Edited sentence: "Fire, Famine, and Slaughter" in Romanticism: Romanticism and History.A speech on the matter was printed in the January Morning Chronicle before Coleridge's sonnet was published.Barrell, John.Coleridge also had a personal connection to Sheridan through his friendship with William Smyth, the tutor to Thomas Sheridan, the playwright's son.Coleridge also knew of Sheridan as a political figure; Sheridan was a witness during the 1794 Treason Trials and also argued for the repeal of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act.Edited by Michael O'Neill and Mark Sandy.London: Routledge, 2006.New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.Nobody's Perfect: A New Whig Interpretation of History.Patterson, Annabel.Sheridan was a famous comic playwright, but Coleridge emphasized the sentimental aspects of Sheridan's writing.The connection that Coleridge felt in regards to the sadder works of Sheridan is what prompted him to dedicate a poem to the playwright and not to someone else, such as a political figure