Notes,' 8 vols.

1765.

19. 'The False Alarm,' 1770. 20. 'Thoughts on the late Transactions respecting Falkland Islands,' 1771. 21. 'The Patriot,' 1774. 22. 'A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland,' 1775. 23. 'Taxation no Tyranny,' 1775. 24. 'Prefaces Biographical and Critical to the Works of the most Eminent English Poets,' 1779 and 1781. Published separately as 'Lives of the English Poets.' The edition by Peter Cunningham appeared in 1854; the six chief lives, with preface by Matthew Arnold, in 1878, and a complete edition, begun by Dr. Birkbeck Hill and completed by H. Spencer Scott, in 1905 (Oxford, 3 vols.).

Johnson's 'Prayers and Meditations,' edited by G. Strahan, appeared in 1785; and his 'Letters' to Madame Piozzi in 1788. 'Sermons left for Publication,' by John Taylor, which appeared in 1788 and passed through several editions, have also been attributed to him. 'An Account of the Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson from his Birth to his Eleventh Year, written by Himself' (1805) was a fragment saved from some papers burnt by him before his death, and not seen by Boswell. Johnson also contributed many articles to the 'Gentleman's Magazine' from 1738 to 1748; some to the 'Universal Visitor' in 1756; and some to the 'Literary Magazine' of the same year. He wrote many prefaces, dedications, and other trifles for his friends.

His collected works were edited by Hawkins in 1787 in 11 vols., to which two, edited by Stockdale, were added. Murphy edited them in II vols. in 1796. The Oxford edition of 1825 was edited by Francis Pearson Walesby, fellow of Lincoln College, and professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. This contains the works in 9 vols., and the 'Parliamentary Debates' (also published separately, 2 vols. 1787) in 2 vols.

THE LIFE OF RICHARD BRINSLEY
SHERIDAN

FRASER RAE

[From the Dictionary of National Biography.]

SHERIDAN, RICHARD BRINSLEY (1751-1816), statesman and dramatist, born 30 Oct. 1751 at 12 Dorset Street, Dublin, was grandson of Thomas Sheridan (1687-1738) [q. v.], and son of Thomas Sheridan (1719–1788) [q. v.]. He received the rudiments of learning from his father, and from the age of seven till eight and a half attended a school in Dublin kept by Samuel Whyte. Then he rejoined his parents, who had migrated to London, and he never revisited his native city. In 1762 he was sent to Harrow school, where he remained till 1768, two years after his mother's death. Subsequently a private tutor, Lewis Ker, directed his studies in his father's house in London, while Angelo instructed him in fencing and horsemanship.

At the end of 1770 Sheridan's father settled in Bath and taught elocution. His children became acquainted with those of Thomas Linley (1732-1795) [q. v.], a composer and teacher of music, who had given Sheridan's mother lessons in singing. One of Sheridan's friends at Harrow was Nathaniel Brassey Halhed [q. v.], who went to Oxford from Harrow. With him Sheridan carried on a correspondence from Bath. They projected a literary periodical called 'Hernan's Miscellany,' of which the first number was written but not published; and they prepared a metrical vers on of the epistles of Aristænetus, which appeared in 1771, and in a second edition in 1773. Halhed translated the epistles, and Sheridan revised and edited them. Another volume of translations from the same author which Sheridan undertook never saw the light. A farce called 'Ixion' was written by Halhed, recast by Sheridan, and renamed 'Jupiter.' It was offered Garrick and Foote, but not accepted by either. Sheridan wrote two sets of verses, which appeared in the 'Bath Chronicle' during 1771; the title of one set was 'Clio's Protest or the Picture Varnished;' of the other "The Ridotto of Bath,' which was reprinted and had a large sale.

Sheridan's letters to Halhed have not been preserved; those from Halhed contain many references to Miss Linley, who sang in oratorios at Oxford, and for whom Halhed expressed great admiration, although he failed to excite a corresponding feeling in her. Desiring to escape from the persecution of Major Mathews, an unworthy admirer, Miss Linley appealed to Sheridan to escort her to France, where she hoped to find refuge and repose in a convent. The scheme had the approval and support of Sheridan's sisters. At the end of March 1772 Sheridan, Miss Linley, and a lady's maid left Bath for London, where Mr. Ewart, a friend of Mr. Sheridan, gave them a passage to Dunkirk in one of his vessels. Sheridan's younger sister, Elizabeth, who was in Miss Linley's confidence as well as her brother's, gives the following account of what followed: 'After quitting Dunkirk, Mr. Sheridan was more explicit with Miss Linley as to his views in accompanying her to France. He told her that he could not be content to leave her in a convent unless she consented to a previous marriage, which had all along been the object of his hopes; and she must be aware that, after the step she had taken, she could not appear in England but as his wife. Miss Linley, who really preferred him greatly to any person, was not difficult to persuade, and at a village not far from Calais the marriage ceremony was performed by a priest who was known to be often employed on such occasions.' This marriage, if contracted as described, was valid; but neither of the parties to it regarded the ceremony as more binding than a betrothal. Her own feelings were subsequently expressed in a letter to him: 'You are sensible when I left Bath I had not an idea of you but as a friend. It was not your person that gained my affection. No, it was that delicacy, that tender compassion, that interest which you seemed to take in my welfare, that were the motives which induced me to love you' (Biography of Sheridan, i. 255).

