ment. He seemed entirely to have relinquished his natural ability, and to have assumed an air of unutterable dulness. The younger Colman says, "He made the twin stars which nature had stuck in his head look like two coddled gooseberries." Her "Memoirs of Sidney Biddulph" have been much admired, not only for their power of awakening our sympathy for the sorrows of man upon this transitory globe, but for the beautiful language in which they point out the blissful rewards of a hereafter to those who, by their conduct, may deserve them.

Amongst other productions of her pen "Nourjahad” is particularly distinguished, alike for the development of the story and the gracefulness of its diction, and even to the present hour it enjoys a high degree of popularity amongst youthful readers, who, if they are not able to detect the moral of a tale that shows that the gifts of perpetual youth and of endless riches, if not properly estimated, will produce sensuality and brutality, are at any rate delighted with the beautiful pictures of oriental manners that she has so admirably delineated.

In his seventh year Sheridan was placed, together with his brother, under the tuition of Mr. Samuel Whyte, of Dublin; they were the first two pupils he had. Their mother, in giving them to his care, made use of an expression which has been oftentimes repeated as if it had been applied to Sheridan in the latter days of his boyhood. She pointed out to Mr. Whyte that in the profession he had undertaken patience was absolutely necessary. "These boys will be your tutors in that respect. I have hitherto been their only instructor, they have sufficiently exercised mine, for two such impenetrable dunces I never met

with." From such an expression, at such an age, it would be most unfair to form an opinion of the intellectual capabilities of a child.

On his parents settling in England which was in the year 1762, Harrow was selected as the best school for his education. Here he exhibited none of that superior intellect for which his future life was to be distinguished. Dr. Parr has given evidence as to his deficiency in those studies which were the pride of that seminary, but observes, "He was a favourite amongst his schoolfellows, mischievous, and his pranks were accompanied by a sort of vivacity and cheerfulness. He was a great reader of English poetry, but was careless about literary fame; he appears to have been removed too early from school."

He, however, in after life was, according to the same testimony, given to classic reading, and was well acquainted with the orations of Cicero and of Demosthenes, and impressed Dr. Parr with an idea that he was possessed of considerable classic attainments. Mr. Roderic, Dr. Sumner's assistant during the time that Sheridan was at Harrow, says "that he was a shrewd, artful, and supercilious boy, without any shining accomplishments or superior learning."

During his residence at Harrow he lost his excellent and amiable mother, who died at Blois, where the family had for some time resided, in the year 1766.

Whilst at Harrow he formed an intimacy with a fellow-pupil, Mr. Halhed, with whom he entered into literary partnership, which was not dissolved by their both quitting their school, the one for Oxford, the other for Bath. Together they laboured upon a farce in three acts, called "Jupiter," from which they anticipated to reap a sum of no less than £200; but they

were doomed to disappointment, for it never was brought before the public, and whatever of merit it may have possessed we are unable to judge, for, with the exception of some extracts which Moore has given, we are not in possession of any remains of a burlesque which has been supposed to have remained long on the memory of Sheridan, and to have been the model on which the "Critic" was founded. A miscellany was projected by the friends, but it did not live beyond one number; this was but poor, if we may be allowed to form a judgment from the short specimen that has been preserved. A collection of occasional poems, and a volume of crazy tales, were amongst the dreams that flitted across the imaginations of the enthusiasts, but beyond fancy's first sketch it would appear that they were not allowed to proceed.

One, however, of the united productions of these aspirants to literary fame was actually committed to the press, and has reached us; it has been the means of exhibiting positive proof that they were indifferent judges of that which was likely to impress the public with a favourable opinion of their merits. They selected a Greek author but little known, Aristænetus, and rendered his Greek prose into English verse. The facetious Tom Brown had previously translated, or rather imitated, some select pieces from the epistles of this author, but the young poets thought that he had failed in giving the elegance and the wit of the original. They stated that "their object was not so much to bring to light the merits of an undistinguished author, as to endeavour to introduce into the language a species of poetry not frequently attempted, and but very seldom with success, that species which has been called the simplex munditiis in writing, where the

thoughts are spirited and fanciful without quaintness, and the style simple, yet not inelegant." There is a great variation of the metres employed, and each epistle has its own particular measure, and it would be difficult to point out upon what particular species of poetry they relied for their claim to success. The Epistles of Aristænetus are altogether unknown, and what could have tempted young and cultivated minds to bestow a thought upon a writer who had neither a name amongst classical authors, nor a single recommendation from a modern critic, we are utterly at a loss to imagine. We can only ascribe it to an enthusiastic taste for compositions which occasionally captivate youth, and to which we are doubtless indebted for Moore's translation of Anacreon, and for his juvenile poems, which are admired at the commencement of our career in life. They were compelled to soften many passages which were indelicate in the original, and to suppress others as indecent. The preface, to which the initials "H. S." are added, is concluded by a passage informing us that the original is divided into two parts, the present essay containing only the first; by its success must the fate of the second be determined. Carefully did they watch the impression made on the public by their labours; they saw that they were unsuccessful, and they wisely attempted no more. There is but one epistle, "The Garden of Phyllion," that possesses much merit, and this is spoilt by the introduction, not only of language somewhat too glowing, but of libertinism totally uncalled for in a descriptive pastoral. The Tenth Epistle has some striking passages; but with every wish to view the first productions of youth with kindness and lenity, we

cannot but express our gratification that the second part never appeared, and that the first has been but little read. One of the reviews of the period has very justly said, "We have been idly employed in reading it, and our readers will in proportion lose their time in perusing this article."

In the year 1771 Sheridan's father took his young family to Bath, there to reside whilst he was fulfilling his theatrical engagements elsewhere. No place could have been more unfortunately selected for the début in life of a young man ; for whatever may have been the charm of society there, nothing could by possibility be more destructive to habits of industry and the exercise of the higher qualities of the mind and the heart than the unvarying monotony of indolence and selfishness in which the visitors of that once fashionable watering-place constantly indulged themselves. The lounge in the pump-room and in the streets of Bath may have furnished young Sheridan with sketches of those characters which have rendered his dramas the admiration of those who are initiated into society, but it was the very worst school for the education of a man whose destiny was forcibly urging him on to figure as one of the most prominent men in public life. From all quarters of the globe congregated not only the invalid to gain health from the thermal springs, but the idle, the dissipated, and also the lovers of the arts. Bilious East Indians, Irish fortune-hunters, gouty statesmen, ladies of rank, "chiefly remarkable for the delicacy of their reputation," went there to seek relief from ennui. To furnish relief for them, there was an admirable theatre, time out of mind the nursery for the London stage, and concerts, such as were not to be outrivalled in