LOV£ 670 must be attributed very largely to the tact and inspiring influence of the wife. It is impossible here to trace the history of Sheridan's career. It must suffice that in 1773 Sheridan was a man without an income, without a profession and without energy. He insisted, moreover, that his wife should sever her connection with the stage. But Mrs. Sheridan still possessed Long's j^3.ooo, and the newly married couple did not hesitate to hve upon this capital. In 1775, however, Sheridan was the leading dramatist of his age, and shortly afterwards he acquired a large financial interest in Drury Lane Theatre. How, it is impossible to imagine, unless it was owing to the clever manner in which his wife managed his affairs, for Sheridan was addicted to the wildest of excesses, and if ever there was a thriftless man, that man was he. He drank heavily, he betted beyond his means. But these were merely customs of the age, and to the end of his life Sheridan remained one of the most popular men in London society. His utter recklessness did not become apparent until death had deprived him of his wife's restraining hand. During her lifetime, it is true, he formed a friendship with the Prince of Wales, and became implicated in a more than shady turf trans- action ; and during her lifetime, it is true, his passion for practical jokes still triumphed without restraint. Many of these freaks of eccentricity have become historic. When Samuel Richardson died, Sheridan arrived too late for the funeral. Determined, however, to com- pensate for his negligence, he insisted that the burial ceremony should be repeated. There is, however, another aspect to Sheridan's character — behind an exterior of flippancy was a deep line of thoughtful melancholy. He was an Irishman, and therefore a mj'Stic and a dreamer. Often found upon his lips were Dryden's words : " Vain men ! How vanishing a bliss we crave. Now warm in love, now withering in the grave ; Never, oh, never more to see the sun ! Still dark, in a damp vault, and still alone." Mrs. Sheridan, however, understood her husband, and knew how to deal with him. But her home life was not without its troubles. Quarrels were inevitable with a man of Sheridan's temperament, but these were fleeting, and the nineteen years of her married life were, almost without interrup- tion, years of happiness. Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan cannot be described better than in the words of Fanny Burney. " The elegance of Mrs. Sheridan's beauty," she writes, "is unequalled by any that' I ever saw, except Mrs. Crewe. . . . She is much more lively and agreeable than I had any idea of finding her. She was very gay and unaffected, and totally free from airs of any kind. ... Mr. Sheridan has a fine figure, and a good, though I don't think handsome, face. ... I like him vastly, and think him every way worthy of his beautiful companion. . . . They are extremely happy in each other : he evidently adores her, and she as evidently idolises him. The world has by no means done him justice." In 1779 Sheridan regarded his position as sufficiently strong to justify him embarking on the storm-tossed ship of politics. This was the ambition of his Hfe, but his wife regarded the move with grave misgiving. Seeing, however, that he was obdurate, she threw herself into the new life whole- heartedly, and contributed in no small measure towards her husband's great triumph — the impeachment of W^arren Hastings — by assiduously collecting evidence. But even as late as 1790 she wrote to him : "I am more than ever convinced we must look to other sources for wealth and independence, and consider politics merely as an amusement." By this time, moreover, the home was being beset by other troubles. Mrs. Sheridan was anything but strong, and in 1792, after a long illness, and in spite of her husband's devotion, she died of consumption. Sheridan was laid prostrate with grief, and he mourned her truly. "The victory of the grave," he de- clared, "is sharper than the sting of death." But how great was his loss posterity alone can fully realise. After the death of his first wife Sheridan degenerated rapidly, and, although he still remained a brilliant man, his later years were j-ears of tragedy. -In 1795 he married again. But his affairs were now in an amazing state of confusion ; and his second wife, Miss Ogle, a daughter of the Dean of Winchester, regarded the difficulties as unsoluble, and made no endeavour to cope with them. A description of the end may be found in the Croker Papers, and it perhaps alone suffices to relate the story. " They had hardly a servant left. Mrs. Sheridan's maid she was about to send away, but could not collect a guinea or two to pay the woman her wages. When Vaughan entered ... he found . . . the whole house in a state of filth and stench that was quite intolerable. Sheridan himself he found in a truckle bed in a garret . . . out of this bed he had not moved for a week . . . and in this state the unhappy man had been allowed to wallow. Nor could Vaughan discover that anyone had taken any notice of him, except one old female friend — whose name I hardly know whether I am authorised to mention — Lady Bessborough, who sent £2.0." Thus on July 7th, 18 16, deserted by his friends, and with his creditors clamouring at his door, Sheridan departed from the world which his wit and genius had adorned. But England, not insensible to the tragedy and injustice of the end, endeavoured to afford a tardy compensation. At Westminster Abbey, therefore, a few days later, he was buried with stately grandeur.
