xt7hmg7frf9j https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7hmg7frf9j/data/mets.xml Garrick, David, 1717-1779. 1907  books b92-169-30117021 English Houghton, Mifflin, : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Baker, George Pierce, 1866-1935. Some unpublished correspondence of David Garrick  / edited by George Pierce Baker. text Some unpublished correspondence of David Garrick  / edited by George Pierce Baker. 1907 2002 true xt7hmg7frf9j section xt7hmg7frf9j 

 
 





SOME UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE



OF



DAV ID



GARRICK



          EDITED BY

    GEORGE PIERCE BAKER
PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY

      WITH ILLUSTRATIONS



         BOSTON
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN AND COMPANY



1907

 


































COPYRIGHT I907 BY HOUGIITON MIFFLIN  CO.

          ALL RIGHTS RESERVED




THIS EDITION CONSISTS OF 430 COPIES OF WHICH

              THIS IS NO. /  




PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS CAMBRIDGE

                MDCCCCVII

 




















             TO

       J. H. LEIGH

     WHOSE GENEROSITY

 MAKES I1 POSSIBLE TO SHARE

THESE LETTERS WITH THE PUBLIC

      WHOSE COURTESY

HAS HEIGHTENED THE PLEASURE

      OF EDITING THEM

  THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY

         DEDICATED

 This page in the original text is blank.

 









PREFACE



IN June, 1899, a collection of some sixty-six letters and
MSS. of David Garrick was oftc2red for sale at Sotheby' 
,iuction Rooms, London. The material had been collected
by William JJright, a racing-man, who, having the fad
(,f extra-illustrating, had gatheredfor that purpose this col-
lection and many other letters, some of them not concerning
Garrick. Nearly all the letters and JlSS. of the set, and a
number of others by Garrick offered at the same time, were
bought by Mr. J. H. Leigh, owner of a rich collection of
theatrical portraits and memorabilia. Originally it was his
intention to use his purchases for extra-illustrating, but as
soon as their unusual value became apparent, he decided to
keep the letters and MlISS. together, and, when urged to
print them, very courteously put the collection at the dis-
posal of the editor for such publication as he should thinA-
best. The letters interestingly fill gaps in Boaden's huge
and inept PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE OF DAVID GARRICK,
make important corrections in the biographies of Garrick,
and throw much light on the man himself. In this book
some forty letters and MSS. are printed, all except two fiw
the first time. Only parts of these two have before been re-
produced. Of the remaining letters and MISS. in the Col-
lection, but not here reprinted, two letters have already been
printed by Boaden, and two bits of verse are already

 





viii                 PREFACE
known; one letter concerns Garrick only indirectly, and
the rest of the letters deal with unimportant business or
social details.
   Because eighteenth century taste was coarser and its
speech franker than our taste and speech to-day, afew lines
have been omitted. Ao attempt has been made to reproduce
blots and erasures: otherwise the MSS. are duplicated as
closely as the types permit. However, it is by no means
always possible to be sure of Garrick's intended capitaliza-
tion, punctuation, or meaning in the case of inadvertent
omissions, for, as he often said, he wrote "always in a
hurry. "
   The illustrations in this book are reproduced by per-
Mission of J. H. Leigh, Esq., the Fellows of the Royal
C'ollege of Physicians, and the authorities of the Harvard
(ollege Library. For this generous co-operation the editor
expresses his hearty thanks.
   The editor will welcome information in regard to rare
prints of Garrick and his friends and unpublished letters to
orfrom him now in private collections.


 














ILLUSTRATIONS



DAVID GARRICK



FRONTISPIECE



       From a mezzotint of a cast of Garrick's face.
       Scratched on the lower margin of the plate are the
                            th
       words: 'Publis'd, April 4, 1779 by R. E. Pine.'


