed , had translated the seventh Idyl, and many of the lesser poems of Theo- critus. This literary partnership was resumed soon after their de- parture from Harrow. In the year 1770, when Halhed was at Oxford, and Sheridan residing with his father at Bath , Ihey entered into a < orrespondence (of which unluckily only Halhed's share remains), 10 MEMOIRS and , with all the hope and spirit of young adventurers , began and prosecuted a variety of works together, of which none but their translation of Aristaenetus ever saw the light. There is something in the aUiance between these boys peculiarly interesting. Their united ages , as Halhed boasts in one of his let- ters, did not amount to thirty-eight. They were both abounding in wit and spirits , and as sanguine as the consciousness of talent and youth could make them ; both inspired with a taste for pleasure , and thrown upon their own resources for the means of gratifying it ; both carelessly embarking, without rivalry or reserve , their venture of fame in the same bottom, and both, as Halhed discovered at last, passionately in love with the same woman. It would have given me great pleasure to have been enabled to enliven my pages with even a few extracts from that portion of their correspondence , which , as I have just mentioned , has fallen into my hands. There is in the letters of Mr. Halhed a fresh youthfulness of style , and an unaffected vivacity of thought , which I question whether even his witty correspondent could have surpassed. As I do not, however, feel authorised to lay these letters before the world, 1 must only avail myself of the afll which their contents supply , towards tracing the progress of his wlrary partnership with Sheri- dan , and throwing light on a period so full of interest in the life of the latter. Their first joint production was a farce , or rather play , in three acts, called "Jupiter," written in imitation of the burletla of Midas , whose popularity seems to have tempted into its wake a number of these musical parodies upon heathen fable. The amour of Jupiter with Major Amphitryon's wife, and Sir Richard Ixion's courtship of Juno, who substitutes Miss Peggy Nubilis in her place , form the subject of this ludicrous little drama , of which Halhed furnished the burlesque scenes , while the form of a re- hearsal , into which the whole is thrown , and which , as an antici- pation of "The Critic," is highly curious, was suggested and managed entirely fay Sheridan. The following extracts will give some idea of the humour of this trifle ; and in the character of Simile the reader will at once discover a sort of dim and shadowy prc- cxistence of Puff : " Simile. Sir, you are very ignorant on the subject, it is the method most in vogue. " O'Cul. What! to .make the music first, and then make the sense lo it afterwards ! " Sim. Just so. " Monop. What Mr, Simile says is very true , gentlemen ; and there is OF R. B. SHERIDAN. II nothing surprising in it, if we consider now the general method of wri- ting plays to scenes. " O'Cul. Writing plays to scenes ! oh , you are joking. " Monop. Not I, upon my word. Mr. Simile knows that I have fre- quently a complete set of scenes from Italy, and then I have nothing to do but to get some ingenious hand to write a play to them. " Sim. I am your witness, Sir. Gentlemen, you perceive you know nothing about these matters. " O'Cul. Why, Mr. Simile , I don't pretend to know much relating to these affairs ; but what I think is this , that in this method , according to your principles , you must often commit blunders. " Sim. Blunders ! to be sure I must, but I always could get myself out of them again. Why, I'll tell you an instance of it. You must know I was once a journeyman sonnet- writer to Signer Squallini. Now, his me- thod , when seized with the furor harmonicas was constantly to make me sit by his side , while he was thrumming on his harpsichord , in order to make extempore verses to whatever air he should beat out to his liking. I remember , one morning , as he was in this situation , thrum, thrum , thrum, (moving his fingers as if beating on the harpsichord], striking out something prodigiously great, as he thought , ' Hah ! ' said he , 'hah ! Mr. Simile , thrum , thrum j thrum, by gar, here is vary fine, thrum , thrum , thrum , write me some words directly.' I durst not interrupt him to ask on what subject, so instantly began to describe a fine morning. " 'Calm was the laud aud calm the seas , And calm the heaven's dome serene, Husb'd was the gale and hush'dthe breeze; And not a vapour to be seen.' " I sang it to his notes.' Hah ! ' upon my word vary pritt, thrum, thrum, thrum, slay, stay, thrum, thrum. Hoa! upon my word, here it must be an adagio, thrum, thrum, oh ! let it be an Ode to Melancholy. " Monop. The Devil! there you were puzzled sure. ** Sim. Not in the least , I brought in a cloud in the next stanza, and matters, you see, came about at once. " Monop. An excellent transition ! " O'Cul. Vastly ingenious indeed! " Sim. Was it not? hey ! it required a little command , a little pre- sence of mind, but I believe we had better proceed. " Monop. The sooner the better, come, gentlemen, resume your seats. " Sim. Now for it. Draw up the curtain, and (looking at his book) enter Sir Richard Ixion, but stay, zounds , Sir Richard ought to over-hear Jupiter and his wife quarrelling, but, never mind, these accidents have spoilt the division of my piece. So enter Sir Richard , and look as cunning as if you had overheard them. Now for it, gentlemen, you can't be too attentive. Enter Sir RICHARD IXION, completely dressed, with bag , sword, etc. " Ix. 'Fore George, at logger-heads, a lucky minute , i'on honour, 1 may make my market in it. 12 MEMOIRS Dem it, my air, address , and mien must toucli her , JNow out of sorts with him, less God than butcher. O rat the fellow, where can all his sense lie, To gallify the lady so immensely ? Ah ! le grand bete qu'il eat ! how rude the bear is ! The world to two-pence he was ne'er at Paris. Perdition stap my vitals, now or never I'll niggle snugly into Juno's favour. Let's see, (looking in a glass) my 'face, toll loll 'twill work upon hci My person oh, immense, upon my honour. My eyes, oh fie, the naughty glass it flatters, Courage, Ixion flogs the world to tatters. [ Exit Ixion. " Sim. There is a fine gentleman for you, in the very pink of the mode, with not a single article about him his own, his words pilfered from Magazines , his address from French valets, and his clothes not paid for. " Macd. But pray, Mr. Simile, how did Ixion get into heaven? " Sim. Why, Sir, what's that to any body ? perhaps by Salrnoneus's Brazen Bridge, or the Giant's Mountain, or the Tower of Babel, or on Theobald's bull-dogs, or who the devil -cares how? he is there and that's enough." Song by JUPITER. " You dogs , I'm Jupiter Imperial , Kiug, Emperor, and Pope aetherial , Master of tli' Ordnance of the sky. " Sim. 'L ds , where's the ordnance? Have you forgot the pistol ? ( to the Orchestra. } " Orchestra (to some oncbclund the. scenes}. Tom, are you not pre- pared ? " Tom (from behind the .-scenes). Yes, sir, but I flash'd in the pan a little out of time, and had I staid to prime, I should have shot a bar too late. " Sim. Oil then, Jupiter, begin the song again. We must not lose our ordnance. " You dogs, I'm Jupiter Imperial, Kiug, Emperor, and Pope aetherial , Master of th' Ordnaoceof the sky; etc., etc. [ Here a pistol or cracker is fired from behind the scenes. 11 Sim. This hint I took from Handel. Well , how do you think we go on ? " O'Cul. With vast spirit, the plot begins to thicken. " Sim. Thicken! aye, 'twill be as thick as the calf of your leg pre- sently. Well, now for the real, original, patentee Amphitryon. What, ho, Amphitryon! Amphitryon ! 'tis Simile calls. Why^ where the devil is he? OF R. B. SHERIDAN. n ^ Enter SERVANT. Tom, \vherc is Amphitryon? " Sim. Zounds, he's not arrested too, is he? " Sen>. No, Sir ; hut there was but one black eye in the house , and lie is waiting to get it from Jupiter. " Sim. To geta black eye from Jupiter, -oh, this will never do. "Why, when they meet, they ought to match like two beef-eaters." According to their original plan for the conclusion of this farce , all things were at last to be compromised between Jupiter and Juno Amphitryon was to be comforted in the birft of so mighty a son ; Ixion , for his presumption , instead of being fixed to a torturing wheel , was to have been fixed to a vagrant monotroche , as knife- grinder, and a grand chorus of deities (intermixed with " knives , scissors, pen-knives to grind, 1 ' set to music as nearly as possible to the natural cry ,) would have concluded the whole. That habit of dilatoriness , which is too often attendant upon genius, and which is for ever making it, like the pistol in the scene just quoted, " shoot a bar too late," was, through life, re- markable in the character of Mr. Sheridan , and we have here an early instance of its influence over him. Though it was in August, 1770, that he received the sketch of this piece from his friend, and though they both looked forward most sanguinely to its suc- cess , as likely to realize many a dream of fame and profit, it was not till the month of May in the subsequent year , as appears by a letter from Mr. Ker to Sheridan , that the probability of the arrival of the manuscript was announced to Mr. Foote. " I have dispatched a card, as from H. H., at Owen's Coffee-house, to Mr. Foote, to inform him that he may expect to see your dramatic piece about the 25th instant." Their hopes and fears in this theatrical speculation are very na- turally and livelily expressed throughout Halhed's letters, sometimes with a degree of humorous pathos , which is interesting as charac- teristic of both the writers \ " The thoughts ," he says , " of 200/. shared between us are enough to bring the tears into one's eyes." Sometimes , he sets more moderate limits to their ambition , and hopes that they will, at least, get the freedom of the play-house by it. But at all times he chides, with good-humoured impatience, the tardiness of his fellow-labourer in applying to the managers. Fears are expressed that Foote may have made other engagements , and that a piece , called " Dido," on the same mythological plan , which had lately been produced with but little success , might prove an obstacle to the reception of theirs. At Drury Lane , too , they had little hopes of a favourable hearing , as Dibdin was one of the prin- cipal butts of their ridicule. H MEMOIRS The summer season , however, was suffered to pas^away without an effort; and in October, 1771 , we flnd Mr. Halhed flattering himself with hopes from a negotiation with Mr. Garrick. It does not appear , however , that Sheridan ever actually presented this piece to any of the managers 5 and indeed it is probable , from the following fragment of a scene found among his papers , that he soon abandoned the ground- work of Halhed altogether , and transferred his plan of a rehearsal to some other subject, of his own invention and , therefore , more worthy of his wit. It will be perceived that the puffing author wdfe here intended to be a Scotchman. " M. Sir, I have read your comedy, and I think it has infinite merit ; but, pray, don't you think it rather grave? ** S. Sir, you say true ; it is a grave comedy. I follow the opinion of Longinus who says comedy ought always to be sentimental. Sir, I value , a sentiment of six lines in my piece no more than a nabob does a rupee. I hate those dirty, paltry equivocations, which go by the name of puns, and pieces of wit. No, Sir, it ever was my opinion that the stage should be a place of rational entertainment ; instead of which, I am very sorry to say, most people go there for their diversion : accordingly, I have formed my comedy so that it is no laughing, giggling piece of work. He must be a very light man that shall discompose his muscles from the beginning to the end. " M. But don't you think it may be too grave ? " S. O never fear ; and as for hissing, mon, they might as well hiss the common prayer-book; for there is the viciousness of vice and the virtuousness of virtue in every third line. " M. I confess there is a great deal of moral in it ; but, Sir, I should imagine if you tried your hand at tragedy " S. No, mon , there you are out, and I'll relate to you what put me first on writing a comedy. You must know I had composed a very fine tragedy about the valiant Bruce. I showed it my Laird of Mackintosh, and he was a very candid mon , and he said my genius did not lie in tragedy : I took the hint, and, as soon as I got home, began my comedy. " We have here some of the very thoughts and words that afterwards contributed to the fortune of Puff ; and it is amusing to observe how long this subject was played with by the current of Sheridan's fancy , till at last, like " a stone of lustre from the brook," it came forth with all that smoothness and polish which it wears in his inimitable farce , The Critic. Thus it is , too , and but little to the glory of what are called our years of discretion , that the life of the man is chiefly employed in giving effect to the wishes and plans of the boy. Another of their projects was a Periodical Miscellany , the idea of which originated with Sheridan, and whose first embryo movements we trace in a letter to him from Mr. Lewis Ker , who undertook with much good nature the negotiation of the young author's literary OF R. B. SHERIDAN. IS concerns in London. The leller is dated 30lh of October, 1770. " As ID your intended periodical paper, if it meets \vith success , there is no doubt of profit accruing, as I have already engaged a publisher of established reputation to undertake it for the account of I he authors. But I am to indemnify him in case it should not sell, ;md to advance part of the first expense , all which I can do without applying to Mr. Ewart." " I would be glad to know what stock of papers you have already written , as there ought to be ten or a dozen at least finished before you print any , in order to have time to prepare the subsequent numbers , and ensure a continuance of I lie work. As to the coffee-houses , you must not depend on their taking it in at first, except you go on the plan of the Taller, and give the news of the week. For the first two or three weeks the expense of advertising will certainly prevent any profit being made. But when that is over , if a thousand are sold weakly , you may reckon on receiving 5Z. clear. One paper a-week will do belter than two. Pray say no more as to our accounts." The litle intended by Sheridan for this paper was " Hernan's Miscellany ," to which his friend Halhed objected , and suggested "The Reformer," as a newer and more significant name. But, though Halhed appears to have sought among his Oxford friends for an auxiliary or two in their weekly labours, this meditated Miscellany never proceeded beyond the first number , which was written by Sheridan , and which I have found among his papers. It is loo diffuse and pointless to be 'given entire; but an extract or two from it will not be unwelcome to those who love to trace even the first , feeblest beginnings of genius. HERNAN'S MISCELLANY. No. I. " I will sit down and write for the good of the people for (said I to myself, pulling off my spectacles, and drinking up the remainder of my sixpen'worth ) it cannot be but people must be sick of these same rascally politics. All last winter nothing but God defend me! 'tis tiresone to think of it.' I immediately flung the pamphlet down on the table, and raking my hat and cane walked out of the coffee-house. " I kept up as smart a pace as I could all the way home, for 1 felt mj self full of something, and enjoyed my own thoughts so much , thai I was afraid of digesting them , lest any should escape me. At last I knocked at my own door. ' So!' said Itothe niaid who opened it (for 1 never would keep a man ; not, but what I could afford it bowever, the reason is not material now, ) 'So ! ' said I with an unusual smile upon my lace, and immediately sent her for a quire of paper and half a hundred >f pens the only thing 1 had absolutely determined on in mv \vnv from the coffee-house. I had now got seated in my arm-chair, I am an infirm 16 MEMOIRS old man, and I live on a second floor, when I began to ruminate on my project. The first thing that occurred to me ( and certainly a very natural one) was to examine my common-place book. So I went to my desk and took out my old faithful red-leather companion, who had long discharged the office of treasurer to all my best hints and memorandums : but, how was I surprised when one of the first things that struck my eyes was the following memorandum legibly written, and on one of my best sheets of vellum : ' Mem. Oct. 2O//1 , 1769, left the Grecian, after having read 's Poems , with a determined resolution tn write a Periodical Paper, in order io reform the vitiated taste of the age; but coming home and finding my fire out, and my maid gone abroad , was obliged to defer the execution of my plan to another opportunity.' Now though this event had absolutely slipped my memory, 1 now recollected it perfect- ly, ay, so my fire.wa,y out indeed, and my maid did go abroad sure enough. 'Good Heavens ! ' said I, 'how great events depend upon little circumstances ! ' However , I looked upon this as a mernent? for me no longer to trifle away my time and resolution, and thus I began to reason, I mean , I would have reasoned, had I not been interrupted by a noise of some one coming up stairs. By the alternate thump upon the steps, I soon discovered it must be my old and intimate friend Rudliche. "But, to return, in walked Rudliche. 'So, Fred.' 'So, Bob.' 'Were you at the Grecian to-day?'-' I just stepped in.' ' Well, any news?' No, no, there was no news.' Now, as Bob and I saw one another almost every day, we seldom abounded in conversation; so, having settled one material point, he sat in his usual posture, looking at the fire and beating the dust out of his wooden leg, when I perceived he was going to touch upon the other subject; but, having by chance cast his eve ou my face, and finding ( I suppose) something extraordinary in my countenance, he immediately dropped all concern for the weather, and putting his hand into his pocket ( as if he meant to find what he was going to say, under pretence of feeling for his tobacco-box), ' Hernan! (be began) why, man, you look for all the world as if you had been thinking of something.' ' Yes/ replied I, smiling ( that is, not actually smiling, but with a conscious something in my face) , ' I have, indeed , been thinking a little.' ' What, is't a secret?' 'Oh, nothing very material.' Here ensued a pause, which I employed in considering whether I should reveal my scheme to Bob; and Bob in trying to disengage his thumb from the string of his cane, as if he were preparing to take his leave. This latter action , with the great desire I had of disburdening myself, made me instantly resolve to lay my whole plan before him. ' Bob, said I ( he immediately quitted his thumb) , you remarked that I looked as if I had been thinking of something, your remark is just , and I'll tell you the subject of my thought. You know, Bob, that I always had a strong passion for literature : you have often seen my collection of books , not very large indeed ; however I believe I have read every volume of it twice over ( excepting '.? Divine Legation of Moses , and '.? Lives of the most notorious Malefactors'), and I am now determined to profit by them.' I concluded with a very significant nod; but, good heavens! how mortified was I to find both my speech and my nod thrown away, OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 17 when lUulliche calmly replied , \\ith the true phlegm of ignorance^, ' My dear friend , 1 think your resolution in regard to your books a very pru- dent one ; hut I do not perfectly conceive your plan as to the profit ; for , I .hough your volumes may be very curious, yet you know they are most of them second-hand.' 1 was so vexed with the fellow's stupidity that I had a great mind to punish him by not disclosing a syllable more. However , at last my vanity got the better of my resentment , and I ex- plained to him the whole matter. *****.** " In examining the beginning of the Spectators, etc. I find they are all written by a society. Now I profess tV> write all myself, though I ac- knowledge that , on account of a weakness in my eyes , I have got some under-strappers who are to write the poetry, etc. ... In order to find the different merits of these my subalterns, I stipulated with them that, they should let me feed them as I would. This they consented to do , and it is surprising to thirik what different effects diet has on the writers. The same who, after having been fed two days upon artichokes, produced as pretty a copy of verses as ever I saw , on beef was as dull as ditchwater. " It is a characteristic of fools ," says some one , " to be always beginning," and this is not the only point in which folly and genius resemble each other. So chillingly indeed do the difficulties of execution succeed to the first ardour of conception , that it is only wonderful there should exist so many finished monuments of genius , or that men of fancy should not oflener have contented themselves with those first , vague sketches, in the production of which the chief luxury of intellectual creation lies. Among the many literary works shadowed out by Sheridan at this lime , were a Col- lection of Occasional Poems , and a volume of Crazy Tales , to the former of which Halhed suggests, that " the old things they did at Harrow out of Theocritus " might , with a litlle pruning , form a useful contribution. The loss of the volume of Crazy Tales is little to be regretted , as from its title we may conclude it was written in imitation of the clever, but licentious productions of John Hall Stephenson. If the same kind oblivion had closed over the levities of oilier young authors , who , in the season of folly and the pas- sions , have made their pages the transcript of their lives , it would have been equally fortunate for themselves and the world. But , whatever may have been the industry of Ihese youthful au- thors , the translation of Arislaenetus , as I have already slated , was the only fruit of their literary alliance that ever arrived at sufficient malurily for publicalion. In November, 1770, Halhed had com- pleted and forwarded to Balh his share of the work , and in ihe following month we find Sheridan preparing , with the assistance of a Greek grammar, lo complete the task. ' u The 29lh nil. (says Mr. Ker, in a letter to him from London, dated DIM . 4, 1770) . I IS MEMOIRS was favoured with yours , and have since been hunting for Arislee- netus, whom I found this day, and therefore send to you, together wilh a Greek grammar. I might have dispatched at the same lime sbme numbers of the Dictionary, but not having got the two last numbers, was not willing to send any without the whole of what is published , and still less willing to delay Arislaenelus's journey by wailing for them." The work alluded to here is the Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, to which Sheridan had subscribed, with the view, no doubt, of informing himself upon subjects of which he was as yet wholly ignorant ; having left school, like most other young men at his age, as little furnished with the knowledge that is wanted in the world , as a person w ould be for the demands of a market , who went into it with nothing but a few ancient coius in his pocket. The passion , however, that now began to take possession of his heart was little favourable to his advancement in any serious studies ; and it may easily be imagined that , in the neighborhood of Miss Linley, the Arts and Sciences were suffered to sleep quietly on their shelves. Even the translation of Aristsenelus, though a task more suited , from its amatory nature , to the existing temperature of his heart , was proceeded in but slowly ; and it appears from one of Halhed's letters that this impatient ally was already counting upon the spolia opima of the campaign , before Sheridan had fairly brought his Greek grammar into the field. The great object of the former was a visit to Bath ; and he had set his heart still more anxiously upon it after a second meeting wilh Miss Linley at Oxford. But the profits expected from their literary undertakings were the only means to w hich he looked for the realising of this dream , and he accordingly implores his friend, with the most comic piteousness, to drive the farce on the stage by main force , and to make Aristffi- netus sell whether he will or not. In the November of this year we find them discussing the propriety of prefixing their names to the work Sheridan evidently not disinclined to venture , but Halhed recommending that they should wait to hear how " Sumner and Ihe wise few of their acquaintance " would talk of the book , before they risked any thing more than their initials. In answer to Sheri- dan's enquiries as to the extent of sale they may expect in Oxford, he confesses that , after three coffee-houses had bought one a-piece . not two more would be sold. That poverty is the best nurse of talent has long been a most hu- miliating truism ; and the fountain of the Muses , bursting from a barren rock, is but too apt an emblem of the hard source from which much of the genius of this world has issued. How strongly the young translators of Aristrenetus were under the influence of this sort of inspiration appears from every paragraph of Halhed's letters, OF R. B. SHERIDAN. in and might easily, indeed , be concluded of Sheridan from the very limited circumstances of his father who had nothing beside the pension of 200/. a-year, conferred upon him in consideration of his literary merits, and the little profits he derived from his lectures in Bath, to support with decency himself and his family. The pros- pects of Halhed were much more golden , but he was far too gay and mercurial to be prudent 5 and from the very scanty supplies which his father allowed him , had quite as little of " le superflu , chose si necessaire," as his friend. But whatever were his other desires and pursuits , a visit to Bath , to that place which contained the two persons he most valued in friendship and in love , was the grand object of all his financial speculations , and among other ways and means that , in the delay of the expected resources from Aris- Uenetus , presented themselves , was an exhibition of 20Z. a-year, which the college had lately given him , and with five pounds of which he thought he might venture " adire Corinthum." Though Sheridan had informed his friend that the translation was put to press some time in March, 1771, it does not appear to have been given into the hands of Wilkie, the publisher, till the beginning of May, when Mr. Ker writes thus to Bath : " Your Arista3nelus is in the hands of Mr. Wilkie , in St. Paul's Church-yard , and to put you out of suspense at once, will certainly make his appearance about the 1st of June next, in the form of a neat volume , price 3s. or 3s. &d., as may best suit his 'size, etc., which cannot be more nearly determined at present. I have undertaken the task of cor- recting for the press.... Some of the Epistles that I have perused seem to me elegant and poetical , in others I could not observe equal beauty, and here and there I could wish there were some little amendment. You will pardon this liberty I take , and set it down to the account of old-fashioned friendship. "Mr. Ker, to judge from his letters ( which , in addition to their other laudable points , are dated with a precision truly exemplary), was a very kind, useful , and sensible person , and in the sober hue of his intellect exhibited a striking contrast, to the sparkling vivacity of the two sanguine and impatient young wits , whose affairs he so good-na- turedly undertook to negotiate. At length in August , 1771, AristaBnetus made its appearance ' contrary to the advice of the bookseller, and of Mr. Ker, who re- presented to Sheridan the unpropitiousness of the season, parti- cularly for a first experiment in authorship , and advised the post- ponement of the publication till October. But the translators \\m> loo eager for the rich harvest of emolument they had promised 'hrmselves , and too full of that pleasing but often fatal delusion thai calenture , under the influence of which young voyagers to the SO MEMOIRS shores of Fame imagine they already see her green fields and groves in the treacherous waves around them to listen to the suggestions of mere calculating men of business. The first account they heard of the reception of the work was flattering enough to prolong awhile this dream of vanity. " It begins (writes Mr. Ker, in about a fort- night after the publication , ) to make some noise , and is fathered on Mr. Johnson , author of the English Dictionary, etc. See to- day's Gazetteer. The critics are admirable in discovering a concealed author by his style, manner, etc." Their disappointment at the ultimate failure of the book was proportioned , we may suppose , to the sanguineness of their first expectations. But the reluctance , with which an author yields to the sad certainty of being unread , is apparent in the eagerness with which Halhed avails himself of every encouragement for a rally of his hopes. The Critical Reviewers , it seems , had given the work a tolerable character, and quoted the first Epistle l . The Weekly Re- view in the Public Ledger had also spoken well of it, and cited a spe- cimen. The Oxford Magazine had transcribed two whole Epistles , without mentioning from whence they were taken. Every body, he says , seemed to have read the book , and one of those hawking booksellers, who attend the coffee-houses, assured him it was written by Dr. Armstrong , author of the OEconomy of Love. On the strength of all this he recommends that another volume of the Epistles should be published immediately being of opinion that the readers of the first volume would be sure to purchase the second, and that the publication of the second would put it in the heads of others to buy the first. Under a sentence containing one of these sanguine anticipations , there is written , in Sheridan's hand , the word " Quixote!" They were never, of course , called upon for the second part , and, whether we consider the merits of the original or of the translation , the world has but little to regret in the loss. ArisUenetus is one of those weak , florid sophists who flourished in the decline and degradation of ancient literature, and strewed their gaudy flowers of rhetoric over the dead muse of Greece. He is evidently of a much later period than Alciphron , to whom he is also very inferior in purity of diction, variety of subject, and playfulness of irony. But neither of them ever deserved to be wakened from that 1 In one of the Pieviews I have seen it is thus spoken of: '' No such writer as Aristaenetus ever existed in the classic aera ; nor did even the unhappy schools, after the destruction of the Eastern empire, produce such a writer. It was left to the latter times of monkish imposition to give snch trash as this, on which the transla- tor has ill spent his time. We have been as idly employed in reading it, and our readers will in proportion lose their time in perusing this article." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 21 sleep, in which the commentaries of Bergler, De Pauw, and a few more such industrious scholars have shrouded them. The translators of Aristaenetus , in rendering his flowery prose nilo verse, might have found a precedent and model for their task in Ben Jonson, whose popular song, " Drink to me only with thine eyes ," is, as Mr. Cumberland first remarked, but a piece of fan- ciful mosaic , collected out of the love-letters of the sophist Philos- tralus. But many of the narrations in Aristffinelus are incapable of being elevated into poetry; and, unluckily, these familiar parts seem chiefly to*have fallen to the department of Halhed , yfio was far less gifted than his coadjutor with that artist-like touch , which polishes away the mark of vulgarity, and gives an air of elegance even to poverty. As the volume is not in many hands , the follow- ing extract from one of the Epistles may be acceptable as well from the singularity of the scene described , as from the specimen it affords of the merits of the translation : " Listen another pleasure I display, That help'd delightfully the time away. From distant vales, where bubbles from its source A crystal rill , they dug a winding course : . See ! thro' the grove a narrow lake extends , Crosses each plot , to each plantation bends ; And while the fount iu new meanders glides, The forest brightens with refreshing tides. Tow'rds us they taught the new-boru stream to flow, Tow'rds us it crept, irresolute and slow : Scarce had the infant current trickled by , When lo ! a wondrous fleet attracts our eye; Laden with draughts might greet a monarch's tongue f The mimic navigation swam aloug. Hasten, ye ship-like goblets, down the vale , f ' Your freight a flagon, and a leaf your sail. <) may no envious rush thy course impede, Or floating apple stop thy tide-borne speed. His mildest breath a gentle zephyr gave ; The little vessels trimly stemm'd the wave : Their precious merchandise to laud they boie, And one by one resign'd the balmy store. Stretch but a hand , we boarded them , and quaft "With native luxury the teinper'd draught. For where they loaded the uectareous fleet. The goblet glow'd with too intense a heat ; Cool'd by degrees in these convivial ships , With nicest taste it met our thirsty lips." " In the original, tbi.s luxurious image is, pursued so far that the very leaf, nhi, h is represented as the sail of the vessel, is particularised as of a medicinal uiiiure, r.-.pable of preventing any ill effects the wine might prodiu-c." Not* kr the Translator. 9 22 MEMOIRS As a scholar such as Halhed could hardly have been led into Uie mistake of supposing r Mutt** or lost, by frequent exhibitions be- fore the public , that fine gloss of feminine modesty, for whose ab- sence not all the talents and accomplishments of the whole sex can atone. She had been , even at this early age , on the point of marriage with Mr. Long , an old gentleman of considerable fortune in Wilt- shire , who proved the reality of his attachment to her in a way which few young lovers would be romantic enough to imitate. On her secretly representing to him that she never could be happy as his wife, he generously took upon himself the whole blame of break- ing off the alliance , and even indemnified the father, who was pro- ceeding to bring the transaction into court, by settling 3000/. upon his daughter. Mr. Sheridan , who owed to this liberal conduct not only the possession of the woman he loved , but the means of sup- porting her during the first years of their marriage , spoke invaria- bly of Mr. Long , who lived to a very advanced age , with all the kindness and respect which such a disinterested character merilrd. II was about the middle of the year 1770 that the Shcridans look 24 MEMOIRS up their residence in King's Mead ' Street , Bath , where an ac- quaintance commenced between them and Mr. Linley's family , which the kindred tastes of the young people soon ripened into in- timacy. It was notto be expected, though parents, in general, are as blind to the first approach of these dangers, as they are rigid and unreasonable after they have happened , that such youthful poets and musicians 2 should come together, without Love very soon making one Of the party. Accordingly, the two brothers became deeply enamoured of Miss Linley. Her heart, however, was not so wholly unpreoccupied , as to yield at once to the passion which her destiny had in store for her. One of those transient preferences , which in early youth are mistaken for love , had already taken lively possession of her imagination , and to this the following lines, writ- ten at that time by Mr. Sheridan , allude : To the Recording Angel. Cherub of Heaveu , that from thy secret stand Dost uote the follies of each mortal here, Oli ! if Eliza's steps employ tliy hand, Ulot the sad legend with a mortal tear. Nor, when she errs , through passion's wild extreme, Mark then her course, nor heed each trifling wrong ; Nor, wheii her sad attachment is her theme, Note down the transports of her erring tongue. Knt, when she sighs for sorrows not her owu , Let that dear sigh to Mercy's cause be given ; And bear that tear to her Creator's throne Which glistens in the eye upraised to Heaven? But in love , as in every thin : else j the power of a mind like She- ridan's must have made itself felt through all obstacles and difficul- ties. He was not long in winning the entire affections of the young " Syren ," though the number and wealth of his rivals, the ambi- tious views of her father, and the temptations to which she herself was hourly exposed, kept his jealousies and fears perpetually on the watch. He is supposed, indeed , to have been indebted to self-ob- servation for that portrait of a wayward and morbidly sensitive lover, which he has drawn so strikingly in the character of Falkland. With a mind in this stale of feverish wakefulness, it is remarkable that he should so long have succeeded in concealing his attachment from the eyes of those most interested in discovering it. Even his ' They also lived , fluring a part of their stay at Bath, in New King-Street, 1 Dr. Barney, in his Biographical Sketch of Mr. Linley, written for Rees's Cyclopaedia, calls the Linley family 'a uest of nightingales." The only surviving member of this accomplished family is Mr. William Linley, whose taste and talent, both in poetry and music, most worthily sustain the reparation of the name tbat he bears. OF R. H. SHEAIDAN( ?5 brother Charles was for some lime wholly unaware of Iheir rivalry, and went on securely indulging in a passion which it was hardly possible , with such opportunities of intercourse , to resist , and which survived long after Miss Linley's selection of another had ex- tinguished every hope in his heart but that of seeing her happy. Halhed , too , who at that period corresponded constantly with She- ridan , and confided to him the love with which he also had been inspired by this enchantress , was for a length oT time left in the same darkness upon the subject , and without the slightest suspicion that the epidemic had reached his friend whose only mode of evading the many tender enquiries and messages , with which Hal- hed's letters abounded , was by referring to answers which had , by some strange fatality, miscarried , and which we may conclude , without much uncharitableness , had never been written. Miss Linley went frequently to Oxford , to perform at the orato- rios and concerts , and it may easily be imagined that the ancient allegory of the Muses throwing chains over Cupid was here reversed, and the quiet shades of learning not a little disturbed by the splen- dour of these " angel visits. "The letters of Halhed give a lively idea, not only of his own intoxication , but of the sort of contagious deli- rium , like that at Abdera described by Lucian , with which the young men of Oxford were affected by this beautiful girl. In describ- ing her singing he quotes part of a Latin letter, which he himself had written to a friend upon first hearing her ; and it is a curious proof of the readiness of Sheridan , notwithstanding his own fertility, to avail himself of the thoughts of others , that we find in this ex- tract , word for word , the same extravagant comparison of the ef- fects of music to the process of Egyptian embalmment " extract- ing the brain through the ears" which was afterwards transplanted into the dialogue of the Duenna: " Mortuum quendam ante jfZgypti inedici quam pollincirent cerebella de auribus unco quodam liamo solebant extrahere , sic de meis auribus non cerebrum, sed cor ipsum exhausit lusciniola , etc., etc." He mentions , as the rivals most dreaded by her admirers , Norris , the singer, whose musical talents, it was thought, recommended him to her, and Mr. Walls , a gentleman-commoner, of very large for- tune. While all hearts and tongues were thus occupied about Miss Lin- ley, it is not wonderful that rumours of matrimony and elopement should , from lime lo lime , circulate among her apprehensive ad- mirers ; or that the usual ill-compliment should be paid to her sex of supposing that wealth must be the winner of the prize. It was at "ne moment currently reported at Oxford that she had gone off to Scotland with a young man of 3000/. a-year, and the panic which 2(5 MEMOIRS the intelligence spread is described in one of these letters lo Sheri- dan ( who no doubt shared in it) as producing " long faces" every where. Not only, indeed, among her numerous lovers, but among all who delighted in her public performances, an alarm would na- turally be fell at the prospect of her becoming private property ; " Tejtiga Taygeti, posito te Mtenala Jlebunt fenatu, mcestoque Jin lugebr.re Cynlho. Deli>hica*qutneliamfratris delubra tacebuni '." Thee, thee, when hurried from our eyes away, Lacouia's liills shall tnunru for inanv a day The Arcadian hunter shall forget his chace , And turn aside , to think upon that face; While many an hour Apollo's songless shriue Shall wait in silence for a voice like thine! But, to the honour of her sex , which is , in general , more disin- terested than the other , it was found that neither rank nor wealth had influenced her heart in its election , and Halhed , who , like others , had estimated the strength of his rivals by their rent-rolls , discovered at last that his unpretending friend, Sheridan (whose advances in courtship and in knowledge seem to have been equally noiseless and triumphant ) , was the chosen favourite of her at whose feet so many fortunes lay. Like that Saint , Cecilia , by whose name she was always called , she had long welcomed to her soul a secret visitant % whose gifts were of a higher and more radiant kind, than the mere wealthy and lordly of this world can proffer. A letter, writ- ten by Halhed on the prospect of his departure for India- 3 , alludes so delicately to this discovery, and describes the stale of his own heart so mournfully, that I must again , in parting with him and his correspondence , express the strong regret thai I feel , at not being able to indulge the reader with a perusal of these letters. Nol only as a record of the first short flights of Sheridan's genius , but as a picture , from the life , of the various feelings of youth , its desires and fears , its feverish hopes and fanciful melancholy, they could not have failed to be read with Ihe deepesl interest. To this period of Mr. Sheridan's life we are indebled for most of those elegant love-verses , which are so well known and so often quoted. The lines " Uncouth is Ihis moss-covered grolto of stone," 1 Claudian. De Rapt. Proserp. Lib. ii. v. 244. J " The youth, found in her chamber, had in his hand two crowns or wreaths, the one of lilies, the other of roses, which he had brought from Paradise." Legend of St. Cecilia. 3 The letter is evidently in answer to one which he had just received from Sheridan, in which Miss Linley had written a few words, expressive of her wishes for his health and happiness. Mr. Halhed -sailed for India about ihe latter end of this year. OF R. 15- SHERIDAN. ?7 were addressed to Miss Linley , after having offended her by one of those lectures upon decorum of conduct , which jealous lovers so frequently inflict upon their mistresses , and the grotto , immorta- lized by their quarrel , is supposed to have been in Spring Gardens , then the fashionable place of resort in Bath. I have elsewhere remarked that the conceit in the following stanza resembles a thought in some verses of Angerianus : Aud thou , stony grot , in thy arch inay'st preserve Two lingering drops of the night-fallen dew , Let them fall on her bosom of snow, and they'll serve- As tears of my sorrow entrusted to you. At quum per niveam cervicem injliixerit humor Dicite non roris sed pluvia ha;c lacrimce, Whether Sheridan was likely to have been a reader of Ange- rianus is , I think , doubtful at all events the coincidence is cu- rious. " Dry be that tear, my gentlest love ," is supposed to have been written at a later period; fulfil was most probably produced at the time of his courtship, for he wrote but few love-verses after his mar- riage like the nigtingale (as a French editor of Bonefonious says, in remarking a similar circumstance of that poet) " qui developpe le charme de sa voix tant qu'il veut plaire a sa compagne sont-ils unis? il se tait, il n'a plus le besoin de lui plaire. "This song having been hitherto printed incorrectly, I shall give it here, as it is in the copies preserved by his relations. Dry be that tear, my gentlest love ' , Be hush'd that struggling sigh , Nor seasons , day , nor fate shall prove Morefix'd, more true than I. Hush'd be that sigh , be dry that tear , Cease boding doubt , cease anxious fear. Dry be that tear. Ask'st thou how long my love will stay , When all that 's new is past ? How long, ah Delia , can I say How long my life will last ? Dry be that tear, be hush'd that sigh , At least I'll love thee till I die. Hush'd be that sigh. And does that thought affect thee too , The thought of Sylvio's death, Tbat he who only breath'd for you , Must yield fliat faithful breath ? 1 Au Elegy by Halhed , transcribed in one of his letters to Sheridan , begins thus: " Dry l that tear, be hush'd that struggling sigh." 28 , MEMOIRS Husli'd be that sigh , be dry that tear , ]Nor let us lose our Heaveu here. Dry be that tear. There is in the second stanza here a close resemblance to one of the madrigals of Monlreuil , a French poet , to whom Sir J. Moore was indebted for the point of his well known verses, " If in that breast, so good, so pure *." Mr. Sheridan, however, knew nothing of French, and neglected every opportunity oflearning it , till, by a very natural process , his ignorance of the language grew into hatred of it. Besides, we have the immediate source from which he de- rived the thought of this stanza , in one of the Essays of Hume, who, being a reader of foreign literature, most probably found it in Mon- trcuil a . The passage in Hume (which Sheridan has done little more than versify) is as follows : " Why so often ask me, How long my love shall yet endure? Alas, my Cselia, can I resolve the question ? Do I know how long my life shallyct endure 3 ? The pretty lines, " Mark'd you her cheek of rosy hue?" were written, not upon Miss Linley as has been generally stated , but upon lady Margaret Fordice, and form part of a poem which he published in 1771, descriptive of the principal beauties of Bath, entitled " Clio's Protest, or the Picture Varnished ," being an answer to some verses by Mr. Miles Peter Andrews , called " The Bath Pic- ture ," in which Lady Margaret was thus introduced: " Remark too the dimpling , sweet smile Lady Marg'ret's fine countenance wears." The following is the passage in Mr. Sheridan's poem , entire ; and the beauty of the six favourite lines shines out so conspicuously, that The grief, that on ray quiet preys, That rends my heart and checks my tougue , I fear will last me all my days , Aud feel it will not last me loug. It is thus iu Montreuil : C'est uu nial que j'aurai tout le temps de ma vie; Mais je ne I'aurai pas long -temps. 3 Or in an Italian song of Menage, from which Moutieuil , who was accustomed to such thefts, most probably stole it. The point in the Italian is , as far as I can remember it , expressed thus : In van , o Filli , tu chiedi Se lungamente durera 1'ardore Chi lo potrebbe dire? lucerta, o Filli , e I' ora del morire. - The Epicurean. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 20 we cannot wonder at their having heen so soon detached , like ill set gems, from the loose and clumsy workmanship around them. " But, hark! did not our bard repeat The love-boru name of M-rg-r-t? Attention seizes every ear ; We paut for the description here : ' If ever dnlness left.thy brow, ' Pindar , ' we say, ' 'twill leave thee now.' But O I old Duluess' son anointed His mother never disappointed! And here we all were left to seek . A dimple in F-rd-ce's cheek ! "And could you really discover, In gazing those sweet beauties over, No other charm , no winning grace , Adorning either inind or face. But one poor dimple, to express The quintessence of loveliness? .... Mark'd you her cheek of rosy hue? Mark'J you her eye of sparkling blue? That eye , in liquid circles moving ; That cheek abash'd at Man's approving; The one, Love's arrows darting round; The other, blushing at the wound : Did she not speak , did she iiot move, Now Pallas now the Queen of Love! " There is little else in this poem worth being extracted, though it consists of about four hundred lines ; except , perhaps , his picture of a good country house-wife , which affords an early specimen of that neat poinledness of phrase , which gave his humour, both poe- tic and dramatic , such a peculiar edge and polish : ' We see the Dame , in rustic pride , A hunch of keys to grace her side. Stalking across the well-swept entry , To hold her council in the pantry ; Or , with prophetic soul, foretelling The peas will boil well by the shelling; Or, bustling in her private closet, Prepare her lord his morning posset ; And, while the hallow'd mixture thickens, Signing death-warrants for the chickens : Klse , greatly pensive , poring o'er Accounts her cook had thumb'd before; One eye cast up upon that great book , Yclep'd The Family Receipt Book ; By which she's rul'd in all her courses, From stewing Cgs to drtuchiug horses. Then pans and pickling skillets rise, In dreadful lustre to our eyes. 30 MEMOIRS With store of sweetmeats ranged iu order , Aud potted nothings on the border ; While salves and caudle-cups between , With squalliug children, close the scene." We find here, too, the source of one of those familiar lines, which so many quote without knowing whence they come 5 one of those stray fragments , whose parentage is doubtful , but to which ( as the law says of illegitimate children) " pater est populus." " You write with ease , to show your breeding, But easy writing's curst hard reading." In the following passage , with more of the tact of a man of the world than the ardour of a poet , he dismisses the object nearest his heart with the mere passing gallantry of a compliment : " O! should your geuius ever rise, And make you Laureate in the skies, I'd hold my life , in twenty years , You'd spoil the music of the spheres. Nay , should the rapture-breathing Nine In one celestial concert join , Their sovereign's power to rehearse, Were you to furnish them with verse, By Jove, I'd fly the heavenly throng, Tho' Phccbus play'd and LMey sung. " On the opening of the New Assembly Rooms at Bath , which commenced with a ridotto, Sept. 30, 1771, he wrote a humorous description of the entertainment, called " An Epistle from Timo- thy Screw to his Brother Henry , Waiter at Almack's," which ap- peared first in the Bath Chronicle, and was so eagerly sought after, that Crulwell , the editor , was induced to publish it in a separate form. The allusions in this trifle have, of course, lost their zest by time ; and a specimen or two of its humour will be all that is neces- sary here. " Two rooms were first opened the long and the round one , ( These Hogstyegon names only serve to confound one , ) Both splendidly lit with the new chandeliers , With drops hanging down like the bobs at Peg's ears : While jewels of paste reflected the rays, Aud Bristol stone diamonds gave strength to the blaze : So that it was doubtful , to view the bright clusters , Which sent the most light out, the ear-rings or lustres. Nor less among you was the medley, ye fair ! I believe there were some beside quality there: Miss Spiggot , Miss Brussels , Miss Tape, and Miss Socket , Miss Trinket , and aunt, with her leathern pocket, With good Mrs. Soaker, who made her old chin go , For hours, hobnobbing with Mrs. Syringo : Had Tib staid at home , I b'lieve none would have miss'd her , Or pretty I'eg Runt, with her tight little sister, " etc. etc. OF K. B. SHERIDAN. :>j CHAPTER II. Duels with Mr. Mathews. Marriage with Miss Linlcy. TOWARDS the close of the year 1771 , the elder Mr. Sheridan went lo Dublin , to perform at the theatre of that city, leaving his young and lively family at Bath, with nothing but their hearts and imaginations to direct them. The following letters, which passed between him and his son Richard during his absence, though possessing little other interest lhan that of having been written at such a period, will not, perhaps, be unwelcome to the reader : " MY DEAR RICHARD, Dublin, Dec. jlh, 1771. " How could you be so wrong-headed as to commence cold bathing at such a seasou of the year , and I suppose without any preparation too ? You have paid sufficiently for your folly,, but I hope the ill effects of it have been long since over. You and your brother are fond of quacking , a most dangerous disposition with regard to health Let slight things pass away of themselves ; in a case that requires assistance do nothing without, advice. Mr. Crook is a very able man in his way Should a physician be at any time wauling, apply to Dr. Nesbitt, and tell him that at leaving Bath I recommended you all to his care. This indeed 1 intended to have mentioned to him, but it slipped my memory. I forgot Mr. Crooke's lull, too, but desire I may have the amount by the ne*xt letter. Pray what is the meaning of my hearing so seldom from Bath? Six weeks here, and but two letters ! You were very tardy, what are your sisters about? I shall not easily forgive any future omissions. I suppose Charles received my answer to his, and the "2ol. bill from Whately. I shall order another to be sent at Christmas for the rent and other necessaries. I have not time at present to enter upon the subject of English authors, etc. but shall write to you upon that head when I get a little leisure. Nothing can be conceived in a more deplorable state than the stage of Dublin. I found two miserable companies opposing and starving each other. I chose; tin- least bad of them ; and, wretched as they are, it has had no effect on my nights, numbers having been turned away every time I played , and the receipts have been larger than when I had Barry, his wife, and Mrs. Fitz- Henry to play with me. However, I shall not be able to continue it long, as there is no possibility of getting up a sufficient number of plays \\illi such poor materials. I purpose to have done the week after next , and apply vigorously to the material point which brought me over. I find all ranks and parlies vcrv zealous for forwarding my scheme, and hav<- rcason to believe it will be carried in parliament after ihe recess, without opposition. It was in vain to have attempted it before, for never was party \ioletice' carried to such a height as in this sessions; ihc House seldom lli'' money bill , brought forward tbis year under Lord Townsend's adim- niMralion , encountered violent opposition, and was dually rejected. 3* MEMOIRS breaking up till eleven or twelve at night. From those contests, the desire of improving in the article of elocution is become very general. There are no less than five persons of rank and fortune now waiting my leisure to become my pupils. Remember me to all friends , particularly to our good landlord and landlady. I am , with love and blessing to you all , " Your affectionate father , " THOMAS SHERIDAN. " P. S. Tell your sisters I shall send the poplins as soon as I can get an opportunity. " " DRAR FATHER, " We have been for some time in hopes of receiving a letter, that we might know that you had acquitted us of neglect in writing. At the same time we imagine that the time is not far when writing will be unnecessary ; and we cannot help wishing to know the posture of the affairs, which, as you have not talked of returning, seem probable to detain you longer than you intended. I am perpetually asked when Mr. Sheridan is to have his patent for the theatre, which all the Irish here take for granted, and I often receive a great deal of information from them on the subject. Yet I cannot help being vexed when I see in the Dublin papers such bustling accounts of the proceedings of your House of Commons , as I remember it was your argument against attempting any thing from parliamentary authority in England. However, the folks here regret you, as one that is to be fixed in another kingdom, and will scarcely believe that you will ever visit Bath at all ; and we are often asked if we have not received the letter which is to call us over. " I could scarcely have conceived that the winter was so near depart- ing, were I not now writing after dinner by day-light. Indeed the first winter season is not, yet over at Bath. They have balls , concerts, etc. , at the rooms, from the old subscription still, and the spring ones are imme- diately to succeed them. They are likewise going to perform oratorios here. Mr. Linley and his whole family, down to the seven year olds, are to support one set at the new rooms , and a band of singers from London another at the old. Our weather here, or the effects of it, have been so uninviting to all kinds of birds , that tlu:re has not been the smallest excuse to take a gun into the fields this winter-, a point niore to the regret of Charles than myself. " We are all now in dolefuls for the Princess Dowager ; but as there was no necessity for our being dressed or weeping mourners , we were easily provided. Our acquaintances stand pretty much the same as when you left us , only that I think in general we are less intimate, by which I believe you will not think us great losers. Indeed, excepting Mr. Wynd- ham , I have not met with one person with whom I would wish to he intimate ; though there was a Mr. Lutterel, ( brother to the Colonel , ) who was some months ago introduced to me by an old Harrow acquaint- ance , who made me many professions at parting , and wanted me vastly to name some way in which he could be useful to me; but the relying on acquaintances , or seeking of friendships , is a fault which I think I shal I always have prudence to avoid. OF R. B. SHERIDA1N. S3 " Lissy begins to be tormented again with the toothache ; otherwise, we are all well. " I am , Sir, your sincerely dutiful and affectionate son , " Friday, Feb. 29. " R. B. SHERIDAN. ' I beg you will not judge of my attention to the improvement of my hand-Writing by this letter, as I am out of the way of a better pen. " Charles Sheridan , now one-and-twenty , the oldest and gravest of the party, finding his passion for Miss Linley increase every day, and conscious of the imprudence of yielding to it any further, wisely determined to fly from the struggle altogether. Having taken a so- lemn farewell of her in a letter, which his youngest sister delivered, he withdrew to a farm-house about seven or eight miles from Bath, little suspecting that he left his brother in full possession of that heart , of which he thus reluctantly and hopelessly raised the siege. Nor would this secret perhaps have been discovered for some time , had not another lover, of a less legitimate kind than either, by the alarming importunity of his courtship, made an explanation on all sides necessary. Captain Malhews , a married man and intimate with Miss Linley's family, presuming upon the innocent familiarity which her youth and his own station permitted between them , had for some time not only rendered her remarkable by his indiscreet attentions in pub- lic , but had even persecuted her in private with those unlawful addresses and proposals , which a timid female will sometimes rather endure , than encounter that share of the shame which may be re- flected upon herself by their disclosure. To the threat of self-destruc- tion , often tried with effect in these cases , he is said to have added the still more unmanly menace of ruining , at least , her reputation, if he could not undermine her virtue. Terrified by his perseverance, and dreading the consequences of her father's temper, if this viola- tion of his confidence and hospitality were exposed to him , she at length confided her distresses to Richard Sheridan , who , having consulted with his sister, and , for the first time, disclosed to her Uje slate of his heart with respect to Miss Linley, lost no time in expos- tulating with Malhews, upon the cruelty, libertinism, and fruil- lessness of his pursuit. Such a remonstrance, however, was but little calculated to conciliate the forbearance of this professed man of gal- lantry, who, it appears by the following allusion to him under the name of Lothario , in a poem written by Sheridan at the lime , still counted upon the possibility o'f gaining his object, or, at least, blighting the fruit which he could not reach : Nor spare the flirting Cassoc' d rogue , Nor auticnt Culliu's poKsh'd brogue; Nor {,'ay Lothario's nobler name, That Nimrod to all female fame. 3 34 MEMOIRS In consequence of this persecution, and an increasing dislike (< her profession , which made her shrink more and more from the gaze of the many, in proportion as she became devoted to the love of one, she adopted, early in 1772, the romantic resolution of flying secretly to France , and taking refuge in a convent , intend-- ing, at the same time, to indemnify her father, to whom she was bound till the age of -21 , by the surrender to him of part of the sum which Mr. Long had settled upon her. Sheridan, who, it is pro- bable , had been the chief adviser of her flight , was , of course , not slow in offering to be the parlner of it. His sister, whom he seems to have persuaded that his conduct in this affair arose solely from a wish to serve Miss Linley, as a friend , without any design or desire to lake advantage of her elopement , as a lover, not only assisted Ihcm with money out of her little fund for house-expenses, but gave them letters of introduction to a family with whom she had been acquainted at St. Quentin. On the evening appointed for their departure, while Mr. Linley, his eldest son, and Miss Maria Linley, were engaged at a concert, from which the young Cecilia herself had been , on a plea of illness , excused , she was conveyed by Sheridan in a sedan-chair from her father's house in the Cres- cent , to a post-chaise which waited for them on the London road , and in which she found a woman whom her lover had hired , as a sort of protecting Minerva , to accompany them in their flight. It will be recollected that Sheridan was at this time little more than twenty, and his companion just entering her eighteenth year. On their arrival in London , with an adroitness which was , at least , very dramatic , he introduced her to an old friend of his family (Mr. Ewart , a respectable brandy-merchant in the city), as a rich heiress who had consented to elope with him to the Continent 5 in consequence of which the old gentleman , with many commen- dations of his wisdom, for having given up the imprudent pursuit of Miss Linley, not only accommodated the fugitives with a passage oo board a ship , which he had ready to sail from the port of London lo Dunkirk , but gave them letters of recommendation to his corres- pondents at that place , who with the same zeal and dispatch facili- tated their journey to Lisle. On their leaving Dunkirk , as was natural to expect , the chival- rous and disinterested protector degenerated into a mere selfish lover. It was represented by him , with arguments which seemed to appeal lo prudence as well as feeling , that after the step which they had taken , she could not possibly appear in England again but as his wife. He was, therefore, he said, resolved not to deposit her in a convent, till she had consented, by the ceremony of a marriage, lo confirm to him that right of protecting her. which he OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 35 had now but temporarily assumed. It did not, we may suppose , require much eloquence , to convince her heart of the truth of this reasoning; and, accordingly, at a little village, not far from Calais , i hey were married about the latter end of March, 1772, by a priest well known for his services on such occasions. They thence immediately proceeded to Lisle , where Miss Linley, as she must still be called , giving up her intention of going on to St. Quenlin, procured an apartment in a convent, with the deter- mination of remaining there , till Sheridan should have the means of supporting her as his acknowledged wife. A letter which he wrote to his brother from this place, dated April 15, though it throws but little additional light on the narrative, is too interesting an illustration of it to be omitted here. " DEAR BROTHER, " Most probably you will have thought me very inexcusable for not having writ to you. You will be surprized, too, to be told that, except vour letter jusf, after we arrived , we have never received one line from Bath. We suppose for certain that there are letters somewhere , in which case we shall have sent to every place almost but the right, whither, I hope , I have now sent also. You will soon see me in England. Every thing on our side has at last succeeded. Miss L is now fixing in a con- vent, where she has been entered some time. This has been a much more difficult point than you could have imagined , and we have , I find, been extremely fortunate. Sbe has been ill , but is now recovered ; this , too , lias delayed me. We would have wrote, but have been kept in the most tormenting expectation, from day to day, of receiving your letters : but, as every thing is now so happily settled here, I will delay no longer giving you that information , though probably I shall set out for England, without knowing a syllable of what has happened with you. All is well 1 hope , and I hope , too , that though you may have been ignorant for some time, of our proceedings, you never could have been uneasy lest any thing should tempt me to depart, even in a thought, from the honour and consistency which engaged me at first. I wrote 'to M ' above a week ago, which I think was necessary and right. I hope he has acted tbe one proper part which was left him ; and, to speak from my feelings , I cannot but say that I shall be very happy to find no further disagreeable consequence pursuing him; for, as Brutus says of Caesar, etc. if I delay one moment longer, I lose the post. " I have writ now, too, to Mr. Adams, and should apologize to you for having writ to him first and lost my time for you. Love to my sisters, Miss L to all " Ever, Charles, your affec*. Brother, " R. B. SHERIDAN. " I need not tell you that we altered quite our route." The illness of Miss Linley, to which he alludes, and which had been occasioned by fatigue and agitation of mind , came on some 1 Mathews. 20 MEMOIRS days after her retirement to the convent j but an English physician/ Dr. Dolman of York , who happened to be resident in Lisle at the time, was called in to attend her; and in order that she might be more directly under his care, he and Mrs. Dolman invited her to their house , where she was found by Mr. Linley, on his arrival in pursuit of her. After a few words of private explanation from Sheridan , which had the effect of reconciling him to his truant daughter, Mr. Linley insisted upon her returning with him imme- diately to England , in order to fulfil some engagements which he had entered into on her account ; and , a promise being given that , as soon as these engagements were accomplished , she should be allowed to resume her plan of retirement at Lisle , the whole party set off amicably together for England. On the first discovery of the elopement, the landlord of the house in which the Sheridans resided had , from a feeling of pity for the situation of the young ladies , now left without the pro- tection of either father or brother, gone off, at br&k of day, to the retreat of Charles Sheridan , and informed him of the event which had just occurred. Poor Charles, wholly ignorant till then of his brother's attachment to Miss Linley, felt all that a man may be supposed to feel , who had but too much reason to think himself betrayed, as well as disappointed. He hastened to Bath, where he found a still more furious lover, Mr. Malhews , enquiring al the house every particular of the affair, and almost avowing, in the impotence of his rage, the unprincipled design which this summary step had frustrated. In the course of their conversation , Charles Sheridan let fall some unguarded expressions of anger against his brother, which this gentleman , who seems to have been eminently qualified fora certain line of characters indispensable in all romances, treasured up in his memory, and, as it will appear, afterwards availed himself of them. For the four or five weeks during which the young couple were absent, he never ceased to haunt the Sheridan family, with enquiries , rumours , and other disturbing visitations ; and, at length , urged on by the restlessness of revenge , inserted the fol- lowing violent advertisement in the Bath Chronicle : " Wednesday, April 8lh, 1772. "Mr. Richard S******* having attempted, in a letter left behind him for that purpose, to account for his scandalous method of running a\v;n from this place, by insinuations derogating from my character, and tluit of a young lady, innocent as far as relates to me, or my knowledge; since which he has neither taken any notice of letters , or even informed his own family of the place where he has hid himself; I can no longer think he deserves the treatment of a gentleman, and therefore shall OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 37 trouble myself no lurthci about him than , in this public method, to post in in as a L* * and a treacherous S*** ***, " And as I am convinced there have been many malevolent incendiaries oncerned in the propagation of his infamous lie , if any of them , unpro- tected by age, infirmities , or profession, will dare to acknowledge the part they have acted, and affirm to what they have said o/"me, they may depend on receiving the proper reward of their villainy, in the most pub- lic manner. The world will be candid enough to judge properly ( I make no doubt) of any private abuse on this subject for the future; as nobody can defend himself from an accusation he is ignorant of. " THOMAS MATHEWS." On a remonstrance from Miss Sheridan upon this outrageous proceeding , he did not hesitate to assert that her brother Charles was privy to it 5 a charge which the latter with indignation repel- led , and was only prevented by the sudden departure of Malhews to London from calling him to a more serious account for the false- hood. At this period the party from the Continent arrived ; and as a de- tail of the circumstances which immediately followed has been found in Mr. Sheridan's own hand-writing, drawn up hastily, it appears, at the Parade Coffee-house , Bath , the evening before his second duel with Mr. Malhews , it would be little better than profanation to communicate them in any other words. " It has ever been esteemed impertinent to appeal to the public in con- cerns entirely private ; but there now and then occurs a private incident which, by being explained , may be productive of public advantage. This consideration, and the precedent of a public appeal in this same affair, are my only apologies for the following lines : " Mr. T. Mathews thought himself essentially injured by Mr. R. She- ridan's having co-operated in the virtuous efforts of a young lady to es- cape the snares of vice and dissimulation. He wrote several most abusive threats to Mr. S , then in France. He laboured, with a cruel industry, to vilify his character in England. He publicly posted him as a scoundrel and a liar. Mr. S. answered him from France (hurried and surprized) , that he would never sleep in England till he had thanked him as he de- served. " Mr. S- arrived in London at 9 o'clock at night. At 10 he is informed , by Mr. S. Ewart, that Mr. M- is in town. Mr. S. had sat up at Canterbury, to keep his idle promise to Mr. M. He resolved to call on him that night , as , in case he had not found him in town , he had called on Mr. Ewart to accompany him to Bath , being bound by Mr. Linley not to let any thing pass between him and Mr. M. till he had arrived thither. Mr. S. came to Mr. Cochlin's, in Crutchcd Friars, (where Mr. M. was lodged , ) about half after twelve. The key of Mr. C.'s door was lost; Mr. S. was denied admittance. By two o'clock he got in. Mr. M. had been previously down to the door, and told Mr. S. he should be admitted, and had retired to bed again. He dressed, complained of the cold, 38 MEMOIRS voured to get heat into him , called Mr. S. his dear friend, and forced him to sit down. Mr. S. had been informed that Mr. M. had sworn his death that Mr. M. had, in numberless companies , produced bills on France, whither he meant to retire , on the completion of his revenge. Mr. M. had warned Mr. Ewart to advise his friend not even to come in his way without a sword, as he could not answer for the consequence " Mr. M. had left two letters for Mr. S., in which he declares he is to be met with at any hour, and begs Mr. S. will not "deprive himself of so much sleep, or stand on any ceremony." Mr. S. called on him at the hour mentioned. Mr. S. was admitted with the difficulty mentioned. Mr. S. declares that , on Mr. M.'s perceiving that he came to answer then to his challenge, he does not remember ever to have seeu a man behave so perfectly dastardly. Mr. M. detained Mr. S. till seven o'clock the next morning. He (Mr. M. ) said he never meant to quarrel with Mr. S. He convinced Mr. S. that his enmity ought to be directed solely against his brother and another gentleman at Bath. Mr. S. went to Bath '." ****** On his arrival in Bath ( whither he travelled with Miss Linley and her Father ) , Sheridan lost not a moment in ascertaining the false- hood of the charge against his brother. While Charles, however, indignantly denied the flagitious conduct imputed to him by Ma- thews , he expressed his opinion of the step which Sheridan and Miss Linley had taken in terms of considerable warmth , which were overheard by some of the family. As soon as the young ladies had retired to bed, the two brothers, without any announcement of their intention , set off post together for London, Sheridan having previously written the following letter to Mr. Wade , the Master of the Ceremonies. " SIR , " I ought to apologize to you for troubling you again on a subject which should concern so few. " I find Mr. Mathews's bahaviour to have been such that I cannot be satisfied with his concession, as a consequence of an explanation from me. I called on Mr. Mathews last Wednesday night at Mr. Cochlin's , without the smallest expectation of coming to any -verbal explanation with him. A proposal of a pacific meeting the next day was the consequence, which ended in those advertisements and the letter to you. As for Mr. Mathews's honour or spirit in this whole affair, I shall only add that a few hours may possibly give some proof of the latter; while, in my own justifi- cation I affirm, that it was far from being my fault that this point now remains to be determined. " On discovering Mr. Mathews's benevolent interposition in my own family, I have counterordered the advertisements that were agreed on , as I think even an explanation would now misbecome me ; an agree- ' The remainder of this paper is omitted, as only briefly referring to circum- stances, which will be found more minutely detailed in another document. OF R. R. SHERIDAN. 3!) nient to them was the effect more of mere charity' than judgment. As 1 find it necessary to make aH my sentiments as public as possible, your declaring this will greatly oblige, " Your very humble Servant, " R. B. SHERIDAN." " Sat. 12 o'clock, May sd, 1772. " To William Wade, Esq." On the following day (Sunday), when the young gentlemen did not appear, the alarm of their sisters was not a little increased , by hearing that high words had been exchanged the evening before, and that it was feared a duel between the brothers would be the consequence. Though unable to credit this dreadful surmise , yet full of the various apprehensions which such mystery was calculated to inspire , they had instant recourse to Miss Linley, the fair Helen of all this strife , as the person most likely to be acquainted with their brother Richard's designs , and to relieve them from the sus- pense under which they laboured. She . however, was as ignorant of the transaction as themselves , and their mutual distress being heightened by sympathy, a scene of tears and fainting-fits ensued , of which no less remarkable a person than Doctor Priestley, who lodged in Mr. Linley's house at the time , happened to be a witness. On the arrival of the brothers in town , Richard Sheridan in- stantly called Mathews out. His second on the occasion was Mr. Ewart, and the particulars of the duel are thus stated by himself, in a letter which he addressed to Captain Knight, the second of Mathews , soon after the subsequent duel in Bath. ", I. ;.- *;:-. Hbiun oa Jni,j.{ V "SIR, " On the evening preceding my last meeting with Mr. Mathews , Mr. Barnett ' produced a paper to me, written by Mr. Mathews, con- taining an account of our former meetings in London. As I had before frequently heard of Mr. Mathews's relation of that affair, without inte- resting myself much in contradicting it, I should certainly have treated this in the same manner, had it not been seemingly authenticated by Mr. Knight's name being subscribed to it. My asserting that the paper con- tains much misrepresentation, equivocation, and falsity, might make it appear strange that I should apply to you in this manner for information on the subject: but, as it likewise contradicts what I have been told were Mr. Knight's sentiments and assertions on that affair, I think I owe it to his credit, as well as my own justification, first, to be satisfied from himself whether he really subscribed and will support the truth to the account shown by Mr. Mathews. Give me leave previously to re- late what / have affirmed to have been a real state of our meeting in London , and which I am now ready to support on my honour, or my ' The friend ofMathcws in llie second duel. 40 MEMOIRS oath , as the best account I can give of Mr. Mathews's relation is, that it is almost directly opposite to mine. " Mr. Ewart accompanied me to Hyde Park, about six in the evening, where wemetyou andMr. Mathews, and we walked together to the ring Mr. Mathews refusing to makeany other acknowledgment than lie had done, I observed that we were come to the ground : Mr. Mathews objected to the spot, and appealed to you. We proceeded to the back of a building on the other side of the ring, the ground was there perfectly level. I called on him, and drew my sword (he having previously declined pistols). Mr. Ewart ob- served a sentinel on the other side of the building ; we advanced to another part of the park I stopped again at a seemingly convenient place : Mr. Ma- thews objected to the observation of some people at a great distance, and proposed to retire to the Hercules ' Pillars till the park should be clear : we did so. In a little time we returned. I again drew my sword ; Mr. Ma- thews again objected to the observation of a person who seemed to watch us. Mr. Ewart observed that the chance was equal, and engaged that no one should stop him, should it be necessary for him to retire to the gate, where we had a chaise and four, which was equally at his service. Mr. Mathews declared thit he would not engage while any one was within sight, and proposed to defer it till next morning. I turned to you , and said that * this was trifling work ,' that I could not admit of any delay, and enga- ged to remove the gentleman (who proved to be an officer, and who, on my going up to him , and assuring him that any interposition would be ill timed, politely retired). Mr. Mathews, in the meantime, had returned towards the gate ; Mr. Ewart and I called to you , and followed. We returned to the Hercules' Pillars, and went from thence, by agreement to the Bedford Coffee House, where, the master being alarmed, you came and conducted us to Mr. Mathews at the Castle Tavern, Henrietta Street. Mr. Ewart took lights up in his hand, and almost immediately on our entering the room we engaged. I struck Mr. Mathews's point so much out of the line , that I stepped up and caught hold of his wrist, or the hilt of his sword, while the point of mine was at his breast. You ran in and caught hold of my arm, exclaim- ing, ' don't kill him.'' I struggled to disengage my arm, and said his sword w?s in my power. Mr. Mathews called out twice or thrice , ' / beg my life.' We were parted. You immediately said , ' there , he has begged his life, and now there is an end of it;' and Mr. Ewart's saying that , when his sword was in my power, as I attempted no more , you should not have interfered, you replied that you were wrongful that you had done it hastily, and to prevent mischief or words to that effect. Mr. Mathews then hinted that I was rather obliged to your interposition for the advantage : you declared that ' before you did so , both the swords were in Mr. Sheridan's power.' Mr. Mathews still seemed resolved to give it another turn , and observed that he had never quitted his sword. Provoked at this, I then swore, with too much heat perhaps, that he should either give up his sword and I would break it, or go to his guard again. He refused but, on my persisting, ^either gave it into my hand, or flung it on the table, or the ground (which, I will not. absolutely affirm). I broke it , and flung the hilt to the other end of the room. He exclaimed at this. I took a mourning sword from Mr. Ewart, and presenting him OF K. R. SHERIDAN. 41 with mine, gave my honour that what had passed should never be men- tioned by me, and lie might now right himself again. He replied that he * would never draw a sword against the man who had given him his life ; ' but, on his still exclaiming against the indignity of breaking his sword (which he had brought upon himself), Mr. Ewart offered him the pistols, and some altercation passed between them. Mr. Mathews said, that he could never show his face, if it were known how his sword -was broke that such a thing had never been done that it cancelled all obligations , etc. etc. You seemed to think it was wrong, and we both proposed , that if he never misrepresented the affair, it should not be mentioned by us. This was settled. I then asked Mr. Mathews, whe- ther (as he had expressed himself sensible of, and shocked at the injustice and indignity he had done me in his advertisement) it did not occur to him that he owed me another satisfaction ; and that, as it was now in his power to do it without discredit, I supposed, he would not hesitate. This he absolutely refused, unless conditionally; I insisted on it, and said I would not leave the room till it was settled. After much altercation, and iv i th much ill-grace, he gave the apology, which afterwards appeared. W 7 e parted, and I returned immediately to Bath. I, theret, to Colonel Gould , Captain Wade, Mr. Greaser, and others , mentioned the affair to Mr. Mathews's credit said that chance having given me the advantage , Mr. Mathews had consented to that apology, and mentioned nothing of the sword. Mr. Mathews came down, and in two days I found the whole affair had been stated in a different light, and insinuations given out to the same purpose as in the paper, which has occasioned this trouble. 1 had undoubted authority that these accounts proceeded from Mr. Ma- thews , and likewise that Mr Knight had never had any share in them. I then thought I no longer owed Mr. Mathews the compliment to conceal any circumstance , and I related the affair to several gentlemen exactly as above. " Now, sir, as I have put down nothing in this account but upon the most assured recollection, and, as Mr. Mathews's paper either directly or equivocally contradicts almost every article of it, and as your name is subscribed to that paper, I flatter myself that I have a right to expect your answer to the following questions : First, " Is there any falsity or misrepresentation in what I have advanced above ? " With regard to Mr. Mathews's paper did I, in the park, seem in the smallest article inclined to enter into conversation with Mr. Mathews? He insinuates that I did. " Did Mr. Mathews not beg his life? He affirms he did not. "Did I break his sword without warning ? He affirms I did it with- out warning , on his laying it on the table. "Did I not offer him mine? He omits it. " Did Mr. Mathews give me the apology as a point of generosity, on my desisting f demand it? He affirms he did. " I shall now give my reasons for doubting your having authenticated this paper. " i . Because I think it full of falsehood and misrepresentation, and Mr. Knight has the character of a man of truth and honour. 4i MEMOIRS " a. When you were at Bath , I was informed that you had never ex pressed any such sentiments. "3. I have been told that, in Wales, Mr. Mathews never told hi* story in the presence of Mr Knight, who had never there insinuated anything to my disadvantage. " 4- The paper shown me by Mr. Barnett contains (if my memory does not deceive me) three separate sheets of writing-paper. Mr. Knight's evidence is annexed to the last, which contains chiefly a copy of our first proposed advertisements , which Mr. Mathews had, in Mr. Knight's presence, agreed should be destroyed as totally void; and which (in a letter to Colonel Gould, by whom I had insisted on it) he declared upon his honour he knew nothing about , nor should ever make the least use of. " These, sir, are my reasons for applying to yourself, in preference to any appeal to Mr. Ewart, my second on that occasion , which is what I would wish to avoid. As for Mr. Mathews's assertions, I shall never be concerned at them. I have ever avoided any verbal altercation with that gentleman, and he has now secured himself from any other. " I am your very humble servant , " R. B SHERIDAN." It was not till Tuesday morning that the young ladies at Bath were relieved from their suspense by the return of the two brothers , who entered evidently much fatigued , not having been in bed since they left home , and produced the apology of Mr. Mathews , which was instantly sent to Crulwcll for insertion. It was in the following terms : " Being convinced that the expressions I made use of to Mr. Sheri- dan's disadvantage were the effects of passion and misrepresentation, I retract what I have said to that gentleman's disadvantage, and parti- cularly beg his pardon for my advertisement in the Bath Chronicle. "THOMAS MATHEWS '." With the odour of this transaction fresh about him , Mr. Mathews retired to his estate in Wales, and, as he might have expected, found himself universally shunned. An apology may be, according to circumstances , either the noblest effort of manliness or the last resource of fear, and it was evident, from the reception which this gentleman experienced every where, that the former, at least, was not the class to which his late retraction had been referred. In this crisis of his character, a Mr. Barnett, who had but lately come to reside in his neighbourhood , observing with pain the mortifications 1 This appeared in the Bath Chronicle of May 7th. In another part of the same paper there is the following paragraph: "We can with anthority contradict the account iu the London Evening Post of last night, of a duelbetween Mr. M t ws and Mr. S r n, as to the time and event of their meeting, Mr. S. having heen at this place on Saturday, and both these gentlemen heing here at present." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 4:5 to which he was exposed, and perhaps thinking them , in some de- gree , unmerited , took upon him to urge earnestly the necessity of a second meeting with Sheridan , as the only means of removing (he stigma left by the first 5 and , with a degree of Irish friendliness , not forgotten in the portrait of Sir Lucius OTrigger, offered him- self to be the bearer of the challenge. The desperation of persons in Mr. Mattiews's circumstances , is in general much more formid- able than the most acknowledged valour $ and we may easily believe that it was with no ordinary eagerness he accepted the proposal of his new ally, and proceeded with him , full of vengeance , to Bath. The elder Mr. Sheridan , who had but just returned from Ireland, and been with some little difficulty induced to forgive Ins son for the wild achievements he had been engaged in during his absence , was at this lime in London , making arrangements for the de- parture of his favourite , Charles , who , through the interest of Mr. Wheatley, an old friend of the family, had been appointed Secretary to the Embassy in Sweden. Miss Linley wife and no wife , obliged to conceal from the world what her heart would have been most proud to avow, was also absent from Bath, being engaged at the Oxford music-meeting. The letter containing the preliminaries of the challenge was delivered by Mr. jtarnett , with rather unnecessary cruelty, into the hands of Miss Sheridan , under the pretext , however, that it was a note of invitation for her bro- ther, and on the following morning , before it was quite daylight , the parties met at Kingsdown Mr. Mathews, attended by his neigh- bour Mr. Barnetl, and Sheridan by a gentleman of the name of Paumier, nearly as young as himself, and but little qualified for a trust of such importance and delicacy. The account of the duel , which I shall here subjoin, was drawn up some months after, by the second of Mr. Malhews , and depo- sited in the hands of Captain Wade, the master of the ceremonies. Though somewhat partially coloured , and (according to Mr. Sheri- dan's remarks upon it, which shall be noticed presently) incorrect in some particulars , it is , upon the whole , perhaps as accurate a statement as could be expected , and received , as appears by the following letter from Mr. Brcrcton (another of Mr. Sheridan's in- timate friends), all the sanction that Captain Paumier's concurrence in the truth of its most material facts could furnish. " DEAR SIR , " In consequence of some reports spread to the disadvantage of Mr. M. (thews, it seems lie obtained from Mr. Baructt an impartial relation "! ihc last allair ^vitli Mi . Sheridan, directed to you. This account Mr. 44 MEMOIRS Panniicr has seen , and 1 , at Mr. Malhews's desire , inquired from him if he thought it true and impartial : he says it differs , in a few immaterial circumstances only, from his opinion, and lias given me authority to de clare this to you. "I am, dear Sir, "Your most humble and obedient servant, (Signed) "WILLIAM BHERETOU." "Bath, Oct. 24. 1772. Copy of a paper left by Mr. Burnett in the Hands of Captain Willuim Wnde , Master of the Ceremonies at Bath. " On quitting our chaises at the top of Kingsdown , I entered into a conversation with Captain Paumier, relative to some preliminaries I thought ought to be settled in an affair which was likely to end very se- riously; particularly the method of using their pistols, which Mr. Ma- thews had repeatedly signified his desire to use prior to swords , from a conviction that Mr. Sheridan would run in on him , and an ungentle- manlike scuffle probably be the consequence. This, however, was re- fused by Mr. Sheridan , declaring he had no pistols : Captain Paumier replied he had a brace (which I know were loaded). By my advice, Mr. Mathews's were not loaded, as I imagined it was always customary to load on the field , which I mentioned to Captain Paumier at the White- Hart , before we went out , and desired he would draw his pistols. He replied, as the*y were already loaded, and they going on a public road at that time of the morning, he might as well let them remain so, till we got to the place appointed , when he would on his honour draw them , which I am convinced he would have done had there been time; but Mr. Sheridan immediately drew his sword, and, in a vaunting manner, desired Mr. Mathews to draw (their ground was very uneven, and near the post-chaise). Mr. Mathews drew; Mr. Sheridan advanced on him at first ; Mr. Mathews in turn advanced fast on Mr. Sheridan ; upon which he retreated, till he very suddenly ran in upon Mr. Mathews, laying himself exceedingly open , and endeavouring to get hold of Mr. Mathews's sword; Mr. Mathews received him on his point, and, I believe, disen- gaged his sword from 3Ir. Sheridan's body, and gave him another wound; which , I suppose , must have been either against one of his ribs , or his breast-bone, as his sword broke, which I imagine happened from the resistance it met with from one of those parts , but whether it was broke by that, or on the closing, I cannot aver. " Mr. Mathews, I think, on finding his sword broke, laid hold of Mr. Sheridan's sword-arm, and tripped up his heels : they both fell ; Mr. Ma- thews was uppermost, with the hilt of his sword in his hand, having about six or seven inches of the blade to it, with which I saw him give Mr. Sheridan, as I imagined, a skin-wound or two in the neck ; for it could be no more, the remaining part of the sword being broad and blunt ; he also beat him in the face either with his fist or the hilt of his sword. Upon this I turned from them, and asked Captain Paumier if we should not take them up ; but I cannot say whether he heard me or not, as there was a good deal of noise; however, he made no reply. I again OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 45 turned to the combatants , who were much in the same situation : I found Mr. Sheridan's sword was bent, and he slipped his hand up the small part of it, and gave Mr. Mathews a slight wound in the left part of his belly : I that instant turned again to Captain Paumier, and proposed again our taking them up. He in the same moment called out , ' Oh ! he is killed , he is killed ! ' I as quick as possible turned again , and found Mr. Mathews had recovered the point of his sword , that was before on the ground, with which he had wounded Mr. Sheridan in the belly : 1 saw him drawing the point out of the wound. By this time Mr. Sheri- dan's sword was broke, which he told us. Captain Paumier called out to him , ' My dear Sheridan , beg your life, and I will be yours for ever.' I also desired him to ask his life : he replied, 'No, by God , I won't.' I then told Captain Paumier it would not do to wait for those punctilios ( or words to that effect ) , and desired he would assist me in taking them up. Mr. Mathews most readily acquiesced first, desiring me to see Mr. Sheridan was disarmed. I desired him to give me the tuck, which he readily did, as did Mr. Sheridan the broken part of his sword to Captain Paumier. Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Mathews both got up, the former was helped into one of the chaises, and drove off for Bath, and Mr. Mathews made the best of his way for London. " The whole of this narrative I declare , on the word and honour of a gentleman , to be exactly true ; and that Mr. Mathews discovered as much genuine , cool, and intrepid resolution as man could do. " I think I may be allowed to be an impartial relater of facts, as my motive for accompanying Mr. Mathews was no personal friendship, (not having any previous intimacy, or being barely acquainted with him, ) but from a great desire of clearing up so ambiguous an affair, without prejudice to either parly, which a stranger was judged the most proper to do, particularly as Mr. Mathews had been blamed before for taking a relation with him on a similar occasion. ( Signed ) " WILLIAM BARNKTT." " October, 1772. 1 The following account is given as an ''fextract of a Letter from Bath," in the St. James's Chronicle, July 4 : "Young Sheridan and Captain Mathevvs of this town, who lately had a rencontre in a tavern in London, upon account of the maid of Bath, Miss Liiiley, have had another this morning upon Kingsdown , about four miles hence. Sheridan is much wounded , but whether niortally or not is yet uncertain. Both their swords breaking upon the first lunge, they threw each other down, and with the broken pieces hacked at each other rolling upon the ground, the seconds standing by, quiet spectators. Mathews is but slightly wounded, and is since gone off." The Bath Chronicle, on the day after the dnel (July 2d), gives the particulars thus: "This morning about three o'clock, a second duel was fought with swords between Captain Mathews and Mr. R. She ridan , on Kiugsdown , near this city, in consequence of their former dispute respecting an amiable young lady, which Mr. M. considered as improperly adjust- ed; Mr. S. having since their first rencontre, declared his sentiments respecting Mr. M. in a manner that the former thought required satisfaction. Mr. Sheridan received three or four wounds in his breast and sides, and now lies very ill- Mr. M. was only slightly wounded, and left this city soon after the affair was over." 4C, MEMOIRS The comments which Mr. Sheridan thought it necessary to make upon this narrative have been found in an unfinished state among his papers ; and though they do not , as far as they go , disprove any thing material in its statements, (except, perhaps, with respect to the nature of the wounds which he received,) yet, as containing some curious touches of character , and as a document which he himself thought worth preserving , it is here inserted. " To William Barnetl , Esq. "SIR, " It has always appeared to me so impertinent for individuals to appeal to the public on transactions merely private, that I own the most apparent necessity does not prevent my entering into such a dispute without an awkward consciousness of its impropriety. Indeed, I am not without some apprehension, that I may have no right to plead your having led the way in my excuse ; as it appears not improbable that some ill-wisher to you, Sir, and the cause you have been engaged in , betrayed you first into this exact narrative , and then exposed it to the public eye, under pretence of vindicating your friend. However, as it is l he opinion of some of my friends , that I ought not to suffer these papers (o pass wholly unnoticed , I shall make a few observations on them , with that moderation which becomes one who is highly conscious of the im- propriety of staking his single assertion against tbe apparent testimony of three. This, I say, wouldbe an impropriety, as I am supposed to write to those who are not acquainted with tbe parties. I had some time ago a copy of these papers from Captain "Wade, who informed me that tbey were lodged in bis hands, to be made public only by judicial authority. I wrote to you, Sir, on tbe subject, to have from yourself an avowal tbat the ac- count was yours ; but as I received no answer, I have reason to compli- ment you with tbe supposition that you are not tbe author of it. How- ever, as tbe name William Barnctt is subscribed to it , you must accept my apologies for making use of that as the ostensible signature of tbe writer. Mr. Paumier likewise (the gentleman who went out with me on that occasion in the character of a second ) having assented to every thing material in it, I sball suppose the wbole account likewise to be bis ; and *s there are some circumstances which could come from no one but Mr. Matbews, I sball (without meaning to take from its autho- rity ) suppose it to be Mr. Matbews's also. As it is highly indifferent to me whether the account I am to observe on be considered as accurately true or not, and I believe it is of very little consequence to any one else, I shall make tbose observations just in tbe same manner as I conceive any indifferent person of common sense, wbo should think it worth his while to peruse the matter with any de- gree of attention. In this light, the truth of the articles which are as- serted under Mr. Barnett's name is what I have no business to meddle with; but, if it should appear that this accurate narrative frequently contradicts itself as well as all probability, and tbat there are some posi- tive facts against it, which do not depend upon any one's assertion, I OF R. B. SHERIDAN. '? I7iust repeat that I shall either compliment Mr. Barnett's judgment, in supposing it not liis, or his humanity in proving the narrative to par- take of that confusion and uncertainty, which his well-wishers will plead to have possessed him in the transaction. On this account, what I shall say on the subject need he no further addressed to you ; and , indeed, it is idle, in my opinion, to address even the publisher of a newspaper on a point that can concern so few, and ought to have been forgotten by them. This you must take as my excuse for having neglected the matter so long. " The first point in Mr. Barnctt's narrative that is of the least conse- quence to take notice of, is, where Mr. M. is represented as having re- peatedly signified his desire to use pistols prior to swords from a convic- tion that Mr. Sheridan would run in upon him , and an ungentlemanlike scuffle probably be the consequence. This is one of those articles which evidently must be given to Mr. Mathews : for, as Mr. B.'s part is simply to relate a matter of fact, of which he was an eye-witness, he is by no means to answer for Mr. Mathews's private convictions. As this insinua- tion bears an obscure allusion to a past transaction of Mr. M.'s, 1 doubt not. but he will be surprized at my indifference in not taking the trouble even to explain it. However, I cannot forbear to observe here that had I T at the period which this passage alludes to , known what was the theory which Mr. M. held of gentemanly scuffle, I might , possibly, have been so unhappy as to have put it out of his power ever to have brought it into practice. "Mr. B. now charges me with having cut short a number of pretty preliminaries, concerning which he was treating with Captain Paumier , by drawing my sword, and, in a vaunting manner, desiring Mr. M. to draw. Though I acknowledge (with deference to these gentlemen) the full right of interference which seconds have on such occasions , yet I may remind Mr. B. that he was acquainted with my determination with regard to pistols before we went on the Down , nor could I have expected it to have been proposed. 'Mr. M. drew; Mr. S. advanced, etc. :' here let me remind Mr. B. of a circumstance, which I am convinced his memory \vill at once acknowledge." This paper ends here : but in a rougher draught of the same letter (for he appears to have studied and corrected it with no com- mon care) the remarks are continued, in a hand not very legible, thus: " But Mr. B. here represents me as drawing my sword in a vaunting manner. This I take to be a reflection ; and can only say, that a person's demeanour is generally regulated by their idea of their antagonist, and for what I know, 1 may now be writing in a vaunting style. Here let me remind Mr. B. of an omission, which, I am convinced, nothing but want of recollection could occasion , yet which is a material point in an xact account of such an affair, nor does it reflect in the least on Mr. M. Mr. M. could not possibly have drawn his sword on my calling to him as It is impossible to make any connected sense of the passage that follows, 48 MEMOIRS " Mr. B.'s account proceeds, that I 'advanced first on Mr. M.,' etc. ; which , ( says Mr. B. ) I imagine , happened from the resistance it met with from one of those parts ; but whether it was broke by that or on the closing, I cannot aver.' How strange is the confusion here! First, it certainly broke; whether it broke against rib or no, doubtful; then, indeed, whether it broke at all, uncertain. * * * * But of all times Mr. B. could not have chosen a worse than this for Mr. M.'s s\vord to break ; for the relating of the action unfortunately carries a contradiction with it; since if, on closing, Mr. M. received me on his point , it is not possible for him to have made a lunge of such a nature as to break his sword against a rib-bone But as the time chosen is unfortunate, so is the place on which it is said to have broke, as Mr. B. might have been in- formed , by inquiring of the surgeons , that I had no wounds on my breast or rib with the point of a sword, they being the marks of the jagged and blunted part." He was driven from the ground to the While-Hart , where Ditcher and Sharpe , the most eminent surgeons of Bath , attended and dressed his wounds , and , on the following day , at the request of his sisters, he was carefully removed to his own home. The news- papers, which contained the account of the affair, and even stated that Sheridan's life was in danger, reached the Linleys at Oxford, during the performance , but were anxiously concealed from Miss Linley by her father , who knew that the intelligence would totally disable her from appearing. Some persons, who were witnesses of the per- formance that day , still talk of the touching effect which her beauty and singing produced upon all present, aware, as they were, that a heavy calamity had befallen her , of which she herself was perhaps the only one in the assembly ignorant. In her way back to Bath , she was met at some miles from the town by a Mr. Panton , a clergyman , long intimate with the family , who , taking her from her father's chaise into his own , employed the rest of the journey in cautiously breaking to her the particulars of the alarming event that had occurred. Notwithstanding this pre- caution, her feelings were so taken by surprise, that, in the distress of the moment, she let the secret of her heart escape, and passionately exclaimed, "My husband! my husband!" demanding to see him, and insisting upon her right as his wife to be near him , and watch over him day and night. Her entreaties , however, could not be complied with ; for the elder Mr. Sheridan , on his return from town , incensed and grieved at the catastrophe to which his son's imprudent passion had led , refused for some lime even to see him , and strictly forbade all intercourse between his daughlers and the Linley family. But the appealing looks of a brother, lying wounded and unhappy, had more power over their hearts than the commands of a father , and OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 4(T Ihey , accordingly , contrived to communicate intelligence of the lovers to each other. In flic following letter . addressed to him by Charles at this time , \\c can trace (hat difference between the dispositions of the brothers, which, with every one except their father, rendered Richard, in >pile of all his faults, by far the most popular and beloved of the two. . London, July "5d. 1772. "DEAR DICK, "It was with the deepest concern 1 received the late accounts of you, though it was somewhat softened by the assurance of your not being in the least danger. You cannot conceive the uneasiness it occasioned to my father. Both he and I were resolved to believe the best, and to suppose you safe, but then we neither of us could approve of the cause in which you suffer. All your friends here condemned you. You risked every thing, where you had nothing to gain, to give your antagonist the thing he wished , a chance for recovering his reputation. Your courage was past dispute :- he wanted to get rid of the contemptible opinion he was held in , and you were good-natured enough to let him do it at your expense. It is not now a time to scold, but all your friends were of opinion, you could, with the greatest propriety, have refused to meet him. For my part, I shall suspend my judgment till better informed, only I cannot forgive your preferring swords. " I am exceedingly unhappy at the situation 1 leave you in with res- pect to money matters , the more so as it is totally out of my power to be of any use to you. Ewart was greatly vexed at the manner of your draw- ing for the last 2o/. I own, I think with some reason. " As to old Ewart, what you were talking about is absolutely impos- sible; he is already surprized at Mr. Linley's long delay, and, indeed, I think the latter much to blame in this respect. I did intend to give you some account of myself since my arrival here , but you cannot conceive how I have been hurried , even much pressed for time at this present writing. I must therefore conclude, with wishing you speedily restored to health, and that if I could make your purse as whole as that will short- ly be , I hope , it would make me exceedingly happy. " I am , dear Dick , yours sincerely, " C. F. SHERIDAN." Finding that the suspicion of their marriage , which Miss Linley's unguarded exclamation had suggested , was gaining ground in the mind of both fathers , who seemed equally determined to break the tie, if they could arrive at some positive proof of its existence, Sheridan wrote frequently to his young wife , (who passed most of this iinxious period with her relations at Wells,) cautioning her against being led into any acknowledgment, which might further the views c.f the elders against their happiness. Many methods \\eiv 4 50 MEMOIRS tried upon both sides, to ensnare them into a confession of this na- ture ; but they eluded every effort, and persisted in attributing the avowal which had escaped from Miss Linley before Mr. Pan ton and others, to the natural agitation and bewilderment into which her mind was thrown at the instant. As soon as Sheridan was sufficiently recovered of his wounds ', his father , in order to detach him , as much as possible , from the dangerous recollections which continually presented themselves in Bath , sent him to pass some months at Waltham Abbey , in Essex , under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Parker of Farm Hill, his most particular friends. In this retirement, where he continued, with but few and short intervals of absence , from August or September, 1772, till the spring of the following year , it is probable that, not- withstanding the ferment in which his -heart was kept , he occa- sionally and desultorily occupies his hours in study. Among other proofs of industry , which I have found among his manuscripts , and which may possibly be referred to this period , is an abstract of the History of England nearly filling a small quarto volume of more than a hundred pages , closely written. I have also found in his early hand-writing (for there was a considerable change in his writing afterwards) a collection of remarks on Sir William Temple's works , which may likewise have been among the fruits of his reading at Waltham Abbey. These remarks are confined chiefly to verbal criticism, and prove, in many instances , that he had not yet quite formed his taste to that idiomatic English , which was afterwards one of the great charms of his own dramatic style. For instance , he objects to the following phrases : " Then I fell to my task again." " These things come, with time, to be habitual." " By which these people come to be either scattered or destroyed." "Which alone could pretend to contest it with them :" (upon which phrase he remarks, " It refers to nothing here :") and the following graceful idiom in some verses by Temple : " Thy busy bead can find no gentle rest For thinking ou the events ," etc. etc. Some of his observations , however , are just and tasteful. Upon the Essay " Of Popular Discontents,' 1 after remarking that "Sir W. T. opens all his Essays with something as foreign to the pur- pose as possible," he has the following criticism : "Page 260. ' The Bath Chronicle of the 9th of Jnly has the following paragraph: "It is with great pleasure we inform onr readers that Mr. Sheridan is declared by his surgeon to b out of danger." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 51 ' Represent misfortunes for faults, and mole-hills for mountains? Hie metaphorical and literal expression too often coupled. P. 262. * Upon these four wheels the chariot of stale may in all appearance drive easy and safe, or at least not be too much shaken by the usual roughness of ways, unequal humouj's of men , or any com- mon accidents, 'another instance of the confusion of the meta- phorical and literal expression." Among the passages he quotes from Temple's verses , as faulty , is the following : " tliat we may see Thwi art indeed the empress of the tea." It is curious enough , that he himself was afterwards guilty of nearly as illicit a rhyme in his song " When 'tis night," and always* defended it : " But wheu the Cglit's begun , Kacli serving at his gun.' Whatever grounds there may be for referring these labours of Sheridan to the period of his retirement at Waltham Abbey , there are certainly but few other intervals in his life that could be selected as likely to have afforded him opportunities of reading. Even here , however , the fears and anxieties that beset him were too many and incessant to leave much leisure for the pursuits of scholarship. However a stale of excitement may be favourable to the develop- ment of genius which is often of the nalure of Ihose seas, thai become more luminous the more they are agitated , (jpr a student a far different mood is necessary ; and in order ot reflect with clear- ness the images thai study presents, the mind should have its surface level and unruffled. The situation , indeed , of Sheridan was at this time particularly perplexing. He had won the heart , and even hand, of the woman he loved , yet saw his hopes of possessing her farther off than ever. He had twice risked his life against an unworthy antagonist , yet found the vindication of his honour still incomplete , from the mis- representations of enemies , and the yet more mischievous testimony of friends. He felt within himself all the proud consciousness of genius, yet, thrown on the world without even a. profession, looked in vain for a channel through which to direct its energies. Even the precarious hope which his father's favour held out, had been purchased by an act of duplicity whirh his conscience could not approve ; for he had been induced , with the view , perhaps, of blinding his father's vigilance , not only to promise that he would instantly give up a pursuit so unpleasing to him , but to take lt an oalh equivocal " that he never would marry Miss Linley. MEMOIRS The pressure of these various anxieties upon so young and so ardent a mind , and their effects in alternately kindling and damp- ing its spirit , could only have been worthily described by him who felt them ; and there still exist some letters , which he wrote during this time , to a gentleman well known as one of his earliest and latest friends. I had hoped that such a picture , as these letters must exhibit, of his feelings at that most interesting period , of his pri- vate life , would not have been lost to the present work. But scru- ples over-delicate , perhaps , but respectable , as founded upon a systematic objection to the exposure of any papers received under the seal of private frienship forbid the publication of these precious documents. The reader must , therefore , be satisfied with the few distant glimpses of their contents , which are afforded by the an- swers of his correspondent, found among the papers entrusted to me. From these it appears, that through all his letters the same strain of sadness and despondency prevailed , sometimes breaking out into aspirings of ambition, and sometimes rising into a tone of cheer- fulness , which bill ill concealed the melancholy under it. It is evi- dent also, and not a little remarkable, that in none of these over- flow ings of his confidence had he as yet suffered the secret of his French marriage with Miss Linley to escape -, and that his friend accordingly knew but half the wretched peculiarities of his situation. Like most lovers , too , imagining that every one who approached his mistress must be equally intoxicated with her beauty as himself, he seems anxiously to have cautioned his young correspondent (who occasionally saw her at Oxford and at Bath) against the danger that lay in suchlrresistible charms. From another letter, where the wri- ter refers to some message , which Sheridan had requested him to deliver to Miss Linley, we learn, that she was at this time so strictly watched , as to be unable to achieve what to an ingenious woman is seldom difficult an answer to a letter which her lover had con- trived to convey to her. It was at first the intention of the elder Mr. Sheridan to send his daughters , in the course of this autumn , under the care of their brother Richard, to France. But, fearing to entrust them to a guar- dian, who seemed himself so much in need of direction, he altered his plan, and, about the beginning of October, having formed an engagement for the ensuing winter with the manager of the Dublin theatre , gave up his house in Bath , and set out with his daughters for Ireland. At the same time Mr. Grenville (afterwards Marquis of Buckingham), who had passed a great part of this and the preceding summer at Bath , for the purpose of receiving instruction from Mr. Sheridan in elocution, went also to Dublin on a short visit , ac- companied by Mr. Cleaver, and by his brother Mr. Thomas Grcn- OF R. B. SHKHIDAN. 53 ville between whom and Richard Sheridan an intimacy had al this period commenced , which continued with uninterrupted cordiality ever after. Some lime previous to the departure of the elder Mr. Sheridan for Ireland , having taken before a magistrate the depositions of the postilions who were witnesses of the duel at Kingsdown , he had. earnestly entreated of his son to join him in a prosecution against Mathews, whose conduct on the occasion he and others considered as by no means that of a fair and honourable antagonist. It was in contemplation of a measure of this nature, that the account of the meeting already given was drawn up by Mr. Barnett, and deposited in the hands' of Captain Wade. Though Sheridan refused to join in legal proceedings from an unwillingness , perhaps , to keep Miss Linley's name any longer ailoat upon public conversation yet this revival of the subject , and the conflicting statements to which it gave rise , produced naturally in both parties a relapse of angry feelings, which was very near ending in a third duel between them. The au- thenticity given by Captain Paurnier's name fo a narrative which Sheridan considered false and injurious , was for some time a source of considerable mortification to him ; and it must be owned , that the helpless irresolution of this gentleman during the duel , and his weak acquiescenee in these misrepresentations afterwards , showed him as unfit to be trusted with the life as with the character of his friend. How nearly this new train of misunderstanding had led to ano- ther explosion , appears from one of the letters already referred to , written in December, and directed to Sheridan at the Bedford Coffee- house , Covent-Garden , in which the writer expresses the most friendly and anxious alarm at the intelligence which he has just re- ceived, implores of Sheridan to moderate his rage ., and reminds him how often he had resolved never to have any concern with Ma- thews again. Some explanation , however, took place , as we collect from a letter dated a few days later ; and the world was thus spared not only such an instance of inveteracy, as three duels between the same two men would have exhibited , but , perhaps , the premature loss of a life to which we are indebted, for an example as noble in its excitements , and a lesson as useful in its warnings , as ever genius and its errors have bequeathed to mankind. The following Lent Miss Linley appeared in the oratorios at Co- vent-Garden ; and Sheridan, who, from the nearness of his retreat to London , (to use a phrase of his own , repeated in one of his friund's letters,) " trod upon the heels of perilous probabilities," though prevented by the vigilance of her father from a private interview, had frequent opportunities of seeing her in public. Among many other 5i MEiMOIRS stratagems which he contrived, for the purpose of exchanging a few words with her, he more than once disguised himself as a hackney- coachman , and drove her home from the theatre. It appears, however, that a serious misunderstanding at this lime occurred between them , originating probably in some of those paroxysms of jealousy, into which a lover like Sheridan must have been continually thrown , by the numerous admirers and pursuers of all kinds, which the beauty and celebrity of his mistress attracted. Among various alliances invented for her by the public at this pe- riod , it was rumoured that she was about to be married to Sir Tho- mas Clarges ; and in the Bath Chronicle of April, 1273 , a corres- pondence is given as authentic between her and " Lord Grosvenor," which , though pretty evidently a fabrication , yet proves the high opinion entertained of the purity of her character. The correspond- ence is thus introduced , in a letter to the editor : "The following letters are confidently said to have passed between Lord G r and the celebrated English syren , Miss L y. I send them to you for publication , not with any view to encrease the volume of literary scandal, which lam sorry to say, at present needs no assistance, but with the most laudable intent of setting an example for our modern belles , by holding out the character of a young woman , who , not- withstanding the solicitations of her profession , and the flattering example of higher ranks , has added incorwptible virtue to a number of the most elegant qualifications." Whatever may have caused the misunderstanding between her and her lover, a reconcilement was with no great difficulty effected, by the mediation of Sheridan's young friend , Mr. Ewart; and, at length, after a series of stratagems and scenes, which convinced Mr. Linley that it was impossible much longer to keep them asunder, he consented to their union, and on the 13lh of April, 1773, they were married by license ' Mr. Ewart being at the same time wed- ded to a young lady with whom he also had eloped clandestinely to France , but was now enabled , by the forgiveness of his father, to complete this double triumph of friendship and love. A curious instance of the indolence and procrastinating habits of Sheridan used to be related by Woodfall , as having occurred about this time. A statement of his conduct in the duels having appeared in one of the Bath papers , so false and calumnious as to require an immediate answer, he called upon Woodfall to request that his paper might be the medium of it. But wishing, as he said , that the pub- lic should have the whole matter fairly before them , he thought it 1 Thus announced in the Gentleman's Magazine: "Mr. Sheridan of the Temple to the celebrated Miss Linley of Bath." OF R. B SHERIDAN. 56 right that the offensive statement should first be inserted , and in a day or two after be followed by his answer, which would thus come wilh more relevancy and effect. In compliance with his wish, Wood- fall lost not a moment in transcribing the calumnious article into his columns not doubting , of course , that the refutation of it would be furnished with still greater eagerness. Day after day, how- ever, elapsed , and , notwithstanding frequent applications on the one side , and promises on the other, not a Hne of the answer was ever sent by Sheridan , who , having expended all his activity in assisting the circulation of the poison , had not industry enough left 4o supply the antidote. Throughout his whole life, indeed, he but too consistently acted upon the principles which the first Lord Hol- land used playfully to impress upon his son : "Never do to-day \ what you can possibly put off till to-morrow , nor ever do, yourself, j what you can get any one else to do for you." CHAPTER III. Domestic circumstances Fragments of Essays found among his papers. Comedy of " the Rivals." Answer to " Taxation no tyranny." Farce of " St. Patrick's day." A FEW weeks previous to his marriage, Sheridan had been entered a student of the Middle Temple. It was not , however, to be ex- pected that talents like his, so sure of a quick return of fame and emolument , would wait for the distant and dearly -earned emolu- ments, which a life of labour in this profession promises. Nor, in- deed, did his circumstances admit of any such patient speculation. A part of the sum which Mr. Long had settled upon Miss Linley, and occasional assistance from her father (his own having withdrawn all countenance from him), were now the only resources, beside his own talents, left him. The celebrity of Mrs. Sheridan as a singer was , it is true , a ready source of wealth ; and offers of the most ad- vantageous kind were pressed upon them , by managers of concerts both in town and country. But with a pride and delicacy, which received the tribute of Dr. Johnson's praise, he rejected at once all thoughts of allowing her to re-appear in public ; and, instead of pro- filing by the display of his wife's talents , adopted the manlier reso- lution of seeking an independence by his own. An engagement had been made for her some months before by her father, to per- form at the music-meeting that was to lake place at Worcester this summer. But Sheridan, who considered that his own claims upon her superseded all others, would not suffer her to keep this engage- ment. How decided his mind was upon the subject will appear from the M MEMOIRS following letter, written by him to Mr. Linley about a month after his marriage , and containing some other interesting particulars , that show the temptations with which his pride had , at this time , to struggle : East Buriiham, May 12, ijyS. " DEAR SIR , " I purposely deferred writing to you till I should have settled all mat- ters in London, and in some degree settled ourselves at our little home. Some unforeseen delays prevented my finishing with Swale till Thursday last, when every thing was concluded. I likewise settled with him for his own account, as he brought it to me, and, for a friendly bill, it is pretty decent. Yours of the 3d instant did not reach me till yesterday, by rea- son of its missing us at Mordcn. As to the principal point it treats of, I had given my answer some days ago to Mr. Isaac of Worcester. He had inclosed a letter to Storace for my wife, in which he dwells much on the nature of the agreement you had made for her eight months ago, and adds, that ' as this is no new application , but a request that you (Mr. S.) will fulfil a positive engagement, the breach of which would prove of fatal consequence to our Meeting, 1 hope Mr. Sheridan will think his honour in some degree concerned in fulfilling it. 'Mr. Storace, in or- der to enforce Mr. Isaac's argument, showed me bis letter on the same subject to him , which begins with saying , ' We must have Mrs. Sheri- dan , somehow or other, if possible ! ' the plain English of which is that, if her husband is not willing to let her perform, we will persuade him that he acts dislionnurablr in preventing her from fulfilling a positive engagement. This I conceive to be the very worst mode of application that could have been taken ; as there really is not common sense in the idea that my honour can be concerned in my wife's fulfilling an engage- ment, which it is impossible she should ever have made. Nor (as I wrote to Mr. Isaac) can you, who gave the promise, whatever it was , be in the least charged with the breach of it, as your daughter's marriage was an event which must always have been looked to by them as quite as natural a period to your right over her as her death. And, in my opinion, it would have been just as reasonable to have applied to you to fulfil your engagement in the latter case as in the former. As to the imprudence of declining this engagement , I do not think , even were we to suppose that my wife should ever on any occasion appear again in public , there would be the least at present. For instance, I have had a gentleman with me from Oxford ( where they do not claim the least right as from an en- gagement) , who has endeavoured to place the idea of my complimenting the University with Betsey's performance in the strongest light of advan- tage to me. This he said, on my declining to let. her perform on any agreement. He likewise informed me , that he had just left Lord North ( the Chancellor), who , he assured me, would look upon it as the highest compliment , and had expressed himself so to him. Now, should it be a point of inclination or convenience to me to break my resolution with re- gard to Betsey's performing, there surely would be more sense in obli- ging Lord North (and probably from his own application) and the Uni- OF R. B. SHERIDAN- 67 vcrsity, than Lord Coventry and Mr. Isaac. For, were she to sing at Worcester, there would not be the least compliment in her performing at Oxford. Indeed, they would have a right to claim it particularly, as that is the mode of application they have chosen from Worcester. I have mentioned the Oxford matter merely as an argument, that I can have no kind of inducement to accept of the proposal from Worcester. And, as I have written fully on the subject to Mr. Isaac, I think there will be no occasion for you to give any further reasons to Lord Coventry only that I am sorry I cannot accept of his proposal , civilities , etc. , and refer him for my motives to Mr. Isaac , as what I have said to you on the subject I mean for you only, and, if more remains to be argued on the subject in general, we must defer it till we meet, which you have given us reason to hope will not be long first. "As this is a letter of business chiefly, I shall say little of our situa- tion and arrangement of affairs, but that I think we are as happy as those who wish us best could desire. There is but one thing that has the least weight upon me, though it is one I was prepared for. But time, while it strengthens the other blessings we possess, will, I hope , add that to the number. You will know that I speak with regard to my father. Betsey informs me you have written to him again have you heard from him ?******* * " I should hope to hear from you very soon , and 1 assure you, you shall now find me a very exact correspondent ; though I hope you will not give me leave to confirm my character in that respect before we meet. " As there is with this a letter for Polly and you , I shall only charge you with mine and Betsey's best love to her, mother, and Tom , etc. etc. and believe me your sincere friend, and affectionate son , " R. B. SHERIDAN." At East Burnham , from whence this letter is dated , they were now living in a small cottage , to which they had retired imme- diately on their marriage, and to which they often looked back with a sigh in after-times , when they were more prosperous , but less happy. It w r as during a very short absence from this cottage, thai the following lines were written by him : " Teach me , kiud Hymeu , teach for thou Must be my only tutor now , Teach me some innocent employ , That shall the hateful thought destroy , Thai I this whole long night must pass In exile from my love's embrace. Alas , thou hast no wings, oh Time ' ! It wa some thoughtless lover's rhyme , Who, writing in his Cloe's view, Paid her the compliment through you. For had he, if he truly lov'd, But once the pangs of absence prov'd , It will be perceived that the right following lines are the foundation of the 'iig "What hard, O h Time," iu the Uneuna. .'. MEMOIRS He'd cropt thy wings , and , in their stead , Have painted thee with heels of lead. But 'tis the temper of the mind , Where we thy regulator find. Still o'er the gay and o'er the yonug With nnfelt steps you flit along , As Virgil's nymph o'er ripeu'd corn , With such etherial haste wa borne , That every stock , with upright head , Denied the pressure of her tread. Bnt o'er the wretched , oh , how *iow And heavy sweeps thy scythe of \voe t Oppress'd beneath each stroke they bow , Thy course engraven on their brow : A day of absence shall consume The glow of youth and manhood's bloom , And one short night of anxious fear Shall leave the wrinkles of a year. For me who , when I'm happy , owe No thanks to fortune that I'm so , Who long have learned to look at one Dear object , and at one alone , For all the joy, or all the sorrow, That gilds the day , or threats the morrow , I never felt thy footsteps light , But when sweet love did aid thy flight , And , banish'd from his blest dominion, I cared not for thy borrowed pinion. True, she is mine , and , since she's mine , At trifles I should not repine ; But oh, the miser's real pleasure Is not in knowing he has treasure ; H must behold his golden store, And feel, and count his riches o'er. Thus I , of one dear gem possest , And in that treasure only blest , There every day would seek delight , And clasp the casket every night. Towards the winter they went to lodge for a short time with Sto- race, the intimate friend of Mr. Linley, and in the following year attained that first step of independence , a house to themselves , Mr. Linley having kindly supplied the furniture of their new resi- dence, which was in Orchard-Street, Porlman-Square. During the summer of 1774, they passed some time al Mr. Canning's and Lord Coventry's ; but , so little did these visits interfere with the literary industry of Sheridan , that , as appears 'from the following letter written to Mr. Linley in November, he had not only at that lime finished his play of the Rivals , but was on the point of " sending a book to the press :" OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 59 " DKAR SIR, Nov. i7th, 1774. " If I \vere to attempt to make as many apologies as my long omission in \vritingto you requires, I should have no room for any other subject. One excuse only I shall bring forward , which is , that T have been ex- ceedingly employed , and I believe very profitably. However, before I explain how, I must ease my mind on a subject that much more nearly concerns me than any point of business or profit. I must premise to you that Betsey is now very well , before I tell you abruptly that she has en- countered another disappointment, and consequent indisposition.