483 



SHERLOCK, THOMAS. 



SHlRAKOH. 



431 



the Allegiance due to the Sovereign Powers.' He appears however to 

 have been little favoured by the new government, for he remained 

 with no other eminent preferment than that of master of the Temple 

 till his death in 1707 at the age of sixty-six. Dr. Sherlock was much 

 occupied in the theological controversies of the time, of which the most 

 remarkable was that in which he and Dr. South engaged on the nature 

 of the Trinity. His writings are very numerous; but it may be 

 sufficient to add that he is the author of the work entitled 'A practical 

 Discourse concerning Death,' once a very popular book, which has gone 

 through numerous editions. 



SHERLOCK, THOMAS, an eminent prelate of the English church, 

 son of Dr. William Sherlock, was born in London in 1678. He was 

 educated at Eton, whence he passed to Catherine Hall, Cambridge, of 

 which college in due time he became master, and in 4714 was vice- 

 chancellor of the university. Before this time, namely in 1704, he had 

 been made on the resignation of his father master of the Temple, an 

 office he held for nearly fifty years, constantly preaching and highly 

 esteemed. His political conduct was thought to be somewhat ambiguous 

 at the beginning of the reign of George I., but he soon gave in his 

 adhesion to the new family, and in November 1715 began his course of 

 preferment in the higher dignities of the church, being made dean of 

 the cathedral church of Chichester. Yet he was always devoted to 

 Tory politics, defended strenuously the Test and Corporation Act*, 

 and was the most formidable opponent whom Dr. Hoadly had to 

 encounter in what is called the Bangorian controversy. His conduct 

 in this controversy was so offensive at court that he was removed from 

 the list of king's chaplains in 1717. In the controversies which arose 

 at that period respecting the proofs of the divine origin of Christianity, 

 Dr. Sherlock distinguished himself by his valuable writings, parti- 

 cularly his 'Use and Intent of Prophecy,' and his ' Trial of the Witnesses 

 of the Resurrection of Jesus,' which is a masterly reply to the objec- 

 tions of those who reject the evidence of miracles, and particularly to 

 those of Woolston. In 1727 he was made Bishop of Bangor, and was 

 translated to Salisbury in 1734. His learning and eloquence gave him 

 considerable weight in the debates of the House of Lords, and his 

 reputation both as a divine and a ruler in the church was so great 

 that in 1747 the archbishopric of Canterbury was offered to his accept- 

 ance, but declined by him on account of the state of his health. In 

 the next year however he accepted the bishopric of London, and 

 became engaged in a dispute with the new archbishop (Herring) 

 respecting the option, the archbishop having fixed on the church of 

 St. George, Hanover-square. In 1753 he resigned the mastership of 

 the Temple, being then old and infirm. In 1755 and 1756 he revised 

 and corrected a large body of his sermons, which were published in 

 those years, in four 8vo volumes, to which a fifth was afterwards 

 added. Duties such as these were at that period nearly all that he 

 was able to perform, being almost wholly deprived of speech and of 

 the use' of his limbs. When he died, in 1761, he had completed his 

 eighty-third year. He was buried in the churchyard of Fulham. 



SHERWIN, JOHN KEYSE. The history of this artist presents an 

 example of the power of talmt to make its way through all obstacles. 

 He was born about 1751, a native of Sussex, and of very humble origin. 

 When about eighteen or nineteen years old he was employed as a 

 woodcutter on the estate of Mr. Mitford, near Petworth. He had 

 occasion to enter the parlour one day on business, when he saw some 

 members of the family engaged in drawing, and, as it was observed 

 that he paid more than ordinary attention to the process, he was asked 

 whether he could do anything in that way. His answer intimated a 

 desire to make the attempt, and a port-crayon was put into bis hand. 

 It is related that his hands were so stiff and callous with hard labour, 

 that when a penknife was offered him for the purpose of sharpening 

 the point of his crayon he was unable to use it, and it slipped through 

 his horny fingers, fie nevertheless produced a drawing which greatly 

 surprised Mr. Mitford, and which, being sent to the Society of Arts, 

 probably accompanied with an account of the circumstances under 

 which it was executed, obtained their silver pallet as a reward. He 

 then removed to London, and became a pupil of Ashley, a painter in 

 some repute at that time; but who shortly afterwards married a lady 

 of title, and abandoned the arts. Upon this Sherwin placed himself 

 under Bartolozzi, and made rapid progress in designing and engraving. 

 The biographical notice in the ' Gentleman's Magazine ' (1790 and 1791) 

 states that he carried off both the silver and gold medals from all the 

 students of the Royal Academy ; and we learn from the records of the 

 Society of Arts that in 1774 and 1775 he received two prizes of twenty 

 guineas each for engravings from designs by himself, and in 1778 

 obtained their gold medal for excellence in engraving. On the death 

 of Woollett in 1785, Sherwin was appointed engraver to the king. 

 Although he displayed considerable talent in design, it is as an engraver 

 that his reputation stands highest. He engraved both historical sub- 

 jects and portraits, and attained a degree of excellence that is truly 

 surprising when the circumstances of his early life are considered. 

 He commenced a very large picture in oil-colours, representing the 

 installation of the knights of St. Patrick ; but as far as it was proceeded 

 with it proved, according to Dayes (who, at best a sour critic, writes 

 of Sherwin in a very unfriendly spirit), " a wretched daub." He died 

 September 20, 1790, aged thirty-nine. 



It is to be regretted that the extraordinary talents of Sherwin. and 

 the great encouragement he received, were not duly improved by him. 