GARRICK AS RICHARD III                               PAGE 4
       From the original painting owned by J. H. Leigh,
       Esq. On the picture is the following inscription in
       red: 'Bardwell made this original in ye ist year of
       David's Reign.'



8



GARRICK AS LoRD CHALKSTONE IN HIS FARCE,' LETHE'
       Engraved by Gabriel Smith. The lower part of the
       print, divided into three parts by vertical dotted lines,
       contains these verses:


           Well done old Boy! -pshaw, damn the Gout!
              The Chalkstones never fail;
           Thy Spirits, tho' thy Limbs give out,
              Are brisk as bottled Ale.

                             2
           Claret the languid Nerves renews;
              Champagne excites Desire;
          The Glass a pretty Girl can chuse;
              What more can Lord require

                             3
           Let Grave ones preach up temp'rate Rules;
              They're Nonsense to the Great:
           Such sober Maxims suit the Fools
              Who're born to no Estate.

 








x                 ILLUSTRATIONS

                              4
            To save the Land, or Arts restore,
               There Life let others waste[;]
            Who cannot Game, and Drink, and Whore,
               Is not a Peer of Taste.

                             5
           Chalkstone! thy Rank thou truly know'st
               The Nobleman I see!
           And, Heav'n be prais'd! our Isle can boast,
               Of many a Lord like Thee.

YOUNG MRS. GARRICK         .      .     .     .    PAGE 12
        'From the Original Picture by Cath. Reid, [once] in
        the possession of S. Edwards, Esq!' The Collection
        of Garrick Prints in the Harvard College Library
        contains this engraving in both the first and the sec-
        ond state. The first state, copied in this book, bears
        the statement: ' London Published June 4.th 1802 by
        AnthY. Molteno, Printseller to Her Royal Highness
        the Duchess of York, No 29, Pall Mall.' The second
        omits this but adds just below the picture: 'Engraved
        by W. P. Sherlock.'

PORTIONS OF THE MARRIAGE AGREEMENT            .      .  16
       From the original in the possession of J. H. Leigh,
       Esq.

MLLE VIOLETTE IN FANCY COSTUME          .     .      .  20
       From the painting in the Collection at the Shake-
       speare Memorial, Stratford-on-Avon. By permission
       of the Memorial Association.


GARRICK IN THE FIRST YEARS OF HIS SUCCESS     .      .  24
       This print is marked: ' Ar. Pond pinx. I. Wood
       Sculp. Publish'd by I. Wood ApI 29th I745. price is'

 







                  ILLUSTRATIONS                        xi

FACSIMILE OF THE PROPORTIONS OF GARRICK AND
       QUINN                   .                PAGE S0
       By Hogarth. 'From the Original in the Collection
       of J. P. Kemble Esqj Published by Longmans,
       Hurst, Rees,  Orme, Nov! 1st i8o8. T. Cook, sc.'
       This print may be found in the ' Graphic Works of
       Wm Hogarth,' and in the 'Whole Works of Wm
       Hogarth.'

GARRICK AS RANGER IN HOADLEY'S 'THE SUSPICIOUS
       HUSBAND'    .      .     .     .     .     .   36
       This print is inscribed: ' T. Worlidge delin T.
       Lodge sculp Publishd according to Act of Parliament
       by M. A'

GARRICK As TANCRED IN JAMES THOMSON'S 'TAN-
       CRED AND SIGISMUNDA,' ACT I, SC. 4   .     .   40
       On the print of this in the Collection of Garrick
       Prints in the Harvard College Library is written in
       pencil, ' T. Worlidge 1752.'

GARRICK IN 1751     .     .     .     .     .      .  46
       This print bears the statement 'Loitard [Jean
       Etienne Liotard] Pinxt J. M[ac]Ardell Fecit. David
       Garrick, Esqr Done from the Original Picture
       Painted at Paris London, Printed for Robt Sayer
       Map  Printseller N 53 Fleet St.'

