SHEU1DAN. 



224 



Turkish romances represent her a< tin- ciiui^litor of 

 Maurice, a Byzantine emperor. They are filled 

 with the account of her sudden passion for Chos- 

 roes, her gradual alienation from him, the love of 

 the sculptor Ferhad, the most beautiful youth of 

 the East, for the fascinating queen, and her melan- 

 choly fate. Her husband was murdered by his own 

 son, and Shereen put herself to death on his tomb, 

 to escape the importunities of the parricide. Von 

 Hammer has drawn the materials of his Schirin, a ; 

 Persian romantic poem (14 cantos, in German, | 

 Leipsic, 1809), from Persian and Turkish sources. 



SHERIDAN, THOMAS, son of air Irish divine, 

 was born near Dublin, in 1721, and was sent to 

 Westminster, where he was admitted on the^ foun- 

 dation. He afterwards entered as a student of j 

 Trinity college, Dublin, but quitted the university j 

 for the stage, and made his first appearance in the j 

 character of Richard III. (1743), in Dublin. After ! 

 a visit to London, in 1744, he returned to the Irish 

 metropolis, and became a theatrical manager. In 

 this situation he experienced various misfortunes, 

 and the establishment of a rival theatre completed 

 the ruin of his affairs. He then commenced lec- 

 tures on elocution,, to which subject he endeavoured 

 to draw the attention of the public by means of 

 the press. He subsequently repaired to France to 

 avoid his creditors; and, while there, he had the i 

 misfortune to lose his wife (1767). Returning to i 

 England, after the retirement of Garrick from the 

 stage, he became manager of Drury lane theatre, of 

 which his son was one of the proprietors; but some j 

 disputes taking place, he retired from the office, and j 

 resumed his attention to oratory. The latest of 

 his literary labours was an Orthoepical Dictipna; y 

 of .the English Language, in 1788, in which year he 

 died. His wife Frances was the author of Sidney 

 Biddulph (3 vols.) a very interesting but soinbre 

 tale ; Nourjahad, an Eastern romance, since drama- 

 tized ; and two comedies, the Discovery, and the 

 Dupe. See the account of her life by her grand- 

 daughter. Alicia Lefanu. 



SHERJDAN, RICHARD BRINSLEY, the third son 

 of the preceding, distinguished as a statesman, wit 

 and dramatist, was born in Dublin, October 30, 

 1751. For the early development of his talents, 

 he was indebted to tlje instructions of his accom- 

 plished mother; and he was afterwards placed at 

 a grammar-school at Dublin. In 1762, he was sent 

 to Harrow school, which he left at the age of 

 eighteen, owing to his father's embarrassments. 

 With a view to th legal profession, he entered as 

 a student of the Middle Temple; but the close ap- 

 plication and industry requisite for success as a 

 lawyer, were uncongenial with his disposition, and 

 he relinquished the bar for politics and the drama. 

 His early marriage, also, made some more imme- 

 diate means of support than the practice of a junior 

 oarrister necessary, and he turned his attention to 

 dramatic composition. His first production, the 

 Rivals, was acted at Covent Garden in 1775, with 

 moderate success; but the Duenna, a musical en- 

 tertainment, which followed, was received with 

 general admiration; and his School for Scandal 

 gained him the highest reputation as a comic 

 writer. On the retirement of Garrick from the 

 management of Drury lane theatre, Sheridan, in 

 conjunction with Doctor Forde and Mr Ljnley, pur- 

 chased Garrick's share of the patent. This pro- 

 perty qualified him fora seat in parliament; and, 

 in 1780, he was chosen member for the borough of 

 Stafford. Lord North was then minister, and Sher- 



idan, joining the opposition, displayed so much 

 ability, that, on the retreat of the premier, 'and the 

 conclusion of the American war, he was made under 

 secretary of state for the war department. He re- 

 signed, with his principal, in consequence of a dis- 

 pute with lord Shelburne, afterwards marquis of 

 Lansdowne, who was at the head of ^he ministry. 

 His intimate connexion with Fox brought him 

 again into office on the coalition of that statesman 

 with lord North, when Sheridan held the post of 

 joint secretary of the treasury under the duke of 

 Portland. The dissolution of that ministry threw 

 him again into the ranks of opposition, wher he 

 remained during the whole period of the political 

 ascendency of Mr Pitt. He now attained distin- 

 guished celebrity as a parliamentary orator, and his 

 talents were particularly exhibited in his opposition 

 to the extension of the revenue laws, and on the 

 subject of the Westminster election ; but the grand- 

 est display of his eloquence occurred during the pro- 

 gress of the impeachment of Warren Hastings. In 

 1792, Mr Sheridan lost his wife, who left one son; 

 and, three years afterwards, he married Miss Ogle, 

 daughter of the dean of Winchester. With this 

 lady he had a considerable fortune, which enabled 

 him to purchase the estate of Polesdon, in Surrey ; 

 and, as he held the office of receiver general of the 

 duchy of Cornwall, worth 1200 a year, 'and re- 

 tained his interest in Drury lane theatre, he seemed 

 to be placed beyond the reach of pecuniary distress. 

 The political changes consequent on the death of 

 Mr Pitt, in 1806, occasioned the exaltation of the 

 party with which Sheridan was connected, and he 

 obtained the lucrative post of treasurer of the navy, 

 and the rank of a privy counsellor. This adminis- 

 tration being weakened by the loss of Mr Fox, who 

 survived his celebrated rival only a few months, 

 new alterations took place, and Sheridan was de- 

 prived of office, to which he never returned. At 

 the general election in 1806, he obtained a seat for 

 Westminster, the great object of his ambition ; Imfc 

 he was afterwards nominated for the borough of 

 Ilchester, which he continued to represent during 

 the remainder of his parliamentary career. The 

 latter part of the life of this highly-talented indi- 

 vidual was imbittered by misfortunes, principally 

 arising from his own indolence and mismanagement, 

 though the destruction of Drury lane theatre by 

 fire contributed to increase his difficulties. When' 

 the affairs of that establishment were arranged, in 

 1811, Mr Sheridan and his son were to have 40,000 

 for their share of the property ; but the portion of 

 the former was not sufficient to liquidate the debts 

 and reserved claims to which it was liable. The 

 dissolution of parliament, and his failure in an at- 

 tempt to obtain a seat for Stafford, the borough he 

 had formerly represented, completed his ruin. In 

 the latter part of 1812, he had relinquished all 

 thoughts of returning to the house of commons; 

 and the remainder of his existence was spent in at- 

 tempts to ward off the dangers to which his im- 

 providence had exposed him. At length every re- 

 source failed, and the disappearance of his property 

 was followed by the arrest of his person. After a 

 few days detention, he was released, but only to ex- 

 perience fresh apprehension and alarm, from which 

 he sought a temporary relief in that unrestrained in- 

 dulgence and dissipation which had occasioned his 

 misfortunes. Intemperance had undermined his con- 

 stitution, and mental anxiety completed the des- 

 truction of his health. Even on the bed of sick- 

 ness he was not exempted from the terrors of being 



