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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6741.txt b/6741.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f3b97f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/6741.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12311 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard +Brinsley Sheridan V1, by Thomas Moore + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan V1 + +Author: Thomas Moore + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6741] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 20, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF SHERIDAN V1 *** + + + + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +MEMOIRS + +OF THE + +LIFE OF THE RT. HON. + +RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN + +BY THOMAS MOORE + +IN TWO VOLUMES + + +VOL. I. + + +TO + +GEORGE BRYAN, ESQ., + +THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED, + +BY + +HIS SINCERE AND AFFECTIONATE FRIEND, + +THOMAS MOORE. + + + + +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 +honor 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 him, 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 communicated to +me by his younger sister, Mrs. Lefanu, to whom, and to her highly gifted +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. Burgess, and others, are acknowledged, +with due gratitude, in my remarks on their respective communications. + + + + +CONTENTS TO VOL. I. + + +CHAPTER I. + +Birth and Education of Mr. Sheridan.--His First Attempts in Literature. + +CHAPTER II. + +Duels with Mr. Mathews.--Marriage with Miss Linley + +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." + +CHAPTER IV. + +The Duenna.--Purchase of Drury-Lane Theatre.--The Trip to Scarborough.-- +Poetical Correspondence with Mrs. Sheridan + +CHAPTER V. + +The School for Scandal + +CHAPTER VI. + +Further Purchase of Theatrical Property.--Monody to the Memory of +Garrick.--Essay on Metre.--The Critic.--Essay on Absentees.--Political +Connections.--"The Englishman."--Elected for Stafford + +CHAPTER VII. + +Unfinished Plays and Poems + +CHAPTER VIII. + +His First Speeches in Parliament.--Rockingham Administration.-- +Coalition.--India Bill.--Re-election for Stafford + +CHAPTER IX. + +The Prince of Wales.--Financial Measures.--Mr. Pitt's East India Bill.-- +Irish Commercial Propositions.--Plan of the Duke of Richmond.--Sinking +Fund. + +CHAPTER X. + +Charges against Mr. Hastings.--Commercial Treaty with France.--Debts of +the Prince of Wales. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +BIRTH AND EDUCATION OF MR. SHERIDAN.--HIS FIRST ATTEMPTS IN LITERATURE. + + +Richard Brinsley [Footnote: He was christened also by the name of +Butler, after the Earl of Lanesborough.] Sheridan was born in the month +of September, 1751, at No. 12, Dorset Street, Dublin, and baptized 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 friendship and +correspondence with which the former was honored by Swift, and the +competition and even rivalry which the latter so long maintained with +Garrick. His mother, too, was a woman of considerable talents, and +affords one of the few instances that have occurred, 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 Biddulph, 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 the titles of fame, to +have passed, with her other papers, into the possession of her son, and, +after a transforming sleep, like that of the chrysalis, in his hands, to +have taken wing at length in the brilliant form of The Rivals. The +literary labors of her husband were less fanciful, but not, perhaps, +less useful, and are chiefly upon subjects connected with education, to +the study and profession of which he devoted the latter part of his +life. Such dignity, indeed, did his favorite pursuit assume in his own +eyes, that 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 at the head of respectable academies, than one of them prime +minister of England, and the other at the head of affairs in Ireland." + +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 Grafton 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 with gratitude and pleasure, is +a tribute at once to the zeal and gentleness of our master, which none +ever deserved more truly from his pupils than Mr. Whyte, and which the +writer of these pages, who owes to that excellent person all the +instructions in English literature he has ever received, is happy to +take this opportunity 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 sort of +hopeless stupidity which some children exhibit, to know, that the dawn +of Sheridan's intellect was as dull and unpromising as its meridian day +was bright; and that in the year 1759, he who, in less than thirty years +afterwards, held senates enchained by his eloquence and audiences +fascinated by his wit, was, by common consent both of parent and +preceptor, pronounced to be "a most impenetrable dunce." + +From Mr. Whyte's school the 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 at home as a fitter subject for +the instructions of his father, who, by another of those calculations of +poor human foresight, which the deity, called Eventus by the Romans, +takes such wanton pleasure in falsifying, considered his elder son as +destined to be the brighter of the two brother stars. At Harrow, Richard +was remarkable only as a very idle, careless, but, at the same time, +engaging boy, who contrived to win the affection, and even admiration of +the whole school, both masters and pupils, by the mere charm of his +frank and genial manners, and by the occasional gleams of superior +intellect, which broke through all the indolence and indifference of his +character. + +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 without leaving any +trace behind, except in the admiring recollection of their +contemporaries. His taste is said to have been of a purity almost +perfect, combining what are seldom seen together, that critical judgment +which is alive to the errors of genius, with the warm sensibility that +deeply feels its beauties. At the same period, the distinguished +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 endeavored, 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- +humored but immovable 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 sentire de re +publica_" 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 kindness to +favor me, and to which his name gives an authenticity and interest too +valuable on such a subject to be withheld: + +"Hatton, August 3, 1818. + +"DEAR SIR, + +"With the aid of a scribe I sit down to fulfil my promise about Mr. +Sheridan. There was 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 +himself by Latin or English composition, in prose or verse. [Footnote: +It will be seen, however, though Dr. Parr was not aware of the +circumstance, that Sheridan did try his talent at English verse before +he left Harrow.] Nathaniel Halhed, one of his school-fellows, wrote well +in Latin and Greek. Richard Archdall, another school-fellow, excelled in +English verse. Richard Sheridan aspired to no rivalry with either of +them. He was at the uppermost part of the fifth form, but he never +reached the sixth, and, if I mistake not, he had no opportunity of +attending the most difficult and the most honorable 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 Sumner, it once fell in my way to instruct the two +upper forms, and upon calling up Dick Sheridan, I found him not only +slovenly in construing, but unusually defective in his Greek grammar. +Knowing him to be a clever fellow, I did not fail to probe and to tease +him. I stated his case with great good-humor 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; and, 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 punishment 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 neighborhood 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-humor 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; +but my exhortations were fruitless. 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 too 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 favorite subject between him and Tom Sheridan. I was +present at many of their discussions 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 afforded 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 regular 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 I 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 wrote 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 inquired about Richard, and, from the father'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 be done by him than he was disposed 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 speaking,-- +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 naught for these things. + +"In the later periods of his life Richard did not cast behind him +classical 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. +[Footnote: It was not one of the least of the triumphs of Sheridan's +talent to have been 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 little he had learned.] Richard +did not, and could not forget what he once knew, but his path to +knowledge 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 vicious. +The sources of his infirmities were a scanty and precarious allowance +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. I +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...." +[Footnote: The remainder of the letter relates to other subjects.] + +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 pretensions, +but less real intellect than themselves, meekly conceal this superiority +even from their own hearts, and pass their lives without remonstrance or +murmur, in gently endeavoring to repair those evils which the +indiscretion or vanity of their partners has brought upon them. + +As a supplement to the interesting communication of Dr. 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 latter 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. + +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 attachment 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 genius, 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 afterwards in his writings, cheered and +delighted the family circle. I admired--I almost adored him. I would +most willingly have sacrificed 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 the 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 absence nor neglect could chill--I always 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 tuition from Mr. Lewis Kerr, 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, +however inattentive to his studies he may have been at Harrow, it +appears, from one of the letters of his school-fellow, Mr. Halhed, that +in poetry, which is usually the first exercise in which these young +athletae of intellect try their strength, he had already distinguished +himself; and, in conjunction with his friend Halhed, had translated the +seventh Idyl, and many of the lesser poems of Theocritus. This literary +partnership was resumed soon after their departure from Harrow. In the +year 1770, when Halhed was at Oxford, and Sheridan residing with his +father at Bath, they entered into a correspondence, (of which, +unluckily, only Halhed's share remains,) 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 alliance between these boys peculiarly +interesting. Their united ages, as Halhed boasts in one of his letters, +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 authorized to lay these letters before the world, I must only avail +myself of the aid which their contents supply towards tracing the +progress of his literary partnership with Sheridan, 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 burletta 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 rehearsal, into which the whole is thrown, +and which, as an anticipation of "The Critic" is highly curious, was +suggested and managed entirely by Sheridan. The following extracts will +give some idea of the humor of this trifle; and in the character of +Simile the reader will at once discover a sort of dim and shadowy pre- +existence 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 to +it afterwards! + +"_Sim._ Just so. + +"_Monop._ What Mr. Simile says is very true, gentlemen; and there +is nothing surprising in it, if we consider now the general method of +writing _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 +frequently 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 Signor Squallini. Now, his +method, when seized with the _furor harmonicus_, 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, 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 land and calm the seas, + And calm the heaven's dome serene, + Hush'd was the gale and hush'd the breeze, + And not a vapor to be seen.' + +I sang it to his notes,--'Hah! upon my vord vary pritt,--_thrum, +thrum, thrum,_--stay, stay,--_thrum, thrum,_--Hoa? upon my vord, +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 +presence 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 overhear 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, +&c._ + +"_Ix._ + + 'Fore George, at logger-heads,--a lucky minute, + 'Pon honor, I may make my market in it. + Dem it, my air, address, and mien must touch her, + Now 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 est!_--how rude the bear is! + The world to two-pence he was ne'er at _Paris_. + Perdition stop my vitals,--now or never + I'll niggle snugly into Juno's favor. + Let's see,--(_looking in a glass_) my face,--toll loll-- + 'twill work upon her. + My person--oh, immense, upon my honor. + 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 Salmoneus'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." + + * * * * * + +"_Sim._ Now for a Phoenix of a song. + +"_Song by_ JUPITER. + + "You dogs, I'm Jupiter Imperial, + King, Emperor, and Pope aetherial, + Master of th' Ordnance of the sky.-- + +"_Sim._ Z----ds, where's the ordnance? Have you forgot the pistol? +(_to the Orchestra_.) + +"_Orchestra._ (_to some one behind the scenes_.) Tom, are not +you prepared? + +"_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._ Oh then, Jupiter, begin the song again.--We must not lose +our ordnance. + + "You dogs, I'm Jupiter Imperial, + King, Emperor, and Pope aetherial, + Master of th' Ordnance of the sky; &c. &c. + [_Here a pistol or cracker is fired from behind the scenes_.] + +"_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 +presently. Well, now for the real, original, patentee Amphitryon. What, +ho, Amphitryon! Amphitryon!--'tis Simile calls.--Why, where the devil is +he? + +"_Enter_ SERVANT. + +"_Monop._ Tom, where is Amphitryon? + +"_Sim._ Zounds, he's not arrested too, is he? + +"_Serv._ No, Sir, but there was but _one black eye_ in the +house, and he is waiting to get it from Jupiter. + +"_Sim._ To get a 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 birth 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," 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, remarkable 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 success, 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 naturally +and livelily expressed throughout Halhed's letters, sometimes with a +degree of humorous pathos, which is interesting as characteristic of +both the writers:--"the thoughts," he says, "of 200_l_. 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-humored impatience, the tardiness of his fellow- +laborer 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 favorable hearing, as Dibdin was +one of the principal butts of their ridicule. + +The summer season, however, was suffered to pass away without an effort; +and in October, 1771, we find 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; and +indeed it is probable, from the following fragment of a scene found +among his papers, that he soon abandoned the groundwork 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 was 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 Kerr, who undertook, with much good nature, +the negotiation of the young author's literary concerns in London. The +letter is dated 30th of October, 1770: "As to your intended periodical +paper, if it meets with 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 the authors. But I am to indemnify him +in case it should not sell, and 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 the +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 Tatler, 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 weekly, you may reckon on receiving L5 clear. One +paper a week will do better than two. Pray say no more as to our +accounts." + +The title 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 +labors, this meditated Miscellany never proceeded beyond the first +number, which was written by Sheridan, and which I have found among his +papers. It is too 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 +tiresome to think of it.' I immediately flung the pamphlet down on the +table, and taking 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 I felt +myself full of something, and enjoyed my own thoughts so much, that I +was afraid of digesting them, lest any should escape me. At last I +knocked at my own door.--'So!' said I to the maid who opened it, (for I +never would keep a man; not, but what I could afford it--however, the +reason is not material now,) 'So!' said I with an unusual smile upon my +face, and immediately sent her for a quire of paper and half a hundred +of pens--the only thing I had absolutely determined on in my way from +the coffee-house. I had now got seated in my arm chair,--I am an infirm +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. 20th, 1769, left the Grecian +after having read ----'s Poems, with a determined resolution to write a +Periodical Paper, in order to 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, I now +recollected it perfectly,--ay, so my fire _was_ 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 memento 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 eye on 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! (he 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 ----'_s Divine Legation of Moses_, and ----'_s +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, when Rudliche calmly replied, with the true phlegm of ignorance, +'My dear friend, I think your resolution in regard to your books a very +prudent one; but I do not perfectly conceive your plan as to the +_profit_; for, though your volumes may be very curious, yet you +know they are most of them secondhand.'--I 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 explained to him the whole matter. + + * * * * * + +"In examining the beginning of the Spectators, &c., I find they are all +written by a society.--Now I profess to write all myself, though I +acknowledge that, on account of a weakness in my eyes, I have got some +understrappers who are to write the poetry, &c.... 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 think 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 ditch-water...." + +"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 ardor of conception, that it is only +wonderful there should exist so many finished monuments of genius, or +that men of fancy should not oftener 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 time were a Collection 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 +little 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 other young authors, who, in the season of folly and the +passions, 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 these youthful authors, the +translation of Aristaenetus, as I have already stated, was the only +fruit of their literary alliance that ever arrived at sufficient +maturity for publication. In November, 1770, Halhed had completed and +forwarded to Bath his share of the work, and in the following month we +find Sheridan preparing, with the assistance of a Greek grammar, to +complete the task. "The 29th ult., (says Mr. Ker, in a letter to him +from London, dated Dec. 4, 1770,) I was favored with yours, and have +since been hunting for Aristaenetus, whom I found this day, and +therefore send to you, together with a Greek grammar. I might have +dispatched at the same time some numbers of the Dictionary, but not +having got the last two numbers, was not willing to send any without the +whole of what is published, and still less willing to delay +Aristaenetus's journey by waiting 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 would be for the demands of a market, who went +into it with nothing but a few ancient coins in his pocket. + +The passion, however, that now began to take possession of his heart was +little favorable 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 Aristaenetus, 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 with Miss Linley at +Oxford. But the profits expected from their literary undertakings were +the only means to which he looked for the realizing 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 Aristaenetus +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 the wise few of their acquaintance" +would talk of the book, before they risked anything more than their +initials. In answer to Sheridan's inquiries 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 +humiliating 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 Aristaenetus were under the influence of this sort of +inspiration appears from every paragraph of Halhed's letters, and might +easily, indeed, be concluded of Sheridan, from the very limited +circumstances of his father, who had nothing besides the pension of L200 +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 prospects of Halhed were much more +golden, but he was far too gay and mercurial to be prudent; 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 +Aristaenetus, presented themselves, was an exhibition of L20 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 Aristaenetus is in the hands of Mr. +Wilkie, in St. Paul's Churchyard, and to put you out of suspense at +once, will certainly make his appearance about the first of June next, +in the form of a neat volume, price 3s or 3s 6d, as may best suit his +size, &c., which cannot be more nearly determined at present, I have +undertaken the task of correcting 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 was 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 naturedly undertook to negotiate. + +At length in August, 1771, Aristaenetus made its appearance--contrary +to the advice of the bookseller, and of Mr. Ker, who represented to +Sheridan the unpropitiousness of the season, particularly for a first +experiment in authorship, and advised the postponement of the +publication till October. But the translators were too eager for the +rich harvest of emolument they had promised themselves, and too full of +that pleasing but often fatal delusion--that calenture, under the +influence of which young voyagers to the 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 fortnight after the publication,) to make some noise, +and is fathered on Mr. Johnson, author of the English Dictionary, &c. +See to-day's Gazetteer. The critics are admirable in discovering a +concealed author by his style, manner, &c." + +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. [Footnote: In one of the +Reviews I have seen it thus spoken of:--"No such writer as Aristaenetus +ever existed in the classic era; 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 such trash as +this, on which the translator 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."] The Weekly Review in the Public +Ledger had also spoken well of it, and cited a specimen. 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 +coffeehouses 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. Aristaenetus 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 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 into +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 fanciful mosaic, collected +out of the love-letters of the sophist Philostratus. But many of the +narrations in Aristaenetus are incapable of being elevated into poetry; +and, unluckily, these familiar parts seem chiefly to have fallen to the +department of Halhed, who 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 following 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 in new meanders glides, + The forest brightens with refreshing tides. + Tow'rds us they taught the new-born stream to flow, + Tow'rds us it crept, irresolute and slow; + Scarce had the infant current crickled by, + When lo! a wondrous fleet attracts our eye; + Laden with draughts might greet a monarch's tongue, + The mimic navigation swam along. + Hasten, ye ship-like goblets, down the vale, +[Footnote: "In the original, this luxurious image is pursued so far +that the very leaf which is represented as the sail of the vessel, is +particularized as of a medicinal nature, capable of preventing any +ill effects the wine might produce."--_Note by the Translator.] + Your freight a flagon, and a leaf your sail; + O may no envious rush thy course impede, + Or floating apple stop thy tide-born speed. + His mildest breath a gentle zephyr gave; + The little vessels trimly stem'd the wave: + Their precious merchandise to land they bore, + And one by one resigned the balmy store. + Stretch but a hand, we boarded them, and quaft + With native luxury the tempered draught. + For where they loaded the nectareous 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." + +As a scholar, such as Halhed, could hardly have been led into the +mistake, of supposing [Greek: pa Medika phuxa phullon] to mean "a leaf +of a medicinal nature," we may, perhaps, from this circumstance not less +than from the superior workmanship of the verses, attribute the whole of +this Epistle and notes to Sheridan. + +There is another Epistle, the 12th, as evidently from the pen of his +friend, the greater part of which is original, and shows, by its +raciness and vigor, what difference there is between "the first +sprightly runnings" of an author's own mind, and his cold, vapid +transfusion of the thoughts of another. From stanza 10th to the end is +all added by the translator, and all spirited--though full of a bold +defying libertinism, as unlike as possible to the effeminate lubricity +of the poor sophist, upon whom, in a grave, treacherous note, the +responsibility of the whole is laid. But by far the most interesting +part of the volume is the last Epistle of the book, "From a Lover +resigning his Mistress to his Friend,"--in which Halhed has contrived to +extract from the unmeaningness of the original a direct allusion to his +own fate; and, forgetting Aristaenetus and his dull personages, thinks +only of himself, and Sheridan, and Miss Linley. + + "Thee, then, my friend,--if yet a wretch may claim + A last attention by that once dear name,-- + Thee I address:--the cause you must approve; + I yield you--what I cannot cease to love. + Be thine the blissful lot, the nymph be thine: + I yield my love,--sure, friendship may be mine. + Yet must no thought of me torment thy breast; + Forget me, if my griefs disturb thy rest, + Whilst still I'll pray that thou may'st never know + The pangs of baffled love, or feel my woe. + But sure to thee, dear, charming--fatal maid! + (For me thou'st charmed, and me thou hast betray'd,) + This last request I need not recommend-- + Forget the lover thou, as he the friend. + Bootless such charge! for ne'er did pity move + A heart that mock'd the suit of humble love. + Yet, in some thoughtful hour--if such can be, + Where love, Timocrates, is join'd with thee-- + In some lone pause of joy, when pleasures pall, + And fancy broods o'er joys it can't recall, + Haply a thought of me, (for thou, my friend, + May'st then have taught that stubborn heart to bend,) + A thought of him whose passion was not weak, + May dash one transient blush upon her cheek; + Haply a tear--(for I shall surely then + Be past all power to raise her scorn again--) + Haply, I say, one self-dried tear may fall:-- + One tear she'll give, for whom I yielded all! + + * * * * * + * * * * * + + My life has lost its aim!--that fatal fair + Was all its object, all its hope or care: + She was the goal, to which my course was bent, + Where every wish, where every thought was sent; + A secret influence darted from her eyes,-- + Each look, attraction, and herself the prize. + Concentred there, I liv'd for her alone; + To make her glad and to be blest was one. + + * * * * * + * * * * * + + Adieu, my friend,--nor blame this _sad_ adieu, + Though sorrow guides my pen, it blames not you. + Forget me--'tis my pray'r; nor seek to know + The fate of him whose portion must be woe, + Till the cold earth outstretch her friendly arms, + And Death convince me that he _can_ have charms." + +But Halhed's was not the only heart that sighed deeply and hopelessly +for the young Maid of Bath, who appears, indeed, to have spread her +gentle conquests to an extent almost unparalleled in the annals of +beauty. Her personal charms, the exquisiteness of her musical talents, +and the full light of publicity which her profession threw upon both, +naturally attracted round her a crowd of admirers, in whom the sympathy +of a common pursuit soon kindled into rivalry, till she became at length +an object of vanity as well as of love. Her extreme youth, too,--for she +was little more than sixteen when Sheridan first met her,--must have +removed, even from minds the most fastidious and delicate, that +repugnance they might justly have felt to her profession, if she had +lived much longer under its tarnishing influence, or lost, by frequent +exhibitions before the public, that fine gloss of feminine modesty, for +whose absence 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 Wiltshire, 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 breaking off the alliance, and even +indemnified the father, who was proceeding to bring the transaction into +court, by settling L3000 upon his daughter. Mr. Sheridan, who owed to +this liberal conduct not only the possession of the woman he loved, but +the means of supporting her during the first years of their marriage, +spoke invariably of Mr. Long, who lived to a very advanced age, with all +the kindness and respect which such a disinterested character merited. + +It was about the middle of the year 1770 that the Sheridans took up +their residence in King's Mead [Footnote: They also lived, during a part +of their stay at Bath, in New King Street.] Street, Bath, where an +acquaintance commenced between them and Mr. Linley's family, which the +kindred tastes of the young people soon ripened into intimacy. It was +not to 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 [Footnote: +Dr. Burney, in his Biographical Sketch of Mr. Linley, written for Rees' +Cyclopaedia, calls the Linley family "a nest 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 reputation of the name that he bears.]--should come together without +Love very soon making one of the party. Accordingly the two brothers +became deeply enamored of Miss Linley. Her heart, however, was not so +wholly un-preoccupied 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, written +at that time by Mr. Sheridan, allude: + +TO THE RECORDING ANGEL. + + Cherub of Heaven, that from my secret stand + Dost note the follies of each mortal here, + Oh, if Eliza's steps employ thy hand, + Blot 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, when her sad attachment is her theme, + Note down the transports of her erring tongue. + But, when she sighs for sorrows not her own, + 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 everything else, the power of a mind like Sheridan's +must have made itself felt through all obstacles and difficulties. He +was not long in winning the entire affections of the young "Syren," +though the number and wealth of his rivals, the ambitious 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-observation 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 state 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 brother +Charles was for some time wholly unaware of their 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 extinguished every hope in his +heart, but that of seeing her happy. Halhed, too, who at that period +corresponded constantly with Sheridan, and confided to him the love with +which he also had been inspired by this enchantress, was for a length of +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 inquiries and messages with which +Halhed'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 oratorios 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 splendor of these "angel +visits." The letters of Halhed give a lively idea, not only of his own +intoxication, but of the sort of contagious delirium, like that at +Abdera described by Lucian, with which the young men of Oxford were +affected by this beautiful girl. In describing 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 extract, word for word, the +same extravagant comparison of the effects of music to the process of +Egyptian embalmment--"extracting the brain through the ears"--which was +afterwards transplanted into the dialogue of the Duenna: "_Mortuum +quondam ante aegypti medici quam pollincirent cerebella de auribus unco +quodam hamo solebant extrahere; sic de meis auribus non cerebrum, sed +cor ipsum exhausit lusciniola, &c., &c._" 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. Watts, a gentleman +commoner, of very large fortune. + +While all hearts and tongues were thus occupied about Miss Linley, it is +not wonderful that rumors of matrimony and elopement should, from time +to time, circulate among her apprehensive admirers; 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 one moment currently reported at +Oxford that she had gone off to Scotland with a young man of L3,000 a +year, and the panic which the intelligence spread is described in one of +these letters to Sheridan, (who, no doubt, shared in it) as producing +"long faces" everywhere. Not only, indeed, among her numerous lovers, +but among all who delighted in her public performances, an alarm would +naturally be felt at the prospect of her becoming private property: + + "_Te juga Taygeti, posito te Maenala flebunt + Venatu, maestoque diu lugebere Cyntho. + Delphica quinetiam fratris delubra tacebunt._" + +[Footnote: Claudian. De Rapt. Proserp. Lib. ii. v. 244.] + + Thee, thee, when hurried from our eyes away, + Laconia's hills shall mourn for many a day-- + The Arcadian hunter shall forget his chase, + And turn aside to think upon that face; + While many an hour Apollo's songless shrine + Shall wait in silence for a voice like thine! + +But to the honor of her sex, which is, in general, more disinterested +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 favorite 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, [Footnote: "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_.] whose gifts were of a higher and more radiant kind +than the mere wealthy and lordly of this world can proffer. A letter, +written by Halhed on the prospect of his departure for India, [Footnote: +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 +the latter end of this year.] alludes so delicately to this discovery, +and describes the state of his own heart so mournfully, that I must +again, in parting with him and his correspondence, express the strong +regret that I feel at not being able to indulge the reader with a +perusal of these letters. Not 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 the +deepest interest. + +To this period of Mr. Sheridan's life we are indebted for most of those +elegant love-verses, which are so well known and so often quoted. The +lines "Uncouth is this moss-covered grotto of stone," 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, immortalized 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:-- + + And thou, stony grot, in thy arch may'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 influxerit humor + Dicite non roris sed pluvia haec lacrimae._ + +Whether Sheridan was likely to have been a reader of Angerianus is, I +think, doubtful--at all events the coincidence is curious. + +"Dry be that tear, my gentlest love," is supposed to have been written +at a later period; but it was most probably produced at the time of his +courtship, for he wrote but few love verses after his marriage--like the +nightingale (as a French editor of Bonefonius says, in remarking a +similar circumstance of that poet) "qui developpe le charme de sa voix +tant qu'il vent 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 + More fix'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, + That he who only breathed for you, + Must yield that faithful breath? + Hush'd be that sigh, be dry that tear, + Nor let us lose our Heaven here.-- + Dry be that tear. + +[Footnote: An Elegy by Halhed, transcribed in one of his letters to +Sheridan, begins thus: + +"Dry be that tear, be hush'd that struggling sigh."] + +There is in the second stanza here a close resemblance to one of the +madrigals of Montreuil, 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." [Footnote: + + The grief that on my quiet preys, + That rends my heart and checks my tongue, + I fear will last me all my days, + And feel it will not last me long. + +It is thus in Montreuil: + + C'est un mal que j'aurai tout le terns de ma vie + Mais je ne l'aurai pas long-tems.] + +Mr. Sheridan, however, knew nothing of French, and neglected every +opportunity of learning 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 derived the thought of this stanza, in +one of the essays of Hume, who, being a reader of foreign literature, +most probably found it in Montreuil. [Footnote: Or in an Italian song of +Menage, from which Montreuil, 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 Pardore + + * * * * * + + Chi lo potrebbe dire? + Incerta, o Filli, e l'ora del morire.] + +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 Caelia, can I resolve the question? _Do I know +how long my life shall yet endure?"_ [Footnote: The Epicurean] + +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 +Fordyce, 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 Picture," 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 favorite lines shines out so conspicuously, that we +cannot wonder at their having been so soon detached, like ill-set jems, +from the loose and clumsy workmanship around them. + + "But, hark!--did not our bard repeat + The love-born name of M-rg-r-t?-- + Attention seizes every ear; + "We pant for the description _here_: + If ever dulness left thy brow, + '_Pindar,_' we say, ''twill leave thee now.' + But O! old Dulness' 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 mind or face, + But one poor _dimple_ to express + The _quintessence_ of _loveliness_? + ....Mark'd you her cheek of rosy hue? + Mark'd 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 not 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 housewife, which affords an early specimen of that neat +pointedness of phrase, which gave his humor, both poetic and dramatic, +such a peculiar edge and polish:-- + + "We see the Dame, in rustic pride, + A bunch 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 hallowed mixture thickens, + Signing death-warrants for the chickens: + Else, greatly pensive, poring o'er + Accounts her cook had thumbed before; + One eye cast up upon that _great book_, + Yclep'd _The Family Receipt Book_; + By which she's ruled in all her courses, + From stewing figs to drenching horses. + --Then pans and pickling skillets rise, + In dreadful lustre, to our eyes, + With store of sweetmeats, rang'd in order, + And _potted nothings_ on the border; + While salves and caudle-cups between, + With squalling 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;--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 ardor of a poet, he dismisses the object nearest his heart with +the mere passing gallantry of a compliment:-- + + "O! should your genius 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, + Though _Phoebus_ play'd and _Linley_ 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 Timothy Screw to his Brother +Henry, Waiter at Almack's," which appeared first in the Bath Chronicle, +and was so eagerly sought after, that Crutwell, 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 humor will +be all that is necessary 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, + And _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 besides 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 _Peg Runt_, with her tight little sister," &c. &c. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +DUELS WITH MR. MATHEWS.--MARRIAGE WITH MISS LINLEY. + + +Towards the close of the year 1771, the elder Mr. Sheridan went to +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 than that of +having been written at such a period, will not, perhaps, be unwelcome to +the reader:-- + +"Dublin, Dec. 7th, 1771. + +"MY DEAR RICHARD, + +"How could you be so wrong-headed as to commence cold bathing at such a +season 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 +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 wanting, apply to Dr. Nesbitt, and tell him at leaving Bath +I recommended you all to his care. This indeed I intended to have +mentioned to him, but it slipped my memory. I forgot Mr. Crook's bill, +too, but desire I may have the amount by the next 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 20_l_ 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, &c. 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 the +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 with 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 parties very zealous for forwarding my scheme, and +have reason to believe it will be carried in parliament after the +recess, without opposition. It was in vain to have attempted it before, +for never was party violence [Footnote: The money-bill, brought forward +this year under Lord Townsend's administration, encountered violent +opposition, and was finally rejected.] carried to such a height as in +this sessions; the House seldom breaking up till eleven or twelve at +night. From these 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." + +"DEAR 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 departing, +were I not now writing after dinner by daylight. Indeed the first +winter-season is not yet over at Bath. They have balls, concerts, &c. at +the rooms, from the old subscription still, and the spring ones are +immediately 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 there has not been +the smallest excuse to take a gun into the fields this winter;--a point +more 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. +Wyndham, I have not met with one person with whom I would wish to be +intimate; though there was a Mr. Lutterel, (brother to the Colonel,)-- +who was some months ago introduced to me by an old Harrow acquaintance, +--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 shall always have prudence to avoid. + +"Lissy begins to be tormented again with the tooth-ache;--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 solemn +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 Mathews, 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 public, 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 reflected upon herself by their +disclosure. To the threat of self-destruction, 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 violation 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 the state of his heart with respect to Miss +Linley, lost no time in expostulating with Mathews, upon the cruelty, +libertinism, and fruitlessness of his pursuit. Such a remonstrance, +however, was but little calculated to conciliate the forbearance of this +professed man of gallantry, who, it appears by the following allusion to +him under the name of Lothario, in a poem written by Sheridan at the +time, still counted upon the possibility of gaining his object, or, at +least, blighting the fruit which he could not reach:-- + + Nor spare the flirting _Cassoc'd rogue_, + Nor ancient Cullin's polish'd brogue; + Nor gay _Lothario's_ nobler name, + That _Nimrod_ to all female fame. + +In consequence of this persecution, and an increasing dislike to 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,--intending, 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 probable, had been the chief adviser of her flight, +was, of course, not slow in offering to be the partner 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 take advantage of her elopement, as a lover, not +only assisted them 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 Crescent, 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;--in consequence of which +the old gentleman, with many commendations of his wisdom for having +given up the imprudent pursuit of Miss Linley, not only accommodated the +fugitives with a passage on board a ship, which he had ready to sail +from the port of London to Dunkirk, but gave them letters of +recommendation to his correspondents at that place, who with the same +zeal and dispatch facilitated their journey to Lisle. + +On their leaving Dunkirk, as was natural to expect, the chivalrous and +disinterested protector degenerated into a mere selfish lover. It was +represented by him, with arguments which seemed to appeal to 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, to confirm to him that right +of protecting her, which he 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, they 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. +Quentin, procured an apartment in a convent, with the determination 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 surprised, too, to be told that, except your +letter just 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. Everything on our +side has at last succeeded. Miss L--- is now fixing in a convent, 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. She has been ill, but is now recovered; this, too, has +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 everything 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, I +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 +anything should tempt me to depart, even in a thought, from the honor +and consistency which engaged me at first. I wrote to M--- [Footnote: +Mathews] above a week ago, which, I think, was necessary and right. I +hope he has acted the 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, &c.--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 affect. 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 days after her +retirement to the convent; but an English physician, Dr. Dolman, of +York, who happened to be resident at 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 immediately 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 protection of +either father or brother,--gone off, at break 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. +Mathews, inquiring at 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 for a 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 inquiries, rumors, and other disturbing +visitations; and, at length, urged on by the restlessness of revenge, +inserted the following violent advertisement in the Bath Chronicle: + +"Wednesday, April 8th, 1772. + +"Mr. Richard S--- having attempted, in a letter left behind him for that +purpose, to account for his scandalous method of running away from this +place, by insinuations derogating from _my_ character, and that 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 trouble myself no further about him than, in this public +method, to post him as a L---, and a treacherous S---. + +"And as I am convinced there have been many malevolent incendiaries +concerned in the propagation of this infamous lie, if any of them, +unprotected by _age_, _infirmities_, or profession, will dare +to acknowledge the part they have acted, and affirm _to_ what they +have said _of_ me, they may depend on receiving the proper reward +of their villany, in the most public 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;--a +charge which the latter with indignation repelled, and was only +prevented by the sudden departure of Mathews to London from calling him +to a more serious account for the falsehood. + +At this period the party from the Continent arrived; and as a detail 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. +Mathews,--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 +concerns 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 the same affair, are my only apologies for the +following lines:-- + +"Mr. T. Mathews thought himself essentially injured by Mr. E. Sheridan's +having co-operated in the virtuous efforts of a young lady to escape the +snares of vice and dissimulation. He wrote several most abusive threats +to Mr. S., then in France. He labored, 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 surprised), that he +would never sleep in England till he had thanked him as he deserved. + +"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 anything pass between him and Mr. M. till he had arrived thither. +Mr. S. came to Mr. Cochlin's, in Crutched 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, endeavored +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 seen 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...." +[Footnote: The remainder of this paper is omitted, as only briefly +referring to circumstances which will be found more minutely detailed in +another document.] + +On his arrival in Bath, (whither he travelled with Miss Linley and her +father,) Sheridan lost not a moment in ascertaining the falsehood of the +charge against his brother. While Charles, however, indignantly denied +the flagitious conduct imputed to him by Mathews, 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 behavior 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 honor 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 +justification, 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 counter-ordered the advertisements that were agreed on, +as I think even an _explanation_ would now misbecome me; an +agreement to them was the effect more of mere _charity_ than +_judgment_. As I find it necessary to make _all_ my sentiments +as public as possible, your declaring this will greatly oblige + +"G Your very humble Servant, + +"R. B. SHERIDAN." + +"Sat. 12 o'Clock, May 2d, 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 suspense under which they labored. 