LATE TREASURER OF THE NAVY, RECEIVER-GENERAL OF THE DUCHY OF CORNWALL, AND M. P. FOR THE BOROUGH OF ILCHESTER, &c. THE HE subject of the present article is acknowledged to have been one of the most singular, eloquent, and accomplished men perhaps ever known in this country. When we contemplate his many talents; his great endowments; his various acquirements; as evinced in the multifarious characters of a Poet, a Prose-writer, a Dramatist, an Orator, and a Legislator, he must be considered as a phænomenon, the like of which has scarcely been witnessed before, within the range of our biographical hemisphere. Richard Brinsley Sheridan was the third son of the late Mr. Thomas Sheridan*, well known, both as an actor, and * Thomas Sheridan, M. A. was born at Quilea, in Ireland, in 1721, and educated partly at Westminster school, and partly at Trinity college, Dublin. His father, whose name was also Thomas, had taken the degree of D.D. at the same university; and enter lecturer on elocution; and grandson of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Sheridan, the friend and companion of Dean Swift, during the residence of that celebrated wit and writer in Ireland. His mother was an accomplished female, who dedicated her leisure hours to literature; and was careful to convey instruction, as well as entertainment, to her readers; for her works are replete with every thing that tends to inculcate the charms. of delicacy in the one sex, and of morals in both. Such were the parents of the subject of this article, who first saw the light in Dorset-street, Dublin, in the month of October, 1751. He was baptised soon after, as appears from the parochial register, a copy of which will be found below.† Mrs. Sheridan was, for some time, the sole instructor of her two surviving sons; for Thomas, the eldest, died in childhood. After teaching the rudiments of the English tongue, she delivered them over to the tuition of her neighbour and ing into holy orders, obtained a living by means of Dean Swift; he also kept a respectable school, or rather academy, for many years at Dublin. Being very improvident, and of course dying poor, his son, of whom we now treat, was obliged to endeavour to obtain a livelihood on the stage; and accordingly, in 1743, he appeared at Smock Alley, in the character of Richard III. He afterwards became manager of the Dublin theatre in Smock Alley; but that property was entirely ruined in consequence of some disturbances that took place there. He now came to England, and was engaged at Drury Lane in 1760; soon after whic he obtained a pension from the King, with which he retired for a time to Blois, in France. Having lost his wife there, he returned to London, and in 1767, exhibited an entertainment called the "Attic Evening," consisting of reading, singing, and music. In relinquishing the profession of an actor in 1776, he succeeded Mr. Garrick as manager of Drury Lane theatre, which situation he resigned in 1779, and died at Margate in 1788. His works are chiefly connected with education; the principal one, in 1 vol. 4to and 2 vols. 8vo. is a dictionary of the English language, in which all the words are properly accented, according to his standard. Miss Frances Chamberlaine, grand-daughter of Sir Oliver Chamberlaine, was the wife of Mr. Thomas, and mother of Richard Brinsley Sheridan: This lady was a very ingenious woman, being the author of Sidney Biddulph, a novel; Nourjahad, a moral romance; and the Discovery, a comedy. She died at Blois in 1767. + "Richard Brinsley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan, baptized Nov. 4, 1751." He was called "Richard," after an uncle; and "Brinsley" as a token of respect to Brinsley, or rather Brindsley Butler, Earl of Lanesborough, then governor of the county of Cavan. This nobleman had interested himself, on more than one occasion, in favour of the Sheridan family. relation, Mr. Whyte, who had opened an academy in the capital, in the month of April, 1758. This lady, on that occasion, very properly adverted to the necessity of "patience" in the profession of a schoolmaster. She complained, that her own had been sufficiently exercised already; and hinted, that all his stock would be called into action by her two boys. This was so far good; but when, notwithstanding the self-love incident to a mother, we find her adding, that "two such impenetrable dunces were never met with before, in the course of her whole life," we seem to be lost in wonder and surprise! Let it be recollected, however, that the one was only seven, and the ather (Charles-Francis) but eight or nine years old at this period: the latter, after distinguishing himself as a man of letters, became Secretary of Legation to the court of Sweden, and deputy Secretary at War in Ireland. As the elder Mr. Sheridan aspired to, and at length obtained His Majesty's countenance and protection, it was probably on this account, that he made choice of one of the poor knights' houses at Windsor, for his place of residence on leaving Ireland. It was to that town, therefore, that his two sons were sent in the autumn of 1759, after the lapse of eighteen months; when the good and worthy mother once more assumed