* * * * However she is now getting entirely over it , and she shall never take any journey of the kind again. I inform you of this now, that you may not be alarmed by any accounts from some other quarter, which might lead you to fear she was going to have such an illness as last year, of which I assure you, upon my honour, there is not the least apprehension. If I did not write now, Betsey would write herself, and in a day she will make you quite easy on this head. " I have bee^ very seriously at work on a book , which I am just now sending to the press, and which I think will do me some credit, if it leads to nothing else. However, the profitable affair is of another nature. There will be a Comedy of mine in rehearsal at Covent-Garclen within a few days. I did not set to work on it till within a few days of my setting out for Crome , so you may think I have not , for these last six weeks , been very idle. I have done it at Mr. Harris's ( the manager's) own re- quest ; it is now complete in his hands , and pi-eparing for the stage. He, and some of his friends , also who have heard it , assure me in the most flattering terms that there is not a doubt of its success. It will be very well played, and Harris tells me that the least shilling I shall get (if it succeeds) will be six hundred pounds. I shall make no secret of it towards the time of representation, that it may not lose any support my friends can give it. I had not written a line of it two months ago , except a scene or two, which I believe you have seen in an odd act of a little farce. " Mr, Stanley was with me a day or two ago on the subject of the oratorios. I find Mr. Smith has declined, and is retiring to Bath. Mr. Stanley informed me that on his applying to the King for the conti- nuance of his favour, he was desired by His Majesty to make me an offer of Mr. Smith's situation and partnership in them , and that he should continue his protection, etc. I declined the matter very civilly and very peremptorily. I should imagine that Mr. Stanley would apply to you ; J started the subject to him , and said you had twenty Mrs. Sheridans more. However, he said very little : if he does , and you wish to make an alteration in your system at once, I should think you may stand in Smith's place. I would not listen to him on any other terms, and I should think the King might be made to signify his pleasure for such an arrange- ment. On this you will reflect, and if any way strikes you that I can move in it, I need not add how happy I shall be in its success. * " I hope you will let me have the pleasure to hear from you soon , as I shall think any delay unfair, unless you can plead that you are writing an opera , and a folio on music beside. Accept Betsey's love and duty. " Your sincere and affectionate " II. B. SHERIDAK ' Gfl MEMOIRS Whal the book here alluded to was , I cannot with any accuracy ascertain. Besides a few sketches of plays and poems, of which 1 shall give some account in a subsequent Chapter, there exist among his papers several fragments of Essays and Letters , all of which including the unfinished plays and poems must have been written by him in the interval between 1769, when he left Harrow, and the present year ; though at what precise dates during that pe- riod there are no means of judging. Among these are a few political Letters , evidently designed for the newspapers; some of them but half copied out, and probably never sent. One of this description , which must have been written immediately on his leaving school , is a piece of irony against tho Duke of Grafton , giving reasons why that nobleman should not lose his head , and , under the semblance of a defence, exaggerating all the popular charges against him. The first argument ( he says) of the Duke's adversaries "is found- ed on the regard which ought to be paid to justice, and on the good effects which , they affirm , such an example would have , in sup- pressing the ambition of any future minister. But , if I can prove that his might be made a much greater example of by being suffered to live, I think I may without vanity affirm that their whole argument will fall to the ground. By pursuing the methods which they propose, viz. chopping off his 's head, I allow the impres- sion would be stronger at first , but we should consider how soon that wears off. If, indeed , his 's crimes were of such a nature , as to entitle his head to a place on Temple-Bar, I should allow sonic weight to their argument. But , in the present case , we should re- flect how apt mankind are to relent after they have inflicted punish- ment; so that, perhaps, the same men who would have detested the noble Lord while alive and in prosperity, pointing him as a scare-crow to their children , might , after being witnesses to the miserable fate that had overtaken him , begin in their hearts to pity him-, and from the fickleness so common to human nature, perhaps, byway of compensation, acquit him of part of his crimes , insinuate, that he was dealt hardly with , and thus , by the remembrance of their compassion on this occasion, be led to show more indulgence to any future offender in the same circumstances. "There is a clear- ness of thought and style here very remarkable in so young a writer. In affecting to defend the Duke against the charge of fickleness and unpunctuality, he says, "I think I could bring several instances which should seem lo promise the greatest steadiness and reso- lution. I have known him make the Council wait , on the business of the whole nation, when he has had an appointment to Newmarket. Surely, this is an instance of the greatest honour -, and , if we see OF R. H. SHFR1DAN a him so punctual in private appointments, must we nol conclude that he is infinitely more so in greater matters ? Nay, when W 's ' fame over, is it not notorious that the late Lord Mayor went to His ('.race on that evening, proposing a scheme which, by securing this lire-brand, might have put an end to all the troubles he has caused. But his Grace did not see him ; no, he was a man of too much honour ; lie had promised that evening to attend Nancy Parsons to Ranelagh, and he would not disappoint her, but made three thousand people witnesses of his punctuality." There is another Letter, which happens to be dated ( 1770), ad- dressed to " Novus," some writer in Woodfall's Public Advertiser, and appearing to be one of a series to the same correspondent. From Hie few political allusions introduced in this letter, (which is occupied chiefly in an attack upon the literary style of " Novus,") we can collect that the object of 'Sheridan was to defend the new ministry of Lord North , who had , in the beginning of that year, succeeded the Duke of Grafton. Junius was just then in the height of his power and reputation; and, as in English literature, one great voice always produces a multitude of echoes, it was thought at that time indispensable to every letter-writer in a newspaper, to be a close copyist of the style of Junius : of course , our young po- litical tyro followed this "mould of form" as well as the rest. Thus, in addressing his correspondent : "That gloomy seriousness in your style , that seeming consciousness of superiority, together with the consideration of the infinite pains it must have cost you to have been so elaborately wrong , will not suffer me to attribute such numerous errors to any thing but real ignorance , joined with most consummate vanity." The following is a specimen of his acute- ness in criticising the absurd style of his adversary : " You leave it rather dubious whether you were most pleased with the glorious opposition to Charles I, or the dangerous designs of that monarch , which you emphatically call ' the arbitrary projects of a Stuart's na- ture. 1 What do you mean by the projects of a man's nature"? A man's natural disposition may urge him to the commission of some actions ; Nature may instigate and encourage , but I believe you arc the first that ever made her a projector." It is amusing to observe , that , while he thus criticises the style and language of his correspondent, his own spelling, in every se- cond line, convicts him of deficiency in at least one common branch of literary acquirement : we find t/ting always spelt think ; whe- ther, where , and which turned into wether, were , and wich ; and double ra'sand s's almost invariably reduced to " single blessed- ness." This sign of a neglected education remained with him to a 1 Wilkcs. 62 MEMOIRS very late period, and, in his hasty writing, or scribbling, wonkl occasionally recur to the last. From these Essays for the newspapers it may be seen how early was the bias of his mind towards politics. It was , indeed , the rival of literature in his affections during all the early part of his life ; and, at length, whether luckily for himself or not it is difficult to say, gained the mastery. There are also among his manuscripts some commencements of Periodical Papers , under various names , " The Detector," " The Dramatic Censor," etc. $ none of them, apparently, carried beyond the middle of the first number. Bui one of the most curious of these youthful productions is a Letter to the Queen, recommending the establishment of an Institution , for the instruction and maintenance of young females in the belter classes of life , who, from either the loss of their parents or from poverty , are without the means of being brought up suitably to their station. He refers to the asylum founded by Madame de Maintenon , at St. Cyr, as a model , and proposes that the establishment should be placed under the patron- age of Her Majesty, and entitled " The Royal Sanctuary." The read- er, however, has to arrive at the practical part of the plan, through long and flowery windings of panegyric, on the beauty, genius, and virtue of women, and their transcendent superiority, in every respect, over men. The following sentence will give some idea of the sort of elo- quence, with which he prefaces this grave proposal to Her Majesty: "The dispute about the proper sphere of women is idle. That men should have altempted to draw a line for their orbit , shows that God meant them for cornels , and above our jurisdiction. With them the enthusiasm of poetry and the idolatry of love is the simple voice of nature." There are, indeed, many passages of this boyish compo- sition , a good deal resembling in their style those ambitious apos- trophes , with which he afterwards ornamented his speeches on the trial of Hastings. He next proceeds to remark to Her Majesty, that in those coun- tries where " man is scarce better than a brute, he shows his dege- neracy by his treatment of women ," and again falls into metaphor, not very clearly made out : " The influence that women have over us is as the medium through which the finer Arts act upon us. The incense of our love and respect for them creates the atmosphere of our souls , which corrects and meliorates the beams of knowledge." The following is in a belter style : " However in savage coun- tries , where the pride of man has not fixed the first diclates of igno- rance into law, we see the real effects of nature. The wild Huron shall , to the object of his love , become gentle as his weary rein- OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 01 . he shall present to her the spoil of his bow on his knee; shall watch without reward the cave where she sleeps; he shall rob the birds for feathers for her hair, and dive for pearls for her neck ; her look shall be his law , and her beauties his worship ! " lie then endavours to prove that , as it is the destiny of man to be ruled by woman , he ought , for his own sake , to render her as lit for that task as possible : *' How can we be better employed than in perfecting that which governs us? The brighter they are, the more we shall be illumined. Were the minds of all women culti- vated by inspiration, men would become wise of course. They are a sort of pentagraphs with which nature writes on the heart of man ; what s/ie delineates on the original map will appear on the copy." In showing how much less women are able to struggle against adversity than men , he says, " As for us , we are born in a slate of warfare with poverty and distress. The sea of adversity is our natural element, and he that will not buffet with the billows deserves lo sink. But you , oh you, by nature formed of gentler kind, can you endure the biting storm ? shall you be turned to the nipping blast, and not a door be open lo give you shelter?" After describing , with evident seriousness , the nature of the institutions of Madame de Maintenon, at St. Cyr, he adds the fol- lowing strange romantic allusion : " Had such a charity as I have been speaking of existed here , the mild Parthenia and my poor Laura would not bave fallen into untimely graves." The practical details of his plan, in which it is equally evident that he means to be serious, exhibit the same flightiness of language and notions. The King , he supposes , would have no objection to " grant Hampton-Court, or some other palace, for the purpose ;" and " as it is (he continues, still addressing the Queen, ) to be imme- diately under Your Majesty's patronage , so should Your Majesty be the first member of it. Let the conslilution of it be like that of a university, Your Majesty, Chancellor; some of the first ladies in the kingdom sub-chancellors ; whose care it shall be to provide instruc- tors of real merit. The classes are to be distinguished by age, none by degree. For, as their qualification should be gentility, they are all on a level. The instructors should be women, except for the languages. Lalin and Greek should not be learned ; the frown of pedantry destroys the blush of humility. The practical part of the sciences , as of astronomy, etc. should be taught. In history they would find that there are other passions in man than love. As for novels , there are some I would strongly recommend ; but ro- mances infinitely more. The one is a representation of the effects of the passions as they should be, though extravagant; the other, as C4 MEMOIRS they are. The latter is falsely called nature , and is a picture of de- praved and corrupted society , the other is the glow of nature. I would therefore exclude all novels that show human nature depraved : however well executed, the design will disgust." He concludes by enumerating the various good effects, which the examples of female virtue , sent forth from such an institution , would produce upon the manners and morals of the other sex , and in describing , among other kinds of coxcombs , the cold , courtly man of the world , uses the following strong figure : " They are so clipped , and rubbed , and polished , that God's image and in- scription is worn from them , and when He calls in his coin , He will no longer know them for his own." There is still another Essay, or rather a small fragment of an Es- say, on the Letters of Lord Chesterfield , which , I am inclined to think , may have formed a part of the rough copy of the book an- nounced by him to Mr. Linley as ready in the November of this year. Lord Chesterfield's Letters appeared for the first time in 1774, and the sensation they produced was exactly such as would tempt a writer in quest of popular subjects to avail himself of it. As the few pages which I have found, and which contain merely scattered hints of thoughts, are numbered as high as 232, it is possible that the preceding part of the work may have been sufficiently complete to go into the printer's hands , and that there, like so many more of his " unshelled brood ," it died without ever taking wing. A few of the memorandums will, I have no doubt, be acceptable to the reader. " Lord C.'s whole system in no one article calculated to make a great man. A noble youth should be ignorant of the things he wishes him to know ; such a one as he wants would be too soon a man. " Emulation is a dangerous passion to encourage, in some points, in young men ; it is so linked with envy : if you reproach your son for not surpassing his school-fellows, he will hate those who are before him. Emulation not to be encouraged even in virtue. True virtue will, like the Athenian, rejoice in being surpassed; a friendly emulation cannot exist in two minds; one must hate tbe perfections in which he is eclipsed by the other; thus, from hating the quality in his competitor, be loses the respect for it in himself: a young man by himself better educated than two. A Roman's emulation was not to excel bis countrymen, but to make bis country excel : tbis is tbe true, the other selfisb. Epaminondas, who reflected on tbe pleasure his success would give bis father, most glorious ; an emulation for that purpose, true. " The selfisb vanity of the father appears in all these letters his sending the copy of a letter for his sister. His object was the praise of his own mode of education.- How much more noble the aflection of Morni in Ossian ; ' Oh , that the name of Moral,' etc. etc. ' ' "Oh that the name of Alortii were forgot among the people! that the heroes OF ft. B. SHERIDAN. C5 " His frequent directions for constant employment entirely ill founded : a wise man is formed more by the action of his own thoughts than hy ^ continually feeding it. 'Hurry,' he says, ' from play to study; never be doing nothing' I say, 'Frequently be unemployed; sit and think.' There are on every subject but a few leading and fixed ideas ; their tcacks may be traced by your own genius, as well as by reading . a man of deep thought, who shall have accustomed himself to support or attack all he has read, will soon find nothing new -.thought is -exercise, and the mind like the body must not be wearied." These last few sentences contain the secret of Sheridan's confi- dence in his own powers. His subsequent success bore him out in the opinions he thus early expressed, and might even have per- suaded him that it was in consequence , not in spite, of his want of cultivation that he succeeded. On the 17th of January, 1775, the comedy of The Rivals was brought out at Covent-Garden, and the following was the cast of the characters on the first night : Sir Anthony Absolute Mr. Shuter. Captain Absolute Mr. Woodward. Falkland Mr. Lewis. Acres . . . : Mr. Quick. Sir Lucius O'Trigger^ Mr. Lee. Fag . -.-. .**'. Mr. Lee Lewes. David ..-..!. Mr. Dunstal. Coachman Mi\ Fearon. Mrs. Malaprop Mrs. Green. Lydia Languish . . '. Miss. Barsanti. Julia Mrs. Bulkley. Lucy . . . , . . . Mrs. Lessingham. This comedy , as is well known , failed on its first representa- tion , chiefly from the bad acting of Mr. Lee in Sir Lucius O'Trig- ger. Another actor, however, Mr. Clinch , was substituted in his place, and the play being lightened of this and some other incum- brances , rose at once into that high region of public favour, where it has continued to float so buoyantly and gracefully ever since. The following extracts from letters written at that time by Miss Linley (afterwards Mrs.Tickell) to her sister, Mrs. Sheridan, though containing nothing remarkable , yet , as warm with the feelings of a moment so interesting in Sheridan's literary life, will be read, perhaps , with some degree of pleasure. The slightest outline of a celebrated place , taken on the spot , has often a charm beyond the most elaborate picture finished at a distance. would only say, 'Behold the father of Gaul!"' Sheridan applied this, more than il'i'tyycars after, in talking of his ovm son , ou the hustings of Westminster, and "y Sir Walter Scott. OK R. B. SHERIDAN. 87 f/Wr.v no partner but Mr. G. Not a word of this yet. Mr. G. sent a messenger on purpose (i.e. to Co/man). He would call upon Mr. S. , ?>i,t he is confined at home. Four name is upon our list.' " This decisu'e. answer may be taken two ways. However as Mr.' G. informed Mr- Ewartand me , that he had no authority or pretensions to treat for the whole, it appears to me that Mr. Garrick's meaning in this note is, that Mr. Colman declines the purchase of Mr. Garrick's share., which is the point in debate, and the only part at present to be sold. I shall, therefore, wait on G. at the time mentioned, and if J understand him right, we shall certainly without delay appoint two men of business and the law to meet on the matter, and come to a conclusion without further delay. " -According to his demand, the whole is valued at ^o,ooo/. He appears very shy of letting his books be looked into, as the test of the profits on this sum, but says it must be , in its nature, a purchase on speculation. However, he has promised me a rough estimate, of his own, of the entire receipts for the last seven years. But, after all, it must certainly be a put- cha.se on speculation , without money's worth being made out. One point he solemnly avers, which is, that he will never part with it under the price above mentioned. " This is all I can say on the subject till Wednesday, though 1 can't help adding, that I think we might safely give five thousand pounds more on this purchase than richer people. The whole valued at yo,ooo/., the annual interest is 5,5oo/ , while this is cleared, the proprietors are safe, but I think it must be infernal management indeed that does not double it. " I suppose Mr. Stanley has written to you relative to your oratorio orchestra. The demand, I reckon, will be diminished one-third , and the appearance remain very handsome , which , if the other affair takes place , you will find your account in ; and , if you discontinue your partnership with Stanley at Drury-Lane, the orchestra may revert to whichever wants it, on the other's paying his proportion for the use of it this year. This is Mr. Garrick's idea, and, as he says, might in that case be settled by arbitration. " You have heard of our losing Miss Brown; however, we have missed her so little in theDucnna,that the managers have not tried to regain her, \% hich I believe they might have done. I have had some books of the music these many days to send you down. I wanted to put Tom's name in the new music, and begged Mrs. L. to ask you , and let me have a line on her arrival , for which purpose I kept back the index of the songs. If you or he have no objection, pray, let me know. I'll send the music to-morrow. " I am finishing a two act comedy for Covent-Garden , which will be in rehearsal in a week. We have given the Duenna a respite this Christ- inas, but nothing else at present brings money. We have every place in the house taken for the three next nights, and shall, at least, play it fifty nights, with only the Friday's intermission. " My best love and the compliments of rhe* season to all your fire-side. " Your grandson is a very magnificent fellow '. " Yours ever sincerely , " R. B. SlIERIPAS." Sliciidan'g first child, Thomas, born in the preceding >eeu strangely reserved. " Lady S. Why, Clerimont, you seem quite thoughtful. Come with us; we are going to kill an hour at ombre your mistress will join us. " Cler. Madam , I attend you. 106 MEMOIRS "Lady S. ( Taking Sir B. aside). Sir Benjamin, I see Maria is now coming to join us do you detain her awhile , and 1 will contrive that Clerimont should see you, and then drop this lelter. [Exeunt all but Sir B. Enter MARIA. "Mar. I thought the company were here, and Clerimont " Sir JB. One , more your slave than Clerimont, is here. "A/rtr. Dear Sir Benjamin, I thought you promised me to drop this suhject. If 1 have really any power over you, you will oblige me "Sir B. Power over me ! What is there you could not command me in ? Have you not wrought on me to proffer my love to Lady Sneerwell ? Yet though you gain this from me, you will not give me the smallest, token of gratitude. Enter CLERIMONT behind. "Mar. How can I believe your love sincere, when you continue still to importune me ? " Sir B. I ask but for your friendship, your esteem. li Mar. That you shall ever be entitled to then I may depend upon your honour ? " Sir B. Eternally dispose of my heart as you please. ''Mar. Depend upon it I shall study nothing but its happiness. I need not repeat my caution as to Clerimont? " Sir B. No, no, he suspects nothing as yet. "Mar. For, within these few days, I almost believed that he sus- pects me. " Sir B. Never fear, he does not love well enough to be quick sighted ; for just now he taxed me with eloping with his sister. "Mar. Well, we had now best join the company. [Exeunt. " Cler. So , now who can ever have faith in woman ? D d deceitful wanton ! why did she not fairly tell me that she was weary of my ad- dresses? that woman, like her mind, was changed, and another fool succeeded. Enter LADY SNEERWELL. " Lady S. Clerimont, why do you leave us? Think of my losing this hand (Cler. She has no heart.)-^-five mate (Cler. Deceitful wanton!) spadille. " Cler. Oh yes, ma'am 'twas very hard. ''Lady S. But you seem disturbed; and where are Maria and Sir Benjamin ? I vow I shall be jealous of Sir Benjamin. " Cler. I dare swear they are together very happy but, Lady Sneer- well you may perhaps often have perceived tbat I am discontented with Maria. I ask you to tell me sincerely have you ever perceived it? "Lady S. I wish you would excuse me. " Cler. Nay, you have perceived it I know you hate deceit." I have said that the other Sketch , in which Sir Peter and Lady Teazle arc made the leading personages, was written subsequently to lhat of which I have just given specimens. Of this, however, I cannot OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 107 produce any positive proof. There is no date on the manuscripts, nor any other certain clue , to assist in deciding the precedency of time between them. In addition to this , the two plans are entirely distinct, Lady Sneerwell and her associates being as wholly ex- cluded from the one , as Sir Peter and Lady Teazle are from the other; so that it is difficult to say, with certainty, which existed lirst, or at what time the happy thought occurred of blending all mat was best in each into one. The following are the Dramatis Person of the second plan : Sir Rowland Harpur. Plausible. Capt Harry Plausible. Freeman. Old Teazle ' . ( Left off trade . ) Mrs. Teazle. Maria. From this list of the personages we may conclude that the quar- rels of Old Teazle and his wife, the attachment between Maria and one of the Plausibles , and the intrigue of Mrs. Teazle with the other, formed the sole materials of the piece, as then con- structed 7 . There is reason too to believe, from the following me- morandum , which occurs in various shapes through these manu- scripts , that the device of the screen was not yet thought of , and that the discovery was to be effected in a very different manner " Making love to aunt and niece meeting wrong in the dark some one coming locks up the aunt, thinking it to be the niece." I shall now give a scene or two from the Second Sketch which shows , perhaps , even more strikingly than the other, the volatil- ising and condensing process which his wit must have gone through, before it attained its present proof and flavour. i*: " ACT I. SCENE I. OLD TEAZLE , alone. "In the year 44, I married iny first wife ; the wedding was at the end 1 The first intention was, as appears from his introductory speech, to give Old Teazle the Christian name of Solomon. Sheridan was, indeed, most fastidiously changeful in his names. The present Charles Surface was at first Clerimont , then Florival, then Captain Harry Plausible, then Harry Pliant or Pliable, then Young Harrier, and then Frank while his elder brother was successively Plau- sible, Pliable, Young Pliant, Tom , and , lastly, Joseph Surface. Trip was origin- < but, madam, then you would not wear them ; but try snow-balls, and icicles. But tell me, madam, how can you feel any satis- faction in wearing these , when you might reflect that one of the rose- buds would have furnished a poor family with a dinner ? " Lady T. Upon my word, Sir Peter , begging your pardon , that is a very absurd way of arguing. By that rule , why do you indulge in the least superfluity ? I dare swear a beggar might dine tolerably on your great-coat, or sup oft' your laced waistcoat nay, I dare say, he wouldn't eat your gold-headed cane in a week. Indeed, if you would reserve no- thing but necessaries , you should give the first poor man you meet your wig , and walk the streets in your night-cap, which , you know, becomes you very much. " Sir P. Well , go on to the articles. "Jarv. (Hearting). 'Fruit for my lady's monkey ,*5J. per week.' " Sir P. Five pounds for the monkey ! Why 'tis a dessert for an al- derman ! " Lady T. Why, Sir Peter, would you starve the poor animal ? I dare swear he lives as reasonably as other monkeys do. "&V P. Well, well, goon. " Jarv. ' China for ditto .' " Sir P. What , does he eat out of china? "Lady T. Repairing china that he breaks and I am sure no monkey breaks less. 11 Jarv- 'Paid Mr. Warren for perfumes milk of roses, 3o/.' "Lady T. Very reasonable. " Sir P. 'Sdeath, madam , if you had been born to these expenses , I should not have been so much amazed; but I took you, in.nl;nn , an ho- nest country squire's daughter " Lady T. Oh, filthy; don't name it. Well , heaven forgive my mo- ther, but I do believe my father must have been a man of quality. " Sir P. Yes , madam , when first I saw you, you were drest in a pretty figured linen gown , with a bunch of keys by your side ; your occupa- tions , madam, to superintend the poultry; your accomplishments, a complete knowledge of the family receipt-book then you sat in a room hung round with fruit in worsted of your own working; your amuse- ments were to play country-dances on an old spinet to your father while he went asleep after a fox-chase to read Tillotson's sermons to your aunt Deborah. These, madam, were your recreations , and these the accomplishments that captivated me. Now, forsooth , you must have two footmen to your chair, and a pair of white dogs in a phaeton ; you forget ( Inconsisteutly, in some degree, with my notion of its beirig the two act Comedy announced in 1775) he had an idea of extending the plot through five acts. "Act 1st, Scene 1st, Sir Peter and Steward 2d, Sir P. and Lady then Young Pliable. " Act 2d, Sir P. and Lady Yonng Harrier Sir P. and Sir Rowland, and Old Jeremy Sir R. and daughter Y. P. and Y. H. " Act 3d, Sir R., Sir P. and O. J. 2d, Y. P. and Company, Y. R. O. R. 3d , V H. and Maria Y. H., O. R. and Young Harrier, to borrow. " Act 4th, Y. P. and Maria , to borrow his money ; gets away what he had received from bis uncle. Y. P. Old Jer. and tradesmen. P. and Lady T." etc. etc. 1 10 MEMOIRS when you used to ride double behind the butler oa a docked bay coach- horse Now you must have a French hair-dresser; do you think you did not look as well when you had your hair combed smooth over a roller ? Then you could be content to sit with me , or walk by the side of the Ha! Ha ! "Lady T. True, I did; and when you asked me if I could love an old fellow, who wonld deny me nothing, I simpered and said -'Till death.' " Sir P. Why did you say so ? " Lady T. Shall I tell you the truth? " Sir P. If it is not too great a favour. " Lady T. Why, then, the truth is I was heartily tired of all these agreeable recreations you have so well remembered, and having a spirit to spend and enjoy fortune, I was determined to marry the Grst fool I should meet with You made me a wife , for which I am much obliged to you , and , if you have a wish to make me more grateful still, make me a widow '." * * " Sir P. Then , you never had a desire to please me, or add to my happiness ? ''Lady T. Sincerely, I never thought about you; did you imagine that age was catching? I think you have been overpaid for all you could liestow on me. Here am I surrounded by half a hundred lovers , not one of whom but would buy a single smile by a thousand such baubles as you grudge me. " Sir P. Then you wish me dead ? ''Lady T. You know I do not, for you have made no settlement on me s " Sir P. I am but middle-aged. " Lady T. There's the misfortune ; put yourself on , or back , twenty years, and either way I should like you the better. Yes, sir, and then your behaviour top was different; you would dress, and smile , and bow ; fly to fetch me any thing I wanted ; praise every thing I did or said ; fatigue your stiff' face with an eternal grin ; nay, you even committed poetry, and muffled your harsh tones into a lover's whisper to singit yourself, so that even my mother said you were thesmart- est old bachelor she ever saw a billet-doux engrossed on buckram 2 !!!!!! Let girls take my advice , and never marry an old bachelor. He must be so either because he could find nothing to love in women, or because women could find nothing to love in him." The greater part of this dialogue is evidently experimental, and the play of repartee protracted with no other view , than to take the chance of a trump of wit or humour turning up. . 1 The speeches which I have omitted consist merely of repetitions of the same thoughts with but very little variation of the language. * These notes of admiration are in the original, and seem meant to express the surprise of the author at the extravagance of his own joke. OFR. B. SHERIDAN. Ill In comparing the two characters in this sketch with what they are at present , it is impossible not to be struck by the signal change that thej have undergone. The transformation of Sir Peter into a gentleman has refined , without weakening , the ridicule of his situation ; and there is an interest created by the respectability, and amiableness of his sentiments , which , contrary to the effect pro- duced in general by elderly gentlemen so circumstanced , makes us rejoice , at the end , that he has his young wife all to himself. The improvement in the character of Lady Teazle is still more marked and successful. Instead of an ill-bred young shrew, whose readiness to do wrong leaves the mind in but little uncertainty as to her fate , we have a lively and innocent , though imprudent country girl , transplanted into the midst of all that can bewilder and endanger her, but with still enough of the purity of rural life about her heart, to keep the blight of the world from settling upon it permanently. There is , indeed , in the original draught a degree of glare and coarseness , which proves the eye of the artist to have been fresh from the study of Wycherley and Vanbrugh ; and this want of delicacy is particularly observable in the subsequent scene between Lady Teazle and Surface the chastening down of which to its present tone is not the least of those triumphs of taste and skill , which every step in the eloboration of this fine Comedy exhibits. " Scene ' YOUNG PLIANT'S Room. " Young P. I wonder her ladyship is not here : she promised me to call this morning. I have a hard game to play here , to pursue my designs on Maria. I have brought myself into a scrape with the mother-in-law. However, I think we have taken care to ruin my brother's character with my uncle, should he come to-morrow. Frank has not an ill quality in his nature ; yet, a neglect of forms, and of the opinion of the world , has hurt him in the estimation of all his graver friends. I have profited by his errors , and contrived to gain a character, which now serves me as a mask to lie under. " Enter LADY TEAZLE. *' Lady T. What, musing, or thinking of me ? " Young P. I was thinking unkindly of you; do you know now that you must repay me for this delay, or I must be coaxed into good humour ? *' Lady T. Nay, in faith you should pity me this old curmudgeon of late is grown so jealous , that I dare scarce go out , till I know he is se- cure for some time. " Young P. I am afraid the insinuations we have had spread about Frank have operated too strongly on him we meant only to direct his suspicions to a wrong object. ' The Third of the fourth Act in the present form of the Comedy. This scene underwent many changes afterwards , and was oftener pnt hack into the crucible than any other part of the play. .:> 112 MEMOIRS " Lady T. Oh , hang him ! I have told him plainly that if he conti- nues to be so suspicious , I'll leave him entirely, and make him allow me a separate maintenance. " Young P. But , my charmer , if ever that should be the case , you see before you the man who will ever he attached to you. But you must not let nutters come to extremities; you can never be revenged so well by leaving him, as by living with him, and let my sincere affection make amends for his brutality. " Lady T. But how shall I be sure now that you are sincere ? I have sometimes suspected , that you loved my niece ' . " Young P. Oh , hang her , a puling idiot , without sense or spirit. " Lady T. But what proofs have I of your love to me, for I have still so much of my country prejudices left, that if I were to do a foolish thing (and I think I can't promise ) , it shall be for a man who would risk every thing for me alone. How shall I be sure you love me ? " Young P. I have dreamed of you every night this week past. " Lady T. That's a sign you have slept every night for this week past; for my part , I would not give a pin for a lower who could not wake for a month in absence- " Young P. I have written verses on you out of number. " Lady T. I never saw any. " Young P. No they did not please me , and so I tore them. " Lady T. Then it seems you wrote them only to divert yourself. " Young P. Am I doomed for ever to suspense ? "Lady T. I don't know if I was convinced " Young P. Then let me on my knees " Lady T. Nay , nay, I will have no raptures either. This much I can tell you , that if I am to be seduced to do wrong , I am not to be taken by storm , but by deliberate capitulation , and that only where my reason or my heart is convinced. " Young P. Then , to say it at once the world gives itself liberties " Lady T. Nay, I am sure without cause; for I am as yet unconscious of any ill , though I know not what I may be forced to. " Young P. The fact is , my dear Lady Teazle, that your extreme in- nocence is the very cause of your danger ; it is the integrity of your heart that makes you run into a thousand imprudences , which a full conscious- ness of error would make you guard against. Now , in that case , you can't conceive how much more circumspect you would be. " Lady T. Do you think so ? " Young P. Most certainly. Your character is like a person in a ple- thora, absolutely dying of too much health. " Lady T. So then you would have me sin in my own defence , and part with my virtue to preserve my reputation a . " Young P. Exactly so , upon my credit , ma'am." 1 He had not yet decided whether to make Maria the daughter-in-law or niece of Lady Teazle. 1 This sentence seems to have hannted him I find it written in every direction, and without any material change in its form, over the pages of his different me- morandum- books . OF R. B. SHERIDAN. in It will be observed, from all I have cited, that much of the ori- ginal material is still preserved throughout; but that, like the ivory melting in the hands of Pygmalion, it has lost all its first rigidity and roughness, and, assuming at every touch some variety of aspect, seems to have gained new grace by every change. " Mollescit eburf posituque rigore Subsidit digitii, , ceditque ut Hymetiia sole Cera remollescit, tractataque pollice multas Flectitur in Jades , ipsoquejit utilis usu." Where'er his fingers move, his eye can trace The once rude ivory softening into grace Pliant as wax that , on Hymettus" hill , Melts in the sunbeam, it obeys his skill ; At every touch some different aspect shows , And still, the oftener touch'd, the lovelier grows. 1 need not , I think , apologise for the length of the extracts I have given , as they cannot be otherwise than interesting to all lovers of literary history. To trace even the mechanism of an au- thor's slyle through the erasures and alterations of his rough copy, is, in itself, no ordinary gratification of curiosity ; and the brouillon of Rousseau's Heloise , in the library of the Chamber of Deputies at Paris , affords a study in which more than the mere " auceps syl- labarum" might delight. But it is still more interesting to follow Ihus the course of a writer's thoughts to watch the kindling of new fancies as he goes to accompany him in his change of plans , and see the various vistas that open upon him at every step. It is , indeed , like being admitted by some magical power, to witness the mysterious processeof the natural world to see the crystal form- ing by degrees round its primitive nucleus , or observe the slow ripening of " the imperfect ore, " And know it will be gold another day! " In respect of mere style, too, the workmanship of so pure a writer of English as Sheridan is well worth the attention of all who would learn the difficult art of combining ease with polish , and being , at the same time, idiomatic and elegant. There is not a page of these manuscripts that does not bear testimony to the fastidious care with which he selected, arranged , and moulded his language , so as to form it into that transparent channel of his thoughts, which it is at present. His chief objects in correcting were to condense and simplify to get rid of all unnecessary phrases and epithets , and , in short , (<> >lrip away from the thyrsus of his wit every leaf that could render it loss light and portable. One instance out of hiany will show the fli MEMOIRS improving effect of Ihese operations '. The following is the original form of a speech of Sir Peter's : " People, who utter a tale of scandal, knowing it to be forged , de- serve the pillory more than for a forged bank-note. They can't pass the lie without putting their names on the back of it. You say no person has a right to come on 3 on because you didn't invent it ; but you should know that, if the drawer of the lie is out of the way, the injured party has a right to come on any of the indorsers." When this is compared with the form in which the same thought is put at present , it will be perceived how much the wit has gained in lightness and effect by the change : " Mrs. -Candour. But sure yon would not be quite so severe on those \vho only report what they hear ? " Sir P. Yes , madam , 1 would have Law-merchant for them too, and in all cases of slander currency % whenever the drawer of the lie was not to be found, the injured party should have a right to come on any of the indorsers." Another great source of the felicities of his style, and to which he attended most anxiously in revision , was the choice of epithets ; in which he has the happy art of making these accessary words not only minister to the clearness of his meaning, but bring out new effects in his wit by the collateral lights which they strike upon it and even where the principal idea has but little significance , he contrives to enliven it into point by thc'quaintness or contrast of his epithets. Among the many rejected scraps of dialogue that lie about , like the chippings of a Phidias, in this work-shop of wit , there are some precious enough to be preserved, at least, as relics. For instance, " She is one of those , who convey a libel in a frown , and wink a reputation down/ 1 The following touch of costume , too, in Sir Peter's description of the ruslic dress of Lady Teazle before he married her : " You forget when a little wire and gauze , with a few beads, made you a fly-cap not much bigger than a blue-bottle." The specimen which Sir Benjamin Backbite gives of his poetical talents was taken , it will be seen , from the following verses, which 1 In. one or - two sentences he has left a degree of stiffness in the style, not so much from inadvertence, as from the sacrifice of ease to point. Thus, in the follow ing example , he has been tempted by an antithesis into an inversion of phrase l>y no means idiomatic. "The plain state of the matter is this I am an extravagant vonng fellow who want money to borrow ; you I take to he a prudent old fellow, who have got money to lend." In the Collection of his Works this phrase is given differently hut without authority from any of the manuscript copies. 3 There is another siiuik- among his memorandums of the same mercantile kind : "A sort of broker in scandal, who transfers lies without fees." OF ft. B. SHERIDATN. 116 I find in Mr. Sheridan's hand-writingone of those trifles, per- haps , with which he and is friend Tickell were in the constant habit of amusing themselves , and written apparently with the in- tention of ridiculing some woman of fashion. " Then , behind , all my hair is done up in a plat , And so , like a cornet's , tuck'd under my hat. Then I mount on my palfrey as gay as a lark, And, follow'd by John , take the dust ' in High Park. In the way I am met by some smart macaroni , Who rides by my side on a little bay pony No sturdy Hibernian , with shoulders so wide , Ihit as taper and slim as the ponies they ride j Their legs are as slim , and their shoulders no wider, Dear sweet little creatures , both pony and rider! Bat sometimes , when hotter, I order my chaise , And manage, myself, my two little greys. Sure never were seen two such sweet little ponies , Oilier horses are clowns, and these macaronies , And to give them this title, I'm sure isn't wrong , Their legs are so slim , and their tails are so long. In Kensington Gardens* to stroll up and down, You know was the fashion before you left town , The thing's well enough , when allowance is made For the size of the trees and the depth of the shade , But the spread of their leaves such a shelter affords To those noisy, impertinent creatures called birds , "Whose ridiculous chirruping ruins the scene , Brings the country before me , and gives me the spleen. Yet, tho' 'tis too rural to come near the mark, We all herd in one walk , and that , nearest the Park , There with ease we may see , as we pass by the wicket, The chimneys of Kmghtsbridge and footmen at cricket , I must tho', in justice, declare that the grass, Which , worn by our feet, is diminished apace, In a little time more will be brown and as flat As the sand at Vauxhall or as Ranelagh mat. Improving thus fast, perhaps, by degrees , We may see rolls and butter spread under the trees , With a small pretty band in each seat of the walk , To play little tunes and enliven our talk." Though Mr. Sheridan appears to have made more easy progress , after he had .incorporated his two first plots into one, yet, even in the details of the new plan , considerable alterations were subse- quently made whole scenes suppressed or transposed, and the dialogue of some entirely re-written. In the third Act, for instance, as it originally stood , there was a long scene , in which Rowley, 1 This phrase is made use of in the dialogue :" As Lady Betty Curricle wan faking the dust in Hyde Park." ,, G MEMOIRS by a minute examination of Snake , drew from him , in the pre- sence of Sir OliTer and Sir Peter, a full confession of his designs against the reputation of Lady Teazle. Nothing could be more ill- placed and heavy ; it was accordingly cancelled , and the confession of Snake postponed to its natural situation, the conclusion. The scene, too, where Sir Oliver, as Old Stanley, comes to ask pecuniary aid of Joseph, was at first wholly different from what it is at present ; and in some parts approached much nearer to the confines of caricature than the watchful taste of Mr. Sheridan would permit. For example , Joseph is represented in it as giving the old suitor only half-a-guinea , which the latter indignantly returns, and leaves him ; upon which Joseph , looking at the half-guinea , exclaims , " Well , let him starve this will do for the opera." It was the fate of Mr. Sheridan , through life , and , in a great degree , perhaps his policy , to gain credit for excessive indolence and carlessness, while few persons, with so much natural brilliancy of talents , ever employed more art and circumspection in their dis- play. This was the case, remarkably, in the instance before us. Notwithstanding the labour which he bestowed upon this comedy , (or we should rather, perhaps, say in consequence of that labour,) the first representation of the piece was announced before the whole of the copy was in the hands of the actors. The manuscript, indeedT of the five last scenes bears evident marks of this haste in finishing , there being but one rough draught of them, scribbled upon de- tached pieces of paper-, while, of all the preceding acts, there are numerous scripts , scattered promiscuously through six or seven books, with new interlineations and memorandums to each. On the last leaf of all , which exists just as we may suppose it to have been despatched by him to the copyist , there is the following curious specimen of doxology , written hastily , in the hand-writing of the respective parties , at the bottom : "Finished at last, Thank God ! " R. B. SHERIDAN." " Amen! " W.HOPKINS" '. The cast of the play, on the first night of representation (May 8, 1777) , was as follows : Sir Peter Teazle. . Mr. Xing. Sir Oliver Surface. . . Mr. Fates. Joseph Surface. . . . Mr. Palmer. Charles. . . . .Mr. Smith. Crabtree. ... . Mr. Parson f, ' The Prompter. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 117 Sir Benjamin Backbite. . . Mr. Dodd. Rowley Mr. Aickin. Moses. Mr. Baddelcy. Trip Mr. Lamash. Snake Mr. Packer. Careless. . - .'' . . . Mr. Farren Sir Harry Bumper. .... Mr. Gawdry. Lady Teazle. . .... Mrs. Abington. Maria Miss P. Hopkins. Lady Sneenvell Miss Sherry. Mrs. Candour. . *'-.. t. . Miss Pope. The success of such a play, so acted, could not be doubtful. Long after its first uninterrupted run , it continued to be played re- gularly two or three times a-week ; and a comparison of the receipts of the first twelve nights , with those of a later period , will show how little the attraction of the piece had abated by repetition : May 8th, 1777. L. s. d. School for Scandal .... 225 9 o Ditto 195 6 o Ditto A. B. (Author's night) j5 10 o (Expenses) Ditto 257 46 Ditto . a43 oo Ditto A. B. ...... a3 10 o Committee , . 65 66 School for Scandal. . . . 262 19 6 Ditto 263 i3 6 Ditto A. B 73 10 o Ditto K.( the King). ... 272 96 Ditto. 247 i5 o Ditto. . . , , . . ,. . 255 14 o * The following extracts are taken at hazard from ah account of the weekly receipts of the Theatre , for the year 1778 , kept with exem- plary neatness and care^by Mrs. Sheridan herself 1 :-< January, 1778. L. s. d. 3d. Twelfth JNigbt. . . Queen Mab. . . 1% 14 6 . 5th. Macbeth Queen Mab. . . 212 19 o 6th. Tempest Queen Mab. . . 107 i5 6 7th. School for Scandal. . Comus. . . . 292 16 o 8th. School for Fathers. . Queen Mab. . . 181 10 6 9th. School for Scandal. . Padlock. ... 281 60 March 1 4th. School for Scandal. . Deserter. . . . a65 18 6 1 6th. Venice Preserved. . Belphegor (New). i^5 3 6 1 7th. Hamlet Belphegor. . . 160 19 o i gth. School for Scandal. . Befphegor. . . 261 10 o ' It appears from a letter of Holcrofl to Mrs. Sheridan, (given in hi Mcrooin , 118 MEMOIRS Such , indeed , was the predominant attraction of this comedy during the two years subsequent to its first appearance, that, in the official account of receipts for 1779, we flnd the following remark subjoined by the Treasurer : " School for Scandal damped the new pieces." I have traced it by the same unequivocal marks of success through the years 1780 and 1781 , and find the nights of its repre- sentation always rivalling those on which the King went to the theatre , in the magnitude of their receipts. The following note from Garrick ' to the author, dated May 12 (four days after the first appearance of the comedy), will be read with interest by all those for whom the great names of the drama have any charm : " MR. GARRICR'S best wishes and compliments to Mr. Sheridan. " How is the Saint to-day ? A gentleman who is as mad as myself about y e School remark'd , that the characters upon the stage at y" falling of the screen stand too long before they speak; I thought so too y e first night : he said it was the same on y c 2nd , and was remark'd by others ; tho' they should be astonish'd, and a little petrify'd , yet it may be carry'd to too great a length. All praise at Lord Lucan's last night." The beauties of (his comedy are so universally known and felt , that criticism may be spared the trouble of dwelling upon them very minutely. With but little interest in the plot , with no very profound or ingenious development of character , and with a group of personages , not one of whom has any legitimate claims upon either our affection or esteem , it yet , by the admirable skill with which its materials are managed , the happy contrivance of the situations , at once both natural and striking , the fine feeling of the ridiculous that smiles throughout, and that perpetual play of wit which never tires, but seems, like running water, to be kept fresh by its own flow , by all this general animation and effect, combined with a finish of the details, almost faultless ^ it unites the suffrages, at once , of the refined and the simple , and is not less successful in ministering to the natural enjoyment of the latter , than in sa- tisfying and delighting the most fastidious tastes among the former. And this is the true triumph of genius in all the arts, whether in vol. i. p. 275.) that she was also in the hahit of reading for Sheridan the new pieces sent in by dramatic candidates: " Mrs. Crewe (he says) has spoken to Mr. Sheridan concerning it ( the Shepherdess of the Alps) as he informed me last night, desiring me at the same time to send it to you, who, he said, would not only read it yourself, bnt remind him of it." 1 Mnrphy tells us, that Mr. Garrick attended the rehearsals, and "was never known on any former occasion to be- more anxious for a favourite piece. He was prond of the new manager; and in a triumphant manner boasted of the genius to whom he had consigned the conduct of the theatre.'' Life uj Garrick. 01 11. B. SHERIDAN. 11!> painting, sculpture, music, or literature, those works which have pleased the greatest number of people of all classes , for the longest space of lime, may without hesitation be pronounced the best , and , however mediocrity may enshrine itself in the admiration of the select few , the palm of excellence can only be awarded by the many. The defects of The School for Scandal , if they can be allowed lo amount to defects , are , in a great measure , traceable to that amalgamation of two distinct plots ,. out of which , as I have already shown , the piece was formed. From this cause, like an accumu- lation of wealth from the union of two rich families , has devolved that excessive opulence of wit, walh which, as some critics think, the dialogue is overloaded ; and which , Mr. Sheridan himself used often to mention, as a fault of which he was conscious in his work. That he had no such scruple, however, in writing it, appears evident from the pains which he took to string upon his new plot every bright thought and fancy which he had brought together for the two others $ and it is not a little curious , in turning over his ma- nuscript , to see how the outstanding jokes are kept in recollection upon the margin , till he can find some opportunity of funding them to advantage in the text. The consequence of all this is, that the dialogue , from beginning to end , is a continued sparkling of polish and point : and the whole of the Dramatis Personae might be com- prised under one common designation of Wits, Even Trip , the servant , is as pointed and shining as the rest , and has his master's wit, as he has his birth-day clothes, u with the gloss on *." The only personage among them that shows any 'Hemperance in jesting," is old Rowley , and he , too , in the original , had his share in the general largess of bons mots, one of the liveliest in the piece 2 being at first given to him , though afterwards transferred, with somewhat more fitness , to Sir Oliver. In short , the entire Comedy is a sort of El-Dorado of wit , where the precious metal is thrown about by all classes , as carelessly as if they had not the least idea of its value. Another blemish that hypercriticism has noticed , and which may likewise be traced to the original conformation of the play , is the uselcssncss of some of the characters to the action or business of it almost the whole of the " Scandalous College " being but, as it were, excrescences, through which none of the life-blood of the plot circulates. The cause of this is evident : Sir Benjamin Backbite, 1 This la one of the phrases that seein to have perplexed the taste of Sheridan * and upon so minute a point, as, whether it should be " with the gloss on," or, " \\itli the gloss on them." After various trials of it in hotli ways, he decided, as might be expected from his love of idiom , for the former. 1 The answer to the remark, that " charity hrgius at home," " a ad his, I jnesuiiie, is of that domestic soil which ne\ei stirs abroad at all." 130 MEMOIRS in the first plot to which he belonged , was a principal personage ; but , being transplanted from thence into one with which he has no connection, not only he, but his uncle Crabtree, and Mrs. Candour, though contributing abundantly to the animation of the dialogue , have hardly any thing to do with the advancement of the story ; and, like the accessories in a Greek drama, are but as a sort of Chorus of Scandal throughout. That this defect, or rather peculiarity , should have been observed at first , when criticism was freshly on the watch for food , is easily conceivable ; and I have been told by a friend , who was in the pit on the first night of performance , that a person , who sat near him , said impatiently , during the famous scene at Lady Sneerwell's, in the Second Act , " I wish these people would have done talking, and let the play begin." It has of ten been remarked as singular, that the lovers, Charles and Maria, should never be -brought in presence of each other till the last scene ; and Mr. Sheridan used to say , that he was aware , in writing the Comedy , of the apparent want of dramatic management w hich such an omission would betray ; but that neither of the ac- tors , for whom he had destined those characters , was such as he could safely trust with a love-scene. There might , perhaps , too , have been , in addition to this motive , a little consciousness , on his own part , of not being exactly in his element in that tender style of writing , which such a scene , to make it worthy of the rest , would have required , and of which the specimens left us in the serious parts of The Rivals are certainly not among his most felicitous ef- forts. By some critics the incident of the screen has been censured, as a contrivance unworthy of the dignity of comedy. 1 But in real life, of which comedy must condescend to be the copy , events of far greater importance are brought about by accidents as trivial ; and in a world like ours , where the falling of an apple has led to the discovery of the laws of gravitation , it is surely too fastidious to deny to the dramatist the discovery of an intrigue by the falling of a screen. There is another objection as to the manner of employing this machine , which , though less grave , is perhaps less easily answered. Joseph , at the commencement of the scene , desires his servant to draw the screen before the window , because " his oppo- site neighbour is a maiden lady of so anxious a temper ;" yet, after- wards , by placing Lady Teazle between the screen and the window, 1 " In the old comedy, the catastrophe is occasioned, in general, by a change in the mind of some principal character, artfnlly prepared and cautiously conduct- ed; in the modern, the unfolding of the plot is effected by the overturning of a screen, the opening of a door, or some other equally dignified machine." GIFFORD, Essay on the Writing! of Massinger; OF R. B. SHERIDAN. I? I he enables this inquisitive lady to indulge her curiosity at leisure. It might be said , indeed , that Joseph , with the alternative of ex- posure to either the husband or neighbour, chooses the lesser evil , but the oversight hardly requires a defence. From the trifling nature of these objections to the dramatic merits of the School for Scandal, it will be seen that, like the criticism of Momus on the creaking of Venus's shoes , they only show how per- fect must be the work in which no greater faults can 'be found. But a more serious charge has been brought against it on the score of morality , and the gay charm thrown around the irregularities of Charles is pronounced to be dangerous to the interest of honesty and virtue. There is no doubt that in- this character only the fairer side of libertinism is presented , that the merits of being in debt are rather too fondly insisted upon , and with a grace and spirit that might seduce even creditors into admiration. It was , indeed, play- fully said , that no tradesman who applauded Charles could possibly have the face to dun the author afterwards. In looking , however, to the race of rakes that had previously held possession of the stage , we cannot help considering our release from the contagion of so much coarseness and selfishness to be worth even the increased risk of seduction that may have succeeded to it ; and the remark of Burke, however questionable in strict ethics , is , at least , true on the stage , that " vice loses half its evil by losing all its grossness." It should be recollected, too , that, in other respects , the author applies the lash of moral satire very successfully. That group of slanderers who , like the Chorus of the Eumenides , go searching about for their prey with " eyes that drop poison ," represent a class of persons in society who richly deserve such ridicule, and who like their prototypes in jEschylus trembling before the shafts of Apollo are here made to feel the full force of the archery of wit. It is indeed a proof of the effect and use of such satire, that the name of " Mrs. Candour" has become one of those formidable bye- words, which have more power in putting folly and ill-nature out of countenance , than whole volumes of the wisest remonstrance and reasoning. The poetical justice exercised upon the Tartuffe of sentiment, Joseph , is another service to the cause of morals , which should more than atone for any dangerous embellishment of wrong that the portraiture of the younger brother may exhibit. Indeed , though both these characters are such as the moralist must visit with his censure , there can be little doubt to which we should , in real life, give the preference 5 the levities and errors of the one , arising from warmth of heart and of youth , may be merely like those mists that exhale from summer streams , obscuring them awhile to the 122 MEMOIRS eye , without affecting the native purity of their waters ; while the hypocrisy of the other is like the mirage of the desert , shining with promise on the surface , but all false and barren beneath. In a late work , professing to be the Memoirs of Mr. Sheridan , there are some wise doubts expressed as to his being really the author of the School for Scandal , to which , except for the purpose of ex- posing absurdity, I should not have thought it worth while to al- lude. It is an old trick of Detraction , and one, of which it never tires , to father the works of eminent writers upon others ; or , at least , while it kindly leaves an author the credit of his worst per- formances, to find some one in the back-ground to ease him of the fame of his best. When this sort of charge is brought against a conlemporary, the motive is intelligible ; but, such an abstract plea- sure have some persons in merely unsettling the crowns of Fame , that a worthy German has written an elaborate book to pwve, that the Iliad was written , not by that particular Homer the world supposes , but by someone/- Homer! Indeed, if mankind were to be influenced by those Qui temerities, who have, from lime to lime, in the course of the history of literature, exhibited informations of plagiarism against great authors , the property of fame would pass from its present holders into the hands of persons with whom the world is but little acquainted. Aristotle must refund to one Ocellus Lucanus Virgil must make a ccssio bonorum in favour of Pisander the Meta- morphoses of Ovid must be credited to the account of Parthenius of Nicaea , and (to come to a modern instance) Mr. Sheridan must , according to his biographer , Dr. Watkins , surrender the glory of having written the School for Scandal to a certain anonymous young lady , who died of a consumption in Thames Street ! To pass , however , to less hardy assailants of the originality of this comedy, it is said that the characters of Joseph and Charles were sug- gested by those of Blifil and Tom Jones; that the accident of the arrival of Sir Oliver from India is copied from that of the return of Warner in Sidney Biddulph; and that the hint of the famous scandal scene at Lady Sneerwell's is borrowed from a comedy of Moliere. Mr. Shendan , it is true , like all men of genius , had , in addition to the resources of his own wit, a quick apprehension of what suited his purpose in the wit of others , and a power of enriching whatever he adopted from them with such new grace , as gave him a sort of claim of paternity over it, and made it all his own. "C'cst mon bien," said Moliere, when accused of borrowing, " et je le reprends partout oii je le trouve;" and next, indeed, to creation, the re- production , in a new and more perfect form , of materials already existing, or the full development of thoughts that had but half blown in the hands of others, are the noblest miracles tor which we. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 153 look lo Ihc hand of genius. It is not my intention therefore to defend Mr. Sheridan from this kind of plagiarism , of which he was guilty in common with the rest of his fellow-descendants from Prometheus , who all steal the spark wherever they can find it. But the instances , just alleged , of his obligations to others , are too questionable and trivial to be taken into any serious account. Con- trasts of character, such as Charles and Joseph exhibit , are as com- mon as the lights and shadows of a landscape, and belong neither to Fielding or Sheridan , but to nature. It is in the manner of trans- ferring them to the canvas that the whole difference between the master and the copyist lies; and Charles and Joseph 'would, no doubt , have been what they are , if Tom Jones had never existed. With respect to the hint supposed to be taken from the novel 6T his mother, he at least had a right to consider any aid from that quarter as " son bien " talent being the only patrimony to which he had succeeded. But the use made of the return of a relation in the play is wholly different from that to which the same incident is applied in the novel. Besides, in those golden times of Indian delin- quency, the arrival of a wealthy relative from the East was no very unobvious ingredient in a story. The imitation of Moliere (if, as I take for granted, the Misan- thrope be the play, in which the origin of the famous scandal scene is said lo be found ) is equally faint and remote , and , except in the common point of scandal , untraceable. Nothing , indeed , can be more unlike than the manner in which the two scenes are managed. Celimene , in Moljere , bears the whole/raw of the conversation 5 and this female La Bruyere's tedious and solitary dissections of cha- racter would be as little borne on the English stage , as the quick and dazzling movement of so many lancets of wit as operate in the School for Scandal would be tolerated on that of the French. It is frequently said that Mr. Sheridan was a good deal indebted to Wycherley $ and he himself gave , in some degree , a colour to the charge , by the suspicious impatience which he betrayed when- ever any allusion was made lo it. He went so far, indeed, it is said, as to deny having ever read a line of Wycherley ( though of Van- brugh's dialogue he always spoke with the warmest admiration) ; and this assertion , as well as some others equally remarkable , such as , thai he never saw Garrick on the stage , that he never had seen a play throughout in his life , however strange and startling they may appear, are , at least , too curious and characteristic not to be put upon record. His acquaintance with Wycherley was pos- sibly but at second-hand, and confined, perhaps, lo Garrick's .illcrulinn of the Country Wife, in which the incident, already mentioned as having been borrowed for the Duenna , is preserved. 124 MEMOIRS There is, however, a scene in the Plain Dealer (Act. II.), where Nevil and Olivia attack the characters of the persons with whom Nevil had dined , of which it is difficult to believe that Mr. Sheri- dan was ignorant ; as it seems to contain much of that Hyle , or First Matter , out of which his own more perfect creations were formed. In Congreve's Double Dealer , loo , ( Act. III. Scene 10. ) there is much which may, at least , have mixed itself with the recollec- tions of Sheridan , and influenced the course of his fancy it being often found that the images with which the memory is furnished , like those pictures hung up before the eyes of pregnant women at Sparta , produce insensibly a likeness to themselves in the offspring which the imagination brings forth. The admirable drollery in Con- greve about Lady Froth's verses on her coachman "For as the snn shines every day, So of our Coachmau I may say" is by no means unlikely to have suggested the doggerel of Sir Ben- jamin Backbite-, and the scandalous conversation in this scene, though far inferior in delicacy and ingenuity to that of Sheridan , has somewhat , as the reader will see , of a parental resemblance to it : " Lord Froth. Hee, hee, my dear; have you done? Won't you join with us? We were laughing at my Lady Whifler and Mr. Sneer. " Lady F. Ay, my dear, were you? Oh filthy Mr. Sneer! he is a nauseous figure, a most fulsamick fop. He spent two days together in going ahout Covent-Garden to suit the lining of his coach with his com- plexion. " Ld. F. Oh , silly ! yet his aunt is as fond of him , as if she had brought the ape into the world herself. " Brink. Who ? my lady Toothless? Oh, she is a mortifying spectacle ; she's always chewing the cud like an old ewe. " Ld. F. Then she's always ready to laugh , when Sneer offers to speak ; and sits in expectation of his no jest> with her gums bare, and her mouth open " Brisk. Like, an oyster at low ebb, egad ha, ha, ha! " Cynthia. (Aside.} Well, I find there are no fools so inconsiderable themselves, but they can render other people contemptible by exposing their infirmities. ''Lady. F. Then that t'other great strapping Lady I can't hit oil her name ; the old fat fool, that paints so exorbitantly. " Brisk. I know whom you mean but, deuce take her, I can't hit off her name either paints, d'ye say ? Why she lays it on with a Iron el. Then she has a great beard that bristles through it, and makes her look as if she was plaistercd with lime and hair, let me perish." It would be a task not uninteresting , to enter into a detailed OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 1?;, comparison of the characteristics and merits of Mr. Sheridan , as u dramatic writer, with those of the other great masters of the art ; and to consider how far they differed or agreed with each other, in the structure of their plots and management of their dialogue in the mode of laying the train of their repartee, or pointing the ar- lillery of their wit. But I have already devoted to this part of my subject a much ampler space , than to some of my readers will ap- pear either necessary or agreeable- though by others, more in- terested in such topics, my diffuseness will, I trust, be readily pardoned. In tracking Mr. Sheridan through his two distinct careers of literature and of politics , it is on the highest point of his eleva- tion in each that the eye naturally rests ; and the School for Scandal in one , and the Begum speeches in the other, are the two grand heights the " summa biverticis umbra Parmassi" from which he will stand out to after times , and round which , therefore , his biographer may be excused for lingering with most fondness and delay. It appears singular that , during the life of Mr. Sheridan , no authorized or correct edition of this play should have been published in England. He had, at one time, disposed of the copyright to Mr. Ridgway of Piccadilly, but , after repeated applications from the latter for the manuscript, he was told by Mr. Sheridan, as an excuse for keeping it back , that he had been nineteen years endea- vouring to satisfy himself with the style of the School for Scandal , but had not yet succeeded. Mr. Ridgway, upon this , ceased to give him any further trouble on the subject. The edition printed in Dublin is, with the exception of a few unimportant omissions and verbal differences , perfectly correct. It appears that, after the success of the comedy in London, he presented a copy of it to his eldest sister, Mrs. Lefanu , to be dis- posed of, for her own advantage r to the manager of the Dublin Theatre. The sum of a hundred guineas, and free admissions for her family, were the terms upon which Ryder, the manager at that period , purchased from this lady the right of acting the play ; and it was from the copy thus procured that the edition afterwards pub- lished in Dublin was printed. I have collated this edition with the copy given by Mr. Sheridan to Lady Crewe (the last, I believe , ever revised by himself) ' and find it, with the few exceptions already mentioned , correct throughout. 1 Among the corrections in this copy (which are in his own hand -writing, ami lint few iu number), there is one which shows not only the reteutiveness of hi memory, bnt the minute attention which he paid to the structure of his sentences. Lady Teazle, in her scene with Sir Peter in the Second Act, says, "That's very true, indeed, Sir Peter; and after having married you, I should never pretend U 12C MEMOIRS The School for Scandal has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, and, among the French particularly, has undergone a variety of metamorphoses. A translation, undertaken, it appears , with the permission of Sheridan himself, was published in London, in the year 1789, by a Mons r . Bunell Dclille , who , in a Dedication to "Milord Macdonald ," gives the following account of the origin of his task : " Vous savez , Milord , de quelle maniere mysterieuse cette piece , qui n'a jamais etc imprim6e que furtive- ment, se trouva Fet6 dernier sur ma table, en manuscrit in-folio ; ct , si vous daignez vous le rappeler , apres vous avoir fait part de Taventure , je courus chez Monsieur Sheridan pour lui demander la permission," etc. etc. The scenes of the Auction and the Screen were introduced , for the first time , I believe , on the French stage , in a little piece called "Zes Deux Neveiix" acted in the year 1788, by the young comedians of the Comte de Beaujolais. Since then , the story has been reproduced under various shapes and names : " Les Por- traits de Famille," " Yalsain et Florville," and, at the Theatre Francais, under the title of the " Tartuffe de Mo3urs." Lately, too, the taste for the subject has revived. The Vaudeville has founded upon it a successful piece, called "Lcs Deux Cousins;' 1 and there is even a melodrame at the Porte St. Martin, entitled "L'Ecole du Scandale. " CHAPTER VI. Further Purchase of Theatrical property. Monody to the Memory of Gar-rick. Essay on metre. The Critic. Essay on Absentees. Poli- tical Conneclions. The " Englishman." Elected for Stafford. THE document in Mr. Sheridan's hand-writing, already men- tioned, from which I have stated the sums paid in 1776 by him, Dr. Ford , and Mr. Linley, for Garrick's moiety of the Drury-Lane Theatre, thus mentions the new purchase, by which he extended his interest in this property in the year 1778 : "Mr. Sheridan afterwards was obliged to buy Mr. Lacy's moiety at a price ex- ceeding 45,000/. : this was in the year 1778." He then adds what it may be as well to cite , while I have the paper before me , though relating to subsequent changes in the property: "In order to enable Mr. S. to complete this purpose , he afterwards taste again, I allow." It was thus that the passage stood at first in Lady Crewc's copy, as it does still, too, in the Dnhlin edition , and in that given in ihe Col- lection of his Works: bat in his final revision of this copy, the original reading of the sentence , snch as I find it in all his earlier mannscript of the play, is res- tored :" That's very true, indeed, Sir Peter: and, after having married yon, I am sure I should never pretend to ta tc again." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 137 consented to divide his original share between Dr. Ford and Mr. Linlcy, so as to make up each of theirs a quarter. But the price at which they purchased from Mr. Sheridan was not at the rale which he bought from Lacy, though at an advance on the 1 trice paid to Garrick. Mr. S. has since purchased Dr. Ford's quarter lor the sum of 17,0007. , subject to the increased incumbrance of the additional renters." By what spell an these thousands were conjured up, it would be difficult accurately to ascertain. That happy art in which the people of this country are such adepts of putting the future in pawn for the supply of the present, must have been the chief re- source of Mr. Sheridan in all these later purchases. Among the visible signs of his increased influence in the affairs of the theatre , was the appointment , this year, of his father to be manager; a reconciliation having taken place between them, which was facilitated, no doubt, by the brightening prospects of the son, and by the generous confidence which his prosperity gave him in making the first advances towards such a reunion. One of the novelties of the year was a musical entertainment called The Camp , which was falsely attributed to Mr. Sheridan at the time, and has since been inconsiderately admitted into the Collection of his Works. This unworthy trifle ( as appears from a rough copy of it in my possession) was the production of Tickell , and the patience with which his friend submitted to the imputation of having written it was a sort of " martyrdom of fame " which few but himself could afford. At the beginning of the year 1779 Garrick died, and Sheridan , as chief mourner, followed him to the grave. He also wrote a Monody to his memory, which was delivered by Mrs. Yates , after the play of the West Indian , in the month of March following. During the interment of Garrick in Poets' Corner, Mr. Burke had remarked that the statue of Shakspeare seemed to point to the grave where the great actor of his works was laid. This hint did not fall idly on the ear of Sheridan, as the tottovting fixation of the thought, in the verses which he afterwards wrote, proved : 41 The throng that mourn'd , as their dead favourite pass'd , The grac'd respect that claim'd him to the last; While Shak.'pcnrc's image, from its hallow'd base . Seem'd to prescribe the grave and point the place." This Monody, which was the longest flight ever sustained by i?s author .in verse, is more remarkable, perhaps, for refinement and elegance , than for cither novelty of thought or depth of sen- timent. There is , however, a fine burst of poetical eloquence in 1 28 MEMOIRS llic lines beginning "Superior hopes the poet's bosom fire; 1 ' and this passage, accordingly, as being the best in the poem, was, by the gossiping critics of the day, attributed to Tickell, from the same laudable motives that had induced them to attribute Tickets bad farce to Sheridan. There is no end to the variety of these small missiles of malice , with which the Gullivers of the world of litera- ture are assailed by the Lilliputians around them. The chief thought which pervades this poem, namely, the fleeting nature of the actor's art and fame , had already been more simply expressed by Garrick himself in his Prologue to The Clan- destine Marriage : " The painter's dead, yet still he charms the eye, While England lives, his fame can never die ; But he, who struts his hour upon the stage . Can scarce protract his fame through half an age; Nor pen nor pencil can the actor save; The art and artist hare one common grave." Colley Cibber, too , in his portrait (if I remember right) of Bet- ferton, breaks off into the same reflection, in the following graceful passage , which is one of those instances , where prose could not be exchanged fqr poetry without loss < " Pity it is that the momentary beauties, flowing from an harmonious elocution, cannot, like those of poetry, be their own record ; that the animated graces of the player can live no longer than the instant breath and motion that presents them , or, at best , can but faintly glimmer through the memory of a few surviving spectators." With respect to the style and versification of the Monody, the heroic couplet in which it is written has long been a sort of Ulysses' bow , at which Poetry tries her suitors , and at which they almost all fail. Redundancy of epithet and monotony of cadence are the inseparable companions of this metre in ordinary hands ; nor could all the taste and skill of Sheridan keep it wholly free from these defects in his own. To the subject of metre , he had , nevertheless , paid great attention. There are among his papers some fragments of an Essay ' which he had commenced on the nature of poetical * Or rather memorandums collected, as was his custom, with a view to the composition of sach an Essay. He had been reading the writings of Dr. Foster, Webb, etc. on this subject, with the intention, apparently, of publishing an answer to them. The following ( which is one of the few consecutive passages I can find in these notes) will show how little reverence he entertained for that ancient prosody, upon which, in the system of English education, so large and precious a portion of human life is wasted : " I never desire a stronger proof that an author is on a wrong scent on these subjects , than to see Quintiliau , Aristotle, etc. qnoted on a point where they have not the least business. All poetry is made by the ear. which must be the sole judge it is a sort of musical rhythm- OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 129 accent and emphasis ; and the adaptation of his verses to the airs in the Duenna even allowing for the aid which he received from Mrs. Sheridan shows a degree of musical feeling , from which a much greater variety of cadence might be expected , than we find throughout the versification of this poern. The taste of the lime, however, jsvas not prepared for any great variation in the music of the couplet. The regular foot-fall, established so long, had yet been but little disturbed ; and the only licence of this kind hazarded through the poem " All perishable" was objected toby some of the author's critical friends , who suggested , that it would be belter thus : " All doom'd to perish." Whatever, in more important points , may be the inferiority of the present school of poetry to that which preceded it , in the music of versification there can be but little doubt of its improvement ; nor has criticism , perhaps , ever rendered a greater service to the art , than in helping to unseal the ears of its worshippers to that true spheric harmony of the elders of song, which, during a long period of our literature , was as unheard as if it never existed. ns. If then we want to reduce oar practical harmony to rales, every man, with a knowledge ofhisown language and a good ear, is at once competent to the nnder- taking. Let him trace it to music if he has no knowledge, let him inqnire. "We have lost all notion of the ancient accent; we have lost their pronun- ciation ; all puzzling about it is ridiculous, and trying to find out the melody of onr own verse by theirs is still worse. We shoold have had all our own metres, if we nev. Oh mercy , mercy ! "Pev. Bring Savodi. (A Devil brings in SAVODI.) ' ' Chorus as before. " Welcome, welcome, etc. " Pev. Who art thou ? " Sav. A courtier, at Your Grace's service. " Pev . Your name ? ''Sav. Savodi, an' please Your Highnesses. " -Pev. Your use? " Sav. A foolish utensil of state a clock kept in the waiting-chamber, to count the hours. " Pev . Are you not one of those who fawn and lie , and cringe like spa- niels to those a little higher, and take revenge by tyranny on all beneath ? " Sav. Most true , Your Highnesses. " Pev. Is't not thy trade to promise what thou canst not do, to gull the credulous of money, to shut the royal door on unassuming merit to catch the scandal for thy master's ear, and stop the people's voice " Sav. Exactly , an' please Your Highnesses' Worship. " Pev . Thou dost not now deny it ? " Sav. Oh no , no , no. " Pev. Here baths of flaming sulphur ! quick stir up the cauldron of boiling lead this crime deserves it. " ist Dev. Great Judge of this infernal place, allow him but the meres of the court. " Sav . Oh kind Devil! yes, Great Judge, allow. " \sl Dev. The punishment is undergone already truth from him is something. " Sav . Oh , most unusual sweet devil ! " ist Dev. Then , he is tender , and might not be able to endure " Sav. Endure ! I shall be annihilated by the thoughts of it dear devil. " \st Dev Then let him, I beseech you, in scalding brimstone be first soaked a little , to inure and prepare him for the other. " Sav. Oh hear me, hear me! " Pev. Well, be it so. (Devils take him out and bring in PAMPHILES.)"! " Pev. This is he we rescued from the ladies a dainty one, I warrant. " Pamphil. (affectedly ) This is Hell, certainly by the smell. " Pev. What , art thou a soldier too? u Pamphil. No, on my life a Colonel, but no soldier innocent even of a review , as I exist. " Pev. How rose you then ? come , come the truth. " Pamphil. Nay, be not angry, sir if I was preferred it was not 1113 fault upon my soul, 1 never did any thing to incur preferment. ' Pev. Indeed ! what was thy employment then , friend ? ' Pamphil. Hunting " Pev. 'Tis false. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 1.S5 " Ptiinpliil Hunting women's reputations. " Pev. What , thou wert amorous ? " Pamphil. No, on my honour, sir, but vain, confounded vain the character of bringing down my game was all I wished , and, like a true sportsman, I would have given my birds to my pointers. " Pev . This crime is new what shall we do with him ?" etc. etc. This singular Drama does not appear to have been ever finished. With respect to the winding up of the story, the hermit, we may conclude , would have turned out to be the banished counsellor, and the devils, his followers 5 while the young huntsman would most probably have proved to be the rightful heir of the dukedom. In a more crude and unfinished state are the fragments that remain of his projected opera "The Foresters. " To this piece, ( which appears to have been undertaken at a later period than the preceding one , ) Mr. Sheridan often alluded in conversation , par- ticularly when any regret was expressed at his having ceased to assist Old Drury with his pen, "wait (he would say smiling) till I bring out my Foresters." The plot , as far as can be judged from the few meagre scenes that exist , was intended to be an improvement upon that of the Drama just described the Devils being transformed into Foresters , and the action commencing, not with the loss of a son but the recovery of a daughter, who had fallen by accident into the hands of these free-boolers. At the opening of the piece the young lady has just been restored to her father by the heroic Captain of the Foresters , with no other loss than that of her heart, which she is supected of having left with her preserver. The list of the Dramatis Persona? ( to which however he did not afterwards adhere ) is as follows : Old Oscar. Young Oscar. Colona. Morven. Harold. Nico. Miza. Malvina. Allanda. Dorcas. Emma. To this strange medley of nomenclature is appended a me- morandum" fide Petrarch for names." The first scene represents the numerous lovers of Malvina rejoicing at her return , and celebrating it by a chorus ; after which Oscar, her father, holds the following dialogue with one of them : 1&6 MEMOIRS " Osc. I thought, son , you would have been among the first and most eager to see Malvina upon her return. " Colin. Oh , father, I would give half my flock to think that my pre- sence would be welcome to her. " Osc. I am sure you have never seen her prefer any one else. " Colin. There's the torment of it were I but once sure that she loved another better, I think I should be content at least she should not know but that I was so. My love is not of that jealous sort that 1 should pine to see her happy with another nay, I could even regard the man that would make her so. " Osc. Haven't you spoke with her since her return? " Colin. Yes, and I think she is colder to me than ever. My professions of love used formerly to make her laugh , but now they make her wee]) formerly she seemed wholly insensible ; now, alas, she seems to feel but as if addressed by the wrong person." etc. etc. In a following scene are introduced two brothers , both equally enamoured of the fair Malvina , yet preserving their affection un- altered towards each other. With the recollection of Sheridan's own story fresh in our minds , we might suppose that he meant some reference to it in this incident, were it not for the exceeding niaiserie that he has thrown into the dialogue. For instance : Osc. But we are interrupted here are two more of her lovers bro- thers , and rivals , but friends. " Enter Nico and LUBIN. " So , Nico, how comes it you are so late in your enquiries after your mistress ? " Nico. I should have been sooner; but Lubin would stay to make himself fine though he knows he has no chance of appearing so to Malvina. " Lubin. No, in truth Nico says right I have no more chance than himself. " Osc. However, I am glad to see you reconciled, and that you live together, as brothers should do. " Nico. Yes, ever since we found your daughter cared for neither of us, we grew to care for one another. There is a fellowship in adversity that is consoling ; and it is something to think that Lubin is as unfortunate as myself. " Lubin. Yes , we are well matched I think Malvina dislikes him , if possible more than me, and that's a great comfort. " Nico. We often sit together, and play such woeful tunes on our pipes , that the very sheep are moved at it. Osc. But why don't you rouse yourselves , and since you can meet with no requital of your passion, return the proud maid scorn for scorn. " Nico. Oh mercy, no we find a great comfort in our sorrow don'f we , Lubin ? " Lubin. Yes, if I meet no crosses, I shall be undone in another twelvemonth I let all go to wreck and ruin. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 157 H Osc. But suppose Malvina should be brought to give you encou- ragement. " Nico. Heaven forbid ! that would spoil all. " Lubin. Truly, I was almost assured within this fortnight that she was going to relax. ' ' Nico. Ay, I shall never forget how alarmed we were at the appear- ance of a smile one day," etc. etc. Of the poetical part of this opera , the only specimens he has left are a skeleton of a chorus, beginning "Bold Foresters we are," and the following song, which, for grace and tenderness, is not unworthy of the hand that produced The Duenna : " We two , each other's only pride, Each other's bliss , each other's guide , Far from the world's unhallow'd noise , Its coarse delights and tainted joys , Through wilds will roam and deserts rude For, Love , thy home is solitude. " There shall no vain pretender be, To court thy smile and torture me , No proud superior there be seen , But nature's voice shall hail thee, queen. " With fond respect and tender awe , I will receive thy gentle law, Obey thy looks , and serve thee still , Prevent thy wish , foresee thy will , And , added to a lover's care , Be all that friends and parents are." But, of all Mr. Sheridan's unfinished designs, the Comedy which he meditated on the subject of Affectation. is that of which the abandonment is most to be regretted. To a satirist , who would not confine his ridicule to the mere outward demonstrations of this folly, but would follow and detect it through all its windings and disguises, there could hardly perhaps be a more fertile theme. Affectation, merely of manner, being itself a sort of acting, does not easily admit of any additional colouring on the stage, without degenerating into farce j and, accordingly, fops and fine ladies with very few exceptions are about as silly and tiresome in repre- sentation as in reality. But the aim of the dramatist, in this comedy, would have been far more important and extensive-, and how anxious he was to keep before his mind's eye the whole wide horizon of folly which his subject opened upon him , will appear from the following list of the various species of Affectation , which I have found written by him , exactly as I give it , on the inside cover of the memorandum-book , that contains the only remaining vestiges of this play : I .>* MEMOIRS ' An Affectation of Business. of Accomplishments. of Love of Letters and Wit. Music, of Intrigue, of Sensibility, of Vivacity. of Silence and Importance, of Modesty, of Profligacy, of Moroseness." In this projected comedy he does not seem to have advanced as far as even the invention of the plot or the composition of a single scene. The memorandum-book alluded to on the first leaf of which he had written in his neatest hand ( as if to encourage himself to begin) "Affectation" contains, besides the names of three of the intended personages, Sir Babble Bore, Sir Peregrine Paradox, and Feignwit, nothing but unembodied sketches of character, and scattered particles of wit, which seem waiting, like the imperfect forms and seeds in chaos , for the brooding of genius to nurse them into system and beauty. The reader will not, I think, be displeased at seeing some of these curious materials here. They will show that in this work , as well as in the School for Scandal , he was desirous of making the vintage of his wit as rich as possible, by distilling into it every drop that the collected fruits of his thought and fancy could supply. Some of the jests are far-fetched , and others , perhaps , abortive but it is pleasant to track him in his pursuit of a point , even when he misses. The very failures of a man of real wit are often more delightful than the best successes of others the quick-silver, even in escaping from his grasp, shines; "it still eludes him, but it glitters still." I shall give the memorandums as I find them , with no other difference , than that of classing together those that haw relation to the same thought or subject. " Character. Mr. BUSTLE. "A man who delights in hurry and interruption will take any one's business for them leaves word where all his plagues may follow him governor of all hospitals , etc. share in Ranelagh speaker every where , from the Vestry to the House of Commons 'I am not at home -gad, now he has heard me and I must be at home.'' Here am I so plagued, and there is nothing I love so much as retirement and quiet.' '^ ou never sent after me.' Let servants call in to him such a message as ' Tis nothing but the window-tax , ' the hiding in a room that communicates. A young man tells him some important business in the middle of fifty trivial inter- OF R. B. SHERIDAN. if.fl ruptions , and the calling in of idlers; such as fidlers, wild-beast men, foreigners with recommendatory letters, etc. answers notes on his knee, ' and so your uncle died? for your obliging enquiries and left you an orphan to cards in the evening.' " Can't bear to be doing nothing. 'Can I do any thing for any body anywhere?' 'Have been to the Secretary written to the Treasury.' ' Must proceed to meet the Commissioners, and write Mr. Price's little l>c by a sudden impulse. Sighs, devotion, attention weigh with others ; but they are so much your due, i hat no one should claim merit from them. . . . 1 The reader will find how much lliis thonght was improved upon afrcrwaals. II 162 MEMOIRS " You should not be swayed by common motives how heroic to form a marriage for which no human being can guess the inducement what a glorious unaccountableness ! All the world will wonder what the devil you could see in me; and, if you should doubt your singularity, I pledge invself to you that I never yet was indured by woman ; so that I should owe every thing to the effect of your bounty, and not by my own super- fluous deserts make it a debt, and so lessen both the obligation and my gratitude. lu short, every other woman follows her inclination, but you, above all things, should take me, if you do not like me. You will, be- sides, have the satisfaction of knowing that we are decidedly the worst match in the kingdom a match , too, that must be all your own work, in which fate could have no hand, and which no foresight could foresee. "A lady who affects poetry. 'I made regular approaches to her bv sonnets and rebusses a rondeau of circumvallation her pride sapped bv an elegy, and her reserve surprised by an impromptu proceeding to storm with Pindarics, she, at last, saved the further effusion of ink by a capitulalion.' "Her prudish frowns and resentful looks areas ridiculous as 'twould be to see a board with notice of spring-guns set in a highway, or of steel-traps in a common because they imply an insinuation that there is something worth plundering where one would not, in the least, sus- pect it. ''The expression of her face is at once a denial of all love-suit, and a confession that she never was asked the sourness of it arises not so much from her aversion to the passion , as from her never having had an op- portunity to show it. Her features are so unfortunately formed that she could never dissemble or put on sweetness enough lo induce any one to give her occasion to show her bitterness. I never saw a woman to whom you would more readily give credit for perfect chastity. "Lady Clio. 'What am I reading? ' ' have I drawn nothing latelv? is the work-bag finished? how accomplished I am! has the man been to untune the harpsichord? does it look as if I had been playing on it? " 'Shall I be ill to-day ? shall I be nervous?' 'Your La'ship was nervous yesterday.' 'Was I? then I'll have a cold I haven't had a cold this fortnight a cold is becoming no I'll not have a cough ; that's fatiguing I'll be quite well.' 'You become sickness your La'ship always looks vastly well when you're ill.' " 'Leave the book half read and the rose half finished you know I love to be caught in the fact.' "One who knows that no credit is ever given to his assertions, has the more right to contradict his words. " He goes the western circuit , to pick up small fees and impudence. OF R. B. SHERIDAN 163 fc ' A new wooden leg for Sir Ch?rles Easy. " An ornament which proud peers wear all the year round chimney- sweepers only on the first of May. "In marriage if you possess any thing very good, it makes you eager to get every thing else good of the same sort. "The critic when he gets out of his carriage should always recollect, that his footman behind is gone up to judge as well as himself. "She might have escaped in her own clothes, but I suppose she thought it more romantic to put on her brother's regimentals." The rough sketches and fragments of poems , which Mr. Sheri- dan left behind him , are numerous ^ but those among them that are sufficiently finished to be cited , bear the marks of having been writ- ten when he was very young , and would not much interest the reader while of the rest it is difficult to find four consecu- tive lines , that have undergone enough of the toilette of com- position to be presentable in print. It was his usual practice, when he undertook any subject in verse , to write down his thoughts first in a sort of poetical prose , with , here and there, a rhyme or a metrical line, as they might occur and then, afterwards to reduce, with much labour, this anomalous compound to regular poetry. The birth of his prose being , as we have already seen , so difficult , it may be imagined how painful was the travail of his verse. Indeed, the number of tasks which he left unfinished are all so many proofs of that despair of perfection , which those best qualified to attain it are always the most likely to feel. There are some fragments of an Epilogue , apparently intended to be spoken in the character of a woman of fashion , which give a lively notion of what the poem would have been, when complete. The high carriages , that had just then come into fashion , are thus adverted to : " My carriage stared at ! none so high or fine Palmer's mail-coach shall be a sledge to mine. No longer now the youths beside us stand, And talking lean, and leaning press the hand ; But , ogling upward , as aloft we sit , Straining , poor things, their ancles and their wit, J64 MEMOIRS And , inucli too short the inside to explore, Hang like supporters half way up l ''e door." The approach of a "veteran husband," to disturb these flirtations and chase away the lovers , is then hinted at : " To persecuted virtue yield assistance, And for one hour teach younger men their distance, Make them , in very spite , appear discreet , And mar the public mysteries of the street." The affectation of appearing to make love , while talking on in- different matters , is illustrated by the following simile :' " So when dramatic statesmen talk apart , With practised gesture and heroic start, The plot's their theme, the gaping galleries guess , While Hull and Fearon think of nothing less." The following lines seem to belong to the same Epilogue . " The Campus Martius of St. James's Street , Where the beau's cavalry pace to and fro , Before they take the field in Rotten ttow ; Where Brooks's Blues and Weltze's Light Dragoons Dismount in files, and ogle in platoons." He had also begun another Epilogue, directed against female gamesters, of which he himself repealed a couplet or two to Mr. Ko~ gersa short time before his death , and of which there remain some few scattered traces among his papers : " A night of fretful passion may consume All that thou hast of beauty's gentle bloom , And one distemper' d hour of sordid fear Print on thy brow the wrinkles of a year'. Great figure loses , little figure wins. Ungrateful blushes and disorder'd sighs, Which love disclaims, nor even shame supplies. Gay smiles, which once belong'd to mirth alone, And starting tears , which pity dares not own." The following stray couplet would seem to have been intended for his description of Gorilla : " A crayon Cupid , redd'ning into shape, Betrays her talents to design and scrape." The Epilogue, which I am about to give , though apparently ti- 1 These four lines, as I have already remarked, are taken with little change of the words, but a total alteration of the sentiineut from the verses which he addressed to Mrs. Sheridan in the year 1773. Seu page 67 OF K. 15. SHKK1UAW. li> nished, has not, as far as I can learn, yet appeared in print , nor am I at all aware for what occasion it was intended. In tills gay month when , through the sultry Lour, The vernal suu denies the wonted shower, When youthful Spring usurps maturer sway, And pallid April steals the blush of May, How joys the rustic tribe, to view display'd The liberal blossom aud the early shade ! But ah! far other air our soil delights ; Here ' charming weather' is the worst of blights. No genial beams rejoice our rustic train , Their harvest's still the better for the raiu. To summer suus our groves no tribute owe, They thrive iu frost , and flourish best in snow. When other woods resound the feather'd throng , Our groves, our woods , are destitute of song. The thrush , the lark , all leave our mimic vale , -N<> more we boast our Christmas nightingale ; Poor Rosignol the wonder of bis day, Sung through the winter but is mute in May. Tben bashful spring , that gilds fair nature's scene , O'crcasts our lawns , and deadens every green ; Obscures our sky, embrowns the wooden shade , And dries the channel of each tin cascade! Oh hapless we , whom such ill fate betides , Hurt by the beam which cheers the world besides Who love the liug'riug frost, nice chilling showers, While Nature's Benefit is death to ours ; Who, witch-like , best iu noxious mists perform , Thrive in the tempest , aud enjoy the storm. O hapless we unless your generous care Bids us no more lament that Spriug is fair, But plenteous glean from the dramatic soil , The vernal harvest of our winter's toil. For, April suns to u no pleasure bring Your presence here is all we feel of Spring; May's riper beauties here no bloom display Your fostering snlile alone proclaims it May. A poem upon Windsor Castle, half ludicrous and half solemn , appears , from the many experiments which he made upon it , \lo have cost him considerable trouble. The Castle , he says , " Its base a mountain , aud itself a rock , In proud defiance of the tempests' rage, Like au old grey-hair'd veteran stands each shock The sturdy witness of a nobler age." He then alludes to the " cockney 1 ' improvements that had lately taken place , among which the venerable castle appears , like ' A helmet on a Macaroni's head Or like old Talbot, turn'd into a fop, With r.>at rinhroidcr'd and scratch wig at top." 1 MEMOIRS Some verses , of the same mixed character, on the short duration of life and the changes that death produces, thus begin : " Of that same tree which gave the box , Now rattling in the hand of FOX, Perhaps his coffin shall be made." He then rambles into prose , as was his custom , on a sort of knight-errantry after thoughts and images : " The lawn thou hast chosen for thy bridal shift thy shroud may be of the same piece. That flower thou hast bought to feed thy vanity from the same tree thy corpse may be decked. Reynolds shall , like his colours , fly ; and Brown , when mingled with the dust , manure the grounds he once laid out. Death is life's second childhood ; we return to the breast from whence we came , are weaned, * * *" There are a few detached lines and couplets of a poem , intended to ridicule some fair invalid , who was much given to falling in love with her physicians : " Who felt her pulse, obtained her heart." The following couplet, in which he characterises an amiable friend of his, Dr. Bain, with whom h'e did not become acquainted till the year 1792, proves these fragments to have been written after that period : " Not savage * * * nor gentle BAIN She was in love with Warwick Lane." An " Address to the Prince," on the exposed style of women's dress, consists of little more than single lines , not yet wedded into couplets j such as " The more you show, the less we wish too see." "And bare their bodies, as they mask their minds," etc. This poem , however, must have been undertaken many years after his entrance into Parliament , as the following curious political memo- randum will prove : " I like it no belter for being from France whence all ills come altar of liberty, begrimed at once with blood and mire." There are also some Anacreontics lively, but boyish and extra- vagant. For instance, in expressing his love of bumpers : " Were mine a goblet that had room For a whole vintage in its womb, I still would have the liquor swim An inch or two above the brim." The following specimen is from one of those poems , whose length and completeness prove them to have been written at a time of life when he was more easily pleased , and had not yet arrived at that state of glory and torment for the poet , when OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 167 *' Toujburs mecontent de ce qu'il vient de faire , 11 plait a tout le monde , et ne saurait se plaire.'" " The Muses call'd , the other morning , On Phoebus , with a friendly warning - That invocations came so fast, They must give up their trade at last , And if he meant to' assist them all , The aid of Nine would be too small. ^ Me then , as clerk , the Council chose , To tell this truth in humble prose. But Phoebus , possibly intending To show what all their hopes must end in , To give the scribbling youths a sample , And frighten them by my examplff, Bade me ascend the poet's throne , And give them verse much like their own. " Who has not heard each poet sing The powers of Heliconian spring ? Its noble virtues we are told By all the rhyming crew of old. Drink but a little of its well , And straight you could both write and spell , While such rhyme-giving pow'rs run through it, A quart would make an epic poet." etc. etc. A poem on the miseries of a literary drudge begins thus promis- ingly : " Think ye how dear the sickly meal is bought, By him who works at verse and trades in thought ? " The rest is hardly legible ; but there can be little doubt that he would have done this subject justice ; for he had himself tasted of the bitterness with which the heart of a man of genius overflows, when forced by indigence to barter away ( as it is here expressed ) " the reversion of his thoughts," and " Forestall the blighted harvest of his braiii." It will be easily believed that , in looking over the remains, both dramatic and poetical, from which the foregoing specimens are taken, I have been frequently tempted to indulge in much ampler extracts. It appeared to me , however, more prudent , to rest satisfied with the selections here given ; for , while less would have disappointed the curiosity of the reader, more might have done injustice to the memory of the author. ' MEMOIRS CHAPTER VIII. His first speeches in Parliament. Rockiugham administralion. Coalition. India Bill. THE period at which Mr. Sheridan entered upon his political career was , in every respect , remarkable. A persevering and vin- dictive war against America, with the folly and guilt of which the obstinacy of the Court and the acquiescence of the people are equally chargeable, was fast approaching that crisis , which every unbias- sed spectator of the contest had long foreseen , and at which , however humiliating to the Haughty pretensions of England, every friend to the liberties of the human race rejoiced. It was , perhaps , as difficult for this country to have been long and virulently op- posed to such principles as the Americans asserted in this contest, without being herself corrupted by the cause which she maintained. ;;s it was for the French to have fought, in the same conflict, by (he side of the oppressed, without catching a portion of that en- Uiusiasm for liberty, which such an alliance was calculated to in- spire. Accordingly , while the voice of Philosophy was heard along the neighbouring shores, speaking aloud those oracular warnings , which preceded the death of the Great Pan of Despotism, Ihe courtiers and lawyers of England were, with an emulous spirit f servility, advising and sanctioning such strides of power, as would not have been unworthy of the most dark and slavish times. When we reviews indeed , the history of .the late reign , and con- sider how invariably the arms and councils of Great Britain, in her Eastern wars , her conflict with America , and her efforts against revolutionary France , were directed to the establishment and per- uetualion of despotic principles , it seems little less than a miracle I hat her own liberty should have escaped with life from the conta- gion. Never, indeed , can she be sufficiently grateful to the few patriot spirits of this period, to whose courage and eloquence she owes the high station of freedom yet left to her; never can her sons pay a homage too warm to the memory of such men as a Chatham, a Fox, and a Sheridan 5 who, however much they may have sometimes sacrificed to false views of expediency, and, by compromise with friends and coalition with foes , too often weak- ened their hold upon public confidence ; however the attraction of the Court may have sometimes made them librate in their orbit , were yet the saving lights of liberty in those times , and alone pre- served the ark of the Constitution from foundering in the foul and troubled waters that encompassed it. Not only were the public events, in which Mr. Sheridan was 01* 11. ]]. SHERIDAN. t ICO uo\\ called to lake a part, of a nature more extraordinary and awful than had often been exhibited on the theatre of politics , but the leading actors in the scene were of that loftier order of intellect , which \alurc seems to keep in reserve for the ennoblement of such tircat occasions. Two of these , Mr. Burke- and Mr. Fox , were al- ready in the full maturity of their fame and talent , while the third, Mr. Pitt, was just upon the point of entering , with the most auspi- cious promise, into the same splendid career; ' ~ ' . ' 't Nunc cuspide Patris Inclytus , Herculeas olirn mature sagittas, " Though the administration of that day, like many other ministries of the same reign , was chosen more for the pliancy than the strength of its materials , yet Lord North himself was no ordinary man , and, in times of less difficulty and under less obstinate dictation , might have ranked as a useful and most popular minister. It is true, as the defenders of his measures state , that some of the worst aggres- sions upon the rights of the Colonies had been committed before he succeeded to power. But his readiness to follow in these rash foot- steps , and to deepen every fatal impression which they had made ; his insulting reservation of the Tea Duty, by which he contrived to embitter the only measure of concession that was wrung from him ; the obsequiousness , with which he made himself the chan- nel of the vindictive feelings of the court, in that memorable de- claration (rendered so truly mock heroic, by the event) that " a total repeal of the Port duties could not be thought of, till America was prostrate at the feet of England ; " all deeply involve him in the shame of that disastrous period, and identify his name with measures as arbitrary and headstrong , as have ever disgraced the annals of the English monarchy. The playful wit and unvarying good-humour of this nobleman formed a striking contrast to the harsh and precipitate policy, which it was his lot , during twelve stormy years , to enforce : and , if his career was as headlong as the torrent near its fall, it may also be said to have been as shining and as smooth. These attractive qualities secured to him a considerable share of personal popularity; and . had fortune ultimately smiled on his councils , success would, as usual , have reconciled the people of England to any means , however arbitrary, by which it had been attained. But the calamities, and , at last , the hopelessness of the cdnflict , inclined them to mo- ralise upon its causes and character. The hour of Lord North's ascendant was now passing rapidly away, and Mr. Sheridan could not have joined the Opposition at a -conjuncture more favourable lo the excitement of his powers , or more bright in the views which it opened upon his ambition. 170 MEMOIRS He made his first speech in Parliament on the 20th of November, 1780, when a petition was presented to the House, complaining of the undue election of the sitting members (himself andMr.Monckton) for Stafford. It was rather lucky for him that the occasion was one in which he felt personally interested, as it took away much of that appearance of anxiety for display , which might have attended his first exhibition upon any general subject. The fame, however, which he had already acquired by his literary talents , was sufficient , even on this question , to awaken all the curiosity and expectation of his audience ; and, accordingly , we are told in the report of his speech, that " he was heard with particular attention, the House being un- commonly still while he was speaking." The indignation, which he expressed on this occasion at the charges brought by the petition against the electors of Stafford , was coolly turned into ridicule by Mr. Rigby, Paymaster of the forces. But Mr. Fox , whose eloquence was always ready at the call of good-nature , and , like the shield of Ajax, had " ample room and verge enough, to protect not only himself but his friends, came promptly to the aid of the young orator-, and, in reply to Mr. Rigby, observed , that " though those ministerial members , who chiefly robbed and plundered their con- stituents , might afterwards affect to despise them , yet gentlemen , who felt properly the nature of the trust allotted to- them, would always treat them and speak of them with respect." It was on this night, as Woodfall used to relate, that Mr. Sheri- dan , after he had spoken , came up to him in the gallery, and asked, with much anxiety, what he thought of his first attempt. The answer of Woodfall , as he had the courage afterwards to own, was , " I am sorry to say I do not think that this is your line you had much belter have stuck to your former pursuits." On hearing which, She- ridan rested his head upon his hand for a few minutes , and then vehernenlly exclaimed, " It is in me, however, and, by G , it shall come out." It appears , indeed , that upon many persons besides Mr. Wood- fall the impression produced by this first essay of his oratory was far from answerable to the expectations that had been formed. The chief defect remarked in him was a thick and indistinct mode of delivery, which, though he afterwards greatly corrected it, was never entirely removed. It is not a little amusing to find him in one of his early speeches , gravely rebuking Mr. Rigby and Mr. Courtenay 1 for the levity and raillery with which they treated the subject before the House, . . -. i. .,: \ 1 Feb. 26. On the second reading of the Bill for the hetter regulation of His Majesty's Civil List Revenue. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 171 Ihus condemning the use of that weapon in other hands . which soon after became so formidable in his own. The remarks fay which Mr. Courlenay ( a gentleman , whose lively wit found afterwards a more congenial air on the benches of Opposition ) pro- voked the reprimand of the new senator for Stafford, are too humor- ous to be passed over without, at least, a specimen of their spirit. In ridiculing the conduct of the opposition , he observed : " Oh liberty! Oh virtue! Oh my country! had been the pathetic, though fallacious cry of former Oppositions; but the present he was sure acted on purer motives. They wept over their bleeding country, he had no doubt. Yet the patriot "eye in a fine frenzy rolling" sometimes deigned to cast a wishful squint on the riches and honours enjoyed by the minister and his venal supporters. If he were not apprehensive of hazard- ing a ludicrous allusion ( which he knew was always improper on a se- rious subject) , he would compare their conduct to that of the sentimental alderman in one of Hogarth's prints, who, when his daughter is expi- ring, wears indeed a parental face of grkf and solicitude, but it is to secure her diamond ring which he is dfawmg gently from her finger." " Mr. Sheridan ( says the report ) rose and reprehended Mr. Courtenay for turning every thing that passed into ridicule ; for having introduced into the House a style of reasoning, in his opinion , every way unsuitable to the gravity and importance of the subjects that came under their dis- cussion. If they would not act with dignity , he thought they might , at least, debate with decency. He would not attempt to answer Mr. Cour- tenay's arguments , for it was impossible seriously to reply to what , in every part, had an infusion of ridicule in it. Two of the honourable gentle- man's similes , however, he must take notice of. The one was his having insinuated that Opposition was envious of those who basked in court sunshine ; and desirous merely to get into their places. He begged leave to remind the honourable gentleman that, though the sun afforded a genial warmth, it also occasioned an intemperate heat, that tainted and infected every thing it reflected on. That this excessive heat tended to corrupt as well as to cherish; to putrefy as well as to animate; to dry and soak up the wholesome juices Of the body politic, and turn the whole of it into one mass of corruption. If those, therefore, who sat near him did not enjoy so genial a warmth as the honourable gentleman , and those who like him kept close to the noble Lord in the blue ribbon , he was certain they breathed a purer air, an air less infected and less corrupt." This florid style, in which Mr. Sheridan was not very happy, he but rarely used in his speeches afterwards. The first important subject that drew forth any thing like a dis- play of his oratory was a motion which he made on the 5lh of March, 1781 , " For the better regulation of the Police' of West- minster/' The chief object of the motion was to expose the un- constitutional exercise of the prerogative that had been assumed , in employing the military to suppress the late riots , without wait- ing for the authority of the civil power. These disgraceful riots. 17* MEMOIRS which proved to what Chrislianly consequences Ihe cry of " No Popery" may lead, had the effect, which follows all tumultuary movements of the people , of arming the Government with new powers, and giving birth to doctrines and precedents permanently dangerous to liberty. It is a little remarkable that the policy of blending the army with the people, and considering soldiers as citi- zens , which both Montesquieu and Blackstone recommend as fa- vourable lo freedom , should , as applied by Lord Mansfield on this occasion , be pronounced , and perhaps with more justice , hostile to it; the tendency of such a practice being, it was said, lo weaken lhat salutary jealousy, with which the citizens of a free slate should ever regard a soldier, and thus familiarise theuseoflhis dangerous machine , in every possible service lo which capricious power may apply il. The opposition did not deny that (he measure of ordering out Ihe military , and empowering their officers to act at discretion without any reference to the civil magistrate, was, however unconstitutional not o0y justifiable but wise, in a moment of such danger. But the refusal of Ihe Minisler lo acknowledge Ihe illegality of the proceeding by applying to the House for an Act of Indemnity, and the transmission of Ihe same discrelionary orders lo Ihe soldiery Ihroughoul the country where no such imminent neces- sity called for it, were the points upon which the conduct of the Government was strongly, and nol unjustly, censured. Indeed , the manifest design of the Ministry, at this crisis, lo avail themselves of the impression produced by Ihe riols , as a means of extending the frontier of their power, and fortifying Ihe doctrines by which they defended il , spread an alarm among Ihe friends of consli- lulional principles , which the language of some of the advocates of the Court was by no means calculaled lo allay. Among others, a Noble Earl , one of those awkward worshippers of power, who bring ri- dicule alike upon their idol and themselves, had the foolish effron- tery, in the House of Lords, to eulogise the moderalion which His Majesty had displayed, in not following the recent example of the king of Sweden, and employing the sword , with which the hour of difficulty had armed him, for the subversion of Ihe Constitution and the eslablishmenl of despotic power. Though this was the mere ebullition of an absurd individual , yet the bubble on Ihe surface often proves the strength of the spirit underneath, and the public were justified by a combination of circumstances , in attributing designs of the mosl arbitrary nature to such a Court and such an Administration. Meetings were accordingly held in some of the prin- cipal counties , and resolutions passed, condemning the late un- constitutional employment of Ihe military. Mr. Fox had adverted to il strongly at the opening of the Session, and it is a proof oftho OF II. B. SHKR1DAN. 17-1 L-slimation in whichMr. Sheridan already stood with his parly , lhat he was the person selected to faring forward a motion, upon a sub- ject in which the feelings of the public were so much interested. In Hie course of his speech he said : ."If this doctrine was to be laid down, that the Crown could give orders to the military to interfere , when , where, and for what length of lime it pleases, then we might bid farewell to freedom. If this was tlic l;i\\ , we should then be reduced to a military government of the very worst species, in which we should have all the evils of a despotic state , without the discipline or the security- But we were given to understand , that we had the best protection against this evil , in the virtue , the mode- ration , and the constitutional principles of the sovereign. IS'o man upon earth thought with more reverence than himself of the virtues and mo- deration of the sovereign ; but this was a species of liberty which he trusted would never disgrace an English soil. The liberty that rested on the virtuous inclinations of any one man , was but suspended despotism ; the sword was not indeed upon their necks, but it hung by the small and brittle thread of human will." The following passage of this speech affords an example of that sort of antithesis of epithet , which , as has been already remarked , was one of the most favourite contrivances of his style : " Was not the conduct of that man or men criminal , who had permit- ted those Justices to continue in the commission ? Men of tried inability and convicted deficiency I Had no attempt been made to establish some more effectual system of police, in oi'der that we might still depend upon the remedy of the bayonet, and that the military power might be called in to the aid of contrived weakness and deliberate inattention ? " One of the few inslances in which he ever differed with his friend , Mr. Fox, occurred during this session , upon the subject of a Bill which the latter introduced for the Repeal of the Marriage Act , and which he prefaced by a speech as characteristic of the ardour, the simplicity, the benevolence and fearlessness of his disposition , as any ever pronounced by him in public. Some parts , indeed , of this remarkable speech are in a strain of feeling so youthful and roman- tic , that they seem more fit to be addressed to one of those Parlia- ments of Love , which were held during the times of Chivalry, than to a grave assembly employed about the sober realities of life , and legislating with a view to the infirmities of human- nature. The hostility of Mr. Fox to the Marriage Act was hereditary, as it had been opposed with eqifal vehemence by his father, on its first introduction in 1753, when a debate not less memorable took place, and when Sir Dudley Ryder, the Attorney general of the day, did not hesitate to advance, as one of his arguments in favour of the I Jill, that it would lend to keep the aristocracy of the country pure, 174 MEMOIRS and prevent their mixture by intermarriage with the mass of the people. However this anxiety for the "streams select " of noble blood , or views , equally questionable , for the accumulation of pro- perty in great families, may have influenced many of those with whom the Bill originated , however cruel , too , and mischievous , some of its enactments may be deemed, yet the general effect which the measure was intended to produce , of diminishing as much as possible the number of imprudent marriages , by allowing the pilo- tage of parental authority to continue till the first quicksands of youth are passed, is, by the majority of the civilised world, acknow- ledged to be desirable and beneficial. Mr. Fox, however, thought otherwise , and though " bowing ," as he said , " to the prejudices of mankind," he consented to fix the. age at which young people should be marriageable without the consent of parents , at sixteen years for the woman and eighteen for the man , his own opinion was decidedly for removing all restriction whatever, and for leaving the " heart of youth ," which , in these cases, was " wiser lhan the head of age," without limit or controul, to the choice which its own desires dictated. He was opposed in his arguments , not only by Mr. . Sheridan , but by Mr. Burke , whose speech on this occasion was found among his manuscripts after his death , and is enriched , though short , by some of those golden sentences , which he " scattered from his urn " upon every subject that came before him '. Mr. Sheridan , for whose opinions upon this subject the well-known history of his own mar- riage must have secured no ordinary degree of attention, remarked that "His honourable friend, who brought in the Bill, appeared not to be aware that, if he carried the clause enabling girls to marry at sixteen, he would do an injury to that liberty of which he had always shown himself the friend , and promote domestic tyranny, which he could consider only as little less intolerable than public tyranny. If girls were allowed to marry at sixteen , they would , he conceived , be abridged of that happy free- dom of intercourse , which modern custom had introduced between the youth of both sexes ; and which was, in his opinion , the best nursery of happy marriages. Guardians would, in I hat case, look on their wards with a jealous eye , from a fear that footmen and those about them might 1 la alluding to Mr. Fox's too favourable estimate of the capability of very young persons to choose for themselves, he pays the following tribute to his powers: "He is led into it by a natural and to him inevitable and real mistake, that the ordinary race of mankind advance as fast towards maturity of judgment and understanding as he has done." His concluding words are : " Have mercy on the yon th of both sexes; protect them from their ignorance and 'inexperience; protect one part of life by the wisdom of another; protect them by the wisdom of laws and the care of nature." OF R- B. SHERIDA1N. m take advantage of their tender years and immature judgment , and per- suade them into marriage , as soon as they attained the age of sixteen." It seems somewhat extraordinary that , during the very busy in- terval which passed between Mr. Sheridan's first appearance in Par- liament and his appointment under Lord Rockingham's administra- tion in 1782, he should so rarely* have taken a part in the debates that occurred interesting as they were , not only from the import- ance of the topics discussed , but from the more than usual anima- tion now infused into the warfare of parties , by the last desperate struggles of the Ministry and the anticipated triumph of the Oppo- sition. Among the subjects , upon which he appears to have been rather unaccountably silent , was the renewal of Mr. Burke's Bill for the Regulation 'of the Civil List, an occasion memorable as having brought forth the maiden speech of Mr. Pitt , and witnessed the first accents of that eloquence , which was destined , ere long , to sound , like the shell of Misenus, through Europe, and call kings and nations to battle by its note. The debate upon the legality of petitions from delegated bodies , in which Mr. Dunning sustained his high and rare character of a patriot lawyer ; the bold proposal of Mr. Thomas Pitt, that the Commons should withhold the> sup- plies , till pledges of amendment in the administration of public af- fairs should be given ; the Bill for the exclusion of Excise Officers and Contractors from Parliament, which it was reserved for a Whig Administration to pass ; these and other great constitutional ques- tions , through which Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox fought , side by side , lavishing at every step the inexhaustible ammunition of their intel- lect, seem to have passed away without once calling into action the powers of their new and brilliant auxiliary, Sheridan. The affairs of Ireland , too , had assumed at this period , under the auspices of. Mr. G rattan and the example of America , a character of grandeur, as passing & it was bright , but which will long be remembered with melancholy pride by her sons , and as long recall the memory of that admirable man , to whose patriotism she owed her brief day of freedom , and upon whose name that momentary sunshine of her sad history rests. An opportunity of adverting to the events , which had lately taken place in Ireland , was afforded by Mr. Fox in" a motion for the re-commitment of the Mutiny Bill; and on this subject , perhaps , the silence of Mr. Sheridan may be accounted for, from his reluctance to share the unpopularity at- tached by his countrymen to those high notions of the supremacy of England , which , on the great question of the independence of the Irish Parliament, bo^thMr. Fox and Mr. Burke were known to entertain '. 1 As the few benntiful sentences spoken by Burke On this occasion, in support 17 Mr. lUnke s celebrated Bill* the return to the old constitutional practice 3 of making the revenues of UK- Crown pa\ olT their own incumbrances , which salutary principle was again lost in the hands of Mr. Pitt the atonement at last made to the vio- lated rights of electors, by the rescinding of the Resolutions relative to'Wilkes the frank and cordial understanding entered into with Ireland , which identiiies the memory of Mr. Fox and this ministry w'Hh the only oasis in the whole desert of Irish history so many and such important recognitions of the best principles of Whiggism, followed up, as they were, by the Resolutions of Lord John Ca- vendish at the close of the Session , pledging the ministers to a per- severance in the same task of purificntion and retrenchment, give an aspect to this short period of the annals of the late reign , to which the eye turns for relief from the arbitrary complexion of the rest \ and furnish us with , at least , one consoling instance , where the principles professed by statesmen when in opposition , were re- tained and sincerely acted upon by them in power. On the death of the Marquis of Rockingham , Lord Shelburne , without, as it appears, consulting any of the persons attached to that nobleman , accepted the office of first Lord of the Treasury ; in consequence of which Mr. Fox , and the greater number of his friends among whom were Mr. Burke and Mr. Sheridan sent in their resignations-, while General Cohway, the Duke of Richmond, and one or two other old allies of the parly, remained in office. To a disposition so social as that of Mr. Fox , the frequent inter- ruptibn arid even loss of friendships, which he had to sustain in the course of his political career, must have been a sad alloy to its plea- sure and its pride. The fable of the sheep that leaves its fleece on the bramble bush is but loo apt an illustration of the fate of him, who thus sees himself stripped of the comforts of friendship by the tena- cious and thorny hold of politics. On the present occasion, how- ever, the desertion of his standard by a few 'who had followed Him cordially in his ascent to power, but did not show the same alacrity in accompanying his voluntary fall , was amply made up to him by the ready devotion , with which the rest of the party shared his for- 1 The first was that of (he borough of Shoreham in 1771. * This Kill, though its circle of retrenchment was, as might be expected v con sileralih nan-ownl, when the Treasury ttench became the centre from which he rd it, wa.-> yet eminently useful , as an acknowledgment from ininisli-i i;l nnli,, riiy of ihe necessity of such occasional curtailment* of the Koyal inflaeiioe. 1 Kirst clvparted from in 17(i!). Sec liurke\s powerful exposure of llu- mitc-hief* '-I this innovation, in his "Thoughts ou the Cause* <>l tin- PH-MMI' Di.