always wore a kind of foraging cap.]

[Footnote 70: He here alludes to a dinner at Mr. Rogers's, of which I
have elsewhere given the following account:--

"The company consisted but of Mr. Rogers himself, Lord Byron, Mr.
Sheridan, and the writer of this Memoir. Sheridan knew the admiration
his audience felt for him; the presence of the young poet, in
particular, seemed to bring back his own youth and wit; and the details
he gave of his early life were not less interesting and animating to
himself than delightful to us. It was in the course of this evening
that, describing to us the poem which Mr. Whitbread had written, and
sent in, among the other addresses for the opening of Drury Lane
theatre, and which, like the rest, turned chiefly on allusions to the
Phoenix, he said--'But Whitbread made more of this bird than any of
them:--he entered into particulars, and described its wings, beak, tail,
&c.;--in short, it was a _poulterer_'s description of a Phoenix."--_Life
of Sheridan_.]

* * * * *

On the same day I received from him the following additional scraps. The
lines in italics are from the eulogy that provoked his waggish
comments.

"TO ----

1.

"'_I lay my branch of laurel down._'