way furprising; nor that one, in whom the chums both of mind and body were to be found, fhould be the object of admiration by several pretenders. A difagreement on this fubject, as is fuppofed, took place between Mr. Sheridan and a gentleman of the name of Matthews, which occafio ed maca converfation at Bath, during the time that the event wa recent there. The particulus of his quarrel are only important to the parties themfelves; an l as it is probable they may not have any with to perpecuate them at fo great a diance of time, we thell only obferve, that a duel enfured, which was conducted in a manner which difplayed both the courage and tercity of the combatants in a very fingular manner: perhops no confict of this kind ever exhibited fuch fymptoms of inveterate and unabated refe.tment as this we are now allung to. On the 13th of April, 1773, he married the lady we have Icady mentioned; and at legch turned his attention to the fage, and produced a comedy in 1775, at Covent Garden, called The Rivals. This play abounds in character and fituation; but on its first appearance was received with fo little favour, that it required fome management and alteration to obtain for it a fecond hearing. Several chufes confpired to occafion this extraordinary treatment: one of the actors, Mr. Lee, mangled and mifander.tood the character of an Iri^man in fuch a manner, as to render every fcene in which he was concerned ridiculous and diguling: the performance alio was too long in the reprefentation; a change however in the performer, and the pruning knife judiciously applied, procured the piece the applaufe it deferved, though its reputation has been much less than the fucceeding dramas of the fame author. The perfon who fucceeded Mr. Lee in perfonating the Irifhman was Mr. Clinch, who receive! much applaufe in the cha racter. At his benefit he was complimented with the fift reprefentation of the farce of St. Patrick's day. Early in the next feafon The Duenna appeared, and was honoured with a degree of approbation which even exceeded what had been formerly bestowed on the Beggar's Opera. About this period, Mr. Garrick began to think of qui ing the itage in earnett; and Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Linley, and Dr. Fo.d, estered into a treaty with him, which, in the year 1777, was finally completed, and the new managers invefted with the powers of the patent. The efforts of thefe gentlemen were by no means proportioned to the importance of their undertaking; a number of deipicable pieces were brought forwards; and The School for Scandal, which alone was calculated to keep up the credit of the houfe, and fill the treafury of it, was deferred until the 8th of May, when the feafon ought to have conchided. I his piece can receive no honour from additional praife; nor can it be injured by the feverett critical examination. It has been followed by The Camp, The Critic, and Robinfon Crufoe, the latt inferior to the worst performance of Mir. Melink; and a proof that even the greatest genius will fink beneath contempt, when he contends with a mechanic in his own profeffion. On the late general election, Mr. Sheridan procured himself to be returned member for the borough of Stafford; and has fince devoted his time to political enquiries. Thefe new purfuits have had a fatal effect on his dramatic exertions.Three years are now elapfed fince the appearance of the Critic; and though we are frequently informed, that an opera called the Foretters, and a comedy intitled Af-· fectation, are to be foon produced; we have expected them fo long, that we now have no reliance on any affurances that can be given refpecting thefe pieces: we even begin to fufpect, that he is no longer to be confidered as a follower of the Mufes, and are fincerely forry to fee his defection from their fervice. Mr. Sheridan's character, as a writer and a man, is calculated to imprefs feparate and distinct fenfations on thote who contemplate it. In the former, he has diftinguished himself by an early prematurity, which has enabled him to outttrip every veteran competitor in the fan.e race. His comedies abound in wit, humour, fatire, fituation, and pleasantry: in fatire, which is calculated to improve, without wounding any individual; in pleafantry, fo general, that it cannot but delight every fpectator and reader of tafte and judgement. His verfification is equally elegant and polished, and his prologues and epilogues exhibit the excellences of thofe of the late Mr. Garrick, without their defects: in point of composition, they are certainly fuperior; and, with respect to wit and humour, will lofe nothing in the comparison. With excellences like thele, Mr. Sheridan might fupport the reputation of the English to.atre; and in th's line he fems to have been intended to fine without any rival. Regarding the the ftage however, here our eulogium ut end. As a manager, peramps, no perfon is fo totally unequal to the duty of that office; he is carekfs, and inat entive; and has fhewn to little judge nent in his choice, that he has even fubiected himfelf to the infpicion of having recived the worst pieces with a view to fet ci. his own. This infinuation, however, is only mentioned to afford an opportunity of declaring our thorough convixion of its want of the fighter foundation. The brilliancy of his dramatic performances require no foil to add to their luftre: in the diftribution of t lents, it appears as though Providence had refolved to mix fome quality with the greateft as thould render them ufelefs to their owner.