GARRICK AND HIS WIFE      .     .     .     .      .  50
       'W. Hogarth, Pinxt H. Bourne, Sculp! Garrick and
       His Wife From the Picture in the Royal Collection
       Publishers: P.  D. Colnaghi  Co.'

GARRICK AS SR JOHN BRUTE IN VANBRUGH'S 'THE
       PROVOKED WIFE,' ACT IV, SC. 1        .      .  56
       This mezzotint (I768) is by Finlayson after the paint-
       ing (1765) by Zoffany. From the collection of J. H.
       Leigh, Esq.

 








xii               ILLUSTRATIONS

DR. CADOGAN          .      .     .      .      .   PAGE 64
        From a portrait by R. E. Pine by kind permission of
        the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians.

THE HANDWRITING OF GARRICK AND OF HIS WIFE            .   70
        From the originals in the possession of J. H. Leigh,
        Esq.

GARRICK circa 1760.         .     .      .                74
        'Thos Hudson pinxt Chas Spooner fecit. David Gar-
        rick Esqr Printed for Robt Sayer, at the Golden Buck
        in Fleet St.' The Collection of Garrick Prints in the
        Harvard College Library shows this in three states.
        The first is reproduced in this book. The second and
        third use blacker and larger script for the legend,
        and have only 'Thos Hudson pinxt' at centre just
        below picture. Below the name they have, ' London
        printed for John Bowles  Son at the Block House in
        Cornhill,' for the second state, and for the third state,
        'London printed for John Bowles at N 13 in Corn-
        hill.'

HENRI LOUIS LE KAIN         .     .      .      .     .   80
       The print in the Galerie Frangaise (I823) vol. III
       bears these words: ' Le Kain d'apres un email point
       d'apres nature, communique par M. le Kain fils. H.
       Grendon. Litta de Dumanne.'

GARRICK AS RICHARD III WITH NORFOLK, ACT V,

       SC.3   .      .            .     .      .      .  88
       Painted by Zoffany. From the original painting in
       the possession of J. H. Leigh, Esq.

FACIAL EXPRESSION OF GARRICK IN 'ROMEO'         .     .   96
       From an unsigned print in the Collection of Garrick
       Prints in the Harvard College Library.

 







                   ILLUSTRATIONS                         Xiii

'D. GARRICK, ACTEUR ANGLOIS'           .      .   PAGE 106
        ' C. N. Cochin filius delin. C. N. Cochin et N. Du-
        puis Sculpserunt.' Engraved circa 1767.

DAVID GARRICK                 .     .      .         .  112
       From the original in the possession of J. H. Leigh,
       Esq. This portrait is attributed to Sir Nathaniel Dance
       Holland. Its peculiar pose is, however, explained by
       the so-called Gainsborough portrait of Garrick of
       which there is an etching as frontispiece of Joseph
       Knight's David Garrick. The portraits seem nearly
       identical and the so-called Gainsborough shows that
       the tipping of the figure to the right is because Gar-
       rick is resting his right elbow on his knee.

GARRICK AS LEON IN 'RULE A WIFE AND HAVE A
       WIFE        .      .      .     .      .     .   122
       ' R. Rushbrooke Esqr del Pollard and Jukes sculp.'
       at left and right of ovals. Each print bears the words:
       'London: Publish'd March 30th 1786 by J. Cary
       Map and Print-seller, corner of Arundel Street.' The
       right hand picture adds ' Strand' at the end, omits
       the hyphen in 'Print-seller,' and places the 'th'
       above ' 30.'
GARRICK AS KING LEAR, ACT III, SC. 5          .      .  128
       'Done from the original Picture Chas Spooner fecit
       Printed for Robt Sayer at the Golden Buck in Fleet
       Street. Publish'd according to Act of Parliamt 176i.'
       The original picture was painted by B. Wilson.