-conlculs,' 184 MEMOIRS tunes. The disinterestedness of Sheridan was the more meritorious , if , as there is every reason to believe , be considered the step of resignation at such a moment to be, at least, hasty, if not wholly wrong. In this light it was, indeed , viewed by many judicious per- sons at the time , and the assurances given by the Duke of Rich- mond and General Conway, of the continued adherence of the ca- binet to the same principles and measures, to which they were pledged at the first formation of the ministry, would seem to confirm the justice of the opinion. So much temper, however, had , during the few months of their union, been fermenting between the two great masses of which the administration was composed , that it would have been difficult , if not impossible , for the Rockingham party to rally, with any cordiality, round Lord Shelburne, as a leader however they might still have been contented to co-operate with him , had he remained in the humble station which he himself had originally selected. That noble Lord , loo, who felt that the sa- crifice which he had considerately made , in giving up the supre- macy of station to Lord Rockingham , had , so far from being duly appreciated by his colleagues , been repaid only with increased alie- nation and distrust , could hardly be expected to make a second surrender of his advantages, in favour of persons \vho had, he thought , so ungraciously requited him for the first. In the mean lime the Court, to which the Rockingham parly was odious, had, with its usual policy, hollowed the ground beneath them , so as to render their footing neither agreeable nor safe. The favourite object in that quarter being to compose a ministry of those convenient in- gredients , called ^ King's friends," Lord Shelburne was but made use of as a temporary inslrumenl , to clear away, in the first place, the chief obstacles to such an arrangement , and then , in his turn , be sacrificed himself as soon as a more subservient system could be organised. It was , indeed , only upon a strong representation from his Lordship of the impossibility of carrying on his government against such an Opposition , without the infusion of fresh and po- pular talent , that the royal consent was obtained to the appointment of 3Ir. Pitt the memory of whose uncompromising father, as well as the first achievements on his own youthful shield , rendered him no very promising accession to such a scheme of government , as was evidently then contemplated by the Court. In this slate of affairs , the resignation of Mr. Fox and his friends was but a prompt and spirited anticipation of what must inevitably have taken place , under circumstances much less redounding to the credit of their independence and disinterestedness. There is little doubt, indeed, that with the great majority of the nation , Mr. Fox by this step considerably added to his popularity and , if ^e w ere OF R. B. SHERIDAN 18. r desired to point out the meridian moment of his fame , we should fix it perhaps at (his splendid epoch , before the ill-fated Coalition had damped the confidence of his friends , or the ascendancy of his great rival had multiplied the number of his enemies. There is an anecdote of Mr. Burke , connected with this period , the credibility of which must be left to the reader's own judgment. 11 is said that, immediately upon the retirement of Mr. Fox, while Lord John Cavendish ( whose resignation was for a short lime de- layed by the despatch of some official business), was still a minister, Mr. Burke , with a retrospect to the sweets of office which showed that he had not wholly left hopfc behind , endeavoured to open a ne- gotiation through the medium of Lord John , for the purpose of pro- curing , by some arrangement , either for himself or his son , a Tel- lership then in the possession of a relative of LordOrford. It is but fair to add, that this curious anecdote rests chiefly upon the autho- rity of the latter nobleman *. The degree of faith it receives will, therefore , depend upon the balance that may be struck in our com- parative estimate between the disinterestedness of Burke and the ve- racity of Lord Or ford. At the commencement of the following session that extraordinary Coalition was declared, which had the ill-luck attributed to the con- junction of certain planets , and has shed an unfavourable influence over the political world ever since. Little is, I believe, known. of the private negotiations that led to this ill-assorted union of parties ; but, from whichever side the first advances may have come, the affair seems to have been despatched with the rapidity of a Siamese courtship-, and while to Mr. Eden (afterwards Lord Auckland) is attributed the credit of having gained Lord North's consent to the union , Mr. Burke is generally supposed to have been the person who sung the." Hymen, oh Hymena3e," in the ears of Mr. Fox. With that sagacity, which in general directed his political views, Mr. Sheridan foresaw all the consequences of such a defiance of public opinion , and exerted , it is said , the whole power of his per- suasion and reasoning , to turn aside his sanguine and uncalculating friend from a measure so likely to embarrass his future career. Unfortunately, however, the advice was not taken , and a person , who witnessed the close of a conversation , in which Sheridan had been making a last effort to convince Mr. Fox of the imprudence of the step he was about to lake , heard the latter, at parting , express liis final resolution in the following decisive words : " II is as fixed as the Hanover succession." To the general principle of Coalitions , and the expediency and 1 Unpublished I'apcts. I8fi MEMOIRS even duty of forming them , in conjunclures that require and justify such a sacrifice oflhe distinctions of party, no objection, it appears to me, can rationally be made by those who are satisfied with the manner in which the Constitution has worked, since the new modification of its machinery introduced at the Revolution. The Revolution itself was, indeed, brought about by a Coalition , in which Tories, surrendering their doctrines of submission , arrayed themselves by the side of Whigs , in defence of their common liberties. Another Coalition , less important in its object and effects, but still attended with results most glorious to the country, was that which look place in the year 1757, when , by a union of parties from whose dis- sension much mischief had flowed, the interests of both king and people were reconciled, and the good genius of England triumphed at home and abroad. On occasions like these , when the public liberty or safety is in peril , it is the duty of every honest statesman to say, with the Roman , " JVon me impedient privates offensiories , quo minus pro reipu- bliccc , salute ctiani cum inimicissimo consentiam." Such cases, however, but rarely occur ; and they have been in this respect , among others , distinguished from the ordinary occasions, on which the ambition or selfishness of politicians resorts to such unions, that the voice of the people has called aloud for them in the name of the public weal ; and that the cause round which they have rallied has be-on sufficiently general , to merge al! party titles in the one un- dislinguishing name of Englishman. By neither of these tests can the junction between Lord North and Mr. Fox be justified. The people at large , so far from calling for this ill-omened alliance , would on the contrary to use the language of Mr. Pill have '" forbid the banns ; " and . though it is unfair to suppose that the interests of the public did not enter into the calculations of the united leaders , yet . if Ihe real watchword of their union were to be demanded of them in " the Palace of Truth ,"' there can be little doubt that the answer of each would be, distinctly and unhesitatingly, " Ambition. 1 ' One of the most specious allegations in defence of the measure is , thai the extraordinary favour which Lord Shelburne enjoyed at courl, and the arbitrary tendencies known to prevail in that quarter, portended just then such an overflow of Royal influence , as il was necessary to counteract by this double embankment of party. In the first place , however, il is by no means so certain that the noble minister al Ihis period did actually enjoy such favour. On the con- trary, there is every reason to believe that his possession of the Royal confidence did not long survive that important service , to which he was made instrumental , of clearing the cabinet of the Whigs } and that, like the bees of Virgil , he had left the soul of his own power in OF R. B. SHERIDAN. li|7 the wound which he had been the means of inflicting upon that of others. In the second place, whatever might have been the designs of the Court , and of ils encroaching spirit no doubt can be enter- tained , Lord Shelburne had assuredly given no grounds for ap- prehending , that he would ever, like one of the chiefs of this com- bination against him , be brought to lend himself precipitately or mischievously to ils views. Though differing from Mr. Fox on some important points of policy, and following the example of his friend , Lord Chatham , in keeping himself independent of Whig confedera- cies , he was not Hie less attached to the true principles of that parly, and , throughout his whole political career, invariably main- tained them. This argument, therefore , the only plausible one in defence of the Coalition , fails in the two chief assumptions on which it is founded. It has been truly said of Coalitions , considered abstractedly, that such a union of parties, when the public good requires it, is to be justified on the same grounds on which party itself is vindicated. But the more we feel inclined to acknowledge the utility of party, the more we must dread and deprecate any unnecessary compromise, by which a suspicion of unsoimdness may be brought upon the agency of so useful a principle the more we should discourage , as a matter of policy, any facility in surrendering those badges of opi- nion , on which the eyes of followers are fondly fixed, and by which their confidence and spirit are chiefly kept alive the more, too, we must lament that a great popular leader, like Mr. Fox, should ever have lightly concurred in such a confusion of the boundaries of opinion , and , like that mighty river, the Mississippi , whose waters lose their own colour in mixing with those of the Missouri , have sacrificed the distinctive hue of his own political creed , to this confluence of interests with a party so totally opposed to it. " Court and country," says Hume ', "which are the genuine offspring of the British government , are a kind of mixed parties , and are influenced both by principle and by interest. The heads of the factions arc commonly most governed by the latter motive \ the inferior members of them by the former." Whether this be altogether true or not, it will , at least , without much difficulty, be conceded , that the lower we descend in the atmosphere of party, the more quick and inflammable we find the feeling that circulates through it. Accordingly , actions and professions , which , in that region of in- difference , high life , may be forgotten as soon as done or uttered , become recorded as pledges and standards of conduct , among |,hc lower and more earnest adherents of the cause \ and many a question , K.ssay "OH the P.-srties of Great Britain." 188 MEMOIRS lhat has ceased to furnish even a jest in the drawing-rooms of the great, may be still agitated, as of vital importance, among the humbler and less initiated disputants of the party. Such being the tenacious nature of partisanship, and such the watch kept upon every movement of the higher political bodies , we can well imagine what a portent it must appear to distant and unprepared observers , when the stars to which they trusted for guidance are seen to " shoot madly from their spheres," and not only lose themselves for the time in another system , but unsettle all calculations with respect to their movements for the future. The steps by which , in general , the principals in such transac- tions are gradually reconciled to their own inconsistency the ne- gotiations that precede and soften down the most salient difficulties the value of the advantages gained , in return for opinions sacri- ficedthe new points of contact brought out by a change of cir- cumstances , and the abatement or extinction of former differences , by the remission or removal of the causes lhat provoked them , all these conciliatory gradations and balancing adjustments , which to those who are in the secret may account for, and more or less justify, the alliance of statesmen who differ in their general views of politics , are with difficulty, if at all , to be explained to the remote multitude of the party, whose habit it is to judge and feel in the gross , and who , as in the case of Lord North and Mr. Fox , can see only the broad and but too intelligible fact, that the leaders for whom both parties had sacrificed so much those on one side their interest, and those on the other, perhaps , their consciences had deserted them to patch up a suspicious alliance with each other, the only open and visible motive to which was the spoil that it enabled them to partition between them. If, indeed , in lhat barter of opinions and interests , which must necessarily lake place in Coalitions between the partisans of Ihe People and of Ihc Throne , Ihe former had any thing like an equality of chance, the mere probability of gaining thus any concessions in favour of freedom might justify to sanguine minds the occasional risk of the compromise. But it is evident thai Ihe result of such bargains must generally be to the advanlage of the Crown the al- luvions of power all naturally tend towards lhat shore. Besides , w here there are places as well as principles to be surrendered on one side, there must in return be so much more of principles given up on the other, as will constitute an equivalent to this double sacrifice. The centre of gravity will be sure to lie in that body which contains within it the source of emoluments and honours, and the oilier will be forced to revolve implicitly round it. The only occasion at this period on which Mr. Sheridan seems to Ol R. B. SHERIDAN. 189 have alluded to the Coalition , was during a speech of some length on the consideration of the Preliminary Articles of Peace. Finding himself obliged to advert to the subject, he chose rather to recri- minate on the opposite party for the anomaly of their own alliances, than to vindicate that which his distinguished friend had just formed, and which, in his heart , as has been already stated, he wholly dis- approved. The inconsistency of the Tory Lord Advocate (Dundas) in connecting himself with the patron of Equal Representation , Mr. Pitt, and his support of that full recognition of American in- dependence , against which, under the banners of Lord North , he had so obstinately combated , afforded to Sheridan's powers of rail- lery an opportunity of display , of which , there is no doubt , he \\ilh his accustomed felicity availed himself. The reporter of the s[>eech , however, has , as usual , contrived , with an art near akin to that of reducing diamonds to charcoal : to turn all the brilliancy of his wit into dull and opake verbiage. It was during this same debate , that he produced that happy re- tort upon Mr. Pitt, which, for good-humoured point and season- ableness , has seldom , if ever, been equalled. "Mr. Pitt (say the Parliamentary Reports) was pointedly severe on the gentlemen who had spoken against the Address, and particularly on Mr. Sheridan. ' No man admired more than he did the abilities of that Right Honourable Gentleman, the elegant sallies of his thought, the gay effusions of his fancy , his dramatic turns and his epigrammatic point ; and if they were reserved for the proper stage, they would, no doubt, receive, what the Honourable Gentleman's abilities always. did receive, tlie plaudits of the audience; and it would be his fortune ' sui plausu ^audcre tlieatri? But this was not the proper scene for the exhibition of I hose elegancies.' Mr. Sheridan, in rising to explain, said that ' On the particular sort of personality wbich the Right Honourable Gentleman had thought 'proper to make use of, he need not make any comment. The propriety, the taste, the gentlemanly point of it, must have been obvious to the House. But , said Mr. Sheridan, let me assure the Right Honour- able Gentleman, that I do now, and will at any time he chooses to re- peat this sort of allusion , meet it with the most sincere good-humour Nay, I will say more flattered and encouraged by the Right Honourable Gentleman's panegyric on my talents, if ever I again engage in tbe com- positions he alludes to , I may be tempted to an act of presumption to attempt an improvement on one of Ben Jonson's best characters, tbe character of the Angry Boy in the Alchymist. '" Mr. Sheridan's connection with the stage , though one of the most permanent sources of his glory, was. also a point, upon which, al the commencement of his political career , his pride was most easily awakened and alarmed. He, himself, used to tell of the fre- quent mortifications which he had suffered , when at school , from 190 MEMOIRS taunting allusions lo his father's profession being called by some of his school-fellows " the player-boy," etc. Mr. Pitt had therefore selected the most sensitive spot for his sarcasm ; and the good tem- per as well as keenness, with which the thrust was returned, must have been felt even through all that pride of youth and talent, in which the new Chancellor of the Exchequer was trvin enveloped. There could hardly, indeed, havebeen a much greater service ren- dered lo a person in the situation of Mr. Sheridan, than thus afford- ing him an opportunity of silencing, once for all, a battery to which this weak point of his pride was exposed , and by which he might otherwise have been kept in continual alarm. This gentleman- like retort, combined with the recollection of his duel, tended to place him for the future in perfect security against any indiscreet lamperings with his personal history J . In the administration , that was now forced upon the court by the Coalition, Mr. Sheridan held the office of Secretary of the Trea- sury the other Secretary being Mr. Richard Burke, the brother of the orator. His exertions in the House , while he held this office , Avere chiefly confined to financial subjects , for which he , perhaps , at this lime, acquired the tasle, that tempted him afterwards, upon most occasions , to bring his arithmetic into the iield against Mr. Pitt. His defence of the Receipt Tax, which , like all other long-lived taxes , was born with difficulty, appears, as far as we can judge of it from the Report, to have been highly amusing. Some country- gentleman having recommended a lax upon grave-stones as a substi- tute for it, Sheridan replied that 1 The following /e.7 d'csprit, written by Sheridan himself, upon this occur- rence, has been found among his manuscripts : " ADVERTISEMENT EXTRAORDINARY. " We hear that, in consequence of ahint, lately given in the House of Com- mons, the Play of the Alchytnist is certainly to be performed by a set of Gentle- men for our diversion, in a private apartment of Buckingham House. " The Characters, thus described in the old editions >f Ben Jonson, are to be represented in the following manner the old practice of men's playing the female parts being adopted : " SUBTLE ( the Alchfmist) Lord Sh Ib e. FACE (the House-keeper) The Lord Ch 11 or. DOLL COMMON (their Colleague}. . The L d Adv c te. DRUGGER (a Tobacco- man ). .... Lord Eff ng m. EPICURE MAMMON Mr. R gby. TRtncLATtON ' Dr J nk s n. ANANIAS (a little Pastor) . Mr. H 11. K ASTRII.I, ( the Angry Hoy) Mr. W- P tt. DAME PLIANT Gen. C nw y. and SURLY His ." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 19 1 " Such a t:i\ , in. 1ml , \\as not easily evaded, and could not lie deemed oppressive , as il would onlv he once paid; hut so great was the spirit of clamour against any tax on receipts, that he should not wonder if it extended to them ; and that it should he asserted, that persons having paid the last deht, the deht of nature, government.had resolved they should pay a receipt-tax, and have it stamped over their grave. Nay, with so extraordinary a degree of inveteracy were some Committees in the city, and elsewhere, actuated, that if a receipt-tax of the nature in question was enacted , he should not he greatly surprised if it were soon after puhlished, that such Committees had unanimously resolved that they would never he buried, in order to avoid paying the tax; hut had determined to lie above ground, or have their ashes consigned to family- urns, in the manner of the ancients." Ho also look an active share in Ihe discussions relative to the res- toration of Powell and Bembridge to their office by Mr. Burke : a transaction which , without fixing any direct stigma upon that eminent man , subjected him , at least , to the unlucky suspicion of being less scrupulous in his notions of official purity, than became the party which he .espoused or the principles of Reform, that he inculcated. Little as the Court was disposed, during the lale reign, to retain Whigs in its service any longer than was absolutely necessary, it must be owned that neither did the latter, in general, lake very cour- ier-like modes of continuing their connection with Royally, but rather chose to meet the hostility of the Crown halfway, by some overt act of imprudence or courage , which at once brought the matter to an issue between them. Of this hardihood the India Bill of Mr. pox was a remarkable example and he was himself fully aware of the risk which he ran in proposing it. " He knew, " he said, in his speech upon first bringing forward Jhe question, " that the task he had that day set himself was extremely arduous and dif- ficult ; he knew that he had considerable risk in it ; but when he took upon himself an office of responsibility , he had made up his mind In the situation and the danger of it." Without agreeing w ith those who impute to Mr. Fox the extra- vagant design of investing himself, by means of this Bill, with a sort of perpetual Whig Dictatorship, independent of the will of the Crown . it must nevertheless be allowed that , together with the inte- rests of India , which were the main object of this decisive measure, the future interest and influence of his own party were in no small di-finr provided for ; and that a foundation was laid by it for their attainment of a more steady footing in power than , from the indis- position of the Court towards them , they had yet been able la ac- complish, Regardingas he well might, after so long an experience of Tory misrule a government upon Whig principles as essential 192 MEMOIRS lo the true interests of England , and hopeless of seeing the experiment at all fairly tried, as long as the political existence of the servants of the Crown was left dependent upon the caprice or treachery of their mas- ter, he would naturally welcome such an accession lo Ihe influence of the parly, as might strengthen Iheir claims to power when out of office, and render their possession of it, when in, more secure and useful. These objects the Bill in question would have , no doubt , effected. By turning the Pactolus of Indian patronage into the territories of Whiggism , it would have attracted new swarms of settlers to that region the Court would have found itself outbid in the market , and, however the principles of the party might eventually have fared , the party itself would have been so far triumphant. It was indeed, probably, the despair of ever obtaining admission for Whig- gism , in its unalloyed state , into the councils of the sovereign, that reconciled Mr. Fox to the rash step of debasing it down to the Court standard by the Coalition and, having once gained posses- sion of power by these means , he saw, in the splendid provisions of the India Bill , a chance of being able to transmit it as an heir-loom to his parly, which , though conscious of the hazard , he was deter- mined lo try. If his intention, therefore, was , as his enemies say, to establish a Dictatorship in his own person , it was , at the worst , such a Dictatorship as the Romans sometimes created , for the pur- pose of averting Ihe plague and would have been directed merely against that pestilence of Toryism, under which the prosperity of England had , he thought , languished so long. It was hardly, however, lo be expected of Royalty, even after the double humiliation which it had suffered , in being vanquished by rebels under one branch of the Coalition , and brow-beaten into acknowledging Iheir independence by the other that it would tamely submit to such an undisguised invasion of its sanctuary ; par- ticularly when the intruders had contrived their operations so ill , as to array the people in hostility against them, as well as the Throne. Never was there an outcry against a ministry so general and decisive. Dismissed insultingly by the King on one side , they had to encounter the indignation of the people on the other 5 and , though the House of Commons , with a fidelity to fallen ministers sufficiently rare , stood by them for a time in a desperate struggle with their successors , the voice of the Royal Prerogative , like Ihe horn of Astolpho, soon scattered the whole body in consternation among their constituents, " di qua , di la, di su , di #m," and the result was a complete and long-enjoyed triumph to the Throne and Mr. Pitt. Though the name of Mr. Fox is indissolubly connected with this Bill , and though he bore it aloft , as fondly as Caesar did his own OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 193 Commentaries, through all this troubled sea of opposition , it is to Mr. Burke that the first daring outline of the plan , as well as the chief materials for filling it up, are to be attributed, whilst to Sir Arlhur Pigofs able hand was entrusted the legal task of drawing the Kill. The intense interest which Burke took in the affairs of India had led him to lay in such stores of information on the subject , as naturally gave him the lead in all deliberations connected with it. His labours for the Select Committee , the Ninth Report of which is pregnant with his mighty mind , may be considered as the source and foundation of this Bill while of the under-plot , which had in view the strengthening of the Whig interest , we find the germ in his "Thoughts on the present Discontents," where, in pointing out the advantage to England of being ruled by such a confederacy, he says , " in one of the most fortunate periods of our history, this country was governed by a connection ; 1 mean the great connection of Whigs in the reign of Queen Anne." Burke was , indeed, at this lime the actuating spirit of the party as he must have been of any party to which he attached himself. Keeping , as he did , the double engines of his genius and his indus- Iry incessantly in play over the minds of his more indolent collea- gues, with an intentness of purpose that nothing could divert, and an impetuosity of temper that nothing could resist , it is not wonder- ful that he should have gained such an entire mastery over their wills, or that the party who obeyed him should so long have exhi- bited the mark of his rash spirit imprinted upon their measures. The yielding temper of Mr. Fox, together with his unbounded ad- miration of Burke led him easily, in the first instance, to acquiesce in the views of his friend, and then the ardour of his own nature , and the self-kindling power of his eloquence , threw an earnestness and fire into his public enforcement of those views, which made even himself forget that they were but adopted from another, and impressed upon his hearers the conviction that they were all, and from the first, his own. We read his speeches in defence of the India Bill with a sort of breathless anxiety, which no other political discourses , except those, perhaps, of Demosthenes , could produce. The importance of the stake which he risks the boldness of his plan the gallantry with which he flings himself into the struggle , and the frankness of personal feeling that breathes throughout all throw around him an interest , like that which encircles a hero of romance ; nor could the most candid autobiography that ever was written exhibit the whole character of the man more transparently through it. The death of this ill-fated Ministry was worthy of its birth. Ori- ginating in a Coalition of Whigs and Tories, which compromised 13 194 MEMOIRS the principles of freedom , it was destroyed by a Coalition of King and People, which is even , perhaps, more dangerous to its prac- tice '. The conduct, indeed, of all estates and parties , during this short interval , was any thing but laudable. The leaven of the un- lucky alliance with Lord North was but too visible in many of the measures of the Ministry in the jobbing terms of the loan , the resistance to Mr. Pitt's plan of retrenchment , and the dimi- nished numbers on the side of Parliamentary Reform 2 . On the other hand, Mr. Pitt and his party, in their eagerness for place, did not hesitate to avail themselves of the ambidexterous and un- worthy trick of representing the India Bill to the people , as a Tory plan for the increase of Royal influence , and to the King , as a Whig conspiracy for the curtailment of it. The King, himself, in his arbitrary interference with the deliberations of the Lords , and the Lords , in the prompt servility with which so many of them obeyed his bidding , gave specimens of their respective branches of the Constitution , by no means creditable while , finally , the peo- ple , by the unanimous outcry with which they rose , in defence of the monopoly of Leacfenhall Street and the sovereign will of the Court, proved how little of the " vox Dei" there may sometimes be in such clamour. Mr. Sheridan seems to have spoken but once during the discus- sions on the India Bill , and that was on the third reading , when it was carried so triumphantly through the House of Commons. The report of his speech is introduced with the usual tantalising epithets, '" witty," "entertaining," etc. etc.; but, as usual, entails disappoint- ment in the perusal ' 4 at cum intraveris, Dii Deceque , quain Tiihil in medio im>enies! a " There is only one of the announced 1 " This assumption ( says Burke) of the Tribnnitian power by the Sovereign was truly alarming. \Vhen Augustus Caesar modestly consented to become the Tribune of the people, Rome gave up into ihe hands of that prince the only remaining shield she had lo protect her liberty. The Tribunitian power in this country, as in ancient Rome, was wisely kept distinct and separate from the executive power : in this government it was constitutionally lodged , where it was naturally to be lodged, in the House of Commons; and to that House the people ought first to carry their complaints, even when they were directed against the measures of the House itself : but now the people were taught to pass by the door of the House of Commons, and supplicate the throne for the protection of their liberties.'' Speech on moving his Representation to the King, in June, 1784. 3 The consequences of this alloy were still more visible in Ireland. "The Coali- tion Ministry," says Mr. Hardy, " displayed itself in various employments but there was no harmony. The old emu-tiers hated the new, and being more dex- terous, were more successful." In stating that Lord Chailemont was but coldly received by the Lord Lieutenant, Lord Northington , Mr. Hardy adds, " It is to be presumed that some of the old Court, who, in consequent of the Coalition, had crept once more into favour, influenced his conduct in this particular." : < Pliny. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 105 pleasantries forth-coming, in any shape, through the speech. Mr. Scott (the present Lord Eldon) had , in the course of the debate, indulged in a licence of Scriptural parody, which he would himself, no doubt , be among the first to stigmatise as blasphemy in others , and had affected to discover the rudiments of the India Bill in a Chapter of the Book of Revelations, Babylon being the East India Company, Mr. Fox and his seven Commissioners the Beast with the seven heads , and the marks on the hand and forehead , imprinted by the Beast upon those around him , meaning, evidently, he said, the peerages , pensions , and places distributed by the minister. In answering this strange sally of forensic wit , Mr. Sheridan quoted other passages from the same Sacred Book , which (as the Reporter gravely assures us) " told strongly for the Bill ," and which proved that Lord Filzwilliam and his fellow-commissioners , instead of being the seven heads of the^Beast, were seven Angels clothed in pure and white linen ! " CHAPTER IX. The Prince of Wales. Financial Measures. Mr. Pitt's East India Bill. Re-elected for Stafford. Irish commercial Propositions. Plan of the Duke of Richmond. Sinking Fund. THE Whigs , who had now every reason to be convinced of the aversion with which they were regarded at court , had lately been , in some degree , compensated for this misfortune by the accession to their party of the Heir Apparent, who had, since the year 1783 , been in the enjoyment of a separate establishment , and taken his seat in the House of Peers as Duke of Cornwall. That a young prince, fond of pleasure and impatient of restraint , should have thrown himself into the arms of those who were most likely to be indulgent to his errors, is nothing surprising, either in politics or ethics. But that mature and enlightened statesmen , with the lessons of all history before their eyes , should have been equally ready to embrace such a rash alliance , or should count upon it as any more than a temporary instrument of faction , is , to say the least of it , one of those self- delusions of the wise , which show how vainly the voice of the Past may speak amid the loud appeals and temptations of the Present. The last Prince of Wales , it is true , by whom the popular cause was espoused, had left the lesson imperfect, by dying before he came to the throne. But this deficiency has since been amply made up , and future Whigs , who may be placed in similar circumstances , will have, at least, one historical warning before their eyes , which ought to be enough to satisfy the most unreflecting and credulous. In some points, the breach that now took place between the Prince and the King , bore a close resemblance to thai which had 1% MEMOIRS disturbed the preceding reign. In both cases, the Royal parents were harsh and obstinate in both cases, money was the chief source of dissension and in both cases, the genius, wit, and accomplish- ments of those with whom the Heir Apparent connected himself, threw a splendour round the political bond between them , which prevented even themselves from perceiving its looseness and fragility In the late question of Mr. Fox's India Bill, the Prince of Wales had voted with his political friends in the first division. But, upon finding afterwards that the King was hostile to the measure, his Royal Highness took the prudent step (and with Mr. Fox's full con- currence) of absenting himself entirely from the second discussion , when the Bill, as it is known, was finally defeated. This circum- stance, occurring thus early in their intercourse, might have proved to each of the parlies in this ill-sorted alliance , how ditlicult it was for them to remain long and creditably united '. On the one side, Iherc was a character to be maintained with the people , which a too complacent toleration of the errors of royalty might, and, as it happened ,did compromise ; while , on the other side , there were the obligations of filial duty, which , as in this instance of the India Bill , made desertion decorous , at a time when co-operation would have been most friendly and desirable. There was also the perpetual consciousness of being destined to a higher station , in which , while duty would perhaps demand an independence of all party whatever, ' The following sensible remarks npon this first interruption of the political con- nection between the Heir Apparent and the Opposition, are from an unfinished Life of Mr. Sheridan now in iny possession written by one whose boyhood was passed in the society of the great men whom he undertook to commemorate, and whose station and talents would have given to such a work an authenticity and value, that would have rendered the humble memorial, which I have attempt- ed , unnecessaiy : "His Royal Highness acted npon this occasion by Mr. Fox's advice, and with perfect propriety. At the same time the necessity under which he found himself of so acting, may serve as a general warning to Princes of the Blood in this country, to abstain from connecting themselves with party, and engaging either as active supporters or opponents of the administration of the day- The ties of family, the obligations of their situation, the feelings of the public, assuredly will condemn them, at some time or other, as in the present instance, to desert their own public acts, to fail in their private professions, and to leave their friends at the very moment in which service and support are the most imperiously required. " Princes are always suspected proselytes to the popular side. Conscious of this suspicion, they strive to do it away by exaggerated professions, and by bringing to the party which they espouse more violent opinions and more unmeasured language than any which they find. These mighty promises they soon find it unreasonable, impossible, inconvenient to fulfil. Their dereliction of their prin- ciples becomes manifest and indefensible, in proportion to the vehemence with which they have pledged themselves always to maintain them ; and the contempt and indignation which accompanies their retreat is equivalent to the expectations excited by the boldness and determination of their advance." OF R. B. SHERIDATN. 107 convenience would certainly dictate a release from the restraints of Whiggism. It \vas most fortunate for Mr. Sheridan, on the rout of his party that nisiu'd , to find himself safe in his seat for Stafford once more , and the following document, connected with his election, is sufficiently ( urious , in more respects than one , to be laid before the reader : R. B. Sheridan, Esq. Expenses at the Borough of Stafford for Election, Anno 1784. 248 Burgesses, paid L. 5 5 o each. . '.; ' / : .' . . . L. 1,002 o o Yearly Expenses since. L. s. d. House-rent and taxes 23 6 6 Servant at 6.y. per week, board wages. i5 12 o Ditto, yearly wages. ......880 Coals, etc. . . 10 o o 5 7 6 6 Expenses for Election continued. Brought forward L. 5j 6 6 i,3o2 o o Ale tickets L. 4o o o Half the members' plate 25 o o Swearing young burgesses 10 o o Subscription to the InGrmary. ... 5 5 o Ditto clergymen's widows 220 Ringers. . . . - 44 One year i43 X 7 6 Multiplied by years . ''." )l : ir v" : " 6 863 5 o Total expense of six years' parliament , exclusive of expense incurred during the time of election, and your own ; annual expenses. . . . . , t '. ... ... . ^ , 2, i65 5 o The followers of the Coalition had been defeated in almost all directions , and it was computed that no less than 160 of them had been left upon the field , with no other consolation than what their own wit afforded them , in the title which they bestowed upon them- selves of " Fox's Martyrs." This reduction in the ranks of his enemies, at the very commence- ment of his career, left an open space for the youthful minister, which was most favourable to the free display of his energies. He had , indeed , been indebted , throughout the whole struggle , full is much to a lucky concurrence of circumstances as to his talents and name for the supremacy to which he so rapidly rose. All the 198 MEMOIRS other eminent persons of the day had either deeply entangled them- selves in parly ties , or taken the gloss off their reputations by some unsuccessful or unpopular measures ; and as he was the only man independent enough of the House of Commons to be employed by the King as a weapon against it , so was he the only one sufficiently untried in public life , to be able to draw unlimitedly on the con- fidence of the people, and array them , as he did , in all the enthu- siasm of ignorance , on his side. Without these two advantages , which he owed to his youth and inexperience , even loftier talents than his would have fallen far short of his triumph. The financial affairs of the country, which the war had consi- derably deranged, and which none of the ministries that ensued felt sure enough of themselves to attend to, were, of course, among the first and most anxious objects of his administration ; and the w isdom of the measures which he brought forward for their amelioration was not only candidly acknowledged by his opponents at the time , but forms at present the least disputable ground upon which his claim to reputation as a finance-minister rests. Having found , on his accession to power, an annual deficiency of several millions in the revenue, he, in the course of two years, raised the income of the country so high as to afford a surplus for the establishment of his Sinking Fund. Nor did his merit lie only in the mere increase of income, but in the generally sound principles of the taxation by which he accomplished il , in the improvements introduced into the collection of the revenue , and the reform effected in the offices connected with it, by the simplification of the mode of keeping public accounts. Though 3Ir. Sheridan delivered his opinion upon many of the taxes proposed , his objections were rather to the details than the general object of the measures ; and it may be reckoned , indeed , a partof the good fortune ofthe minister, that the financial department of Opposition at this time was not assumed by any more adven- turous calculator, who might have perplexed him , at least , by ingenious cavils , however he might have failed to defeat him by argument. As it was, he had the field almost entirely to himself, for Sheridan , though acute , was not industrious enough to be formidable, and Mr. Fox, from a struggle, perhaps, between candour and party-feeling , absented himself almost entirely from the discussion ofthe new taxes '. 1 "He had. absented himself," he said, "upon principle, that, though he might not be able to approve of the measures which had been adopted, he did not at the same time think himself authorised to condemn them , or to give them opposition , unless he had beeu leady to suggest others les distressing lo the; subject." Speech on Navr Bills , etc. etc. OF R. B. SHEfUDAlS. 199 The only question, in which the angry spirit of the late conflict still survived, were the Westminster Scrutiny and Mr. Pitt's East India Kill. The conduct of the minister in the former transaction showed that his victory had not brought with it those generous feelings towards the vanquished, which, in the higher order of minds, follows as na- i urally as the calm after a tempest. There must , indeed, ha\e been something peculiarly harsh and unjust in the proceedings against his great rival on this occasion , which could induce so many of the friends of the minister then in the fulness of his popularity and power to leave him in a minority, and vote against the con- tinuance of the Scrutiny. To this persecution, however, we are indebted for a speech of Mr. Fox , which is ( as he , himself, in his opening, pronounced it would be) one of his best and noblest-, and which is reported , loo , with such evident fidelity, as well as spirit , (hat we seem to hear, while we read , the " Demosthenem ipsum" uttering it. Sheridan had , it appears , written a letter, about this time , to his brother Charles , in which , after expressing the feelings of himself and his brother Whigs , at the late unconstitutional victory over their party, he added, " But you are all so void of principle, in Ireland, that you cannot enter into our situation. "Charles She- ridan , who , in the late changes , had not thought it necessary to pay his principles the compliment of sacrificing his place to them, considered himself, of course, as included in this stigma; and the defence of lime-serving politics which he has set up in bis answer, if not so eloquent as that of the great Roman master of this art in his letter to Lentulus , is , at least, as self-conscious and laboured, and betrays altogether a feeling but too worthy of the political meridian from which it issued. " MY DEAR DICK, Dublin Castle, loth March, 1784. " 1 am much obliged to von for the letter you sent me by Ordc ; I'be- gan to think you had forgot I was in existence, but I forgive your past silence on account of your recent kind attention. The new Irish adminis- tration have come with the olive branch in their hand , and very wisely, I think ; the system, the circumstances, and the manners of the two countries arc so totally different, that I can assure you nothing could be so absurd as any attempt to extend the party-distinctions which prevail on your side of the water , to this. Nothing, I will venture to assert , can possibly preserve the connexion between England and Ireland , but a per- manent government here-> acting upon fixed principles, and pursuing systematic measures For this reason a change of Chief Governor ought to be nothing more than a simple transfer of government, and by no means to make any change in that political system respecting this country "liich England must adopt, let who will he the minister and whichever 200 MEMOIRS party may acquire the ascendancy , if she means to preserve Ireland as a part of the British empire. " You will say that this is a very good plan for .people in place, as it tends to secure them against all contingencies; but this, I give you my word, is not my reason for thinking as I do. I must , in the first place , acquaint you that there never can be hereafter in this country any such thing as party connections founded upon political principles : we have obtained all the great objects for which Ireland had contended for many years , and there docs not now remain one national object of sufficient importance to unite men in the same pursuit. Nothing but such objects ever did unite men in this kingdom , and that not from principle , but because the spirit of the people was so far roused with respect to points in which the pride, the interest, the commerce, and the prosperity of the nation at large was so materially concerned , that the House of Com- mons, if they had not the virtue to forward, at least wanted the courage to oppose , the general and determined wish of the whole kingdom. They therefore made a virtue of necessity, joined the standard of a very small popular party ; both I?is and Outs voted equally against government, the latter of course, and the former because each individual thought himself safe in the number who followed his example. " This is the only instance, I believe, in the history of Irish politics , where a party even appeared to act upon public principle ; and as the cause of this singular instance has been removed by the attainment of the only objects which could have united men in one pursuit, it is not probable that we shall in future furnish any other example that will do honour to our public spirit. If you reflect an instant, you will perceive that our subordinate situation necessarily prevents the formation of any party among us, like those you have in England, composed of persons acting upon certain principles , and pledged to support each other. I am willing to allow you that your exertions are directed by public spirit ; but if those exertions did not lead to power, you must acknowledge that it is probable they would not be made, or if made, that they would not be of much use. The object of a party in England is either to obtain power for themselves , or to take it from those who are in posses- sion of it they may do this from the purest motives, and with the truest regard for the public good , but still you must allow that power is a very tempting object, the hopes of obtaining it no small incentive to their exertions, and the consequences of success to the individuals of which the party is composed, no small strengthening to the bands which unite them together. ISow, if you were to expect similar parties to be formed in Ireland, you would exact of us more virtue than is necessary for yourselves. From the peculiar situation of this- country , it is impossible that the exertions of any party here can ever lead to power. Here then is one very tempting object placed out of our reach, and, with it, all those looked-for consequences to individuals which , with you , induce them to pledge themselves to each other; so that nothing but poor public spirit would be left to keep our Irish party together, and consequently a greater degree of disinterestedness would be necessary in them , than is requisite in one of your English parties. " That no party exertion here can ever lead to power is obvious when OK R. B. SHERIDAN. SOI you reflect, .that we have in fact no Irish government; all power here being lodged in a branch of the English government, we have no cabinet, no administration of our own , no great offices of state ; every office we have is merely ministerial, it confers no power but that of giving advice , which may or may not be followed by the Chief Governor. As all power , therefore , is lodged solely in the English government , of which the Irish is only a branch, it necessarily follows that no exertion of any party here could ever lead to power, unless they overturned the English government in this country, or unless the efforts of such a party in the Irish House of Commons could overturn the British administration in England, and the leaders of it get into their places ; the first, you will allow , would not be a very wise object, and the latter you must acknow- ledge to be impossible. " Upon the same principle, it would be found very difficult to form a party in this country which should co-operate with any particular party in England, and consent to stand or fall with them. The great leading interests in this kingdom are of course strongly averse to forming any such connections on your side of the water, as it would tend to create a fluc- tuation in the affairs of this country that would destroy all their conse- quence ; and , as to the personal friends which a party in England may possibly have in this country , they must in the nature of things be few in number, and consequently could only injure themselves by following the fortunes of a party in England , without being able to render that party the smallest service. And , at all events , to such persons this could be nothing but a losing game. It would be , to refuse to avail themselves of their connections or talents in order to obtain office or honours , and to rest all their pretensions upon the success of a party in another king- dom , to which success they could not in the smallest degree contribute. You will admit that to a party in England, no friends on this side of the water would be worth having who did not possess connections or talents ; and if they did possess these, they must of course force themselves into station , let the government of this country be in whose hands it. may , and that upon a much more permanent footing than if they were con- nected with a party in England. What therefore could they gain by such a connection ? nothing but the virtue of self-denial , in continuing out of office as long as their friends were so , the chance of coming in, when their friends attained power, and only the chance, for there are interests in this country which must not be offended ; and the cer- tainty of going out whenever their friends in England should be dismissed. So that they would exchange the certainty of station upon a permanent footing acquired by their own efforts, connections, or talents, for the chance of statjon upon a most precarious footing, in which they would be placed in the insignificant predicament of doing nothing for them- selves, and resting their hopes and ambition upon the labours of others. " In addition to what I have said respecting the consequences of the subordinate situation of this country, you are to take into consideration how peculiarly its inhabitants are circumstanced. Two out of three mil- linns are Roman Catholics I believe the proportion is still larger and i -.\'> -thirds of the remainder are violent rank Presbyterians, who have always been, but most particularly of late, strongly averse to all govern 202 MEMOIRS ineut placed in the hands of the members of the church of England ; nine- tenths of theproperty, the landed property of the country I mean, is in the possession of the latter. You will readily conceive how much these circumstances must give persons of property in this kingdom a leaning towards government ; how necessarily they must make them apprehensive for themselves, placed between such potent enemies; and how naturally it must make them look up to English government, in whatever hands it may be , for that strength and support, which the smallness of their num- bers prevents their finding among themselves, and consequently you will equally perceive that those political or party principles which create such serious difl'erences among you in England, are matters of small import- ance lo the persons of lauded property in this country, when compared with the necessity of their having the constant support of an English government. Here, my dear Dick , is a very long answer to a very lew lines in your postscript. But I could not avoid boring you on the subject, when you say , ' that we are all so void of principle that we cannot enter into your situation.' " 1 have received with the greatest pleasure the accounts of the very considerable figure you have made this sessions in the House of Com- mons. As I have no doubt but that your Parliament will be dissolved , Crod send you success a second time at Stafford, and the same to your friend at \Vestminster. I will not forgive you if you do not give me the first intelligence of both those events. I shall say nothing to you on the subject of your English politics, only that I feel myself much more partial to one side of the question than, in my present situation , it would be of any use to me to avow. I am the happiest domestic man in the world, and am in daily expectation of an addition to that happiness , and own that a home, which I never leave without regret, nor return to without delight, has somewhat abated my passion for politics, and that warmth I once felt about puhlic questions. But it has not abated the warmth of my private friendships; it has not abated my regard for Fitzpatrick , my anxiety for >ou, and the warmth of my wishes for the success of your friends, considering them as such. I beg my love to Mrs. Sheridan and Tom , and am, dear Dick, "Most affectionately yours , "C. F. SHERIDAN." With respect lo the Bill for the better government of India , which Mr. Pitt substituted for that of his defeated rival , its pro- visions are now, from long experience, so familiarly known, that it would be superiluous to dwell upon either their merits or defects 1 . The two important points in which it differed from the measure of Mr. Fox were, in leaving the management of their commercial concerns still in the hands of the Company, arid in making the Crown the virtual depositary of Indian patronage a , instead of ' Three of ihe principal provisions were copied from the Propositions of Lord North in 1781 in allusion to which Mr. Powys said of the measure, that "it was the voice of Jacoh, hut the hand of Esau." " "Mr. Pitt's Pill continues the form of the Company's government, and OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 203 suffering it to be diverted into the channels of the Whig interest , never, perhaps, to find its way back again. In which of these directions such an accession of power might , with least mischief to the Constitution , be bestowed , having the experience only of the use made of it on one side, we cannot, with any certainty, pretend to determine. One obvious result of this transfer of India to the Crown has been that smoothness so remarkable in the movements of the system ever since that easy and noiseless play of its machinery, which the lubricating contact of Influence alone could give , and which was wholly unknown in Indian policy, till brought thus by Mr. Pitt under ministerial controul. When we consider the stormy course of Eastern politics before that period the enquiries, the ex- posures, the arraignments that took place the constant hunt after Indian delinquency, in which Ministers joined no less keenly than the Opposition and then compare all this with the tranquillity that has reigned , since the halcyon incubation of the Board of Con- troul over the waters, though we may allow the full share that actual reform and a better system of government may claim in this change, there is still but loo much of it to be attributed to causes of a less elevated nature, to the natural abatement of the watchfulness of the minister over affairs no longer in the hands of others, and to that power of Influence which , both at home and abroad , is the great and ensuring bond of tranquillity, and , like the Chain of Silence mentioned in old Irish poetry, binds all that come within its reach in the same hushing spell of compromise and repose. It was about this time that, in the course of an altercation \vith Mr. Rolle , the member for Devonshire, Mr. Sheridan took the op- portunity of disavowing any share in the political satires then circu- lating, under the titles of "The Rolliad" and the "Probationary Odes." " He was aware," he said , " that the Honourable Gentle- man had suspected that he was either the author of those composi- tions, or some way or other concerned in them 5 but he assured professes to leave ibe patronage nnder certain conditions, and the commence without condition, in the hands of the Company; but places all matters relat- ing to the civil and military government and revenues in the hands of six Commissioners , to he nominated and appointed by His Majesty, under the litle of Commissioners of the Affairs of India ," which Board of Commissioners is invested with the 'superintendence and controul over all the British territorial possessions in the East Indies, and over the affairs of the United Company of Merchants trading thereto.'" Comparative Statement of the Two Dills, read from his place by Mr. Sheridan , on the Discussion of the Declaratory Acts in 1788 , and afterwards published. In another part of this Statement he says, "The present Board of Contronl have, nnder Mr. Pitt's Bill, usurped those very imperial prerogatives from the Crown, which were falsely said to have been given to the new Board of Directors nnder Mr. Fox's Bill." 304 MEMOIRS him, upon his honour, he was not nor had he ever seen a line of them lill they were in print in the newspaper/' Mr. Rolle , the hero of The Rolliad , was one of those unlucky persons , whose destiny it is to be immortalised by ridicule , and to whom the world owes the same sort of gratitude for the wit of which they were the butts , as the merchants did , in Sinbad's story, to those pieces of meat to which diamonds adhered. The chief offence , besides his political obnoxiousness , by which he provoked this sa- tirical warfare, (whose plan of attack was all arranged at a club held at Beckel's , ) was the lead which he took in a sort of conspi- racy, formed on the ministerial benches, to interrupt, by coughing, hawking , and other unseemly noises , the speeches of Mr. Burke. The chief writers of these lively productions were Tickell , General Filzpalrick ', Lord John Townshend % Richardson , George Ellis , and Dr. Lawrence 3 . There were also a few minor contributions from the pens of Bale Dudley, Mr. CTBeirne (afterwards Bishop of Meath ) , and Sheridan's friend , Read. In two of the writers . Mr. Ellis and Dr. Lawrence , we have a proof of the changeful na- ture of those atoms, whose concourse for the time constitutes Party, and of the volatility with which , like the motes in the sunbeam , described by Lucretius , they can " Commutare viam , relroque repulsn reverti Nunc hue, nunc illuc , in cunctas denique partes ." Change their light course, as fickle chance may guide, Now here , now there , aud shoot from side to side. Doctor Lawrence was afterwards a violent supporter of Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Ellis * showed the versatility of his wit , as well as of his ' To general Fitzpatrick some of the happiest pleasantries are to be attributed ; among others , the verses on Brooke Watson, those on the Marquis of Graham , and "The Liars." 1 Lord John Townshend, the only survivor, at present, of ibis confederacy of wits, was the author, in conjunction with Tickell, of the admirable Salire, eu titled " Jekyll," Tickell having contributed only the lines parodied from Pop<-. To the exquisite humour of Lord John we owe also the Probationary Ode for Major Scott , and the playful parody on "Donee grains eram tibi." 3 By Doctor Lawrence the somewhat ponderous irony of the prosaic depart- ment was chiefly managed. In allusion to the personal appearance of this eminent civilian, one of the wits of the day thus parodied a passage of Virgil: " Quo tetrior alter Nonfuit, excepto Lanreutis corpore Tumi." * It is related that, on one occasion , when Mr. Ellis was dining with Mr. Pitt . and embarrassed naturally by the recollection of, what he had been guilty of towards his host in The Rolliad, some of his brother' wits, to amuse themselves at his expensi-, endeavoured to lead the conversation to tke subject of this work, OF R. B. SHERIDAN. * ?05 politics , by becoming one of the most brilliant contributors to the A nli jacobin. The Rolliad and The Antijacobin may, on their respective sides of the question , be considered as models of that style of political salire ', whose lightness and vivacity give it the appearance of pro- ceeding rather from the wantonness of wit than of ill-nature , and whose very malice , from the fancy with which it is mixed up , like certain kinds of fireworks, explodes in sparkles. They, however, who are most inclined to forgive, in consideration of its polish and playfulness, the personality in which the writers of both these works indulged , will also readily admit that by no less shining powers can a licence so questionable be either assumed or palliated , and that nothing but the lively effervescence of the draught can make us forget the bitterness infused into it. At no time was this truth ever more strikingly exemplified than at present , when a separation seems to have taken place between salire and wit, which leaves the former like the toad, without the "jewel in its head -, " and when the hands , into which the weapon of personality has chiefly fallen , have brought upon it a stain and disrepute , that will long keep such writers as those of the Rolliad and Antijacobin from touching it again. hy asking him various questions as to its authors, etc. which Mr. Pitt overhear- ing, from the upper end of the table, leaned kindly towards Ellis , and said, " Irnmo age , et a prima , die , hospes , origine nobis" The word " hospes " applied to the new convert, was happy, and the "erroresqxe tnas, n that follows, was, perhaps, left to be implied. 1 The following just observations upon The Rolliad and Probationary Odes occur in the manuscript Life of Sheridan which I have already cited : They are , in most instances, specimens of the powers of men, who, giving themselves np to ease and pleasure, neither improved their minds with great industry, nor exerted them with much activity; and have therefore left no very considerable nor durable memorials of the happy and vigorous abilities with which nature had certainly endowed them. The effusions themselves are full of fortunate allu- sions, Indicrous terms, artful panegyric, and well-aimed satire. The verses are at times far superior to the occasion , and the whole is distinguished by a taste, both in language and matter, perfectly pure and classical j but they are mere occasional productions. They will sleep with the papers of the Craftsman, so vaunted Iri their own time, but which are never now raked up , except by the curiosity of the historian and the man of literature. "Wit, beiug generally founded upon the manners and characters of its own day, is crowned iu that day, beyond all other exertions of the mind, with splen- did and immediate success. But there is always something that equalizes. In return, more than any other production , it suffers suddenly and irretrieTablv from the band of Time. It receives a character the most opposite to its own. From being i lie most generally understood and perceived, it becomes of all writing the most diflionli ami t lie most obscure. Satires, whose meaning was open to the multitude, defy the erudition of the scholar; and comedies, of which every line was f<-!t .> MIUII as it WHS spoken , require the hibocr of ail antiquary to explain ilirm * 200 MEMOIRS Among other important questions that occupied the attention of Mr. Sheridan at this period , was the measure brought forward un- der the title of " Irish Commercial Propositions/' for the purpose of regulating and finally adjusting the commercial intercourse be- tween England and Ireland. The line taken by him and Mr. Fox in their opposition to this plan was such as to accord , at once , with the prejudices of the English manufacturers and the feelings of the Irish patriots , the former regarding the measure as fatal to their interests , and the latter rejecting with indignation the boon which it offered , as coupled with a condition for the surrender of the le- gislative independence of their country. In correct views of political economy, the advantage throughout this discussion was wholly on the side of the minister ; and , in a speech of Mr. Jenkinson , we find (advanced , indeed, but incident- ally, and treated by Mr. Fox as no more than amusing theories , ) some of those liberal principles of trade which have since been more fully developed , and by which the views of all practical statesmen are, at the present day, directed. The little interest attached by Mr. Fox to the science of Political Economy so remarkably proved by the fact of his never having read the work of Adam Smith on the subject is, in some degree, accounted for by the scepticism of the following passage , which occurs in one of his animated speeches on this very question. Mr. Pitt having asserted, in answer to !hose who feared the competition of Ireland in the market from her low prices of labour, that " great capital would in all cases overbalance cheapness of labour, 11 Mr. Fox questions the abstract truth of this position, and adds , " General positions of all kinds ought to be very cautiously admitted ; indeed , on subjects so infinitely complex and mutable as politics and commerce , a wise man hesitates at giv- ing too implicit a credit to any general maxim of any denomina- tion. " If the surrender of any part of her legislative power could have been expected from Ireland in that proud moment , when her new born Independence was but just beginning to smile in her lap , the acceptance of the terms then proffered by the Minister might have averted much of the evils , of which she was afterwards the victim. The proposed plan being , in itself (as Mr. Grattan called it) , " an incipient and creeping Union ," would have prepared the way less violently for the completion of that fated measure , and spared at least the corruption, and the blood which were the preliminaries of its perpetration at last. Hut the pride , so natural and honourable to the Irish had fate but placed them in a situation to assert it with any permanent effect repelled the idea of being bound even by the commercial regulations of England. The wonderful eloquence of OF R. B- SHERIDAN. ?07 G rattan, which, like an eagle guarding her young, rose grandly in defence of the freedom to which itself had given birth , would alone have been sufficient to determine a whole nation to his will. Accordingly, such demonstrations of resistance were made both by people and parliament, that the Commercial Propositions were given up by the minister, and this apparition of a Union withdrawn from the eyes of Ireland for the present merely to come again , in ano- ther shape , with many a " mortal murder on its crown , and push her from her stool." As Mr. Sheridan took a strong interest in this question , and spoke at some length on every occasion when it was brought before the House , I will , in order to enable the reader to judge of his manner of treating it , give a few passages from his speech on the discussion of that Resolution , which stipulated for England a controul over the external legislation of Ireland : " Upon this view, it would be an imposition on common sense to pretend , that Ireland could in future have the exercise of free will or discretion upon any of those subjects of legislation , on which she now stipulated to follow the edicts of Great Britain ; and it was a miserable so- phistry to contend, that her being permitted the ceremony of placing those laws upon her own Statute-book , as a form of promulgating them , was an argument, that it was not the British but the Irish Statutes that bound the people of Ireland. For his part, if he were a member of the Irish Parliament, he should prefer the measure enacting by one decisive vote, that all British laws, to the purposes stipulated, should have im- mediate operation in Ireland as in Great Britain ; choosing rather to avoid the mockery of enacting without deliberation, and deciding where they had no power to dissent. Where fetters were to be worn , it was a wretched ambition to contend for the distinction of fastening our cum shackles." " All had been delusion , trick , and fallacy : a new scheme o'f commer- cial arrangement is proposed to the Irish as a boon ; and the surrender of their Constitution is tacked to it as a mercantile regulation. Ireland , newly escaped from harsh trammels and severe discipline , is treated like a high-mettled horse, hard to catch; and the Irish Secretary is to IT turn to the field, soothing and coaxing him, with a sieve of provender in one hand, but with a bridle in the other, ready to slip over his head while lie is snuffling at the food. But this political jockeyship, he was con- vinced, would not succeed." . In defending the policy, as well as generosity of the concessions made to Ireland by Mr. Fox in 1782 , he says , " Fortunately for the peace and future union of the two kingdoms, no such miserable and narrow policy entered into the mind of his Right Honourable friend ; he disdained the injustice of bargaining with Ireland on such a subject; nor would Ireland have listened to him if he had at- 208 MEMOIRS tempted it. She had not applied to purchase a Constitution ; and if a tri- bute or contribution had been demanded in return for what was than granted, those patriotic spirits who were at that time leading the op- pressed people of that insulted country to the attainment of their just rights, would have pointed to other modes of acquiring them ; would have called to them in the words of Camillus arma aptnre ahfiicferro non nuro pulria.ni ct lib er latent recuperfire." The following passage is a curious proof of the short-sighted views which prevailed at that period , even among the shrewdest men , on the subject of trade : " There was one point, however, in which he most completely agreed with the manufacturers of this country; namely, in their assertion , that if the Irish trader should be enabled to meet the British merchant and manufacturer in the British market, the gain of Ireland must be the loss of England '. This was a fact not to be controverted on any principle of common sense or reasonable argument. The pomp of general declamation and waste of fine words, which had on so many occasions been employed to disguise and perplex this plain simple truth , or, still more fallaciously to endeavour to prove , that Great Britain would find her balance in the Irish market , had only tended to show the weakness and inconsistency of the doctrine they were meant to support. The truth of the argument was with the manufacturers ; and this formed in Mr. Sheridan's mind, a ground of one of the most vehement objections he had to the present plan. " It was upon the clamour, raised at this time by the English manu- facturers , at the prospect of the privileges about to be granted to the trade of Ireland , that Tickell , whose wit was always on the watch for such opportunities , w rote the following fragment , found among liiQ papers of Mr. Sheridan : " A VISION. " After supping on a few Colchester oysters and a small Welsh rabbit, I went to bed last Tuesday night at a quarter before eleven o'clock. I slept quietly for near two hours ; at the expiration of which period , my slumber was indeed greatly disturbed by the oddest train of images 1 ever experienced. I thought that every individual article of my usual dress and furniture was suddenly gifted with the powers of speech, and all at once united to assail me with clamorous reproaches , for my unpar- donable neglect of their common interests , in the great question of sur- rendering our British commerce to Ireland. My hat, my coat, and every button on it, my Manchester waistcoat, my silk breeches, my Birmingham buckles, my shirt-buttons, my shoes, my stockings, my garters, and, what was more troublesome, my night-cap, all joined in a dissonant volley of petitions and remonstrances which , as I found it impossible to wholly suppress , I thought it most prudent to moderate , by soliciting 1 Mr. Fox also said, "Ireland cannot make a single acquisition but to the proportionate loss of England." OF K. B. SHERIDAN. ->OU them lo communicate their ideas individually. It was \vith some difficulty they consented to even this proposal , which they considered as a device to extinguish their general ardour, and to break the force of their united eflbrts; nor would they hy any means accede to it, till I had repeatedly assured them, that, as soon as I heard them separately, I would appoint an early hour for receiving them in a joint body. Accordingly, having fixed these preliminaries, my Night-cap thought proper to slip up im- mediately over my ears, and, disengaging itself from my temples, called upon my Waistcoat, who was rather carelessly reclining on a chair, to attend him immediately at the foot of the bed. My Sheets and Pillow- cases , being all of Irish extraction , stuck close to me, however, which was uncommonly fortunate , for, not only my Curtains had drawn offto the foot of the bed , but my Blankets also had the audacity to associate themselves with others of the woollen fraternity, at the first outset of this household meeting. Both my Towels attended as evidences at the bar , but my Pocket-handkerchief , notwithstanding his uncommon forward- ness to hold forth the banner of sedition , was thought to be a character of so mixed a complexion , as rendered it more decent for him to reserve his interference till my Snuff-box could be heard which was settled accordingly. "At length, to my inconceivable astonishment, my Night-cap, at- tended as I have mentioned, addressed me in the following terms : " Early as was the age at which Sheridan had been transplanted from Ireland never to set foot upon his native land again the feel- ing of nationality remained with him warmly through life , and he was , to the last, both fond and proud of his country. The zeal with which he entered , at this period , into Irish politics , may be judged of from some letters, addressed to him in the year 1785, by Mr. Isaac Corry, who was at that time a member of the Irish Opposition , and combated the Commercial Propositions as vigorously as he after- wards, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, defended their "con- summate flower," the Union. A few extracts from these letters will give some idea of the interest attached to this question by the popular party in both countries. The following , dated August 5, 1785, was written during the ad- journment of ten days , that preceded Mr. Ode's introduction of the Propositions : " Your most welcome letter, after hunting me some days through the country , has at length reached me. I wish you had sent some notes of your most excellent speech ; but such as we have must be given to the public admirable commentary upon Mr. Pitt's apology to the People of In land , which must also be published in the manner fitting it. The ad- - were sent round to all the towns in the kingdom, in onlrr > give runvncv to the humbug. Being lipon the spot, I ha\c inv lumps in perfect order, and am ready at a moment's warning, for ;in\ mameuvre 510 MEMOIRS which may, when we meet in Dublin previous to the next sitting, be thought necessary to follow the petitions for postponing. " We hear astonishing accounts of your greatness in particular. Paddy will, I suppose , some beau jonr be voting you another 5o,ooo ' , if you go on as you have done. " I send to-day down to my friend, O'Neill, who wails for a signal only, and we shall go up together. Brovvnhxw is just beside me, and I shall ride over this morning to get him up to consultation in town We mu&t get our Whig friends in England to engraft a few slips of Whiggism here till that is done, there will be neither Constitution for the people nor stability for the government. " Cliarlemont and I were of opinion that we should not make the volunteers speak upon the present business; so I left it out in the Reso- lutions at our late review. They are as tractable as we could desire, and w;e can manage them completely. We inculcate all moderation were we to slacken in that, they would instantly step forward." The date of the following letter is August lOlh two days before Mr. Orde brought forward the Propositions. " We have got the Bill entire, sent about by Orde. The more it is read, the less it is liked. I made notable use of the clause you sent me before the whole arrived. We had a select meeting to-day of the D. of Leinster, Charlemont, Conolly, Grattan, Forbes, and myself. We think of moving an address to postpone to-morrow till the iath of January, and have also some Resolutions ready pro re iiata, as we don't yet know what shape they will put the business into; Conolly to move. To-morrow morning we settle the Address and Resolutions, and after that, to-morrow, meet more at large at Leinster House. All our troops muster pretty well Mountmorris is here, and to be with us to-morrow morning. We reckon on something like a hundred, and some are sanguine enough to add near a score above it that is too much. The report of to-night is that Orde is not yet ready for us , and will beg a respite of a few days Beresford is not yet arrived, and that is said to be the cause. Mornington and Poole are come their muster is as strict as ours. If we divide any- thing like a hundred, they will not dare to take a victory over us. Adieu , yours most truly. " I.C." The motion for bringing in the bill was carried only by a majority of nineteen , which is thus announced to Mr. Sheridan by his cor- respondent : " I congratulate with you on 108 minority against 127. The business never can go op? They were astonished, and looked the sorriest devils you can imagine. Orde's exhibition was pitiful indeed the support of his party weak and open to attack the debate on their part really poor. On ours, Conolly, O'Neill, and the other country gentlemen, strong and of great weight Grattan able and eloquent in an uncommon degree every ' Alluding to ihe recent vote of that sain to Mr. Grattan. OT R. B. SHERIDAN. . fft body in high spirits, and altogether a force that was irresistible. We divided at. nine this morning, on leave to bring in a Bill for the settlement. The x ground fought upon was the Fourth Resolution, and the principleof that in the others. The commercial detail did not belong accurately to the debate, though some went over it in a cursory way. ('.rattan, two hours and a half Flood as much the former brilliant, well attended to , and much admired the latter tedious from detail ; of course, not so well heard, and answered by Foster in detail to refutation. " The Attorney General defended the constitutional safety under the Fourth Resolution principle. Orde mentioned the Opposition in England twice in his opening speech , with imputations, or insinuations at least, not very favourable. You were not left undefended. Forbes exerted his warm attachment to you with great effect Burgh, the flag-ship of the Leinstcr squadron, gave a well supported fire pointed against Pitt, and covering you. Hardy (the Bishop of Down's friend), in a very elegant speech, gave you due honour; and I had the satisfaction of a slight skirmish, which called up the Attorney General, etc " On the 15th of August Mr. Orde withdrew his Bill , and Mr. Corry writes " I wish you joy a thousand times of our complete victory. Orde has offered the Bill moved its being printed for his own justi- fication to the country, and no more of it this session. We have the effects of a complete victory." Another question of much less importance , but more calculated to call forth Sheridan's various powers, was the Plan of the Duke of Richmond for the fortification of dock-yards, which Mr. Pitt brought forward ( it was said , with much reluctance,) in the session of 1786, and which Sheridan must have felt the greater pleasure in attacking , from the renegade conduct of its noble author in politics. In speak- ing of the Report of a Board of General Officers , which had been appointed to examine into the merits of this plan , and of which the Duke himself was President , he thus ingeniously plays with the terms of the art in question , and fires off his wit, as it were, en ri- cochet, making it bound lightly from sentence to sentence : " Yet the Noble Duke deserved the warmest panegyrics for the striking proofs he had given of his genius as an engineer; which appeared even in the planning and construction of the paper in his hand ! The professional ability of the Master general shone as conspicuously there , as it could upon our coasts. He had made it an argument of posts; and conducted his reasoning upon principles of trigonometry as well aslogic. There were certain detached data, like advanced works, to keep the enemy at a distance from the main object in debate. Strong provisions covered the flanks of liis assertions. His very queries were in casements. No impression, there- fore, was to be made on this fortress of sophistry by desultory observ ations; and 'it was necessary to sit down before it, and assail it by regular approaches. It was fortunate, however, to observe , that notwithstanding all the skill "employed by the noble and literary engineer, his mode of *1 j MEMOIRS defence on paper was open to the same objection \vliich had been urged against his other fortifications ; that if his adversary got possession of one* of his posts, it became strength against him, and the means of subduing the whole line of his argument." He also spoke, at considerable length, upon the Plan brought forward by Mr. Pitt for the Redemption of the National Debt that grand object of the calculator and the financier, and equally likely, it should seem , to be attained by the dreams of the one as by the ex- periments of the other. Mr. Pitt himself seemed to dread the suspi- cion of such a partnership , by the care with which he avoided any acknowledgment to Dr. Price, whom he had nevertheless personally consulted on the subject , and upon whose visions of compound in- terest this fabric of finance was founded. In opening the Plan of his new Sinking Fund to the House , Mr. Pitt , it is well known , pronounced it to be " a firm column , upon which he was proud to flatter himself his name might be in- scribed." Tycho Brahe would have said the same of his Astronomy, and Descartes of his Physics ; but these baseless columns have long passed away, and the Plan of paying debt with borrowed money well deserves to follow them. The delusion, indeed, of which this Fund was made the instrument, during the war with France, is now pretty generally acknowledged ; and the only question is , whether Mr. Pitt was so much the dupe of his own juggle , as to persuade himself that thus playing with a debt , from one hand to the other, was paying it or whether, aware of the inefficacy of his plan for any other purpose than that of keeping up a blind confidence in the money-market, he yet gravely went on, as a sort of High Priest of Finance , profiting by a miracle in which he did not himself believe , and , in addition to the responsibility of the uses to which he ap- plied the money, incurring that of the fiscal imposture by which he raised it. Though from the prosperous state of the revenue at the time of the institution of this Fund , the absurdity was not yet committed of borrowing money to maintain it , we may perceive by the following acute pleasantry of Mr. Sheridan ( who denied the existence of the alleged surplus of income) , that he already had a keen insight into the fallacy of that Plan of Redemption afterwards followed : " At present ," he said , " it was clear there was no surplus ; and the only means which suggested themselves to him were , a loan of a million for the especial purpose for the Right Honourable gentleman might say, with the person in the comedy, ' If you won't lend me t/ie money, how can 1 pay you?' '" I OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 5t3 CHAPTER X. Charges .against Mr. Hastings. Commercial treaty with France. Debts of the Prince of Wales. THE calm security into which Mr. Pitt's administration had ,i -I lied , after the victory which the Tory alliance of King and people had gained for him, left but little to excite the activity of party-spirit, or to call forth those grand explosions of eloquence , which a more electric state of the political world produces. The orators of Opposi- tion might soon have been reduced , like Philoctetes wasting his ar- rows upon geese at Lemnos ', to expend the armoury of their wit upon the Grahams and Holies of the Treasury bench. But a subject now presented itself the Impeachment of Warren Hastings which , by embodying the cause of a whole country in one indivi- dual, and thus combining the extent and grandeur of a national ques- tion with the direct aim and singleness of a personal attack , opened as wide a field for display as the most versatile talents could require , and to Mr. Sheridan , in particular, afforded one of those precious opportunities , of which , if Fortune but rarely offers them to ge- nius , it is genius alone that can fully and triumphantly avail itself. The history of 'the rise and progress of British power in India of that strange and rapid vicissitude , by which the ancient Empire of the Moguls was transferred into the hands of a Company of Mer- chants in Leadenhall Street furnishes matter, perhaps , more than any other that could be mentioned, for those strong contrasts and startling associations , to which eloquence and wit often owe their most striking effects. The descendants of a Throne , once the loftiest in the world , reduced to stipulate with the servants of traders for subsistence the dethronement of Princes converted into a commer- cial transaction , and a ledger-account kept of the profits of Revolu- tions the sanctity of Zenanas violated by search-warrants , and the chicaneries of English Law transplanted , in their most mischievous luxuriance, into the holy and peaceful shades of the Bramins, such events as these, in which the poetry and the prose of life , its pom- pous illusions and mean realities, are mingled up so sadly and fan- tastically together, were of a nature, particularly when recent, to lay hold of the imagination as well as the feelings , and to furnish eloquence with those strong lights and shadows , of which her most animated pictures are composed. It is not wonderful , therefore, that the warm faucy of Mr. Burke in corporc tela, cxcrccnntiir."--.lcci. Ciccron. 214 MEMOIRS should have been early and strongly excited by the scenes of which India was the theatre , or that they should have ( to use his own words) " constantly preyed upon his peace, and by night and day dwelt on his imagination." His imagination , indeed, as will natu- rally happen, where this faculty is restrained by. a sense of truth was always most livelily called into play by events of which he had not himself been a witness ; and , accordingly, the sufferings of India and the horrors of revolutionary Frahce were the two sub- jects upon which it has most unrestrainedly indulged itself. In the year 1780 he had been a member of the Select Committee, which was appointed by the House of Commons to take the affairs of India into consideration , and through some of whose luminous Reports we trace that powerful intellect, which " stamped an image of it- self" on every subject that it embraced. Though the reign of Clive had been sufficiently fertile in enormities, and the treachery prac- tised towards Omichund seemed hardly to admit of any parallel , yet the loftier and more prominent iniquities of Mr. Hastings's govern- ment were supposed to have thrown even these into shadow. Against him, therefore, now rendered a still nobler object of attack by the haughty spirit with which he defied his accusers, the whole studies and energies of Mr. Burke's mind were directed. It has already been remarked that to the impetuous zeal with which Burke at this period rushed into Indian politics , and to that ascendancy over his party by which he so often compelled them to u swell with their tributary urns his flood," the ill-fated East India Bill of Mr. Fox in a considerable degree owed its origin. In truth, the disposition and talents of this extraordinary man made him at least as dangerous as useful to any party with which he connected himself. Liable as he was to be hurried into unsafe extremes , im- patient of contradiction, and with a sort* of feudal turn of mind , which exacted the unconditional a service of his followers, it required, even at that time , but little penetration to foresee the violent schism that ensued some years after, or to pronounce that, whenever he should be unable to command his party, he would desert it. The materials which he had been collecting on the subject of India, and the indignation with which these details of delinquency had filled him , at length burst forth ( like that mighty cloud , described fay himself as " pouring its whole contents over the plains of the Carnatic") in his wonderful speech on the Nabob of Arcot's debts') a speech, whose only rivals perhaps in all the 1 Isocrates, in his Encomium upon Helen, dwells much on the advantage to an orator of speaking upon subjects from which but little eloquence is expected 7rfi TV ^ai/*a< xai Ta^rsivav. There is b'ttle doubt, indeed, that surprise mnst have considerable share iu the pleasure which we derive from eloquence on such OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 515 records of oratory, arc to b found among three or four others of his own , winch , like those poems of Petrarch called Sorelle from their kindred excellence , may be regarded as sisters in beauty, and equalled only by each other. Though the charges against Mr. Hastings had long been threat- ened \ : it was not till the present year that Mr. Burke brought them formally forward. He had been, indeed , defied to this issue by the friends of the Governor General , whose reliance , however, upon the sympathy and support of UAftninislry (accorded , as a matter of course , to most Slate delinquents, ) was , in this instance , contrary to all calculation, disappointed. Mr. Pitt, at the commencement of the proceedings , had shown strong indications of an intention to take the cause of the Governor General under his protection. Mr. Dundas , too , had exhibited one of those convenient changes of opinion , by which such statesmen can accommodate themselves to the passing hue of the Treasury -bench , as naturally as the Eastern insect does to the colour of the leaf on which it feeds. Though one of the earliest and most active denouncers of Indian mis-government , and even the mover of those strong Resolutions in 1782 ' on which some of the chief charges of the present pro- secution were founded , he now, throughout the whole of the open- ing scenes of the Impeachment , did not scruple to stand forth as the warm eulogist of Mr. Hastings, and to endeavour by a display of the successes of his administration to dazzle away attention from its violence and injustice. This tone, however, did not long continue : in the midst of the anticipated triumph of Mr. Hastings , the Minister suddenly " changed his mind, and checked his pride." On the occasion of the Benares Charge, brought forward in the House of Commons by Mr. Fox , a majority was , for the first time , thrown into the scale of the accusation ; and the abuse that was in consequence showered upon Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas, through every channel of the press , by the 1 friends of Mr. Hastings , showed how wholly unex- pected, as well as mortifying, was the desertion, As but little credit was allowed to conviction in this change, it being difficult to believe that a Minister should come to the dis- cussion of such a question so lightly ballasted 'with opinions of his unpromising topics as have inspired three of the most masterly speeches that can be selected from modern oratory that of Burke on the Nabob of Arcot's debts, of Grattan on Tithes, and of Mr. Fox on the Westminster Scrutiny. ' In introducing the Resolutions , he said, that "he was urged to take this step by an account , which had lately arrived from India , of an act of >the most (lagrant violence and oppression, and of the grossest breach of faith, committed 1'v Mr. Hastings against Cheyt Sing, the Raja of Benares." 216 MEMOIRS own as to be thrown from his equilibrium by the first wave of argument he encountered, various statements and conjectures were , at the time , brought forward to account for it. Jealousy of the great and increasing influence of Mr. Hastings at court was, in general, the motive assigned for the conduct of the Minister. It was even believed that a wish expressed by the King, to have his new favourite appointed President of the Board of Control , was what decided Mr. Pitt to extinguish , by co-operating with the Opposition , every chance of a rivaJf y, which might prove trouble- some , if not dangerous , to his power. -There is no doubt that the arraigned ruler of India was honoured at this period with the dis- tinguished notice of the Court, partly, perhaps , from admiration of his proficiency in that mode of governing , to which all Courts are, more or less , instinctively inclined ; and partly from a strong distaste to (hose who were his accusers ; which would have been sufficient to recommend any person or measure to which they were opposed. But w hether Mr. Pitt , in the part which he now took , was ac- tuated merely by personal motives , or (as his eulogists represent; by a strong sense of impartiality and justice, he must at all events have considered the whole proceeding , at this moment , as a most seasonable diversion of the attacks' of the Opposition , from his own person and government to an object so lillle connected with either. The many restless and powerful spirits now opposed to him would soon have found, or made, some vent for their energies, more likely to endanger the stability of his power -, and, as an expedient for drawing off some of that perilous lightning, which flashed around him from the lips of a Burke, a Fox, and a Sheridan , the prose- cution of a great criminal like Mr. Hastings furnished as efficient a conductor as could be desired. Still, however, notwithstanding the accession of the Minister, and the impulse given by the majorities which he commanded , the projected Impeachment was but tardy and feeble in its*movements , and neither the House nor the public went cordially along with it. Great talents, united to great power: even when, as in the instance of Mr. Hastings, abused is a combination before which men are inclined to bow implicitly. The iniquities, too, of Indian rulers were of that gigantic kind , which seemed to outgrow censure , and even, in some degree, challenge admiration. In addition to all this, Mr. Hastings had been successful ; and success but too often throws a charm round injustice , like the dazzle of the necromancer's shield in Arioslo, before which every one falls "* ' -K>, " Con gli oalii alibadnati, e senza maiteC' OF R- B. -SHERIDAN. JIT The feelings , therefore , of the public were, at the outset of the prosecution , rather for than against the supposed delinquent. Nor was Ihis tendency counteracted by any very partial leaning towards his accusers. Mr. Fox had hardly yet recovered his defeat on the India Mill, or what had been still more fatal to him his victory in the Coalition. Mr. Burke , in spite of his great talents and zeal , was by no means popular. There was a tone of dictatorship in his public demeanour against which men naturally rebelled ; and the impetuosity and passion with which he flung himself into every favourite subject , showed a want of self-government but little cal- culated to inspire respect. Even his eloquence , various and splendid as it was , failed in general to win or command the attention of his hearers, and, in this great essential of public speaking, must be considered inferior to that ordinary , but practical , kind of oratory ' , which reaps its harvest at the moment of delivery, and is afterwards remembered less for itself than its effects. There was a something which those who have but read him can with difficulty conceive that marred the impression of his most sublime and glowing dis- plays. In vain did his genius put forth its superb plumage, glittering all over with the hundred eyes of fancy the gait of the bird was heavy and awkward, and its voice seemed rather to scare than at- tract. Accordingly , many of those masterly discourses , which , in their present form , may proudly challenge comparison with all the written eloquence upon record, were, at the time when they Were pronounced , either coldly listened to , or only welcomed as a signal and excuse for not listening at all. To such a length was this indif- ference carried , that , on the evening when he delivered his great Speech on the Nabob of Arcot's debts, so faint was the impression it produced upon the House , that Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville , as I have heard , not only consulted with each other as to whether it was necessary they should take the trouble of answering it , but decided in the negative. Yet doubtless, at the present moment, if Lord Grenville master as he is of all the knowledge that belongs to a statesman and a scholar were asked to point out from the stores of his reading the few models of oratorical composition , to the perusal of which he could most frequently , and with unwearied admiration, return, this slighted and unanswered speech would be among the number. From all these combining circumstances it aVose that the prose- cution of Mr. Hastings, even after the accession of the Minister, 'veiled but a slight and wavering interest; and, without some ex- \V hoevi.-r, upon comparison, is deemed by a common audience the greatest orator, ought most certainly to be pronounced such by intn of science and erudi lion." Ilium-, Kvay 13. 3J8 MEMOIRS traordinary appeal to the sympathies of the House and the country some startling touch to the chord of public feeling it was question- able whether the enquiry would not end as abortively as all the other Indian inquests ' that had preceded it. In this state of the proceeding , Mr. Sheridan brought forward , on the 7th of February in the House of Commons, the charge relative to the Begum Princesses of Oude , and delivered that celebrated Speech 2 , whose effect upon its hearers has no parallel in the annals of ancient or modern eloquence. When we recollect the men by whom the House of Commons was at that day adorned , and the con- flict of high passions and interests in which they had been so lately engaged; when we see them all , of all parties, brought (as Mr. Pitt expressed il) " under the wand of the enchanter," and only vying with each other in their description of the fascination by which they were bound ; when we call to mind , too , that he , whom the first statesmen of the age thus lauded , had but lately descended among them from a more aerial region of intellect, bringing trophies falsely supposed to be incompatible with political, prowess -, it is impossible to imagine a moment of more entire and intoxicating triumph. The only alloy that could mingle with such complete success must be the fear that it was too perfect ever to come again ; that his fame had then reached the meridian point, and from that consummate moment must date its decline. Of this remarkable Speech there exists no Report , for it would 1 Namely, the fruitless prosecution of Lord Clive by General Burgoyne, the trifling verdict upou the persons who had imprisoned Lord Pigot, and the Bill of Pains anil Penalties against Sir Thomas Rumhold, finally withdrawn. 3 Mr. Burke declared it to be " the most astonishing effort of eloquence , argu- ment, and \vit united, of which there was any record or tradition." Mr. Fox said, "All that he had ever heard, all that he had ever read, when compared with it, dwindled into nothing, and vanished like vapour before the snn;" and Mr. Pitt acknowledged "that it surpassed all the eloquence of ancient and modern times, and possessed every thing that genius or art could furnish, to agitate and controul the human mind." There were several other tributes, of a less distinguished kind, of which I find the following account in the Annual Register: '' Sir William Dolben immediately moved an adjournment of the debate, con- fessing that, in the state of mind in which Mr. Sheridan's speech had left him , it was impossible for him to give a determinate opinion. Mr. Stanhope seconded the motion. When he had entered the House, he was not ashamed to acknowledge that his opinion inclined to the side of Mr. Hastings. But such had been the wonderful efficacy of Mr. Sheridan's convincing detail of facts, an'd irresistible eloquence, thai he could not but say that his sentiments were materially changed. Nothing, indeed, hat information almost equal to a miracle, could determine him not to vote for the charge; hut he had just felt the influence of such a miracle, and ho could not bnt ardently desire to avoid an immediate decision. Mr. Matthew Mou- tasne confessed that he had felt a similar revolution of sentiment." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 21!) bo absurd to dignify with that appellation the meagre and lifeless sketch , the Tenuem sine i>iribu& urnbram Infaciem ^Knece, which is given in the Annual Registers and Parliamentary Debates. Us fame, therefore, remains like an empty shrine a cenotaph still crowned and honoured, though the inmate is wanting. Mr. Sheridan was frequently urged to furnish a Report himself, and from his habit of preparing and writing out his speeches , there is little doubt that he could have accomplished such a task without much difficulty. But, whether from indolence or design, he contented himself with leaving to imagination, which , in most cases , he knew , transcends reality, the task of justifying his eulogists, and perpetuating the tradition of their praise. Nor, in doing thus , did he act perhaps unwisely for his fame. We may now indulge in dreams of the elo- quence that could produce such effects 1 , as we do of the music of the ancients and the miraculous powers attributed to it, with as little risk of having our fancies chilled by the perusal of the one , as there is of our faith being disenchanted by hearing a single strain of the other. After saying thus much , it may seem a sort of wilful profanation , to turn to the spiritless abstract of this speech , which is to be found in all the professed reports of Parliamentary oratory , and which stands , like one of those half-clothed mummies in the Sicilian vaults, with , here and there , a fragment of rhetorical drapery , to give an appearance of life to its marrowless frame. There is, however, one passage so strongly marked with the characteristics of Mr. Sheridan's talent of his vigorous use of the edge of the blade , with his too frequent display of the glitter of the point that it may be looked upon as a pretty faithful representation of what he spoke , and claim a place among the authentic specimens of his oratory. Adverting to some of those admirers of Mr. Hastings , who were not so implicit in their partiality as tg give unqualified applause to his crimes., but found an excuse for their atrocity in the greatness of his mind , he thus proceeds : * The following anecdote is given as a proof of the irresistible power of this speech in a note upon Mr. ilisset's History of the Reign of George III. : "The late Mr. Logan, well known fpr his literary efforts, and author of a most masterly defence of Mr. Hastings, went that day to the House of Commons, prepossessed for the accused and against his accuser. At the expiration of the first liourhe said to a friend, ' All this is declamatory assertion without proof :' when the second was finished, This is a most wonderful oration :' at the close of the third, 'Mr. Hastings has acted very unjustifiably;' the fourth , 'Mr. Hastings is. a most atrocious criminal;' and, at last, ' Of all monsters of iniqnity the iuo.!' the eflecls . which the treaty would have upon the interests of Ireland ; a point which he urged with so much earnestness , as to draw down upon him from one of the speakers the taunting designation of" Self-appointed Representative of Ireland." Mr. Fox was the most active antagonist of the Treaty ; and his speeches on the subject may be counted among those feats of prowess, \\ilh which the chivalry of Genius sometimes adorns the cause of Krror. In founding , as he did , his chief argument against com- mercial intercourse upon the " natural enmity " between the two countries , he might have referred , it is true , to high Whig au- thority : " The late Lord Oxford told me ," says LordBolingbroke, " that my Lord Somers being pressed, I know not on what occasion or by whom , on the unnecessary and ruinous continuation of the war, instead of giving reasons to show the necessity of it , contented himself to reply that he had been bred 'up in a hatred to France." But no authority, however high , can promote a prejudice into a reason , or conciliate any respect for this sort of vague , traditional hostility, which is often obliged to seek its own justification in the very mischiefs which itself produces. If Mr. Fox ever happened to peruse the praises , which his Antigollican sentiments on this oc- casion procured for him , from the tedious biographer of his rival, Mr. Gifford , he would have suspected , like Phocion , that he must have spoken something unworthy of himself, to have drawn down upon his head a panegyric from such a quarter. Another of Mr. Fox's arguments against entering into commer- cial relations with France , was the danger lest English merchants , by investing their capital in foreign speculations , should become so entangled with the interests of another country as to render them less jealous than they ought to be of the honour of their own , and less ready to rise in its defence , when wronged or insulted. But , as- suredly, a want of pugnacity is not the evil to be dreaded among nations still less between two , whom the orator had just repre- sented as inspired by a " natural enmity " against each other. He ought rather, upon this assumption , to have welcomed the prospect of a connection , which , by transfusing and blending their com- mercial interests , and giving each a stake in the prosperity of the other, would not only soften away the animal antipathy attributed to them , but , by enlisting selfishness on the side of peace and amity, afford the best guarantee against wanton warfare , that the wisdom of statesmen or philosophers has yet devised. Mr. Burke , in affecting to consider the question in an enlarged point of view , fell equally short of its real dimensions ; and even tlescended to the weakness of ridiculing such commercial arrange- iniMils, as unworthy altogether of the conlcmplalioft of the higher 22f, MEMOIRS order of statesmen. " The Right Honourable gentleman ," he said , " had talked of the treaty as if it were the affair of two little counting- houses , and not of two great countries. He seemed to consider it as a contention between the sign of the Fleur-de-lis , and the sign of the Red Lion , which house should obtain the best custom. Such paltry considerations were below his notice." In such terms could Burke, from temper or waywardness of judg- ment , attempt to depreciate a speech which may be said to have con- tained the first luminous statement of the principles of commerce, with the most judicious views of their application to details , that had ever, at that period , been presented to the House. The wise and enlightened opinions of Mr. Pitt , both with res- pect to Trade , and another very different subject of legislation , Religion , would have been far more worthy of the imitation of some of his self-styled followers , than those errors which they are so glad to shelter under the sanction of his name. For encroachments upon the property and liberty of the subject , for financial waste and un- constitutional severity, they have the precedent of their great master ever ready on their lips. But , in all that would require wisdom and liberality in his copyists in the repugnance he felt to restrictions and exclusions , affecting either the worldly commerce of man with man, or the spiritual intercourse of man with his God, in all this, like the Indian that quarrels with his idol, these pretended followers not only dissent from their prototype themselves, but violently de- nounce , as mischievous, his opinions when adopted by others. In attributing to party feelings the wrong views entertained by the Opposition on this question, we should but defend their sagacity at the expense of their candour ; and the cordiality, indeed , with which they came forward this year to praise the spirited part taken fay the Minister in the affairs of Holland even allowing that it would be difficult for Whigs not to concur in a measure so national sufficiently acquits them of any such perverse spirit of party, as would , for the mere sake of opposition , go wrong because the Mi- nister was right. To the sincerity of one of their objections to the Treaty namely, that it was a design , on the part of France , to detach England , by the temptation of a mercantile advantage, from her ancient alliance with Holland and her other continental con- nections Mr. Burke bore testimony, as far as himself was concern- ed , by repeating the same opinions , after an interval of ten years, in his testamentary work , the " Letters on a Regicide Peace. 1 ' The other important question which I have mentioned as enga- ging , during the session of 1787, the attention of Mr. Sheridan , was the application to Parliament for the payment of the Prince of Wales's debts. The embarrassments of the Heir-Apparent were but;* OF H. B. SHERIDAN. }Jt natural consequence of his situation ; and a little more graciousness and promptitude on the part of the King , in interposing to relieve His Royal Highness from the difficulties under which he laboured, would have afforded a chance of detaching him from his new poli- tical associates, of which , however the affection of the Royal parent may have slumbered , it is strange that his sagacity did not hasten to avail itself. A contrary system , however , was adopted. The haughty indifference both of the monarch and his minister threw the Prince entirely on the sympathy of the Opposition. Mr. Pitt identified himself with the obstinacy of the father, while Mr. Fox and the Opposition committed themselves with the irregularities of the son ; and the proceedings of both parties were such as might have been expected from their respective connections the Royal mark was but too visible upon each. One evil consequence , that was on the point of resulting from the embarrassed situalion in which the prince newfound himself, was his acceptance of a loan which the Duke of Orleans had proffered him , and which would have had the perilous tendency of placing the future So vereign of England in a slate of dependence , as cre- ditor, on a Prince of France. That the negociations in this extraordi- nary transaction had proceeded farther than is generally supposed , will appear from the following letters of the Duke of Portland to Sheridan : " DEAR SHERIDAN , Sunday noon , ID Dec. *' Since I saw you I have received a confirmation of the intelligence which was the subject of our conversation. The particulars varied in no respect from those I related to you except in the addition of a pension , which is to take place immediately on the event which entitles the cre- ditors to payment , and is to be granted for life to a nominee of the D. of O s. The loan was mentioned in a mixed company by two of the French-women and a Frenchman (none of whose names I know) in Calonne's presence, who interrupted them, by asking, how they came to know any thing of the matter, then set them right in two or three particulars which they had misstated, and afterwards begged them , for God's sake , not to talk of it, because it might be their complete ruin. *' I am going to Bulstrode but will return at a moment's notice, if I can be of the least use in getting rid of this odious engagement , or pre- venting its being entered into, if it should not be yet completed. .".Yours ever, "P." " DEAR SHERIDAN, " I think myself much obliged to you for what you have done. I hope I am not too sanguine in looking to a good conclusion of this bad business. 1 will certainly be in town by two o'clock. " B 'id* t rode , Monday , i4 Dec. " Yours ever, 9 A. M. t " p. " ?>s MEMOIRS Mr. Sheridan , who was now high in the confidence of the Prince . had twice , in the course of the year 1786, taken occasion to allude publicly to the embarrassments of His Royal Highness. Indeed , the decisive measure which this Illustrious Person himself had adopted , in reducing his establishment , and devoting a part of his income to Ihe discharge of his debts , sufficiently proclaimed the (rue state of affairs to the public. Still, however, the strange policy was perse- vered in , of adding the discontent of the Heir-Apparent to the other weapons in the hands of the Opposition ; and , as might be expect- ed , Ihey were not tardy in turning it to account. In the spring of 1787, the embarrassed state of His Royal Highness's affairs was brought formally under the notice of parliament by Alderman Newenham. During one of the discussions to which the subject gave rise , Mr. Rolle, the member for Devonshire, a strong adherent of the ministry, in deprecating the question about to be agitated , affirmed that " it went immediately to affect our Constitution in Church and Stale." In these solemn words it was well understood, that he al- luded to a report at that time generally believed , and , indeed , acted upon by many in the etiquette of private life , that a marriage had been solemnized between the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Filz- licrbcrt a lady of the Roman Catholic persuasion , who , with more danger to her own peace than to that of either Church or State , had for some time been the distinguished object of His Royal Highness's affection. Even had an alliance of this description taken place, the provisions of the Royal Marriage Act would have nullified it into a mere ceremony, inefficient, as it was supposed, for any other purpose than that of satisfying the scruples of one of the parties. But that dread of Popery, which in England starts at its own shadow, took alarm at the consequences of an intercourse so heterodox; and it became necessary, in the opinion of the Prince and his friends , to put an end to the apprehensions that were abroad on the subject. Nor can it be denied that , in the minds of those who believed that the marriage had been actually solemnized ', there were, in one point of view , very sufficient grounds of alarm. By the Statute of William and Mary, commonly called the Bill of Rights, it is enacted, among other causes of exclusion from the throne, that " every person who shall marry a Papist shall be excluded, and for ever be incapable to inherit the crown of this realm. "In such cases (adds this truly revolutionary Act) " the people of these realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance. " Under this Act, ' Home Tooke, in his insidious pamphlet on the subject, presumed so far on this belief as to call Mrs. Fitzherbert "Her Royal Highness." 01 15. D. SHERIDAN 2J9 \vhich was confirmed fay the Act of Settlement, it is evident that the Heir Apparent would , by such a marriage as was now attributed to him , have forfeited his right of succession to the throne. From so serious a penalty, however, it was generally supposed, he would have been exempted by the operation of the Royal marriage Act (12 George III.) 5 which rendered null and void any marriage >nfracted by any descendant of George II. without the previous consent of the King, or a twelvemonth's notice given to the Privy Council. That this Act would have nullified the alleged marriage of the Prince of Wales there is , of course, no doubt; but that it would have also exempted him from the forfeiture incurred by marriage with a Papist, is a point which, in the minds of many, still remains a question. There are, it is well known, analogous cases in Law, where the nullity of an illegal transaction does not do away the penalty attached to it x . To persons, therefore, who believed that the actual solemnization of the marriage could be proved by witnesses present at the ceremony , this view of the case , which seemed to promise an interruption of the Succession , could not fail to suggest some disquieting apprehensions and speculations , which nothing short, it was thought, of a public and authentic disavowal of the marriage altogether would be able effectually to allay. If in politics Princes are unsafe allies, in connections of a tenderer nature they are still more perilous partners ; and a triumph over a Koyal lover is dearly bought by the various risks and humiliations which accompany it. Not only is a lower standard of constancy applied to persons of that rank, but when once love-affairs are converted into matters of state , there is an end to all the delicacy and mystery that ought to encircle them. The disavowal of a Royal marriage in the Gazette would have been no novelty in English history 3 ; and the disclaimer, on the present occasion, though intrusted to a less official medium, was equally public, strong, and unceremonious. Mr. Fox , who had not been present in the House of Commons when the member for Devonshire alluded to the circumstance, took ' Thus a man , by contracting a second marriage pending the first marriage , commits a felony; and the crime, according to its legal description, consists iu marrying, or contracting a marriage though what he does is no more a marriage than that of the Heir Apparent wonld be nnder the circumstances in question. The same principle, it appears, runs through the whole Law of Entails, both in England and Scotland ; and a variety of cases might he cited, in which , though tfip act done is void , yet the doing of it creates a forfeiture. See in Kllis's Lettcis of History, vol. iii, the declarations of Charles M. with respect to his marriage with "one Mrs. Walters," signed by himself, and published in The London Gazette. 530 MEMOIRS occasion , on the next discussion of the question, and as he declared, with the immediate authority of the Prince, to contradict the report of the marriage in the fullest and most unqualified terms : it was, he said, " a miserable calumny, a low malicious falsehood, which had been propagated without doors, and made the wanton sport of the vulgar; a tale, tit only to impose upon the lowest orders , a monstrous invention, a report of a fact which had not the smallest degree of foundation , actually impossible to have happened. " To an observation from Mr. Rolle, that " they all knew there was an Act of Parliament which forbade such a marriage; but that, though it could not be done under the formal sanction of the law , there were ways in which it might have taken place , and in which that law, in the minds of some persons , might have been satisfactorily evaded, " Mr. Fox replied, that "he did not deny the calumny in question merely with regard to certain existing laws , but that he denied it in toto , in point of fact as well as of law. it not only never could have happened legally, but it never did happen in any way whatsoever, and had from the beginning been a base and malicious falsehood. :: Though Mr. Rolle, from either obstinacy or real distrust, refused, in spite of the repeated calls of Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Grey, to declare himself satisfied with this declaration , it was felt by the minister to be at least sufficiently explicit and decisive, to leave him no further pretext , in the eyes of the public , for refusing the relief which the situation of the Prince required. Accordingly, a message from the Crown on the subject of His Royal Highnesses debts was followed by an addition to his income of 10,000/. yearly out of the Civil List; an issue of 161,000/. from the same source, for the discharge of his debts; and 20,000/. on account of the works at Carlton House. In the same proportion that this authorised declaration was successful in satisfying the public mind, it must naturally have been painful and humiliating to the person whose honour was involved in it. The immediate consequence of this feeling was a breach between that person and Mr. Fox, which, notwithstanding the continuance , for so many years after , of the attachment of both to the same illustrious object , remained'it is understood, unreconciled to the last. If, in the first movement of sympathy with the pain excited in that quarter, a retractation of this public disavowal was thought of, the impossibility of finding any creditable medium through which to convey it must soon have suggested itself to check the intention. Some middle course , however, it was thought might be adopted ., which, without going the full length of retracting, might lend at least to unsettle the impression left upon the public, and. in some degree, OF R. B. SHERIDAN. i retrieve that loss of station, which a disclaimer, coining in such an authentic shape, had entailed. To ask Mr. Fox to discredit his own statement was impossible. An application was, therefore, made to a young member of the parly, who was then fast rising into the eminence which he has since so nobly sustained, and whose answer to the proposal is said to have betrayed some of that unaccommodating liijih-mindedness which, in more than one collision with Royalty, has proved him but an unfit adjunct to a Court. The reply to his refusal was, " Then, I must get Sheridan to say something; " and hence , it seems was the origin of those few dexterously unmeaning compliments, with which the latter, when the motion of Alderman Newenham was withdrawn , endeavoured, without in the least degree weakening the declaration of Mr. Fox, to restore that equilibrium of temper and self-esteem , which such a sacrifice of gallantry to expediency had naturally disturbed. In alluding to the offer of the Prince, through Mr. Fox, to answer any questions upon the subject of his reported marriage, which it might be thought proper to put to him in the House, Mr. Sheridan said, " That no such idea had been pursued , and no such enquiry had been adopted, was a point which did credit to the decorum, the feelings, and the dignity of Parliament. But whilst His Royal Highness's feelings had no doubt been considered on this occasion, he must take the liberty of saying , however some might think it a subordinate consideration, that there was another person entitled , in every delicate and honourable mind, to the same attention ; one , whom he would not otherwise venture to describe or allude to, but by saying it was a name, which malice or ignorance alone could attempt to injure , and whose character and conduct claimed and were entitled to the truest respect. 1 ' CHAPTER XI. Impeachment of Mr. Hastings. THE motion of Mr. Burke on the 10th of May, 1787, "That Warren Hastings, Esq., be impeached," having been carried with- out a division, Mr. Sheridan was appointed one of the Managers, " to make good the Articles" of the Impeachment ; and, on the 3d of June in the following year, brought forward the same Charge in Westminster Hall which he had already enforced with such wonder- ful talent in the House of Commons. To be called upon for a second great effort of eloquence , on a subject of which all the facts and the bearings remained the same , ^;s, it must be acknowledged, no ordinary trial to even the most fertile genius ; and Mr. Fox , it is said , hopeless of any second flight 232 MEMOIRS ever rising toihe grand elevation of the tirst , advised that the former Speech should be , with very little change , repealed. But such a plan, however welcome it might be to the indolence of his friend, would have looked too like an acknowledgment of exhaustion on the subject , to be submitted to by one so justly confident in the resources both of his reason and fancy. Accordingly , he had the glory of again opening , in the very same field , a new and abundant spring of eloquence, which, during four days, diffused its enchantment among an assembly of the most illustrious persons of the land , and of which Mr. Burke pronounced at its conclusion, that " of all the various species of oratory , of every kind of eloquence that had been heard , either in ancient or modern limes ; whatever Ihe acuteness of the bar, the dignity of Ihe senate , or Ihe morality of Ihe pulpil, could furnish , had nol been equal lo what that House had that day heard in Westminsler Hall. No holy religionist, no man of any description as a lilerary character, could have come up, in the one instance, to the pure senlimenls of morality , or in Ihe other , to the varicly of knowledge , force of imaginalion , propriely and vivacity of allusion , beauty and elegance of diction , and strength of ex- pression , lo which they had that day listened. From poetry up lo eloquence there was not a species of composition of which a com- plete and perfect specimen might not have been culled, from one part or the other of Ihe speech to which he alluded, and which , he was persuaded , had left too strong an impression on the minds of that House to be easily obliterated." As some atonement to the world for the loss of the Speech in the House of Commons , this second masler-piece of eloquence on the same subject has been preserved to us in a Report , from the short- hand notes of Mr. Gurney , which was for some time in the pos- session of the late Duke of Norfolk , but was afterwards restored lo Mr. Sheridan , and is now in my hands. In order to enable the reader fully to understand the extracts from this Report which I am about to give, it will be necessary to detail briefly the history of the Iransaclion, on which the charge brought forward in the Speech was founded. Among the native Princes who , on the transfer of the sceptre of Tamerlane to the East India Company , became tributaries or rather slaves to that Honourable body , none seems to have been treated with more capricious cruelty than Cheyte Sing, the Rajah of Benares. In defiance of a solemn treaty , entered into between him and the government of Mr. Hastings , by which it was stipulated that, be- sides his fixed tribute , no further demands of any kind , should be made upon him , new exactions were every year enforced ; while Ihe humble remonstrances of the Rajah against such gross injustice 01- it. H. SHERIDAN. 333 were not only treated with slight, hut punished b\ jirhilrary and enormous tines. Even the proffer of a bribe succeeded only in being accepted ' the exactions which it was intended to avert being con- tinued as rigorously as before. At length , in the year 1781 , Mr. Hastings, who invariably, among the objects of his government, placed the interests of Leadenhall-Slreet first on the list, and those oi justice and humanity longo inlervallo after , finding the trea- sury of the Company in a very exhausted state, resolved to sacrifice this unlucky Rajah to their replenishment ; and having , as a pre- liminary step, imposed upon him a mulct of 500,0007., set out immediately for his capital, Benares, to compel the payment of it. Here , after rejecting with insult the suppliant advances of the Prince , he put him under arrest , and imprisoned him in his own palace. This violation of the rights and the roof of their sovereign drove the people of the whole province into a sudden burst of re- bellion, of which Mr. Hastings himself was near being the victim. The usual triumph , however , of might over right ensued , the Ra- jah's castle was plundered of all its treasures, and his mother, who had taken refuge in the fort , and only surrendered it on the express stipulation that she and the other princesses should pass out safe from the dishonour of search , was , in violation of this condition , and at the base suggestion of Mr. Hastings himself 3 , rudely examined and despoiled of all her effects. The Governor-General , however , in this one instance, incurred the full odium of iniquity without reap- ing any of its reward. The treasures found in the castle of the Rajah were inconsiderable , and the soldiers , who had shown themselves so docile in receiving the lessons of plunder , were found inflexibly obstinate in refusing to admit their instructor to a share. Disap- pointed, therefore, in the primary object of his expedition, the Governor-General looked round for some richer harvest of rapine, and the Begums of Oude presented themselves as the most convenient victims. These Princesses, the mother and grandmother of the 1 This was the transaction that formed one of the principal grounds of the Seventh Charge brought forward in the House of Commons by Mr. Sheridan. The tuspicioQs circumstances attending this present are thus summed up by Mr. Mill : "At first, perfect concealment of the transaction such measures, however, taken as may, if afterwards necessary, appear to imply a de.sign of future disclo- sure; when concealment becomes difficult and hazardous, then disclosure is made." History of 'British India * In his letter to the Commanding Officer at Bidgegur, The following are the terms in which he conveys the hint : I apprehend that she will contrive to defraud the captors of a considerable part of the booty, by heiug suffered to retire without examination. But this is your consideration, and not mine. I should !> \ery sorry that your officers and soldiers lost any part of the reward to which they are so well entitled; but I cannot make any objection , as yon must be the best judge of the expediency of the promised indulgence to the Rannee." 2J4 MEMOIRS reigning Nabob of Oude , had been left by the late sovereign in possession of certain government-estates , orjaghires, as well as of all the treasure that was in his hands at the time of his death , and which the orientalized imaginations of the English exaggerated to an enormous sum. The present Nabob had evidently looked with an eye of cupidity on this wealth , and had been guilty of some acts of extortion towards his female relatives , in consequence of which the English government had interfered between them , and had even guaranteed to the mother of the Nabob the safe possession of her property, without any further encroachment whatever. Guarantees and treaties, however, were but cobwebs in the way of Mr. Hastings ; and on his failure at Benares , he lost no time in concluding an agreement with the Nabob , by which (in consideration of certain measures of relief to his dominions) this Prince was bound to plunder his mother and grandmother of all their property , and place it at the disposal of the Governor-General. In order to give a colour of justice to this proceeding , it was ' pretended that these Princesses had taken advantage of the late insurrection at Benares , to excite a similar spirit of revolt in Oude against the reigning Nabob and the English government. As Law is but too often , in such cases , the ready accomplice of Tyranny , the services of the Chief Justice, Sir Elijah Impey , were called in to suslain the accusations ; and the wretched mockery was exhibited of a Judge travelling about in search of evidence % for the express purpose of proving a charge, upon which judgment had been pronounced and punishment decreed already. The Nabob himself, though sufficiently ready to make the wealth of those venerable ladies occasionally minister to his wants , yet shrunk back, with natural reluctance, from the summary task now 1 It was the practice of Mr. Hastings (says Bnrke, in his flue Speech on Mi- Pitt's India Bill, March 22, 1786,) to examine the country, and wherever he found money to affix guilt. A more dreadful fault could not he alleged against a native than that he was rich." ' Thisjonruey of the Chief Justice in search of evidence is thus happily describ- ed hy Sheridan in the Speech : " When , on the 28th of November, he was busied at Lucknow on that honourable business , and when , three days after, he was found at Chunar, at the distance of 200 miles, still searching for affidavits, and, like Hamlet's ghost, exclaiming 'Swear!' his progress on that occasion was so whimsically rapid , compared with the gravity of his employ, that an observer would be templed to quote again from the same scene, 'Ha! Old 1 ruepeuny, canst thoa mole so fast J' the ground?' Here, however, the comparison ceased; for, when Sir Elijah made his visit to Lucknow ' to wh^et the almost blunted pur- pose 1 of the Nabob, his language was wholly different from thai of the poet, for it would have been totally against his purpose to have said , Taint uot thy mind , nor let tliy soul contrive Agaiust thy mother anght.'" OF R. B. SHERIDAN. S3S imposed upon him ; and it was not till after repeated and peremptory remonstrances from Mr. Hastings, that he could be induced to pul himself at the head of a body of English troops , and take possession , by unrcsisted force , of the town and palace of these Princesses. As Hie treasure, however, was still secure in the apartments of the women, that circle, within which even the spirit of English rapine did not venture , an expedient was adopted to get over this inconvenient delicacy. Two aged eunuchs of high rank and distinc- tion , the confidential agents of the Begums , were thrown into prison , and subjected to a course of starvation and torture , by which it was hoped that the feelings of their mistresses might be worked upon, and a more speedy surrender of their treasure wrung from them. The plan succeeded : upwards of 500,000/. was pro- cured to recruit the finances of the Company : and thus, according to the usual course of British power in India , rapacity but levied its contributions in one quarter, to enable war to pursue its desolating career in another. To crown all , one of the chief articles of the treaty , by which the Nabob was reluctantly induced to concur in these atrocious measures , was , as soon as the object had been gained , infringed by Mr. Hastings, who, in a letter to his colleagues in the govern- ment, honestly confesses that the concession of that article was only a fraudulent artifice of diplomacy , and never intended to be carried into effect. Such is an outline of the case , which , with all its aggravating details , Mr. Sheridan had to state in these two memorable Speeches 5 and it was certainly most fortunate for the display of his peculiar powers , that this should be the Charge confided to his management. For , not only was it the strongest , and susceptible of the highest charge of colouring , but it had also the advantage of grouping to- gether all the principal delinquents of the trial , and affording a gradation of hue , from the showy and prominent enormities of the Governor-General and Sir Elijah Impey in the front of the picture , to the subordinate and half-tint iniquity of the Middletons and Bristows in the back-ground. Mr. Burke, it appears, had at first reserved this grand part in the drama of the Impeachment for himself 5 but, finding that She- ridan had also fixed his mind upon it , he , without hesitation , re- signed it into his hands ; thus proving the sincerity of his zeal in the cause 1 , by sacrificing even the vanity of talent to its success. 