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 instantly +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. + +"Sir, + +"On the evening preceding my last meeting with Mr. Mathews, Mr. Barnett +[Footnote: The friend of Mathews in the second duel.] produced a paper +to me, written by Mr. Mathews, containing an account of our former +meetings in London. As I had before frequently heard of Mr. Mathews's +relation of that affair, without interesting 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 contains 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 of the +account shown by Mr. Mathews. Give me leave previously to relate what +_I_ have affirmed to have been a real state of our meeting in +London, and which I am now ready to support on my honor, or my 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 +we met you and Mr. Mathews, and we walked together to the ring.--Mr. +Mathews refusing to make any other acknowledgment than he 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 observed 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. Mathews 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. Mathews 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 that 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 engaged 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 mean time, 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, exclaiming, +_'don't kill him.'_ I struggled to disengage my arm, and said his +sword was in my power. Mr. Mathews called out twice or thrice, _'I beg +my life.'_--We were parted. You immediately said, _'there, he has +begged his life, and now there is an end of it;'_ and, on Mr. Ewart +saying that, when his sword was in my power, as I attempted no more you +should not have interfered, you replied that you _were wrong_, but +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 with +mine, gave my honor that what had passed should never be mentioned by +me, and he 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, &c. &c._ 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, whether (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 with much ill-grace, he gave the apology, which afterwards appeared. +We parted, and I returned immediately to Bath. I, there, to Colonel +Gould, Captain Wade, Mr. Creaser, 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. I had +_undoubted authority_ that these accounts proceeded from Mr. +Mathews, 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 +without 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 to demand it_?--He affirms he did. + +"I shall now give my reasons for doubting your having authenticated this +paper. + +"1. Because I think it full of falsehood and misrepresentation, and Mr. +Knight has the character of a man of truth and honor. + +"2. When you were at Bath, I was informed that you had never expressed +any such sentiments. + +"3. I have been told that, in Wales, Mr. Mathews never _told his +story_ in the presence of Mr. Knight, who had never there insinuated +any thing 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 honor 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 Crutwell for insertion. It was in the following terms:-- + +"Being convinced that the expressions I made use of to Mr. Sheridan's +disadvantage were the effects of passion and misrepresentation, I +retract what I have said to that gentleman's disadvantage, and +particularly beg his pardon for my advertisement in the Bath Chronicle. + +"THOMAS MATHEWS." [Footnote: This appeared in the Bath Chronicle of May +7th. In another part of the same paper there is the following paragraph: +"We can with authority contradict the account in the London Evening Post +of last night, of a duel between Mr. M--t--ws and Mr. S--r--n, as to +the time and event of their meeting, Mr. S. having been at his place on +Saturday, and both these gentlemen being here at present."] + +With the odor 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 neighborhood, +observing with pain the mortifications to which he was exposed, and +perhaps thinking them, in some degree, unmerited, took upon him to urge +earnestly the necessity of a second meeting with Sheridan, as the only +means of removing the stigma left by the first; and, with a degree of +Irish friendliness, not forgotten in the portrait of Sir Lucius +O'Trigger, offered himself to be the bearer of the challenge. The +desperation of persons, in Mr. Mathews's circumstances, is in general +much more formidable than the most acknowledged valor; 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 had +been with some little difficulty induced to forgive his son for the wild +achievements he had been engaged in during his absence, was at this time +in London, making arrangements for the departure of his favorite, +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. Barnett, with rather +unnecessary cruelty, into the hands of Miss Sheridan, under the pretext, +however, that it was a note of invitation for her brother, and on the +following morning, before it was quite daylight, the parties met at +Kingsdown--Mr. Mathews, attended by his neighbor Mr. Barnett, 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. Mathews, and deposited in the hands +of Captain Wade, the master of the ceremonies. Though somewhat partially +colored, and (according to Mr. Sheridan'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. Brereton, (another +of Mr. Sheridan's intimate 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. +Mathews, it seems he obtained from Mr. Barnett an impartial relation of +the last affair with Mr. Sheridan, directed to you. This account Mr. +Paumier has seen, and I, at Mr. Mathews'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 has given me +authority to declare this to you. + +"I am, dear Sir, + +"Your most humble and obedient servant, + +"(Signed) WILLIAM BRERETON. + +"Bath, Oct. 24, 1772." + +_Copy of a Paper left by Mr. Barnett in the hands of Captain William +Wade, 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 +seriously;--particularly the method of using their pistols, which Mr. +Mathews had repeatedly signified his desire to use prior to swords, from +a conviction that Mr. Sheridan would run in on him, and an +ungentlemanlike scuffle probably be the consequence. This, however, was +refused 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 they 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 honor 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- +chaises).--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 endeavoring to get hold of Mr. Mathews's sword; +Mr. Mathews received him on his point, and, I believe, disengaged his +sword from Mr. 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. +Mathews 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 +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: I saw him +drawing the point out of the wound. By this time Mr. Sheridan'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 honor 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 party,--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 BARNETT. + +"October, 1772." [Footnote: The following account is given as an +"Extract of a Letter from Bath," in the St. James's Chronicle, July 4: +"Young Sheridan and Captain Mathews of this town, who lately had a +rencontre in a tavern in London, upon account of the maid of Bath, Miss +Linley, have had another this morning upon Kingsdown, about four miles +hence. Sheridan is much wounded, but whether mortally 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 duel, (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. Sheridan, on Kingsdown, near +this city, in consequence of their former dispute respecting an amiable +young lady, which Mr. M. considered as improperly adjusted; 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."] + +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 anything 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 Barnett, 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 +the opinion of some of my friends, that I ought not to suffer these +papers to pass wholly unnoticed, I shall make a few observations on them +with that moderation which becomes one who is highly conscious of the +impropriety of staking his single assertion against the apparent +testimony of three. This, I say, would be an impropriety, as I am +supposed to write to those who are not acquainted with the parties. I +had some time ago a copy of these papers from Captain Wade, who informed +me that they were lodged in his hands, to be made public only by +judicial authority. I wrote to you, Sir, on the subject, to have from +yourself an avowal that the account was yours; but as I received no +answer, I have reason to compliment you with the supposition that you +are not the author of it. However, as the name _William Barnett_ is +subscribed to it, you must accept my apologies for making use of that as +the ostensible signature of the writer--Mr. Paumier likewise (the +gentleman who went out with me on that occasion in the character of a +second) having assented to everything material in it, I shall suppose +the whole account likewise to be his; and as there are some +circumstances which could come from no one but Mr. Mathews, I shall +(without meaning to take from its authority) suppose it to be Mr. +Mathews'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 those observations just +in the same manner as I conceive any indifferent person of common sense, +who should think it worth his while to peruse the matter with any degree +of attention. In this light, the _truth_ of the articles which are +asserted 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 that there +are some positive facts against it, which do not depend upon any one's +assertion, I must repeat that I shall either compliment Mr. Barnett's +judgment, in supposing it not his, or his humanity in proving the +_narrative_ to partake 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 be 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. Barnett's narrative that is of the least +consequence to take notice of, is, where Mr. M. is represented as having +repeatedly signified his desire to use pistols prior to swords, from a +conviction 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 insinuation bears an obscure allusion to a past +transaction of Mr. M.'s, I doubt not but he will be surprised at my +indifference in not taking the trouble even to explain it. However, I +cannot forbear to observe here, that had I, at the period which this +passage alludes to, known what was the theory which Mr. M. held of +_gentlemanly scuffle_, I might, possibly, have been so unhappy as +to 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, &c.:'--here let me remind +Mr. B. of a circumstance, which I am convinced his memory will 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 common 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 demeanor is generally regulated by their idea of their +antagonist, and, for what I know, I 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 exact 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.... [Footnote: It is impossible to make any +connected sense of the passage that follows.] + +"Mr. B.'s account proceeds, that I 'advanced first on Mr. M.,' &c. &c.; +'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 sword 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 informed, 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 White-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 newspapers 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 performance 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 precaution, 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 time even to see him, +and strictly forbade all intercourse between his daughters 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 they, accordingly, contrived to communicate intelligence of the +lovers to each other. + +In the following letter, addressed to him by Charles at this time, we +can trace that difference between the dispositions of the brothers, +which, with every one except their father, rendered Richard, in spite of +all his faults, by far the most popular and beloved of the two. + +"London, July 3d, 1772. + +"DEAR DICK, + +"It was with the deepest concern I 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 I leave you in with respect +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 drawing +for the last L20.--I own, I think with some reason. + +"As to old Ewart, what you were talking about is absolutely impossible; +he is already surprised 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 shortly 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 anxious period +with her relations at Wells,) cautioning her against being led into any +acknowledgment, which might further the views of the elders against +their happiness. Many methods were tried upon both sides, to ensnare +them into a confession of this nature; but they eluded every effort, and +persisted in attributing the avowal which had escaped from Miss Linley, +before Mr. Panton, 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, [Footnote: +The Bath Chronicle of the 9th of July has the following paragraph: "It +is with great pleasure we inform our readers that Mr. Sheridan is +declared by his surgeon to be out of danger."] 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, notwithstanding the ferment in which his heart was kept, he +occasionally and desultorily occupied 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 head can find no gentle rest + For thinking on the events," &c. &c. + +Some of his observations, however, are just and tasteful. Upon the Essay +"Of Popular Discontents," after remarking, that "Sir W. T. opens all his +Essays with something as foreign to the purpose as possible," he has the +following criticism:--"Page 260, 'Represent misfortunes for faults, and +_mole-hills_ for _mountains_,'--the metaphorical and literal +expression too often coupled. P. 262, 'Upon these four wheels the +chariot of state may in all appearance drive easy and safe, or at least +not be too much _shaken_ by the usual _roughness_ of ways, +unequal _humors_ of _men_, or any common accidents,'--another +instance of the confusion of the metaphorical and literal expression." + +Among the passages he quotes from Temple's verses, as faulty, is the +following:-- + + "--that we may _see_, + Thou art indeed the empress of the _sea_." + +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 when the fight's _begun_, + Each serving at his _gun_." + +Whatever grounds there may be for referring these labors 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 state of excitement +may be favorable to the development of genius--which is often of the +nature of those seas, that become more luminous the more they are +agitated,--for a student, a far different mood is necessary; and in +order to reflect with clearness the images that 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 honor still incomplete, from the misrepresentations +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 favor held out, had been purchased by an act of duplicity which +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 "an oath equivocal" that he never would marry Miss Linley. + +The pressure of these various anxieties upon so young and so ardent a +mind, and their effects in alternately kindling and damping 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 private life, would not have been lost to +the present work. But scruples--over-delicate, perhaps, but respectable, +as founded upon a systematic objection to the exposure of _any_ +papers, received under the seal of private friendship--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 answers 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 +cheerfulness, which but ill concealed the melancholy under it. It is +evident also, and not a little remarkable, that in none of these +overflowings 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 such irresistible charms. From another letter, where the writer +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 contrived 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 guardian 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, accompanied by Mr. Cleaver, and by his brother +Mr. Thomas Grenville--between whom and Richard Sheridan an intimacy had +at this period commenced, which continued with uninterrupted cordiality +ever after. + +Some time previous to the departure of the elder Mr. Sheridan for +Ireland, having taken before a magistrate the depositions of the +postillions 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 honorable 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 afloat +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 authenticity given by Captain Paumier's +name to 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 acquiescence 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 another +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 received,--implores +of Sheridan to moderate his rage, and reminds him how often he had +resolved never to have any concern with Mathews 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 Covent +Garden; and Sheridan, who, from the nearness of his retreat to London, +(to use a phrase of his own, repeated in one of his friend'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 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 time +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 period, it was rumored that she +was about to be married to Sir Thomas Clarges; and in the Bath Chronicle +of April, 1773, a correspondence 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 +correspondence 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 increase the volume of literary +scandal, which, I am 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, +notwithstanding the solicitations of her profession, and the flattering +example of higher ranks, has added _incorruptible 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 13th of April, 1773, they were married by license [Footnote: Thus +announced in the Gentleman's Magazine:--"Mr. Sheridan of the Temple to +the celebrated Miss Linley of Bath."]--Mr. Ewart being at the same time +wedded 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 public should have the +whole matter fairly before them, he thought it 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 with more relevancy and +effect. In compliance with his wish, Woodfall 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, however, elapsed, and, notwithstanding +frequent applications on the one side, and promises on the other, not a +line 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 to supply the antidote. Throughout his whole life, +indeed, he but too consistently acted upon the principles, which the +first Lord Holland used playfully to impress upon his son:--"Never do +to-day what you can possibly put off till to-morrow, nor ever do, +yourself, 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 expected that +talents like his, so sure of a quick return of fame and emolument, would +wait for the distant and dearly-earned emoluments which a life of labor +in this profession promises. Nor, indeed, 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, besides 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 advantageous 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 reappear in public; and, instead of +profiting by the display of his wife's talents, adopted the manlier +resolution of seeking an independence by his own. An engagement had been +made for her some months before by her father, to perform at the music- +meeting that was to take place at Worcester this summer. But Sheridan, +who considered that his own claims upon her had superseded all others, +would not suffer her to keep this engagement. + +How decided his mind was upon the subject will appear from the 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 Burnham, May 12, 1773. + +"Dear Sir, + +"I purposely deferred writing to you till I should have settled +_all_ matters in London, and in some degree settled ourselves at +our little home. Some unforeseen delays prevented my finishing with +Swale till Thursday last, when everything 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 reason of its missing us at Morden. As +to the principal point it treats of, I had given my answer some days +ago, to Mr. Isaac of Worcester. He had enclosed 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 (Mrs. S.) will fulfil a positive +engagement, the breach of which would prove of fatal consequence to our +meeting, I hope Mr. Sheridan will think his honor in some degree +concerned in fulfilling it.'--Mr. Storace, in order to enforce Mr. +Isaac's argument, showed me his letter on the same subject to him, which +begins with saying, 'We must have Mrs. Sheridan, 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 +_dishonorably_ 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 _honor_ can be concerned in my wife's fulfilling an +engagement, 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 engagement), who has endeavored to place the +idea of my complimenting the University with Betsey's performance in the +strongest light of advantage 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 regard to Betsey's performing, there surely would be +more sense in obliging Lord North (and probably from _his own_ +application) and the University, 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, &c. &c., 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 +situation 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 I 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, &c. &c., +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 immediately 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 was during a +very short absence from this cottage, that the following lines were +written by him:-- + + "Teach me, kind Hymen, teach, for thou + Must be my only tutor now,-- + Teach me some innocent employ, + That shall the hateful thought destroy, + That I this whole long night must pass + In exile from my love's embrace. + Alas, thou hast no wings, oh Time! +[Footnote: It will be perceived that the eight following lines are the +foundation of the song "What bard, oh Time," in the Duenna.] + It was some thoughtless lover's rhyme, + Who, writing in his Chloe's view, + Paid her the compliment through you. + For had he, if he truly lov'd, + But once the pangs of absence prov'd, + 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 young + unfelt steps you flit along,-- + As Virgil's nymph o'er ripen'd corn, + With such ethereal haste was borne, + That every stock, with upright head, + Denied the pressure of her tread. + But o'er the wretched, oh, how slow + And heavy sweeps thy scythe of woe! + 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; + He 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 Storace, 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 residence, which was in +Orchard-Street, Portman-Square. During the summer of 1774, they passed +some time at 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 time finished his play of the Rivals, but was on +the point of "sending a hook to the press:"-- + +"Dear Sir, + +"Nov. 17th 1774. + +"If I were to attempt to make as many apologies as my long omission in +writing to you requires, I should have no room for any other subject. +One excuse only I shall bring forward, which is, that I have been +exceedingly 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 encountered 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 honor, 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 been 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- +Garden 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 request; it is now complete in his hands, and +preparing 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 found Mr. Smith has declined, and is retiring to Bath. Mr. +Stanley informed me that on his applying to the king for the continuance +of his favor, 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, &c. I declined the matter very civilly and very +peremptorily. I should imagine that Mr. Stanley would apply to you;--I +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 +arrangement. 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 besides. Accept Betsey's love and duty. + +"Your sincere and affectionate + +"R. B. SHERIDAN." + +What the book here alluded to was, I cannot with any accuracy ascertain. +Besides a few sketches of plays and poems, of which I 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 period there are no means of judging. + +Among these there 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 the 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 founded on +the regard which ought to be paid to justice, and on the good effects +which, they affirm, such an example would have, in suppressing 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 impression 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 some weight to their argument. But, in the +present case, we should reflect how apt mankind are to relent after they +have inflicted punishment;--so that, perhaps, the same men who would +have detested the noble Lord, while alive and in prosperity, pointing +him as a scarecrow 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, by way +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 clearness 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 to promise the greatest steadiness and resolution. 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 honor; and, if we see him so punctual in private +appointments, must we not conclude that he is infinitely more so in +greater matters? Nay, when W----s [Footnote: Wilkes.] came over, is it +not notorious that the late Lord Mayor went to His Grace on that +evening, proposing a scheme which, by securing this fire-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 honor;--he 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), addressed to +"Novus,"--some writer in Woodfall's Public Advertiser,--and appearing to +be one of a series to the same correspondent. From the 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 political 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 acuteness 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 nature.' 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 are 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 second line, +convicts him of deficiency in at least one common branch of literary +acquirement:--we find _thing_ always spelt _think_;-- +_whether_, _where_, and _which_, turned into +_wether_, _were_, and _wich_;--and double _m's_ and +_s's_ almost invariably reduced to "single blessedness." This sign +of a neglected education remained with him to a very late period, and, +in his hasty writing, or scribbling, would 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," +&c.;--none of them, apparently, carried beyond the middle of the first +number. But 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 better +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 patronage of Her Majesty, and entitled "The Royal Sanctuary." +The reader, 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 eloquence with +which he prefaces this grave proposal to Her Majesty:--"The dispute +about the proper sphere of women is idle. That men should have attempted +to draw a line for their orbit, shows that God meant them for comets, +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 composition, a good deal resembling in their +style those ambitious apostrophes with which he afterwards ornamented +his speeches on the trial of Hastings. + +He next proceeds to remark to Her Majesty, that in those countries where +"man is scarce better than a brute, he shows his degeneracy 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 better style:--"However, in savage countries, +where the pride of man has not fixed the first dictates of ignorance +into law, we see the real effects of nature. The wild Huron shall, to +the object of his love, become gently as his weary rein-deer;--he shall +present to her the spoil of his bow on his knee;-he 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!" He then endeavors 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 fit 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 +cultivated by inspiration, men would become wise of course. They are a +sort of pentagraphs with which nature writes on the heart of man;--what +_she_ 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 state of warfare with +poverty and distress. The sea of adversity is our natural element, and +he that will not buffet with the billows deserves to 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 +to give you shelter?" + +After describing, with evident seriousness, the nature of the +institution of Madame de Maintenon, at St. Cyr, he adds the following +strange romantic allusion: "Had such a charity as I have been speaking +of existed here, the mild _Parthenia_ and my poor _Laura_ +would not have 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 immediately under your +majesty's patronage, so should your majesty be the first member of it. +Let the constitution 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 instructors of real merit. The classes +are to be distinguished by age--none by degree. For, as their +qualification shall be gentility, they are all on a level. The +instructors shall be women, except for the languages. Latin and Greek +should not be learned;--the frown of pedantry destroys the blush of +humility. The practical part of the sciences, as of astronomy, &c., +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 romances infinitely more. The one is a +representation of the effects of the passions as they should be, though +extravagant; the other, as they are. The latter is falsely called +nature, and is a picture of depraved 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 inscription 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 Essay, on +the letters of Lord Chesterfield, which, I am inclined to think, may +have formed a part of the rough copy of the book, announced 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 these 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 the perfections in which he is +eclipsed by the other;--thus, from hating the quality in his +competitor, he loses the respect for it in himself:--a young man by +himself better educated than two.--A Roman's emulation was not to excel +his countrymen, but to make his country excel: this is the true, the +other selfish.--Epaminondas, who reflected on the pleasure his success +would give his father, most glorious;--an emulation for that purpose, +true. + +"The selfish 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 affection of +Morni in Ossian; 'Oh, that the name of Morni,' &c. &c. [Footnote: "Oh, +that the name of Morni were forgot among the people; that the heroes +would only say, 'Behold the father of Gaul!'" Sheridan applied this, +more than thirty years after, in talking of his own son, on the hustings +of Westminster, and said that, in like manner, he would ask no greater +distinction than for men to point at him and say, "There goes the father +of Tom Sheridan."] + +"His frequent directions for constant employment entirely ill founded: +--a wise man is formed more by the action of his own thoughts than by +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 +tracks 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 two sentences contain the secret of Sheridan's confidence in +his own powers. His subsequent success bore him out in the opinions he +thus early expressed, and might even have persuaded 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 _Mr. 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 representation,-- +chiefly from the bad acting of Mr. Lee in Sir Lucius O'Trigger. Another +actor, however, Mr. Clinch, was substituted in his place, and the play +being lightened of this and some other incumbrances, rose at once into +that high region of public favor, 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. + +"Bath. + +"MY DEAREST ELIZA, + +"We are all in the greatest anxiety about Sheridan's play,--though +I do not think there is the least doubt of its succeeding. I was told +last night that it was his own story, and therefore called "The Rivals;" +but I do not give any credit to this intelligence.... + +"I am told he will get at least 700_l_. for his play." + +"Bath, January, 1775. + +"It is impossible to tell you what pleasure we felt at the receipt of +Sheridan's last letter, which confirmed what we had seen in the +newspapers of the success of his play. The _knowing ones_ were very +much disappointed, as they had so very bad an opinion of its success. +After the first night we were indeed all very fearful that the audience +would go very much prejudiced against it. But now, there can be no doubt +of its success, as it has certainly got through more difficulties than +any comedy which has not met its doom the first night. I know you have +been very busy in writing for Sheridan,--I don't mean _copying_, +but _composing_;--it's true, indeed;--you must not contradict me +when I say you wrote the much admired epilogue to the Rivals. How I long +to read it! What makes it more certain is, that my _father_ guessed +it was _yours_ the first time he saw it praised in the paper." + +This statement respecting the epilogue would, if true, deprive Sheridan +of one of the fairest leaves of his poetic crown. It appears, however, +to be but a conjecture hazarded at the moment, and proves only the high +idea entertained of Mrs. Sheridan's talents by her own family. The cast +of the play at Bath, and its success there and elsewhere, are thus +mentioned in these letters of Miss Linley: + +"Bath, February 18, 1775. + +"What shall I say of The Rivals!--a compliment must naturally be +expected; but really it goes so far beyond any thing I can say in its +praise, that I am afraid my modesty must keep me silent. When you and I +meet I shall be better able to explain myself, and tell you how much I +am delighted with it. We expect to have it _here_ very soon:--it is +now in rehearsal. You pretty well know the merits of our principal +performers:--I'll show you how it is cast. + +Sir Anthony _Mr. Edwin_. +Captain Absolute _Mr. Didier_. +Falkland _Mr. Dimond_. + (A new actor of great merit, and a sweet figure.) +Sir Lucius _Mr. Jackson_. +Acres _Mr. Keasberry_. +Fag _Mr. Brunsdon_. + +Mrs. Malaprop _Mrs. Wheeler_. +Miss Lydia _Miss Wheeler_. + (Literally, a very pretty romantic girl, of seventeen.) +Julia _Mrs. Didier_ +Lucy _Mrs. Brett_. + +There, Madam, do not you think we shall do your Rivals some justice? I'm +convinced it won't be done better any where out of London. I don't think +Mrs. Mattocks can do Julia very well." + +"Bath, March 9, 1775. + +"You will know by what you see enclosed in this frank my reason for not +answering your letter sooner was, that I waited the success of +Sheridan's play in Bath; for, let me tell you, I look upon our +theatrical tribunal, though not in _quantity_, in _quality_ as +good as yours, and I do not believe there was a critic in the whole city +that was not there. But, in my life, I never saw any thing go off with +such uncommon applause. I must first of all inform you that there was a +very full house:--the play was performed inimitably well; nor did I +hear, for the honor of our Bath actors, one single prompt the whole +night; but I suppose the poor creatures never acted with such shouts of +applause in their lives, so that they were incited by that to do their +best. They lost many of Malaprop's good sayings by the applause: in +short, I never saw or heard any thing like it;--before the actors spoke, +they began their clapping. There was a new scene of the N. Parade, +painted by Mr. Davis, and a most delightful one it is, I assure you. +Every body says,--Bowers in particular,--that yours in town is not so +good. Most of the dresses were entirely new, and very handsome. On the +whole, I think Sheridan is vastly obliged to poor dear Keasberry for +getting it up so well. We only wanted a good Julia to have made it quite +complete. You must know that it was entirely out of Mrs. Didier's style +of playing: but I never saw better acting than Keasberry's,--so all the +critics agreed." + +"Bath, August 22d, 1775. + +"Tell Sheridan his play has been acted at Southampton:--above a hundred +people were turned away the first night. They say there never was any +thing so universally liked. They have very good success at Bristol, and +have played The Rivals several times:--Miss Barsanti, Lydia, and Mrs. +Canning, Julia." + +To enter into a regular analysis of this lively play, the best comment +on which is to be found in the many smiling faces that are lighted up +around wherever it appears, is a task of criticism that will hardly be +thought necessary. With much less wit, it exhibits perhaps more humor +than The School for Scandal, and the dialogue, though by no means so +pointed or sparkling, is, in this respect, more natural, as coming +nearer the current coin of ordinary conversation; whereas, the +circulating medium of The School for Scandal is diamonds. The characters +of The Rivals, on the contrary, are _not_ such as occur very +commonly in the world; and, instead of producing striking effects with +natural and obvious materials, which is the great art and difficulty of +a painter of human life, he has here overcharged most of his persons +with whims and absurdities, for which the circumstances they are engaged +in afford but a very disproportionate vent. Accordingly, for our insight +into their characters, we are indebted rather to their confessions than +their actions. Lydia Languish, in proclaiming the extravagance of her +own romantic notions, prepares us for events much more ludicrous and +eccentric, than those in which the plot allows her to be concerned; and +the young lady herself is scarcely more disappointed than we are, at the +tameness with which her amour concludes. Among the various ingredients +supposed to be mixed up in the composition of Sir Lucius O'Trigger, his +love of fighting is the only one whose flavor is very strongly brought +out; and the wayward, captious jealousy of Falkland, though so highly +colored in his own representation of it, is productive of no incident +answerable to such an announcement:--the imposture which he practises +upon Julia being perhaps weakened in its effect, by our recollection of +the same device in the Nut-brown Maid and Peregrine Pickle. + +The character of Sir Anthony Absolute is, perhaps, the best sustained +and most natural of any, and the scenes between him and Captain Absolute +are richly, genuinely dramatic. His surprise at the apathy with which +his son receives the glowing picture which he draws of the charms of his +destined bride, and the effect of the question, "And which is to be +mine, Sir,--the niece or the aunt?" are in the truest style of humor. +Mrs. Malaprop's mistakes, in what she herself calls "orthodoxy," have +been often objected to as improbable from a woman in her rank of life; +but, though some of them, it must be owned, are extravagant and +farcical, they are almost all amusing,--and the luckiness of her simile, +"as headstrong as an _allegory_ on the banks of the Nile," will be +acknowledged as long as there are writers to be run away with, by the +wilfulness of this truly "headstrong" species of composition. + +Of the faults of Sheridan both in his witty and serious styles--the +occasional effort of the one, and the too frequent false finery of the +other--some examples may be cited from the dialogue of this play. Among +the former kind is the following elaborate conceit:-- + +"_Falk._ Has Lydia changed her mind? I should have thought her duty +and inclination would now have pointed to the same object. + +"_Abs._ Ay, just as the eyes of a person who squints: when her +love-eye was fixed on me, t'other--her eye of duty--was finely obliqued: +but when duty bade her point that the same way, off turned t'other on a +swivel, and secured its retreat with a frown." + +This, though ingenious, is far too labored--and of that false taste by +which sometimes, in his graver style, he was seduced into the display of +second-rate ornament, the following speeches of Julia afford specimens:-- + +"Then on the bosom of your wedded Julia, you may lull your keen regret +to slumbering; while virtuous love, with a cherub's hand, shall smooth +the brow of upbraiding thought, and pluck the thorn from compunction." + +Again:--"When hearts deserving happiness would unite their fortunes, +virtue would crown them with an unfading garland of modest hurtless +flowers: but ill-judging passion will force the gaudier rose into the +wreath, whose thorn offends them when its leaves are dropt." + +But, notwithstanding such blemishes,--and it is easy for the microscopic +eye of criticism to discover gaps and inequalities in the finest edge of +genius,--this play, from the liveliness of its plot, the variety and +whimsicality of its characters, and the exquisite humor of its dialogue, +is one of the most amusing in the whole range of the drama; and even +without the aid of its more splendid successor, The School for Scandal, +would have placed Sheridan in the first rank of comic writers. + +A copy of The Rivals has fallen into my hands, which once belonged to +Tickell, the friend and brother-in-law of Sheridan, and on the margin of +which I find written by him in many places his opinion of particular +parts of the dialogue. [Footnote: These opinions are generally expressed +in two or three words, and are, for the most part, judicious. Upon Mrs. +Malaprop's quotation from Shakspeare, "Hesperian curls," &c. he writes, +"overdone--fitter for farce than comedy." Acres's classification of +oaths, "This we call the _oath referential,"_ &c. he pronounces to +be "very good, but above the speaker's capacity." Of Julia's speech, "Oh +woman, how true should be your judgment, when your resolution is so +weak!" he remarks, "On the contrary, it seems to be of little +consequence whether any person's judgment be weak or not, who wants +resolution to act according to it."] He has also prefixed to it, as +coming from Sheridan, the following humorous dedication, which, I take +for granted, has never before met the light, and which the reader will +perceive, by the allusions in it to the two Whig ministries, could not +have been written before the year 1784:-- + +"DEDICATION TO IDLENESS. + +"MY DEAR FRIEND, + +"If it were necessary to make any apology for this freedom, I know you +would think it a sufficient one, that I shall find it easier to dedicate +my play to you than to any other person. There is likewise a propriety +in prefixing your name to a work begun entirely at your suggestion, and +finished under your auspices; and I should think myself wanting in +gratitude to you, if I did not take an early opportunity of +acknowledging the obligations which I owe you. There was a time--though +it is so long ago that I now scarcely remember it, and cannot mention it +without compunction--but there was a time, when the importunity of +parents, and the example of a few injudicious young men of my +acquaintance, had almost prevailed on me to thwart my genius, and +prostitute my abilities by an application to serious pursuits. And if +you had not opened my eyes to the absurdity and profligacy of such a +perversion of the best gifts of nature, I am by no means clear that I +might not have been a wealthy merchant or an eminent lawyer at this very +moment. Nor was it only on my first setting out in life that I availed +myself of a connection with you, though perhaps I never reaped such +signal advantages from it as at that critical period. I have frequently +since stood in need of your admonitions, and have always found you ready +to assist me--though you were frequently brought by your zeal for me +into new and awkward situations, and such as you were at first, +naturally enough, unwilling to appear in. Amongst innumerable other +instances, I cannot omit two, where you afforded me considerable and +unexpected relief, and in fact converted employments, usually attended +by dry and disgusting business, into scenes of perpetual merriment and +recreation. I allude, as you will easily imagine, to those cheerful +hours which I spent in the Secretary of State's office and the Treasury, +during all which time you were my inseparable companion, and showed me +such a preference over the rest of my colleagues, as excited at once +their envy and admiration. Indeed, it was very natural for them to +repine at your having taught me a way of doing business, which it was +impossible for them to follow--it was both original and inimitable. + +"If I were to say here all that I think of your excellencies, I might be +suspected of flattery; but I beg leave to refer you for the test of my +sincerity to the constant tenor of my life and actions; and shall +conclude with a sentiment of which no one can dispute the truth, nor +mistake the application,--that those persons usually deserve most of +their friends who expect least of them. + +"I am, &c. &c. &c., + +"R. B. SHERIDAN." + +The celebrity which Sheridan had acquired, as the chivalrous lover of +Miss Linley, was of course considerably increased by the success of The +Rivals; and, gifted as he and his beautiful wife were with all that +forms the magnetism of society,--the power to attract, and the +disposition to be attracted,--their life, as may easily be supposed, was +one of gaiety both at home and abroad. Though little able to cope with +the entertainments of their wealthy acquaintance, her music and the good +company which his talents drew around him, were an ample repayment for +the more solid hospitalities which they received. Among the families +visited by them was that of Mr. Coote (Purden), at whose musical parties +Mrs. Sheridan frequently sung, accompanied occasionally by the two +little daughters [Footnote: The charm of her singing, as well as her +fondness for children, are interestingly described in a letter to my +friend Mr. Rogers, from one of the most tasteful writers of the present +day:--"Hers was truly 'a voice as of the cherub choir,' and she was +always ready to sing without any pressing. She sung here a great deal, +and to my infinite delight; but what had a particular charm was, that +she used to take my daughter, then a child, on her lap, and sing a +number of childish songs with such a playfulness of manner, and such a +sweetness of look and voice, as was quite enchanting."] of Mr. Coote, +who were the originals of the children introduced into Sir Joshua +Reynolds's portrait of Mrs. Sheridan as St. Cecilia. It was here that +the Duchess of Devonshire first met Sheridan; and, as I have been told, +long hesitated as to the propriety of inviting to her house two persons +of such equivocal rank in society, as he and his wife were at that time +considered. Her Grace was reminded of these scruples some years after, +when "the player's son" had become the admiration of the proudest and +fairest; and when a house, provided for the Duchess herself at Bath, was +left two months unoccupied, in consequence of the social attractions of +Sheridan, which prevented a party then assembled at Chatsworth from +separating. These are triumphs which, for the sake of all humbly born +heirs of genius, deserve to be commemorated. + +In gratitude, it is said, to Clinch, the actor, for the seasonable +reinforcement which he had brought to The Rivals, Mr. Sheridan produced +this year a farce called "St. Patrick's Day, or the Scheming +Lieutenant," which was acted on the 2d of May, and had considerable +success. + +Though we must not look for the usual point of Sheridan in this piece, +where the hits of pleasantry are performed with the broad end or +_mace_ of his wit, there is yet a quick circulation of humor +through the dialogue,--and laughter, the great end of farce, is +abundantly achieved by it. The moralizing of Doctor Rosy, and the +dispute between the justice's wife and her daughter, as to the +respective merits of militia-men and regulars, are highly comic:-- + +"Psha, you know, Mamma, I hate militia officers; a set of dunghill cocks +with spurs on--heroes scratched off a church door. No, give me the bold +upright youth, who makes love to-day, and has his head shot off to- +morrow. Dear! to think how the sweet fellows sleep on the ground, and +fight in silk stockings and lace ruffles. + +"_Mother._ Oh barbarous! to want a husband that may wed you to-day +and be sent the Lord knows where before night; then in a twelve-month, +perhaps, to have him come like a Colossus, with one leg at New York and +the other at Chelsea Hospital." + +Sometimes, too, there occurs a phrase or sentence, which might be sworn +to, as from the pen of Sheridan, any where. Thus, in the very opening:-- + +"_1st Soldier._ I say you are wrong; we should all speak together, +each for himself, and all at once, that we may be heard the better. + +"_2d Soldier._ Right, Jack, we'll _argue in platoons_." + +Notwithstanding the great success of his first attempts in the drama, we +find politics this year renewing its claims upon his attention, and +tempting him to enter into the lists with no less an antagonist than Dr. +Johnson. That eminent man had just published his pamphlet on the +American question, entitled "Taxation no Tyranny;"--a work whose pompous +sarcasms on the Congress of Philadelphia, when compared with what has +happened since, dwindle into puerilities, and show what straws upon the +great tide of events are even the mightiest intellects of this world. +Some notes and fragments, found among the papers of Mr. Sheridan, prove +that he had it in contemplation to answer this pamphlet; and, however +inferior he might have been in style to his practised adversary, he +would at least have had the advantage of a good cause, and of those +durable materials of truth and justice, which outlive the mere +workmanship, however splendid, of talent. Such arguments as the +following, which Johnson did not scruple to use, are, by the haughtiness +of their tone and thought, only fit for the lips of autocrats:-- + +"When they apply to our compassion, by telling us that they are to be +carried from their own country to be tried for certain offences, we are +not so ready to pity them, as to advise them not to offend. While they +are innocent, they are safe. + +"If they are condemned unheard, it is because there is no need of a +trial. The crime is manifest and notorious," &c. &c. + +It appears from the fragments of the projected answer, that Johnson's +pension was one of the points upon which Mr. Sheridan intended to assail +him. The prospect of being able to neutralize the effects of his zeal, +by exposing the nature of the chief incentive from which it sprung, was +so tempting, perhaps, as to overrule any feelings of delicacy, that +might otherwise have suggested the illiberality of such an attack. The +following are a few of the stray hints for this part of his subject:-- + +"It is hard when a learned man thinks himself obliged to commence +politician.