Sheridan then went upstairs, and was formally introduced to the members by Fox, being welcomed in the most flattering manner.
The Prince, however, was left in a very awkward position, for, not having paid much attention to the nonsensical story told by Sheridan to Selwyn, he found himself all at sea. After floundering about for some time, he at last burst out with: “To tell you the truth, I know as little about this infernal story which Sherry has left me to finish as an unborn child; but never mind, Selwyn, let’s go upstairs, and I dare say Fox, or some of them, will be able to tell you all about it.”
Accordingly the couple proceeded to the club-room, where the puzzled Selwyn soon had his eyes completely opened to the whole manœuvre, when, on his entrance, Sheridan, rising, made him a low bow, and thus addressed him:
“’Pon my honour, Mr. Selwyn, I beg pardon for being absent so long; but the fact is, I happened to drop into devilish good company. They have just been making me a member without even one black ball, and here I am.”
“The devil they have!” exclaimed Selwyn.
“Facts speak for themselves,” replied Sheridan; “and as I know you are very glad of my election, accept my grateful thanks” (pressing his hand on his breast and bowing very low) “for your friendly suffrage. And now, if you will sit down by me, I’ll finish my story, for I dare say His Royal Highness has found considerable difficulty in doing so.”
At first Selwyn was extremely wroth at the trick which had been played upon him, but before the evening was out he shook hands with Sheridan and welcomed him to the club.
Unfortunately for the reliability of this story, the records of Brooks’s show conclusively that, so far as the Prince and Lord Bessborough are concerned, it is without foundation. Sheridan was returned for Stafford, September 12, 1780. Mr. Fitzpatrick proposed him at Brooks’s on October 12 in the same year, and he was elected on November 2; but Lord Bessborough did not become a member till 1782, nor was the Prince of Wales one till 1783.
Many of Sheridan’s bons mots were recounted in the club years after his death. During a conversation one day about Lord Henry Petty’s projected tax upon iron, one member said that, as there was so much opposition to it, it would be better to raise the proposed sum upon coals. “Hold, my dear fellow!” said Sheridan; “that would be out of the frying-pan into the fire with a vengeance.”
On another occasion, Sheridan, having been told that Mr. Gifford, the Editor of the Quarterly Review, had boasted of the power of conferring and distributing literary reputation, said: “Yes, and in the present instance I think he has done it so profusely as to have left none for himself.”