SHERIDAN. 525 satire. The chief shaft was aimed at Cumberland the dramatist. The character of Sir Fretful Plagiary was supposed to represent him exactly. The decease of Garrick in the same year, produced a monody from his pen, which was delivered by Mrs. Yates in the character of the Tragic Muse. He also wrote an admirable epilogue to Miss Hannah More's tragedy of “Fatal Falsehood.” Of Mr. Sheridan's liberality and feeling as a manager, the following is well worthy of relation:—A person who had written a dramatic piece upon some temporary cir cumstance, put it into the hands of the manager, who, with his wonted carelessness, threw it aside and forgot i t , till the season elapsed, after which i t could b e o f n o use. When the author applied for his manuscript, and gently remonstrated on the treatment he had met with, Mr. Sheridan returned him his play, accompanied b y a hand some letter o f apology, enclosing a bank note o f the value o f 100l. a s a n atonement for his neglect. Among the dramatic exhibitions which have been attri buted t o his genius, about this period, one o f the lowest description was the pantomime o f “Robinson Crusoe; or, Harlequin Friday,” which was solely indebted for i t s uncommon success t o the popularity o f the story, the beauty o f Loutherbourg's scenery, and the skill o f the performers. Mr. Sheridan had now enjoyed a n uninterrupted career o f applause for many years, without being enriched b y labours, which would have rendered any other man i n the nation, not only independent, but affluent. He would have still continued, perhaps, t o write for the stage, and t o have received and expended large sums annually, had not the secret whisperings o f ambition, intimated a new road t o glory. Mr., now Lord John Townshend, a younger son o f the first Marquis Townshend, was, like himself, a poet, and i t i s not a t a l l t o b e wondered, that the congeniality o f their minds should have produced, first a n acquaintance, and then a n intimacy. I t was this gentleman who first intro
