The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-06 00:00:00

ANECDOTE OF SHERIDAN_

Taylor, of the Opera House, used to say of Sheridan, that he
could not pull off his hat to him in the street without its costing
him fifty pounds; and if he stopped to speak to him, it was a
hundred. No one could be a stronger instance than he was of
what is called living from hand to mouth. He was always in
want of money, though he received vast sums which he must
have disbursed; and yet nobody can tell what became of them,
for he paid nobody. He spent his wife's fortune (sixteen hundred
pounds) in a six weeks' jaunt to Bath, and returned to town as
poor as a rat. Whenever he and his son were invited out into
the country they always went in two post-chaises and four ; he
in one, and his son Tom following in another. This is the se-
cret of those who live in a round of extravagance, and are at the
same time always in debt and difficulty—they throw away all
the ready money they get upon any new=fangled whim or project
that comes in their way, and never think of paying off old scores,
which of course accumulate to a dreadful amount. " Such gain
the cap 'of him who makes them fine, yet keeps his book un-
crossed." Sheridan once wanted to take Mrs. Sheridan a very
handsome dress down into, the country, and went to Barber and
Nunn's to order it, saying he niu4 have it by such a day, but
promising they should have ready money. Mrs. Barber (I think
it was) made answer that the titne was short, but that ready
money was a very charming thing, and that he should have it.
Accordingly, at the time appointed she brought the dress, which
came to five-and-twenty pounds, and it was sent in to Mr. She-
ridan, who sent out a Mr, Grimm (one of his jackal's) to say he,
admired it exceedingly, and that he Was sure Mrs. Sheridan'
would be delighted with it, but hi was sorry to have nothing,
under a hundred pound bank-note in the house. She said she
had come provided for such an accident, and could give change)
for a hundred, two hundred, or five 'mocked pound note, if it
were necessary. Grimm then went back to his principal for'
farther instructions, who made an excuse that he had no stamped
receipt by him. For this Mrs. B. said she was also provided;
she had brought one in her pocket. At each message she could
hear them laughing heartily in the next room at the idea of hav-
ing met with their match for once : and, presently after, Sheri-
dan came out in high good humour, and paid her the amount of
her bill in ten, five, and one pounds. Once when a creditor
brought him a bill for payment, which had often been presented
before, and the man complained of its soiled and tattered state,
and said he was quite ashamed to see it, " I'll tell you what I'd
advise you to do with it, my friend," said Sheridan, " take it
home, and write it upon parchment 1" • He once mounted a horse
which a horse-dealer was showing off near a coffee-house at the
bottom of St. James's-street, rode it to Tattersall's, and sold it,
and walked quietly back to the spot from which he set out. The
owner was furious, swore he would be the death of him ; and, in
a quarter of an hour afterwards, they were seen sitting together
over a bottle of wine in the coffee-house, the horse-jockey with
the tears running down his face at Sheridan's jokes, and almost
ready to hug him as an honest fellow. Sheridan's house and 1
lobby were beset with duns every morning, who were told that
Mr. Sheridan was not yet up, and shown into the several rooms
on each side of the entrance. As soon as he had breakfasted he
asked " Are those doors all shut, John ?" and, being assured they,
were, marched out very deliberately between them, to the asto-
nishment of his self-invited guests, who soon found the bird was
flown. I have heard one of his old City friends declare, that
such was the effect of his frank, cordial manner, and insinuating
eloquence, that he was always afraid to go to ask him for a debt
of long standing, lest he should borrow twice as much. A play
had been put off one night, or a favourite actor did not appear,
and the audience demanded to have their money back again ; but,
when they came to the door, they were told by the check-takers
there was none for them, for that Mr. Sheridan had been in the
mean time, and had carried off ,all the money in the till. lie
used often to get the old cobler who kept a stall under the ruins
of Drury-lane to broil a beef-steak for him, and take their dinner
together. On the night that Drury-lane was burnt down, She-
ridan was in the House of Commons, making a speech, though
he could hardly stand without leaning his hands on the table,
and it was with some difficulty he was forced away, urging the
plea, " What signified the,concerns of a private individual corn-,
pared to the good of the state ?" When he got to Covent-garden'
he went into the Piazza Coffee-house, to steady himself with,
another bottle, and then strolled out to the end of the Piazza to
look at the progress of the - fire. here he was accosted by;
Charles Kemble and Fawcett, . WhO complimented him on the
calmness with which lie seemed to regard so great a loss. He
declined this praise, and said—" Gentlemen, there are but'three
things in human life that in` mlLoxinion"liuglit to disturb a Wise,
man's patience. The' first 'of thesd'is 'hodily pain, and that''
(whatever the ancient stoics may have said to the contrary) is',
too much for any man to bear without. flinching. This I have
felt severely, and I know it to be the case. The second is the
toss of a friend whom you have dearly loved; that, gentlemen, is
a great evil, a very great evil, too much for any man to endure
the reflection of; but that" (laying his hand upon his heart),
"but that, thank God, I have never felt !" 1 have been told
that these were nearly the very words, except that he appealed to
the ?liens conscia recti very emphatically three or four times over,
by an excellent authority, Mr. Mathews, the player, who was on
the spot at the time, a gentleman whom the public admire de-
Xervedly, but with whose real talents and nice discrimination of
character his friends only are acquainted. Sheridan's reply to
the watchman who had picked him up in the street, and who
wanted to know who he was, "I am Mr. Wilberforce !"—is well
known, and shows that, however frequently he might be at a loss
for money, he tic eer wanted wit !--Monthly and European Ma-
gazine. . ,

