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The Lambs 
 
The Lambs 
 
 THEIR LIVES, THEIR FRIENDS, AND 
 THEIR CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 New Particulars and New Material 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM CAREW HAZLITT 
 
 1 
 
 LONDON 
 ELKIN MATHEWS, VIGO STREET 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 MDCCCXCVII 
 
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 t)KMV[ !;■ n Y 
 
 II.: UAKY 
 
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FAMILY AND FRIENDS 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 
 
 Seeing the eminence which Lamb had attained, 
 and the arguable probabiUty that the circum- 
 stances of his life and the biographical particulars 
 relative to his parents and origin would become 
 acceptable to future generations, it seems un- 
 accountable, and indeed outrageous, that such 
 men as Talfourd and Pro(5ter should have neg- 
 ledled, while it was possible to do so, to colledt 
 information and clues. Lamb himself voluntarily 
 laid before the world a kind of chiaroscuro glimpse 
 of the subjecft ; with this in their hand, his friends 
 might have readily taken him in communicative 
 moods, and left us a body of fafts, for which 
 we should have been thankful indeed. No such 
 matter. Nearly all that we know, we have 
 to learn piecemeal, and much we shall never 
 regain. 
 
 The fate of many other writers has overtaken 
 Lamb, who, after experiencing in the earlier 
 
 B — 2 
 
4 THE LAMBS 
 
 part of his career either obloquy or abuse, lived 
 to see his most trivial producftions almost ful- 
 somely eulogised, while after his death many 
 things, on which he and his friends could never 
 have laid stress, were held up to admiration 
 and applause. This passes for criticism; it is 
 neither criticism nor justice, and it is extremely 
 apt, besides, to misguide persons not intimate 
 with the peculiar title of the Lambs to our deep 
 and lasting regard. 
 
 Of the detached pieces of autobiography in 
 the Essay form, the full worth has yet to be 
 extradted and reduced to shape and method. 
 Each successive labourer in the field culls some- 
 thing new, or strikes a fresh view. But they 
 await a patient and exhaustive study. I am 
 persuaded that within their limits many a doubt, 
 many a moot point, many a missing link, may 
 be solved or supplied by approaching them with 
 a competent knowledge of the ground and the 
 bearings. 
 
 It must be added that, in consulting the papers 
 which thus shed light on Lamb's life and history, 
 especial care should be taken to employ the 
 true text, as liberties were occasionally taken 
 even with the original impressions of Elia 
 (1823-33), and what has been achieved since by 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 5 
 
 Bowdler, we can only surmise from his opera- 
 tions on the Letters. 
 
 It is scarcely the case, that the Essays could 
 be woven into a complete and consecutive bio- 
 graphical sketch or view, as, after the most 
 assiduous research, many gaps would remain; 
 but they are susceptible of being profitably 
 employed in filling up interstices, as it were, 
 or as corroborative testimony. 
 
 An explanation and defence of my view may 
 be found in the communication of Lamb, in 1826, 
 to the Every Day Booh, relevant to a previous 
 paper on Captain Starkey. There the writer 
 enters into graphic particulars of a little school 
 in Fetter Lane, kept by Mr, William Bird, 
 assisted by Captain Starkey, which Charles 
 attended in the morning and his sister in the 
 evening. I do not dwell farther on the account 
 which he gives, and which Canon Ainger repro- 
 duces in his Biography. But I point to this as 
 a sort of test case. How much was within the 
 Lambs' recolle<5lion, which might have been 
 similarly preserved, and which is at present 
 irretrievably lost ! 
 
 A knowledge of the father strikes me as im- 
 perative in judging how far the brother and 
 sister influenced each other in the formation of 
 
6 THE LAMBS 
 
 a common literary taste, for Charles himself, her 
 junior by so many years, was principally instru- 
 mental in stimulating his relative and life-com- 
 panion. The ordinary conception of John Lamb 
 the elder is that he was in a state of dotage ; 
 and there has never been much inclination to 
 look below the surface. We have not far to go, 
 nevertheless, to discover that the prima stamina 
 of Lamb's faculty and his sister's were resident 
 in their male parent, and that the feeling for art 
 and letters was shared by the elder brother. It 
 was a delicate and fragile germ, which, under 
 unfavourable conditions, might have withered 
 and perished, but which in two cases out of 
 three — in one very conspicuously — developed 
 and frudlified. In cases where the literary 
 faculty or any species of intellecflual develop- 
 ment has manifested itself in an individual, it 
 is usual to assume and to seek the source of 
 the gift or the power ; nor is the absence of 
 a germ to be inferred because the clue to it 
 is not forthcoming. With many great English 
 charadters there are no known data for forming 
 an opinion. The father of the three Lambs, 
 Mr. John Lamb, Scrivener, though a man of 
 humble education and imperfe<5l training, clearly 
 possessed some tincSture of literary feeling ; and 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 7 
 
 he possessed a few books — the slenderest and 
 poorest nucleus of a library. If researches 
 could be undertaken among the parish registers 
 of Lincolnshire and Hertfordshire, it might 
 transpire that the family once enjoyed a better 
 status : the episode of the rich relative, to whom 
 Aunt Hetty was sent for a while in 1796, fur- 
 nishes a hint of some such thing. 
 
 Poetry of a moral or religious cast appears 
 to have been the bent of the father.* Southey 
 had under his eyes the volume written by him ; 
 but it has not been recovered. From Southey's 
 slight account we colledl that it was the proto- 
 type of the Poetry for Children. It would be 
 interesting to stumble upon a copy ; for it must 
 exist, if it was printed. Its sole conceivable 
 worth would be genealogical, as it were. 
 
 From the mention of John Lamb the father 
 as a scrivener, it might have been supposed that 
 he belonged to the Gild of that name ; but a 
 search undertaken for the purpose by Mr. 
 Wootton for me quite recently resulted in a 
 failure to discover any person of the name 
 within the period. Mr. Lamb was therefore 
 probably only a copyist or clerk, and not tech- 
 nically a scrivener at all. 
 
 * Hazlitt's Edition of the Letters, 1886, I., 3-4. 
 
8 THE LAMBS 
 
 Of the circumstances under which John 
 Lamb and, during a short time, his younger 
 brother obtained a footing in the South Sea 
 House, we know nothing ; but it may be men- 
 tioned that Mr. Thomas Coventry, one of the 
 Members of the Inner Temple, and a colleague 
 in that sense of Samuel Salt, the elder Lamb's 
 employer, was a large holder of South Sea 
 Stock, of which he presented ;^io,ooo in 1782 
 to Christ's Hospital, and it may have been 
 through his agency that the two Lambs were 
 engaged. 
 
 John Lamb, the James Elia of literary history, 
 presents himself to our scrutiny as little more 
 than a dim figure in the background. We learn 
 next to nothing of his individuality ; and the 
 few landmarks in his obscure career are derived 
 altogether from scattered notices in the Essays 
 and Letters, except that to Hazlitt and Talfourd 
 we owe some account of his attendance at the 
 Wednesdays in the Temple and his argumenta- 
 tive propensity. He occupied chambers during 
 several years in the upper part of the South 
 Sea House subsequently to its disestablishment 
 and conversion into chambers and offices, and 
 his retirement on a pension. He shared his 
 father's and brother's literary taste, and wrote a 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 9 
 
 treatise on Humanity to Animals; and he was 
 more or less of a connoisseur in paintings. The 
 portrait of Milton, which he bought in 1815, and 
 bequeathed to Charles, is now in the National 
 Portrait Gallery ; he was rather addicted to this 
 class of coUeiSling, but his other works of art 
 went for a song. 
 
 John Lamb ultimately married a widow with 
 some property and a daughter, and the wife of 
 a Mr. Isaac Dowden ; but he predeceased her, 
 dying in November, 1821, and unconsciously 
 bequeathing to his brother a suit at law in 
 connection with the Dowden estate. He is 
 described in the Elian paper on Dream-Children, 
 in the London Magazine for January, 1822, as 
 no more. His death is mentioned in Lamb's 
 letter to Wordsworth of March 20, 1822. 
 
 The South Sea House, desolate and silent as 
 it was in Lamb's day, when he penned the 
 famous essay upon it, is tenfold more degraded 
 at present. It has been partly dismantled, and 
 partly transformed, till scarcely any vestige of 
 the original building, as the two Lambs knew 
 it, remains. The board-room has been par- 
 titioned off into clerks' offices. Some of the 
 books are in the cellars under Threadneedle 
 Street ; some are in the British Museum. 
 
lO THE LAMBS 
 
 The portrait of Milton reminds me of that of 
 Shakespear, described in the letter to Barron 
 Field of September 22, 1822. It was the 
 spurious likeness of the poet palmed off upon 
 Talma the adlor for ^^40, or 1000 francs, and 
 the authenticity of which Lamb, I apprehend, 
 did not altogether disbelieve. 
 
 It was surely the same piece of imposture to 
 which we find a clue in some Ireland MSS. 
 which were sold by public autftion on the i ith 
 February, i886, and from which we colledl that 
 the pair of bellows, with its vera, effigies, was in 
 1820 in the possession of a gentleman, who had 
 received from Mr. Ireland junior an offer of 
 £80 for them. The owner, whose name has 
 been cut off from his letter in reply, dates from 
 Wood's Hotel, Arundel Street, Haymarket, 
 June 28, 1820. The inscription accompanying 
 the pidlure varied from that given by Lamb 
 to Field. No doubt the forgery was identical 
 with that mentioned, and Talma was con- 
 sidered a likely and easy dupe, as indeed 
 he proved. Perhaps the most singular part 
 of the affair is or was, that Lamb, for the 
 only time in his life, should have been on the 
 spot just at the particular jundlure, and it 
 is some tribute to the ingenuity of the fabri- 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS I I 
 
 cator, that a man, who might have been taken 
 to be something of a judge, was dubious on 
 the point. 
 
 The personal history of Lamb's brother is 
 still more obscure than that of John Lamb the 
 elder. Both are to be gleaned to a large extent, 
 so far as we can ever know them, from casual 
 and almost inadvertent references in the Elian 
 writings. The brother's book on Humanity to 
 Animals, of which Charles is found sending a 
 copy to Crabb Robinson in or about 1810, 
 with a view to obtaining a notice in the press, 
 has not been identified, although it must have 
 been published, and Lamb even gives the pub- 
 lisher's name — Wilson. Curiously enough, in a 
 series of tradts called the Cottage Library of 
 Christian Knowledge, is one entitled, " Humanity 
 to Animals Recommended." It consists of 
 twelve pages only, and is chiefly made up of 
 quotations from Cowper and others. The topic 
 was one which was beginning to engage atten- 
 tion. The brochure just cited is not that of which 
 we are in quest. 
 
 John Lamb cannot have been an old man 
 when he died ; he is stated, in the letter to 
 Robinson, to be " a plump, good-looking man 
 of seven-and-forty." 
 
12 THE LAMBS 
 
 The trace to the elder Lamb of some faint 
 intellecSlual inspiration does not greatly assist 
 us, however, in solving the origin of his illus- 
 trious son's extraordinary attainments as a 
 letter-writer, as a critic, and as a wit. For 
 that part of the unique story we have, I ap- 
 prehend, to go to his early associations and to 
 the force of fellowship and generous rivalry 
 operating on a powerful and receptive under- 
 standing. It is not very difficult, when we 
 refle(51: a little, to see how the mental training 
 through which Lamb passed by his successive 
 intercourse with James White, the two Le 
 Grices, Coleridge, Lloyd, Southey, and Man- 
 ning, both personally and on paper, was apt to 
 yield fruit, and to develope the adtual results. 
 He met his friends at intervals face to face ; 
 but it was a curious coincidence that most of 
 them resided at a distance from London, and 
 that the consequent difficulty of communica- 
 tion necessitated a resort to the post, and with 
 it the growth of a habit of committing thoughts 
 to writing, until it may be questionable whether 
 Lamb did not acquire greater facility for ex- 
 pressing himself in that way than by word of 
 mouth. 
 