--Such pamphlets will be as trifling and insincere as the +venal quit-rent of a birth-day ode. [Footnote: On another scrap of paper +I find "the miserable quit-rent of an annual pamphlet." It was his +custom in composition (as will be seen by many other instances) thus to +try the same thought in a variety of forms and combinations, in order to +see in which it would yield the greatest produce of wit.] + +"Dr. J.'s other works, his learning and infirmities, fully entitled him +to such a mark of distinction.--There was no call on him to become +politician,--the easy quit-rent of refined panegyric, and a few grateful +rhymes or flowery dedications to the intermediate benefactor.... + +"The man of letters is rarely drawn from obscurity by the inquisitive +eye of a sovereign:--it is enough for Royalty to gild the laurelled +brow, not explore the garret or the cellar.--In this case, the return +will generally be ungrateful--the patron is most possibly disgraced or +in opposition--if he (the author) follows the dictates of gratitude, he +must speak his patron's language, but he may lose his pension--but to be +a standing supporter of ministry, is probably to take advantage of that +competence against his benefactor.--When it happens that there is great +experience and political knowledge, this is more excusable; but it is +truly unfortunate where the fame of far different abilities adds weight +to the attempts of rashness...." + +He then adds this very striking remark: "Men seldom think deeply on +subjects on which they have no choice of opinion:--they are fearful of +encountering obstacles to their faith (as in religion), and so are +content with the surface." + +Dr. Johnson says, in one part of his pamphlet,--"As all are born the +subjects of some state or other, we may be said to have been all born +consenting to some system of government." On this Sheridan remarks:-- +"This is the most slavish doctrine that ever was inculcated. If by our +birth we give a tacit bond for our acquiescence in that form of +government under which we were born, there never would have been an +alteration of the first modes of government--no Revolution in England." + +Upon the argument derived from the right of conquest he observes--"This +is the worst doctrine that can be with respect to America.--If America +is ours by conquest, it is the conquerors who settled there that are to +claim these powers." + +He expresses strong indignation at the "arrogance" with which such a man +as Montesquieu is described as "the fanciful Montesquieu," by "an +eleemosynary politician, who writes on the subject merely because he has +been rewarded for writing otherwise all his lifetime." + +In answer to the argument against the claims of the Americans, founded +on the small proportion of the population that is really represented +even in England, he has the following desultory memorandums:--"In fact, +every man in England is represented--every man can influence people, +so as to get a vote, and even if in an election votes are divided, each +candidate is supposed equally worthy--as in lots--fight Ajax or +Agamemnon. [Footnote: He means to compare an election of this sort to +the casting of lots between the Grecian chiefs in the 7th book of the +Iliad.]--This an American cannot do in any way whatever. + +"The votes in England are perpetually shifting:--were it an object, few +could be excluded.--Wherever there is any one ambitious of assisting the +empire, he need not put himself to much inconvenience.--If the Doctor +indulged his studies in Cricklade or Old Sarum, he might vote:--the +dressing meat, the simplest proof of existence, begets a title.--His +pamphlet shows that he thinks he can influence some one: not an +anonymous writer in the paper but contributes his mite to the general +tenor of opinion.--At the eve of an election, his Patriot [Footnote: The +name of a short pamphlet, published by Dr. Johnson, on the dissolution +of Parliament in 1774.] was meant to influence more than the single +voice of a rustic.--Even the mob, in shouting, give votes where there is +not corruption." + +It is not to be regretted that this pamphlet was left unfinished. Men of +a high order of genius, such as Johnson and Sheridan, should never enter +into warfare with each other, but, like the gods in Homer, leave the +strife to inferior spirits. The publication of this pamphlet would most +probably have precluded its author from the distinction and pleasure +which he afterwards enjoyed in the society and conversation of the +eloquent moralist, who, in the following year, proposed him as a member +of the Literary Club, and always spoke of his character and genius with +praise. Nor was Sheridan wanting on his part with corresponding +tributes; for, in a prologue which he wrote about this time to the play +of Sir Thomas Overbury, he thus alludes to Johnson's Life of its +unfortunate author:-- + + "So pleads the tale, that gives to future times + The son's misfortunes, and the parent's crimes; + There shall his fame, if own'd to-night, survive; + Fix'd by the hand that bids our language live." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE DUENNA.--PURCHASE OF DRURY LANE THEATRE.--THE TRIP TO SCARBOROUGH.-- +POETICAL CORRESPONDENCE WITH MRS. SHERIDAN. + + +Mr. Sheridan had now got into a current of dramatic fancy, of whose +prosperous flow he continued to avail himself actively. The summer +recess was employed in writing the Duenna; and his father-in-law, Mr. +Linley, assisted in selecting and composing the music for it. As every +thing connected with the progress of a work, which is destined to be +long the delight of English ears, must naturally have a charm for +English readers, I feel happy at being enabled to give, from letters +written at the time by Mr. Sheridan himself to Mr. Linley, some details +relating to their joint adaptation of the music, which, judging from my +own feelings, I cannot doubt will be interesting to others. + +Mr. Linley was at this time at Bath, and the following letter to him is +dated in October, 1775, about a month or five weeks before the opera was +brought out:-- + +"DEAR SIR, + +"We received your songs to-day, with which we are exceedingly pleased. I +shall profit by your proposed alterations; but I'd have you to know that +we are much too chaste in London to admit such strains as your Bath +spring inspires. We dare not propose a peep beyond the ankle on any +account; for the critics in the pit at a new play are much greater +prudes than the ladies in the boxes. Betsey intended to have troubled +you with some music for correction, and I with some stanzas, but an +interview with Harris to-day has put me from the thoughts of it, and +bent me upon a much more important petition. You may easily suppose it +is nothing else than what I said I would not ask in my last. But, in +short, unless you can give us three days in town, I fear our opera will +stand a chance to be ruined. Harris is extravagantly sanguine of its +success as to plot and dialogue, which is to be rehearsed next Wednesday +at the theatre. They will exert themselves to the utmost in the scenery, +&c., but I never saw any one so disconcerted as he was at the idea of +there being no one to put them in the right way as to music. They have +no one there whom he has any opinion of--as to Fisher (one of the +managers), he don't choose he should meddle with it. He entreated me in +the most pressing terms to write instantly to you, and wanted, if he +thought it could be any weight, to write himself. + +"Is it impossible to contrive this? couldn't you leave Tom [Footnote: +Mrs. Sheridan's eldest brother] to superintend the concert for a few +days? If you can manage it, you will really do me the greatest service +in the world. As to the state of the music, I want but three more airs, +but there are some glees and quintets in the last act, that will be +inevitably ruined, if we have no one to set the performers at least in +the right way. Harris has set his heart so much on my succeeding in this +application, that he still flatters himself we may have a rehearsal of +the music in Orchard Street to-morrow se'nnight. Every hour's delay is a +material injury both to the opera and the theatre, so that if you can +come and relieve us from this perplexity, the return of the post must +only forerun your arrival; or (what will make us much happier) might it +not bring _you_? I shall say nothing at present about the lady +'with the soft look and manner,' because I am full of more than hopes of +seeing you. For the same reason I shall delay to speak about G---; +[Footnote: Garrick] only this much I will say, that I am more than ever +positive I could make good my part of the matter; but that I still +remain an infidel as to G.'s retiring, or parting with his share, though +I confess he _seems_ to come closer to the point in naming his +price. + +"Your ever sincere and affectionate, + +"R. B. SHERIDAN." + +On the opposite leaf of this letter is written, in Mrs. S.'s +handwriting,--"Dearest Father, I shall have no spirits or hopes of the +opera, unless we see you. + +"ELIZA ANN SHERIDAN." + +In answer to these pressing demands, Mr. Linley, as appears by the +following letter, signified his intention of being in town as soon as +the music should be put in rehearsal. In the instructions here given by +the poet to the musician, we may perceive that he somewhat apprehended, +even in the tasteful hands of Mr. Linley, that predominance of harmony +over melody, and of noise over both, which is so fatal to poetry and +song, in their perilous alliance with an orchestra. Indeed, those +elephants of old, that used to tread down the ranks they were brought to +assist, were but a type of the havoc that is sometimes made both of +melody and meaning by the overlaying aid of accompaniments. + +"DEAR SIR, + +"Mr. Harris wishes so much for us to get you to town, that I could not +at first convince him that your proposal of not coming till the music +was in rehearsal, was certainly the best, as you could stay but so short +a time. The truth is, that what you mention of my getting a +_master_ to teach the performers is the very point where the matter +sticks, there being no such person as a master among them. Harris is +sensible there ought to be such a person; however, at present, every +body sings there according to their own ideas, or what chance +instruction they can come at. We are, however, to follow your plan in +the matter; but can at no rate relinquish the hopes of seeing you in +eight or ten days from the date of this; when the music (by the specimen +of expedition you have given me) will be advanced as far as you mention. +The parts are all writ out and doubled, &c. as we go on, as I have +assistance from the theatre with me. + +"My intention was, to have closed the first act with a song, but I find +it is not thought so well. Hence I trust you with one of the inclosed +papers; and, at the same time, you must excuse my impertinence in adding +an idea of the cast I would wish the music to have; as I think I have +heard you say you never heard Leoni, [Footnote: Leoni played Don +Carlos.] and I cannot briefly explain to you the character and situation +of the persons on the stage with him. The first (a dialogue between +Quick and Mrs. Mattocks [Footnote: Isaac and Donna Louisa.]), I would +wish to be a pert, sprightly air; for, though some of the words mayn't +seem suited to it, I should mention that they are neither of them in +earnest in what they say. Leoni takes it up seriously, and I want him to +show himself advantageously in the six lines beginning 'Gentle maid.' I +should tell you, that he sings nothing well but in a plaintive or +pastoral style; and his voice is such as appears to me always to be hurt +by much accompaniment. I have observed, too, that he never gets so much +applause as when he makes a cadence. Therefore my idea is, that he +should make a flourish at 'Shall I grieve thee?' and return to 'Gentle +maid,' and so sing that part of the tune again. [Footnote: It will be +perceived, by a reference to the music of the opera, that Mr. Linley +followed these instructions implicitly and successfully.] After that, +the two last lines, sung by the three, with the persons only varied, may +get them off with as much spirit as possible. The second act ends with a +_slow_ glee, therefore I should think the two last lines in +question had better be brisk, especially as Quick and Mrs. Mattocks are +concerned in it. + +"The other is a song of Wilson's in the third act. I have written it to +your tune, which you put some words to, beginning, 'Prithee, prithee, +pretty man!' I think it will do vastly well for the words: Don Jerome +sings them when he is in particular spirits; therefore the tune is not +too light, though it might seem so by the last stanza--but he does not +mean to be grave there, and I like particularly the returning to 'O the +days when I was young!' We have mislaid the notes, but Tom remembers it. +If you don't like it for words, will you give us one? but it must go +back to 'O the days,' and be _funny_. I have not done troubling you +yet, but must wait till Monday." + +A subsequent letter contains further particulars of their progress. + +"DEAR SIR, + +"Sunday evening next is fixed for our first musical rehearsal, and I was +in great hopes we might have completed the score. The songs you have +sent up of 'Banna's Banks,' and 'Deil take the wars,' I had made words +for before they arrived, which answer excessively well; and this was my +reason for wishing for the next in the same manner, as it saved so much +time. They are to sing 'Wind, gentle evergreen,' just as you sing it +(only with other words), and I wanted only such support from the +instruments, or such joining in, as you should think would help to set +off and assist the effort. I inclose the words I had made for 'Wind, +gentle evergreen,' which will be sung, as a catch, by Mrs. Mattocks, +Dubellamy, [Footnote: Don Antonio.] and Leoni. I don't mind the words +not fitting the notes so well as the original ones. 'How merrily we +live,' and 'Let's drink and let's sing,' are to be sung by a company of +_friars_ over their wine. [Footnote: For these was afterwards +substituted Mr. Linley's lively glee, "This bottle's the sun of our +table."] The words will be parodied, and the chief effect I expect from +them must arise from their being _known_; for the joke will be much +less for these jolly fathers to sing any thing new, than to give what +the audience are used to annex the idea of jollity to. For the other +things Betsey mentioned, I only wish to have them with such +accompaniment as you would put to their _present_ words, and I +shall have got words to my liking for them by the time they reach me. + +"My immediate wish at present is to give the performers their parts in +the music (which they expect on Sunday night), and for any assistance +the orchestra can give to help the effect of the glees, &c., that may be +judged of and added at a rehearsal, or, as you say, on inquiring how +they have been done; though I don't think it follows that what Dr. +Arne's method is must be the best. If it were possible for Saturday and +Sunday's post to bring us what we asked for in our last letters, and +what I now enclose, we should still go through it on Sunday, and the +performers should have their parts complete by Monday night. We have had +our rehearsal of the speaking part, and are to have another on Saturday. +I want Dr. Harrington's catch, but, as the sense must be the same, I am +at a loss how to put other words. Can't the under part ('A smoky house, +&c.') be sung by one person and the other two change? The situation is-- +Quick and Dubellamy, two lovers, carrying away Father Paul (Reinold) in +great raptures, to marry them:--the Friar has before warned them of the +ills of a married life, and they break out into this. The catch is +particularly calculated for a stage effect; but I don't like to take +another person's words, and I don't see how I can put others, keeping +the same idea ('of seven squalling brats, &c.') in which the whole +affair lies. However, I shall be glad of the notes, with Reynold's part, +if it is possible, as I mentioned. [Footnote: This idea was afterwards +relinquished.] + +"I have literally and really not had time to write the words of any +thing more first and then send them to you, and this obliges me to use +this apparently awkward way.... + + * * * * * + +"My father was astonishingly well received on Saturday night in Cato: I +think it will not be many days before we are reconciled. + +"The inclosed are the words for 'Wind, gentle evergreen;' a passionate +song for Mattocks, [Footnote: The words of this song, in composing which +the directions here given were exactly followed, are to be found in +scarce any of the editions of the Duenna. They are as follows:-- + + Sharp is the woe that wounds the jealous mind, + When treachery two fond hearts would rend; + But oh! how keener far the pang to find + That traitor in our bosom friend.] + +and another for Miss Brown, [Footnote: "Adieu, thou dreary pile."] which +solicit to be clothed with melody by you, and are all I want. Mattocks's +I could wish to be a broken, passionate affair, and the first two lines +may be recitative, or what you please, uncommon. Miss Brown sings hers +in a joyful mood: we want her to show in it as much execution as she is +capable of, which is pretty well; and, for variety, we want Mr. +Simpson's hautboy to cut a figure, with replying passages, &c., in the +way of Fisher's '_M' ami, il bel idol mio_,' to abet which I have +lugged in 'Echo,' who is always allowed to play her part. I have not a +moment more. Yours ever sincerely." + +The next and last extract I shall give at present is from a letter, +dated Nov. 2, 1775, about three weeks before the first representation of +the opera. + +"Our music is now all finished and rehearsing, but we are greatly +impatient to see _you_. We hold your coming to be _necessary_ +beyond conception. You say you are at our service after Tuesday next; +then 'I conjure you by that you do possess,' in which I include all the +powers that preside over harmony, to come next Thursday night (this day +se'nnight), and we will fix a rehearsal for Friday morning. From what I +see of their rehearsing at present, I am become still more anxious to +see you. + +"We have received all your songs, and are vastly pleased with them. You +misunderstood me as to the hautboy song; I had not the least intention +to fix on '_Bel idol mio_,' However, I think it is particularly +well adapted, and, I doubt not, will have a great effect...." + +An allusion which occurs in these letters to the prospect of a +reconciliation with his father gives me an opportunity of mentioning a +circumstance, connected with their difference, for the knowledge of +which I am indebted to one of the persons most interested in remembering +it, and which, as a proof of the natural tendency of Sheridan's heart to +let all its sensibilities flow in the right channel, ought not to be +forgotten. During the run of one of his pieces, having received +information from an old family servant that his father (who still +refused to have any intercourse with him) meant to attend, with his +daughters, at the representation of the piece, Sheridan took up his +station by one of the side scenes, opposite to the box where they sat, +and there continued, unobserved, to look at them during the greater part +of the night. On his return home, he was so affected by the various +recollections that came upon him, that he burst into tears, and, being +questioned as to the cause of his agitation by Mrs. Sheridan, to whom it +was new to see him returning thus saddened from the scene of his +triumph, he owned how deeply it had gone to his heart "to think that +_there_ sat his father and his sisters before him, and yet that he +alone was not permitted to go near them or speak to them." + +On the 21st of November, 1775, The Duenna was performed at Covent +Garden, and the following is the original cast of the characters, as +given in the collection of Mr. Sheridan's Dramatic Works:-- + +Don Ferdinand _Mr. Mattocks_. +Isaac Mendoza _Mr. Quick_. +Don Jerome _Mr. Wilson_. +Don Antonio _Mr. Dubellamy_. +Father Paul _Mr. Watson_. +Lopez _Mr. Wewitzer_. +Don Carlos _Mr. Leoni_. +Francis _Mr. Fox_. +Lay Brother _Mr. Baker_. + +Donna Louisa _Mrs. Mattocks_. +Donna Clara _Mrs. Cargill_. [Footnote: This is incorrect: +it was Miss Brown that played Donna Clara for the first few nights.] +The Duenna _Mrs. Green_. + +The run of this opera has, I believe, no parallel in the annals of the +drama. Sixty-three nights was the career of the Beggar's Opera; but the +Duenna was acted no less than seventy-five times during the season, the +only intermissions being a few days at Christmas, and the Fridays in +every week;--the latter on account of Leoni, who, being a Jew, could not +act on those nights. + +In order to counteract this great success of the rival house, Garrick +found it necessary to bring forward all the weight of his own best +characters; and even had recourse to the expedient of playing off the +mother against the son, by reviving Mrs. Frances Sheridan's comedy of +The Discovery, and acting the principal part in it himself. In allusion +to the increased fatigue which this competition with The Duenna brought +upon Garrick, who was then entering on his sixtieth year, it was said, +by an actor of the day, that "the old woman would be the death of the +old man." + +The Duenna is one of the very few operas in our language, which combine +the merits of legitimate comedy with the attractions of poetry and +song;--that divorce between sense and sound, to which Dr. Brown and +others trace the cessation of the early miracles of music, being no +where more remarkable than in the operas of the English stage. The +"Sovereign of the willing soul" (as Gray calls Music) always loses by +being made exclusive sovereign,--and the division of her empire with +poetry and wit, as in the instance of The Duenna, doubles her real +power. + +The intrigue of this piece (which is mainly founded upon an incident +borrowed from the "Country Wife" of Wycherley) is constructed and +managed with considerable adroitness, having just material enough to be +wound out into three acts, without being encumbered by too much +intricacy, or weakened by too much extension. It does not appear, from +the rough copy in my possession, that any material change was made in +the plan of the work, as it proceeded. Carlos was originally meant to be +a Jew, and is called "Cousin Moses" by Isaac, in the first sketch of the +dialogue; but possibly from the consideration that this would apply too +personally to Leoni, who was to perform the character, its designation +was altered. The scene in the second act, where Carlos is introduced by +Isaac to the Duenna, stood, in its original state, as follows:-- + +"_Isaac._ Moses, sweet coz, I thrive, I prosper. + +"_Moses._ Where is your mistress? + +"_Isaac._ There, you booby, there she stands. + +"_Moses._ Why she's damn'd ugly. + +"_Isaac._ Hush! (_stops his mouth_.) + +"_Duenna._ What is your friend saying, Don? + +"_Isaac._ Oh, Ma'am, he's expressing his raptures at such charms as +he never saw before. + +"_Moses._ Ay, such as I never saw before indeed. (_aside_.) + +"_Duenna._ You are very obliging, gentlemen; but, I dare say, Sir, +your friend is no stranger to the influence of beauty. I doubt not but +he is a lover himself. + +"_Moses._ Alas! Madam, there is now but one woman living, whom I +have any love for, and truly, Ma'am, you resemble her wonderfully. + +"_Duenna._ Well, Sir, I wish she may give you her hand as speedily +as I shall mine to your friend. + +"_Moses._ Me her hand!--O Lord, Ma'am--she is the last woman in the +world I could think of marrying. + +"_Duenna._ What then, Sir, are you comparing me to some wanton-- +some courtezan? + +"_Isaac._ Zounds! he durstn't. + +"_Moses._ O not I, upon my soul. + +"_Duenna._ Yes, he meant some young harlot--some-- + +"_Moses._ Oh, dear Madam, no--it was my mother I meant, as I hope +to be saved. + +"_Isaac._ Oh the blundering villain! (_aside_.) + +"_Duenna._ How, Sir--am I so like your mother? + +"_Isaac._ Stay, dear Madam--my friend meant--that you put him in +mind of what his mother was when a girl--didn't you, Moses? + +"_Moses._ Oh yes, Madam, my mother was formerly a great beauty, a +great toast, I assure you;--and when she married my father about thirty +years ago, as you may perhaps remember, Ma'am-- + +"_Duenna._ _I_, Sir! I remember thirty years ago! + +"_Isaac._ Oh, to be sure not, Ma'am--thirty years! no, no--it was +thirty months he said, Ma'am--wasn't it, Moses? + +"_Moses._ Yes, yes, Ma'am--thirty months ago, on her marriage with +my father, she was, as I was saying, a great beauty;--but catching cold, +the year afterwards, in child-bed of your humble servant-- + +"_Duenna._ Of you, Sir!--and married within these thirty months! + +"_Isaac._ Oh the devil! he has made himself out but a year old!-- +Come, Moses, hold your tongue.--You must excuse him, Ma'am--he means to +be civil--but he is a poor, simple fellow--an't you, Moses? + +"_Moses._ 'Tis true, indeed, Ma'am," &c. &c. &c. + +The greater part of the humor of Moses here was afterwards transferred +to the character of Isaac, and it will be perceived that a few of the +points are still retained by him. + +The wit of the dialogue, except in one or two instances, is of that +accessible kind which lies near the surface--which may be enjoyed +without wonder, and rather plays than shines. He had not yet searched +his fancy for those curious fossils of thought which make The School for +Scandal such a rich museum of wit. Of this precious kind, however, is +the description of Isaac's neutrality in religion--"like the blank leaf +between the Old and New Testament." As an instance, too, of the +occasional abuse of this research, which led him to mistake labored +conceits for fancies, may be mentioned the far-fetched comparison of +serenaders to Egyptian embalmers, "extracting the brain through the +ears." For this, however, his taste, not his invention, is responsible, +as we have already seen that the thought was borrowed from a letter of +his friend Halhed. + +In the speech of Lopez, the servant, with which the opera opens, there +are, in the original copy, some humorous points, which appear to have +fallen under the pruning knife, but which are not unworthy of being +gathered up here:-- + +"A plague on these haughty damsels, say I:--when they play their airs on +their whining gallants, they ought to consider that we are the chief +sufferers,--we have all their ill-humors at second-hand. Donna Louisa's +cruelty to my master usually converts itself into blows, by the time it +gets to me:--she can frown me black and blue at any time, and I shall +carry the marks of the last box on the ear she gave him to my grave. +Nay, if she smiles on any one else, I am the sufferer for it:--if she +says a civil word to a rival, I am a rogue and a scoundrel; and, if she +sends him a letter, my back is sure to pay the postage." + +In the scene between Ferdinand and Jerome (act ii. scene 3) the +following lively speech of the latter was, I know not why, left out:-- + +"_Ferdin._ ....but he has never sullied his honor, which, with his +title, has outlived his means. + +"_Jerome._ Have they? More shame for them!--What business have +honor or titles to survive, when property is extinct? Nobility is but as +a helpmate to a good fortune, and, like a Japanese wife, should perish +on the funeral pile of the estate!" + +In the first act, too, (scene 3) where Jerome abuses the Duenna, there +is an equally unaccountable omission of a sentence, in which he compares +the old lady's face to "parchment, on which Time and Deformity have +engrossed their titles." + +Though some of the poetry of this opera is not much above that ordinary +kind, to which music is so often doomed to be wedded--making up by her +own sweetness for the dulness of her help-mate--by far the greater +number of the songs are full of beauty, and some of them may rank among +the best models of lyric writing. The verses, "Had I a heart for +falsehood framed," notwithstanding the stiffness of this word "framed," +and one or two other slight blemishes, are not unworthy of living in +recollection with the matchless air to which they are adapted. + +There is another song, less known, from being connected with less +popular music, which, for deep, impassioned feeling and natural +eloquence, has not, perhaps, its rival, through the whole range of lyric +poetry. As these verses, though contained in the common editions of The +Duenna, are not to be found in the opera, as printed in the British +Theatre, and, still more strangely, are omitted in the late Collection +of Mr. Sheridan's Works, [Footnote: For this Edition of his Works I am +no further responsible than in having communicated to it a few +prefatory pages, to account and apologize to the public for the delay of +the Life.] I should feel myself abundantly authorized in citing them +here, even if their beauty were not a sufficient excuse for recalling +them, under any circumstances, to the recollection of the reader:-- + + "Ah, cruel maid, how hast thou changed + The temper of my mind! + My heart, by thee from love estrang'd, + Becomes, like thee, unkind. + + "By fortune favor'd, clear in fame, + I once ambitious was; + And friends I had who fann'd the flame, + And gave my youth applause. + + "But now my weakness all accuse, + Yet vain their taunts on me; + Friends, fortune, fame itself I'd lose, + To gain one smile from thee. + + "And only thou should'st not despise + My weakness or my woe; + If I am mad in others' eyes, + 'Tis thou hast made me so. + + "But days, like this, with doubting curst, + I will not long endure-- + Am I disdain'd--I know the worst, + And likewise know my cure. + + "If, false, her vow she dare renounce, + That instant ends my pain; + For, oh! the heart must break at once, + That cannot hate again." + +It is impossible to believe that such verses as these had no deeper +inspiration than the imaginary loves of an opera. They bear, burnt into +every line, the marks of personal feeling, and must have been thrown off +in one of those passionate moods of the heart, with which the poet's own +youthful love had made him acquainted, and under the impression or vivid +recollection of which these lines were written. + +In comparing this poem with the original words of the air to which it is +adapted, (Parnell's pretty lines, "My days have been so wondrous free,") +it will be felt, at once, how wide is the difference between the cold +and graceful effusions of taste, and the fervid bursts of real genius-- +between the delicate product of the conservatory, and the rich child of +the sunshine. + +I am the more confirmed in the idea that this song was written +previously to the opera, and from personal feeling, by finding among his +earlier pieces the originals of two other songs--"I ne'er could any +lustre see," and "What bard, oh Time, discover." The thought, upon which +the latter turns, is taken from a poem already cited, addressed by him +to Mrs. Sheridan in 1773; and the following is the passage that supplied +the material:-- + + "Alas, thou hast no wings, oh Time, + It was some thoughtless lover's rhyme, + Who, writing in his Chloe's view, + Paid her the compliment through you. + For, had he, if he truly lov'd, + But once the pangs of absence prov'd, + He'd cropt thy wings, and, in their stead, + Have painted thee with heels of lead." + +It will be seen presently, that this poem was again despoiled of some of +its lines, for an epilogue which he began a few years after, upon a very +different subject. There is something, it must be owned, not very +sentimental in this conversion of the poetry of affection to other and +less sacred uses--as if, like the ornaments of a passing pageant, it +might be broken up after the show was over, and applied to more useful +purposes. That the young poet should be guilty of such sacrilege to +love, and thus steal back his golden offerings from the altar, to melt +them down into utensils of worldly display, can only be excused by that +demand upon the riches of his fancy, which the rapidity of his present +career in the service of the dramatic muse occasioned. + +There is not the same objection to the approbation of the other song, +which, it will be seen, is a selection of the best parts of the +following Anacreontic verses:-- + + "I ne'er could any lustre see +[Footnote: Another mode of beginning this song in the MS.-- + "Go tell the maid who seeks to move + My lyre to praise, my heart to love, + No rose upon her cheek can live, + Like those assenting blushes give."] + In eyes that would not look on me: + When a glance aversion hints, + I always think the lady squints. + I ne'er saw nectar on a lip, + But where my own did hope to sip. + No pearly teeth rejoice my view, + Unless a 'yes' displays their hue-- + The prudish lip, that _noes_ me back. + Convinces me the teeth are black, + To me the cheek displays no roses, + Like that th' assenting blush discloses; + But when with proud disdain 'tis spread, + To me 'tis but a scurvy red. + Would she have me praise her hair? + Let her place my garland there. + Is her hand so white and pure? + I must press it to be sure; + Nor can I be certain then, + Till it grateful press again. + Must I praise her melody? + Let her sing of love and me. + If she choose another theme, + I'd rather hear a peacock scream. + Must I, with attentive eye, + Watch her heaving bosom sigh? + I will do so, when I see + That heaving bosom sigh for me. + None but bigots will in vain + Adore a heav'n they cannot gain. + If I must religious prove + To the mighty God of Love, + Sure I am it is but fair + He, at least, should hear my prayer. + But, by each joy of his I've known, + And all I yet shall make my own, + Never will I, with humble speech, + Pray to a heav'n I cannot reach." + +In the song, beginning "Friendship is the bond of reason," the +third verse was originally thus:-- + + "And, should I cheat the world and thee, + One smile from her I love to win, + Such breach of human faith would be + A sacrifice, and not a sin." + +To the song "'Give Isaac the nymph," there were at first two more +verses, which, merely to show how judicious was the omission of them, I +shall here transcribe. Next to the advantage of knowing what to put into +our writings, is that of knowing what to leave out:-- + + "To one thus accomplished I durst speak my mind, + And flattery doubtless would soon make her kind; + For the man that should praise her she needs must adore, + Who ne'er in her life receiv'd praises before. + + "But the frowns of a beauty in hopes to remove, + Should I prate of her charms, and tell of my love; + No thanks wait the praise which she knows to be true, + Nor smiles for the homage she takes as her due." + +Among literary piracies or impostures, there are few more audacious than +the Dublin edition of the Duenna,--in which, though the songs are given +accurately, an entirely new dialogue is substituted for that of +Sheridan, and his gold, as in the barter of Glaucus, exchanged for such +copper as the following:-- + +"_Duen._ Well, Sir, I don't want to stay in your house; but I must +go and lock up my wardrobe." + +"_Isaac._ Your wardrobe! when you came into my house you could +carry your wardrobe in your comb-case, you could, you old dragon." + +Another specimen:-- + +"_Isaac._ Her voice, too, you told me, was like a Virginia +Nightingale; why, it is like a cracked warming-pan:--and as for +dimples!--to be sure, she has the devil's own dimples.--Yes! and you +told me she had a lovely down upon her chin, like the down of a peach; +but, damn me if ever I saw such down upon any creature in my life, +except once upon an old goat." + +These jokes, I need not add, are all the gratuitous contributions of the +editor. + +Towards the close of the year 1775, it was understood that Garrick meant +to part with his moiety of the patent of Drury Lane Theatre, and retire +from the stage. He was then in the sixtieth year of his age, and might +possibly have been influenced by the natural feeling, so beautifully +expressed for a great actor of our own time, by our greatest living +writer: + + ----"Higher duties crave + Some space between the theatre and the grave; + That, like the Roman in the Capitol, + I may adjust my mantle, ere I fall." + +[Footnote: Kemble's Farewell Address on taking leave of the Edinburgh +stage, written by Sir Walter Scott.] + +The progress of the negotiation between him and Mr. Sheridan, which +ended in making the latter patentee and manager, cannot better be traced +than in Sheridan's own letters, addressed at the time to Mr. Linley, and +most kindly placed at my disposal by my friend Mr. William Linley. + +"Sunday, Dec. 31, 1775. + +"DEAR SIR, + +"I was always one of the slowest letter-writers in the world, though I +have had more excuses than usual for my delay in this instance. The +principal matter of business on which I was to have written to you, +related to our embryo negotiation with Garrick, of which I will now give +you an account. + +"Since you left town, Mrs. Ewart has been so ill, as to continue near +three weeks at the point of death. This, of course, has prevented Mr. E. +from seeing anybody on business, or from accompanying me to Garrick's. +However, about ten days ago, I talked the matter over with him by +myself, and the result was, appointing Thursday evening last to meet +him, and to bring Ewart, which I did accordingly. On the whole of our +conversation that evening, I began (for the first time) to think him +_really serious_ in the business. He still, however, kept the +reserve of giving the refusal to Colman, though at the same time he did +not hesitate to assert his confidence that Colman would decline it. I +was determined to push him on this point, (as it was really farcical for +us to treat with him under such an evasion,) and at last he promised to +put the question to Colman, and to give me a decisive answer by the +ensuing Sunday (to-day). Accordingly, within this hour, I have received +a note from him, which (as I meant to show it my father) I here +transcribe for you. + +"'Mr. Garrick presents his compliments to Mr. Sheridan, and, as he is +obliged to go into the country for three days, he should be glad to see +him upon his return to town, either on Wednesday about 6 or 7 o'clock, +or whenever he pleases. The party has no objection to the whole, but +chooses no partner but Mr. G. Not a word of this yet. Mr. G. sent a +messenger on purpose, (i.e. to Colman). He would call upon Mr. S., but +he is confined at home. Your name is upon our list'. + +"This _decisive answer_ may be taken two ways. However, as Mr. G. +informed Mr. Ewart and 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 I 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 70,000_l_. +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 _purchase 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 I 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 +70,000_l_., the annual interest is 3,500_l_.; 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 the Duenna, that the managers have not tried to regain her, +which 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 Christmas, +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 the season to all your fire-side. + +"Your grandson is a very magnificent fellow. [Footnote: Sheridan's first +child, Thomas, born in the preceding year.] + +"Yours ever sincerely, + +"R. B. SHERIDAN." + +"January 4, 1776. + +"DEAR SIR, + +"I left Garrick last night too late to write to you. He has offered +Colman the refusal, and showed me his answer; which was (as in the note) +that he was willing to purchase the whole, but would have no partner but +Garrick. On this, Mr. Garrick appointed a meeting with his partner, +young Leasy, and, in presence of their solicitor, treasurer, &c., +declared to him that he was absolutely on the point of settling, and, if +_he_ was willing, he might have the same price for his share; but +that if he (Leasy) would not sell, Mr. Garrick would, instantly, to +another party. The result was, Leasy's declaring his intention of not +parting with his share. Of this Garrick again informed Colman, who +immediately gave up the whole matter. + +"Garrick was extremely explicit, and, in short, we came to a final +resolution. So that, if the necessary matters are made out to all our +satisfactions, we may sign and seal a previous agreement within a +fortnight. + +"I meet him again to-morrow evening, when we are to name a day for a +conveyancer on our side, to meet his solicitor, Wallace. I have pitched +on a Mr. Phips, at the recommendation and by the advice of Dr. Ford. The +three first steps to be taken are these,--our lawyer is to look into the +titles, tenures, &c. of the house and adjoining estate, the extent and +limitations of the patent, &c. We should then employ a builder (I think, +Mr. Collins,) to survey the state and repair in which the whole premises +are, to which G. entirely assents. Mr. G. will then give us a fair and +attested estimate from his books of what the profits have been, at an +average, for these last seven years. [Footnote: These accounts were +found among Mr. Sheridan's papers. Garrick's income from the theatre for +the year 1775-6 is thus stated:--"Author 400_l_., salary, +800_l_., manager 500_l_."] This he has shown me in rough, and +valuing the property at 70,000_l_, the interest has exceeded ten +percent. + +"We should, after this, certainly make an interest to get the King's +promise, that, while the theatre is well conducted, &c. he will grant no +patent to a third,--though G. seems confident that he never will. If +there is any truth in professions and appearances, G. seems likely +always to continue our friend, and to give every assistance in his +power. + +"The method of our sharing the purchase, I should think, may be thus,-- +Ewart, to take 10,000_l_., you 10,000_l_, and I, +10,000_l_.--Dr. Ford agrees, with the greatest pleasure, to embark +the other five; and if you do not choose to venture so much, will, I +dare say, share it with you. Ewart is preparing his money, and I have a +certainty of my part. We shall have a very useful ally in Dr. Ford; and +my father offers his services on our own terms. We cannot unite Garrick +to our interests too firmly; and I am convinced his influence will bring +Leasy to our terms, if he should be ill-advised enough to desire to +interfere in what he is totally unqualified for. + +"I'll write to you to-morrow relative to Leasy's mortgage (which Garrick +has, and advises us to take), and many other particulars. When matters +are in a certain train (which I hope will be in a week,) I suppose you +will not hesitate to come to town for a day or two. Garrick proposes, +when we are satisfied with the bargain, to sign a previous article, with +a penalty of ten thousand pounds on the parties who break from +fulfilling the purchase. When we are once satisfied and determined in +the business (which, I own, is my case), the sooner that is done the +better. I must urge it particularly, as my confidential connection with +the other house is peculiarly distressing, till I can with prudence +reveal my situation, and such a treaty (however prudently managed) +cannot long be kept secret, especially as Leasy is now convinced of +Garrick's resolution. + +"I am exceedingly hurried at present, so, excuse omissions, and do not +flag when we come to the point. I'll answer for it, we shall see many +golden campaigns. + +"Yours ever, + +"R. B. SHERIDAN. + +"You have heard, I suppose, that Foote is likely never to show his face +again." + +"January 31st, 1776. + +"DEAR SIR, + +"I am glad you have found a person who will let you have the money at +four per cent. The security will be very clear; but, as there is some +degree of risk, as in case of fire, I think four per cent uncommonly +reasonable.--It will scarcely be any advantage to pay it off, for your +houses and chapel, I suppose, bring in much more. Therefore, while you +can raise money at four per cent, on the security of your theatrical +share _only_, you will be right to alter, as little as you can, the +present disposition of your property. + +"As to your quitting Bath, I cannot see why you should doubt a moment +about it. Surely, the undertaking in which you embark such a sum as +10,000_l_. ought to be the chief object of your attention--and, +supposing you did not choose to give up all your time to the theatre, +you may certainly employ yourself more profitably in London than in +Bath. But, if you are willing (as I suppose you will be) to make the +theatre the great object of your attention, rely on it you may lay aside +every doubt of not finding your account in it; for the fact is, we shall +have nothing but our own equity to consult in making and obtaining any +demand for exclusive trouble. Leasy is utterly unequal to any department +in the theatre. He has an opinion of me, and is very willing to let the +whole burthen and ostensibility be taken off his shoulders. But I +certainly should not give up my time and labor (for his superior +advantage, having so much greater a share) without some exclusive +advantage. Yet, I should by no means make the demand till I had shown +myself equal to the task. My father purposes to be with us but one year; +and that only to give me what advantage he can from his experience. He +certainly must be paid for his trouble, and so certainly must you. You +have experience and character equal to the line you would undertake; and +it never can enter into any body's head that you were to give your time +or any part of your attention gratis, because you had a share in the +theatre. I have spoke on this subject both to Garrick and Leasy, and you +will find no demur on any side to your gaining a _certain_ income +from the theatre--greater, I think, than you could make out of it--and +in this the theatre will be acting only for its own advantage. At the +same time you may always make leisure for a few select scholars, whose +interest may also serve the greater cause of your patentee-ship. + +"I have had a young man with me who wants to appear as a singer in plays +or oratorios. I think you'll find him likely to be serviceable in +either. He is not one-and-twenty, and has no conceit. He has a good +tenor voice--very good ear and a great deal of execution, of the right +kind. He reads notes very quick, and can accompany himself. This is +Betsey's verdict, who sat in judgment on him on Sunday last. I have +given him no answer, but engaged him to wait till you come to town. + +"You must not regard the reports in the paper about a third theatre-- +that's all nonsense. + +"Betsey's and my love to all. Your grandson astonishes every body by his +vivacity, his talents for music and poetry, and the most perfect +integrity of mind. + +"Yours most sincerely, + +"R. B. SHERIDAN." + +In the following June the contract with Garrick was perfected; and in a +paper drawn up by Mr. Sheridan many years after, I find the shares of +the respective purchasers thus stated:- + +Mr. Sheridan, two fourteenths of the whole. 10,000_l_. +Mr. Linley, ditto 10,000_l_. +Dr. Ford, 3 ditto 15,000_l_. + +Mr. Ewart, it will be perceived, though originally mentioned as one of +the parties, had no concern in the final arrangement. + +Though the letters, just cited, furnish a more detailed account than has +yet been given to the public of this transaction by which Mr. Sheridan +became possessed of his theatrical property, they still leave us in the +dark with respect to the source from which his own means of completing +the purchase were derived. Not even to Mr. Linley, while entering into +all other details, does he hint at the fountain head from which this +supply is to come:-- + + _"--gentes maluit ortus + Mirari, quam nosse tuos."