or ETHERIDGE, SIR GEORGE, a wit and comic genius in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., was descended from an ancient family in Oxfordshire, and born in 1636. He travelled in his youth; and, not being able to confine himself to the study of the law, devoted himself to the acquisition of lighter and gayer accomplishments. His first dramatic performance, entitled Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub, appeared in 1664, and introduced him to the leading wits of the time; in 1668 he produced a comedy called She would if she could; and in 1676 he published his last comedy, called the Man of Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter, which is certainly an elegant comedy, and contains much of the real manners of high life. This piece he dedicated to the Duchess of York, in whose service he then was, and who entertained so great a regard for him, that when, on the accession of James II., she became queen, she procured his being sent as ambassador first to Hamburg and afterwards to Ratisbon, where he continued until his majesty had quitted the kingdom. Our author being addicted to certain gay extravagances, had greatly impaired his fortune, in order to repair which, he paid his addresses to a rich widow; but the lady being ambitious, had determined not to condescend to a marriage with any man who could not bestow upon her a title; and on this account he was obliged to purchase a knighthood. None of our writers has exactly fixed the period of Sir George's death, though all seem to place it not long after the Revolution. Some say that on this event he followed his master King James into France, and died there; but the authors of the Biographia Britannica mention a report that he came to an untimely death by an unlucky accident at Ratisbon. Having entertained some company at his house, where he had taken his glass rather too freely, and being, through his great complaisance, forward in waiting on his guests at their departure, he is said to have tumbled down stairs, broken his neck, and thus fallen a martyr to mirth and jollity. As to the literary character of Etheridge, he seems to have possessed a genius the vivacity of which required little cultivation; for we have no proofs of his having made any attainments in scholarship. His works, however, have not escaped censure on account of that licentiousness which pervades and renders them dangerous to young unsophisticated minds; and the more so on account of the lively wit with which it is as it were gilded or lacquered. The only prose production of Etheridge is a short piece entitled An Account of the Rejoicing at the Diet of Ratisbonne, performed by Sir George Etheredge, Knight, residing there from his Majesty of Great Britain; upon occasion of the birth of the Prince of Wales. In a Letter from himself. Printed at the Savoy, 1688.