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

When George III. made his tirst speech to
the houses OF Parliament. Il knew be would
do it we'll said Quin, -for l taught the
boy
VII.
In a chapter on contemporary drama
lists" our author points out that darrlok
had none Of the good fortune of Richard
Burbage in finding a series OF new and
magnificent plays awaiting his interpreta-
ton. Neither had he an Otway or a Con-
greve to write for him, as Betterton had.
Drama, in truth, was at a low ebb between
l74I, when Garrick took possession OF the
London stage, and 1877. when Goldsmith
wrote The Good Natured Man. which
Garrick, by the way, took no pains to re-
tain. Between Vanbrugh and Cibber's
Provoked Husband" Q72s) and Hoadly's
Suspicious Husband" Q74D, only one play
appeared that contained wit enough to
keep il sweet. The -Beggar's Opera"
occupied the imaginations and exercised the
ethical opinions of people for an extraordi-
nary number Of years. Originally acted
sixty.three times successively, which, in
the first half of the eighteenth century,
was considered a phenomenal run, it spread
over the British Isles, and was reacted
again and again. 1t ruined ITALIA opera;
it's leading actress became a duchess; its
lyrics we're printed on fans, its scenes on
fire screens. As late a. 1859, when Miss
Brent became the exponent OF Polly
il secured another record" OF ffty-two
nj gifts.
The most useful Of Garrick's dramatists
vas Richard Cumberland, whose best
comedy, THE West Indian has been
rather recently quoted in the Little Memoirs
of the Eighteenth Century by George Pas
ton" Cumberland, by the way. was the
original Of Sheridan's Sir Fretfut PldgidTy.
A more than commonly anemic tragedy,
THE Brothers, by DR.. Young Of the Might
Thoughts" was produced by Garrick, but
the audience gave il so cold a reception
1T was only fit TO make a n icehouse OF a
theatre'-that Young, who had promised
The three authors nights proceeds to the
Society for the Propagation Of the Gospel.
made up the expected sum Of 81 900 from
his own pocket. II Scems that Garrick's
theatre sometimes suffered through his
being Obliged to accept plays pressed upon
him by aristooratic friends. Henry Fox
and Walpole, dining with him at ola
House, talked him n reversing his de-
cision against The Orphan OF China
Then, again, Crisp's Virginia would
never have been taken had not the Countess
of Coventry, the divinest Of tho Cunning
girls, brought the manuscript to Garrick
with her own almost 4culptured hand
Our author holds that even the temporary
success Of the Rev. John Homes tragedy Of
Douglas" is-on the principle that among
the blind the one eyed is king-a proof that
in England the art Of tragedy writing was
in allegiance during most Of the eighteenth
century. Over Douglas" broad Scotland
tapped its wings, and. encouraged by
David Hume, crowed defiance to "Wully"
Shakespeare. South Of the Tweed opinions
were diversified as to the merits Of Doug
las Gray said the author had retrieved
the true language Of the stage. Goldsmith
ridiculed it. Tom Sheridan thought it per-
feet. John Sheridan called it "bosh," or
words TO that effect. Home himself bore
no malice against Garrick for rejecting
Douglas" but offered him subsequent
tragedies, which Garrick accepted.
Garrick' g own pieces need not detain us.
The four l~iveliest n most rafting are
The Lying Valet" Miss In Her Teens.
The Irish Widow" and Bon Ton" With
the exception Of his youthful work, "Lethe,"
our author would not assert hat Garriok
produced a single completely original play.
He lifted" his plots from the French or
the English; he was a clever adapter, and
with practice became a particularly adept
one. Mrs. Parsons notes, by the way, the
curious fact that in the period between
l74O and ITO French plays were more
decorous than the insUlar compositions.
There was little, h~owever,,a girl could not
take her eighteenth century mother to see
J in the pieces Garrick wrote. There is a
tradition that his press notices were among
the products Of his pen. He liked the
eighteenth century substitute for the lime
light on the stage and OF. He was syste-
matically prosecuted by a newspaper cabal
and our author deems It highly probable
that he kept the ball rolling. She deems il
a pity, however, that. writing anonymously
about himself, he did not eschew such
phrases as our stage hero" the little
fashionable actor the puppet hero His
excuse was that he used such phrases to
confirm his anonymity. The best work he
did was in his ~prologues. To the last one,
spoken at his farewell, we the familiar
quotation, "A fellow feeling makes one won
drous kind"
VIII.
R.a;daa n vova1a IN Iishon as a child Gar.