Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 8.djvu/222

350 ARTISTS AND AUTHORS scene not set down in the bills, the baffled, but not subdued, aspirant had deliv- ered the lines of an epilogue in rhyme with so much effect that, before he could be seized by the astounded stage-manager and hurled from the theatre, he had attracted public notice, successfully won his surprised audience, and not only secured immunity from punishment for his temerity, but actually gained that respect in the manager's estimation which he had so long and so vainly striven to acquire. At last Forrest was promised an appearance at the Walnut Street house, then one of the leading theatres of the country. He selected Young Norval in Home's tragedy of " Douglas," and on November 27, 1820, the future master of the American stage, then fourteen years of age — a-boy in years, a man in charac- ter — announced as " A Young Gentleman of this City," surrounded by a group of veteran actors who had for many years shared the favor of the public, began a career which was as auspicious at its opening as it was splendid in its maturity. At his entrance he won the vast audience at once by the grace of his figure and the modest bearing that was natural to him. Something of that magnetism which he exercised so effectively in late years now attracted all who heard him, and made friends even before he spoke. He was allowed to reappear as Frederick in " Lovers' Vows," repeating his first success ; and on January 8, 182 1, he benefited as Octavian in the "Moun- taineers," a play associated with the early glories of Edmund Kean. In this year, also, he made his first and only venture as a manager, boldly taking the Prune Street Theatre, Philadelphia, and giving a successful performance of " Richard III.," which not only pleased the audience, but brought him a few dollars of profit. He made many attempts to secure a regular engagement in one of the Western circuits, where experience could be gained ; and at last, after many denials, he was employed by Collins and Jones to play leading juvenile parts in their theatres in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Lexington. Thus, at the age of sixteen or eighteen, Edwin Forrest enrolled himself as a regular member of a theatrical company, and broke loose from trade forever. Of his professional progress here we have but poor accounts. He seems to have been very popular, and to have had an experience larger than he had here- tofore enjoyed. He played with the elder Conway, and was affected by the grandeur of that actor's Othello, a study which served Forrest well when in late years he inherited the character. Jane Placide, who inspired the first love of Edwin Forrest, was an actress who combined talent, beauty, and goodness. Her character would have softened the asperities of his, and led him by a calmer path to those grand elevations toward which Providence had directed his footsteps. Baffled in love, however, and be- lieving Caldwell to be his rival and enemy, he challenged him ; but was rebuked by the silent contempt of his manager, whom the impulsive and disappointed lover "posted." The hard novitiate of Edwin Forrest was now drawing near its close. Secur- ing a stock engagement with Charles Gilfert, manager of the Albany Theatre, he