 Quite enough has been made and heard of 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 1 3 
 
 Lamb as a miscellaneous writer, and I depre- 
 cate the tendency to regard him as a mere 
 humourist. But his correspondence must re- 
 main an integral part of the age, which it imme- 
 diately concerns, as much as that of Walpole ; 
 and in this capacity and aspedt, if in no other, 
 he has laid himself, so to speak, across an epoch. 
 Any one who bestows even a cursory study on 
 these inimitable produdlions must perceive and 
 allow that the serious style largely preponderates, 
 and that of broad fun there is little more than 
 an occasional vein. His wit is more usually 
 delicate and playful — sometimes bordering on 
 pathos. Here and there, among the letters, 
 there are spasms of boisterous and rollicking 
 gaiety parallel with the horse-play in the Inner 
 Temple Lane times ; but it riakes little indeed 
 in so voluminous a body of matter. 
 
 It has often struck me that, if the veil could 
 be lifted by some enchantment from the obscu- 
 rity which hangs over the humble lodgings of 
 Lamb and his parents in Little Queen Street, 
 of the strudlural character of which we are only 
 enabled to judge from the few buildings, adjoin- 
 ing the site, which still survive, a good deal of 
 light might be cast on the foundations of. the 
 Lamb correspondence. We do not merely suff 
 
14 THE LAMBS 
 
 fer from the absence — ^with exceptions hardly 
 worth mentioning — of the entire corpus of letters 
 direcfled to Lamb from the very outset, but the 
 eighteenth century domestic annals, leaving out 
 of account the sad tragedy of 1795, are almost 
 a blank. Their history is made up of glimpses 
 from Lamb's letters to Coleridge, and the glean- 
 ings of Talfourd, who, had he even known the 
 family earlier, was neither very curious nor very 
 careful. I may render my meaning clearer by 
 saying that, if Lamb had had a Cottle or an 
 Alsop, we should have been apprised of a 
 variety of ia.£ts, and have been in possession 
 of documents rendering the narrative of these 
 dark days infinitely more luminous and con- 
 nedted. 
 
 In the first place, I am somewhat sceptical 
 as to the commonly-received account of John 
 Lamb the father — the Lovel of the Essays. In 
 fadt, the Essayist's account of his father, as he 
 was in earlier life, is precisely what does not 
 seem to tally with the notion of his lowness of 
 origin ; and his wife was at least respedtably 
 allied, to whatever the description of Lamb 
 may amount, where he employs the term " rich " 
 as characTleristic of the Fields. They were, no 
 doubt, so by comparison. 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 1 5 
 
 John Lamb evidently possessed a taste for 
 books and letters. His copies of Hudibras, 1726, 
 and of a volume of the Guardian, 1 750, were pre- 
 served by his son. The latter had his autograph 
 mark of ownership in 1756, when he must have 
 been about thirty years of age. The portrait 
 of him, engraved in the Biography by Prodter, 
 1866, conveys the idea of a man of forty or so ; 
 it is not unlike the style of Hancock, but it was 
 too early for that artist. It was surely taken 
 when he was in his prime, as he is sketched in 
 Elia, and when he committed to the press his 
 Poetical Pieces on Several Occasions, the volume 
 seen by Southey when he visited Little Queen 
 Street in 1795. 
 
 Nevertheless, here is a personage who is pre- 
 sented to our view, under the shadow of Lovel, 
 as a humourist, an angler, a cribbage-player, a 
 self-taught mechanic, and a fine manly spirit ; 
 whom we see to have been the producer of a 
 volume of verses, of which the sample published 
 by Talfourd is perfectly in unison with the me- 
 trical effusions of his son, and of whom there 
 is a portrait extant ; and, although such a know- 
 ledge would have been eminently valuable, we 
 have to satisfy readers and the public with in- 
 ferential conjedlures drawn from incidental or 
 
1 6 THE LAMB & 
 
 obscure allusions. Had it not been for the 
 autobiographical group of papers in Elia and 
 elsewhere, for a few waifs and strays in Tal- 
 fourd, and the early correspondence, it is not 
 too much to affirm that we should have remained 
 almost completely ignorant of the parentage and 
 descent of Lamb ; and those papers, it should 
 be recoUecfted, were not compiled for the pur- 
 pose of conveying personal information, which 
 they, in facft, do their best to disguise, but of 
 pelding topics for periodicals. 
 
 Lamb left Christ's Hospital, as we all know 
 pretty well by this time, in 1789, but the exadl 
 circumstances of his first entrance there and his 
 departure from it are not so generally familiar. 
 Indeed, we have never yet seen any account of 
 these incidents. From the admission-books of 
 the Hospital, it appears that Charles Lamb^. 
 son of John Lamb, scrivener, was admitted by 
 a bond for ;£ioo, under the hand of Samuel 
 Salt, Esq., on the presentation of Timothy 
 Yeats, Esq., in 1782. He was admitted July 
 17, but not clothed till Odlober 9, the Temple 
 being extra-parochial, and security being there- 
 fore demanded for the boy's due discharge. 
 But the most remarkable point is the form in 
 which that discharge is made out : — 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 1 7 
 
 _ " 1789, Novr. 23. Charles Lamb is this day- 
 discharged from this Hospital for ever by Eliz- 
 abeth Lamb his Mother living in the Temple, 
 who is to provide a Master for him." 
 
 [Signed] Eliz. Lamb. 
 Why the father did not come forward has 
 still to be ascertained. The document which 
 I now ■first make public is incontestably curious 
 and interesting. Was the father already in 
 failing health ? In 1782, in the form of presen- 
 tation, he, as the petitioner, ■ had described him- 
 self as a person with a wife and three children, 
 with inadequate resources for their education. 
 
 Not more than half a dozen years, we thus 
 see, intervened between the removal of the boy 
 by his mother and the mournful event which 
 led him to undertake the charge of his sister 
 during the remainder of his life. 
 
 Looking at the signature of Mrs. Lamb to 
 the entry in the admission -books, one is struck 
 by the similarity of the charadter to the writing 
 of her son. Talfourd tells us that he acquired 
 his clerkly style of caligraphy at the India 
 House. Of course the Eliz. Lamb of the official 
 memorandum is merely a signature. 
 
 In the very threshold of the Stoddart series of 
 letters, in one of September 3, 1803, we see 
 that there was a disparity of social standing 
 
 c 
 
I 8 THE LAMBS 
 
 between John Lamb and his wife, and another 
 hint is given of the same thing in the essay on 
 " Poor Relations." The bookbinder was a kins- 
 man on the paternal side; but we own such 
 fragmentary and disjointed data for handling 
 this part of the subje(5t, that it is futile — at any 
 rate here — ^to pursue the inquiry. 
 
 The two-fold agency of the literary article, 
 based on the personal history of the author, and 
 of the letters of the first period (1796 — 1800), 
 commending themselves to the recipients as 
 storehouses of criticism on their own work, 
 has mainly saved the opening of Lamb's career 
 from being involved in utter darkness. The 
 particulars, which we find ourselves enabled 
 to gather from Talfourd, and one or two other 
 sources, are marvellously scanty. 
 
 Yet in these days, now so far in retrospecft, 
 when the family lived at 7, Little Queen Street 
 (1782 — gg), it was no insignificant circle which 
 had formed itself round them, humble and poor 
 as they were. Let us think what visitors they 
 are likely, or more than so, to have had. There 
 was James White, the two Le Grices, Cole- 
 ridge, the Lloyds, Norris (the father's friend 
 before he was the son's), and Dyer. Between 
 these (and others, qf whom the record is defi- 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 1 9 
 
 cient) and the Lambs there must have beeir 
 occasional intercourse and friendly sociable 
 greeting. A considerable number of letters 
 must have been exchanged in the space of so 
 many years. Without reckoning trivial notes, 
 that interval witnessed the beginning of the 
 correspondence with Coleridge, Southey, Lloyd^ 
 and Manning. It has all apparently perished. 
 
 Nor have we a vestige of anything in writ- 
 ten likeness diretfted to the two Le Grices, to 
 White, or to that elder brother, who soon took 
 the resolution of quitting the paternal roof, 
 and eventually found quarters in the South Seai 
 House Chambers. That we do not possess 
 many letters to Norris and Dyer is, so far, 
 less surprising, since they were both within 
 call, and yet, again, we have had handed down 
 to us (preserved by the merest accident) one 
 or two epistles to the latter as long and as 
 journal-like as though they had been intended 
 for Manning at Canton. 
 
 On a deliberate consideration of all the cir- 
 cumstances, it seems simply incredible that we 
 may not hope, from time to time, to receive 
 salvage, at least, from the wreck of valuable 
 Uterary and biographical material formed be- 
 tween 1 789 and the close of the century. The 
 
 c— 2 
 
20 THE LAMBS 
 
 letters which have periodically occurred at pub- 
 lic sales in the course of the last twenty or thirty 
 years, one by one, render me individually rather 
 sanguine of greater discoveries ; for, as a rule, 
 the additional items are so far either the origi- 
 nals of printed letters, or are autographs belong- 
 ing to a later epoch, such as those first published 
 by Canon Ainger to Chambers, Dodwell, Dibdin, 
 and Mrs. Kenney. It is delightful to have re- 
 gained them, but they are not quite what we 
 mean and what we want. 
 
 The Lloyd papers are now ascertained to be 
 at all events partially extant, and may be ex- 
 pedted to appear in type; I shall return to 
 this point presently. We seem to hold as 
 much as we can expedl to see of the Manning, 
 except in the way of collation. Whether any 
 Coleridge MSS. of this class, anterior to May, 
 1796, exist, is somewhat uncertain. The sur- 
 vival of Le Grice letters is possible. Of earlier 
 ones to Dyer, and of any to John Lamb, we 
 may almost despair. 
 
 The wealthy and significant nature of the 
 epistolary intercourse between Miss Lamb and 
 Miss Stoddart will fortify my statement — as it 
 does my belief — that if even a proportion of the 
 stores just indicated could be recovered, they 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 21 
 
 would exhibit an interest and value immeasur- 
 ably above any new matter in Ainger or Hazlitt. 
 We may be pleased enough to get letters to 
 more recent ccarrespoiidents •, but as the spring 
 is to the river, such to the maturer history 
 of the Lambs would be the ampler record 
 of their existence, wretched and indigent as it 
 may have been, in Little Queen Street, to the 
 more comfortable and more familiar life in the 
 Temple, in Covent Garden, at Islington, and at 
 Enfield. 
 
 Infinitely more singular, however, than the 
 mystery enveloping the period to which I 
 refer, is that which we experience, years after- 
 ward, respe<5ting the movements of the brother 
 and sister. Not all the correspondence, not all 
 the collateral sources of knowledge, tend to ex- 
 plain very clearly what the Lambs were doing 
 in 1804, in 1807, and between 181 1 and 1813. 
 Those years bear the same relation to their 
 biography that 1745 — 6 do to that of Johnson. 
 In their case letters are of the fewest and refer- 
 ences of the most meagre. All of which we can 
 be positively sure is that they were unusually full 
 of literary work, and they presumably held their 
 Wednesdays. I touch on this curious point else- 
 where. 
 
22 THE LAMBS 
 
 Of the visiting circle at Little Queen Street 
 about 1796, Coleridge, the two Le Grices, Dyer, 
 and White were brother Crugs. Leigh Hunt 
 was also of Christ's Hospital, but Lamb and he 
 did not meet again till a much later date, when 
 Hunt was in prison for an alleged libel on the 
 Prince Regent from February, 181 3, to Feb- 
 ruary, 1815, and the Lambs went to visit him, 
 as he says in his Autobiography, in all weathers, 
 even in the severe winter of 1813-14. In 1816' 
 Hunt included Lamb among the recipients of 
 the Story of Rimini, and the letter, acknowledging 
 the receipt of the volume, is or was preserved. 
 But the acquaintance never became very in- 
 timate, though Hunt is described by Hazlitt as 
 amongst the Wednesday men. 
 
 On the contrary, the friendship with Whitte 
 and the Le Grices appears, so far as I can make 
 out, to have been almost exclusively confined to 
 Little Queen Street days; and Lamb's feeling 
 toward White, as he confesses in a letter to 
 Coleridge of 1798, was never one of unqualified 
 trust and cordiality. He chiefly admired his 
 intelledlual turn. 
 
