542 SHERIDAN. offered up by his bed-side. When the commission was imparted to the sick, he assented with such an expression of fervent desire, that the bishop was instantly sent for, who lost no time in attending to the solemn call, and, accompanied by the physician, read several offices of devotion suited to the awful occasion. In these prayers Mr. Sheridan appeared to join with humility and aspira tion, clasping his hands, bending his head, and lifting up his eyes, significant of that penitential frame of mind which becomes every human spirit in i t s passage out o f time into eternity. After this h e seemed t o possess much internal tranquillity until life ebbed gradually away, and h e departed, without any apparent struggle o r agony, i n the arms o f his affectionate consort, o n Sunday, a t noon, July the 7th, 1816, i n the sixty-fifth year o f his age. As i t was deemed advisable that the funeral should be conducted without pomp, and yet b e marked b y a proper respect t o the talents o f the deceased, the body was re moved from Saville Row, t o the house o f Mr. Peter Moore, i n Great George Street, Westminster, which being a short distance from the Abbey, rendered a walking procession the more convenient. He was buried o n the Saturday following, near the remains o f Garrick and Cumberland. Mr. Sheridan has left behind him two sons, one by a former, another by the wife who survives him. To present our readers with a character o f Sheridan we imagine i s almost needless—the task i s superseded b y his life; suffice i t t o say, a s a statesman h e was incorruptible, and never, we believe, i n a solitary instance did h e speak o r vote against his conscience. His speeches i n the senate are distinguished a s combining every quality that con stitutes brilliant oratory. His wit was proverbial, many specimens o f which are o n record, and a s a companion a t the festive board h e appears almost t o have been without a rival; but his absolute neglect o f prudence i n the com mon affairs o f life, involved him i n continual distress, and h e died a s might have been conjectured, pennyless, heart broken, and deserted.