GARRICK LATE IN LIFE      .      .      .     .      .  134
       This print is in two states in the Collection of Gar-
       rick Prints. The first has: 'T. Gainsborough pinxt
       J. Collyer sculpt David Garrick Esqr Published by
       G. Kearsly, N'46 Fleet Street. i Novy I776.' The sec-
       ond places the following between the names of painter
       and engraver: ' Publish'd as the Act directs, i March
       I779, by Fielding  Walker, N 20 Pater-noster Row.'

 









xi-              ILLUSTRATIONS

    MRs. GARRICK AT 97          .     .          PAGE 138
       The print bears the inscription: 'Mrs Garrick.
       (taken Sept. 1820. Etat 97.) To His Royal Highness
       Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, K.G.
       c. c. c. c. This Plate is (with Permission)
       most respectfully inscribed. By His Royal Highnesses
       most dutiful, obliged  obedient Humble Servant,
       J. R. Cruikshank Published as the Act directs for the
       Proprietor by Messrs Colnaghi  Co Cockspur St Oct.
       1822.'

 

















THE MAN AND HIS FRIENDS

 This page in the original text is blank.


 






SOME UNPUBLISHED CORRESPONDENCE
             OF DAVID GARRICK

                        I

            The Man and his Friends

 rrHAT young man never had his equal, and never
 1   will," cried critical Alexander Pope on first seeing
 David Garrick act. Certainly the success of this young
 man of twenty-five was phenomenal. When he had had
 no more experience of the stage than one or two half-
 surreptitious London performances and a brief summer
 season at Ipswvich, he made his London debut at Good-
 man's Fields Theatre, hitherto unsuccessful and three
 or four miles from the fashionable centre of the town.
 How could he hope that his acting should at once set
 the town astir Yet that is what his Richard III, first
 acted October 19, 1741, did. His insight, honest meth-
 ods, his humor, his power - in a word his genius -
 were more and more steadily acclaimed as the season
 advanced. His second year of acting found him at
 Drury Lane, a favorite of the best, intellectually and
 socially, in London. By the autumn of 1747 he had
 become one of the managers of Drury Lane; by 1752,
 when he first crossed to the Continent for a vacation,
he had become personally known to the artistic world
of Paris. In brief, from 1741 till his death in January,

 





LETTERS OF



1779, honored and even sincerely mourned, he was one
of the foremost figures of his time.
   He was, too, one of the busiest, for not only must he
act his many parts each season, -sometimes as many
as a hundred, -watch over the business interests of
Drury Lane, train young actors and actresses, sit for
innumerable portraits, thread his way through a maze
of social obligations, and read the piles of MS. plays
submitted to him, but he chose to tinker many of these
plays as well as to write plays of his own, and to turn
out much occasional verse, -not merely prologues and
epilogues, but epigrams and congratulatory or contro-
versial stanzas. In addition, in those days when each
man wrote his own letters, he was a voluminous corre-
spondent. In the Victoria and Albert Museum is a col-
lection of some twenty-two hundred letters to and from
Garrick, and these can be but a part of his correspond-
ence, for poor indeed is the collection of autographs
which has not something of his.
  So varied were his powers, so mercurial was his
temperament that he has been a difficult subject for
his biographers, and the portrait of him acceptable to
a critical yet sympathetic student of his time remains
to be drawn. One of his biographers, Joseph Knight,
says of him in closing his Life, "A curiously complex,
interesting and diversified character is that of Garrick.
Fully to bring it before the world might have taxed
his own powers of exposition." Naturally, as a result



2

 





