first Lord Holland used playfully to impress upon his son:--"Never do
to-day what you can possibly put off till to-morrow, nor ever do,
yourself, what you can get any one else to do for you."




CHAPTER III

DOMESTIC CIRCUMSTANCES.--FRAGMENTS OF ESSAYS FOUND AMONG HIS PAPERS.--
COMEDY OF "THE RIVALS."--ANSWER TO "TAXATION NO TYRANNY."--FARCE OF "ST.
PATRICK'S DAY."


A few weeks previous to his marriage, Sheridan, had been entered a
student of the Middle Temple. It was not, however, to be expected that
talents like his, so sure of a quick return of fame and emolument, would
wait for the distant and dearly-earned emoluments which a life of labor
in this profession promises. Nor, indeed, did his circumstances admit of
any such patient speculation. A part of the sum which Mr. Long had
settled upon Miss Linley, and occasional assistance from her father (his
own having withdrawn all countenance from him), were now the only
resources, besides his own talents, left him. The celebrity of Mrs.
Sheridan as a singer was, it is true, a ready source of wealth; and
offers of the most advantageous kind were pressed upon them, by managers
of concerts both in town and country. But with a pride and delicacy,
which received the tribute of Dr. Johnson's praise, he rejected at once
all thoughts of allowing her to reappear in public; and, instead of
profiting by the display of his wife's talents, adopted the manlier
resolution of seeking an independence by his own. An engagement had been