He
settled a moiety of three thousand pounds on the bride. Her father
retained half of this as compensation for the loss of the services of
his daughter. On the balance, the youthful couple lived. Sheridan had
entered himself a student of the Middle Temple shortly before his
marriage. Though their income was small, he would not allow his wife
to accept several proffered professional engagements; he did not wish
his helpmeet to become a servant of the public. This action incited
some discussion, and much acrimonious comment, in her family and among
their friends. Johnson upheld his course. Sheridan, in this instance,
understood himself and understood the times. He knew of the flippant
attitude of the young blades of the town toward all public performers;
so he sought to save her, who was so sacred to him, from such insult,
insincere adulation, and insinuation as she had heretofore suffered
from. They retired to a cottage at East Burnham; and there she, who
had received the plaudits of the public as a vocalist, won as noble a
name in the character of the ideal wife, one in whom were united all
the attributes of loveliness,--temper, manners, virtues, and
surpassing beauty. What the then public lost, later generations have
gained in the picture of that lovable woman, making a golden age of
happiness for her greatly-gifted husband in the little cottage at East
Burnham.
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