DAVID GARRICK



of this complexity, many in his own day and since
have failed to understand him; naturally, too, his great
success made him intense enemies. Consequently he
was not only directly vilified, but more insidiously
attacked with the anecdote which told, not what his
enemies knew to be true, but what they wished to
have believed true. As a man he was, of course, said
to be jealous, parsimonious, a toady to rank and title;
as a manager uninterested in the development of the
drama as drama, arrogating to himself all the best
lines, hard to his actors, etc.,-in fact he was declared
guilty of the whole list of sins charged up by enemies
against the popular actor or actress. These accusations
against Garrick the letters of the Leigh Collection do
much to refute.
  Before Garrick settled down to his life-work, he rest-
lessly considered several means of winning his livelihood.
The chief plan was the establishment in 1737, with his
brother Peter, of a vine business. David was to manage
the London end, in Durham Yard, and Peter the busi-
ness at Lichfield, the home of the Garricks. The Yard
was near Drury Lane, and the associations were those
most likely to foster the love of the theatre which showed
as early as the age of ten, when, with a company of his
playmates, he gave Farquhar's Recruiting Officer. Fitz-
gerald reports' that Garrick said all that kept him from



i Life of Garrick, I, 40, Percy Fitzgerald.

 





LETTERS OF



going on the stage was the pain he knew the step would
mean to his mother. If, as all of his biographers except
the latest, Mrs. Parsons,' report, she died very shortly
after her husband, in 1737-38, this could not have been
the only check, for the final step did not come till 1741.
Really, Garrick's mother died some three weeks after
the date of the following letter with its solicitous inquiry
for her health. It is significant that the following spring
shows Garrick producing the rough draft of his farce
Lethe, and acting at St. John's Gate in Fielding's Mock
Doctor and a burlesque of .Julius Casar; and that the fol-
lowing summer brings his Ipswich experience.
  The words, " I should be glad of some orders, " of the
last line of the postscript show that there was another
incentive besides an instinct for the stage to force Gar-
rick into acting.


  DEAR PETER.                               1740.
       X have receiv'd Giffard's2Note safe,  he returns
his Thanks  will pay you ye Expences You have been
at when he sees you. M' Hassell's shew'd me Yesterday
a Letter from his Father wherein he mentions his hav-
ing pa [id] I You ye Money I lay'd down for him, if It is
pay'd I must desire you to Send Me up a Bill asoon as
  l Garrick and his Circle, Parsons, p. i8.
  2 Probably Henry Giffard, manager of Goodman's Fields Theatre,
for whose benefit Garrick's Letle, in its first form, had been given at
Drury Lane, April i5, 1740.
3 Here as in the other places marked by [ ] the MS. is torn.



4

 














































YOUNG GARRICK AS RICHARD III

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'in 

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                DAVID GARRICK
possible, For Cash is rather Low  Brounker' wants
his Money, pray let me have It asoon as possible. I am
very uneasy till you send Me a particular Acc't of my
Mother; I hear by Severall hands she is in great Danger,
pray my Duty,  I desire nothing may be conceal'd
from Me. Doctor James is come to Town for good 
all, I [hope] he '11 do very well. pray My Services [to
Mr.] Nadal's2 Family, Love  Services to Brothers 
Sisters  believe me
                    Dear Peter
                           yrs sincerely
                                     D. GARIUCK.

[At top of opposite page is written]
  The Ale I have receiv'd safe. y' Carriage came in all
to about 1 1 shillings I believe Iwill3 prove good.
  I should be glad of some Orders.


  Much mystery surrounds the origin of Eva Maria
Violette, whom Garrick married on June 22, 1749. One
story4 says she was " the daughter of the Earl of Bur-
lington and a young Italian lady of position, after whose
death in Florence she was compelled to take to the
stage as a dancer for a livelihood. Her father had, it



i A friend of the family, especially of Mrs. Garrick.
2 Possibly Sadal 
3 Probably this is It will, for t and TV seem to be run together.
4 David Garrick, p. I23, J. Knight.