1 Of the lengths to which this zeal could sometimes carry his fancy and lau- i;ua{;e, rather, perhaps, than his actual feelings, the following anecdote is a i-'-markable proof. On one of the days of the trial, Lord , who was then a boy, having been introduced by a relative into the Manager's box,Ruike said to him, 23G MEMOIRS The following letters from him, relative to the Impeachment , will be read with interest. The first is addressed to Mrs. Sheridan , and was written, I think, early in the proceedings ; the second is to Sheridan himself : " MADAM, " I am sure you will have the goodness to excuse the liberty I tako \vith you, when you consider the interest which I have and which the Public have (the said Public being, at least, half an inch a taller person than I am,) in the use of Mr. Sheridan's abilities. I know that his mind is seldom unemployed; but then , like all such great and vigorous minds, it takes an eagle flight by itself, and \ve can hardly bring it to rustle along the ground, with us birds of meaner wing, in coveys. I only beg that you will prevail on Mr. Sheridan to be with us this day , at hall after three , in the Committee. Mr. Wombell , the Paymaster of Oude , is to be examined there to-day. Oude is Mr. Sheridan's particular pro- vince ; and I do most seriously ask that he would favour us with bis as- sistance. What will come of the examination I know not; but, without him, I do not expect a great deal from it; with him, I fancy we may get out something material. Once more let me intreat your interest with Mr. Sheridan and your forgiveness for being troublesome to you, and to do me the justice to believe me, with the most sincere respect, " Madam, your most obedient " and faithful humble Servant , " Thursday , 9 o'clock. " EI>M. BURKE." " MY DEAR SIR, " You have only to wish to be excused to succeed in your wishes; for, indeed, he must be a great enemy to himself who can consent , on account of a momentary ill-humour, to keep himself at a distance from you. " Well, all will turn out. right, and half of you , or a quarter, is worth five other men. I think that this cause, which was originally yours, will be recognized by you, and that you will again possess your- self of it. The owner's mark is on it, and all our docking and cropping cannot hinder its being known and cherished by its original master. My most humble respects to Mrs. Sheridan. I am happy to find that she takes in good part the liberty I presumed to take with her. Grey has done mucb and will do every thing. It is a pity that he is not always toned to the full extent of his talents. "Most truly yours, kt Monday. " EDM. BUKKK. " I feel a little sickish at the approaching day. I have read much ton "I am glad to see yon here I shall be still gladder to see you there (pointing to the Peers' seats) I hope you will be in at the death I should like to blood vou." OF R. B. SHF.RIDAN. ?17 much, perhaps, ami, in 1 nil h, am but poorly prepared. Many tilings, too, have broken in. upon me '." Though a Report , however accurate, must always do injustice to that effective kind of oratory which is intended rather to be heard than read, and, though frequently, the passages, that most roused and interested the hearer, are those that seem afterwards the tritest and least animating for the reader 2 , yet , with all this disadvantage, the celebrated oration in question so well sustains its reputation in the perusal , that it would be injustice, having an authentic Report in my possession , not to produce some specimens of its style and spirit. In the course of thfe exordium , after dwelling upon the great importance of the enquiry in which they were engaged, and dis- claiming for himself and his brother-managers any feeling of per- s< mal malice against thedefendanl, or any motive but that of retrieving (he honour of the British name in India , and bringing down pu- nishment upon those whose inhumanity and injustice had disgraced it, he thus proceeds to conciliate the Court by a warm tribute to the purity of English justice : "However, when I have said this, I trust Your Lordships will not believe that, because something is necessary to retrieve the British cha- racter, we call for an example to be made, without due and solid proof of the guilt of the person whom we pursue: no, my Lords, we know well that it is the glory of this Constitution , that not the general fame or character of any man not the weight or power of any prosecutor no plea of moral or political expediency not even the secret consciousness of guilt , which may live in the bosom of the Judge , can justify any British Court in passing any sentence , to touch a hair of the head, or an atom , in any respect, of the property , of the fame, of the liberty of the poorest or meanest subject that breathes the air of this just and free land. We know, my Lords, that there can be no legal guilt without legal proof, and that the rule which defines the evidence is as much the law of the land as that which creates the crime. It is upon that ground we mean to stand." Among those ready equivocations and disavowals , to which Mr. Hastings had recourse upon every emergency, and in which practice seems to have rendered him as shameless as expert , the step which he took with regard to his own defence during the trial was not the least remarkable for promptness and audacity. He had, 1 For this letter, as well as some other valuable communications, I am indebted tn the kindness of Mr. Burgess, the Solicitor and friend of Sheridan during the last twenty years of his life. 1 The converse assertion is almost equally true. Mr. Fox ned to ask of a printed speech, 'Does it read well?" and if answered in the affirmative, said, " Then it was a bad speech." 23S MEMOIRS at the commencement of the prosecution , delivered at the bar of the House of Commons , as his own , a written refutation of the charges then pending against him in that House, declaring , at the same time , that " if truth could tend to convict him , he was con- tent to be, himself, the channel to convey it." Afterwards, however, on finding that he had committed himself rather imprudently in this defence , he came forward to disclaim it at the bar of the House of Lords , and brought his friend Major Scott to prove that it had been drawn up by Messrs. Shore, Middle ton , etc. etc. that he him- self had not even seen it, and therefore ought not to be held accountable for its contents. In adverting to this extraordinary eva- sion , Mr. Sheridan thus shrewdly and playfully exposes all the persons concerned in it : " Major Scott conies to your bar describes the shortness of time re- presents Mr. Hastings as it were contracting for A character putting his memory into commission making departments for his conscience. A number of friends meet together , and he, knowing (no doubt) that the accusation of the Commons had been drawn up by a Committee, thought it necessary, as a point of punctilio, to answer it by a Committee also. One furnishes the raw material of fact , the second spins the argument , and the third twines up the conclusion; while Mr. Hastings, with a master's eye, is cheering and looking over this loom. He says to one, ' You have got my good faith in your hands you, my veracity to ma- nage. Mr. Shore, I hope you will make me a good financier Mr. Mid- dleton, you have my humanity in commission.' When it is done, he brings it to the House of Commons , and says, ' I was equal to the task. I knew the difficulties, but I scorn them : here is the truth, and if the truth will convict me, I am content myself to be the channel of it.' His friends bold up their heads, and say, 'What noble magnanimity! This must be the effect of conscious and real innocence.' Well, it is so received, it is so argued upon, but it fails of its effect *' Then says Mr. Hastings, ' That my defence ! no, mere journeyman- work, good enough for the Commons, but not fit for Your Lordships' consideration.' He then calls upon his Counsel to save him : ' I fear none of my accuser's witnesses I know some of them well I know the weakness of their memory , and the strength of their attachment I fear no testimony but my own save me from the peril of my own pane- gyric preserve me from that, and I shall be safe.' Then is this plea brought to Your Lordships' bar, and Major Scott gravely asserts, that Mr. Hastings did, at the bar of the House of Commons, vouch for facts of which he was ignorant , and for arguments which he had never read. " After such an attempt, we certainly are left in doubt to decide, to which set of his friends Mr. Hastings is the least obliged, those who as- sisted him in making his defence, or those who advised him to deny it." He thus describes the feelings of the people of the East with respect to the unapproachable sanctity of their Zenanas ; OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 539 " It is too much, I am afraid , the case, that persons, used to Euro- pean manners do not take up these sort of considerations at first with the seriousness that is necessary. For Your Lordships cannot even learn the right nature of those people's feelings and prejudices from any his- tory oi oilier Mahometan countries, not even from that of the Turks , for they are a mean and degraded race in comparison with many of these great families, who, inheriting from their Persian ancestors, preserve a purer style of prejudice and a loftier superstition. Women there are not as in Turkey they neither go to the mosque nor to the bath it is not the thin veil alone that hides them but in the inmost recesses of their Zenana they are kept from public view by those reverenced and protected walls, which, as Mr. Hastings and Sir Elijah Impey admit, are held sacred even by the ruffian hand of war, or by the more uncourteous hand of the law. But, in this situation , they are not confined from a mean and selfish policy of man not from a coarse and sensual jealousy enshrined, rather than immur. d, their habitation and retreat is a sanctuary, not a prison their jealousy is their own a jealousy of their own honour, that leads them to regard liberty as a degradation, and the gaze of even admiring eyes as inexpiable pollution to the purity of their fame and the sanctity of their honour. " Such being the general opinion, (or prejudices, let them be called,) of this country, Your Lordships will find, that whatever treasures were given or lodged in a Zenana of this description must, upon the evidence of the thing itself, be placed beyond the reach of resumption. To dispute with the Counsel about the original right to those treasures to talk of a title to them by the Mahometan law ! their title to them is the title of a Saint to the relics upon an altar, placed there by Piety ' , guarded by holy Superstition, and to be snatched from thence only by Sacrilege." In showing lhat the Nabob was driven to this robbery of his relatives by other considerations than those of the pretended re- bellion, which was afterwards conjured up by Mr. Hastings to justify it, " he says, " The fact is, that through all his defences through all his various false suggestions through all these various rebellions and disaffections , Mr. Hastings never once lets go this plea of tinextinguishable right in the Nabob. He constantly represents the seizing the treasures as a re- sumption of a right which he could not part with ; as if there were lite- rally something in the Koran , that made it criminal in a true Mussulman to keep his engagements with his relations, and impious in a son to abstain from plundering his mother. I do gravely assure Your Lordships 1 This metaphor was rather roughly handled afterwards (1794) by Mr. Law, one of the adverse Counsel , who asked , how could the Regain be considered as ''a Saint," or how were the camels, which formed part of the treasure, to be " placed upon the altar?" Sheridan, in reply, said, " It was the first time in hi life he had ever heard of special pleading on a metaphor, or a bill of indictment .i-.iinst a trope. But such was the tarn of the Learned Counsel's miud , that, when he attempted to be humorous, no jest could be found, and, when serious, no fact was risible." 540 MEMOIRS that there is no such doctrine in the Koran, and no such principle makes a part in the civil or municipal jurisprudence of that country. Even after these Princesses had been endeavouring to dethrone the Nahob and to extirpate the English, the only plea the Nahob ever makes, is his right under the Mahomedan law; and the truth is, he appears never to have heard any other reason, and I pledge myself to make it appear to Your Lordships, however extraordinary it may be , that not only had the Nabob never heard of the rebellion till the moment of seizing the palace, but, still further, that he never heard of it at all; that this extraor- dinary rebellion , which was as notorious as the rebellion of ij$ in Lon- don, was carefully concealed from those two parties the Begums who plotted it, and the Nabob who was to be the victim of it. " The existence of this rebellion was not the secret, but the notoriety of it was the secret ; it was a rebellion which had for its object the destruction of no human creature but those who planned it; it was a rebellion which, according to Mr. Middleton's expression, no man, either horse or foot, ever marched to quell. The Chief Justice was the only man who took the field against it, the force against which it was raised, instantly withdrew to give it elbow-room, and, even then, it was a rebellion which perversely showed itself in acts of hospitality to the Nabob whom it was to dethrone , and to the English whom it was to extirpate ; it was a rebellion plotted by two feeble old women , headed by two eunuchs , and suppressed by an affidavit." The acceptance , or rather exaction , of the private present of 100,000/. is thus animadverted upon : " My Lords, such was the distressed situation of the Nabob about a twelvemonth before Mr. Hastings met him at Chunar. It was a twelve- month , I say , after this miserable scene a mighty period in the progress of British rapacity it was ( if the Counsel will) after some natural cala- mities had aided the superior rigour of British violence and rapacity it was after the country had felt other calamities besides the English it was after the angry dispensations of Providence had, with a progressive severity of chastisement, visited the land with a famine one year, and with a Col. Hannay the next it was after he, this Hannay, had returned to retrace the steps of his former ravages it was after he and his voracious crew had come to plunder ruins which himself had made, and to glean from desolation the little that famine had spared , or rapine overlooked ; then it was that this miserable , bankrupt Prince marching, through his country, besieged by the clamours of his starving subjects, who cried to him for protection through their cages meeting the curses of some of his subjects, and the prayers of others with famine at his heels, and reproach following him, then it was that this Prince is represented as exercising this act of prodigal bounty to the very man whom he here reproaches to the very man whose policy had extinguished his power, and whose creatures had desolated his country. To talk of a free-will gift ! it is audacious and ridiculous to name the supposition. It was not a free- will gift. What was it then ? was it a bribe ? or was it extortion ? I shall prove it was both it was an act of gross bribery and of rank extortion." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 8*1 Again he thus adverts to this present : " The first, thing he does , is to leave Calcutta, in order to go to the relief of the distressed Nabob. The second thing, is to take ioo,ooo/. from that distressed Nabob on account of the distressed Company. And the third tiling is to ask of the distressed company this very same sum, on account of the distresses of Mr. Hastings. There never were three dis- tresses that seemed so little reconcileable with one another." Anticipating the plea of slate-necessity, which might possibly be set up in defence of the measures of the Governor-General , he breaks out into the following rhetorical passage : "State necessity! no, my Lords; that imperial tyrant, State-Neces- sity, is yet a generous despot, bold is his demeanour, rapid his deci- sions, and terrible his grasp. But what he does, my Lords, he dares avow, and, avowing, scorns any other justification, than the great mo- tives that placed the iron sceptre in his hand. But a quibbling, pilfering, prevaricating State-Necessity , that tries to skulk behind the skirts of Justice; a State-Necessity that tries to steal a pitiful justification from whispered accusations and fabricated rumours; No, my Lords, that is no State-Necessity; tear off the mask, and you see coarse, vulgar ava- rice, you see peculation, lurking under the gaudy disguise, and adding the guilt of libelling the public honour toils own private fraud. " My Lords , I say this, because I am sure the Managers would make every allowance that state-necessity could claim upon any great emer- gency. If any great man in bearing the arms of this country; if any Admiral, bearing the vengeance and the glory of Britain to distant coasts, should be compelled to some rash acts of violence, in order, perhaps , to give food to those who are shedding their blood for Britain ; if any great General, defending some fortress, barren itself, perhaps, but a pledge of the pride, and, with the pride, of the power of Britain ; if such a man were to * * * while he himself was * * at the top, like an eagle besieged in its imperial nest ' ; would the Commons of England come to accuse or to arraign such acts of state-necessity ? No." In describing that swarm of English pensioners and placemen , who were still , in violation of the late purchased treaty, left to prey on the finances of the Nabob , he says , "Here we find they were left, as heavy a weight upon the Nabob as over, left there with as keen an appetite, though not so clamorous. They were reclining on the roots and shades of that spacious tree, which their predecessors had stripped, branch and bough watching with eager eyes the first budding of a future prosperity, and of the opening karvest which they considered as the prey of their perseverance and rapacity." We have, in the close of the following passage, a specimen of 1 The Reporter, at many of these passages, seems to have thrown aside his pea in despair. 16 242 MEMOIRS lhal lofty style, in which, as if under the influence of Eastern associations , almost all the Managers of this Trial occasionally in- dulged ' . " I do not mean to say that Mr. Middleton had direct instructions from Mr. Hastings, thathetold him to go, and give that fallacious assurance to the Nabob, that he had that order under his hand. No hut in looking attentively over Mr. Middleton's correspondence, you will find him say, upon a more important occasion, ' I don't expect your public authority for this; it is enough if you hut hint your pleasure.' He knew him well ; he could interpret every nod and motion of that head ; he understood the glances of that eye which sealed the perdition of nations, and at whose llirone Princes waited, in pale expectation , for their fortune or their doom." The following is one of those laboured passages , of which the orator himself ,was perhaps most proud , but in which Ihe effort to be eloquent is too visible, and the effect, accordingly, falls short of the pretension : " You see how Truth empowered hy that will which gives a giant's nerve to an infant's arm has hurst the monstrous mass of fraud that has endeavoured to suppress it calls now to Your Lordships, in the weak but clear tone of that Cherub, Innocence, whose voice is more persuasive than eloquence , more convincing than argument , whose look is suppli- cation, whose tone is conviction, it calls upon you for redress, it calls upon you for vengeance upon the oppressor, and points its heaven-di- rected hand to the detested, but unrepenting author of its wrongs !" His description of the desolation brought upon some provinces ofOudc by the misgovernment of Colonel Hannay, and of the in- surrection at Goruckporc against that officer in consequence, is, perhaps, the most masterly porlion of the whole speech : " If we could suppose 9 person to have come suddenly into the country, unacquinted with any circumstances that had passed since the days of Sujah ulDowlah, he would naturally ask what cruel hand has wrought this wide desolation, what barbarian foe has invaded the country, has desolated its fields, depopulated its villages ? He would ask , what disputed succession ' Much of this, however, is to be set down to the gratuitous bombast of the Reporter. Mr. Fox, for instance, is made to say, "\es, my Lords, happy is it for the world, that the penetrating gaze of Providence searches after man, and in the dark den where he has stifled the remonstrances of conscience, darts his compnl- satory ray, that, bursting the secrecy of guilt, drives the criminal frantic to con- fession and expiation." History of the Trial. Even one of the Counsel , Mr. Dallas, is represented as having caught this Oriental contagion , to such a degree as to express himself in the following manner: "We are now, however, (said the Counsel) advancing from the star-light of Circumstance to the day light of Discovery; the sun of Certainty is melting the darkness, aad we are arrived at facts adm itted hy both parlies '. " OF R. B SHERIDAN. 5*3 civil rage, or frenzy of the inhabitants, had induced them to act in hosti- lity to the words of God, and the beauteous works of man? He would ask , what religious zeal or frenzy had added to the mad despair and horrors of war? The ruin is unlike any thing that appears recorded in any age; it looks like neither the barbarities of men, nor the judgments of vindictive heaven. There is a waste of desolation, as if caused by fell destroyers, never meaning to return, and making but a short period, of I heir rapacity. It looks as if some fabled monster had made its passage through the country, whose pestiferous breath had blasted more than its voracious appetite could devour. " If there had been any men in the country, who had not their hearts and souls so subdued by fear, as to refuse to speak the truth at all upon such a subject, they would have told him there had been no war since the time of Sujah ul Dowlah, tyrant, indeed, as he was, but then deeply regretted by his subjects that no hostile blow of auy enemy had been struck in that land that there had been no disputed succession no civil war no religious frenzy. But that these were the tokens of British friendship, the marks left by the embraces of British allies ^more dread- ful than the blows of the bitterest enemy. They would tell him that these allies had converted a prince into a slave , to make him the principal in the extortion upon his subjects ; that their rapacity increased in propor- tion as the means of supplying their avarice diminished; that they made the sovereign pay as if they had a right to an increased price, because the labour of extortion and plunder increased. To such causes, they would tell him , these calamities were owing. " Need I refer Your Lordships to the strong testimony of Major Naylor when he rescued Colonel Hannay from their hands where you see that this people, born to submission and bent to most abject subjection that even they, in whose meek hearts injury had never yet begot resentment, nor even despair bred courage that their hatred, their abhorrence of Colonel Hannay was such that they clung round him by thousands and thousands ; that when Major Naylor rescued him, they refused life from the hand that could rescue Hannay ; that they nourished this desperate consolation, that by their death they should at least thin the number of wretches who suffered by his devastation and extortion. He says that, when he crossed the river, he found the poor wretches quivering upon the parched banks of the polluted river encouraging their blood to flow , and consoling themselves with the thought, that it would not sink into the earth, but rise to the common God of humanity, and cry aloud for vengeance on their destroyers ! This warm description which is no de- clamation of mine , but founded in actual fact , and in fair, clear proof before Your Lordships speaks powerfully what the cause of these oppres- sions were, and the perfect justness of those feelings that were occasioned by them. And yet, my Lords, I am asked to prove why these people arose in such concert : * there must have been machinations forsooth, and the Be- gums' machinations to produce all this!' Why did they rise! Because they were people in human shape; because patience under the detested ty- ranny of man is rebellion to the sovereignty ofGod; because allegiance to that Power that gives us {he forms of men commands us to maintain the rights of men . And never yet was th is truth dismissed from the human heart never 344 MEMOIRS in any time, in any age never in any clime, where rude man ever had any- social feeling, or where corrupt refinement had suhdued all feelings, never \vasthis one unextinguishable truth destroyed from the heart of man, placed as it is, in the core and centre of it hy his Maker, that man was not made the properly of man ; that human power is a trust for human be- nefit ; and that when it is abused, revenge becomes justice , if not the bounden duty of the injured. These, my Lords, were the causes why these people rose." Another passage in the second day's Speech is remarkable, as exhibiting a sort of tourney of intellect between Sheridan and Burke, and in that field of abstract speculation , which was the favourite arena of the latter. Mr. Burke had , in opening the prosecution , remarked , that prudence is a quality incompatible with vice , and can never be effectively enlisted in its cause : ' I never (he said) knew a man who was bad fit for service that was good. There is always some disqualifying ingredient , mixing and spoiling the compound. The man seems paralytic on that side, bis muscles there have lost their very tone and character they cannot move . In short , the accomplishment of any tiling good is a physical impos- sibility for such a man. There is decrepitude as well as distortion : be could not if he would , is not more certain than that he would not if be could." To this sentiment the allusions in the following passage refer : " I am perfectly convinced that there is one idea which must arise in Your Lordships' minds as a subject of wonder, how a person of Mr. Has- tings's reputed abilities can furnish such matter of accusation against him- self. For, it must he admitted that never was there a person who seems to go so rashly to work, with such an arrogant appearance of contempt for all conclusions, that may be deduced from what he advances upon the subject. \Vhen he seems most earnest and laborious to defend himself, it appears as if he had but one idea uppermost in his mind a determi- nation not to care what he says, provided lie keeps clear of fact. He knows that truth must convict him , and concludes, a converso , that falsehood will acquit him ; forgetting that there must be some connexion , some system, some co-operation, or, otherwise, his host of falsities fall without an enemy, self-discomfited and destroyed. But of this he never seems to have had the slightest apprehension. He falls to work , an artificer of fraud , against all the rules of architecture ; he lays his ornamental work first, and his mas*y foundation at the top of it ; and thus his whole building tumbles upon his head. Other people look well to their ground , choose their position, and watch whether they are likely to be surprised there; but he, as if in the ostentation of his heart, builds upon a preci- pice, and encamps upon a mine, from choice. He seems to have no one actuating principle, but a steady, persevering resolution not to speak the truth or to tell the fact. " It is impossible almost to treat conduct of this kind with perfect seriousness ; yet I am aware that it ought to be more seriously accounted OF R. B. SHERIDAN . 245 for because I am sure it has been a sort of paradox, which must have struck Your Lordships, how any person having so many motives to conceal having so many reasons to dread detection should yet go to work so clumsily upon the subject. It is possible , indeed , that it may raise this doubt whether such a person is of sound mind enough to be a proper object of punishment ; or at least it may give a kind of confused notion, that the guilt cannot be of so deep and black a grain, over which such a thin veil was thrown, and so little trouble taken to avoid detection. 1 am aware that, to account, for this seeming paradox, historians, poets, and even philosophers at least of ancient times -have adopted the su- perstitious solution of the vulgar, and said that the gods deprive men of reason whom they devote to destruction or to punishment. But to unas- suming or unprejudiced reason, there is no need to resort to any supposed supernatural interference; for the solution will be found in the eternal rules that formed the mind of man, and gave a quality and nature to every passion that inhabits in it. " An Honourable friend of mine, who is now, I believe, near me a gentleman , to whom I never can on any occasion refer with- out feelings of respect, and, on this subject without feelings of the most grateful homage; a gentleman, whose abilities upon this occa- sion , as upon some former ones, happily for the glory of the age in which we live, are not entrusted merely to the perishable eloquence of the day, but will live to be the admiration of that hour when all of us are mute, and most of us forgotten ; that honourable gentleman has told you that Prudence, the first of virtues, never can be used in the cause of vice. IT, reluctant and diffident, I might take such a liberty^! should express a doubt, whether experience, observation, or history, will warrant us in fully assenting to this observation. It is a noble and a lovely sentiment, my Lords, worthy the mind of him who uttered it, worthy that proud disdain, that generous scorn of the means and instruments of vice, which virtue and genius must ever feel. But I should doubt whether we can read the history of a Philip of Macedon, a Caesar, or a Cromwell, without con- fessing, that there have been evil purposes, baneful to the peace and to the rights of men conducted if I may not say, with prudence or with wisdom yet with awful craft, and most successful and commanding subtlety. If, however, I might make a distinction , I should say that it is the proud attempt to mix a variety of lordly crimes, that unsettles the prudence of the mind, and breeds this distraction of the brain. One master-passion, domineering in the breast, may win the faculties of the understanding to advance its purpose, and to direct to that object every thing that thought or human knowledge can affect; but, to succeed, it must maintain a solitary despotism in the mind; each rival profligacy must stand aloof, or wait in abject vassalage upon its throne. For, the Power that has not forbad the entrance of evil passions into man's mind ^ has at least forbad their union ; if they meet, they defeat their object , and their conquest or their attempt at it is tumult. Turn to the Virtues how different the decree! Formed to connect, to blend, to associate, and to co-operate; bearing the same course, with kindred energies and harmonious sympathy, each perfect in its own lovely sphere, each moving in its wider or more contracted orbit, with different but concentering 24G MEMOIRS powers, guided by the same influence of reason , and endeavouring at the same blessed end the happiness of the individual, the harmony of the species, and the glory of the Creator. In the Vices, on the other hand, it is the discord that insures the defeat each clamours to be heard in its own barbarous language; each claims the exclusive cunning of the brain; each thwarts and reproaches the other; and even while their fell rage assails with common hate the peace and virtue of the world, the civil war among their own tumultuous legions defeats the purpose of the foul conspiracy. These are the Furies of the mind, my Lords, that unsettle the understanding; these are the Furies, that destroy the virtue, Pru- dence, while the distracted brain and shivered intellect proclaim the' tumult that is within, and bear their testimonies, from the mouth of God himself, to the foul condition of the heart." The part of the Speech which occupied the Third Day (and which was interrupted by the sudden indisposition of Mr. She- ridan) consists chiefly of comments upon the affidavits taken before Sir Elijah Impcy, in which the irrelevance and inconsistency of these documents is shrewdly exposed, and the dryness of detail, inseparable from such a task , enlivened by those light touches of conversational humour, and all that by-play of eloquence of which Mr. Sheridan was such a consummate master. But it was on the Fourth Day of the oration that he rose into his most ambitious (lights , and produced some of those dazzling bursts of declama- tion , of which the traditional fame is most vividly preserved. Among the audience of that day was Gibbon , and the mention of his name in the following passage not only produced its effect at (he moment, but, as connected with literary anecdote, will make the passage ilself long memorable. Politics are of the day, but Literature is of all time and , though it was in the power of the orator, in his brief moment of triumph , to throw a lustre over the historian by a passing epithet 1 , the name of the latter will, at the long run , pay back the honour with interest. Having reprobated the violence and perfidy of the Governor-General, in forcing the Nabob to plunder his own relatives and friends, he adds : " I do say, that if you search the history of the world, you will not find an act of tyranny and fraud to surpass this; if you read all past histories, peruse the Annals of Tacitus, read the luminous page of Gibbon , and all the ancient or modern writers that have searched into the depravity of 1 Gibbon himself thought it an event worthy of record in his Memoirs. " Before my departure from England ( he says) , I was present at the august spectacle of Mr. Hastings's trial in Westminster Hall. It is not my province to absolve or condemn the Governor of India; but Mr. Sheridan's eloquence demanded my applause; nor could I hear without emotion the personal compliment which he paid me in the presence of the British nation. From this display of genius, which blazed four successive days ," etc. etc. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 24 7 former ages to draw a lesson for the present, you will not find an act of treacherous, deliberate, cool cruelty that could exceed this." On being asked by some honest brother Whig, at the conclusion of the Speech , how he came to compliment Gibbon with the epithet " luminous," Sheridan answered, in a half whisper, " I said ' vo- luminous.'" It is well known that the simile of the vulture and the lamb, which occurs in the address of Holla to the Peruvians , had been pre- viously employed by Mr. Sheridan , in this Speech 5 and it showed a degree of indifference to criticism, which criticism, it must be owned, not unfrcquently deserves, to reproduce before the public an image , so notorious both from its application and its success. But , called upon , as he was , to levy, for the use of that Drama , a hasty conscription of phrases and images , all of a certain allilude and pomp, this veteran simile, he thought, might be pressed into the service among the rest. The passage of the Speech in which it occurs is left imperfect in the Report ; " This is the character of all the protection ever afforded to the allies of Hritain under the government of Mr. Hastings. They send their troops to drain the produce of industry, to seize all the treasures, wealth, and pros- perity of the country, and then they call it Protection! it is the protec- tion of the vulture to the lamb.* ********** The following is his celebrated delineation of Filial Affection , to which reference is more frequently made than to any other part of the Speech ; though the gross inaccuracy of the printed Report has done its utmost to belie the reputation of the original passage , or rather has substituted a changeling to inherit its fame. *' When I see in many of these letters the infirmities of age made a subject of mockery and ridicule ; when I see the feelings of a son treated l\y Mr. Middleton as puerile and contemptible; when 1 see an order given from Mr. Hastings to harden that son's heart, to choke the struggling nature in his bosom ; when I see them pointing to the son's name' and to his standard, while marching to oppress the mother, as to a banner that gives dignity, that gives a h6ly sanction and a reverence to their enter- prise; when I see and hear these things done when I hear them brought into three deliberate Defenses set up against the Charges of the Commons my Lords, 1 own I grow puzzled and confounded, and almost begin to doubt whether, where such a defence can be offered, it may not be tolerated. " And yet, my Lords, how can I support the claim of filial love by argument much less the affection of a son to a mother where love loses its awe, and veneration is mixed with tenderness? What can I say upon such a subject, what can I do but repeat the ready truths which, with the quick impulse of the mind , must spring to the lips of every man on such a theme ? Filial Love ! the morality of instinct , the sacrament of 248 MEMOIRS nature and duty, or rather let me say, it is miscalled a duty, for it flows from the heart without effort, and is its delight, its indulgence, its en- joyment. It is guided not hy the slow dictates of reason; it awaits not encouragement from reflection or from thought ; it asks no aid of me- mory ; it is an innate, but active, consciousness of having b en the object of a thousand tender solicitudes , a thousand waking watchful cares , of meek anxiety and patient sacrifices, unremarked and unrequited hy the object. It is a gratitude founded upon a conviction of obligations, not re- membered; but the more binding because not remembered, because con- ferred before the tender reason could acknowledge, or the infant memory record them a gratitude and affection, which no circumstances should sub- due, and which few can strengthen; a gratitude, in which even injury from the object, though it may blend regret, should never breed resentment; an affection which can be increased only by the decay of those to whom we owe it, and which is then most fervent when the tremulous voice of age, re- sistless in its feebleness, enquires for the natural protector of its cold decline. " If these are the general sentiments of man, what must be their de- pravity, what must be their degeneracy, who can blot out and erase from the bosom the virtue that is deepest rooted in the human heart, and twined within the cords of life itself aliens from nature, apostates from humanity! And yet, if there is a crime more fell, more foul if there is any thing worse than a wilful persecutor of his mother it is to see a deli- berate, reasoning instigator and abettor to the deed; this it is that shocks , disgusts, and appals the mind more than the other to view, not a wilful parricide, but a parricide by compulsion, a miserable wretch, not actuated by the stubborn evils of his own worthless heart , not driven by the fury of his own distracted brain, but lending his sacrilegious hand , without anv malice of his own, to answer the abandoned purposes of the human fiends that have subdued his will! To condemn crimes like these, we need not talk of laws or of human rules their foulness , their deformity does not depend upon local constitutions, upon human insti- tutes or religious creeds : they are crimes -and the persons who per- petuate them are monsters who violate the primitive condition , upon which the earth was given to man they are guilty by the general verdict of human kind." In some of the sarcasms we are reminded of the quaint contrasts of his dramatic style. Thus : " I must also do credit to them whenever I see any thing like lenity in Mr. Middleton or his agent: -they do seem to admit here, that it was not worth while to commit a massacre for the discount of a small note of hand , and to put two thousand women and children to death , in order to procure prompt payment." Of the length to which the language of crimination was carried , as well by Mr. Sheridan as by Mr. Burke, one example, out of many, will suffice. It cannot fail, however, to be remarked that, while the denunciations and invectives of Burke are filled throughout with a passionate earnestness, which leaves no doubt as to the sin- OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 249 eerily of the hate and anger professed by him , in Sheridan , whose nature was of a much gentler cast, the vehemence is evi- dently more in the words than in the feeling, the tone of indignation is theatrical and assumed , and the brightness of the flash seems to be more considered than the deslrucliveness of the fire : " It is this circumstance of deliberation and consciousness of his guilt it is this that inflames the minds of those who watch his transactions , and roots out all pity for a person who could act under such an influence. We conceive of such tyrants as Caligula and Nero, bred up to tyranny and oppression, having bad no equals to controul them no moment for reflection we conceive that, if it could have been possible to seize the guilty profligates for a moment, you migbt bring conviction to their hearts and repentance to their minds. But when you see a cool , reason- ing , deliberate tyrant one who was not born and bred to arrogance, who has been nursed in a mercantile line who has been used to look round among liis fellow-subjects to transact business with his equals to account for conduct to his master , and , by that wise system of the Com- pany, to detail all bis transactions who never could fly one moment from himself, but must be obliged every night to sit down and hold up a glass to bis own soul who could never be blind to his deformity; and who must have brought his conscience not only to connive at but to ap- prove of it this it is that distinguishes it from the worst cruelties, the worst enormities of those who, born to tyranny, and Gnding no supe- rior, no adviser, have gone to the last presumption that there were none above to controul them hereafter. This is a circumstance that aggravates the whole of the guilt of the unfortunate gentleman we are now arraign- ing at your bar. " We now come to the Peroration , in which , skilfully and without appearance of design , it is conlrived lhat the same sort of appeal to the purity of British justice, with which the oration opened, should , like the repetition of a solemn strain of music, recur at its close, leaving in the minds of the Judges a composed and con- centrated feeling of the great public duty they had to perform , in deciding upon the arraignment of guilt brought before them. The Court of Directors, it appeared, had ordered an enquiry into the conduct of the Begums, with a view to the restitution of their pro- perty, if it should appear lhat the charges against them were un- founded 5 but to this proceeding Mr. Hastings objected, on the ground that the Begums themselves had not called for such inter- ference in their favour, and that it was inconsistent with the "Ma- jesty of Justice" to condescend to volunteer her services. The pomp- ous and Jesuitical style in which this singular doctrine ' is expressed , in a letter addressed by the Governor-General to Mr. Macpherson , 1 "If nothing ( says Mr. Mill ) remained to stain the reputation of Mr. Hastings but the principles avowed in this singular pleading, his character, amoug the friends of justice, would be sufficiently determined." 550 MEMOIRS is thus ingeniously turned to account by the orator, in winding up his masterly statement to a close : "And now before I come to the last magnificent paragraph , let me call the attention of those who , possibly, think themselves capable of judging of the dignity and character of justice in this country ; let me call the at- tention of those who, arrogantly perhaps presume that they understand \vhat the features , what the duties of justice are here and in India ; let them learn a lesson from this great statesman, this enlarged , this liberal philosopher : 'I hope I shall not depart from the simplicity of official language in saying, that the Majesty of Justice ought to be approached with solicitation , not descend to provoke or invite it , much less to debase itself by the suggestion of wrongs and the promise of redress, with the denunciation of punishment before trial, and even before accusation.' This is the exhortation which Mr. Hastings makes to his Counsel. This is the character which he gives of British justice. " But I will ask Your Lordships, do you approve this representation ? Do you feel that this is the true image of justice! Is this the character of British Justice? yVre these her features? Is this her countenance? Is this her gait or her mien? No, I think even now I hear you calling upon me to turn from this vile libel, this base caricature, this Indian pagod , formed by the hand of guilty and knavish tyranny, to dupe the heart of ignorance, to turn from this deformed idol to the true Majesty of Jus- tice here. Here , indeed, I see a different form, enthroned by the sove- reign hand of Freedom, awful without severity commanding without pride vigilant and active without restlessness or suspicion searching and inquisitive without meanness or debasement not arrogantly scorn- ing to stoop to the voice of afflicted innocence , and in its loveliest attitude when bending to uplift the suppliant at its feet. " It is by the majesty , by the form of that Justice, that I do conjure and implore Your Lordships to give your minds to this great business ; that I exhort you to look , not so much to words which may be denied or quibbled away, but to the plain facts, to weigh and consider the testi- mony in your own minds : we know the result must be inevitable. Let the truth appear and our cause is gained. It is this, I conjure Your Lordships, for your own honour, for the honour of the nation, for the honour of human nature, now entrusted to your care, it is this duty that, the Commons of England, speaking through us, claims at your hands. " They exhort you to it by every thing that calls sublimely upon the heart of man , by the Majesty of that Justice which this bold man has libelled, by the wide fame of your own tribunal, by the sacred pledge by which you swear in the solemn hour of decision , knowing that that decision will then bring you the highest reward that ever blessed the heart of man , the consciousness of having done the greatest act of mercy for the world , that the earth has ever yet received from any hand but Heaven. My Lords, I have done." Though I 'have selected some of the most remarkable passages of this Speech ', it would be unfair to judge of it even from these spe- ' I had selected many more, bnt most confess that they appeared to me, when OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 251 cimens. A Report , verbatim , of any effective speech must always appear diffuse and ungraceful in the perusal. The very repetitions , the redundancy, the accumulation of epithets , which gave force and momentum in the career of delivery, but weaken and encumber the march of the style, when read. There is, indeed, the same sort of difference between a faithful short-hand Report , and those abridged and polished records* which Burke has left us of his speeches , as (here is between a cast taken directly from the face , (where every line is accurately preserved , but all the blemishes and excrescences are in rigid preservation also , ) and a model , over which the cor- recting hand has passed , and all that was minute or superfluous is generalised and softened away. Neither was it in such rhetorical passages as abound , perhaps , rather lavishly, in this Speech , that the chief strength of Mr. She- ridan's talent lay. Good sense and wit were the great weapons of his oratory shrewdness in detecting the weak points of an adver- sary, and infinite powers of raillery in exposing it. These were fa- culties which he possessed in a greater degree than any of his con- temporaries , and so well did he himself know the strong hold of his powers , that it was but rarely, after this display in Westminster Hall , that he was tempted to leave it for the higher flights of ora- tory, or to wander after Sense into that region of metaphor, where loo often , like Angelica in the enchanted palace of Atlante , she is sought for in vain '. His attempts, indeed, at the florid orfigura- live style , whether in his speeches or his writings , were seldom very successful. That luxuriance of fancy, which in Burke was na- tural and indigenous , was in him rather a forced and exotic growth. It is a remarkable proof of this difference between them , that while , in the memorandums of speeches left behind by Burke , we find , that the points of argument and business were those which he pre- pared , trusting to the ever ready wardrobe of his fancy for their in print, so little worthy of the reputation of the Speech, that I thought, it would be, on the whole i more prudent to omit them. Even of the passages here cited, I speak rather from my imagination of what they mast have been, than from my actual feeling of what they are. The character given of such Reports by Lord Loughborongh , is, no doubt, but too just. On a motion made by Lord Stanhope, (April 29, 1794,) that the short-hand writers employed on Hastings's trial, should be summoned to the bar of the House, to read their minntes, Lord Longhborough , in the coarse of his observations on the motion said, " God forbid that ever their Lordships should call on the short-hand writers to publish their notes : for, of all people , short -hand writers were ever the farthest from correct- ness, and there were no man's words they ever heard that they again returned. They were in general ignorant, as acting mechanically^ and by not considering 'he antecedent, and catching the sound, and not the sense, they perverted the sense of the speaker, and made him appear as ignorant as themselves." 1 Curran used to say laughingly, " When I can't talk sense , I talk metaphor." 252 MEMOIRS adornment, in Mr. Sheridan's notes it is chiefly the decorative passages , that are worked up beforehand to their full polish ; while on the resources of his good sense, ingenuity, and temper, he seems to have relied for the management of his reasonings and facts. Hence naturally it arises that the images of Burke, being called up on the instant , like spirits , to perform the bidding of his argument , minister to it throughout , with an almost co-ordinate agency ; while the figurative fancies of Sheridan , already prepared for the occa- sion , and brought forth to adorn , not assist , the business of the discourse , resemble rather those sprites which the magicians used to keep inclosed in phials , to be produced for a momentary en- chantment , and then shut up again. In truth , the similes and illustrations of Burke form such an in- timate , and often essential , part of his reasoning, that if the whole strength of the Samson does not lie in those luxuriant locks , it would ill least be considerably diminished by their loss. Whereas , in the Speech of Mr. Sheridan , which we have just been consider- ing , there is hardly one of the rhetorical ornaments that might not be detached , without , in any great degree , injuring the force of the general statement. Another consequence of this difference be- tween them is observable in their respective modes of transition , from what may be called the business of a speech to its more ge- neralised and rhetorical parts. When Sheridan rises , his elevation is not sufficiently prepared 5 he starts abruptly and at once from the level of his statement , and sinks down into it again with the same suddenness. But Burke , whose imagination never allows even bu- siness to subside into mere prose, sustains a pitch throughout which accustoms the mind to wonder, and , while it prepares us to accom- pany him in his boldest flights , makes us , even when he walks , still feel that he has wings : " Meme quand I'oiseau marche , on sent qu'il a des ailes." The sincerity of the praises bestowed by Burke on the Speech of his brother 3Ianager has sometimes been questioned , but upon no sufficient grounds. His zeal for the success of the Impeachment , no doubt , had a considerable share in the enthusiasm with which this great effort in its favour filled him. It may be granted, too , thai , in admiring the apostrophes that variegate this speech , he was , in some degree , enamoured of a reflection of himself; " Cuiictaque miratur, quibus est mirabilis ipse." He sees reflected there , in faiuter light , All that combines to make himself so bright. But whatever mixture of other motives there may have been in OF R. B SHERIDAN. 553 Ihc feeling, it is certain that his admiration of the Speech was real and unbounded. He is said to have exclaimed to Mr. Fox , during the delivery of some passages of it, "There, that is the true style ; something between poetry and prose , and better than either. 11 The severer taste of Mr. Fox dissented , as might be ex- I )oi led, from this remark. He replied, that " he thought such a mixture was for the advantage of neither as producing poetic prose, or, still worse, prosaic poetry." It was, indeed, the opi- nion of Mr. Fox , that the impression made upon Burke by these somewhat too theatrical tirades is observable in the change that subsequently look place in his own style of writing; and. that the florid and less chastened taste , which some persons discover in his later productions , may all be traced to the example of this speech. However this may be , or whether there is really much difference , as to taste , between the youthful and sparkling vision of the Queen of France in 1792 , and the interview between the Angel and Lord Bathurst in 1775 , it is surely a most unjust disparagement of the eloquence of Burke , to apply to it , at any time of his life , the epithet "flowery, 11 a designation only applicable to that ordi- nary ambition of style, whose chief display, by necessity, consists of ornament without thought, and pomp without substance. A suc- cession of bright images, clothed in simple , transparent language, even when, as in Burke, they "crowd upon the aching sense 1 ' loo dazzlingly, '-should never be confounded with that mere verbal opulence of style , which mistakes the glare of words for the glitter of ideas , and , like the Helen of the sculptor Lysippus , makes finery supply the place of beauty. The figurative definition of elo- quence in the Book of Proverbs " Apples of gold in a net-work of silver 51 is peculiarly applicable to that enshrinement of rich , solid thoughts in clear and shining language , which is the triumph of the imaginative class of writers and orators , - while , perhaps , the network , without the gold inclosed , is a type equally significant of what is called " flowery " eloquence. It is also , I think , a mistake , however flattering to my country, to call the School of Oratory, to which Burke belongs, Irish. That Irishmen are naturally more gifted with those stores of fancy, from which the illumination of this high order of the art must be sup- plied , the names of Burke , Grallan , Sheridan , Curran , Canning , andPlunkett, abundantly testify. Yetliad Lord Chatham, before any of these great speakers were heard , led the way, in the same animated and figured strain of oratory ' ; while another Englishman, ' His few noble sentences on the privilege of.the poor man's cottage are nni- \crsahy known. There is also bis f.mciful allusion to the conflnence of the Saone am! tl.c Rhone, the traditional reports of which vary, both as to the exact term* 254 MEMOIRS Lord Bacon , by making Fancy the handmaid of Philosophy, had long since set an example of that union of the imaginative and the solid , which , both in writing and in speaking , forms the charac- teristic distinction of this school. The Speech of Mr. Sheridan in Westminster Hall , though so much inferior, in the opinion of Mr. Fox and others , to that which he had delivered on the same subject in the House of Commons, seems to have produced , at the time , even a more lively and ge- neral sensation ; possibly from the nature and numerousness of the assembly before which it was spoken , and which counted among its multitude a number of that sex. whose lips are in general found to be the most rapid conductors of fame. But there was one of this sex, more immediately interested in his glory, who seems to have felt it, as women alone can feel. " I have delayed writing ," says Mrs. Sheridan , in a letter to her sister-in-law, dated four days after the termination of the Speech , " till I could gratify myself and you by sending you the news of our dear Dick's triumph ! of our triumph I may call it ; for, surely, no one , in the slightest degree connected with him , but must feel proud and happy. It is impos- sible , my dear woman , to convey to you the delight, the astonish- ment, the adoration, he has excited in the breasts of every class of people ! Every party-prejudice has been overcome by a display of genius, eloquence, and goodness, which no one, with any thing like a heart about them , could have listened to , without being (he wiser and the better for the rest of Iheir lives. What must my feel- ings be? you only can imagine. To tell you the truth, it is with some difficulty that I can ' let down my mind ,' as Mr. Burke said afterwards, to talk or think on any other subject. But pleasure, loo exquisite , becomes pain , and I am at this moment suffering for the delightful anxieties of last week." It is a most happy combination when the wife of a man of genius unites intellect enough to appreciate the talents of her husband , with the quick , feminine sensibility that can thus passionately feel his success. Pliny tells us , that his Calpurnia , whenever he pleaded an important cause , had messengers ready to report to her every murmur of applause that he received ; and the poet Stalius , in al- luding to his own victories at the Albanian Games , mentions the in which it was expressed, and the persons to whom he applied it. Even Lord Orford does not seem to have ascertained the latter point. To these may be added the following specimen: 'I don't inquire from what quarter the wind coineth. Lut whither it goeth; and , if any measure that comes from the Right Hoiiourahle Gentleman tends to the public good, ray bark is ready." Of a different kind is / that grand passage, "America, they tell me, has resisted I rejoice to hear it," which Mr. Grattau used to pronounce Gner than any thing in Demosthenes. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 255 CL breathless kisses with which his wife, Claudia, used 16 cover the triumphal garlands' he brought home. Mrs. Sheridan may well lake her place beside these Roman wives ; and she had another resemblance to one of them , which was no less womanly and attrac- tive. Not only did Calpurnia sympathise with the glory of her hus- band abroad , but she could also , like Mrs. Sheridan , add a charm to his talents at home , by selling his verses to music and singing them to her harp , " with no instructor,' 1 adds Pliny, " but Love, who is , after all , the best master." This loiter of Mrs. Sheridan thus proceeds : " You were perhaps alarmed by the accounts of S.'s illness in the pa- pers -. but I have the pleasure to assure you he is now perfectly well, and 1 hope bv next week we shall be quietly settled in the country, and suf- fered to repose, in every sense of the word; for iudeed we have , both of us , been in a constant state of agitation , of one kind or another, for some time back. " T am very glad to hear your father continues so well. Surely he must feel happy and proud of such a son. I take it for granted you see the news- papers : I assure you the accounts in them are not exaggerated, and only echo the exclamation of admiration that is in every body's mouth. I make no excuse for dwelling on this subject : I know you will not find it te- dious. God bless you : I am an invalid at present, and not able to write long letters " The agitation and want of repose , which Mrs. Sheridan here com- plains of, arose not only from the anxiety which she so deeply felt, for the success of this great public effort of her husband , but from the share which she herself had taken, in the labour and attention necessary to prepare him for it. The mind of Sheridan being , from the circumstances of his education and life , but scantily informed upon all subjects for which reading is necessary, required, of course , considerable training and feeding , before it could venture to grapple with any new or important task. He has been known to say frankly to his political friends, when invited to take part in some question that depended upon authorities, " You know I'm an igno- ramus but here I am instruct me^ and I'll do my best." It is said, that the stock of numerical lore , upon which he ventured to set up as the Aristarchus of Mr. Pitt's financial plans, was the result of three weeks' hard study of arithmetic, to which he doomed himself, in the early part of his Parliamentary career, on the chance of being ap- pointed, some lime or other, Chancellor of the Exchequer. For financial display it must be owned lhat this was rather a crude pre- paration. But there arc other subjects of oratory, on which the out- pourings of information , newly acquired , may have a freshness and vivacity which it would be vain to expect, in the communication of knowledge lhat has lain long in the mind , and lost in circumstantial ?5fi MEMOIRS spirit what it has gained in general mellowness. They, indeed , who have been regularly disciplined in learning , may be not only too fa- miliar with what they know to communicate it with much liveliness to others , but too apt also to rely upon the resources of the memory, and upon those cold outlines which it retains of knowledge whose details are faded. The natural consequence of all this is that persons , the best furnished with general information , are often the most vague and unimpressive on particular subjects ; while , on the con- trary, an uninstructed man of genius, like Sheridan, who approaches a topic of importance for the first lime , has not only the stimulus of ambition and curiosity to aid him in mastering its details , but the novelty of first impressions to brighten his general "views of it and, with a fancy thus freshly excited , himself, is most sure to touch and rouse the imaginations of others. This was particularly the situation of Mr. Sheridan with respect to the history of Indian affairs ; and there remain among his papers numerous proofs of the labour which his preparation for this arduous task cost not only himself but Mrs. Sheridan. Among others , there is a large pamphlet of Mr. Hastings , consisting of more than two hundred pages , copied out neatly in her writing , with some assist- ance from another female hand. The industry, indeed , of all around him was put in requisition for this great occasion some , busy with the pen and scissors , making extracts some, pasting and stitching his scattered memorandums in their places. So that there was hardly a single member of the family that could not boast of having contri- buted his share , to the mechanical construction of this speech. The pride of its success was . of course , equally participated ; and Ed- wards, a favourite servant of Mr. Sheridan, who lived with him many years , was long celebrated for his professed imitation of the manner in which his master delivered (what seems to have struck Edwards as the finest part of the speech) his closing words, "My Lords , I have done ! " The Impeachment of Warren Hastings is one of those pageants in the drama of public life , which show how fleeting are the labours and triumphs of politicians "what shadows they are, and what shadows they pursue." When we consider the importance which the great actors in that scene attached to it, the grandeur with which their eloquence invested the cause , as one in which the liberties and rights of the whole human race were interested , and then think how all that splendid array of Law and of talent has dwindled away, in the view of most persons at present, into an unworthy and harass- ing persecution of a meritorious and successful statesman ; how those passionate appeals to justice, those vehement denunciations of crime, which made the halls of Westminster and St. Stephen's ring OF R. B. SHERIDAN. ?57 with their echoes, are now coldly judged, through the medium oT disfiguring Reports, and regarded, at the best , but as rhetorical ef- fusions , indebted to temper for their warmth , and to fancy for their details ; while so little was the reputation of the delinquent himself even scorched by the bolts of eloquence thus launched at him, that a subsequent House of Commons thought themselves honoured by his presence, and welcomed him with such cheers ' as should reward only the friends and benefactors of freedom; when we reflect on this thankless result of so much labour and talent , it seems wonder- ful that there should still be found high and gifted spirits , to waste themselves away in such temporary struggles , and , like that spend- thrift of genius , Sheridan , to discount their immortality, for the payment of fame in h?ind which these triumphs of the day secure to (hem. For this direction , however, which the current of opinion has taken , with regard to Mr. Hastings and his eloquent accusers , there are many very obvious reasons to be assigned. Success , as I have already remarked , was the dazzling talisman , which he waved in the eyes of his adversaries from the first , and which his friends have made use of to throw a splendour over his tyranny and injustice ever since 7 . Too often , in the moral logic of this world, it matters but lidle what the premises of conduct may be , so the conclusion turns out showy and prosperous. There is also , it must be owned , among the English ( as perhaps , among all frqe people ) , a strong taste for the arbitrary, when they themselves are not to be the victims of it, which invariably secures to such accomplished despotisms as that of Lord Stratford in Ireland, and Hastings in India, even a larger share of their admiration than they are , themselves , always willing to allow. The rhetorical exaggerations , in which the Managers of the pro- secution indulged , Mr. Sheridan , from imagination , luxuriating in its own display, and Burke from the same cause , added to his overpowering autocracy of temper were but too much calculated lo throw suspicion on the cause in which they were employed , and 1 When called as a witness before the Honse, in 1813, on the subject of the renewal of the East India Company's Charter. 2 In the important article of Finance, however, for which he made so many sacrifices of hnmauiiy, even the justification of success, was wanting to his measures. The following is the account given by the Select Committee of the House of Com- mons in 18 10, of the state in which India was left by his administration: "The revenues had been absoibed; the pay and allowances of both the civil and inili- tary branches of the service were greatly in anear; the credit of the Company wa.< extremely depressed; and, added to all, the whole system had fallen into Mi.h irregularity and confusion, that the real state of affairs could not be tucff- tained till the conclnsion of the year 1785-6." Third Report. n 248 MEMOIRS to produce a re-aclion in favour of the person whom they were meant to overwhelm. " Rogo vos , Judiccs /' Mr. Hastings might well have said , " si iste disertus est , idea me damnari oportet l ? " There are also , without doubt , considerable allowances to be made , for the difficult situations in which Mr. Hastings was placed, and those impulses to wrong which acted upon him from all sides allowances which will have more or less weight with the judg- ment, according as it may be more or less fastidiously disposed, in letting excuses for rapine and oppression pass muster. The incessant and urgent demands of the Directors upon him for money may pal- liate . perhaps , the violence of those methods which he took to procure it for them ; and the obstruction to his policy which would have arisen from a strict observance of Treaties , may be admitted, by the same gentle casuistry, as an apology for his frequent infrac- tions of them. Another consideration to be taken into account , in our estimate of the character of Mr. Hastings as a ruler, is that strong light of publicity, which the practice in India of carrying on the business of government by written documents threw on all the machinery of his measures , deliberative as \\ell as executive. These Minutes , in- deed , form a record of fluctuation and inconsistency not only on the part of the Governor-General , but of all the members of the go- vernment a sort of weather-cock diary of opinions and principles, shifting with the interests or convenience of the moment % which entirely takes away our respect even for success , when issuing out of such a chaos of self-contradiction and shuffling. It cannot be de- nied, however, that such a system of exposure submitted, as it was in this case, to still further scrutiny, under the bold , denuding hands of a Burke and a Sheridan was a test to which the councils of few rulers could with impunity be brought. Where , indeed , is ' Seneca, Controvers. lib. iii. c. 19. J Instances of this, on the part of Mr. Hastings, are numberless. In remarking upon his corrupt transfer of the management of the Nabob's household in 1778 , the Directors say, "It is with equal surprise and concern that we observe this request introduced , and the Nabob's ostensible rights so solemnly asserted at this period by our Governor-General; because, on a late occasion, lo serve a ver\ different purpose, he has not scrupled to declare it as visible as the light of the sun, that the Nabob is a mere pageant, and without even the shadow of autho- rity." On another transaction in 1781, Mr. Mill remarks; "It is a curious moral spectacle to compare'the minutes and letters of the Governor-General, when , at the beginning of the" year 1780, maintaining the propriety of condemning the Nabob to sustain the -whole of the burden imposed npon him, and his minutes and letters maintaining the propriely of relieving him from those burthens in 1781. The arguments and facts adduced on the one occasion , as well as the con- clusion , are a flat contradiction to those exhibited on the other." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 559 the statesman that could bear to have his obliquities thus chronicled? or where is the Cabinet that would not shrink from such an inroad of light into its recesses? The undefined nature , too , of that power which the Company exercised in India , and the uncertain state of Law vibrating between the English and Hindoo codes , left such tempting openings for in- justice as it was hardly possible to resist. With no public opinion to warn off authority from encroachment , and with the precedents set up by former rulers , all pointing the wrong way , it would have been difficult , perhaps , for even more moderate men than Hast- ings , not occasionally to break bounds and go continually astray. To all these considerations in his favour is to be added the appa- rently triumphant fact , that his government was popular among the natives of India, and that his name is still remembered by them with gratitude and respect. Allowing Mr. Hastings , however, the full advantage of these and other strong pleas in his defence, it is yet impossible, for any real lover of justice and humanity, to read the plainest and least exag- gerated history of his government ', without feeling deep indigna- tion excited at almost every page of it. His predecessors had , it is true , been guilty of wrongs as glaring the treachery of Lord Clive to Omichund in 1757, and the abandonment of Ramnarain to Meer Causim under the administration of Mr. Vansittart, are stains upon the British character which no talents or glory can do away. There are precedents , indeed , to be found , through the annals of our In- dian empire , for the formation of the most perfect code of tyranny, in every department, legislative , judicial , and executive, that ever entered into the dreams of intoxicated power. But , while the prac- tice of Mr. Hastings was , at least , as tyrannical as that of his pre- decessors , the principles upon which he founded that practice were still more odious and unpardonable. In his manner, indeed , of de- fending himself he is his own worst accuser as there is no outrage of power, no violation of faith, that might not be justified by the versatile and ambidextrous doctrines , the lessons of deceit and rules 1 Nothing can be more partial and misleading than the colouring given to these transactions by Mr. Nioholls and other apologists of Hastings. For the view which I have myself taken of the whole case I am chiefly indebted to the able History of British India }>y Mr. Mill whose indastrions research and clear analytical state- ments make him the most valuable authority that can be consulted on thesnbject. The mood of mind in which Mr. Nicholls listened to the proceedings of the !MI[,, ;u linn.-iit may be judged from the following declaration, which he has had iht; courage to promulgate to the public : " On this Charge (the Begum Charge) Mi Sheridan made a speech which both side* of the House professed greatly to .idmire for Mr. Pitt now opeuly approved of the Impeachment. I will acknow- ledge , (hat I did not ^admire this speech of Mr. Sheridan. 1 " SCO MEMOIRS of rapine, which he so ably illustrated by his measures , and has so shamelessly recorded with his pen. Nothing but an early and deep initiation in the corrupting school of Indian politics could have produced the facility with which , as occasion required, he could belie his own recorded assertions, turn hostilely round upon his own expressed opinions , disclaim the proxies which he himself had delegated, and , in short, get rid of all the inconveniences of personal identity, by never acknowledging himself to be bound by any engagement or opinion which himself had formed. To select the worst features of his Administration is no very easy task ; but the calculating cruelty with which he abetted the extermination of the Rohillas his unjust and precipitate exe- cution of Nuncomar, who had stood forth as his accuser, and , there- fore , became his victim , his violent aggression upon the Rajah of Benares , and that combination of public and private rapacity, which is exhibited in the details of his conduct to the royal family of Oude ; these are acts, proved by the testimony of himself and his accomplices , from the disgrace of which no formal acquittal upon points of law can absolve him , and whose guilt the allowances of charily may extenuate, but never can remove. That the perpe- trator of such deeds should have been popular among the natives of India only proves how low was the standard of justice, to which the entire tenor of our policy had accustomed them , but that a ruler of this character should be held up to admiration in England, is one of those anomalies with which England, more than any other nation , abounds , and only inclines us to wonder that the true wor- ship of Liberty should so long have continued to flourish in a conn-- fry, where such heresies to her sacred cause are found. J have dwelt so long upon the circumstances and nature of this Trial , not only on account of the conspicuous place which it occu- pies in Hie fore-ground of Mr. Sheridan's life, but because of that general interest which an observer of our Institutions must lake in it, from the clearness with which it brought into view some of their best and worst features. While , on one side, we perceive the weight of the popular scale , in the lead taken , upon an occasion of such solemnity and importance, by two persons brought forward from (he middle ranks of society into the very van of political distinction and influence , on the other hand , in the sympathy and favour ex- tended by the Court to the practical assertor of despotic principles , we trace the prevalence of that feeling which , since the commence- ment of the late King's reign, has made the Throne the rallying point of all that arc unfriendly to the cause of freedom. Again , in consi- dering the conduct of the Crown Lawyers during the Trial the- narrow and irrational rules of evidence which they sought to esla- OF R B. SHERIDAN. 2CI blish the unconstitutional control assumed by the Judges , over the decisions of Ihe Iribunal before which the cause was tried , and the refusal to communicate the reasons upon which those decisions were founded above all , loo , the legal opinions expressed on the great question relative to the abatement of an Impeachment by Dissolu- tion , in which almost the whole body of lawyers ' took the wrong , the pedantic , and the unstatesman-like side of the question ; while in all these indications of the spirit of that profession, and of its propensity to lie down the giant, Truth > with its small Ihreads of technicality and precedent , we perceive the danger to be appre- hended from the interference of such a spirit in politics ; on the other side , arrayed against these petty taclics of the Forum , we see- the broad banner of Constitutional Law, upheld alike by a Fox and a Pitt , a Sheridan and a Dundas , and find truth and good sense taking refuge from the equivocalions of lawyers, in such consoling documents as the Report upon the Abuses of the Trial by Burke a document which , if ever a reform of the English law should be attempted, \sill sland as a greal guiding light to the adventurers in that heroic entreprise. It has been frequently asserted, that on the evening of Mr. She- ridan's grand display in the House of Commons , The School for Scandal and The Duenna were acted at Covent-Garden and Drury- Lane , and thus three greal audiences were at the, same moment amused, agitated, and, as it were, wielded by the intellect of one man. As this triple triumph of talent this manifestation of the power of Genius to multiply itself, like an Indian god was, in the in- stance of Sheridan , not only possible , but within the scope of a very easy arrangement , it is to be lamented that no stich coincidence did actually lake place , and th it Ihe ability to have achieved the miracle is all that can be with Iruth attributed to him. From a careful exa- mination of the play-bills of the different theatres during this period , I have ascertained , ,with regret , that neither on the evening of Ihe speech in Ihe House of Commons , nor on any of the days of the oration in Westminster Hall , was there either at Covent-Garden , Drury-Lane, or Haymarket theatres, any piece whatever of Mr. She- ridan's acted. The following passages of a letter from Miss Sheridan to her sister in Ireland , written while on a visit with her brother in London , 1 Among the rest , Lord lirskint, who allowed his profession, on this occasion, to stand in the light of his judgment. "As to a Nisi-prins lawyer (said Burke) prving an opinion on the duration of an Impeachment as well might a rabbit, that breeds six times a year, pretend to know any thing of the gestation of an -elephant!" 2y the son, about three o'clock in the morning ; he then insisted on OF ft. D. SHERIDAN. JG9 taking my place. From this time he never quitted, the house till his lather's death; on the day after which he wrote me a letter, now before me , of which the annexed is an exact copy : " SIR , Friday Morning. " 1 wished to see you this morning before I went, to thank you for your attention and trouble. You will be so good to give the account to Mr. Thompson, who will settle it ; and I must further beg your accept- ;mcc of the inclosed from myself. "I am, Sir, " Your obedient Servant, " R. B. SHERIDAN." " I have explained to Dr. Morris (who has informed me that you will recommend a proper person), that it is my desire to have the hearse, and the manner of coming to town , as respectful as possible." " The inclosure, referred to in this letter, was a bank-note of,ten pounds , a most liberal remuneration. Mr. R. B. Sheridan left Margate, intending that his father should be buried in London ; but he there ascertained that it had been his father's expressed wish , that he should be buried in the parish next to that in which he should happen to die. He then , consequently, returned to Margate , accompanied by his bro- ther-in-law, Mr. Tickell, with whom, and Mr. Thompson and myself, lie followed his father's remains to the burial-place, which was not in Margate church-yard, but in the north aisle of the church at St. Peter's." Mr. Jarvis , the writer of the letter from which I have given this extract , had once , as he informs me , the intention of having a cenotaph raised , to the memory of Mr. Sheridan's father, in the church of Margate ' . With this view he applied to Dr. Parr for an Inscription , and the following is the tribute to his old friend with which that learned and kind-hearted man supplied him: "This monument, A. D. 1824, was, by subscription, erected to the memory of Thomas Sheridan , Esq., who died in the neighbouring parish of St. John, August 14, 1788, in the 6gth year of his age, and, accord- ing to his own request, was there buried. He was grandson to Dr. Tho- mas Sheridan, the brother of Dr. William, a conscientious non-juror, who, in 1691 , was deprived of the Bishopric of Kilmore. He was the son of Dr. Thomas Sheridan , a profound scholar and eminent schoolmaster, intimately connected with Dean Swift and other illustrious writers in the reign of Queen Anne. He was husband to the ingenious and amiable author of Sidney Biddulph , and several dramatic pieces favourably re- ceived. He was father of the celebrated orator and dramatist, Richard Urinsley Sheridan. He had been the school-fellow, and, through life, 1 Thongh this idea was relinquished, it appears that a friend of Mr. Jarvis, ^'ili a zeal for the memory of talent highly honourable to him , has recently < atised a monument to Mr. Thomas Sheridan to he raised in the church of St. Peter, 270 MEMOIRS was the companion, of the amiable Archbishop Markham. He was the friend of the learned Dr. Sumner, master of Harrow School, and the well-known Dr. Parr. He took his first academical degree in the Univer- sity of Dublin, about 1706. He was honoured by the University of Oxford with the degree of A. M. in 1768, and in 1709 he obtained the same distinction at Cambridge. He, for many years, presided over the theatre of Dublin ; and , at Drury-Lane , he in public estimation stood next to David Garrick. Tn the literary world he was distinguished by numerous and useful writings on the pronunciation of the English lan- guage. Through some of his opinions ran a vein of singularity, mingled with the rich ore of genius. In his manners there was dignified ease ; in his spirit, invincible firmness; and in his habits and principles, un- sullied integrity." CHAPTER XIII. Illness of the King. Regency. Private life of Mr. Sheridan. Mr. SHERIDAN had assuredly no reason to complain of any defi- ciency of excitement in the new career to which he now devoted himself. A succession of great questions, both foreign and domestic, came , one after the other, like the waves described by the poet , " And one no sooner touch'd the shore, and died , Than a new follower rose, and swell'd as proudly." Scarcely had the impulse which his own genius had given to the prosecution of Hastings, begun to abate , when the indisposition of the King opened another tield , not only for the display of all his various powprs , but for the fondest speculations of his interest and ambition. The robust health and temperate habits of the Monarch, while they held out the temptation of a long lease of power to those who either enjoyed or were inclined to speculate in his favour, gave proportionably the grace of disinterestedness to the followers of an Heir-Apparent , whose means of rewarding their devotion were , from the same causes, uncertain and remote. The alarming illness of the Monarch , however, gave a new turn to the prospect : Hope was now seen , like the winged Victory of the ancients , to change sides ; and both the expectations of those who looked for- ward to the reign of the Prince , as the great and happy millenium of Whiggism , and the apprehensions of the far greater number, to whom the morals of His Royal Highness and his friends were not less formidable than their politics , seemed now on the very eve of being realised. On the first meeting of Parliament , after the illness of His Ma- jesty was known , it was resolved , from considerations of delicacy, OP R. B. SHERIDAN. 571 that the House should adjourn for a fortnight 5 at the end of which period it was expected that another short adjournment would be proposed by the Minister. In this interval, the following judicious letter was addressed to the Prince of Wales by Mr. Sheridan : " SIR, " From the intelligence of to-day we are led to think that Pitt will make something more t>f a speech , in moving to adjourn on Thursday, than was at first imagined. In this case we presume Your Royal Highness will he of opinion that we must not he wholly silent I possessed Payne yesterday with my sentiments on the line of conduct which appeared to me best to he adopted on this occasion, that they might he submitted to Your Royal Ilighness's consideration , and 1 take the liberty of repeating my firm conviction, that it will greatly advance Your Royal Highness's credit, and, in case of events, lay the strongest grounds to baffle every attempt at opposition to Your Royal Highness's just claims and right, that the language of those who may be, in any sort, suspected of knowing Your Royal Ilighness's wishes and feelings, should be that of great moderation in disclaiming all party views, and. avowing the utmost readiness to acquiesce in any reasonable delay. At the same time, I am perfectly aware of the arts which will be practised, and the advantages which some people will attempt to gain by time : but I am equally convinced that we should advance their evil views by showing the least impatience or suspicion at present ; and I am also convinced that a third party will soon appear, whose efforts may, in the most decisive manner, prevent this sort of situation and proceeding from continuing long. Payne will probably have submitted to Your Royal Highness more fully my idea on this subject, towards which I have already taken some successful steps'. Your Royal Highness will. I am sure, have the goodness to pardon the freedom with which I give my opinion; after which I have only to add, that whatever Your Royal Highness's judgment decides, shall be the guide of my conduct, and will undoubtedly be so to others." Captain (afterwards Admiral) Payne, of whom mention is-made in this letter, held the situation of Comptroller of the Household of the Prince of Wales, and was in attendance upon His Royal High- ness during the early part of the King's illness, at Windsor. The following letters , addressed by him to Mr. Sheridan at this period , contain some curious particulars , both with respect to the Royal patient himself, and the feelings of those about him, which., however secret and confidential they were at the time , may now, without scruple , be made matters of history : " MY DEAR SHERIDAN , Half-past ten at night. *' I arrived here about three quarters of an hour after Pitt had left it. I inclose you the copy of a letter the Prince has just written to the Chancellor, and sent by express, which will give you the outline of the I Ms must allude to the negotiation with Lord Tharlow. 272 MEMOIRS conversation with the Prince, as well as the situation of the King's health. 1 think it an advisahle measure', as it is a sword that cuts both ways, without being unfit to be shewn to whom he pleases, but which he will, I think, understand best himself. Pitt desired the longest delay that could be granted with propriety, previous to the declaration of the present calamity. The Duke of York, who is looking over me, and is just come out of the King's room, bids me add, that His Majesty's situation is every moment becoming worse. His pulse is weaker and weaker ; arid the Doctors say it is impossible to survive it long, if his situation does not take some extraordinary change in a few hours. " So far I had got when your servant came, meaning to send this by the express that carried the Chancellor's letter ; in addition to which , the Prince has desired Doctor Warren to write an account to him, which he is now doing. His letter says, if an amendment does not take place in twenty-four hours , it is impossible for the King to support it : he adds to me, he will answer for his never living to be declared a lunatic. I say all this to you in confidence, (though I will not answer for being intelligible, ) as it goes by your own servant; but I need not add, your own discretion will remind you how necessary it is that neither my name nor those 1 use should be quoted even to many of our best friends , whose repetition, without any ill intention, might frustrate views they do not see. " With respect to the papers, the Prince thinks you had better leave them to themselves , as we cannot authorise any report , nor can he contradict the worst ; a few hours must , every individual says , terminate our suspense, and, therefore, all precaution must be needless : however, do what you think best. His Royal Highness would write to you himself; the agitation he is in will not permit it. Since this letter was begun, all articulation even seems to be at an end with the poor King; but for the two hours preceding , lie was in a most determined frenzy. In short, I am myself in so violent a state of agitation, from participating in the feelings of those about me, that if 1 am intelligible to you, 'tis more than I am to myself. Cataplasms are on His Majesty's feet , and strong fomentations have been used without effect : but let me quit so painful a subject. The Prince was much pleased with my conversation with Lord Loughborough, to whom I do not write, as I conceive 'tis the same, writing to you. " The Archbishop has written a very handsome letter, expressive of his duty and offer of service ; but he is not required to come down , it being thought too late. " Good night. I.will write upon every occasion that information may be useful. " Ever yours, most sincerely, "J. W. PAYNE." " I have been much pleased with the Duke's zeal since my return, especially in this communication to you." " DEAR SHERIDAN, Twelve o'clock, noon. " The King last night about twelve o'clock, being then in a situation 1 Meaning, the communication to the Chancellor. OF K. B. SHERIDAN. 2T3 he could not Jong have survived, by the effect of James's powder, had a profuse stool, after which a strong perspiration appeared, and he fell into a profound sleep. We were in hopes this was the crisis of his disorder, although the doctors were fearful it was so only with respect to one part of his disorder. However, these hopes continued not above an hour, when he awoke, with a well-conditioned skin, no extraordinary degree of fi'ver, but with the exact state he was in .before, with all the gestures and ravings of the most confirmed maniac, and a new noise , in imitation ot the howling of a dog; in this situation he was this morning at one o'clock, \vhe.n_we came to bed. The Duke of York, who has been twice in my room in the course of the night, immediately from, the King's ap^rt- ment, says there has not, been one moment of lucid interval during the whole night, which, I must observe to you, is the concurring, as well as fatal testi mony of all about him, from the first moment of His Majesty's confinement. The doctors have since had their consultation , and find His Majesty calmer, and his pulse tolerably good and much reduced, but the most decided symptoms 'of insanity. His theme has been all this day on the subject of religion, and of his l>eing inspired, from which his physicians draw the worst consequences, as to any hopes of amendment. In this situation His Majesty remains at the present moment, which I give you at length, to prevent your giving credit to the thousand ridiculous reports that we hear, even "upon the spot. Tmth is not easily got at in palaces,, and so 1 find here; and time only slowly brings it to one's know Jedge. One hears a little bit every day from sqmebody, that has been reserved with great costiveness, or purposely forgotten; and by all such accounts I find that the present distemper has been very palpable for some time past, previous to any confinement from sickness; and So apprehen- sive have the people about him been of giving offence by interruption, that the two days (viz. yesterday se'nnight and the Monday following) that he was five hours each on horseback, he was in a confirmed frenzy. On the Monday at his return he burst out into tears to the Duke of York , and said , l He wished to God he might die , for he was going to be mad ; ' and the Queen , who sent to Dr. Warren , on his arrival, privatelv com"- municatcii her know ledge of his. situation for some time past , and the melancholy event as it stood exposed. I am prolix upon all these diflereni reports, that you may be completely master of the subject as it stands, and which I shall continue to. advertise you of HI all its variations. Warren, who is the living principle in this business, (for poor Baker is half crazed himself,) and who I see every half hour, is extremely atten- tive to the King's disorder. The various fluctuations of his ravings, as well as general situation of his health, are accurately written down through- out the day, and this we have got signed by the Physicians everyday, and all proper enquiry invited; for I think it necessary to do every thing that may prevent tlicir making use hereafter of any thin like jealousy, suspicion y or mystery, to create' public distrust; and, therefore, the best and most unequivocal moans of satisfaction shall be always attend *'d to. " Five o'clock, P.M. " So far I had proceeded when I was^ on same business of import-. ,.. obliged to break off till now' ; and , on nty return , found your let* ff 27 1 MEMOIRS t.cr; T need not, I hope, say your confidence is as safe as if it was re- turned to your own mind, and your advice will always be thankfully adopted. The event we looked for last night is postponed, perhaps for a short time, so that, at least , we shall have time to consider more ma- turely. The Doctors told Pitt they would beg not to be obliged to make their declaration for a fortnight as to the incurability of the King's hiind, and not to be surprised if, at the expiration of that time, they should ask more time ; but that they were perfectly ready to declare now, for the furtherance of public business , that he is now insane ; that it appears to be unconnected with any other disease of his body, and that they have tried all their skill without effect, and that to the disease they at present see no end in their contemplation : these are theif own words, which is all that can be implied in an absolute declaration, for infalli- bility cannot be ascribed to them " Should not something be done about the public amusements? If it was represented to Pitt, it might embarrass them either way; particu- larly as it might call for a public account every day. I think the Chan- cellor might take a good opportunity to break with his colleagues, if they propose restriction : the Law authority would have great weight with us, as well as preventing even a design of moving the City ; at all events, I think Parliament would not confirm their opinion. If Pitt stirs much , I think any attempt to grasp at power might be fatal to his in- terest, at least , well turned against it. " The Prince has sent for me directly, so I'll send this now, and write again." In the words, " I think the Chancellor might take a good oppor- tunity to break \\ilh his colleagues ," the writer alludes to a nego- tiation which Sheridan had entered into with Lord Thurlow, and by which it was expected thai the co-operation of that Learned Lord might be secured, in consideration of his being allowed to retain the office of Chancellor under the Regency. Lord Thurlow was one of those persons who, being taken by the world at their own estimate of themselves, contrive to pass upon the times in which they live for much more than they are worth. His bluntness gained him credit for superior honesty , and the same pe- culiarity of exterior gave a weight , not their own , to his talents ; the roughness of the diamond being, by a very common mistake, made the measure of its value. The negotiation for his alliance on this occasion was managed , if not first suggested , by Sheridan , and Mr. Fox , on his arrival from the Continent, (having been sent for express upon the first announcement of the King's illness ,) found considerable progress already made in the preliminaries of this he- terogeneous compact. The following letter from Admiral Payne, written immediately after the return of Mr. Fox, contains* some further allusions to the negotiations with the Chancellor : OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 575 " Mv DEAR SHKRIDA> , " I am this moment returned with the Prince from riding, and heard, with great pleasure , of Charles Fox's arrival ; on which account, he says, I must go to town to-morrow , when I hope to meet you at h^s house some time before dinner. The Prince is to see the Chancellor to-morrow, and therefore he wishes I should be able to carry to town the result, of t.his interview, or I would set oft' immediately. Due deference is Jiad to ^nr former opinion upon this subject, and no courtship will be practised; for the chief object in the visit is to show him the King, who has been worse the two last days than ever : this morning he inade an effort to jump out of the window, and is now very turbulent and incoherent. Sir G. Baker went yesterday to give Pitt a little specimen of his loquacity, in his discovery of some material state-secrets, at 'which he looked asto- nished. The Physicians wish him to be removed to Iew ; on which we shall proceed as we settled. Have you heard any thirig .of the Foreign Ministers, respecting what the P. said at. Bagshot?" the Frenchman has been here two days running, but has not seen the prince. He sat with me half an hour this morning , and seemed much disposed to confer a little closely. He was all admiration and friendship for the Prince, and said he was sure every body would unite to give vigour to his government. " To-morrow you shall hear particulars ; in the mean time I can only add I have none of the apprehensions contained in Lord L.'s letter. 1 have had correspondence enough myself on this subject to 'convince me of the impossibility of the Ministry managing the present Parliament by any contrivance hostile to the Prince. Dinner is on table; so adieu ; and be assured of the truth and sincerity of "Yours affectionately, " Windsor, Monday, 5 o'clock, P. M. J. W". P." " I have just got Rodney's proxy sent." The situation in which Mr. Fox was placed , by the treaty thus commenced, before his arrival, with the Chancellor, was not a little embarrassing. In addition to the distaste which he must have felt for such a union , he had been already , it appears , in some degree pledged to bestow the Great Seal, in the event of a change , upon Lord Loughborough. Finding , however , the Prince and his party so far committed in the negotiation with Lord Thurlow , he thought it expedient, however contrary to his own wishes, ,to accede to their views; and a letter, addressed by him to Mr. Sheridan on the'occa- sion, shows the struggle with his own feelings and opinions which this concession cost him : "DEAR SHERIDAN , "I have swallowed the pill ,-^-a most bitter one it was, and have written to Lord^Loughborough , whose answer of course must be consent. Whatisto be done mext? Should the Prince himself, you or I, or War- ren v be the person to speak to the Chancellor ? The objection to the last is, that he must probably wait for an opportunity, and that no time is 276 MEMOIRS to be lost. Pray tell me what is to be done : 1 am convinced , after all , the negotiation will not succeed, and am not sure that 1 am sorry for it. I do not remember ever feeling sd uneasy about any political thing I ever did in my life. Call if you can. " Yours ever, " Sat, past 12. "C. J. F." LordLoughborough, in the mean time, with a vigilance quickened by his own personal views, kept watch on the mysterious movements of the Chancellor ; and , as appears by the following letter , not only saw reason to suspect duplicity himself, but took care that Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan should share in his distrust : "Mv DEARS. "I was afraid to pursue the conversation on tiie circumstance of the Inspection committed to the Chancellor, lest the reflections that arise upon it might have made too strong an impression on some of our neigh- bours last night It does indeed appear to me full of mischief, and of thai sort most likely to affect the apprehensions of our best friends, (of Lord John for instance, ) and to increase their reluctance to take any active part. " The Chancellor's object evidently is to make his way by himself, and he has managed hitherto as one very well practised in that game. His conversations, both with you and Mr. Fox, were encouraging, but at the same tiiiie checked all explanations on his part , under a pretence of delicacy towards his colleagues. When he let them go to Salthill, and contrived to dine at "Windsor, he certainly took a step that most men would have felt not very delicate in its appearance, and unless there was some private understanding between him and them , not altogether fair-, especially if you add to it the sort of conversation he held with regard to them 1 cannot help thinking that the difficulties of managing the patient have been excited or improved to lead to the proposal of his inspection , (without the Prince being conscious of it, ) for by that situation he gains an easy and frequent access to him , and an opportunity of possessing the; confidence of the Queen. I believe this the more from the account of the tenderness he showed at his first interview, for , lam sure, it is not in his character to feel any. With a little instruction from Lord Hawksbury, the sort of management that was carried on by means of the Princess- Dowager, in the early part of the reign, may easily be practised. In short, I think he will try to find the key of the back stairs, and, with that in his pocket, lake any situation that preserves his access, and enables him to hold a line between different parties. In the present mo- ment, however, he has taken a position that puts the command of the House of Lords in his hands, for ******'. " I wish Mr. Fox and you would give these considerations what weight you think they deserve, and try if any means can be taken to remedy this mischief, if it appears in the same light to you. "Ever yours, etc." 1 The remainder of this sentence is effaced bv damp. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 277 Whpl were the motives thai induced Lord Thurtow to break off ^o suddenly his negotiation with the Prince's party , and declare himself with such vehemence on the side of the King and Mr. Pitt, it does not appear very easy to ascertain. Possibly , from his op- porl unities of visiting the Royal Patient , he had been led to conceive sufficient hopes of recovery to incline the balance of his speculation thai way ; or, perhaps, in the influence of Lord Loughborough ' over Mr. Fox , he saw a risk of being supplanted in his views on the Great Seal. Whatever may have been the motive, it is certain that his negotiation with the Whigs had been amicably carried on , till within a few hours of his delivery of that speech, from whose en- thusiasm the public could little suspect how fresh from the incom- plete bargain of defection was the speaker t and in the 'course of which he gave vent to the well-known declaration, that " his debt of" gratitude to His Majesty was ample, for the many favours he had graciously conferred upon him , which when he forgot , might God forget him 2 . 11 As it is not my desire to imitate those biographers , who swell their pages with details that belong more properly to History , I shall for- bear to enter into a minute or consecutive narrative of the pro- ceedings of Parliament on the important subject of the Regency. A writer of political biography has a right, no doubt , like an engineer who constructs a navigable canal, to lay every brook and spring in the neighbourhood under contribution for the supply and enrich- ment of his work. But, to turn into it the whole contents of the Annual Register and Parliamentary Debates is a sort of literary engineering , not quite so laudable , which , after the example set by a Right Reverend biographer of Mr. Pitt, will hardly again be at- tempted by .any one, whose ambition , at least, it is to be read as. well as bought. Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt , it is well known , differed essentially , not only with respect to the form of the proceedings, which the. latter recommended in that suspension of the Royal authority, but also with respect to the abstract constitutional .principles upon which those proceedings of 1he Minister were professedly founded. As soon as the nature of the malady with which the King was afflicted, had 1 been ascertained by a regular examination of the physicians in attendance on His Majesty , Mr. Pitt moved (on the 10th of De- cember), that a " Committee be appointed to examine and report precedents of such proceedings as may liavo been had , in case of 1 Lord Longhborongh is snpposed to have been the person who instilled irjo tlieniind of Mr! Fox the idea of advancing that claim of Right for the Prince, -liich gave M*. lilt, in principle as well as in fact, such an advantage over hiiu. 3 " Forget you ! " said Wilkes ; he'll sec yon d d first." 378 MEMOIRS the personal exercise of the Royal authority being prevented or in- terrupted , by infancy , sickness , infirmity , or otherwise , with a view to provide for the same 1 ." It was immediately upon this motion that Mr. Fox advanced that inconsiderate claim of Right for the Prince of Wales . of which his rival availed himself so dexterously and triumphantly. Having as- serted that there existed no precedent .whatever thai could bear upon the present case, Mr. Fox proceeded to say , that "the circumstance to be provided for did not depend upon their deliberations as a House of Parliament , it rested elsewhere. There was then a person in the kingdoni , different from any other person that any existing precedents could refer to , an Heir Apparent , of full age and ca- pacity to exercise the royal power. It behoved them , therefore, to waste not a moment unnecessarily, but to proceed with all becoming speed and diligence to restore the Sovereign power and the exercise of the Royal Authority. From what he had read of history , from the ideas he had formed of the law , and , what was still more pre- cious , of the spirit of the Constitution , from every reasoning and analogy drawn from those sources , he declared that he had not in his mind a doubt, and he should think himself culpable if he did not take the first opportunity of declaring it, that, in the present condition of His Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had as clear , as express a Right to exercise the power of Sovereignly , during the continuance of the illness and incapacity with which it had pleased God to afflict His3Iajesty, as in the case of His Majesty's having undergone a natural demise." It is said that , during the delivery of this adventurous opinion , the countenance of Mr. Pitt was seen to brighten with exultation, at the mistake into which he perceived his adversary was hurrying ; and scarcely had the sentence , just quoted , been concluded , when , slapping his thigh triumphantly , he turned to the person who sat next him, and said, " I'll un-Whig the gentleman for the rest of his life ! " I Mr. Bmke and Mr. Sheridan were both members of this Committee , and the following letter from the former to Sheridan refers to it : " Mv DEAR SIR, " My idea was , that on Fox's declaring that the precedents, neither indivi- dually nor collectively, do at all apply, oar attendance ought to have been merely formal. But as you think otherwise, I shall certainly be at the Commit tee soon after One. I rather think that they will not attempt to garble : because, suppos- ing the precedents to apply, the major part are certainly in their favour. It is not likely that they mean to suppress, bnt it is good to be on,onr guard. "Ever most truly yours, etc. . "EDMUND RKRKK-" II (,V;vi/-rf Street, Thursday Morning. OF R. B. SHKHLDAN 279 Even wilhoul lliis anecdote , which may bo depended upon as authentic , \vc have stilficionl evidence Uiat such were his feelings', in the burst of animation and confidence with which he instantly replied to Mr. FoX, taking his ground, with an almost equal te- merity , upon the directly opposite doctrine, and asserting , not only dial klp in the case of the interruption of the personal exercise of the lloyal Authority it devolved upon the other branches of the Legis- lature to provide a substitute for that authority," but that " the Prince of Wales had no more right to exercise the powers of government than any other person in Hie realm." The truth is, the assertion of a Right was equally erroneous , on both sides. of the question. The Constitution having provided no legal remedy for such an exigence as had now occurred, the Uvo Houses of Parliament had as little right (in the strict sense of the word) to supply the deficiency of the Royal power, as the Prince had to be the person elected or adjudged for that purpose. Constitutional ana- logy and expediency were the only authorities by which the mea- sures, necessary in such a conjuncture, could be* either guided or sanctioned ; and if the disputants on each side had softened down their tone to this true and practical view of the case, there would have been no material difference, in the first stage of the proceedings, between Ihem , Mr. Pitt being ready to allow that the Heir Appa- rent was the dbvious person , to whom expediency pointed as the depositary of the lloyal power, and Mr. Fox having granted, in a subsequent explanation of his doctrine , that, strong as was the right upon which the claim of the Prince was founded , His lloyal High- ness could not assume that right till it had been formally adjudicated to him by Parliament. The principle , however , having been im- prudently broached , Mr. Pitt was too expert a tactician not to avail himself of the advantage it gave him. He was thus, indeed, furnished with an opportunity , not only of gaining time by an artful protrac- tion of the discussions, but of occupying victoriously the ground of Whiggism , which Mr. Fox had , in his impatience or precipi- tancy , deserted , and of thus adding to the character , which he had recently acquired, of a defender of the prerogatives of the Crown, the more 'brilliant reputation of an asserlor of the rights of the People. In the popular view which Mr. Pitt found it convenient to take of this question , he was led , or fell voluntarily , into some glaring errors, wlu'eh pervaded the whole of his reasonings on the subject. In his anxiety to prove the omnipotence of Parliament, he evidently 'unfounded the Estates of the realm with the Legislature ', arid al- 1 Mr. C. rattan and the Irish Parliament carried this error still farther, and 280 MEMOIRS tributcd to two branches of the latter such powers as are only legally possessed by the whole three in Parliament assembled. For the pur- pose , too , of Haltering the people with the notion , that to them had now reverted the right of choosing their temporary Sovereign , he applied a principle , which ought to be reserved for extreme cases , to an exigence by no means requiring this ultimate appeal , the defect in the government being such as the still existing Estates of the realm, appointed to speak the will of the people , but superseding any direct exercise of the power , were fully competent , as in the instance of the Revolution , to remedy 1 . Indeed , the solemn use of such language as Mr, Pitt , in his over- acted Whiggism, employed upon this occasion, namely, that the " fight" of appointing a substitute for Ihe Royal power was " to be found in Ihe voice and the sense of the people ," is applicable only to those conjunctures , brought on by misrule and oppression , when all forms are lost in the necessity of relief , and when the right of the people to change and choose their rulers is among the most sacred and inalienable that either nature or social polity has ordained. But , to apply tho language of that last resource to the present emergency was to brandish the sword of Goliath 2 on an occasion that by no means called for it. The question of the Prince's claim , in spite of the efferts of the Prince himself and of his Royal relatives to avert the agitation of it, was , for evident reasons , forced into discussion by the Minister , and decided by a majority , not only of the two Houses but of the nation , in his favour. During one of the long debates to which the question gave rise , Mr. Siicridan allowed himself to be betrayed into some expressions , which , considering the delicate predicament in which Ihe Prince was placed by the controversy, were not marked with his usual tact and sagacity. In alluding to the claim of Right advanced for His Royal Highness , and deprecating any further agi- tation of it, he "reminded the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. PiU) of the danger of provoking that claim to be asserted [a loud cry of hear! hear!], which, he observed, had not yet been preferred. [Another cry of hear ! hear!]" This was the very language that Mr. Pitt mtfst wished his adversaries to assume , and , accordingly , he turned it to account with all his usual mastery and haughtiness. founded all their proceedings on the neces.sity of providing for the deficiency of the Third Estate." ' The most luminous view that has been taken of this Question is to be fo&nd in an Article-of the Edinburgh Review, on the Regency of 181 1, written by OIK of the most learned and able men of buf day, Mr. JoKa Allen. - A. simile applied by Lord Homers to thp pqwer of Impeachment, which, he sa/d , "shonld be like Goliath's sword, kept in thb temple , and not used but upow great occasions." OF R- B. SHERIDAN. 281 "He had now,' 1 he said, " an additional reason for asserting the authority of the House, and defining- the boundaries of Right, when the deliberative faculties of Parliament were invaded , and an in- decent menace thrown out to^awe and influence their proceedings. In the discussion of the question, the House , he trusted, would do their duly, in spite of any threat that might be thrown out. Men, who felt their native freedom, would'notsobmit to a threat, however high the authority from which it might come' ." The restrictions of the Prerogative with wliich Mr. Pitt thought proper to encumber the transfer of the Royal power to the Prince , formed the second great point of discussion between the parties, and brought equally adverse principles into play , Mr. Fox , still main- taining his position on the side of Royalty, defended it with much more tenable weapons than- the question of Right had enabled him to wield. So founded , indeed , in the purest principles of Whiggism did he consider his opposition , on this memorable occasion, to any limitation of the Prerogative in the hands of a Regent, that he has , in his History of James II., put those principles deliberately upon record , as a fundamentalarticle in the creed of his party. The pas- sage to which I allude occurs in his remarks upon the Exclusion Bill $ and as it contains, in a condensed/orm, the spirit of what he urged on the same point in 1789, I jcannot do better than lay his own words before the reader. After expressing his opinion that, at the period of which he writes, the measure of exclusion from the mo- narchy altogether would have been preferable to any limitation of its powers , he proceeds to say : " The Whigs , who consider the powers of the Crown as a trust for the people , a doctrine which the Tories themselves , when pushed in argument $ will sometimes ad- mit , naturally think it their duty rather to change the manager of the trust than impair the subject of it -, while others , who consider them as Ihe right or property of the King, will as naturally act as they would do in the case of any other property , and consent to the loss or annihilation of any part of it , for the purpose of preserving the remainder to him , whom they style the rightful owner." Further on he adds : "The Royal Prerogative oujht, according to the Whigs , to be reduced to such powers as are in their exercise bene- ficial io the people ; and of the benefit of these they will not rashly suffer the people to be deprived , whether the executive power be in the hands of an hereditary or of an elective King, of a Regent, or of any other denomination of magistrate ; while, on the other hand, they who consider Prerogative with reference only to Royalty will . with equal readiness, consent cither to the extension or the.suspen~ M 'V'Jf Vfl ' Jni partial ttcport of (ill the Proceedings on the Subject of the Regency. 28* MEMOIRS sion of its exercise , as lire occasional interests of the Prince may seem lo require. 1 ' Taking this as a correct exposition of the doctrines of the two parties, of which Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt may be considered to have been the representatives in the Regency question of 1789, it will strike some minds that, however the Whig may flatter himself that the principle by which he is guided in'such exigencies is favourable to liberty , and how ever the Tory may , with equal sincerity , believe his suspension of the Prerogative on these occasions to be advan- tageous to the Crown , yet that in both of the principles, so defined , there is an evident tendency to produce effects wholly different from those which the parties professing them contemplate. On the one side , lo sanction from authority the notion , that there are some powers of the crown which may be safely dispensed with , to accustom the people lo an abridged exercise of the Prero- gative, with the risk of suggesting to their minds that its full efficacy needs not be resumed, to set an example, in short, of reducing the Kingly Power , which , by its success , may invite and authorize still further encroachments , all these are dangers to which the alleged doctrine of Toryism , whenever brought into practice , ex- poses its idol ; and more particularly in enlightened and speculative times , when the minds of men are in quest of the right and the useful , and when a superfluity of power is one of those abuses which they are least likely to overlook or tolerate. In such seasons, the experiment of the Tory might lead to all that he most depre- cates , and the branches of the Prerogative , once cut away , might , like the lopped boughs of the fir-tree, never grow again. On the other hand, the Whig who asserts that the Royal Prero- gative ought to be reduced to such powers as are beneficial to the people, and yet stipulates, as an invariable principle, for the transfer of that Prerogative full and unimpaired whenever it passes into other hands , appears , even more perhaps than the Tory , to throw an obstacle in the way of his own object. Circumstances , it is not denied, may arise, when the increase of the powers of the Crown , in other ways, may. render it advisable to controul some of its established prerogatives. But , where are we to find a fit moment for such a reform , or what opening will be left for it by this fasti- dious Whig principle, which, in 1680, could see no middle step between a change of the Succession and an undiminished main- tenance of the Prerogative , and which , in 1789, almost upon the heels of a Declaration that " the power of the Crown had increased and ought to be diminished," protested against even an experi- mental reductjpn of il ! According lo Mr. Fox, it is a distinctive characteristic of Ihe OF R. B. 'SHERIDAN. ?S3 Tory, to attach more importance to (he person of the King than to his office. But , assuredly, the Tory is not singular in thi want ef political abstraction ; and in England, (from a defect , Hume thinks , inherent in all limited monarchies , ) the personal qualities and opi- nions of the Sovereign have considerable influence upon the whole course of public affairs, being felt alike in that courtly sphere around them where their attraction acts, and in that outer circle of opposition where their repulsion comes into play. To this influence, then, upon the Government and the community, of which no ab- straction can deprive the person of the monarch , the Whig principle in question ( which seems to consider entireness of Prerogative as necessary to a King , las the enlireness of his limbs was held to be among the Athenians, 1 ) superadds the vast power, both actual and virtual , which would flow from the inviolability of the Royal office, and forecloses, so far, the chance which the more pliant Tory doc- trine would leave open, of counteracting the effects of the King's indirect personal influence , by ^curtailing or weakening the grasp of some of his direct regal powers. Ovid represents, the Deity of Light (and on an occasion, too, which may be called a Regency question) as crowned with moveafoie rays., which might be put off when loo strong or dazzling. But ^according to this principle, the crown of Prerogative must keep its rays fixed and immoveable, and (as the poet expresses it) " circa Z;;U>OMNE micantes." Upon the whole, however high the authorities by which this Whig doctrine was enforced in 1789 , its manifest tendency, in most cases, lo secure a perpetuity of superfluous powers to the Crown , appears to render it until , at least as an invariable principle ,-for any party professing to have the liberty of the people for their object. The Prince, in his admirable Letter upon the subject of the Regency to Mr. Pill, was made to express the unwillingness which he felt, " that in his person an experiment should be made to ascertain with how small a portion of Kingly power the executive government of the country might be carried on ; " but imagination has not far lo go in supposing a case, where the enormous patronage vested in !he Crown , and the consequent increase of a Royal bias through the community, might give such an undue and unsafe preponderance lo lhat branch of the Legislature , as would render any safe oppor- tunity, however acquired, of ascertaining with /tow much less power the executive government could be carried on , most acceptable , in spile of any dogmas to the contrary, to all true lovers as well of the monarchy as of the people. Having given thus much consideration to the opinions and prin- ciples professed on both sicjes of this constitutional question, it is mortifying s alter all, to be obliged to acknowledge thut , in the 284 MEMOIRS relative situation of the two parties at the moment , may be found perhaps the real, and but too natural, source of the decidedly op- posite views which they took of the subject. Mr. Pitt , about to sur- render the possession of power to his rival , had a very intelligible interest in reducing the value of the transfer, and ( as a retreating army spike the guns they leave behind)" rendering the engines of Prerogative as useless as possible to his successor. Mr. Fox , too , had as natural a motive to oppose such a design , and , aware that the chief aim of these restrictive measures was to entail upon the Whig ministry of the Regent a weak Government and strong Op- position , would , of course , eagerly welcome the aid of any abstract principle , that might sanction him in resisting such a mutilation of the Royal power $ well knowing that (as in the case of the Peerage Bill in the reign of George I,) the proceedings altogether were actuated more by ill-will to the successor in the trust , fhyn by any sincere zeal for the purity of its exercise. Had the situations of the two leaders been reversed , it is more than probable that their modes of thinking and acting would have been so likewise. Mr. Pitt , \vifh the prospect of power before his eyes , would have been still more strenuous , perhaps , for the un- broken transmission of the Prerogative his natural leaning on the side of power being increased by his own approaching share in it. Mr. Fox too, if stopped, like his rival, in a career of successful administration , and obliged to surrender up the reins of the stale to Tory guidance , might have found in his popular principles a still more plausible pretext, for the abridgment of power in such uncon- stitutional hands. He might even too, perhaps, (as his India Bill warrants us in supposing ,) have been tempted into the same sort of alienation of the Royal patronage, as that which Mr. Pitt now practised in the establishment of the Queen , and have taken care to leave behind him a strong hold of Whiggism , to facilitate the resumption of his position, whenever an opportunity might present itself. Such is human nature , even in its noblest specimens , and so arc the strongest spirits shaped by the mould in which chance and circum- stances have placed them. Mr. Sheridan spoke frequently in the Debates on this question , but his most important agency lay in the less public business con- nected w ilh it. He was the confidential adviser of the Prince through- out , directed every step he took , and was the author of most of his correspondence on the subject. There is little doubt , I think , that the celebrated and masterly Letter to Mr. Pitt , which by some persons has been attributed to Burke , and by others to Sir Gilbert Elliot (afterwards Lord Minto), was principally the production of Mr. Sheridan. For the supposition Mi it was written by Burko OF R. B. SHERIDAN. J85 there arc , beside the merils of the production , but very scanty grounds. So little was he at that period in those habits of confidence with the Prince, which would entitle him to be selected fop such a task in preference to Sheridan , that but eight or ten days before the date of this letter (Jan. 2. ) he had declared in the House of Com- mons, that " he knew as little of the inside of Carlton House as he did of Buckingham House." Indeed the violent state of this extra- ordinary man's temper, during the whole of the discussions and proceedings on the Regency, would have rendered^him , even had his intimacy with the Prince been closer, an unfit person for the composition of a document requiring so much caution^ temper, and delicacy. The conjecture that Sir Gilbert Elliot was the author of it is somewhat more plausible, that gentleman being at this period high in the favour of the Prince , and possessing talents sufficient to authorize the suspicion (which was in itself a reputation) that he had been the writer of a composition so admirable. But it seems hardly necessary to go farther, in quest of its author, than Mr. She- ridan , who , besides being known to have acted the part of the Prince's adviser through the whole transaction, is proved by the rough copies found among his papers , to have written several other important documents connected with the Regency. 1 may also add , that an eminent statesman of the present day, who was at that period , though very young , a distinguished friend of Mr. Sheridan, and who has shown by the ability of his own state papers that he has not forgot the lessons of that school from which this able production emanated , remembers having heard some passages of the Letter discussed in Bruton Street , as if it were then in the progress of composition , and has always, I believe , been under the impression that it was principally the work of Mr. She^ ridan 1 . I had written thus far on the subject of this Letter and shall leave what I have written as a memorial of the fallacy of such con- jectures when, having still some doubts of my correctness in attributing the honour of the composition to Sheridan , I resolved to ask the opinion of my friend , Sir James Mackintosh , a person above all others qualified , by relationship of talent , to recognize and hold parley with the mighty spirit of Burke , in whatever shape ihc " Royal Dane" may appear. The strong impression on his mind amounting almost to certainly was, that no other hand but that 1 To this authority may be added also that of the Bishop of Winchester, who says, "Mr. Sheridan was supposed to have been materially concerned in drawing up this admirable composition." IHfi MEMOIRS of Burke could have written the greater part of the letter ' - and fay a more diligent enquiry, in Which his kindness assisted me, it has been ascertained that his opinion was, as it could not fail to be, correct. The following extract from a letter written by Lord Minto at the time , referring obviously to the surmise that he was himself the author of the paper, confirms beyond a doubt the fact, that it was written almost solely by Burke : ' " ^January 5i$*, 1789. " There was not a word of the Prince's Letter to Pitt mine. It was originally Burke's , altered a little, but not improved, by Sheridan and other critics. The answer made by the Prince yesterday to the Address of tbe two Houses was entirely mine , and done in a great hurry half an hour before it was to be delivered. " While it is with regret I give up the claim of Mr. Sheridan to this fine specimen of English composition, it but adds to my in- tense admiration of Burke not on account of the beauty of the writing, for his fame required no such accession but from thai triumph of mind over temper which it exhibits that forgetfulness of Self, the true, transmigrating power of genius, which enabled him thus to pass his spirit into the station of Royally, and to as- sume all the calm dignity, both of style and feeling that became it. It was to be expected that the conduct of Lord Thurlow at this period should draw down upon him all the bitterness of those who were in the secret of his ambidextrous policy, and who knew both his disposition to desert , and the nature of the motives that pre- vented him To Sheridan , in particular, such a result of a nego- tiation , in which he had been the principal mover and mediator, could not be otherwise than deeply mortifying. Of all the various talents with which he was gifted , his dexterity in political intrigue and management was that of which he appears to have been most vain 5 and this vanity it was that , at a later period of his life , some- times led him to branch off from the main body of his party, upon secret and solitary enterprises of ingenuity, which as may be expected from all such independent movements of a partisan generally ended in thwarting his friends and embarrassing himself. 1 It is amnsing to observe how tastes differ; the following Is the opinion entertained of this letter by a gentleman, who, I understand and can easily be- lieve, is an old established Reviewer. After mentioning that it was attributed to the pen of Ikirke, he adds , " The stoiy, however, does not seem entitled to much credit , for the internal character of the paper is too vapid and'heavy for the genius of Burke, whose ardent mind would assuredly have diffused vigour into the composition, and the correctness of whose judgment would as certainly have preserved it from the charge of inelegance and grammatical deficiency." Dr. W ATKINS, Life of Sheridan. Snch, in nine cases out often, are the periodical guides of public taste. OF R. B. tSHERIDAN. 