844 - 
‘lamas neither was it, we presume, from a 
sentiment of austere or sanctified morality, 
that the highest of his patrons left him to 
languish, unpitied and. un Ra on the 
bed of sickness, to pay (for the example’s 
sake) the last bitter penalty of his failings. 
No: it was not the prodigal, but the man 
of genius, that was deserted :—of genius, 
the envying hate of those who, born to 
much, grasp so imperiously at more, and 
loathe all distinctions but those the mono- 
ply of which they themselves inherit. 
“The memoirs are written, as might be ex- 
pected from Mr. Moore, with considerable 
attention to elegance of style, though some- 
times with rather more of poetical display 
and ornament than seems to be perfectly 
- consistent with the due character of biogra- 
phical composition; and some instances 
might be pointed out im which he has eyi- 
dently been more ambitious of the splen- 
dour, than attentive to the congruity of his 
metaphors. With respect to the circum- 
stances in the life of Sheridan that are open 
to public scrutiny, we have met with no- 
thing that seems liable to objection in point 
of fidelity ; though there are many (especially 
of those that have reference to the morali- 
ties of life) over which the friendly hand of 
the biographer has evidently drawn a veil. 
The additional facts and traits of character, 
extracted from the mass of posthumous 
MSS., are interesting and curious ; and we 
learn, with no little surprise, that the appa- 
rent readiness of wit, and splendour of fancy, 
which hitherto has been attributed to the 
affluent spontaneity of Mr. S.’s mind, was, 
on the contrary, the result of reiterated me- 
ditation and extreme labour :—of the only 
species of labour of which he appears ever 
to have been capable. In all other respects 
indolent in the extreme,—in the revision of 
his. thoughts, and in polishing his points and 
periods, he was industrious beyond example. 
Not only the plots and dialogues of his dra- 
mas, and the splendid passages of his ora- 
tions, but even the sallies of wit that were 
to be let off in his convivial moments, were 
revised and transcribed, again and again, and 
turned and shifted into all possible shapes, 
till they could be put into what he regarded 
as the most brilliant and effective light. In 
short, the character of Mr.S.seems to have 
been, in every point of view, theatrical ; 
and in every incident of his life he seems 
always to have been studying stage effect. 
Eyen in his courtship of his first wife, Miss 
Linley, strong and sincere as his devotion 
to her seems to have been, he was still dra- 
matic. Their elopement, the duels, and 
their double marriage, present the outlines 
of a romantic play; his loye songs fur- 
nished materials for his operas, and his ad- 
ventures for his comedy of the Rivals. 
Mr. Matthews’s second is not forgotten i in 
Sir Lucius O’ Trigger; and the outré jea- 
lous sentimentality of Faulkland is said to’ 
+have been a remembrance of himself. 
That he acted the Charles of his School 
GENS} 
Monthly Review of Literature, 
[Nov. 1, 
for Scandal as completely on the great 
stage of life, as he caused it to be ex- 
hibited on the boards of Drury-lane, there 
seems to be no shadow of a doubt. But 
there is another trait of his authorship, (re- 
sulting from the unconquerable indolence 
of his school days, and his apparent incapa- 
bility through life of any study but that of 
his own thoughts, ) that will be regarded per- 
haps as still more extraordinary. See chap. 
iii. which treats of the ‘‘ Fragments of Es~ 
says found among his Papers,’’ apparently 
composed during his seclusion in the inter- 
val between his first and second BAS 
with Miss Linley. 
*¢ It is amusing to observe,that, whilehe thus criti- 
cizes the style and language of his correspondent, his 
own spelling, in ‘every second line, convicts him of 
deficiency in at least one common branch of literary 
acquirement :—we find thing always spelt think ;— 
whether, where, and which, turned into wether, were, 
and wich ;—and double m’s and #s almost invariably 
reduced to ‘‘ single blessedness.” This sign of neg- 
lected education remained with him to a very late 
period, and, in his hasty writing, or scribbling, ~ 
would occasionally recur, to the last.” - 
How extraordinary, that two such distin- 
guished names as those of R. B. Sheridan 
and Dr. Darwin should be found in the list 
of those who could never learn to spell! 
We have marked, as we went along, a 
variety of passages much more worthy of 
quotation. But our excuse is already | 
made ; and we must recommend our rea- 
ders to consult the work itself, with the as- 
surance that they will not repent the time 
devoted to the perusal. 
The Beauties of Wiltshire, displayed in 
Statistical, Historical, and Descriptive 
Shetches : illustrated by Views of the prin- 
cipal Seats, &c.; and interspersed with An- 
ecdotes of the Arts. Vol. 3, large 8v0.— __ 
The tact and industry of Mr. Barrron 
are so well known in the range of topo- 
graphical antiquities, and his reputation 
among the lovers of compilations and iljus- 
trations of this kind is deservedly so high, 
that little more might seem requisite on 
our part, on this occasion, than to announce 
the publication before us and the author’s 
name, and to say, that in point of execu- 
tion it is at least equal, both in matter 
and embellishment, to the best of his pre- 
ceding labours, on the same scale—that the 
printer has also done justice to the author ; 
and that this large and handsome volume, 
besides the requisite accompaniment of a 
neat and distinct map of the county, is 
embellished with fifteen beautiful plates 
(including the frontispiece and vignette title- 
page), engraved by eminent artists—Several 
of them from Mr. Britton’s own desigi and 
drawings. In so limited a space as we can 
afford to the critical department, _ and com- 
pelled as we are to read, ‘that We may - 
Judge, though precluded from “the means 
of shewing the grounds of our judgment— 
this might, perhaps, have satisfied 0 ) ‘readers 
and must have satisfied us, Butt +2 OP 
“44 fe ag Ter 
