Lord Chamberlain—and no bad judge in such matters—said that "it was the best first play that any author, in his memory, had produced; and for a young fellow to show himself such an actor and such a writer in one day was something extraordinary." Sir John Vanbrugh was so pleased with the play and the actor, that he wrote his "Relapse" as a sequel to it, and requested the principal character, Lord Foppington, might be given to Cibber.
It may seem strange that our hero, a man of slight principle, should, as an author, commence his career as a reformer of the immorality of the stage. Writing from reading, rather than from observation, he contrived to extract purity from impurity; and with materials borrowed from Etheredge and other licentious writers, produced a play in which, contrary to the prevalent fashion, propriety was not made ridiculous. Vanbrugh, however, true to the older instincts, in his "Relapse," endeavoured to neutralize the wholesome effect of such a production; and, with much wit and pleasantry, to degrade virtue from her novel elevation.
Cibber, in the meantime, was unceasing in his efforts to gain applause as an actor, and his long and patient study obtained its deserved success. He appeared, with considerable approbation, in the characters of Iago, Wolsey, Richard III., and others; but in tragic parts he never attained the excellence he had exhibited in comedy. His voice was deficient in depth and volume; and so important is voice in tragedy, that it may be doubted whether all other qualifications will not go for nothing if that one be wanting.
In 1697, he produced "Woman's Wit, or the Lady in Fashion," which was but coolly received. His first play seems to have exhausted his stock of reading and observation, which he had not had as yet sufficient time to replenish. His next effort, "Xerxes," a tragedy, was likewise a failure.
