affluence and grandeur."

But greatly as he loved his wife, Sheridan was now too much wedded to
his ambition to listen to such tempting. He had conquered fame with his
pen; now he aspired to subdue it with his tongue. In 1780, while he was
still in the twenties, he was sent to Parliament by Stafford suffrages;
and from his first appearance at Westminster captivated his fellow
law-makers by the magic of his eloquence. A new star had arisen in the
oratorical firmament, and soon began to pale all other luminaries.
Within two years he was a Minister of the Crown; and in another year he
had electrified the world by the most brilliant oratory that had ever
been heard in our tongue--notably by his historic speech in the trial of
Warren Hastings, to the preparation of which his wife had devoted
herself body and soul.

Fresh from listening to this latest sensational triumph of her husband
in Westminster Hall, she wrote:--

"It is impossible to convey to you the delight, the
astonishment, the admiration he has excited in the
breasts of every class of people. Every party prejudice
has been overcome by this display of genius, eloquence
and goodness.... What my feelings must be, you can only
imagine. To tell you the truth, it is with some
difficulty that I can 'let down my mind,' as Mr Burke
said afterwards, to talk or think on any other subject.
But pleasure too exquisite becomes pain; and I am at this
moment suffering from the delightful anxieties of last
week."