the office of preceptress: but we hear no more of the necessity of "patience;" and it is probable, that either the boys had become more docile under the care of a stranger; or that the lady was more accustomed to the difficult art of teaching one's own children! As Charles, at an early period, evinced superior diligence; as he displayed at the same time great correctness of ear, and powers of voice; and contrived, when only eleven years of age, to the great delight of his father, with whose peculiar province this qualification was intimately connected, to recite various passages from Milton in an elegant and impressive manner; no fears were entertained for this lad, who afterwards distinguished himself as the historian of that revolution at Stockholm, which put an end to every trace of Swedish liberty and independence. But in respect to the other, who was placed at Harrow school immediately after the Christmas recess of 1762, he was sprightly and wild, and appears to have been sent thither, for the express purpose of learning how to get through the world. His mother, on this occasion at least, seems to have displayed a certain degree of prophetical sagacity, when she remarks to a correspondent *, as a reason for the change; " that as Dick probably may fall into a bustling life, we have a mind to accustom him early to shift for himself!" Dr. Sumner, the elegant and accomplished head master, with all his penetration, could discover no glimpse of future talents in this untoward boy. The merit was reserved for the nearer inspection of Mr. Samuel (now Dr.) Parr, then one of the sub-preceptors. It was he who aroused his pupil into activity and exertion; it was he who, substituting emulation for coercion, induced him to take a pride in the performance of his duties; to aspire to praise and to distinction; to exert his memory, which was strong and powerful; to display his dawning genius; and to exhibit some early specimens of that versatility of powers and endowments, which afterwards rendered him so conspicuous. At this period too, he gave some occasional symptoms of his future character; for he was ambitious of applause; more eager to acquire than to retain popularity; careless about his own interests; at times studious to excess; always witty, facetious, and entertaining; but in general so indolent, more especially when not excited by any ruling passion, that he seemed actually to have lost, rather than to have suspended, his powers of action. Such was Dick Sheridan at the age of eighteen; and exactly such was the Right Honourable R. B. Sheridan, at the age of sixty! Mr. Sheridan was never sent to the university. For this, various reasons may be assigned; in the first place, he himself might not have been very desirous; in the second, his acquirements at Harrow were perhaps deemed fully sufficient for all useful purposes; and finally, the derangement of the family affairs is likely to have precluded the possibility of such * Mr. Whyte, the school-master before alluded to. a measure. This last argument must appear to be preponderant, when it is recollected, on one hand, how expensive such a system of education is; and, on the other, that his father neither possessed any patrimonial, or acquired property; while his professional pursuits were both unprofitable and precarious. Indeed the family chiefly, if not wholly, subsisted, at this very period, on a pension of two hundred pounds; and the profits derived from lectures on elocution. It is only wonderful how Richard could actually obtain money to pay the fees on entering himself a student of the society of the Middle Temple, and be enabled to keep his commons while there. He indeed never received a call to the bar; and he is said to have chiefly supported himself at this critical period by his literary labours. There can be no doubt but, both on this and future occasions, he wrote frequently for the newspapers; and indeed until his last fatal illness, he kept up a constant connection with more than one of the editors of the periodical journals. It was at this epoch that a translation of Aristænetus, from the Greek, made its appearance; which has been attributed to his pen. He also wrote a thousand poetical trifles, which may be found, perhaps, among the fugitive pieces of the day; but are now mislaid and forgotten. Even he himself was utterly unable, at a later period, to make out a catalogue of his own productions! Some facts and circumstances have been lately communicated to me, that tend to exhibit this part of his life in a new point of view. I have been assured by a gentleman of fortune, formerly of Lincoln's Inn, who was the early friend of Sheridan; "That he was not only a most admirable companion, accustomed to diffuse mirth and produce hilarity at the festive board; but that he excelled in all the manly and genteel exercises. In particular, he danced with uncommon grace; and was so excellent an horseman, as to be acquainted with every thing relative to that art, which indeed he had been regularly taught. He undertook," adds my informant, "out of mere good nature, to instruct me; and was accustomed to mount, dismount, and ride with an air of ease and elegance, |