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dictionary. Always extravagant, stinting nothing of the exterior 
of a gentleman, he now, aided by this grant, for “47 years lived 
upon his wits.”* 
In 1763, at christmas time, Mr. Sheridan, with Mrs. Sheridan, 
went to Bristol on a lecturing tour, and coming from Bristol the 
beginning of 1764, both visited Bath. During this visit Mrs. 
Sheridan made the acquaintance of Sarah Fielding, who lived in a 
small house between Bath and Batheaston;t and she visited 
Allen, at Prior Park. She also took lessons in singing from 
Linley, and so commenced an acquaintance which was presently 
to be renewed. 
Mr. Sheridan gave his lectures at Foote’s theatre in London, 
‘a miscellaneous species of amusement, consisting of recitations, 
singing and music,” under the high sounding name of “ An Attic 
Evening’s Entertainment.”{ Foote quickly burlesqued these 
lectures in a farce called, ‘The Orators.” Herein a soap boiler 
being ambitious to join the City Council, his wife tells him he 
must first learn to make speeches, when just opportunely the master 
professor of the art of oratory comes to the city with his lectures. 
Husband and wife attend, and are ‘told such things about verbs, 
and nouns, and adverbs and emphasis and accents,” that never 
entered their heads before. As showing the difference in time, 
during the evening a gentleman in a box cries:—-Holloo! Snuffers, 
snuffers, snuffers. Whereupon enter the—Candle Snuffer—with 
—Your pleasure, sir. Mr. Sheridan being presently harried by 
creditors, was obliged to leave London, and taking a circuitous 
route got to Dover, then over to France and so to Blois. From 
Blois, after a visit to Paris, he moved to St. Quentin where he 
purposed leaving his children in the hands of Protestants to whom 
he had been strongly reeommended.§ Here Mrs. Sheridan died 
* “The Cabinet,” 1808. + Lefanu, ‘‘ Life of the Sheridans.” 
t Watkins’ ‘‘ Life of R. B. Sheridan.” 
§ ‘* European Maga.,” Vol. 32, p.p. II, 12. 