 





LETTERS OF



is said, looked with care after her education, but the
money he forwarded for her use had been misapplied
by his agents. As a means of getting her near him, he
used his influence to secure her a London engage-
ment, and then induced his legitimate daughter, sub-
sequently the Duchess of Devonshire, to accept her as
a companion." Another story' "represents her as the
daughter of a Viennese citizen, called Veigel, a name
for which, at the request of Maria Theresa, she sub-
stituted that of Violette, the name of Veigel being a
patois corruption of Veilchen, a violet. She was, how-
ever, unfortunate enough to attract the eye of the
Emperor, and was hurriedly dispatched to England
out of his way." What is certain is that she was so
skilled a dancer on her arrival in London in 1746 that
Walpole speaks of her as the finest in the world; that
she became the fashion; that she was admitted to the
best houses; and that the Burlingtons especially l)at-
ronized her, Lady Burlington waiting for her in the
wings when she was on. The story goes that Mlle.
Violette saw Garrick act and fell so desperately in love
with him that she became ill. The doctor summoned
discovered the real situation, and, putting the case as
a matter of life and death, won the reluctant consent of
Lady Burlington, who had designed to make a titled
alliance for the girl. Clearly we have here the germ



I David Garrick, p. 123, J. Knight.



6

 





DAVID GARRICK



of the story which in various languages has been given
dramatic presentation, and is best known as Robert-
son's David Garrick. Whatever the beginning of the
affair, Garrick pressed his suit with ardor, some ac-
counts asserting that once he even disguised himself in
woman's clothes in order to elude the watchfulness of
Lady Burlington. That he was much in love is shown
not only by the letter which follows, but by all the many
years of perfect companionship which ensued. The let-
ter certainly proves that Garrick had no memories of
serious opposition -pace the biographers-from Lady
Burlington, and that she was so well satisfied with the
match that she evidently had been addressing him as
gendre and beau-fils. Probably these terms are not to be
taken too seriously, or they will go far to establish the
relationship alleged between the Violette and Lord Bur-
lington. The letter certainly favors in its " our Mother
at Vienna " the Viennese origin. It is a particularly
characteristic letter of Garrick in his gayer mood, and
shows how thoroughly he could put himself into his
writing.
                                  Merton .Ags! 3d

  I had this Day the Hon' of your Lady ship's Letter,
dated from Londesburgh,' which is the first I have been
favour'd wvith, or at least that has come to my hand. I



I For eight hundred years the seat of the Clifford family (Lord Bur-
lington's) in the East Riding of Yorkshire.



7

 






LETTERS OF



am affraid that from Chatsworth' is miscarried if it was
directed to ye Porter at Burlington House. I am sorry
your LadP makes no mention of a Letter of Mine wth Mr
Moore's Verses; 2 it is something very Extraordinary to
have two Letters lost in the space of a Week -what
Answer can I possibly make to the Words, being trouble-
some, C too importunate ; this surely is so like Irony, that
were I not well acquainted wvith your LadIps goodness 
Disposition, I should feel it much; Your Desire Madam
of receiving News from Us,  about Us, cannot pos-
sibly equal our Joy  Pride in sending it: to give my
Reasons for this Assertion I know would not be agre-
able to yr Ladp  tho You are too apt to forget such things
as I hint at, yet I hope Wle shall always have Grace
enough to remember 'Em. I shall be very carefull for
yfuture how I declare My Sentime[nts] of some cer-
tain Persons,  tho I have a right from Every principle
of Morality,  by ye Laws of Gratitu [de], yet my heart
shall burst rather than overf [low]  Give offence
- yet sure I may be permitted to transcribe a part of a
Letter I receiv'd last week upon this Subject - A most
worthy friend of Mine sent me his Congratulations
upon my Marria [ge]  desir'd to know whether Your


i Property of the Duke of Devonshire, who married one of Lord
Burlington's daughters.
2 Edward Moore's An Ode to David Garrick on the Talk of the
Town, 1749. Rumor said that these verses on Garrick's marriage were
inspired by him to ward off possible unfavorable comment.