 George Dyer,* who survived till 1841, was the 
 
 *For these and other similar unpublished particulars I was 
 indebted, many years since, to the courtesy of Mr. A. W. 
 Lockhart, Steward of Christ's Hospital. 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 23 
 
 son of John Dyer, citizen and shipwright of 
 London, and was born on the 15th March, 1755. 
 He was admitted July ist, 1762, from the Pre- 
 cindl of Bridewell, was sent to Emmanuel 
 College, Cambridge, in 1774, and took his B.A. 
 degree in 1778. 
 
 Charles Valentine Le Grice, and his brother 
 Samuel, sons of Frederick Franklin Le Grice, 
 of Trereife, Cornwall, were respectively admitted 
 in 1792 and 1794. The former went into the 
 Church ; the latter served in the Peninsula 
 during the War, and succumbed to the cUmate. 
 Valentine Le Grice printed at Penzance 
 privately in 1803 a version of the Daphnis 
 and Ckloe of Longus. He remained at Trereife 
 through the remainder of a very long life, 
 during the latter part of which he was in the 
 enjoyment of affluence through his marriage 
 with a lady of fortune. In the subjoined letter 
 to Lord Lyndhurst, written in March, 1858, he 
 gives an interesting account of himself and his 
 family : — 
 
 " A mile from Penzance to the West, 
 
 Trereife (pronounced Treve). 
 
 " My Dear Lord Lyndhurst, — Your letter 
 
 with satisfacfiory corredtions of my error with 
 
 respedl to your health has excited in me the 
 
 most lively pleasure. You kindly inquire for 
 
24 THE LAMBS 
 
 some account of myself. My history is happily 
 uniform. I am where I came in 1796, and am 
 now, by marriage in 1799 with the mother of 
 my pupil, possessor of an ample estate, my pupil 
 having bequeathed it to his mother. He lived 
 to the twenty-eighth year of his age, only partially 
 relieved from his weakness, but free from pain. 
 I have been a widower for thirty years. I have 
 a son in fine health nearly sixty years of age, 
 and a grandson who is now at Oriel College, 
 where his father was before him. The volume 
 of which I beg your acceptance will convey a 
 history of my movements. I was minister of 
 Penzance — a perpetual curacy, small emolument 
 — for twenty-eight years.* I have no duty now, 
 nor would undertake any. I am now, and ever 
 have been, in excellent health. I never walk to 
 fatigue myself, but am agilis. I have reason to 
 be, as I am, most grateful. I am a magistrate, 
 and so is my son. I do not sleep so well as I 
 was wont to do. My estate on which I reside is 
 in view of the sea, without interruption, nor 
 possibility of it. I think I told you that Agnipedes 
 [Archdeacon Sheepshanks] for the latter years 
 of his hfe was within twenty miles of me. I 
 used to come in contadl with dear Jones [see 
 Wordsworth's sonnet, which begins : " Jones, as 
 from Calais southward you and I "] . My ser- 
 mons by locality, &c., will fill up my history.— 
 Dear Lord Lyndhurst, Accept my dearest re- 
 gards. Yours sincerely, C. Val de Grice." 
 
 James White, the hero of the Falstaff LHtevs, 
 
 was the son of Samuel White, of Bewdley, 
 
 •The Le Grice family was still located at Trereife in 1872. 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 2$ 
 
 Worcestershire, and was baptized April 17th, 
 I775> having been born, it thus seems, in the 
 same year as Lamb himself. He was admitted 
 to Christ's Hospital on the presentation of 
 Thomas Coventry, Esquire, September 19th, 
 1783, and was discharged on the 30th April, 
 1790, in order to be taken into the Trea- 
 surer's office, where he remained some years. 
 He subsequently founded or joined an advertizing 
 agency in Fleet Street, which still survives under 
 the old name. 
 
 The James White, Esquire, who published, 
 between 1789 and 1791, three or four books of 
 a semi -historical charadler, and who made a tour 
 in Wales in 1740, I take to have been related to 
 Samuel White, and to be the James White who, 
 in 1759, brought out a version of the Clouds of 
 Aristophanes, dating his epistle before the work 
 from Cecil Street, Strand. A copy of this scarce 
 volume was in Lamb's coUedlion, not very rich 
 in classical authors ; and in the preface to 
 another of his publications he indulges in a 
 quaint, pleasant vein, reminding us of the per- 
 petrator of the FalstafF hoax. 
 
 I am treading on rather new ground, and 
 must not hazard too much in the way of con- 
 jedture. But James White the elder, if we may. 
 
26 THE LAMBS 
 
 so term him, was apparently a teacher, and pro- 
 duced a grammatical treatise in 1761, shortly 
 after his Aristophanes. It is scarcely probable 
 that he had any concern with the firm in Fleet 
 Street. The British Museum Catalogue de- 
 scribes his presumed nephew as "a newspaper 
 agent." 
 
 Charles Lloyd was the son of a cadet of a 
 Montgomeryshire family of the same name. 
 This younger branch joined the Society of 
 Friends, and settled tolerably early in the last 
 century at Birmingham as iron-masters and 
 bankers. Charles Lloyd did not care to go 
 into the business, and his younger brother 
 James took his place, Charles receiving an 
 allowance from the father. He married 
 early — when he was about 23 — Sophia Pem- 
 berton, who was still younger, about 20, and 
 they lived at first in the Lake Country, where 
 their eldest son was born in 1800, but subse- 
 quently at Moseley, near Birmingham, where 
 Lamb visited them more than once. The Olivia 
 of the Letters was Lloyd's sister ; she married 
 P. M. James, the banker. I owe to the kindness 
 of Dr. Garnett the curious fadl that Lloyd found 
 a valuable distradtion from his mental troubles 
 in a performance by Macready of an impersona* 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 2/ 
 
 tion of a similar malady, and wrote a copy of 
 verses (still in MS.) commemorative of his relief 
 and his gratitude. 
 
 The Lloyd papers, which at one time were 
 said to have perished, have been quite recently 
 discovered in two parts, one at Birmingham, 
 the other at Nottingham ; they extend to some 
 hundreds of documents : but the interest centres 
 in about seventeen letters from Lamb to Lloyd 
 himself, the rest being letters from Manning, 
 and from numbers of the Lloyd family, and 
 chiefly important from their incidental mention 
 of Lamb. 
 
 Charles Lloyd the younger, born in 1800, and 
 a son of the poet, died in 1873, and was buried 
 at Chiswick. 
 
 A fairly complete list of Lloyd's works is given 
 by me in the Mary and Charles Lamb volume, 1874, 
 But it omits the folio volume of Poems on the 
 death of his grandmother, Priscilla Farmer, 1796, 
 of which one value is to shew that at that time 
 Lamb and Lloyd had not yet met ; and A Letter 
 to the Anti- Jacobin Reviewers, 4to, Birmingham, 
 1799, in the appendix to which occurs a tnost 
 interesting reference to Lamb : — 
 
 "The person you have thus leagued in a 
 partnership of infamy with me is Mr. Charles 
 
28 THE LAMBS 
 
 Lamb, a man who, so far from being a democrat, 
 would be the first person to assent to the opinions 
 contained in the foregoing pages : he is a man 
 too much occupied with real and painful duties — 
 duties of high personal self denial — to trouble 
 himself about speculative matters. 
 
 " Whenever he has thrown his ideas together, 
 it has been from the irresistible impulse of the 
 moment, never from any intention to propagate 
 a system, much less any *of folly and wicked- 
 
 This is in the right vein, and does as much 
 honour to the writer as it does justice to the 
 subjedt of the remarks. 
 
 The readers of the Lamb letters can hardly 
 fail to have become familiar with the name of 
 Norris. Lamb knew him as he knew none 
 besides. He was his and his father's friend 
 for nearly half a century, he tells Southey in 
 1823. When John Lamb became so that he 
 was scarcely any longer a companion, Norris 
 was next — in a sense, he was nearer. When 
 the mother fell by the daughter's hand, Charles 
 wrote to Coleridge (September 27, 1796) : " Mr. 
 Norris, of the Bluecoat School, has been very 
 kind to us, and we have no other friend." 
 
 In his next communication to the same, a few 
 days later, he says : " Mr. Norris, of Christ's 
 Hospital, has been as a father to me, Mrs. 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 29 
 
 Norris as a mother, though we had few claims 
 on them." 
 
 In the Christmas of 1825 Norris lay on his 
 dying bed. Ever since his boyhood Lamb had 
 spent that day with him and Mrs. Norris. He 
 came from witnessing the closing scene in the 
 saddest of moods, and the trouble and sense of 
 bereavement were such as he had never before 
 experienced. He writes to Crabb Robinson, 
 January 20, 1826: "In him I have a loss the 
 world cannot make up. He was my friend and 
 my father's friend all the life I can remember. 
 I seem to have made foolish friendships ever 
 since. Those are friendships which outlast a 
 second generation. Old as I am waxing, in his 
 eyes I was still the child he first knew me. To 
 the last he called me Charley. I have none to 
 call me Charley now. He was the last link that 
 bound me to the Temple. You are but of 
 yesterday." 
 
 Norris had very special claims on Lamb's 
 tender and enduring regard. Even when he 
 was a little shy, delicate school-boy, the under- 
 treasurer at the Inner Temple, his father's 
 friend, used to procure him exeats extraordinary 
 from the Christ's Hospital precindt, and enable 
 him to enjoy many a half-holiday either in 
 
30 THE LAMBS 
 
 Crown Office Row or under his own roof ; and 
 Lamb furnishes more than a hint that this 
 favouritism was rather apt to kindle in the 
 bosoms of those who had no such good fairy 
 at hand a passing sentiment of jealousy, more 
 particularly as poor Aunt Hetty used also to 
 bring to the cloisters just about the dinner- 
 hour, when there was something more than 
 usually savoury at her brother's frugal table, a 
 plate of viands wrapped up in a kerchief, and 
 sit down in a corner, kind soul, while the child 
 ate his home-perfumed meal. 
 
 It seemed almost requisite to state so much, 
 since there may be some who would not at once 
 appreciate the peculiar importance of the little 
 batch of letters, which I furnish below, in the 
 presence of such an imposing array of corre- 
 spondence with some of the most eminent 
 charadters of the age. But these stand pev se, 
 as Mr. and Mrs. Norris did. 
 
 I understand that the Inn, probably through 
 the friendly offices of Crabb Robinson, settled 
 on Mrs. Norris an annuity of /8o, 
 
 There is a further consideration to be offered 
 in this case. The letters of Mary Lamb belong 
 to the period of her chequered and prolonged 
 life, when her correspondence is of the rarest 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 3 1 
 
 occurrence, and from the last item in the series 
 it will be apparent that they were among her 
 latest efiforts to put her thoughts on paper. She 
 did Jiot long survive the note which Miss James 
 addressed on her behalf to Miss Norris. 
 
 I may be right in ascribing the postpone- 
 ment of any knowledge, down to a quite recent 
 date, that letters passed between the Lambs and 
 the oldest of their friends, to the presumed ab- 
 sence of any sympathy with literary matters on 
 the part of Norris and his family ; and the sur- 
 prising part, perhaps, is that they should have 
 been preserved even in rather indifferent con- 
 dition. 
 
 We have not to deal with Thomas Manning 
 in any light except in that in which Lamb has 
 made us see him. As the matter stands, he is 
 one of the pillars of the correspondence; and 
 the question arises when it commenced, and 
 through whom the two were made acquainted 
 in the first instance. Canon Ainger states 
 that Lloyd introduced Manning to Lamb in 
 the autumn of 1799 ; I say that it was when 
 he visited Lloyd at Cambridge in the winter 
 of that year that he met Manning. Now, 
 the Canon appears to err in placing the letter 
 dated December 28, 1799, before the undated 
 
32 THE LAMBS 
 
 one, which comes next in his book ; for the 
 undated one is almost assuredly the prior. In 
 the former, Lamb mentions that he had " sus- 
 pended his correspondence a decent interval," 
 while in the other he emphatically says, " I must 
 not prove tedious to you in my fiyst outset." In 
 the HazHtt arrangement, therefore, the letter of 
 December 28 takes the second place. 
 
 Canon Ainger is to be congratulated, upon 
 the whole, on the additional light which he has 
 thrown on the personal history of Manning, and 
 on the improved form in which he has been 
 enabled by the family to give that very promi- 
 nent feature in the earlier portion of the Lamb 
 correspondence. Yet it is to be more than 
 feared that the new matter has not been ren- 
 dered fully and faithfully. 
 
