DAVID GARRICK 846 which his genius so powerfully prompted him. He had ,£1,000 left him by his- uncle at Lisbon, and he engaged for a short time in the wine trade, in partner- ship with his brother, Mr. Peter Garrick ; they hired vaults in Durham Yard, for the purpose of carrying on the business. The union between the brothers was of no long date. Peter was ^alm, sedate, and methodical ; David was gay, vola- tile, impetuous, and perhaps not so confined to regularity as his partner could have wished. To prevent the continuance of fruitless and daily altercation, by the interposition of friends the partnership was amicably dissolved. And now Garrick prepared himself in earnest for that employment which he so ardently loved, and in which nature designed he should eminently excel. He was frequently in the company of the most eminent actors ; he got him- self introduced to the managers of the theatres, and tried his talent in the recita- tion of some particular and favorite portions of plays. Now and then he in- dulged himself in the practice of mimicry, a talent which, however inferior, is never willingly resigned by him who excels in it. Sometimes he wrote criticisms upon the action and elocution of the players, and published them in the prints. These sudden effusions of his mind generally comprehended judicious observa- tions and shrewd remarks, unmixed with that illiberality which often disgraces the instructions of stage critics. Garrick's diffidence withheld hirn from trying his strength at first upon a London theatre. He thought the hazard was too great, and embraced the ad- vantage of commencing his noviciate in acting with a company of players then ready to set out for Ipswich, under the direction of Mr. William Gifford and Mr. Dunstall, in the summer of 1741. The first effort of his theatrical talents was exerted as Aboan, in the play of "' Oroonoko," a part in which his features could not be easily discerned. Under the disguise of a black countenance, he hoped to escape being known, should it be his misfortune not to please. Though Aboan is not a first-rate character, yet the scenes of pathetic persuasion and affecting distress in which that character is involved, will always command the attention of the audience when represented by a judicious actor. Our young player's applause was equal to his most san- guine desires. Under the assumed name of Lyddal, he not only acted a variety of characters in plays, particularly Chamont, in the " Orphan ; " Captain Brazen, in the " Recruiting Officer ;" and Sir Harry Wildair ; but he likewise gave such delight to the audience, that they gratified him vvfth constant and loud proofs of their approbation. The town of Ipswich will long boast of having first seen and encouraged so great a genius as Garrick. His first appearance as an actor in London, was on October 19, 1 741, when he performed the part of Richard III., at the playhouse in Goodman's Fields. His easy and familiar, yet forcible, style in speaking and acting, at first threw the critics into some hesitation concerning the novelty, as well as propriety, of his manner. They had been long accustomed to an elevation of the voice, with a sudden mechanical depression of its tones, calculated to excite admiration, and to intrap applause. To the just modulation of the words, and concurring
