The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-28


Il IL we'll known that David Garrick born
III: died i77sl was what was technically
termed a gentleman. Those who look for
the source Of his histrionic talent may'do
well 10 mark that his grandparents on the
fathers side were Huguenots who emf
grated from France on the revocation Of
the Edict Of Nantes Twenty-one years
later their son Peter THE father Of the
actor) obtained a commission in the British
army, and died a Captain. There is no
doubt that Garrick's father and mother,
though they had TO live in a shabby genteel
way. knew everybody worth knowing in
the Episcopal society Of Lichfeld. which
could not be said for Samuel Johnson. who
was the son Of a poor bookseller. The
straitened~ condition OF the family finances
rendered it impossible TO send David Gar
rick TO the university. but he was thoroughly
oualifed to matriculate when. in 1871. the
wear OF his fathers death. he left Lichfield
IN company with johnson, who was eight
years older: Garrick to be prepared for the
bar and johnson to try his luck as an author
with the booksellers.
Garrick w IA entered as a student at
Lincoln's Inn, and worked at the law for
about a year, when, having inherited a
thousand pounds, he set up in partnership
with his brother Peter as a %vintner. The
Arm hired an Office and vaults in what was
then Durham Yard, Strand, where the
Adelphi Arches still serve for cellarage.
Only for a short time, however, did Gar
rick remain a wine merchant. He was in
the the atresin oe ssantly, andas his acquaint-
anoeship extended behind the scenes, he
soon be gan to feel that his own place was
on the stage. His vivacity made him well
come, and his marvellous gift of mimicry
created a sensation even among hardened
histrions. By l74O he had knocked to-
gether his topical skit entitled -Lethe,
which throughout his actor-manager
period wal a safe draw at Drury Lane.
Next, in 1741, under a ~pseudonym, he went
down to Suffolk with a friend, the manager
OF Goodman's Fields Theatre, and at Ip-
switch acted before a paying audience in
several pieces. On his return tc London
he boldly applied at both Of the patented
houaes, Drury lane and Covent Garden.
but az their managers had no use for his
s~ervioes he betook himself to Goodman s
Fields, a house far removed from town
In the polite sense OF the word for il was in
the heart OF the city, near Aldgate. Good
mans Fields, being unlicensed, had to de-
scribe itself on playbills as -the late thea
tre," and announce its entertainment as a
concert" in two parts, with acting be-
tween, "the acting to be performed gratis
by persons for their diversion" II was
at u q E concert" at Goodman's Fields
late theatre" on October 10, l741, by the
thinner OF candles, that Garrick made his
first real appearance on the London stage.
W N---L DILL TTT and HE ma
was immediate and overwhelming The
very next morning the Daily Post described
his reception a. "the most extraordinary
that wa ever known" Garrick's instan-
taneous triumph must indeed be regarded
as something like a miracle in the history
Of the histriOnio art, for except at Ipswich
Garrick had never played even a min or
part, and in fact had undergone no sys-
tematic training whatever. According to
his b~iographers, Murphy and Davies, who
recorded what they had heard from per-
sons who had been present on the memoir
able first night, "Garrick transformed
himself into the very man. All was rage
fury; almost reality And again: Gar
rick's look and action when he pronounced
the words lCibber's, OF course, not Shake.
speare'sl on with his head So much for
Buckin Rhaml' were so significant, from hil
visible enjoyment OF the incident, that loud
shouts OF appreciation proclaimed the tri-
umph of the actor" According to his fer
vid admirer, the Rev. Thomas Newton
ultimately Bishop of Bristol, Garrick's
strong points in the play were the scene
with Lady Anne and that in which RichdrC
'lies on the couch" We are told that the
moment at which Garrick clin h the
applause and gave the audience ~assuranc q
of his originality was when he flung away
the polite prayer book after dismissin Z
la Tartuffe the Mayor and Aldermen.
Our author recognizes that to-day Thu
would probably be called usual business,
but she reminds us that Garrick originated
three out Of four Of the suggestions foI
Shakespearian usual business" and tina.
his action was to the traditional imitation
Of il wha a proof before letters is to a worn
out print. II seems that so planetstrucl
was his audience that just at first the,
we're at a loss whether to clap or hiss. VIVA
renders, indeed, Garrick's inatshtaneou
success astonishing is the fact that. in tn,
matter Of stage traditions. he was an icono
cLast. He created a revolution in taste
He looked with freSA. keen eyer at curren
formula and decided upon a return Il
nature. The ancient lights Of the theatr
were furious in opposition. During tn,
interval between Betterton's period anC
Garrick's the art Of acting had reached il
furthest remove from reality on the EnglisI
stage. Tragedy actors had ceased to i'm
p~ersonate, they only strutted and bel
lowed. They were as conventional il
gesture as though they were hidden benin,
masks and mounted on cothurni. Eve
the best among them. James Quin. accom-
PANIED his singsong by action that re
ssmbled -the heaving OF ballast into tn
hold Of a ship" No wonder that Quin
when be heard Of young Garrick's method,