Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/710

 by her writings. In 1844, her son, Henry Florence Shelley, succeeded to the title and estates of his grandfather.

Mrs. Shelley's second work of fiction, "Walpurga," was published in 1823. Her other novels are "Lodore," "Perkin Warbeck," "Falkner," and "The Last Man." She wrote a "Journal of her Travels in Italy and Germany;" also "Lives of Eminent French Poets." But her last work, "Memoirs of Shelley," prefixed to the complete edition of his Poems and Letters, displays her character in its loveliest light. She is the guardian angel of her dead husband's fame, as she was of his happiness while he lived. Mrs. Shelley is a woman of original genius; "like her father, she excels in mental analysis," says Mr. Chambers, commenting on "Frankenstein," "and in the conceptions of the grand and the powerful, but fails in the management of her fable, where probable incidents and familiar life are required or attempted." But in "Lodore" she has shown her power to depict scenes true to nature. Mrs. Shelley died in London, February 1st., 1851, in the fifty-third year of her age.  SHEREEN, SCHIRIN, SIRA, an Armenian princess, second wife of Chosroes the Second, King of Persia in the seventeenth century. She was very beautiful, intellectual, and accomplished, and is the heroine of many of the Turkish and Persian romances. Her husband was murdered by his own son by a former wife, and Shereen killed herself on his tomb to escape the love of the murderer.  SHERIDAN, FRANCES, of Thomas Sheridan, M. A., was born in Ireland, in 1724, but descended from a good English family, which had removed there. Her maiden name was Chamberlaine. She wrote a little pamphlet at the time of a violent party dispute about the theatre in which Mr. Sheridan had just embarked his fortune. He, by accident, discovered his defender, and soon afterwards married her. She was a very charming woman, and fulfilled all her duties with the greatest propriety. She died at Blois, in France, in 1767. Her "Sydney Biddulph," is a very well-written novel; and her little romance called "Nourjahad" shows a very fertile imagination. She also wrote two comedies, entitled "The Discovery" and "The Dupe." Although not handsome, Mrs. Sheridan is described as having had an intelligent countenance, fine dark eyes and hair, with a particularly fair complexion.

Mrs. Sheridan was as much beloved in her own family as she was admired by her contemporaries; and she was even more famed for her colloquial powers than for her literary talents. Her temper was good, though warm, of which infirmity she was herself aware. From her works, it is evident she had a strong sense of religion; and in her principal performance, "Sidney Biddulph," she portrays it as the only consolation her heroine receives during her misfortunes.  SHERWOOD, MRS., written many books, and always with a worthy purpose. In the character of the Lady of the Manor she has, perhaps unconsciously, given us the key to her own. Like that good lady, Mrs. Sherwood, resides in the south of England; she is the widow of an