_ + +There was, indeed, something mysterious and miraculous about all his +acquisitions, whether in love, in learning, in wit, or in wealth. How or +when his stock of knowledge was laid in, nobody knew--it was as much a +matter of marvel to those who never saw him read, as the existence of +the chameleon has been to those who fancied it never eat. His advances +in the heart of his mistress were, as we have seen, equally trackless +and inaudible, and his triumph was the first that even rivals knew of +his love. In like manner, the productions of his wit took the world by +surprise,--being perfected in secret, till ready for display, and then +seeming to break from under the cloud of his indolence in full maturity +of splendor. His financial resources had no less an air of magic about +them; and the mode by which he conjured up, at this time, the money for +his first purchase into the theatre, remains, as far as I can learn, +still a mystery. It has been said that Mr. Garrick supplied him with the +means--but a perusal of the above letters must set that notion to rest. +There was evidently, at this time, no such confidential understanding +between them as an act of friendship of so signal a nature would imply; +and it appears that Sheridan had the purchase money ready, even before +the terms upon which Garrick would sell were ascertained. That Doctor +Ford should have advanced the money is not less improbable; for the +share of which, contrary to his first intention, he ultimately became +proprietor, absorbed, there is every reason to think, the whole of his +disposable means. He was afterwards a sufferer by the concern to such an +extent, as to be obliged, in consequence of his embarrassments, to +absent himself for a considerable time from England; and there are among +the papers of Mr. Sheridan, several letters of remonstrance addressed to +him by the son of Dr. Ford, in which some allusion to such a friendly +service, had it ever occurred, would hardly have been omitted. + +About the end of this year some dissensions arose between the new +patentees and Mr. Lacy, in consequence of the expressed intention of the +latter to introduce two other partners into the establishment, by the +disposal of his share to Captain Thomson and a Mr. Langford. By an +account of this transaction, which appears in a Periodical Paper +published at the time, [Footnote: The Selector] and which, from its +correctness in other particulars, I rather think may be depended on, it +would seem that Sheridan, in his opposition to Lacy, had proceeded to +the extremity of seceding from his own duties at the theatre, and +inducing the principal actors to adopt the same line of conduct. + +"Does not the rage (asks this writer) of the new managers, all directed +against the innocent and justifiable conduct of Mr. Lacy, look as if +they meant to rule a theatre, of which they have only a moiety among +them, and feared the additional weight and influence which would be +given to Mr. Lacy by the assistance of Captain Thomson and Mr. Langford? +If their intentions were right, why should they fear to have their power +balanced, and their conduct examined? Is there a precedent in the annals +of the theatre, where the acting manager deserted the general property, +left the house, and seduced the actors from their duties--why? +forsooth, because he was angry. Is not such conduct actionable? In any +concern of common property, Lord Mansfield would make it so. And, what +an insult to the public, from whose indulgence and favor this conceited +young man, with his wife and family, are to receive their daily bread! +Because Mr. Lacy, in his opinion, had used him ill--his patrons and +benefactors might go to the devil! Mr. Lacy acted with great temper and +moderation; and, in order that the public might not be wholly +disappointed, he brought on old stock-plays--his brother manager +having robbed him of the means and instruments to do otherwise, by +taking away the performers." + +It is also intimated in the same publication that Mr. Garrick had on +this occasion "given Mr. Sheridan credit on his banker for +20,000_l_. for law expenses or for the purchase of Messrs. Langford +and Thomson's shares." + +The dispute, however, was adjusted amicably. Mr. Lacy was prevailed upon +to write an apology to the public, and the design of disposing of his +share in the theatre was, for the present, relinquished. + +There is an allusion to this reconciliation in the following +characteristic letter, addressed by Sheridan to Mr. Linley in the spring +of the following year. + +"DEAR SIR, + +"You write to me though you tell me you have nothing to say--now, I have +reversed the case, and have not wrote to you, because I have had so much +to say. However, I find I have delayed too long to attempt now to +transmit you a long detail of our theatrical manoeuvres; but you must +not attribute my not writing to idleness, but on the contrary to my +_not_ having been idle. + +"You represent your situation of mind between _hopes_ and +_fears_. I am afraid I should argue in vain (as I have often on +this point before) were I to tell you, that it is always better to +encourage the former than the latter. It may be very prudent to mix a +little _fear_ by way of alloy with a good solid mass of +_hope_; but you, on the contrary, always deal in +_apprehension_ by the pound, and take _confidence_ by the +grain, and spread as thin as leaf gold. In fact, though a metaphor +mayn't explain it, the truth is, that, in all undertakings which depend +principally on ourselves, the surest way not to fail is to _determine +to succeed_. + +"It would be endless to say more at present about theatrical matters, +only, that every thing is going on very well. Lacy promised me to write +to you, which I suppose, however, he has not done. At our first meeting +after you left town, he cleared away all my doubts about his sincerity; +and I dare swear we shall never have the least misunderstanding again, +nor do I believe he will ever take any distinct counsel in future. +Relative to your affair he has not the shade of an objection remaining, +and is only anxious that you may not take amiss his boggling at first. +We have, by and with the advice of the privy council, concluded to have +Noverre over, and there is a species of pantomime to be shortly put on +foot, which is to draw all the human kind to Drury. [Footnote: I find +that the pantomime at Drury Lane this year was a revival of "Harlequin's +Invasion," and that at Covent Garden, "Harlequin's Frolics."] This is +become absolutely necessary on account of a marvellous preparation of +the kind which is making at Covent Garden. + +"Touching the tragedies you mention, if you speak of them merely as +certain tragedies that may be had, I should think it impossible we could +find the least room, as you know Garrick saddles us with one which we +_must_ bring out. But, if you have any particular desire that one +of them should be done, it is another affair, and I should be glad to +see them. Otherwise, I would much rather you would save the +disagreeableness of giving my opinion to a fresh tragic bard, being +already in disgrace with about nine of that irascible fraternity. + +"Betsey has been alarmed about Tom, but without reason. He is in my +opinion better than when you left him, at least to appearance, and the +cold he caught is gone. We sent to see him at Battersea, and would have +persuaded him to remove to Orchard Street; but he thinks the air does +him good, and he seems with people where he is at home, and may divert +himself, which, perhaps, will do him more good than the air,--but he is +to be with us soon. + +"Ormsby has sent me a silver branch on the score of the Duenna. This +will cost me, what of all things I am least free of, a letter: and it +should have been a poetical one, too, if the present had been any piece +of plate but a candlestick!--I believe I must melt it into a bowl to +make verses on it, for there is no possibility of bringing candle, +candlestick, or snuffers, into metre. However, as the gift was owing to +the muse, and the manner of it very friendly, I believe I shall try to +jingle a little on the occasion; at least, a few such stanzas as might +gain a cup of tea from the urn at Bath-Easton. + +"Betsey is very well, and on the point of giving Tom up to feed like a +Christian and a gentleman, or, in other words, of weaning, waining, or +weening him. As for the young gentleman himself, his progress is so +rapid, that one may plainly see the astonishment the sun is in of a +morning, at the improvement of the night. Our loves to all. + +"Yours ever, and truly, + +"R. B. SHERIDAN." + +The first contribution which the dramatic talent of the new manager +furnished to the stock of the theatre, was an alteration of Vanbrugh's +comedy, The Relapse, which was brought out on the 24th of February, +1777, under the title of "A Trip to Scarborough." + +In reading the original play, we are struck with surprise, that Sheridan +should ever have hoped to be able to _defecate_ such dialogue, and +yet leave any of the wit, whose whole spirit is in the lees, behind. The +very life of such characters as Berinthia is their licentiousness, and +it is with them, as with objects that are luminous from putrescence,--to +remove their taint is to extinguish their light. If Sheridan, indeed, +had substituted some of his own wit for that which he took away, the +inanition that followed the operation would have been much less sensibly +felt. But to be so liberal of a treasure so precious, and for the +enrichment of the work of another, could hardly have been expected from +him. Besides, it may be doubted whether the subject had not already +yielded its utmost to Vanbrugh, and whether even in the hands of +Sheridan, it could have been brought to bear a second crop of wit. Here +and there through the dialogue, there are some touches from his pen-- +more, however, in the style of his farce than his comedy. For instance, +that speech of Lord Foppington, where, directing the hosier not "to +thicken the calves of his stockings so much," he says, "You should +always remember, Mr. Hosier, that if you make a nobleman's spring legs +as robust as his autumnal calves, you commit a monstrous impropriety, +and make no allowance for the fatigues of the winter." Again, the +following dialogue:-- + +"_Jeweller._ I hope, my lord, those buckles have had the +unspeakable satisfaction of being honored with your lordship's +approbation? + +"_Lord F._ Why, they are of a pretty fancy; but don't you think +them rather of the smallest? + +"_Jeweller._ My lord, they could not well be larger, to keep on +your lordship's shoe. + +"_Lord F._ My good sir, you forget that these matters are not as +they used to be: formerly, indeed, the buckle was a sort of machine, +intended to keep on the shoe; but the case is now quite reversed, and +the shoe is of no earthly use but to keep on the buckle." + +About this time Mrs. Sheridan went to pass a few weeks with her father +and mother at Bath, while Sheridan himself remained in town, to +superintend the concerns of the theatre. During this interval he +addressed to her the following verses, which I quote, less from their +own peculiar merit, than as a proof how little his heart had yet lost of +those first feelings of love and gallantry which too often expire in +matrimony, as Faith and Hope do in heaven, and from the same causes-- + + "One lost in certainty, and one in joy." + + TO LAURA. + + "Near Avon's ridgy bank there grows + A willow of no vulgar size, + That tree first heard poor Silvio's woes, + And heard how bright were Laura's eyes. + + Its boughs were shade from heat or show'r, + Its roots a moss-grown seat became; + Its leaves would strew the maiden's bow'r, + Its bark was shatter'd with her name! + + Once on a blossom-crowned day + Of mirth-inspiring May, + Silvio, beneath this willow's sober shade, + In sullen contemplation laid, + + Did mock the meadow's flowery pride,-- + Rail'd at the dance and sportive ring;-- + The tabor's call he did deride, + And said, _it was not Spring_. + + He scorn'd the sky of azure blue, + He scorn'd whate'er could mirth bespeak; + He chid the beam that drank the dew, + And chid the gale that fann'd his glowing cheek. + Unpaid the season's wanton lay, + For still he sigh'd, and said, it _was not May_. + + "Ah, why should the glittering stream + Reflect thus delusive the scene? + Ah, why does a rosy-ting'd beam + Thus vainly enamel the green? + To me nor joy nor light they bring: + I tell thee, Phoebus, _'tis not Spring_. + + "Sweet tut'ress of music and love, + Sweet bird, if 'tis thee that I hear, + Why left you so early the grove, + To lavish your melody here? + Cease, then, mistaken thus to sing, + Sweet nightingale! it _is not Spring_. + + "The gale courts my locks but to tease, + And, Zephyr, I call not on thee: + Thy fragrance no longer can please, + Then rob not the blossoms for me: + But hence unload thy balmy wing, + Believe me, Zephyr, 'tis _not Spring_. + + "Yet the lily has drank of the show'r, + And the rose 'gins to peep on the day; + And yon bee seems to search for a flow'r, + As busy as if it were May:-- + In vain, thou senseless flutt'ring thing, + My heart informs me, _'tis not Spring."_ + + May pois'd her roseate wings, for she had heard + The mourner, as she pass'd the vales along; + And, silencing her own indignant bird, + She thus reprov'd poor Silvio's song. + + "How false is the sight of a lover; + How ready his spleen to discover + What reason would never allow! + Why,--Silvio, my sunshine and showers, + My blossoms, my birds, and my flow'rs, + Were never more perfect than now. + + "The water's reflection is true, + The green is enamell'd to view, + And Philomel sings on the spray; + The gale is the breathing of spring, + 'Tis fragrance it bears on its wing, + And the bee is assur'd it is _May_." + + "Pardon (said Silvio with a gushing tear), + _'Tis_ spring, sweet nymph, _but Laura is not here_." + +In sending these verses to Mrs. Sheridan, he had also written her a +description of some splendid party, at which he had lately been present, +where all the finest women of the world of fashion were assembled. His +praises of their beauty, as well as his account of their flattering +attentions to himself, awakened a feeling of at least poetical jealousy +in Mrs. Sheridan, which she expressed in the following answer to his +verses--taking occasion, at the same time, to pay some generous +compliments to the most brilliant among his new fashionable friends. +Though her verses are of that kind which we read more with interest than +admiration, they have quite enough of talent for the gentle themes to +which she aspired; and there is, besides, a charm about them, as coming +from Mrs. Sheridan, to which far better poetry could not pretend. + + TO SILVIO. + + "Soft flow'd the lay by Avon's sedgy side, + While o'er its streams the drooping willow hung + Beneath whose shadow Silvio fondly tried + To check the opening roses as they sprung. + + In vain he bade them cease to court the gale, + That wanton'd balmy on the zephyr's wing; + In vain, when Philomel renew'd her tale, + He chid her song, and said _'It was not Spring.'_ + + For still they bloom'd, tho' Silvio's heart was sad, + Nor did sweet Philomel neglect to sing; + The zephyrs scorned them not, tho' Silvio had, + For love and nature told them it was Spring. +[Footnote: As the poem altogether would be too long, I have here omitted +five or six stanzas] + + * * * * * + + To other scenes doth Silvio now repair, + To nobler themes his daring Muse aspires; + Around him throng the gay, the young, the fair, + His lively wit the listening crowd admires. + + And see, where radiant Beauty smiling stands, + With gentle voice and soft beseeching eyes, + To gain the laurel from his willing hands, + Her every art the fond enchantress tries. + + What various charms the admiring youth surround, + How shall he sing, or how attempt to praise? + So lovely all--where shall the bard be found, + Who can to _one_ alone attune his lays? + + Behold with graceful step and smile serene, + Majestic Stella moves to claim the prize: +[Footnote: According to the Key which has been given me, the name of +Stella was meant to designate the Duchess of Rutland] + "'Tis thine," he cries, "for thou art beauty's queen." + Mistaken youth! and sees't thou Myra's eyes? +[Footnote: The Duchess of Devonshire] + + With beaming lustre see they dart at thee: + Ah I dread their vengeance--yet withhold thy hand,-- + That deepening blush upbraids thy rash decree; + Hers is the wreath--obey the just demand. + + "Pardon, bright nymph,"(the wond'ring Silvio cries) + "And oh, receive the wreath thy beauty's due"-- + His voice awards what still his hand denies, + For beauteous Amoret now his eyes pursue. +[Footnote: Mrs. (afterward Lady) Crewe] + + With gentle step and hesitating grace, + Unconscious of her pow'r the fair one came; + If, while he view'd the glories of that face, + Poor Silvio doubted,--who shall dare to blame? + + A rosy blush his ardent gaze reprov'd, + The offer'd wreath she modestly declined;-- + "If sprightly wit and dimpled smiles are lov'd, + My brow," said Flavia, "shall that garland bind." +[Footnote: Lady Craven, afterwards Margravine of Anspach.] + + With wanton gaiety the prize she seized-- + Silvio in vain her snowy hand repell'd; + The fickle youth unwillingly was pleas'd, + Reluctantly the wreath he yet withheld. + + But Jessie's all-seducing form appears, +[Footnote: The late Countess of Jersey.] + Nor more the playful Flavia could delight; + Lovely in smiles, more lovely still in tears, + Her every glance shone eloquently bright. + + Those radiant eyes in safety none could view, + Did not those fringed lids their brightness shade-- + Mistaken youths! their beams, too late ye knew, + Are by that soft defence more fatal made. + + "O God of Love!" with transport Silvio cries, + "Assist me thou, this contest to decide; + And since to _one_ I cannot yield the prize, + Permit thy slave the garland to divide. + + "On Myra's breast the opening rose shall blow, + Reflecting from her cheek a livelier bloom; + For Stella shall the bright carnation glow-- + Beneath her eyes' bright radiance meet its doom. + + "Smart pinks and daffodils shall Flavia grace, + The modest eglantine and violet blue + On gentle Amoret's placid brow I'll place-- + Of elegance and love an emblem true." + + In gardens oft a beauteous flow'r there grows, + By vulgar eyes unnoticed and unseen; + In sweet security it humbly blows, + And rears its purple head to deck the green. + + This flower, as nature's poet sweetly sings, + Was once milk-white, and _hearts-ease_ was its name; + Till wanton Cupid pois'd his roseate wings, + A vestal's sacred bosom to inflame; + + With treacherous aim the god his arrow drew, + Which she with icy coldness did repel; + Rebounding thence with feathery speed it flew, + Till on this lonely flow'r at last it fell. + + Heart's-ease no more the wandering shepherds found, + No more the nymphs its snowy form possess; + Its white now chang'd to purple by Love's wound, + Heart's-ease no more, 'tis "Love in Idleness." + + "This flow'r with sweet-brier join'd shall thee adorn, + Sweet Jessie, fairest 'mid ten thousand fair! + But guard thy gentle bosom from the thorn, + Which, tho' conceal'd, the sweet-brier still must bear. + + "And place not Love, tho' _idle_, in thy breast, + Tho' bright its hues, it boasts no other charm-- + So may thy future days be ever blest, + And friendship's calmer joys thy bosom warm !" + + But where does Laura pass her lonely hours? + Does she still haunt the grot and willow-tree? + Shall Silvio from his wreath of various flowr's + Neglect to cull one simple sweet for thee? + + "Ah, Laura, no," the constant Silvio cries, + "For thee a never-fading wreath I'll twine; + Though bright the rose, its bloom too swiftly flies, + No emblem meet for love so true as mine. + + "For thee, my love, the myrtle, ever-green, + Shall every year its blossom sweet disclose, + Which, when our spring of youth no more is seen, + Shall still appear more lovely than the rose." + + "Forgive, dear youth," the happy Laura said, + "Forgive each doubt, each fondly anxious fear, + Which from my heart for ever now is fled-- + Thy love and truth, thus tried, are doubly dear. + + "With pain I mark'd the various passions rise, + When beauty so divine before thee mov'd; + With trembling doubt beheld thy wandering eyes, + For still I fear'd;--alas! because I lov'd. + + "Each anxious doubt shall Laura _now_ forego, + No more regret those joys so lately known, + Conscious, that tho' thy breast to _all_ may glow, + Thy faithful _heart_ shall beat for _her_ alone. + + "Then, Silvio, seize again thy tuneful lyre, + Nor yet sweet Beauty's power forbear to praise; + Again let charms divine thy strains inspire, + And Laura's voice shall aid the poet's lays." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL. + + +Mr. Sheridan was now approaching the summit of his dramatic fame;--he +had already produced the best opera in the language, and there now +remained for him the glory of writing also the best comedy. As this +species of composition seems, more, perhaps, than any other, to require +that knowledge of human nature and the world which experience alone can +give, it seems not a little extraordinary that nearly all our first-rate +comedies should have been the productions of very young men. Those of +Congreve were all written before he was five-and-twenty. Farquhar +produced the Constant Couple in his two-and-twentieth year, and died at +thirty. Vanbrugh was a young ensign when he sketched out the Relapse and +the Provoked Wife, and Sheridan crowned his reputation with the School +for Scandal at six-and-twenty. + +It is, perhaps, still more remarkable to find, as in the instance before +us, that works which, at this period of life, we might suppose to have +been the rapid offspring of a careless, but vigorous fancy,-- +anticipating the results of experience by a sort of second-sight +inspiration,--should, on the contrary, have been the slow result of many +and doubtful experiments, gradually unfolding beauties unforeseen even +by him who produced them, and arriving, at length, step by step, at +perfection. That such was the tardy process by which the School for +Scandal was produced, will appear from the first sketches of its plan +and dialogue, which I am here enabled to lay before the reader, and +which cannot fail to interest deeply all those who take delight in +tracing the alchemy of genius, and in watching the first slow workings +of the menstruum, out of which its finest transmutations arise. + +"Genius," says Buffon, "is Patience;" or, (as another French writer has +explained his thought)--"La Patience cherche, et le Genie trouve;" and +there is little doubt that to the co-operation of these two powers all +the brightest inventions of this world are owing;--that Patience must +first explore the depths where the pearl lies hid, before Genius boldly +dives and brings it up full into light. There are, it is true, some +striking exceptions to this rule; and our own times have witnessed more +than one extraordinary intellect, whose depth has not prevented their +treasures from lying ever ready within reach. But the records of +Immortality furnish few such instances; and all we know of the works, +that she has hitherto marked with her seal, sufficiently authorize the +general position,--that nothing great and durable has ever been produced +with ease, and that Labor is the parent of all the lasting wonders of +this world, whether in verse or stone, whether poetry or pyramids. + +The first sketch of the School for Scandal that occurs was written, I am +inclined to think, before the Rivals, or at least very soon after it;-- +and that it was his original intention to satirize some of the gossips +of Bath appears from the title under which I find noted down, as +follows, the very first hints, probably, that suggested themselves for +the dialogue. + +"THE SLANDERERS.--_A Pump-Room Scene_. + +"Friendly caution to the newspapers. + +"It is whispered-- + +"She is a constant attendant at church, and very frequently takes Dr. +M'Brawn home with her. + +"Mr. Worthy is very good to the girl;--for my part, I dare swear he has +no ill intention. + +"What! Major Wesley's Miss Montague? + +"Lud, ma'am, the match is certainly broke--no creature knows the cause; +some say a flaw in the lady's character, and others, in the gentleman's +fortune. + +"To be sure they do say-- + +"I hate to repeat what I hear. + +"She was inclined to be a little too plump before she went. + +"The most intrepid blush;--I've known her complexion stand fire for an +hour together. + +"'She had twins,'--How ill-natured! as I hope to be saved, ma'am, she +had but one; and that a little starved brat not worth mentioning." + +The following is the opening scene of his first sketch, from which it +will be perceived that the original plot was wholly different from what +it is at present,--Sir Peter and Lady Teazle being at that time not in +existence. + +"LADY SNEERWELL and SPATTER. + +"_Lady S._ The paragraphs, you say, were all inserted. + +"_Spat._ They were, madam. + +"_Lady S._ Did you circulate the report of Lady Brittle's intrigue +with Captain Boastall? + +"_Spat._ Madam, by this Lady Brittle is the talk of half the town; +and in a week will be treated as a demirep. + +"_Lady S._ What have you done as to the innuendo of Miss Niceley's +fondness for her own footman? + +"_Spat._ 'Tis in a fair train, ma'am. I told it to my hair- +dresser,--he courts a milliner's girl in Pall Mall, whose mistress has a +first cousin who is waiting-woman to Lady Clackit. I think in about +fourteen hours it must reach Lady Clackit, and then you know the +business is done. + +"_Lady S._ But is that sufficient, do you think? + +"_Spat._ O Lud, ma'am, I'll undertake to ruin the character of the +primmest prude in London with half as much. Ha! ha! Did your ladyship +never hear how poor Miss Shepherd lost her lover and her character last +summer at Scarborough? this was the whole of it. One evening at Lady +----'s, the conversation happened to turn on the difficulty of breeding +Nova Scotia sheep in England. 'I have known instances,' says Miss ---, +'for last spring, a friend of mine, Miss Shepherd of Ramsgate, had a Nova +Scotia sheep that produced her twins.'--'What!' cries the old deaf +dowager Lady Bowlwell, 'has Miss Shepherd of Ramsgate been brought to +bed of twins?' This mistake, as you may suppose, set the company +laughing. However, the next day, Miss Verjuice Amarilla Lonely, who had +been of the party, talking of Lady Bowlwell's deafness, began to tell +what had happened; but unluckily, forgetting to say a word of sheep, it +was understood by the company, and, in every circle, many believed, that +Miss Shepherd of Ramsgate had actually been brought to bed of a fine boy +and a girl; and, in less than a fortnight, there were people who could +name the father, and the farm-house where the babies were put out to +nurse. + +"_Lady S._ Ha! ha! well, for a stroke of luck, it was a very good +one. I suppose you find no difficulty in spreading the report on the +censorious Miss ----. + +"_Spat._ None in the world,--she has always been so prudent and +reserved, that every body was sure there was some reason for it at +bottom. + +"_Lady S._ Yes, a tale of scandal is as fatal to the credit of a +prude as a fever to those of the strongest constitutions; but there is a +sort of sickly reputation that outlives hundreds of the robuster +character of a prude. + +"_Spat._ True, ma'am, there are valetudinarians in reputation as in +constitutions; and both are cautious from their appreciation and +consciousness of their weak side, and avoid the least breath of air. +[Footnote: This is one of the many instances, where the improving effect +of revision may be traced. The passage at present stands thus:--"There +are valetudinarians in reputation as well as constitution; who, being +conscious of their weak part, avoid the least breath of air, and supply +the want of stamina by care and circumspection."] + +"_Lady S._ But, Spatter, I have something of greater confidence now +to entrust you with. I think I have some claim to your gratitude. + +"_Spat._ Have I ever shown myself one moment unconscious of what I +owe you? + +"_Lady S._ I do not charge you with it, but this is an affair of +importance. You are acquainted with my situation, but not all my +weaknesses. I was hurt, in the early part of my life, by the envenom'd +tongue of scandal, and ever since, I own, have no joy but in sullying +the fame of others. In this I have found you an apt tool: you have often +been the instrument of my revenge, but you must now assist me in a +softer passion. A young widow with a little beauty and easy fortune is +seldom driven to sue,--yet is that my case. Of the many you have seen +here, have you ever observed me, secretly, to favor one? + +"_Spat._ Egad! I never was more posed: I'm sure you cannot mean +that ridiculous old knight, Sir Christopher Crab? + +"_Lady S._ A wretch! his assiduities are my torment. + +"_Spat._ Perhaps his nephew, the baronet, Sir Benjamin Backbite, is +the happy man? + +"_Lady S._ No, though he has ill-nature, and a good person on his +side, he is not to my taste. What think you of Clerimont? [Footnote: +Afterwards called Florival.] + +"_Spat._ How! the professed lover of your ward, Maria; between +whom, too, there is a mutual affection. + +"_Lady S._ Yes, that insensible, that doater on an idiot, is the +man. + +"_Spat._ But how can you hope to succeed? + +"_Lady S._ By poisoning both with jealousy of the other, till the +credulous fool, in a pique, shall be entangled in my snare. + +"_Spat._ Have you taken any measure for it? + +"_Lady S._ I have. Maria has made me the confidante of Clerimont's +love for her: in return, I pretended to entrust her with my affection +for Sir Benjamin, who is her warm admirer. By strong representation of +my passion, I prevailed on her not to refuse to see Sir Benjamin, which +she once promised Clerimont to do. I entreated her to plead my cause, +and even drew her in to answer Sir Benjamin's letters with the same +intent. Of this I have made Clerimont suspicious; but 'tis you must +inflame him to the pitch I want. + +"_Spat._ But will not Maria, on the least unkindness of Clerimont, +instantly come to an explanation? + +"_Lady S._ This is what we must prevent by blinding...." + +The scene that follows, between Lady Sneerwell and Maria, gives some +insight into the use that was to be made of this intricate ground-work, +[Footnote: The following is his own arrangement of the Scenes of the +Second Act. "Act II. Scene 1st. All.--2d. Lady S. and Mrs. C.--3d. Lady +S. and ... Em. and Mrs. C. listening.--4th. L. S. and Flor. shows him +into the room,--bids him return the other way.--L. S. and Emma.--Emma +and Florival;--fits,--maid.--Emma fainting and sobbing:--'Death, don't +expose me!'--enter maid,--will call out--all come on with cards and +smelling bottles."] and it was, no doubt, the difficulty of managing +such an involvement of his personages dramatically, that drove him, +luckily for the world, to the construction of a simpler, and, at the +same time, more comprehensive plan. He might also, possibly, have been +influenced by the consideration, that the chief movement of this plot +must depend upon the jealousy of the lover,--a spring of interest which +he had already brought sufficiently into play in the Rivals. + +"_Lady Sneerwell._ Well, my love, have you seen Clerimont to-day? + +"_Maria._ I have not, nor does he come as often as he used. Indeed, +madam, I fear what I have done to serve you has by some means come to +his knowledge, and injured me in his opinion. I promised him faithfully +never to see Sir Benjamin. What confidence can he ever have in me, if he +once finds I have broken my word to him? + +"_Lady S._ Nay, you are too grave. If he should suspect any thing, +it will always be in my power to undeceive him. + +"_Mar._ Well, you have involved me in deceit, and I must trust to +you to extricate me. + +"_Lady S._ Have you answered Sir Benjamin's last letter in the +manner I wished? + +"_Mar._ I have written exactly as you desired me: but I wish you +would give me leave to tell the whole truth to Clerimont at once. There +is a coldness in his manner of late, which I can no ways account for. + +"_Lady S._ (_aside_.) I'm glad to find I have worked on him so +far;--fie, Maria, have you so little regard for me? would you put me to +the shame of being known to love a man who disregards me? Had you +entrusted me with such a secret, not a husband's power should have +forced it from me. But, do as you please. Go, forget the affection I +have shown you: forget that I have been as a mother to you, whom I found +an orphan. Go, break through all ties of gratitude, and expose me to the +world's derision, to avoid one sullen hour from a moody lover. + +"_Mar._ Indeed, madam, you wrong me; and you who know the +apprehension of love, should make allowance for its weakness. My love +for Clerimont is so great-- + +"_Lady S._ Peace; it cannot exceed mine. + +"_Mar._ For Sir Benjamin, perhaps not, ma'am--and, I am sure, +Clerimont has as sincere an affection for me. + +"_Lady S._ Would to heaven I could say the same! + +"_Mar._ Of Sir Benjamin:--I wish so too, ma'am. But I am sure you +would be extremely hurt, if, in gaining your wishes, you were to injure +me in the opinion of Clerimont. + +"_Lady S._ Undoubtedly; I would not for the world--Simple fool! +(_aside._) But my wishes, my happiness depend on you--for, I doat +so on the insensible, that it kills me to see him so attached to you. +Give me but Clerimont, and-- + +"_Mar._ Clerimont! + +"_Lady S._ Sir Benjamin, you know, I meant. Is he not attached to +you? am I not slighted for you? Yet, do I bear any enmity to you, as my +rival? I only request your friendly intercession, and you are so +ungrateful, you would deny me that. + +"_Mar._ Nay, madam, have I not done everything you wished? For you, +I have departed from truth, and contaminated my mind with falsehood-- +what could I do more to serve you? + +"_Lady S._ Well, forgive me, I was too warm. I know you would not +betray me. I expect Sir Benjamin and his uncle this morning--why, Maria, +do you always leave our little parties? + +"_Mar._ I own, madam, I have no pleasure in their conversation. I +have myself no gratification in uttering detraction, and therefore none +in hearing it. + +"_Lady S._ Oh fie, you are serious--'tis only a little harmless +raillery. + +"_Mar._ I never can think that harmless which hurts the peace of +youth, draws tears from beauty, and gives many a pang to the innocent. + +"_Lady S._ Nay, you must allow that many people of sense and wit +have this foible--Sir Benjamin Backbite, for instance. + +"_Mar._ He may, but I confess I never can perceive wit where I see +malice. + +"_Lady S._ Fie, Maria, you have the most unpolished way of +thinking! It is absolutely impossible to be witty without being a little +ill-natured. The malice of a good thing is the barb that makes it stick. +I protest now when I say an ill-natured thing, I have not the least +malice against the person; and, indeed, it may be of one whom I never +saw in my life; for I hate to abuse a friend--but I take it for granted, +they all speak as ill-naturedly of me. + +"_Mar._ Then you are, very probably, conscious you deserve it--for +my part, I shall only suppose myself ill-spoken of, when I am conscious +I deserve it." + +"_Enter Servant._ + +"_Ser._ Mrs. Candor. + +"_Mar._ Well, I'll leave you. + +"_Lady S._ No, no, you have no reason to avoid her, she is good +nature itself. + +"_Mar._ Yes, with an artful affectation of candor, she does more +injury than the worst backbiter of them all." + +"_Enter_ MRS. CANDOR. + +"_Mrs. Cand._ So, Lady Sneerwell, how d'ye do? Maria, child, how +dost? Well, who is't you are to marry at last? Sir Benjamin or +Clerimont? The town talks of nothing else." + +Through the remainder of this scene the only difference in the speeches +of Mrs. Candor is, that they abound more than at present in ludicrous +names and anecdotes, and occasionally straggle into that loose +wordiness, which, knowing how much it weakens the sap of wit, the good +taste of Sheridan was always sure to lop away. The same may be said of +the greater part of that scene of scandal which at present occurs in the +second Act, and in which all that is now spoken by Lady Teazle, was +originally put into the mouths of Sir Christopher Crab and others--the +caustic remarks of Sir Peter Teazle being, as well as himself, an after +creation. + +It is chiefly, however, in Clerimont, the embryo of Charles Surface, +that we perceive how imperfect may be the first lineaments, that Time +and Taste contrive to mould gradually into beauty. The following is the +scene that introduces him to the audience, and no one ought to be +disheartened by the failure of a first attempt after reading it. The +spiritless language--the awkward introduction of the sister into the +plot--the antiquated expedient [Footnote: This objection seems to have +occurred to himself; for one of his memorandums is--"Not to drop the +letter, but take it from the maid.] of dropping the letter--all, in +short, is of the most undramatic and most unpromising description, and +as little like what it afterwards turned to as the block is to the +statue, or the grub to the butterfly. + +"_Sir C._ This Clerimont is, to be sure, the drollest mortal! he is +one of your moral fellows, who does unto others as he would they should +do unto him. + +"_Lady Sneer._ Yet he is sometimes entertaining. + +"_Sir C._ Oh hang him, no--he has too much good nature to say a +witty thing himself, and is too ill-natured to praise wit in others. + +"_Enter_ CLERIMONT. + +"_Sir B._ So, Clerimont--we were just wishing for you to enliven us +with your wit and agreeable vein. + +"_Cler._ No, Sir Benjamin, I cannot join you. + +"_Sir B._ Why, man, you look as grave as a young lover the first +time he is jilted. + +"_Cler._ I have some cause to be grave, Sir Benjamin. A word with +you all. I have just received a letter from the country, in which I +understand that my sister has suddenly left my uncle's house, and has +not since been heard of. + +"_Lady S._ Indeed! and on what provocation? + +"_Cler._ It seems they were urging her a little too hastily to +marry some country squire that was not to her taste. + +"_Sir B._ Positively I love her for her spirit. + +"_Lady S._ And so do I, and would protect her, if I knew where she +was. + +"_Cler._ Sir Benjamin, a word with you--(_takes him apart_.) I +think, sir, we have lived for some years on what the world calls the +footing of friends. + +"_Sir B._ To my great honor, sir.--Well, my dear friend? + +"_Cler._ You know that you once paid your addresses to my sister. +My uncle disliked you; but I have reason to think you were not +indifferent to her. + +"_Sir B._ I believe you are pretty right there; but what follows? + +"_Cler._ Then I think I have a right to expect an implicit answer +from you, whether you are in any respect privy to her elopement? + +"_Sir B._ Why, you certainly have a right to ask the question, and +I will answer you as sincerely--which is, that though I make no doubt +but that she would have gone with me to the world's end, I am at present +entirely ignorant of the whole affair. This I declare to you upon my +honor--and, what is more, I assure you my devotions are at present paid +to another lady--one of your acquaintance, too. + +"_Cler._ (_Aside_.) Now, who can this other be whom he alludes +to?--I have sometimes thought I perceived a kind of mystery between him +and Maria--but I rely on her promise, though, of late, her conduct to me +has been 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. + +"_Lady S. (Taking Sir B. aside.)_ Sir Benjamin, I see Maria is now +coming to join us--do you detain her awhile, and I will contrive that +Clerimont should see you, and then drop this letter. + +"[Exeunt all but Sir. B.] + +"_Enter_ MARIA. + +"_Mar._ I thought the company were here, and Clerimont-- + +"_Sir B._ One, more your slave than Clerimont, is here. + +"_Mar._ Dear Sir Benjamin, I thought you promised me to drop this +subject. If I 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. + +"_Mar._ That you shall ever be entitled to--then I may depend upon +your honor? + +"_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 +suspects 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 +addresses? 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 +Sneerwell--you may perhaps often have perceived that 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 +are made the leading personages, was written subsequently to that of +which I have just given specimens. Of this, however, I cannot 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 excluded from the one, as +Sir Peter and Lady Teazle are from the other; so that it is difficult to +say, with certainty, which existed first, or at what time the happy +thought occurred of blending all that was best in each into one. + +The following are the Dramatis Personae of the second plan:-- + +Sir Rowland Harpur. + +---- Plausible. + +Capt. Harry Plausible. + +Freeman. + +Old Teazle. [Footnote: 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 +Plausible, Pliable, Young Pliant, Tom, and, lastly, Joseph Surface. Trip +was originally called Spunge; the name of Snake was in the earlier +sketch Spatter, and, even after the union of the two plots into one, all +the business of the opening scene with Lady Sneerwell, at present +transacted by Snake, was given to a character, afterwards wholly +omitted, Miss Verjuice.] (_Left off trade_.) + +Mrs. Teazle. + +Maria. + +From this list of the personages we may conclude that the quarrels 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 constructed. [Footnote: This was +most probably the "two act Comedy," which he announced to Mr. Linley as +preparing for representation in 1775.] There is reason too to believe, +from the following memorandum, which occurs in various shapes through +these manuscripts, 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 volatilizing and +condensing process which his wit must have gone through, before it +attained its present proof and flavor. + +"ACT I.--SCENE I + +"OLD TEAZLE _alone._ + +"In the year 44 I married my first wife; the wedding was at the end of +the year--aye, 'twas in December; yet, before Ann. Dom. 45, I repented. +A month before we swore we preferred each other to the whole world-- +perhaps we spoke truth; but, when we came to promise to love each other +till death, there I am sure we lied. Well, Fortune owed me a good turn; +in 48 she died. Ah, silly Solomon, in 52 I find thee married again! +Here, too, is a catalogue of ills--Thomas, born February 12; Jane born +Jan. 6; so they go on to the number of five. However, by death I stand +credited but by one. Well, Margery, rest her soul! was a queer creature; +when she was gone, I felt awkward at first, and being sensible that +wishes availed nothing, I often wished for her return. For ten years +more I kept my senses and lived single. Oh, blockhead, dolt Solomon! +Within this twelvemonth thou art married again--married to a woman +thirty years younger than thyself; a fashionable woman. Yet I took her +with caution; she had been educated in the country; but now she has more +extravagance than the daughter of an earl, more levity than a Countess. +What a defect it is in our laws, that a man who has once been branded in +the forehead should be hanged for the second offence. + +"_Enter_ JARVIS. + +"_Teaz._ Who's there? Well, Jarvis? + +"_Jarv._ Sir, there are a number of my mistress's tradesmen +without, clamorous for their money. + +"_Teaz._ Are those their bills in your hand? + +"_Jarv._ Something about a twentieth part, Sir. + +"_Teaz._ What! have you expended the hundred pounds I gave you for +her use? + +"_Jarv._ Long ago, Sir, as you may judge by some of the items:-- +'Paid the coach-maker for lowering the front seat of the coach.' + +"_Teaz._ What the deuce was the matter with the seat? + +"_Jarv._ Oh Lord, the carriage was too low for her by a foot when +she was dressed--so that it must have been so, or have had a tub at top +like a hat-case on a travelling trunk. Well, Sir, (_reads._) 'Paid +her two footmen half a year's wages, 50_l_.' + +"_Teaz._ 'Sdeath and fury! does she give her footmen a hundred a +year? + +"_Jarv._ Yes, Sir, and I think, indeed, she has rather made a good +bargain, for they find their own bags and bouquets. + +"_Teaz._ Bags and bouquets for footmen!--halters and bastinadoes! +[Footnote: Transferred afterwards to Trip and Sir Oliver.] + +"_Jarv._ 'Paid for my lady's own nosegays, 50_l_.' + +"_Teaz._ Fifty pounds for flowers! enough to turn the Pantheon into +a green-house, and give a Fete Champetre at Christmas. + +[Footnote: We observe here a change in his plan, with respect both to +the titles of Old Teazle and his wife, and the presence of the latter +during this scene, which was evidently not at first intended. + +From the following skeleton of the scenes of this piece it would appear +that (inconsistently, in some degree, with my notion of its being 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--Young 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, Y. 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 his uncle--Y. P. Old Jer. and tradesmen.--P. and Lady T." +&c. &c.] + +"_Lady Teaz._ Lord, Sir Peter, I wonder you should grudge me the +most innocent articles in dress--and then for the expense--flowers +cannot be cheaper in winter--you should find fault with the climate, and +not with me. I am sure I wish with all my heart, that it was Spring all +the year round, and that roses grew under one's feet. + +"_Sir P._ Nay, but, madam, then you would not wear them; but try +snowballs and icicles. But tell me, madam, how can you feel any +satisfaction 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 off your laced waistcoat--nay, I dare say, he +wouldn't eat your gold-headed cane in a week. Indeed, if you would +reserve nothing 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._ (_Reading._) 'Fruit for my lady's monkey, 5_l._ +per week.' + +"_Sir P._ Five pounds for a monkey!--why 'tis a dessert for an +alderman! + +"_Lady T._ Why, Sir Peter, would you starve the poor animal? I dare +swear he lives as reasonably as other monkeys do. + +"_Sir P._ Well, well, go on. + +"_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. + +"_Jarv._ Paid Mr. Warren for perfumes--milk of roses, 30_l_.' + +"_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, madam, an honest +country squire's daughter-- + +"_Lady T._ Oh, filthy; don't name it. Well, heaven forgive my +mother, but I do believe my father must have been a man of quality. + +"_Sir P._ Yes, madam, when first I saw you, you were dressed in a +pretty figured linen gown, with a bunch of keys by your side; your +occupations, 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 amusements +were to play country-dances on an old spinnet 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 +when you used to ride double behind the butler on 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 would 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 favor. + +"_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 first +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." [Footnote: The speeches which I have omitted consist +merely of repetitions of the same thoughts, with but very little +variation of the language.] + + * * * * * + +"_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 +bestow 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. + + * * * * * + +"_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 behavior too was different; you would dress, and +smile, and bow; fly to fetch me anything 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 +sing it yourself, so that even my mother said you were the smartest old +bachelor she ever saw--a billet-doux engrossed on buckram!!!!!! +[Footnote: 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.] + + * * * * * + +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 humor turning up. + +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 +they 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 produced 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 Wycherly 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 +elaboration of this Comedy exhibits. + +"_Scene_ [Footnote: The Third of the fourth Act in the present form +of the Comedy. This scene underwent many changes afterwards, and was +oftener put back into the crucible than any other part of the play] +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 humor? + +"_Lady T._ Nay, in faith you should pity me--this old curmudgeon of +late is growing so jealous, that I dare scarce go out, till I know he is +secure 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. + +"_Lady T._ Oh, hang him! I have told him plainly that if he +continues 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 be attached to you. But you must +not let matters 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. [Footnote: He had not yet +decided whether to make Maria the daughter-in-law or niece of Lady +Teazle.] + +"_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 lover 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 +innocence 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 +consciousness 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 +plethora, 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. [Footnote: This sentence +seems to have haunted him--I find it written in every direction, and +without any material change in its form, over the pages of his different +memorandum books.] + +"_Young P. Exactly so, upon my credit, ma'am." + + * * * * * + +It will be observed, from all I have cited, that much of the original +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 ebur, positoque rigore + Subsidit digitis, ceditque ut Hymettia sole + Cera remollescit, tractataque pollice multas + Flectitur in facies, ipsoque fit 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. + +I need not, I think, apologize 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 author's style +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 syllabarum" might +delight. But it is still more interesting to follow thus 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 processes of the natural world +--to see the crystal forming 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, to strip +away from the thyrsus of his wit every leaf that could render it less +light and portable. One instance out of many will show the improving +effect of these operations. [Footnote: 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 following example, +he has been tempted by an antithesis into an inversion of phrase by no +means idiomatic. "The plain state of the matter is this--I am an +extravagant young fellow _who want money to borrow_; you, I take to +be a prudent old fellow who have got money to lend." + +In the Collection of his Works this phrase is given differently--but +without authority from any of the manuscript copies.] 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, deserve +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 you 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. Candor._ But sure you would not be quite so severe on those +who only report what they hear? + +"_Sir P._ Yes, madam, I would have Law-merchant for them too, and +in all cases of slander currency, [Footnote: There is another simile +among his memorandums of the same mercantile kind:--"A sort of broker in +scandal, who transfers lies without fees."] 