its success there gave the greatest satisfaction. Mr. Dimond, afterwards the proprietor of the theatre, produced a great impression; Keaseberry, the Acres, was an admirable comic performer, and, as acting manager, bestowed great pains upon it. At Bristol, Mrs. Canning was much admired in Julia. During the popularity of the "Rivals," Sheridan's father, who had for some years been estranged from Brinsley, and who obstinately refused a reconciliation, went to the theatre, accompanied by his daughters, to judge for himself of its merits. His son placed himself at the side scene opposite his parent, and continued throughout the performance to gaze at him with tenderness and affection. On his return home he was overpowered with emotion, and, in reply to some inquiries from Mrs. Sheridan as to the cause of his apparent agitation, observed that he painfully felt that his father and sisters should sit before him and he be unable to join them.

It would be a task of no small difficulty at this time of day to criticise the "Rivals," to hold up to admiration the scenes which are most deserving praise, or to point out the delicate touches which distinguish each character. We cannot, however, refrain from making an observation in reply to those who have studied the beautiful imaginings of Sheridan, and have found several of those defects, which certainly may exist in the most carefully digested works. They have pointed out that every individual who appears on the scene is a wit of his kind, and that the humblest personage, be he a coachman, a usurer, a valet, or an humble friend, is a humorist in his way, and occasionally much too clever for his situation. To a certain extent this may be correct; but we shall never find a single smart

saying, a jest, or a sneer put into the mouth not adapted for it. Not one single phrase is misplaced; if it came from any one person but the one for whom it was written it would appear like a daub upon a picture. Not one of his personages but is perfectly distinct in his conversation from his neighbour; a clever thing becomes doubly so if appropriate to the situation of him who speaks it, and this is precisely the case with these dramas. Nobody else could utter the things which the Coachman or Fag says in the first scene; neither Acres nor Sir Lucius O'Trigger could be borne with if they had not each their own sly hits and extravagant observations, adapted with admirable judgment to their respective positions, and the characteristics by which they are distinguished. Mrs. Malaprop has been censured by critics as an outrageous caricature; but there are those in Bath to whom it has been handed down that there was an original from whom a tolerably well-drawn portrait was taken, and that a lady who distinguished herself as a minuet dancer was as remarkable for the singular "choice of epitaphs" as the She Dragon whom Sheridan has given to the world. We must confess we find it much more difficult to discover the history of his marriage, and the duel in which he was involved, in the drama. It is true that he has laid the scene in Bath, with which he was familiar, and where such persons as an Irish fortune-hunter, a booby squire, a female matrimonial adventurer with a marriageable niece, an irritable country gentleman, and a love-sick youth were likely to rendezvous; but why on this account it should be found to correspond with his own romantic adventures we cannot imagine. The clever touches at the state of society in that

fashionable town, its lounges, its early hours, its circulating libraries, its abbey thickly peopled with the dead, are the natural results of the observation which even a superficial stranger might make, without it being attributed to him that a love of scandal and of satire was predominant in him. The least interesting of his delineations, Falkland and Julia, partake of the same talent; and although they have been objected to as unnecessary to the general action of the comedy, yet they exhibit an intimate acquaintance with the springs that guide the lover's heart, and the peculiar form of jealousy which is held up to reprobation is one that required castigation. The language which the lovers express themselves in has been considered to exhibit false finery by one who has himself given to the world much more elaborate ornament and much more of false taste than any other author of our age.

The youth of Sheridan must be borne in mind when we pass any critical remarks upon the "Rivals," and we then shall be disposed to view it as the production of natural genius. At the age of twenty-three, a comedy remarkable for its wit, its ingenuity, and its knowledge of the world must be the result of innate powers. There had been no time for deep observation, reflection, and the study of human nature. There must have been a quick perception of character, a power of adaptation, and a rapid insight into the effects produced upon an audience by dramatic skill. We find individuals brought before us whom we recognise as the fair objects of legitimate comedy, their peculiarities, their foibles presented to us so as to excite our laughter, without any of that harshness or asperity which demands severe chastisement. In the midst of all their extravagances they have some re

deeming good qualities, which make us pleased that they sufficiently suffer by the exposure of their follies, and the same holds good with his more matured comedy, the "School for Scandal." If the "Rivals" does not abound with the same sparkle, if there be less polish in the dialogue, if the turn of satirical wit be less epigrammatic, there is much more of the character of common life about it, there is more ingenuity in the several contrivances, the peculiarities of each individual lead to more decided ends, and are more skilfully combined to produce an effect. It is more like the usual comedies of the stage, and there are more of those conventional personages to whom time has reconciled us, and given to them its acknowledged sanction. We have had most of them placed before us by other comic writers, but they have not been so dexterously managed, nor have they appeared in so vivid a light, or been so cleverly brought together. The materials are of a very slight texture, yet the whole is woven into a solid fabric well suited to the ordinary taste. We are told that Sir Anthony Absolute and Mrs. Malaprop remind us of honest Matthew Bramble and his sister Tabitha, and that Acres is a distinct descendant of Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Granted that it is so, the greater the praise due to Sheridan in having placed in so ingenious a form before us our old favourites; and as much right have we to complain of the want of variety in the lovely flowers that are created by the hand of nature, because the petals of some of them are distinguishable in shape only by very slight apparent variations, and yet when we examine them we find they possess colouring totally distinct, and qualities quite at variance. The Irish fortunehunter, the romantic loving girl, the poltroon, and the

dictatorial father, are subjects with whom we daily meet in novels and in plays; but it cannot detract from the originality of Sheridan that he has ingeniously introduced them into a drama, made them act and react upon each other, until they produce a most agreeable impression upon the mind, and give us rational amusement by the display of the singularities which it is the peculiar province of the dramatist to depict.

The "Duenna" was brought out on the 21st of November 1775, and immediately became a favourite with the public; it had, at the outset, a much longer career than the "Beggar's Opera," which was looked upon as the most successful drama of its class ever placed upon the stage. For the progress of the composition, dramatic, poetic, and musical, a reference must be made to Moore, who has given the letters which passed between Sheridan and Linley previous to its performance. We believe that the popularity of this opera has never been exceeded, and even to this hour the common quotations from its songs prove how much they were in the thoughts of every one. Many sayings which have become proverbial, and whose origin is altogether forgotten, have their source from this old favourite of our forefathers, to which they listened with rapture, and from which it was at one period considered fashionable to repeat lines. Indeed, independently of the conversation, which is of no ordinary cast, there are so many beautiful expressions in the songs, that we cannot be surprised at their reception, nor that many should be committed to memory. We are astonished at the many comments which have been made as to the direct violation of probability in the plot of the "Duenna." It is con