8

 




















































GARRICK AS LORD CHALKSTONE
     IN HIS FARCE 'LETHE'

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N':Y'\   S  Am1

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DAVID GARRICK



Lady! was for, or against Me: in his Reply to my an-
swer, he hath these W\ords; (wch I set down most faith-
fully) 'I am not at all surpriz'd at Lady B-'s great
:aand generous Behaviour to you; for I have a List in my
heart (I am sorry I cannot say it is a long one) of those
:who, I imagine to have great Souls, and her her [sic]
:LadyxP (tho I have not ye honour of knowing her per-
.sonally,) stands very high in that List.; You see
Madam tho I am forbid to open my own Mouth on this
Subject, I can speak from those of other People, which
will be almost as troublesome; with this difference in-
deed, that I can bring proofs positive, of what they hold
in Supposition only. Since I must not indulge Myself
as I ought,  would do, upon this favourite topick, I
hope I may have recourse to another, which is, that of
praising Myself, who, I myself (as Beiiedick says) will
bear J[itness is praise worthy in this particular; I am so
truly sensible of Every honour  Favour conferred upon
Me, that even My Wife (belov'd as She is) cannot In-
gross my Heart  thoughts: when we are alone, (which
we think our happiest Moments) Your LP comes as
naturally in our Conversation, as our Words: this is ye
time we speak the Language of our hearts,  no Won-
der that You make the chief part of our Conversation.
I own I have some vanity,  when it is so deliciously
fed with Gendre  beau fils, how is it possible to con-
fine it in decent bounds I know who must answer for
ye Consequences I have taken care of ye Lett to M'



9

 






10               LETTERS OF
Keith,  I will likewise take care that our Mother at
Vienna (for whom I have the greatest tenderness) shall
be made happy with regard to her Daughter; did she
know my thoughts, she would be very Easy; but as it
is very natural for her to have apprehensions, so I shall
look upon it as my Duty to quiet 'em, as soon as pos-
sible: I love  regar [d] Every Body that belongs to her,
k I flatter Myself that they will have Nothing to be
sorry for, but the Loss of her, which (I can feel) must
be no small Matter of Concern to 'Em. -The Gardi-
ner sent us a Pine Apple  Melon Yesterday; the first
we made a present of, to our good Neighbour, Mr
Metcalf; wse are very happy in his Acquaintan [ce] Mr
Blyth' din'd with us some Days ago,  a very civil sen-
sible Man he is,  without Priesthood  Bigottry [;] he
seems pleas'd that Martin' has left us, he did not like
her,  gave us his reasons; he would have been much
oblig'd to Lord Burlington for some Franks-
  There is a very odd Story goes about of the Miss
Draxes I (I don't know how to spell ye name) at Green-
wich,  some young Gentlemen; the Family is in great
disorder about it; it makes a great Noise in Town,  I
am affraid (tho very unaccountable) that it is not merely

I The Rev. Mr. Blythe had performed the second marriage service,
-Mrs. Garrick was a Catholic, -at the chapel of the Portuguese
Embassy.
2 A maid, formerly Lady Burlington's.
3 This unusual name recurs in 177i as "Mrs. Drax" in The Bath
Picrtre, M. P. Andrews. See W. F. Rae's Sheridan, x, 14I.

 





DAVID GARRICK



Report. Does not your Lade perceive what Lengths
I run from your Indulgence to Me not content with
four full Sides of Scribble, I am beginning a fifth! 
where my Impertinence will end I cannot guess; The
Family of ye.4llets won't try your Patience half so much
as I shall; I have had a full Description of 'em from a
very good Painter,  most sincerely wish it was in my
Power to Ease you of such an intolerable Tax upon yf
Goodnature-
  Your LadP knows by this, that we have receiv'd your
two last Letters from Londesburgh; they came to us this
Morn! at Breakfast, I could heartily wish you had seen
the Sudden Change of our Faces,  of the whole (Eco-
nomy of ye Tea Table -What we think was then to be
seen, which surpasses Every thing we can Sy! till we
had read our Letters,  Each had read the Other's, more
than once, the Breakfast was at a Stand ! M. Maud's'
best Green cool'd in ye Cups, the Two Slices of Bread
 Butter, (round the Loaf, and proportionably thick)
which are cut  Eaten by Madam Garrick Every
Morning, lay neglected  forgot! Mr. George2 who had
been out shooting  ready to Eat his Fingers, sat with
his Mouth open: till finding no probability of our return-
ing soon to what helik'd better, feloniously purloined one
of the Lady's Slices, which occasioned such a Battle,



