Saunders, would almost lead us to imagine even something beyond it, if that letter be genuine. She was admitted to be a model of personal beauty, and the charms of the Fair Maid of Bath were universally acknowledged. As a public singer, she was naturally exposed to allurements and temptations, and was very probably obliged to listen to offers which, in her heart, she might disdain. The catalogue of her lovers is somewhat long. Halhed, the poetic partner of Sheridan, was not only one, but even Sheridan's own brother Charles entertained a passion for her. Norris, who was supposed to have sung himself into her affections; Mr. Watts, a gentleman commoner of Oxford; Mr. Long, a man of large fortune; Sir Thomas Clarges, and several others less known to fame, swelled up a long list. But every student at Oxford, where she sang at the oratorios, was enchanted with this beautiful girl, to whom the title of the divine St. Cecilia was unanimously given. Nothing seemed to fright the University from its propriety so much as a rumour that was industriously circulated, that one youth, happier than the rest, had found the soft hour when she had listened, and had consented to accompany him to Scotland, and that a splendid fortune was the result of this matrimonial adventure.

Whatever may have been the merits of these candidates for her love, neither poetry in the shape of Halhed, music in that of Norris, nor wealth in others, had power to move her. Whatever may have been the earlier fancies of her heart-and there seems, from her own confession, to have been some-Richard Brinsley Sheridan had silently, and unsuspiciously, succeeded in winning her affections, and in wooing

her for his bride. He contrived, for all is fair in love, to mystify Halhed, to blind his brother Charles, to make the man she fancied that she loved actually odious in her eyes, and by dint of some persuasive power, which lovers only understand, wove a web around her from which there was no possibility of escaping, and eventually carried her off, in spite of parents and of lovers, of threats and of swords.

Amongst the characteristics of the ancient city of King Bladud is a lively curiosity, and an innate love of becoming intimately acquainted with the particularities of everybody and everything, which furnishes forth rich food for constant prattle. Anything connected with an individual so gifted as Miss Linley, naturally excited the peculiarly inquisitive thirst after subjects for conversation, and soon there arose this matter of a singularly gratifying description for them, of which they failed not to avail themselves; and their appetites were richly tickled by a series of occurrences that involved Miss Linley, Sheridan, and Mr. Matthews, a gentleman of fortune, as principals; and as accessories, the master of ceremonies, Captain Wade, Captain Paumier, and several men moving in the highest circles; and they were commented on in the Bath Herald, conducted by Meyler, a man of considerable ability, and in the Bath Chronicle, under the direction of Richard Crutwell.

Captain Matthews was the possessor of a large property in Wales, and usually passed the season at Bath in the enjoyment of those gratifications which the fashionable city afforded. He was not altogether, what Leigh Hunt has designated him, a married blackguard, but a man of elegant exterior, and, whatever may have been his folly with regard to Miss Linley,

of kindly disposition, of lively manners, and of agreeable conversation, nor was he deficient in intellectual power; and had he bestowed as much time on the cultivation of any of the arts or sciences as he did upon whist, he might have become a useful member of society; but to this game his life was devoted, and the treatise, for a long period the whist-player's grammar, which he wrote upon it, evinces that he did not consider it as a means of passing an idle hour, but as a study requiring observation, memory, and the powers of calculation. When the events about to be narrated were almost forgotten, and the obloquy which had been heaped upon him in certain circles was somewhat washed away by the healing hand of time, Captain Matthews became the centre of a circle, every member of which entertained a strong regard for him, and listened with respect and confidence to his own relation of all the facts, which were much at variance with those detailed by Moore, in his Life of Sheridan, and by those who were, from their connection with Sheridan, inclined to believe the statement which from the beginning he had made. Led away by the opinion that prevailed at that period that every female who came prominently before the public was open to the attentions of any man of sufficient fortune to make a handsome settlement, Captain Matthews became a professed admirer of Miss Linley. Admitted into the bosom of the family, he, according to the assertion of Sheridan and of Miss Linley, forgot his own position as a married man, and with more than the usual licence of the times persevered in offers, which, at any rate, were received at first with love and affection, but afterwards with indignation and with expressions of abhorrence. In

public he was her constant shadow, and appeared determined to prevent any other man from approaching her too nearly, and this, it was said, arose from a wish on his part to make it appear that he had succeeded in the lawless object of his incessant desire, and that having failed to make any impression upon her by entreaties, by presents, by threats of the committal of suicide, he sought to accomplish his wishes by the ruin of her character, and the dissemination of the vilest calumnies, which would for ever blast her reputation. To her father she dared not breathe a syllable against this individual, for he was courted and respected by her family; but at length she was determined to disclose to Sheridan, who had already gained her heart, the painful position in which she was placed. After a consultation with his sister, the singular step of a flight to the Continent was resolved upon, an elopement took place, and a marriage at a village in the neighbourhood of Calais was the consequence; but as it was deemed right to keep the ceremony a secret, she afterwards went to a convent at Lisle, there to remain till such time as Sheridan might publicly claim her as his wife.

Miss Linley's extraordinary letter, which has fortunately been preserved, will best explain her share in these events.

BATH, May 2, 1772.

"After so long a silence, and after the many unfavourable reports which must, I dare say, have prejudiced my dear friend against me, how shall I endeavour to vindicate a conduct which has but too much deserved her censure? But if my dear friend will suspend her judgment till I have made her acquainted with my real motives, I flatter myself she will rather be induced to pity than condemn me.

"At the time I wrote last, my mind was in a state of distraction not to be conceived; but I little thought then I should ever be forced to the cruel necessity of leaving my friends, and becoming an exile from everything I hold dear.

"In your answer to that letter, you hinted that you thought I loved Mr. R, and that that was the cause of my uneasiness; but in that you, as well as many others, have been deceived. I confess myself greatly to blame in my behaviour to him; but I cannot explain myself on this subject, without acquainting you with the first cause of every uneasiness and indiscretion I have since been guilty of. Let me, then, my dear girl, beg your patience; for, though my story is long, and not very enlivening, yet such is the affection I have for you that I cannot bear to think it possible, by the various reports which are so industriously propagated, I may entirely lose your good opinion and esteem-a thing, of all others, I should most regret. Excuse my being tedious; and when you know the motive which induced me to take this last step, I flatter myself you will once more restore me to your friendship.

"At the age of twelve years, I was brought from the country, where I had been all my life, and introduced into public, with a heart capable of receiving the softest impressions, and too sincere ever to suspect deceit in another. I was led into scenes of dissipation, when reason and experience were not allowed to assist me in the many temptations which ever surrounded a young girl in such a situation. But, though my credulity often made me feel for the pretended distresses of others, yet my heart was entirely free from love, nor could I be seduced by flattery and compli