negligence of Mr. Sheridan. The widow of the Doctor, on his death, removed to Dublin, where she lived in a very retired way many years, and died at an advanced age, in mean circumstances. What opinion Swift had of her, appears from these lines, which he composed as an epitaph on her husband.

Beneath this marble stone here lies
Poor Toм, more merry much than wise;
Who only liv'd for two great ends,
To spend his cash, and lose his friends :
His darling wife of him bereft,

Is only griev'd-there's nothing left.

James, the eldest of the Doctor's children, died young, in 1724; Richard, the second, obtained the estate of Quilca, and acted with more prudence than the rest of his family. His son, of the same name, became an eminent pleader at the Irish bar, and was made King's Counsel, and sat in the parliament of that kingdom many years, for the borough of Charlemont. Of Thomas, the third son, particular memoirs will be given in the next chapter: and the youngest of the two daughters married Mr. John Knowles, who was connected with Mr. Sheridan in the Dublin Theatre. Mrs. Knowles was an accomplished woman, and for many years kept a respectable boarding-school for young ladies in York Street, in that city.

Memoirs of Thomas Sheridan, M.A. and Mrs. Frances Sheridan.

THOMAS, the third son of Dr. Sheridan, was born in the King's Mint House, Capel Street, Dublin, in the year 1719; and was baptized in the parish church of St. Mary, having Dean Swift for his godfather. In consequence of this, he became a great favourite with the Dean, who often gave him instruction, attended with frequent presents and rewards when he did well. And, says Mr. Sheridan, in his Memoirs of Swift, "I loved him in return from my boyish days, and never stood in the least awe before him, as I do not remember ever to have had a cross look or harsh expression from him. I read to him two or three hours every day, and often received both pleasure and improvement from the observations he made."

He received the first rudiments of his education under his father, who, with his accustomed want of prudence, sent him at the age of fourteen to Westminster School, where he was admitted on the foundation; but from the poverty of the Doctor's circumstances, he was obliged to quit it in two years, and return to Dublin. Swift, speaking of his friend in one of his letters, says, "He

had one son, whom the Doctor sent to Westminster School, although he could ill afford it. The boy was there immediately taken notice of, upon examination: although a mere stranger, he was by pure merit elected a King's Scholar. It is true, their maintenance falls something short: the Doctor was then so poor, that he could not add fourteen pounds, to enable the boy to finish the year; which, if he had done, he would have been removed to a higher class, and in another year would have been sped off, (that is the phrase to a Fellowship in Oxford or Cambridge); but the Doctor was forced to recall him to Dublin, and had friends in our University to send him there, where he hath been chosen of the foundation, and I think hath gotten an Exhibition, and designs to stand for a Fellowship."* Mr. Sheridan had not long been entered in Trinity College, before his friend, the Dean, took an opportunity of enquiring into the course of his studies; and an observation which fell from Swift, after hearing the report, made such an impression upon the mind of the young student, as had a great influence on his future life and pursuits. "He asked me," says Mr. Sheridan, in one of his pieces, "what they taught in the college? When I told him the

Swift's Works, vol. xvii, p. 10, edit. 1766.

course of reading I was put into, he asked me, "Do they teach you English?"-" No." "Do they teach you how to speak ?"-"No.""Then," said he, " they teach you nothing."

This remark was made in 1737; and the year following, Mr. Sheridan lost his father, which melancholy event turned his attention particularly to the subject of education; and he had good reason to hope, that by following the hint suggested by the Dean, added to the reputation of the Doctor as a schoolmaster, he should succeed well in his native city. Many of his friends were of the same opinion, and strongly urged him to carry the idea into execution, offering to assist him with all their interest. He had now been two years at the University, where he was in the certainty of completing his degrees in arts, and in the possession of many advantages which could not fail to secure him a comfortable and honourable establishment. But unfortunately for Mr. Sheridan, he inherited, with much of his father's ingenuity, no small portion of his vanity and obstinacy. He had a considerable portion of classical learning, which, with agreeable manners, and an excellent character, must have ensured him an independence in the honourable line of education. Instead, however,

• Oration delivered at Dublin, on Elocution, 1757-p. 19

of following that plain and obvious direction which prudence dictated, and friendship recommended, the young man began to entertain the romantic idea that oratory constituted the first of human accomplishments; and that by perseverance he should be enabled to strike out new lights for the improvement of nations, instead of confining himself to the humble employment of instructing boys. Having conceived this wild scheme in his head, all thoughts of a school were abandoned as incompatible with his grand and. enlarged views of reviving the lost art of elocution, and of rendering it powerfully instrumental to the progress of the sciences, the cultivation of a refined taste, and the improvement of public morals. The observation of Swift was evidently limited to the necessity of attaining a correct knowledge of the English language, with regard to composition and speaking; upon which sound opinion, and friendly advice, Sheridan erected a visionary hypothesis that dazzled his mind, inflated his vanity, and misled him into a labyrinth out of which he could never be extricated. Had he turned the hint of Swift to a proper use, and applied it to his own edification, and the culture of the rising generation, he would in all probability have so far succeeded as to gain credit by his method of tuition in the progress of his pupils, and the ultimate display of their talents. Instead of this, he turned