The lady's father followed the fugitives and took his daughter back to Bath. Meanwhile Mathews had published a letter denouncing Sheridan 'as a liar and a treacherous scoundrel,' and on their meeting in London a duel with swords ended with the disarming of Mathews, who was compelled to beg his life and to publish an apology in the 'Bath Chronicle.' On 2 July 1772 a second duel was fought, in which Sheridan was seriously wounded.

After his recovery, as his father and Mr. Linley both objected to his marrying Miss Linley, he was sent to Waltham Abbey in Essex on 27 Aug. in order that he might continue his studies undisturbed. He remained at Waltham Abbey till April 1773, reading hard and writing many letters to his friends, of whom the chief was Thomas Grenville (1755-1846) [q. v.]. He wrote to him: 'I keep regular hours, use a great deal of exercise, and study very hard. There is a very ingenious man here with whom, besides, I spend two hours every evening in mathematicks, mensuration, astronomy.' Charles Brinsley, the son of Sheridan by his second marriage, has recorded that his father left behind him 'six copybooks, each filled with notes and references to mathematics, carefully written by Mr. S. at an early age;' that is, probably at Waltham Abbey. He told his friend Grenville: 'I am determined to gain all the knowledge that I can bring within my reach. I will make myself as much master as I can of French and Italian.' Yet his inclination was for the bar, and he was entered at the Middle Temple on 6 April 1773.

On the 13th of the same month he at length married Miss Linley, with her father's consent. His own father looked upon the union, and wrote about it, as a disgrace. The young couple went to live at East Burnham. In the winter of 1773 they lived with Stephen Storace [q. v.] in London, and in the spring of 1774 took a house in Orchard Street. Sheridan wrote much at this period, a scheme for a training school for children of the nobility and comments on Chesterfield's 'Letters' being among the subjects he treated; but he published nothing with his name. On 17 Nov. 1774 he informed his father-in-law that a comedy by him would be in rehearsal at Covent Garden Theatre in a few days. This comedy was 'The Rivals,' and it was performed for the first time on 17 Jan. 1775. It failed, was withdrawn, and then performed in a revised version on 28 Jan. From that date it has remained one of the most popular among modern comedies. A farce, 'St. Patrick's Day, or the Scheming Lieutenant,' was written for the benefit of Mr. Clinch, who had made his mark in the 'Rivals' as Sir Lucius O'Trigger, and it was played on 2 May. It was favourably received, and repeated several times at Covent Garden. A comic opera, 'The Duenna,' was represented at Covent Garden on

21 Nov. 1775 and on seventy-four other nights during the season, a success which was then unprecedented.

By the end of 1775 Sheridan had become a favourite with playgoers. Before the end of the next year he was manager of Drury Lane Theatre in succession to Garrick, having entered into partnership with Mr. Linley and Dr. Ford, and become the proprietor of Garrick's share in the theatre, for which Garrick received 35,000l. Two years later the share of Lacy, the partner of Garrick, which was valued at the same sum, was bought by the new proprietors. Mr. Brander Mathews has pointed out, in his introduction to Sheridan's 'Comedies' (pp. 30, 31), that the money was chiefly raised on mortgage; that when Sheridan bought oneseventh of the shares in 1776 he only had to find 1,300l. in cash; and that when he became the proprietor in 1778 of the half of the shares, this sum was returned to him.

Drury Lane Theatre was opened under Sheridan's management on 21 Sept. 1776. A prelude written for the occasion by Colman, containing a neat compliment to Garrick, was then performed. On 16 Jan. 1777 Sheridan gave 'The Rivals' for the first time at Drury Lane, and on 24 Feb. 'A Trip to Scarborough,' which he had adapted from Vanbrugh's 'Relapse;' but he achieved his crowning triumph as a dramatist on 8 May in that year, when "The School for Scandal' was put on the stage. The play narrowly escaped suppression. Sheridan told the House of Commons on 3 Dec. 1793 that a license for its performance had been refused, and that it was only through his personal influence with Lord Hertford, the lord chamberlain, that the license was granted the day before that fixed for the performance. On 29 Oct. 1779 Sheridan's farce, 'The Critic,' and, on 24 May 1799, his patriotic melodrama, 'Pizarro,' were produced at Drury Lane. With 'Pizarro' his career as a dramatist ended.

Sheridan had meanwhile become as great a favourite in society and in parliament as among playgoers. In March 1777 he was elected a member of the Literary Club on the motion of Dr. Johnson, and he lived to be one of the oldest of the thirty-five members. Having made the acquaintance of Charles James Fox, he joined him in his efforts for political reform, and desired to enter parliament as his supporter. He failed in his candidature