i Well-known tea merchant. Tea was at this time still a fashionable
luxury.
2 George Garrick, David's younger brother.



I11

 





LETTERS OF



that had not I interpos'd, poor George's head  the
China had Suffer'd -however, as we have very little
Malice among us, Matters are reconcil'd,  ye family
is at peace.
  You see Madam what danger there is in overcharging
us -with Joy, (as Shakespear terms it); we are trans-
ported with one Letter,  out of our Wits at two -I
cannot think the Miscarriage of that to Me about ye
Verses, is owing to any Neglect at Burlington house,
I am affraid It was very awkwardly put in at Chats-
worth; I live in some hopes to see it yet, tho it is a tedi-
ous Letter I will very good natur'dly take the trouble of
reading it. I beg you would keep ye Verses,  I Wish
I knew y' opinion of 'em; they are much admir'd in
Town by the beaux Esprits. the same Gentleman (M'
Moore) has sent Mr' Garrick his Fables for the female
Sex, very finely bound indeed,  in the first leaf are
these four Lines to her!
                  To Mr' GARRICK
          Fine Binding! and but little in 't!
          AJo matter, 't is a Friend in print:
          The Cover 's onlyfor your View,
          The Inside cannot tutor You.

  I hope by this time the hurt receiv'd by the Two
Accidents is well over; I have some fear for my Lord's
Foot,  we all felt for your Lady'-" Eyelid -let my ad-
vice be follow'd,  It will hinder such Accidents for the



12

 

















































YOUNG MRS. GARRICK

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WI

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               DAVID GARRICK                    13
future. -If your Ladp would amuse Yourself with a
Pen, instead of a Gun, there would arise no Danger to
yourself,  much Benefit to others, and if M' John
Peters wvill be so kind to help his Memory by cutting of
his Hair, or M. Knowlton wvill be so good to give his
opinion of things himself, My Lord may live Many
Years longer,  Numbers be the better for it.'
  I am glad yY Lad approves of our Excuses to Lord
 Lady Cobham, we have had other Invitations, 
upon our not accepting th [em] we are told, Nothing
but Chisw-ick wvill go down,  upon My Word they are
in the right: we were going the other Night in Imag-
ination to Londesburgh,  a Sweet Journey we had,
illy Lady was very near Desiring to make it real, but
such Objections arose, that we were oblig'd to See It,
only in the Mind's Eye. your LadyP mentions in her
Lett [r] something about M! Paysant  ye Gazette, I
rec'd no Such Lettr or Order,  Suppose it was Sent
in the Unfortunate packet from Chatsworth -Now
for some News of very little Consequence - My Lord
Radnor plagu'd our hearts to dine with him, we at last
agreed (for we hate to dine from home)  he had invited
the Parson's Wife to meet M'" Garrick - but such a
Dinner so dress'd  so serv'd up in unscour'd Pewter,
we never Saw; the Wine was worse, but made some-



i Apparently Lord and Lady Burlington had been injured by the
unexpected discharge of a gun which John Peters had declared un-
loaded, when Mr. Knowlton referred the question to him.

 






LETTERS OF



what better by the dead flies; in Short, we were soon
both sick  unsatisfy'd;  we rattled the one horse
chair home as fast as we could, where we recruited our
Spirits again, with a clean Cloth, two roasted Pigeons,
and the best currant Pye in ye Kingdom, the county of
York excepted.' However