87 In the debate on that clause of the Bill , which restricted the Ilegenl from granting places or pensions in reversion , Mr. She- ridan is represented as having attacked Lord Thurlow in terms of the most unqualified severity, speaking of " the natural ferocity and sturdiness of his temper," and of " his brutal bluffness-." But to such abuse , unseasoned by wit , Mr. Sheridan was not at all likely to have condescended , being well aware that, " as in smooth oil the razor best is set," so satire is whetted to its most perfect keenness by courtesy. His clumsy reporters have, in this, as in almost all other instances , misrepresented him. With equal personality, but more playfulness,, Mr. Burke, in exposing that w retched fiction , by which the Great Seal was con- verted into the Third Branch of the Legislature , and the assent of the King forged to a Bill , in which his incapacity to give either assent or dissent was declared, thus expressed himself :-~" But what is to be done when the Crown is in a deliquium 7 It was in- tended , he had heard , to set up a man with black brows, and a large wig, a kind of scare-crow to the two Houses, who was to give a fictitious assent in the royal name and this to be binding on the people at large!" The following remarkable passage, too , in a subsequent Speech , is almost too well known to be cited : " The other House," he said, " were not yet perhaps recovered from that extraordinary burst of the pathetic which had been exhibited the other evening ; they had not yet dried their eyes , or been restored to their former placidity, and were unqualified to attend to new business. The tears shed in that House on the occasion to which he alluded, were not the tears of patriots for dying laws, but of Lords for their expiring places. The iron tears, which flowed down Pluto's cheek, rather resembled the dismal bubbling of the Styx, than the gentle murmuring streams of Aganippe." While Lord Thurlow was thus treated by the party whom he had so nearly joined , he was but coldly welcomed back fay the Minister whom he had so nearly deserted. His reconciliation , too , with the latter was by no means either sincere or durable, the renewal of friendship between politicians , on such occasions , being generally like that which Ihe Diable Boiteux describes , as having taken place, between himself and a brother sprite, ; ' We were reconciled, embraced; and have hated each other heartily ever since." In the Regency, indeed, and the transactions connected with it, may be found the source of most of those misunderstandings and enmities, which broke out soon after among the eminent men of that day, and were attended with consequences so important lo fhemselves and the country. By the difference just mentioned, be- tween Mr. Pitt and Lord Thurlow, the ministerial arrangements of 288 MEMOIRS 1793 were facilitated , and the learned Lord , after all his slurdy pliancy, consigned to a life of ineffectual discontent ever after. The disagreement between Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox , if not ac- tually originating now and its foundations had been , perhaps , laid from the beginning , in the total dissimilarly of their disposi- tions and sentiments was , at least , considerably ripened and acce- lerated by the events of this period, and by the discontent that each of them, like partners in unsuccessful play, was known to feel at the mistakes which the other had committed in the game. Mr. Fox had , unquestionably, every reason to lament as well as blame the violence and virulence by which his associate has disgraced the con- test. The effect , indeed , produced upon the public by the irreverent sallies of Burke , and by the too evident triumph , both of hate and hope , with which he regarded the calamitous situation of the King , contributed not a little to render still lower the already low temperature of popularity at which his party stood throughout the country. It seemed as if a long course of ineffectual struggle in po- litics , of frustrated ambition and unrewarded talents , had at length exasperated his mind to a degree beyond endurance , and the extra- vagances into which he was hurried in his speeches on this ques- tion , appear to have been but the first workings of that impatience of a losing cause that resentment of failure, and disgust at his partners in it which soon afterwards found such a signal opportu- nity of exploding. That Mr. Burke , upon far less grounds , was equally discontented with his co-operators in this emergency, may be collected from the following passage of a letter, addressed by him in the summer of this year to Lord Charlemont, and given by Hardy in his Memoirs of that nobleman : " Perpetual failure, even though nothing in that failure can be fixed on the improper choice of the object or the injudicious choice of means, will detract every day more and more from a man's credit , until be ends without success and without reputation. In fact, a constant pursuit even of the best objects, without adequate instruments, detracts something from the opinion of a man's judgment. This, 1 think, may be in part the cause of the inactivity of others of our friends who are in the vigour of life and in possession of a great degree of lead and authority. I donotblame tbem, though! lament tbatstate oftbe public mind, in whicb the people can con- sider the exclusion of such talents and such virtues from their service, as a point gained to tbem. The only point in which I can find any thing to blame in these friends, is their not taking the effectual means, which they certainly bad in their power, of making an honourable retreat from their prospect of power into tbe possession of reputation, by an effectual defence of themselves. There was an opportunity which was not made use of for that purpose, and which could scarcely bare failed of turning tbe tables on their adversaries," OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 589 Another instance of the embittering influence of these transactions may be traced in Iheir effects upon Mr. Burke and Mr. Sheridan between whom there had arisen a degree of emulation , amounting to jealousy, which , though hitherto chiefly confined to one of the parties , received on this occasion such an addition of fuel , as spread il equally through the minds of both , and conduced, in no small degree , to the explosion that followed. Both Irishmen , and both adventurers in a region so much elevated above their original sta- tion, it was but natural that some such feeling should kindle be- tween them , and that , as Burke was already mid-way in his career, when Sheridan was but entering the 'field , the stirrings , whether of emulation or envy, should first be felt by the latter. It is , indeed , said that in the ceremonial of Haslings's Trial , the privileges en- joyed by Burke , as a Privy-counsellor, were regarded with evident uneasiness by his brother Manager, who could not as yet boast the distinction of Right Honourable before his name. As soon, how- ever, as the rapid run of Shettdan's success had enabled him to over- take his veteran rival , this feeling of jealousy took possession in full force of the latter, and the close relations of intimacy and con- fidence , to which Sheridan was now admitted both by Mr. Fox and the Prince , are supposed to have been not the least of those causes of irritation and disgust, by which Burke was at length driven to break with the party altogether, and to show his gigantic strength at parting, by carrying away some of the strongest pillars of Whig- gisrn in his grasp. Lastly; to this painful list of the feuds, whose origin is to be found in the times and transactions of which we are speaking , may be added that slight, but too visible cloud of misunderstanding, which arose between Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan , and which , though it never darkened into any thing serious , continued to pervade their intercourse with each other to the last exhibiting itself, on the part of Mr. Fox, in a degree of distrustful reserve not natural to him, and , on the side of Sheridan , in some of those counter- workings of influence , which , as I have already said , he was sometimes in- duced by his love of the diplomacy of politics to practise. Among the appointments named in contemplation of a Regency, the place of Treasurer of the Navy was allotted to Mr. Sheridan. He would never, however, admit the idea of certainly in any of the ar- rangements so sanguinely calculated upon , but continually im- pressed upon his impatient friends the possibility, if not probability, of the King's recovery. Me had even refused to look at the plan of Hie apartments , .which he himself was to occupy in Somerset House ; and had but just agreed that it should be sent to him for examina- tion , on the very day when the King was declared convalescent by 19 290 MEMOIRS Dr. Warren. "He entered his own house (to use the words of the relater of the anecdote ) at dinner-time with the news. There were present , besides Mrs. Sheridan and his sister, Tickell , who, on the change of administration , was to have been immediately brought into Parliament, Joseph Richardson, who was to have had Tickell's place of Commissioner of the Stamp-office , Mr. Reid , and some others. Not one of the company but had cherished expectations from the approaching change not one of them , however, had lost so much as Mr. Sheridan. With his wonted equanimity he announced the sudden turn affairs had taken , and looking round him cheer- fully, as he filled a large glass , said , ' Let us all join in drinking His Majesty's speedy recovery.' The measures which the Irish Parliament adopted on this occa- sion, would have been productive of anomalies, both theoretic and practical, had the continued illness of the King allowed the projected Regency to lake place. As it was , the most material consequence that ensued was the dismissal from their official situations of Mr. Pon- sonby and other powerful individuals , by which the Whig parly re- ceived such an accession of strength , as enabled them to workout for their country the few blessings of liberty that still remain to her. Among the victims to their voles on this question was Mr. Charles Sheridan , who , on the recovery of the King , was dismissed from his office of Secretary of War, but received compensation by a pen- sion of 1200/. a-year, with the reversion of 300/. a-year to his wife. The ready and ardent burst of devotion with which Ireland, at this moment, like the Pythagoreans at their morning worship, turned to welcome with her Harp the Rising Sun, was long re- membered by the object of her homage with pride and gratitude , and , let us trust, is not even yet entirely forgotten I . It has already been mentioned that to Mr. Sheridan, at this pe- riod , was entrusted the task of drawing up several of the Slate Papers of the Heir Apparent. From the rough copies of Ihesc papers that have fallen inlo my hands, I shall content myself with selecting two Letters the first of which was addressed by the Prince to the Queen, immediately after the communication to Her Majesty of the Reso- lution of the two Houses placing Ihe Royal Household under her control. Before Your Majesty gives an answer to the application for your Royal permission to place under Your Majesty's separate authority, the direction 1 This vain hope was expressed before the late decision on the Catholic question had proved to the Irish that, where their rights are concerned, neither public nor private pledges are regarded. OF R. B. SHERIDAN 391 and appointment of the King's household , and thereby to separate from the difficult and arduous situation which I am unfortunately called upon to fill , the accustomed and necessary support which has ever belonged to it, permit me, with every sentiment of duty ami affection towards Your Majesty, to entreat your attentive perusal of the papers which I have the honour to enclose. They contain a sketch of the plan now pro- posed to be carried into execution as communicated to me by Mr. Pitt, and the sentiments which I found myself bound in duty to declare in reply to that communication. I take the liberty of lodging these papers in Your Majesty's hands, confiding that, whenever it shall please Pro- vidence to remove the malady with which the King my father is now unhappily afflicted, Your Majesty will, in justice to me and to those of the Royal family whose affectionate concurrence and support I have received , take the earliest opportunity of submitting them to his Royal perusal , in order that no interval of lime may elapse before he is in possession of the true motives and principles upon which I have acted. I here solemnly repeat to Your Majesty, that among those principles there is not one which influences my mind so much as the firm per- suasion I have, that my conduct in endeavouring to maintain unim- paired and undivided the just rights, prerogatives, and dignity of the Crown, in the person of the King's representative, is the only line of conduct which would entitle me to His Majesty's approbation, or enable me to stand with confidence in his Royal presence on the .happy day of his recovery; and on the contrary, that those who, under colour of respect and attachment to his Royal person , have contrived this project for enfeebling and degrading the executive authority of the realm, will l>e considered by him as having risked the happiness of his people and the security of the throne itself, by establishing a fatal precedent which may hereafter be urged against his own authority, on as plausible pre- tences , or revived against the just rights of his family. In speaking my opinions of the motive of the projectors of this scheme, I trust I need not assure Your Majesty that the respect, duty, and affction I owe to Your Ma- jestyhaveneversuffered me for a single moment to consider you counte- nancing , in the slightest degree , their plan or their purposes. I have the firmest reliance on Your Majesty's early declaration to me, on the subject of public affairs , at the commencement of our common calamity ; and , whatever may be the efforts of evil or interested advisers, I have the same confidence that you will never permit or endure that the influence of your respected name shall be profaned to the purpose of distressing the governement, and insulting the person of your son. How far those, who are evidently pursuing both these objects , may be encouraged by Your Majesty's acceptance of one part of the powers purposed to be lodged in your hands , I will not presume to say '. The proposition has 1 In speaking of the extraordinary imperium in imperio , with which the com - mand of so much power and patronage wonld have invested the Queen, the Annual Register (Robinson's) remarks justly, " It was not the least extraordinary circumstance in these transactions , lhat the Qneen could be prevailed upon to lend her name to a project which would eventually have placed her in avowed rivalship with her son, and, at a moment when her attention might seem to be absorbed by domestic calamity, have established herat the head of a political parly." 293 MEMOIRS assumed the shape ef a Resolution of Parliament, and therefore I ant silent. " Your Majesty will' do me the honour to weigh the opinions I formed and declared before Parliament had entertained the plan , and , with those before you , your own good judgment will decide I have only to add, that whatever that decision may be, nothing will ever alter the interest of true aflection and inviolable duty," etc. etc. The second Letter that I shall give , from the rough copy of Mr. Sheridan , was addressed by the Prince to the King after his recovery, announcing the intention of His Royal Highness to submit to His Majesty a Memorial, in vindication of his own conduct and that of his Royal brother the Duke of York, throughout the whole of the proceeding consequent upon His Majesty's indisposition. " SIR, " Thinking it probable that I should have been honoured with your commands to attend Your Majesty on Wednesday last, I have unfor- tunately lost the opportunity of paying my duty to Your Majesty before your departure from Weymouth. The accounts I have received of Yonr MajesU 's health have given me the greatest satisfaction ; and should it be Your Majesty's intention to return to Weymouth, I trust, Sir, there will be no impropriety in my then intreating Your 3Iajesty's gracious attention to a point of the greatest moment to the peace of my own mind, and one in which 1 am convinced Your 31ajesty's feelings are equally interested. Your Majesty's letter to my brother the Duke of Cla- rence^ in May last, was the first direct intimation I had ever received that my conduct and that of my brother the Duke of York, during Your Majesty's late lamented illness , had brought on us the heavy misfortune of Your Majesty's displeasure. I should be wholly unworthy the return of Your Majesty's confidence and good opinion, which will ever be the first objects of my life, if I could have read the passage I refer to in that letter without the deepest sorrow and regret for the effect produced on Your Majesty's mind ; though at the same time I felt the firmest per- suasion that Your Majesty's generosity and goodness would never permit that effect to remain , without affording us an opportunity of knowing what had been urged against us, of replying to our accusers, and of justifying ourselves, if the means of justification were in our power. "Great however as my impatience and anxiety were on this subject, I felt it a superior consideration not to intrude any unpleasing or agitating discussion upon Your Majesty's attention, during an excursion devoted to the case and amusement necessary for the re-establishmenl of Your Majesty's health. I determined to sacrifice my own feelings , and to wait with resignation till the fortunate opportunity should arrive, when Your Majesty's own paternal goodness would, I was convinced , lead you even to invite your sons to that fair hearing , which your justice would not deny to the meanest individual of your subjects. In this painful interval 1 have employed myself in drawing up a full statement and account of my conduct during the period alluded to , and of the motives and circumstances which influenced me." When thes^ shall be OF R- B. SHERIDAN. 293 Viumbly submitted to Your Majesty's consideration, I may be possibly found to have erred in judgment, and to have acted on mistaken prin- ciples , but I have the most assured conviction that I shall not l>e found to have been deficient in that duteous affection to Your Majesty which nothing shall ever diminish. Anxious for every thing that may contribute to the comfort and satisfaction of Your Majesty's mind, I cannot omit this opportunity of lamenting those appearancesof a less gracious disposi- tion in the Queen, towards my brothers and myself, than we were accus- tomed to experience ; and to assure Your Majesty, that if by your affec- tionate interposition these most uhpleasant sensations shonld be happily removed, it would be an event not less grateful to our minds than satisfactory to Your Majesty's own benign disposition. T will not longer," etc. etc. ' " G. P." The Statement here announced by His Royal Highness (a copy of which I have seen , occupying ^ with its Appendix , near a hundred folio pages , ) is supposed to have been drawn up by Lord Minto, To descend from documents of such high import to one of a much humbler nature , the following curious memorial was presented this year to Mr. Sheridan, by a literary gentleman whom the Whig party thought it worth while to employ in their service , and who , as far as industry went, appears to have been not unworthy of his hire. Simonides is said to be the first author, that ever wrote for pay, but Simonides little dreamt of the perfection to which his craft would one day be brought. Memorial for Dr. W. T.', Fitzroy- Street , Fitzroy- Chapel. "In May, 1787, Dr. Parr, in the name of his political friends , engaged Dr. T. to embrace those opportunities, which his connections with booksellers and periodical publications might afford him, of supporting the principles of their party. Mr. Sheridan in August, 1787, gave two notes , 5o/. each , to Dr. T. for the first year's service, which notes were paid at different periods the first by Mr. Sheridan at Brookes's, in January, 1788, the second by Mr. Windham in May, 1788. Mr. She- ridan, in different conversations, encouraged Dr. T. to go on with the expectation of a like sum yearly, or 5o/. half yearly. Dr. T. with this encouragement engaged in different publications for the purpose of this agreement. He is charged for the most part with the political and historical articles in the Analytical Review, and he also occasionally writes the Political Appendix to the English Review, of which parti- cularly he wrote that for April last, and that for June last. He also every week writes an abridgment of Politics for the Whitehall Evening Post , 1 This industrious Scotchman ( of whose 'name I have ouly given the initials) was not without some share of humour. Ou hearing that a certain modern philo- sopher had carried his 'belief in the perfectibility of all living things'. so far, a.-t to say that he did not despair of seeing the day when tigers themselves might be educated , Dr. T. exclaimed , "I should like dearly to see him in a cage with m>n of his pnpils! " 294 MEMOIHS and a Political Review every month for a Sunday paper entitled The Review and Sunday Advertiser. In a Romance, entitled 'Mammoth, or Human Nature displayed , etc.,' Dr. T. has shown how mindful he is on all occasions of his engagements to those who confide in him. He has also occasionally moved other engines, which it would be tedious and might appear too trifling to mention. Dr. T. is not ignorant that un- common changes have happened in the course of this last year, that is, the year preceding May, 1789. Instead of too/., therefore, he will be satisfied with 5o/. for that year, provided that this abatement shall not form a precedent against his claim of ioo/. annually, if his further services shall be deemed acceptable. There is one pojLnt on which Dr. T. particularly reserved himself, namely, to make^jino attack on Mr. Hastings, and this will be attested by Dr. Parr, Mr. Sheridan, and, if the Doctor rightly recollects, by Mr. Windham. " Fitzroy-Street , -21 st July, 1789." Taking into account all the various circumstances that concurred to glorify this period of Sheridan's life , we may allow ourselves , I think , to pause upon it as the apex of the pyramid , and , whether we consider his fame , his talents , or his happiness , may safely say, " Here is their highest point." The new splendour which his recent triumphs in eloquence had added to a reputation already so illustrious , the power which he seemed to have acquired over the future destinies of the country, by his acknowledged influence in the councils of the Heir Apparent , and the tribute paid to him , by the avowal both of friends and foes , that he had used this influence, in the late trying crisis of the Re- gency with a judgment and delicacy that proved him worthy of it, all these advantages , both brilliant and solid , which subsequent cir- cumstances but too much tended to weaken , at this moment sur- rounded him in their newest lustre and promise. He was just now, too, in the first enjoyment of a feeling , of which habit must have afterwards dulled the zest, namely, the proud consciousness of having surmounted the disadvantages of birth and station , and placed himself on a level with the highest and noblest of the land. This footing in the society of the great he could only have attained by parliamentary eminence \ as a mere writer, with all his genius , he never would have been thus admitted ad eundem among them. Talents, in literature or science , unassisted by the ad- vantages of birth , may lead to association with the great, but rarely to equality -, it is a passport through the well-guarded frontier, but no title to naturalisation within. By him , who has not been born among them , this can only be achieved by politics. In that arena, which they look upon as their own , the Legislature of the land , let a man of genius , like Sheridan , but assert his supremacy at once all these barriers of reserve and pride give way, and he takes , by OF 11. D. SHEIUDATN. $95 slorni , a station at Ihcir side , which a Shakspeare or a Newton would hut have enjoyed by courtesy. In lixing upon this period of Sheridan's life , as the most shining tcra of his talents as well as his fame , it is not meant to be denied I hat in his subsequent warfare with the Minister, during the stormy lime of the French Revolution , he exhibited a prowess of oratory no less suited to that actual service, than his- eloquence on the trial of Hastings had been to sueh lighter lilts and tournaments of peace. JJul the effect of his lalents was far less .striking ; rlhe current of feeling through England was against him , and , however greatly this added to the merit of his efforts , it deprived him of that echo from the public heart, by which the voice of the orator is endued with a sort of multiplied life, and, as it were, survives itself. In Hie panic , loo, that followed the French Revolution , all eloquence , but that from the lips of Power, was disregarded , and the voice of him at the helm was the only one listened to in the storm. Of his happiness , at the period of which we are speaking , in the midst of so much success and hope, there can be but little doubt. Though pecuniary embarrassment , as appears from his papers , had already begun to weave its fatal net around him , there was as yet little more than sufficed to giye exercise to his ingenuity, and the resources of the Drury-Lanc treasury were still in full nightly llow. The charms by which his home was embellished were such as few other homes could boast ; and , if any thing made it less happy than it ought to be , the cause was to be found in the very brillancy of his life and attractions , and in those triumphs out of the sphere of domestic love , to which his vanity, perhaps , oftener than his feelings, impelled him. Among his own immediate associates , the gaiety of his spirits amounted almost to boyishness. He delighted in all sorts of dra- matic tricks and disguises ; and the lively parties , with which his country-house was always filled, were kept in momentary expecta- tion of some new device for their mystification or amusement '. It was not unusual to despatch a man and horse seven or eight miles for a piece of crape or a mask , or some other such trifle for these frolics. His friends Tickell and Richardson , both men of wit and 1 To give some idea of the youthful tone of tlm society, I shall mention onp out of many anecdotes related to me by persons who had themselves been ornaments of it. The ladies having one evening received the gentlemen in masquerade dresses, which, with their obstinate silence, made it impossible to distinguish one from ilie other, the gentlemen , in their turn, iuviled the ladies, next evening, to a >iiuil;n trial of conjecture on themselves ; and notice being given that they were icady dressed , Mrs. Sheridan and her companions were admitted into the dining- loom, where they found a party of Turks, sitting silent and masked round the table. Afici a long course of the usual guesses, exclamations , etc. etc,, and each 296 MEMOIRS humour, and the former possessing the same degree of light animal spirits as himself, were the constant companions of all his social hours, and kept up with him that ready rebound of pleasantry, without which the play of wit languishes. There is a letter, written one night by Richardson at Tunbridge '. ( after waiting five long hours for Sheridan , ) so full of that mixture of melancholy and humour, which chequered the mind of this in- teresting man , that , as illustrative of the character of one of She- ridan's most intimate friends, it may be inserted here : " DE\R SHERIDAN, Half-past nine , Mount Ephraim. "After you had been gone an hour or Uvo I got moped damnably. Perhaps there is a sympathy between the corporeal and the mind's eye. In the Temple I can't see far before me, and seldom extend my specula- tions on things to come into any fatiguing sketch of reflection. From your window, however, there was a tedious scope of black atmosphere, that I think won my mind into a short of fellow-travellership , pacing me again through the cheerless waste of the past, and presenting hardly one little rarified cloud to give a dim ornament to the future; not a star to be seen; no permanent ligbt to gild my horizon ; only the fading helps to transient gaiety in the lamps of Tunbridge; no Law coffee- house at band , or any other bouse of relief; no antagonist to bicker one into a control of one's cares by a successful opposition 5 , nor a softer enemy to soothe one into an oblivion of them. lady having taken the arm of the person she was most sure of, they heard a burst of laughter through the half-open door, and looking there, saw the gentlemen themselves in their proper persons, the masks, upon whom they had been lavishing their sagacity, being no other than the maid-servants of the house , who had been, thus dressed up to deceive them. 1 In the year 1790, when Mrs. Sheridan was Irving the waters of Tunbridge for her health. In a letter to Sheridan's sister from this place, dated September, 1790, she says, "I drink the waters ouce-a-day, and ride and drive all the forenoon, which makes me ravenous when I return. I feel I am in very good health, and I am told that I am in high beauty, two circumstances which ought and do put me in high good humour. " 2 Richardson was remarkable for his love of disputation; andTickell, when hard pressed by him in argument, used often, as a last resource, to assume the voice and manner of Mr. Fox, which he had the power of mimicking so exactly, that Richardson confessed he sometimes stood awed and silenced by the resem- blance. This disputatious humour of Richardson was once turned to account by Sheri- dan in a very characteristic manner. Having had a hackney-coac"h in employ fin five or six hoars, and not being provided with the means of paying it, he happen ed to espy Richardson in the street, and proposed to take him in the coach some part of liis way. The offer being accepted, Sheridan lost no liuie'in starting a subject of conversation , on which b knew his companion was sure to become argumentative and animated Having, by well-managed contradiction, brought him to the proper pitch of- excitement , he affected to.grow impatient and angry , himself, and saying that " he could not think of staying in the same coach with a person that would use such language /'^palled the ctieck string, and desired tint OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 297 " It is damned foolish, for. ladies to leave their scissors aboot ; the frail thread of a. worthless life is soon snipped. I wish to God my fale had been true to its first destination, and made a parson of me; I should have made an excellent country Joll. I think I can, with confidence, pronounce the character that would have been given of .me : He was an indolent good-humoured man , civil *t all times , and hospitable at others, namely, when he was able to be so , which, truth to say, happened but seldom. His sermons were better than his preaching, and his doctrine better than his life; though -often grave, and sometimes melancholy, he nevertheless loved a joke, the more so when overtaken in his cups, which , a regard to the j*aith of history compels us to subjoin , fell out not untVequently. He had more* thought than was generally imputed to him , though it must be owned no man alive ever exercised thought to so little purpose. Rebecca, his wife, the'daughter of an opulent farmer in the neighbourhood of his small living, brought him eighteen children ; and he now rests with -those who, being rather not absolutely vicious than actively good , confide in the bounty of Providence to strike a mild average between the contending negations of their life, and to allow them in their future state, what he ordained them in this earthly pilgrimage, a snug Neutrality and a useless repose. I had witten thus far , absolutely determined, under an irresistible influence of the megrims, to set off for London on foot, when,, accidentally searching for a cardialgic, to my great delight , I discovered three fugitive sixpences, headed by a vagrant shilling, immergcd in the heap in my waistcoat pocket. This discovery gave an immediate elasticity to my mind; and I have therefore devised a scheme, worthier the improved state of my spirits, namely, to swindle your servants out of a horse, under the pretence of a ride upon the heath, and to jog on contentedly homewards. So, under the protection of Pro- vidence , and the mercy of footpads , I trust we shall meet again , to-mor- row; at all events, there is nothing huffish in this; for, whether sad or merry , I am always , u Mpst affectionately yours , *f J. RICHARDSON." " P. S. Your return only confirmed me in my resolution of going; for I had worked myself, in five hours' sojitude, into such a state of nervous melancholy , that I found I could not help the meanness of crying , even if any one looked me in the face. I am anxious to avoid a regular convic- tion of so disreputable an infirmity ; besides., the night has become quite pleasant." Between Tickell and Sheridan there was a never-ending " skir- mish of wit ," boih verbal and practical \ and the latter kind , in particular, was carried on between them with all the wqggery, and , not unfrequenlly, the malice of School-boys '. Tickell, much less ooacbinuu to let him our. Richardson, wholly occupied with the argument, and Hoarding the retreat of his opponent as an acknowledgment of defeat, still pressed liis point, and even hollowed "more last words" through the coach-window after Sheridan, who, walking quietly home , left the poor disputant responsible for the heavy fare of the coach. 1 On one occasion, Sheridan having covered the floor of a dark passage, lead- 298 MEMOIRS occupied by business lhan his friend, had always some political jcux $ esprit on the anvil ; and sometimes these trifles were produced by them jointly. The following string of pasquinades , so well known in political circles , and written , as the reader will perceive, at dif- ferent dates, though principally by Sheridan, owes some of its stanzas to Tickcll , and a few others, I believe, to Lord John Towns- hond. I have strung together, without regard to chronology, the best of these detached lampoons. Time having removed their ve- nom , and with it , in a great degree , 'their wit y they are now, like dried snakes , mere harmless objects of curiosity. Johnny W Iks, Johnny W Iks ', Thou greatest of bilks , How chaug'cl are the notes you now sing ! Your fam'd Forty-five Is Prerogative , And your blasphemy, God save the Kiug ,' Johnny W Iks , And your blasphemy, 'God save the King.' " " Jack Ch ch 11, Jack Cli ch 11 , The town sure you search ill , Your mob lias disgraced all your brags ; When next you draw out Your hospital rout , Do , prithee , afford them clean rags , Jack Ch ch II , Do , prithee , afford them cleau rags." " Captain K th , Captain K th , Keep your tongue 'twist your teeth , Lest bed-chamber tricks you betray : And, if teeth you want more, Why , my bold Commodore, You may borrow of Lord G 11 y, Captain K th , You may borrow of Lord G 11 y." ing from the drawing-room, with all the plates and dishes of ibe house, ranged closely together, provoked his 'unconscious play-fellow to pursue him into (he midst of them. Having left a path for his own escape, he passed through easily, but Tickell, falling at full length into the ambuscade, was very much cat in seve- ral places. The next day, Lord John Townshend, on paying a visit to the bed -side of Tickell, found him covered over with patches, and indignantly vowing ven- geance against Sheridan for this unjustifiable trick. In the midst of his angei, however, he could not help exclaiming, with the true feeling of an amateur of this sort of mischief , "bnthow amazingly well done.it was!" 1 In Sheridan's copy of the stanzas written by him in this metre at the lime ot the Union , ( beginning " Zooks , Harry ! zooks , Harry ! '*) he entitled them , " Au admirable new Ballad , which goes excellently well to the tune of " Mrs Arne , Mrs. Arjie , \\ gives me consn/vi," etc. OE R. B. SHERIDAN. 299 " ' Joe M wb y, Joe M wb y, Your throat sure must raw be, lu striving to make yourself heard ; But it pleased not the pigs , Nor the Westminster Whigs , . That your Knighthood should ulter oue word , Joe M wb y , That your Knighthood should utter one word," " M ntm res, M ntm res, Whom nobody for is , Andybr whom we none of us care 5 From Dublin you came It had been much the same If Your Lordship had staid where you were , M; ntm res , If Your Lordship had staid where you were. 1 " " Lord O gl y, Lord O gl y, You spoke mighty strongly Who you are, tho', all people admire! But I'll let you depart , For I believe in my heart, You had rather they did not enquire, Lord 0-gl y, You had rather :hey did not enquire. " "Gl nb e, Gl-nb e, What's good for the' scurvy ? For ne'er be your old trade forgot lu your arms rather quarter A pestle and mortar, And your crest be a spruce gallipot , Gl ub-e, Your crest be a spruce gallipot." Gl nb , Gl nb-e, The world's topsy-turvy, Of this truth you're the fittest attester ; For, who can deny That the Low become High, When the King makes a Lord of Silvester, Gl nb e, When the King makes a Lord of Silvester." "Mr. P l,Mr. Pl, lu return for your zeal , I am told they have dubb'd you Sir Bob ; Having got wealth enough By coarse Manchester Muff, For honours you'll now drive a job , Mr. Pl, For honours you'll now drive a job." I IMS stanza and, I rather iliiuL. the next, were by Lent John Townshcncl 300 MEMOIRS " Oh poor B ks , oh poor B ks, Still condemu'd to the rauks, Nor e'en yet from a private promoted ; Pitt ne'er will releut, Though he knows you^repeut Having once or twice honestly voted , Poor B ks , Having once or twice honestly voted." - " Dull H 1-y, dull H 1 y, Your auditors feel ye A speaker of very great weight , And they wisli you were dumb , When , with ponderous hum , You lengthen the drowsy debate , Dull H-l y, You lengthen the drowsy debate." There are about as many more of these stanzas , written , at dif- ferent intervals , according as new victims , with good names for rhyming , presented themselves , the metre being a most tempting medium for such lampoons. There is , indeed , appended to one of Sheridan's copies of them , a long list (like a Tablet of Proscription) , containing about fifteen other names marked out for the same fate ; and il will be seen by the following specimen that some of them had a very narrow escape : "WillC rts " " V ns t t, V ns t t , for little thou fit art." " Will D nd s , Will D ud s , were jou only an ass." " L glib h, thorough." il Sam H rsl y, Sam H rsl y, . . . coarsely." " P ttym u, P ttym, n, speak truth, if you can." But it was not alone for such lively purposes * that Sheridan and his two friends drew upon their joint wits $ they had also but too ' As I have been mentioning some instances of Sheridan's love of practical jests, I shall take this opportunity of adding one more anecdote, which I believe is pretty well known, but which I have had the advantage of hearing from the person on whom the joke was inflicted. The Rev. Mr. O'B (afterwards Bishop of ) having arrived to dinner at Sheridan's cotintry-honse near Osterley, where, as usual, a gay party was col- lected, (consisting of General Burgoyne , Mrs. Crewe, Tickell, etc.) it was pro- posed that on the next day (Sunday) the Rev. Gentleman should, on gaining the consent of the resident clergyman, give a specimen of his talents as a preacher in the village-church. On his objecting that he was not provided with a sermon, his host offered to write one for him , if he wonld consent to preach it j and , the offer being accepted, Sheridan left the company early, and did not return for the re- mainder of the evening. The following morning Mr. O'B found the manuscript by his bed-side, tied together neatly (as he described it) with riband; the snb- ject of the discourse being the " Abuse of Riches." Having read it over and correct- ed some theological errors , (such as " it is easier for a camel , as Moses says ," etc.) OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 301 much to do with subjects of a far different nature wilh dcbls, bonds, judgments, writs, and all those other humiliating mailers of fact, (hat bring Law and Wit so often and so unnaturally in contact. That they were serviceable to each other, in their defensive alliance against duns, is fully proved by various documents; and I have now before me articles of agreement, dated in 1787, Jay which Tickeli , to avert an execution from Ihe Theatre , bound himself as security for Sheridan in the sum of 2507. , the arrears of an annuity charged upon Sheridan's moiety of the.property. So soon did Ihose pecuniary difficulties , by which his peace and character were after- wards undermined , begin their operations. Yet even into transactions of this nature, little as they are akin to mirth, the following letter of Richardson will show that these brother wits contrived to infuse a portion of gaiety : " DEAR SHERIDAN , ,,, Essex-Street, Saturday evening. " I had a terrible long batch With Bobby this morning, after I wrote to you by Francois. I have so far succeeded lhat'he has agreed to con- tinue the day of trial as we call it (that is, in vulgar , unlearned language, id put it off), from Tuesday till Saturday. He demands, as preliminaries, that Wright's bill of doo/. should lie given up to him, as a prosecution had been commenced against him, wbich, however, be has stopped by an iaj unction from the Court of Chanceiy. This , if the transaction be as be states it, appears reasonable enough. He. insists, besides, that the bill should undergo the most rigid examination; that you should transmit your objections, to which be will send answers (for the point of a per- sonal interview has not been yet carried) , and that the -\vhole amount at last, whatever it may be , should have your clear and satisfied approba- tion : nothing to be done without this almighty. honour ! " All these things being done, I desired to know what was to be the result at last : ' Surely , after having carried so many points, you will think it only common depency to relax a little as to the time of payment ? You will not cut your pound of flesh the nearest from the merchant's heart?' To this Bobides, " I must have 2ooo. put in a sbape of practi- cable use , and payment immediately ; tpr the rest I will accept security,' be delivered the sermon in his most impressive stylej iiuu-li fb the delight of his own party, and to the satisfaction, as te unsuspectingly flattered himself, of all the rest of the congregation, among whom was Mr. Sheridan's wealthy neigh- bour, Mr. C . Some months afterwards, however, Mr. O'B perceived That the family of Mr. C , with whom he had previously been intimate, treated him wilh mark- ed coldness ; and, on bis expressing some innocent wonder at the circumstance, was it length informed, to his dismay, by General Bargoyne, that the serinou which Sheridan had. written for him was, throughout, a personal attack upon Mr. C , who had at tbat lime rendered himself very unpopular in the ueigh- hoiirho&i by some harsh conduct to the poor, and to whom every one in the rlimrh, except the unconscions preacher, applied almost every sentence of the 302 MEMOIRS This was strongly objected to i)y me , as Jewish in the extreme ; but , however, so we parted. You will think with me , I hope, that something has been done, however, by this meeting. It has opened an access to a favourable adjustment, and time andtristmay do much. I am to see him again on Monday moming" at two, so pray don't go out of town to-mor- row without my seeing you. The matter is of immense consequence. I never knew till to-day that the process had been going on so long. I am convinced he could force you to trial next Tuesday with all your infir- mities green upon your head ; so pray attend to k. " R. B. Sheridan, Esq. "Yours ever, "Lower Grosvenor-Street. " J. RICHARDSON." This letter was written in the year 1792, when Sheridan's involve- ments had begun to thicken around him more rapidly. There is another letter, about the same dale , still more characteristic , where , after beginning in evident anger and distress of mind , the writer breaks off, as if irresistibly, into the old strain of playfulness and good humour. " DEAR SHERIDAN , Wednesday , Essex-Street, July 3o. " I write to you with more unpleasant feelings than I ever did in my life. Westly, after having told me for the last three weeks that nothing was wanting for my accommodation but your consent, having told me so, so late as Friday, sends me word on Monday that he would not do it at all. In four days I have a cognovit expires for -tool. I can't suffer my family to be turned into the streets if 1 can help it. I have no resource but my abilities, such as they are. I certainly mean to write something in the course of the summer. As a matter of business and bargain I can have no higher hope about it than that you won't suffer by it. However, if you won't take it somebody else must, for no human consideration will induce me to leave any means .untried, that may rescue my family from this impending misfortune. " For the sake of convenience you will probably give me the import- ance of construing this into an incendiary letter. I wish to God you may, and order your treasurer to deposit the acceptance accordingly ; for nothing can be so irksome to me as that the nations of the earth should think there had been any interruption of friendship between you and me; and though that would not be the case in fact, both being influenced, I must believe, by a necessity which we could not control, yet the said nations would so interpret it. If I don't hear from you before Friday, 1 shall conclude tViat you leave me in this dire scrape to shift for myself. " /?. B. Sheridan, Esq. , " Yours ever , " Isleworth, Middlesex. " J. RICHARDSON." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 303 CHAPTER XIV. French Revolution. Mr. Burke. His Breach with Mr. Sheridan. Dissolution of Parliament. Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox. Russian arma- ment. Royal Scotch boroughs. WE have now to consider the conduct and opinions of Mr. She- ridan , during the. measures and discussions consequent upon the French Revolution, an event by which the minds of men throughout all Europe were thrown into a slate of such feverish excitement, that a more than usual degree of tolerance should be exercised towards the errors and extremes into which all parties were hurried during the paroxysm. There was , indeed , no rank or class of society, whose interests and passions were not deeply involved in the question. The powerful and the rich , both of State and Church , must natu- rally have regarded with dismay the advance of a political heresy, whose path they saw strewed over with the broken talismans of rank and authority. Many, loo , with a disinterested reverence for ancient institutions, trembled to see them thus approached by rash hands, whose talents for ruin were sufficiently certain, bul whose powers of reconstruction were yet to be tried. On the other hand , the easy triumph of a people over Ihcir oppressors was an example which could not fail to excite the hopes of the many as actively as the fears of the few. The great problem of the natural rights of mankind seemed about to be solved in a manner most flattering to the majority ; the zeal of the lover of liberty was kindled into enthusiasm , by a con- quest achieved for his cause upon an arena so vast , and many, who before would have smiled at the doctrine of human perfectibility, now imagined they saw , in what the Revolution performed and pro- mised , almost enough to sanction the indulgence of that splendid dream. It was natural, too, that the greater portion of that unemploy- ed, and, as it were, homeless talent, which, in all great communities, is ever abroad on the wing , uncertain where to settle , should now swarm round the light of the new principles , while all those ob- scure but ambitious spirits , who felt their aspirings clogged by the medium in which they were sunk, would as naturally welcome such a slate of political effervescence , as might enable them , like enfranchised air, to mount at once to the surface. Amidst all these various interests , imaginations, and fears, which were brought to life by the dawn of the French Revolution , it is not surprising that errors and excesses, both of conduct and opinion, should be among the first products of so new and sudden a move- ment of the whole civilized world ; that the friends of popular i ighls , presuming upon the triumph that had been gained , should , 304 MEMOIRS in the ardour of pursuit , push on the vanguard of their principles , somewhat farther than was consistent with prudence and safely ; or that , on the other side , Authority and its supporters , alarmed by the inroads of the revolutionary spirit , should but the more stub- bornly intrench themselves in established abuses , and make the dangers they apprehended from liberty a pretext for assailing its very existence. It was not long before these effects of the French Revolution began to show themselves very strikingly in the politics of England ; and , singularly enough , the two extreme opinions , to which , as I have just remarked , that disturbing event.gave rise , instead of first appearing , as might naturally be expected , the one on the side of Government , and the other on that of the Opposition , both broke out simultaneously 'in the very heart of the latter body. On such an imagination as that of Burke , the scenes now passing in France were every way calculated to make a most vivid impres- sion. So susceptible was he, indeed , of such impulses, and so much under the control of the imaginative department of his intellect , that , whatever might have been the accidental mood of his mind , at the moment when this astounding event first burst upon him , it would most probably have acted as a sort of mental catalepsy, and fixed his reason in the very attitude in which it found it. He had , however, been prepared for the part which he now took by much more deep and grounded causes. It was rather from circumstances than from choice , or any natural affinity, that Mr. Burke had ever attached himself to the popular party in politics. There was , in truth , nothing democratic about him but his origin ; his tastes were all on the side of the splendid and the arbitrary. The chief recommendation of the cause of India to his fancy and his feelings was that it involved the fate of antienl dynasties , and invoked retri- bution for the downfall of thrones and princedoms , to which his imagination , always most affected by objects at a distance , lent a slate and splendour thai did not , in sober reality, belong to them. Though doomed to make Whiggism his habitual haunt . he took his perch at all times on its loftiest branches , as far as possible away from popular conlacl ; and upon mosl occasions , adopted a sort of baronial view of liberty, as rather a question lying between the Throne and the Aristocracy, than one in which the people had a right to any efficient voice or agency. Accordingly, the question of Parliamentary Reform , from the first moment of its agitation . found in him a most decided opponent. This inherent repugnance to popular principles became naturally heightened into impatience and disgust , by the long and fruitless warfare which he had waged under their banner, and the uniform OF R. B. SHERIDAN. ,103 ill success wilh which they had blasted all his struggles for wealth and power. Nor wa6 he in any better temper wilh his associates in the cause , having found that the ascendancy which , he had formerly: exercised over them, and which, in some degree, consoled him for the want of official dominion, was of late conside- rably diminished, if-not wholly transferred 16 others. Sheridan, as has been stated j , was the most prominent object of his jealousy , and it is curious to remark how much , even in feelings of this des- rriplion , the aristocratical bias of his mind betrayed itself. For, though Mr. Fox, too, had- overtaken and 'even passed him, in the race , assuming that station in politics which he himself had pre- viously held , yet so paramount did those claims of birth and con- nection , by which the new leader came recommended , appear in his eyes, that he submitted to be superseded by him, not only without a murmur, but cheerfully. To Sheridan , however, who had no such hereditary passport to pre-eminence , he could not give way without heart-burning and humiliation ; and to be supplanted !hus by a rival son of earth seemed no* less a shock to his supersti- tious notions about rank , than it was painful to his feelings of self- love and pride. Such , as far as can be ascertained by a distanlobserver of those times, was the temper in which the first events of the Revolution found the rnind of this remarkable man-, and, powerfully as they would , at any time , have appealed to his imagination and preju- dices , the state of irritability to which he had been wrought by the causes already enumerated peculiarly predisposed him , at this mo- ment , to give way to such impressions without'reslraint , and even to welcome , as a timely relief to his pride , the mighty vent thus afforded to the " splendida bills" with which it was charged. There was indeed much to animate and give a zest to the new part which he now took. He saw those principles, to which he owed a deep grudge, for the time and the talents he had wasted in their service, now embodied in a shape so wild and alarming, as seemed to justify him , on grounds of public safety, in turning against them the whole powers of his mind, and thus enabled him, opportunely, to dignify desertion , by throwing the semblance of patriotism and conscientiousness round the reality of defection and revenge. He saw the party, too, who, from the moment they had ceased to be ruled by him , were associated only in his mind with recollec- tions of unpopularity and defeat , about to adopt a line of politics uliidi his long knowledge of the people of England , and his saga- nous foresight of the consequences of the French Revolution , fully onviuccd him would lead to the same barren and mortifying results. On the contrary, the cause to which ho proffered his alliance < 20 306 MEMOIRS would, he was equally sure, by arraying on its side all the rank, riches , and religion of Europe , enable him at length to feel that sense of power and triumph , for which his domineering spirit had so long panted in vain. In this latter hope, indeed, of a speedy triumph over Jacobinism, his temperament , as was often the case , outran his sagacity ; for , while he foresaw clearly that the dissolu- tion of social order in France would at last harden into a military tyranny, he appeared not to be aware that the violent measures which he recommended against her would not only hasten this for- midable result , but bind the whole mass of the people into union and resistance during the process. Lastly to these attractions , of various kinds , with which the cause of Thrones was now encircled in the eyes of Burke , must be added one, which, however it may still further disenchant our views of his conversion , cannot wholly be omitted among the in- ducements to his change, and this was the strong claim upon the gratitude of government, which his seasonable and powerful advocacy in a crisis so difficult established for him , and which the narrow and embarrassed state of his circumstances rendered an object by no means of secondary importance in his views. Unfor- tunately, from a delicate wish, perhaps, that the reward should not appear to come in loo close coincidence with the service, the pension bestowed upon him arrived too late to admit of his. deriving much more from it than the obloquy by which it was accompanied. The consequence , as is well known, of the new course taken by Burke was that the speeches and writings which he henceforward produced , and in which , as usual , his judgment was run away with by his temper, form a complete contrast , in spirit and tendency, to all that he had put on record in the former part of his life. He has , indeed , left behind him two separate and distinct armouries of opinion , from which both Whig and Tory may furnish them- selves with weapons, the most splendid , if not the most highly tem- pered , that ever Genius and Eloquence have condescended to bequeath to Party. He has thus too , by his own personal versatility, attained , in the world of politics , what Shakspeare , by the versa- tility of his characters, achieved for the world in general , namely, sqch a universality of application to all opinions and purposes, that it would be difficult for any statesman of any party to find himself placed in any situation , for which he could not select some golden sentence from Burke , either to strengthen his position by reasoning, or illustrate and adorn it by fancy. While, therefore, our respect for the man himself is diminished by this want of moral identity observable through his life and writings, we are but the more dis- posed to admire that unrivalled genius, which could thus throw OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 307 itself out in so many various directions with equal splendour and vigour. In general, political deserters lose their value and power in the very act , and bring little more than their treason to the new cause which they espouse :~- :l " Fortis in armis Gesaris Labienus erat ; nunc transfuga the other a tumultuous rising of the whole Nation against both for itself. The reply of Mr. Burke was conclusive and peremptory,' such in short , as might be expected from a person, who- came prepared to take the first plausible opportunity of a rupture. He declared that " henceforth His Honourable Friend and he were separated in politics /'complained that his arguments had been cruelly misrepresented, and abut k ' the Honourable Gentleman had thought 310 MEMOIRS proper to charge him with being the advocate of despotism. " Having endeavoured to defend himself from such an imputation , he con- cluded by saying, " Was that a fair and candid mode of treating his arguments? or was it what he ought to have expected in the moment of departed friendship ? On the contrary, was it not evident that the Honourable Gentleman had made a sacrifice of his friendship, for the sake of catching some momen- tary popularity? If the fact were such, even greatly as he should continue to admire the Honourable Gentleman's talents , he must tell him that his argument was chiefly an argument ad itividiam , and all the applause for which he could hope from clubs was scarcely worth the sacrifice which he had chosen to make for so insignificant'an acquisition." I have given the circumstances of this Debate somewhat in detail, not only on account of its own interest and of the share which Mr. Sheridan took in it , but from its being the first scene of that great political schism which , in the following year, assumed a still more serious aspect , and by which the policy of Mr. Pitt at length acquired a predominance , not speedily to be forgotten in the annals of this country. Mr. Sheridan was much blamed for the unseasonable stimulant which , it was thought , his speech on this occasion had adminis- tered to the temper of Burke ; nor can it be doubted that he had thereby, in some degree accelerated the public burst of that feeling which had so long been treasured up against himself. But , whether hastened or delayed , such a breach was ultimately inevitable ; the divergence of the parties once begun, it was in vain to think of restoring their parallelism. That some of their friends, how- ever, had more sanguine hopes appears from an effort which was made , w ithin two days after the occurrence of this remarkable scene, to effect a reconciliation between Burke and Sheridan. The interview that took place on that- occasion is thus described by Mr. Dennis O'Brien , one of the pqrsons chiefly instrumental in the arrangements for it : " It appeared to the author of this pamphlet ' that the difference between these two great men would be a great evil to the country and to their own* party. Full of this persuasion he brought them both toge- ther the second night after the original contest in the House of Com- mons ; and carried them to Burlington House to Mr. Fox and the Duke of Portland , according to a previous arrangement. This interview, which can never, be forgotten by those who were present, lasted from ten o'clock at night until three in the morning, and afforded a very remarkable display of the extraordinary talents of the parties." It will easily be believed that to the success of this conciliatory ' Entitled " Utrain Hornm." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 31 1 effort the temper on one side would be a greater obstacle than even the hale on both. IMr. Sheridan , as if anxious to repel from himself the suspicion of having contributed to its failure , look an opportunity, during his speech upon the Tobacco Act , in the month of April following , to express himself in the most friendly terms of Mr. Burke as " one, for whose talents and personal virtae he had the highest esteem, veneration, and- regard , and with whom he might be allowed to differ in opinion upon the subject of France, persuaded as he was that they never could differ in principle." Of this and some other compliments of a similar nature , Mr. Burke did not deign to take the slightest notice partly, from an impla- cable feeling towards him who offered them , and partly, perhaps , from a suspicion that they were intended rather for the ears of the public than his own , and that , while this tendency to conciliation appeared on the surface, the under-current of feeling and influence set all the other way. Among the measures which engaged the attention of Mr. Sheri- dan during this session , the principal was a motion of his own for the repeal of the Excise Duties on Tobacco , which appears to have called forth a more than usual portioi) of his oratory, his speeches upon the subject occupying nearly forty pages. It is upon topics of this unpromising kind , and from the very effort , perhaps 1 , to dig- nify and enliven them , that the peculiar characteristics of an orator are sometimes most racily brought out. To the Cider Tax we are indebted foj one of Ike grandest bursts of the constitutional spirit and eloquence of Lord Chatham ; and in these orations of Sheridan upon Tobacco , we find examples of the two extreme varieties of his dramatic talent both of the broad, natural humour of his farce , and the pointed , artificial wit of his comedy. For instance , in representing,, as one of the abuses thai might arise from the discretionary power of remitting fines to manufacturers , the dan- ger that those only should fpel the indulgence', who wore found to be supporters of the rusting administration ', be says : ; '* Were a man , whose stock had increased or diminished beyond the standard table in the Act, to attend the- Commissioners, and assure them that the weather alone had caused, the increase or decrease of the article, and that no fraud whatever had been used on the occasion, the Com- missioners might say to him , ' Sir, you need not give yourself so much trouble to prove your innocence ; we see honesty in your orange cape.' But should a person of quite a different side in politics attend for the -.mil- purpose, the Commissioners might say, 'Sir, you are not to be Ix-lii-ved ; we see fraud in your blue ami bull', ami il is impossible that vou should not be a smuggler.' " 1 A case of this kind forim-il the subject of a suited speech of Mr. \VindliMii , iu ITOJ.^See his Speeches, vol. I p. 907. 812 MEMOIRS Again., in staling Ihe case between the manufacturers and the Minister, the former of whom objected to the Hill altogether, while the latter determined to preserve its principle and only alter its form, he says : " The manufacturers ask the Right Honourable Gentleman , if he will consent to give up the principle? The Right Honourable Gentleman answers, 'No; the principle 'must not be abandoned, but do you inform me how I shall alter the Bill.' This the manufacturers refused ; and they wisely refused it in his opinion : for, what was it but the Minister's saying, '1 have a yoke to put about your necks, do you help me in fitting it on only assist me with your knowledge of the subject , and I'll fit you with the prettiest pair of fetters that ever were seen in the world.' " As a specimen of his quaint and far sought witticisms, the follow- ing passage in the same speech may vie with Trip's " Post-Obit on the blue and silver, etc." Having described the effects of the wea- ther in increasing or decreasing the weight of the stock, beyond the exact standard established in the Act , he adds , " The Commissioners, before they could, in justice, levy such fines, ought to ascertain that the weather is always in that precise slate of heal or cold which the Act supposed it would be. They ought to make Christ- mas give security for frost, take a bond for hot weather from August, and oblige damps and fogs to take out permits." It was in one of these speeches on the Tobacco Act , that he ad- verted with considerable warmth to a rumour, which, he complained had been maliciously circulated , of a misunderstanding between himself and the Duke of Portland, in consequence (as the Re'port expresses it j of " a certain opposition affirmed to have been made by this Noble Duke, to some views or expectations which he (Mr. Sheridan) was said to have entertained.'' After declaring that " there was not in these rumours one grain of thruth," he added that " He would not venture to state to the Committee the opinion that the Noble Duke was pleased to entertain of him , lest he should 1x3 accused of vanity in publishing what he might deem highly flattering. All that he would assert on this occasion was , that if he had it in his pouer to make the man whose good opinion he should most highly prize think flatteringly of him, he would have that man think of him precisely as the Noble Duke did, and then his wish on that subject would be must amply gratified." As it is certain , that the feelings which Burke entertained towards Sheridan were in some degree shared by alt those who afterwards seceded from the party, this boast of the high opinion of the Duke of Portland must be takeiif ilh what, in Heraldry , is called ./bate- ment that is, a certain degree of diminution of the emblazonry.. OF R. B- SHERIDAN. 313 Among the papers of Mr. Sheridan, I find a letter addressed to him this year by one of his most distinguished friends . relative to the motions that had lately been brought forward for the relief of the Dissenters. The writer, whose alarm for the interest of the Church had somewhat disturbed his sense of liberality and justice, endea- vours to impress upon Mr. Sheridan , arid through him upon Mr. Fox , how undeserving the Dissenters were , as a political body , of the recent exertions on their behalf, and how ungratefully they had more than once requited the services which the Whigs had rendered them. For this latter charge there was but too much foun- dation in truth, however ungenerous might be the deduction which the writer would draw from it. It is, no doubt, natural that large bodies of men, impatiently suffering under the ban of disqualification, should avay themselves , without much regard to persons or party, of every aid they can muster for their cause. , and should (to use the words of an old Earl of Pembroke) " lean on both sides of the stairs to get up." But , it is equally natural that the occasional desertion and ingratitude, of which, in pursuit- of this selfish policy they are but too likely to be guilty towards their best friends , should, if not wholly indispose the latter to their service , at least considerably moderate their zeal in a cause , where all parties alike seem to be considered but as instruments , and where neither personal predi- lections jior principle are regarded in the choice of means. To the great credit, however, of the Whig parly, it must be said, that, though ofteit set aside and even disowned by their clients , they have rarely suffered their high duty , as advocates , to be relaxed or inter- rupted by such momentary suspensions of confidence. In this res- pect, the cause of Ireland has more than once been a trial of their constancy. Even Lord North was able , by his reluctant concessions, to supersede them for a time in the favour of my too believing countrymen , whose despair of finding justice at any hands has often led them thus to carry their confidence to market , and to place it in the hands of the first plausible bidder. The many vicissi- tudes of popularity which their own illustrious Whig , Grattan , had to encounter , would have wearied out the ardour of any less magna- nimous champion. But high minds are as little affected by such un- worthy returns for services , as the sun is by those fogs which the earth throws up between herself and his light: With respect to the Dissenters , they had deserted Mr. Fox in 1m great struggle with the Crown in 1784, and laid their interest and iipt's at the feet of the new idol of the day. Notwithstanding this, \*e find him , in the year 1787 , warmly maintaining , and in oppo- sition to his rival , the cause of the very persons who had contributed in make that rival triumphant, and showing just so much r.eincm 314 MEMOIRS brancc of their late defection as served lo render this sacrifice of personal to public feelings more signal. " He was' determined," he said, " to let them know that, though they could upon some occa- sions lose sight of their principles of liberty , he would not upon any occasion lose sight of his principles of toleration." In the present session , too , notwithstanding that the great organ of I lie Dissenters, Dr. Price, had lately in a sermon, published with a view to the Test, made a pointed attack on the morals of Mr. Fox and his friends, this generous advocate of religious liberty not the less promptly acceded to the request of the body , tliat he would bring the motion for their relief before the House. On the 12lh of June, the Parliament was dissolved, and Mr. Sheridan again succeeded in being elected for Stafford. The follow- ing letters, however, addressed to him by Mrs. Sheridan during the election , will prove that they were not without some apprehen- sions of a different result. The letters are still more interesting, as showing how warmly alive lo each other's feelings the hearts of botli husband and wife could remain, after the long lapse of near twenty years , and after trials more fatal to love than even lime itself. " This letter will find you, my dear Dick, I hope, encircled with honours at Stafford. I take it for granted you entered it triumphantly on Sunday, but I am very impatient to hear the particulars, and of the utter discomfiture of S and his followers. I received your note from Birmingham this morning, and am happy to find that you and my dear cuh were well, so far on your journey. \ou could not he happier than I should he in the proposed alteration for Tom, hut we will talk more of this when \vc meet. 1 sent you Gartwright yesterday, and to-day 1 pack you oil' Perry with the soldiers. I was obliged to give them four guineas for their expenses. I send you likewise, by Perry, the note from Mrs. Creuc, to enable you to speak of your qualification if you should be called upon. So I think I have executed all your commissions, Sir; and if you want any of these doubtful votes which I mentioned to you, you will have time enough to send for them, for I would not let them go till I hear they can be of any use. "And, now for my journal, Sir, which I suppose you expect. Saturday, 1 was at home all day busy for you, kept .Mrs. Reid to dinner, went to the Opera, afterwards to Mrs. St. John's, where I lost my money sadjy, Sir, cat strawberries and cream for supper, sat between Lord Salisbury and Mr. Meynell, (hope you approve of that, Sir, ) overheard Lord Salisbury advise Miss Boyle by no means to sub- scribe to Taylor's Opera , as O'Reilly's would certainly have the patent, confess I did not come home till past two. Sunday, called on Lady Julia, father and Mr. Reid to dinner, in the evening at Lady llamp- den's, lost my money again , Sir, and came home by one o'clock. 'Tis now near one o'clock, -my father is established in my boudoir, and when 1 have finished this, lam going with him to hear Abbe Vogler play oir the Stafford organ. I have promised to dine with Mrs. Crewe , OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 315 who is to have a female party only, no objection to that I suppose , Sir? Whatever the party do , I shall do of course, I suppose it will end in Mrs. Hobart's. Mr. James told me on Saturday, and I fiud it is the report of the day, that Bond Hopkins is gone to Stafford. I am sorry to tell you there is an opposition at York, Mr. Montague opposes Sir William Milner, Mr. Beckford has given up at Dover, and Lord ** is so provoked at it, that he has given up too, though they say they were both sure. St. Ives is gone for want of a candidate. Mr. Barham is beat at Stockbridge. Charles Lenox lias offered for Surry, and they say Lord Egremont might drive him to the deuce, if he would set any body up against him. You know, I suppose, Mr. Crewe has likewise an opponent. J am sorry to tell you all this bad news, and, to complete it, Mr. Adam is sick in bed , and there is nobody to do any good left in town. " I am more than ever convinced we must look to other resources for wealth and independence , and consider politics merely as an amuse- ment, and in that light 'tis best to be in Opposition , which I am afraid we are likely to be for some years again. " I see the rumours of war still continue. Stocks continue to fall is that good or bad for the Ministers ? The little boys are come home to me to-day. I could not help showing in my answer to Mr. T.'s letter, that I was hurt at his conduct, so I have got another flummery letter, and the bo\s, who (as he is pretty sure) will be the best peace-makers. God bless you, my dear Dick. I am very well, I assure you ; pray don't neglect to write to your ever affectionate , "E.S.' r " MY DEAREST DICK, Wednesday. 11 I am full of anxiety and fright about you , I cannot but think your letters are very alarming. Deuce take the Corporation! is it impossible to make them resign their pretensions, and make peace with the Bur- gesses? I have sent Thomas after Mr. Cocker. I suppose you have sent for the out-votes; but, if they are not good, what a terrible expense will that l>e! however, they ar.e ready. I saw Mr. Cocker yesterday, he collected them together last night, and gave them a treat , so they are in high good humour. I inclose you a letter which' B. left here last night. I could not resist opening it. Every thing seems going wrong, I think. I thought he was not to do any thing in your absence. It strikes me the bad business he mentions was entirely owing to his own stupi- dity, and want of a little patience, is it of much consequence ? I don't hear that the report is true of Basilico's arrival ; a messenger came to the Spanish embassy, which gave rise to this tale , I believe. " If you were not so worried, I should scold you for the "conclusion of your letter to-day. Might not 1 as well accuse you of coldness., for not filling your letter with professions , at a time when your head must be full of business? I think of nothing all day long, but how to do^ood, some how or other, for you. I have given you a regular Journal of my i inn;, and all to please you , so don't, dear Dick , lay so much stress on words. I should use them oftener , perhaps, but I feel as if it would look like deceit. You know me well enough , to be sure that I can never do what I'm bid, Sir, but pray, don't think I meant to send you a cold letter, fur indeed nothing \vasevcrfarllicr from my heart. 3 1C MEMOIRS " You will see Mr. Home Tooke's advertisement to day in thepapers^ what do you think of that, to complete the thing? Bishop Dixon has just called from the hustings : rhe says, the late Recorder, Adair, pro- posed Charles with a good speech , and great applause, Captain Berke- ley, Lord Hood, with a had speech, not much applauded; and then Home Tooke came forward, and, in the most impudent speech that ever was heard, proposed himself, abused both the candidates , and said he should have been ashamed to have sat and heard such ill-deserved praises given him. But he told the crowd that, since so many of these fine virtues and qualifications had never yet done them the least good, they might as well now choose a candidate without them. He said , however , that if they were sincere in their professions of standing alone, he was sure of coming in, for they must all give him their second votes. There was aa amazing deal of laughing and noise in the course of his speech. Charles Fox attempted to answer him, and so did Lord Hood, but they would hear neither , and they are now polling away. " Do, my dearest love, if you have possibly time, write me a few more particulars, for your letters are very unsatisfactory, and I am full of anxiety. Make Richardson write, what has he better to do? God bless thee, my dear, dear Dick, would it were over and all well! I am afraid, at any rate , it will be ruinous work. " Ever your true and affectionate, "E. S." " Near five. I am just come from the hustings : the state of the poll when I left it was, Fox, 260; Hood, -j5 ; Home Tooke, 17! But he still persists in his determination of polling a map. an hour for the whole time. I saw Mr. Wilkes go up to vote for Tooke and Hood, amidst the hisses and groans of a multitude." " Friday. " My poor Dick, how you are worried! This is the day, you will easily guess how anxious I shall be ; but you seem pretty sanguine your- self, which is my only comfort, for Richardson's letter is rather croaking. You have never said a word of little Monkton -.has he any chance, or none? I ask questions without considering that , before you receive this, every thing will be decided I hope triumphantly for you. What a sad set of venal rascals your favourites the Blacks must be, to turn so sud- denly from their professions and promises! I am half sorry you have any thing more to do with them, and more than ever regret you did not stand for Westminster with Charles , instead of Lord John;- in that case you would have come in now, and we should not have been persecuted by this Home Tooke. However , it is the dullest contested election that ever was seen no canvassing , no houses open, no cockades. But I heard that a report prevails now, that Home Tooke polling so few the two or three first days is an artful trick to put the others off their guard , and that he means to pour in his votes on the last days, when it will be too late for them to repair their neglect. But I don't think it possible, either, for such a fellow to beat Charles in Westminster. " I have just had a note from Reid he is at Canterbury -.the state of the poll there, Thursday ni ght, was as follows : Gipps, 220; Lord * *, 211: OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 317 Sir T. Honey wood , ai6;'Mr. Warton , i65. We have got two members for Wendover, and two at Ailsbury. Mr. Barhatn is beat at Stockbridge. Mr. Tierne\ says he shall be beat, owing to Bate Dudley's manoeuvres, and the Disinters having all forsaken him, a set of ungrateful wretches. K. Fau kener has just sent me a state of the poll at . Northampton , as it stood \ r.sterday, when they adjourned to ( dinner : Lord Compton, 160; Bouveric, 98; Colonel Manners , 72. They are in hopes Mr. Manners will give up. This is all my -news, Sir. \Ve had a very pleasant musical party last night at Lord Erskine's, where I supped. I am asked to dine to-day with Lady Palmerston, at Sheen ; but I can't go-, unless Mrs. Grewe will carry me, as the coach is gone to. have its new lining. I have sent to ask her, for 'tis a fine day, and 1 should like it very well. God thee bless, my dear Dick. " Ytours ever, true and affectionate , ,'V' "E. S." " Duke of Portland has just left- me : he is full of anxiety about you : l liis is the second time he has called to enquire." Having secured his own election, Mr. Sheridan now hastened to lend his aid, where such a lively reinforcement was much wanted, on the hustings at Westminster. The contest here was protracted to the 2d of July ; and it required no little exercise both pf wit and temper to encounter the cool personalities of Tooke , who had not forgotten the severe remarks of Sheridan upon His pamphlet the pre- ceding year, and who, in addition to his strong powers of sarcasm , had all those advantages which , in such a contest , contempt for the courtesies and compromises of party warfare gives. Among other sallies of his splenetic humour it is related, that Mr. Fox having, upon one occasion, retired from the hustings, and left to Sheridan the task of addressing the multitude, Tooke remarked , that such was always the practice of quack-doctors , who, whenever they quit the stage themselves, make it a rule to leave their merry-andrews behind'. The French Revolution still continued , by its comet-like course , to dazzle , alarm and disturb all Europe. Mr. Burke had ^published his celebrated " Reflections 1 ' in the month of November , 1790- and never did any work , with the exception , perhaps , of the Eikon Basiiike, produce such a rapid, deep and general sensation. The Eikon was the book of a King, and this might, in another sense, be called the Book of Kings. Not only in England , but throughout all Europe, in every part of which monarchy was now trembling ' Tooke, it is said, upon coining one Monday morning to ihe hustings, was thus addressed by a partizan of his opponent, not of a very reputable character "Well, Mr. Tooke, you will have all the blackguards with you to-day." " I am delimited in hear It , Sir," (said Tooke, bowing.) "and from snch good autlfoiitv." 318 MEMOIRS lor its existence , this lofty appeal to loyalty was heard and wel- comed. Its effect upon the already tottering Whig party was like that of " the Voice," in the ruins of Rome, "disparting towers." The whole fabric of the old Rockingham confederacy shook to its base. Even some , who afterwards recovered their equilibrium , at first yielded to the eloquence of this extraordinary book , which , like the acra of chivalry , whose loss it deplores, mixes a grandeur with error, and throws a charm round political superstition , that will long render its pages a sort of region of Royal romance , to which fancy will have recourse for illusions that have lost their last hold on the reason. The undisguised freedom with which Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan expressed every where their opinions of this work and its principles had, of course, no small influence on the temper of the author, and, while it confirmed him in his haired and jealousy of the one , pre- pared him for the breach which he meditated with the other. This breach was now , indeed , daily expected , as a natural sequel to the rupture with Mr. {Sheridan in the last session -, but, by various acci- dents and interpositions, 'the crisis was delayed till the 6th of May , when the recommitment of the Quebec Bill , a question , upon which both orators had already taken occasion to unfold their views of the French Revolution, -furnished Burke with an opportunity , of which he impetuously look advantage, lo sever the lie between himself and Mr. Fox for ever. Tliis scene, so singular in a public assembly , where the natural affections were but seldom called out, and where, though bursts of temper like that of Burke are common , such tears as those shed by Mr. Fox are rare phenomena , has been so often described in va- rious publications , that it would be superfluous to enter into the de- tails of it here. The following are the solemn and stern words in which sentence of death was pronounced upon a friendship , that had now lasted for more than the fourth part of a century. " It cer- tainly ," said Mr. Burke, "was indiscretion at any period, but especially at his lime of life , to provoke enemies , or to give his friends occasion to desert him ; yet, if his firm and steady adherence to the British Constitution placed him in such a dilemma , he would risk all, and, as public duty and public prudence taught him , with his last words exclaim , ' Fly from the French Constitution.' " [Mr. Fox here whispered , that " there was no loss of friendship.' ] Mr. Burke said, "Yes, there was a loss of friendship ; he knew the price of his conduct , he had done his duty at the price of his friend; their friendship was at an end." In rising to reply to the speech of Burke , Mr. Fox was- so affected as lo be for some moments unable to speak : he wept . it is said , OF K. B. SHERIDAN. 319 oven to sobbing; and persons who were in Iho gallery at the time declare, that, \vhilehespoke, there was hardly a dry eye around them. Had it been possible for two natures so incapable of disguise the one from simplicity and frankness , the other from ungovernable temper , to have continued in relations- of amity, notwithstanding their disagreement upon a question which was at that moment soiling the world in arms , both themselves and the country would have been the better for such a compromise between them. Their long habits of mutual deference would have mingled with and mo- derated the discussion* of their present differences-, the tendency to one common centre to which their minds had been accustomed, would have prevented them from flying &o very widely asunder ; and both might have been tjius saved, from those extremes of principle , which Mr. Burke always , and Mr. Fox sometimes , had recourse to in defending their respective opinions, and which, by lighting , as it were, the torch at both ends, bu( hastened a conflagration in which liberty herself might have been the sufferer. But it was evi- dent that such a compromise would have been wholly .impossible. Even granting that Mr. Burke did not welcome the schism as a re- lief, neither the temper of the men nor the spirit of the times, which converted opinions at once into passions ^ would have admitted of such a peaceable counterbalance of principles , nor suffered them long to slumber in that hollow truce , which Tacitus has described, " manente in speciem amicitia.'''' Mr. Sheridan saw this from the first ; and , in hasarding that vehement speech by which he pro- voked the rupture between himself and Burke, neither his judgment nor his temper were so much off their guard as they who blamed thai speech seemed inclined to infer. But, perceiving that a sepa- ration was in the end inevitable, he thought it safer, perhaps, as well as manlier , to encounter the extremities at once , than by any temporizing delay , or loo complaisant suppression of opinion , to involve both himself and Mr, Fox in the suspicion of either sharing or countenancing that spirit of defection , which , he saw , was fast spreading among the rest of their associates. It is indeed said , and with every appearance of truth , that Mr. Sheridan had fell offended by the censures which, some of his political friends had pronounced upon the indiscretion (as it was called) of his speech in the last year, and that , having, in consequence, with- drawn from them the aid of his powerful talents during a great part of the present session , he but returned to his post under the express condition , that he should be allowed to lake the earliest opportunity of repeating, fully and explicitly, the same avowal of his senti- ments. 320 MEMOIRS The following teller from Dr. Parr to Mrs. Sheridan , written immediately after the scene between Eurke and Sheridan in the pre- ceding year, is curious : " DEAR 31 ADAM, " I am most iixedly and most indignantly on the side of Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Fox against Mr. Burke. It is not merely French politics that produced this dispute; they might have been settled privately. No, no, there is jealousy lurking underneath ; jealousy of Mr. Sheridan's eloquence ; jealousy of his popularity ; jealousy of his influence with Mr. Fox; jealousy, perhaps, of his connection with the Prince. " Mr. Sheridan was, Ithink , not too warm ; or , at least, I should have myself been warmer. Why, Burke accused Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan of acts leading to rebellion, and he made Mr. Fox a dupe, and Mr. Sheridan a traitor ! I think this, and lam sure, yes, positively sure, that nothing else will allay.the ferment of mens' minds. Mr. Sheridan ought, publicly in Parliament, to demand proof , or a retractation, of this horrible charge. Pitt's words never did the party half the hurt; and, just on the eve of aa election, it is worse. As to private bickerings, or private concessions and reconciliations, they are all nothing. In public all must be again taken up ; for if drowned , the Public will say, and Pitt will insinuate , that the charge is well founded , and that they dare not provoke an enquiry. " I know Burke is not addicted to giving up, and so much the worse for him and his parly. As to Mr. Fox's yielding, well had it been for all, all, all the party, if 3Ir. Fox had, now and then, stood out against Mr. Burke. The ferment and alarm are universal, and something must be done ; for it is a conflagration in which they must perish , unless it be stopped. All the papers are with Burke, even the Foxite papers, which I have seen. I know his violence, and temper, and obstinacy of opinion, and but 1 will not speak out, fpr, though I think him the greatest man upon the earth , yet , in politics I think him, what he has been found , to the sorrow of those who act with him. He is incorrupt, I know ; but bis passions are quite headstrong ' , and age, and disappoint- ment, and the sight of other men rising into fame and consequence, sour him. Pray tell me when they are reconciled, though, as I said , it is nothing to the purpose without a public explanation. " Lam , dear Madam, "Yours truly, "S.-PAHR," Another letter, communicated to me as having been written about this period to Sheridan by a gentleman , then abroad , who was w ell acquainted with the whole party , contains allusions to the breach , which make its introduction here not irrelevant : ' I wish very much to have some account of the state of things with 1 It was well said, (I believe , by Mr. Fox,) tbat it was lucky bolh for Cnrke and \Vindham. tbat tbey took the Royal side on the subject of (be Trench Revolu- tion ,~as tuny would bave got banged on the other. OF R. K. SHERIDAN, 321 you that I cau rely on. I wish to know how all my old companions and fellow-labourers do ; if the club yet exists ; if you and Richardson , and Lord Jolm, and Ellis, and Lawrence, and Fitzpatrick, etc. meet, and joke, and write as of old. What is become of Becket's, and the snpper-parties, the nodes ccencequc ? Poor Burgoyne ! lam sure you allmommed him as I did, particularly Richardson: pray remem- ber me affectionately to Richardson. It is a shame for you all, and I will say ungrateful in many of you, to have so totally forgotten me, and to leave me in ignorance of every thing public and private in which I am interested. The only creature -who writes to me is the Duke of Portland; but in the great and weighty occupations that engross his mind, you can easily conceive that the little details of Society cannot enter into His Grace's correspondence. I have indeed carried on a pretty re- gular correspondence with young Burke. But that is now at an end. He is so wrapt up in the importance of his present pursuits, that it is too great an honour for me to continue to correspond with him. His father I ever must venerate and ever love ; yet I never could admire, even in him, what his son has inherited from him, a tenacity of opinion and a vio- lence of principle, that makes him lose his friendships in his politics, and quarrel with every one who differs from him. Bitterly Jiave I la- mented that greatest of these quarrels, and , indeed, the only important one : nor can I conceive it to have been 'less afflicting to my private feel- ings than fatal to the party. The worst of it to me was, that I was obliged to condemn the man I loved , and that alt the warmth of my affection , and the zeal of my partiality, could not suggest a single excuse to vindi- cate him , either to the world or to myself, from the crime (for such it was ) of giving such a triumph to the common enemy. He failed, too,. in what I most loved him for, his heart. There it was that Mr... Fox prin- cipally rose above, him-; nor, amiable as he ever has been, did he ever appear half so amiable as on that trying occasion." The topic upon which Sheridan most distinguished himself during this Session .was the meditated interference of England in the war between Russia and the Porte , one of the few- measures of Mr. Pilt on which the sense of the nation was opposed to him. So unpo- pular , indeed , was the Armament proposed to be raised for this object , and so rapidly did the majority of the Minister diminish during the discussion of it , that there appeared for some time a pro- bability that the Whig party would be called into power , an event which, happening at this critical juncture , might, by altering the policy of England, have changed the destinies of all Europe. The circumstance to which at present this Russian question owes its chief hold upon English memories is the charge , arising out of it, brought against Mr. Fox of having sent Mr. Adair as his repre- sentative to Pelersburgh , for the purpose of frustrating the objects for which the King's ministers were then actually negotiating. This accusation, though more than once obliquely intimated during the discussions upon the Russian Armament in 1791, first met the public 21 322 MEMOIRS eye, in any tangible form, among those celebrated Articles of Im- peachment against Mr. Fox, which were drawn up by Burke's prac- tised hand ' in 1793, and found their way surreptitiously into print in 1797. The angry and vindictive tone of this paper was but little calculated to inspire confidence in its statements , and the charge again died away, unsupported and unrefuled , till the appearance of the Memoirs of Mr. Pitt by the Bishop of Winchester 5 when , upon the authority of documents said to be found among the papers of Mr. Pitt, but not produced, the accusation was revived, the Right Reverend biographer calling in aid of his own view of the transaction the charitable opinion of the Turks , who, he complacently assures us, "expressed great surprise that Mr. Fox had not lost his head for such conduct." Notwithstanding, however, this Concordat be- tween the Right Reverend Prelate and the Turks , something more is still wanting to give validity to so serious an accusation. Until the production of the alleged proofs ( which Mr. Adair has confidently demanded) shall have put the public in possession of more recon- dite materials for judging , they must regard as satisfactory and con- clusive the refutation of the whole charge , both as regards himself and his illustrious friend, which Mr. Adair has laid before the world , and for the truth of which not only his own high character, but the character of the ministries of both parties , who have since employed him in missions of the first trust and importance , seem to offer the strongest and most convincing pledges. The Empress of Russia , in testimony of her admiration of the eloquence of Mr. Fox on this occasion , sent an order to England , through her ambassador, for a bust of that statesman , which it was her intention , she said, to place between those of Demosthenes and Cicero. The following is a literal copy of Her Imperial Majesty's note on the subject 2 : " Ecrivez au Cte. Worehzof qu'il me fasse avoir en marbre blanc le buste ressemfolant de Charles Fox. Je veux le mettre sur ma colonnade entre ceux de Demosthene ct de Ciceron. " II a delivre par son eloquence sa patrie et la Russie d'une guerre a laquelle il n'y avail ni justice ni raison." Another subject that engaged much of the attention of Mr. She- ridan this year was his own motion relative to the constitution of the 1 This was the third time that his talent for impeaching was exercised , as he acknowledged having drawn up, daring the administration of Lord North, seven distinct Articles of Impeachment against that nobleman, .which, however, the advice of Lord Rockingham induced him to relinquish.-; : 3 Found among Mr. Sheridan's papers, with these words, in his own band- writing, annexed : "N. B. Fox would have lost it, if I had not made him look for it, and taken a copy." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 353 Royal Scotch Boroughs. He had been , singularly enough , selected , in the year 1787, by the Burgesses of Scotland, in preference to so many others possessing more personal knowledge of that country, to present to the House the Petition of the Convention of Delegates , for a Reform of the internal government of the Royal Boroughs. How fully satisfied they were with his exertions in their cause may be judged by the following extract from the Minutes of Convention, dated llth August, 1791 : " Mr. Mills of Perth, after a suitable introductory speech, moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Sheridan , in the following words : "The Delegates of the Burgesses of Scotland, associated for the purposes of Reform, taking into their most serious consideration the important services rendered to their cause by the manly and prudent exertions of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Esq., the genuine and fixed at- tachment to it which the whole tenor of his conduct has evinced, and the admirable moderation lie has all along displayed, " Resolved unanimously, That the most sincere thanks of this meeting be given to tlie said Richard Brinsley She'ridan , Esq., for his steady, honourable, and judicious conduct in bringing the question relative to the violated rigbts of the Scottish Boroughs to its present important and favourable crisis ; and the Burgesses with firm confidence hope that, from his attachment to tbe cause, which he has sbown to be deeply rooted iu principle, he will persevere to exert his distinguished abilities, till the objects of it are obtained, with tbat inflexible firmness, and constitutional moderation , which have appeared so .conspicuous and exemplary throughout the whole of bis conduct, as to be highly deserving of tbe imitation of all good citizens. " JOHN EWEN , Secretary." From a private letter written this year by one of the Scottish Dele- gates to a friend of Mr. Sheridan, (a copy of which letter 1 have found among the papers of the latter, ) ft appears that the disturbing effects of Mr. Burke's book had already shown themselves so strongly among the Whig party as to fill the writer with apprehensions of their defection , even on the safe .and moderate question of Scotch Reform. He mentions one distinguished member of the party, who afterwards stood conspicuously in the very van of the Opposition , but who at that moment, if the authority of the letter may be de- pended upon, was, like others, under the spell of the great Alarmist, and yielding rapidly to the influence of that anti-revolutionary terror, which, like the Panic dignified by the ancients with the name of one of their Gods, will be long associated in the memories of Englishmen with the mighty name and genius of Burke. A consultation was , however, held among this portion of the party, with respect to the prudence of lending their assistance to the measure of Scotch Re- form ; and Sir James Mackintosh, as I have heard him say. was in 324 MEMOIRS company with Sheridan, when Dr. Lawrence came direct from the meeting, to inform him that they had agreed to support his motion. The stale of the Scotch Representation is one of those cases, where a dread of the ulterior objects of Reform induces many persons to oppose its first steps , however beneficial and reasonable they may deem them, rather than risk a further application of the principle , or open a breach by which a bolder spirit of innovation may enter. As it is, there is no such thing as popular election in Scotland. We cannot, indeed , more clearly form to ourselves a notion of the man- ner in which so important a portion of the British empire is repre- sented , than by supposing the Lords of the Manor throughout Eng- land to be invested with the power of clecling her representatives, the manorial rights, too, being, in a much greater number of in- stances than at present, held independently of the land from which they derive their claim, and thus the natural connection between property and the right of election being, in most cases, wholly sepa- rated. Such would be, as nearly as possible, a parallel to the system of representation now existing in Scotland; a system, which it is the understood duly of all present and future Lord Advocates to de- fend , and which neither the lively assaults of a Sheridan, nor the sounder reasoning and industry of an Abcrcrombie , have yet been able to shake. The following extract from another of the many letters of Dr. Parr to Sheridan shows still further the feeling entertained towards Rurke , even by some of those who most violently differed with him : " During the recess of Parliament T hope you will read the mighty work of my friend and your friend, and Mr. Fox's friend, Mackintosh . there is some obscurity and there are many Scotticisms in it; yet 1 do pronounce it the work of a most masculine and comprehensive mind. The arrangement is far more methodical than Mr. Burke's , the sentiments are more patriotic, the reasoning is more profound , and even the imagery in some places is scarcely less splendid. I think Mackintosh a better philosopher, and a better citizen , and I know him to be a far better scholar, and a far better man, than Payne; in whose book there are great irradiations of genius, but none of the glowing and generous warmth which virtue inspires; that warmth which is often kindled in the bosom of Mackintosh, and which pervades almost every page in Mr. Burke's book though I confess, and with sorrow.! confess, that the holy flame was quite extinguished in his odious altercation with you and Mr. Fox." A letter from the Prince of Wales to Sheridan this year furnishes a new proof of the confidence reposed in him by His Royal Highness. A question of much delicacy and importance having arisen between that Illustrious Personage and the Duke of York , of a nature , as il OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 325 appears , too urgent to wait for a reference to Mr. Fox , Sheridan had alone the honour of advising His Royal Highness in the corres- pondence that took place between him and his Royal Brother on that occasion. Though the letter affords no immediate clue to the subject of these communications, there is little doubt that they referred to a very important and embarrassing question , which is known to have been put by the Duke of York to the Heir Apparent , previously to his own marriage this year; a question , which involved considera- tions connected with the Succession to the Crown , and which the Prince", witli the recollection of what occurred on the same subject in 1787, could only get rid of by an evasive answer. CHAPTER XV. Death of Mrs. Sheridan. IN the year 1792 , after a long illness , which terminated in con- sumption, Mrs. Sheridan died at Bristol, in the thirty-eighth year of her age. There has seldom , perhaps , existed a finer combination of all those qualities that attract both eye and heart than this accomplished and lovely person exhibited. To judge by what we hear, it was im- possible to sec her without admiration, or know her without love; and a late Bishop used to say that she '.'.seemed to him the connect- ing link between woman and angel ' ." The devpledness of affection r too, with which she was regarded , not only by her own father and sisters , but by all her husband's family, showed that her fascination was of that best kind which , like charity, " begins at home ;" and that , while her beauty and music enchanted the world , she had charms more intrinsic and lasting for those who came nearcx to her. We have already seen with what pliant sympathy she followed her husband through his various pursuits , identifying herself with the politician as warmly and readily as with the author, and keeping Love still attendant on Genius through all his transformations. As the wife of the dramatist and manager, we find her calculating the receipts of the house , assisting in the adaptation of her husband's opera , and reading over the plays sent in by dramatic candidates. As the wife of the senator and orator we see her, with no less zeal , making extracts from state-papers , and copying out ponderous pamphlets, entering with all her heart and soul into the details of elections , and even endeavouring to fathom the mysteries of the ' Jackson of Exeter, too , giving a description of her, in some IVIemoii's of bis own Life that were never published, said that to see her, as she stood oiogiug Iw-side him at the pia uo-foilc , was " like looking into the face of an angel." 326 MEMOIRS Funds. The affectionate and sensible care with which she watched over, not only her own children , but those which her beloved sister, Mrs. Tickell , confided to her, in dying , gives the finish to this picture of domestic usefulness. When it is recollected , too , that the person thus homelily employed was gifted with every charm that could adorn and delight society, it would be difficult , perhaps, to find any where a more perfect example of that happy mixture of utility and ornament , in which all that is prized by the husband and the lover combines , and which renders woman what the Sacred Fire \vas to the Parsees , not only an object of adoration on their altars, but a source of warmth and comfort to their hearths. To say that , with all this , she was not happy, nor escaped the censure of the world , is but to assign to her that share of shadow, without which nothing bright ever existed on this earth. United not only by marriage , but by love , to a man who was the object of uni- versal admiration , and whose vanity and passions too often led him to yield to the temptations by which he was surrounded , it was but natural that, in the consciousness of her own power to charm, she should be now and then piqued into an appearance of retaliation , and seem to listen with complacence to some of those numerous worshippers who crowd around such beautiful and unguarded shrines. Not that she was at any time unwatched by Sheridan ; on the contrary, he followed her with a lover's eyes throughout; and it was believed of both , by those who knew them best , that , even when they seemed most attracted by other objects , they would will- ingly, had they consulted the real wishes of their hearts, have given up every one in the world for each other. So wantonly do those , who have happiness in their grasp , trifle with that rare and delicate treasure, till , like the careless hand playing with a rose, " In swinging it rudely, too rudely, alas , They snap it it falls to the ground." They had , immediately after their marriage , as we have seen , passed some time in a little cottage at Easlburnham , and it was a period, of course, long remembered by them both for its happiness. I have been told by a friend of Sheridan , that he once overheard him exclaiming to himself, after looking for some moments at his wife, with a pang, no doubt, of melancholy self-reproach, "Could any thing bring back those first feelings?" then adding, with a sigh, ".Yes, perhaps, the cottage at Eastburnham might." In this , as well as in some other traits of the same kind , there is assuredly any thing but that common place indifference , which too often clouds over the evening of married life. On the contrary, it seems rather the struggle of affection with its own remorse $ and , 01 R. B. SHERIDAN- 3S7 like the humourist who mourned over the extinction of his intellect so eloquently as to prove thai it was still in full vigour, shows love to be still warmly alive in the very act of lamenting its death. I have already presented the reader with some letters of Mrs. She- ridan , in which the feminine character of her mind very interest- ingly displays itself. Their chief charm is unaffectedness , and the total absence of that literary style which , in the present day, infects even the most familiar correspondence. I shall here give a few more of her letters , written at different periods to the elder sister of She- ridan , it being one of her many merits to have kept alive between her husband and his family, though so far separated, a constant and cordial intercourse, which, unluckily, after her death, from his own indolence and the new connections into which he entered, was suffered to die away, almost entirely. The first letter, from its allu- sion to the Westminster Scrutiny , must have been written in the year 1784 , Mr. Fox having gained his great victory over Sir Cecil Wray on the 17th of May, and the Scrutiny having been granted on the same day. " MY DEAR Lissr, London, June 6. . " I am happy to find by your last that our apprehensions on Charles's account were useless. The many reports that were circulated here of his , accident gave us a good deal of uneasiness ; but it is no longer wonderful that he should be buried here, when Mr. Jackman has so barbarously murdered him with you. I fancy he would risk another broken head , rather than give up his title to it as an officer pf the Crown. We go on here wrangling as usual , but I am afraid all to no purpose. Those who are in possession of power are determined to use it without the least pretence to justice or consistency.- They have. ordered a Scrutiny for Westminster, in defiance of all law or precedent, and without any other hope or expectation but that of harassing and tormenting Mr. Fox and his friends, and obliging them to waste their time and money, which perhaps they think might otherwise be employed to a better purpose in another cause. We have nothing for it but patience and perseverance, which I hope will at last be crowned with success, though I fear it will be a much longer trial than we at fir,st expected. I hear from every body that your are vastly disliked, but are you not all kept in awe by such beauty ? I know she flattered herself to subdue all your Volunteers by the fire of her eyes only : how astonished she must be to find they have not yet laid down their arms! There is nothing would tempt me to trust my sweet person upon the water sooner than the thoughts of seeing you ; but I fear my friendship will hardly ever be put to so hard a trial. Though Sheridan is not in office, I think he is more engaged by politics than ever. " I suppose we shall not leave town till September. We have promised to pay many visits, but I fear we shall be obliged to give up many of our schemes, for I take it for granted Parliament will meet again as soon as 328 MEMOIRS possible. We are to go to Chatsworth, and to another friend -of mine in that neighbourhood, so that I doubt our being able to pay our annual visit to Crewe Hall. Mrs Crewe has been very ill all this winter with your old complaint, the rheumatism : she is gone lo Brightelmstone to wash it awav in the sea. Do you ever see Mrs. Greville? 1 am glad to hear my two nephews are both in so thriving a way. Are your still a nurse? I should like to take a peep at your bantlings. Which is the handsomest? have you candour enough to think any thing equal to your own boy ? if you have, you have more merit than I can claim. Pray remember me kindly to Bess, Mr. L., etc. and don't forget to kiss the little squaller for me when you have nothing better to do. God bless you. " Ever yours." " The inclosed came to Dick in one of Charles's franks : he said lie should write to you himself with it, but I think it safest not to trust him." In another letter, written in the same year, there arc some touches both of sisterly and of conjugal feeling, which seem to bespeak a heart happy in all its affections. " MY DEAR LISSY, Putney, August, iG. " You will no doubt be surprised to find me still dating from this place, but various reasons have detained me here from day to day, to the groat dissatisfaction of my dear Mary, who has been expecting me hourly for the last fortnight. 1 propose going to Hampton-Court to- night, if Dick returns in any decent time from town. " I got your letter and a half the day before yesterday, and shall be very well pleased to have such blunders occur more frequently. You mistake, if you suppose I am a friend to your tarrers and featherers : it is such wretches that always ruin a good cause. There is no reason on earth why you should not have a new Parliament as well as us : it might not, perhaps, be quite as convenient to our immaculate Minister, but I sincerely hope he will not find your Volunteers so accommodating as the present India troops in our House of Commons. What! does the Secretary at War condescend to reside in any house but his own ? 'Tis very odd he should turn himself out of doors in his situation. I never could perceive any economy in dragging furniture from one place to another; but, of course, lie has more experience in these matters than I have. " Mr. Forbes dined here the other day, and I had a great deal of conversation with him on various subjects relating to you all. lie says, Charles's manner of talking of his wife, etc. is so ridiculous, that whenever he comes into company, they always cry out, ' Now, S n , we allow you half an hour to talk of the beauties of Mrs. S., half an hour to your child, and another half hour to your farm, and then we expect you will behave like a reasonable person.' " So Mrs. is not happy : poor thing, 1 dare say, if the I ruth were known, he teazes her to death. Your very good husbands generally contrive to make you sensible of their merit some how or other. " From a letter Mr. Canning has just got from Dublin, 1 find you have OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 329 been breaking the heads of some of our English heroes. I have no doubt in the world that they deserved it; and if half a score more that I know had shared the same fate, it might, perhaps, become less the fashion among our young men to be such contemptible coxcombs as they certainly are. " My sister desired me to say all sorts of affectionate things to you, in return for your kind remembrance of her in your last. I assure you, you lost a great deal by not seeing her in her maternal character : it is the prettiest sight in the world to see her with her children : they are both charming creatures, but my little namesake is my delight : 'tis impos- sible to say how foolishly fond of her I am. Poor Mary ! she is in a way to have more, and what will become of them all is sometimes a conside- ration that gives me many a painful hour. But they are happy, with their little portion of the goods of this world : then, what are riches good for? For my part, as you know, poor Dick and I have always been struggling against the stream, and shall probably continue to do so to the end of our lives, yet we would not change sentiments or sensations with. . . . for all his estates. By the bye, I was told t'other day he was going to receive eight thousand pounds as 'a compromise for his uncle's estate , which has been so long in litigation : is it true ? I dare say it is though, or he would not be so discontented as you say he is.. God bless you. Give my love to Bess, and return a kiss to my nephew for me. Remember me to Mr. L., and believe me . " Truly yqurs." The following letters appear to have been written in 1785, some months after the death of her sister, Miss Maria Liniey. Her playful allusions to the fame of her own beauty might have been answered in the language of Paris to Helen : " Minor est tua gloria veto Famaque de forma pcne maligna est." " Thy beauty far outruns even rumour's tongue, And envious fame leaves half thy charms unsung." " MY DEAR LISSY , " Delapre Abbey, Dec. 27. " Notwithstanding your incredulity, I assure you I wrote to you from Hampton-Court, very soon after Bess came to England. My letter was a dismal one; for my mind was at that tjme entirely occupied by the affecting circumstance^ of my poor sister's death. Perhaps you lost nothing by not receiving my letter, for it was not much calculated 'to amuse you. " lam still a recluse, you see, but I am preparing to Inunch for the winter in a few days. Dick was detained in town by a bad fever : you may suppose I was kept in ignorance of his situation, or I should not have remained so quietly here. He came last week , and the fatigue of the journey very nearly occasioned a relapse : but by the help of a jewel of a doctor that lives in this neighbourhood we are both quite stout, and well again (for I took it into my head to fall sick again, too, without rhyme or reason). " We purpose going to town to-morrow or next day. Our own house .330 MEMOIRS has been painting and papering, and the weather lias heen so unfavourable to the business, that it is probable it will not be fit for us to go info this month ; we have, therefore, accepted a most pressing invitation of General Burgoyne to take up our abode with him , till our house is ready ; so your next must be directed to Bruton-Street, under cover to Dick, unless Charles will frank it again. I don't believe what you say of Charles's not being glad to have seen me in Dublin. You are very flattering in the reasons you give , but I rather think his vanity would have been more gratified by showing every body how much prettier and younger his wife was than the Mrs. Sheridan in whose favour they have been prejudiced by your good-natured partiality. If I could have persuaded myself to trust the treacherous ocean, the pleasure of seeing you and your nursery would have compensated for all the fame I should have lost by a compa- rison. But my guardian sylph, vainer of my beauty, perhaps, than myself, would not suffer me to destroy the flattering illusion you have so often displayed to your Irish friends. No, I shall stay till I am past all preten- sions, and then you may excuse your want of taste by saying, " Oh, if you had seen her when she was young ! " " I am very glad that Bess is satisfied with my attention to her. The unpleasant situation I was in prevented my seeing her as often as I could wish. For her sake I assure you I shall be glad to have Dick and your father on good terms, without entering into any arguments on the subject; but I fear, where one of the parties, at least, has a tincture of what they call in Latin damnatus obstinatus mulio, the attempt will be difficult, and the success uncertain. God bless you ; and believe me " Truly yours." " Mrs. Lefanu, Great Cuff Street, Dublin. The next letter I shall give refers to the illness with which old Mr. Sheridan was attacked in the beginning of the year 1788, and of which he died in the month of August following. It is unneces- sary to direct the reader's attention to the passages in which she speaks of her lost sister, Mrs. Tickell, and her children: they have too much of the heart's best feelings in them to be passed over slightly. " MY DEAR Lissv, London, April 5. " Yonr last letter I hope was written when you were low spirited, and consequently inclined to forbode misfortune. I would not show it to She- ridan : lie has lately been much harassed by business, and I could not bear to give him the pain I know your letter would have occasioned. Partial as your father has always been to Charles, I am confldent he never has, nor ever will feel half the dutv and affections that Dick has always exprest. I know how deeply he will be afflicted, if you confirm the melan- choly account of his declining health; but I trust your next will remove my apprehensions, and make it unnecessary for me to w r ound his affec- tionate heart by the intelligence. I flatter myself likewise, that you have l>een without reason alarmed about poor Bess. Her life, to be sure, must lie dreadful; but I should hope the good nature and kindness of her OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 331 disposition will support her, and enable her to continue the painful duty so necessary, probably, to the comfort of your poor father. If Charles has not or dots not do every thing in his power to contribute to the happiness of the few years which nature can allow him , he will, have more to answer to his conscience than I trust any of those dear to me will have. Mrs. Crewe told us , the other day, she had heard from Mr. Greville, that every thing was settled much to your father's satisfaction. I -will hope, therefore , as I have said before, you were in a gloomy fit when you wrote, and in the mean time I will congratulate you on the recovery of ' your own health and that of your children. " I have been confined now near two months : I caught cold almost immediately on coming to town, which broughton all those dreadful com- plaints with which I was afflicted at Crewe-Hall.By constant attention and strict regimen I am once more got about again ; but I never go out of my house after the sun is down , and on those terms only can I enjoy tolerable health. I never knew Dick better. My dear boy is now with me for his holydays, and a" charming creature he is, I assure you, in every respect. My sweet little charge , too , promises to reward me for all my care and anxiety. The little ones come to me every day, though they do not at present live with me. We think of taking a house in the country this summer, as necessary for my health and convenient to S., who must be often in town. I shall then have all the children with me , as they now constitute a very great part of my happiness. The scenes, of sorrow, and sickness I have lately gone through have depressed my spirits, and made me incapable of finding pleasure in the amusements which used to occupy me perhaps too much. My greatest delight is in the reflection that I am acting according to the wishes of my ever dear and lamented sister, and that by fulfilling the sacred trust bequeathed me in her last moments, I insure my own felicity in the grateful affection of the sweet creatures, whom, though I love for their own sakes., .1 idolise when I consider them as the dearest part of her who was the first and nearest friend of my heart ! God bless you, my dear Liss : this is a subject that always carries me away. I will therefore bid you adieu, only entreating you as soon as you can to send me a more comfortable letter,. My kind love to Bess , and Mr. L. " Yours, ever affectionately." I shall give but one more letter ; which is perhaps only interesting as showing how little her heart went along with the gaieties , into which her husband's connexion with the world of fashion and poli- tics led her. MY DEAR LISSY, May a3. u I have only time at present to write a few lines at the request of Mrs. Crewe, who is made very unhappy by an account of Mrs. Greville's illness, as she thinks it possible Mrs. G. has not confessed the whole of her situation. She earnestly wishes you would find out from Dr. Quin what the nature of her complaint is, with every other particular you can gather on the subject , and give me a line as soon as possible. " I am vry glad to find your father is better. As there has l>cen a 332 MEMOIRS recess lately from the Trial, I thought it best to acquaint Sheridan with his illness. I hope now, however, tliere.is but little reason to be alarmed about him. Mr. Tickell has just received an account from Holland , that poor Mrs. Berkeley (whom yo'u know best as Betty Tickell) was at the point of death in a consumption. " I hope in a very short time now to get into the country. The Duke of Norfolk has lent us a house within twenty miles of London; and I am im- patient to be once more out df this noisy, dissipated town , where I do nothing that I really like, and am forced to appear pleased with every thing odious to me. God bless you. I write in the hurry of dressing for a great ball given by the Duke of York to-night, which I had determined not to go to till late last night, when I was persuaded that it would be- very improper to refuse a Royal invitation , if I was not absolutely confined by illness. Adieu. Believe me truly yours. " You must pay for this letter, for Dick has got your last with the di- rection ; and any thing in his hands is irrecoverable! " The health of Mrs. Sheridan , as we sec by some of her letters , had been for some time delicate ; but it appears that her last fatal illness originated in a cold which she had caught in the summer of the preceding year. Though she continued from that time to grow gradually worse , her friends were flattered with the hope that as soon as her confinement should take place , she would be relieved from all that appeared most dangerous in her complaint. That event , however, produced but a temporary intermission of the malady, which returned after a few days with such increased violence , that it became necessary for her, as a last hope, to try the waters of Bristol. The following affectionate letter of Tickell must have been written at this period : " 3Iv UKAR SHEKIDAX, "1 was but too well prepared for the melancholy intelligence con- tained in your last letter, in answer to which, as Richardson will give you Ibis, J leave it to his kindness to do me justice in every sincere and affec- tionate expression of my griaf for your situation , and my entire readiness to obey and further A our wishes by every possible exertion. " If you have any possible opportunity, let me entreat you to remem- ber me lo the dearest, tenderest friend and sister of my heart. Sustain yourself, im dear Sheridan, " And believe me yours, "Most affectionately and faithfully, "R. TICRRLL. ; The circumstances of her death cannot better be told than in the language of a lady whose name it would be\an .honour to mention, who, giving up all other cares and duties , accompanied her dying friend U Bristol and devoted herself , with a tenderness rarely OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 333 equalled even among women , lo the soothing and lightening of her last painful moments. From the letters written by this lady at the time, some extracts have lately been given by Miss Lefanu 1 in her interesting Memoirs of her grandmother, Mrs. Frances Sheridan. Hul their whole contents are so important to the characters of the persons concerned , and so delicately draw aside the veil from a scone of which sorrow and affection were the only witnesses, that 1 I'trl myself justified not only in repeating what has already been quoted , but in.adding a few more valuable particulars , which , by Ihe kindness of (he writer and her correspondent, I am enabled lo um> from the same authentic source. The letters are addressed to Mrs. -H. Lefanu, the second sister of Mr. Sheridan. ... " Bristol, June , i. 1792. " I am happy to htrve it in my power to give you any information on a subject so interesting to you, and to all that have the happiness of know- ing dear Mrs. Sheridan ; though I am sorry to add, it cannot be such as will relieve your anxiety, or abate your fears. ^l' e truth is, our poor friend is in a most precarious state of health , and quite given over by the faculty. Her physician here, who is esteemed very skilful in consumptive cases, assured me from the first that it was a lost case ; but as your bro- ther seemed unwilling to know the truth , he was not so explicit with him, and only represented her as being in a very critical situation. Poor man ! he cannot bear to think her in danger himself , or that any one else should; though he is as attentive and watchful as if he expected every moment to be her last. It is impossible for any man to behaVe with greater tenderness, or to feel more on such an occasion , than he does. " At times the dear creature suffers a great deal from weakness and want of rest. She is. very patient under her sufferings, and perfectly re- signed. She is well aware of her danger, and talks of dying with the greatest composure. I am sure it will give you and Mr. Lefanu pleasure to know that her mind is well prepared for any chaage that may happen, and that she derives every comfort from religion that a sincere Christian can look for." On the 28lh of the same month Mrs. Sheridan died ; and a letter from this lady, dated July 19th, thus touchingly describes her last ' The talents of this yonng lady are another proof of the sort of gavel- kind of genius allotted to the whole race of Sheridan. I find her very earliest poetical work, " The Sylphid Queen," thns spoken of in a letter from the second Mrs. Sheridan to her mother, Mrs. Lefann: " I should have acknowledged your very welcome present iiiunediately, had not Mr. Sheridan, on my telling him what it was, ran off wilh it, and I have been in vain endeavouring to get it from him ever since. What little I did read of it, I admired particularly; hut it will he much* more gratifying to yo'u and your daughter to hear that he read it with the greatest atten lion, and thought it showed a great deal of imagination." 334 MEMOIRS moments. As a companion-picture to the close of Sheridan's own life, it completes a lesson of the transitoriness of this world , which might sadden the hearts of the beautiful and gifted , even in their most brilliant and triumphant hours. Far happier, however, in her death than he was , she had not only his affectionate voice to soothe her to the last, but she had one devoted friend, out of the many whom she had charmed and fascinated , to watch consolingly over her last struggle , and satisfy her as to the fate of the beloved objects which she left behind. " July , ig, 1792. "Our dear departed friend kept her bed only two days, and seemed lo suffer less during that interval than for some time before. She was per- fectly in her senses to the last moment, and talked with the greatest com- posure of her approaching dissolution ; assuring vis all that she had the most perfect confidence in the mercies of an all-powerful and merciful Being , from whom alone she could have derived the inward comfort and support she felt at that awful moment! She said, she had no fear of death, and that all her concern arose from the thoughts of leaving so many dear and tender ties , and of what they would suffer from her loss. Her own family were at Bath, and had spent one day with her, when she was to- lerably well. Your poor brother now thought it proper to send for them, and to flatter them no longer. They immediately came : it was the morning before she died. They were introduced one at a time at her bed- side, and were prepared as much as possible for this sad scene. The women bore it very well, but all our feelings were awakened for her poor father. The interview between him and the dear angel was afilicting and heart-breaking to the greatest degree imaginable. I was afraid she would have sunk under the cruel agitation : she said it was indeed too much for her. She gave some kind injunction to each of them, and said every thing she could to comfort them under this severe trial. They then parted , in the hope of seeing her again in the evening, but they never sa\v her more! Mr. Sheridan and I sat up all that night with her; in- deed he had done so for several nights before, and never left her one moment that could be avoided. About four o'clock in the morning we perceived an alarming change, and sent for her physician '. She said to ' This physician was Dr. Bain, then a very young man, whose friendship with Sheridan began by this mournful dnty to his wife , and only ended with the per- formance of the same melancholy office for himself. As the writer of the abov letters was not present during the interview which she describes between him an Mrs. Sheridan, there are a few slight errors in her account of what passed, th particulars of which, as related by Dr. Bain himself, are as follows: On hi arrival, she begged of Sheridan and her female friend to leave the room, an then, desiring him to lock the door after them, said, "You have never deceive me: tell me truly, shall I live over this night." Dr. Bain immediately felt he pulse, and, finding lhat she was dying, answered, "I recommend you to some laudanum;" upon which she replied, "I understand you: then g'r ane." Dr. Bain fully concurs with the writer of these letters in bearing testimony to OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 335 lum, 'If you can relieve me, do it quickly; if not, do not let me struggle, Imt give me some laudanum.' His answer was, * Then I will give you some laudanum.' She desired to see Tom and Betty Tickell be- fore she took it, of whom she took a most affecting leave ! Your brother behaved most wonderfully, though his heart was breaking ; and at times his feelings were so violent, that I feared he would have been quite un- governable at the last. Yet he summoned up courage to kneel by the bed- side, till he felt the last pulse of expiring excellence, and then withdrew. She died at five o'clock in the morning, a8th of June. " I hope, my dear Mrs. Lefanu, you will excuse my dwelling on this most agonising scene. I have a melancholy pleasure in so doing", and fancy it will not be disagreeable to you to hear all , the particulars of an event so interesting, so afflicting, to all who knew the beloved creature ! For my part, I never beheld such a scene never suffered such a conflict much as I have suffered on my own account. While I live , the remem- brance of it and the dear lost object can never be effaced from my mind. " We remained ten days after the event took place at Bristol ; and on the yth instant Mr. Sheridan and Tom , accompanied by all her family (except Mrs. Linley), Mr. and Mrs. Leigh, Betty Tickell and myself, attended the dear remains ' to Wells , where we saw her laid beside her beloved sister in the Cathedral. The choir attended ; and there was such a concourse of people of all sorts assembled on the occasion that we could hardly move along. Mr. Leigh read the service in a most affecting man- ner. Indeed the whole scene , as you may easily imagine, was awful and affecting to a very great degree; though the crowd certainly interrupted the solemnity very-much, and, perhaps , happily for us abated somewhat of our feelings , which , had we been less observed, would not have been so easily kept down. "The day after the sad scene was closed we separated , your brother chusing to be left by himself with Tom for a day or two. He afterwards joined us at Bath , where we spent a few days with our friends, the Leighs. the tenderness and affection that Sheridan evinced on this occasion : it was, he says, quite "the devotedness of a lover." The following note, addressed to him after the sad event was over, does honour alike to the writer and the receiver : "My DEAR Sift, " I mast request your acceptance of the inclosed foryonr professional attend- ance. For the kind and friendly attentions, which have accompanied your efforts, I mast remain your debtor. The recollection of them will live in my mind with the memory of the dear lost ohject , whose sufferings yon soothed , and whose heart was grateful for it. "Believe me, "Dear Sir, " Very sincerely yours , " ft. B. SHERIDAIC." ft Friday night. 