had been vigilant and active in the discharge of his duty. Johnson, with a striking gleam of his wonted forcible manner, replied,• Why, Sir, the fellow had the vigilance of a dormouse; and the activity of a turnspit, the first time he is put into the wheel!" P. 335. A portion of the work, and we regret that it should not have been a more extended one, is occupied with passing traits of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. He had been placed under the care of Dr. Sumner, head master of Harrow, and his father's particular friend. He was of the same standing with Sir William Jones, and Halked, the Orientalist. Dr. Parr was one of the masters, and the subsequent testimony of that eccentric politician and able scholar, is thus given. "This I well remember: though neither masters nor boys looked upon Sheridan as a good scholar, they one and all liked him; and the minds of all were impressed with an indistinct notion that his natural powers were uncommonly great.'" P. 253. Here he indulged in a boyish frolic characteristic of the man. "The care of his pecuniary concerns, in the absence of his parents, devolved on his maternal uncle, Mr. Richard Chamberlayne; and though he, of course, allowed his nephew every reasonable indulgence, a little incident which happened at that time placed Richard Brinsley's love of frolic, opposed to his uncle's prudent economy, in a ludicrous point of view. On occasion of the grand annual contest for the silver arrow, Richard Brinsley was not a competitor for the prize of archery; but distinguished himself by the delivery of a Greek oration. This, as he was intended for one of the learned professions, was a very judicious arrangement, as it exhibited his proficiency in scholarship; and, in the embarrassed state of his father's circumstances, was far preferable to a frivolous competition, which involved a considerable degree of expense. So perhaps reasoned Mr. Richard Chamberlayne; but if he did so, his nephew was determined to disappoint the old gentleman in any economical views he might have had in favouring this arrangement. The Greek oration was to be delivered in the character of a military commander; and as the notions of costume were not so strict in those days as they are at present, Richard Brinsley, of his own authority, ordered the uniform of an English general officer to be made up for the occasion. Accordingly, on the important day he appeared, not, indeed, in the elegant dress of an archer of Harrow; but in the equally expensive one of a military chief. Mr. Chamberlayne, to whom of course his tailor's bill was delivered, severely remonstrated with him on this unexpected piece of extravagance. Sheridan respectfully replied, that, as the speech was to be delivered in a martial character, he did not think the effect would have been complete without an appropriate dress; and that indeed so deeply was he himself impressed with that feeling, that he was sure if he had not been properly habited, he could not have delivered a word of the oration. "What necessary connexion there was between Greek and scarlet and gold regimentals, poor Mr. Chamberlayne could not exactly see; he was obliged, however, to overlook his nephew's vanity and love of shew, not without a shrewd suspicion that the pleasure of hoaxing him had a share in Brinsley's suddenly declared martial taste." P. 254. The man who has produced the School for Scandal may be pardoned his abandonment of poetry. But Sheridan had in him the spirit of a poet. 6 "The lines by R. B. Sheridan, beginning, Mark'd you her eye,' were written in praise, not of Miss Linley, but of Lady Margaret Fordyce, sister of Lady Anne Lindsay, the charming author of Auld Robin Gray,' and at that time the reigning belle of Bath. An anonymous poem, entitled, The Bath Picture,' had appeared, containing a description of the principal beauties then admired at that fashionable watering-place. When the bard arrived at the name of Lady Margaret Fordyce, he could only afford her the following moderate praise: 'Remark too the dimpling sweet smile Lady Margaret's fair countenance wears.' Mr. Sheridan, who was often of Lady Margaret's parties, and felt for her the enthusiastic admiration of a young poet, seized the pen, and in an answer to the Bath Picture,' entitled, 'Clio's Protest, or The Picture Varnished,' after several pretty severe strictures on other parts of the poem, thus castigates the anonymous bard for his insensibility, and vindicates the lady's transcendant charms : “But hark! did not our bard repeat But one poor dimple to express That eye in liquid circles moving; The other blushing for the wound; Now Pallas, now the Queen of Love!" P. 393. The eight closing lines are extremely happy. They became suddenly popular, were set to music, and both words and air still live. In answer to the idle story, that Sheridan, though he would not suffer his wife to sing in public, gave private subscription concerts, it is thus stated. "Mr. and Mrs. Sheridan gave some private concerts at their house in Orchard-street, Portman-square, as a return for the civilities and hospitality they received from many persons of fashion and consequence. A music-room was accidentally annexed to their house, and it was the least expensive entertainment they could give; the performers consisting entirely of Mrs. Sheridan's family. Never, surely could the lovers of music have received a more exquisite gratification than that which was afforded on these occasions by the combined talents of Mrs. Sheridan, her father, her sisters, Mary and Maria, and her brother, Thomas Linley. But these concerts were, as I have already said, given as the discharge of a debt of civility already incurred. No money was ever received, nor were any such concerts given at Bath." P. 402. The success of the School for Scandal of course excited a vast deal of envy; and the usual expedient of throwing doubts on its