THOMAS, D. D. the intimate friend of Dean Swift, is said by Shield, in Cibber's "Lives of the Poets," to have been born about 1684, in the county of Cavan, where, according to the same authority, his parents lived in no very elevated state. They are described as being unable to afford their son the advantages of a liberal education; but he, being observed to give early indications of genius, attracted the notice of a friend to his family, who sent him to the college of Dublin, and contributed towards his support while he remained there. He afterwards entered into orders, and set up a school in Dublin, which long maintained a very high degree of reputation, as well for the attention bestowed on the morals of the scholars as for their proficiency in literature. So great was the estimation in which this seminary was held, that it is asserted to Sheridan have produced in some years the sum of 1000l. It does not appear that he had any considerable preference; but his intimacy with Swift, in 1725, procured for him a living in the south of Ireland worth about 150l. a-year, which he went to take possession of, and, by an act of inadvertence, destroyed all his future expectations of rising in the church; for being at Corke on the 1st of August, the anniversary of King George's birth-day, he preached a sermon, which had for its text, "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof." On this being known, he was struck out of the list of chaplains to the lord lieutenant, and forbidden the castle.

This living Dr Sheridan afterwards changed for that of Dunboyne, which, by the knavery of the farmers, and power of the gentlemen in the neighbourhood, fell to low as 80l. per annum. He gave it up for the free school of Cavan, where he might have lived well in so cheap a country on 80l. a-year salary, besides his scholars; but the air being, as he said, too moist and unwholesome, and being disgusted with some persons who lived there, he sold the school for about 400l.; and having soon spent the money, he fell into bad health, and died Sept. 10, 1738, in his 55th year.

Lord Corke has given the following character of him: "Dr Sheridan was a school master, and in many instances perfectly well adapted for that station. He was deeply versed in the Greek and Roman languages, and in their customs and antiquities. He had that kind of good nature which absence of mind, indolence of body, and carelessness of fortune, produce; and although not over strict in his own conduct, yet he took care of the morality of his scholars, whom he sent to the university remarkably well founded in all kinds of classical learning, and not ill instructed in the social duties of life. He was flowery, indigent, and cheerful. He knew books much better than men; and he knew the value of money least of all. In this situation, and with this disposition, Swift fastened upon him as upon a prey with which he intended to regale himself whenever his appetite should prompt him." His Lordship then mentions the event of the unlucky sermon, and adds, "This ill-starred, good-natured, improvident man, returned to Dublin, unhinged from all favour at court, and even banished from the castle. But still he remained a punster, a quibbler, a fiddler, and a wit. Not a day passed without a rebus, an anagram, or a madrigal. His pen and his fiddleflick were in continual motion; and yet to little or no purpose, if we may give credit to the following verses, which shall serve as the conclusion of his poetical character:

"With music and poetry equally blest'd, "A bard thus Apollo most humbly address'd; "Great author of poetry, music, and light, "Instruc'd by thee, I both fiddle and write; "Yet unheeded I scrape, or I scrabble all day, "My tunes are neglected, my verse flung away. "Thy substitute here, Vice-Apollo, disdains "To vouch for my numbers, or lift to my strains. "Thy manual sign he refuses to put "To the airs I produce from the pen or the gut: "Be thou then propitious, great Phoebus, and grant "Relief, or reward, to my merit or want.

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Tho' "Tho' the Dean and Delany transcendently thine, 'O! brighten one solo or fomnet of mine: 'Make one work immortal,' 'tis all I request. 'Apollo look'd pleas'd, and resolving to jeft, 'Replied—Honest friend, I've confider'd your cafe, 'Nor dislike your unmeaning and innocent face. 'Your petition I grant, the boon is not great, 'Your works shall continue, and here's the receipt: 'On rondeaus hereafter your fiddle strings spend, 'Write verses in circles, they never shall end."

"One of the volumes of Swift's miscellanies consists almost entirely of letters between him and the Dean. He published a prose translation of Persius; to which he added the best notes of former editors, together with many judicious ones of his own. This work was printed at London, 1739, in 12mo. Biog. Dict.

Sheridan, Mrs Frances, wife of Thomas Sheridan, M. A. was born in Ireland about the year 1724, but descended from a good English family which had removed thither. Her maiden name was Chamberlaine, and she was grand-daughter of Sir Oliver Chamberlaine. The first literary performance by which she distinguished herself was a little pamphlet at the time of a violent party-dispute relative to the theatre, in which Mr Sheridan had newly embarked his fortune. So well-timed a work exciting the attention of Mr Sheridan, he by an accident discovered his fair patroness, to whom he was soon afterwards married. She was a person of the most amiable character in every relation of life, with the most engaging manners. After lingering some years in a very weak state of health, she died at Blois, in the south of France, in the year 1767. Her "Sydney Biddulph" may be ranked with the first productions of that class in ours or in any other language. She also wrote a little romance in one volume called Nourijahad, in which there is a great deal of imagination productive of an admirable moral. And she was the authoress of two comedies, "The Discovery" and "The Dupe."