natured Man_ (a title subsequently used by Goldsmith), and a piece
called _The Wedding Day_. The former was almost finished: the latter was
an early work, being indeed "the third Dramatic Performance he ever
attempted." The necessary arrangements having been made with Mr.
Fleetwood, the manager of Drury Lane, Fielding set to work to complete
the _Good-natured Man_, which he considered the better of the two. When
he had done so, he came to the conclusion that it required more
attention than he could give it; and moreover, that the part allotted to
Garrick, although it satisfied the actor, was scarcely important enough.
He accordingly reverted to the _Wedding Day_, the central character of
which had been intended for Wilks. It had many faults which none saw
more clearly than the author himself, but he hoped that Garrick's energy
and _prestige_ would triumphantly surmount all obstacles. He hoped, as
well, to improve it by revision. The dangerous illness of his wife,
however, made it impossible for him to execute his task; and, as he was
pressed for money, the _Wedding Day_ was produced on the 17th of
February 1743, apparently much as it had been first written some dozen
years before. As might be anticipated, it was not a success. The
character of Millamour is one which it is hard to believe that even
Garrick could have made attractive, and though others of the parts were
entrusted to Mrs. Woffington, Mrs. Pritchard, and Macklin, it was acted
but six nights. The author's gains were under L50. In the Preface to the
_Miscellanies_, from which most of the foregoing account is taken,
Fielding, as usual, refers its failure to other causes than its inherent
defects. Rumours, he says, had been circulated as to its indecency (and
in truth some of the scenes are more than hazardous); but it had passed
the licenser, and must be supposed to have been up to the moral standard
of the time. Its unfavourable reception, as Fielding must have known in
his heart, was due to its artistic shortcomings, and also to the fact
that a change was taking place in the public taste. It is in connection