———— Though acknowledged the first perfon in the dramatic walk, he foon grew difcontented with the honours which were lavishly bestowed upon him as a writer, and ambition tempted him to lift under the banners of a party where he has been, and is ftill likely to be, left at a great distance. In proportion as his political frenzy has prevailed, the theatre has been neglected; and that which produced wealth and independance to his predeceffor, and which his own exertions were powerful enough to continue, is deemed hardly worthy of a fecond place in his thoughts. After this reprefentation, it will create no won der that the credit of Drury-Lane Theatre is not equal to what it was under Mr. Garrick's adminiftrati n. While we lavent the mifapplication of great powers of the mind, it is but juftice to acknow ledge, that Mr. Sheridon is no iaconiderable orator in the Hofe of Commons; and, had he waited until his abilities had contred (as prop r rected they foon would have dir. riones upon him, his eloquace and is arguments would have been heard with the attention, and prodocct the effect, which, from their intriafe weight, igat have been expeÑed fan then. As a man, he is open, genew us, candiai, liberal, and benevolent, pole ed of virtles which the want of prudence, we tru.t, will neither extinguilh nor put to the hazard. We venture this remark tom a melancholy reflection on life, which has often confirmed the truth of Dr. Johnfon's obfervation, that "Thofe, who, in confidence of fuperior capacities and attainments, diregarded the common maxims of life, ought to be reminded, that nothing will fupply the want of prudence; and, that negligence and irregularity, long continued, will make knowledge ufelefs, wit ridiculous, and genius contemptible." In our next Number we mean to give a Genealogical Account of the Sheridan family, interperfed with Anecdotes. Georgic, Meffrs. Maraldi and de Réaumur, have made a philofophical defcription of BEES; the fubftance of which is, that a glafs hive reprefents a city of fixteen or eighteen thousand inhabitants. This city is a monarchy, confifting of a QUEEN, GRANDEES, SOLDIERS, ARTIFICERS, PORTERS, HOUSES, STREETS, GATES, MAGAZINES, and the STRICTEST CIVIL POLICY. The queen lives in a palace in the farther part of the town; fome of the cells (which run perpendicularly from the top of the hive) are larger than the reft, and belong to thofe who, after the queen, hold the first rank in the commonwealth; the others are inhabited by the people at large. The cells are all public buildings, which belong to the fociety in common; for, among thefe happy beings, there is no MEUM or TUUM. thefe edifices are appropriated as magaSome of zines for a store of honey; others for the daily provision of the industrious; others are allotted to receive their eggs, and to lodge the worm, from which the infantbee draws its vital existence. : In the hive there is ufually but one queen, fix or eight hundred or even a thoufand males, called DRONES, and from fifteen to fixteen thousand bees, without diftinction of fex, who carry on the policy and manufacture of the commonwealth. The MOTHER queen, is the foul of the community, and, BEE, or the were it not for her, every thing would languifh; for, when fhe is fecreted from the city, the inhabitants lofe all care of pofterity, making neither wax nor honey. Her fubjects pay her majefty the moft dutiful respect, and accompany her when ever he goes abroad, or is carried from her palace and fuch is their addrefs, that they perform their feveral functions without being ordered, or giving their queen the leaft trouble or uneafinefs.Her only bufinefs is to people her dominions, and this the fulfils with fo much exactitude, as to merit the most honourable of all titles-the PARENT of her COUNTRY. To infure the love of her fubjects, it is neceffary the fhould have from teu to twelve thousand children in the space of feven weeks, and, one year with another, from thirty to forty thoufand. Her facred majefty is easily diftinguished by a long and flender fhape. Her wings are however much fhorter: for, her people have wings which cover the whole body; in her they terminate about half-way, at the third ring of her admired form. The queen, indeed, has, like the rest, a fting and a bladder of poifon; but he is not fo eafily provoked to call them in to her affiftance; when the does, the wound is deeper, and much more painful. : HUSBANDS of this LITTLE QUEEN, are The DRONES, or the THOUSAND found in the hive only from the beginning of May to the end of July. Their number increafes every day during that period of time, and is at the greatest when the queen is breeding and, ftrange to tell, in a few days after they die a violent death! Their way of living is alfo peculiar to themfelves; for, excepting the moments they are employed in paying their court to enjoying a moft luxurious table, eating their fovereign miftrefs, they are quite idle, only the fineft honey; whereas the common people live in a great measure on the wax. and do not think of returning home until They rife early, go abroad, the good of the community: the drones, they are loaded with wax or honey, for on the contrary, do not ftir ab:oad until air, and amufe themfelves until near fix the hour of eleven, when they take the thofe long elaftic teeth with which the in the evening. They have no fting, nor they thofe kind of hollows, which ferve other bees work up the honey; nor have them for baskets to bring it to their refpective habitations. The commonalty have an infinite numwhich are, that their head feems to be ber of furprising particularities; a few of triangular, and the point of the triangle is formed by the meeting of two long claftic teeth, which are concave on the infide. In the fecond and third pair of their legs, is a part called the brush, of a fquare figure, with its outward