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 the quaintness or contrast of his epithets. + +Among the many rejected scraps of dialogue that lie about, like the +chippings of a Phidias, in this workshop 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." +The following touch of costume, too, in Sir Peter's description of the +rustic 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 I find in +Mr. Sheridan's hand-writing--one of those trifles, perhaps, with which +he and his friend Tickell were in the constant habit of amusing +themselves, and written apparently with the intention 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. +[Footnote: This phrase is made use of in the dialogue:--"As Lady Betty +Curricle was taking the dust in Hyde Park."] + + In the way I am met by some smart macaroni, + Who rides by my side on a little bay poney-- + No sturdy Hibernian, with shoulders so wide, + But as taper and slim as the ponies they ride; + Their legs are as slim, and their shoulders no wider, + Dear sweet little creatures, both poney and rider! + + But sometimes, when hotter, I order my chaise, + And manage, myself, my two little grays. + Sure never were seen two such sweet little ponies, + Other 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 Knightsbridge 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 subsequently 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, by a minute examination of Snake, +drew from him, in the presence of Sir Oliver 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 +carelessness, while few persons, with so much natural brilliancy of +talents, ever employed more art and circumspection in their display. +This was the case, remarkably, in the instance before us. +Notwithstanding the labor which he bestowed upon this comedy, (or we +should rather, perhaps, say in consequence of that labor,) the first +representation of the piece was announced before the whole of the copy +was in the hands of the actors. The manuscript, indeed, of the five last +scenes bears evident marks of this haste in finishing,--there being but +one rough draught of them scribbled upon detached pieces of paper; +while, of all the preceding acts, there are numerous transcripts, +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." [Footnote: The Prompter,] + +The cast of the play, on the first night of representation (May 8, +1777), was as follows:-- + +Sir Peter Teazle _Mr. King._ +Sir Oliver Surface _Mr. Yates._ +Joseph Surface _Mr. Palmer._ +Charles _Mr. Smith._ +Crabtree _Mr. Parsons._ +Sir Benjamin Backbite _Mr. Dodd._ +Rowley _Mr. Aickin._ +Moses _Mr. Baddeley._ +Trip _Mr. Lamash._ +Snake _Mr. Packer._ +Careless _Mr. Farren._ +Sir Harry Bumper _Mr. Gawdry._ +Lady Teazle _Mrs. Abington._ +Maria _Miss P. Hopkins_ +Lady Sneerwell _Miss Sherry._ +Mrs. Candor _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 regularly 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 0 + Ditto 195 6 0 + Ditto A. B. (Author's night) 73 10 0 (Expenses) + Ditto 257 4 6 + Ditto 243 0 0 + Ditto A. B. 73 10 0 + Committee 65 6 6 + School for Scandal 262 19 6 + Ditto 263 13 6 + Ditto A. B 73 10 0 + Ditto K. (the King) 272 9 6 + Ditto 247 15 0 + Ditto 255 14 0 + +The following extracts are taken at hazard from an account of the weekly +receipts of the Theatre, for the year 1778, kept with exemplary neatness +and care by Mrs. Sheridan herself: [Footnote: It appears from a letter +of Holcroft to Mrs. Sheridan, (given in his Memoirs, vol. i. p. 275,) +that she was also in the habit 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, but remind him of it."] + + 1778. L s. d. + January 3d. Twelfth Night Queen Mab 139 14 6 + 5th. Macbeth Queen Mab 212 19 0 + 6th. Tempest Queen Mab 107 15 6 + 7th. School for Scandal Comus 292 16 0 + 8th. School for Fathers Queen Mab 181 10 6 + 9th. School for Scandal Padlock 281 6 0 + + March 14th. School for Scandal Deserter 263 18 6 + 16th. Venice Preserved Belphegor (New) 195 3 6 + 17th. Hamlet Belphegor 160 19 0 + 19th. School for Scandal Belphegor 261 10 0 + +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 find 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 representation always +rivalling those on which the King went to the theatre, in the magnitude +of their receipts. + +The following note from Garrick [Footnote: Murphy tells us that Mr. +Garrick attended the rehearsals, and "was never known on any former +occasion to be more anxious for a favorite piece. He was proud of the +new manager; and in a triumphant manner boasted of the genius to whom he +had consigned the conduct of the theatre."--_Life of 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. GARRICK'S best wishes and compliments to Mr. Sheridan. + +"How is the Saint to-day? A gentleman who is as mad as myself about ye +School remark'd, that the characters upon the stage at ye falling of the +screen stand too long before they speak;--I thought so too ye first +night:--he said it was the same on ye 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 this 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 satisfying and delighting the most fastidious tastes among the +former. And this is the true triumph of genius in all the arts,--whether +in painting, sculpture, music, or literature, those works which have +pleased the greatest number of people of all classes, for the longest +space of time, 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 to 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 accumulation of wealth from the union +of two rich families,--has devolved that excessive opulence of wit, +with 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 +manuscript, 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 comprised 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, "with the gloss on." [Footnote: This is one of the phrases +that seem to have perplexed the taste of Sheridan,--and upon so minute a +point, as, whether it should be "with the gloss on," or, "with the gloss +on them." After various trials of it in both ways, he decided, as might +be expected from his love of idiom, for the former.] The only personage +among them that shows any "temperance in jesting," is old Rowley; and +he, too, in the original, had his share in the general largess of +_bon-mots_,--one of the liveliest in the piece [Footnote: The +answer to the remark, that "charity begins at home,"--"and his, I +presume, is of that domestic sort which never stirs abroad at all."] +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 uselessness +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, 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. Candor, though contributing abundantly to the +animation of the dialogue, have hardly anything 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 often 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 which such an +omission would betray; but that neither of the actors, 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 efforts. + +By some critics the incident of the screen has been censured, as a +contrivance unworthy of the dignity of comedy. [Footnote: "In the old +comedy, the catastrophe is occasioned, in general, by a change in the +mind of some principal character, artfully prepared and cautiously +conducted;--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 Writings of +Massinger_.] 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 opposite neighbor is +a maiden lady of so anxious a temper;" yet, afterwards, by placing Lady +Teazle between the screen and the window, he enables this inquisitive +lady to indulge her curiosity at leisure. It might be said, indeed, that +Joseph, with the alternative of exposure to either the husband or +neighbor, 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 perfect 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 interests 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, playfully 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 Aeschylus 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. Candor" 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;--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 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 exposing +absurdity, I should not have thought it worth while to allude. 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 performances, to find some one +in the background to ease him of the fame of his best. When this sort of +charge is brought against a cotemporary, the motive is intelligible; +but, such an abstract pleasure have some persons in merely unsettling +the crowns of Fame, that a worthy German has written an elaborate book +to prove, that the Iliad was written, not by that particular Homer the +world supposes, but by some _other_ Homer! Indeed, if mankind were +to be influenced by those _Qui tam_ critics, who have, from time to +time, 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 _cessio bonorum_ in favor of Pisander--the +Metamorphoses 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 +suggested by those of Blifil and Tom Jones; that the incident 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. Sheridan, 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'est mon bien," said +Moliere, when accused of borrowing, "et je le reprens partout ou 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 for which we look to the 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. Contrasts of character, such as Charles and Joseph exhibit, are +as common as the lights and shadows of a landscape, and belong neither +to Fielding nor Sheridan, but to nature. It is in the manner of +transferring 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 of 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 delinquency, 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 Misanthrope be +the play, in which the origin of the famous scandal scene is said to 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 Moliere, bears +the whole _frais_ of the conversation; and this female La Bruyere's +tedious and solitary dissections of character 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 color to the charge, +by the suspicious impatience which he betrayed whenever any allusion was +made to it. He went so far, indeed, it is said, as to deny having ever +read a line of Wycherley (though of Vanbrugh's dialogue he always spoke +with the warmest admiration);--and this assertion, as well as some +others equally remarkable, such as, that 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 possibly but at second-hand, and confined, perhaps, to +Garrick's alteration of the Country Wife, in which the incident, already +mentioned as having been borrowed for the Duenna, is preserved. 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. Sheridan 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, too, (Act III. Scene 10) there is much +which may, at least, have mixed itself with the recollections 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 Congreve about Lady Froth's verses on +her coachman-- + + "For as the sun shines every day, + So of our coachman I may say"-- + +is by no means unlikely to have suggested the doggerel of Sir Benjamin +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 about Covent Garden to suit the lining of his coach with his +complexion. + +"_Ld. F._ Oh, silly! yet his aunt is as fond of him, as if she had +brought the ape into the world herself. + +"_Brisk._ 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 off +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 trowel. +Then she has a great beard that bristles through it, and makes her look +as if she was plastered with lime and hair, let me perish." + +It would be a task not uninteresting, to enter into a detailed +comparison of the characteristics and merits of Mr. Sheridan, as a +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 artillery 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 appear either necessary or +agreeable;--though by others, more interested in such topics, my +diffuseness will, I trust, be readily pardoned. In tracking Mr. Sheridan +through his too distinct careers of literature and of politics, it is on +the highest point of his elevation 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 Parnassi_" +--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 copy right 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 endeavoring 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 disposed of, for her +own advantage, 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 published 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), [Footnote: Among the +corrections in this copy (which are in his own hand-writing, and but few +in number), there is one which shows not only the retentiveness of his +memory, but 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 to taste again, I allow." It was thus that +the passage stood at first in Lady Crewe's copy,--as it does still, too, +in the Dublin edition, and in that given in the Collection of his +Works,--but in his final revision of this copy, the original reading of +the sentence, such as I find it in all his earlier manuscripts of the +play, is restored.--"That's very true, indeed, Sir Peter; and, after +having married you, I am sure I should never pretend to taste again."] +and find it, with the few exceptions already mentioned, correct +throughout. + +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 Monsieur Bunell Delille, 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 +ete imprime que furtivement, se trouva l'ete dernier sur ma table, en +manuscrit, in-folio; et, si vous daignez vous le rappeler, apres vous +avoir fait part de l'aventure, je courus chez Monsieur Sheridan pour lui +demander la permission," &c. &c. + +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, "_Les +Deux Neveux_," 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 Portraits de Famille," "Valsain et +Florville," and, at the Theatre Francais, under the title of the +"Tartuffe de Moeurs." Lately, too, the taste for the subject has +revived. The Vaudeville has founded upon it a successful piece, called +"Les Deux Cousins;" 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 +GARRICK.--ESSAY ON METRE.-THE CRITIC.--ESSAY ON ABSENTEES.--POLITICAL +CONNECTIONS.--THE "ENGLISHMAN."--ELECTED FOR STAFFORD. + + +The document in Mr. Sheridan's handwriting, already mentioned, 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 exceeding 45,000_l_.: 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 consented +to divide his original share between Dr. Ford and Mr. Linley, so as to +make up each of theirs a quarter. But the price at which they purchased +from Mr. Sheridan was not at the rate which he bought from Lacy, though +at an advance on the price paid to Garrick. Mr. S. has since purchased +Dr. Ford's quarter for the sum of 17,000_l_., subject to the +increased incumbrance of the additional renters." + +By what spell all 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 resource 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 Poet's 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 +following _fixation_ of the thought, in the verses which he +afterwards wrote, proved:-- + + "The throng that mourn'd, as their dead favorite pass'd, + The grac'd respect that claim'd him to the last; + While Shakspeare'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 its author +in verse, is more remarkable, perhaps, for refinement and elegance, than +for either novelty of thought or depth of sentiment. There is, however, +a fine burst of poetical eloquence in the lines beginning "Superior +hopes the poet's bosom fire;" 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 Tickell's 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 literature 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 Clandestine 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 have one common grave." + +Colley Cibber, too, in his portrait (if I remember right) of Betterton, +breaks off into the same reflection, in the following graceful passage, +which is one of those instances, where prose could not be exchanged for +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 [Footnote: Or rather +memorandums collected, as was his custom, with a view to the composition +of such an Essay. He had been reading the writings of Dr. Foster, Webb, +&c. 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 Quintilian, Aristotle, &c., quoted +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 rhythmus. +If then we want to reduce our practical harmony to rules, every man, +with a knowledge of his own language and a good ear, is at once +competent to the undertaking. Let him trace it to music--if he has no +knowledge, let him inquire. + +"We have lost all notion of the ancient accent;--we have lost their +pronunciation;--all puzzling about it is ridiculous, and trying to find +out the melody of our own verse by theirs is still worse. We should have +had all our own metres, if we never had heard a word of their language, +--this I affirm. Every nation finds out for itself a national melody; and +we may say of it, as of religion, no place has been discovered without +music. A people, likewise, as their language improves, will introduce a +music into their poetry, which is simply (that is to say, the numerical +part of poetry, which must be distinguished from the imaginary) the +transferring the time of melody into speaking. What then have the Greeks +or Romans to do with our music? It is plain that our admiration of their +verse is mere pedantry, because we could not adopt it. Sir Philip Sidney +failed. If it had been melody, we should have had it; our language is +just as well calculated for it. + +"It is astonishing that the excessive ridiculousness of a Gradus or +Prosodial Dictionary has never struck our scholars. The idea of looking +into a book to see whether the _sound_ of a syllable be short or +long is absolutely as much a bull of Boeotian pedantry as ever disgraced +Ireland." He then adds, with reference to some mistakes which Dr. Foster +had appeared to him to have committed in his accentuation of English +words:--"What strange effects has this system brought about! It has so +corrupted the ear, that absolutely our scholars cannot tell an English +long syllable from a short one. If a boy were to make the _a_ in +'cano' or 'amo' long, Dr. F. would no doubt feel his ear hurt, and +yet...." + +Of the style in which some of his observations are committed to paper, +the following is a curious specimen:--"Dr. Foster says that short +syllables, when inflated with that emphasis which the sense demands, +swell in height, length, and breadth beyond their natural size.--The +devil they do! Here is a most omnipotent power in emphasis. Quantity and +accent may in vain toil to produce a little effect, but emphasis comes +at once and monopolizes the power of them both."] + +which he had commenced on the nature of poetical 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 +poem. The taste of the time, however, was not prepared for any great +variations in the music of the couplet. The regular foot-fall, +established so long, had yet been but little disturbed; and the only +license of this kind hazarded through the poem--"All perishable"--was +objected to by some of the author's critical friends, who suggested, +that it would be better 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. + +The Monody does not seem to have kept the stage more than five or six +nights;--nor is this surprising. The recitation of a long, serious +address must always be, to a certain degree, ineffective on the stage; +and, though this subject contained within it many strong sources of +interest, as well personal as dramatic, they were not, perhaps, turned +to account by the poet with sufficient warmth and earnestness on his own +part, to excite a very ready response of sympathy in others. Feeling +never wanders into generalities--it is only by concentrating his rays +upon one point that even Genius can kindle strong emotion; and, in order +to produce any such effect in the present instance upon the audience, +Garrick himself ought to have been kept prominently and individually +before their eyes in almost every line. Instead of this, however, the +man is soon forgotten in his Art, which is then deliberately compared +with other Arts, and the attention, through the greater part of the +poem, is diffused over the transitoriness of actors in general, instead +of being brought strongly to a focus upon the particular loss just +sustained. Even in those parts which apply most directly to Garrick, the +feeling is a good deal diluted by this tendency to the abstract; and, +sometimes, by a false taste of personification, like that in the very +first line,-- + + "If dying _excellence_ deserves a tear," + +where the substitution of a quality of the man for the man himself +[Footnote: Another instance of this fault occurs in his song "When sable +Night:"-- + + "As some fond mother, o'er her babe deploring, + Wakes _its beauty_ with a tear;" + +where the clearness and reality of the picture are spoiled by the +affectation of representing the _beauty_ of the child as waked, +instead of the child itself.] puts the mind, as it were, one remove +farther from the substantial object of its interest, and disturbs that +sense of reality, on which the operations even of Fancy itself ought to +be founded. + +But it is very easy to play the critic--so easy as to be a task of but +little glory. For one person who could produce such a poem as this, how +many thousands exist and have existed, who could shine in the exposition +of its faults! Though insufficient, perhaps, in itself, to create a +reputation for an author, yet, as a "_stella Coronae_"--one of the +stars in that various crown, which marks the place of Sheridan in the +firmament of Fame,--it not only well sustains its own part in the +lustre, but draws new light from the host of brilliancy around it. + +It was in the course of this same year that he produced the +entertainment of the Critic--his last legitimate offering on the shrine +of the Dramatic Muse. In this admirable farce we have a striking +instance of that privilege which, as I have already said, Genius +assumes, of taking up subjects that had passed through other hands, and +giving them a new value and currency by his stamp. The plan of a +Rehearsal was first adopted for the purpose of ridiculing Dryden, by the +Duke of Buckingham; but, though there is much laughable humor in some of +the dialogue between Bayes and his friends, the salt of the satire +altogether was not of a very conservative nature, and the piece +continued to be served up to the public long after it had lost its +relish. Fielding tried the same plan in a variety of pieces--in his +Pasquin, his Historical Register, his Author's Farce, his Eurydice, +&c.,--but without much success, except in the comedy of Pasquin, which +had, I believe, at first a prosperous career, though it has since, +except with the few that still read it for its fine tone of pleasantry, +fallen into oblivion. It was reserved for Sheridan to give vitality to +this form of dramatic humor, and to invest even his satirical portraits +--as in the instance of Sir Fretful Plagiary, which, it is well known, +was designed for Cumberland--with a generic character, which, without +weakening the particular resemblance, makes them representatives for +ever of the whole class to which the original belonged. Bayes, on the +contrary, is a caricature--made up of little more than personal +peculiarities, which may amuse as long as reference can be had to the +prototype, but, like those supplemental features furnished from the +living subject by Taliacotius, fall lifeless the moment the individual +that supplied them is defunct. + +It is evident, however, that Bayes was not forgotten in the composition +of The Critic. His speech, where the two Kings of Brentford are singing +in the clouds, may be considered as the exemplar which Sheridan had +before him in writing some of the rehearsal scenes of Puff:-- + +"_Smith._ Well, but methinks the sense of this song is not very +plain. + +"_Bayes._ Plain! why did you ever hear any people in the clouds +sing plain? They must be all for flight of fancy at its fullest range, +without the least check or control upon it. When once you tie up spirits +and people in clouds to speak plain, you spoil all." + +There are particular instances of imitation still more direct. Thus in +The Critic: + +"_Enter_ SIR WALTER RALEIGH _and_ SIR CHRISTOPHER HATTON. + +"_Sir Christ. H._ True, gallant Raleigh.-- + +"_Dangle._ What, had they been talking before? + +"_Puff._ Oh yes, all the way as they came along." + +In the same manner in The Rehearsal, where the Physician and Usher of +the two Kings enter:-- + +"_Phys._ Sir, to conclude-- + +"_Smith._ What, before he begins? + +"_Bayes._ No, Sir, you must know they had been talking of this a +pretty while without. + +"_Smith._ Where? in the tyring room? + +"_Bayes._ Why, ay, Sir. He's so dull." + +Bayes, at the opening of the Fifth Act, says, "Now, gentlemen, I will be +bold to say, I'll show you the greatest scene that England ever saw; I +mean not for words, for those I don't value, but for state, show, and +magnificence." Puff announces his grand scene in much the same manner:-- +"Now then for my magnificence! my battle! my noise! and my procession!" + +In Fielding, too, we find numerous hints or germs, that have come to +their full growth of wit in The Critic. For instance, in Trapwit (a +character in "Pasquin") there are the rudiments of Sir Fretful as well +as of Puff:-- + +"_Sneerwell._ Yes, faith, I think I would cut that last speech. + +"_Trapwit._ Sir, I'll sooner cut off an ear or two; Sir, that's the +very best thing in the whole play.... + +"_Trapwit._ Now, Mr. Sneerwell, we shall begin my third and last +act; and I believe I may defy all the poets who have ever writ, or ever +will write, to produce its equal: it is, Sir, so crammed with drums and +trumpets, thunder and lightning, battles and ghosts, that I believe the +audience will want no entertainment after it." + +The manager, Marplay, in "The Author's Farce," like him of Drury Lane in +the Critic, "does the town the honor of writing himself;" and the +following incident in "The Historical Register" suggested possibly the +humorous scene of Lord Burleigh:-- + +"Enter Four Patriots from different Doors, who meet in the centre and +shake Hands. + +"_Sour-wit._ These patriots seem to equal your greatest politicians +in their silence. + +"_Medley._ Sir, what they think now cannot well be spoke, but you +may conjecture a good deal from their shaking their heads." + +Such coincidences, whether accidental or designed, are at least curious, +and the following is another of somewhat a different kind:--"Steal! +(says Sir Fretful) to be sure they may; and egad, serve your best +thoughts as gipsies do stolen children, disfigure them, to make 'em pass +for their own." [Footnote: This simile was again made use of by him in a +speech upon Mr. Pitt's India Bill, which he declared to be "nothing more +than a bad plagiarism on Mr. Fox's, disfigured, indeed, as gipsies do +stolen children, in order to make them pass for their own."] Churchill +has the same idea in nearly the same language:-- + + "Still pilfers wretched plans and makes them worse, + Like gipsies, lest the stolen brat be known, + Defacing first, then claiming for their own." + +The character of Puff, as I have already shown, was our author's first +dramatic attempt; and, having left it unfinished in the porch as he +entered the temple of Comedy, he now, we see, made it worthy of being +his farewell oblation in quitting it. Like Eve's flowers, it was his + + "Early visitation, and his last." + +We must not, however, forget a lively Epilogue which he wrote this year, +for Miss Hannah More's tragedy of Fatal Falsehood, in which there is a +description of a blue-stocking lady, executed with all his happiest +point. Of this dense, epigrammatic style, in which every line is a +cartridge of wit in itself, Sheridan was, both in prose and verse, a +consummate master; and if any one could hope to succeed, after Pope, in +a Mock Epic, founded upon fashionable life, it would have been, we +should think, the writer of this epilogue. There are some verses, +written on the "_Immortelle Emilie_" of Voltaire, in which her +employments, as a _savante_ and a woman of the world, are thus +contrasted:-- + + _"Tout lui plait, tout convient a son vaste genie, + Les livres, les bijoux, les compas, les pompons, + Les vers, les diamans, les beribis, l'optique, + L'algebre, les soupers, le Latin, les jupons, + L'opera, les proces, le bal, et la physique."_ + +How powerfully has Sheridan, in bringing out the same contrasts, shown +the difference between the raw material of a thought, and the fine +fabric as it comes from the hands of a workman:-- + + "What motley cares Corilla's mind perplex, + Whom maids and metaphors conspire to vex! + In studious deshabille behold her sit, + A letter'd gossip and a housewife wit: + At once invoking, though for different views, + Her gods, her cook, her milliner, and muse. + Round her strew'd room a frippery chaos lies, + A chequer'd wreck of notable and wise. + Bills, books, caps, couplets, combs, a varied mass, + Oppress the toilet and obscure the glass; + Unfinished here an epigram is laid, + And there a mantua-maker's bill unpaid. + There new-born plays foretaste the town's applause, + There dormant patterns pine for future gauze. + A moral essay now is all her care, + A satire next, and then a bill of fare. + A scene she now projects, and now a dish, + Here Act the First, and here 'Remove with Fish.' + Now, while this eye in a fine frenzy rolls, + That soberly casts up a bill for coals; + Black pins and daggers in one leaf she sticks. + And tears, and threads, and bowls, and thimbles mix." + +We must now prepare to follow the subject of this Memoir into a field of +display, altogether different, where he was in turn to become an actor +before the public himself, and where, instead of inditing lively +speeches for others, he was to deliver the dictates of his eloquence and +wit from his own lips. However the lovers of the drama may lament this +diversion of his talents, and doubt whether even the chance of another +School for Scandal were not worth more than all his subsequent career, +yet to the individual himself, full of ambition, and conscious of +versatility of powers, such an opening into a new course of action and +fame, must have been like one of those sudden turnings of the road in a +beautiful country, which dazzle the eyes of a traveller with new +glories, and invite him on to untried paths of fertility and sunshine. + +It has been before remarked how early, in a majority of instances, the +dramatic talent has come to its fullest maturity. Mr. Sheridan would +possibly never have exceeded what he had already done, and his celebrity +had now reached that point of elevation, where, by a sort of optical +deception in the atmosphere of fame, to remain stationary is to seem, in +the eyes of the spectators, to fall. He had, indeed, enjoyed only the +triumphs of talent, and without even descending to those ovations, or +minor triumphs, which in general are little more than celebrations of +escape from defeat, and to which they, who surpass all but themselves, +are often capriciously reduced. It is questionable, too, whether, in any +other walk of literature, he would have sustained the high reputation +which he acquired by the drama. Very rarely have dramatic writers, even +of the first rank, exhibited powers of equal rate, when out of the +precincts of their own art; while, on the other hand, poets of a more +general range, whether epic, lyric, or satiric, have as rarely succeeded +on the stage. There is, indeed, hardly one of our celebrated dramatic +authors (and the remark might be extended to other countries) who has +left works worthy of his reputation in any other line; and Mr. Sheridan, +perhaps, might only have been saved from adding to the list of failures, +by such a degree of prudence or of indolence as would have prevented him +from making the attempt. He may, therefore, be said to have closed his +account with literature, when not only the glory of his past successes, +but the hopes of all that he might yet have achieved, were set down +fully, and without any risk of forfeiture, to his credit; and, instead +of being left, like Alexander, to sigh for new worlds to vanquish, no +sooner were his triumphs in one sphere of action complete than another +opened to invite him to new conquests. + +We have already seen that Politics, from the very commencement of his +career, had held divided empire with Literature in the tastes and +studies of Mr. Sheridan; and, even in his fullest enjoyment of the +smiles of the Comic Muse, while he stood without a rival in _her_ +affections, the "_Musa severior_" of politics was estranging the +constancy of his-- + + "_Te tenet, absentes alios suspirat amores_" + + "_E'en while perfection lies within his arms, + He strays in thought, and sighs for other charms._" + +Among his manuscripts there are some sheets of an Essay on Absentees, +which, from the allusions it contains to the measures then in +contemplation for Ireland, must have been written, I rather think, about +the year 1778--when the School for Scandal was in its first career of +success, and the Critic preparing, at no very long interval, to partake +its triumph. It is obvious, from some expressions used in this pamphlet, +that his intention was, if not to publish it in Ireland, at least to +give it the appearance of having been written there--and, except the +pure unmixed motive of rendering a service to his country, by the +discussion of a subject so closely connected with her interests, it is +difficult to conceive what inducement he could have had to select at +that moment such a topic for his pen. The plain, unpretending style of +the greater part of the composition sufficiently proves that literary +display was not the object of it; while the absence of all criminatory +matter against the government precludes the idea of its having +originated in party zeal. + +As it is curious to observe how soberly his genius could yoke itself to +grave matter of fact, after the winged excursions in which it had been +indulging, I shall here lay some paragraphs of this pamphlet before the +reader. + +In describing the effects of the prevailing system of pasturage--one of +the evils attributed by him to Absentees,--he thus, with occasional +irradiations of eloquence and ingenuity, expresses himself:-- + +"Now it must ever be the interest of the Absentee to place his estates +in the hands of as few tenants as possible, by which means there will be +less difficulty or hazard in collecting his rents, and less intrusted to +an agent, if his estate require one. The easiest method of effecting +this is by laying the land out for pasturage, and letting it in gross to +those who deal only in 'a fatal living crop'--whose produce we are not +allowed a market for when manufactured, while we want art, honesty, and +encouragement to fit it for home consumption. Thus the indolent +extravagance of the lord becomes subservient to the interest of a few +mercenary graziers--shepherds of most unpastoral principles--while the +veteran husbandman may lean on the shattered, unused plough, and view +himself surrounded with flocks that furnish raiment without food. Or, if +his honesty be not proof against the hard assaults of penury, he may be +led to revenge himself on these dumb innovators of his little field-- +then learn too late that some portion of the soil is reserved for a crop +more fatal even than that which tempted and destroyed him. + +"Without dwelling on the particular ill effects of non-residence in this +case, I shall conclude with representing that principal and supreme +prerogative which the Absentee foregoes--the prerogative of mercy, of +charity. The estated resident is invested with a kind of relieving +providence--a power to heal the wounds of undeserved misfortune--to +break the blows of adverse fortune, and leave chance no power to undo +the hopes of honest persevering industry. There cannot surely be a more +happy station than that wherein prosperity and worldly interest are to +be best forwarded by an exertion of the most endearing offices of +humanity. This is his situation who lives on the soil which furnishes +him with means to live. It is his interest to watch the devastation of +the storm, the ravage of the flood--to mark the pernicious extremes of +the elements, and, by a judicious indulgence and assistance, to convert +the sorrows and repinings of the sufferer into blessings on his +humanity. By such a conduct he saves his people from the sin of +unrighteous murmurs, and makes Heaven his debtor for their resignation. + +"It will be said that the residing in another kingdom will never erase +from humane minds the duty and attention which they owe to those whom +they have left to cultivate their demesnes. I will not say that absence +lessens their humanity, or that the superior dissipation which they +enjoy in it contracts their feelings to coarser enjoyments--without +this, we know that agents and stewards are seldom intrusted with full +powers of aiding and remitting. In some, compassion would be injustice. +They are, in general, content with the virtue of justice and punctuality +towards their employer; part of which they conceive to be a rigorous +exaction of his rents, and, where difficulty occurs, their process is +simply to distrain and to eject--a rigor that must ever be prejudicial +to an estate, and which, practised frequently, betrays either an +original negligence, or want of judgment in choosing tenants, or an +extreme inhumanity towards their incidental miscarriages. + +"But, granting an undiminished benevolence to exist on the part both of +the landlord and the agent, yet can we expect any great exertion of +pathetic eloquence to proceed from the latter to palliate any deficiency +of the tenants?--or, if there were, do we not know how much lighter an +impression is made by distresses related to us than by those which are +'_oculis subjecta fidelibus?_ The heart, the seat of charity and +compassion, is more accessible to the senses than the understanding. +Many, who would be unmoved by any address to the latter, would melt into +charity at the eloquent persuasion of silent sorrow. When he _sees_ +the widow's tear, and hears the orphan's sigh, every one will act with a +sudden uniform rectitude, because he acts from the divine impulse of +'free love dealt equally to all.'" + +The blind selfishness of those commercial laws, which England so long +imposed upon Ireland,--like ligatures to check the circulation of the +empire's life-blood,--is thus adverted to: + +"Though I have mentioned the decay of trade in Ireland as insufficient +to occasion the great increase of emigration, yet is it to be considered +as an important ill effect, arising from the same cause. It may be said +that trade is now in higher repute in Ireland, and that the exports and +imports (which are always supposed the test of it) are daily increasing. +This may be admitted to be true, yet cannot it be said that the trade of +the kingdom flourishes. The trade of a kingdom should increase in exact +proportion to its luxuries, and those of the nations connected with it. +Therefore it is no argument to say, that, on examining the accounts of +customs fifty years back, they appear to be trebled now; for England, by +some sudden stroke, might lose such a proportion of its trade, as would +ruin it as a commercial nation, yet the amount of what remained might be +tenfold of what it enjoyed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Trade, +properly speaking, is the commutations of the product of each country-- +this extends itself to the exchange of commodities in which art has +fixed a price. Where a nation hath free power to export the works of its +industry, the balance in such articles will certainly be in its favor. +Thus had we in Ireland power to export our manufactured silks, stuffs, +and woollens, we should be assured that it would be our interest to +import and cultivate their materials. But, as this is not the case, the +gain of individuals is no proof that the nation is benefited by such +commerce. For instance, the exportation of un-wrought wool may be very +advantageous to the dealer, and, through his hands, bring money, or a +beneficial return of commodities into the kingdom; but trace the ill +effects of depopulating such tracts of land as are necessary for the +support of flocks to supply this branch, and number those who are +deprived of support and employment by it, and so become a dead weight on +the community--we shall find that the nation in fact will be the poorer +for this apparent advantage. This would be remedied were we allowed to +export it manufactured; because the husbandman might get his bread as a +manufacturer. + +"Another principal cause that the trade may increase, without +proportionally benefiting the nation, is that a great part of the stock +which carries on the foreign trade of Ireland belongs to those who +reside out of the country--thus the ultimate and material profits on it +are withdrawn to another kingdom. It is likewise to be observed, that, +though the exportations may appear to exceed the importations, yet may +this in part arise from the accounts of the former being of a more +certain nature, and those of the latter very conjectural, and always +falling short of the fact." + +Though Mr. Sheridan afterwards opposed a Union with Ireland, the train +of reasoning which he pursued in this pamphlet naturally led him to look +forward to such an arrangement between the two countries, as, perhaps, +the only chance of solving the long-existing problem of their +relationship to each other. + +"It is the state, (he continues,) the luxury, and fashions of the +wealthy, that give life to the artificers of elegance and taste;--it is +their numerous train that sends the rapid shuttle through the loom;-- +and, when they leave their country, they not only beggar these +dependents, but the tribes that lived by clothing them. + +"An extravagant passion for luxuries hath been in all nations a symptom +of an approaching dissolution. However, in commercial states, while it +predominates only among the higher ranks, it brings with it the +conciliating advantage of being greatly beneficial to trade and +manufactures. But, how singularly unfortunate is that kingdom, where the +luxurious passions of the great beggar those who should be supported by +them,--a kingdom, whose wealthy members keep equal pace with their +numbers in the dissipated and fantastical pursuits of life, without +suffering the lower class to glean even the dregs of their vices. While +this is the case with Ireland the prosperity of her trade must be all +forced and unnatural; and if, in the absence of its wealthy and estated +members, the state already feels all the disadvantages of a Union, it +cannot do better than endeavor at a free trade by effecting it in +reality." + +Having demonstrated, at some length, the general evil of absenteeism, he +thus proceeds to inquire into the most eligible remedy for it:-- + +"The evil complained of is simply the absence of the proprietors of a +certain portion of the landed property. This is an evil unprovided +against by the legislature;--therefore, we are not to consider whether +it might not with propriety have been guarded against, but whether a +remedy or alleviation of it can now be attempted consistently with the +spirit of the Constitution. On examining all the most obvious methods of +attempting this, I believe there will appear but two practicable. The +First will be by enacting a law for the frequent summoning the +proprietors of landed property to appear _de facto_ at stated +times. The Second will be the voting a supply to be raised from the +estates of such as do never reside in the kingdom. + +"The First, it is obvious, would be an obligation of no use, without a +penalty was affixed to the breach of it, amounting to the actual +forfeiture of the estate of the recusant. This, we are informed, was +once the case in Ireland. But at present, whatever advantage the kingdom +might reap by it, it could not possibly be reconciled to the genius of +the Constitution: and, if the fine were trifling, it would prove the +same as the second method, with the disadvantage of appearing to treat +as an act of delinquency what in no way infringes the municipal laws of +the kingdom. + +"In the Second method the legislature is, in no respect, to be supposed +to regard the _person_ of the Absentee. It prescribes no place of +residence to him, nor attempts to summon or detain him. The light it +takes up the point in is this--that the welfare of the whole is injured +by the produce of a certain portion of the soil being sent out of the +kingdom.... It will be said that the produce of the soil is not exported +by being carried to our own markets; but if the value received in +exchange for it, whatever it be, whether money or commodities, be +exported, it is exactly the same in its ultimate effects as if the +grain, flocks, &c. were literally sent to England. In this light, then, +if the state is found to suffer by such an exportation, its deducting a +small part from the produce is simply a reimbursing the public, and +putting the loss of the public (to whose welfare the interest of +individuals is always to be subservient) upon those very members who +occasion that loss. + +"This is only to be effected by a tax." + +Though to a political economist of the present day much of what is so +loosely expressed in these extracts will appear but the crudities of a +tyro in the science, yet, at the time when they were written,--when both +Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke could expatiate on the state of Ireland, without a +single attempt to develop or enforce those simple, but wise principles +of commercial policy, every one of which had been violated in the +restrictions on her industry,--it was no small merit in Mr. Sheridan to +have advanced even thus far in a branch of knowledge so rare and so +important. + +In addition to his own early taste for politics, the intimacies which he +had now formed with some of the most eminent public men of the day must +have considerably tended to turn his ambition in that direction. At what +time he first became acquainted with Mr. Fox I have no means of +ascertaining exactly. Among the letters addressed to him by that +statesman, there is one which, from the formality of its style, must +have been written at the very commencement of their acquaintance--but, +unluckily, it is not dated. Lord John Townshend, who first had the +happiness of bringing two such men together, has given the following +interesting account of their meeting, and of the impressions which they +left upon the minds of each other. His lordship, however, has not +specified the period of this introduction:-- + +"I made the first dinner-party at which they met, having told Fox that +all the notions he might have conceived of Sheridan's talents and genius +from the comedy of The Rivals, &c. would fall infinitely short of the +admiration of his astonishing powers, which I was sure he would +entertain at the first interview. The first interview between them +(there were very few present, only Tickell and myself, and one or two +more) I shall never forget. Fox told me, after breaking up from dinner, +that he had always thought Hare, after my uncle, Charles Townshend, the +wittiest man he ever met with, but that Sheridan surpassed them both +infinitely; and Sheridan told me next day that he was quite lost in +admiration of Fox, and that it was a puzzle to him to say what he +admired most, his commanding superiority of talent and universal +knowledge, or his playful fancy, artless manners, and benevolence of +heart, which showed itself in every word he uttered." + +With Burke Mr. Sheridan became acquainted at the celebrated Turk's Head +Club,--and, if any incentive was wanting to his new passion for +political distinction, the station to which he saw his eloquent fellow- +countryman exalted, with no greater claims from birth or connection than +his own, could not have failed to furnish it. His intimacy with Mr. +Windham began, as we have seen, very early at Bath, and the following +letter, addressed to him by that gentleman from Norfolk, in the year +1778, is a curious record not only of the first political movements of a +person so celebrated as Mr. Windham, but of the interest with which +Sheridan then entered into the public measures of the day:-- + +"Jan. 5, 1778. + +"I fear my letter will greatly disappoint your hopes. [Footnote: Mr. +Windham had gone down to Norfolk, in consequence of a proposed meeting +in that county, under the auspices of Lord Townshend, for the purpose of +raising a subscription in aid of government, to be applied towards +carrying on the war with the American colonies. In about three weeks +after the date of this letter, the meeting was held, and Mr. Windham, in +a spirited answer to Lord Townshend, made the first essay of his +eloquence in public.] I have no account to send you of my answering Lord +Townshend--of hard-fought contests--spirited resolves--ballads, mobs, +cockades, and Lord North burnt in effigy. We have had a bloodless +campaign, but not from backwardness in our troops, but for the most +creditable reason that can be--want of resolution in the enemy to +encounter us. When I got down here early this morning, expecting to find +a room prepared, a chair set for the president, and nothing wanting but +that the orators should begin, I was surprised to learn that no +advertisement had appeared on the other part; but that Lord T. having +dined at a meeting, where the proposal was received very coldly, had +taken fright, and for the time at least had dropped the proposal. It had +appeared, therefore, to those whom I applied to (and I think very +rightly) that till an advertisement was inserted by them, or was known +for certain to be intended, it would not be proper for any thing to be +done by us. In this state, therefore, it rests. The advertisement which +we agreed upon is left at the printer's, ready to be inserted upon the +appearance of one from them. We lie upon our arms, and shall begin to +act upon any motion of the enemy. I am very sorry that things have taken +this turn, as I came down in full confidence of being able to accomplish +something distinguished. I had drawn up, as I came along, a tolerably +good paper, to be distributed to-morrow in the streets, and settled +pretty well in my head the terms of a protest--besides some pretty +smart pieces of oratory, delivered upon Newmarket Heath. I never felt so +much disposition to exert myself before--I hope from my never having +before so fair a prospect of doing it with success. When the coach comes +in, I hope I shall receive a packet from you, which shall not be lost, +though it may not be used immediately. + +"I must leave off writing, for I have got some other letters to send by +to-night's post. Writing in this ink is like speaking with respect to +the utter annihilation of what is past;--by the time it gets to you, +perhaps, it may have become legible, but I have no chance of reading +over my letter myself. + +"I shall not suffer this occasion to pass over entirely without benefit. + +"Believe me yours most truly, + +"W. WlNDHAM. + +"Tell Mrs. Sheridan that I hope she will have a closet ready, where I +may remain till the heat of the pursuit is over. My friends in France +have promised to have a vessel ready upon the coast. + +"Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Esq., + +"Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields." + +The first political service rendered by Mr. Sheridan to the party with +whom he now closely connected himself, was the active share which he +took in a periodical paper called The Englishman, set up by the Whigs +for the purpose of seconding, out of parliament, the crimination and +invective of which they kept up such a brisk fire within. The intention, +as announced