The destruction of Drury Lane was rendered yet more tragic by the conditions under which the news of such a startling disaster reached those who were most affected by it. "On the 24th of February," Michael Kelly relates, "Mr Richard Wilson gave a dinner to the principal actors and officers of Drury Lane Theatre, at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. All was mirth and glee; it was about 11 o'clock when Mr Wilson rose and drank 'Prosperity and Success to Drury Lane Theatre.' We filled a bumper to the toast; and at the very moment when we were raising the glasses to our lips, repeating '_Success to Drury Lane Theatre_' in rushed the younger Miss Wilson and screamed out, '_Drury Lane Theatre is in flames!_' We ran into the Square and saw the dreadful sight. The fire raged with such fury that it perfectly illuminated Lincoln's Inn Fields with the brightness of day. We proceeded to the scene of destruction. Messrs Peake and Dunn, the Treasurers, dashed up the stairs, at the hazard of their lives, to the iron Chest in which papers of the greatest consequence were deposited. With the aid of two intrepid firemen they succeeded in getting the Chest into the street--little else was saved. "I had not only the poignant grief of beholding the magnificent structure burning with merciless fury, but of knowing that all the scores of operas which I had composed for the Theatre, the labour of years, were then consuming. It was an appalling sight! And, with a heavy heart I walked home to Pall Mall. At the door I found my servant waiting for me, who told me that two gentlemen had just called, and, finding I was not at home had said, 'Tell your master when he comes home, that Drury Lane is now in flames, and that the Opera House shall go next.' I made every effort to trace these obliging personages, but never heard anything more of them. "Mr Sheridan was in the House of Commons when the dreadful event was made known, and the Debate was one in which he was taking a prominent part. In compliment to his feelings, it was moved that the House should adjourn. "Mr Sheridan said that he gratefully appreciated such a mark of attention, but he would not allow an adjournment, for 'Public duty ought to precede all private interest,' and with Roman fortitude he remained at his post while his Play House was burning." [14] Sheridan, indeed, in the midst of such a misfortune, showed a nobility and disinterestedness which did him infinite credit. Forgetful of self, he begged the whole Theatrical Company to stand by each other, even at personal loss, till the Theatre could be rebuilt, pointing out that while the superior actors would have little difficulty in getting other engagements, the inferior ones were in far other case. "Let us," he urged, "make the general good our sole consideration. Elect yourselves into a Committee and keep in remembrance even the poor sweepers of the stage, who, with their children, must starve if not protected by your fostering care."