1 The following striking reflection, which I have found upon a scrap of paper, in Sheridan's hand-writing, was suggested, no donbt , by his feelings on this occasion : " The loss of the breath from a beloved object, long suffering in pain and cer- tainly to die , is not so great a privation as the last loss of her beautiful remains, if they remain so. The victory of the Grave is sharper than the Sting of Death. ' 33G MEMOIRS Last Saturday we took leave of them , and on Sunday we arrived at Isle- worth, where, with much regret, I left your brother to his own me- lancholy reflections , with no other companions but his two children, in whom he seems at present entirely wrapped up. He suffered a great deal in returning the same road, and was most dreadfully agitated on his ar- rival at Isleworth. His grief is deep and sincere , and 1 am sure will be lasting. He is in very good spirits , and at 'times is even cheerful , but the moment he is left alone he feels all the anguish of sorrow and regret. The dear little girl is the greatest comfort to him: lie cannot bear to be a moment without her. She thrives amazingly, and is indeed a charming little creature. Tom behaves with constant and tender attention to his father : he laments his dear mother sincerely, and at the time was vio- lently affected; but, at his age, the impressions of grief are not lasting ; and his mind is naturally too lively and cheerful to dwell long on me- lancholy objects. He is in all respects truly amiable, and in many respects so like his dear, charming mother, that I am sure he will be ever dear to my heart. I expect to have the pleasure of seeing Mr. Sheridan again next week , when I hope to find him more composed than when I took leave of him last Sunday." To Ihc mention which is made , in this affecting letter, of the fa- ther of Mrs. Sheridan, whose destiny it had been to follow to the grave, within a few short years, so many of his accomplished children ', I must add a few sentences more from another letter of the same lady, which, while they increase our interest in this amiable and ingenious man, bear testimony to Sheridan's attaching powers, and prove how affectionate he must have been to her who was gone, to be Urns loved by the father to whom she was so dear : "Poor Mr. Linley has been here among us these two months. He is very much broke, but is still a very interesting and agreeable companion. I do not know any one more to be pitied than he is. It is evident that the recollection of past misfortunes preys on his mind 2 , and he has no 1 In 1778 his eldest sou Thomas was drowned , while amusing himself in a pleasure-boat at the seat of the Duke of Ancaster. The pretty lines of Mrs. Sheridan to his violin are well known. A few years after, Samuel , a lieutenant in the navy, was carried off by a fever. Miss Maria Linley died in 1785, and Mrs. Tickell in 1787. 1 have erroneously stated, in a former part of this work, that Mr. William Linley is the only surviving branch of this family ; there is another brother, Mr. Ozias Linley, still living. 2 In the Memoirs of Mrs. Crouch I find the following anecdote :" Poor Mr. Linley! after the death of one of his sons,, when seated at the .harpsichord in Drury-Lane theatre, in order to accompany the vocal parts of an interesting little piece taken from Prior's Henry and Emma by Mr. Tickell, and excellently repre- sented by Palmer and Miss Farren, when the tutor of Henry, Mr. Aikin , gave an impressive description of a promising young man , in speaking of his pupil Henry, the feelings of Mr. Linley could not be suppressed. His tears fell fast nor did he weep alone." In the same work Mrs. Crouch is made to say that, after Miss Maria Linley OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 43? comfort in the surviving part of his family, they being all scattered abroad. Mr. Sheridan seems more his child than any one of his own, and I believe he likes being near him and his grand-children." Towards the autumn ( as we learn from another letter of this lady ) Mr. Sheridan endeavoured to form a domestic establishment for him- self at Wanslead. " Wanslead, Octobers, 1792. " Your brother has taken a house in this village very near me, where he means to place his dear little girl, to be as much as possible under my protection. This was the dying request of my beloved friend; and the last effort of her mind and pen ' was made the day before she expired , to draw up a solemn promise for both of us to sign, to ensure the strict performance of this last awful injunction : so anxious was she to commit this dear treasure to my care , well knowing how impossible it would be for a father, situated as your brother is , to pay that constant attention to her which a daughter so particularly requires. * * * You may be assured I shall engage in the task with the greatest delight and alacrity : would to God .that I were in the smallest degree qualified to supply the place of that angelic , all-accomplished mother, "of whose tender care she has been so early deprived. All I can do for her, I will do ; and if I can succeed so far as to give her early and steady principles of religion , and to form her mind to virtue, I shall think my time well employed, and shall feel myself happy in having fulfilled the first wish of her beloved mother's heart. died , it was melancholy for her to sing to Mr. Linley, whose tears continually fell on the keys as he accompanied her; and if, in the coarse of her profession, she was obliged to practise a song, which he had been accustomed to hear his lost daughter sing, the similarity of their manners and their voices, which he had once remarked with pleasure, then affected him to such a degree, that he was frequently forced to quit the instrument, and walk about the room to recover his composure. 1 There are some touching allusions to these last thoughts of Mrs. Sheridan , in an Elegy, written by her brother, Mr. William Linley, soon after the news of the sad event reached him in India : " Oh most beloved ! my sister and my friend! While kindred woes still breathe around thine urn , Long with the tear of absence must 1 blend The sigh , that speaks tliou nver shall return. " 'Twas Faith , that, bending o'er the bed of death . *. , Snot o'er thy pallid cheek a transient ray, \\ itli softer effort soothed thy labouring breath , Gave grace to anguish , beauty to decay. " Thy'fnends , thy children , claim'd thy latest care ; Theirs was the last that to thy bosom clung-; For them to heaven thou sent'st the expiring prayer, The last that falter'd on thy trembling tongue." 338 MEMOIRS To return to your brother, he talks of having his house here immediately furnished and made ready for the reception of his nursery. It is a very good sort of common house, with an excellent garden, roomy and fit for the purpose , but will admit of HO show or expense. I understand he has taken a house in Jermyn-Street , where he may see company; hut he does not intend having any other country-house but this. Isleworth he gives up , his time being expired there. I believe he has got a private tutor for Tom somebody very much to his mind. At one time he talked of sending him abroad with this gentleman, but I know not at present what his determinations are. He is too fond of Tom's society to let him go from him for any time ; but I think it would be more to his advantage if he would consent to part with him for two or three years. It is im- possible for any man to be more devotedly attached to his children than he is , and I hope they will be a comfort and a blessing to him when the world loses its charms. The last time 1 saw him, which was for about five minutes, I thought he looked remarkably well, and seemed tolerably cheerful. But I have observed in general that this affliction lias made a wonderful alteration in theexpression of his countenance and in his man- ners '. The Leighs and my family spent a week with him at Jslevvorth the beginning of August , where we were indeed most affectionately and hospitably entertained. I could hardly believe him to be the same man. In fact, we never saw him do the honours of his house before; that , you know , he always left to the dear, elegant creature , who never failed to please and charm every one who came within the sphere of her notice. Nobody could have filled her place so well : he seemed to have pleasure in making much ol those whom she loved and who, he knew, sincerely loved her. \Ve all thought he never appeared to such advan- tage. He was attentive to every body and every thing, though grave and thoughtful; and his feelings , poor fellow, often ready to break forth in spite of his efforts to suppress them. He spent his, evenings mostly by himself. He desired me, when I wrote , to let you know that she had by will made a little distribution of what she called "her own property," and had left you and your sister rings of remembrance , and \\crfaussc montrc, containing Mr. Sheridan's picture, to you % Mrs. Joseph Lefanu having got hers. She left rings also to Mr. and Mrs. Leigh , my sister, daughter, and myself, and positively forbids any others being given on any pretence , but these I have specified, evidently precluding all her fine friends from this last mark of her esteem and approbation. She had, poor thing, with some justice, turned from them all in disgust, and , 1 observed, during her illness, never mentioned any of them with regard or kindness." The consolation which Sheridan derived from his little daughter 1 I have heard a Noble friend of Sheridan say that , happening abont this time- to sleep in the room next to him , he could plainly hear him sobbing throughout the greater part of the night. 3 This bequest is thus announced by Sheridan himself, in a letter to his sister, dated Jnue 3, 1791 : ' I mean also to scud by Miss Patrick a picture which has long b^en your properly, by a bequest from one whose image is> not often from my mind , and whose memory, I ara sure, remains in yours." OF fi. B. SHERIDAN. 339 was not long spared to him. In a letter, without a dale , from the same amiable writer, the following account of her death is given : " The circumstances attending this melancholy event were particularly distressing. A large party of young people were assembled at your brother's to spend a joyous evening in dancing. We were all in the height of our merriment, he himself remarkably cheerful, and partaking of the amusement, when the alarm was given that the dear little angel was living ! It is impossible to describe the confusion and horror of the scene : he was quite frantic , and I knew not what to do. Happily there were present several kind , good-natured men , who had their recollection , and pointed out what should be done. We very soon had every possible assistance, and for a short time we had some hope that her precious life would have been spared to us but that was soon at an end ! ' ' The dear babe never throve to my satisfaction : she was small and delicate beyond imagination , and gave very little expectation of long life; but she had visibly declined during the last month. * '* * Mr. Sheridan made himself very miserable at first , from an apprehension that she had been neglected or mismanaged ; but I trust he is perfectly convinced that this was not the case. He was severely afflicted at first. The dear babe's resemblance to her mother after her death was so much more striking , that it was impossible to see her without recalling every circumstance of that afflicting scene , and he was continually in the room indulging the sad remembrance. In this manner he indulged his feelings for four or five days; then , having indispensable business, he was obliged to go to London, from whence he returned, on Sunday, apparently in good spirits and as well as usual. /But however he may assume the ap- pearance of ease or cheerfulness, his heart is not of a nature to be quickly reconciled to the loss of any thing he loves. He suffers deeply and secretly ; and I dare say he will long and bitterly lament both mother and child." The reader will, I think, feel with me, after reading the foregoing letters, as well as those of Mrs. Sheridan , given in the course of this work , that the impression which they altogether leave on the mind is in the highest degree favourable to the characters both of husband and wife. There is , round the whole , an atmosphere of kindly, do- mestic feeling, which seems to answer for the soundness of the hearls that breathed in it. The sensibility, loo , displayed by Sheridan at this period , was not that sort of passionate return to former feelings , which the prospect of losing what it once loved might awaken in even the most alienated heart ; on the contrary, there was a depth and mellowness in his sorrow which could proceed from long habits of affection alone. The idea, indeed, of seeking solace for the loss of the mother in the endearments of the children would occur only to one who had been accustomed to find happiness in his home , and who therefore clung for comfort to what remained of the wreck. Such , I have little doubt , we're the natural feelings and disposi- B40 MEMOIRS tions of Sheridan ; and if the vanity of talent too often turned him aside from their influence , it is but another proof of the danger of that " light which leads astray," and may console those who, safe under the shadow of mediocrity, are unvisited by such disturbing splendours. The following letters on this occasion , from his eldest sister and her husband , are a further proof of the warm attachment which he inspired in those connected with him : " MY DEADEST BROTHER, " Charles lias just informed me that the fatal, the dreaded event lias taken place. On my knees I implore the Almighty to look down upon you in your affliction , to strengthen your noble, vour feeling heart to bear it. Oh my beloved brother, these are sad, sad trials of fortitude. One consolation, at least, in mitigation of your sorrow, I am sure you possess, the consciousness of having done all you could to preserve the dear angel you have lost, and to soften the last painful days of her mortal existence. Mrs. Canning wrote to me that she was in a resigned and happv frame of mind : she is assuredly among the blest ; and I feel and 1 think she looks down with benignity at my feeble efforts to soothe that anguish I participate. Let me then conjure you, my dear brother, to suffer me to endeavour to b:> of use to you. Could I have done it, I should have been with you from the time of your arrival at Bristol. The impossibility of my going lias made me miserable, and injured my health , already in a very bad state. It would give value to my life, could I be of that service I think I miglit be of, if I were near you ; and as I cannot go to you , and as there is every reason for your quitting the scene and objects be- fore you, perhaps you may let us have the happiness of having you here, and my dear Tom : I will write to him when my spirits arc quieter. I entreat you, my dear brother, trv what change of place can do for you : your character and talents are here held in the highest estimation ; and you have here some who love you beyond the affection any in England can feel for you. " Cuff-Street, l^th July. " A. LEFANU." " MY BEAR GOOD SIR , Wednesday, l^th July, 1792. " Permit me to join my entreaties to Lissy's to persuade you to come over to us. A journey might be of service to you , and change of objects a real relief to your mind. We would try every thing to divert your thoughts from too intensely dwelling on certain recollections, which arc yet too keen and too fresh to be entertained with safety, at least to oc- cupy you too entirely. Having been so long separated from your sister, you can hardly have an adequate idea of her love for you. I, who on many occasions have observed its operation, can truly and solemnly assure you that it far exceeds any thing I could ever have supposed to have been felt by a sister towards a brother. I am convinced you would experience such soothing in her company L and conversation as would restore you to yourself sooner 'than any tiling tbat could be imagined. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 34 1 Come then,, my dear Sir, and he satisfied you \vill add greatly to her comfort, and to that of your very affectionate friend, " J. LKFANU." CHAPTER XVI. Drurv-Lane Theatre. Society of " the Friends of the People." Madame de Genlis. War with France. Whig Seccders Speeches in Par- liament. Death of Tickell. THE domestic anxieties of Mr. Sheridan, during this year, left but little room in his mind for public cares. Accordingly, we find that , after the month of April , he absented himself from the House of Commons altogether. In addition to his apprehensions forthe.safely of Mrs. Sheridan, he had been for some time harassed by the de- rangement of his theatrical property, which was now fast falling into a state of arrearand involvement, from which it never after entirely recovered. The Theatre of Drury-Lane having been , in the preceding year, reported by the surveyors to be unsafe and incapable of repair , it was determined to erect an entirely new house upon the same site ; for the accomplishment of which purpose a proposal was made, by Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Linley, to raise the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds , by the means of three hundred debentures , of five hundred pounds each. This part of the scheme succeeded instantly ; and I have now before me a list of the holders of the 300 shares , appended to the proposal of 1791 , at the head of which the names of the three Trustees , in whom the Theatre was after- wards vested in the year 1793, stand for the following number of shares : Albany Wallis , 20 ; Hammersley, 50; Richard Ford, 20. But , though the money was raised without any difficulty, the com- pletion of the new building was delayed by various negotiations and obstacles , while , in the mean time , the company were playing , at an enormous expense , first in the Opera-House , and afterwards at the Hay market-Theatre , and Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Linley were paying interest for the first instalment of the loan. To these and other causes of the increasing embarrassments of Sheridan is to be added the extravagance of his own style of living, which became much more careless and profuse after death had de- prived him of her, whose maternal thoughlfulness alone would have been a check upon such improvident waste. We are enabled to form some idea of his expensive habits , by finding , from the letters which have just been quoted, that he was, at the same time, main- taining three establishments, one at Wanstead, where his son resided with his tutor ; another at Isleworih , which he still held (as I learn from letters directed to him there) in 1793, and the third;, 342 MEMOIRS his town house , in Jermyn-Street. Rich and ready as were the resources which the Treasury of the theatre opened to him, and fer- tile as was his own invention in devising new schemes of finance , such mismanaged expenditure would exhaust even his magic wealth, and the lamp must cease to answer to the rubbing at last. The tutor, whom he was lucky enough to obtain for his son at this time , was Mr. William Smythe , a gentleman who has since dislinguished himself by his classical attainments and graceful talent for poetry. Young Sheridan had previously been under the care of Dr. Parr, with whom he resided a considerable time at Hatton , and the friendship of this learned man for the father could not have been more strongly shown than in the disinterestedness with which he devoted himself to the education of the son. The following letter from him to Mr. Sheridan , in the May of this year, proves the kind feeling by which he was actuated towards him: " DEAR SIR, " I hope Tom got home safe, and found you in better spirits. He said something about drawing on your banker; but I do not understand the process, and shall not take any step. You will consult your own conve- nience about these things; for my connection with you is that of friend- ship and personal regard. I feel and remember slights from those I res- pect, but acts of kindness I cannot forget; and, though my life has been passed far more in doing than receiving services , yet I know and I value the good dispositions of yourself and a few other friends , men who are worthy of that name from me. " If you choose Tom to return, be knows and you know bow glad I am always to see him. If not, pray let him do something, and I will tell you what be should do. " Believe me, dear Sir, " Yours sincerely, " S. PARR." In the spring of this year was established the Society of " The Friends of the People," for the express purpose of obtaining a Par- liamentary Reform. To this Association , which , less for its professed object than for the republican tendencies of some of its members , was particularly obnoxious to the loyalists of the day, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Grey , and many others of the leading persons of the Whig party, belonged. Their Address to the People of England, which was put forth in the month of April, contained an able and temperate exposition of the grounds upon which they sought for Reform-, and the names of Sheridan , Mackintosh, Whitbread, etc. , appear on the list of the Committee by which this paper was drawn up. It is a proof of the little zeal which Mr. Fox felt at this period on the subject of Reform, that he withheld the sanction of his name OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 43 from a Society to \vhich so many of his most intimate political friends belonged. Some notice was, indeed, taken in the House of this symptom of backwardness in the cause ; and Sheridan, in replying to the insinuation , said that " they wanted not the signature of his Right Honourable Friend to assure them of his concurrence. They had his bond in the steadiness of his political principles and the integrity of his heart. " Mr. Fox himself, however, gave a more de- tinite explanation of the circumstance. " He might be asked," he said , " why his name was not on the list of the Society for Reform? His reason was, that though he saw great and enormous griev- ances, he did not see the remedy. 1 ' It is to be doubted, indeed, whe- ther Mr. Fox ever fully admitted the principle upon which the de- mand for a Reform .was founded. When he afterwards espoused the question so warmly, it seems to have been merely as one of those weapons caught up in the heat of a warfare, in which Liberty itself appeared to him too imminently endangered to admit of the consi- deration of any abstract principle , except that summary one of the right of resistance to power abused. From what has been already said, too, of the language held by Sheridan on this subject, it may be concluded that, though far more ready than his friend to in- scribe Reform upon the banner of the parly, he had even still less made up his mind as to the practicability or expediency of the measure. Looking upon it, as a question, the agitation of which was useful to Liberty, and at the same time counting upon the im- probability of its objects being ever accomplished, he adopted at once , as we have seen , the most speculative of all the plans that had been proposed , and flattered himself that he thus secured the benefit of the general principle, without risking the inconvenience of any of the practical details. The following extract of a letter from Sheridan to one of hjs fe- male correspondents , at this time , will show that he did not quite approve the policy of Mr. Fox in 'holding aloof from the Reformers : " I am down here with Mrfe. Canning and her family, while all my friends and party are meeting in town, where I have excused myself, to lay their wise heads together in this crisis. Again I say there is nothing hut what is unpleasant before my mind. I wish to occupy, and fill my thoughts with public matters, and, todo justice to the times, they afford materials enougb ; but nothing is in prospect to make activity pleasant, or to poiut one's clTorts against one common enemy, making all that engage in the attack cordial, social, and united : on the contrary, every day produces some new schism and absurdity. \Vindbam lias signed a nonsensical association with Lord Mulgrave; and when I left towu vestcrday, I was informed lliat the Divan, as the meeting at Dcbrett's is (.died, were furious at an aulhenltc advertisement from the Duke of 344 MEMOIRS Portland against Charles Fox's speech in the Whig Club, which no one before believed to be genuine , but which they now say Dr. Lawrence brought from Burlington-House. If this is so, depend on it there will be a direct breach in what has been called the Whig Party. Charles Fox must come to the Reformers openly and avowedly ; and in a month four- fifths of the whig Club will do the same." The motion for the Abolition of the Slave-trade, brought forward this year by Mr. Wilberforce, (on whose brows it may be said, with much more truth than of the Roman General , " Annexuit Africa lauros"} was signalised by one of the most splendid orations that the lofty eloquence of Mr. Pitt ever poured forth ' . I mention the Debate, however, for the mere purpose of remarking , as a singu- larity, that, often as this great question was discussed in Parliament, and ample as was the scope which it afforded for the grander appeals of oratory, Mr. Sheridan was upon no occasion tempted to utter even a syllable on the subject, except once for a few minutes, in the year 1787, upon some point relating to the attendance of a witness. The two or three sentences, however, which he did speak on that occasion were sufficient to prove (what, as he was not a West-India proprietor, no one can doubt, ) that the sentiments entertained by him on this interesting topic were, to the full extent , those which actuated not only his own party, but every real lover of justice and humanity throughout the world. To use a quotation which he him- self applied to another branch of the question in 1807 : " I would not have a slave to till my ground, To fan me when I sleep , and tremble when I wake, for all that human sinews, bought And sold, have ever earu'd." The National Convention having lately , in the first paroxysm of their republican vanity, conferred the honour of Citizenship upon several distinguished Englishmen, and, among others, upon Mr. Wilberforce and Sir James Mackintosh , it was intended , as appears by the following letter from Mr. Stone, (a gentleman sub- sequently brought into notice by the trial of his brother for High Treason , ) to invest Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan with the same dis- tinction , had not the prudent interference of Mr. Stone saved them from this very questionable honour. The following is the letter which this gentleman addressed to Sheridan on the occasion. 1 It was at tlie conclusion of this speech that, iu contemplating the period when Africa would, he hoped, participate in those blessings of civilisation and knowledge which were now enjoyed by more fortunate regions, he applied the happy quota- tion, rendered still more striking, it is said, by the circumstance of ihe rising su-ik jnst then shining in through the windows of the House: " Nos. , . . primus eqitis Oriens af'flavit anhelis, Jllic sera rulens accciulit lamina Pesitf." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 345 Paris, Nov. 18. Year I. of the French Republic. "DEAR SIR, " I have taken a liberty with your name, of which I ought to give you notice , and offer some apology, The Convention, having lately enlarged their connections in Europe, are ambitious of adding to the number of their friends by bestowing some mark of distinction on those who have stood forth in support of their cause when its fate hung doubtful. The French conceive that they owe this obligation very eminently to you and Mr. Fox; and, to show their gratitude, the Committee appointed to make the Report has determined to offer to you and Mr. Fox the honour of Citizenship. Had this honour never been conferred before, had it been conferred only on worthy members of society, or were you and Mr. Fox only to be named at this moment, I should not have interfered. But as they have given the title to obscure and vulgar men and 'scoundrels, of which they are now very much ashamed themselves, I have presumed to suppose that you would think yourself much more honoured in the breach than the observance , and have therefore caused your nomination to be suspended. But I was influenced in this also by other considera- tions, of which one was, that, though the Committee would be more careful in their selection than the last had been, yet it was probable you would not like to share the honours with such as would be chosen. But another more important one that weighed with me was , that this new character would not be a small embarrassment in the route which you have to take the next session of Parliament, when the affairs of France must necessarily be often the subject of discussion. No one will suspect Mr. A\ ilberforce of being seduced, and no one has thought that he did any thing to render him liable to seduction ; as his superstition and de- votedness to Mr. Pitt have kept -him perfectly a I'abri from all tempta- tions to err on the side of liberty, civil or religious. But to you and Mr. Fox the reproach will constantly be made, and the blockheads and knaves in the House will always have the means of influencing the opinions of those without, by opposing with success your English character to your French one ; and that which is only a mark of gratitude for past services , will be construed by malignity into a bribe of some sort for services yet to be rendered. You may be certain that, 'in offering the reasons for my con- duct, I blush that I think it necessary to stoop to such prejudices. Of this, however, you will be the best judge, and I should esteem it a favour if you would inform me whether I have done right , or whether I shall suffer your names to stand as they did before my interference. There will be sufficient time for me to receive your answer, as I have prevailed on the Reporter, Mr. Brissot, to delay a few days. I have given him my reasons for wishing the suspension, to which he has assented. Mr. O'Brien also prompted me to this deed, and, if I have done wrong, he must take half the punishment. My address 'is, "Rose, Huissier,." under cover of the President of the National Convention. " I have the honour to be " Your most obedient " And most humble servant, " J. H. STOME." 346 MEMOIRS It was in the month of October of this year that the romantic ad- venture of Madame de Genlis (in the contrivance of which the prac- tical humour of Sheridan may, I think, be delected,) occurred on the road between London and Darlford. This distinguished lady had, at the close of the year 1791 , with a view of escaping the turbu- lent scenes then passing in France , come over with her illustrious pupil, Mademoiselle d'Orleans, and her adopted daughter, Pa- mela 1 , to England, where she received, both from Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan, all that attention which her high character for talent, as well as the embarrassing nature of her situation at that moment, claimed for her. The following letter from her to Mr. Fox I find inclosed in one from the latter to Mr. Sheridan : "SlB, "You have, by your infinite kindness, given me the right to show you the utmost confidence. The situation I am in makes me desire to have with me, during two days, a person perfectly well instructed in the Laws, and very sure and honest. I desire sucVi a person that 1 could ofler to him all the money he would have for this trouble. But there is not a moment to be lost on the occasion. If you could send me directly this person, you would render me the most important service. To calm the most cruel agitation of a sensible and grateful soul shall be your reward. Oh could I see you but a minute ! I am uneasy, sick , unhappy ; sur- rounded by tbc most dreadful snares of the fraud and wickedness ; I am intrusted with the most interesting and sacred charge! - All these are my claims to hope your advices, protection and assistance. My friends are absent in that moment; there is only two names in which I could place my confidence and my hopes. Pardon this bad language. As Hypo- lite I may say , " ' Songe: queje >vous parle une langue etrangere , but the feelings it expresses cannot be strangers to your heart. " Sans avoir 1'avantage d'etre connue de Monsieur Fox, je prends la liberte dc le supplier de communique!' cette Tetti-e a Monsieur Sheridan; 1 Married at Tournay in the mouth of Decemher, 1792, to Lord Edward Fitz- gerald. Lord Edward was the only one, among the numerous suitors of Mrs. She- ridan, to whom she is supposed to have listened with any thing like a return of feeling; and that there should be mutual admiration hetween two such noble spe- cimens of human nature, it is easy, without injury to either of them , to believe. Some months before her death, when Sheridan had been describing to her and Lord Edward a beantihil French girl whom he had lately seen, and added that she pnt him strongly in mind of what his own wife had been in the first bloom of her youth and beauty, Mrs. Sheridan turned to Lord Edward, and said with a melancholy smile, "I should like you, when I am dead, to marry that girl." This was Pamela, whom Sheridan had just seen during his visit of a few hours to Madatne de Genlis at Bury, in Suffolk, and whom Lord Edward married in about a year after. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 347 et si ce dernier n'est pas a Londres, j'ose esperer de Monsieur Fox la memo bonte que j'attcndois de Monsieur Sheridan dans I'embarras ou je me trouve. Je m'adresse aux deux personnes de 1'Angleterre qne j'admire le plus , et je serois doublement heureuse d'etre tiree de cette perplexite, et de leur en avoir 1'obligation. Je serai peut-etre a Londres incessamment. Je desirerois vivement les y trouver ; mais en attendant je souhaite avec ardeur avoir ici le plus promptement possible 1'homme de loi, ou seu- lement en etat de donner de bons conseils que je demande. Je renou- velle toutes mes excuses de tant d'importunites." ', It was on her departure for France in the present year that the celebrated adventure, to which I have alluded , occurred , and as it is not often that the post-boys between London and Dartford are pomoted into agents of mystery or romance , I shall give the entire narrative of the event in the lady's own words, premising (what Mr. Sheridan , no doubt , discovered) that her imagination had been for some time on the watch for such incidents , as she mentions , in another place , her terrors at the idea of " crossing the desert plains of Newmarket without an escort." " We left London, "says Madame deGenlis, "on our return to France the aoth of October, 1792 , and a circumstance occurred to us so extraor- dinary, that I ought not, I feel, to pass it over in silence. I shall merely, however, relate the fact , without any attempt to explain it, or without adding to my recital any of those reflections which the impartial reader will easily supply. We set out at ten o'clock in the morning in two car- riages, one with six horses, and the other, in which, were our maids, with four. I had, two months before, sent off four of my servants to Paris, so that we had with us only one French servant, and a footman , whom we had hired to attend us as far as Dover. When we were about a quarter of a league from London, the French servant, who had nearer made the journey from Dover to London but once before, thought he perceived that we were not in the right road, and on his making the re- mark to me, I perceived it also. The postillions, on being' questioned, said that they had only wished to avoid a small hill , and that they would soon return into the high road again. After an interval of three quarters of an hour , seeing that we still continued our way through a country that was entirely new to me, I again interrogated both the footman and the postillions, and they repeated their assurance that we should soon regain the usual road. "Notwithstanding this, however , we still pursued our course with extreme rapidity , in the same unknown route ; and as I had remarked that the post-boys and footman always answered me in a strange sort of laconic manner, and appeared as if they were afraid to stop , my compa- nions and I began to look at each other with a mixture of surprise and uneasiness. We renewed our enquiries, and at last they answered that it was indeed true they had lost their way , but that they had wished to conceal it from us till they had found the cross-road to Dartford (our first stage), and that now, having been for an hour and a half in that road, we had lint two miles to go tefore 1 we should reach Dartford. It 34ft MEMOIRS appeared to us very strange that people should lose their way between London and Dover, but the assurance that we were only half a league from Dartford dispelled the sort of vague fear that had for a moment agi- tated us. At last, after nearly an hour had elapsed, seeing that we still were not arrived at the end of the stage, our uneasiness increased to a degree which amounted even to terror. It was with much difficulty that I made the post-boys stop opposite a small village which lav to our left; in spite of my shouts they still went on, till at last the French servant (for the other did not interfere ) compelled them to stop. I then sent to the village to ask how far we were from Dartford, and my surprise may be guessed when I received for answer that we were now 22 miles ( more than seven leagues) distant from that place. Concealing my suspicions , I took a guide in the village , and declared that it was my wish to return to London, as I found I was now at a less distance from that city than from Dartford. The post-boys made much resistance to my desire, and even behaved w ith an extreme degree of insolence , but our French servant , backed by the guide , compelled them to obey. " As we returned at a very slow pace, owing to the sulkiness of die post-boys and the fatigue of the horses, we did not reach London before night-fall, when I immediately drove to Mr. Sheridan's house. He was extremely surprised to see me returned , and on my relating to him our adventure , agreed with us that it could not have been the result of mere chance. He then sent for a Justice of the Peace to examine the post-boys, who were detained till his arrival under the pretence of calculating their account; but, in the meantime, the hired footman disappeared and never returned. The post-boys being examined by the Justice according to the legal form , and in the presence of witnesses , gave their answers in a verv confused way, but confessed that an unknown gentleman had conic in the morning to their master's, and carrying them from thence to a public-house, had, by giving them something to drink, persuaded them to take the road by which we had gone. The examination was con- tinued for a long time, but no further confession could be drawn from them. Mr. Sheridan told me, that there was sufficient proof on which to ground an action against these men, but that it would be a tedious pro- cess, and cost a great deal of money. The post-boys were therefore dis- missed, and we did not pursue the enquiry any farther. As Mr. Sheridan saw the terror 1 was in at the very idea of again venturing on the road to Dover, he promised to accompany us thither himself, but added that , having some indispensable business on his hands, he could not go for some days. He took us then to Isleworth , a country-house which he had near Richmond, on the banks of the Thames, and as he was not able to dispatch his business so quickly as he expected, we rem ined for a month in that hospitable retreat, which both gratitude and friendship rendered so agreeable to us." It is impossible to read this narrative , with the recollection , at Ihe same time, in our minds of the boyish propensity of Sheridan to what are called practical jokes, without strongly suspecting that he was himself the contriver of the whole-adventure. The ready at- tendance of the Justice, the " unknown gentleman " deposed to. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 349 by the post-boys, the disappearance of the laquais, and the ad- \ice given by Sheridan that the affair should be pursued no further, all strongly savour of dramatic contrivance , and must have af- forded a scene not a little trying to the gravity of him who took the trouble of getting it up. With respect to his motive, the agreeable month at his country-house sufficiently explains it ; nor could his conscience have felt much scruple about an imposture, which , so far from being attended with any disagreeable consequences , fur- nished the lady with an incident of romance, of which she was but too happy to avail herself, and procured for him the presence of such a distinguished party, to grace and enliven the festivities of Isleworth l . At the end of the month (adds Madame de Genlis), " Mr. Sheridan having finished , we set off together for Dover, himself, his son , and an English friend of his , Mr. Reid , with whom I was but a few days acquainted. It was now near the end of the month of Novem- ber, 1792. The wind being adverse , detained us for five days at Dover, during all which time Mr. Sheridan remained with us. At last the wind grew less unfavourable, but stiH blew so violently that nobody would advise me to embark. I resolved, however, ta venture, and Mr. Sheridan attended us into the very packet-boat, where I received his farewell with a feeling of sadness which I cannot express. He w"buld have crossed with us but that some indispensable duty , at that moment, required-his pre- sence in England. He, however, left us Mr. Reid, who had the goodness to accompany us to Paris." In 1793 war was declared between England and France. Though hostilities might , for a short time longer, have been avoided , by a more accommodating readiness in listening to the overtures of France, and a less stately tone on the part of the English negotiator , there could hardly have existed in dispassionate minds any hope of avert- ing the war entirely, or even of postponing it for any considerable period. Indeed, however rational at first might have been the ex- pectation , that France , if left to pass through the ferment of her own Revolution , would have either settled at last into a less dan- gerous form of power, or exhausted herself into a stale of harmless- 1 In the Memoirs of Madame de ( Genlis, lately published , she supplies a slill more interesting key to his motives for such a contrivance. It appears, from the new recollections of this lady, that "he was passionately in love with Pamela," and that, before her departure from England , the following scene took pl.ice : " Two days before we set out , Mr. Sheridan made , in my presence, his declaration <>f love to Pamela, who was affected .by bis agreeable manner and high character, .UK! accepted the offer of his hand with pleasure. In consequence of this , it was settled that he was to marry her on onr return from France , which was expected to take place in a fortnight.' 1 1 suspect this to be bat a continuation of the Romance ofDartford. 350 MEMOIRS ness during the process, this hope had been for some time frustrated by the crusade proclaimed against her libciiies by the confederated Princes of Europe. The conference at Pilnilz and the Manifesto of the Duke of Brunswick had taught the French people what they were to expect , if conquered , and had given to that inundation of energy, under which the Republic herself was sinking, a vent and direction outwards that transferred all the ruin to her enemies. In the wild career of aggression and lawlessness , of conquest w ithout and anarchy within , which naturally followed such an outbreak of a whole maddened people , il would have been difficult for Eng- land, by any management whatever, to keep herself uninvolved in the general combustion, even had her own population been much less heartily disposed than they were then , and ever have been , to strike in with (he great discords of the world. That Mr. Pitt himself was slow and reluctant to yield to the ne- cessity of hostile measures against France , appears from the whole course of his financial policy, down to the very close of the session of 1792. The confidence , indeed , with which he looked forward to a long continuance of peace , in the midst of events that were audibly the first mullerings of the earthquake , seemed but little indicative of that philosophic sagacity, which enables a statesman to see tiic rudiments of the Future in the Present '. " It is not un- reasonable ," said he on the 21st of February, 1792, " to expect that the peace which we now enjoy should continue at least fifteen years , since at no period of the British history, whether we consi- der the internal situation of this kingdom or its relation to foreign powers , has the prospect of war been farther removed than at present." In pursuance of this feeling of security, he, in the course of the session of 1791-2 , repealed taxes to the amount of 200,0007. a-year made considerable reductions in the naval and military establish- ments, and allowed the Hessian Subsidy to expire, without any movement towards its renewal. He likewise showed his perfect confidence in the tranquillity of the country, by breaking off a negotiation into which he had entered with the holders of the four per cents. , for the reduction of their stock to three per cent. , 1 From the following words in his Speech on the communication from France in 1800, he appears, himself, to have been aware of his want of foresight at the commencement of the war : " Besides this, the redaction of oar Peace Establishment in the year 1791, and continaed to the subsequent year, is a fact, from which the inference is indispu- table; a fact, which , I am afraid, shows not only that we were not waiting for the occasion of war, but that, in our partiality for a pacific system , we had indulged ourselves in a fond and credulous security, which wisdom and discretion would not have dictated." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 351 saying, in answer to their demand of a larger bonus than he thought proper to give, " Then we will put off the reduction of this stock till next year/' The truth is, Mr. Pitt was proud of his financial system ; the abolition of taxes and the Reduction of the National Debt were the two great results to which he looked as a proof oJ' its perfection ; and while a war, he knew, would produce the very reverse of the one , it would leave little more than the name and semblance of the other. The alarm for the safety of their establishments, which at Ibis time pervaded the great mass of the people of England , carried the proof of its own needlessness in the wide extent to which it spread,' and the very small minority that was thereby left to be the object of apprehension, ^hat in this minority, (which was , with few excep- tions , confined to the lower classes , the elements of sedition and ' insurrection were actively at work , cannot be denied. There was not a corner of Europe where the same ingredients were not brought into ferment ; for the French Revolution had not only the violence, but the pervading influence of the Simoom, 'and while it destroyed where it immediately passed, made itself felt every where. But surrounded and watched as were the few disaffected in England, by all the rank, property and power of the country, animated at that moment by a more than usual portion of loyalty , the dangers from sedition , as yet , were by no means either so deep or extensive , as that a strict and vigilant exercise of the laws already in being would not have been abundantly adequate to all the purposes of their supp ression. The admiration , inteed , with which the first dawn of the Revo- lution was hailed had considerably abated. The excesses into which the new Republic broke loose had alienated the worship of most of its higher class of votaries, and in some, as in Mr. Windham , had converted enthusiastic admiration into horror ,- so that , though a strong sympathy with the general cause of the Revolution was still felt among the few Whigs that remained , the profession of its wild, republican theories was chiefly confined to two classes of persons , who coincide more frequently than they themselves ima- gine,. the speculative and the ignorant. The* Minister, however, gave way to a panic which, there is every reason to believe , he did not himself participate , and in uoiim out of the precincts of the Constitution for new and arbitrary powers , established a series of fatal precedents , of which alarmed Authority will be always but too ready to avail itself. By these stretches of power he produced what was far more dangerous than all the raving of club politicians that vehement reaction of feeling on the part of Mr. Fox and his followers, which increased with the 354 MEMOIRS increasing rigour of Ihe government, and sometimes led them to the brink of such modes and principles of opposition , as aggressions so wanton upon liberty alone could have either provoked or jus- tified. The great promoters of the alarm were Mr. Burke , and those other Whig Seceders , who had for some time taken part with the adminislralion against their former friends , and, as is usual with such proselytes, outran those whom they joined, on every point upon which they before most differed from them. To justify their defection, the dangers upon which they grounded it, were exag- gerated , and the eagerness with which they called for restric- tions upon the liberty of the subject was but loo worthy of desert- ers not only from their post but from their principled One striking difference between these new pupils of Toryism and their master was with respect to the ultimate object of the war, Mr. Pitt being of opinion that security against the power of France, without any inter- ference whatever with her internal affairs , was the sole aim to which hostilities should be directed 5 while nothing less than the restoration of the Bourbons to the power which they possessed before the as- sembling of the Etats Generaux could satisfy Mr. Burke and his fellow converts to the cause of Thrones and Hierarchies. The effect of this diversity of objects upon the conduct of the war particularly after Mr. Pitt had added to " Security for the future," the suspi- cious supplement of " Indemnity for the past " was no less fatal to the success of operations abroad than to the unity of councils at home. So separate , indeed, were the views of the two parlies con- sidered , that the unfortunate expedition , in aid of the Vendean insurgents in 1795 , was known to be peculiarly the measure of the Burke part of the cabinet , and to have been undertaken on the sole responsibility of their ministerial organ , Mr. Windham. It must be owned, too, that the object of the Alarmists in the war however grossly inconsistent with their former principles, had the merit of being far more definite than that of Mr. Pitt ; and , had it been singly and consistently pursued from the first, with all the vigour and concentration of means so strenuously recommended by Mr. Burke , might have justified its quixotism in the end by a more speedy and less ruinous success. As it was, however, the divisions , jealousies and alarms which Mr. Pitt's views towards a future dismemberment of France excited not only among the Con- tinental powers , but among the French themselves , completely defeated every hope and plan for either concert without, or co- operation within. At the same time , the distraction of the efforts of England from the heart of French power to its remote extremi- ties, in what Mr. Windham called "a war upon sugar-islands," OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 53 was a waste of means as unslalesman-likc as it was calamitous , and fully entitled Mr. Pitt to the satire on his policy conveyed in the remark of a certain distinguished lady, who said to him , upon hearing of some new acquisition in the West Indies , " I protest , Mr. Pitt, if you go on thus, you will sqon be master of every is- land in the world , except just those two little ones , England and Ireland '.' n That such was the light in which Mr. Sheridan himself viewed the mode of carrying on the war recommended by the Alarmists , in comparison with that which Mr. Pitt in general adopted , appears from the following passage in his speech upon Spanish affairs in the year 1808 : - " There was hardly a person, except his Right Honourable Friend near him ("Mr. Windham) and Mr. Burke, who since the Revolution of France had formed adequate notions of the necessary steps to he taken. The various governments which this country -had seen during that period were always employed in filching for a silgar-island , or some other object of comparatively trifling moment, while the main and prin- cipal purpose was lost and forgotten." Whatever were the failures of Mr. Pitt abroad , at home his ascen- dancy w&s fixed and indisputable , and , among all the triumphs of power which he enjoyed during his career, the tribute now paid to him by the Whig Aristocracy, in taking shelter under his ministry from the dangers of Revolution , could not have been the least grati- fying to his haughty spirit. The India Bill had ranged on his side the King and the People , and the Revolution now brought to his banner the flower of the Nobility of both parties. His own estimate of rank may be fairly collected both from the indifference which he showed to its honours himself, and from the depreciating profusion with which he lavished piem upon others. It may be doubted whether his respect for Aristocracy was much increased, by the Readiness which he now saw in some of his high-born opponents to volunteer for safety into his already powerful ranks , without even pausing to Iry the experiment , whether safely might not have been rcconcileablc with principle in their own. It is certain that , without the accession of so much weight and influence , he never could have ventured upon the violations of the Constitution that followed nor would the Opposition , accordingly, have Beeji driven by these excesses of power into that reactive violence which was the natural consequence of an effort to resist them. The prudent apprehensions , therefore , of these Noble Whigs would have been much more usefully as well as honourably employed , in mingling with , and moderating the ' Mr. Sheridan quoted this anecdote in one of his speeches in 1794. 23 354 MEMOIRS proceedings of the friends of Liberty, than in ministering fresh fuel to the zeal and vindictiveness of her enemies '. It may be added , too , that in allowing themselves to be per- suaded by Burke , that the extinction of the anliont Noblesse of France portended necessarily any danger to the English Aristocracy, these Noble persons did injustice to the strength of their own order, and to the characteristics by which it is proudly distinguished from every other race of Nobility in Europe. Placed , as a sort of break- water between the People and the Throne, in a stale of double res- ponsibility to liberty on one side , and authority on the other, the Aristocracy of England hold a station which is dignified by its own great duties and of which the titles transmitted by their ancestors form the least important ornament. Unlike the Nobility of other countries, where the rank and privileges of the father are multiplied through his offspring , and equally elevate them all above the level of the com- munity, the very highest English Nobleman must consent to be the father but of commoners. Thus , connected with the class bolow him by private as well as public sympathies , he gives his children to the People as hostages for the sincerity of his zeal in their cause while on the other hand , the People , in return for these pledges of the Aristocracy, sends a portion of its own elements aloft into that higher region , to mingle with its glories and assert their claim to share in its power. By this mutual transfusion an equilibrium is preserved , like that which similar processes maintain in the natural world ; and while a healthy, popular feeling circulates through the Aristocracy, a sense of their own station in the scale elevates the People. To tremble for the safety of a Nobility so constituted, without much stronger grounds for alarm than appear to have existed in 179,3, was an injustice not only to that class itself, but the whole nation. The world has never yet afforded an example, where this artificial distinction between mankind has been turned to such bcne- licial account ; and as no monarchy can exist without such an order, so , in any other shape than this , such an order is a burden and a 1 The case against these Noble Seceders is thus spiritedly stated by Lord Moira: '' I cannot ever sit in a cabinet with the Duke of Portland. He appears to me to have done more injury to the Constitution, and to the estimation of the higher ranks in this country, than any man on the political sfage. F>y his union with Mr. Pitt , he has given it to be understood by the people, that either all ihe constitutional charges which he ;ind his friends for so many years urged 'against Mr. Pitt were groundless, or that, being solid, there was no difficulty in waiving them when a convenient partition of powers and emoluments was proposed. In either case the people must infer that the constilntional principle which can be so played with is unimportant, and that parliamentary professions are no security." Letter from the Earl of Moira to Colonel M'Mahon, in 17!)7. Parliamentary History. '..-+" OF fi. B. SHERIDAN. 3S5 nuisance. In England, so happy a conformation of her Aristocracy is one of those fortuitous results which time and circumstances have brought out in the long tried experiment of her Constitution ; and, while there is no chance of its being ever again attained in the old World, there is but little probability of its being attempted in the Naw, where the youthful nations now springing into life , will , if they ;irc wise , make the most of the free career before them , and unen- cumbered with the costly trappings of feudalism , adopt , like their northern neighbours , that form of government , whose simplicity and cheapness are the best guarantees for its efficacy and purity. In judging of the policy of Mr. Pitt, during the Revolutionary war, his partizans, we know, laud it as having been the means of salvation to England , while his opponents assert that it was only prevented by chance from being her ruin and though the event' gives an appearance of triumph to the former opinion , it by no means removes or even weakens the grounds of the latter. During the first nine years of his administration , Mr. Pitt was , in eveYy respect , an able and most useful minister, and , " while the sea was calm , showed mastership in floating." But the great events that hap- pened afterwards took him by surprise. When he came to look abroad from his cabinet into the storm that was brewing through Europe , the clear and enlarged view of the higher order of states- man was wanting. Instead of elevating himself above the influence of the agitation and alarm that prevailed , he gave way to it with the crowd of ordinary minds , and even look counsel from the panic of others. The consequence was a series of measures , violent at home and inefficient abroad far short of the mark where vigour was wanting , and beyond it, as often , where vigour was mischievous. When we are told to regard his policy as the salvation of the coun- try when (to use. a figure of Mr. Dundas) a claim of salvage is made for him , it may be allowed us to consider a little the nature of the measures , by which this alleged salvation was achieved. If entering into a great war without either consistency of plan , or pre- paration 4)f means , and with a total ignorance of the financial re- sources of the enemy ' if allowing one part of the Cabinet to flatter the French Royalists , with the hope of seeing the Bourbons restored to undiminished power, while the other part acted whenever an opportunity offered, upon the plan of dismembering France for the aggrandizement of Austria, and thus, at once, alienated Prussia at tlu- very moment of subsidizing him, and lost the confidence of all Ihe Royalist party in Fratfce 2 , except the few who were ruined by 1 Into his erroneous calculations upon ibis point he is supposed to have beeu led by Str Francis D'lvernois. ' Among other instances, the Abbe MaurJ is reported to have said at Rome. 35 MEMOIKS English assistance alQuiberon if going to war in 1793 for the right of the Dutch to a river , and so managing it that in 1794 the Dutch lost their .whole Seven Provinces if lavishing more money upon failures than the successes of a century had cost , and supporting this profusion by schemes of finance , either hollow and delusive , like the Sinking Fund , or desperately regardless of the future , like the paper issues if driving Ireland into rebellion by the perfidious recall of Lord Fitzwilliam , and reducing England to two of the most fearful trials that a nation , depending upon Credit and a navy , could en- counter, the stoppage of her Bank and a mutiny in her fleet if, finally , floundering on from effort to effort against France , and then dying upon the ruins of the last Coalition lie could muster against her if all this betokens a wise and able minister, then is Mr. Pitt most amply entitled to that name ; then are the lessons of wisdom to be read , like Hebrew , backward , and waste and rashness and systematic failure to be held the only true means of saving a country. Had even success , by one of those anomalous accidents , which sometimes baffle the best founded calculations of wisdom, been the immediate result of this long monotony of error, it could not, ex- cept with those to whom the event is every thing Ci Eventus , stultoriun rnagirter 1 " reflect back merit upon the means by which it was achieved, or, by a retrospective miracle, convert that into wisdom , which chance had only saved from the worst consequences of folly. Just as well might we be called upon to pronounce Al- chemy a wise art, because a perseverance in its failures and reveries had led by accident to (he discoveries of Chemistry. But even this sanction of good-luck was wanting to the unredeemed mistakes of Mr. Pitt. During the eight years that intervened between his death and the termination of the contest , the adoption of a far wiser po- licy was forced upon his more tractable pupils ; and the only share that his measures can claim in the successful issue of the war , is that of having produced the grievance that was then abated of having raised up the power opposed to him to the portentous and dizzy height from which it then fell by the giddiness of its own elevation 2 , and by the reaction , not of the Princes, but the People of Europe against its yoke. What would have been the course of affairs, both' foreign and domestic, had Mr. Fox as was, at one time, not improbable in a large company of bis countrymen" Still we have on^ remedy let us not allow France to be divided we have seen the partition of EoJUnd : we must all turn Jacobins to preserve onr counter." 1 A saying of the wise Fabins. " summisque negatum Stare diu" LUCAS. OF K. B. SHERIDAN. 357 been the Minister during this period , must be left to that super- human knowledge, which the schoolmen call "Media scientia" and which consists in knowing all that -would have happened , had events been otherwise than they have been: It is probable that some of the results would not have been so different -as the respective principles of Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox might naturally lead us, on the first thought, to assert. If left to himself, there is little doubt that the latter, from the simple and fearless magnanimity of his nature, would have consulted for the public safety , with that moderation which true courage inspires ; and that, even had it been necessary to suspend the Constitution fto 1 a season , he would have known how to veil the statue of Liberty 1 , without leaving , like his rival, such marks of mutilation on its limbs. But it is to be recollected that he would have had to encounter , in his own ranks , the very same pa- trician alarm , which could even to Mr. Pitt give an increase of mo- mentum against liberty , and which the possession oR power would have rendered but more sensitive and arbitrary. Accustomed, too, as he had long been, to yield to the influence of Burke, it would have required more firmness than habitually belonged to Mr. Fox , to withstand the persevering impetuosity of such a counsellor, or keep the balance of his mind unshaken by those stupendous powers, which , like the horses of the Sun breaking out of the ecliptic , carried every thing they seized upon so splendidly astray : " quaque impetus egit , Hac sjtne lege ruunt , al toque sub astherejixis Incursant stellis , rapiuntque per avia cu.rru.rn. Where'er the impulse drives , they burst away, In lawless grandeur; break into the array Of the lix'd stars , and bound and blaze along Their devious course , magnificently wrong ! Having hazarded these general observations , upon the views and conduct of the respective parties of England, during the Crusade now begun against the French people , I shall content myself with briefly and cursorily noticing the chief questions upon which Mr. Sheridan distinguished himself , in the Course of the parliamentary campaigns that followed. The sort of guerilla warfare , which he and the rest of the small band attached to Mr. Fox carried on, during this period , against the invaders of the Constitution , is interesting rather by its general character than its detail ; for in these, as usual, the episodes of party personality are found to encroach dispropor- tionately on the main design, and the grandeur of the cause, as " II y a dej cos ou il faut mettre pour tin moment nn voile fur la Libert^ , comme I'on cache les statues des dieux." MOMT^SQUIKU , Hv. xii. chap. 20. 358 MEMOIRS viewed at a distance , becomes diminished to our imaginations by too near an approach. Englishmen, however, will long look back to that crisis with interest ; and the names of Fox , of Sheridan , and of Grey , will be affectionately remembered , when that sort of false elevation , which party-feeling now gives to the reputations of some who were opposed to them , shall have subsided to its due level , or been succeeded by oblivion. They who act against the general sympathies of mankind , however they may be artificially buoyed up for the moment , have the current against them in the long run of fame ; while the reputation of those , whose talents have been employed upon the popular and generous side of human feel- ings , receives , through all time, an accelerating impulse from the countless hearts that go with it in its course. Lord Chatham even now supersedes his son in fame , and will leave him at an immea- surable distance with posterity. Of the events of the private life of Mr. Sheridan , during this stormy part of his political career , there remain but few memorials among his papers. As an illustration , however , of his love of belting the only sort of Gambling in which he ever indulged the following curious list of his wagers for the year is not unamusing : " 25th May, 1790. Mr. Sheridan bets Gen. Fitzpatrick one hundred guineas to fifty guineas, that within two years from this date some mea- sure is adopted in Parliament which shall be (bonafide} considered as the adoption of a Parliamentary Reform. " 2glh January, ijgS Mr. S. bets Mr. Boothby Glopton five hundred guineas, that there is a Reform in the Representation of the people of England within three years from the date hereof. " 2gth January, 1795. Mr. S. bets Mr. Hardy one hundred guineas to fifty guineas, that Mr. W. Windham does not represent Norwich at the next general election. " 2gth January, 1790. Mr. S. bets Gen. Fitzpatrick fifty guineas, that a corps of British troops are sent to Holland within two months of the date hereof. " i8th March, 1795. Mr. S. bets Lord Titchfield two hundred gui- neas, that the D. of Portland is at the head of an Administration on or before the i8th of March, 1796: Mr. Fox to decide whether any place the Duke may then fill shall bonafide come within the meaning of this bet. OFR.B. SHERIDAN. 359 " 25th March, 1795. Mr. S. bets Mr. Hardy one hundred guineas, that the three per cent, consols are as high this day twelvemonth as at the date hereof, " Air. S. bets Gen. Tarleton one hundred guineas to fifty guineas, that .Mr. Pitt is first Lord of the Treasury on the a8th of May, 1795. Mr. S. lc'ls Mr. St. A. St. John Gfteen guineas to five guineas, ditto. Mr. S. lels Lord Sefton one hundred and forty guineas to forty guineas to ditto. " igth March , 1793 -Lord Titchfield and Lord W. Russell bet Mr. S. three hundred guineas to two hundred guineas that Mr. Pitt is first Lord of the Treasury on the igth of March , 1795. " 1 8th March, 1793. Lord Titchfield bets Mr, 5. twenty-five guineas to fifty guineas, that Mr. Windham represents Norwich at the next ge- neral election. As a sort of moral supplement lo this strange list , and one of those insights into character and conduct which it is the duly of a biographer to give, I shall subjoin a letter, connected evidently \vilh one of the above speculations : "SIR, " I am very sorry that I have been so circumstanced as to have been obliged to disappoint you respecting the payment of the five hundred guineas : when I gave the draughts on Lord * I had every reason to be assured he would accept them, as * * had also. I enclose you, as you will see by his desire, the letter in which he excuses his not being able to pay me this part of a larger sum he owes me, and 1 cannot refuse him any time he requires, however inconvenient to me. I also enclose you two draughts accepted by a gentleman from whom the money will be due to me, and on whose punctuality I can rely. I extremely regret that I cannot at this juncture command the money. "At the same time that 1 regret your being put to any inconvenience by this delay, I cannot help adverting to the circumstance which perhaps misled me into the expectation thai you would not unwillingly aUow me any reasonable time I' might want for the payment of this bet. The circumstance 1 mean, however discreditable the plea, is the total inebriety of some of the party, particularly of myself, when I made this pre- posterous bet. I doubt not you will remember having yourself observed on this circumstance to a common friend the next day, with an intima- tion that you should not object to being oft'; and for my part, when I was informed that; I had made such a bet and for such a sum, the first, such.folly on the face of it on my part, and the latter so out of my prac- tice, I certainly should have proposed the cancelling it, but that, from the intimation imparted to me, 1 hoped the proposition might rome from you. 360 MEMOIRS " I hope I need not for a moment beg you not to imagine that I am now alluding to these circumstances as the slightest invalidation of your due. So much the contrary, that I most perfectly admit that from your not having heard any thing further from me on the subject, and espe- cially after I might have heard that if I desired it the bet might be off, you had every reason to conclude that I was satisfied with the wager, and whether made in wine or not, was desirous of abiding by it. And this was further confirmed by my receiving soon after from you ioo/. on another bet won by me. " Having, I think, put this point very fairly, I again repeat that my only motive for alluding to the matter was , as some explanation of my seeming dilatoriness , which certainly did in part arise from always con- ceiving that , whenever I should state what was my real wish the day after the bet was made, you would be the more disposed to allow a little time; the same statement admitting, as it must, the bet to be as clearly and as fairly won as possible ; in short , as if I had insisted on it myself the next morning. " I have said more perhaps on the subject than can be necessary , but I should regret to appear negligent to an application for a just claim. " I have the honour to be , " Sir, " Your obedient servant, " Hci-tjbi-d St. Feb. 26. " R. B. SHERIDAN." Of the public transactions of Sheridan at this time, his speeches are the best record. To them, therefore , I shall henceforward prin- cipally refer my readers, premising, that though the reports of his later speeches are somewhat belter, in general, than those of his earlier displays , they still do great injustice to his powers , and ex- hibit little more than the mere Torso of his eloquence , curtailed of all those accessories that lent motion and beauty to its form. The at- tempts to give the terseness of his wit particularly fail , and are a strong illustration of what he himself once said to Lord * *. That Nobleman, who among his many excellent qualities docs not include a very lively sense of humour, having exclaimed, upon hearing some good anecdote from Sheridan, "I'll go and tell that to our friend * *," Sheridan called him back instantly and said , with much gravity, " For God's sake , don't , my dear * * : a joke is no laughing mailer in your mouth/ 1 It is indeed singular, that all the eminent English orators with (lie exception of Mr. Burke and Mr. Windham should have been so little anxious for the correct transmission of their eloquence to posterity. Had not Cicero taken more care of even his extemporaneous effu- sions , we should have lost that masterly burst of the moment , to which the clemency of Crsar towards Marcellus gave birth, The beautiful fragments we have of Lord Chatham are ralher traditional OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 361 than recorded ; there are but two , I believe , of the speeches of Mr. Pill corrected fay himself, those on the Budget of 1792 , and on the Union with Ireland; Mr. Fox committed to writing but one of his , namely, the tribute to the memory of the Duke of Bedford ; and the only speech of Mr. Sheridan, that is known with cer- tainly to have passed under his own revision , was that which he made at the opening of the following session ( 1794), in answer to Lord Mornington. In the course of the present year he took frequent opportunities of expressing his disgust at that spirit of ferocity, which had so deeply disgraced the cause of the Revolution. So earnest was his inr terest in the fate of the Royal Family of France, that, as appears from one of his speeches , he drew up a paper on the subject , and transmitted it to the republican rulers ; with the view, no doubt , of conveying to them the feelings of the English Opposition , and endeavouring to avert, by the influence of his own name and that of Mr. Fox , the catastrophe that awaited those Royal victims of li- berty. Of this interesting document I cannot discover any traces. In one of his answers to Burke on the subject of the" French Re- volution, adverting to the charge of Deism and AthJism brought against the republicans , he says , " As an argument to the feelings and passions of men , the Honourable Member had great advantages in dwelling on this topic ; because it was a subject which those who disliked every thing that had the air of cant and profession on the one hand, pr of indifference on the other, found it awkward to meddle with. Establishments, tests, and matters of that nature, were proper objects of political discussion in that House, but not general charges of Atbeism and Deism, as pressed upon their consi- deration by tbe Honourable Gentleman. Thus far, however h6 would say, and it was an opinion he had never changed or concealed, that, although no man can command bis conviction , he had ever considered a deliberate disposition to make proselytes in infidelity as an unac- countable depravity. Whoever attempted to pluck the belief or the pre- judice on this subject, style it which he would, frotn the bosom of one man, woman, or child, committed a brutal outrage, the motive for which he had never been able to trace or conceive." I quote these words as creditable to the feeling and good sense of Sheridan. Whatever may be thought of particular faiths and sects, a belief in a life beyond this world is the only thing that pierces through the walls of our prison-house , and lets hope shine in upon a scene that would be otherwise bewildered and desolate. The pro- selylismof the Atheist is , indeed , a dismal mission. That believers, who have each the same heaven in prospect, , should invite us to join I horn on their respective ways to it , is at least a benevolent o{- 3G2 MEMOIRS ficiousness \ but that he, who has no prospect or hope himself, should seek for companionship in his road to annihilation, can only be explained by that tendency in human creatures to count upon each other in their despair, as well as their hope. In. the speech upon his own Motion relative to the existence of seditious practices in the country, there is some lively ridicule upon the panic then prevalent. For instance : " The alarm had been brought forward in great pomp and form on Saturday morning. At night all the mail-coaches were stopped ; the Duke of Richmond stationed himself, among other curiosities , at the Tower ; a great municipal officer, too, had made a discovery exceedingly benefi- cial to the people of this country. He meant the Lord Mayor of London , who had found out that there was at the King's Arms in Gornhill a Debating Society, where principles of the most dangerous tendency were propagated ; where people went to buy treason at sixpence a-head ; where it was retailed to them by the glimmering of an inch of candle; and five minutes, to be measured by the glass, were allowed to each traitor to perform his part in overturning the State." It was in the same speech that he gave the well-known and happy turn to the motto of the Sun newspaper, which was at that lime known to be the organ of the Alarmists. " There was one paper,' he remarked, c> in particular, said to be the property of members of thai House , and published and conducted under their immediate direction, which had for its motto a garbled part of a beautiful sen- tence , when it might , with much more propriety, have assumed the whole '' ' Solem qjils dicere falsum Audcat? Ills etiam ccecos instare tuinuhus Scepe monet , fraudemque et operta tnmescere bella? " Among the subjects that occupied the greatest share of his allen- tion , during this Session , was the Memorial of Lord Auckland to the States-General, which document he himself brought under the notice of Parliament, as deserving of severe reprobation for the violent and vindictive tone which it assumed towards the. Commis- sioners of the National Convention. It w'as upon one of the discus- sions connected with this subject that a dispute , as to the correct translation of the word "malheureux," was maintained with much earnestness between him and Lord Melville two persons, the least qualified, perhaps, of any in the House, to volunteer as either in- terpreters or pronouncers of the French language. According to Sheridan , " cesmalheureux" was lobe translated "these wretches;" while Lord Melville contended, to the no small amusement of the House, that " mollyroo" (as he pronounced it) meant no more than these unfortunate gentlemen. v OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 365 Jn the November of Ibis year Mr. Sheridan lost , by a kind of death which must have deepened the feeling of the loss , the most intimate of all his companions, Tickell. If congeniality of dispo- sitions and pursuits were always a strengthener of affection , the friendship between Tickell and Sheridan ought to have been of the most cordial kind , for they resembled each other in almost every particular in their wit, their wants, their talent, and their thought- lessness. It is but too true , however, that friendship in general gains far less by such a community of pursuit than it loses by the compe- tition that naturally springs out of it ; and that two wits or two beau- ties form the last sort of alliance in which we ought to look for spe- cimens of sincere and cordial friendship. The*intercourse between Tickell and Sheridan was not free from such collisions of vanity. They seem to have lived , indeed , in a state of alternate repulsion and attraction ; and , unable to do without the excitement of each olher's vivacity, seldom parted without trials of temperas well as of wit. Being both , too, observers of character, and each finding in the other rich materials for observation, their love of ridicule could not w ithstand such a temptation , and they freely criticised each other to common friends, whx), as is usually the case, agreed with both. Still, however, there wasawhimandsprightliness, even about their mischief, which made it seem rather an exercise of ingenuity than an indulgence of ill nature ; and if they had not carried on this intellectual warfare , neither would have liked the other half so well. The two principal productions of Tickell, the " Wreath of Fashion" and " Anticipation," were both upon temporary subjects, and have accordingly passed into oblivion. There are, however, some graceful touches of pleasantry in the poem ; and the pamphlet (which procured for him not only fame but a place in the Stamp-office) contains passages, of which the application and the humour have not yet grown stale. As Sheridan is the hero of the Wreath of Fashion , it is but right to quote the verses that relate to him : and I do it with the more pleasure , because they also contain a well- merited tribute to Mrs. Sheridan. After a description of the various poets of the day that deposit their offerhigs in Lady Millar's " of Sentiment," the author thus proceeds : " At Fashion's shrine behold a gentler bard Gaze on the mystic vase with fond regard But see, Thalia checks the doubtful thought, ' Canst thou ( she cries ) with sense , with genius fraught , Canst thou to Fashion's tyranny submit , Secure in native , independent wit ? Or yield to Sentiment's insipid rule , By Taste, by Fancy, cliac'd through Scandal's school ? 364 MEMOIRS Ah no be Sheridan's the comic page , t Or let me fly with Garrick from the stage.' Haste then , my friend , (for let ine boast that name , ) Haste to the opening path of genuine fame , Or, if thy muse a gentler theme pursue , Ah , 'tis to love and thy Eliza due ! For, sure , the sweetest lay she well may claim , Whose soul breathes harmony o'er all her frame ; While wedded love , with ray serenely clear, Beams from her eye, as from its proper sphere." In the year 1781 , Tickell brought out at Drury-Lane an opera called "The Carnival of Venice," on which there is the following remark in Mrs. Croifch's Memoirs : " Many songs in this piece so perfectly resemble in poetic beauty those which adorn The Duenna, that they declare themselves to be the offspring of the same muse." I know not how far this conjecture may be founded ; but there are four pretty lines which I remember in this opera , and which , il may be asserted without hesitation , Sheridan never wrote. He had no feeling for natural scenery ', nor is there a trace of such a sen- timent discoverable through his poetry. The following , as well as I can recollect , are the lines : " And while the moon shines on the stream , And as soft music breathes around, The feathering oar returns the gleam , And dips in concert to the sound." I have already given a humorous Dedication of the Rivals , writ- ten by Tickell on the margin of a copy of that play in my possession. I shall now add another piece of still more happy humour , with which he has filled , in very neat handwriting, the three or four first pages of the same copy. " The Rivals, a Comedy one of the best in the English language written as long ago as the reign of George the Third. The author's name was Sheridan he is mentioned by the historians of that age as a man of uncommon abilities, very little improved by cultivation. His confi- dence in the resources of his own genius , ap.d his aversion to any sort of labour, were so great that he could not be prevailed upon to learn either to read or write. He was, for a short time, Manager of one of the 1 In corroboration of this remark, I have beeu allowed to quote the following passage of a letter written by a very eminent person, whose name all lovers of the Picturesque associate with their best enjoyment of its beanties: "At one time I saw a good deal of Sheridan he and his first wife passed some time here , and he is an instance that a taste for poetry and for scenery are not always united. Had this house been in the midst of Hounslow Heath , he could not have taken less interest in all around it : his delight was in shooting, all and ever\ day; and my gamekeeper said, that of all the gentlemen he had ever been out with, lie never knew so bad a shot.'' OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 3C5 play-houses, and conceived the extraordinary and almost incredible project of composing a play extempore, which he was to recite in the Green-room to the actors, who were immediately to come on the stage and perform it. The players refusing to undertake their parts at so short a notice, and with so little preparation, he threw up the management in disgust. "lie was a member of the last Parliaments that were summoned in England , and signalised himself on many occasions by his wit and elo- quence, though he seldom came to the House till the debate was nearly concluded, and never spoke, unless he was drunk. He lived on a footing, of great intimacy with the famous Fox, who is said to'have concerted with him the audacious attempt which he made, about the year iy85 , to seize the whole property of the East India Company, amounting at that time to above ia,ooo,ooo/. sterling, and then to declare himself Lord Protector of the realm by the title of Carlo Khan. This desperate scheme actually received the consent of the lower House of parliament, the majority of whom were bribed ,by Fox, or intimidated by his and Sheridan's threats and violence ; and it- is generally believed that the Revolution would have taken place, if the Lords of the King's Bed- chamber had not in a body surrounded the throne, and shown' the most determined resolution not to abandon their posts but with their lives. The usurpation being defeated, Parliament was dissolved and loaded with infamy. Sheridan was one of the few members of it who were re- elected : the Burgesses of Stafford, whom he had kept in a constant; state of intoxication for near three weeks, chose him again to represent them , which he was well qualified to do* "Fox's Whig party being very much reduced, or rather almost annihilated , he and the rest of the conspirators remained quiet for some time; till, in the year 1788, the French, 'in conjunction with Tippoo Sultan , having suddenly seized and divided between themselves the whole of the British possessions in India , the East India Company broke, and a national bankruptcy was apprehended. During this confusion. Fox and his partizans assembled jn large bodies , and made a violent attack in Parliament on Pitt, the King's first minister : Sheridan supported and seconded him. Parliament seemed disposed to enquire into the cause of the calamity : the nation was almost in a state of actual rebellion : and it is impossible for us , at the distance of three hundred years, to form any judgment what dreadful consequences might have followed, if the King, by the advice of the Lords of the Bedchamber, had not dissolved the Parliament , and taken the administration of affairs into his own hands, and those of a few confidential servants, at the head of whom he was pleased to place one, Mr. Atkinson , a merchant , who had acquired a handsome fortune in the Jamaica trade, and passed universally for a man of unblemished integrity. His Majesty having now no farther oc- casion for Pitt, and being desirous of rewarding him for his past services, and, at the same time, finding an adequate employment for his great talents, caused him to enter into holy orders, and presented him with ilu Deanery of Windsor, where he became an excellent preacher, and published several volumes of sermons, all of which are now lost. To return to Sheridan : on the abrogation of Parliaments, he 3GG MEMOIRS entered into a closer connection than ever with Fox and a few others of lesser note, forming together as desperate and profligate a gang as ever disgraced a civilized country. They were guilty of every species of enor- mity, and went so far as even to commit robberies on the highway, with a degree of audacity that could be equalled only by the ingenuity with which they escaped conviction. Sheridan, not satisfied with eluding, determined to mock the justice of his country, and composed a Masque called ' The Foresters,' containing a circumstantial account of some of the robberies he had committed, and a good deal of sarcasm on the pusilla- nimity of those whom he had robbed, and the inefficacy of the penal laws of the kingdom. This piece was acted atDrury-Lane Theatre with great ap- plause, to the astonishment of all sober persons , and the scandal of the mtion. His Majesty, who had long wished to curb the licentiousness of I he press and the theatres, thought this a good opportunity. He ordered the performers to be enlisted into the army, the play-house to be shut up, and all Theatrical exhibitions to be forbid on pain of death. Drury-Lanc house was soon after converted into a barrack for soldiers, which it has continued to be ever since. Sheridan was arrested, and, it was imagined would have suffered the rack , if he had not escaped from his guard by a stratagem, and gone over to Ireland in a balloon with which his friend Fox furnished him. Immediately on his arrival in Ireland , he put himself at the head of a party of the most violent Reformers , com- manded a regiment of Volunteers at the siege of Dublin in 1791, and was supposed to be the person who planned the scheme for tarring and feathering Mr. Jenkinson , the Lord Lieutenant, and forcing him in that condition to sign the capitulation of the Castle. The persons who were to execute this strange enterprize had actually got into the Lord Lieu- tenant's apartment at midnight , and would probably have succeeded in their project, if Sheridan, who was intoxicated with whiskey, a strong liquor much in vogue with the Volunteers , had not attempted to force open the door of Mrs. 's bedchamber, and so given the alarm to the garrison, who instantly flew to arms, seized Sheridan and every one of his party, and confined them in the castle-dungeon. Sheridan was ordered for execution the next day, but had no sooner got his legs and arms at liberty, than he began capering, jumping, dancing, and making all sorts of antics, to the utter amazement of the spectators. When the chaplain endeavoured , by serious advice and admonition , to bring him to a proper sense of his dreadful situation, he grinned , made faces at him, tried to tickle him, and played a thousand other pranks with such astonishing drollery, that the gravest countenances became cheerful, and the saddest hearts glad.. The soldiers who attended at the gallows were so delighted with his merriment, which they deemed magnanimity, that the sheriffs began to apprehend a rescue, and ordered the hangman instantly to do his duty. He went off in a loud horse-laugh, and cast a look towards the Castle, accompanied with a gesture expressive of no great respect. "Thus ended the life of this singular and unhappy man a melan- choly instance of the calamities that attend the misapplication of great and splendid ability. He was married to a very beautiful and amiable woman , for whom he is said to have entertained an unalterable affection. OF H. B SHERIDAN. 36T He had one son , a boy of the most promising hopes , whom he would never suffer to be instructed in the first rudiments of literature. He amused himself, however, with teaching the boy. to draw portraits with his toes, in which he soon became so astonishing a proficient that he seldom failed to takeamostexact likeness of every person who sat to him. " There are a few more plays by the same author, all of them excellent. "For further information concerning this strange man, vide ' Mac- pherson's Moral History,' Art. ' Drunkenness.' " CHAPTER XVII. Speeches in answer to Lord Mornington. Coalition of the whigSeceders with Mr. Pitt. Mr. Canning. Evidence on the Trial of Home Tookc. The " Glorious First of June." Marriage of Mr, Sheridan. Pamphlet of Mr. Reeves. Debts of the Prince of Wales. -Shakspeare 'Manuscripts Trial of Stone. Mutiny at the Nore. Secession of Mr. Fox from Parliament. ir . , IN the year 1794, the natural consequences of me policy pursued by Mr. Pitt began rapidly to unfold themselves both at home and abroad '. The confederated Princes of the Continent, among whom (he gold of England was now the sole bond of union , had succeeded as might be expected from so noble an incentive," and, powerful only in provoking France, had by every step they took bul minis- tered to her aggrandizement. In the mean time , the measures of (lie English Minister at home were directed to the two great objects of his legislation the raising of supplies and the suppressing of sedition; or, in other words, to the double and anomalous task of making the people pay for the failures of their Royal allies, and suffer for their sympathy with the success of their republican ene- mies. It is the opinion of a learned Jesuit , that it was by aqua regia the Golden Calf of the Israelites was dissolved and the cause of Kings was the Royal solvent, in which the wealth of Great Britain now melted irrecoverably away. While the successes, too, of tho French had already lowered the tone of the Minister from project* of aggression to precautions of defence , the wounds which , in the wantonness of alarm , he Had inflicted on the liberties of the country, were spreading an inflammation around them that threatened real danger. The severity of the sentences upon Muir and Palmer in Scotland, and the daring confidence with which charges of Jligli 1 See, for a masterly exposure of the Errors of the War, the Speech of Lord f.ansdmvue this year, ou bringing forward his Motion for Peace. I cannot let the name of this nobleman pass, without expressing the deep grali- rmle which I fed to tym , not only for his own kindness to me, when iulrodurcil , as a boy, to hU flotice , but for the friendship of his truly Noble descendant, which f, in a great degree, osve to him, and which has long been the pride and li;i|ij.i ness of my life 368 MEMOIRS Treason were exhibited against persons who were, at the worst, but indiscreet reformers , excited the apprehensions of even the least sensitive friends of freedom. It is, indeed, difficult to say how far the excited temper of the government , seconded by the ever ready subservience of state-lawyers and bishops, might have proceeded at this moment, had not the acquittal of Tooke and his associates , and the triumph it diffused through the country given a lesson to Power such as England is alone capable of giving , and which \\ill long be remembered, to the honour of that great political safe-guard, that Life preserver in stormy times , the Trial by Jury. At the opening of the Session , Mr. Sheridan delivered his admi- rable answer lo Lord Morninglon, the report of which , as I have already said , was corrected for publication by himself. In this fine speech , of which the greater part must have been unprepared , there is a natural earnestness of feeling and argument that is well contrasted with the able but artificial harangue that preceded it. In referring to the details which Lord Mornington had entered into of the various atrocities committed in France, he says : " But what was the sum of all that he had told the House? that great and dreadful enormities had been committed, at which the heart shud- dered, and which not merely wounded every feeling of humanity, but disgusted and sickened the soul. All this was most true; but what did all this prove ? What , but that eternal and unalterable truth which had always presented itself to his mind, in whatever way he had viewed the subject , namely, that a long established despotism so far degraded and debased human nature, as to render its subjects, on the first recovery of their rights , unfit for the exercise of them. But never had he , or would he meet but. with reprobation that mode of argument which went , in fact, to establish, as an inference from this truth, that those who had been long slaves , ought therefore to remain so for ever ! ]\o ; the lesson ought to be, he would again repeat, a tenfold horror of that despotic form of government, which had so profaned and changed the nature of civilised man , and a still more jealous apprehension of any system tending to withhold the rights and liberties of our, fellow-creatures. Such a form of government might be considered as twice cursed ; while it existed, it was solely responsible for the miseries and calamities of its subjects ; and should a day of retribution come, and the tyranny be destroyed , it was equally to be charged with all the enormities which tbe folly or frenzy of those who overturned it should commit. " But the madness of the French people was not confined to their proceedings within their own country; We, and all the Powers of Europe , had to dread it. True ; but was not this also to he accounted for? Wild and unsettled as their state of mind was, necessarily, upon the events which, had thrown such power so suddenly into their hands, the surrounding States had goaded them into a. still more savage state of madness, fury, and desperation. We had unsettled their reason , and then reviled their insianty ; we drove them to the extremities that OF R. B SHERIDAN. 3CO produced the evils we arraigned ; we baited them like wild beasts, until at length \ve made them so. The conspiracy of Pilnitz , and the brutal threats of the Royal abettors of that plot against the rights of nations and of men, had, in truth, to answer for all the additional misery, horrors, and iniquity, which had since disgraced and incensed humanity. Such has been your conduct towards France , that you have created the passions which you persecute ; you mark a nation to be cut off fro'm the world ; you covenant for their extermination ; you swear to hunt them in their inmost recesses; you load them with every species of execration ; and you now come forth with whining declamations on the horror of their turning upon you with the fury which you inspired." Having alluded to an assertion of Gondorcet , quoted by Lord Mor- nington , that " revolutions are always the work of the minority," he adds livelily : "If this be true , it certainly is a most ominous thing for the enemies of Reform in England ; for, if it holds true , of necessity, that the mino- rity still prevails, in national contests , it must be a consequence that the smaller the minority the more certain must be the success. In what a dreadful situation then must the Noble Lord be and all the Alarmists ! for, never surely was a minority so small , so thin in number as the present. Conscious, however, that M. Condorcet was mistaken in our object, I am glad to find that we are terrible in proportion as we are few; 1 rejoice that the liberality of secession which has thinned our ranks has only served to make us more formidable. The Alarmists will hear this with new apprehensions ; they will no doubt return to us with a view to diminish our force , and encumber us with their alliance in order to reduce us to insignificance." We have here another instance , in addition to the many that have been given of the beauties that sprung up under Sheridan's correct- ing hand. This last pointed sentence was originally thus : " And we shall swell our numbers in order to come nearer in a balance of insignificance to the numerous host of the majority." It was at this time evident that the great Whig Seceders would soon yield to the invitations of Mr. Pitt and the vehement persua- sions of Burke, and commit themselves still further with the Admi- nistration by accepting 'of office. Tlmugh the final arrangements to this effect were not completed till the summer, on account of the lin- gering reluctance of the Duke of Portland andMr. Windham, Lord Loughborough and others of the former Opposition had already put on the official livery of the Minister. It is to be regretted that , in almost all cases of conversion to the side of power, the coincidence of some worldly advantage with the change should make it difficult H) decide upon the sincerity or disinterestedness of the convert. That these Noble Whigs were sincere in their alarm there is no reason to doubt, but HIP- lesson of loyally they have transmitted 370 MEMOIRS would have been far more edifying , had the usual corollary of ho- nours and emoluments not followed , and had they left at least one instance of political conversion on record , where the truth was its own sole reward, and the proselyte did not subside into the place- man. Mr. Sheridan was naturally indignant at these desertions, and his bitterness overflows in many passages of the speech before us. Lord Mornington having contrasted the privations and sacrifices demanded of the French by their Minister of Finance with those required of the English nation , he says , in answer : " The Noble Lord need not remind us, that there is no great danger of our Chancellor of the Exchequer making any such experiment. 1 can more easily fancy another sort of speech for our prudent Minister. I can more easily conceive him modestly comparing liimself and his own mea- sures with the character and conduct of his rival, and saying, ' Do 1 demand of you, wealthy citizens, to lend your hoards to Government without interest ? On the contrary, when I shall come to propose a loan, there is not a man of you to whom I shall not hold out at least a job in every part of the subscription, and an usurious profit upon every pound you devote to the necessities of your country. Do I demand of yon, my fellow-placemen and brother-pensioners, that you should sacrifice any part of your stipends to the public exigency? On the contrary, am I not dailv increasing your emoluments and your numbers in proportion as the country becomes unable to provide for you ? Do I require of you , my latest and most zealous proselytes, of ypu who have come over to me for the special purpose of supporting the war a war, on the success of which you solemnly protest, that the salvation of Britain, and of civil society itself, depend do I require of you, that you should make a temporary' sacrifice, in the cause of human nature, of the greater part of your private incomes? No, gentlemen, I scorn to lake advantage of the eagerness of your zeal ; and to prove that I think the sincerity of your attachment to me needs no such test, I will make your interest co-operate with your principle : I will quarter many of you on the public supply, instead of calling on you to contribute to it ; and, while their whole thoughts are absorbed in patriotic apprehensions for their country, I will dexterously force upon others the favourite objects of the vanity or ambition of their lives." " Good God, Sir, that he sWmld have thought it prudent to have forced this contrast upon our attention ; that he should triumphantly remind us of every thing that shame should have withheld, and caution would have buried in oblivion ! Will those who stood forth with a parade of disinterested patriotism, and vaunted of the sacrifices they had made, and the exposed situation they had chosen, in order the better to oppose the friend of Brissot in England will they thank the Noble Lord for re- minding us bow soon these lofty professions dwindled into little jobbing pursuits for followers and dependants, as unfit to fill the offices procured for them, as the oflices themselves were until to be created? Will the train of newly titled alarmists, of supernumerary negotiators, of pensioned OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 37 , paymasters, agents and commissaries, thank him for remarkin" to us how profitable their panic has been to themselves, and how expensive to their country? What a contrast, indeed, do we exhibit ! What! in such an hour as this, at a moment pregnant with the national fate, when pressing as the exigency may be, the hard task of squeezing the money from the pockets of an impoverished people, from the toil, the drudgery of the shivering poor, must make the most practised collector's heart ache while he tears it from them can it be, that people of high rank,, and professing high principles, that they or their families should seek to thrive on the spoils of misery, and fatten on the meals wrested from in- dustrious poverty ? Can it be, that this should be the case with the very persons,who state the unprecedented peril of the country as the sole cause of their being found in the ministerial ranks? The Constitution is in danger, religion is in danger, the very existence of the nation itself is endangered ; all personal and party considerations ought to vanish ; the war must be supported by every possible exertion , and by eveiy possible sacrifice; the people must not murmur at their burdens; it is for their salvation, their all is at stake. The time is come, when all honest and disinterested men should rally round the Throne as round a standard for what ? ye honest and disinterested men , to receive , for your own private emolument, a portion of those very taxes wrung from the people, on the pretence of saving them from the poverty and distress which you say the enemy would inflict, but which you take care no enemy shall be able to aggravate. Oh ! shame ! s,hame ! is this a time for selfish intrigues, and the little dirty traffic for lucre and emolument ? Does it suit the honour of a gentleman to ask at such a moment ? Does it become the honesty of a Minister to grant? Is it intended to confirm the pernicious doctrine , so industriously propagated by many, that all public men are impostors, and that every politician has his price ? Or even where there is no principle in the bosom, why does not prudence hint to the merce- nary and the vain to abstain a while at least, and wait the fitting of the times ? Improvident impatience! Nay, even from those who seem to have no direct object of office or profit, what is the language which their actions speak ? The Throne is in danger ! ' we. will support the Throne but let us share the smiles of Royalty ; ' the order of Nobility is in danger! 'I will fight for Nobility,' says the Viscount, 'but my zeal would be much greater if I were made an Earl ' ' Rouse all the Marquis within me,' exclaims the Earl,' and the peerage never turned forth a more undaunted champion in its cause than I shall prove.' ' Stain my green riband blue,' cries out the illustrious Knight, 'and the fountain of honour will have a fast and faithful servant.' What are the people to think of our sincerity ? What credit are they to give to our professions? Is this system to be persevered in ? Is there nothing that whispers to that Right Honourable Gentleman that the crisis is too big, that the times are too gigantic , to be ruled by the little hackneyed and even-day means of ordinary corruption ?" The discussions , indeed , during the whole of this Session, were marked by a degree of personal acrimony , which in the present more sensitive limes would hardly be borne. Mr. Pitt and Mr. She- 37* MEMOIRS ridan came , most of all , into collision -, and the retorts of the Minister not unfrequenlly proved with what weight the haughty sarcasms of Power may descend even upon the tempered buckler of Wit. It was in this Session , and on the question of the Treaty with the Ring of Sardinia , that Mr. Canning made his first appearance, as an orator, in the House. He brought with him a fame , already full of promise, and has been one of the brightest ornaments of the senate and ihe country ever since. From the political faith in which he had been educated , under the very eyes of Mr. Sheridan , who had long been the friend of his family, and at whose house he generally passed his college-vacations , the line that he was to take in the House of Commons seemed already, according to the usual course of events , marked out for him. Mr. Sheridan had, indeed, with an eagerness which, however premature, showed the value which he and others set upon the alliance , taken occasion , in the course of a laudatory tribute to Mr. Jenkinson ' , on the success of his first effort in the House, to announce the accession which his own party was about to receive, in the talents of another gentleman, the companion and friend of the young orator who had now distin- guished himself. Whether Ihis and other friendships , formed by Mr. Canning at Iho University, had any share in alienating him from a political creed , which he had hitherto , perhaps . adopled rather from habit and authority than choice or, whether he was startled at the idea of appearing for the first time in the world, as the announced pupil and friend of a person who, both by the vehe- mence of his politics and (he irregularities of his life, had put himself, in some degree, under the ban of public opinion or whe- ther, lastly, he saw the difficulties which even genius like his would experience, in rising to- the full growth of its ambition, under the shadowing branches of the Whig aristocracy and that superseding influence of birth and connections , which had contributed to keep even such men as Burke and Sheridan out of the Cabinet which of these motives it w as that now decided the choice of the young po- litical Hercules , between the two paths that equally wooed his foot- steps, none, perhaps, but himself can fully determine. His decision, we know , was in favour of the Minister and Toryism 5 and , after a friendly and candid explanation to Sheridan of the reasons and feel- ings that urged him to this step, he entered iato terms with Mr. Pitt, and was by him immediately brought into Parliament. However dangerous it might be to exalt such an example into a precedent , it is questionable whether , in thus resolving to join Now Lord Liverpool. OF B. B. SHKKIDAN. ytff the ascendant side , Mr. Canning has not conferred a greater bene- tit on the country than he ever would have been able to effect in the ranks of his original friend. That party, which has now so long been the sole depositary of the power of the Stale, had, in addition to the original narrowness of its principles, contracted all that proud obstinacy in antiquated error , which is the invariable characteristic of such monopolies; and which however consonant with its voca- tion , as the chosen instrument of the Crown , should have long since invalided it in the service of a free and enlightened people. Some infusion of the spirit of the times into this body had become necessary, even for its own preservation, in the same manner .as the inhalement of youthful breath has been recommended, by some physicians , to the infirm and superannuated. This renovating in- spiration the genius of Mr. Canning has supplied. His first political lessons were derived from sources too sacred to his young admira- tion lobe forgotten. He has carried the spirit of these lessons with him into the councils which he joined, and by the vigour of the graft , which already , indeed , shows itself in the fruits , bids fair lo change altogether the nature of Toryism. Among the eminent persons summoned as witnesses on the Trial of Home Tooke , which look place in the November of this year, was Mr. Sheridan ; and , as his evidence contains some curious par- ticulars, both with regard to himself and the slate of political feeling iu the year 1790, 1 shall here transcribe a part of it : " He (Mr. Sheridan) said he recollects a meeting to celebrate the establishment of liberty in France in the year 1790. Upon that occasion he moved a Resolution drawn up the day before by the Whig club. Mr. Home Tooke, he says, made no objection to his motion, but pro- posed an amendment. Mr. Tooke stated that unqualified approbation of the French Revolution, in the terms moved, might produce an ill effect out of doors , a disposition to a revolution in this country, or, at least, be misrepresented to have that object; he adverted to the circumstance of their having all of them national cockades in their hats; be proposed to add some qualifying expression to the approbation of the French Revolution , a declaration of attachment to the principles of our own Constitution; he said Mr. Tooke spoke in a figurative manner of the former Government of France; he described it as a vessel so foul and decayed, that no repair could save it from destruction, that in contrasting our state with that, he said, thank God, the main limbers of our Consti- tution are sound; be bad before observed, however, that some reforms might be necessary ; he said that sentiment was received with great x-ph Richardson, Dr. Howley, now Bishop of London, and Mrs. Wilmot, nfow Lady Dacre, a lady whose various talents, not the less delightful for biug so feminine, like the.gronpe of the Graces, reflect beauty on each other. "8 MEMOIRS That o'er us v liis|x-ring pass'd or idly play'd With the lithe flag aloft. A woodland scene On either side drew its slope line of green, And hung the water's shining edge with shade. Above the woods , Netley ! thy ruins pale Peer'd , as we pass'd: and Vecta's ' azure hue Beyond the misty caslle a met the view ; Where in mid channel hung the scarce-seen sail. So all was calm and sunshine as we went Cheerily o'er the briny element. Oh ! were this little bostt to us the world , As thus we wander'd far from sounds of care, Circled with friends and gentle maidens fair, Whilst morning airs the waving pendant cnrl'd. How sweet -were life's long voyage, till in peace We gaia'd that haven still, where all tilings cease!'" The events of this year but added fresh impetus to that reaction upon each other of the Government and the People , which such a system of misrule is always sure to produce. Among the worst effects, as I have already remarked , of the rigorous policy adopted by the Minister, was the extremity to which it drove the principles and language of Opposition , and that sanction which the vehement re- bound against oppression of such influencing spirits as Fox and She- ridan seemed to hold out to the obscurer and more practical assertors of freedom. ,This was at no time more remarkable than in the pre- sent Session , during the discussion of those arbitrary measures , the Treason and Sedition Bills , when sparks were struck out , in the collision of the two principles, which the combustible state of public feeling at the moment rendered not a little perilous. On the motion that the House should resolve itself into a Committee upon the Trea- son Bill, Mr. Fox said, that "if Ministers were determined, by means of the corrupt influence they already possessed in the two Houses of Parliament , to pass these Bills , in violent opposition to the declared sense of the great majority of the nation, and they should be put in force with all their rigorous provisions, if his opinion were asked by the people as to their obedience , he should tell them , that it was no longer a question of moral obligation and duty , but of prudence." Mr. Sheridan followed in the bold footsteps of his friend, and said, that " if a degraded and oppressed majority of the people applied to him , he would advise them, to acquiesce in those bills only as long as resistance was imprudent." Tin's language was, of course, visited with the heavy reprobation of the Ministry ; but Iheir own partizans had already gone as great lengths on the side of absolute power , and it is the nature of such extremes to generate ' Isle of Wight. 1 Kelsbot Caslle. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. T79 each other. Bishop Horsley had preached the doctrine of passive obedience in the House of Lords, asserting that "man's abuse of his delegated authority is to be borne with resignation , like any other of God's judgments ; and that the opposition of the individual to the sovereign power is an opposition to God's providential arrange- ments." The promotion of the Right Reverend Prelate that followed was not likely to abate his zeal in the cause of power ; and accord- ingly , we find him in the present session declaring, in his place in the House of Lords, that " the people 'have nothing to do with the laws but to obey them." The government, too, had lately given countenance to writers, the absurd slavishness of whose doctrines would have sunk below contempt, but for such patronage. Among the ablest of them was Arthur Young, one of those renegades from the cause of freedom , who , like the incendiary that set fire to the Temple with the flame he had stolen from its altar , turn the fame and the energies which they have acquired in defence of liberty against her. This gentleman , to whom his situation as Secretary to the Board of Agriculture af- forded facilities for the circulation of his political heresies, did not scruple, in one of his pamphlets, roundly to assert, that unequal representation, rotten boroughs, long parliaments, extravagant courts , selfish Ministers , and corrupt majorities , are not only in- timately interwoven with the practical freedom of England, but, in a great degree , the causes of it. But the most active and notorious of these patronised advocates of the Court was Mr. John Reeves, a person who, in his capacity of President of the Association against Republicans and Levellers, had acted as a sort of Sub-minister of Alarm to Mr. Burke. In a pamphlet, entitled " Thoughts on the English Government," which Mr. Sheridan brought under the notice of the House, as a libel on the Constitution, this pupil of the school of Filmer advanced the startling doctrine , that the Lords and Commons of England derive their existence and authority from the King , and that the Kingly government could go on, in all its functions, without them. This pitiful paradox found an apologist in Mr. Windham . whose chivalry in the new cause he had espoused left Mr. Pitt himself at a won- dering distance behind. His speeches in defence of Reeves , (which are among the proofs that remain of that want of equipoise ob- servable in his fine , rather than solid , understanding ,) ha'vc been , with a judicious charity towards his memory , omitted in the au- thentic collection by Mr. Arayot. When such libels against Hie Constitution were not only promul- gated , but acted upon , on one side , it was to be expected , and hardly , perhaps, to be regretted, that the repercussion should be .380 MEMOIRS heard loudly and warningly from the oilier. Mr. Fox, by a subse- quent explanation , softened down all that was most menacing in his language; and, though the word "Resistance," at full length, should, like the hand-writing on the wall, be reserved forlhe last intoxication of the Belshazzars of this world , a letter or two of it may , now and then, glare out upon their eyes, without producing any thing worse than a salutary alarm amid their revels. At all events, the high and constitutional grounds on which Mr. Fox de- fended the expressions he had hazarded , may well reconcile us to any risk incurred by their utterance. The tribute to the house of Russell , in the grand and simple passage beginning , " Dear to this country are the descendants of the illustrious Russell," is as appli- cable to that Noble family now as it was then ; and w ill continue to be so , I trust , as long as a single vestige of a race , so pledged to the cause of liberty , remains. In one of Mr. Sheridan's speeches on the subject of Reeves's libel, there are some remarks on the character of the people of England, not only candid and just , but , as applied lo them at that trying crisis, interesting : "Never was there," he said, "any country in which there was so much absence of public principle, and at the same time so many instances of private worth. Never was there so much charity and humanity cowards the poor and the distressed ; any act of cruelty or oppression never failed to excite a sentiment of general indignation against its authors. It was a circumstance peculiarly strange, that though luxury had arrived to such a pitch, it had so little effect in depraving the hearts and destroying the morals of people in private life, and almost every day produced some fresh example of generous feelings and noble exertions of benevolence. Yet, amidst these phenomena of private virtue , it was to be remarked, that there was an almost total want of public spirit, and a most deplorable contempt of public principle. When Great Britain fell, the case would not be with her as with Rome in former times. When Rome fell, sbe fell by the weight of her own vices. The inhabitants were so corrupted and degraded, as to be unworthy of a continuance of prosperity, and incapable to enjoy the blessings of liberty ; their minds were bent to the state in which a reverse of fortune placed them. But when Great Britain falls, she will fall with a people full of private worth and virtue; she will be ruined by the profligacy of the governors, and the security of ber inhabitants , the consequence of those pernicious doctrines which have taught her to place a false conGdence in her strength and freedom , 'and not to look with distrust and apprehension to the misconduct and corruption of those to whom sbe has trusted the management of Ber resources." To this might have been added , that when Greet Britain falls , it will not be from either ignorance of her rights , or insensibility to their \aluc . but from that want of energy to assert them which a OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 381 high state of civilisation -produces. The love of case that luxury brings along wilh it, the selfish and compromising spirit, in which the members of a polished society countenance each other, and which reverses the principle of patriotism , by sacrificing public in- terests to private ones , the substitution of intellectual for moral excitement, and the repression of enthusiasm by fastidiousness and ridicule , these are among the causes that undermine a people , that corrupt in the very act of enlightening them 5 till they become , what a French writer calls " esprits exigeans et caracteres corn- pi ai sans " and the period in which their rights are best understood may be that in which they most easily surrender them. It is, indeed, with the advanced age of free States , as with that of individuals, they improve in the theory of their existence as they grow unfit for the practice of it ; till , at last , deceiving themselves with the sem- blance of rights gone by , and refining upon the forms of their in- stitutions after they have lost the substance , they smoothly sink into slavery, with the lessons of liberty on their lips. Besides the Treason and Sedition Bills , the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act was another of the momentous questions which , in this as well as the preceding Session, were chosen as points of assault by Mr. Sheridan , and contested with a vigour and rei- teration of attack , which , though unavailing against the massy majorities of the Minister, yet told upon public opinion so as to turn even defeats to account. The marriage of the Prince of Wales to the Princess Caroline of Brunswick having taken place in the spring of this year, it was pro- posed by His Majesty to Parliament , not only to provide an esta- blishment for their Royal Highnesses, but to decide on the best manner of liquidating the debts of the Prince , which were calculated at 630,000/. On the secession of the leading Whigs, in 1792, His Royal Highness had also separated himself from Mr. Fox , and held no further intercourse either with him or any of his party, except, occasionally, Mr. Sheridan, till so late, I believe, as the year 1798. The effects of this estrangement are sufficiently observable in the tone of the Opposition throughout the debates on the Message of the King. Mr. Grey said, that he would not oppose the granting of an establishment to the Prince equal to thai of his ancestors , but neither would he consent to the payment of his debts by Parliament. A refusal , he added , to liberate His Royal Highness from his em- barrassments would certainly prove a mortification ; but it would , at the same lime , awaken a just sense of his imprudence. Mr. Fox asked , " Was Ihe Prince well advised in applying lo that House on the subject of his debts, after the promise made in 1787?" and Mr. Sheridan, while he agreed with his friends lhat the application 38 8 MEMOIRS should not have been made to Parliament, still gave it as his ''po- sitive opinion that the debts ought to be paid immediately, for the dignity of the country and the situation of the Prince > who ought not to be seen rolling about the streets, in his state-coach, as an insolvent prodigal." With respeci to the promise given in 1787, and now violated , that the Prince would not again apply to Parliament for the payment of his debts , Mr. Sheridan, with a communicative- ness that seemed hardly prudent, put the House in possession of some details of the transaction, which, as giving an insight into Royal character, are worthy of being extracted. " In 1787, a pledge was given to the House that no more debts should be contracted. By that pledge the Prince was bound as much as if he had given it knowingly and voluntarily. To attempt any explanation of it now would be unworthy of his honour, as if he had suffered it to be wrung from him , with a view of afterwards pleading that it was against his better judgment, in order to get rid of it. He then advised the Prince not to make any such promise, because it was not be expected that he could himself enforce the details of a system of economy ; and although he had men of honour and abilities about him , he was totally unprovided with men of business, adequate to such a task. The Prince said he could not give such a pledge , and agree at the same time to take back his establishment. He (Mr. Sheridan) drew up a plan of retrench- ment, which was approved of by the Prince, and afterwards by His Majesty ; and the Prince told him that the promise was not to be insisted upon. In the King's Message, however, the promise was inserted, by whose ad vice he knew not. He heard it read with surprise, and, on being asked next day by the Prince to contradict it in his place, he enquired whether the Prince had seen the Message before it was brought down. Being told that it had been read to him, but that he did not understand it as containing a promise, he declined contradicting it , and told the Prince that he must abide by it, in whatever way it might have been obtained. By the plan then settled, Ministers had a check upon the Prince's expenditure, which they never exerted, nor enforced adhe- rence to the plan. ******* While Ministers never interfered to check expenses, of which they could not pretend ignorance, the Prince had recourse to means for relieving himself from his embarrassments, which ultimately tended to increase them. It was attempted to raise a loan for him in foreign countries , a measure which he thought unconstitutional, and put a stop to; and, after a consultation with Lord Loughborough , all the bonds were burnt, although with a considerable loss to the Prince. After that, another plan of retrenchment was proposed , upon which he had frequent consulta- tions with Lord Thurlow, who gave the Prince fair, open, and manly advice. That IS'oble Lord told the Prince, that, after the promise he had made, he mustnot think of applying to Parliament ; lhathe must avoid being of any party in politics, but, above all, exposing himself to the suspicion of being influenced in political opinion by his embarrassments ; that the only course he could pursue with honodr, was to retire from OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 383 public life for a time , and appropriate the greater part of his income to the liquidation of his debts. This plan was agreed upon in the autumn of 179-2. Why, it might IMJ asked, was it not carried into effect? About that period His Royal Highness began to receive unsolicited advice from another quarter. He was told by Lord Loughborongh , hoth in words and in writing, that the plan savoured too much of the advice given to M. Egalite, and he could guess from what quarter it came. For his own part , he was then of opinion , that to have avoided meddling in the great political questions which were then coming to be discussed, and to have put his affairs in a train of adjustment , would have better become his high station, and tended more to secure public respect to it, than the pageantry of state- liveries." The few occasions on which the name of Mr. Sheridan was again connected with literature , after the final investment of his genius in political speculations , were such as his fame might have easily dispensed with ; and one of them, the forgery of the Shakspeare papers , occurred in the course of the present year. Whether it was that he looked over these manuscripts with the eye more of a ma- nager than of a critic , and considered rather to what account the belief in their authenticity might be turned, than how far it was founded upon internal evidence , or whether , as Mr. Ireland as- serts , the standard at which he rated the genius of Shakspeare was not so high as to inspire him with a very watchful fastidiousness of .judgment ; certain it is that he was, in some degree , the dupe of this remarkable imposture, which , as a lesson to the self-confidence of criticism , and an exposure of the fallibility of taste , ought never to be forgotten in literary history. The immediate payment of 300/., and a moiety of the profits for the first sixty nights, were the terms upon which Mr. She- ridan purchased the play of Vortigern from the Trelands. The lat- ter part of the conditions was voided the first night ; and , though it is more than probable that a genuine tragedy of Shakspeare , if presented under similar circumstances , would have shared the same fate , the public enjoyed the credit of detecting and con- demning a counterfeit , which had passed current through some of the most learned and tasteful hands of the day. It is but justice , however, to Mr. Sheridan to add, that, according to the account of Ireland himself, he was not altogether without misgivings dur- ing his perusal of the manuscripts , ajid thai his name does not ap- pear among the signatures to that attestation of their authenticity , which his friend Dr. Parr drew up , and was himself the first to sign. The curious statement of Mr. Ireland , with respect to Sheridan's want of enthusiasm for Shakspeare , receives some confirmation from the testimony of Mr. Boaden, the biographer of Kcmble, who tells us that " Kcmblc frequently expressed to him his wonder that 384 MEMOIRS Sheridan should trouble himself so little about Shakspeare." This peculiarity oftaste, if it really existed to the degree that these two authorities would lead us to infer, affords a remarkable coinci- dence with the opinions of another illustrious genius, lately lost to the world , whose admiration of the great Demiurge of the Drama was leavened with the same sort of heresy. In the January of this year , Mr. William Stone the brother of the gentleman whose letter from Paris has been given in a preceding Chapter was tried upon a charge of High Treason , and Mr. She- ridan was among the witnesses summoned for the prosecution. He had already in the year 1794, in consequence of a reference from Mr. Stone himself, been examined before the Privy Council , relative to a conversation which he had held with that gentleman, and, on the day after his examination , had, at the request of Mr. Dundas, transmitted to that Minister in writing the particulars of his testimony before the Council. There is among his papers a rough draft of this Statement, in comparing which with his evidence upon the trial in the present year , I find rather a curious proof of the faithlessness of even the best memories. The object of the conversation which he had held with Mr. Stone in 1794 and which constituted the whole of their intercourse with each other was a proposal on the part of the latter, .submitted also to Lord Lauderdale and others, to exert his influence in France, through those channels which his brother's residence there opened to him , for the purpose of averting the threatened invasion of England, by representing to the French rulers the utter hopelessness of such an attempt. Mr. Sheridan , on the trial, after an ineffectual request to be allowed to refer to his written Statement , gave the following as part of his recollections of the con- versation : " Mr. Stone stated that, in order to effect this purpose, he had endea- voured to collect the opinions of several gentlemen , political characters in this country, whose opinions he thought would be of authority sufficient to advance his object; that for this purpose he had had interviews with different gentlemen ; he named Mr. Smith and, I think, one or two more, whose names I do not now recollect. He named some gentleman connected with Administration if the Counsel will remind mi 1 of the name " Here Mr. Law, the examining Counsel, remarked, that "upon the cross-examination , if the gentlemen knew the circumstance , they would mention it." The cross-examination of Sheridan by Sergeant Adair was as follows : * You stated in the course of your examination that Mr. Stone said there was a gentleman connected with Government , to whom he had mad* a similar communication, should you recollect the name of that OF R. B/ SHERIDAN. 38& you were ivmindnl .a.