by Sheridan in the first Number, [Footnote: Published 13th +of March, 1779.] was, like Swift in the Drapier's Letters, to +accommodate the style of the publication to the comprehension of persons +in "that class of the community, who are commonly called the +_honest_ and _industrious_." But this plan,--which not even +Swift, independent as was his humor of the artifices of style, could +adhere to,--was soon abandoned, and there is in most of Sheridan's own +papers a finesse and ingenuity of allusion, which only the most +cultivated part of his readers could fully enjoy. For instance, in +exposing the inconsistency of Lord North, who had lately consented in a +Committee of the whole House, to a motion which he had violently opposed +in the House itself,--thus "making (says Sheridan) that respectable +assembly disobey its own orders, and the members reject with contempt, +under the form of a Chairman, the resolutions they had imposed on +themselves under the authority of a Speaker;"--he proceeds in a strain +of refined raillery, as little suited to the "honest and industrious" +class of the community, as Swift's references to Locke, Molyneux, and +Sydney, were to the readers for whom he also professed to write:-- + +"The burlesque of any plan, I know, is rather a recommendation of it to +Your Lordship; and the ridicule you might throw on this assembly, by +continuing to support this Athanasian distinction of powers in the unity +of an apparently corporate body, might in the end compensate to you for +the discredit you have incurred in the attempt. + +"A deliberative body of so _uncommon a form_, would probably be +deemed a kind of STATE MONSTER by the ignorant and the vulgar. This +might at first increase their _awe_ for it, and so far counteract +Your Lordship's intentions. They would probably approach it with as much +reverence as Stephano does the monster in the Tempest:--'What, one body +and two voices--a most delicate monster!' However, they would soon grow +familiarized to it, and probably hold it in as little respect as they +were wished to do. They would find it on many occasions 'a very shallow +monster,' and particularly 'a most poor _credulous_ monster,'-- +while Your Lordship, as keeper, would enjoy every advantage and profit +that could be made of it. You would have the benefit of the _two +voices_, which would be the MONSTER'S great excellencies, and would +be peculiarly serviceable to Your Lordship. With 'the forward voice' you +would aptly promulgate those vigorous schemes and productive resources, +in which Your Lordship's fancy is so pregnant; while 'the backward +voice' might be kept solely for _recantation_. The MONSTER, to +maintain its character, must appear no novice in the science of +flattery, or in the talents of servility,--and while it could never +scruple to bear any burdens Your Lordship should please to lay on it, +you would always, on the _approach of a storm_, find a shelter +under its gabardine." + +The most celebrated of these papers was the attack upon Lord George +Germaine, written also by Mr. Sheridan,--a composition which, for +unaffected strength of style and earnestness of feeling, may claim a +high rank among the models of political vituperation. To every +generation its own contemporary press seems always more licentious than +any that had preceded it; but it may be questioned, whether the boldness +of modern libel has ever gone beyond the direct and undisguised +personality, with which one cabinet minister was called a liar and +another a coward, in this and other writings of the popular party at +that period. The following is the concluding paragraph of this paper +against Lord George Germaine, which is in the form of a Letter to the +Freeholders of England:-- + +"It would be presuming too much on your attention, at present, to enter +into an investigation of the measures and system of war which this +minister has pursued,--these shall certainly be the subject of a future +paper. At present I shall only observe that, however mortifying it may +be to reflect on the ignominy and disasters which this inauspicious +character has brought on his country, yet there are consoling +circumstances to be drawn even from his ill success. The calamities +which may be laid to his account are certainly great; but, had the case +been otherwise, it may fairly be questioned whether the example of a +degraded and reprobated officer (preposterously elevated to one of the +first stations of honor and confidence in the state) directing the +military enterprises of this country with unlooked-for prosperity, might +not ultimately be the cause of more extensive evils than even those, +great as they are, which we at present experience: whether from so fatal +a precedent we might not be led to introduce characters under similar +disqualifications into every department:--to appoint Atheists to the +mitre, _Jews_ to the exchequer,--to select a treasury-bench from +the _Justitia_, to place _Brown Dignam_ on the wool-sack, and +Sir Hugh Palliser at the head of the admiralty." + +The Englishman, as might be expected from the pursuits and habits of +those concerned in it, was not very punctually conducted, and after many +apologies from the publisher for its not appearing at the stated times, +(Wednesdays and Saturdays,) ceased altogether on the 2d of June. From an +imperfect sketch of a new Number, found among Mr. Sheridan's +manuscripts, it appears that there was an intention of reviving it a +short time after--probably towards the autumn of the same year, from +the following allusion to Mr. Gibbon, whose acceptance of a seat at the +Board of Trade took place, if I recollect right, in the summer of 1779:-- + +"This policy is very evident among the majority in both houses, who, +though they make no scruple in private to acknowledge the total +incapacity of ministers, yet, in public, speak and vote as if they +believed them to have every virtue under heaven; and, on this principle, +some gentlemen,--as Mr. Gibbon, for instance,--while, in private, they +indulge their opinion pretty freely, will yet, in their zeal for the +public good, even condescend to accept a place, in order to give a color +to their confidence in the wisdom of the government." + +It is needless to say that Mr. Sheridan had been for some time among the +most welcome guests at Devonshire House--that rendezvous of all the +wits and beauties of fashionable life, where Politics was taught to wear +its most attractive form, and sat enthroned, like Virtue among the +Epicureans, with all the graces and pleasures for handmaids. + +Without any disparagement of the manly and useful talents, which are at +present no where more conspicuous than in the upper ranks of society, it +may be owned that for wit, social powers, and literary accomplishments, +the political men of the period under consideration formed such an +assemblage as it would be flattery to say that our own times can +parallel. The natural tendency of the excesses of the French Revolution +was to produce in the higher classes of England an increased reserve of +manner, and, of course, a proportionate restraint on all within their +circle, which have been fatal to conviviality and humor, and not very +propitious to wit--subduing both manners and conversation to a sort of +polished level, to rise above which is often thought almost as vulgar as +to sink below it. Of the greater ease of manners that existed some forty +or fifty years ago, one trifling, but not the less significant, +indication was the habit, then prevalent among men of high station, of +calling each other by such familiar names as Dick, Jack, Tom, &c. +[Footnote: Dick Sheridan, Ned Burke, Jack Townshend, Tom Grenville, &c. +&c.]--a mode of address that brings with it, in its very sound, the +notion of conviviality and playfulness, and, however unrefined, implies, +at least, that ease and _sea-room_, in which wit spreads its canvas +most fearlessly. + +With respect to literary accomplishments, too,--in one branch of which, +poetry, almost all the leading politicians of that day distinguished +themselves--the change that has taken place in the times, independently +of any want of such talent, will fully account for the difference that +we witness, in this respect, at present. As the public mind becomes more +intelligent and watchful, statesmen can the less afford to trifle with +their talents, or to bring suspicion upon their fitness for their own +vocation, by the failures which they risk in deviating into others. +Besides, in poetry, the temptation of distinction no longer exists--the +commonness of that talent in the market, at present, being such as to +reduce the value of an elegant copy of verses very far below the price +it was at, when Mr. Hayley enjoyed an almost exclusive monopoly of the +article. + +In the clever Epistle, by Tickell, "from the Hon. Charles Fox, +partridge-shooting, to the Hon. John Townshend, cruising," some of the +most shining persons in that assemblage of wits and statesmen, who gave +a lustre to Brooks's Club-House at the period of which we are speaking, +are thus agreeably grouped:-- + + "Soon as to Brooks's thence thy footsteps bend, +[Footnote: The well-known lines on Brooks himself are perhaps the +perfection of this drawing-room style of humor:-- + + "And know, I've bought the best champagne from Brooks; + From liberal Brooks, whose speculative skill + Is hasty credit, and a distant bill; + Who, nurs'd in clubs, disdains a vulgar trade, + Exults to trust, and blushes to be paid."] + What gratulations thy approach attend! + See Gibbon rap his box-auspicious sign + That classic compliment and wit combine; + See Beauclerk's cheek a tinge of red surprise, + And friendship give what cruel health denies;-- + + * * * * * + + On that auspicious night, supremely grac'd + With chosen guests, the pride of liberal taste, + Not in contentious heat, nor madd'ning strife, + Not with the busy ills, nor cares of life, + We'll waste the fleeting hours--far happier themes + Shall claim each thought and chase ambition's dreams. + Each _beauty_ that _sublimity_ can boast + _He_ best shall tell, who still unites them most. + Of wit, of taste, of fancy we'll debate, + If Sheridan, for once, be not too late: + But scarce a thought on politics we'll spare, + Unless on Polish politics, with Hare. + Good-natur'd Devon! oft shall then appear + The cool complacence of thy friendly sneer: + Oft shall Fitzpatrick's wit and Stanhope's case + And Burgoyne's manly sense unite to please. + And while each guest attends our varied feats + Of scattered covies and retreating fleets, + Me shall they wish some better sport to gain, + And Thee more glory, from the next campaign." + +In the society of such men the destiny of Mr. Sheridan could not be long +in fixing. On the one side, his own keen thirst for distinction, and on +the other, a quick and sanguine appreciation of the service that such +talents might render in the warfare of party, could not fail to hasten +the result that both desired. + +His first appearance before the public as a political character was in +conjunction with Mr. Fox, at the beginning of the year 1780, when the +famous Resolutions on the State of the Representation, signed by Mr. Fox +as chairman of the Westminster Committee, together with a Report on the +same subject from the Sub-committee, signed by Sheridan, were laid +before the public. Annual Parliaments and Universal Suffrage were the +professed objects of this meeting; and the first of the Resolutions, +subscribed by Mr. Fox, stated that "Annual Parliaments are the undoubted +right of the people of England." + +Notwithstanding this strong declaration, it may be doubted whether +Sheridan was, any more than Mr. Fox, a very sincere friend to the +principle of Reform; and the manner in which he masked his +disinclination or indifference to it was strongly characteristic both of +his humor and his tact. Aware that the wild scheme of Cartwright and +others, which these resolutions recommended, was wholly impracticable, +he always took refuge in it when pressed upon the subject, and would +laughingly advise his political friends to do the same:--"Whenever any +one," he would say, "proposes to you a specific plan of Reform, always +answer that you are for nothing short of Annual Parliaments and +Universal Suffrage--there you are safe." He also had evident delight, +when talking on this question, in referring to a jest of Burke, who said +that there had arisen a new party of Reformers, still more orthodox than +the rest, who thought Annual Parliaments far from being sufficiently +frequent, and who, founding themselves upon the latter words of the +statute of Edward III., that "a parliament shall be holden every year +once and _more often if need be_" were known by the denomination of +the _Oftener-if-need-bes_. "For my part," he would add, in relating +this, "I am an Oftener-if-need-be." Even when most serious on the +subject (for, to the last he professed himself a warm friend to Reform) +his arguments had the air of being ironical and insidious. To Annual +Parliaments and Universal Suffrage, he would say, the principles of +representation naturally and necessarily led,--any less extensive +proposition was a base compromise and a dereliction of right; and the +first encroachment on the people was the Act of Henry VI., which limited +the power of election to forty-shilling freeholders within the county, +whereas the real right was in the "outrageous and excessive" number of +people by whom the preamble recites [Footnote: "Elections of knights of +shires have now of late been made by very great outrageous and excessive +number of people, dwelling within the same counties, of the which most +part was people of small substance and of no value." 8 H. 6. c. 7.] that +the choice had been made of late.--Such were the arguments by which he +affected to support his cause, and it is not difficult to detect the +eyes of the snake glistening from under them. + +The dissolution of parliament that took place in the autumn of this year +(1780) afforded at length the opportunity to which his ambition had so +eagerly looked forward. It has been said, I know not with what accuracy, +that he first tried his chance of election at Honiton--but Stafford was +the place destined to have the honor of first choosing him for its +representative; and it must have been no small gratification to his +independent spirit, that, unfurnished as he was with claims from past +political services, he appeared in parliament, not as the nominee of any +aristocratic patron, but as member for a borough, which, whatever might +be its purity in other respects, at least enjoyed the freedom of choice. +Elected conjointly with Mr. Monckton, to whose interest and exertions he +chiefly owed his success, he took his seat in the new parliament which +met in the month of October;--and, from that moment giving himself up to +the pursuit of politics, bid adieu to the worship of the Dramatic Muse +for ever. + + "_Comoedia luget; + Scena est deserta: hinc ludus risusque jocusgue + Et numeri innumeri simul omnes collacrumarunt._" + + Comedy mourns--the Stage neglected sleeps-- + E'en Mirth in tears his languid laughter steeps-- + And Song, through all her various empire, weeps. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +UNFINISHED PLAYS AND POEMS. + + +Before I enter upon the sketch of Mr. Sheridan's political life, I shall +take this opportunity of laying before the reader such information with +respect to his unfinished literary designs, both dramatic and poetic, as +the papers in my possession enable me to communicate. + +Some of his youthful attempts in literature have already been mentioned, +and there is a dramatic sketch of his, founded on the Vicar of +Wakefield, which from a date on the manuscript (1768), appears to have +been produced at a still earlier age, and when he was only in his +seventeenth year. A scene of this piece will be sufficient to show how +very soon his talent for lively dialogue displayed itself:-- + +"SCENE II. + +"THORNHILL _and_ ARNOLD. + +"_Thornhill._ Nay, prithee, Jack, no more of that if you love me. +What, shall I stop short with the game in full view? Faith, I believe +the fellow's turned puritan. What think you of turning methodist, Jack? +You have a tolerable good canting countenance, and, if escaped being +taken up for a Jesuit, you might make a fortune in Moor-fields. + +"_Arnold._ I was serious, Tom. + +"_Thorn._ Splenetic you mean. Come, fill your glass, and a truce to +your preaching. Here's a pretty fellow has let his conscience sleep for +these five years, and has now plucked morality from the leaves of his +grandmother's bible, beginning to declaim against what he has practised +half his life-time. Why, I tell you once more, my schemes are all come +to perfection. I am now convinced Olivia loves me--at our last +conversation, she said she would rely wholly on my honor. + +"_Arn._ And therefore you would deceive her. + +"_Thorn._ Why no--deceive her?--why--indeed--as to that--but--but, +for God's sake, let me hear no more on this subject, for, 'faith, you +make me sad, Jack. If you continue your admonitions, I shall begin to +think you have yourself an eye on the girl. You have promised me your +assistance, and when you came down into the country, were as hot on the +scheme as myself: but, since you have been two or three times with me at +Primrose's, you have fallen off strangely. No encroachments, Jack, on my +little rose-bud--if you have a mind to beat up game in this quarter, +there's her sister--but no poaching. + +"_Arn._ I am not insensible to her sister's merit, but have no such +views as you have. However, you have promised me that if you find in this +lady that real virtue which you so firmly deny to exist in the sex, you +will give up the pursuit, and, foregoing the low considerations of fortune, +make atonement by marriage. + +"_Thorn._ Such is my serious resolution. + +"_Arn._ I wish you'd forego the experiment. But, you have been so +much in raptures with your success, that I have, as yet, had no clear +account how you came acquainted in the family. + +"_Thorn._ Oh, I'll tell you immediately. You know Lady Patchet? + +"_Arn._ What, is she here? + +"_Thorn._ It was by her I was first introduced. It seems that, last +year, her ladyship's reputation began to suffer a little; so that she +thought it prudent to retire for a while, till people learned better +manners or got worse memories. She soon became acquainted with this +little family, and, as the wife is a prodigious admirer of quality, grew +in a short time to be very intimate, and imagining that she may one day +make her market of the girls, has much ingratiated herself with them. +She introduced me--I drank, and abused this degenerate age with the +father--promised wonders to the mother for all her brats--praised her +gooseberry wine, and ogled the daughters, by which means in three days I +made the progress I related to you. + +"_Arn._ You have been expeditious indeed. I fear where that devil +Lady Patchet is concerned there can be no good--but is there not a son? + +"_Thorn._ Oh! the most ridiculous creature in nature. He has been +bred in the country a bumpkin all his life, till within these six years, +when he was sent to the University, but the misfortunes that have +reduced his father falling out, he is returned, the most ridiculous +animal you ever saw, a conceited, disputing blockhead. So there is no +great matter to fear from _his_ penetration. But come, let us +begone, and see this moral family, we shall meet them coming from the +field, and you will see a man who was once in affluence, maintaining by +hard labor a numerous family. + +"_Arn._ Oh! Thornhill, can you wish to add infamy to their poverty? + +"[Exeunt.]" + +There also remain among his papers three Acts of a Drama, without a +name,--written evidently in haste, and with scarcely any correction,-- +the subject of which is so wild and unmanageable, that I should not have +hesitated in referring it to the same early date, had not the +introduction into one of the scenes of "Dry be that tear, be hush'd that +sigh," proved it to have been produced after that pretty song was +written. + +The chief personages upon whom the story turns are a band of outlaws, +who, under the name and disguise of _Devils_, have taken up their +residence in a gloomy wood, adjoining a village, the inhabitants of +which they keep in perpetual alarm by their incursions and apparitions. +In the same wood resides a hermit, secretly connected with this band, +who keeps secluded within his cave the beautiful Reginilla, hid alike +from the light of the sun and the eyes of men. She has, however, been +indulged in her prison with a glimpse of a handsome young huntsman, whom +she believes to be a phantom, and is encouraged in her belief by the +hermit, by whose contrivance this huntsman (a prince in disguise) has +been thus presented to her. The following is--as well as I can make it +out from a manuscript not easily decipherable--the scene that takes +place between the fair recluse and her visitant. The style, where style +is attempted, shows, as the reader will perceive, a taste yet immature +and unchastened:-- + +"_Scene draws, and discovers_ REGINILLA _asleep in the cave. + +"Enter_ PEVIDOR _and other Devils, with the_ HUNTSMAN--_unbind +him, and exeunt._ + +"_Hunts._ Ha! Where am I now? Is it indeed the dread abode of +guilt, or refuge of a band of thieves? it cannot be a dream (_sees_ +REGINILLA.) Ha! if this be so, and I _do_ dream, may I never wake-- +it is--my beating heart acknowledges my dear, gentle Reginilla. I'll not +wake her, lest, if it be a phantom, it should vanish. Oh, balmy breath! +but for thy soft sighs that come to tell me it is no image, I should +believe ... (_bends down towards her_.) a sigh from her heart!-- +thus let me arrest thee on thy way. (_kisses her_.) A deeper blush +has flushed her cheek--sweet modesty! that even in sleep is conscious +and resentful.--She will not wake, and yet some fancy calls up those +frequent sighs--how her heart beats in its ivory cage, like an +imprisoned bird--or as if to reprove the hand that dares approach its +sanctuary! Oh, would she but wake, and bless this gloom with her bright +eyes!--Soft, here's a lute--perhaps her soul will hear the call of +harmony. + + "Oh yield, fair lids, the treasures of my heart, + Release those beams, that make this mansion bright; + From her sweet sense, Slumber! tho' sweet thou art, + Begone, and give the air she breathes in light. + + "Or while, oh Sleep, thou dost those glances hide, + Let rosy slumbers still around her play, + Sweet as the cherub Innocence enjoy'd, + When in thy lap, new-born, in smiles he lay. + + "And thou, oh Dream, that com'st her sleep to cheer, + Oh take my shape, and play a lover's part; + Kiss her from me, and whisper in her ear, + Till her eyes shine, 'tis night within my heart. + +[Footnote: I have taken the liberty here of supplying a few rhymes and +words that are wanting in the original copy of the song. The last line +of all runs thus in the manuscript:-- + + "Till her eye shines I live in darkest night," + +which, not rhyming as it ought, I have ventured to alter as above.] + +"_Reg._ (_waking_.) The phantom, father! (_seizes his +hand._) ah, do not, do not wake me then. (_rises._) + +"_Hunts._ (_kneeling to her._) Thou beauteous sun of this dark +world, that mak'st a place, so like the cave of death, a heaven to me, +instruct me how I may approach thee--how address thee and not offend. + +"_Reg._ Oh how my soul would hang upon those lips! speak on--and +yet, methinks, he should not kneel so--why are you afraid, Sir? indeed, +I cannot hurt you. + +"_Hunts._ Sweet innocence, I'm sure thou would'st not. + +"_Reg._ Art thou not he to whom I told my name, and didst thou not +say thine was-- + +"_Hunts._ Oh blessed be the name that then thou told'st--it has +been ever since my charm, and kept me from distraction. But, may I ask +how such sweet excellence as thine could be hid in such a place? + +"_Reg._ Alas, I know not--for such as thou I never saw before, nor +any like myself. + +"_Hunts._ Nor like thee ever shall--but would'st thou leave this +place, and live with such as I am? + +"_Reg._ Why may not you live here with such as I? + +"_Hunts._ Yes--but I would carry thee where all above an azure +canopy extends, at night bedropt with gems, and one more glorious lamp, +that yields such bashful light as love enjoys--while underneath, a +carpet shall be spread of flowers to court the pressure of thy step, +with such sweet whispered invitations from the leaves of shady groves or +murmuring of silver streams, that thou shalt think thou art in Paradise. + +"_Reg._ Indeed! + +"_Hunts._ Ay, and I'll watch and wait on thee all day, and cull the +choicest flowers, which while thou bind'st in the mysterious knot of +love, I'll tune for thee no vulgar lays, or tell thee tales shall make +thee weep yet please thee--while thus I press thy hand, and warm it thus +with kisses. + +"_Reg._ I doubt thee not--but then my Governor has told me many a +tale of faithless men who court a lady but to steal her peace and fame, +and then to leave her. + +"_Hunts._ Oh never such as thou art--witness all.... + +"_Reg._ Then wherefore couldst thou not live here? For I do feel, +tho' tenfold darkness did surround this spot, I could be blest, would +you but stay here; and, if it made you sad to be imprison'd thus, I'd +sing and play for thee, and dress thee sweetest fruits, and though you +chid me, would kiss thy tear away and hide my blushing face upon thy +bosom--indeed, I would. Then what avails the gaudy day, and all the evil +things I'm told inhabit there, to those who have within themselves all +that delight and love, and heaven can give. + +"_Hunts._ My angel, thou hast indeed the soul of love. + +"_Reg._ It is no ill thing, is it? + +"_Hunts._ Oh most divine--it is the immediate gift of heaven, which +steals into our breast ... 'tis that which makes me sigh thus, look +thus--fear and tremble for thee. + +"_Reg._ Sure I should learn it too, if you would teach me. + +(_Sound of horn without--Huntsman starts._) + +"_Reg._ You must not go--this is but a dance preparing for my +amusement--oh we have, indeed, some pleasures here--come, I will sing +for you the while. + +"_Song._ + + "Wilt thou then leave me? canst thou go from me, + To woo the fair that love the gaudy day? + Yet, e'en among those joys, thou'lt find that she, + Who dwells in darkness, loves thee more than they. + For these poor hands, and these unpractised eyes, + And this poor heart is thine without disguise. + + But, if thou'lt stay with me, my only care + Shall be to please and make thee love to stay, + With music, song, and dance + * * * * * + But, if you go, nor music, song, nor dance, + * * * * * + + If thou art studious, I will read + Thee tales of pleasing woe-- + If thou art sad, I'll kiss away + The tears.... that flow. + + If thou would'st play, I'll kiss thee till I blush, + Then hide that blush upon thy breast, + If thou would'st sleep.... + Shall rock thy aching head to rest. + +"_Hunts._ My soul's wonder, I will never leave thee. + +"(_The Dance.--Allemande by two Bears_.) + +"_Enter_ PEVIDOR. + +"_Pev._ So fond, so soon! I cannot bear to see it. What ho, within +(_Devils enter._) secure him. (_Seize and bind the Huntsman._)" + +The Duke or sovereign of the country, where these events are supposed to +take place, arrives at the head of a military force, for the purpose of +investing the haunted wood, and putting down, as he says, those "lawless +renegades, who, in infernal masquerade, make a hell around him." He is +also desirous of consulting the holy hermit of the wood, and availing +himself of his pious consolations and prayers--being haunted with +remorse for having criminally gained possession of the crown by +contriving the shipwreck of the rightful heir, and then banishing from +the court his most virtuous counsellors. In addition to these causes of +disquietude, he has lately lost, in a mysterious manner, his only son, +who, he supposes, has fallen a victim to these Satanic outlaws, but who, +on the contrary, it appears, has voluntarily become an associate of +their band, and is amusing himself, heedless of his noble father's +sorrow, by making love, in the disguise of a dancing bear, to a young +village coquette of the name of Mopsa. A short specimen of the manner in +which this last farcical incident is managed, will show how wide even +Sheridan was, at first, of that true vein of comedy, which, on searching +deeper into the mine, he so soon afterwards found:-- + +"SCENE.--_The Inside of the Cottage_.--MOPSA, LUBIN _(her +father), and_ COLIN _(her lover), discovered_. + +"_Enter_ PEVIDOR, _leading the Bear, and singing._ + + "And he dances, dances, dances, + And goes upright like a Christian swain, + And he shows you pretty fancies, + Nor ever tries to shake off his chain. + +"_Lubin._ Servant, master. Now, Mopsa, you are happy--it is, +indeed, a handsome creature. What country does your bear come from? + +"_Pev._ Dis bear, please your worship, is of de race of dat bear of +St. Anthony, who was the first convert he made in de woods. St. Anthony +bade him never more meddle with man, and de bear observed de command to +his dying day. + +"_Lub._ Wonderful! + +"_Pev._ Dis generation be all de same--all born widout toots. + +"_Colin._ What, can't he bite? (_puts his finger to the Bear's +mouth, who bites him_.) Oh Lord, no toots! why you ---- + +"_Pev._ Oh dat be only his gum. (_Mopsa laughs_.) + +"_Col._ For shame, Mopsa--now, I say Maister Lubin, mustn't she +give me a kiss to make it well? + +"_Lub._ Ay, kiss her, kiss her, Colin. + +"_Col._ Come, Miss. (_Mopsa runs to the Bear, who kisses +her_.)" + +The following scene of the Devils drinking in their subterraneous +dwelling, though cleverly imagined, is such as, perhaps, no cookery of +style could render palatable to an English audience. + +"SCENE.--_The Devils' Cave_. + +"_1st Dev._ Come, Urial, here's to our resurrection. + +"_2d Dev._ It is a toast I'd scarcely pledge--by my life, I think +we're happier here. + +"_3d Dev._ Why, so think I--by Jove, I would despise the man, who +could but wish to rise again to earth, unless we were to lord there. +What! sneaking pitiful in bondage, among vile money-scrapers, +treacherous friends, fawning flatterers--or, still worse, deceitful +mistresses. Shall we who reign lords here, again lend ourselves to swell +the train of tyranny and usurpation? By my old father's memory, I'd +rather be the blindest mole that ever skulked in darkness, the lord of +one poor hole, where he might say, 'I'm master here.' + +"_2d Dev._ You are too hot--where shall concord be found, if even +the devils disagree?--Come fill the glass, and add thy harmony--while we +have wine to enlighten us, the sun be hanged! I never thought he gave so +fine a light for my part--and then, there are such vile inconveniences-- +high winds and storms, rains, &c.--oh hang it! living on the outside of +the earth is like sleeping on deck, when one might, like us, have a snug +berth in the cabin. + +"_1st Dev._ True, true,--Helial, where is thy catch? + + "In the earth's centre let me live, + There, like a rabbit will I thrive, + Nor care if fools should call my life infernal; + While men on earth crawl lazily about, + Like snails upon the surface of the nut, + We are, like maggots, feasting in the kernel. + +"_1st Dev._ Bravo, by this glass. Meli, what say you? + +"_3d Dev._ Come, here's to my Mina--I used to toast her in the +upper regions. + +"_1st Dev._ Ay, we miss them here. + +"_Glee._ + + "What's a woman good for? + Rat me, sir, if I know. + * * * * * + She's a savor to the glass, + An excuse to make it pass. + * * * * * + +"_1st Dev._ I fear we are like the wits above, who abuse women only +because they can't get them,--and, after all, it must be owned they are +a pretty kind of creatures. + +"_All._ Yes, yes. + +"_Catch._ + + "'Tis woman after all + Is the blessing of this ball, + 'Tis she keeps the balance of it even. + We are devils, it is true, + But had we women too, + Our Tartarus would turn to a Heaven!" + +A scene in the Third Act, where these devils bring the prisoners whom +they have captured to trial, is an overcharged imitation of the satire +of Fielding, and must have been written, I think, after a perusal of +that author's Satirical Romance, "A Journey from this World to the +Next,"--the first half of which contains as much genuine humor and fancy +as are to be found in any other production of the kind. The +interrogatories of Minos in that work suggested, I suspect, the +following scene:-- + +"_Enter a number of Devils.--Others bring in_ LUDOVICO. + +"_1st Dev._ Just taken, in the wood, sir, with two more. + + "_Chorus of Devils_. + + "Welcome, welcome + + * * * * * + +"_Pev._ What art thou? + +"_Ludov._ I went for a man in the other world. + +"_Pev._ What sort of a man? + +"_Ludov._ A soldier at your service. + +"_Pev._ Wast thou in the battle of--? + +"_Ludov._ Truly I was. + +"_Pev._ What was the quarrel? + +"_Ludov._ I never had time to ask. The children of peace, who make +our quarrels, must be Your Worship's informants there. + +"_Pev._ And art thou not ashamed to draw the sword for thou know'st +not what--and to be the victim and food of others' folly? + +"_Ludov._ Vastly. + +"_Pev._ (_to the Devils_.) Well, take him for to-day, and only +score his skin and pepper it with powder--then chain him to a cannon, +and let the Devils practise at his head--his be the reward who hits it +with a single ball. + +"_Ludov._ Oh mercy, mercy! + +"_Pev._ Bring Savodi. + +"(_A Devil brings in_ SAVODI.) + + "_Chorus as before_. + + "Welcome, welcome, &c. + +"_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 +spaniels 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' Worships. + +"_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. + +"_1st Dev._ Great Judge of this infernal place, allow him but the +mercy of the court. + +"_Sav._ Oh kind Devil!--yes, Great Judge, allow. + +"_1st Dev._ The punishment is undergone already--truth from him is +something. + +"_Sav._ Oh, most unusual--sweet devil! + +"_1st 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. + +"_1st 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? + +"_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 +my fault--upon my soul, I never did anything to incur preferment. + +"_Pev._ Indeed! what was thy employment then, friend? + +"_Pamphil._ Hunting-- + +"_Pev._ 'Tis false. + +"_Pamphil._ Hunting women's reputations. + +"_Pev._ What, thou wert amorous? + +"_Pamphil._ No, on my honor, 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?" &c. &c. + +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; 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 of "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--particularly 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-booters. 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 suspected of having left with her preserver. The list of +the Dramatis Personae (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 memorandum-- +"_Vide_ 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:-- + +"_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 +presence would be welcome to her. + +"_Osc._ I am sure you have never seen her prefer any one else. + +"_Col._ 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 I +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? + +"_Col._ 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 weep--formerly she seemed wholly insensible; now, alas, she seems +to feel--but as if addressed by the wrong person," &c. &c. + +In a following scene are introduced two brothers, both equally enamored +of the fair Malvina, yet preserving their affection unaltered 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-- +brothers, and rivals, but friends. + +"_Enter_ NICO _and_ LUBIN. + +"So, Nico--how comes it you are so late in your inquiries after your +mistress? + +"_Nico._ I should have been sooner; but Lubin would stay to make +himself fine--though he knows that 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. + +"_Lub._ 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't +we, Lubin? + +"_Lubin._ Yes, if I meet no crosses, I shall be undone in another +twelve-month--I let all go to wreck and ruin. + +"_Osc._ But suppose Malvina should be brought to give you +encouragement. + +"_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 +appearance of a smile one day," &c. &c. + +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 coloring on the stage, without degenerating into farce; +and, accordingly, fops and fine ladies--with very few exceptions--are +about as silly and tiresome in representation 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:-- + +"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 have 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, &c.--share in Ranelagh--speaker every where, +from the Vestry to the House of Commons--'I am not at home--gad, now he +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.'--'You never sent after +me.'--Let servants call in to him such a message as 'Tis nothing but the +window tax,' he hiding in a room that communicates.--A young man tells +him some important business in the middle of fifty trivial +interruptions, and the calling in of idlers; such as fidlers, wild-beast +men, foreigners with recommendatory letters, &c.--answers notes on his +knee, 'and so your uncle died?--for your obliging inquiries--and left +you an orphan--to cards in the evening.' + +"Can't bear to be doing nothing.--'Can I do anything for any body any +where?'--'Have been to the Secretary--written to the Treasury.'--'Must +proceed to meet the Commissioners, and write Mr. Price's little boy's +exercise.'--The most active idler and laborious trifler. + +"He does not in reality love business--only the appearance of it. 'Ha! +ha! did my Lord say that I was always very busy? What, plagued to +death?' + +"Keeps all his letters and copies--' Mem. to meet the Hackney-coach +Commissioners--to arbitrate between,' &c. &c. + +"Contrast with the man of indolence, his brother.--'So, brother, just +up! and I have been,' &c. &c.--one will give his money from indolent +generosity, the other his time from restlessness--' 'Twill be shorter to +pay the bill than look for the receipt.'--Files letters, answered and +unanswered--'Why, here are more unopened than answered!' + + * * * * * + +"He regulates every action by a love for fashion--will grant annuities +though he doesn't want money--appear to intrigue, though constant; to +drink, though sober--has some fashionable vices--affects to be +distressed in his circumstances, and, when his new vis-a-vis comes out, +procures a judgment to be entered against him--wants to lose, but by +ill-luck wins five thousand pounds. + + * * * * * + +"One who changes sides in all arguments the moment any one agrees with +him. + +"An irresolute arguer, to whom it is a great misfortune that there are +not three sides to a question--a libertine in argument; conviction, like +enjoyment, palls him, and his rakish understanding is soon satiated with +truth--more capable of being faithful to a paradox--'I love truth as I +do my wife; but sophistry and paradoxes are my mistresses--I have a +strong domestic respect for her, but for the other the passion due to a +mistress.' + +"One, who agrees with every one, for the pleasure of speaking their +sentiments for them--so fond of talking that he does not contradict only +because he can't wait to hear people out. + +"A tripping casuist, who veers by others' breath, and gets on to +information by tacking between the two sides--like a hoy, not made to go +straight before the wind. + +"The more he talks, the further he is off the argument, like a bowl on a +wrong bias. + + * * * * * + +"What are the affectations you chiefly dislike? + +"There are many in this company, so I'll mention others.--To see two +people affecting intrigue, having their assignations in public places +only; he affecting a warm pursuit, and the lady, acting the hesitation +of retreating virtue--'Pray, ma'am, don't you think,' &c.--while neither +party have words between 'em to conduct the preliminaries of gallantry, +nor passion to pursue the object of it. + +"A plan of public flirtation--not to get beyond a profile. + + * * * * * + +"Then I hate to see one, to whom heaven has given real beauty, settling +her features at the glass of fashion, while she speaks--not thinking so +much of what she says as how she looks, and more careful of the action +of her lips than of what shall come from them. + + * * * * * + +"A pretty woman studying looks and endeavoring to recollect an ogle, +like Lady ----, who has learned to play her eyelids like Venetian +blinds. [Footnote: This simile is repeated in various shapes through his +manuscripts--"She moves her eyes up and down like Venetian blinds"-- +"Her eyelids play like a Venetian blind," &c &c.] + +"An old woman endeavoring to put herself back to a girl. + + * * * * * + +"A true-trained wit lays his plan like a general--foresees the +circumstances of the conversation--surveys the ground and contingencies +--detaches a question to draw you into the palpable ambuscade of his +ready-made joke. + + * * * * * + +"A man intriguing, only for the reputation of it--to his confidential +servant: 'Who am I in love with now?'--'The newspapers give you so and +so--you are laying close siege to Lady L., in the Morning Post, and have +succeeded with Lady G. in the Herald--Sir F. is very jealous of you in +the Gazetteer.'--'Remember to-morrow the first thing you do, to put me +in love with Mrs. C.' + +"'I forgot to forget the billet-doux at Brooks's'--'By the bye, an't I +in love with you?'--'Lady L. has promised to meet me in her carriage to- +morrow--where is the most public place?' + +"'You were rude to her!'--'Oh, no, upon my soul, I made love to her +directly.' + +"An old man, who affects intrigue, and writes his own reproaches in the +Morning Post, trying to scandalize himself into the reputation of being +young, as if he could obscure his age by blotting his character--though +never so little candid as when he's abusing himself. + + * * * * * + +"'Shall you be at Lady ----'s? I'm told the Bramin is to be there, and +the new French philosopher.'--'No--it will be pleasanter at Lady ----'s +conversazione--the cow with two heads will be there.' + + * * * * * + +"'I shall order my valet to shoot me the very first thing he does in the +morning.' + +"'You are yourself affected and don't know it--you would pass for +morose.' + +"He merely wanted to be singular, and happened to find the character of +moroseness unoccupied in the society he lived with. + +"He certainly has a great deal of fancy and a very good memory; but with +a perverse ingenuity he employs these qualities as no other person does +--for he employs his fancy in his narratives, and keeps his recollections +for his wit--when he makes his jokes you applaud the accuracy of his +memory, and 'tis only when he states his facts that you admire the +flights of his imagination. [Footnote: The reader will find how much +this thought was improved upon afterwards.] + + * * * * * + +"A fat woman trundling into a room on castors--in sitting can only lean +against her chair--rings on her fingers, and her fat arms strangled with +bracelets, which belt them like corded brawn--rolling and heaving when +she laughs with the rattles in her throat, and a most apoplectic ogle-- +you wish to draw her out, as you would an opera-glass. + + * * * * * + +"A long lean man with all his limbs rambling--no way to reduce him to +compass, unless you could double him like a pocket rule--with his arms +spread, he'd lie on the bed of Ware like a cross on a Good Friday bun-- +standing still, he is a pilaster without a base--he appears rolled out +or run up against a wall--so thin that his front face is but the moiety +of a profile--if he stands cross-legged, he looks like a caduceus, and +put him in a fencing attitude, you will take him for a piece of chevaux- +de-frise--to make any use of him, it must be as a spontoon or a fishing- +rod--when his wife's by, he follows like a note of admiration--see them +together, one's a mast, and the other all hulk--she's a dome and he's +built like a glass-house--when they part, you wonder to see the steeple +separate from the chancel, and were they to embrace, he must hang round +her neck like a skein of thread on a lace-maker's bolster--to sing her +praise you should choose a rondeau, and to celebrate him you must write +all Alexandrines. + +"I wouldn't give a pin to make fine men in love with me--every coquette +can do that, and the pain you give these creatures is very trifling. I +love out-of-the-way conquests; and as I think my attractions are +singular, I would draw singular objects. + +"The loadstone of true beauty draws the heaviest substances--not like +the fat dowager, who frets herself into warmth to get the notice of a +few _papier mache_ fops, as you rub Dutch sealing-wax to draw +paper. + + * * * * * + +"If I were inclined to flatter I would say that, as you are unlike other +women, you ought not to be won as they are. Every woman can be gained by +time, therefore you ought to be by a sudden impulse. Sighs, devotion, +attention weigh with others; but they are so much your due that no one +should claim merit from them.... + +"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 +myself to you that I never yet was endured by woman; so that I should +owe every thing to the effect of your bounty, and not by my own +superfluous deserts make it a debt, and so lessen both the obligation +and my gratitude. In short, every other woman follows her inclination, +but you, above all things, should take me, if you do not like me. You +will, besides, 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 by +sonnets and rebusses--a rondeau of circumvallation--her pride sapped by +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 +capitulation.' + + * * * * * + +"Her prudish frowns and resentful looks are as 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, suspect +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 +opportunity to show it.--Her features are so unfortunately formed that +she could never dissemble or put on sweetness enough to 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 lately?-- +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. + + * * * * * + +"A new wooden leg for Sir Charles Easy. + + * * * * * + +"An ornament which proud peers wear all the year round--chimneysweepers +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. Sheridan left +behind him, are numerous; but those among them that are sufficiently +finished to be cited, bear the marks of having been written when he was +very young, and would not much interest the reader--while of the rest it +is difficult to find four consecutive lines, that have undergone enough +of the _toilette_ of composition 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 labor, 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 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 ankles and their wit, + And, much too short the inside to explore, + Hang like supporters, half way up the 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 different +matters, is illustrated by the following simile: + + "So when dramatic statesmen talk apart, + With practis'd 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 Row; + Where Brooks' 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 repeated a couplet or two to Mr. Rogers a 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. +[Footnote: These four lines, as I have already remarked, are taken--with +little change of the words, but a total alteration of the sentiment--from +the verses which he addressed to Mrs. Sheridan in the year 1773. See page +83.] + + * * * * * + + 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 startling tears, which pity dares not own." + +The following stray couplet would seem to have been intended for his +description of Corilla:-- + + "A crayon Cupid, redd'ning into shape, + Betrays her talents to design and scrape." + +The Epilogue, which I am about to give, though apparently finished, 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 this gay month when, through the sultry hour, + The vernal sun 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 displayed + The liberal blossom and 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 rain. + To summer suns our groves no tribute owe, + They thrive in 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, + No more we boast our Christmas nightingale; + Poor Rossignol--the wonder of his day, + Sung through the winter--but is mute in May. + Then bashful spring, that gilds fair nature's scene, + O'ercasts 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 ling'ring frost, nice, chilling showers, + While Nature's _Benefit_--is death to ours; + Who, witch-like, best in noxious mists perform, + Thrive in the tempest, and enjoy the storm. + O hapless we--unless your generous care + Bids us no more lament that Spring is fair, + But plenteous glean from the dramatic soil, + The vernal harvest of our winter's toil. + For April suns to us no pleasure bring-- + Your presence here is all we feel of Spring; + May's riper beauties here no bloom display, + Your fostering smile alone proclaims it May." + +A poem upon Windsor Castle, half ludicrous and half solemn, appears, +from the many experiments which he made upon it, to have cost him +considerable trouble. The Castle, he says, + + "Its base a mountain, and itself a rock, + In proud defiance of the tempests' rage, + Like an old gray-hair'd veteran stands each shock-- + The sturdy witness of a nobler age." + +He then alludes to the "cockney" 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 coat embroider'd and scratch wig at top." + +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 colors, 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 characterizes an amiable friend of +his, Dr. Bain, with whom he 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; +such as--"The more you show, the less we wish to see."--"And bare their +bodies, as they mask their minds," &c. This poem, however, must have +been undertaken many years after his entrance into Parliament, as the +following curious political memorandum will prove:--"I like it no better +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 extravagant. +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 + + "_Toujours mecontent de ce qu'il vient de faire, + Il plait a tout le monde et ne scaurait 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 t' 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 example, + 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 strait you could both write and spell, + While such rhyme-giving pow'rs run through it, + A quart would make an epic poet," &c. &c. + +A poem on the miseries of a literary drudge begins thus promisingly:-- + + "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 brain." + +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. