PREFATORY NOTE xix save himself a little trouble by sending to the printer the manuscripts, with the passages marked on them, which he wished to be put in type. It is not wonderful, in these circumstances, that a few of the papers went astray, while it is very unfortunate that they should now be in other hands than those of Sheridan's lineal descendants. A laxity prevails with regard to the sale or purchase of family papers which is almost unknown in the case of family plate. An auctioneer of repute would hesitate to announce for sale, and a scrupulous collector would hesitate to bid for silver spoons bearing the Sheridan crest. Yet no auctioneer appears to have displayed any reluctance in disposing of, neither does any collector seem to have had qualms of conscience in acquiring, private papers appertaining to the Sheridan family. Some documents, which ought to be at Frampton Court now, were "collected" by the late Mr. McHenry, and Mr. Augustin Daly, in his turn, bought them after Mr. McHenry's death and added them to his library in New York. He has readily and most kindly allowed me to copy and use such of them as possess intrinsic interest. I cannot help regretting, however, that certain letters of a purely private and domestic character should ever have been removed from the custody of their natural owners, while I cherish the hope that, some day or other, these letters may be magnanimously returned. Extracts from a few of the Sheridan papers, which are now in Mr. Daly's library, appeared in The English Illustrated Magazine for 1877, in an article by Miss Matilda Stoker. Their publication was made with Mr. McHenry's consent, but he declined to suffer the source to be indicated from which they were taken. Miss Stoker was under the impression that the documents were preserved in a barrel where they had been placed in 1809, when Drury Lane Theatre was burning. After the article appeared, a critic perceived that the barrel must be mythical. He rashly maintained, however, that all the papers from which Miss Stoker had made extracts must have been forged. Since then, he has unwisely plumed himself upon having exposed "a literary imposture."1 A facsimile of the most interesting of these documents is given in this work. It is the last letter penned by Sheridan's first wife, and it was received by him when he returned to her after a brief absence, the postal authorities having re-addressed and forwarded the letter. I apprise the intending reader of the following 1 "Memoirs of an Author," by Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, vol. ii., P. 319. PREFATORY NOTE xxi chapters that few specimens of Sheridan's table-talk will be found in them. Most of the sayings which are generally attributed to him cannot be authenticated. Those who desire to learn what he neither did nor uttered will have their curiosity gratified by turning to a recent edition of "Joe Miller" and to Sheridania." What is recorded by Archbishop Whately in Dr. Boyd's "Last Years of St. Andrews" might have been put into Sheridan's mouth : "I think of one volume which shall be my last a collection of good stories about myself, every one of them absolutely false." I have had the good fortune, however, to enhance the value of this biography by including in it some comments upon Sheridan which eminent living men have kindly written for me. Mr. Sutherland Edwards has criticized The Duenna. Mr. Bancroft has narrated how he and his accomplished wife presented Sheridan's comedies to the public of this age. Sir Henry Irving has honoured me and done a service to the readers of this work by writing a concise, yet comprehensive and pregnant critique upon Sheridan as a dramatist. To Mr. Gladstone I owe interesting reminiscences of his talks in earlier years with one who knew Sheridan personally, while I have been encouraged in my task by the expression of his opinion that, “a searching and impartial life of Sheridan will be a real addition to history and literature." When visiting Dublin to see the house in which Sheridan was born, I was surprised that no commemorative tablet was on the outside of it. Such a tablet has been affixed to the house in London where his last years were passed. I was gratified to observe, however, that the citizens of Dublin consider that no monument is required to perpetuate Sheridan's fame. Doubtless, they entirely agree with what Rückert wrote of Lessing: “Ibm ein Denkmal zu errichten braucht es nicht "For him, no monument is needed; He has raised his own." *** A full report of the reply of Sheridan to the defence made by the counsel for Warren Hastings, forms the Appendix to the second volume of this biography. That speech, which is noteworthy, both for its forensic skill and oratorical power, has not appeared either in any work dealing with Sheridan's career, or in his collected speeches. |