{ 'A /6xt7rTs-i OF R B SHERIDAN 387 Ky a letter from the Earl of Moira k> Col. M'Mahon , in the summer of (his year, it appears that , in consequence of the cala- mitous state of the country, a plan had been in agitation among some members of the House of Commons , who had hitherto sup- ported the measures of the Minister, to form an entirely new Admi- nistration, of which the No,blc Earl was to be the head, and from which both Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, as equally obnoxious to the public , were to be excluded. The only materials that appear to have been forthcoming for this new Cabinet were Lord Moira him- self, Lord Thurlow, and Sir William Pulteney the last of whom it was intended to make Chancellor of the Exchequer. Such a tot- fering balance of parlies , however, could not have been long main- tained -, and its relapse , after a short interval , into Toryism would b;it have added to the triumph of Mr. Pitt, and increased his power. Accordingly Lord Moira , who saw from the beginning the delicacy and difficulty of the task , wisely abandoned it. The share that Mr. Sheridan had in this transaction is too honourable to him not lo be recorded , and the particulars cannot be better given than in Lord Moira 's own words : " Yon say that Mr. Sheridan has been traduced as wishing to abandon >Ir. Fox, and to promote a new Administration. I had accidentally a conversation with that gentleman at the House of Lords. I remonstrated strongly with him against a principle which I heard Mr. Fox's friends in- tended to lay down, namely, that they wouldsupport a new Administration, hut that not any of them would take part in it. I solemnly declare , upon my honour, that I could not shake Mr. Sheridan's conviction of the propriety of that determination. He said that he and Mr. Fox's other friends, as well as Mr. Fox himself, would give the most energetic support to such an Administration as was in contemplation ; but that their acceptance of office would appear an acquiescence under the injustice of the interdict supposed to he fixed upon Mr. Fox. I did not and never can admit the fairness of that argument. But I gained nothing upon Mr. Sheridan, to whose uprightness in that respect I can therefore bear the most decisive testimony. Indeed I am ashamed of offering testimony, where suspicion ought not to have been conceived." CHAPTER XVIII. Play of " The Stranger." Speeches in Parliament. Pizarro. Ministry of Mr. Addington. French Institute. Negotiation with Mr. Kemble. THE theatrical season of 1798 introduced lo the public the German drama of " The Stranger," translated by Mr. Thompson , and (as we are told by this gentleman in his preface ) altered and im- proved by Sheridan. There is reason , however, to. believe that the contributions of the latler to the dialogue were much more consi- ;j88 MEMOIRS derable than he was perhaps willing lo lei the translator acknowledge. My friend Mr. Rogers has heard him, on two different occasions, declare that he had written every word of the Stranger from begin- ning to end $ and , as his vanity could not be much interested in such a claim , it is possible that there was at least some virtual foun- dation for it. The song introduced in this play, " I have a silent sorrow here," was avowedly written by Sheridan , as the music of it was by the Duchess of Devonshire two such names, so brilliant in their respective spheres , as the Muses of Song and Yerse have seldom had the luck to bring together. The originality of these lines has been disputed ; and that expedient of borrowing , which their author ought to have been independent of in every way, is supposed to have been resorted to by his indolence on this occasion. Some verses by Tickell are mentioned as having supplied one of the best stanzas ; but I am inclined to think, from the following circumstances, that this theft of Sheridan was of that venial and domestic kind from himself. A writer, who brings forward the accusation in the Gentle- man's Magazine (vol. Ixxi. p. 904.), thus states his grounds : " In a song which I purchased at Blancl's music-shop in Holborn in I he year 1794, intitled, 'Think not, my love,' and professing to be set to music by Thomas Wright, (I conjecture, Organist of Newcastle-upon- Tyne, and composer of the pretty Opera called Rusticity,) are the following words : " ' Tliis treasured grief, this loved despair, My lot for ever be ; I5ut, dearest, may the pangs I bear Be never known to thee ! ' " No\v, without insisting that the opening thought in Mr. Sheridan's tamous song has been borrowed from that of " Think not, my love," the second verse is manifestly such a theft of the lines I have quoted , as entirely overturns Mr. Sheridan's claim to originality in the matter; unless ' Think not, my love,' lias been written by him , and he can be proved to have only stolen from himself." The song lo which the writer alludes, " Think not, my love," was given to me, as a genuine production of Mr. Sheridan , by a gentleman nearly connected with his family : and I have liltlc doubt of its being one of those early love-strains which, in his tempo dv dolci sospiri, he addressed to Miss Linley. As, therefore, it was but " a feather of his own" that the eagle made free with, he may be forgiven. The following is the whole of the song : " Think not, my love, when secret grief Preys on my saddened heart, TJiink. not I wish a mean relief, > Or would from sorrow part. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 389 pri/.e the M^lis sincere, Tli at my true fondness prove. Nor would I wish to check the tear. That flows from hapless love ! " Alas ! tho' doom'd to hope in vain The joys that love requite , ' Yet will I cherish all its pain . 'With sad, but dear delight. " This treasur'd grief, this lov'd despair, My lot for ever be ; But , dearest , may the pangs I bear Be never known to thee! " Among the political events of this year the rebellion of Ireland holds a memorable and fearful pre-eminence. The only redeeming slipulalion which the Duke of Portland and his brother Alarmists had annexed to their ill-judged Coalition with Mr. Pitt was, v lhata Mslom of conciliation and justice should, at last, be adopted to- wards Ireland. Had they but carried thus much wisdom into the ministerial ranks with them , their defection might have been pardoned for the good it achieved , and , in one respect , at least , would have resembled the policy of those Missionaries , who join in the ceremonies of the Heathen for the purpose of winning him over to the truth. On the contrary, however, the usual consequence of such coalitions with Power ensued, the good was absorbed in the evil principle, and, by the false hope which it created , but in- creased the mischief. Lord Fitzwilliam was not only deceived him- self, but, still worse to a noble and benevolent nature like his, was made the instrument of deception and mockery to millions. His recall, in 1795, assisted by the measures of his successor, drove Ireland into the rebellion which raged during the present year, and of which the causes have been so little removed from that hour to this, that if the people have become too wise to look back to it as an example, it is assuredly not because their rulers have much profiled by it as a lesson. I am aware that, on the subject of Ireland and her wrongs. I can ill trust myself with the task of expressing what I feel , or p're- serve that moderate , historical tone, which it has been my wish to maintain through the political opinions of this work. On every other point, my homage to the high character of England, and of her institutions, is prompt and cordial-, on this topic alone my feelings towards her have been taught to wear " the badge of bit- I'Tiu'ss." As a citizen of the world, I would point to England, as its brightest ornament, but, as a disfranchised Irishman , I blush Jo belong to her. Instead, therefore, of hazarding any farther rer- flections of my own on the causes and character of the Rebellion 300 MEMOIRS of 1798, I shall content jnyself with giving an extract from a Speech which Mr. Sheridan -delivered on the subject , in the June of that year : " What! when conciliation was held out to the people of Ireland, was there any discontent ? When the Government of Ireland was agree- able to the people, was there any discontent? After the prospect of that conciliation was taken away, after Lord Fitzwilliam was recalled, after the hopes which had been raised were blasted , when the spirit of the people was beaten down, insulted, despised, I will ask any gentleman to point out a single act of conciliation which has emanated from the Government of Ireland ? On the contrary, has not that country exhibited one continual scene of the most grievous oppression, of the most vexatious proceedings ; arbitrary punishments inflicted ; torture declared necessary by the highest authority in the sister kingdom next to that of the legis- lature ? And do gentlemen say that the indignant spirit which is roused by such exercise of government is unprovoked? Is this conciliation? is this lenity ? Has every thing been done to avert the evils of rebellion ? It is the fashion to say, and the Address holds the same language, that the rebellion which now rages in the sister-kingdom has been owing to the machinations of ' wicked men.' Agreeing to the amendment proposed, it was my first intention to move that these words should he omit- ted. But, Sir, the fact they assert is true. It is, indeed, to the measures of wicked men that the deplorable state of Inland is to be imputed. It is to those wicked Ministers who have broken the promises they held out ; who betrayed the party they seduced into their views, to be the instru- ments of the foulest treachery that ever was practised against any people. It is to those wicked Ministers who have given up that devoted country to plunder, resigned it a prey to this faction, by which it has so long been trampled upon, and abandoned it to every species of insult and oppression by which a country was ever overwhelmed, or the spirit of a people insulted, that we owe the miseries into which Ireland is plunged, and the dangers by which England is threatened. These evils are the doings of wicked Ministers, and applied to them, the language of the Address records a fatal and melancholy truth." The popularity which the conduct of Mr. Sheridan, on the occa- sion of the Mutiny, had acquired for him, every where, but among his own immediate party, seems to have produced a sort of thaw in the rigour of his opposition to Government ; and the language which he now began to hold, with respect to the power and principles of France , was such as procured for him , more than once in the course .of the present Session , the unaccustomed tribute of compliments from the Treasury-bench. Without, in the least degree, questioning his sincerity in this change of tone , it may be remarked , that the most watchful observer of the tide of public opinion could not have taken it at the turn more seasonably or skilfully. There was, indeed, just at this time a sensible change in the feeling of the country. The dangers to which it had been OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 801 reduced were great, but the crisis seemed over. The new wings lent to Credit by the paper currency, the return of the navy to discipline and victory, the disenchantment that had taken place with respect to French principles , and the growing persuasion , since strengthened into conviction , that the world has never com- mitted a more gross mistake than in looking to the French as teach- ers of liberty, the insulting reception of the late pacific over- lures at Lisle , and that never-failing appeal to the pride and spirit of Englishmen, which a threat of invading their sacred shore brings with it, all these causes concurred , at this moment, to rally the people of England round the Government, and enabled the Minis- ter to extract from the very mischiefs which himself had created the spirit of all others most competent to bear and surmount them. Such is the elasticity of a free country, however, for the moment, misgoverned, and the only glory due to the Minister under whom such a people, in spite of misgovernment, flourishes, is that of having proved, by the experiment, how difficult it is to ruin them. While Mr. Sheridan took these popular opportunities of occasion- ally appearing before the public, Mr. Fox persevered, with but lillle interruption, in his plan of secession from Parliament alto- gether. From the beginning of the Session of this year, when, at the instance of his constituents, he appeared in his place to oppose the Assessed Taxes Bill, till the month of February, 1800, he raised his voice in the House but upon two questions each "dig- nusvindice," the Abolition of the Slave-Trade, and a Change of System in Ireland. He had thrown into his opposition too much real feeling and earnestness to be able , like Sheridan , to soften it down , or shape it to the passing temper of the times. In the harbour of private life alone could that swell subside $ and , however the coun- try missed his warning eloquence , there is lillle doubt that his own mind and heart were gainers by a retirement , in which he had leisure to "prune the ruffled wings" of his benevolent spirit, to exchange the ambition of being great for that of being useful, and to listen , in the stillness of retreat , to the lessons of a mild wisdom , of which , had his life been prolonged , his country would have fell the full influence. From one of Sheridan's speeches at this lime we find that the change which had lalely taken place in his public conduct had given rise to some unworthy imputations upon his motives. There are few things less politic in an eminent public man than a too great readiness lo answer accusations against his character. For, as he his , in ge- neral, more exlensively read or heard than his accusers, the first intimation , in most cases , that tho public receives of any charge againsl him will be from his own answer lo it. .Neither does the :i2 MEMOIRS evil rest here ; for Iho calumny remains embalmed in Ihc defence , long after its own ephemeral life is gone. To this unlucky sort of sensitiveness Mr. Sheridan was but loo much disposed to give way, and accordingly has been himself the chronicler of many charges against him , of which we should have been otherwise wholly igno- rant. Of this nature were the imputations founded on his alleged misunderstanding with the Duke of Portland, in 1789, to which I have already made some allusion , and of which we should have known nothing but for his own notice of it. His vindication of him- self, in 1795, from the suspicion of being actuated by self-interest, in his connexion with the Prince , or of having received from him ( to use his own expressions) " so much as the present of a horse or a picture ," is another instance of the same kind , where he has given substance and perpetuity to rumour, and marked out the track of an obscure calumny, which would otherwise have been forgotten. At the period immediately under our consideration he has equally enabled us to collect , from his gratuitous defence of him- self, that the line lately taken by him in Parliament, on the great questions of the Mutiny and Invasion , had given rise to suspicions of his political steadiness , and to rumours of his approaching sepa- ration from Mr. Fox. "lain sorry," he said, on one occasion, "that it is hardly possible for any man to speak in this House, and to obtain credit for speaking, from .1 principle of public spirit ; that no man can oppose a Minister without being accused of faction ; and none, who usually opposed, can support a Minister, or lend him assistance in any thing, without being accused of doing so from interested motives. 1 am not such a coxcomb as to say, that it is of much importance \vhat part I may take ; or that it is essential that 1 should divide a little popularity, or some emolument, with the Ministers of t"he Crown; nor am I so vain as to imagine, that my' services might be solicited. Certainly they have not. That might have arisen from want of importance in myself; or from others, whom I have been in the general habit of opposing, conceiving that I was not likely either to give up my general sentiments, or my personal attachments. However that may be, certain it is, they never have made any attempt to apply to me for my assistance." In reviewing his parliamentary exertions during this year, it would be injustice to pass over his- speech on the Assessed Taxes Bill , in which , among other fine passages , the following vehement burst of eloquence occurs : " But we have gained, forsooth, several ships by the victory of the First of June, -by the capture of Toulon, -by the acquisition of those charnel-houses in the West Indies, in which 5o,ooo men have been lost to this country. Consider the price which has been paid for these successes. For these boasted successes, I will say, give me hack the blood of En;;- Or I!. B. SHKH1DAIN. 39 whirh has hern shed in this fatal coolest, give me back the jji> inillioas of del) I \\hi<:h it has occasioned, give mo hack the honour of the country, which has been tarnished, give me back the credit of the country, which has been destroyed, give me back the solidity of the Bank of England, which has been overthrown; the attachment of the people to their ancient Constitution, which has been shaken by acts of oppression and tyrannical laws, give me back the kingdom of Ireland, the connexion of which is endangered by a cruel and Outrageous system ill military coercion, give me back that pledge of eternal war, which must be attended with inevitable ruin !" . ?i ;.-_*u ... :.- -'tirr'd , it would conic iij).*' BACON , Henry "VII. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 397 cause and effect ; but \\\\o was the first aggressor, with whom the jealousy first arose, m-ed nut now be a matter of discussion. Both the Republic and the Monarchs who opposed her acted on the same prin- ciples ; _tho latter said they must exterminate Jacobins, and the former that they must destroy Monarchs. From this source have all the calamities of Knrope flowed; and it is now a waste of time and argument to inquire farther into the subject." Adverting , in his Speech on the Negotiation with France , to the overture that had been made for a Maritime Truce, he says, with that national feeling, which rendered him at this time so po- pular, " No consideration for our ally, no hope of advantage to be derived from joint negotiation , should have induced the English Government to think for a moment of interrupting the course of our naval triumphs. This measure, Sir, would have broken the heart of the navy, and would have damped all its future exertions. How would our gallant sailors have felt , when , chained to their decks like galley-slaves , they saw the enemy's vessels sailing under their bows in security, and proceeding, without a possibility of being molested , to revictual those places which had been so long blockaded by their astonishing skill , perseverance , and valour ? .We never stood more in need of their services, and their feelings at no time deserved to be more studiously consulted. The north of Europe presents to England a most awful and threatening aspect. Without giving an opi- nion as to the origin of these hostile dispositions, or pronouncing deci- dedly whether they are wholly ill-founded, I hesitate not to say, that if they have been excited because we have insisted upon enforcing the old established Maritime Law of Europe, because we stood boldly forth in defence of indisputable privileges, because we have refused to abandon the source of our prosperity, the pledge of our security, and the founda- tion of our naval greatness , they ought to be disregarded or set at de- fiance. If we are threatened to be deprived of that which is the charter of our existence, 'which has procured us the commerce of the world, and }>een the means of spreading our glory over every land, if the rights and honours of our flag are to be called in question , every risk should be run , and every danger braved. Then we should have a legitimate cause of war ; then the heart of every Briton would burn with indigna- tion, and his hand be stretched forth in defence of his country. If our flag is to be insulted , let us nail it to the topmast of the nation ; there let it fly, while we shed the last drop of our blood in protecting it, and let it be degraded only when the nation itself is overwhelmed." He thus ridicules , in the same speech , the etiquette that had been observed in the selection of the ministers, who were to confer with Mr. Otto : "This stifl'-necked policy shows insjncerity. I see 'Mr. JVYpcan and Mr. Hammond also appointed to confer with Mr.. Otto, because thc\ arc of the same rank. Is not this as absurd as if Lord Whitworth were to lie sent l> iVlersburgh, and told that lie was not to treat but with som. ?,!>R MEMOIRS of six feetlugh, and as handsome as himself? Sir, I repeaf that tins is a stiff-necked policy, when the lives of thousands are at stake." In. the following year Mr. Pill was succeeded , as Prime Minister, by Mr. Addington. The cause -assigned for this unexpected change was the difference of opinion that existed between the King and Mr. Pitt , with respect to the further enfranchisement of the Catho- lics of Ireland. To this measure the Minister and some of his col- leagues considered themselves (o have been pledged by the Act of T'nion; but, on finding that they could not carry it, against the scruples of their Royal Master, resigned. Though Mr. Pitt so far availed himself of this alleged motive of his abdication as to found on it rather an indecorous appeal to the Catholics , in which he courted popularity for himself at the expense of that of the Ring , it was suspected that he had other and less disinterested reasons for his conduct. Indeed , while he took merit (o himself for thus resigning his supremacy, he well knew that he still commanded it with " a falconer's voice," and. whenever he pleased, ''could lure the tassel-gentle back again." The facility with which he afterwards returned to power, without making any stipulation for the measure now held to be essential , proves either thai the motive now assigned for his resignation was false , or that , having sacrificed power to principle in 1801, he took revenge by snaking principle, in its turn, give way to power in 1804. During the early part of the new administration , Mr. Sheridan appears to have rested on his arms , having spoken so rarely and briefly throughout the session as not to have furnished to the col- lector of his speeches a single specimen of oratory worth recording. It is not till the discussion of the Definitive Treaty, in May, 1802, lhat he is represented as having professed himself friendly to the existing Ministry : " Certainly," he said, " I have in several respects given my testimony in favour of the present Ministry, in nothing more than for making the best peace, perhaps, they could, -after their predecessors had left them in such a deplorable situation." It was on this occasion, however, that, in ridiculing the under- standing supposed to exist between the Ex-minister and his succes- sor, he left such marks of his wit on the latter as all his subsequent friendship could not efface. Among other remarks , full of humour, Jie said , .' I should like to support the present Minister on fair ground; but what is he? a sort of outside, passenger, or rather a man leading the horses round a corner, while reins, whip, and all, are in the hands of the coachman on the box! (looking at Mr. Pitt's elevated seat, three or four benches above that of lite Treasury. ) Why not have an union of the two Ministers , or, at least , some intelligible connexion ? When the Ex- OF R. B! SHERIDAN. 309 minister quitted oflice, almost all \\\e subordinate Ministers kept their places. How \vas it that the whole family did not-move together? Had he only one covered waggon to curry friends and goods ? or has he left direc- tions behind him that they may know whereto call? I remember a fable of Arislnp hanes's , which is translated from Greek into .decent English. I mention this for the country gentlemen. It is of a man that sat so long * on a seat (about as long , perhaps, as the Ex-minister did on the Trea- \ sury-bench), that he grew to it. When Hercules pulled him off, he left . all the sitting part of the man behind him. The House can make the 5 allusion '." We have here an instance , in addition to the many which I have remarked , of his adroitness , not only in laying claim to all waifs of wit , '' ubi non apparebat do minus /' but in stealing the wit himself, wherever he could find it. This happy application of the fable of Hercules and Theseus to the Ministry had been first made by (iilberl Wake&td , in a Letter to Mr. Fox, which the latter read to Sticridan a few d&ys before the Debate ; and the only remark that Sheridan made, on hearing it, "What an odd pedantic fancy!* 1 Hul the wit knew well the value of the jewel that the pedant had raked up, and lost no time in turning it to account, with all his ac- customed skill. The letter of Wakefield, in which the application of Hie fable occurs, has been omitted, I know not why, in his pub- lished Correspondence with Mr. Fox : but a letter of Mr. Fox , in Hie same collection, thus alludes to it : " Your story of Theseus is excellent, as applicable to our present rulers : if you could point out to me where I could find it, I should be much obliged to you. The Scholiast on Aristophanes is too wide a description." Mr. Wake- 1 The following is another highly hnmoroas passage from this Speech : "But let France have colonies! Oh, yes! let her have a good trade, that she may be afraid : of war, says the Learned Member, that's the way to make Bona- parte love peace. He has had, to be sure, a sort of military education. He has been abroad, and is rather rough company, bnt if you pot him behind the renter a little /he will mend exceedingly. When I was reading the Treaty, I thought all the names of foreign places, viz. Pondicherry, Chandenagore , Cochin, Martinico, etc. all cessions. Not they, they are all so many traps and holes to catch this silly fellow in , and make a merchant of him ! I really think the best way npon this principle would be this: let the merchants of London open a public subscription, and set him up at once. I hear a great deal respecting a certain itatue about to be erected to the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Pitt) now in my eye , at a great expense. Send all that money over to the First Consul , and give him , what yon calk of so much, Capital, to begin trade with. I hope the liight Honourable Gentleman over the way will, like the First Consul, refuse a Maine for ^the' present , and postpone it as a work to posterity. There is no harm, li i*M vcr, in marking out the place. The Right Honourable Gentleman is mpsing, perhaps, on what square, or place, he will choose for its erection. I recommend the Bank of England. Now for the material. Not gold : no , no ! he hs not left enough of it. I should, however, propose papier mdcJie and old bank-notes!" 100 MEMOIRS Held, in his answer, says,-t-' v jMy Aristophanes, with the Scholia, is not here. If I am right in my recollection , the story probably oc- curs in the Scholia on the Frogs, and would soon be found by re- ference to the name of Theseus, in Kuster's Index/ 1 Another instance of (his propensity in Sheridan ( which made him a sort of Catiline in wit , *' covetous of another's wealth, and pro- fuse of his own ,") occurred during the preceding Session. As he was walking down to the House with Sir Philip Francis and another friend , on the day when the Address of Thanks on the Peace was moved, Sir Philip Francis pithily remarked, that " it was a Peace which every one would be glad of , but no one would be proud of." Sheridan, who was in a hurry to get to the House, did not appear to attend to the observation ; but before he had been many minutes in his seat , he rose , and , in the course of a short speech ( evidently made for the purpose of passing his stolen coin as soon as possible;, said, "This , Sir, is a peace which every one will be glad of, but no one can be proud of." The follow ing letter from Dr. Parr to Sheridan , this year, records an instance of dclicale kindness which renders it well worthy of pre- servation : " DEAR SIR , " I believe that you and my old pupil Tom feel a lively interest in mv happiness , and, therefore, I am eager to inform you, that without any solicitation, and in the most handsome manner, Sir Francis Burdett has offered me the rectory of Grafl'ham , in Huntingdonshire ; that the yearly value of it now amounts to 2oo/., and is capable of considerable improve- ment ; that the perferment is tenable with my Northamptonshire rectory; that the situation is pleasant; and that, by making it my place of resi- dence, I shall be nearer to my respectable scholar and friend, Edward Maltby, to the University of Cambridge, and to those Norfolk connexions which I value most highly. " I am not much skilled in ecclesiastical negociations ; and all my efforts to avail myself of the very obliging kindness conditionally intended for me by the Duke of Norfolk completely failed. But the noble friendship of Sir Francis Burdett has set every thing right. I cannot refuse myself the great satisfaction of laying before you the concluding passage in Sir Fran- cis's letter : " ' I acknowledge that a great additional motive with me to the ofler I now make Dr. Parr is , that I believe T cannot do any thing more plea- sing to bis friends , Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, and Mr. Knight ; and I desire; vou, Sir, to consider yourself as obliged to them only.' "You will readily conceive, that I was highly gratified with this 1 A similar theft was his obsrvation , that "-half the Debt of England had been incnrred in pnlling doWn the Bdurbons, and the other half in selling them up" which pointed remark he had heard, in conversation, from Sir Arthur l'iott. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 401 >tr living and important passage, and that I wish for an early opportunity of communicating with yourself, and Mr. Fox , and Mr. Knight. " I beg my best compliments to Mrs. Sheridan and Tom; and I have the honour to be, Dear Sir , your very faithful well-wisher, arid respect- ful, obedient Servant, " September 1 *']. Buckden. "S. PABR. " Sir Francis sent his own servant to my house at Hilton with the letter ; and my wife, on reading it, desired the servant to bring it to me >t fitickden, near Huntingdon, wbere I yesterday received it." II was about this time that the Primary Electors of the Na- tional Institute of France having proposed Haydn , the great com- poser, and 3Ir. Sheridan, as candidates for the class of Literature and the Fine Arts, the Institute \ with a choice not altogether inde- fensible , elected Haydn. Some French epigrams on this occurrence, which appeared in the Courier, seem to have suggested to Sheridan the idea of writing a few English jeux esprit on the same subject, which were intended for the news-papers, but, I rather think, never appeared. These verses show that he was not a little piqued by the decision of the Institute; and the manner in which he avails himself of his anonymous character to speak of his own claims to the dis- tinction , is , it must be owned , less remarkable for modesty than for truth. But Vanity, thus in masquerade, may be allowed some little licence. The following is a specimen : " The wise decision all admire ; 'Twas just, beyond dispute Sound taste ! which, to Apollo's lyre Preferr'd a German flute .' " Mr. Kemble, who had been for some time Manager of Drury- Lane Theatre, was , in the course of the year 1800-1 , tempted, not- withstanding the knowledge which his situation must have given him of the embarrassed state of the concern , to enter into negotiation with Sheridan for the purchase of a share in the properly. How much anxiety the latter felt to secure such an associate in the establishment appears strongly from the following paper, drawn up by him , to accompany the documents submitted to Kemble during the nego- tiation , and containing some particulars of the property of Drury- Lane, which will be found not uninteresting: " Outline of the Terms on which it is proposed that Mr. Kemble shall purchase a Quarter in the Property of Drury-Latoe Theatre. " I really think there cannot be a negotiation , in matter of purchase and sale, so evidently fur the advantage of both parties, if brought to a satisfactory conclusion. " I am decided that the management; of the theatre cannot be res p. < t- ed , or successful, but in the hands of an actual proprietor; and still the ?6 402 MEMOIRS }>ctter , if he is himself in the profession , and at the head of it.. I am de- sirous, therefore, that Mr. Kemhle should be a proprietor and manager. " Mr. Kemble is the person, of all others, who must naturally be de- sirous of both situations. He is at the head of his profession, without a rival ; he is attached to it and desirous of elevating its character. He may be assured of proper respect, etc. while I have the theatre ; but I do not think he could brook his situation were the property to pass into vulgar and illiberal hands, an event which he knows contingencies might pro- duce. Laying aside, then, all affectation of indifference, so common in making bargains, let us set out with acknowledging that it is mutually our interest to agree, if we can. At the same time , let it be avowed, that I must be considered as trying to get as good a price as I can , and Mr. Kemble to buy as cheap as he can. In parting with theatrical pro- perty there is no standard, or measure, to direct the price : the whole question is, what are the probable profits, and what is such a proportion of them worth?' " I bought of Mr. Garrick at the rate of 7O,ooo/. for the whole theatre, I bought of Mr. Lacey at the rate of g5,ooo/. ditto. I bought of Dr. Ford at the rate of 86,ooo/. ditto. In all these cases there was a perishable patent , and an expiring lease , each having to run , at the different periods of the purchases, from ten to twenty years only. "AH these purchases have undoubtedly answered Avell ; but in the chance of a Third Theatre consisted the risk ; and the want of size and accommodation must have produced it, had the theatres conti- nued as they were. But the great and important feature in the present property, and which is never for a moment to be lost sight of, is, that the Monopoly is, morally speaking, established for ever, at least as well as tlie Monarchy, Constitution, Public Funds, etc., as ap- pears by JN'o. i, being the copy of 'The Final Arrangement' signed by the Lord Chamberlain , by authority of His Majesty , the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Bedford, etc.; and the dormant patent of Covent-Garden , that former terror of Drury-Lane , is perpetually annexed to the latter. So that the value of Drury-Lane at present, and in the former sales, is out of all comparison, independently of the new building, superior size, raised prices, etc. etc. But the incumbrances on the theatre, whose annual charge must be paid before tliere can be any surplus profit, are much greater than in Mr. Garrick'stime, or on the old theatre afterwards. Undoubtedly they are , and very considerably greater ; but what is the proportion in the receipts? Mr. Garrick realised and left a fortune of i4o,ooo/. (having lived, certainly, at no mean expense), acquired in --years, on an average annual receipt of a5,ooo/. (qu. this?) Our re- ceipts cannot be stated at less than 6o,ooo/. per ann.; and it is demon- strable that preventing the most palpable frauds and abuses, with even a tolerable system of exertion in the management, must bring it, at the least, to 7J,ooo/.; and this estimate does not include the advantages to be derived from the new {avern, passages, Chinese hall, etc., an aid to the receipt, respecting the amount of which I am very sanguine. What, then , is the probable profit, and what is a quarter of it worth ? No. 5 is the amount of three seasons' receipts, the only ones on which an attempt at an average could be justifiable. No. 4- is * ne future estimate, on a sys- OF H. B. SHERIDAN. 403 tern of exertion and good management. No. 5. the actual annual Encum- brances. No. 6 the nightly expenses. No. 7. the estimated profits. Cal- culating on \\hich, I demand, for a quarter of the property * * * * reserving to myself the existing private boxes , but no more to be created, and the fruit-offices and houses not part of the theatre. " I assume that Mr. Kemble and I agree, as to the price , annexing the following conditions to our agreement : Mr. Kemble shall have his en- gagement as an actor for any rational time he pleases. Mr. Kemble shall be manager, with a clear salary of 5oo guineas per annum, and * * per cent, on the clear profits. Mr. Sheridan engages to procure from Messrs. Hammersleys a loan to Mr. Kemble of ten thousand pounds, part of the purchase-money, for four years, for which loan he is content to become collateral security, and also to leave his other securities , now in their hands, in mortgage for the same. And for the payment of the rest of the money, Mr. Sheridan is ready to give Mr. Kemble every facility his circumstances will admit of. It is not to be overlooked, that if a pri- vate box is also made over to Mr. Kemble, for the whole term of the theatre lease, its value cannot be stated at less -than 35oo/. Indeed, it might at anytime produce to Mr. Kemble, or his assigns, 3oo/. per an- num. Vide No. 8. This is a material deduction from the purchase-money to be paid. " Supposing all this arrangement made , I conceive Mr. Kemble's in- come would stand thus : L. s. d. Salary as an actor i o5o o o In lieu of benefit, 3i5 o o As manager , 5a5 o o Per centage on clear profit , . ... 3oo o o Dividend on quarter-share, ..." a5oo o o L. 4690 " I need not say how soon this would clear the whole of the purchase. With regard to the title, etc., Mr. Crews and Mr. Pigott are to decide. As to debts, the share must be made over to Mr. Kemble free from a claim even ; and for this purpose all demands shall be called in , by public advertisement, to be sent to Mr. Kemble's own solicitor. In short, Mr. Crews shall be satisfied that there does not exist an unsatisfied de- mand on the theatre, or a possibility of Mr. Kemble being involved in the risk of a shilling. Mr. Hammersley , or such person as Mr. Kemble and Mr. Sheridan shall agree on, to be Treasurer, and receive and ac- count for the whole receipts, pay the charges , trusts, etc. ; and at the close of the season , the surplus profits to the proprietors. A clause in case of death , or sale, to give the refusal to each other." The following letter from Sheridan to Kemble, in answer, ;i> it appears, to some complaint or remonstrance from the latter, in his capacity of Manager, is too curiously characteristic of the writer to be omitted : ' " I put this on the very lowest speculation." 401 MEMOIRS " DEAR KEMBLE, " If I had not a real good opinion of your principles and indentions upou all subjects, and a very bad opinion of your nerves and philosophy upon some , I should take very ill indeed, the letter I received from you this evening. "That the management of the theatre is a situation capable of be- coming troublesome is information which I do not want, and a discovery which I thought you had made long since. "I should be sorry to write to you gravely on your offer, because I must consider it as a nervous flight, which it would be as unfriendly in me to notice seriously, as it would be in you seriously to have made it. " What I am most serious in is a determination that, while the theatre is indebted, and others, for it and for me, are so involved and pressed as they are, I will exert myself, and give every attention and judgment in my power to the establishment of its interests. In you I hoped, and do hope, to find an assistant, on principles of liberal and friendly confidence, I mean confidence that should be above touchiness and reserve , and that should trust to me to estimate the value of that assistance. "If there is any thing amiss in your mind, notarising from the /rouble.fomcjiess of your situation , it is childish and unmanly not to disclose it to me. The frankness with which I have always dealt towards you entitles me to expect that you should have done so. " But I have no reason to believe this to be the case; and, attributing your letter to a disorder which I know ought not to be indulged, I prescribe that you shall keepyour appointment at the Piazza CofFee-house, to-morrow at five, and, taking four bottles of claret instead of three, to which in sound health you might stint yourself, forget that you ever wrote the letter, as I shall that I ever received it. " R. B. SHERIDAN." CHAPTER XIX. State of Parties, Offer of a place to Mr. T.Sheridan Receivership of the Duchy of Cornwall bestowed upon Mr. Sheridan. Return of Mr. Pitt to Power. Catholic question. Administration of Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox. Death of Mr. Fox. Representation of West- minster. Dismission of the Ministry. Theatrical Negotiation. Spanish Question. Letter to the Prince. DURING the short interval of peace into which the country was now lulled , like a ship becalmed for a moment in the valley be- tween two vast waves, such a change took place in the relative po- sitions and bearings of the parties that had been so long arrayed against each other, and such new boundaries and divisions of opi- nion were formed, as considerably altered fhe map of the political world. While Mr. Pitt lent his sanction to the new Administration , they who had made common Cause with him in resigning, violently OF R. B. SHERJPAN. 405 opposed it; and, while the Ministers were thus (h\\;uled fay those who had hi Ihcrto always agreed with them, they were supported by those Whigs with whom they had before most vehemently dif- fered. Among this latter class of their friends was, as I have al- ready remarked, Mr. Sheridan, who, convinced that the only chance of excluding Mr. Pitt from power lay in strengthening the hands of those who were in possession, not only gave them the aid of his own name and eloquence , but endeavoured to impress 4hc same \ic\\s upon Mr. Fox, and exerted his influence also to procure the sanction of Carlton-House in their favour. It cannot, indeed, be doubled that Sheridan, at this time, though still (he friend of Mr. Fox, had ceased, in a great degree, to be his follower. Their views with -respect to the renewal of the war were wholly different, while SheVidan joined in the popular feeling against France, and showed his knowledge of 'that great instrument, the Public Mind , by approaching it only with such themes as suited the martial mood to which it was tuned , the loo confiding spirit of Fox breathed nothing but forbearance and peace ; and he who, in 1786, had proclaimed the " nataral enmily " of England and France, as an argumenl against their commercial intercourse, now asked, with the softened tone which time and retirement had taught him, " whether France was/or ever to be considered our rival ' ? " The following characteristic note, written by him previously to the debate on the army Estimates, (Decembers , 1802,) shows a consciousness that the hold which he had. once had upon his friend was loosened : "DEAR SHERIDAN, " I mean to be in town for Monday, that is, for the Army- As for to-morrow, it is no matter; I am for a largish fleet, though perhaps not quite so large as they mean. Pray, do not be absent Monday, and let me have a quarter of an hour's conversation before the bu- siness begins. Remember, I do not wish you to be inconsistent , at any rate. Pitt's opinion by Proxy is ridiculous beyond conception, and I hope you will show it in that light. I am very much against your abusing Honaparte, because I am sure it is impolitic both for the country and ourselves. But, as you please; only,. for God's sake, Peace '. " Yours ever , " Tuesday night. "C.J. Fox." it was about this period that the writer of these pages had, for the lirst lime , the gratification of meeting Mr. Sheridan , at Donihg- ton-Park, the scat of the present Marquis of Hastings; a cir- 1 Speech ou the Address of Thanks, in 1SIC!. 3 These last words are an interesting illustration of the line in Mr. Kogcrs's Verses on this statesman : " ' Peace",' when lie spoke, Mras ever on his tongue." 406 MEMOIRS cumstance which he recalls , not only with those lively impressions that our first admiration of genius leaves behind, but with many other dreams of youth and hope , that still endear to him the man- sion where that meeting took place, and among which gratitude to its noble owner is the only one, perhaps, that has not faded. Mr. Sheridan, I remember, was just then furnishing a new house, and talked of apian he had of levying contributions on his friends for a library. A set of books from each would , he calculated , amply accomplish it, and already the intimation of his design had begun to k ' breathe a soul into the silent walls ' ." The splendid and well-chosen library ofDoninglon was, of course, not slow in fur- nishing ils contingent ; and little was it foreseen into what badges of penury these gifts of friendship would be converted at last. As some acknowledgment of the services which Sheridan had ren- dered to the Ministry, ( though professedly as a tribute to his public character in general,) Lord St. Vincent, about this time, made an offer to his son , Mr. Thomas Sheridan , of the place of Re- gistrar of the Vice-Admiralty Court of Malta , an office which, during a period of war , is supposed to be of considerable emolu- ment. The first impulse of Sheridan , when consulted on the pro- posal , was, as I have heard , not unfavourable to his son's accept- ance of it. But , on considering the new position which he had , himself, lately taken in politics , and (he inference that might be drawn against the independence of his motives , if he submitted to an obligation which was but too liable to be interpreted , as less a return for past services than a lien upon him for future ones , he thought it safest for his character to sacrifice the advantage, and, desirable as was the provision for his son , obliged him to decline it. The following passages of a letter to him from Mrs. Sheridan on this subject do the highest honour to her generosity, spirit, and good sense. They also confirm what has generally been understood, that the King , about this time , sent a most gracious message to Sheridan , expressive of the approbation with which he regarded his public conduct , and of the pleasure he should feel in conferring upon him some mark of his Royal favour : " I am more anxious than I can express about Tom's welfare. It is indeed unfortunate that you have been obliged to refuse these things for him , but surely there could not be two opinions ; yet why will you neglect to observe those attentions tbat honour does not compel you to refuse ? Don't you know that when once the King takes offence , he was never known to forgive? I suppose it would be impossible to have your motives explained to him , because it would touch his weak side , yet any thing is better than his attcibuting your refusal to contempt and ' Rogers. OF R. B. "SHERIDAN. 407 indifference. Would to God I could bear these necessary losses instead of Tom, particularly as I so entirely approve of your conduct." "I trust you will be able to do something positive for Tom about money. I am willing to make any sacrifice in the woiAd for that purpose, and to live in any way whatever. Whatever he has no\v ought to be certain , or how will he know how to regulate his expenses ? " The fate, indeed, of young Sheridan was peculiarly tantalizing. Horn and brought up in the midst of those bright hopes , which so long encircled his father's path , he saw them all die away as he became old enough to profit by them , leaving difficulty and disap- pointment, his only inheritance, behind. Unprovided with any profession by which he could secure his own independence , and shut out , as in this instance, from those means of advancement, which , it was feared, might compromise the independence of his father, he was made the victim even of the distinction of his situa- tion , and paid dearly for the glory of being the son of Sheridan. In the expression of his face , he resembled much his beautiful mother, and derived from her also the fatal complaint of which he died. His popularity in society was unexampled ,T but he knew how to attach as well as amuse ; and , though living chiefly with that class of per- sons, who pass over the surface of life, like Camilla over the corn, without leaving any impression of themselves behind, he had manly and intelligent qualities , that deserved a far better destiny. There are, indeed, few individuals, whose lives have been so gay and thoughtless, whom so many remember with cordiality and interest ; and, among the numerous instances of discriminating good nature, by which the private conduct of His Royal Highness the Duke of York is distinguished , there are none that do him more honour than his prompt and efficient kindness to the interesting family that the son of Sheridan has left behind him. Soon after the Declaration of War against France, when an im- mediate invasion was threatened by the enemy, the Heir Apparent, with the true spirit of an English Prince, came forward to make an offer of his personal service to the country. A correspondence upon the subject, it is well known , ensued, in the course of which His Royal Highness addressed letters to Mr. Addington, to the Duke of York , and the Ring. It has been sometimes staled that these let- ters were from the pen of Mr. Sher4dap ; but the first of the series was written by Sir Robert Wilson , and the remainder by Lord Hutchinson. The death of Joseph Richardson , which took place this year, was fell as strongly by Sheridan as any thing can be felt by those who, in the whirl of worldly pursuits, revolve too rapidly round Self, to let any thing rest long upon their surface. With a fidelity 408 MEMOIRS to his old habits of unpunctualily, at which the shade of Richardson might have smiled, he arrivedioo late at Bagshot for the funeral of his friend, but succeeded in persuading the good-natured clergy- man to perform the ceremony over again. Mr. John Taylor, a gen- tleman , whose love of good-fellowship and wit has made him the welcome associate of some of the brightest men of his day, was one of the assistants at this singular scene, and also joined in the party at the inn at Bedfont afterwards , where Sheridan , it is said , drained the " Cup of Memory " to his friend, till he found -oblivion at the bottom. At the close of the session of 1803 , that strange diversity of opi- nions , into which the two leading parlies were decomposed by the resignation of Mr. Pitt , had given way to new varieties , both of cohesion and separation , quite as little to be expected from the natural affinities of the ingredients concerned in them. Mr. Pitt , upon perceiving , in those to whom he had delegated his power, an inclination to surround themselves with such strength from the ad- verse ranks as would emtble them to contest his resumption of the trust, had gradually withdrawn the sane lion which he at first afford- ed them , and taken his station by the side of the other two parlies in opposition , without . however, encumbering himself, in his views upon office, with either. By a similar movement, though upon different principles, Mr. Fox and the Whigs, who had begun by supporting the Ministry against the strong War-party of which Lord Grenville and Mr. Windham were the leaders , now entered into close co-operation with this new Opposition , and seemed in- clined to forget both recent and ancient differences in a combined assault upon the tottering Administration of Mr. Addington. The only parties, perhaps, thai acted with consistency through these transactions, were Mr. Sheridan and the few who followed him on one side , and Lord Grenville and his friends on the other. The support which the former had given to the Ministry, from a conviction thai such was the true policy of his party, he persevered in , notwithstanding the suspicions it drew down upon him , to the Jast ; and . to the last , deprecated the connexion with the Grenvilles , as entangling his friends in the same sort of hollow partnership, out of which they had come bankrupts in character and confidence be- fore '. In like manner, it must be owned , the Opposition, of which 1 In a letter written this year by Mr. Thomas Sheridan to his father, there is llie following passage: " I am glad you intend writing to Lord ; he is quite right abbnt politics, reprobates the idea most strongly of any union with the Grenvilles, etc., which, he says , he sees Is Fox's leaning. ' I Agreed with your father perfectly on the sub- ject, when I left him in town; Jbut when I saw Charles at St." Ann's Hill, I per- eeived he was wrong and obstinate.'" OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 409 Lord Grenville was Ihc head . held a course direct and undeviatinp from beginning to end. Unfettered by those reservations in favour of Addington , which so lorig embarrassed the movements of their former leader, .they at once started in opposition to the Peaee and the Ministry, and, with not only Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, but the whole people of England, against them,. persevered till the.y had ranged all these several parties on their side : nor was it altogether without reason that this party afterwards boasted that, if any aban- donment of principle had occurred in the connexion between them and the Whigs-, the surrender was "assuredly not from their side. Early in the year 1804 , on the death of Lord Elliot, the office of Receiver of the Duchy of Cornwall , which had been held by that nobleman, was bestowed by the Prince of Wales upon Mr. Sheri- dan , " as a trifling proof of that sincere friendship His Royal High- mv, had always professed and felt for him through a long series of years." His Royal Highness also added, in the same communica- tion, the very cordial words , "I wish to God it was belter worth your acceptance." The following letter from Sheridan to Mr. Addington , commu- nicating the intelligence of this appointment, shows prelly plainly the terms on which he not only now stood, but was well inclined to continue , with that Minister : " George- Street , Tuesday evening. DEAR SIR, "Convinced as I am of the sincerity of your good will towards me, 1 do not regard it as an impertinent intrusion to inform you that the Prince has, in the most gracious manner, and wholly unsolicited , been pleased to appoint me to the late Lord Elliot's situation in the Ducliy of Cornwall. I feel a desire lo communicate this to you myself, because I feel a confidence that you will be glad of it. It has been my pride and pleasure to have exerted my bumble efforts to serve tbe Prince without ever accepting the slightest obligation from him ; but, in the present case, and under tbe present circumstances, I think it would have been really, false pride and apparently mischievous affectation to have declined this mark of His Royal Highness's confidence and favour. I will not disguise that, at tins peculiar crisis, I am greatly gratified at this event. Had it been the result of a mean and subservient devotion to tbe Prince's every wish and object, I could neither have respected tbe gift, tbe giver, or myself; but, when I consider bow recently it was my misfortune to find myself compelled by a sense of duty, stronger than my attachment to bim, wholly to risk the situation Ibejd in, his confidence ami favour, ami that upon a subject ' on which bis feelings were so eager and irritable , 1 The offer made by the Prince of his personal services in 1803, on uliicli occasion Sheridau coincided with the views of Mr. AcUlingloa somewhat more lhan was agreeable to His Royal Hlphm-.ss. 410 MEMOIRS I cannot but regard the increased attention , with which he has since honoured me , as a most gratifying demonstration that he has clearness of judgment and firmness of spirit to distinguish the real friends to his true glory and interests, from the mean and mercenary sycophants, who fear and abhor that such friends should be near him. It is satisfac- tory to me, also, that this appointment gives me the title and opportunity of seeing the Prince, on trying occasions, openly and in the face of day , and puts aside the mask of mystery and concealment. I trust I need not add, that whatever small portion of fair influence I may at any time possess with the Prince, it shall be uniformly exerted to promote those feelings of duty and affection towards their Majesties, which, though seemingly interrupted by adverse circumstances , I am sure are in his heart warm and unalterable and, as far as I may presume, that general concord throughout his illustrious family, which must be looked to by every honest subject as an essential part of the public strength at this momentous period. I have the honour to be, with great respect and esteem , " Your obedient Servant, " R. B. SHERIDAN." " Right Hon. Henry Addingion." The same views that influenced Mr. Sheridan, Lord Moira, and others, in supporting an Administration which, with all its defects, they considered preferable to a relapse into the hands of Mr. Pitt , had led Mr. Tierney, at the close of the last Session, to confer upon it a still more efficient sanction , by enrolling himself in ils ranks as Treasurer of the Navy. In the early part of the present year, another ornament of the Whig party, Mr. Erskine, was on the point of following in the same footsteps , by accepting, from Mr. Addington , the office of Attorney-General. He had , indeed , proceeded so far in his intention as to submit the overtures of the Minister to the consideration of the Prince , in a letter which was transmitted to His Royal Highness by Sheridan. The answer of the Prince, conveyed also through Sheridan, while it expressed the most friendly feelings towards Erskine , declined , at the same time , giving any opinion as to either his acceptance or refusal of the office of Attorney-General } if offered to hkn under the present circum- stances. His Royal Highness also added the expression of his sincere regret, that a proposal of this nature should have been submitted to his consideration by one, of whose attachment and fidelity to himself he was well convinced , but who ought to have felt, .from the line of conduct adopted and persevered in by His Royal Highness, that he was the very last person that should have been applied to for either his opinion or countenance respecting the political conduct or con- nexions of any public character, especially of one so intimately connected with him , and belonging to his family. If, at any time , Sheridan had entertained the idea of associating OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 411 himself, by office, with the Ministry of Mr. Addington (and pro- posals to this effect were, it is certain , made to him) , "his knowledge of the existence of such feelings as prompted this answer to Mr. Ers- kine would , of course , have been sufficient to divert him from the intention. The following document, which I have found, in his own hand- writing, and which was intended, apparently, for publication in the newspapers, contains some particulars with respect to the proceed- ings of his party at this time, which, coming from such a source, may be considered -as authentic : " STATE OF PARTIES. " Among the various rumours of Coalitions, or attempted Coalitions , we have already expressed our disbelief in that reported to have taken place between the Grenville-Windhamites and Mr. Fox. At least, if it was ever in negotiation, we have reason to think it received an early check , arising from a strong party of the Old Opposition protesting against it. The account of this transaction, as whispered in the political circles, is as follows : " In consequence of some of the most respectable members of the Old Opposition being sounded on the subject , a meeting was held at Norfolk-House; when it was determined, with very few dissentient voices, to present a friendly remonstrance on the subject to Mr. Fox, stating the manifold reasons which obviously presented themselves against such a procedure, both as affecting Character and Party. It was urged that the present Ministers had , on the score of innovation on the Constitution, given the Whigs no pretence for complaint whatever; and, as to their alleged incapacity, it remained to be proved that they were capable of committing errors and producing miscarriages, equal to those which had marked the councils of their predecessors, whom the measure in question was expressly calculated to replace in power. At such a mo- mentous crisis , therefore , waving all considerations of past political provocation, to attempt, by the strength and combination of party, to expel the Ministers of His Majesty's choice , and to force into his closet those whom the Whigs ought to be the first to rejoice that he had excluded from it, was staled to be a proceeding which would assuredly revolt the public feeling, degrade the character of Parliament , and produce possibly incalculable mischief to the country. " We understand that Mr. Fox's reply was , that he would never take any Political step against the wishes and advice of the majority oi his old friends. " The paper is said to have been drawn up by Mr. Erskine, and to have been presented to Mr. Fox by His Grace of Norfolk, on the day His Majesty was pronounced to be recovered from his first illness. Rumour places among the supporters of this measure the written authority of the Duke of Northumberland and the Earl of Moira, with the signatures of Messrs. Erskine, Sheridan, Shum, Curwen , Western, Brogden , and A long et eastern. It is said also that the Prince's sanction had been pre- viously given to the Duke, His Royal Highness deprecating all Parly- 12 MKMOIfiS struggle, at a moment when the defence ot all that is de.hr to Britons ought to be the" single sentiment that should iill the puhlic mind. " We do not vouch for the above being strictly accurate; but \ve are confident that it is not far from the truth." The illness of the King , referred to in this paper, had been firs! publicly announced in the month of February, and was for some time considered of so serious a nature , that arrangements were actually in progress for the establishment of a Regency. Mr. Sheridan , who now formed a sort of connecting link between Carlton-House and the Minister, took, of course , a leading part in the hegociations prepa- ratory to such a measure. It appears , from a letter of Mr. Fox on the subject, that the Prince and another person , whom it is unne- cessary to name , were atone moment not a little alarmed by a rumour of an intention to associate the Duke of York and the Queen in the Regency. Mr. Fox, however, begs of Sheridan to tranquillize their minds on this point : the intentions (he adds) of "the Doctor '," though bad enough in all reason , do not go to such lengths ; and a proposal of this nature, from any other quarter, could be easily defeated. Within about two months from Ihe dale of the Remonstrance , which , according to a statement already given , was presented to Mr. Fox by his brother Whigs , one of the consequences which it prognosticated from the connexion of their party with the Grenvillcs took place , in the resignation of Mr. Addinglon and the return of Mr. Pill to power. The confidence of Mr. Pitt, in thus taking upon himself, almost single-handed , Ihe government of the country at such an awful cri- sis ," was , he soon perceived , n6t shared by the public. A general expectation had prevailed that the three great Parties , which had lately been encamped together on the field of Opposition , would have each sent its Chiefs into the public councils , and thus formed such a Congress of power and talent as the difficulties of the empire, in that trying moment, demanded. This hope had been frustrated by the repugnance of the King to Mr. Fox, and the loo ready faci- lity w iih which Mr. Pitt had gtven way to it. Not only, indeed , in his undignified eagerness for office , did he sacrifice without stipu- 1 To the inllietion of llus nickname on, his friend, Mr. Addington , Sheridan was, in 110 small degree, accessory, by applying to, those who disapproved of his administration, and ye gave no reasons for their disapprobation , the well- known lines, " I do iiot love tliee , Doctor Fell, And why, I caunpt tell; . 7.. .:.' But this I know full well , T do not love tliee , Doctor Fell.".' QF R : K STfcRI DAN. 413 1;ition the important question which , bill two years before', had been made Ihe sinc^ua non of his services, but, in yielding so n>a, 1805. . 414 MEMOIRS As to the great change made in the Ministry by the introduction of the Right Honourable Gentleman himself, I would ask, does he imagine that he came back to office with the same estimation that he left it? I am sure he is much mistaken if he fancies that he did. The Right Honourable Gentleman retired from office because, as was stated, he could not cany an important question , which he deemed necessary to satisfy the just claims of the Catholics ; and in going out he did not hesitate to tear oft' the sacred veil of Majesty, describing his Sovereign as the only person that stood in the way of this desirable object. After the Right Honour- able Gentleman's retirement, he advised the Catholics to look to no one but him for the attainment of their rights , and cautiously to abstain from forming a connection with any other person. But how does it ap- pear, now that the Right Honourable Gentleman is returned to office? He declines to perform his promise ; and has received , as his colleagues in office , those who are pledged to resist the measure. Does not the Right Honourable Gentleman then feel that he comes back to office with a character degraded by the violation of a solemn pledge, given to a great and respectable body of the people, upon a particular and momentous oc- casion ? Does the Right Honourable Gentleman imagine either that he returns to office with the same character for political wisdom, after the description which he gave of the talents and capacity of his predecessors, and after having shown, by his own actions, that his description was totally unfounded ?" In alluding to Lord Melville's appoinlment to the Admiralty, he says , " But then , I am told, there is the First, Lord of the Admiralty, * Do you forget the leader of the grand Catamaran project? Are you not aware of the important change in that department, and the advantage the country is likely to derive from that change ?' Why, I answer, that I do not know of any peculiar qualifications the Noble Lord has to preside over the Admiralty ; but I do know, that if I were to judge of him from the kind of capacity he evinced while Minister of War, I should entertain little hopes of him. If, however, the Right Honourable Gentle- man should say to me , ' Where else would you put that Noble Lord , would you have him appointed W r ar-Minister again?' I should say, Oh no, by no means, I remember too well the expeditions to Toulon, to Quiberon , to Corsica, and to Holland, the responsibility for each of which the Noble Lord took on himself, entirely releasing from any res- ponsibility the Commander in Chief and the Secretary at War. I also remember that which, although so glorious to our arms in the result, I still shall call a most ^warrantable project, the expedition to Egypt. It may be said, that as t^ Noble Lord was so unfit for the military depart- ment, the naval was the proper place for him. Perhaps there were people who would adopt this whimsical reasoning. I remember a story told respecting Mr. Garrick , who was once applied to 1 by an eccentric Scotchman, to introduce a production of his on the stage.This Scotchman was such a good-humoured fellow, that he was called ' Honest Johnny M'Cree.' Johnny wrote four acts of a tragedy, which he showed to OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 416 Mr. Garrick , who dissuaded him from finishing it; telling him that his talent did not lie that way ; so Johnny abandoned the tragedy, and set about writing a comedy. When this was finished, he showed it to Mr. Garrick, who found it to be still more exceptionable than the tra- gedy, and of course could not be persnaded to bring it forward on the stage. This surprised poor Johnny, and he remonstrated. * Nay, now, David (said Johnny), did you not tell me that my talents did not lie in tragedy ?' * Yes (replied Garrick ), but I did not tell you that they lay in comedy.' 'Then (exclaimed Johnny), gin they dinna lie there, where ihede'il dittha lie, m on ?' Unless the Noble Lord at the head of the Admiralty has the same reasoning in his mind as Johnny M'Cree, he cannot possibly suppose that his incapacity for the direction of the War- department necessarily qualifies him for the Presidency of the Naval. Perhaps , if the Noble Lord be told that he has no talents for the latter, his Lordship may exclaim with honest Johnny M'Cree, r Gin they dinna lie there, where the de'il dittha lie, mon ? ' " On the lOlh of May, the claims of 'the Roman Catholics of Ireland were , for the first time , brought under the notice of the Imperial Parliament , by Lord Grenville in the House of Lords , and by Mr. Fox in the House of Commons. A few days before the debate , as appears by the following remarkable letter, Mr. Sheridan was made the medium of a communication from Carlton-House , the object of which was to prevent Mr. Fox from presenting the Pe- lilion. DEAR SIIKRIDAS , " I did not receive your letter till last night. " I did, on Thursday, consent to be the presenter of the Catholic Petition, at the request of the Delegates, and had further conversation on the subject With them at Lord Grenville's yesterday morning. Lord Grenville also consented to present the Petition to the House of Lords. Now, therefore, any discussion on this part of the subject would be too late; but I will fairly own, that, if it were not, I could not be dissuaded from doing the public act, which, of all others, it will give me the greatest satisfaction and pride to perform. No past event in my political life ever did , and no future one ever can , give me such pleasure. " I am sure you know how painful it would be to me to disobey any command of His Royal Highness's, or even to act in any manner that might be in the slightest degree contrary to his wishes, and, therefore, I am not sorry that your intimation came too late. I shall endeavour to see the Prince to-day ; but, if I shonld fail, pray, take care that he knows how things stand before we meet at dinner, lest any conversation i here should appear to come upon him by surprise.. " Yours ever, " Arlington- Street , Sunday. " C. J. F.", It would be rash, without some further insight into the circum- HG MEMOIRS slandes of Ihis singular interference, to enter into any speculations with respect to its nature or motives , or to pronounce how far Mr. Sheridan was justified in being the instrument of it. But on the share of Mr. Fox in the transaction , such suspension of opinion is unnecessary. We have here his simple and honest words before us, and they breathe a spirit of sincerity from which even Princes might take a lesson with advantage. Mr. Pitt was not long in discovering that Place does not always imply Power, and that , in separating himself from the other able men of the day, he had but created an Opposition as much too strong for the Government, as the government itself was too weak for the country. .The humiliating resource to which he was driven, in trying v as a tonic, the reluctant alliance of Lord Sidmoulh, the aborliveness of his effort to avert the fall of his old friend, Lord Melville , and the fatality of ilMuck that still attended his exertions against France, all concurred to render this reign of the once powerful Minister a series of humiliations , shifts , and disasters , unlike his former proud period in every thing, but ill success. The powerful Coalition opposed to him already had a prospect of car- rying by slorm the post which he occupied , when , by his death , it was surrendered , without parley, into their hands. The Administration that succeeded, under the auspices of Lord r.renville and Mr. Fox, bore a resemblance to the celebrated Brass of Corinlh , more , perhaps , in the variety of the metals brought together, than in the perfection of the compound that resulted from their fusion '. There were comprised in it, indeed, not only the two great parlies of the leading chiefs , but those Whigs who dif- fered with them both under the Addington Ministry, and the Ad- dinglons that differed with them all on the subject of the Catholic claims. With this last anomalous addition to the miscellany the in- fluence of Sheridan is mainly chargeable. Having , for some time past , exerted all his powers of management to bring about a coa- lition between Carlton-House and Lord Sidmouth , he had been at length so successful , that , upon the formation of the present Mi- iHslry, it was the express desire of the Prince that Lord Sidmoulh should constitute a part of it. To the same unlucky influence , loo , is to be traced the very questionable measure (notwithstanding the great learning and ability with which it was defended) of introdu- cing the Chief Jusfice , Lord Ellcnborough , into the Cabinet. As to Sheridan's own -share in the arrangements , it was , no 1 See in the Annual Register of 180G some able remarks npon Coalitions in general, as well as a temperate defence of this Coalition in particular, for which that work is , I suspect, inilcluecl to a hancl snch as hastiot often , since the tirni: ofBnrke, enriched its pages. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 'til doubt , expected by him that ho should now be included among lh members of Ihe Cabinet 5 and it is probable that Mr. Fox , at the head of a purely Whig ministry, would have so far considered the services of his ancient ally, and the popularity still attached to his name through the country, as to confer upon him this mark of dis- tinction and confidence. But there were other interests to be con- sulted ; and the undisguised earnestness with which Sheridan had opposed the union of his parly with the Grenvilles, left him but little supererogation of services to expect in that quarter. Some of his nearest friends , and particularly Mrs. Sheridan, entreated , as I understand , in the most anxious manner, that he would not accq)t any such office as that of Treasurer of the Navy, for the responsi- bility and business of which they knew his habits so wholly unfilled him , but that, if excluded by his colleagues from the distinction of a seal in the Cabinet , he should decline all office whatsoever, and lake his chance in a friendly independence of Ihem. But the time was now past when he could afford to adopt this policy, the emo- lumenls of a place were too necessary to him to be rejected ; and , in accepting the same office that had been allotted to him in the Re- gency arrangements of 1789, he must have felt, with no small degree of mortification , how stationary all his efforts , since then , had left him , and what a blank was thus made of all his services in Ihe interval. The period of this Ministry , connected with the name of Mr. Fox, though brief, and , in some respects , far from laudable , was distinguished by two measures, the Plan of Limited Service, and the Besolution for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade, which will long be remembered to the honour of those concerned in them. The motion of Mr. Fox against the Slave-Trade was the,last he ever made in Parliament ; and the same sort of melancholy admiration that Pliny expresses, in speaking of a beautiful picture, the painter of which had died in finishing it , ' 'dolor manus, dam id ageret, abreptce? comes naturally over our hearts in thinking of the last , glorious work, to which this illustrious statesman , in dying, sel iiis hand. Though it is not truo, as has been asserted , that Mr. Fox refused to see Sheridan in his last illness , it is but too certain that those appearances of alienation or reserve , which had been for some lime past observable in line former , continued to throw a restraint over their intercourse with each other to the last. It is a proof, however, of the absence of any serious grounds for this distrust, that Sheridan was the-person selected by the relatives of Mr. Fox to preside over and direct the arrangements of the funeral : and thai he put the l;i-i - 418 MEMOIRS solemn seal to their long intimacy , by following his friend , as mourner, to the grave. The honour of representing the city of Westminster in Parliament had been , for some time , one of the dreams of Sheridan's ambition. It was suspected, indeed, I know not with what justice, that in advising Mr. Fox , as he is said to have done, about the year 1800, tp secede from public life altogether, he was actuated by a wish to succeed him in the representation of Westminster , and had even already set on foot some private negotiations towards that object. Whatever grounds there may have been for this suspicion , the strong wish that he felt on the subject had long been sufficiently known to his colleagues -, and , on the death of Mr. Fox, it appeared, not only lo himself, but the public , that he was the person naturally pointed out as most fit to be his parliamentary successor. It was , therefore, with no slight degree of disappointment he discovered, that the ascendancy of Aristocratic influence was, as usual, to pre- vail, and that the young son of the Duke of Northumberland would be supported by the Government in preference to him. It is but right, however, injustice to the Ministry, to state, that the neglect with which they appear to have treated him on this occasion , particularly in not apprising him of their decision in favour of Lord Percy , sufficiently early to save him from the humiliation of a fruit- less attempt, is proved, by the following letters, to have originated in a double misapprehension , by which, while Sheridan, on one side , was led lo believe that the Ministers would favour his preten- sions, the Ministers, on the other, were induced to think that he had given up all intentions of being a candidate. The first letter is addressed to the gentleman (one of Sheridan's intimate friends) who seems to have been , unintentionally , the cause of the mistake on both sides. " DEAR , Somerset-Place, September i^. " You must have seen by my manner, yesterday, how much I was surprised and hurt at learning , for the first time, that Lord Grenville had, many days previous to Mr. Fox's death, decided to support Lord Percy on the expected vacancy for Westminster, and that you had since been the active agent in the canvass actually commenced. I do not like to think I have grounds to complain or change my. opinion of any friend, without being very explicit, and opening nay mind, without reserve, on such a subject. I must frankly declare, that I think you have brought yourself and me into a very. unpleasant dilemma. You seemed to say, last night , that you had not been apprised of my intention to offer for Westminster on the apprehended vacancy. I am confident you have acted under that impression; but I must impute to you either great inattention to what fell from me in our last conversation on the subject, or great inaccuracy of recollection ;' for I solemnly protest I considered OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 419 you as the individual most distinctly apprised, that at this moment to succeed that great man and revered friend in Westminster, should the fatal event take place, would he the highest object of my ambition; for, in that conversation I thanked you expressly for informing me that Lord Grenville had said to yourself, upon Lord Percy being suggested to him, that he, Lord Grenville , ' would decide on nothing until Mr. She- litlan had been spoken to, and his intentions known,' or words precisely t<> that effect. I expressed my grateful sense of Lord Grenville's attention, ;uid said, that it would confirm me in my intention of making no applica- tion, however hopeless myself respecting Mr. Fox, while life remained with him, and these words of Lord Grenville you allowed last night to have been so stated to me, though not as a message from his Lordship. Since that time I think we have not happened to meet; at least , sure I am , we have had no conversation on the subject. Having the highest opinion of Lord Grenville's honour and sincerity, I must be confident that he must have had another impression made on his mind respecting my wishes before I was entirely passed by. I do not mean to say that my ottering myself was immediately to entitle me to the support of Govern- ment; but I do mean to say, that my pretensions were entitled to consi- deration, before that support was offered to another without the slightest notice taken of me,- the more especially as the words of Lord Grenville, reported by you to me, had been stated by me to many friends as my reliance and justification in not following their advice by making a direct application to Government. I pledged myself to them that Lord Grenville would not promise the support of Government till my intentions had been asked , and I quoted your authority for doing so : I never heard a syllable of that support being promised to Lord Percy until from you on the evening of Mr. Fox's death. Did I ever authorise you to inform Lord Grenville that I had abandoned the idea of offering myself? These are points which it is necessary, for the honour of all parties , should be amicably explained. I therefore propose , as the shortest way of effecting it, wishing you not to consider this letter as in any degree confidential,. that my statements in this letter may be submitted to any two common friends , or to the Lord Chancellor alone, and let it be ascertained where the error has arisen, for error is all I complain of; and, with regard to Lord Grenville, I desire distinctly to say, that I feel myself indebted for the fairness and kindness of his intentions towards me. My disappoint- ment of the protection of Government may be a sufficient excuse to the friends I am pledged to , should I retire ; but I must have it understood whether or not I deceived them , when I led them , to 'expect that 1 should have that support. "I hope to remain' ;.- : < "Ever yoyi'S sincerely, '::* < ,<:i " R. B. SHERIDAN. " The sooner the reference I propose the better." The second letter, which is still further explanatory of the mis- ronception , was addressed by Sheridan to Lord Grcnvillc . " MY DEAR LORD, " Since I had the honour of Your Lordship's letter , I have received one 450 MEMOIRS from Mr. , in which , I am sorry to observe, he is silent as to my offer of meeting, in the presence of a third person, in order to ascertain whe- ther /te did or not so report a conversation with your Lordship as to impress on my mind a belief that my pretensions would he considered , before the support of Government should be pledged elsewhere. Instead of this, he not only does not admit the precise words quoted by me, but does not state what he alloAvs he did say. If he denies that he ever gave me reason to adopt the belief I have stated, be it so; but the only stipu- lation I have made is that we should come to an explicit understanding on this subject, not with a view to quoting words or repeating names, but that the misapprehension, Xvliatever it was, may be so admitted as not to leave me under an unmerited degree of discredit and disgrace. Mr. certainly never encoui-aged me to stand for Westminster, but, on the contrary, advised me to support Lord Percy, which nlade me the more mark at the time the fairness with which I thought he apprised me of the preference my pretensions were likely to receive in your Lordship's consideration. " Unquestionably your Lordship's recollection of what passed between Mr. and yourself must be just ; and were it no more than what you said on the same subject to Lord Howick , I consider it as a mark of attention; but what has astonished me is, that Mr. should ever have informed your Lordship, as he admits he did, that I had no inten- tion of offering myself. This naturally must have put from your mind whatever degree of disposition was there to have made a preferable ap- plication to me; and Lord Howick's answer to your question, on which I have ventured to make a friendly remonstrance, must have confirmed Mr. 's report. But allow me to suppose that I had myself seen your Lordship, and that you had explicitly promised me the support of Government, and had afterwards sent forme and informed me that it was at all an object to yon that I should give way to Lord Percy, I assure you, with the utmost sincerity, that I should cheerfully have withdrawn myself, and applied every interest I possessed as your Lordship should have directed. "All I request is, that what passed between me and Mr. may take an intelligible shape before any common friend, or before your Lord- ship. This I conceive to be a preliminary due to my own honour, and what he ought not to evade." The Address which be delivered , at the Crown and Anchor Ta- vern , in declining the offer of support which many of the electors slill pressed upon him , contains some of those touches of personal feeling which a biographer is more particularly bound to preserve. In speaking of Mr.JFox, he said , '' It is true there have been occasions upon which I have differed with him painful recollections of the most painful moments of my political life! Nor were there wanting those who endeavoured to represent these differences as a departure from the homage which his superior mind , though unclaimed by him, was entitled to, and from the allegiance of friendship which our hearts all swore to him. But never was the genuine OF R- B. SHERIDAN. 4? I and confiding texture f his soul more manifest than on such occasions : lie knew that nothing on earth could detach me from him ; and he re- sented insinuations against the sincerity and integrity of a friend , which he would not have noticed had they been pointed against himself. With such a man to have battled in the cause of genuine liberty, with such a man to have struggled against the inroads of oppression and corruption with such an example before me, to have to boast that I never in my life gave one vote in Parliament that was not on the side of freedom, is I lie congratulation that attends the retrospect of my public life. His friendship was the pride and honour of my days. I never, for one mo- ment, regretted to share with him the difficulties, the calumnies, and sometimes even the dangers, that attended an honourable course. And now, reviewing my past political life, were the option possible that I should retread the path, I solemnly and deliberately declare that I would prefer to pursue the same course; , to bear up under the same pressure; to abide by the same principles; and remain by his side, an exile from power, distinction, and emolument, rather than be at this moment a splendid example of successful servility or prosperous apostacy, though clothed with power, honour, titles, gorged with sinecures, and lord of hoards obtained from the plunder of the people. Al the conclusion of his Address he thus alludes, with evidently a deep feeling of discontent , to the circumstances that had obliged him to decline the honour now proposed to him : "Illiberal warnings have been held out, most unauthoritatively I know, that by persevering in the present contest I may risk my official situation ; and if I retire , I am aware that minds, as coarse and illiberal, may assign the dread of that as my motive. To such insinuations I shall scorn to make any other reply than a reference to the whole of my past political career. I consider it as no boast to say , that any one who has struggled through such a portion of life as I have , without obtaining an office, is not likely to abandon his principles to retain one when acquired. If riches do not give independence, the next best thing to being very rich is to have been used to be very poor. But independence is not allied to wealth, to birth , to rank, to power, to titles, or to honour. Inde- l>endence is in the mind of a man, or it is no whqre. On this ground were I to decline the contest, I should scorn the imputation that should bring the purity of my purpose into doubt. No Minister can expect to find in me a servile vassal. No Minister can exjject from me the abandonment of any principle 1 have avowed, or any pledge I have given. I know not that 1 have hitherto shrunk in place from opinions I have maintained while in opposition. Did there exist a Minister of a different cast from any I know iii being, were he to attempt to exact from me a different conduct, my oflicc should be at his service to-morrow. Such a Ministry nlight strip me of my situation, in some respects of considerable emolument, but he could not strip me of the proud conviction that I was right; he could not strip me of my own self-esteem; he could not strip me, I think, of some portion of the confidence and good opinion of the people. But I am noti- cing the calumnious threat. I allude to more than it deserves. There can 42i MEMOIRS he no peril, I venture to assert, under the present Government, in the free exercise of discretion , such as belongs to the present question. I therefore disclaim the merit of putting any thing to hazard. If I have missed the opportunity of obtaining all the support 1 might, perhaps, have had on the present occasion, from a very scrupulous delicacy , which I think became and was incumbent upon me, but which I by no means conceive to have been a fit rule for others, I cannot repent it. While the slightest aspiration of breath passed those lips, now closed for ever , while one drop of life's blood beat in that heart, now cold for ever, I could not, I ought not, to have acted otherwise than I did. 1 now come with a very embarrassed feeling to that declaration which I yet think you must have expected from me, but which I make with reluc- tance , because , from the marked approbation I have experienced from you, I fear that with reluctance you \\ill receive it , I feel myself under the necessity of retiring from this contest." About three weeks after ensued the Dissolution of Parliament , a measure attended, wilh considerable unpopularity to the Ministry, and originating as much in the enmity of one of its members to Lord Sidmouth, as the introduction of that noble Lord among them at all was owing to the friendship of another. In consequence of this event, Lord Percy having declined offering himself again , Mr. Sheridan became a candidate for Westminster, and after a most riotous contest with a demagogue of the moment, named Paull, was, together with Sir Samuel Hood, declared duly elected. The moderate measure in favour of the Roman Catholics, which the Ministry now thought it due to the expectations of that body to bring forward, was, as might be expected, taken advantage of by the King to rid himself of their counsels , and produced one of those bursts of bigotry fay which the people of England have so often dis- graced themselves. It is sometimes a misfortune to men of wit , that they put their opinions in a form to be remembered. We might , perhaps, have been ignorant of the keen, but worldly view which Mr. Sheridan, on this occasion, took of the hardihood of his col- leagues, if he had not himself expressed it in a form so portable to the memory. " He had often ," he said, " heard of people knocking out their brains against a wall , but never before knew of any one building a wall expressly for the purpose." It must be owned, indeed, that though far loo sagacious and liberal not to be deeply impressed with the justice of the claims ad- vanced by the Catholics , he was not altogether disposed to go those generous lengths in their favour , of which Mr. Fox and a few others of their less calculating friends were capable. It was his avowed opinion, that, though the measure, whenever brought forward, should be supported ,and enforced by the whole weight of the party , they ought never so far to identify or encumber themselves with it , OF R. B. SHERIDAN 3 as to make its adoption a sine qua non of their acceptance or reten^ lion of office. His support, too, of the Ministry of Mr. Addington , which was as virtually pledged against the Catholics as that which now succeeded to power , sufficiently shows the secondary station that this great question occupied in his mind \ nor can such a devia- tion from the usual lone of his political feelings be otherwise ac- counted for, than by supposing that he was aware of the existence of a strong indisposition to the measure in that quarter, by whose MOWS and wishes his public conduct was, in most cases, regulated. On the general question . however , of the misgovernment of Ire- land , and (he disabilities of the Catholics , as forming its most pro- minent feature, his zeal was always forthcoming and ardent, and never more so than during the present Session , when , on the ques- tion of the Irish Arms Bill , and his own motion upon the State of Ireland , he distinguished himself by an animation and vigour worthy of the best period of his eloquence. Mr. Graltan , in supporting the coercive measures now adopted against his country, had shown himself, for once, alarmed into a concurrence with the wretched system of governing by Insurrection Acts, and, for once, lent his sanction to the principle upon which all such measures are founded , namely , that of enabling Power to defend ilself against the consequences of its own tyranny and in- justice. In alluding to some expressions used by this great man, Sheridan said : " He now happened to recollect what was said by a Right Honourable Gentleman, to whose opinions they all deferred (Mr. Grattan ), that notwithstanding he voted for the present measure, with all its defects, rather than lose it altogether , yet that gentleman said , that he hoped to secure the reversionary interest of the Constitution to Ireland. But when we saw that the Constitution was suspended from the year 1796 to the present period , and that it was now likely to be continued for three years longer, the danger was that we might lose the interest altogether; when we were mortgaged for such a length of time , at last a foreclosure might take place." The following is an instance of that happy power of applying old stories , for which Mr. Windham , no less than Sheridan , was re- markable, and which, by promoting anecdote into the service of argument and wit, ennobles it, when trivial, and gives new youth to it, when old. " When they and others complain of the discontents of the Irish, they never appear to consider the cause. When they express their surprise that 1 he Irish are not contented, while, according to their observation , that people have so much reason to be happy, they beU'ay a tola] ignorance of their actual circumstances. The fact is, that the tyranny practised upon 424 MEMOIRS the Irish has been throughout unremitting. There has been no change but in the manner of inflicting it. They have had nothing but variety in oppression, extending to all ranks and degrees of a certain description of the,'people. If you would know what this varied oppression consisted in, I refrr you to the Penal Statutes you have repealed , and to some of those which still exist. There you will see the high and the km equally sub- jected to the lash of persecution ; and yet still some persons affect to be astonished at the discontents of the Irish. But with all my reluctance to introduce any thing ludicrous upon so serious an occasion, I cannot help referring to a little story which those very astonished persons call to my mind. It was with respect to an Irish drummer , who was employed to inflict punishment upon a soldier. When the boy struck high, the poor soldier exclaimed, 'Lower, bless you,' with which the boy complied. But soon after the soldier exclaimed, 'Higher, if you please.' But again he called out , ' A little lower; ' upon which the accommodating boy ad- dressed him ' ISow , upon my conscience , I see you are a discontented man ; for, strike \\here I may, there's no pleasing you. ' Now your com- plaint of the discontents of the Irish appears to me quite as rational, while you continue to strike, only altering the place of attack." Upon this speech, which may be considered as the bouquet, or last parting blaze of his eloquence , he appears to have bestowed considerable care and thought. The concluding sentences of the following passage , though in his very worst taste, were as anxiously laboured by him , and put through as many rehearsals on paper, as any of the most highly finished witticisms in The School for Scandal. "I cannot think patiently of such petty squabbles, while Bonaparte is grasping the nations; while he is surrounding France, not with that iron frontier, for which the wish and childish ambition of Louis XIV. was so eager, but with kingdoms of his own creation; securing the gratitude of higher minds as the hostage , and the fears of others as pledges for his safety. His are no ordinary fortifications. His martello towers are Thrones; sceptres tipt with crowns are the palisadoes of his entrenchments , and Kings are his centinels." The Reporter here, by " tipping" the sceptres "with crowns ," has improved , rather unnecessarily, upon the finery of the original. The following are specimens of the various trials of this passage , which I find scribbled over detached scraps of paper : " Contrast the different attitudes and occupations of the two govern- ments : B. eighteen months from his capital , head-quarters in the villages, neither Berlin or Warsaw, dethroning and creating thrones, the works he raises are monarchies, sceptres his palisadoes, thrones his martello towers." "Commissioning kings, erecting thrones, martello towers, Cam- baceres count noses, Austrians,' fine dressed, like Pompey's troops." " B. fences with sceptres , his martello towers are thrones, he alone is France." OF R. H. SHERIDAN. 425 Another Dissolution of Parliament having taken place this year, he again became a candidate for the city of Westminster. But , after a violent contest, during which he stood the coarse abuse of the mob \\ilh Ihe utmost good humour and playfulness , the election ended in favour of Sir Francis Burdetl and Lord Cbchrane , and Sheridan \vas returned, with his friend Mr. Michael Angelo Taylor , for the borough of Ilchester. In the autumn of 1807 he had conceived some idea of leasing the property of Drury-Lane Theatre , and, with that view , had set on foot , through Mr. Michael Kelly , who was then in Ireland , a ne- gotiation with Mr. Frederick Jones, the proprietor of the Dublin Theatre. In explaining his' object to Mr. Kelly, in a letter dated August 30 , 1807 , he describes it as a " plan by which the properly may be leased to those who have the skill and the industry to manage it as it should be for their own advantage, upon terms which would render any risk to them almost impossible ; the profit to them (he adds) would probably be beyond what I could now venture to slate , and yet upon terms which would be much better for the real pro- prietors than any thing that can arise from the careless and ignorant manner in which the undertaking is now misconducted by those who, my son excepled , have no interest in its success , and who lose no- thing by its filure." The negotiation with Mr. Jones was continued into the following year , and , according to a draft of agreement , which this gentleman has been kind enough to show me, in Sheridan's hand- writing, it was intended that Mr. Jones should , on becoming proprietor of one quarler-share of the property , " undertake the management of the Theatre in conjunction with Mr. T. Sheridan, and be entitled to the same remuneration, namely, 1000/. per annum certain income, and a certain per ccntagc on the net profits arising from the office- receipts, as should be agreed upon," etc. etc. The following memorandum of a bet, connected with this trans- action , is of somewhat a higher class of wagers than the One Tun Tavern has often had the honour of recording among its archives': " One Tun, St. James's Market, May 26, 1808. " In the presence of Messrs. G. Ponsonby, R. Power, and Mr. Becher ', Mr. Jones bets Mr. Sheridan five hundred guineas that he, Mr. Sheridan*, does not write, and produce under his name, a play of five acts, or a ' It is not without a deep feeling of melancholy that I transcribe this paper- Of three of my most valued friends ; whose names are signed to it, Becher, Pon- sonby, and Power, the last has, within a few short months, been snatched away, leaving behind him the recollection of as many gentle and manly virtues as ever concurred to give sweetness and strength to character. 4*fi MEMOIRS first piece of three, within the term of three rears from the i5th of Sep- tember next. It is distinctly to be understood that this bet is not valid unless Mr. Jones becomes a partner in Drury-Lane Theatre before the commencement of the ensuing season. " Richard Power. R. B. SHERIDAS. "George Ponsonby. " FRED. EDW. JONES. " W. W. Becher. " IN. B. W. W. Becher and Richard Power join, one fifty, -the other one hundred pounds in this bet. "R. POWER." The grand movement of Spain , in the year 1808 , which led to consequences so important to the rest of Europe, though it has left herself as enslaved and priest-ridden as ever , was hailed by Sheridan with all that prompt and well-timed ardour, with which he alone , of all his parly, knew how to meet such great occasions. Had his political associates but learned from his example thus to place them- selves in advance of the procession of events , they would not have had the triumphal wheels pass by them, and over them, so fre- quently. Immediately on the arrival of the ^Deputies from Spain, he called the attention of the House to the affairs of that country ; and his speech on the subject , though short and unstudied , had not only the merit of falling in with the popular feeling at the mo- ment, but, from the views which it pointed out through the brighl opening now made by Spain , was every way calculated to be useful both at home and abroad. "Let Spain," he said, " see, that we were not inclined to stint the services we had it in our power to render her; that we were not actuated by the desire of any petty advantage to ourselves; but that our exertions were to be solely directed to the attainment of the grand and general object, the emancipation of the world. If the flame were once fairly caught, our success was certain. France would then find, that she had hitherto been contending only against principalities, powers, and autho- rities, but that she had now to contend against a people." The death of Lord Lake this year removed those difficulties , which had , ever since the appointment of Sheridan to the Recei- vership of the Duchy of Cornwall , stood in the way of his reaping Ilio full advantages of that office. Previously to the departure of General Lake for India, the Prince had granted to him the reversion of this situation , which was then filled by Lord Elliot. It was after- wards, however, discovered that, according to the terms of the Grant, the place could not be legally held or deputed by any one who had not been actually sworn into it before the Prince's Council. On the death of Lord Elliot , therefore, Mis Royal Highness thought himself authorised , as we have seen, in conferring the appointment OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 427 upon Mr. Sheridan. This step, however, was considered by the friends of General Lake as not only a breach of promise, but a vio- lation of right ; and it would seem , from one of the documents which I am about to give , that measures were even in train for enforcing the claim by law. The first is a letter on the subject from Sheridan to Colonel M'Mahon : " MY DEAR M'MAHON , Thursday evening. " 1 have thoroughly considered and reconsidered the subject we talked upon to-day. ISothing on earth shall make me risk the possibility of the Prince's goodness to me furnishing 1 an opportunity for a single scurrilous fool's presuming to hint even that he had, in the slightest manner, departed from the slightest engagement. The Prince's right, in point of law and justice, on the present occasion to recall the appointment given, I hold to be incontestiblc ; but , believe me , I am right in the proposition I took the liberty of submitting to His Royal Highness, and which (so far is he from wishing to hurt General Lake,) he graciously approved. But understand me, my meaning is to give up the emo- luments of the situation to General Lake, holding the situation at the Prince's pleasure, and abiding by an arbitrated estimate of General Lake's claim, supposing His Royal Highness had appointed him ; in other words, to value his interest in the appointment as if he had it, and to pay him for it or resign to him. " With the Prince's permission I should be glad to meet Mr. Warwick Lake, and I am confident that no two men of common sense and good intentions can fail, in ten minutes, to arrange it so as to meet the Prince's wishes , and not to leave the shadow of a pretence for envious malignity to whisper a word against his decision. " Yours ever, " R. B. SHERIDAN." " I write in great haste going to A ." The other Paper that I shall give, as throwing light on the trans- action , is a rough and unfinished sketch by Sheridan of a statement intended to be transmitted to General Lake, containing the par- ticulars of both Grants , and the documents connected with them : " DEAR GENERAL , " I am commanded by the Prince of Wales to transmit to you a correct Statement of a transaction in which your name is so much implicated , and in which his feelings have been greatly wounded from a quarter, 1 am commanded to say v whence he did not expect such conduct. " As I am directed to communicate the particulars in the most au- thentic form, you will, lam sure, excuse on this occasion my not adopting the mode of a familiar letter. " Authentic Statement respecting the Appointment by His Hoyal 4?8 MEMOIRS Highness the Prince of Wales to the Receivership of the Duchy of Cornwall , in the Year 1804, to he transmitted by His Royal Highness's Command to Lieutenant-General Lake , Commander-in-chief of 4lie Forces in India. " The circumstances attending the original reversionary Grant to General Lake are stated in the hrief for Counsel on this occasion hy Mr. Bignel , the Prince's solicitor, to he as follow . (\o. I.) It was afterwards understood by the Prince that the service he had wished to render General Lake, by this Grant, had been defeated by the terms of it ; and so clearly had it been shown that there were essential duties attached to the office , which no Deputy was competent to execute , and that a Deputy, even for the collection of the rents, could not be appointed but by a principal actually in possession of the office, (by having been sworn into it before his Council,) that upon General Lake's appoint- ment to the Command in India , the Prince could have no conception that General Take could have left the country under an impression or expectation that the Prince would appoint him , in case of a vacancy, to the place in question. Accordingly, His Royal Highness, on the very day lie heard of the death of Lord Elliot, unsolicited, and of his own gracious suggestion , appointed Mr. Sheridan. Mr. Sheridan returned , the next day, in a letter to the Prince , such an answer and acknowledg- ment as might be expected from him ; and, accordingly, directions were given to make out his patent. On the ensuing His Royal Highness was greatly surprised at receiving the following letter from Mr. Warwick Lake. (JVo. II.) " His Royal Highness immediately directed Mr. Sheridan to see Mr. W. Lake, and to state his situation , and how the office was cir- cumstanced ; and for further distinctness to make a minute in writ- ing." * * * * Such were the circumstances that had , at first , embarrassed his enjoyment of this office ; but , on the death of Lord Lake, all diffi- culties were removed , and the appointment was confirmed to She- ridan for his life. In order to afford some insight into the nature of that friendship which existed so long between the Heir Apparent and Sheridan , though unable , of course, to produce any of the numerous let- ters , on the Royal side of the correspondence , that have been found among the papers in my possession , I shall here give , from a rough copy in Sheridan's hand-writing, a letter. which he addressed about this time to the Prince : " It is matter of surprise to myself, as well as of deep regret , that I should have incurred the appearance. of ungrateful neglect and disrespect towards the person to whom I am most obliged on earth, to whom I feel the most ardent, dutiful, and affectionate attachment, and in whose service I would readily sacrifice my life. Yet so it is, and to nothing but a perverse combination of circumstances , which would form no excuse were I to recapitulate them, can I attribute a conduct so strange on my OF ft. B. SHERIDAN. 429 part; and from nothing but Your Royal Highness's kindness and be- nignity alone can I expect an indulgent allowance and oblivion of tbat conduct : nor could I even hope 'for this were I not conscious of the un- abated and unalterable devotion towards Your Royal Highness which lives in my heart, and will ever continue to be its pride and boast. " But I should" ill deserve the indulgence I request did I not frankly slate what has passed in my mind, which, though it cannot justify, may, in some degree, extenuate what must have appeared so strange to Your Koval Highness, previous to Your Royal Highness having actually res- tored me to the office I had resigned. " I was mollified and hurt in the keenest mariner by having repeated to me from an authority which / then trusted, some expressions of Your Roval Highness respecting me, which it was impossible I could have deserved. Though I* was most solemnly pledged never to reveal the- source from which the communication came, I for some time intended to unburthen my mind to my sincere friend and Your Royal Highness's most attached and excellent servant, M'Mahon but I suddenly disco- vered, beyond a. doubt , that I had been grossly deceived , and that there had not existed the slightest foundation for the tale that had been im- posed on me ; and I do humbly ask Your Royal Highness's pardon for having for a moment credited a fiction suggested by mischief and malice. Yet, extraordinary as it must seem, I had so long, under this false im- pression , neglected the course which duty and gratitude required from me, that I felt an unaccountable shyness and reserve in repairing my er- ror, and to this procrastination other unlucky circumstances contributed. One day when I had the honour of meeting Your Royal Highness on horse- back in Oxford-Street, though your manner was as usual gracious and kind to me, you said that I had deserted you privately and politically. I had long before tbat been assured, though falsely I am convinced, that Your Royal Highness had promised to make a point that I should neither speak nor vote on Lord Wellesley's business. My view of this tppic, and my knowledge of the delicate situation in which Your Royal Highness stood in respect to the Catholic question , though weak and inadequate motives I confess , je\. encouraged the continuance of that reserve which my original error had commenced. These subjects being passed bv, and sure I am Your Royal Highness would never deliberately ask me to adopt a course of debasing inconsistency, it was my hope fully and frankly to have explained myself and repaired my fault, when I was informed that a circumstance that happened at Burlington-House , and which must have been heinously misrepresented, had greatly offended you; and soon after it was stated to me, by an authority which I have' no objection to disclose , that Your Royal Highness had quoted , with marked disappro- bation, words supposed to have been spoken by me on the Spanish ques- tion , and of \\hich words, as there is a God in heaven, I never uttered one syllable. " Most justly may Your .Royal Highness answer to all this, why have I not sooner stated these circumstances , and confided in that uniform friendship and protection which 1 have so long experienced at your li.nuls. I can only plead a nervous, procrastinating nature, abetted, per- haps, by sensations of , I trust, no false pride, which, however 1 may 430 MEMOIRS blame myself, impel me involuntarily tody from the risk of even a cold look from the quarter to which I owe so much, and by whom to be esteemed is the glory and consolation of my private and public life. " One point only remains for me to intrude upon Your Royal High- ness's consideration , but it is of a nature fit only for personal communi- cation. I therefore conclude , with again entreating Your Royal Highness to continue and extend the indulgence which the imperfections in my character have so often received from you, and yet to be assured that there never did exist to Monarch , Prince , or man , a firmer or purer at- tachment than I feel, and to my death shall feel, to you, my gracious Prince and Master " CHAPTER XX. Destruction of the Theatre of Drury-Laneby fire. Mr. Whitbread. Plan for a third Theatre. Illness of the King. Regency. Lord Grey and Lord Grenville. Conduct of Mr. Sheridan. His vindication of himself. WITH the details of the embarrassments of Drury-Lane Theatre , I have endeavoured, as little as possible , to encumber the attention of the reader. This part of my subject would , indeed, require a volume to itself. The successive partnerships entered into with Mr. Grubb and Mr. Richardson , the different Trust-de^ds for the general and individual property , the various creations of Shares , the controversies between the Trustees and Proprietors as to the obligations of the Deed of 1793, which ended in a Chancery- suit in 1799 , the perpetual entanglements of the property, which Sheridan's private debts occasioned , and which even the friendship and skill of Mr. Adam were wearied out in endeavouring to rectify, all this would lead to such a mass, of details and correspondence as , though I have waded through it myself, it is by no means ne- cessary to inflict upon others; The great source of the involvements , both of Sheridan himself and of the concern , is to be found in the enormous excess of the expense of rebuilding the Theatre in 1793 , over the amount stated by the architect in his estimate. This amount was 75,0007. ; and the sum of 150, OOO/., then raised by subscription , would, it was cal- culated, in addition to defraying this charge, pay off also the mort- gage-debts with which the Theatre was encumbered. It was soon found, however, that the expense of building the House alone would exceed the whole amount raised by subscription ; and notwithstand- ing the advance of a considerable sum beyond the estimate, the Theatre was delivered in a wry unfinished slate into the hands of the proprietors, only part of the mortga'ge- debts was paid off. and. altogether, a debt of 70.000/. was left upon the property. OF K. B. SHERIDAN. 431 This debt Mr. Sheridan and the other proprietors took , voluntarily, and, as it has been thought, inconsiderately, upon themselves, the builders , by their contracts, having no legal claim upon them , and the payment of it being at various times enforced , not only against the theatre, but against the private property of Mr. Sheridan, involved both in a degree of embarrassment from which there ap- peared no hope of extricating them. Such was the state of this luckless property, arid it would have been difficult to imagine any change for the worse that could befall it, when, early in the present year, an event occurred, that seemed to fill up at once the measure of its ruin. On the night of the 24th of February, while the House of Commons was occupied with Mr. Pon- sonby's motion on the Conduct of the War in Spain , and Mr. Sheri- dan was in attendance , with the intention , no doubt , of speaking , I he House was suddenly illuminated by a blaze of light-, and, the Debate being interrupted , it was ascertained that the Theatre of Drury-Lane was on fire. A motion was made to adjourn ; but Mr. She- ridan said, with much calmness, that " whatever might be the extent of the private calamity, he hoped it would not interfere with the public business of the country." He then left the House; and, pro- ceeding to Drury-Lane , witnessed , with a fortitude which strongly interested all who observed him , the entire destruction of his pro- perty '. Among his losses on the occasion there was one which, from being associated with feelings of other times , may have affected him , per- haps , more deeply than many that were far more serious. A harp- sichord . that had belonged to his first wife , and had long survived her sweet voice in silent widowhood , was , with other articles of furniture that had been moved from Somerset-House to the Theatre , lost in the flames. The ruin thus brought upon this immense property seemed , for a time, beyond a)l hope of retrieval. The embarrassments of the concern were known to have been so great, and such a swarm of litigious claims lay slumbering under those ashes, that it is not surprising the public should have been slow and unwilling to touch them. Nothing, indeed , short of the intrepid zeal of Mr. Whitbrcad. could have ventured upon the task of remedying so complex a cala- ' It is said that, as be sat at the Piazza Coffee-house, daring the fire, taking some refreshment, a friend of his having remarked on the philosophic calmness, with which he bore his misfortune , Sheridan answered, " A man may sorely be ,* allowed to take a glass of wine l>r his own fire- side. 1 " Without vouching for the authenticity or novelty of this anecdote, (which may have been , for aught I know, like the wandering Jew, a rcpnlar attendant upon, all fires since the time of HJcrocles ,) I give it as I heard'it. 432 MEMOIRS mity j nor could any industry less persevering have compassed the miracle of rebuilding and re-animaling Ihat edifice , among the many-tongued claims that beset and perplexed his enterprise. In the following interesting letter to him from Sheridan, we trace the flrst steps of his friendly interference on the occasion : "Mv DEAR WHITBREAD, " Procrastination is always the consequence of an indolent man's resolving to write a long detailed letter, upon any subject , however important to himself, or whatever may be the confidence he lias in the friend he proposes to write to. To this must be attributed your having escaped the statement I threatened you with, in my last letter, and the brevity with which I now propose to call your attention to the serious, and to me, most important request, contained in this, reserving all I meant to have written for personal communication. " I pay you no compliment when I say that, without comparison, you are the man living , in my estimation, the most disposed and the most competent to bestow a portion of your time and ability to assist the call of friendship , on the condition that that call shall be proved to be made in a cause just and honourable , and in every respect entitled to your protection. " On this ground alone I make my application to you. You said, some time since, in my house, but in a careless conversation only, that you would be a Member of a Committee for rebuilding Drury-Lane Theatre, if it would serve me ; and, indeed, you very kindly suggested, yourself, that there were more persons disposed to assist that object than I might be aware of. I most thankfully accept the offer of your interference, and am convinced of the benefits your friendly exertions are competent to produce. I have worked the whole subject in my own mind , and see a clear way to retrieve a great property, at least to my son and his family, if my plan meets the support 1 hope it will appear to merit. " Writing thus to 3-011 in the sincerity of private friendship, and the reliance I place on my opinion of your character, I need not ask of you, though eager and active in politics as you are , not to be severe in cri- ticising my palpable neglect of all parliamentary duty. It would not be easy to explain to you , or even to make you comprehend , or any one in prosperous and affluent plight, the private difficulties I have to struggle with. My mind, and the resolute independence belonging to it, has not been in the least subdued by the late calamity ; but the consequences arising from it have more engaged and embarrassed me than, perhaps , I have been willing to allow. It has been a principle of my life, persevered in through great difficulties, never to borrow money of a private friend; and this resolution I would starve rather than violate. Of course, I except the political aid of election-subscription. When'I ask you to take a part in the settlement of my shattered affairs,- 1 ask you only to do so after a previous investigation of every part of .the ]>ast circumstances which relate to the tuust I wish you to accept, IB conjunction with those who wish to serve me , and to whom I think you conld not object. I may Le again seized with an illness as alarming as that I lately experienced. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 433 Assist me in relieving my mind from the greatest affliction that such a situation can again produce, the fear of others suffering by my death. " To effect this little more is necessary than some resolution on my part and the active superintending advice of a mind like yours. " Thus far on paper : I will see you next , and therefore will not trouble you for a written reply." Encouraged by the opening which the destruction of Drury-Lane seemed to offer to free adventure in theatrical property, a project was set on foot for the establishment of a Third Great Theatre , which, being backed by much of the influence and wealth of fhe city of London , for some time threatened destruction to the mono- poly that had existed so long. But, by the exertions of Mr. Sheridan and his friends , this scheme was defeated , and a Bill for the erec- tion of Drury-Lane Theatre by subscription , and for the incorpo- ration of the subscribers , was passed through Parliament. That Mr. Sheridan himself would have Ijad no objection to a Third Theatre , if held by a Joint Grant to the Proprietors of the other two , appears not only from his speeches and petitions on the subject at this time, but from the following Plan for such an esta- blishment, drawn up by him, some years before, and intended to be submitted to the consideration of the Proprietors of both Houses : " GENTLEMEN, " According to your desire, the plan of the proposed Assistant Theatre. is here explained in writing fr your further consideration. " From your situations in the Theatres Royal of Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden we have had opportunities of observing many circtwn- stances relative to our general property, which must have escaped those who do not materially interfere in the management of that property. One point in particular has lately weighed extremely in our opinions , which is, an apprehension of a new Theatre being erected for some species or other of dramatic entertainment. Were this event to take place on an op- posing interest , our property would sink in value one half, and , in all probability, the contest that would ensue would speedily end in the absolute ruin of one of the present established Theatres. We have reason, it is true, from His Majesty's gracious patronage to the present Houses, to hope that a Third Patent for a winter Theatre is not easily to be obtained ; but. the motives which appear to call for one are so many, (and those of such a nature , as to increase every day, ) that we cannot, on the maturest consideration of the subject , divest ourselves of the dreadthat such an event may not be very remote.With this apprehension before us , we have naturally fallen into a joint consideration of the means of preventing so fatal a blow to the present Theatres , or of deriving a general advantage from a circumstance which might otherwise be our ruin. j V " Some of the leading motives for the establishment of a Third Theatre are as follows : J8 134 MEMOIRS " ist. Tlie great extent of the town and increased residence of a higher class of people , who, on account of many circumstances , seldom frequent the Theatre. " ad. The distant situation of the Theatres from the politer streets, and the difficulty with which ladies reach their carriages or chairs. " 3d. The small number of side-boxes, where only, by the uncon- troulable influence of fashion, ladies of any rank can be induced to sit. " 4th. The earliness of the hour, which renders it absolutely impossible for those who attend on Parliament, live at any distance, or indeed, for any person who dines at the prevailing hour, to reach the Theatre before the performance is half over. " These considerations have lately been strongly urged to me by many loading persons of rank. There has also prevailed, as appears by the number of private plays at gentlemen's seats, an unusual fashion for theatrical entertainments among the politer class of people ; and it is not to be wondered at that they, feeling themselves ( from the causes above enumerated), in a manner, excluded from our Theatres, should per- severe in an endeavour to establish some plan of similar entertainment, on principles of superior elegance and accommodation. " In proof of this disposition , and the effects to be apprehended from it, we need but instance one fact, among many which might be pro- duced, and that is the well-known circumstance of a subscription having actually been begun last winter, with very powerful patronage, for the importation of a French company of comedians, a scheme which, though it might not have answered to the undertaking, would certainly have been the foundation of other entertainments, whose opposition we should speedily have experienced. The question , then, upon a full view of our situation , appears to be whether the Proprietors of the present Theatres will contentedly wait till some other person takes advantage of I lie prevailing wish for a Third Theatre, or, having the remedy in I heir power, profit by a turn of fashion which they cannot controul. " A full conviction that the latter is the only line of conduct which can give security to the Patents of Drury-Lane and Covent-frarden Theatres, and yield a probability of future advantage in the exercise of them, has prompted us to endeavour at modelling this plan, on which we conceive those Theatres may unite in the support of a Third , to the general and mutual advantage of all the Proprietors. " PROPOSALS. " The Proprietors of the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden appear to be possessed of two Patents for the privilege of acting plays, etc. , under one of which the above-mentioned Theatre is opened, the other lying dormant and useless ; it is proposed that this dormant Patent shall be exercised, (with His Majesty's approbation,) in order to license the dramatic performance of the new Theatre to be erected. M It is proposed that the performances of this new Theatre shall be supported from the united establishments of the two present Theatres, so that the unemployed part of each company may exert themselves fov the advantage\)f the whole. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 43S " As the object of this Assistant Theatre will be to reimburse the Proprietors of the other two , at the full season; for the expensive esta- blishment they are obliged to maintain when the town is almost empty, it is proposed, that the scheme of business to be adopted in the new Theatre shall differ as much as possible from that of the other two, and that the performances at the new house shall be exhibited at a superior price, and shall commence at a later hour. " The Proposers will undertake to provide a Theatre for the purpose, in a proper situation , and on the following terms : If they engage a Theatre to be built, being the. property of the builder or builders," it, must be for an agreed on rent, with security for a term of years. In this case the Proprietors ef the two present Theatres shall jointly and severally engage in the whole of the risk; and the Proposers are ready on equitable terms, to undertake the management of it. But, if the Proposers find themselves enabled, either on their own credit , or by the assistance of their friends, or on a plan of subscription, the mode being devised, and the security given by themselves, to become the builders of the Theatre, the interest in the building will , in that case , be the property of the Proposers, and they will undertake to demand no rent for the perform- ances therein to be exhibited for the mutual advantage of the two present Theatres. " The Proposers will, in this case, conducting the business under the dormant Patent above mentioned, bind themselves, that no theatrical entertainments, as plays, farces, pantomimes, or English operas, shall at any time be exhibited in this Theatre but for the general advantage of the Proprietors of the other two Theatres; the Proposers reserving to themselves any profit they can make of their building, converted to pur- poses distinct from the business of the Theatres. " The Proposers, undertaking the management of the new Theatre, shall be entitled to a sum to be settled by the Proprietors at large., or by an equitable arbitration, " It is proposed, that all the Proprietors of the two present TheMres Royal of Drury-Lane and Covent-Garden shall share all profits from the dramatic entertainments exhibited at the new Theatre; that is, each shall be entitled to receive a dividend in proportion to the shares he or she possesses of the present Theatres: first only deducting a certain nightly sum to be paid to the Proprietors of Covent-Garden Theatre, as a consideration for the licence furnished by the exercise of their present dormant Patent. " 'Fore Heaven! the Plan's a^ood Plan! I shall add a little Epilogue to-morrow. "R. B. S." 'Tis now too late, and I've a letter to write Before 1 go to bed , and then, Good Night." In the month of. July, this year, the Installation of Lord Gren- ville, as Chancellor of Oxford , look place, and Mr. Sheridan was among4he distinguished persons that attended the ceremony. As a number' of honorary degrees were to be conferred on (ho occasion, 136 MEMOIRS it was expected, as a matter of course, thai his name would be among those selected for that distinction , and, to the honour of the University, it was the general wish among its leading members that such a tribute should be paid to his high political character. On the proposal of his name, however (in a private meeting, I believe, held previously to the Convocation), the words " Non placet" were heard from two scholars , one of whom , it is said , had no nobler motive for his opposition than that Sheridan did not pay his father's lilhes very regularly. Several efforts were made to win over these dissentients; and the Reverend Mr. Ingram delivered an able and liberal Latin speech , in which he indignantly represented the shame that it would bring on the University, if such a name as thai of Sheridan should be ''clam subductum" from the list. The two scholars , however, were immoveable ^ and nothing remained but to give Sheridan intimation of their intended opposition , so as to enable him to decline the honour of having his name proposed. On his appearance, afterwards, in the Theatre, a burst of acclama- tion broke forth, with a general cry of "Mr. Sheridan among the Doctors , Sheridan among the Doctors ; in compliance with which he was passed to the seat occupied by the Honorary Graduates , and sat, in unrobed distinction, among them, during the whole of the ceremonial. Few occurrences, of a public nature, ever gave him more pleasure than this reception. At the close of the year 1810, the malady , with which the King had been thrice before afflicted , returned 5 and , after the usual ad- journments of Parliament , it was found necessary to establish a Regency. On (he question of the second adjournment, Mr. Sheri- dan took a line directly opposed to that of his party, and voted with the majority. That in this step he did not act from any previous concert with the Prince appears from the following letter, addressed by him to His Royal Highness on the subject, and containing par- ticulars which will prepare the mind of the reader to judge more clearly of the events that followed : "SiH, " 1 felt infinite satisfaction when I was apprised that Your RoyaJ Highness had been far from disapproving the line of conduct I bad pre- sumed to pursue, on the last question of adjournment in the House of Commons. Indeed, I never had a moment's doubt but that Your Royal Higbness would give me credit tbat I was actuated on that, as I sltall on every other occasion through my existence, by no possible motive but tbe most sincere unmixed desire to look to Your Royal Higbness's honour and true interest, as the objects of my political life, directed as I am sure your efforts will ever be, to the essential interests of tbe Country and tbe Constitution. To this line of conduct I am prompted by every OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 437 motive of personal gratitade, and con'Grmed by every opportunity, which peculiar circumstances and long experience have afforded me, of judging of your heart and understanding, to the superior excellence of which (beyond all, I believe, that ever stood in your rank and high relation to society), I fear not to advance my humble testimony, because I scruple not to say for myself, that 1 am no flatterer, and that I never found that lo become one was the road to your real regard. " I state thus much because it has been under the influence of these Teelings that I have not felt myself warranted (without any previous com- munication with Your Royal Highness ) to follow implicitly the dictates of others, in whom, however they may be my superiors in many qualities, I can subscribe to no superiority as to devoted attachment and duteous affection to Your Royal Highness, or in that practical knowledge of the public mind and character, upon which alone must be built that popular and personal estimation of Your Royal Highness, so necessary to your future happiness and glory, and to the prosperity of the nation you are destined to rule over. " On these grounds , I saw no policy or consistency in unnecessarily giving a general sanction to the examination of the physicians before the Council, and then attempting, on the question of adjournment, to hold that examination as nought. On these grounds I have ventured to doubt the wisdom or propriety of any endeavour (if any such endeavour has been made) to induce Your Royal Highness, during so critical a'moment, to stir an inch from the strong reserved post you had chosen, or give tbe slightest public demonstration of any future intended political prefer- ences; convinced as I was that the rule of conduct you had prescribed to yourself was precisely that which was gaining you the general heart, and rendering it impracticable for any quarter to succeed in annexing unworthy conditions to that most difficult situation , which you were probably so soon to be called on to accept. " I may, Sir, have been guilty of error of judgment in both these respects, differing, as I fear 1 have done, from those whom I am bound so highly to respect; but, at the same time, I deem it no presumption to say that, until better instructed, I feel a strong confidence in the justness of my own view of the subject; and simply because 1 of this I am sure that the decisions of that judgment, be they sound or mistaken, have not at least been rashly taken up, but were founded on deliberate zeal for your service and glory, unmixed , I will confidently say, with any one selfish object or political purpose of my own." The same limitations and restrictions that Mr. Pitt proposed in 1789, weje, upon the same principles , adopted by the present Mi- nister : nor did the Opposition differ otherwise from their former line of argument, than by omitting altogether that claim of Right for the Prince, which Mr. Fox had, in the proceedings of 1789, asserted. The event that ensued is sufficiently well known. To the surprise of the public (who expected , perhaps , rather than wished , Uiat the Coalesced Party, of which Lord Grey and Lord Grenville were chiefs, should now succeed to power ) ( , Mr. Perceval and liis ^8 MEMOIRS colleagues were informed by the Regent that it was the intention of His Royal Highness to continue them still in office. The share taken by Mr. Sheridan in the transactions that led to this decision, is one of those passages of his political life upon which the criticism of his own party has been most severely exer- cised , and into the details of which I feel most difficulty in entering : because , however curious it may be to penetrate into these "post- scenia" of public life, it seems hardly delicate, while so many of the chief actors are still upon the stage. As there exists, however, a Paper drawn up by Mr. Sheridan , containing what he considered a satisfactory defence of his conduct on this occasion, I should ill discharge my duty towards his memory, were I , from any scruples or predilections of my own , to deprive him of the advantage of a statement , on which he appears to have relied so confidently for his vindication. But , first, in order fully to understand the whole course of feel- ings and circumstances by which not only Sheridan, but his Royal Master (for their cause is, in a great degree, identified), were, for some time past, predisposed towards the line of conduct which they now pursued, it will be necessary to recur to a few antecedent events. By the death of Mr. Fox the chief personal lie that connected the Heir-Apparent with the party of that statesman was broken. The political identity of the party itself had, even before that event, been, in a great degree, disturbed, by a coalition against which Sheridan had always most strongly protested , and to which the Prince, there is every reason to believe , was by no means friendly. Immediately after the death of Mr. Fox, His Royal Highness made known his intentions of withdrawing from all personal interference in politics ; and , though still continuing his sanction to the remain- ing Ministry,' expressed himself as no longer desirous of being con- sidered "a party man '." During the short time that these Minis- ters continued in office , the understanding between them and the Prince was by no means of that cordial and confidential kind , which had been invariably maintained during the life-time of Mr. Fox. On the contrary, the impression on the mind of His Royal High- ness, as well as on those of his immediate friends in the Ministry, 1 This is the phrase used by the Prince himself, in. a Letter addressed to a Noble Lord , (not long after the dismissal of the Grenville Ministry,) for the pur- pose of vindicating his own character from some imputations cast upon it, in consequence of an interview which he had lately had with the King, This impor- tant exposition of the feelings of His Royal Highness, which, more than any thing, throws light upon his subsequent conduct , was drawn up by Sheridan ; and I had hoped that I should have been able to lay it before the reader : but the,liberly of perusing the Letter is all that has been allowed me. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 430 Lord Moira and Mr. Sheridan , was , lhat a cold neglecl had suc- ceeded to the confidence with which they had hitherto been treated ; and that, neither in their opinions or feelings , were they any longer sufficiently consulted or considered. The very measure , by which the Ministers ultimately lost their places, was, it appears, one of those which the Illustrious Personage in question neither conceived himself to have been sufficiently consulted upon before its adoption, nor approved of afterwards. Such were the gradual looscnings of a bond , which at no time had promised much permanence ; and such the train of feelings and circumstances which ( combining with certain prejudices in the Royal mind against one of the chief leaders of the parly) prepared the way for that result by which the Public was surprised in 1811 , and the private details of which 1 shall now, as briefly as possible, relate. As soon as the Bill for regulating the office of Regent had passed the two Houses, the Prince , who , till then , had maintained a strict reserve with respect to his intentions , signified , through Mr. Adam , his pleasure that Lord Grenville should wait upon him. He then, in the most gracious manner, expressed to that Noble Lord his wish that he should, in conjunction with Lord Grey, prepare the Answer which His Royal Highness was, in a few days, to return to the Ad- dress of the Houses. The same confidential task was entrusted also to Lord Moira , with an expressed desire that he should consult with Lord Grey and Lord Grenville on the subject. But this co-operation , as I understand , the two Noble Lords declined. One of the embarrassing consequences of coalitions now appeared. The recorded opinions of Lord Grenville on the Regency question differed wholly and in principle not only from those of his coadjutor in this task , but from those of the Royal person himself, whose sen- timents he was called upon to interpret. In this difficulty the only alternative that remained was so to neutralize the terms of Hie Answer upon the great point of difference , as to preserve the consistency of the Royal speaker, without at the same time compromising that of his Noble adviser. It required, of course, no small art and delicacy thus to throw into the shade that distinctive opinion of Whiggism , which Burke had clothed in his imperishable language in 1789, und which Fox had solemnly bequeathed to the Party, when " in Lift upward flight He left his mantle there '." The Answer, drawn up by the Noble Lords, did not, it must be . surmount this difficulty very skilfully. The assertion of ; '' . i^., **.a'xvOo iSWlr Joanu. Ifcillie. 440 MEMOIRS the Prince's consistency was confined to two meagre sentences , in the first of which His Royal Highness was made to say : "With respect to the proposed limitation of the authority to be entrusted to me , I retain my former opinion : " and in the other, the expres- sion of any decided opinion upon the Constitutional point is thus evaded : "For such a purpose no restraint can be necessary to be imposed upon me." Somewhat less vague and evasive, however, was the justification of the opinion opposed to that of the Prince , in the following sentence : "That day, when I may restore to the King those powers which , as belonging only to him ', are in his name and in his behalf," etc. , etc. This, it will be recollected , is precisely the doctrine which , on the great question of limiting the Prerogative , Mr. Fox attributed to the Tories. In another passage, the Whig opinion of the Prince was thus tamely surrendered : "Conscious that, whatever degree of confidence you may tliink fit to repose in me," etc. a . The answer, thus constructed, was, by the two Noble Lords, transmitted, through Mr. Adam, to the Prince, who, "strongly objecting (as we are told) to almost every part of it," acceded to the suggestion of Sheridan , whom he consulted on the subject , that a new form of Answer should be immediately sketched out , and submitted to the consideration of Lord Grey and Lord Gren- ville. There was no time to be lost , as the Address of the Houses was to be received the following day. Accordingly, Mr. Adam and Mr. Sheridan proceeded that night, with the new draft of the Answer, to Holland-House,, where, after a warm discussion, upon the sub- ject with Lord Grey, which ended unsatisfactorily to both Parties , the final result was that the Answer drawn up by the Prince and Sheridan was adopted. Such is the bare outline of this transaction , the circumstances of which will be found fully detailed in the State- ment that shall presently be given. The accusation against Sheridan is, that chiefly to his under- mining influence the view taken by the Prince of the Paper of these Noble Lords is to be attributed $ and that not only was he censurable in a constitutional point of view, for thus interfering between the Sovereign and his responsible advisers , but that he had been also guilty of an act of private perfidy, Endeavouring ' The words which I have pat in italics in these quotations are, in the same manner, underlined in Sheridan's copy of the Paper, doubtless, from a similar view of their import to that which I have taken. On the back of Sheridan's own. copy of this Answer, I find, written by him , the following words : " Grenville's and Grey's proposed Answer from the prince to the Address of the two Houses ; very flimsy, and attempting to cover Gren- ville's conduct and consistency in supporting the' present Restrictions at the expense of the Prince." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. Ul to represent the Answer drawn up by these Noble Lords , as an at- tempt to sacrifice the consistency and dignity of their Royal Master to the compromise of opinions and principles which they had en- tered into themselves. Under the impression that such were the nature and motives of his interference , Lord Grey and Lord Grenville, on the llth of January (the day on which the Answer substituted for their own was delivered) presented a joint Representation to the Regent, in which they stated that u the circumstances which had occurred respecting His Royal Highnesses Answer to the two Houses, had induced them , most humbly, to solicit permission to submit to His Royal Highness the following considerations, with the undisguised sin- cerity which the occasion seemed to require, but, with every expression that could best convey their respectful duty and inviolable attachment. When His Royal Highness (they continued) did Lord Grenville the honour, through Mr. Adam , to command his attend- ance , it was distinctly expressed to him , that His Royal Highness had condescended to select him, in conjunction with Lord Grey, to be consulted with , as the public and responsible advisers of that Answer ; and Lord Grenville could never forget the gracious terms in which His Royal Highness had the goodness to lay these his> or- ders upon him. It was also on the same grounds of public and res- ponsible advice , that Lord-Grey, honoured in like manner by the most gracious expression of His Royal Highnesses confidence on this subject, applied himself to the consideration of it conjointly with Lord Grenville. They could not but feel the difficulty of the undertaking which required them to reconcile two objects, essen- tially different, to uphold and distinctly to manifest that unshaken adherence to His Royal Highness's past and present opinion , which consistency and honour required, but to conciliate, at the same time, the feelings of the two Houses, by expressions of confidence and affection, and to lay the foundation of that good understanding between His Royal Highness and the Parliament , the establishment of which must be the first wish of every man who is truly attached to His Royal Highness, and who knows the value of the Constitution of his country. Lord Grey and Lord Grenville were far from the pre- sumption of believing that their humble endeavours for the execu- tion of so difficult a task might not be susceptible of many and great amendments. "The draft (their Lordships said) which they humbly submitted to His Royal Highness was considered by them as open to every remark which might occur to His Royal Highness's better judgment. On every occasion , but more especially in the preparation of His Royal Highness's first act of government , it would have been no less their desire than their 42 MEMOIRS duty to have profited by all such objections, and to have l>boured to ac- complish , in the best manner they were able , every command which His Royal Highness might have been pleased to lay upon them. Upon the objects to be obtained there could be no difference of sentiment These , such as above described, were , they confidently believed, not less im- portant in His Royal Highness's view of the subject than in that which they themselves had ventured to express. But they would be wanting in that sincerity and openness by which they could alone hope, however imperfectly, to make any return to that gracious confidence with which His Royal Highness had condescended to honour them, if they suppressed the expression of their deep concern, in finding that their humble en- deavours in His Royal Highness's service had been submitted to the judg- ment of another person, by whose advice His Royal Highness had been guided in his final decision , on a matter on which they alone had, how- ever unworthily, been honoured with His Royal Highness's commands. It was their most sincere and ardent wish that, in the arduous station which His Royal Highness was about to fill, he might have the benefit of the public advice and responsible services of those men, whoever they might be, by whom His Royal Highness's glory and the interests of the country could best be promoted. It would be with unfeigned distrust of their own means of discharging such duties that they could, in any case, venture to undertake them; and, in this humble but respectful repre- sentation which they had presumed to make of their feelings on this oc- casion, they were conscious of being actuated not less by their dutiful and grateful attachment to His Royal Highness, than by those principles of constitutional responsibility, the maintenance of which they deemed essential to any hope of a successful administration of the public in- terests/' On receiving this Representation , in which , it must be confessed , there was more of high spirit and dignity than of worldly wisdom ' , His Royal Highness lost no time in communicating it to Sheridan , who , proud of the influence attributed to him by the Noble writers , and now more than ever stimulated to make them feel its weight , 1 To the pure and dignified character of the Noble Whig associated iu this Remonstrance, it is unnecessary for me to say how heartily I Lear testimony. The only fault, indeed, of this distinguished person is, that, knowing but one high course of conduct for himself, he impatiently resents any sinking from that pitch in others. Then, only, in his true station, when placed between the People and the Crown , as one of those fortresses that ornament and defend the frontier of Democracy, he has shown that he can bnt ill suit the dimensions of his spirit to the narrow avenues of a Court, or, like that Pope who stooped to look for the keys of St. Peter, accommodate his natural elevation to the pursuit of official power. All the pliancy of his nature is, indeed, reserved for private life, where the repose of the valley succeeds to the grandeur of the mountain , and where the lofty statesman gracefully subsides into the gentle husband and father, and the frank , social friend. The eloquence of Lord Grey, more than that of any other person, brings to mind what Qnintilian says of the gre"at and noble orator, Messalu : "Qttodam- modo pree se ferens in dicendo nobilitatcm suam." OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 143 employed the whole force of his shrewdness and ridicule ' in ex- posing the stately tone of dictation which , according to his view , was assumed throughout this Paper, and in picturing to the Prince the stale of tutelage he might expect , under Ministers who began thus early with their lectures. Such suggestions, even if less ably urged , \\ere but too sure of a willing audience in the ears to which they were addressed. Shortly after, His Royal Highness paid a visit to Windsor, where the Queen and another Royal Personage com- pleted what had been so skilfully begun -, and the important resolu- tion was forthwith taken to retain Mr. Perceval and his colleagues in the Ministry. I shall now give the Statement of the whole transaction , which 3Ir. Sheridan thought it necessary to address , in his own defence , to Lord Holland , and of which a rough and a fair copy have been found carefully preserved among his papers : "DEAR HOLLAND, Queen-Street , January i5, 1811. " As you have been already apprised by His Royal Highness the Prince that bethought it becoming the frank ness of his character, and consistent with the fairness and openness of proceeding due to any of his servants whose conduct appears to have incurred the disapprobation of Lord Grey and Lord Grenville, to communicate their representations on the subject to the person so censured, I am confident you will give me credit for the pain I must have felt, to find myself an object of suspicion , or likely , in the slightest degree , to become the cause of any temporary misunder- standing between His Royal Highness and those distinguished characters, whom His Royal Highness appears to destine to those responsible situa- tions, which must in all public matters entitle them to his exclusive con- fidence. " I shall, as briefly as I can, state the circumstances of the fact, so distinctly referred to in the following passage of the Noble Lords' Re- presentation : " 'But they would be wanting in that sincerity and openness by which they can alone hope, however imperfectly, to make any return to that gracious confidence with which Your Royal Highness has condescended to honour them, if they suppressed the expression of their deep concern in finding that their humble endeavours in Your Royal Highness's service have been submitted to the judgment of another person , by -whose ad- ' He called rhymes also to his aid, as appears by the following: " An. Address to the Piince , 1811. " la all humility we crave Our Regent may become our slave. And being so, we trust that HE Will tliank us for our loyalty. Then , if he'll help us to pull down His Father's dignity and Crowu , We'll make lain , iti some time to coinc , The greatest Prime iu Christendom." 4U MEMOIRS vice Your Royal Highness has been guided in your final decision on a matter in which they alone had, however unworthily, been honoured with Your, Royal Highness's commands.' " I must premise , that from my first intercourse with the Prince during the present distressing emergency, such conversation as he may have honoured me with have been communications of resolutions already formed oa his part, and not of matter referred to consultation, or sub- mitted to advice. I know that my declining to vote for the further ad- journment of the Privy Council's examination of the physicians gave offence to some, and was considered as a difference from the party I was rightly esteemed to belong to. The intentions of the leaders of the party upon that question were in no way distinctly known to me; my secession was entirely my own act, and not only unauthorised, but perhaps un- expected by the Prince. My motives for it I took the liberty of commu- nicating to His Royal Highness, by letter', the next day, and, pre- viously to that, I had not even seen His Royal Highness since the confirmation of His Majesty's malady. " If I differed from those who, equally attached to His Royal High- ness's interest and honour, thought that His Royal Highness should have taken the step which, in my humble opinion, he has since, precisely at the proper period, taken, of sending to Lord Grenville and Lord Grey , I may certainly have erred in forming an imperfect judgment on the oc- casion , but, in doing so, I meant no disrespect to those who had taken a different view of the subject. But, with all deference, I cannot avoid adding, that experience of the impression made on the public mind by the reserved and retired conduct which the Prince thought proper to adopt, has not shaken my opinion of the wisdom which prompted him to that determination. But here, again, I declare, that I must reject the presumption that any suggestion of mine led to the rule which the Prince had prescribed to himself, my knowledge of it being, as I before said, the communication of a resolution formed on the part of His Royal Highness, and not of a proposition awaiting the advice, countenance, or corroboration , of any other person. Having thought it necessary to pre- mise thus much , as I wish to write to you without reserve or concealment of any sort , I shall as briefly as I can relate the facts which attended the composing the Answer itself, as far as I was concerned. "On Sunday, or on Monday the 7th instant, I mentioned to Lord Moira or to Adam, that the Address of the two Houses would come very quickly upon the Prince , and that he should be prepared with his An- swer, without entertaining the least idea of meddling with the subject myself, having received no authority from His Royal Highness to do so. Either Lord Moira or Adam informed me, before I left Carlton-House , that. His Royal Highness had directed Lord Moira to sketch an outline of the Answer proposed , and 1 left town. On Tuesday evening it occur- red to me to try at a sketch also of the intended reply. On Wednesday morning I read it , at Carlton-House, very hastily to Adam before I saw the Prince. And here I must pause to declare, that I have entirely with- drawn from my mind any doubt, if for a moment I ever entertained any , ' This Letter has heen given in page 402, vol. ii. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 44ft of the perfect propriety of Adam's conduct at that hurried interview; being also long convinced, as well from intercourse with him atCarlton- House as in every transaction I have witnessed, that it is impossible for him to act otherwise than with the most entire sincerity and honour towards all lie deals with. I then read the Paper I had pnt together to the Prince, the most essential part of it literally consisting of sentiments and expressions, which had fallen from the Prince himself in different conversations ; and I read it to him without having once heard Lord (sicnville's name even mentioned , as in any way connected with the Answer proposed to be submitted to the Prince. On the contrary, indeed, I was under an impression that the framing this Answer was considered as the single act which it would be an unfair and embarrassing task to require the performance of from Lord Grenville. The Prince approved the Paper I read to him, objecting however, to some additional para- graph of my own, and altering others. In the course of his observations, he cursorily mentioned that Lord Grenville had undertaken to sketch out his idea of a proper Answer, and that Lord Moira had done the same, evidently expressing himself, to my apprehension, as not consi- dering the framing of this Answer as a matter of official responsibility any where , but that it was his intention to take the choice and decision respecting it on himself. If, however, I had known, before I entered the Prince's apartment , that Lord Grenville and Lord Grey had in any way undertaken to frame the Answer , and had thought themselves authorised to do so, I protest the Prince would never even have heard of the draft which I had prepared, though containing, as I before said, the Prince's own ideas. "His Royal Highness having laid his commands on Adam and me to dine with him alone on the next day, Thursday, I then, for the first time , learnt that Lord Grey and Lord Grenville had transmitted, through Adam, a formal draft of an Answer to be submitted to the Prince. " Under these circumstances I thought it became me humbly to re- quest the Prince not to refer to me, in any respect, the Paper of the Noble Lords, or to insist even on nay hearing its contents; but that I might be permitted to put the draft hehadreceived from me into the fire. The Prince, however, who had read the JXoble Lords' Paper > declining to hear of this, proceeded to state how strongly he objected to almost every part of it. The draft delivered by Adam he took a copy of himself, as Mr. Adam read it , affixing shortly, but warmly, his comments to each paragraph. Finding His Royal Highness's objections to the whole radical and insuperable, and seeing no means myself by which the Noble Lords could change their draft, so as to meet the Prince's ideas, I ventured to propose, as the only expedient of which the time allowed, that both the Papers should be laid aside, and that a very short Answer, indeed , keep- ing clear of all topics liable to disagreement, should he immediately sketched out , and be submitted that night to the judgment of Lord Grey and Lord Grenville. The lateness of the hour prevented any but very hasty discussion, and Adam and myself proceeded , by His Royal High- ness's orders, to your house to relate what had passed to Lord Grey. I do not mean to disguise , however, that when 1 found myself bound to- give my opinion, I did fully assent to the force and justice of the Prince's 446 MEMOIRS objections, and made other observations of my own , which I thought it my duty to do, conceiving, as I freely said, that the Paper could not have been drawn up but under the pressure of embarrassing difficulties , and , as I conceived also, in considerable haste. " Before we left Carlton-House , it was agreed between Adam and myself that we were not so strictly enjoined by the Prince, as to make it necessary for us to communicate to the Noble Lords the marginal com- ments of the Prince, and we determined to withhold them. But at the meeting with Lord Grey, at your house , he appeared to me, erroneously perhaps, to decline considering the objections as coming from the Prince, but as originating in my suggestions. Upon this, I certainly called on Adam to produce the Prince's copy , with his notes , in His Royal Highness's own hand-writing. "Afterwards, finding myself considerably hurt at an expression of Lord Grey's , which could only be pointed at me , and which expressed his opinion that the whole of the Paper, which he assumed me to be res- ponsible for, was ' drawn up in an invidious spirit,' I certainly did, with more warmth than was perhaps discreet , comment on the Paper pro- posed to be substituted; and there ended, with no good effect, our in- terview. " Adam and I saw the Prince again that night , when His Royal High- ness was graciously pleased to meet our joint and earnest request, by striking out from the draft of the Answer, to which he still resolved to adhere, every passage which we conceived to be most liable to objection on the part of Lord Grey and Lord Grenville. " On the next morning, Friday, a short time before he was to receive the Address, when Adam returned from the Noble Lords, with their expressed disclaimer of the preferred Answer, altered, as it was , His Royal Highness still persevered to eradicate every remaining word which he thought might yet appear exceptionable to them , and made further alterations, although the fair copy of the paper had been made out. " Thus the Answer, nearly reduced to the expression of the Prince's own suggestions, and without an opportunity of farther meeting the \\ishes of the Noble Lords, was delivered by His Royal Highness, and presented by the Deputation of the two Houses. " I am ashamed to have been thus prolix and circumstantial upon a matter which may appear to have admitted of much shorter explanation ; but when misconception has produced distrust among those, I hope, not willingly disposed to differ, and who can have, I equally trust, but one common object in view in their different stations , I know no better way than by minuteness and accuracy of detail to remove whatever may have appeared doubtful in conduct while unexplained , or inconsistent in prin- ciple not clearly re-asserted. " And now , my dear Lord , I have only shortly to express my own personal mortification, I will use no other word, that I should have been considered by any persons, however high in rank, or 1 justly entitled to high political pretensions , as one so little ' attached to His Royal High- ness,' or so ignorant of the value ' of the Constitution of his country ,' as to be held out to HIM, whose fairly-earned esteem I regard as the first honour and the sole reward of my political life, in the character of an Ol R.'B. SHERIDAN. 44? interested contriver of a double government, and, in some measure, as an apostate from all my former principles, which have taught me, as well as the INoble Lords, that ' the maintenance of constitutional respon- sibility in the ministers of the Crown is essential to any hope of success in the administration of the public interest.' " At the same time, I am most ready to admit that it could not he their intention so to characterise me ; but it is the direct inference which others must gather from the first paragraph I have quoted from their Representation , and an inference which, I understand, has already been raised in public opinion. A departure, my dear Lord, on my part, from upholding the principle declared by the Noble Lords, much more a persumptuous and certainly ineffectual attempt to inculcate a contrary doctrine on the mind of the Prince of Wales, would, I am confident r lose me every particle of his favour and confidence at once and for ever. But I am yet to learn what part of my past public life , and I challenge observation on every part of my present proceedings, has warranted the adoption of any such suspicion of me, or the expression of any such imputation against me. But I will dwell no longer on this point, as it relates only to my own feelings and character; which, however, I am the more bound to consider, as others, in my humble judgment , have so hastily disregarded both. At the same time, I do sincerely declare, that no personal disappointment in my own mind interferes with the respect and esteem I entertain for Lord Greuville, or in addition to those sentiments, the friendly regard' I owe to Lord Grey. To Lord Grenville I have the honour to be but very little personally known. From Lord Grey, intimately acquainted as he was with every circumstance of my conduct and principles in the years 17889, I confess I should have expected a very tardy and reluctant interpretation of any circumstance to my disadvantage. What the nature of my endeavours were at that lime , I have the written testimonies of Mr Fox and the Duke of Port- land. To you I know those testimonies are not necessary, and perhaps it. has been my recollection of what passed in those times that may have led me too securely to conceive myself above the reach even of a suspi- cion that I could adopt different principles now. Such as they were they remain untouched and unaltered. I conclude with sincerely declaring, that to see the Prince meeting the reward which his own honourable nature , his kind and generous disposition , and his genuine devotion to the true objects of our free Constitution so well entitle him to , by being surrounded and supported by an Administration affectionate to his per- son, and ambitious of gaining and meriting his entire esteem, (yet tena- cious, above all things, of the constitutional principle, that exclusive confidence must attach to the responsibility of those whom he selects to lie his public servants, ) I would with heartfelt satisfaction rather be a looker-on of such a Government, giving it such humble support as might be in my power, than be the possessor of any possible situation either of profit or ambition, to be obtained by any indirectness, or by the slightest departure from the principles I have always professed, and which I have now felt myself in a manner called upon to re-assert. " I have only to add , that my respect for the Prince , and my sense of the frankness he has shown towards me on this occasion, decide mc r 448 MEMOIRS v.ith all duty, to submit this letter to his perusal, liefore I place it in your hands; meaning it undoubtedly to be by you shown to those to whom your judgment may deem it of any consequence to communicate it. " I have the honour to be, etc. " To Lord Holland. (Signed ) " R. B. SHERIDAN. " Read and approved by the Prince, January 20- 181 1 . " R. B. S." Though this Statement , it must be recollected , exhibits but one side of the question , and is silent as to the part that Sheridan took after the delivery of the Remonstrance of the two Noble Lords , yet , combined with preceding events and with the insight into motives which they afford , it may sufficiently enable the reader to form his own judgment , with respect to the conduct of the different persons concerned in the transaction. With the better and more ostensible motives of Sheridan*, there was, no doubt, some mixture of what the Platonisls call the " material alluvion" of our nature. His poli- tical repugnance to the Coalesced Leaders would have been less strong but for the personal feelings that mingled with it ; and his anxiety that the Prince should not be dictated to by others , was at least equalled by his vanity in showing that he could govern him himself. But, whatever were the precise views that impelled him to this trial of strength , the victory which he gained in it was far more extensive than he himself had either foreseen or wished. He had meant the party lofeel his power, not to sink under it. Though privately alienated from them, on personal as well as political grounds , he knew that , publicly, he was too much identified with their ranks , ever to serve , with credit or consistency, in any olher. He had , therefore , in the ardour of undermining , carried the ground from beneath his own feet. In helping to disband his parly, he had cashiered himself; and there remained to him now, for the residue of his days , but that frailest of all sublunary treasures , a Prince's friendship. With this conviction , ( which , in spite of all the sanguineness of his disposition , could hardly have failed to force itself on his mind , ) it was not , we should think , with very self-gralulatory feelings that he undertook the task , a few weeks after, of inditing , for the Regent, that memorable Letter to Mr. Perceval, which sealed the fate at once both of his party and himself, and , whatever false signs of re-animation may afterwards have appeared , severed the last life-lock by which the " struggling spirit 1 " of this friendship between Royalty and Whiggism still held : " dextra crinem secat, omniset una Dilapsus calor, atque in I'tntos vilit recessit." 1 Lnctfins anima. OF K. H. SHERIDAN. 449 With respect to the chief Personage connected with these transac- tions , it is a proof of the tendency of knowledge to produce a spirit of tolerance, that they who, judging merely from the surface of events, have been most forward in reprobating his separation from the Whigs , as a rupture of political ties and an abandonment of private friendships, must, on becoming more thoroughly acquainted with all the circumstances that led to this crisis, learn to soften down considerably their angry feelings ; and to see , indeed , in the whole history of the connexion, from its first formation, in the hey-day of youth and party, to its faint survival after the death of Mr. Fox , but a natural and destined gradation towards the result at which it at last arrived, after as much fluctuation of political principle on one side , as there was of indifference , perhaps, to all political prin- ciple on the other. Among the arrangements that had been made , in contemplation of a new Ministry, at this time, it was intended that Lord Moira should go , as Lord Lieutenant to Ireland , and that Mr. Sheridan should accompany him as Chief Secretary. CHAPTER XXL Affairs of the New Theatre. Mr. Whjtbread. Negotiations with Lord Grey and Lord Grenville. Conduct of Mr. Sheridan relative to the Household. His last words in Parliament. Failure at Stafford. Correspondrnce with Mr. Whitbread. Lord Byron. Distresses of Sheridan. Illness. Death and Funeral. General Remarks. IT was not till the close of this year that the Reports of the Com- mittee, appointed under the Act for rebuilding the Theatre of Drury- Lane , were laid before the public. By these it appeared that Sheri- dan was to receive, for his moiety of the property, 24,000/. , out of which sum the claims of the Linley family and others were to be satisfied , that a further sum of 40001. was to be paid to him for the property of the Fruit Ofllces and Reversion of Boxes and Shares ; and that his son , Mr. Thomas Sheridan , was to receive , for his quarter of the Patent Property, 12,000/. The gratitude that Sheridan felt to Mr. Whitbread at first , for the kindness with which he undertook this most arduous task , did not long remain unembillered when they entered into practical de- tails. It would be difficult indeed to find two persons less likely to agree in a transaction of this nature the one , in affairs of business, approaching almost as near to the extreme of rigour as the other to that of laxity. While Sheridan , loo , like those painters who en- deavour to disguise their ignorance of anatomy by an indistinct and outline ,-r-had an imposing method of generalising his ac- 450 MFMOIilS counts and statements , which , to most eyes , concealed the negli- gence and fallacy of the details , Mr. Whilbread , on the contrary, with an unrelenting accuracy, laid open the niinutia) of every trans- action, and made evasion as impossible to others as it was alien and inconceivable to himself. He was , perhaps , the only person whom Sheridan had ever found proof against his powers of persua- s j on and this rigidity naturally mortified his pride full as much as it thwarted and disconcerted his views. Among the conditions to which he agreed , in order to facilitate the arrangements of the Committee , the most painful lo him was that which stipulated that he himself should " have no concern or connexion , oi' any kind whatever, w ith the new undertaking." This concession, however, he, at first, regarded as a mere matter of f orm feeling confident that , even without any effort of his own , the necessity under which the new Committee would find them- selves of recurring to his advice and assistance, would ere long reinstate him in all his former influence. But in this hope he was disappointed his exclusion from all concern in the new Theatre ( which , it is said , was made a sine qua non by all who embarked in it,) was inexorably enforced by Whilbread 5 and the following leller addressed by him to the latter will show the stale of their respective feelings on Ihis point : " MY DEAR WlIITBREAD, " I am not going to write you a controversial or even an argumentative loiter, but simply to put down the heads of a few matters which I wisli shortly to converse with you upon , in the most amicable and temperate manner, deprecating the impatience which may sometimes have mixed in our discussions, and not contending who has been the aggressor. " The main point you seem to have had so much at heart you have carried , so there is an end of that ; and I shall as fairly and cordially endeavour to advise and assist Mr. Benjamin \Vyatt in the improving and perfecting his plan as if it had been my own preferable selection, assuming , as I must do , that there cannot exist an individual in England so presumptuous, or so void of common sense, as not sincerely to solicit the aid of my practical experience on this occasion, even were I not, in justice to the Subscribers, bound spontaneously to offer it. " But it would be unmanly dissimulation in me to retain the senti- ments I do with respect lo your doctrine on this subject, and not express what I so strongly feel. That doctrine was, to my utter astonishment, to say no more , first promulgated to me in a letter from you , written in town, in the following terms. Speaking of building and plans, you say to me , ' You arc in no way answerable if a bad Theatre is built .- it is not YOU wlio build it; and if we come to the STRICT RIGHT of llie (king, you IMVC NO BUSINESS TO INTERFERE :' and further on you sa\ , ' ff'ill you but STAND ALOOF, and every thing will go smooth, arid a good Theatre OF K. B. SHERIDAN. 451 shall be built ;' and iu conversation von put, as a similar case, that ' if a man sold another a piece of land , it was nothing to the seller whether the purchaser built himself a good or a bad house upon it.' Now I declare before God I never felt more amazement than that a man of your powerful intellect, just view of all subjects, and knowledge of the world, should hold such language, or resort to such arguments ; and 1 must be convinced, that, although in an impatient moment this opinion may have fallen from you, .upon the least reflection or the slightest attention to the reason of the case, you would, ' albeit unused to the retracting mood,' confess the erroneous view you had taken of the subject. Otherwise , I must think, and with the deepest regret would it be , that although you originally engaged in this business from motives of the purest and kindest regard for me and my family, your ardour and zealous eagerness to accomplish the difficult task you had undertaken have led you, in this instance, to overlook what is due to my feelings, to my honour, and my just interests. For, supposing I were to ' stand aloof,' 1 totally unconcerned, provided I were paid for my share , whether the new Theatre were excellent or execrable , and that the result should be that the Subscribers , instead of profit , could not through the misconstruction of the house , obtain one per cent, for their money, do you seriously believe you could find a single man , woman , or child , in the kingdom, out of the committee, who would believe that I was wholly guiltless of the failure, having been so stultified and proscribed by the Committee, (a Committee of my own nomination, ) as to have been compelled to admit, as the condition of my being paid for my share, that it was nothing to me whether the Theatre was good or bad ?' or, on the contrary, can it be denied that the reproaches of disappointment, through the great body of the Subscribers, would be directed against me, and me alone ? " So much as to character : now as to my feelings on the subject, I must say that in friendship, at least, if not in ' strict right,' they ought to be consulted , even though the Committee could either prove that 1 had not to apprehend any share in the discredit and discontent which might follow the ill success of their plan , or that I was entitled to brave whatever malice or ignorance might direct against me. Next, and lastly, as to my just interest in the property I am to part with, a consideration to which, however careless I might be were I alone con- cerned, I am bound to attend in justice to my own private creditors, observe how the matter stands : 1 agree to wave my own ' strict rigltl' to be paid before the funds can be applied to the building, and this in the confidence and on the continued understanding , that my advice should be so far respected that even should the subscription not fill, I should at least see a Theatre capable of being charged with, and ulti- mately of discharging, what should remain justly due to the proprietors. To illustrate this I refer to the size of the pit, the number of private boxes, and the annexation of a tavern; but in what a situation would the doctrine of your Committee leave me and my son ? ' It is nothing to us how the Theatre is built or whether it prospers or not.' These are two circumstances we have nothing to dojwith ; only, unfortunately, upon them may depend our l>cst chance of receiving any payment for the V>2 MEMOIRS property \vc part with. It is nothing to us how the ship is refitted or manned, only we must leave all we are worth on board her, and abide the chance of her success. Now I am confident your j ustice will see , that in order that the Committee should, in ' strict right,' become entitled to deal thus with us, and bid us stand aloof, they should buy us out, and make good the payment. But the reverse of this has been my own pro- posal , and I neither repent nor wish to make any change in it. " I have totally departed from my intention , when I first began this letter, for which I ought to apologize to you ; but it may save much future talk : other less important matters will do in conversation. You will allow that I have placed in you the. most implicit confidence have the reasonable trust in me that, in any communication I may have with B. Wyatt, my object will not be to obstruct, as you have hastily expressed it, but bond fide to assist him to render his Theatre as perfect as possible, as well with a view to the public accommodation as to profit to the Sub- scribers ; neither of which can be obtained without establishing a re- putation for him which must be the basis of his future fortune. "And now, after all this statement, you will perhaps be surprised to find how little I require, simply some Resolution of the Committee to the effect of that 1 enclose. " I conclude with heartily thanking you for the declaration you made respecting me, and reported to me by Peter Moore, at the close of the last meeting of the Committee. I am convinced of your sincerity ; but as I have before described the character of the gratitude I feel towards you in a letter written likewise in this house , I have only to say, that every sentiment in that letter remains unabated and unalterable. " Ever, my dar Whitbread, " Yours, faithfully. " P. S. The discussion we had yesterday respecting some investigation of the past, which I deem so essential to my character and to my peace of mind, and your present concurrence with me on that subject, have relieved my mind from great anxiety, though I cannot, but still think the better opportunity has been passed by. One word more, and I release you. Tom informed me that you had hinted to him that any demands, not practicable to be settled by the Committee , must fall on the pro- prietors. My resolution is to take all such on myself, and to leave Tom's share untouched." Another concession , which Sheridan himself had volunteered . namely, Ihe postponement of his right of being paid the amount ol his claim, till after the Theatre should be built , was also a subject of much acrimonious discussion between the two friends , She- ridan applying to this condition that sort of lax interpretation, which would have left him the credit of the sacrifice without ils inconvenience, and Whilbread, with a firmness of grasp, to which, unluckily, the other had been unaccustomed in business, holding him to the strict letter of his voluntary agreement with the Subscri- bers. Never, indeed , was there a more melancholy example than OF R: B. SHERIDAN. i53 Sheridan exhibited, at this moment, of the last, hard struggle of pride and delicacy against the most deadly foe of both , pecuniary involvement , which thus gathers round its victims, fold after fold, till they are at length crushed in its inextricable clasp. The mere likelihood of a sum of money being placed at his dis- posal was sufficient like the "bright day that brings forth me udder" to call into life the activity of all his duns ; and how libe- rally he made the fund available among them , appears from the following letter of Whilbread , addressed , not to Sheridan himself, but. apparently, ( the direction is wanting,) to some man of busi- ness connected with him : " MY DEAR SIR, " I had determined not to give any written answer to the note you put into my hands yesterday morning; but a further perusal of it leads me to think it better to make a statement in writing why I, for one, cannot comply with the request it contains , and to repel the impression which appears to have existed in Mr. Sheridan's mind at the time that note was written. He insinuates that to some postponement of his interest, by the Committee, is owing the distressed situation in which he is unfortunately placed. "Whatever postponement of the interests of the Proprietors may ulti- mately be resorted to, as matter of indispensable necessity from the state of the Subscription Fund, will originate in the written suggestion of Mr. Sheridan himself ; and, in certain circumstances, unless such latitude were .illowed on his part, the execution of the Act could not have been attempted. " At present there is no postponement of his interest but there is an utter impossibility of touching the Subscription Fund at all, except for very trifling specified articles, until a supplementary Act of Parlia- ment shall have been obtained. *' By the present Act, even if the Subscription were full, and no impediments existed to the use of the money, the Act itself, and the incidental expenses of plans, surveys, etc. are first to be paid for, then the portion of Killegrevv's Patent, then the claimants, and then the Proprietors. Now the Act is not paid for : White and Martindale are not paid; and not one single claimant is paid, nor can any one of them In: paid, until we have fresh powers and additional subscription. " How then can Mr. Sheridan attribute to any postponement of his interests, actually made by the Committee, the present condition of his affairs? and why are we driven to these observations and explanations? " We cannot but all deeply lament his distress, but the palliation he proposes it is not in onr power to give. " We cannot guarantee Mr. Hammersley upon the fund coming eventually to Mr. Sheridan. He alludes to the claims he has already created upon that fund. He must, besides, recollect the list of names lur sent to me some time ago, of persons to whom he felt himself in honour hound to appropriate to each his share of that fund, in common ia4 MEMOIRS with others for -whose names he left a blank, and who, he says in the? same letter, have written engagements from him. Besides, he has com- municated both to Mr. Taylor and to Mr. Shaw, through me , offers to impound the whole of the sum to answer the issue of the unsettled demands made upon him by those gentlemen respectively. " How then can we guarantee Mr. Hammersley in the payment of any sum out of this fund, so circumstanced ? Mr. Hammersle\'s possible proGts are prospective, and the prospect remote. I know the positive losses lie sustains, and the sacriflces he is obliged to make to procure the chance of the compromise he is willing to accept. "Add to all this, that we are still struggling with difficulties which we may or may not overcome; that those difficulties are greatly increased by the persons whose interest and duty should equally lead them to give us every facility and assistance in the labours we have disinterestedly undertaken , and are determined faithfully to discharge. If we fail at last, from whatever cause, the whole vanishes. "You know, my dear Sir, that 1 grieve for the sad state of Mr. She- ridan's affairs. I would contribute my mite to their temporary relief, if it would lie acceptable ; but as one of the Committee , intrusted with a public fund, I can do nothing. I cannot be a party to any claim upon Mr. Hammersley: and I utterly deny that, individually, or as part of the Committee, any step taken by me, or with my concurrence, has pressed upon the circumstances of Mr. Sheridan. " I am, " My dear Sir, "Faithfully jours, " Soutliill , Di:c. HJ, 1811. "SAMUEL WHITBREAD." A Dissolution of Parliament being expected to take place, Mr. Sheridan again turned his eyes to Stafford; and, in spite of (he estrangement to v, Inch his infidelities at Westminster had given rise, saw enough , he thought, of the ' ; 'vctcris vestigia Jlainmce ' fo encourage him to hope for a renewal of the connexion. The following letter to Sir Oswald Moseley explains his views and ex- pectations on the subject : " Cavendish- Squnre , .Nov. 29. 1811. "DEAR Stu OSWALD, " Being apprized that you have decided to decline offering yourself a candidate for Stafford , when a future election may arrive, a place where you are highly esteemed, and where every humble service in my power, as I have before declared to you, should have been at your command , I have determined to accept the very cordial invitations I have received from old friends in that quarter, and (though entirely secure of my seat at llchester, and, indeed, even of the second seat for my sou, through the liberality of Sir W. Manners ) , to return to the old goal from whence I started thirty-one years since! You will easily see that arrangements at Tlchester may be made towards assisting me , in point of expense, to meet any opposition, and, in that respect,, nothing will be wanting. It will, OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 4 I confess, be very gratifying to me to be again elected by the sons nf f/i\t: \vbo chose me in the yew eighty, and adhered to me so stoutly and so long. I think I was returned for Stafford seven , if not eight times , including two most tough and expensive contests; and , in taking a tem- porary leave of them I am sure my credit must stand well, for not a shil- ling did I leave unpaid. I have written to the Jerninghams, who , in the handsomest manner, have ever given me their warmest support; and as no political object interests my mind so much as the Catholic cause , I have no doubt that, independent of their personal friendship, I shall receive a continuation of their honourable support. I feel it to be no presumption to add , that other respectable interests in the neighbourhood will b ewith me. " I need scarcely add my sanguine hope , that whatever interest rests with you (which ought to be much) will also be in my favour. " I have the honour to be , " With great esteem and regard, " Yours most sincerely., 'iiu:! ; " R- B. SHERIDAN. " I mean to be in Stafford from Lord G. Levison's in about a fortnight." Among a number of notes addressed to his former constituents at this lime, (which I find written in his neatest hand, as if in- tended 10 be sent ,) is this curious one : " Cavendish- Square , Sunday night " DEAR KING JOHN, "I shall be in Stafford in the course of next" week , and if your Majesty does not renew our old alliance, I shall never again have faith in any potentate on earth. " Yours very sincerely, "Mr. John K. "R. B SHERIDAN." 1 -:// "ill .y(JM Y/MI;* Ofi teriw r.J S iy>h;/9b The two attempts that were made in the course of the year 1812 the one, on the cessalion of the Regency Restrictions, and the other after the assassination of Mr. Perceval , to bring the Whigs into official relations with the Court, were , it is evident, but little inspired , on either side , with the feelings likely to lead to such a result. It requires but a perusal of the published correspondence, in both cases , to convince us that, at the bottom of all these evolu- tions of negotiation, there was any thing but a sincere wish that the object to which they related should be accomplished. The Mare- chal Bassompiere was not more afraid of succeeding in his warfare, \\ hen he said, ",/e crois que nous scrons assez fous pour prendn* la Roc/idle ," than was one of the parties , at least , in these nego-^ nations , of any favourable turn that might inflict success upon its overtures. Even where the Court as in the contested point of Hie Household professed its. readiness to accede to the surrcnderso injudiciously demanded of it, I hose who acted as its discretionary 4Jtt MEMOIRS organs knew too well the real wishes in that quarter, and had been too long and faithfully zealous in their devotion to those wishes , to leave any fear that advantage would be taken of the concession. But, however high and chivalrous was the feeling with which Lord Moira , on this occasion , threw himself into the breach for his Royal Master, the service of Sheridan , though flowing partly from the same zeal, was not, I grieve to say, of the same clear and honour- able character. Lord Yarmouth, it is well known, stated in the House of Com- mons that he had communicated to Mr. Sheridan the intention of the Household to resign , with the view of having that intention conveyed to Lord Grey and Lord Grenville , and thus removing the sole ground upon which these Noble Lords objected to the accept- ance of office. Not only, however, did Sheridan endeavour to dis- suade the Noble Vice-Chamberlain from resigning , but , with an unfairness of dealing which admits, I own, of no vindication, he withheld from the two leaders of Opposition the intelligence Urns' meant to be conveyed to them ; and , when questioned by Mr. Tier- ney as to the rumoured intentions of the Household to resign , of- fered to bet five hundred guineas that there was no such step in contemplation. In this conduct , which he made but a feeble attempt to explain , and which I consider as the only indefensible part of his whole public life , he was , in some degree , no doubt , influenced by per- sonal feelings against the two Noble Lords , whom his want of fair- ness on the occasion was so well calculated to thwart and embarrass. But the main motive of the whole proceeding is to be found in his devoted deference to what he knew to be the wishes and feelings of that Personage , who had become now, more than ever, the main- spring of all his movements, whose spell over him, in this in- stance , was too strong for even his sense of character ; and to whom he might well have applied the words of one of his own beautiful songs ' Frieuds , fortune ,fame itself 'I'd lose , To gain one smile from thee ! " So fatal . too often , are Royal friendships , whose attraction , like the loadstone-rock in Eastern fable , that drew the nails out of the luckless ships that came near it, steals gradually away the strength by which character is held together, till , at last , it loosens at all points , and falls to pieces , a wreck ! In proof of the fettering influence under which he acted on this occasion , we find him , in one of his evasive attempts- at vindication, suppressing . from delicacy to his Royal Master, a circumstance bF R. B. SHERIDAN. io7 which, if mentioned, would have redounded considerably to his own credit. After mentioning that the Regent had " asked his opi- nion with respect to the negotiations that were going on ," he adds , " I gave him my opinion , and I most devoutly wish that that opi- nion could be published to the world , that it might serve to shame those who now belie me/' The following is the fact to which these expressions allude. When the Prince-Regent , on the death of Mr. Perceval, entrusted to Lord Wcllesley the task of forming an Administration , it appears that His Royal Highness had signified either his intention or wish to exclude a certain Noble Earl from the arrangements to be made under that comjnission. On learning this, Sheridan not only ex- pressed strongly his opinion against such a step , but having , after- wards, reason to fear that the freedom with which he spoke on the subject had been displeasing to the Regent , he addressed a letter to that Illustrious Person (a copy of which I have in my possession), in which , after praising the " wisdom and magnanimity" displayed by His Royal Highness , in confiding to Lord Wellesley the powers that had just been entrusted to him , he repeated his opinion , that any " proscription" of the Noble Earl in question would be ' ; a pro- ceeding equally derogatory to the estimation of His Royal Highness^ personal dignity and the security of his political power;" adding, that the advice , which he took the liberty of giving against such a step, did not proceed "from any peculiar partiality to the Noble Earl, or to many of those .with whom he was allied; but was founded on what he considered lobe best for His Royal Highness's honour and interest, and for the general interests of the coun- try." The letter (in alluding to the displeasure which he feared he had incurred by venturing this opinion) concludes thus : " Junius said in a public letter of his, addressed to Your Ro\al Father, ' the fate that made you a King forbad your having a friend.' I deny his proposition , as a general maxim I am confident that Your Royal High- ness possesses qualities to win and secure to you the attachment and devotion of private friendship, in spile of your being a Sovereign. At least J feel that I am entitled to make this declaration as far as relates to my- self and I do it under the assured conviction that you will never require from me any proof of that attachment and devotion inconsistent with the r'car and honourable independence of mind and conduct, which consti- tute my sole value as a public man, and which have hitherto been my l>cst re-commendation to your gracious favour, confidence, and pro- icction." It is to be regretted that while by this wise advice he helped to His Royal Master from the invidious ///i/wara/ice of acting i58 MKMO1RS upon a principle of exclusion , he should , by his private manage- ment afterwards, have but too well contrived to secure to him all the advantage of that principle in reality. The political career of Sheridan was now drawing fast to a close. He spoke but upon two or three other occasions during the Session ; and among the last sentences uttered by him in the House were the following ; which, as calculated to leave a sweeter flavour on the memory, at parting , than those questionable transactions that have just been related , 1 have great pleasure in citing : " My objection to the present Ministry is, that they are avowedly ar- rayed and embodied against a principle , that of concession to the Catho- lics of Ireland, which I think, and must always think , essential to the safety of this empire. I will nover give my vote to any Administration that opposes the question of Catholic Emancipation. 1 will not consent to i-cceive a furlough upon that particular question , even though a Ministry were carrying every other that I wished. In fine, I think the situation of Ireland a paramount consideration. If they were to be the last words I should ever utter in tb is House, I should say, 'Be just to Ireland , as you value your own honour ; be just to Ireland, as you value your own peace.'" His very last words in Parliament, on his own motion relative to the Overtures of Peace from France, were as follow : " Yet, after the general subjugation and ruin of Europe, should there ever exist an independent historian to record the awful events that pro- duced this universal calamity, lot that historian have to say, 'Great Britain fell, and with her fell all the best securities for the charities of human life, for the power and honour, the fame, the glory, and the liberties, not only of herself, but of the whole civilised world.'" Tn the month of September following , Parliament was dissolved ; and presuming upon the encouragement which he had received from some of his Stafford friends, he again tried bis chance of elec- tion for that borough , but without success. This failure he himself imputed, as will be seen by the following letter, to the refusal of Mr. Whitbread to advance him 2000/. out of the sum due to him by the Committee for his share of the property : " DEAR WHITBREAD , Cook's Hotel, Nov. i , 181?.. " I was misled to expect you in town the beginning of last week , luil. being positively assured that you will arrive to-morrow, I have declined accompanying Hester into Hampshire as I intended, and she has gone to-day without me; but I must leave town to join her as soon at I can. We must have some serious, but yet, I hope, friendly conversation res- pecting my unsettled claims on the Drurv-Lane Theatre Corporation. A concluding paragraph , in one of your last letters to Burgess , which be thought himself justified in showing me, leads me to believe that it is Of R. B. SHERIDAN. 569 not your object to distress or destroy me. On the subject of your refusing; to advance to me the voool. I applied for to take with me to Stafford, on I of the large sum confessedly due to me, ( unless I signed some paper con- taining I know not what , and which you presented to my breast like a cocked pistol on the last day I saw you,) I will not dwell. This, and this alone, lost me my election. You deceive yourself if you give credit to any other causes, which the pride of my friends chose to attribute our failure to , rather than confess our poverty. I do not mean now to expostulate \\i\\\ you , much less to reproach you ; but sure I am that when you con- template the positive injustice of refusing me the accommodation I re- quired, and the irreparable injury that refusal has cast on me, overturn- ing, probably, all the honour and independence of what remains of my political life, you will deeply reproach } r ourself. "I shall make an application to the Committee, when I hear you have appointed one, for the assistance which most pressing circumstances now compel me to call for; and all I desire is through a sincere wish that our friendship may not be interrupted, that the answer to that application may proceed from a bond fide. Committee, with their signatures , testifying their decision. "I am, yet, "Yours very sincerely, " S. Whitbi-ead, Esq. " R. B. SHERIDAN." Notwithstanding the angry feeling which is expressed in this let- ter, and which the slate of poor Sheridan's mind, goaded as he was now by distress and disappointment, may well excuse, it will be seen by the following letter from Whitbread , written on the very eve of the elections in September, that there was no want of incli- nation, on the part of this honourable and excellent man, to afford assistance to his friend , but that the duties of the perplexing trust which lie had undertaken rendered such irregular advances as Slrcri- daa required impossible : "Mv DEAR SHERIDAN, " We will not enter into details, although you are quite mistaken in them. You know how happy I shall be to propose to the Committee to agree to any thing practicable; and you may make all practicable, if you will have resolution to look at the state of the account between you and the Committee, and agree to the mode of its liquidation. " You will recollect the 5ooo/. pledged to Peter Moore to answer de- mands; the certificates given to Giblet, Ker, Ironmonger, Cross, and Hirdle, five each at your request; the engagements given to Ellis and myself, and the arrears to the Linley family. All this taken into consi- deration will leave a large balance still payable to you. Still there are upon that balance the claims upon you by Shaw, Taylor, andGrubb, for all of which you have ottered to leave the whole of your compensation ii my bands, to abide the issue of arbitration. " This may be managed by your agreeing to take a considerable por- iCO MEMOIRS lion of your balance in bonds, leaving those bonds in trust toans\ver the events. " I shall be in town on Monday to the Committee, and will be pre- pared with a sketch of the state of your account with the Committee, and with the mode in which I think it would be prudent for you and them to adjust it; which if you will agree to, and direct the conveyance to be made forthwith, I will undertake to propose the advance of money you wish. But without a clear arrangement, as a justification , nothing can be done. " I shall be in Dover-Street at nine o'clock, and be there and in Drurv- Lane all day. The Queen comes , but the day is not fixed. The election will occupy me after Monday. After that is over, I hope we shall see you. " Yours very truly, " Soutliill, Sept. 25. 181-1. " S. WHITBRKAD." The feeling entertained by Sheridan towards the Committee had already been strongly manifested this year by the manner in which Mrs. Sheridan received the Resolution passed by them, offering her the use of a box in the new Theatre. The notes of Whitbread to Mrs. Sheridan on this subject prove how anxious he was to conci- liate the wounded feelings of his friend : " .Ml' DEAR ESTJIER , " 1 have delayed sending the enclosed Resolution of the Drury-Lane Committee to you, because I had hoped to have found a moment to have called upon you, and to have delivered it into your hands. But I see no chance of that , and therefore literally obey my instructions in writing to you. " I had great pleasure in proposing the Resolution, which was cor- dially and unanimously adopted. I had it always in contemplation, but to have proposed it earlier would have been improper. I hope you will derive much amusement from your visits to the Theatre , and that you and all of your name will ultimately be pleased with what has been done. 1 have just had a most satisfactory letter from Tom Sheridan. " 1 am , " My dear Esther, " Affectionately yours , " Dover-Street , July k- 1812 "SAMUEL WIHTBHEAD. ' " MY DEAR ESTHER, " It has been a great mortification and disappointment to me, to have met tlm Committee twice , since the oiler of the use of a box at the ne\v Theatre was made to you , and that I have not had to report the slightest acknowledgement from you in return. " The Committee meet again to-morrow, and after that there will be no meeting for some time. If 1 shall be compelled to return the same blank answer I have hitherto done, the inference drawn will naturally be, that what was designed by myself, who moved it, and by those who voted it, as a gratifying mark ol attention to Sheridan through you, (as OF H 15. SHKIUDAN. 4f, the most gratifying mode of convening it,) has, for sonic unaccountable reason, been mistaken and is declined. " But I shall be glad to know before to-morrow what is your deter- mination on the subject. " lam, dear Esther, " Affectionately yours , u Dover- Street , July n. 1812. S. WHITBBEAD." The failure of Sheridan at Stafford completed his ruin. He was now excluded both from the Theatre and from Parliament : the two anchors by which he held in life were gone , and he was left a lonely and helpless wreck upon the waters. The Prince Regent of- fered to bring him into Parliament-, but the thought of returning to that scene of his triumphs and his freedom with the Royal owners mark , as it were , upon him , was more than he could bear and he declined the offer. Indeed , miserable and insecure as his life was now, when we consider the public humiliations to which he would have been exposed , between his ancient pledge to Whiggism and his attachment and gratitude to Royalty, it is not wonderful that he should have preferred even the alternative of arrests and imprison- ments , to the risk of bringing upon his political name any further tarnish in such a struggle. Neither could his talents have much longer continued to do themselves justice, amid the pressure of such cares , and the increased indulgence of habits which , as is usual, gained upon him as all other indulgences vanished. The an- cients , we are told , by a significant device , inscribed on the wreaths they wore at banquets the name-of Minerva. Unfortunately, from the festal wreath of Sheridan this name was now but loo often effaced ; and the same charm , that once had served to give a quicker flow to thought, was now employed to muddy the stream, as it became painful to contemplate what was at the bottom of it. By ex- clusion, therefore, from Parliament, he was, perhaps, seasonably saved from affording to that Folly , which loves the martyrdom of Fame '," the spectacle of a greatmind, not only surviving itself, but r like the champion in Berni , continuing the combat after life is gone : " Anduva combattendo , ed era morto." In private society, however, he could, even now, (before the Ru- bicon of the cup was passed , ) fully justify his high reputation for agrceableness and wit ; and a day which it was my good fortune to M And Folly loves the martyrdom of Fame." 1 1lls fine line is in Lord Byron's Monody to his memory. There is another line. equally true and tonching, where, alluding to the irregularities of tho latter pare of Sheridan's life, he says, " And what '<> them sroiiiM \ir<- ini^lil lir but woe." 462 MEMOIRS spend with him , at Hie table of Mr. Rogers, has too many mournful, as well as pleasant, associations connected with it, to be easily for- gotten by the survivors of the party. The company consisted but of Mr. Rogers himself, Lord Byron , Mr. Sheridan , and the writer of this Memoir. Sheridan knew the admiration his audience fell for him; the presence of the young poet in particular, seemed to bring back his own youth and wit , and the details he gave of his early life were not less interesting and animating to himself than delightful to us. 11 was in the course or this evening that, describing to us the poem which Mr. Whi thread had written and sent in, among the other Ad- dresses for the opening of Drury-Lanc , and which , like the rest , lurned chiefly on allusions to the Phenix, he said, "But Whitbread made more of this bird than any of them : he entered into parti- culars, and described its wings , beak, tail, etc. ; in short , it was a Poulterer's description of a Phenix ! " The following extract from a Diary in my possession , kept by Lord Byron during six months of his residence in London, 1812-13, will show the admiration which this great and generous spirit felt for Sheridan : " Saturday, December 18. i8i5. " Lord Holland told me a curious piece of sentimentality in Sheridan. The other night we were all delivering our respective and various opi- nions on him and other ' homines marquans,' and mine was this : Whatever Sheridan has done or chosen to do has been, par excellence, always the best of its kind. He has written the best comedy ( School for Scandal) the best opera, (The Duenna in my mind far before that St. Giles's lampoon, The Beggar's Opera , ) the best farce, ( The Critic it is only too good for an after-piece, ) and the best Address, ( Monologue on Garrick,) and , to crown all, delivered the very best oration (the famous Begum Speech ) ever conceived or heard in this country. 'Some- body told Sheridan this the next day, and, on hearing it, he hurst into tears! Poor Brinsley ! If they were tears of pleasure, I would rather have said those few but sincere words, than have written the Iliad, or made his own celebrated Philippic. INay, his own comedy never gratified me more than to hear that he had derived a moment's gratification from any praise of mine humble as it must appear to ' my elders and my betters.' " The distresses of Sheridan now increased every day, and through the short remainder of his life it is a melancholy task to follow him. The sum arising from the sale of his theatrical properly was soon exhausted by the various claims upon it, and he was driven to part with all that he most valued , to satisfy further demands and provide for the subsistence of the day. Those books which. , as I have al- ready mentioned , were presented to him by various friends . now OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 463 Mood , in their splendid bindings ' , on the shelves of the pawnbroker. The handsome cup, given him by the electors of Stafford, shared Ihe same fate. Three or four fine pictures by Gainsborough , and one by Morland, were sold for little more than five hundred pounds 3 ; and even the precious portrait of his first wife 3 by Reynolds, though not actually sold during his life , vanished away from his eyes into other hands. One of the most humiliating trials of his pride was yet to come. I n Ihe spring of this year he was arrested and carried to a spunging- V house, where he remained two or three days. This abode , from which the following painful letter lo Whitbread was written, formed a sad contrast lo those Princely halls , of which he had so lately been the most brilliant and favoured guest , and which were possibly , at thai very moment, lighted up and crowded with gay company, un- mindful of him within those prison walls : " Tooke's Court, Cursitor- Street, Thursday, past two. " I have done every thing in my power with the solicitors , White and Founes, to obtain my release, by substituting a better security for them than their detaining me but in vain. " Whitbread, putting all false professions of friendship and feeling out of the question, you have no right to keep me here! for it. is in truth your act if you bad not forcibly withheld from me the twelve thousand pounds, in consequence of a threatening letter from a miserable swindler, whose claim YOU in particular knew to be a lie, I should at least have been out of the reach of this state of miserable insult , for that, and that only lost me my seat in Parliament. And I assert that you cannot find a lawyer in the land , that is not either a natural-born fool or a corrupted scoundrel, wbo will not declare tbat your conduct in this respect was neither warrantable or legal but let tbat passer the present. 1 In most of them, too, were the names of the givers. The delicacy with which Mr. Harrison of Wardour-Street (the pawnbroker with whom the books and the cup were deposited) behaved, after the death of Mr. Sheridan, deserves to be mentioned with prai.se. Instead of availing himself of the public feeling at that moment, by submitting these precious relics to the competition of a sale, he privately communicated to the family and one or two friends of Sheridan the clr- cumstauctj of his having such articles in his hands, and demanded nothing more than luesnm regularly due on them. The Stafford cup is in the possession of Mr. Charles Sheridan. a In the following extract from a note to his solicitor, he refers to these pic- tures : **DE\H BURGESS, " I am perfectly satisfied with your account j nolhing can be more clear or fair, or more disinterested on your part; but I mnst grieve to think that jive or six hundred pounds for my poor pictures are added to the expenditure. Ho* - ever, we shall come through ! " 1 As Saint Cecilia. The portrait of Mrs. Sheridan at Knowle, though less ideal than that of Sir Joshua, is (for this very reason, perhaps, as bearing a closer resemblance to the original ,} still more beantiful. 4fi MEMOIRS "Independently of the iooo/. ignorantly withheld from meonthednv of considering my last claim , I require of you to answer the draft 1 send herewith on the part of the Committee , pledging myself to prove to them on the first day I can personally meet them , that there are still thousands and thousands due to. me, both legally and equitably, from the Theatre. My word ought to be taken on this subject; and you may produce to them this document , if one among them could think that , under all the circumstances, your conduct required a justification. O God ! with what mad conGdence have I trusted your word I ask jus- tice from you, and no boon. I enclosed you yesterday three different secu- rities, which, had you been disposed to have acted even as a private friend, would have made it certain that you might have done so without the smallest risk. These you discreetly offered to put into the fire, when you found the object of your humane visit satisfied by seeing me safe in prison. " 1 shall only add , that, I think , if I know myself, had our lots been reversed , and I had seen you in my situation , and had left Lady E. in that of my wife , I would have risked 6ooZ. rather than have left you so although I had been in no way accessary in bringing you into that con- dition. " S. Wlutbrcad, Esq. " R. B. SHERIDAN." Even in this situation the sanguineness of his disposition did nol desert him ; for he was found by Mr. Whilbread, on his visit to the spunging-house , confidently calculating on the representation for Westminster , in which proceedings relative to Lord Cochrane at that moment promised a vacancy. On his return home, however, to Mrs. Sheridan ( some arrangements having been made by Whitbrcad for his release,) all his fortitude forsook him, and he burst into a long and passionate fit of weeping at the profanation, as he termed it, which his person had fuffered. He had for some months had a feeling that his life was near its close ; and I find the following touching passage in a letter from him to Mrs. Sheridan , after one of those differences which will sometimes occur between the most affectionate companions , and which , possibly, a remonstrance on his irregularities and want of caxe of himself occasioned : " Never again let one harsh word pass between us during the period , which may not perhaps be long , that we are in this world together, and life , however clouded to me , is mutually spared to us. I have expressed this same senti- ment to my son , in a letter I wrote to him a few days since, and I had his answer a most affecting one , and , I am sure , very sin- cere and have since cordially embraced him. Don't imagine that I am expressing an interesting apprehension about myself which I do not feel." Though the new Theatre ofDury-Lanehad now been three years builL his feelings had never allowed him to set his fool within its OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 466 walls. About this time, however, he was persuaded by his friend, Lord Essex , to dine with him , and go in the evening to His Lord- ship's box , to see Kean. Once there, the " genius loci " seems to have regained its influence over him ; for, on missing him from the box, between the Acts , Lord Essex, who feared that he had left the House, hastened out to enquire, and, to his great satisfaction, found him installed in the Green-room , with all the actors around him , welcoming him back to the old region of his glory, with a sort of fiJial cordiality. Wine was immediately ordered , and a bumper to the health of Mr. Sheridan was drank by all present, with the ex- pression of many a hearty wish that he would often , very often , re-appear among them. This scene , as was natural , exhilarated his spirits, and, on parting with Lord Essex that night, at his own door in Saville-Row , he said triumphantly that the world would soon hear of him , for the Duke of Norfolk was about to bring him into Parliament. This , it appears was actually the case , but Death stood near as he spoke. In a few days after, his last fatal illness began. Amid all the distresses of these latter years of his life, he appears but rarely to have had recourse to pecuniary assistance from friends. 3Ir. Peter Moore, Mr. Ironmonger, and one or two others, who did more for the comfort of his decline than any of his high and noble associates, concur in stating that, except for such an occa- sional trifle as his coach-hire ; he was by no means, as has been some- limes asserted , in the habit of borrowing. One instance , however, where he laid himself under this sort of obligation , deserves to be mentioned. Soon after the return of Mr. Canning from Lisbon , a letter was put into his hands, in the House of Commons, which proved to be a request from his old friend Sheridan , then lying ill in bed, that he would oblige him with the loan of a hundred pounds. It is unnecesssary to say that the request was promptly and feelingly complied with-, and if the pupil has ever regretted leaving the politics of his master, it was not at that moment, at least, such a feeling was likely to present itself. There are , in the possession of a friend of Sheridan , copies of a correspondence in which he was engaged this year with two noble Lords and the confidential agent of an illustrious Personage , upon a subject , as it appears , of the utmost delicacy and importance. The letters of Sheridan, it is said, (for I have not seen them,) though of too secret and confidential a nature to meet the public eye , not only prove the great confidence reposed in him by the parties concerned , but show the clearness and manliness of mind which he could still command, under the pressure of all that was most trying to human intellect. " iti MEMOIRS The disorder, with which he was now attacked , arose from a diseased state of the stomach , brought on partly by irregular living, and partly by the harassing anxieties that had , for so many years , without intermission, beset him. His powers of digestion grew every day worse, till he was at length unable to retain any susten- ance. Notwithstanding this , however, his strength seemed to be but little broken, and his pulse remained for some time, strong and regular. Had he taken, indeed, but ordinary care of himself through life , the robust conformation of his frame , and particularly, as I have heard his physician remark , the peculiar width and capacious- ness of his chest , seemed to mark him out for a long course of healthy existence, In general Nature appears to have a prodigal de- light in inclosing her costliest essences in the most frail and perish- able vessels : but Sheridan was a signal exception to this remark ; for, with a spirit so " finely touched," he combined all the robust- ness of the most uninspired clay, Mrs. Sheridan was, at first, not aware of his danger; but Dr. Bain whose.skill was now, as it ever had been , disinterestedly at the service of his friend, ' thought it right to communicate to her the apprehensions that lie felt. From that moment , her attentions to the sufferer never ceased day or night ; and, though drooping her- self witli an illness that did not leave her long behind him, she watched over his every word and wish , with unremitting anxiety, to the last. Connected, no doubt, with the disorganisation of his stomach was an abscess , from which , though distressingly situated , he 1 A letter from Sheridan to this amiable man, (of which I know not the date,) written in reference to a caution which he had given Mrs. Sheridan , against sleep- ing in the same bed with a lady who was consumptive, expresses feelings creditable ;tlike to the writer and his physician : "MY DEAR SIR, July 31. " The caution you recommend proceeds from that attentive kindness which Hester always receives from you, and upon which I place the greatest reliance for her safety. I so entirely agree with your apprehensions on the subject, that I think it was very giddy in me not to have been struck with them when she first mentioned having slept with her friend. Nothing can abate my love for her: and the manner in which you apply the interest yon take in her happiness, and direct the influence you possesc in her mind, render you, beyond comparison, the person I feel most obliged to npon earth. I take this opportunity of saying tliis upon paper, because it is a subject on which I always find it difficult to speak. "Wilh respect to that part of your note in which yon express such friendly partiality, as to my parliamentary conduct, I need not' add that there is no man whose good opinion can be more flattering to me. ' I am ever, my dear Rain , " Your sincere and obliged " K.. R. SHERIIIAN OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 4G7 does not appear to have suffered much pain. In the spring of this year, however, he was obliged to confine himself, almost entirely, to his bed. Being expected to attend the St. Patrick's Dinner, on the 17th of March, he wrote a letter to the Duke of Kent, who was President , alleging severe indisposition as the cause of his absence. The contents of this letter were communicated to the company , and produced , as appears by the following note from the Duke of Kent, a strong sensation : n U* rf " Kensington Palace , March 27, 1816. " Mv DEAR SHERIDAS, " I have been so hurried ever since St. Patrick's day, as to be unable earlier to thank you for your kind letter, which I received while presid- ing at the festive board ; but I can assure you , I was not unmindful of it then, but announced the afflicting cause of your absence to tbe company, who expressed, in a manner that could not be misunderstood, their con- tinued affection for tbe writer of it. It now only remains for me to assure you, that I appreciate as I ought tbe sentiments of attachment it con- tains for me, and which will ever be most cordially returned by him, who is with tbe most friendly regard , my dear Sheridan, " Yours faithfully, " The Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan. " EDWARD." The following letter to him af this time from his elder sister will be read with interest : '* MY DEAR BROTHER , Dublin, May 9, 1816. " I am very , very sorry you are ill ; but I trust in God your naturally strong constitution will retrieve all , and that I shall soon have tbe satis- faction of hearing that you are in a fair way of recovery. I well know tbe nature of your complaint, that it is extremely painful, but if properly treated, and no doubt you have the best advice, not dangerous. I know a lady now past seventy-four, who many years since was attacked with a similar complaint, and is now as well as most persons of her time of life. "Where poulticing is necessary , I have known oatmeal used with the best effect. Forgive, dear brother , tbis officious zeal. Your son Thomas told me be felt obliged to me for not prescribing for him. I did not, because in his case I thought it would be ineffectual; in yours I have reason to bope the contrary. I am very glad to hear of tbe good effect change of climate has made in him : I took a great liking to him ; there was some- thing kind in bis manner .that won upon my affections. Of your son diaries I hear tbe most delightful accounts : that be has an excellent and cultivated understanding, and a heart as good. May be be a blessing to you, and a compensation for much you have endured! That I do not know bim, that I have nbt seen you, (so early and so long the object of my affection , ) for so many years, lias not been my fault ; but I have ever considered it as a drawback upon a situation not otherwise unfortunate; for , to use tbe words of Goldsmith, I have endeavoured to " draw upon 48 MEMOIRS content for the deficiencies of fortune;" and truly I liave had some em- ployment in that way , for . considerable have been our worldly disap- pointments. But those arc not the worst evils of life, and we have good children, which is its first blessing. I have often told you my son Tom bore a strong resemblance to you , when I loved you preferably to any thing the world contained. This, which was the case with him in child- hood and early youth, is still so in mature years. In character of mind , too, he is very like you, though education and situation have made a qreat difference. At that period of existence, when the temper, moials, and propensities are formed, Tom had a mother who watched over his health, his well-being, and every part of education in which a female could be useful. You had lost a mother who would have cherished yon . whose talents you inherited, who would have softened the asperity ol our father's temper, and probably have prevented his unaccountable par- tialities. You have always shown a noble independence of spirit, that the pecuniary difficulties you often bad to encounter could not induce you to forego. As a public man, you have been, like the motto of the Lefann family , " Sine, macula ; " and I am persuaded had you not too early been thrown upon the world, and alienated from your family, you would have been equally good as a private character. My son is eminently so. * " Do, dear brother, send me one line to tell me you are better, and believe me, most affectionately, " Yours, '' ALICIA LEFANU." While death was thus gaining fast on Sheridan , the miseries of his life were thickening round him also ; nor did the lasl corner, in which he now lay down to die , afford him any asylum from the clamours ofhis legal pursuers. Writs and executions came in rapid succession , and bailiffs at length gained possession of his house. It was about the beginning of May that Lord Holland , on being informed by Mr. Rogers ( who was one of the very few that watched the going out of this great light with interest) of the dreary situa- tion in which his old friend was lying, paid him a visit one evening, in company with Mr. Rogers, and by the cordiality, suavity, and cheerfulness ofhis conversation , shed a charm round thai chamber of sickness , which , perhaps , no other voice but his own could have imparted. Sheridan was , I believe , sincerely attached jo Lord Holland , in whom he saw transmitted the same fine qualities, both of mind and heart, which , notwithstanding occasional appearances to the con- trary, he had never ceased to love and admire in his great relative ; the same ardour for Right and impatience of Wrong the same mixture of wisdom and simplicity , so tempering each other, as to make the simplicity refined and the wisdom unaffected the same gentle magnanimity of spirit, intolerant only -of tyranny and injus- tice and, in addition to all this, a range and vivacity of conversa- OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 469 lion, entirely his own, which leaves no subject untouched or unadorned , bul is (to borrow a fancy of Dryden) , "as the Morn- ing of the Mind," bringing new objects and images successively into view, and scattering its own fresh light over all. Such a visit, therefore, could not fail to be soothing and gratifying to Sheridan ; and , on parting, both Lord Holland and Mr. Rogers comforted him w ilh the assurance , that some steps should be taken to ward off the immediate evils that he dreaded. An evening or two after (Wednesday, May 15.) I was with Mr. Ilogers , when, on returning home, he found the following afflict- ing note upon his table : " Savilk-Row. " I find things settled so that i5o/. will remove all difficulty. I am abso- lutely undone and broken-hearted. I shall negotiate for the Plays suc- ressfully in the course of a week, when all shall be returned. I have desired Fairbrother to get back the Guarantee for thirty. "They arc going to put the carpets out of window, and break into Mrs. S.'s room and lake me for God's sake let me see you. "R. B.S."- It was too late to do any thing when this note was received , being then between twelve and one at night ; but Mr. Rogers and I walked down to Saville-Row together, to assure ourselves that the threatened arrest had not yet been put in execution. A servant spoke to us out of the area , and said that all was safe for the night , bul that it was intended , in pursuance of this new proceeding, to paste bills over the front of the house next day. On the following morning I was early with Mr. Rogers , and willingly undertook to be the bearer of a draft for 150/. * to Saville- Row. I found Mr. Sheridan good-natured and cordial as ever; and , though he was then within a few weeks of his death , his voice had not lost its fulness or strength , nor was that lustre, for which his eyes were so remarkable , diminished. He showed , too , his usual sanguineness of disposition in speaking of the price that he expected for his Dramatic Works , and of the certainly he fell of being able to arrange all his affairs, if his complaint would but suffer him to leave his bed. In the following month, his powers began rapidly to fail him; his stomach was completely worn out , and could no longer bear any kind of sustenance. During the whole of this time, as far as 1 can learn, it does not appear that (with the exceptions 1 have 1 Lord Holland afterward* insisted upon paying the half of this sum. wlikh was noi the fiist of llie same amount that my liberal friend, Mr. Rogers, had .ath. meed for Sheridan. 470 MEMOIRS mentioned) any one of his Noble or Kojal friends ever called af. his door, or even sent to enquire after him ! About this period Doctor Bain received the following note from Mr. Vaughan : "Mr DEAR SIR, " An apology in a case of humanity is scarcely necessar\ , besides I have the honor of a slight acquaintance with you. A friend of mine, hearing of our friend Sheridan's forlorn situation, and that he has neither money or credit for a few comforts , has employed me to convey a small sum for his use , through such channel as I think right. I can devise none better than through you. If I had had the good fortune to have .seen you , I should have left for this purpose a draft for 5o/. Perhaps as much more might he had if it will he conducive to a good end-ofcour.se you must feel it is not for the purpose of satisfying troublesome people. I will say more to you if you will do me the honor of a call in your way to Saville- Street to-morrow. I am a mere agent. " I am , " My dear Sir, " Most truly yours , " u5- Grafton Street. " JOHN TAYLOR VAUGHAN. " If I should not see you before twelve, I will come through the passage In his interview with Doctor Bain , Mr. Vaughan stated , that the sum thus placed at his disposal was , in all , 200/. 2 -, and the propo- sition being submitted to Mrs. Sheridan , that lady, after consulting with some of her relatives, returned for answer that, as there was a sufficiency of means to provide all that was necessary for her husband's comfort , as weli as her own , she begged leave to decline the offer. Mr. Vaughan always said, that the donation , thus meant to be doled out, came from a Royal hand; but this is hardly credible. It would be .safer, perhaps , to let the suspicion rest upon that gentle- man's memory, of having indulged his own benevolent disposition in this disguise , than to suppose it possible thai so scanty and reluc- tant a benefaction was the sole mark of attention accorded by a " gracious Prince and Master* to the last death-bed wants of one of the most accomplished and faithful servants that Royalty ever yet raised or ruined by its smiles. When the philosopher Anaxago- ras lay dying for want of sustenance , his great pupil , Pericles , 1 Mr. Vanghan did not give Doctor Bain to understand that he was authorised lo go beyond the 200/. ; but, iu a conversation which I had with him a year or two after, in contemplation of this Memoir, he told me that a farther supply was iu tended. ' See Sheridan's Letter, vol. ii, page i29. OF R. B. SHE&IDAN. 471 sent him a sum of money. t; Take it back," said Ariaxagoras "if he wished lo keep the lamp alive , he ought to have administered the oil before!" In the mean lime , the clamours and incursions of creditors increased. A sheriff's officer at length arrested the dying man in his bed , and was about lo carry him off, in his blankets , lo a spung- ing-house, when Doctor Bain interfered and, by threatening the officer wilh the responsibilily he must incur, if, as was but too probable, his prisoner should expire on the way, averted this outrage. About the middle of June, the altenlion and sympathy of the Pub- lic were, for the first time, awakened lo the desolate situation of Sheridan , fay an article that appeared in Ihe Morning Post , \vritten , as I undersland , by a genlleman , who, though on no very cordial terms wilh him , forgot every other feeling in a generous pily for his fale , and in honesl indignation against those who now deserted him. " Oh delay not, 1 ' said Ihe writer, without naming the person to whom he alluded " delay not to draw aside the curtain \\ilhin which that proud spiril hides ils sufferings." He Ihen adds, with a striking anticipation of what afterwards happened : "Prefer ministering in the chamber of sickness to mustering at ' The splendid sorrows that adorn the hearse ; ' 1 say, Life and Succour against Westminster -Abbey and a Fu- neral ! " This article produced a slrong and general sensation , and was reprinted in the same paper Ihe following day. Its effect, too, was soon visible in the calls made at Sheridan's door, and in, the appear- ance of such names as the Duke of York, the Duke of Argyle, etc., among the visitors. Bui il was now loo lale ; the spirit , that these unavailing tributes might once have comforted , w as now fast losing the consciousness of every tiling earthly, but pain. After a succes- sion of shivering fits , he fell into a stale of exhauslion , in which he continued , wilh bul few more signs of suffering , lill his death. A day or two before that evenl , the Bishop of London read prayers by his bedside ; and on Sunday, the seventh of July, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, he died. On the following Saturday the Funeral look place; his remains having been previously removed from Savillc-Row lo the house of his friend , Mr. Peter Moore , in Great George-Street, Westminster . From thence , at one o'clock , the procession moved on fool to Ihe Abbey, where, in Ihe only spot in Poet's Corner that remained un- "<< upicd , the body was interred ; and Ihe following simple inscrip- tion marks ils resting-place : 47? MEMOIRS " RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN. BORN , 1751 , DIED, 7th JULY, 1816. THIS MARBLE IS THE TRIBUTE OF AN ATTACHED FRIEND , PETER MOORE." Seldom has there been seen such an array of rank as graced this funeral '. The Pall-bearers were the Duke of Bedford , the Earl of Lauderdale , Earl Mulgrave , the Lord Bishop of London , Lord Holland , and Lord Spencer. Among the mourners were His Royal Highness the Duke of York , His Royal Highness the Duke of Sus- sex , the Duke of Argyle , the Marquisses of Anglesea and Tavistock ; Hie Earls of Thanet, Jersey, Harrington, Besborough, Mexborough, llosslyn, and Yarmouth ; Lords George Cavendish and Robert Spen- cer ; Viscounts Sidmouth, Granville, and Duncannon ; Lords Ri- \ors, Erskine. and Lynedoch -, the Lord Mayor; Right Hon. G. Canning and W. W. Pole , etc., etc. '. Where were they all , these Royal and Noble persons , who now crowded to "partake the gale" of Sheridan's glory where were they all , while any life remained in him ? Where were they all, but a few weeks before , when their interposition might have saved his heart from breaking, or when the zeal , now wasted on the grave might have soothed and comforted the death-bed? This is a subject on which it is difficult to speak with patience. If the man was un- worthy of the commonest offices of humanity while he lived, why all this parade of regret and homage over his tomb? There appeared some verses at the lime , which , however in- temperate in their satire and careless in their style, came, evidently, warm from the heart of the writer , and contained sentiments to which . even in his cooler moments , he needs not hesitate to sub- scribe : " Oh it sickens the heart to see bosoms so hollow , And friendships so false in the great and highborn; To think what a long line of Titles may follow The relics of him who died, friendless and lorn! 1 Ft was well remarked by a French Journal, in contrasting the penury i>( Sheridan's latter years with the splendour of his Funeral, that "France is tin- place for a man of letters to live in , and England the plane for him to die in." * In the train of all this phalanx of Dukes, Marqnisses, Earls, Visconnts, Larons, Honourables, and Right Hononrables, Princes ot the Blood Royal, and First Officers of the State, it was not a little interesting to see, walking numbly, side by side, the only two men whose friendship had not waited for the call of \anily to display itself Dr Rain and Mr. Rogers. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 474 " How proud they can press to the funeral array Of him whom they shunn'd , in his sickness and sorrow How bailiffs may seize his last blanket to-day, Whose pall shall be held up by Nobles to morrow ! " The anonymous writer thus characterises the talents of Sheri- dan : " Was this, then , the fate of that high-gifted man, The pride of the palace, the bower, and the hall The orator, dramatist, minstrel, who ran Through each mode of the lyre , and was master of all ? ' Whose mind was an essence , compounded with art, From the finest and best of all other men's powers; Who rul'd , like a wizard , the world of the heart , And could call up its sunshine, or draw down its showers ; " Whose humour, as gay as the fire- fly's light, Play'd round every subject , and shone as it play'd; Whose wit, in the combat as gentle as bright, Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade ; " Whose eloquence, brightening whatever it tried, Whether reason or fancy , the gay or the grave , Was as rapid, as deep, and as brilliant a tide, As ever bore Freedom aloft on its wave ! " Though a perusal of the foregoing pages has, I trust , sufficiently Furnished the reader with materials out of which lo form his own estimate of the character of Sheridan , a few general remarks may, at parting , be allowed me rather with a view lo convey the im- pressions left upon myself, than with any presumptuous hope of in- fluencing the deductions of others. In considering the intellectual powers of this extraordinary man t the circumstance that first strikes us is the very scanty foundation of instruction , upon which he contrived to raise himself to such eminence both as a writer and a politician. It is true , in the line of authorship he pursued, erudition was not so much wanting; and his wit , like the laurel of Caesar, was leafy enough to hide any bare- ness in this respect. In politics , too , he had the advantage of en- tering upon his career, at a lime when habits of business and a knowledge of details were less looked for in public men than Ihcy are at present , and when the House of Commons was , for various reasons , a more open play-ground for eloquence and wit. The great increase of public business since then , has necessarily made a considerable change in this respect. Nol only has the lime of the Legislature become too precious to be wasted upon the men 1 gymnastics of rhetoric, but even Ihosc graces, wilh which true OraU>ry~surrounds Tier statements, are but impatiently borne, where Ihe statement ilself is the primary and pressing object oF 474 MEMOIRS the hearer '. Burke, we know, was, even for his own tune, too much addicted to what falconers would call raking , or flying wide of his game; but there was hardly, perhaps , one among his great contemporaries, who, if beginning his career at present, would nol find it , in some degree , necessary to conform his style to the taste for business and matter-of-fact that is prevalent. Mr. Pill would be compelled to curtail the march of his sentences Mr. Fox would learn to repeat himself less lavishly nor would Mr. Sheri- dan venture to enliven a question of evidence by a long and pathetic appeal to Filial Piety. In addition to this change in the character and taste of the House of Commons , which , while it has lowered the value of some of the qualifications possessed by Sheridan , has created a demand for others of a more useful , but less splendid kind , which his educa- tion and habits of life would have rendered less easily attainable by him , we must take also into account the prodigious difference pro- duced by the general movement, at present, of the whole civilised world towards knowledge ; a movement which no public man , however great his natural talents , could now lag behind with im- punity, and which requires nothing less than the versatile and cti- cydopcedic powers of a Brougham to keep pace with it. Another striking characteristic of Sheridan , as an orator and a writer, was the great degree of labour and preparation which his productions in both lines cost him. Of this the reader has seen some curious proofs in the preceding pages. Though the papers left be- hind by him have added nothing to the stock of his chefs-d'oeuvre , they have given us an insight into his manner of producing his great works, which is, perhaps, the next most interesting thing to the works themselves. Though no new star has been discovered , the history of the formation of those we already possess, and of the 1 The new light that has beeu thrown on Political Science may also, perhaps, be assigned as a reason for this evident revolution in Parliamentary taste. " Truth," .says Lord Bacon, "is a naked and open day-light, that doth not show the masques, and mummeries, and triumphs of the present world half so stately and daintily as candlelights;" and there can belittle doubt that the clearer any im- portant truths are.made, the less controversy they will excite among fair and rational men, and the less passion and fancy, accordingly, can eloquence infuse into the discussion of them. Mathematics have produced no quarrels among mankind it is by the mysterious and the vague, that temper as well as imagina- tion is most roused. In proof of this, while the acknowledged clearness, almost to truism , which the leading principles of Political Science have attained , has tended to simplify and tame down the activities of eloquence on that subject, there is still another arena left, in the science of the Law, where the same illumination of trnth has not yet penetrated, and where Oratory will still continue to work her perplexing spells, till Common Sense and the plain principles of Utility shall find their way there also to weaken them. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 475 gradual process by which they were brought l ' firm to retain their gathered beams ," has, as in the instance of The School for Scan- dal , been most interestingly unfolded to us. The same marks of labour are discoverable throughout the whole of his Parliamentary career. He never made a speech of any mo- ment, of which the sketch, more or less detailed, has not been found among his papers with the showier passages generally written two or three times over (often without any material change in their form ) upon small detached pieces of paper, or on cards. To such minutiae of effect did he attend , that I have found , in more than one instance , a memorandum made of the precise place in 'which the words "Good God, Mr. Speaker," were to be intro- duced. These preparatory sketches are continued down to his latest displays ; and it is observable that when , from the increased de- rangement of his affairs, he had no longer leisure or collecledness enough to prepare, he ceased to speak. The only time he could have found for this pre-arrangement of his thoughts ( of which few, from the apparent idleness of his life , suspected him ) must have been during the many hours of the day that he remained in bed, when, frequently, while the world gave him credit for being asleep, he was employed in laying the frame- work of his wit and eloquence for the evening. That this habit of premeditation was not altogether owing to a want of quickness appears from the power and liveliness of his replies in Parliament , and the vivacity of some of his retorts in conversation ' . The labour, indeed , which he found necessary tor his public dis- plays was , in a great degree , the combined effect of his ignorance and his taste 5 the one rendering him fearful of committing him- self on the matter of his task , and the other making him fastidious and hesitating as to the manner of it. I cannot help thinking , how- ever, that there must have been also a degree of natural slowness in the first movements of his mind upon any topic ; and that , like 1 His best bans mots are in the memory of every one. Among those less known, perhaps, is his answer to General T , relative to some difference of opinion between them on the War in Spain: "Well, T , are yon still on your high horse?" "If I was on a horse before, I am upon an elephant now." "No, T , you were upon an ass before, and now yon are npon a ;n/*." Some mention having been made in his presence of a Tax npon Mile-stones, Sheridan said , " snch a tax wonld be unconstitutional: as they were a race that could not meet to remonstrate." As an instance of hi.t humour, I have been told that, in &oine country-house ubere he was on a visit, an elderly maiden lady having set her heart on being his companion in a walk , he excnsed himself at first on account of the badness of the weather. Soon afterwards, however, the lady intercepted him in an attempt to escape without her :" Well ," she said, "it has cleared up, I see." Why, yes," he answered, " it has cleared up enough for one, but not for wo." \16 MEMO! US those animals which remain gazing upon their prey before they seize it , he found it necessary to look intently at his subject for some lime, before he was able to make the last , quick spring that mastered it. Among the proofs of this dependence of his fancy upon time and thought for its development, may be mentioned his familiar letters , as far as their fewness enables us 16 judge. Had his wit been a " fruit, that would fall without shaking," we should , in these com- munications at least , find some casual windfalls of it. But, from the want of sufficient lime to search and cull, he seems to have given up, in despair, all thoughts of being lively in his letters,- and, ac- cordingly, as the reader must have observed in the specimens thai have been given , his compositions in this way are not only unenli- vened by any excursions beyond (he bounds of mere mailer of fact, but . from the habit or necessity of taking a certain portion of time for correction , are singularly confused , disjointed, and inelegant in their style. It is certain thai even his bans mots in society were not always lo be set down to the credit of the occasion; but thai, frequently , like skilful priests , he prepared the miracle of the moment before- hand. Nothing, indeed, could be more remarkable than the patience and tact, with which he would wait through a whole evening for Ihe exact moment when the shaft, which he had ready feathered, might be let fly with effect. There was no effort, cither obvious or disguised, to lead to the subject no "question detached (as he himself expresses it) to draw you into the ambuscade of his ready- made joke " and , when the lucky moment did arrive , the natural and accidental manner, in which he would let this treasured sen- tence fall from his lips , considerably added to the astonishment and the charm. So bright a thing, produced so easily, seemed like the delivery of Wieland's' Amanda in a dream ; and his own apparent unconsciousness of the value of w hat he said mighl have deceived dull people into the idea that there was really nothing in it. The consequence of this practice of waiting for the moment of effect was (as all, who have been much in his society, must have observed , ) that he would remain inert in conversation , and even taciturn, for hours, and then suddenly come out with some bril- lant sally, which threw a light over the whole evening, and was car- ried away in the memories of all present. Nor must it be supposed lhat in Ihe intervals, either before or after these flashes, he ceased lo be agreeable ; on the contrary, he had a grace and good nature in his manner, which gave a charm lo even his most ordinary ' Sec Sotheby's ntlinirablc Translation of Obcron. OF R. n. SHERIDAN. 477 sayings, and thoro was, besides, that ever-speaking lustre in his eye , which made it impossible , even when he was silent , to forget who he was. ^^4 A curious instance of the care with, which he treasured up the felicities of his wit appears in the use he made of one of those epi- grammatic passages, which the reader may remember among the. memorandums for his Comedy of Affectation , and which, in its lirst form, ran thus: " He certainly has a great deal of fancy , and a very good memory ; but with a perverse ingenuity, he cm- ploys these qualities as no other person does for he employs his fancy in his narratives , and keeps his recollection for his wit : when he makes his jokes, you applaud the accuracy of his memory, and Mis only when he states his facts that you admire the flights of his imagination. 11 After many efforts to express this thought more concisely, and to reduce the language of it to that condensed and clastic state , in which alone it gives force to the projectiles of wit , he kept the passage by him palienlly some years, till he at length found an opportunity of turning it to account, in a reply, I believe, to Mr. Dundas , in the House of Commons , when , with the most extemporaneous air, he brought it forth , in the following compact and pointed form : " The Right Honourable Gentleman is in- debted to his memory for his jests , and to his imagination for his facts. 1 ' His Political Character stands out so fully in these pages, that it is needless , by any comments , to attempt to raise it into stronger relief. If to watch over the Rights of the Subject, and guard them against the encroachments of Power, be , even in safe and ordinary limes , a task full of usefulness and honour, how much more glo- rious to have stood ^entinel over the same sacred trust , through a period so trying as that with which Sheridan had to struggle when Liberty itself had become suspected and unpopular when Authority had succeeded in identifying patriotism with treason , and when the few remaining and deserted friends of Freedom were reduced to take their stand on a narrowing isthmus, between Anarchy on one side and the angry incursions of Power on the other. How manfully he maintained his ground in a position so critical , the annals of England and of the Champions of her Con- stitution will long testify. The truly national spirit, too, with which, N\IICM that struggle was past, and the dangers to liberty from with- out seemed greater than any from within , he forgot all past differ- ences in the one common cause of Englishmen , and , while others 4fc gave but the left hand to the Country, ' " proffered her both of 1 His own words. 47S MEMOIRS his, stamped a seal of sincerity on his public conduct which, in the eyes of all England, authenticated it as genuine patriotism. To his own party, it is true, his conduct presented a very dif- ferent phasis ; and if implicit partisanship were the sole merit of a public man , his movements , ajt this and other junclures, were far too independent and unharnessed to lay claim to it. But , however useful may be the bond of Party, there are occasions that supersede it; and, in all such deviations from the fidelity which it enjoins, the two questions to be asked are were they, as regarded the Public, right? were they, as regarded the individual himself , unpurchased? To the former question, in the instance of Sheridan, the whole coun- try responded in the affirmative-, and to the latter, his account with the Treasury, from first to last , is a sufficient answer. Even , however, on the score of fidelity to Parly, when we recol- lect that he more than once submitted to some of the worst mar- tyrdoms which it imposes that of sharing in the responsibility of opinions from which he dissented , and suffering by the ill-conse- quences of measures against which he had protested ; when we call to mind , too, that during the Administration of Mr. Addington, though agreeing wholly with the Ministry and differing with the Whigs , he even then refused to profit by a position so favorable to his interests, and submitted , like certain religionists , from a point of honour, to suffer for a faith in which he did not believe it seems impossible not to concede that even to the obligations of Party he was as faithful as could be expected from a spirit that so far outgrew its limits , and , in paying the tax of fidelity while he asserted (he freedom of dissent , showed that he could sacrifice every thing to it, except his opinion. Through all these occasional variations, too, he remained a genuine Whig to the last 5 and, as I have heard one of his own party happily express it, was " like pure gold , that changes colour in the fire , but comes out unal- tered. 1 ' The transaction in 1812, relative to the Household, was, as 1 have already said , the least defensible part of his public life. But it should be recollected how broken he was, both in mind and body, at that period; his resources from the Theatre at an end, the shelter of Parliament about to be taken from over his head also, and old age and sickness coming on, as every hope and comfort vanished. In that wreck of all around him , the friendship of Carlton-House was the last asylum left to his pride and his hope ; and that even character itself should , in a too zealous moment, have been one of the sacrifices offered up at the shrine that protected him , is a subject more of deep regret than of wonder. The poet OF R B. SHERIDAN. 470 Cowley, in speaking of the unproductiveness of those pursuits con- nected with Wit and Fancy, says beautifully " Where sucli fairies once have danc'd , no grass will ever grow j " but, unfortunately, thorns will grow there; and he who walks unsteadily among such horns as now beset the once enchanted path of Sheridan, ought not, after all, to be very severely criticised. His social qualities were, unluckily for himself, but loo attrac- tive. In addition to his powers of conversation , there was a well- bred good-nature in his manner, as well as a deference to the remarks and opinions of others , the want of which very often, in distinguished wits, offends the self-love of their hearers, and makes even the dues of admiration that they levy a sort of " Droit dii Seigneur " paid with unwillingness and distaste. No one was so ready and cheerful in promoting the amusements of a country-house ; and on a rural excursion he was always the soul of the party. His talent at dressing a little dish was often put in requisition on such occasions, and an Irish stew was that on which he particularly plumed himself. Some friends of his recall with delight a day of this kind which they passed with him , when he made the whole party act over the Battle of the Pyramids on Mars- den Moor, and ordered "Captain " Creevey and others upon various services, against the cows and donkeys entrenched in the ditches. Being of so playful a disposition himself, it was not wonderful that he should lake such pleasure in the society of children. I have been told , as doubly characteristic of him , that he has often , at Mr. Monckton's , kept a chaise and four wailing half the day for him at the door, while he romped with the children. In what are called Vers de Societe , or drawing-room verses, he took great delight ; and there remain among his papers several sketches of these trifles. I once heard him repeat, in a ball-room, some verses which he had lately written on Waltzing , and of which I remember the following : " With tranquil step, and timid, downcast glance. Behold the well-pair'd couple now advance. In .such sweet posture our first Parents mov'd, While, hand in hand, through Kden's bowers they rov'd !> yet the Devil, with promise foul and false, Turn'd their poor heads and taught them how to // ',//w. One hand grasps hers, the other holds her hip For so the Law's laid down by Barou Tiip '." He had a sort of hereditary fancy for difficult trifling in poetry ; 1 This gentleman, whose name suits so aptly as a legal authority on the subject of Waltzing, was, at the tinu: these verses were written, well known in I he dan- cing circles. 480 MEMOIRS particularly for thai sort, which consists in rhyming to the same word through a long siring of couplets, till every rhyme that the lan- guage supplies for it is exhausted 1 . The following are specimens from a poem of this kind , which he wrole on the loss of a lady's trunk : "MY TRUNK! " ( To Anne. ) " Have you heard , my dear Anne, how my spirits are sunk ? Have you heard of the cause? Oh , the loss of my Trunk! From exertion or firmness I've never yet slunk ; But my fortitude's goue with the loss of my Trunk! Stout Lucy, my maid, is a damsel of spunk ; Yet she weeps night and day for the loss of my Trunk! I'd better turu nun , and coquet with a monk ; For with whom can I flirt without aid from my Trunk? Accurs'd be the thief, the old rascally hunks , Who rifles the fair , and lays hands on their Trunks ! He, who robs the King's stores of the least bit of junk , Is hang'd while he 's safe , who has plunder'd my Trunk ! There's a phrase amongst lawyers , when nunc\ put for tune ; But , tune and nunc both , must I grieve for my Trunk! Huge leaves of that great commentator, old Bruuk, Perhaps was the paper that liu'd my poor Trunk! But my rhymes are all out ; for I dare not use st k ' ; 'Twou'd shock Sheridan more than the loss of my Trunk." From another of these trifles (which, no doubt, produced much gaiety at the breakfast-lable , ) the following extracts will be suf- ficient : "Muse, assist me to complain, \Vhile I grieve for Lady Jane. I ne'er was in so sad a vein, Deserted now by Lady Jane. Lord Petre's house was built by Payne No mortal architect made Jane. If hearts had windows , through the pane Of mine you'd see sweet Lady Jane. At breakfast I could scarce refrain From tears at missing lovely Jane ; Nine rolls I eat, in hopes to gar.u The roll that might have fall'nto Jane," etc. Another, written on a Mr. Bigg, contains some ludicrous couplets : " I own he's not fam'd for a reel or a jig , Tom Sheridau there surpasses Tom Bigg. ' Some verses by General Fitzpatrick on Lord Holland's father are the best specimen iliat I know of this sort of Scherzo. '' He had a particular horror of this word. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. iSl For , lam' J in ooe thigh , he is obliged to go zig - Zag , like a crab so no dancer is Bigg. Those who think him a coxcomb , or call him a prig , How little they know of the mind of my Bigg! Tlio' he ne'er can be mine , Hope will catch a twig- Two Deaths and I yet may become Mrs. Bigg. Oh give me, with him , but a cottage and pig , And content I would live on Beans , Bacon , and Bigg." A few more of these light productions remain among his papers , but their wit is gone with those for whom they were written 5 (he wings of Time " eripuere jocos." Of a very different description are the following striking and spirited fragments ( which ought to have been mentioned in a former part of this work, ) written by him, apparently, about the year 1794, and addressed to the Naval heroes of that period , to console them for the neglect they experienced from the Government , while ri- bands and titles were lavished on the Whig Seceders : " Never mind them , brave black Dick , Though they've played thee such a trick Damn their ribands and their garters, Get you to your post and quarters. Look upon the azure sea , There's a Sailor's Taffety ! Mark the Zodiac's radiant bow , That's a collar fit for HOWE ! And , than P tl d's brighter far , The Pole shall furnish you a Star ' ! Damn their ribands and their garters , Get you to your post and quarters. Think, on what things are ribands showered The two Sir Georges T and H d ! Look to what rubbish Stars will stick , To Dicky H n aud Johnny D k ! Would it be for your country's good, That you might pass for Alec. H d , Or, perhaps, and worse by half To be mistaken for SirR h ! Would you , like C = , pine with spleen , Because .your bit of silk was green ? Would yon , like C , change your side , To have your silk new dipt and dyed ? Like him, exclaim, ' My riband's hue Was green and now , by Heav'ns ! 'tis blue , And, like him stain your honour too! Damn their ribands and their garters , 1 This reminds me of a happy application which he made upon a subsequent occasion, of two lines of Dryden: " When men like F.rskine go astray, The .stars are more in fault than they." 31 iS 2 MEMOIRS Get you to your post ami quarter*. ()u the foes of Britain close, \Vhile B k garters his Dutch hose, And cons , with spectacles on nose , (While to battle j'au advance,) His ' Honi soil qui mal y pense.' " II has been seen, by a letter of his sister already given, that when young , he was generally accounted handsome ; but in later ycars , his eyes were the only testimonials of beauty that remained to him. It was , indeed , in the upper part of his face that the Spirit of the man chiefly reigned ; the dominion of the world and the Senses being rather strongly marked out in the lower. In his per- son, he was above the middle size , and his general make was , as I have already said , robust and well proportioned. It is remarkable that his arms, though of powerful strength, were thin, and ap- peared by no means muscular. His hands were small on rencontre des objets qni nous diverlissent , des eanx comantes, des fleurs qui j).iss.C!!t. On voadroit arivler; 'Marche, .Marche! 1 " Scrimi snr la Resurrection. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. 485 Numerous, however, as were the causes that concurred to disorganise his moral character, in his pecuniary embarrassment lay the source of those blemishes that discredited him most in the eyes of the world. He might have indulged his vanity and his passions , like others , with but liltle loss of reputation , if the consequence of these indulgences had not been obtruded upon observation in the forbidding form of debts and distresses. So much did his friend Richardson , who thoroughly knew him , consider his whole cha- racter to have been influenced by the straightened circumstances in which he was placed, that he used often to say, " If an enchanter could , by the touch of his wand , endow Sheridan suddenly with fortune, he would instantly transform him into a most honourable and moral man." As some corroboralion of this opinion, I must say (lint, in the course of the inquiries which my task of biographer imposed upon me , I have found all who were ever engaged in pe- cuniary dealings with him, not excepting those who suffered most severely by his irregularities ( among which class I may cite the respected name of Mr. Hammersley ) , unanimous in expressing their conviction that he always meant fairly and honourably $ and that to the inevitable pressure of circumstances alone , any failure (hat occurred in his engagements was to be imputed. There cannot , indeed , be a stronger exemplification of the truth, that a want of regularity ' becomes itself a vice , from the manifold evils to which it leads , than the whole history of Mr. Sheridan's pecuniary transactions. So far from never paying his debts , as is often asserted of him, he was in fact always paying^ but in such a careless and indiscriminate manner, and with so little justice to himself or others , as often to leave the respectable creditor to suffer for his patience , while the fraudulent dun was paid two or three limes over. Never examining accounts nor referring to receipts, he 1 His improvidence iu every thing connected with money was most remarkable. He would frequently he obliged to stop on his journies, for want of the means of getting on, and to remain living expensively at an inn, till a remittance could reach him. His letters to the treasurer of the theatre on these occasions were gene- rally headed with the words, " Money -bound." A friend of his told me, that out- morning, while waiting for him in his study, he cast his eyes over the heap of unopened letters that lay upon the table, and, seeing one or two with coronets on the seals, said to Mr. Westley, the treasurer, who was present, " I see we are all treated alike." Mr. Westley then informed him that he had once fonnd , on looking over this table, a letter which he had himself sent, a few weeks before, to Mr. Sheridan, enclosing a ten-pound note, to release him from some inn, but '. hirh Sheridan , having raised the supplies in some other way, had never thought it opening. The prudent treasurer took away the letter, and reserved the enclo- sure for some future exigence. Among instances of his inattention to letters, the following is mentioned. Going one day to the banking-house , where he was accustomed to receive his salary, s> is<; MEMOIRS seemed as if, (in imitation of his own Charles, preferring genero- sity to justice,) he wished to make paying as like as possible to giving. Interest, too, with its usual, silent accumulation, swelled every debt ; and I have found several instances among his accounts where the interest upon a small sum had been suffered to increase till it outgrew the principal ; minima pars ipsa puella sui." Notwithstanding all this , however, his debts were by no means so considerable as has been supposed. In the year 1808 , he em- powered Sir R. Berkely, Mr. Peter Moore, and Mr. Frederick Ho- rnan , by power of attorney, to examine into his pecuniary affairs , and take measures for the discharge of all claims upon him. These gentlemen, on examination, found that his bond fide debts were about ten thousand pounds , while his apparent debts amounted to five or six times as much. Whether from conscientiousness or from pride , however , he would not suffer any of the claims to be con- tested , but said that the demands were all fair , and must be paid just as they were stated ; though it was well known that many of them had been satisfied more than once. These gentlemen , accord- ingly, declined to proceed any farther with their commission. On the same false feeling he acted in 1813-14, when the balance due on the sale of his theatrical property was paid him , in a certain number of Shares. When applied to by any creditor, he would give him one of these Shares, and allowing his claim entirely on his own showing, leave him to pay himself out of it, and refund the balance. Thus irregular at all times , even when most wishing to be right , he deprived honesty itself of its merits and advantages ; and , where he happened to be just , left it doubtful (as Locke says of those religious people , who believe right by chance , without examina- tion ) " whether even the luckiness of the accident excused the ir- regularity of the proceeding '." The consequence , however , of this continual paying was that the number of his creditors gradually diminished , and that ulti- mately the amount of his debts was , taking all circumstances into Receiver of Cornwall, and where they sometimes accommodated him with small Mims before the regular time of payment , he asked , with all due hamility, whether titey could oblige him with the loan of twenty pounds. "Certainly, Sir," said the clerk, "would yon like any more fifty, or a hundred?" Sheridan, all smiles and gratitude, answered that a hundred pounds would be of the greatest conve- nience to him. ''Perhaps, you would like to take two hundred, or three?" said the clerk. At every increase of the sum , the surprise of the borrower increased. "Have not yod then received our letter?" said ihe clerk; on which it turned out that, in consequence of the falling in of some fine, a sum of twelve hundred pounds, had been lately placed to the credit of the Receiver-General , and that, ironi not having opened the letter written to apprise him, he had been left in ignorance of his good luck. 1 Chapter on Reason. OF R. B. SHERIDAN. ',S7 account , by no means considerable. Two years after his death it appeared by a list made up by his Solicitor from claims sent in to him, in consequence of an advertisement in the newspapers, that the bond fide debts amounted to about five thousand five hundred pounds. If, therefore, \\e consider his pecuniary irregularities in reference to the injury that they inflicted upon others , the quantum of evil for which he is responsible becomes , after all , not so great. There are many persons in the enjoyment of fair characters in the world , who would be happy to have no deeper encroachment upon the pro- perty of others to answer for , and who may well wonder by what unlucky management Sheridan could contrive to found so extensive a reputation for bad pay upon so small an amount of debt. Let it never, too, be forgotten, in estimating this part of his cha- racter, that had he been less consistent and disinterested in his public conduct , he might have commanded the means of being independent and respectable in private. He might have died a rich apostate, instead of closing a life of patriotism in beggary. He might ( to use a fine expression of his own ) have " hid his head in a coronet," instead of earning for it but the barren wreath of public gratitude. While , therefore , we admire the great sacrifice that he- made , let us be tolerant to the errors and imprudences which it entailed upon him ; and , recollecting how vain it is to look for any thing unalloyed in this world, rest satisfied with the Martyr, without requiring, also, the Saint. THE END. .-*''* University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. OCT 1 7 1994 v *^4& m 5V