surface polished and fleek, and its inward hairy, like a common brush. With these two inftruments they prepare their wax and honey. The materials of their wax lie flowers. in the form of duft upon the amina of this duft, fhe enters the flower, and takes When the bee would gather it up by means of her brush, to which it eafily adheres. She comes out all covered with it, fometimes yellow, fometimes red, thefe particles be inclofed in the capful or according to its native colour. of a flower, the pierces it with her long movable teeth, and then gathers them is thus loaded, fhe rubs herself to colle at her leifure. When this little animal her materials, and rolls them up in a little mafs. Sometimes the performs this part of her business by the times the ftays till he comes back to her way; fomehabitation. As foon as they are formed into a ball about the fize of a grain If of On EPIGRAM, being turned out of a public-house, after having spent all his money.Written with chalk, on the windowboard, By the late JAMES DUFFIELD, Esq. Has God alone perfection, do you say, When fo many perfect things we fee each day? The poor have fome perfections - fome the rich : Here's mother Dashwood-fhe's a perfect bitch. ANECDOTE. The new ninety-gun fhip the Atlas, that was lately launched at Chatham, had at her head the figure of Atlas fupporting the globe. By an error of the builder, the globe was placed fo high, that part of it was obliged to be cut away before the bowfprit could be fitted in. This part happened to be no other than all North-America; and, what was more remarkable, the perfon, who was ordered to take the hatchet and flice it off, was an American. Anecdote of the late Prince of Wales, and of his prefent Majefty, when Prince George.- Goupee, an excellent artist, was in high favour with the late Prince of Wales, and he daily attended his Royal Highness, to paint pictures on fuch fubjects as he fhould dictate. One morning, upon Goupee's arrival at Leicester-house, "Come, Goupee, faid the Prince, fit down, and paint me a picture on fuch a fubject." Goupee, perceiving Prince George (his prefent Majefty) a prifoner behind a chair, took the liberty humbly to reprefent to his Royal Patron, how impoflible it was for him to fit down to execute his Royal Highness's commands with spirit, while the Prince was ftanding, and under his royal difpleafire. "Come out then, George, fill the good-natured Prince, Goupee has releafed you." When Goupee was eighty-four, and very poor, he had a mad women to nu fe and maintain, who was the object of his delight when young; he drofore put hitafelf in the King's fight at Konfiagton, where he lived. At length the King topped his coach, and called him to him. "How do you do, Goupee?" the King, and atked him if he ha! fecit to live upon. "Little etonga, i leed!" anfwered Goupee;" and, as once took your Majelty out of prifon, I hope you will not let ne go into one." his Majefty was graciously pleafed to ord r Goupee a guinea a week for his life; which he enjoyed only a few wecks, dying foon after. The following Bon Mot was read in the Court of King's Bench the other day, to identify the perfon meant by the nickname of Snake. An artift very much admires the picture of the reverend parfon Snake in the exhibition, where he is drawn at full length in a beautiful landscape with a large tree, and attended by his dog. He thinks, however, that the tree wants execution, and that the painter has not done justice to the dag. EPIGR A M, Roi, Guerrier, Philofophe, Auteur, MuOn the King of Prufia, by Voltaire. ficien, Poete, Franc-Maçon, politique, œco nome, que n'eft. Pour le bien de l'Europe, ah! To a Lady of Tory principles, appearing Vers pour être mis au bas du portrait de fon altele Royale Monfeigneur le Deftiné par fon rang à fuccéder au trône, Comme autant de joyaux, lui font une Plus brillante que l'or, et fes vains ornemens. To the EDITORS of the EUROPEAN MAGAZINE, &c. Gentlemen, HAVE with much concern obferved, that thofe parliamentary fpeakers in both houfes, who have been bred to the Bar, feldom fail of departing from that rule which fhould ever be regarded by those who are exalted to the honour able office of reprefenting the people of thefe great kingdoms. Indead of allowing the arguments of their adverfuries to have their due force, and inftead of deducing natural confequeness from the general tenor of debate, it is the misfortune of thefe gentlemen, arifing, as we imagine, from the prejudice of education, and the mode of their profesional practice, fuddenly to efpoufe one fide of the queition. Thus they continue refolutely to adhere to the caufe, in favour of which they have made an inconfiderate decision, forgetful of the dignity of the character they ought to maintain, and transforming themselves into dogmatical advocates, in fupport of maxims urge them to abhor. being vanquified in the war of words," A fpirit of difputation, and a dread of feem to be impregnated into the very conftitution of the gentlemen of the Law; and therefore, when a queftion of, perhaps, the highest national importance is in to obtain a victory; and it is fel!om that agitation, their object is, at any expence, they will fabait to make a prudent retreat, however pregnant with good confequences that meaftre may appear to the difpaffionate and candid. pear to avail themselves of all that foIn short, the parliamentary lawyers apphitry, artful introduction of false facts, jefuitical cunning, obft nacy, and overbearingnefs, which they have been accuftomed to employ in defence of their, refpective, clients. It may be added, that they expect to be paid in proportion to their labours, and perhaps they are not at all difappointed. X. X. |