worth preserving. The memorandums of a comedy entitled "Affectation," three acts of a drama, fragments of epilogues, of poems, lead us to regret that so early in life he abandoned for political strife the Muses, who were so willing to hover around him and lend him their influence.

About the year 1780 a change came over the spirit of his dream. "That year a dissolution of Parliament took place; he felt 'aspiring passions'; he bade adieu to the triumphs which a theatrical auditory had afforded him, and sought a new scene for the exhibition of talents which doubtless he felt that he possessed, and wanted only an opportunity for their display." Amongst his manuscripts are to be found indications that, even whilst he was busy in the theatrical world, he had bestowed some portion of his time and attention to politics. A paper on absenteeism, embracing some views of the cruelty practised by England upon the sister isle by restraining her commercial freedom, and other proofs exist that he did not entirely yield himself up to the fascinations of the theatre.

The neglect, however, which necessarily followed upon his new career was soon felt at Drury Lane Theatre; and it is to be inferred that, about this time, those embarrassments commenced which haunted and embittered his future life. Murmurs began to be heard as to the payment of certain salaries-whispers which gradually grew into loud complaints - that there was no regular system followed in the management, and no regard paid to economy. The father of Sheridan directed the affairs of Drury Lane with great difficulty; and at last so many obstacles were thrown in his way by one set of persons, and so little apparent

wish to support him by those who had most interest in his management, that he was compelled to relinquish the undertaking. Sheridan himself seemed altogether careless; invited into society by those who were delighted with his gaiety and his talent, he plunged into expenses for entertaining others, which very rapidly absorbed large sums of money, whilst the facility of drawing from the treasury led him to forget that it was only by persevering economy fortunes are to be realised, and those we love rendered independent of the pressure of want. Light-hearted, amiable, open to flattery, caressed for his talents by all who had any claim to public fame, he launched into the bustle of life. At the age of twenty-nine he had achieved a brilliant reputation, had gained an immense property, and was apparently master of large resources; but he rushed upon an ambitious career which dazzled him; he abandoned that of which he was certain for that which was yet unknown. He neglected the business of that concern by which he could have gained, as Garrick had done before him, a splendid fortune, left it almost without management, content to be called the kind-hearted proprietor, and to draw money from it. An epilogue to Miss Hannah Moore's play of "Fatal Falsehood" from his pen, and a pantomime, "Robinson Crusoe; or, Harlequin Friday,' attributed to him, seem for a time to have been all that he considered necessary for him to do for the theatre.

"

The biographer who is endowed with Spurzheim's organ of comparison would feel some difficulty in assigning to Sheridan his proper rank as a statesman, if he sought to elucidate the circumstances of his political career by drawing a parallel between his

position and that of any of the distinguished men who at the present moment sway the public mind. Indeed, events are of so different a character that another race of individuals has sprung up, who would most probably have been little thought of had they attempted to bring themselves into notice at an earlier period. The eloquence which was required in the stormier moments of a nation's existence would now be of little avail. The passions are no longer to be aroused; the reason is to be addressed. Men have time leisurely to reflect upon the nightly debates; these are occupied with subjects which require facts, statistic details, and knowledge of business. Assiduity and practical information are more looked to than brilliancy of language or beautiful imagery. The representative of a manufacturing district, or a railway proprietor who can stutter forth his own conviction, commands more attention than the chaste speaker or the acute logician. Such, however, was not the case when Sheridan won the admiration of his country.

Politics were then more universally discussed; all ranks of society engaged in public affairs; the spirit of party ran high; matters of the deepest happiness to the human race were boldly investigated. The attempt by one set of men to stifle the expression of the general voice had engendered a rankling hatred in the bosom of others and kindled the passions that were sought to be extinguished; these, however, have now died away. In England, since the secession from active exertion for the party of the people of their last great leader, Sir Francis Burdett, there has been little of that enthusiasm which once animated the whole kingdom and led society to rank itself under two great sections, which, whatever might have been their sub

divisions, represented, on one hand, the love of power, on the other, that of liberty. From the commencement of the great American War until the overthrow of Napoleon, there was a constant excitement in the public mind; the mightiest changes were going forward, and opportunities offered themselves to men to distinguish themselves more by their power of influencing others by personal ability and their more apparent qualifications than by their research, their inventions, or their discoveries. Above all, eloquence, which addresses itself at once to the senses and leads them onwards, was worshipped, and brought to its possessor not only admiration, but beyond that the actual affection of its auditors. No one more successfully obtained this than did Sheridan.

He was listened to, even by such a man as Professor Smyth, "as a being that belonged to another sphere, as one to whom no ordinary mortal was for a moment to be brought into likeness or comparison." Such was the wondrous power of Sheridan, that his vehement and affecting torrents of eloquence left an impression upon the mind that no subsequent series of events could ever efface; if, indeed, all that his eulogists have said of him be true, those who once listened to him have had a greater enjoyment than has fallen to the lot of the most enthusiastic admirer of public speaking. Yet, when Sheridan entered upon his career, he by no means gave promise of becoming so splendid an orator. There were, twenty years ago, at Bath, many who remembered him there as a young man walking about in a cocked hat and scarlet waistcoat, with his pockets most deplorably empty, trying various means of filling them and amusing himself. Amongst other thoughts that crossed his mind was a

private play, but in rehearsal he was found incapable of filling any prominent position.

When, in 1780, Sheridan made his first address upon the subject of his return to Parliament for Stafford, in answer to a petition against his election, he was listened to with great attention, the House being uncommonly still while he was speaking, for his reputation had prepared for him a willing audience. He made, however, but little impression. It appeared to those who were anxious to judge of his real capabilities that nature never intended him for an orator; his enunciation was evidently very imperfect; he spoke as if his tongue was too thick for the due action. of the muscles which close the teeth upon it; there was an indistinctness of which, indeed, he never got rid, so that his mental powers appeared to be very far superior to his physical qualifications. He was himself agitated during the delivery of his speech, and upon its conclusion he went into the gallery where Woodfall was reporting, and with much evident anxiety tried to obtain from him his opinion of the probability of his ultimate success. With his usual frankness, Woodfall told him that he candidly advised him to stick to his former pursuits, for he had now got out of his depth. Sheridan, however, felt that within him which urged him on to future fame, and, resting his head upon his hand, exclaimed, "I know that it is in me, and out it shall come!" Woodfall was nearly right. Sheridan became, with as much labour as Demosthenes had employed, a great orator, and mind overcame the deficiencies of the earthly frame, but even to the latest moments he had occasionally a defect which, for a short time, impeded the power of producing an impression; but when carried