Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-03-21
sheridan rs n BIbulIst-HIs PrOcIIvlty to
ORD Intemperanoe.

- luANHitNAhuOCs
Sheridan unfortunately fell into the biba-
cious usspes of bis time, so much so that the
authors of The Wits and Bedu5 of Society
declare his intemperanee to have been as
great and incurable as his extravaganza,
and that his mind, if not his body, lived
only on ~stimulants. He could neither write
nor speak without them. His friends occa-
sionally interfered. This drinking, they
told him, would destroy the cast of his
stomach. Then my stomach must digest
in its waistcoaf," laughed he.
Numerous stories of his wit, even when
Frustrated by intemperance, are recorded.
On ore occasion, at a late hour at night or
very early hour in the morning, after he had
been dining out at some aristocratic man
sion, in what Byron called 'the West and
worst end" OF London. he insisted on walking
home, without any one to help him. After
a long and circuitous ramble, he reached
Burton Crescent, near the New road q place
at least two miles from Saville-row, Picca-
dilly, where he resided. He was found,
with his arms around a lamp-post, gazing
stolidly at vacancy, and still suffering from
the effects of too mu3h wine. The person
who recognized him exclaimed, "Good
Heavens, Mr.. Sheridan, what are you doing,
here in Burton Crescent, az this hour of the
morning p Making that effort to appear
sober, which usually makes a man look like
q dissipated owl Of bad habits and indiffer-
ent morals, Sheridan answered, "You see,
my friend Mr.. Garrow lives here, and | want
to consult him on some law. business, and as
the Crescent is going around, | am waiting
until his house passes by, and then l can
easily pop into it." CD 81
On another occasion, when Sheridan was
30 helplessly overtaken by liquid temptation
as to have fallen in the gutter, in st. Mar
tin}s-lane, he was picked up, and the watch
man who performed that act of kindness,
asked his name and where he would like to
be taken to. Sheridan contrived to say,
"Only across the street to ~Slaughter's Coffee
house. | am not often thus-my name is
Wilberforce."
From bad health, and perhaps from moral
conviction, WilberfOrce was a temperance
man at that time and to his death, and to
pass off for Wherefore, in a state of remark
able elevation, was one of the bits of mali.
cious fun in which Sheridan delighted
William Jordan, founder and editor Of the
London Literary Gazette, became the tenant
of Grove House, Brompton, Immediately
after Mr.. Wilberforce had ceased to occupy
it, and has recorded, in his curious and
rambling autobiography, that he found
somewhat about 5000 emptied wine
bottles in the cellars and garrets of that
dwelling. This noble army of martyrs
would indicate, what indeed is known, that
when Wilberforce was on very intimate
terms with Pitt, he freely joined in the vim
Gus i~ndulgenees which, no doubt, helped to
place Pit in q premature grave at the early
age Of forty-seyen.
For the information of the curious, We
may add that Port wine was the favorite
beverage of Sheridan and Pitt. Sheridan
coiA fha. Dnrt unbalanced tho n;r,v1a tson oA5
the fancy at the same time, adding that he
seldom made a speech in Parliament with.
out the stimulus Of two bottles.
OF Sheridan, the famous Father 0'LeafJ
remarked that, like a porter, he never wa;
steady unless he had load on his back.
There is a large and very dull book, COM
piled by a heavy writer DR.. John Watkins,
with great assistance from those useful aids
to authorship-paste and scissors In this
is related an a~necdote, the truth of which is
vouched for, to the effect that, one evening
a person went into the Exchequer Coffee
house, ard there observed a gentleman, with
q number Of papers before him, first take tea
ard tosst, and then, as be read and took &
few notes, empty the remains of a decantel
of brandy into a large glass, and swallow of
the undiiuted contents, at a draught. He
then picked up his paper and went away. A
few hours later, the person who had seer
this went into the gallery of the House o
Commons, where, to his surprise, he heart
the brandy drinker make a long and yer,
eloquent speech, and a~scertained that thi
was Sheridan.
As an aid 10 composition, also, Sheridan
conceived that he needed the excitement 0
wine. He would merrily say, "If an idea II
reluctant, a glass Of Port-wine encourage
il to burst forth and, when it does come,
glass OF wine rewards it," No douot, b
was of the opinion ofthe French wit, who's
excuses for drinking were
To please a friend, because I'm dry,
Or any other reason Wby.