MRS. STUBBS AT HOME.
Mrs. Stubbs, a rich widow, some three nights ago
Gave a splendid " at home" to her friends in the Row,
A few stars from the West came to shine at her feast,
Together with all the wise men of the East—
Oh, the flower of each sex, from Cheapside to Hag Fair,
Assembled by wholesale in Salisbuty-square.
From eight until ten to this Vanity mart,
Roll'd on the loud thunders of carriage and cart ;
Mr. Dobbs came on foot, Mr. Foote upon horse,
And the two Misses Strutt in a carriage of course ;
While Higgins and Wiggins, an exquisite pair,
Dashed up in a buggy to Salisbury-square.
The party assembled, confusion begins—
" Excuse me, good Sir, but you're kicking my shins"—
" So poor Jenny bawson has lost her Mama
" There's Billy"—" good gracious! how like his papa."
" Is this here, Mrs: Stubbs, Madam ?"—"No, Sir, the ere
To the right's our good lady of Salisbury-square." •
But hark ! the clock strikes and like sheep to the fold,
Down rtulyto their supper the young and the old,
Mrs. Stubbs led the way, followed close by Miss Poole,
Hanging light on the arm 'of Sir Phelim-O'Toole;
Who whispe.-ed soft vows in her ear, 'till you'd
!swear,
He was Cupid transplanted to Salisbury-square..
How swift from the dish flew each turkey away! : • -
HoW faded each tart, like a ghost from the fray! '
One moment in beauty an apple-pie shone ;
The next both the pie and the apples were gone ;
Fowl, cutlet, and custard all vanished in air—
So much for the magic of Salisbury-square.
The supper concluded,' Sir Plielim O'Toole,
Quitting (faithless apostate) the side of Miss Poole,
Sidled up to his hostess, and, looking her thro'
With his only black eye that did business for two,
Heaved sighs from a heart that seemed broken by care—
What a sight for the widow of Salisbury-square !
Surprised.she looked up as he slowly drew nigh,
And caught the fond glance of his jolly black eye,
She *trove hard to blush, but her cheek was o'erspread
With a yellow suffusion in lieu of a red ;
Yet spite of this failure, she cried with
4 stare,
",Welcome, Sir Phelim to Salisbury square."
Then she drank to hisnhes,lth 'till the party broke up,
• With a drop in her eyelike the drop in her cup,
And ere the next sun gilt the church of Saint Bride,
The newspaper columns announced far and wide,
That Sir Phelim O'ToOle from the town of Clontaire,
Had espoused the rich widow of Salisbury square.

- A RECENT OCCURRENCE.—Two Italian posti-
lions, each driving a portly German in a little open carriage, ac-
cidentally met in a very narrow road, and it was of course a point
of honour, in this confined passage, to dispute the right of prece-
dency. The postilions soon came to mutual abuse and menace;
when one of theirs aiming a tremendous blow with his whip, in-
flicted a severe cut cm the unfortunate traveller in the other car-
riage.
The postilion of the latter immediately exclaimed—" You
rascal, if you presume to strike my German, your's shall not
lescape, I promise you!" The former, upon this, redoubled his
blows, the nther returned with equal violence, both displaying
the utmost courage and dexterity, and it was not till after the
exchange of numerous blows that the ill-fated Germans were en-
abled to put a stop .to a combat in which they were the only suf_
farers...7-Le Meieure de Londres.