There was some propriety in Hogarth choosing to paint Mr. Garrick in this character. It was the first he appeared in, on the 19th of October 1741, at Goodman's Fields, and his performance gave proof of talents which merited the celebrity he afterwards attained. At that time Quin was the popular player; but his laboured action, hollow tones, and the manner in which he heaved up his words, were not borne after Garrick's easy, familiar, and yet forcible style had been seen by the town. The surly actor's remark upon this heresy of the critics was, that "all this was a new religion; but though Whitfield was followed for a time, the people would soon return to the true church." Garrick's epigram, in reply, has some point: "Poor Quin, who damns all churches but his own, Complains that heresy corrupts the town: 'Schism,' he cries, 'has turned the nation's brain; But eyes will open,--and to church again!' Thou great infallible forbear to roar, Thy bulls and errors are rever'd no more; When doctrines meet with general approbation, It is not heresy, but reformation." His soliloquy, written in the character of Quin, on seeing _Duke Humphrey_ at St. Albans, has humour: "A plague on Egypt's arts, I say, Embalm the dead!--on senseless clay Rich wines and spices waste! Like sturgeon, or like brawn, shall I Drown'd in a precious pickle lie, Which I can never taste! "Let me embalm this flesh of mine With turtle fat and Bourdeaux wine, And spoil the Egyptian trade; Than Humphrey's Duke, more happy I-- Embalm'd alive, old Quin shall die, A mummy ready made."