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +HIS FIRST SPEECHES IN PARLIAMENT.--ROCKINGHAM ADMINISTRATION.-- +COALITION.--INDIA BILL.--RE-ELECTION FOR STAFFORD. + + +The period at which Mr. Sheridan entered upon his political career was, +in every respect, remarkable. A persevering and vindictive 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 unbiassed 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 opposed to such principles as the Americans asserted +in this contest, without being herself corrupted by the cause which she +maintained, as it was for the French to have fought, in the same +conflict, by the side of the oppressed, without catching a portion of +that enthusiasm for liberty, which such an alliance was calculated to +inspire. Accordingly, while the voice of philosophy was heard along the +neighboring shores, speaking aloud those oracular warnings, which +preceded the death of the Great Pan of Despotism, the courtiers and +lawyers of England were, with an emulous spirit of servility, advising +and sanctioning such strides of power, as would not have been unworthy +of the most dark and slavish times. + +When we review, indeed, the history of the late reign, and consider 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 perpetuation of despotic +principles, it seems little less than a miracle that her own liberty +should have escaped with life from the contagion. 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; who, however much they may +have sometimes sacrificed to false views of expediency, and, by +compromise with friends and coalition with foes, too often weakened +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 preserved 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 now called to +take 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 Nature seems to +keep in reserve for the ennoblement of such great occasions. Two of +these, Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox, were already in the full maturity of their +fame and talent,--while the third, Mr. Pitt, was just upon the point of +entering, with the most auspicious promise, into the same splendid +career: + +"_Nunc cuspide Patris + Inclytus, Herculeas olim 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 aggressions upon the rights of +the Colonies had been committed before he succeeded to power. But his +readiness to follow in these rash footsteps, 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 channel of the vindictive feelings of the Court, in that memorable +declaration (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-humor 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 +conflict, inclined them to moralize 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 +favorable to the excitement of his powers, or more bright in the views +which it opened upon his ambition. + +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 and Mr. 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 uncommonly 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 constituents, 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. Sheridan, +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 better have stuck to your +former pursuits." On hearing which, Sheridan rested his head upon his +hand for a few minutes, and then vehemently exclaimed, "It is in me, +however, and, by G--, it shall come out." + +It appears, indeed, that upon many persons besides Mr. Woodfall 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 [Footnote: Feb. 26.--On the +second reading of the Bill for the better regulation of His Majesty's +Civil List Revenue.] for the levity and raillery with which they treated +the subject before the House,--thus condemning the use of that weapon in +other hands, which soon after became so formidable in his own. The +remarks by which Mr. Courtenay (a gentleman, whose lively wit found +afterwards a more congenial air on the benches of the Opposition) +provoked the reprimand of the new senator for Stafford, are too humorous +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 honors enjoyed by the +minister and his venal supporters. If he were not apprehensive of +hazarding a ludicrous allusion, (which he knew was always improper on a +serious subject) he would compare their conduct to that of the +sentimental alderman in one of Hogarth's prints, who, when his daughter +is expiring, wears indeed a parental face of grief and solicitude, but +it is to secure her diamond ring which he is drawing 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 discussion. If they would not act with dignity, he thought they +might, at least, debate with decency. He would not attempt to answer Mr. +Courtenay's arguments, for it was impossible seriously to reply to what, +in every part, had an infusion of ridicule in it. Two of the honorable +gentlemen's similes, however, he must take notice of. The one was his +having insinuated that the Opposition was envious of those who basked in +court sunshine; and desirous merely to get into their places. He begged +leave to remind the honorable gentleman that, though the sun afforded a +genial warmth, it also occasioned an intemperate heat, that tainted and +infected everything 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 honorable 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 display of +his oratory was a motion which he made on the 5th of March, 1781, "For +the better regulation of the Police of Westminster." The chief object of +the motion was to expose the unconstitutional exercise of the +prerogative that had been assumed, in employing the military to suppress +the late riots, without waiting for the authority of the civil power. +These disgraceful riots, which proved to what Christianity consequences +the 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 citizens, +which both Montesquieu and Blackstone recommend as favorable to 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, to weaken that salutary jealousy, with +which the citizens of a free state should ever regard a soldier, and +thus familiarize the use of this dangerous machine, in every possible +service to which capricious power may apply it. The Opposition did not +deny that the measure of ordering out the military, and empowering their +officers to act at discretion without any reference to the civil +magistrate, was, however unconstitutional, not only justifiable but +wise, in a moment of such danger. But the refusal of the minister to +acknowledge the illegality of the proceeding by applying to the House +for an Act of Indemnity, and the transmission of the same discretionary +orders to the soldiery throughout the country, where no such imminent +necessity called for it, were the points upon which the conduct of the +Government was strongly, and not unjustly, censured. + +Indeed, the manifest design of the Ministry, at this crisis, to avail +themselves of the impression produced by the riots, as a means of +extending the frontier of their power, and fortifying the doctrines by +which they defended it, spread an alarm among the friends of +constitutional principles, which the language of some of the advocates +of the Court was by no means calculated to allay. Among others, a Noble +Earl,--one of those awkward worshippers of power, who bring ridicule +alike upon their idol and themselves,--had the foolish effrontery, in +the House of Lords, to eulogize the moderation 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 the Constitution and the establishment of +despotic power. Though this was the mere ebullition of an absurd +individual, yet the bubble on the surface often proves the strength of +the spirit underneath, and the public were justified by a combination of +circumstances, in attributing designs of the most arbitrary nature to +such a Court and such an Administration. Meetings were accordingly held +in some of the principal counties, and resolutions passed, condemning +the late unconstitutional employment of the military. Mr. Fox had +adverted to it strongly at the opening of the Session, and it is a proof +of the estimation in which Mr. Sheridan already stood with his party, +that he was the person selected to bring forward a motion, upon a +subject in which the feelings of the public were so much interested. In +the 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 time +it pleases, then we might bid farewell to freedom. If this was the law, +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 +moderation, and the constitutional principles of the sovereign. No man +upon earth thought with more reverence than himself of the virtues and +moderation 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 favorite contrivances of his style:-- + +"Was not the conduct of that man or men criminal, who had permitted +those Justices to continue in the commission? Men of _tried +inability_ and _convicted deficiency_! Had no attempt been made +to establish some more effectual system of police, in order 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 instances 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 ardor, 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 romantic, that they seem more fit to +be addressed to one of those Parliaments 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 equal 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 favor of the Bill, that it would +tend to keep the aristocracy of the country pure, 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 property 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 pilotage of parental authority to continue till the first +quicksands of youth are passed, is, by the majority of the civilized +world, acknowledged 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 than the head of age," without limit +or control, 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. [Footnote: In alluding to Mr. Fox's too favorable +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 youth 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."] Mr. Sheridan, for +whose opinions upon this subject the well-known history of his own +marriage must have secured no ordinary degree of attention, remarked +that-- + +"His honorable 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 +freedom 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 that case, look on their wards with +a jealous eye, from a fear that footmen and those about them might take +advantage of their tender years and immature judgment, and persuade them +into marriage, as soon as they attained the age of sixteen." + +It seems somewhat extraordinary that, during the very busy interval +which passed between Mr. Sheridan's first appearance in Parliament and +his appointment under Lord Rockingham's administration in 1782, he +should so rarely have taken a part in the debates that occurred-- +interesting as they were, not only from the importance of the topics +discussed, but from the more than usual animation now infused into the +warfare of parties, by the last desperate struggles of the Ministry and +the anticipated triumph of the Opposition. 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 +supplies, till pledges of amendment in the administration of public +affairs 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 questions, +through which Mr. Burke and Mr. Fox fought, side by side, lavishing at +every step the inexhaustible ammunition of their intellect, 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. Grattan and the example of America, a character of +grandeur, as passing as 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 attached by his countrymen to those high notions +of the supremacy of England, which, on the great question of the +independence of the Irish Parliament, both Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke were +known to entertain. [Footnote: As the few beautiful sentences spoken by +Burke on this occasion, in support of his friend's motion, have been +somewhat strangely omitted in the professed collection of all his +speeches, I shall give them here as they are reported in the +Parliamentary History:--"Mr. Burke said, so many and such great +revolutions had happened of late, that he was not much surprised to hear +the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Jenkinson) treat the loss of the supremacy +of this country over Ireland as a matter of very little consequence. +Thus, one star, and that the brightest ornament of our orrery, having +been suffered to be lost, those who were accustomed to inspect and watch +our political heaven ought not to wonder that it should be followed by +the loss of another.-- + + So star would follow star, and light light, + Till all was darkness and eternal night."] + +Even on the subject of the American war, which was now the important +point that called forth all the resources of attack and defence on both +sides, the co-operation of Mr. Sheridan appears to have been but rare +and casual. The only occasions, indeed, connected with this topic upon +which I can trace him as having spoken at any length, were the charges +brought forward by Mr. Fox against the Admiralty for their mismanagement +of the naval affairs of 1781, and the Resolution of censure on His +Majesty's Ministers moved by Lord John Cavendish. His remarks in the +latter debate upon the two different sets of opinions, by which (as by +the double soul, imagined in Xenophon) the speaking and the voting of +Mr. Rigby were actuated, are very happy:-- + +"The Right Hon. Gentleman, however, had acted in this day's debate with +perfect consistency. He had assured the House that he thought the Noble +Lord ought to resign his office; and yet he would give his vote for his +remaining in it. In the same manner he had long declared, that he +thought the American war ought to be abandoned; yet had uniformly given +his vote for its continuance. He did not mean, however, to insinuate any +motives for such conduct;--he believed the Right Hon. Gentleman to have +been sincere; he believed that, as a member of Parliament, as a Privy +Councillor, as a private gentleman, he had always detested the American +war as much as any man; but that he had never been able to persuade the +Paymaster that it was a bad war; and unfortunately, in whatever +character he spoke, it was the Paymaster who always voted in that +House." + +The infrequency of Mr. Sheridan's exertions upon the American question +combines with other circumstances to throw some doubts upon an anecdote, +which has been, however, communicated to me as coming from an authority +worthy in every respect of the most implicit belief. He is said to have +received, towards the close of this war, a letter from one of the +leading persons of the American Government, expressing high admiration +of his talents and political principles, and informing him that the sum +of twenty thousand pounds had been deposited for him in the hands of a +certain banker, as a mark of the value which the American people +attached to his services in the cause of liberty. To this Mr. S. +returned an answer (which, as well as the letter, was seen, it is said, +by the person with whom the anecdote originated) full of the most +respectful gratitude for the opinion entertained of his services, but +begging leave to decline a gift under such circumstances. That this +would have been the nature of his answer, had any such proposal +occurred, the generally high tone of his political conduct forbids us to +feel any doubt,--but, with respect to the credibility of the transaction +altogether, it is far less easy to believe that the Americans had so +much money to give, than that Mr. Sheridan should have been sufficiently +high-minded to refuse it. + +Not only were the occasions very few and select, on which he offered +himself to the attention of the House at this period, but, whenever he +did speak, it was concisely and unpretendingly, with the manner of a +person who came to learn a new road to fame,--not of one who laid claim +to notice upon the credit of the glory he brought with him. Mr. Fox used +to say that he considered his conduct in this respect as a most striking +proof of his sagacity and good taste;--such rare and unassuming displays +of his talents being the only effectual mode he could have adopted, to +win on the attention of his audience, and gradually establish himself in +their favor. He had, indeed, many difficulties and disadvantages to +encounter, of which his own previous reputation was not the least. Not +only did he risk a perilous comparison between his powers, as a speaker +and his fame as a writer, but he had also to contend with that feeling +of monopoly, which pervades the more worldly classes of talent, and +which would lead politicians to regard as an intruder upon their craft, +a man of genius thus aspiring to a station among them, without the usual +qualifications of either birth or apprenticeship to entitle him to it. +[Footnote: There is an anecdote strongly illustrative of this +observation, quoted by Lord John Russell in his able and lively work +"On the Affairs of Europe from the Peace of Utrecht."--Mr. Steele (in +alluding to Sir Thomas Hanmer's opposition to the Commercial Treaty in +1714) said, "I rise to do him honor"--on which many members who had +before tried to interrupt him, called out, 'Taller, Taller;' and as he +went down the House, several said, 'It is not so easy a thing to speak +in the House:' 'He fancies because he can scribble,' &c. &c.,--Slight +circumstances, indeed, (adds Lord John,) but which show at once the +indisposition of the House to the Whig party, and the natural envy of +mankind, long ago remarked by Cicero, towards all who attempt to gain +more than one kind of pre-eminence.] In an assembly, too, whose +deference for rank and property is such as to render it lucky that these +instruments of influence are so often united with honesty and talent, +the son of an actor and proprietor of a theatre had, it must be owned, +most fearful odds against him, in entering into competition with the +sons of Lord Holland and Lord Chatham. + +With the same discretion that led him to obtrude himself but seldom on +the House, he never spoke at this period but after careful and even +verbal preparation. Like most of our great orators at the commencement +of their careers, he was in the habit of writing out his speeches before +he delivered them; and, though subsequently he scribbled these +preparatory sketches upon detached sheets, I find that he began by using +for this purpose the same sort of copy books, which he had employed in +the first rough draughts of his plays. + +However ill the affairs of the country were managed by Lord North, in +the management of Parliament few ministers have been more smoothly +dexterous; and through the whole course of those infatuated measures, +which are now delivered over, without appeal, to the condemnation of +History, he was cheered along by as full and triumphant majorities, as +ever followed in the wake of ministerial power. At length, however, the +spirit of the people, that last and only resource against the venality +of parliaments and the obstinacy of kings, was roused from its long and +dangerous sleep by the unparalleled exertions of the Opposition leaders, +and spoke out with a voice, always awfully intelligible, against the men +and the measures that had brought England to the brink of ruin. The +effect of this popular feeling soon showed itself in the upper regions. +The country-gentlemen, those birds of political omen, whose migrations +are so portentous of a change of weather, began to flock in numbers to +the brightening quarter of Opposition; and at last, Lord North, after +one or two signal defeats (in spite even of which the Court for some +time clung to him, as the only hope of its baffled, but persevering +revenge), resigned the seals of office in the month of March, 1782, and +an entirely new administration was formed under the promising auspices +of the Marquis of Rockingham. + +Mr. Sheridan, as might be expected, shared in the triumph of his party, +by being appointed one of the Under Secretaries of State; and, no doubt, +looked forward to a long and improving tenure of that footing in office +which his talents had thus early procured for him. But, however +prosperous on the surface the complexion of the ministry might be, its +intestine state was such as did not promise a very long existence. +Whiggism is a sort of political Protestantism, and pays a similar tax +for the freedom of its creed, in the multiplicity of opinions which that +very freedom engenders--while true Toryism, like Popery, holding her +children together by the one common doctrine of the infallibility of the +Throne, takes care to repress any schism inconvenient to their general +interest, and keeps them, at least for all intents and purposes of +place-holding, unanimous. + +Between the two branches of Opposition that composed the present +administration there were some very important, if not essential, +differences of opinion. Lord Shelburne, the pupil and friend of Lord +Chatham, held the same high but unwise opinions, with respect to the +recognition of American independence, which "the swan-like end" of that +great man has consecrated in our imagination, however much our reason +may condemn them. "Whenever" said Lord Shelburne, "the Parliament of +Great Britain shall acknowledge the independence of America, from that +moment the sun of England is set for ever." With regard to the affairs +of India, too, and the punishment of those who were accused of +mismanaging them, the views of the noble Lord wholly differed from those +of Mr. Fox and his followers--as appeared from the decided part in favor +of Mr. Hastings, which he took in the subsequent measure of the +Impeachment. In addition to these fertile seeds of disunion, the +retention in the cabinet of a person like Lord Thurlow, whose views of +the Constitution were all through the wrong end of the telescope, and +who did not even affect to conceal his hostility to the principles of +his colleagues, seemed such a provision, at starting, for the +embarrassment of the Ministry, as gave but very little hope of its union +or stability. + +The only Speech, of which any record remains as having been delivered by +Mr. Sheridan during his short official career, was upon a motion made by +Mr. Eden, the late Secretary for Ireland, "to repeal so much of the act +of George I. as asserted a right in the King and Parliament of Great +Britain to make laws to bind the Kingdom of Ireland." This motion was +intended to perplex the new ministers, who, it was evident from the +speech of Mr. Fox on the subject, had not yet made up their minds to +that surrender of the Legislative Supremacy of Great Britain, which +Ireland now, with arms in her hands, demanded. [Footnote: Mr. Fox, in +his speech upon the Commercial Propositions of 1785, acknowledged the +reluctance that was felt at this period, in surrendering the power of +external or commercial legislation over Ireland:--"a power," he said, +"which, in their struggles for independence, the Irish had imprudently +insisted on having abolished, and which he had himself given up in +compliance with the strong prejudices of that nation, though with a +reluctance that nothing but irresistible necessity could overcome."] Mr. +Sheridan concurred with the Honorable Secretary in deprecating such a +hasty and insidious agitation of the question, but at the same time +expressed in a much more unhesitating manner, his opinion of that Law of +Subjection from which Ireland now rose to release herself:-- + +"If he declared himself (he said) so decided an enemy to the principle +of the Declaratory Law in question, which he had always regarded as a +tyrannous usurpation in this country, he yet could not but reprobate the +motives which influenced the present mover for its repeal--but, if the +house divided on it, he should vote with him." + +The general sense of the House being against the motion, it was +withdrawn. But the spirit of the Irish nation had advanced too far on +its march to be called back even by the most friendly voice. All that +now remained for the ministers was to yield, with a confiding frankness, +what the rash measures of their predecessors and the weakness of England +had put it out of their power with safety to refuse. This policy, so +congenial to the disposition of Mr. Fox, was adopted. His momentary +hesitation was succeeded by such a prompt and generous acquiescence in +the full demands of the Irish Parliament, as gave all the grace of a +favor to what necessity would, at all events, have extorted--and, in +the spirited assertion of the rights of freemen on one side, and the +cordial and entire recognition of them on the other, the names of +Grattan and Fox, in that memorable moment, reflected a lustre on each +other which associates them in its glory for ever. + +Another occasion upon which Mr. Sheridan spoke while in office,--though +no report of his Speech has been preserved--was a motion for a Committee +to examine into the State of the Representation, brought forward by the +youthful reformer, Mr. William Pitt, whose zeal in the cause of freedom +was at that time, perhaps, sincere, and who little dreamed of the war he +was destined to wage with it afterwards. Mr. Fox and Mr. Sheridan spoke +strongly in favor of the motion, while, in compliance with the request +of the former, Mr. Burke absented himself from the discussion--giving +the cause of Reform, for once, a respite from the thunders of his +eloquence, like the sleep of Jove, in Homer, which leaves the Greeks for +the moment masters of the field. + + [Greek]_Sphin chndos opaze, minuntha per, ophr'eati endei + Zeus. +[Footnote: "And, while the moment lasts of Jove's repose, Make victory +theirs." COWPER.] + +Notwithstanding all this, however, the question was lost by a majority +of 161 to 141. + +Immediately on his accession to office, Mr. Sheridan received the +following letter from his brother Charles Francis, who had been called +to the Irish bar in 1778 or 9, but was at this time practising as a +Special Pleader:-- + +"Dublin, March 27, 1782. + +"DEAR DICK, + +"I am much obliged to you for your early intelligence concerning the +fate of the Ministry, and give you joy on the occasion, notwithstanding +your sorrow for the departure of the good Opposition. I understand very +well what you mean by this sorrow--but as you may be now in a situation +in which you may obtain some substantial advantage for yourself, for +God's sake improve the opportunity to the utmost, and don't let dreams +of empty fame (of which you have had enough in conscience) carry you +away from your solid interests. + +"I return you many thanks for Fox's letter. I mean for your intention to +make him write one--for as your good intentions always satisfy your +conscience, and that you seem to think the carrying them into execution +to be a mere trifling ceremony, as well omitted as not, your friends +must always take the _will_ for the _deed_. I will forgive +you, however, on condition that you will for once in your life consider +that though the _will_ alone may perfectly satisfy yourself, your +friends would be a little more, gratified if they were sometimes to see +it accompanied by the deed--and let me be the first upon whom you try +the experiment If the people here are not to share the fate of their +patrons, but are suffered to continue in the government of this country, +I believe you will have it in your power, as I am certain it will be in +your inclination, to fortify my claims upon them by recommendations from +your side of the water, in such a manner as to insure to me what I have +a right to expect from them, but of which I can have no certainty +without that assistance. I wish the present people may continue here, +because I certainly have claims upon them, and considering the footing +that Lord C--- and Charles Fox are on, a recommendation from the latter +would now have every weight,--it would be drawing a bill upon Government +here, payable at sight, which they dare not protest. So, dear Dick, I +shall rely upon you that will _really_ be done: and, to confess the +truth, unless it be done, and that speedily, I shall be completely +ruined, for this damned annuity, payable to my uncle, plays the devil +with me. If there is any intention of recalling the people here, I beg +you will let me know it as soon as possible, that I may take my measures +accordingly,--and I think I may rely upon you also that whoever comes +over here as Lord L----t, I shall not be forgot among the number of +those who shall be recommended to them. + +"As to our politics here, I send you a newspaper,--read the resolutions +of the volunteers, and you will be enabled to form some idea of the +spirit which at present pervades this country. A declaration of the +independency of our Parliament upon yours will _certainly_ pass our +House of Commons immediately after the recess; government here dare not, +cannot oppose it; you will see the volunteers have pledged their lives +and fortunes in support of the measure. The grand juries of every county +have followed their example, and some of the staunchest friends of +government have been, much against their inclinations, compelled to sign +the most spirited Resolutions. + +"A call of the House is ordered for the first Tuesday after the recess, +and circular letters from the Speaker worded in this remarkable manner, +"that the members do attend on that day as _they tender the rights of +Ireland_." In short, nothing will satisfy the people but the most +unequivocal assertion of the total independence of the Irish +legislature. This flame has been raised within this six weeks, and is +entirely owing either to the insidious design or unpardonable +inattention of the late administration, in including, or suffering to be +included, the name of Ireland in no less than five British statutes +passed last sessions. People here were ignorant of this till Grattan +produced the five Acts to the House of Commons, one of which Eden had +been so imprudent as to publish in the Dublin gazette. Previous to this +the general sense of the country was, that the mere question of right +should be suffered to sleep, provided the _exercise_ of the power +claimed under it should never again be resorted to in a single instance. + +"The sooner you repeal the 6th of G. I. the better; for, believe me, +nothing short of that can now preserve union and cordiality between the +two countries. + +"I hope my father and you are very good friends by this. I shall not be +able to send you the remaining 50_l_. till October, as I have been +disappointed as to the time of payment of the money I expected to +receive this month. Let me entreat you to write to me shortly a few +words. I beg my love to Mrs. S. and Tom. + +"I am, dear Dick, + +"Your very affectionate brother, + +"C. F. SHERIDAN." + +The expectations of the writer of this letter were not disappointed. The +influence of Mr. Sheridan, added to his own claims, procured for him the +office of Secretary of War in Ireland,--a situation, which the greater +pliancy of his political principles contrived to render a more permanent +benefit to him than any that his Whig brother was ever able to secure +for himself. + +The death of the Marquis of Rockingham broke up this shortlived +Ministry, which, during the four months of its existence, did more +perhaps for the principles of the Constitution, than any one +administration that England had seen since the Revolution. They were +betrayed, it is true, into a few awkward overflowings of loyalty, which +the rare access of Whigs to the throne may at once account for and +excuse:--and Burke, in particular, has left us a specimen of his taste +for extremes, in that burst of optimism with which he described the +King's message, as "the best of messages to the best of people from the +best of kings." But these first effects of the atmosphere of a court, +upon heads unaccustomed to it, are natural and harmless--while the +measures that passed during that brief interval, directed against the +sources of Parliamentary corruption, and confirmatory of the best +principles of the Constitution, must ever be remembered to the honor of +the party from which they emanated. The exclusion of contractors from +the House of Commons--the disqualification of revenue-officers from +voting at elections--the disfranchisement of corrupt voters at +Cricklade, by which a second precedent [Footnote: The first was that of +the borough of Shoreham in 1771.] was furnished towards that plan of +gradual Reform, which has, in our own time, been so forcibly recommended +by Lord John Russell--the diminution of the patronage of the Crown, by +Mr. Burke's celebrated Bill [Footnote: This Bill, though its circle of +retrenchment was, as might be expected, considerably narrowed, when the +Treasury Bench became the centre from which he described it, was yet +eminently useful, as an acknowledgment from ministerial authority of the +necessity of such occasional curtailments of the Royal influence.]--the +return to the old constitutional practice [Footnote: First departed from +in 1769. See Burke's powerful exposure of the mischiefs of this +innovation, in his "Thoughts on the Causes of the present Discontents."] +of making the revenues of the Crown pay off their own incumbrances, +which salutary principle was again lost in the hands of Mr. Pitt--the +atonement at last made to the violated rights of electors, by the +rescinding of the Resolutions relative to Wilkes--the frank and cordial +understanding entered into with Ireland, which identifies the memory of +Mr. Fox and this ministry with 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 Cavendish at the close of the Session, pledging the ministers +to a perseverance in the same task of purification 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 +retained 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 +Conway, the Duke of Richmond, and one or two other old allies of the +party, remained in office. + +To a disposition so social as that of Mr. Fox, the frequent interruption +and even loss of friendships, which he had to sustain in the course of +his political career, must have been a sad alloy to its pleasure and its +pride. The fable of the sheep that leaves its fleece on the bramble bush +is but too apt an illustration of the fate of him, who thus sees himself +stripped of the comforts of friendship by the tenacious and thorny hold +of politics. On the present occasion, however, 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 fortunes. The disinterestedness of Sheridan was the +more meritorious, if, as there is every reason to believe, he 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 +persons at the time, and the assurances given by the Duke of Richmond +and General Conway, of the continued adherence of the cabinet 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, too, who felt +that the sacrifice which he had considerately made, in giving up the +supremacy of station to Lord Rockingham, had, so far from being duly +appreciated by his colleagues, been repaid only with increased +alienation and distrust, could hardly be expected to make a second +surrender of his advantages, in favor of persons who had, he thought, so +ungraciously requited him for the first. In the mean time the Court, to +which the Rockingham party was odious, had, with its usual policy, +hollowed the ground beneath them, so as to render their footing neither +agreeable nor safe. The favorite object in that quarter being to compose +a ministry of those convenient ingredients, called "King's friends," +Lord Shelburne was but made use of as a temporary instrument, to clear +away, in the first plane, the chief obstacles to such an arrangement, +and then, in his turn, be sacrificed himself, as soon as a more +subservient system could be organized. 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 popular talent, that the royal consent was obtained to the +appointment of Mr. 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 state 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 we were desired to point +out the meridian moment of his fame, we should fix it perhaps at this +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. It is +said that, immediately upon the retirement of Mr. Fox, while Lord John +Cavendish (whose resignation was for a short time delayed 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 hope behind, endeavored to open a negotiation through the +medium of Lord John, for the purpose of procuring, by some arrangement, +either for himself or his son, a Tellership then in the possession of a +relative of Lord Orford. It is but fair to add that this curious +anecdote rests chiefly upon the authority of the latter nobleman. +[Footnote: Unpublished Papers.] The degree of faith it receives will, +therefore, depend upon the balance that may be struck in our comparative +estimate between the disinterestedness of Burke and the veracity of Lord +Orford. + +At the commencement of the following session that extraordinary +Coalition was declared, which had the ill-luck attributed to the +conjunction of certain planets, and has shed an unfavorable 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 dispatched 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 +Hymenae" 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 persuasion 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 take, +heard the latter, at parting, express his final resolution in the +following decisive words:--"It is as fixed as the Hanover succession." + +To the general principle of Coalitions, and the expediency and even duty +of forming them, in conjunctures that require and justify such a +sacrifice of the 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 took place in the year 1757, when, by a +union of parties from whose dissension 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, "_Non +me impedient privatae offensiones, quo minus pro reipublicae salute +etian 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 been sufficiently general, to merge +all party titles in the one undistinguishing 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. Pitt +--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 the 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." + +One of the most specious allegations in defence of the measure is, that +the extraordinary favor which Lord Shelburne enjoyed at court, and the +arbitrary tendencies known to prevail in that quarter, portended just +then such an overflow of Royal influence, as it was necessary to +counteract by this double embankment of party. In the first place, +however, it is by no means so certain that the noble minister at this +period did actually enjoy such favor. On the contrary, 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 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 its encroaching spirit +no doubt can be entertained,--Lord Shelburne had assuredly given no +grounds for apprehending, that he would ever, like one of the chiefs of +this combination against him, be brought to lend himself precipitately +or mischievously to its 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 confederacies, he +was not the less attached to the true principles of that party, and, +throughout his whole political career, invariably maintained 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 +unsoundness 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 opinion, 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 color 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, [Footnote: Essay "on the Parties of +Great Britain."] "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 are 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 indifference, high life, may be forgotten as soon as +done or uttered, become recorded as pledges and standards of conduct, +among the lower and more earnest adherents of the cause; and many a +question, that 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 principles in such transactions are +gradually reconciled to their own inconsistency--the negotiations that +precede and soften down the most salient difficulties--the value of the +advantages gained, in return for opinions sacrificed--the new points of +contact brought out by a change of circumstances, and the abatement or +extinction of former differences, by the remission or removal of the +causes that 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 that barter of opinions and interests, which must +necessarily take place in Coalitions between the partisans of the People +and of the Throne, the former had any thing like an equality of chance, +the mere probability of gaining thus any concessions in favor of freedom +might justify to sanguine minds the occasional risk of the compromise. +But it is evident that the result of such bargains must generally be to +the advantage of the Crown--the alluvions of power all naturally tend +towards that shore. Besides, where 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 honors, and the other will be forced to revolve implicitly round it. + +The only occasion at this period on which Mr. Sheridan seems to 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 recriminate 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 disapproved. 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 independence, against which, under the +banners of Lord North, he had so obstinately combated, afforded to +Sheridan's powers of raillery an opportunity of display, of which, there +is no doubt, he with his accustomed felicity availed himself. The +reporter of the speech, 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 retort upon +Mr. Pitt, which, for good-humored point and seasonableness, 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 +Honorable 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 Honorable Gentleman's abilities always did receive, the +plaudits of the audience; and it would be his fortune "_sui plausu +gaudere theatri_." But this was not the proper scene for the +exhibition of those elegancies.' Mr. Sheridan, in rising to explain, +said that 'On the particular sort of personality which the Right +Honorable 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 Honorable gentleman, that I do now, and will at any time he +chooses to repeat this sort of allusion, meet it with the most sincere +good-humor. Nay, I will say more--flattered and encouraged by the Right +Honorable Gentleman's panegyric on my talents, if ever I again engage in +the compositions he alludes to, I maybe tempted to an act of +presumption--to attempt an improvement on one of Ben Jonson's best +characters, the 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, at the +commencement of his political career, his pride was most easily awakened +and alarmed. He, himself, used to tell of the frequent mortifications +which he had suffered, when at school, from taunting allusions to his +father's profession--being called by some of his school-fellows "the +player-boy," &c. Mr. Pitt had therefore selected the most sensitive spot +for his sarcasm; and the good temper 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 then +enveloped. There could hardly, indeed, have been a much greater service +rendered to a person in the situation of Mr. Sheridan, than thus +affording 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 gentlemanlike retort, +combined with the recollection of his duel, tended to place him for the +future in perfect security against any indiscreet tamperings with his +personal history. [Footnote: The following _jeu d'esprit_, written +by Sheridan himself upon this occurrence, has been found among his +manuscripts:-- + +"ADVERTISEMENT EXTRAORDINARY. + +"We hear that, in consequence of a hint, lately given in the House of +Commons, the Play of the Alchemist is certainly to be performed by a set +of Gentlemen for our diversion in a private apartment of Buckingham +House. + +"The Characters, thus described in the old editions of Ben Jonson, are +to be represented in the following manner--the old practice of men's +playing the female parts being adopted. + + "SUBTLE (_the Alchemist_) Lord Sh--Ib--e. + FACE (_the House-keeper_) The Lord Ch--ll--r. + DOLL COMMON (_their Colleague_) The L--d Adv--c--te. + DRUGGER (_a Tobacco-man_) Lord Eff--ng--m. + EPICURE MAMMON Mr. R--by. + TRIBULATION Dr. J--nk--s--n. + ANANIAS (_a little Pastor_) Mr. H--ll. + KASTRILL (_the Angry Boy_) Mr. W. P--tt. + DAME PLIANT Gen. C--nw--y. + and + SURLY His ------"] + +In the administration, that was now forced upon the court by the +Coalition, Mr. Sheridan held the office of Secretary of the Treasury-- +the other Secretary being Mr. Richard Burke, the brother of the orator. +His exertions in the House, while he held this office, were chiefly +confined to financial subjects, for which he, perhaps, at this time, +acquired the taste, that tempted him afterwards, upon most occasions, to +bring his arithmetic into the field 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 +tax upon grave-stones as a substitute for it, Sheridan replied that: + +"Such a tax, indeed, was not easily evaded, and could not be deemed +oppressive, as it would only be once paid; but so great was the spirit +of clamor against the tax on receipts, that he should not wonder if it +extended to them; and that it should be asserted, that persons having +paid the last debt,--the debt 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 be greatly surprised if it were soon +after published, that such Committees had unanimously resolved that they +would never be buried, in order to avoid paying the tax; but had +determined to lie above ground, or have their ashes consigned to family- +urns, in the manner of the ancients." + +He also took an active share in the discussions relative to the +restoration of Powell and Bembridge to their offices 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 late reign, to retain Whigs +in its service any longer than was absolutely necessary, it must be +owned that neither did the latter, in general, take very courtier-like +modes of continuing their connection with Royalty; but rather chose to +meet the hostility of the Crown half-way, 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. Fox 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 the question, "that the task he had that day set +himself was extremely arduous and difficult; 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 to the situation and the danger +of it." + +Without agreeing with those who impute to Mr. Fox the extravagant 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 interests of India, +which were the main object of this decisive measure, the future +interests and influence of his own party were in no small degree +provided for; and that a foundation was laid by it for their attainment +of a more steady footing in power than, from the indisposition of the +Court towards them, they had yet been able to accomplish. Regarding--as +he well might, after so long an experience of Tory misrule--a government +upon Whig principles as essential to 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 master, he would naturally welcome +such an accession to the influence of the party as might strengthen +their 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 Whiggism, 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 +possession 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 party, which, though conscious of the hazard, he was determined +to 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 purpose of +averting the 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, to 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 browbeaten into acknowledging +their independence by the other--that it would tamely submit to such an +undisguised invasion of its sanctuary; particularly 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; 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 +the horn of Astolpho, soon scattered the whole body in consternation +among their constituents, _"di qua, di la, di su, di giu,"_ 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 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 Arthur Pigot's able +hand was entrusted the legal task of drawing the Bill. 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 labors 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; I mean the great +connection of Whigs in the reign of Queen Anne." + +Burke was, indeed, at this time 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 industry incessantly in +play over the minds of his more indolent colleagues, with an intentness +of purpose that nothing could divert, and an impetuosity of temper that +nothing could resist, it is not wonderful that he should have gained +such an entire mastery over their wills, or that the party who obeyed +him should so long have exhibited the mark of his rash spirit imprinted +upon their measures. The yielding temper of Mr. Fox, together with his +unbounded admiration of Burke, led him easily, in the first instance, to +acquiesce in the views of his friend, and then the ardor 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. +Originating in a Coalition of Whigs and Tories, which compromised the +_principles_ of freedom, it was destroyed by a Coalition of King +and People, which is even, perhaps, more dangerous to its +_practice_. [Footnote: "This assumption (says Burke) of the +Tribunitian power by the Sovereign was truly alarming. When Augustus +Caesar modestly consented to become the Tribune of the people, Rome gave +up into the hands of that prince the only remaining shield she had to +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.] + +The conduct, indeed, of all estates and parties, during this short +interval, was any thing but laudable. The leaven of the unlucky 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 diminished numbers on the side of +Parliamentary Reform. [Footnote: The consequences of this alloy were +still more visible in Ireland. "The Coalition Ministry," says Mr. Hardy, +"displayed itself in various employments--but there was no harmony. The +old courtiers hated the new, and being more dexterous, were more +successful." In stating that Lord Charlemont 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 consequence of the Coalition +had crept once more into favor, influenced his conduct in this +particular."] On the other hand, Mr. Pitt and his party, in their +eagerness for place, did not hesitate to avail themselves of the +ambidexterous and unworthy 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 people, by the +unanimous outcry with which they rose, in defence of the monopoly of +Leadenhall Street and the sovereign will of the Court, proved how little +of the "_vox Dei_" there may sometimes be in such clamor. + +Mr. Sheridan seems to have spoken but once during the discussions 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 tantalizing epithets, "witty," "entertaining," +&c. &c.; but, as usual, entails disappointment in the perusal--"_at +cum intraveris, Dii Deceque, quam nihil in medio invenies!