 From a letter to Manning of December 5, 1806, 
 we safely augur that Tuthill was an early friend 
 of the Holcrofts, and had perhaps been of sub- 
 stantial service to the dramatist and his wife in 
 their checkered career. Tuthill furnished Lamb 
 with his certificate in 1825, but we hear of him 
 only in a casual or incidental way. At his house 
 Manning stayed at a later period, and it was to 
 that address Moxon was instrucfted to send a, 
 copy of the second series of Elia, 1833, to "the 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 33 
 
 Chinese philosopher," then returned for good 
 from his travels, uneaten by the " Man-Chew " 
 Tartars. 
 
 Coleridge was the original medium of contacfl 
 with the Cottles and Gutch at Bristol, and with 
 Holcroft and Godwin in London; and Holcroft 
 and Godwin, again, were instrumental in bring- 
 ing him forward and establishing him as a mem- 
 ber of that Jacobinical coterie which included 
 in its ranks or on its skirts Stoddart, the two 
 Hazlitts, Crabb- Robinson, Thelwall, Scarlett, 
 and perhaps Mackintosh. Through Robinson 
 he knew the Williams family at Famham ; 
 through Holcroft or his wife the Kenneys, and 
 through them, again, Howard Payne. 
 
 There were some with whom his early efforts 
 in journalism made him temporarily acquainted 
 — Fell and Fenwick, and others, such as Miss 
 Mary Hays, the Godwins' friend. 
 
 I believe that I am right in saying that it was 
 through Godwin that Lamb became acquainted 
 with Stoddart and Hazlitt the miniature-painter, 
 and that Lamb and Godwin were brought to- 
 gether by Coleridge. We observe in the letter of 
 February 19th, 1803, to Manning, that it was at 
 Rickman's that Lamb apparently first fell in" 
 with Burney. Lamb names the Wednesday 
 
34 THE LAMBS 
 
 Evenings as a new institution, in a letter to 
 Manning, of December 5, 1806. They were, 
 at a later time, changed to Thursday. The 
 Thursdays are specifically named in a letter of 
 1826 to Hazlitt, first printed in a very recent 
 edition of the Correspondence. But the change 
 from Wednesday had been made since 181 7. 
 
 To George Dyer Lamb owed some obligations 
 of this chara(5ter, notably the friendship of John 
 Rickman — an acquisition, which he notifies to 
 Manning with evident satisfadlion in i8ooi 
 and Rickman introduced the Burneys — James 
 Burney, son of Dr. Burney, of musical fame, 
 and brother of Fanny Burney, afterwards 
 Madame D'Arblay, and Martin Burney, the 
 Admiral's son, for whom Lamb entertained a 
 rather whimsical regard. At a later date, in 
 1815, it was that his official colleague, Mr. 
 William Evans, brought Lamb and Talfourd 
 together. A few, like Bernard Barton, took the 
 initiative themselves on some literary plea. 
 
 Admiral Burney, one of the most notable of 
 the circle which colle(5led round the Lambs, in 
 Temple Lane, lived in James Street, Buckingham 
 Gate, and the Lamb set used sometimes to meet 
 there. His son Martin, who had some engage- 
 ment on the press, lodged at one time in Fetter 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 35 
 
 Lane. He, too, had occasional evenings at home, 
 and my father recolledls well the cold boiled 
 beef and porter for supper. Of the latter, Colonel 
 Phillips, another of the whist-boys, was a copious 
 partaker. Martin's housekeeper was a Mrs. 
 Mclnnis, a tall, raw-boned Irishwoman : my 
 father told me she was a fair cook, and had an odd 
 way of saying " os becount of," instead of because, 
 
 Evans was a very old acquaintance. He 
 entered the India House in 1796. He was 
 related to the family, whose friendship with 
 Coleridge is supposed to have led to the abrupt 
 departure of the latter from Jesus College, in 
 1794. The objecfl of the poet's attachment was 
 Mary Evans, who is beUeved to have been one 
 of the daughters of Thomas Evans, citizen and 
 patten-maker, of London, whose brother Henry 
 carried on business in King Street, Cheapside. 
 They were of Montgomeryshire descent, and a 
 John Evans was admitted to Christ's Hospital 
 from that part. 
 
 A few letters to John Rickman are given in 
 the editions ; but others remain unprinted. One 
 is^ in reference to an article by Lamb, in the 
 Morning Post, on Shakespear's Richard III. The 
 late Mr. Dykes Campbell had the use of them, 
 with the proviso that they were not to be printed. 
 
 D — 2 
 
36 THE LAMBS 
 
 John and Thomas Clio Rickman appear, like 
 so many other early acquaintances, to have 
 owed their knowledge of the Lambs to John 
 Hazlitt, who painted a portrait of the latter, a 
 bookseller, stationer, and printer in Upper 
 Marylebone Street, before 1800, in the February 
 of which year it was engraved by James Holmes. 
 My great-uncle also executed a miniature of 
 the same person, which is among those in my 
 possession. 
 
 Lamb was clearly pretty intimate with 
 John Rickman in 1802, and perchance they 
 became known to each other through Norris. 
 Rickman and Burney were of the original 
 Wednesday set. There is an inedited note from 
 Lamb to the former, in which he addresses him 
 as Dear R., and in which he asks him to meet 
 him at Norris's, saying : "I owe you 35. 6d., 
 which I want to take out of you at Picquet." 
 
 One of the most noteworthy accessions to the 
 stock was the recovery of two letters from Lamb 
 himself to Charles and John Chambers respec- 
 tively in 1817 — 18; and this find led to the fur- 
 ther revelation on inquiry that they belonged 
 to a series, of which others exist, and who the 
 recipients were. One of these letters — that to 
 Charles Chambers — has been pubhshed by the 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 37 
 
 ■writer; the other Canon Ainger inserts (with 
 omissions) in his edition of the Letters. 
 
 Thomas, Charles, Edward, John, and Mary 
 Chambers were the children of the Rev. Thoma^ 
 Chambers, Vicar of Radway-Edgehill, Warwick- 
 shire, a friendly and hospitable man, who loved 
 good cheer, and who left a dia4ry, in which he 
 has recorded little beyond the dinners he used to 
 give or eat. He speaks in one place of having 
 been cured of a fit of the gout by a splendid 
 lobster and some fine port given him by Lord 
 Willoughby. All his family died unmarried. 
 John and Charles Chambers were at Christ s 
 Hospital; the former was subsequently a col- 
 league of Lamb at the India HoUse, and 
 Charles, probably by the influence of his uncle, 
 Admiral Chambers, became a surgeon in the 
 Royal Navy, eventually retiring to Leamington, 
 where he practised till his death, about 1857, 
 as a medical man. John built the school at 
 Radway, and Charles the Working Men's Club. 
 The career of Edward was fixed by a curious 
 incident which happened to Mr. James Broad- 
 wood, of the firm in Great Pulteney Street, 
 during a stay in Warwickshire for coursing or 
 hunting purposes. He lost his way toward 
 nightfall one day, and asked a gentleman whom 
 
38 THE LAMES 
 
 he met the road to the nearest inn. The gentle- 
 man was the Vicar of Radway, and he took him 
 to his own house for the night. The result was 
 that Edward Chambers became after a while 
 cashier at Broadwood's, and remained so till his 
 death. He was of the Mercers' Company, and 
 gave some offence to the worshipful court by 
 instituting financial inquiries. It is Admiral 
 Chambers, who (with other members of the 
 circle) is commemorated by John Moultrie in 
 his "Dream of Life;" and the Vicar was "the 
 sensible clergyman in Warwickshire," of whom 
 we hear in the Elian essay, " Thoughts on 
 Presents of Game." The Rev. Thomas Cham- 
 bers married a Miss Miller, related to the Major 
 Miller who, when his colonel was disabled, com- 
 manded the Enniskillen Dragoons at Waterloo. 
 John Chambers was the last survivor of all 
 these ; he died at his house at Lee, in Kent, in 
 1872. He kept a hospitable table, and was a 
 liberal and intelligent man. He once subscribed 
 /500 to a church rebuilding fund ; but he used 
 to say that if he knew a man who went to 
 church three times a day, he would lock up the 
 spoons from him. He rode up to the India 
 House on a white horse during several years, 
 and was so pun<flual that people regulated their 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 39 
 
 watches by his movements. An old Warwick- 
 shire custom, which he observed, was to leave 
 the dinner-table with his friends with full bottles, 
 instead of making a point of clearing everything 
 off. He had a peculiar fashion, when he rode 
 in a carriage, of placing his servant inside, and 
 riding on the box, because, as he said, his objecSl 
 was to get the fresh air. He is the Ch. of the 
 " Superannuated Man." 
 
 John Chambers, the colleague of Lamb, used 
 to relate many stories of his distinguished friend ; 
 three or four were lately printed in Macmillan's 
 Magazine; and he would mention some singular 
 fadls about the doings in Leadenhall Street in 
 the old days. One of the clerks occasionally 
 kept a couple of hounds under his desk. Another 
 who, like Chambers, rode on horseback to the 
 office, missed his animal one day, and Lamb 
 threw out a sly hint that Chambers knew some- 
 thing about the affair, so that the latter was 
 watched, wherever he went, by two Bow Street 
 runners, till the owner was told that his pro- 
 perty had been seen in a stable in the Jiorth 
 of London ; and there he duly found it, and had 
 to pay a fortnight's bait. 
 
 One remark of Lamb, handed down by his 
 contemporary, was that he thought he must be 
 
40 THE LAMBS 
 
 the only man in England who had never worn 
 boots and never mounted a horse. 
 
 Whatever may be the worth of these memo- 
 rabilia, we have have set them down, because 
 till quite recently even the name of Chambers 
 was unknown to the biographers and readers of 
 Lamb, and they possess a certain interest in 
 themselves. They were most obligingly com- 
 municated to the present writer by Mr. Algernon 
 Black, who was executor both to Charles and 
 John. Mr. Black is of opinion that much of 
 the pose of Lamb as a bott viveur was pure 
 humour, and that as a matter of fadl he was 
 a moderate eater and drinker, and very little in 
 the way of liquor afFedled him. More than 
 twenty years ago I expressed a similar view. 
 
 Of Edward White, of the India House, to 
 whom there is a letter in Hazlitt's edition, some 
 account may be found in Cope's Reminiscences, 
 1891.* White lived at one time at Chelsea, 
 near the bridge, where Cope visited him ; but 
 he probably died at Twickenham. 
 
 Cope's account of White, and what he says of 
 Lamb, is worth reading. White was long one of 
 the Wednesday set. 
 
 * Reminiscences of Charles West Cope, R.A. 8vo., iSgi, 
 p. 36-8. 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4 1 
 
 Lamb appears to have known, presumably 
 through Janus Weathercock, otherwise Griffiths 
 Wainewrig;ht,the Abercromby family, with which 
 Wainewright was connedted by marriage. He 
 thought highly of Wainewright as a writer, by 
 virtue, perhaps, of the power of contrast, and 
 letters may have passed between the two They 
 have not been found. But Lamb wrote verses 
 in Madeleine Abercromby's album, and this 
 production we have also, it seems, yet to rescue. 
 We appear to be unable to do more than snatch 
 back one by one strayed Letters and other 
 remains. 
 
 Qf the numerous correspondents of the Lambs 
 it becomes the less surprising that we know in 
 many cases comparatively little, when we refledt 
 that, with certain illustrious and eminent excep- 
 tions, they were persons of no general celebrity. 
 But it is vexatious to be so powerless in eluci- 
 dating some of the sources of acquaintance, and 
 the mode and order in which such distinguished 
 men as Charles Lloyd, Manning, and one or 
 two more, gained a personal knowledge of Lamb 
 and his sister, and entered into epistolary rela- 
 tions with him or them both, Of course Lamb's 
 schoolfellow, Coleridge, was, as it were, the 
 primum mobile in introducing him to Words- 
 
42 THE LAMBS 
 
 worth, Southey, and Lloyd, and it appears to 
 have been through the last-named that he first 
 knew Manning. Southey was at Little Queen 
 Street as early as 1795, in Mrs. Lamb's lifetime. 
 
