On the 13th of July, 1816, occurred the funeral of Richard Brinsley
Sheridan. Many noblemen were present to pay a tribute to his
extraordinary talents.
What a strange contrast! For some weeks before his death he was
nearly destitute of the means of subsistence. Executions for
debt were in the house; he passed his last days in the custody
of sheriff’s officers who abstained from conveying him to prison
merely because they were assured that to remove him would cause
his immediate death! And now, when dead, a crowd of persons, the
first in rank and station and opulence, were eager to attend
him to his grave.... His death had been rapidly accelerated by
grief, disappointment, and a deep sense of the neglect he had
experienced.
(2182)
=Neglect Overcome=--See RANK, OBSEQUIOUSNESS TO.