By his vanity and assurance he disgusted his patrons, and by running 

 into excesses he impaired his constitution and embarrassed his affairs, 

 and died under most melancholy circumstances. 



SHIELD, WILLIAM, the popular dramatic composer, was born at 

 Smalwell, county of Durham, in 1749. When very young, having lost 

 his father, who was a teacher of singing, the circumstances of his 

 mother rendered it necessary that he should adopt some business as a 

 future means of subsistence ; and having had the choice of three trades 

 offered him, he fixed on that of a boat-builder, and was apprenticed at 

 North Shields. His master, a kind-hearted indulgent man, rather 

 encouraged than checked him in the pursuit of music at his leisure 

 moments ; and not (infrequently assisted him in rendering his talent 

 as a violinist profitable, by permitting him to perform at the concerts 

 in the town and neighbourhood. At the expiration of his apprentice- 

 ship he devoted himself wholly to his favourite art, and having attracted 

 the notice of Avison, the author of the ' Essay on Musical Expression,' 

 obtained from that able master instructions in the principles of com- 

 position, and shortly after exhibited the fruits of these, as well as of 

 his own zeal and indefatigable industry, by composing an anthern for 

 the consecration of the new church at Sunderland, which was most 

 successfully performed by the choir of Durham cathedral. This led 

 to his being invited to the tables of the dignitaries of the latter rich 

 church, an introduction which, combined with his ability and excellent 

 conduct, speedily placed him on the high road to fame and preferment. 



He now undertook the management of the fashionable concerts at 

 Scarborough, where, becoming acquainted with the pastoral poet John 

 Cunningham, then an actor in the Scarborough company, he set several 

 of his songs to music, and thus made himself very generally known as 

 a melodist. He soon directed his views to the metropolis, and, arriving 

 in London with good recommendations, was immediately engaged by 

 Signor Giardini as one of the band of the King's Theatre, in which he 

 soon became principal viola, an appointment which, suiting his taste, 

 he retained nearly twenty years. 



Mr. Shield first made himself known to the public as a dramatic 

 composer in 1778 by ' The Flitch of Bacon ' written by a gentleman 

 who had contrived to make himself very conspicuous, the Rev. H. 

 Bate, afterwards Sir H. Bate Dudley which was performed with the 

 most marked success at Covent Garden. Soon after he entered into 

 an engagement at the same theatre as composer and musical manager. 

 In 1783 appeared ' Rosina,' written by Mrs. Brook, which is almost 

 universally considered as Shield's chef-d'oeuvre, and is still listened to 

 with as much delight as when, in addition to its intrinsic merits, it 

 had the recommendation of novelty. The same year was produced 

 ' The Poor Soldier,' the drama by O'Keefe, which as a melodious opera 

 is only second to 'Rosina.' ' Robin Hood ' and 'Fontaiuebleau' followed 

 shortly after ; ' Marian,' ' Oscar and Malvina,' ' The Woodman,' and 

 others succeeded, and ably supported the reputation which the com- 

 poser had gained. In 1791 Mr. Shield, in company with his eccentric 

 friend Joseph Ritson, went to Paris, and then extending his continental 

 journey, visited the chief cities of Italy, including Rome, bringing 

 home with him valuable materials for the theoretical works which he 

 published a few years after his return. He then renewed his labours 

 at Covent Garden, and produced ' Hartford Bridge,' ' The Farmer,' 

 and many other operas, nearly all of which were more or less successful. 

 In 1807 he finally retired from all theatrical concerns, and prepared 

 his ' Introduction to Harmony,' a most valuable work in two quarto 

 volumes, for publication. In 1809 he printed a volume of glees, 

 ballads, &c., under the title of 'A Cento.' In 1817 appeared a second 

 edition of his work on ' Harmony,' and also his ' Rudiments of 

 Thorough-Bass." In the same year, on. the death of Sir William 

 Parsons, the Prince-Regent appointed Mr. Shield to the situation of 

 master of the band of musicians in ordinary to the king, in which 

 capacity he conducted the musical part of the ceremonial in West- 

 minster Abbey at the coronation of George IV. He died in 1829, and 

 his remains were honoured by interment in the cloisters of Westminster 

 Abbey. 



SHlRAKOH (Lion of the Mountain), son of Shadi, and brother of 

 Ayoob, the father of the famous Salah-ed-deen, a Kurd of the tribe of 

 Ravendooz, commenced his career in the service of the Seljukian 

 monarchs of Persia, and is first mentioned as holding a command in 

 the garrison of Bagdad. Both the brothers however soon became 

 adherents of Zenghi, the famous atabek of Syria, and continued 

 attached to his illustrious son Noor-ed-deen, under whom they rose to 

 high distinction. In A.D. 1159 (A.H. 554) the turbulent spirit of Shira- 

 koh had nearly led him into open revolt during a dangerous illness of 

 the sultan ; but he was restrained by the prudent admonitions of 

 A5-oob, and the mention by Abul-Feda of his repairing to Mecca in 

 the following year would appear to imply that he incurred temporary 

 disgrace on the recovery of Noor-ed-deen. In 1163 he was however 

 entrusted with the command of the force destined to reinstate the 

 vizir Shawer [SHAWER] in Egypt : but on that occasion, as well as in 

 the second expedition of llb'ti, he was compelled to evacuate the 

 country by the perfidy of his ally, who called in the Franks of 

 Palestine to his aid. But his military reputation was established by 

 the generalship and bravery displayed in these unsuccessful campaigns; 

 and his third invasion (1168) established the power of Noor-ed-deen 

 in Egypt. Amaury, king of Jerusalem, was compelled to raise the 

 siege of Cairo ; and SLirakoh, after putting to death the perfidious 



