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._'

"Thou 'lay thy branch of laurel down!"
Why, what thou'st stole is not enow;
And, were it lawfully thine own,
Does Rogers want it most, or thou?
Keep to thyself thy wither'd bough,
Or send it back to Dr. Donne--
Were justice done to both, I trow,
He'd have but little, and thou--none.

2.

"'_Then thus to form Apollo's crown_.

"A crown! why, twist it how you will,
Thy chaplet must be foolscap still.
When next you visit Delphi's town,
Enquire amongst your fellow-lodgers,
They'll tell you Phoebus gave his crown,
Some years before your birth, to Rogers.

3.

"'_Let every other bring his own_.'

"When coals to Newcastle are carried,
And owls sent to Athens as wonders,
From his spouse when the * *'s unmarried,
Or Liverpool weeps o'er his blunders;
When Tories and Whigs cease to quarrel,
When C * *'s wife has an heir,
Then Rogers shall ask us for laurel,
And thou shalt have plenty to spare."

The mention which he makes of Sheridan in the note just cited affords a
fit opportunity of producing, from one of his Journals, some particulars
which he has noted down respecting this extraordinary man, for whose
talents he entertained the most unbounded admiration,--rating him, in
natural powers, far above all his great political contemporaries.

"In society I have met Sheridan frequently: he was superb! He had a sort
of liking for me, and never attacked me, at least to my face, and he did
every body else--high names, and wits, and orato