 The Eastern Counties were remarkably fertile 
 in yielding friends and correspondents. Man- 
 ning himself was a younger son of the Redtor 
 of Diss, in Norfolk, and was Lamb's senior by 
 three years. Crabb Robinson came from Bury 
 St. Edmunds. Fornham gave Mrs. WiUiams. 
 Then there was Barton at Woodbridge. 
 
 The series of letters between 1822 and 1830 
 to the Quaker clerk -poet at Woodbridge, 
 Bernard Barton, are especially prizeable, be- 
 cause they present the writer in a level serious 
 mood, and we see him on his best behaviour. 
 The most fastidious editors have found nothing 
 there of an exceptionable tenor. In his corre- 
 spondence with others, with whom he was equally 
 intimate, he is humorous, broad, even latitudi- 
 narian ; but here he treads upon eggs ; and yet 
 how much poorer we should be without this 
 matter ! Some of Lamb's prettiest and dain- 
 tiest, and tenderest thoughts, and some of his 
 finest critical touches, lie among those epistles 
 to Barton, and precious as they are to us, how 
 unspeakably so must they have been to him ! 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 43 
 
 In the letter to Barton of May 15, 1824, on 
 the works of William Blake, I committed one 
 serious error, when, in my edition of the Corre- 
 spondence, 1886, 1 printed Welch for Water Paint- 
 ings, having transcribed the produ(5tion under 
 difficult circumstances ; but otherwise the text 
 was taken for the first time from the autograph, 
 the original having long left the hands of the 
 Barton family. 
 
 Occasional allusions are found throughout the 
 correspondence to Dyer, Norris, the Le Grices, 
 and White ; but they all withdrew into middle 
 distance. Even Coleridge becomes after 1800 a 
 fadtor of secondary importance and magnitude in 
 the home-life of Lamb, precious beyond com- 
 parison as that mighty intelledlual spirit once 
 had been. 
 
 Lamb was continually gaining new friends and 
 new correspondents. Of these the majority is 
 represented, so far as our existing intelligence 
 goes, by a letter or two ; but in other cases the 
 fresh names made their way to the front, and 
 absorbed a leading share of attention for a 
 season. From 1796 to 1798 all the letters are 
 to Coleridge; during 1798 and 1799 they are 
 divided between Southey and Manning ; in 1800 
 Wordsworth and Godwin compete for a share. , 
 
44 THE LAMBS 
 
 In 1803 (or earlier), the Hazlitts appear on the 
 scene, and continue to occupy during several 
 years the leisure time of both the Lambs, the 
 society of Hazlitt himself indemnifying Elia for 
 the temporary loss of Manning. From 1807 to 
 1813 or 1814 there are few letters to anybody; 
 it is the dark period, during which Lamb appears 
 to have produced those till of late scarcely known 
 literary trifles, Beauty and tke Beast, Prince Dorus, 
 and perhaps others yet to be identified. Between 
 those years Canon Ainger has no more than five- 
 and-twenty letters, of which three are to fresh 
 and occasional correspondents, and the remainder 
 to Coleridge, the Wordsworths, Manning, God- 
 win, and the Hazlitts. 1 804, however, enjoys the 
 unique distincftion of having contributed only two 
 items — the letters to Southey and Miss Stoddart. 
 From 1815 downward the supply is more 
 abundant, and has a constant tendency to in- 
 crease, since it was subsequently to the rise of 
 a feeling that records of this charadter might 
 possess enduring value, that some greater mea- 
 sure of care was taken to preserve them. But 
 the old names are apt to recede into the back- 
 ground a little, and prominence is successively 
 acquired by Alsop, Charles and John Chambers, 
 Bernard Barton, Howard Payne and the Ken- 
 
FAMILY AND FRIENDS 45 
 
 neys, Hone, Cowden Clarke and Novello, and 
 Moxon. 
 
 It is for this reason, if there were no other, 
 that it seems expedient and right to admit all 
 that Lamb left behind him of an epistolary 
 characfter without too nicely weighing its indi- 
 vidual consequence. I do not believe that in 
 his inmost heart the friends of his youth became 
 less to him ; but this intercourse on paper with 
 more recent acquaintances constituted a valuable 
 distra(5lion, and more particularly after 1825, 
 when his official duties determined, entered im- 
 portantly into the business of every-day life. 
 The modified calibre of the correspondence of 
 later date may be gauged, to some extent, by 
 the fadl that in Canon Ainger's two volumes, 
 Letters i — 162 fill 309 pages, while Letters 
 163 — 417 are comprised in 303. Two hundred 
 and fifty-four letters, from 1817 to 1834, includ- 
 ing the whole of the Barton series and others 
 of not inconsiderable length, demand six pages 
 fewer than the 162 letters of or prior to 181 7. 
 
 I have quoted Lamb's own semi-serious say- 
 ing, "that ever the new friend driveth out the 
 old," but it was, of course, not entirely his own 
 fault or even his own choice that the prepon- 
 derance and personality of the letters flu<5luated 
 or varied from time to time. It might not be 
 
46 THE LAMBS 
 
 the truth, it perhaps scarcely ever was, that his 
 own sentiment toward early friends faltered ; 
 but the movements of some of his intimates 
 became uncertain, and, taking Manning as a 
 sample, the absences of the Missionary from 
 England or from Europe explain the paucity 
 of communications during prolonged intervals. 
 From 1799 to i8oi the flow was tolerably regu- 
 lar ; then it began to slacken; in 11502 — 3 the 
 breaks were wider; in 1804 there is nothing; 
 in 1805 — 6, and more or less down to rSio, the 
 series proceeded; then came a pause till 1815, 
 another till 181 9, and the correspondence is 
 a blank between 1819 and 1825, and between 
 the latter year and 1834. It was not invariably 
 that Manning was abroad ; the gaps are occa- 
 sionally due to unpublished letters, occasionally 
 to the fadt that Lamb and he were in London 
 together. But subsequently to 1829, it is stated 
 that he lived in retirement at Bexley or else- 
 where, and presumably forsook literary society 
 and letter-writing, except as in the solitary 
 item, to which Lamb responded in his of May 
 10, 1834, and in which we are invited to 
 believe there was just the old vein of gaiety 
 and humour. Possibly Manning did venture 
 Londonward now and then, and put up at his 
 friend Tuthill's in Cavendish Square. 
 
A FEW BIOGRAPHICAL 
 MEMORANDA 
 
A FEW BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA 
 
 With reference to the period during which the 
 Lambs resided at Enfield Chase, I may mention 
 that the late Mr. William Brailsford, who lived 
 with his parents close by them, described to me 
 how his mother was afraid of the brother and 
 sister, and would not go near them, but that he 
 had once spoken to Lamb. Mr. Brailsford also 
 hnevf Coleridge and Hazlitt, and asked a com- 
 mon friend, before he met me, if I resembled my 
 grandfather. He recalled in my hearing how, 
 when he was at Harrow one speech-day, reading 
 a book on some steps, a gentleman, passing, 
 patted him on the shoulder, and made some 
 remark in an under tone. It was Lord Byron. 
 
 When Lamb went to Enfield, he was probably 
 unaware that he was the second person of that 
 name who had fixed his abode in that locality. 
 In 1707, a Charles Lamb was curate of the 
 parish, and published one or two sermons. I 
 do not know whether it is worth while to men- 
 
50 THE LAMBS 
 
 tion that a poem, entitled Palengue, or the Ancient 
 West, by Charles Lamb, Esquire, appeared in 
 1849. This may be the Charles Lamb, Esq., 
 who died at Chislehurst, Kent, September, 
 1890, aged 70. 
 
 Lamb, though he passed so much of his later 
 years out of London, never formed any strong 
 attachment to the scenery or pursuits of the 
 country, and seldom refers to either. He was 
 a good pedestrian ; but his thoughts did not 
 receive any colour from his rambles in the 
 suburban lanes. His migrations from town to 
 country were perhaps, however, serviceable as 
 balancing distradtions. 
 
 The point, on which I have insisted just 
 above, as to Lamb's want and incapability of 
 sympathy with rural scenery, is exemplified and 
 confirmed in one of his latest letters — that to 
 Manning in May, 1834, where he observes : 
 " I walk 9 or 10 miles a day, always up the 
 road, dear London -wards. Fields, flowers, 
 birds, and green lanes, I have no heart for. 
 The Ware road is cheerful, and almoit good as a 
 street. I saunter to the Red Lion daily, as you 
 used to the Peacock."* 
 
 It is conceivable that the nervous stutter, to 
 
 * Comp. Canon Ainger's edition of the Letters, ii., 299. 
 
A FEW BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA 5 1 
 
 which the utterance of Lamb was more or less 
 subject, was favourable to the development of 
 his pleasantries and jeux-de-mot. The delivery 
 of the impromptu was colourably retarded by 
 a natural impediment, for which no man could 
 be entitled to blame the author. Of Lamb's 
 quickness in repartee, however, there is no 
 question ; he seldom opened his lips in the 
 course of friendly conversation without im- 
 parting some Attic salt to the dialogue; and 
 of his sayings not a tithe has been published, 
 and of such as have found their way into print 
 the text is too often incorre<5l. 
 
 The history of the retirement from Leadenhall 
 Street has never yet been quite clearly stated 
 or understood. On the 7th of March, 1825, 
 Lamb addressed a letter to the Company, 
 setting forth that he had served as a clerk in 
 the accountant's office for a period of nearly 
 thirty-three years, and enclosing medical certifi- 
 cates of declining health, with a petition for 
 leave to quit his office under the provisions of 
 the Act 53 Geo. III., cap. 155. This letter was 
 taken into consideration by the diredtors on the 
 1 6th, and referred to the committee of account. 
 On the 29th the Board resolved to grant the 
 applicant a pension for life of £^S°- 
 
 E— 2 
 
52 THE LAMBS 
 
 It further appears, from documents preserved 
 at the India Office, that Lamb had contributed 
 to the Regular Widows' Fund from its first 
 establishment, April i, 1816, till his death, a 
 sum of /203. 19s. id., in consideration of which 
 the diretftors, on the gth of March, 1835, re- 
 solved to settle on his sister, Mary Lamb, an 
 annuity for her life of ;^i2o, she having already, 
 under her brother's will, an income of ^^90 
 a year. 
 
 With these papers before me, there can be no 
 objedlion to add that the original pay of Lamb 
 was /40 a year, increased to £yo in 1796, and 
 that his father had to become his surety in /soo 
 on the 27th of April, 1792, twenty-two days after 
 his appointment. On the 23rd of October, iBio, 
 John Lamb having died in 1799, a fresh bonds- 
 man was required, perhaps on promotion, and 
 was found in the person of James White, " of 
 Warwick Square, newspaper agent" — ^the Jem 
 White of the Life and Letters. William Savory, 
 who is mentioned in the correspondence, received 
 his nomination on the same day as his more 
 illustrious colleague. 
 
 The nett quarterly payment from 1792 to 1796 
 appears to have been only_;^8. 15s. "jd. 
 
 Notwithstanding such slender resources and 
 
A FEW BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA 53 
 
 the lapse of years before his salary became com- 
 fortably ample, Lamb is never found hinting at 
 pecuniary diificulties, or at being in debt. He 
 obeyed at all events one of Shakespear's pre- 
 cepts ; but out of his moderate earnings he con- 
 trived to lend to his friends^ — more, probably, 
 than we shall ever know — and saved a consider- 
 able amount, namely, the capital of the /go a 
 year just referred to. 
 
 The late Mr. Marmaduke Hornidge, of the 
 India House, recolle(5led Lamb coming there 
 -Jjeriodically for his pension. Mr. Ryle and Mr. 
 Chambers were the two fellow clerks, of whom 
 he saw most on these occasions. Lamb gave 
 up, according to the ordinary rule and scale, two 
 per cent, of his salary and pension to provide 
 for his sister. The Company tacitly permitted 
 the extension of the privilege, however, to any 
 female relative domiciled with, and dependent 
 on, a bachelor brother, or as the case might 
 be, she receiving half the allowance granted to a 
 widow. 
 
