-
Articles/Ads
Article THE LIFE OF DAVID GARRICK, ESQ. ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of David Garrick, Esq.
TO THE REVEREND MR . COLSON . DIAR sin , Litcbftli , Marzb 2 , 1737 . ' I HAD the favour of yours , and am extremely obliged to jrou ; but I cannot say- , I had a greater affection for you upon it than I had before , being long since" so much endeared to you , as well by an early friendshias byour many excellent and valuable
qualificap , y tions ; and , had I a son of my own , it would be my ambition , instead of sending him to the university , to dispose of him as this young gentleman is . He , and another neig hbour of mine , one Mr . Samuel Johnson , set out this morning together for London . Davy Garrickis to be be with you early next week , and Mr . Johnson to try his fate with a tragedy , and " to see to get himself employed in some
translation , either from the Latin or the French . Johnson is a very good scholar and poet , and , I have great hopes , will turn out a fine tragedyrwriter . If it should any way lie in your way , I doubt not but you would be ready to recommend and assist your countryman . . G . IVALMSLEYJ How long he continued in Mr . Colson ' s academy is unknownbut
, it is ; not likely that the mathematics and natural philosophy could have charms to entertain a mind like his . He afterwards entered himself of Lincoln ' s Inn ; but the law was soon abandoned for more pleasing pursuits . Having a legacy of one . thousand pounds left him by his uncle at Lisbon , he engaged for a short time in the wine-trade , in partnership with his brother , Peter
Garrick : they hired vaults in Durham-yard , for the purpose of carrying on the business ; but the union between the two brothers did not last long . Peter was calm , sedate , and methodical . David was gay , volatile , impetuous , and perhaps not so confined to regularity as his partner could have wished . The partnership , therefore , was soon dissolved . He now turned his attention seriously to the stage as an
employment . He frequented the company of the most eminent actors , he got himself introduced to the managers of the theatres , and tried his talent in the recitation of some particular and favourite portions of plays . Now and then he indulged himself in the practice of mi-: mickry , a talent which , however inferior , is never willingly resigned bhim who excels in it . Sometimes he wrote criticisms upon the
y action and elocution of the players , and published them in the prints . These sudden effusions of his mind generally comprehended judicious observations and shrewd remarks , unmixed with that illiberality which often disgraces the instructions of modern stage critics . Diffidence withheld him from trying his strength at first on the London stage ; he therefore engaged with a company of players at
Ipswich , of which Me-ssrs . Giffard and Dunstall were managers , in the Summer of J 741 . His first theatrical effort was Aboaft in the tragedy of Oroonoko . Under the disguise of a black countenance , he hoped to escape being
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Life Of David Garrick, Esq.
TO THE REVEREND MR . COLSON . DIAR sin , Litcbftli , Marzb 2 , 1737 . ' I HAD the favour of yours , and am extremely obliged to jrou ; but I cannot say- , I had a greater affection for you upon it than I had before , being long since" so much endeared to you , as well by an early friendshias byour many excellent and valuable
qualificap , y tions ; and , had I a son of my own , it would be my ambition , instead of sending him to the university , to dispose of him as this young gentleman is . He , and another neig hbour of mine , one Mr . Samuel Johnson , set out this morning together for London . Davy Garrickis to be be with you early next week , and Mr . Johnson to try his fate with a tragedy , and " to see to get himself employed in some
translation , either from the Latin or the French . Johnson is a very good scholar and poet , and , I have great hopes , will turn out a fine tragedyrwriter . If it should any way lie in your way , I doubt not but you would be ready to recommend and assist your countryman . . G . IVALMSLEYJ How long he continued in Mr . Colson ' s academy is unknownbut
, it is ; not likely that the mathematics and natural philosophy could have charms to entertain a mind like his . He afterwards entered himself of Lincoln ' s Inn ; but the law was soon abandoned for more pleasing pursuits . Having a legacy of one . thousand pounds left him by his uncle at Lisbon , he engaged for a short time in the wine-trade , in partnership with his brother , Peter
Garrick : they hired vaults in Durham-yard , for the purpose of carrying on the business ; but the union between the two brothers did not last long . Peter was calm , sedate , and methodical . David was gay , volatile , impetuous , and perhaps not so confined to regularity as his partner could have wished . The partnership , therefore , was soon dissolved . He now turned his attention seriously to the stage as an
employment . He frequented the company of the most eminent actors , he got himself introduced to the managers of the theatres , and tried his talent in the recitation of some particular and favourite portions of plays . Now and then he indulged himself in the practice of mi-: mickry , a talent which , however inferior , is never willingly resigned bhim who excels in it . Sometimes he wrote criticisms upon the
y action and elocution of the players , and published them in the prints . These sudden effusions of his mind generally comprehended judicious observations and shrewd remarks , unmixed with that illiberality which often disgraces the instructions of modern stage critics . Diffidence withheld him from trying his strength at first on the London stage ; he therefore engaged with a company of players at
Ipswich , of which Me-ssrs . Giffard and Dunstall were managers , in the Summer of J 741 . His first theatrical effort was Aboaft in the tragedy of Oroonoko . Under the disguise of a black countenance , he hoped to escape being