392 



SHE1UDAN 



German war, and was witli Von Moltke during 

 the battle of Uravelotte. On the retirement of 

 ShiTiiiiin in 1883 he succeeded him as general-in- 

 chief. In May 1HS8 Sheridan became seriously ill, 

 and a bill was speedily passed by lx>th Houses of 

 Congress restoring for him the full rank and 

 emoluments of general. He died at his country- 

 house in Nonquitt, Massachusetts, August 5, 1888, 

 leaving a widow and three children. He was 

 buried at Arlington, Virginia, within sight of 

 Washington, where a beautiful monument marks 

 his grave. 



Sheridan was the nineteenth generaMn-chief of 

 the United States army. He never lost a battle, 

 and the confidence and affection which ' Little 

 1'liil,' as they delighted to call him, inspired in 

 his troops may be gauged by the story of Win- 

 chester. Among the Northern generals he ranks 

 second only to Grant iiml Sliermun. See his 

 Personal Memoirs (2 vols. 1888). 



Sheridan. RICHARD BRINSLEY BUTLER, was 

 born in Dublin, 30th October 1751. He was the 

 grandson of Swift's friend, Thomas Sheridan, D.D. 

 (1687-1738), and the second son of Thomas Sheri- 

 dan (1719-88), a man of established reputation 

 as a teacher of elocution, and the author of a now 

 forgotten Life of Swift. His mother, Frances 

 Sheridan, nee Cuamberlaine (1724-66), also had 

 achieved some success in literature, being the 

 author of a novel called Sidney Biddulph, and of 

 one or two plavs. Richard Sheridan was educated 

 at Harrow, where he does not seem to have dis- 

 tinguished himself much. After leaving school he 

 made his first attempt at literature, in collaboration 

 with a school-friend named Halhed, in the form of 

 a three-act farce called Jupiter, the general idea of 

 which licars some resemblance to that afterwards 

 worked out in the Critic. It does not, however, 

 appear to have ever been completed. The two 

 friends next attempted a verse translation of the 

 Epistles of Aristcenetus a pseudo-classical author 

 of unknown date and doubtful identity of which 

 the first part was published, but attracted no 

 favourable notice. In 1771 the Sheridans settled 

 at Bath, where they made acquaintance with the 

 family of Linley the composer. A sort of senti- 

 mental friendship, ripening into a warmer feeling, 

 appears to have been set up almost immediately 

 between Elizal>eth Linley, the eldest daughter a 

 girl of great beauty and musical talent, popularly 

 known as the Maid of Bath and Richard Sheridan, 

 which, after various romantic episodes, terminated 

 in a marriage, with the rather reluctant consent of 

 the parents in 1773. 



The young couple settled down in London to a 

 life considerably beyond their means. Mrs Sheridan 

 had a fortune in her voice, but her husluuid would 

 not allow her to use it professionally. He himself 

 now made more serious efforts at dramatic com- 

 positionwhich had always attracted him and 

 got a play accepted at Covent Garden. On the 17th 

 of January 1775 the Rivals was produced for the first 

 time with no great success ; but after a slight 

 alteration in the cast the play nint with universal 

 approval. I'rohahlv it will always remain the 

 most popular of Sheridan's performances. There 

 is nothing in it to strain the understanding or 

 require any education of mind to comprehend. 

 Nor does it contain the least touch of bitterness ; 

 vices are not satirised, but only oddities laughed 

 at. Above all, the plot is clear and connected, a 

 |H>int by which the ordinary playgoer is naturally 

 upt to judge. It is not too much to say that in 

 genuine mirthful humour Sheridan has been sur- 

 passed by Shakestieare alone; and this quality 

 predominates in the Rivals. In the same year 

 appeared the farce called St Patrick's Day a poor 

 performance which Sheridan wrote for the benefit of 



the Irish actor whose personation of Sir Luciua 

 hail wived the Jliiiils and also the Lhienna, which 

 n , chfil an exaggerated meed of praise, and had & 

 (I lien) phenomenal run of sixty-three nights. In 

 1770 Sheridan, with the aid of his father-in-law, 

 I.inley, and another friend, bought half the patent 

 of I "fury lAne Theatre for 35,000 from Uarrick, 

 who was retiring from the stage, and some years 

 later the remaining share for 45,000 from Mr 

 WlUonghbj Lacy, thus Incoming complete owner. 

 His first production here was a purified edition of 

 Vanbrughs Rrliifixf, under the title of a Trip to 

 Scarborough, while three months later appeared 

 his greatest work, the School for Scandal. As a 

 dramatic composition the School is inferior to the 

 Hi ruin ; the plot is involved and its details obscure, 

 the play a series of extraordinarily brilliant scenes, 

 I ii it wanting in cohesion. So powerful is the 

 satire, however, and so real and striking are the 

 characters, that Sheridan's contempt for the dra- 

 matic unities has never diminished the enthusiastic 

 approval awarded to it from the first. It brought 

 back prosperity for a time to Drury Lane, where 

 Sheridan's idle and careless management had done 

 much mischief. In 1779 he produced the Critic, a 

 play of even more heedless composition than the 

 School for Scandal, but teeming from end to end 

 with a sparkling wit which carries it over all 

 obstacles. This was Sheridan's last dramatic 

 effort, with the exception of a tragedy called 

 Pizarro in no respect superior to Mr Puffs tragedy 

 prepared for the stage by him some twenty years 

 later. 



Sheridan now began to turn his thoughts to 

 another field for ambition, and on the dissolution 

 of parliament in 1780 he was elected member for 

 Stafford. He adhered to the opposition, then 

 under the leadership of Burke and Fox. and on the 

 change of government in 1782 became under- 

 secretary for foreign affairs under Hockingham, 

 afterwards serving as secretary to the Treasury in 

 the coalition ministry (1783). His parliamentary 

 reputation, however, may be said to date from the 

 impeachment of Warren Hastings. His part in 

 the attack was to expose the connivance at the 

 plundering of the Begums of Oudh, on which sub- 

 ject he delivered three great sj>eeches. The first, in 

 the House of Commons, was a marvel of oratory, 

 and produced such an effect upon the audience that 

 the House decided to adjourn, as being still too 

 much under the influence of this wonderful speech 

 to give a cool, impartial vote. The second, on the 

 actual trial of Hastings, was rather less successful, 

 and the answer to the pleadings of Hastings' 

 counsel, seven years later, was, comparatively 

 speaking, a failure. The reputation thus acquired 

 was not sustained, his habitual indolence perhaps 

 rendering him incapable of a continued eflbrt. 

 During the thirty-two years he sat in parliament 

 Sheridan took an active part in the delates, and 

 was known as a lively ami occasionally impassioned 

 speaker. In 1794 he again electrified the House 

 by a magnificent oration in reply to Lord Morning- 

 ton's denunciation of the French Revolution, but 

 witli this exception he never again rose to the same 

 height. At the critical period of the mutiny at the 

 Nore he did much to strengthen the hands of the 

 government by his unselfish and patriotic support. 

 He remained the devoted friend and adherent of 

 Fox till the latter's death, and was also the defender 

 and occasional mouthpiece of the Prince Regent. 

 Few rewards fell to his share. In 1806 he was 

 appointed Receiver of the Duchy of Cornwall, and 

 in 1806 held for a short time the small post of 

 treasurerto the navy. In 1812 he was defeated at 

 the polls at Westminster, and his parliamentary 

 career came to an end. 



To turn to his private life. In 1792 his first wife, 



