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Memoirs of the Life of Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Vol 2

T >> Thomas Moore >> Memoirs of the Life of Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Vol 2




Numerous, however, as were the causes that concurred to disorganize his
moral character, in his pecuniary embarrassment lay the source of those
blemishes, that discredited him most in the eyes of the world. He might
have indulged his vanity and his passions, like others, with but little
loss of reputation, if the consequence of these indulgences had not been
obtruded upon observation in the forbidding form of debts and distresses.
So much did his friend Richardson, who thoroughly knew him, consider his
whole character to have been influenced by the straitened circumstances
in which he was placed, that he used often to say, "If an enchanter
could, by the touch of his wand, endow Sheridan suddenly with fortune, he
would instantly transform him into a most honorable and moral man." As
some corroboration of this opinion, I must say that, in the course of the
inquiries which my task of biographer imposed upon me, I have found all
who were ever engaged in pecuniary dealings with him, not excepting those
who suffered most severely by his irregularities, (among which class I
may cite the respected name of Mr. Hammersley,) unanimous in expressing
their conviction that he always _meant_ fairly and honorably; and
that to the inevitable pressure of circumstances alone, any failure that
occurred in his engagements was to be imputed.

There cannot, indeed, be a stronger exemplification of the truth, that a
want of regularity [Footnote: His improvidence in every thing connected
with money was most remarkable. He would frequently be obliged to stop on
his journies, for want of the means of getting on, and to remain living
expensively at an inn, till a remittance could reach him. His letters to
the treasurer of the theatre on these occasions were generally headed
with the words "Money-bound." A friend of his told me, that one morning,
while waiting for him in his study, he cast his eyes over the heap of
unopened letters that lay upon the table, and, seeing one or two with
coronets on the seals, said to Mr. Westley, the treasurer, who was
present, "I see we are all treated alike." Mr. Westley then informed him
that he had once found, on looking over this table, a letter which he had
himself sent, a few weeks before, to Mr. Sheridan, enclosing a ten-pound
note, to release him from some inn, but which Sheridan, having raised the
supplies in some other way, had never thought of opening. The prudent
treasurer took away the letter, and reserved the enclosure for some
future exigence.

Among instances of his inattention to letters, the following is
mentioned. Going one day to the banking-house, where he was accustomed to
receive his salary, as Receiver of Cornwall, and where they sometimes
accommodated him with small sums before the regular time of payment, he
asked, with all due humility, whether they could oblige him with the loan
of twenty pounds. "Certainly, Sir," said the clerk,--"would you like any
more--fifty, or a hundred?" Sheridan, all smiles and gratitude, answered
that a hundred pounds would be of the greatest convenience to him.
"Perhaps you would like to take two hundred, or three?" said the clerk.
At every increase of the sum, the surprise of the borrower increased.
"Have not you then received our letter?" said the clerk;--on which it
turned out that, in consequence of the falling in of some fine, a sum of
twelve hundred pounds had been lately placed to the credit of the
Receiver-General, and that, from not having opened the letter written to
apprise him, he had been left in ignorance of his good luck.] becomes,
itself, a vice, from the manifold evils to which it leads, than the whole
history of Mr. Sheridan's pecuniary transactions. So far from never
paying his debts, as is often asserted of him, he was, in fact, always
paying;--but in such a careless and indiscriminate manner, and with so
little justice to himself or others, as often to leave the respectable
creditor to suffer for his patience, while the fraudulent dun was paid
two or three times over. Never examining accounts nor referring to
receipts, he seemed as if, (in imitation of his own Charles, preferring
generosity to justice,) he wished to make paying as like as possible to
giving. Interest, too, with its usual, silent accumulation, swelled every
debt; and I have found several instances among his accounts where the
interest upon a small sum had been suffered to increase till it outgrew
the principal;--"_minima pars ipsa puella sui_."

Notwithstanding all this, however, his debts were by no means so
considerable as has been supposed. In the year 1808, he empowered Sir R.
Berkely, Mr. Peter Moore, and Mr. Frederick Homan, by power of attorney,
to examine into his pecuniary affairs and take measures for the discharge
of all claims upon him. These gentlemen, on examination, found that his
_bona fide_ debts were about ten thousand pounds, while his apparent
debts amounted to five or six times as much. Whether from
conscientiousness or from pride, however, he would not suffer any of the
claims to be contested, but said that the demands were all fair, and must
be paid just as they were stated;--though it was well known that many of
them had been satisfied more than once. These gentlemen, accordingly,
declined to proceed any further with their commission.

On the same false feeling he acted in 1813-14, when the balance due on
the sale of his theatrical property was paid him, in a certain number of
Shares. When applied to by any creditor, he would give him one of these
Shares, and allowing his claim entirely on his own showing, leave him to
pay himself out of it, and refund the balance. Thus irregular at all
times, even when most wishing to be right, he deprived honesty itself of
its merit and advantages; and, where he happened to be just, left it
doubtful, (as Locke says of those religious people, who believe right by
chance, without examination,) "whether even the luckiness of the accident
excused the irregularity of the proceeding." [Footnote: Chapter on Reason]

The consequence, however, of this continual paying was that the number of
his creditors gradually diminished, and that ultimately the amount of his
debts was, taking all circumstances into account, by no means
considerable. Two years after his death it appeared by a list made up by
his Solicitor from claims sent in to him, in consequence of an
advertisement in the newspapers, that the _bonâ fide_ debts amounted
to about five thousand five hundred pounds.

If, therefore, we consider his pecuniary irregularities in reference to
the injury that they inflicted upon others, the quantum of evil for which
he is responsible becomes, after all, not so great. There are many
persons in the enjoyment of fair characters in the world, who would be
happy to have no deeper encroachment upon the property of others to
answer for; and who may well wonder by what unlucky management Sheridan
could contrive to found so extensive a reputation for bad pay upon so
small an amount of debt.

Let it never, too, be forgotten, in estimating this part of his
character, that had he been less consistent and disinterested in his
public conduct, he might have commanded the means of being independent
and respectable in private. He might have died a rich apostate, instead
of closing a life of patriotism in beggary. He might, (to use a fine
expression of his own,) have 'hid his head in a coronet,' instead of
earning for it but the barren wreath of public gratitude. While,
therefore, we admire the great sacrifice that he made, let us be tolerant
to the errors and imprudences which it entailed upon him; and,
recollecting how vain it is to look for any thing unalloyed in this
world, rest satisfied with the Martyr, without requiring, also, the Saint.

THE END.

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