Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/500

 what influence can Mr. Sheridan have upon the language of this great country by his narrow exertions? Sir, it is burning a farthing candle at Dover to show light at Calais." Sheridan was so annoyed at the failure of the public to appreciate his theories regarding oratory, that at one time he purposed emigrating to America. Late in life he managed Drury- lane for his son, Richard Brinsley Sheri- dan, and his partners; but for a long period father and son were completely es- tranged. Mr. Sheridan was often obliged to reside on the Continent because of money difficulties. He was the author of nume- rous works, chiefly on oratory and educa- tion. Sheridan's Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1780, which saw many editions, is said by Allibone to be " of more phonetic than philological value." His Life and Works of Jonathan Swift, (17 vols., 1784) has been superseded by later writers. He died 14th August 1788, aged 66, at Margate, where his remains were interred. Dibdiu says: "He was an excellent actor, a man of strict honour, and a perfect gentleman ; " whilst Macklin writes of " the dissonance of his voice, the laboured quaintness of his emphasis, the incessant flux of his speech." ^ His daughter Alicia married Joseph LeFanu. [See LeFand, Alicia.] 3 16 37 46

Sheridan, Frances, wife of foregoing, was born in 1724. Her father. Dr. Philip Chamberlaine, was opposed to female edu- cation, and it was only by stealth that, principally with the help of her brothers, she obtained her knowledge of books. At the early age of fifteen she published, unknown to her father, Eugenia and Ade- laide, a romance, in two volumes. She be- came acquainted with Sheridan through a pamphlet she wrote in his favour on the occasion of his theatrical difficulties with the Dub'-'n public. Mrs. Sheridan is de- scribed as an accomplished and amiable woman : " Quite celestial : both her vir- tues and her genius were highly esteemed." Of her numerous works, Sidney Biddulph is the best known and most successful ; part of it was dramatized. Johnson re- marked to her upon passages therein : " I know not, madam, that you have a right upon moral principles to make your readers suffer so much." Fox thought it " the best novel of our age." Mrs, Sheridan died in September 1766, of a a lingering illness, at Blois, in France. " She appears to have been one of those rare women, who, united to men of more pretensions, but less real in- tellect than themselves, meekly conceal this superiority even from their own hearts, and pass their lives without a remonstrance or murmur, patiently endeavouring to re- pair those evils which the indiscretion or vanity of their partners has brought upon them." 3°7 '6 146

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, oi-ator and author, son of the two preced- ing, was born at 12 Dorset-street, Dublin, in September 1751. At the age of seven, he was, with his elder brother Charles, placed at Whyte's academy in Grafton- street, where he was considered very dull. His parents removed to England, and in 1762 he was sent to Harrow, where, Moore says, "he was remarkable only as a very idle, careless, but, at the same time, en- gaging boy, who contrived to win the aff'ection and even admiration of the whole school, both masters and pupils, by the mere charm of his frank and genial man- ners, and by the occasional gleams of supe- rior intellect which broke through all the indolence and indiflierence of his charac- ter." During the greater part of his stay at Harrow, his family resided in France. He left Harrow wheuhewasabouteighteen, and went to live with liis father in London, and sometimes at Bath. He spent his time perfecting himself in fencing and other accomplishments. He formed an intimacy with a Mr. Halhed, and they wrote in partnership, Jupiter, a farce, and some other ephemeral productions, and in August 177 1 published a translation of Aristaenetus, which proved a total failure. Both young men fell in love with Miss Linley, a beautiful singer of sixteen. She had been on the point of marriage to a rich elderly gentleman, whose suit her father favoured from mercenary reasons, but who, on her assurance that she could never really love him, showed the sin- cerity of his attachment by settling £3,000 upon her. It was probably at this period that, inspired by Miss Liuley's beauty, Sheridan wrote " Dry be that tear," and others of his beautiful love verses. Mr. Halhed eventually resigned the pursuit of Miss Linley and went to India ; and She- ridan eloped with her to Calais, where they were secretly married in March 1 772. He was then little more than twenty, and she was entering but her eighteenth year. The young couple were married at Bath about a year afterwards. As he declined to allow his wife to sing in pub- lic, and as he was without a regular pro- fession, the remnants of her fortune, and his talents were all they had to live upon. He wrote occasionally for Woodfall's Public Advertiser. In January 1775, his comedy of The Rivals was brought out at Covent-garden. It proved a brilliant sue-