lost my credit with the public, because they knew that I proceeded upon principle; that I disdained being either the echo or the instrument of any man, however exalted his station; and that I never received reward or protection from any other hands than their own.

I have the honour to be, &c.

SAMUEL FOOTE.

N. B.-In a few days will be published, the Scenes objected to by the Lord Chamberlain. With a Dedication to the Duchess of Kingston.

THOMAS SHERIDAN*, ESQ. TO MR. WHYTE. DEAR SAM, Blois, August 1st, 1766. YOUR long expected letter has at length arrived, without date. You mention in it that it was writ the post after Mr. Sheen's, but by some strange fatality it has been six weeks longer on its passage. I own your long silence astonished me, and raised in me many mortifying reflections. The general neglect which I experienced from all quarters in my distrest situation, created in me such an apathy for all the affairs of this life, that I was almost brought to wish to pass the rest of my days

Oblitusque meorum, obliviscendus et illis.

But your last has shown me that friendship is not wholly banished from the earth. I find that

* Father of the Right Hon. R. B. Sheridan.

I had relied upon receiving about fifty pounds from Sheen for the books, and a year's rent of a certain farm at Quilea. But this I find, without any notice given to me, has been forestalled, and Sheen writes me word that he has not a shilling to spare. I had before applied to some friends in England, who had made large professions to me; but I find, by an obstinate silence on their part, that nothing is to be expected from them. My sole reliance at present is upon you, nor should I have the least doubt on me, if your abilities were equal to your good will. But I must conjure you, by all that is sacred in friendship, to raise a hundred pounds for me, as speedily as you can, and convey it to William Whately, esq. banker in London, for my use; on the receipt of which I will immediately set out for England in my way to Dublin. Mrs. Sheridan and the children will continue in France till my affairs are settled; and after that, you may rely upon it, that this is the first debt I shall think myself bound to discharge. I need not say more upon this head; I am sure your utmost endeavours will not be wanting to serve me in this exigence, and to complete what you have so well begun.

And now I must give you some account of what we have been doing since our arrival at Blois. I have long since finished the Dictionary, and have got together the greatest part of the materials for the Grammar, which only want being reduced into order. I have likewise almost finished a volume of Dialogues on the English Language, to serve as a preparative for the other work.

The more I reflect on the general use which must be made of this work wherever English is taught, the more I am convinced that the profits of it will be considerable; and that if I keep the right of the copy to myself (which is my design) it will be an estate to my family. I have finished a Grammar too in English and French, for the use of all foreigners who understand French, that are desirous of attaining a knowledge of the English tongue by an easy and short method. I have also drawn up a Grammar in English, to facilitate the attainment of the French tongue to all who speak English: a work much wanted, and which I began at first for the use of my children, upon finding the great imperfection of all hitherto published with that view. Mrs. Sheridan has written a comedy called a Trip to Bath, in which some good judges in England find a great deal of merit. She has also made two additional volumes to the Memoirs of Sidney, and has begun a tragedy in prose upon part of the story contained in this latter part. Thus you see, that, together with the time employed in the instruction of the children, we have not been idle since our arrival here. Our coming to Blois has been attended with the happy circumstance of restoring Mrs. Sheridan to a perfect good state of health, a blessing which she had not known for ten years before; and this alone would make me think it a fortunate event which drove us hither. But I have other reasons to bless this event: it has afforded me an opportunity of acquiring two of the most useful kinds of knowledge one can be

possessed of in this life; I mean a knowledge of the world, and a knowledge of myself. To know the world well, one must cease to be an actor in the busy scene of life, and be contented to be an humble spectator; and to know one's self well, long uninterrupted leisure for self-examination, at a distance from the turbulence and seductions of the world, is esentially necessary. The result of my reflections with regard to the world has been the same with that of the wise man, that it is vanity of vanities. But I have not, like him, ended my inquiries there. My mind could never rest in so dispiriting a conclusion; it naturally led me to the consideration of another life, where all that is amiss here will be rectified. And after the most unprejudiced inquiries, I remained in the full conviction, that it is from religion alone we can hope for contentment in this life, or happiness in a future one: and the result of my self-examination was, a determined resolution to make her sacred dictates the guide of all my future actions. Don't think, Sam, that either superstition or melancholy has had the least influence on this occasion, for I have not a grain of either in my composition; it has been the effect of a long, cool, deliberate train of reflection. I am sorry I was not before made acquainted with the very kind part which Mr. Boyle took in my affairs. I fear a letter, after so great a distance of time, would appear with but an ill grace: I must therefore beg you will take it upon yourself to make him my most grateful acknowledgments, and at the same time the apology for my silence. You do not say a word about Mrs.