 In more than one conversation with Mr. 
 Hornidge, I elicited without difficulty from 
 him a candid avowal of his total inability 
 to understand why people made such a fuss 
 about an individual, whose official status was 
 
54 THE LAMBS 
 
 never very high, and who did not rise to the 
 receipt of more than ;^6oo a year. Mr. Hor- 
 nidge was a Justice of the Peace for one of the 
 divisions of Surrey, a gentleman of unblemished 
 repute, and a foremost character in the parish of 
 Barnes. Requiescat in pace. 
 
 Yet he was ostensibly a person of more than 
 average density even for a public official, since 
 others in the office, as Mr. Ryle, Mr. Chambers, 
 Mr. Edward White, Mr. Brook Pulham (the 
 Wither collecflor), and Mr. William Evans (the 
 illustrator of Byron) for instance, were more or 
 less awake to the companionship of a superior 
 intelle(5l in Lamb, and some of the members of 
 the Board of Diredtors cannot have been wholly 
 insensible to the fadt. The " Bell Letters," as 
 Elia more than once terms them, were very 
 much indeed out of Mr. Hornidge's line. 
 
 There is an extant note to Ryle, which I print 
 below with a feeling that I ought to apologise 
 for its insignificance ; but it is the only scrap 
 with which I have met. There is a letter to 
 White in my edition of the Letters. Of corre- 
 spondence with Pulham and Evans I have no 
 knowledge. It is, on the contrary, among the 
 most satisfadlory of recent discoveries, that with 
 John Chambers, as well as his brother Charles, 
 
A FEW BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA 55 
 
 Lamb exchanged communications ; more par- 
 ticularly with the former. 
 
 Numerous references occur in the correspon- 
 dence to the several portraits of Lamb himself 
 taken at successive periods, and more or less 
 recent publications offer a complete gallery of 
 these supposed resemblances, commencing with 
 the miniature, in which he appears as a young 
 man of one and twenty or thereabout, exe- 
 cuted in the hard, mechanical, and monotonous 
 manner of Hancock. It is, perhaps, the least 
 exceptionable of the set of four which that artist 
 painted. Of the work by Hazlitt no adequate 
 estimate can be formed from the engraving in 
 Prodter's book : but even when one contem- 
 plates the finished original in the National 
 Portrait Gallery, the costume seems to detradl 
 from the effeit. The painter was at the time 
 (1805 — 6), when he was engaged in the task, 
 fresh from the Louvre and its Titianesque asso- 
 ciations, and was balancing between literature 
 and art as a profession; and poor Lamb is 
 arrayed in some nondescript trappings, intended 
 to do duty for the dress of a Venetian senator. 
 
 The late Mr. Macmillan, the publisher, had 
 an indifferent repUca, purchased at an aucflion 
 in 1880. I went to see it, before it was sold, 
 
56 THE LAMBS 
 
 but did not care to leave a commission. Yet it 
 brought ;^6o. That in the National Portrait 
 Gallery was acquired at a cost of ;^ios. 
 
 Looking at the whole assemblage of attempts 
 to convey to posterity the Uneaments and living 
 expression of Lamb, I own that I prefer the 
 likeness prefixed to the common edition of the 
 Works, and next to that the one which accom- 
 panies Canon Ainger's book. 
 
 There is a story of Lamb illustrative of the 
 saying that what goes in at one ear goes out at 
 the other. Lamb was in a coach, and was 
 accosted by the passenger next to him on one 
 side, who suspecSled at last that he did not appre- 
 ciate his remarks. "You do not appear," he 
 said, " to be interested in my conversation ? " 
 Replies Lamb : " The gentleman next me has 
 it." 
 
 A man, who had spent fifty years of his life in 
 the Temple and neighbourhood, was asked by 
 me whether he remembered the name of Lamb, 
 i.e., of course, Charles and Mary. He enquired 
 whether this Lamb was in any way related to 
 the Paschal Lamb. He had seen the cogni- 
 zance over the Middle Temple door. 
 
 It is so usual to speak of Lamb's sister as 
 Mary Lamb, that we lose sight of the fa(5t that 
 
A FEW BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA 57 
 
 her full name was Mary Ann Lamb, as she writes 
 it herself on the fly-leaf of a copy of her brother's 
 works, which she gave to my father in 1842. 
 
 Lamb himself, in a receipt which he gave on 
 her behalf in 1834, spells the second name Anne, 
 Orthography was not a strong point with either 
 of them ; or rather they, like many others, had 
 no settled standard. 
 
LAMB'S LIBRARY 
 
LAMBS LIBRARY 
 
 A LIST of the books belonging to Lamb and 
 his sister, and the greater part remarkable for 
 interesting annotations by the former, has been 
 already given in the volume published in 1874 
 by the present writer. Unfortunately he was 
 precluded from seeing a proof of this portion ; 
 and the text is incorredl in several places. But 
 it is also incomplete, and even the following 
 items do not make up probably the sum of the 
 " ragged regiment." 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher. Comedies and Tra- 
 gedies. Folio. 1647 or 1679. In the British 
 Museum. 
 
 This has passed through the hands of Cole- 
 ridge, who, in returning it to its owner, has 
 written the following charafleristic note : — 
 " 17th April, 1807. God bless you, dear Charles 
 Lamb. I am dying; I feel I have not many 
 yfeeks left." Singularly enough, in sending 
 
62 THE LAMBS 
 
 back a copy of Donne in 1811, the sombre per- 
 suasion that his end was near seems to have 
 been still strong ; for he inserts this memoran- 
 dum : — " I shall die soon, my dear Charles Lamb, 
 and then you will not be vexed that I have be- 
 scribbled your book." I print below the letter 
 of 1808, in which the same sentence is repeated. 
 Lamb evidently looked on these forebodings as 
 semi-serious, or, at all events, hypochondriacal. 
 
 Burton (Robert). Anatomy of Melancholy. 4to. 
 1621. A very poor, cropped copy, with Charles 
 Lamb on title, but the surname cut off by binder. 
 
 Daniel (Samuel). Poetical Works. i2mo. 
 1718. 2 vols. With two autograph letters by 
 S. T. Coleridge on flyleaves, and numerous im- 
 portant notes, in the handwriting of Coleridge 
 and Lamb, on margins. 
 
 Jonson (Benj.). Works. Folio. 1692. 
 
 He gave this book to Dr. Stoddart in 1803. 
 
 Browne (Sir Thomas, M.D.). Enquiries into 
 Vulgar and Common Errors. Folio. 1658. 
 With MSS. notes by S. T. Coleridge and the 
 autograph of Lamb. 
 
 Holcroft (Thomas). Travels from Hamburgh, 
 through Westphalia and the Netherlands, to 
 Paris. 4to. 1804. 2 vols. 
 
 Lamb has made these volumes, flyleaves, 
 margins and every other imaginable space, a 
 
lamb's library 63 
 
 receptacle for a variety of observations — has, in 
 tact, turned them into a common-place booki 
 
 Milton (John). Paradise Lost and Regained. 8vo. 
 1 75 1. 2 vols. 
 
 Imperfedl, but with an assortment of critical 
 notes, corredlions, &c., by Lamb, throughout. 
 In the British Museum. 
 
 Webster's Duchess of Malfy. The Rehearsal, 
 by the Duke of Buckingham, and other Plays of 
 the period or century by Wycherley, Etherege, 
 Otway, &c., in a 4to. vol. With a list of the 
 contents in Lamb's hand. 
 
 ^ Gessner (S.). Schriften. 8vo. 3 vols. 1810. 
 With the signature of Mary Lamb in each 
 volume. 
 
 Donne (John). Paradoxes, Problems, Essays, 
 Chara(5lers, &c. izmo. 1652. With Lamb's 
 autograph presentation to I sola : — "To dear 
 Isola, 1834." 
 
 Shelley (P. B.). History of a Six Weeks' 
 Tour through France, Switzerland, &c. 8vo. 
 1818. With Lamb's autograph on flyleaf. 
 
 Spenser (Edmund). Fairy Queen, Shepherd's 
 Calendar, &c. Folio. 1612 — 17. With " M. 
 Lamb, Alpha Road, No. 41." outside cover, and 
 numerous MSS. notes by Lamb himself. 
 
 Tag, Rag, and Bob-Tail, a volume of modern 
 miscellanies. 8vo. Forster Collection, South 
 Kensington. 
 
64 THE LAMBS 
 
 Talfourd (T. N.)- Ion: a Tragedy. 8vo. 
 No date. First Edition. Presentation copy 
 from the author to Mary Lamb. 
 
 Taylor (Jeremy). Sermons. Folio. 1678. " C. 
 Lamb, 1798," occurs on general title, and there 
 are some MSS. notes by him, also one or two by 
 S. T. Coleridge, one with his initials. 
 
 Warner (William). Syrinx ; or, a Sevenfold 
 History. 4to. 1597. Dyce Collection, South 
 Kensington. Given to Lamb in 1823, with 
 other books, by Harrison Ainsworth. 
 
 Wither (George). Poems. The Bristol re- 
 print. 3 vols. Interleaved and bound in 2 vols, 
 4to., and filled with MSS. notes and criticisms 
 by Lamb. This passed into the hands of 
 Mr. A. C. Swinburne. 
 
 Miscellanies. Poems, by George Dyer, 1800. 
 A Reply to Dr. Parr, by W. Godwin, 1801. 
 The Speech of Lord Baron Fitzgibbon, 1793. 
 8vo. With MSS. notes by Lamb and Coleridge. 
 
 These books, with some others (including a 
 few presented to William Hazlitt the younger 
 by Miss Lamb, and restored to Moxon), re- 
 mained in England, when the remainder was 
 sold to Messrs. Welford and Scribner, of New 
 York, and gradually dispersed. The late Mr. 
 Charles Welford presented me, many years 
 ago, with the subjoined particulars of the 
 prices and purchasers' names, with the short 
 
LAMB S LIBRARY 
 
 65 
 
 titles of the articles. The figures realised were 
 very handsome, and immeasurably above their 
 commercial value at home at that time : — 
 
 Prices and Purchasers' Names of Sixty Volumes of 
 
 Books, which belonged to Charles Lamb, sold in 
 
 New York, February, 1848, ai Private Sale. 
 
 NO. 
 
 WORK. 
 
 PURCHASER. 
 
 PRICE 
 
 I 
 
 Aulus Gellius 
 
 Bristed 
 
 $7-50 
 
 2 
 
 Art of Living, &c. 
 
 Annan of Cincinnatti, 
 Ohio 
 
 2-SO 
 
 3 
 
 Bourne, Vincent 
 
 Rev. Mr. Alexander 
 
 5 -00 
 
 4 
 
 Burney, Jas. 
 
 Annan 
 
 1-50 
 
 s 
 
 Bacon, Lord 
 
 Woodman of Boston 
 
 4 '00 
 
 6 
 
 Cities Great Concern 
 
 Annan 
 
 27s 
 
 7 
 
 Cleveland's Poems 
 
 Balmanno 
 
 3 "5° 
 
 8 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Balmanno 
 
 4-00 
 
 9 
 
 Chaucer 
 
 Annan 
 
 25-00 
 
 10 
 
 Cowley 
 
 Woodman, Boston 
 
 lo-oo 
 
 II 
 
 The Dunciad 
 
 Livermore, Boston 
 
 3-50 
 
 12 
 
 Dennis 
 
 Jones 
 
 3-00 
 
 »3 
 
 Drayton, Mich. 
 
 Annan 
 
 32-00 
 
 14 
 
 Euripides. 
 
 Norton, Boston 
 
 2-50 
 
 IS 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan. 
 
 Livermore 
 
 3-50 
 
 16 
 
 Fulke Greville 
 
 Woodman 
 
 7 "SO 
 
 17 
 
 Guardian. Vol. I. 
 
 Folsom 
 
 SCO 
 
 i8 
 
 Hudibras 
 
 Annan 
 
 3-00 
 
 19 
 
 Hymens Preludia 
 
 Annan 
 
 6-50 
 
 io 
 
 Ben Johnson 
 
 Strong 
 
 25-00 
 
 21 
 
 Lncans Pharsalia 
 
 Annan 
 
 2-50 
 
 22 
 
 More, Dr. Henry 
 
 Strong 
 
 800 
 
 23 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Deane, Boston 
 
 800 
 
 24 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 9-00 
 
 25 
 
 Minor Poets 
 
 Annan 
 
 3-00 
 
 26 
 
 Miscellanies 
 
 Strong 
 
 10-00 
 
 27 
 
 Miscellany Letters 
 
 Annan 
 
 5-00 
 
 28 
 
 Newcastle, Duchess of 
 
 Wetmore 
 
 I2-0O 
 
66 
 
 THE LAMBS 
 
 NO. 
 
