The National Register.
London, England, 1816-07-14 00:00:00

rrticE 9; d.

pressed by fortune. Some wondrous internal power ntuov e
him up; and a temper invulnerable to ordinary att
left lulu at all times in possession of his unshaken faculties.
In co-operation therefore, or rivalry, or hostility, with the first
men of his day, he distinguished himself amongst them by wield-
ing with success the vitriol's w•!apons for which they were re-
spectively celebrated. In flow of diction he yielded not even
to Mr. Pitt —in force and acuteness lie might justly be com-
pared with the great Opposition Leader—while in splendour of
imagination he equalled Burke,andii
his asiusaengaenrd; natanndagthtem,
wenitt
fur excelled him. His sarcasms were finer, bid less severe,
than those by which Mr. Pitt indulged
displayed by Sheridan in Parliament was, perhaps, from the
suavity of his teinuer, much less sharp than tint the
quality which predominated over all its compauions in the mind
of Mr. Sheridan was his exquisite anti highly finished taste. Ia
this rare talent lie had no competitor; and this it was which
gave such inimitable grace to his expressions, and which, in
arguing or declaiming, in eulogy or invective, disposed his
thoughts with an effect so full and admirable. We cannot ex-
patiate farther on his rhetorical qualifications, than by Misery-
mg, that lie joined to the higher attributes above spoken of, the
natural ails antages of a clear and melodious voice, a distinct,
emphatic, and unaffected utterance ; and a manly and becoming
action. As Mr. Sheridan has produced a comedy which may
be described as nearly the beat in our language, so did he by
carious felicity of genius put forth, in his speech on the trial of
Hastings, the finest specimen of English senatorial eloquence of
which modern times can boast. Of this divine oration, although
none hat those who heard it can adequately judge, enough re-
mains to justify our praises in the fragments handed down to us
by the pit blicationsaf that pet iod,and in the recoi tied sentiments
of the leaders of all parties, who hung in rapture and amaze.
ment on his words. Mr. Sheridan then reached the pinnacle of
his fame. No length of days could add to the erlehrity it tbat
moment poured around him, as an orator awl statesman of eon),
prehensive and transcendent powers—no human fortune could
have surpassed the exit( stations then formed of his future e
nonce. Why they have not since been realised, is a question
which posterity will not fail to musk. We past by the druids of
his parliamentary progress, from the disetissiolis en the recency
in 1789, to .those on the seine subject in fell. Many important
questions, many dangerous crises, which arose in the to in,.
terval between these periods, gave3lr. She. ohm the ,neaps to
establi,•:i for himself an occasionalinterest with the peopie or
England, distinct from any that could hat e been derived from
mere proof's of talent, or influence of party. On the mutiny at
the Note, he enjoyed the credit of essentially contrilmiteg to
save the state. lflienever the Liberty of the press was at•acked,
that bulwark of the constitutiou found in hint its most zealous
and consistent defender : and when the eat ly burst of Siva:dsts
patiriutisin had raissid a strong sympathy throughout thin coun-
try, it was Mr. Sheridan who tirst gave form amid expression to
the feelings which swelled every English heart; sad who
traced nu Parliament the natural relation between the sit put
of Spain and the deliverance of Europe. Withont imsti,eti, a
too severe or invidious set ininy into the justice el' thost high
encomiums which have been passed out Mr. Sheridan's pat, lone
spirit, w e shall merely observe, that Otte object of our aAlitil
is the exquisitejudgement— the dexterity of iact—with which lie
at all times seized the full title of public sentiment, and turned
it into the proper channel. lint it must be achnowiedgeil,that
the longer he remained in the House of Commons, and before
the public, the more his personal consequeace declined. ?Ir.
Sheridan had never in his happiest days effected any thine by
steady application. He was capable of intense, butt not of re.
Ruler study. When public duty or private difficulty urged him,
he endured the burden as if asleep under its presume. At length,
when the pain could be no hunger borne, he roused himself
with one mighty effort, and burst like a lion thron.gli the toils.
There are reasons for believing that his constilatiumal indolence
began its operation upon his habits at an early age. • Ht• very
first dramatic scenes were written by 'matches, with eunsitier.
able internals between them. Convivial pleasures haul lively
charms for one whose wit was tt e soul of the table ; and the
sparkling glass—the medium of social intercourse--had no small
share of his affeetioll. These were joys to he iiiduleed without
effort : as such, they were too well calulated to absorb the time
of Mr. Sheridan, and sooner or later to make large cm:touch-
'limits on his character. His attendance in Parliament became
every year more languid—the tits nuolia inure iniairable —the
plunges by which his genius had now and then extricated him is
former times less frequeut and mot e feeble. We 'reser vt'sec
a contrast much more na•lancholy than between the in illiant and
commanding talent displayed by Mr. Sheridan throughout the
first rtgelley disrossions, and the low Scale of nerve, at Cis ity,
and capm-ify, to which. he seemed 'educed, when that spit-
p.ct was more recently agitated in l'arliament. But
dolence and intemperance must hanisb reflection, it' not nor.
rested by it ; since no man could snpport the torture id per.
nut nal self-reproach. AlferaSated, We fear,lliS setae such caoscs, •
the naturally careless temper of Sir. Sheridan became riiiiitins
to all his better hopes and prospects. tVilhont ait reet
appe-
tite for spending money, be thooglit not of checking its aspen.
diture. The cc iiiiii my of time was as much tiisngarled as
that of money. All the arraneements, plinetnalitit s, and online
obligations of life, were forgotten ; anti the household of Mr.
Sheridan was always in a state of nature. His domestic feel-
ings were originally kind, and his manners treacle: out the
same bad habits seduced hint ft unt the House of Comme„s, mad
from home ; and equally injured him as an agent of the potion
good, and as a dispenser of pis Mc happiness. It is paintlal,
it is mortifying, but it is our sacred duty, to pursue this history s
to the end.. Pecuniary embai la-melds often leash Men to shifts
and expedients—these exhausted, to others of a less doubillul
colour. Blunted sensibility —renew k of
web tv—follow each other in melancholy successiun, emit saa.
tole rod darkness cline the scene.
It ha+ been made a reproach by some persons, in lap,: uu,
lir. Slieriulait's ern-1 destiny, that '• his friends- last
tuu.re for hint. We freely and constientionsly du i•
tuitional, that had Mr. Sheridan enjoyed It ,v
Cornwall, instead Of one, lie would not have of, ointui •
lie 'aver autuil have aitamed to costfort uriudtt t suit,

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