authorship was adopted under all imaginable forms. The play was said to be the work of the author's mother; of a combination of writers; and with more circumstantiality, of a young lady, the daughter of a merchant in Thames Street, who had given the MS. into Sheridan's hands at the beginning of his management, and soon after, being at the time in a consumption, went to Bristol Hot Wells, and died! This absurd story, for detail seems to have been formed on the history of the bullet in Sir Peter Teazle's duel, that " struck against a little bronze Shakspeare, that stood over the fire-place, grazed out of the window at a right angle, and wounded the postman, who was just coming to the door with a double letter from Northamptonshire." To the title of the "young lady of Thames Street," Sheridan never condescended to give any answer. But a sufficient rea son for his subject is given in this memoir. "Early introduced into the world, and placed in difficult and critical situations, Mr. R. B. Sheridan often saw his own name the sport of calumny, which, although it sometimes excited a smile, yet often gave rise to more painful feelings. At Bath, then famous for the manufacture and circulation of ungrounded stories, his duels and other romantic adventures were magnified and misrepresented in a thousand different ways. When he was recovering of his wounds, it was one of his amusements to read the daily accounts of himself in the papers, and say, 'Let me see what they report of me to-day; I wish to know whether I am dead or alive,' &c. (The ridiculous and contradictory reports then afloat, certainly gave rise to the highly humourous duel scenes in The Rivals' and 'The School for Scandal.') Other falsehoods sank deeper into his heart; and having a mind turned to reflection, although his spirits were often led away by gaiety, the young poet conceived the noble plan of attacking the Hydra, scandal, in his den,' and exposing, in a spirited picture, the wide extended mischief that may ensue from the encouragement of a censorious spirit." P. 406. 6 The whole story of the supposed manner in which the play of The School for Scandal came into Mr. Sheridan's hands is perfectly groundless, the writer of these lines having frequently heard him speak on the subject long before the play appeared; many of the characters and incidents related to persons known to them both, and were laughingly talked over with his family.' "It is particularly remembered that, in the first sketch, the character which now bears the name of Mrs. Candour, went by that of Lady Kitty Candour: a title which, I presume, Mr. Sheridan abandoned on account of its too great resemblance to one in a dramatic piece of Foote's-Lady Kitty Crocodile; which was supposed to be meant for the Duchess of Kingston. Before he put pen to paper, the fable, as perfectly conceived and matured in his mind, was communicated to his friends; and the expression he made use of, described at once the completeness and unity of his plan. The comedy is finished; I have now nothing to do but to write it. This mode of composition is probably the only one in which the author can hope to give his works the impression of energy and correctness." P. 409. We leave our readers who feel interested in the circumstances of this remarkable family, to gratify themselves further by the perusal of the volume itself, a work deserving the praise of intelligent arrangement, and not unfrequently of graceful and feeling narrative. 369 Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem: a Picture of Judaism in the century which preceded the Advent of our Saviour. Translated from the German of Frederick Strauss, with Notes and Illustrations by the Translator. 2 vols. London. 1824. PROPHECY, miracle, laws not stamped on the heart, but revealed to the senses of man; the creature walking in communion with his Creator; that great truth of heaven, the unity of God; a plan of redemption darkly presaged at first, slowly increasing in light and power, shadowed forth by types, and involved in the sayings of divinely-inspired men; a ceremonial worship, more splendid and impressive than Heathenism could ever exhibit, and important as emblematical of truths which Heathenism could never conceive:-these are some of the associations, when the image of the ancient Jew rises before the mind. His history is carried back to times when the people with whom we commonly connect ideas of greatness were barbarians, on wild shores, or in boundless forests. His records are solemn, clear, and irresistibly credible, while the annals of the infancy of the Hindus and other nations are fantastic, confused, and palpably false. His Book, even if its divine authority be forgotten for a moment, and it be regarded merely as a compilation of history, law, poetry, and philosophy, deserves the title, above all other works, of WONDERFUL; while the revered books of other countries are absurd, rhapsodical, interesting neither the heart nor the mind, revealing no essential truth, sanctioning no just impressions of nature, and often clouding and debasing man's natural impressions of his duty to himself, his neighbour, and his God. With these general sentiments regarding the Jews, we are always disposed to take up in seriousness, and consider with reverent attention, any work which professedly treats on the history and institutions of that singular people. The title of the work before us, a "Pilgrimage to Jerusalem," at first awakened other thoughts. It called to our mind the Palmer leaving his family and home, and influenced by a noble principle of duty, toiling his way on foot, in solitude and silence, for many a mile, to visit those spots in Jerusalem which the most solemn and glorious recollections had sanctified. We see him gather his palm-branch, and with lighter step retrace his course, till, at the entrance of his place of nativity, his friends and VOL. II. No. V. B b |