 WORK. 
 
 PURCHASER. 
 
 PRICE 
 
 29 
 
 Newcastle, Duchess of 
 
 Conant 
 
 lO'OO 
 
 30 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Cassiday, Louisville, 
 Kentucky 
 
 9-00 
 
 31 
 
 Osborne, Francis 
 
 Folsom 
 
 3 'SO 
 
 32 
 
 Old Plays 
 
 Annan 
 
 lo-oo 
 
 33 
 
 Old Plays 
 
 Annan 
 
 10 00 
 
 34 
 
 Old Plays 
 
 Annan 
 
 9 00 
 
 35 
 
 Old Plays 
 
 A Stranger 
 
 1200 
 
 36 
 
 Poetical Tracts 
 
 Annan 
 
 6' 00 
 
 37 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Annan 
 
 6'oo 
 
 3« 
 
 Prior, Matthew 
 
 Balmanno 
 
 6-00 
 
 39 
 
 Plays 
 
 Bateman, Philadelphia 
 
 3 "SO 
 
 40 
 
 Philips, Mrs. K. 
 
 Annan 
 
 5-00 
 
 41 
 
 Relation, &c. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 1-50 
 
 42 
 
 Reliquiae Wottonianse 
 
 Wiley & Putnam, for 
 Boston 
 
 500 
 
 43 
 
 Richardson, Mrs. 
 
 Richards 
 
 3 '5° 
 
 44 
 
 Review, .Sc. 
 
 Ditto 
 
 3 '5° 
 
 45 
 
 Shakspeare's Poems 
 
 Balmanno 
 
 600 
 
 46 
 
 Spectator Vol. IX. 
 
 Cassiday 
 
 1-50 
 
 47 
 
 Swift. Vol. V. 
 
 Balmanno 
 
 3 '5° 
 
 48 
 
 Suckling, Sir John 
 
 Woodman 
 
 5 00 
 
 49 
 
 Sewell, Wm. 
 
 Rev. H. W. Bellows. 
 
 12 -oo 
 
 5° 
 
 Tryon, Thomas 
 
 Norton 
 
 300 
 
 SI 
 
 Tale of a Tub 
 
 A Stranger 
 
 3 'SO 
 
 52 
 
 Tracts 
 
 Ditto 
 
 3 '5° 
 
 S3 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Annan 
 
 5 '50 
 
 54 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Annan 
 
 6-00 
 
 55 
 
 Waller's Poems 
 
 Balmanno 
 
 3 '5° 
 
 56 
 
 Buncle, John 
 
 Strong 
 
 8-50 
 
 ^l 
 
 Donne, Dr. 
 
 Strong 
 
 4000 
 
 58 
 
 God's Revenge 
 
 Strong 
 
 30-00 
 
 59 
 
 Hist. P. de Comines 
 
 Strong 
 
 lO'OO 
 
 60 
 
 Pitvin, Rev. Mr. 
 
 Strong 
 
 20 'OO 
 
 J479 75 
 
 Equal to/107. iSs. H(i; 
 
lamb's library 67 
 
 It must be apparent to everyone that this 
 enumeration does not embrace an assortment of 
 modern contemporary literature, chiefly presen- 
 tation copies from Southey, Wordsworth, Cottle, 
 Barton, and other literary confreres. From allu- 
 sion^ in the correspondence we perceive that not 
 a year passed without the arrival at Lamb's 
 fireside of tributes of prose and poetry, of all of 
 which it became his duty to report the safe 
 receipt and cordial appreciation. Critical esti- 
 mates were sometimes solicited, and sometimes 
 a review in an organ to which the recipient had 
 access. These were rather painful accessories, 
 where Lamb found a difificulty in saying or 
 writing what was likely to satisfy the author, or, 
 if the opinion was for publication, the editor and 
 the public. 
 
THE RARER ELIANA 
 
THE RARER ELIANA 
 
 I HAVE no intention in the present case to 
 come forward as a bibliographer. But I cannot 
 resist the temptation of supplying a few new 
 points, as they seem to me to be, in the history 
 of the Tales from Shakespear and other early works. 
 This popular little book, after passing through 
 two editions in 1807 and 1808, reached a third 
 in 1809, Godwin being still the publisher; but 
 in the Preface to this issue it is explained that 
 the book is printed in a superior style for the 
 benefit of older readers, and that the plates given 
 in the previous impressions have been with- 
 drawn, a portrait of the author (Shakespear) 
 being substituted. A few copies of the Blake 
 prints, however, had been worked off, it is 
 added, to suit those who liked such embellish- 
 ments. On the back of the title is an extraift 
 from the Critical Review for May, 1807, recom- 
 mending the book as the best of its kind, except 
 Robinson Crusoe. 
 
72 THE LAMBS 
 
 Rosamund Gray, Lamb's earliest separate pro- 
 duction, appeared long before the Tales — that is 
 to say, in 1798. The Lloyd influence had per- 
 haps something to do with the issue of the book 
 in the same year with a Birmingham imprint. 
 
 Let me now proceed to furnish the full par- 
 ticulars of two or three works (so to speak) of 
 Lamb unknown to all his early biographeijs — 
 namely, Poetry for Children, Beauty and the Biast, 
 and Prince Dorus, \ 
 
 I . Poetry for Children. Entirely original. By 
 the author of " Mrs. Leicester's School." In 
 two volumes. London : Printed for M. J. God- 
 win, at the Juvenile Library, No. 41, Skinner 
 Street. 1809. Sm. 8vo. Vol. L : Frontispiece, 
 I leaf, title and contents, pp. 4 ; the book, 104 
 pp. Vol. II., the same. 
 
 Sotheby's, Nov. 12, 1888, No. 407. 
 
 This little book, of which a great deal too 
 much has been made by accidental possessors 
 and by dilettanti, is really a very poor perfor- 
 mance, as well as a palpable and weak imitation 
 of similar child's poetry by the Taylors and 
 others. " Little Ann " is earlier and better. The 
 Lamb book was reprinted at Boston, N.E., 1812. 
 Sm. 8vo., pp. 144. 
 
 2. Beauty and the Beast ; or, The Enchanted Rose. 
 A Poetical Version of an Ancient Tale. Illustrated 
 
THE RARER ELIANA 73 
 
 with a series of engravings ; and Beauty's Song 
 at her Spinning-wheel, set to music by Mr. 
 Whittaker. Second edition. London : William 
 Jackson & Co., at the Juvenile Library, 195 (St. 
 Clement's) Strand. 1825. Three shillings plain ; 
 five shillings coloured. Sm. 8vo. 
 
 The first edition, I presume, was that de- 
 scribed in an auctioneer's catalogue for Decem- 
 ber 18, 1885, as commencing, like the only other 
 copy known, with the text, and as having coloured 
 plates. The conjectured date was 181 1, and the 
 publisher, doubtless, was Godwin : Jackson arid 
 Co. having probably bought the stock after 
 Godwin's failure. 
 
 3. Prince Dorus; or. Flattery put out of Counte- 
 nance. A Poetical Version of an Ancient Tale. 
 Illustrated with a series of elegant engravings. 
 London: Printed for M. J. Godwin, at the Ju- 
 venile Library, No. 41, Skinner Street. 18,11. 
 Duodecimo, pp. 32, the last blank. In rhyming 
 couplets. 
 
 Sotheby's, Feb. 14, 1888. The plates coloured. 
 They are nine in number, and are attributed to 
 Blake. There is no introdudtory matter, and no 
 mention of the author. There was a second 
 issue, i2mo., 1818, with coloured plates. 
 
 But a singular question arises here in connec- 
 tion with this particular copy of the last-named 
 trifle. With it were bracketed two or three 
 other similar produdlions, one being entitled 
 
74 THE LAMBS 
 
 The Hare and many Friends, 1808, with coloured 
 engravings. We all remember the jeu d'esprit 
 of Lamb, where a friend invites him to din- 
 ner, and mentions that he has a hare for him. 
 " And many friends ? " inquires the proposed 
 guest. From 1808 to 1812, or thereabout, forms 
 a Very ill-dated epoch in Lamb's career ; the 
 correspondence is almost a blank. Did he also- 
 write this child's book ? I am sorry that I did 
 not see it. 
 
 There is a point which merits a passing 
 notice, and it is that the brother and sister's 
 joint produdlion, Mrs. Leicester's School, first pub- 
 lished in 1809, and merely interesting to us as 
 exhibiting several autobiographical hints, pro- 
 bably owed its title to a small juvenile book 
 brought out by Newbery in 1794: The Two 
 Cousins : a Moral Story of Mrs. Leyster,.for Young 
 Persons. Nothing is more likely than that such 
 a volume fell in the way of the Lambs in early 
 days. 
 
 The " Susan Yates " of this pretty and touch- 
 ing little book perhaps recalls the Timothy 
 Yeats, Esq., who presented Lamb to Christ's 
 Hospital in 1782. Had he a daughter Susan? 
 It was twenty-seven years ago. 
 
 This book received the unique distin<5lion of 
 
THE RARER ELIANA 75 
 
 being translated into French under the title of 
 Les Jeunes Pensionnaires, i2mo., Paris, 1824. 
 
 Lamb in nearly everything which he com- 
 mitted to paper — is it not the same with all 
 of us? — had some adtual substratum of fadl 
 behind him, some nucleus, which he elaborated, 
 and perhaps disguised on personal or other 
 grounds. The late Professor Morley even went 
 so far as to allege at a venture that the names 
 of the Benchers of the Inner Temple, set forth in 
 the Elian essay on that subject, were fidtitious, 
 although he might have been warned by the 
 presence on the list of Samuel Salt, the patron 
 of Lamb's father. The only liberty which the 
 author of the paper has really taken is in the 
 case of Mr. Twopeny ; and even he was a student 
 of the Inn, as appears from the Register. Among 
 the portraits preserved by the Inn of its former 
 worthies is one of" Mingay with the Iron Hand." 
 This was James Mingay, admitted in 1770, called 
 to the Bench in 1785, and Treasurer in 1791. He 
 died in 1812. He had lost a hand, and is repre- 
 sented with a hook as a substitute for it. 
 
 In the London Magazine for January, 1822, we 
 come across A Dramatic Fragment, with the 
 mysterious signature * * * at the end. But 
 it is known to be Lamb's, and Sir Theodore 
 
76 THE LAMBS 
 
 Martin once lent me the original MS. It is the 
 familiar story of the author's " fair-haired maid " 
 in a dramatic shape — a mere little sketch, occu- 
 pying two-thirds of a page of the magazine. It 
 is to this episode, of which an adlual passage of 
 his very early life was beyond doubt the ground- 
 work, that he alludes in a sonnet enclosed with 
 his letter to Coleridge of (June) 1796 : — 
 
 " When last I roved these winding wood-walks 
 green, 
 Green winding walks and shady pathways 
 
 sweet. 
 Oft-times would Anna seek the silent scene." 
 
 This was, perhaps, his first boyish fancy. 
 The dramatist seems to convey that the blonde 
 damsel, unlike her nut-brown ancestor, proved 
 unkind and untrue. Who can say ? 
 
 The clues given in my Lamb volume of 1874 
 evidently set Canon Ainger on the track of 
 Bartrum the pawnbroker, and he procured, I 
 understand, through Mr. Harrison of the Lon- 
 don Library, an introdudlion to the represen- 
 tative of that family, associated in an earlier 
 generation with the essayist's youthful love 
 aflfair. It has hitherto, I believe, remained 
 unsuggested that there may be some conneiftion 
 between the Alice W . . n mystery and Lamb's 
 
THE RARER ELIAN A ']'J 
 
 farce of Tht Pawnbroker's Daughter, contributed 
 to Blackwood in 1830. I elsewhere* notice that 
 William Coulson, the surgeon, married one of 
 Bartrum's daughters. 
 
