"_But after SHERIDAN had risen to a commanding position in the gay life
of London, he rather disliked to be known as a playwright or a poet,
and preferred to be regarded as a statesman and a man of fashion who
'set the pace' in all pastimes of the opulent and idle. Yet, whatever
he really thought of his own writings, and whether or not he did them,
as Stevenson used to say, 'just for fun,' the fact remains that he was
easily the most distinguished and brilliant dramatist of an age which
produced in SHERIDAN'S solemn vagaries one of its most characteristic
products._"
Look on this form,--where humor, quaint and sly,
Dimples the cheek, and points the beaming eye;
Where gay invention seems to boast its wiles
In amorous hint, and half-triumphant smiles.
Look on her well--does she seem form'd to teach?
Should you expect to hear this lady preach?
Is gray experience suited to her youth?
Do solemn sentiments become that mouth?
Bid her be grave, those lips should rebel prove
To every theme that slanders mirth or love.
RICHARD BRINSLEY SHERIDAN.--_Second Prologue to The Rivals_.