_" +[Footnote: Pliny] There is only one of the announced pleasantries +forthcoming, in any shape, through the speech. Mr. Scott (the present +Lord Eldon) had, in the course of the debate, indulged in a license of +Scriptural parody, which he would himself, no doubt, be among the first +to stigmatize 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 Fitz-william 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.-- +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 that which had 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 accomplishments of those with whom +the Heir Apparent connected himself, threw a splendor 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 concurrence) of +absenting himself entirely from the second discussion, when the Bill, as +it is known, was finally defeated. This circumstance, occurring thus +early in their intercourse, might have proved to each of the parties in +this ill-sorted alliance, how difficult it was for them to remain long +and creditably united. [Footnote: The following sensible remarks upon +the first interruption of the political connection between the Heir +Apparent and the Opposition, are from an unfinished Life of Mr. Sheridan +now in my 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 +attempted, unnecessary-- + +"His Royal Highness acted upon 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 principles 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."] On the one side, there was a character to be maintained with +the people, which a too complaisant 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, convenience would certainly dictate a release from the +restraints of Whiggism. + +It was most fortunate for Mr. Sheridan, on the rout of his party that +ensued, to find himself safe in his seat for Stafford once more, and the +following document, connected with his election, is sufficiently +curious, 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. + +284 Burgesses, paid L5 5 0 each................L1,302 0 0 + +Yearly Expenses since. + + L s. d. +House-rent and taxes ....... 23 6 6 +Servant at 6s. per week, ... 15 12 0 + board wages +Ditto, yearly wages ........ 8 8 0 +Coals, &c. ................. 10 0 0 +Ale tickets ................ 40 0 0 +Half the members' plate .... 25 0 0 +Swearing young burgesses ... 10 0 0 +Subscription to the ........ 5 5 0 + Infirmary +Ditto Clergymen's widows ... 2 2 0 +Ringers .................... 4 4 0 + --------- 86 11 0 + ---------- + One year ............ 143 17 6 + Multiplied by years . 6 + ---------- 863 5 0 + +Total expense of six years' parliament, + exclusive of expense incurred during + the time of election, and your own + annual expenses.......................... L2,165 5 0 + +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 themselves of +"Fox's Martyrs." + +This reduction in the ranks of his enemies, at the very commencement of +his career, left an open space for the youthful minister, which was most +favorable to the free display of his energies. He had, indeed, been +indebted, throughout the whole struggle, full as much to a lucky +concurrence of circumstances as to his talents and name for the +supremacy to which he so rapidly rose. All the other eminent persons of +the day had either deeply entangled themselves in party 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 confidence of the people, and array them, as he did, +in all the enthusiasm 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 considerably +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 wisdom 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 it, 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 Mr. 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 part of the +good fortune of the minister, that the financial department of +Opposition at this time was not assumed by any more adventurous +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 candor and party-feeling, absented himself +almost entirely from the discussion of the new taxes. [Footnote: "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 authorized to condemn them, or to give them +opposition, unless he had been ready to suggest others less distressing +to the subject."--_Speech on Navy Bills, &c. &c._] + +The only questions, in which the angry spirit of the late conflict still +survived, were the Westminster Scrutiny and Mr. Pitt's East India Bill. +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 naturally as +the calm after a tempest. There must, indeed, have 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 continuance 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, too, with such evident fidelity, as +well as spirit, that 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 Sheridan, 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 time-serving +politics which he has set up in his answer, if not so eloquent as that +of the great Roman man master of this art in his letter to Lentulus, is, +at least, as self-conscious and labored, and betrays altogether a +feeling but too worthy of the political meridian from which it issued. + +"Dublin Castle, 10th March, 1784. + +"MY DEAR DICK, + +"I am much obliged to you for the letter you sent me by Orde; I began 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 administration +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 are +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 connection between England and Ireland, but a +permanent 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 +which England must adopt, let who will be the minister and whichever +party may acquire the ascendancy, if she means to preserve Ireland as a +part of the British empire. + +"You will say 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 does 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 Commons, 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 _Ins_ 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 ever 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 +honor 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 possession 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. Now, 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 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 acknowledge 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 +fluctuation in the affairs of this country, that would destroy all their +consequence; 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 honors, and to rest all their pretensions upon the success of +a party in another kingdom, 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 connected 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 obtained power, and +only the chance, for there are interests in this country which must not +be offended; and the certainty 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 station upon a most precarious +footing, in which they would be placed in the insignificant predicament +of doing nothing for themselves, and resting their hopes and ambition +upon the labors 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 millions are Roman Catholics--I believe the proportion is still +larger--and two-thirds of the remainder are violent rank Presbyterians, +who have always been, but most particularly of late, strongly averse to +all government placed in the hands of the members of the church of +England; nine-tenths of the property, 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 numbers prevents their finding among themselves; and +consequently you will equally perceive that those political or party +principles which create such serious differences among you in England, +are matters of small importance to the persons of landed 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 few 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.' + +"I have received with the greatest pleasure the accounts of the very +considerable figure you have made this sessions in the House of Commons. +As I have no doubt but that your Parliament will be dissolved, God send +you success a second time at Stafford, and the same to your friend at +Westminster. 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 public questions. But it has not abated the +warmth of my private friendships; it has not abated my regard for +Fitzpatrick, my anxiety for you, 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 to the Bill for the better government of India, which Mr. +Pitt substituted for that of his defeated rival, its provisions are now, +from long experience, so familiarly known, that it would be superfluous +to dwell upon either their merits or defects. [Footnote: Three of the +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 Jacob, but the hand of Esau."] 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, and in making the Crown the virtual depositary of Indian +patronage, [Footnote: "Mr. Pitt's Bill continues the form of the +Company's government, and professes to leave the patronage under certain +conditions, and the commerce without condition, in the hands of the +Company; but places all matters relating to the _civil_ and +_military_ government and _revenues_ in the hands of six +Commissioners, to be nominated and appointed by His Majesty, under the +title of 'Commissioners of the Affairs of India,' which Board of +Commissioners is invested with the 'superintendence and control 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 Bills, 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 Control +have, under 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 under Mr. Fox's Bill."] instead of 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 control. When we consider the stormy +course of Eastern politics before that period--the inquiries, the +exposures, 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 Control 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 +too 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 with Mr. +Rolle, the member for Devonshire, Mr. Sheridan took the opportunity of +disavowing any share in the political satires then circulating, under +the titles of "The Rolliad" and the "Probationary Odes." "He was aware," +he said, "that the Honorable Gentlemen had suspected that he was either +the author of those compositions, or some way or other concerned in +them; but he assured them, upon his honor, he was not--nor had he ever +seen a line of them till 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 immortalized 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 satirical warfare, (whose plan +of attack was all arranged at a club held at Becket's,) was the lead +which he took in a sort of conspiracy, 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 Fitzpatrick, [Footnote: 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."] Lord John [Footnote: Lord John Townshend, the only survivor, at +present, of this confederacy of wits, was the author, in conjunction +with Tickell, of the admirable Satire, entitled "Jekyll,"--Tickell +having contributed only the lines parodied from Pope. To the exquisite +humor of Lord John we owe also the Probationary Ode for Major Scott, and +the playful parody on _"Donae gratus eram libi."_] Townshend, +Richardson, George Ellis, and Dr. Lawrence. [Footnote: By Doctor +Lawrence the somewhat ponderous irony of the prosaic department 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 + Non fuit, excepto_ Laurentis _corpore Turni."_] + +There were also a few minor contributions from the pens of Bate Dudley, +Mr. O'Beirne (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 nature 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, retroque repulsa reverti + Nunc huc, nunc illuc, in cunctas denique partes."_ + + Change their light course, as fickle chance may guide, + Now here, now there, and shoot from side to side. + +Dr. Lawrence was afterwards a violent supporter of Mr. Pitt, and Mr. +Ellis [Footnote: 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 expense, endeavored to lead the +conversation to the subject of this work, by asking him various +questions, as to its authors, &c.,--which Mr. Pitt overhearing, from the +upper end of the table, leaned kindly towards Ellis and said, + + _"Immo age, et a prima, dic, hospes, originc nobis."_ + +The word "hospes," applied to the new convert, was happy, and the +"_erroresque tuos_," that follows, was, perhaps, left to be +implied.] showed the versatility of his wit, as well as of his politics, +by becoming one of the most brilliant contributors to The Antijacobin. + +The Rolliad and The Antijacobin may, on their respective sides of the +question, be considered as models of that style of political satire, +[Footnote: 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 up 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 allusions, +ludicrous 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; but +they are mere occasional productions. They will sleep with the papers of +the Craftsman, so vaunted, in their own time, but which are never now +raked up, except by the curiosity of the historian and the man of +literature. + +"Wit, being generally founded upon the manners and characters of its own +day, is crowned in that day, beyond all other exertions of the mind, +with splendid and immediate success. But there is always something that +equalizes. In return, more than any other production, it suffers +suddenly and irretrievably from the hand of Time. It receives a +character the most opposite to its own. From being the most generally +understood and perceived, it becomes of all writing the most difficult +and the most obscure. Satires, whose meaning was open to the multitude, +defy the erudition of the scholar, and comedies, of which every line was +felt as soon as it was spoken, require the labor of an antiquary to +explain them."] whose lightness and vivacity give it the appearance of +proceeding 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 +license 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 satire 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. + +Among other important questions, that occupied the attention of Mr. +Sheridan at this period, was the measure brought forward under the title +of "Irish Commercial Propositions" for the purpose of regulating and +finally adjusting the commercial intercourse between 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 legislative 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 incidentally, 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 skepticism of the following passage, which occurs +in one of his animated speeches on this very question. Mr. Pitt having +asserted, in answer to those who feared the competition of Ireland in +the market from her low prices of labor, that "great capital would in +all cases overbalance cheapness of labor," 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 giving too implicit a credit to any general maxim of any +denomination." + +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. But the pride, +so natural and honorable 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 Grattan, 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 another 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 control 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 +sophistry 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 of enacting by one +decisive vote, that all British laws to the purposes stipulated, should +have immediate 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 +own shackles." + + * * * * * + +"All had been delusion, trick, and fallacy: a new scheme of commercial +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 +return 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 he is snuffling at the food. But this political jockeyship, he was +convinced, 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 Honorable +friend; he disdained the injustice of bargaining with Ireland on such a +subject; nor would Ireland have listened to him if he had attempted it. +She had not applied to purchase a Constitution; and if a tribute or +contribution had been demanded in return for what was then granted, +those patriotic spirits who were at that time leading the oppressed +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 Camillas, _arma aptare atque ferro non auro +patriam et libertatem recuperare_." + +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. [Footnote: Mr. Fox also said, "Ireland cannot make a single +acquisition but to the proportionate 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 endeavor 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 clamor, raised at this time by the English +manufacturers, 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, wrote the following fragment, found among the +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 I +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 +unpardonable neglect of their common interests, in the great question of +surrendering 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 them to +communicate their ideas individually. It was with some difficulty they +consented to even this proposal, which they considered as a device to +extinguish their general ardor, and to break the force of their united +efforts; nor would they by 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 +immediately 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 off to 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 +forwardness 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, attended 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 feeling 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 afterwards, when Chancellor +of the Exchequer, defended their "consummate 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 adjournment +of ten days, that preceded Mr. Orde'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 +Ireland_, which must also be published in the manner fitting it. The +addresses were sent round to all the towns in the kingdom, in order to +give currency to the _humbug_. Being upon the spot, I have my +troops in perfect order, and am ready at a moment's warning for any +manoeuvre 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 jour_ be voting you another +50,000, [Footnote: Alluding to the recent vote of that sum to Mr. +Grattan.] if you go on as you have done. + +"I send to-day down to my friend, O'Neil, who waits for a signal only, +and we shall go up together. Brownlow is just beside me, and I shall +ride over this morning to get him up to consultation in town.... we must +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. + +"Charlemont and I were of opinion that we should not make the volunteers +speak upon the present business; so I left it out in the Resolutions at +our late review. They are as tractable as we could desire, and we 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 10th--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 15th of January, and +have also some resolutions ready _pro re nata_, 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 correspondent:-- + +"I congratulate with you on 108 minority-against 127. The business never +can go on. 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 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 ground fought upon was the Fourth Resolution, and the principle of +that in the others. The commercial detail did not belong accurately to +the debate, though some went over it in a cursory way. Grattan, 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 favorable. You were not left undefended. Forbes exerted his +warm attachment to you with great effect--Burgh, the flag-ship of the +Leinster 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 honor; and I had the satisfaction of a slight +skirmish, which called up the Attorney General, &c...." + +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 justification 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 speaking 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 act in +question, and fires off his wit, as it were, _en ricochet_, 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 as logic. 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 his assertions. His very queries were in casements. No +impression, therefore, was to be made on this fortress of sophistry by +desultory observations; 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 defence on paper was open to the same objection +which 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 experiments of the other. +Mr. Pitt himself seemed to dread the suspicion 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 interest 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 inscribed." Tycho Brahe would +have said the same of his Astronomy, and Des Cartes 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 applied 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 Honorable gentleman might say, with the person in the +comedy, '_If you won't lend me the money, how can I pay you?_'" + + + + +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 settled, +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 Opposition might +soon have been reduced, like Philoetetes wasting his arrows upon geese +at Lemnos, [Footnote: _"Pinnigero, non armigero in corpore tela +exerceantur."--Accius, ap. Ciceron._ lib. vii. ep. 33.] to expend the +armory of their wit upon the Grahams and Rolles 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 individual, and +thus combining the extent and grandeur of a national question, 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 genius, 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 Merchants 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 commercial transaction, and a ledger-account +kept of the profits of Revolutions--the sanctity of Zenanus 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 pompous illusions and mean realities, are mingled up so sadly +and fantastically 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 fancy of Mr. Burke 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 naturally 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 +France were the two subjects 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 +itself" on every subject that it embraced. Though the reign of Clive had +been sufficiently fertile in enormities, and the treachery practised +towards Ornichund seemed hardly to admit of any parallel, yet the +loftier and more prominent iniquities of Mr. Hastings's government 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 "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, impatient of contradiction, and with a +sort of _feudal_ turn of mind, which exacted the unconditional +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 by himself as +"pouring its whole contents over the plains of the Carnatic") in his +wonderful speech on the Nabob of Arcot's debts [Footnote: 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-- +[Greek: pezi ton phaulon chai tapeinon]. There is little doubt, indeed, +that _surprise_ must have considerable share in the pleasure, which +we derive from eloquence on such 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.]--a speech, whose +only rivals perhaps in all the records of oratory, are to be found among +three or four others of his own, which, 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 threatened, 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 the ministry (accorded, as a matter of course, to most State +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 color 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 [Footnote: 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 flagrant violence and oppression and of the +grossest breach of faith, committed by Mr. Hastings against Cheyte Sing, +the Raja of Benares."] on which some of the chief charges of the present +prosecution were founded, he now, throughout the whole of the opening +scenes of the Impeachment, did not scruple to stand forth as the warm +eulogist of Mr. Hastings, and to endeavor 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 +hand, 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 friends of Mr. Hastings, showed how +wholly unexpected, 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 discussion of +such a question, so lightly ballasted with opinions of his 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 favorite appointed President of +the Board of Control, was what decided Mr. Pitt to extinguish, by +cooperating with the Opposition, every chance of a rivalry, which might +prove troublesome, if not dangerous, to his power. There is no doubt +that the arraigned ruler of India was honored at this period with the +distinguished 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 +those who were his accusers, which would have been sufficient to +recommend any person or measure to which they were opposed. + +But whether Mr. Pitt, in the part which he now took, was actuated 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 little 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 prosecution 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 Ariosto, before which every one falls + + _"Con gli occhi abbacinati, e senza mente."_ + +The feelings, therefore, of the public were, at the outset of the +prosecution, rather for than against the supposed delinquent. Nor was +this tendency counteracted by any very partial leaning towards his +accusers. Mr. Fox had hardly yet recovered his defeat on the India Bill, +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 demeanor against +which men naturally rebelled; and the impetuosity and passion with which +he flung himself into every favorite subject, showed a want of self- +government but little calculated 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, [Footnote: "Whoever, upon comparison, is deemed by a +common audience the greatest orator, ought most certainly to be +pronounced such by men of science and erudition."--_Hume_, Essay +13.] 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 +displays. 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 +attract. 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 indifference 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 arose that the prosecution of +Mr. Hastings, even after the accession of the Minister, excited but a +slight and wavering interest; and, without some extraordinary appeal to +the sympathies of the House and the country--some startling touch to the +chord of public feeling--it was questionable whether the inquiry would +not end as abortively as all the other Indian inquests [Footnote: +Namely, the fruitless prosecution of Lord Clive by General Burgoyne, the +trifling verdict upon the persons who had imprisoned Lord Pigot, and the +Bill of Pains and Penalties against Sir Thomas Rumbold, finally +withdrawn.] 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, whose +effect upon its hearers has no parallel in the annals of ancient or +modern eloquence. [Footnote: Mr. Burke declared it to be "the most +astonishing effort of eloquence, argument, and wit 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 vapor before the sun,"--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 control 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, +confessing, 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, and irresistible eloquence, that he could +not but say that his sentiments were materially changed. Nothing, +indeed, but information almost equal to a miracle, could determine him +not to vote for the Charge; but he had just felt the influence of such a +miracle, and he could not but ardently desire to avoid an immediate +decision. Mr. Mathew Montague confessed, that he had felt a similar +revolution of sentiment."] + +When we recollect the men by whom the House of Commons was at that day +adorned, and the conflict 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 it) "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 be +absurd to dignify with that appellation the meagre and lifeless sketch, +the + + _Tenuem sine viribus umbram + In faciem aenae,_ + +which is given in the Annual Registers and Parliamentary Debates. Its +fame, therefore, remains like an empty shrine--a cenotaph still crowned +and honored, 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 eloquence that could produce such +effects, [Footnote: The following anecdote is given as a proof of the +irresistible power of this speech in a note upon Mr. Bisset's History of +the Reign of George III.:-- + +"The late Mr. Logan, well known for 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 hour he 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 iniquity +the most enormous is Warren Hastings!'"] 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 to give +unqualified applause to his crimes, but found an excuse for their +atrocity in the greatness of his mind, he thus proceeds:-- + +"To estimate the solidity of such a defence, it would be sufficient +merely to consider in what consisted this prepossessing distinction, +this captivating characteristic of greatness of mind. Is it not solely +to be traced in great actions directed to great ends? In them, and them +alone, we are to search for true estimable magnanimity. To them only can +we justly affix the splendid title and honors of real greatness. There +was indeed another species of greatness, which displayed itself in +boldly conceiving a bad measure, and undauntedly pursuing it to its +accomplishment. But had Mr. Hastings the merit of exhibiting either of +these descriptions of greatness,--even of the latter? He saw nothing +great--nothing magnanimous--nothing open--nothing direct in his +measures, or in his mind. On the contrary, he had too often pursued the +worst objects by the worst means. His course was an eternal deviation +from rectitude. He either tyrannized or deceived; and was by turns a +Dionysius and a Scapin. [Footnote: The spirit of this observation has +been well condensed in the compound name given by the Abbe de Pradt to +Napoleon--"Jupiter Scapin."] As well might the writhing obliquity of the +serpent be compared to the swift directness of the arrow, as the +duplicity of Mr. Hastings's ambition to the simple steadiness of genuine +magnanimity. In his mind all was shuffling, ambiguous, dark, insidious, +and little: nothing simple, nothing unmixed: all affected plainness, and +actual dissimulation; a heterogeneous mass of contradictory qualities; +with nothing great but his crimes; and even those contrasted by the +littleness of his motives, which at once denoted both his baseness and +his meanness, and marked him for a traitor and a trickster. Nay, in his +style and writing there was the same mixture of vicious contrarieties;-- +the most grovelling ideas were conveyed in the most inflated language, +giving mock consequence to low cavils, and uttering quibbles in heroics; +so that his compositions disgusted the mind's taste, as much as his +actions excited the soul's abhorrence. Indeed this mixture of character +seemed, by some unaccountable but inherent quality, to be appropriated, +though in inferior degrees, to everything that concerned his employers. +He remembered to have heard an honorable and learned gentleman (Mr. +Dundas) remark, that there was something in the first frame and +constitution of the Company, which extended the sordid principles of +their origin over all their successive operations; connecting with their +civil policy, and even with their boldest achievements, the meanness of +a pedlar and the profligacy of pirates. Alike in the political and the +military line could be observed _auctioneering ambassadors_ and +_trading generals_;--and thus we saw a revolution brought about by +_affidavits_; an army employed in _executing an arrest_; a +town besieged on _a note of hand_; a prince dethroned for the +_balance of an account_. Thus it was they exhibited a government, +which united the mock majesty of a bloody sceptre, and the little +_traffic of a merchant's counting-house_, wielding a truncheon with +one hand, and _picking a pocket with the other_." + +The effect of this speech, added to the line taken by the Minister, +turned the balance against Hastings, and decided the Impeachment. + +Congratulations on his success poured in upon Mr. Sheridan, as may be +supposed, from all quarters; and the letters that he received from his +own family on the occasion were preserved by him carefully and fondly +through life. The following extract from one written by Charles Sheridan +is highly honorable to both brothers:-- + +"Dublin Castle, 13th February, 1787. + +"MY DEAR DICK, + +"Could I for a moment forget you were my brother, I should, merely as an +Irishman, think myself bound to thank you, for the high credit you have +done your country. You may be assured, therefore, that the sense of +national pride, which I in common with all your countrymen on this side +of the water must feel on this splendid occasion, acquires no small +increase of personal satisfaction, when I reflect to whom Ireland is +indebted, for a display of ability so unequalled, that the honor derived +from it seems too extensive to be concentred in an individual, but ought +to give, and I am persuaded will give, a new respect for the name of +Irishman. I have heard and read the accounts of your speech, and of the +astonishing impression it made, with tears of exultation--but what will +flatter you more--I can solemnly declare it to be a fact, that I have, +since the news reached us, seen good honest _Irish_ pride, national +pride I mean, bring tears into the eyes of many persons, on this +occasion, who never saw you. I need not, after what I have stated, +assure you, that it is with the most heartfelt satisfaction that I offer +you my warmest congratulations...." + +The following is from his eldest sister, Mrs. Joseph Lefanu:-- + +"16th February, 1787. + +"MY DEAR BROTHER, + +"The day before yesterday I received the account of your glorious +speech. Mr. Crauford was so good as to write a more particular and +satisfactory one to Mr. Lefanu than we could have received from the +papers. I have watched the first interval of ease from a cruel and +almost incessant headache to give vent to my feelings, and tell you how +much I rejoice in your success. May it be entire! May the God who +fashioned you, and gave you powers to sway the hearts of men and control +their wayward wills, be equally favorable to you in all your +undertakings, and make your reward here and hereafter! Amen, from the +bottom of my soul! My affection for you has been ever 'passing the love +of women.' Adverse circumstances have deprived me of the pleasure of +your society, but have had no effect in weakening my regard for you. I +know your heart too well to suppose that regard is indifferent to you, +and soothingly sweet to me is the idea that in some pause of thought +from the important matters that occupy your mind, your earliest friend +is sometimes recollected by you. + +"I know you are much above the little vanity that seeks its +gratification in the praises of the million, but you must be pleased +with the applause of the discerning,--with the tribute I may say of +affection paid to the goodness of your heart. People love your character +as much as they admire your talents. My father is, in a degree that I +did not expect, gratified with the general attention you have excited +here: he seems truly pleased that men should say, 'There goes the father +of Gaul.' If your fame has shed a ray of brightness over all so +distinguished as to be connected with you, I am sure I may say it has +infused a ray of gladness into my heart, deprest as it has been with ill +health and long confinement...." + +There is also another letter from this lady, of the same date, to Mrs. +Sheridan, which begins thus enthusiastically:-- + +"MY DEAR SHERI. + +"Nothing but death could keep me silent on such an occasion as this. I +wish you joy--I am sure you feel it: 'oh moments worth whole ages past, +and all that are to come.' You may laugh at my enthusiasm if you please +--I glory in it...." + +In the month of April following, Mr. Sheridan opened the Seventh Charge, +which accused Hastings of corruption, in receiving bribes and presents. +The orator was here again lucky in having a branch of the case allotted +to him, which, though by no means so susceptible of the ornaments of +eloquence as the former, had the advantage of being equally borne out by +testimony, and formed one of the most decided features of the cause. The +avidity, indeed, with which Hastings exacted presents, and then +concealed them as long as there was a chance of his being able to +appropriate them to himself, gave a mean and ordinary air to iniquities, +whose magnitude would otherwise have rendered them imposing, if not +grand. + +The circumstances, under which the present from Cheyte Sing was extorted +shall be related when I come to speak of the great Speech in Westminster +Hall. The other strong cases of corruption, on which Mr. Sheridan now +dwelt, were the sums given by the Munny Begum (in return for her +appointment to a trust for which, it appears, she was unfit), both to +Hastings himself and his useful agent, Middleton. This charge, as far as +regards the latter, was never denied--and the suspicious lengths to +which the Governor-general went, in not only refusing all inquiry into +his own share of the transaction, but having his accuser, Nuncomar, +silenced by an unjust sentence of death, render his acquittal on this +charge such a stretch of charity, as nothing but a total ignorance of +the evidence and all its bearings can justify. + +The following passage, with which Sheridan wound up his Speech on this +occasion, is as strong an example as can be adduced of that worst sort +of florid style, which prolongs metaphor into allegory, and, instead of +giving in a single sentence the essence of many flowers, spreads the +flowers themselves, in crude heaps, over a whole paragraph:-- + +"In conclusion (he observed), that, although within this rank, but +infinitely too fruitful wilderness of iniquities--within this dismal and +unhallowed labyrinth--it was most natural to cast an eye of indignation +and concern over the wide and towering forest of enormities--all rising +in the dusky magnificence of guilt; and to fix the dreadfully excited +attention upon the huge trunks of revenge, rapine, tyranny, and +oppression; yet it became not less necessary to trace out the poisonous +weeds, the baleful brushwood, and all the little, creeping, deadly +plants, which were, in quantity and extent, if possible, more noxious. +The whole range of this far-spreading calamity was sown in the hot-bed +of corruption; and had risen, by rapid and mature growth, into every +species of illegal and atrocious violence." + +At the commencement of the proceedings against Hastings, an occurrence, +immediately connected with them, had brought Sheridan and his early +friend Halhed together, under circumstances as different as well can be +imagined from those under which they had parted as boys. The distance, +indeed, that had separated them in the interval was hardly greater than +the divergence that had taken place in their pursuits; for, while +Sheridan had been converted into a senator and statesman, the lively +Halhed had become an East Indian Judge, and a learned commentator on the +Gentoo Laws. Upon the subject, too, on which they now met, their views +and interests were wholly opposite,--Sheridan being the accuser of +Hastings, and Halhed his friend. The following are the public +circumstances that led to their interview. + +In one of the earliest debates on the Charges against the Governor- +general, Major Scott having asserted that, when Mr. Fox was preparing +his India Bill, overtures of accommodation had been made, by his +authority, to Mr. Hastings, added, that he (Major Scott) "entertained no +doubt that, had Mr. Hastings then come home, he would have heard nothing +of all this calumny, and all these serious accusations." Mr. Fox, whom +this charge evidently took by surprise, replied that he was wholly +ignorant of any such overtures, and that "whoever made, or even hinted +at such an offer, as coming from him, did it without the smallest shadow +of authority." By an explanation, a few days after, from Mr. Sheridan, +it appeared that he was the person who had taken the step alluded to by +Major Scott. His interference, however, he said, was solely founded upon +an opinion which he had himself formed with respect to the India Bill,-- +namely, that it would be wiser, on grounds of expediency, not to make it +retrospective in any of its clauses. In consequence of this opinion, he +had certainly commissioned a friend to inquire of Major Scott, whether, +if Mr. Hastings were recalled, he would come home;--but "that there had +been the most distant idea of bartering with Mr. Hastings for his +support of the Indian Bill, he utterly denied." In conclusion, he +referred, for the truth of what he had now stated, to Major Scott, who +instantly rising, acknowledged that, from inquiries which he had since +made of the gentleman deputed to him by Mr. Sheridan on the occasion, he +was ready to bear testimony to the fairness of the statement just +submitted to the House, and to admit his own mistake in the +interpretation which he had put on the transaction. + +It was in relation to this misunderstanding that the interview took +place in the year 1786 between Sheridan and Halhed--the other persons +present being Major Scott and Doctor Parr, from whom I heard the +circumstance. The feelings of this venerable scholar towards "iste +Scotus" (as he calls Major Scott in his Preface to Bellendenus) were +not, it is well known, of the most favorable kind; and he took the +opportunity of this interview to tell that gentleman fully what he +thought of him:--"for ten minutes," said the Doctor, in describing his +aggression, "I poured out upon him hot, scalding abuse--'twas lava, +Sir!" + +Among the other questions that occupied the attention of Mr. Sheridan +during this session, the most important were the Commercial Treaty with +France, and the Debts of the Prince of Wales. + +The same erroneous views by which the opposition to the Irish Commercial +Propositions was directed, still continued to actuate Mr. Fox and his +friends in their pertinacious resistance to the Treaty with France;--a +measure which reflects high honor upon the memory of Mr. Pitt, as one of +the first efforts of a sound and liberal policy to break through that +system of restriction and interference, which had so long embarrassed +the flow of international commerce. + +The wisdom of leaving trade to find its own way into those channels +which the reciprocity of wants established among mankind opens to it, is +one of those obvious truths that have lain long on the highways of +knowledge, before practical statesmen would condescend to pick them up. +It has been shown, indeed, that the sound principles of commerce which +have at last forced their way from the pages of thinking men into the +councils of legislators, were more than a hundred years since +promulgated by Sir Dudley North; [Footnote: McCulloch's Lectures on +Political Economy]--and in the Querist of Bishop Berkeley may be found +the outlines of all that the best friends not only of free trade but of +free religion would recommend to the rulers of Ireland at the present +day. Thus frequently does Truth, before the drowsy world is prepared for +her, like + + "The nice Morn on the Indian steep, + From her cabin'd loophole peep." + +Though Mr. Sheridan spoke frequently in the course of the discussions, +he does not appear to have, at any time, encountered the main body of +the question, but to have confined himself chiefly to a consideration of +the effects 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, with which +the chivalry of Genius sometimes adorns the cause of Error. In founding, +as he did, his chief argument against commercial intercourse upon the +"natural enmity" between the two countries, he might have referred, it +is true, to high Whig authority:--"The late Lord Oxford told me," says +Lord Bolingbroke, "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 _Antigallican_ sentiments on this occasion +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 commercial +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 honor of their own, and less ready +to rise in its defence, when wronged or insulted. But, assuredly, a want +of pugnacity is not the evil to be dreaded among nations--still less +between two, whom the orator had just represented 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 commercial 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 descended to +the weakness of ridiculing such commercial arrangements, as unworthy +altogether of the contemplation of the higher order of statesmen. "The +Right Honorable 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 judgment, +attempt to depreciate a speech which may be said to have contained 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 respect 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 unconstitutional +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 denounce, 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 candor; and the cordiality, indeed, with which they +came forward this year to praise the spirited part taken by 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 Minister 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 connections--Mr. Burke bore testimony, as far as himself was +concerned, by repeating the same opinions, after an interval of ten +years, in his testamentary work, the "Letters on a Regicide Peace." + +The other important question which I have mentioned as engaging, 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 a 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 labored, would have afforded a chance of +detaching him from his new political 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 situation in which the Prince now found 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 +Sovereign of England in a state of dependence, as creditor, on a Prince +of France. That the negotiations in this extraordinary transaction had +proceeded farther than is generally supposed, will appear from the +following letters of the Duke of Portland to Sheridan:-- + +"Sunday noon, 13 Dec. + +"DEAR SHERIDAN, + +"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 creditors 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 Frenchwomen 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 +preventing 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. I +will certainly be in town by two o'clock. + +"Yours ever, + +"P." + +"Bulstrode, Monday, 14. Dec. + +"9 A. M." + +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 the discharge of +his debts, sufficiently proclaimed the true state of affairs to the +public. Still, however, the strange policy was persevered in, of adding +the discontent of the Heir-Apparent to the other weapons in the hands of +the Opposition;--and, as might be expected, they 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 State." In these +solemn words it was well understood, that he alluded 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. Fitzherbert--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, [Footnote: Home Tooke, in his +insidious pamphlet on the subject, presumed so far on this belief as to +call Mrs. Fitzherbert "Her Royal Highness."] 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, which was confirmed by 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.), which rendered null and void any +marriage contracted by any descendant of George II. without the previous +consent of the King, or a twelve months' 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 also have +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. +[Footnote: Thus, a man, by contracting a second marriage, pending the +first marriage, commits a felony; and the crime, according to its legal +description, consists in marrying, or contracting a marriage--though +what he does is no more a marriage than that of the Heir-Apparent would +be under 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 be cited, in +which, though the act done is void, yet the doing of it creates a +forfeiture.] 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 Royal +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; [Footnote: See, in +Ellis's Letters of History, vol. iii. the declarations of Charles II. +with respect to his marriage with "one Mrs. Walters," signed by himself +and published in the London Gazette.] 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 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, fit 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 Highness's debts was followed by an addition +to his income of L10,000 yearly out of the Civil List; an issue of +L161,000 from the same source, for the discharge of his debts, and +L20,000 on account of the works at Carlton House. + +In the same proportion that this authorized declaration was successful +in satisfying the public mind, it must naturally have been painful and +humiliating to the person whose honor 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 tend at least to unsettle the +impression left upon the public, and, in some degree, retrieve that loss +of station, which a disclaimer, coming 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 party, 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 highmindedness, 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, endeavored, 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 inquiry 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 honorable 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." + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. +Richard Brinsley Sheridan V1, by Thomas Moore + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF SHERIDAN V1 *** + +This file should be named 6741.txt or 6741.zip + +Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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