 But the chef d'ceuvre of Lamb in his popular 
 publications was the Adventures of Ulysses, a 
 prose paraphrase of the Odyssey. I have re- 
 peatedly wept over it ; but it may not be gene- 
 rally known that Godwin exercised a sort of 
 readership here ; for in a letter to him of 
 March 11, 1808, the author thanks him for 
 having pointed out the revolting description of 
 Polyphemus devouring the companions of the 
 hero, and notifies its removal ; while he combats 
 other objedtions a I'outrance, declaring that he 
 will not alter the passages, even if Godwin and 
 the rest of the trade should refuse the book on 
 that account. 
 
 Under date of Odtober 25, 1839, occurs the 
 following in Caroline Fox's Journal : — " Soon 
 after Fauntleroy was hanged, an advertisement 
 appeared : ' To all good Christians ! Pray for 
 the soul of Fauntleroy.' This created a good 
 deal of speculation as to whether he was a 
 Catholic, and at one of Coleridge's soirees it was 
 
 * Four Generations of a Literary Family, 1897, i., 282. 
 
78 THE LAMBS 
 
 discussed for a considerable time ; at length 
 Coleridge, turning to Lamb, asked : ' Do you 
 know anything about this affair ? ' 'I should 
 think I d-d-did,' said Eha, ' for I paid s-s-s-seven 
 and sixpence for it.'" 
 
 The revolution in the prices of first editions 
 of Lamb's writings would have struck their 
 author more forcibly, perhaps, even than it 
 strikes a contemporary observer. A few shil- 
 lings would, some forty years ago, have placed 
 one in possession of the whole series. There 
 was a slight upward tendency within my recol- 
 leiflion, however. I was in Mr. John Waller's 
 shop in Fleet Street, and he offered me a beau- 
 tiful copy, in sheep, of the editio princeps of the 
 Tales from Shakespear (1807), for 75. 6d., men- 
 tioning that Mr. George Daniel (who died in 
 1864) had been in, and had pronounced the book 
 to be worth a guinea. 
 
 Mr. H., though a failure at the period of 
 its original performance, was successfully re- 
 vived in the author's life-time — about 1827, and 
 again in 1885. A piece like this wholly depends 
 on the person filling the principal part. Toole 
 or Terry might, perhaps, make a hit with it. 
 But it is so slight in its construdlion, that it 
 is something hke a jest dramatized. 
 
THE RARER ELIANA 79 
 
 The volume of Poems by Charles Lloyd, 
 mentioned above (p. 27), is entitled : Poems on 
 the Death of Priscilla Farmer, by her Grand- 
 son, Charles Lloyd. Bristol. Printed by N. 
 Biggs, and sold by James Phillips, George 
 Yard, Lombard Street, London, 1796. Folio, 
 pp. 27. With a quotation on the title-page 
 from Bowles. 
 
 This little work, for a description of which 
 I am indebted to Mr. B. B. Macgeorge, of 
 Glasgow (through Messrs. Pearson & Co., of 
 Pall- Mall Place*), includes the poem. by Lamb, 
 entitled " The Grandam," which was reprinted 
 with alterations in Coleridge's Poems, lamo., 
 1797. In introducing it at p. 25, Lloyd says: 
 " The following beautiful fragment was written 
 by Charles Lamb, of the India House. Its 
 subjedt being the same with that of my poems, 
 I was solicitous to have it printed with them, 
 and I am indebted to a Friend of the Author 
 for the permission." These verses are of special 
 interest as the earliest appearance of Lamb in 
 type. 
 
 * In Mr. MacGeorge's copy there is the inscription by the 
 poet (at that time his father was living) : " Charles Lloyd, 
 Jun., to his Uncle S. Gallon. 1796." 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 The interest of published letters is ordinarily 
 held to depend either on the writer or the matter 
 written. It is more difficult than may at first 
 sight appear to decide which is the more 
 attracflive feature ; but it is certain that, where 
 the two are combined, we reaUse this class of 
 writing in its perfedlion. 
 
 There are, doubtless, many epistolary relics 
 of the Lambs, brother and sister, which are 
 trivial enough, and which, had they proceeded 
 from the pen of an obscure or uninteresting 
 person, might be in danger of committal to the 
 waste-basket, just as there are specimens of 
 correspondence by inferior writers which are 
 only redeemed from negle(ft because their merit 
 is purely intrinsic. 
 
 The serious injustice done to the Hazlitt book 
 of 1886 by its two years' junior, that of Canon 
 Ainger, forms a subjedt on which the present 
 
 G 2 
 
84 THE LAMBS 
 
 writer feels a natural delicacy in dwelling or 
 insisting too much in this place. He had, in 
 the preparation of his own volumes, tried to 
 exhaust every known or accessible channel and 
 source of information, with a view to the farther 
 recension of the text and the more approximate 
 completeness of the series of letters. 
 
 He felt it to be out of the question to aspire 
 or pretend to finality ; but he took the longest 
 step possible in the right and true diredtion. 
 Numerous important additions were incorpo- 
 rated ; every letter within reach was compared ; 
 and a large body of explanatory notes was sup^ 
 plied. He did his best, but he should have 
 liked to have been enabled at that time to do 
 better. 
 
 My undertaking was entitled, Letters of Charles 
 Lamb, with some Account of the Writer, His Friends 
 and Correspondents, and Explanatory Notes. By 
 the late Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, D.C.L., 
 one of his Executors. An Entirely New Edi- 
 tion, Carefully Revised and Greatly Enlarged. 
 By W. Carew Hazlitt. London, 1886, small 
 Svo. 2 vols. Vol. I, pp. 451 and xl. ; Vol. 2, 
 pp. 477 and vi. 
 
 There was no particular reason, I believe, to 
 complain of a want of success, and the popu- 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 85 
 
 larity of the subje(5l, which seems well nigh 
 inexhaustible, assisted the sale of a large num- 
 ber of copies. But certain circumstances of a 
 collateral nature occurred both before and sub- 
 sequently to inspire me with a feeling of dis- 
 satisfadlion, when I considered how peculiarly 
 my name was identified, by inheritance and 
 otherwise, with that of the Lambs. For, after all, 
 who, during the last thirty years, before most of 
 the existing editors were born, or at best heard 
 of,* has exerted himself more assiduously and 
 more loyally in improving the public knowledge 
 in this diredtion ? 
 
 Two years later, Canon Ainger, having suc- 
 ceeded in enlisting the services of several 
 friends, and having been permitted access to 
 certain papers unseen by his predecessor, 
 brought out The Letters of Charles Lamb Newly 
 arranged, with Additions. London, 1888, small 
 8vo. 2 vols. Vol. I, pp. 343 and xxviii; vol. 2, 
 pp. 377 and xiv. 
 
 Never,, in the entire compass of modern 
 literary history, has a gentleman been so phe- 
 nomenally unfortunate as this deponent has been 
 in his Elian labours. 
 
 * My earliest Lamb essay was in the shape of a paper 
 in Macmillan' s Magazine in 1866. 
 
86 THE LAMBS 
 
 Imprimis, his colledled edition, of which the 
 first volume appeared in 1868, came out with- 
 out his name at the outset, and then with 
 several members of the alphabet in succession, 
 according to the caprice of the tricksy pub- 
 lisher. 
 
 Secundo, the late Mrs. Anne Gilchrist, having 
 honoured him by a request for leave to make 
 use of his " Mary and Charles Lamb," 1874, 
 signalized her appreciation of its contents by 
 grounding her own book entirely upon it. 
 
 Here is Mrs. Gilchrist's letter to me exempli 
 gratid : 
 
 " Keats' Corner, 
 " Well Road, Hampstead. 
 " Nov. 9, 82. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — Will you kindly permit me to 
 print Mary Lamb's letters to Mrs. Hazhtt in 
 my forthcoming Life of Mary ? They contri- 
 bute so important a part of our knowledge of 
 her, and are, in fadt, so completely Mary herself, 
 that a biographer would be in sad straits were 
 he denied the privilege of incorporating them. 
 
 Do you know when Thomas Manning died ? 
 If he survived Lamb, I wonder why there are 
 no letters to him during the last ten years of 
 his life — nor does he seem to have been at the 
 funeral. 
 
 " I am, dear sir, 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 " Anne Gilchrist." 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 87 
 
 Tertio comes Canon Ainger, who wins praise 
 on all sides for reproducing, with some additi- 
 ons (and many omissions), in 1888, what this 
 deponent printed in r886, the substance and 
 arrangement being identical, with the excep- 
 tion of the Talfourd gloss. 
 
 All that was required to complete the process 
 was an acknowledgment. Is your servant a 
 jackal, that men (and women, marry, too) 
 should thus entreat him ? Is he but a bush- 
 beater ? 
 
 I have, of late years, accomplished much in 
 the direction alike of rehabilitating the text of 
 known letterg of Lamb and his sister, by the 
 insertion of suppressed passages and the removal 
 of faulty readings, and by the formation of quite 
 a series of unpublished correspondence, bring- 
 ing us to the conclusion that rarely a day passed 
 without the post receiving some communication 
 or other destined for an old or a new acquaint- 
 ance. 
 
 These documents are almost invariably on 
 one side, since Lamb, with half-a-dozen excep- 
 tions, destroyed all papers which came into his 
 possession — not only such as perished under the 
 influence of some momentary frenzy or hypo- 
 chondriacal fit, but absolutely everything. Of 
 
88 THE LAMBS 
 
 course he did not stand alone in a dislike to the 
 sight of old letters; but, in his case, the not 
 uncommon feeling was intensified by their asso- 
 ciation with early troubles and bygone sorrows. 
 
 The Lamb correspondence stands on an 
 unique basis, when we consider its extent, its 
 importance and the long series of years over 
 which it extends. Strieftly speaking, it is not a 
 correspondence at all ; for we have, with a very 
 limited number of exceptions, merely the letters 
 addressed by the writer to his friends and others, 
 while those received by him have perished by 
 the hand, not of undiscerning or too fastidious 
 representatives, but of the recipient himself at 
 or near the time. 
 
 The accepted notion is, that under the in- 
 fluence of the profound sorrow and depression 
 occasioned by his mother's melancholy death, 
 he destroyed all the letters which he had had 
 from Coleridge, and formed a resolution thence- 
 forth to preserve nothing else of the sort. But, 
 whether such be or be not the case, the main 
 fa(5t at all events is clear enough, and we are 
 compelled to infer what the topic and nature of 
 the communications made to the Lambs were 
 from the tenor of the replies. 
 
 The loss of the invaluable assemblage of epis- 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 89 
 
 tolary monuments once in the hands of Lamb 
 and his sister is ascribable to an impulse, which 
 was as disastrous and deplorable as it was 
 obviously unhealthy or morbid. Yet it is pos- 
 sible to comprehend how, in the depth of the 
 mental distress and despondency which attended 
 and followed the death of his mother, and the 
 pronounced insanity of his sister, Lamb may 
 have wildly imagined that it was better to cast 
 away all clues and ties tending to recall, or 
 bring into distindter prominence, the dismal 
 tragedy and its sequel. 
 
 There must have been moments when he re- 
 pented of what he had done, and, as I have 
 suggested, he consigned to the flames every- 
 thing which came to his hands, as soon as it 
 was read and answered, that the fruits of a mad 
 spasm might be invested with anaspedt of con- 
 sistency and design. 
 
 At first sight we do not attain an exhaustive 
 conception of the harm done by the garbling and 
 expurgating processes ; for we by no means in- 
 stantaneously reahse how far superior a facihty 
 must always exist for mutilating the text of 
 autograph letters dispersed among a large num- 
 ber of owners by inheritance or purchase, not 
 only in the country of their producftion but 
 
9© THE LAMBS 
 
 abroad, to that for restoring it to its full pro- 
 portions and integrity. 
 
 Every variety of impediment is thrown in the 
 path of the editor who endeavours to do justice 
 to his author and to the public at large. The 
 MSS. are in the hands of jealous amateurs, of 
 severe moralists, or such as have severe moralists 
 at their elbow ; of folks whose whereabouts are 
 unknown, or perhaps of dealers, who refuse the 
 privilege of inspedlion on commercial grounds. 
 In other words, the longer the opportunities for 
 collating Lamb MSS. with the printed copies 
 are negleefted by those who are superior to 
 foolish scruples, the more complex and doubt- 
 ful becomes the task of presenting to readers 
 this splendid heritage in its unshorn plenitude. 
 
 The position is at present complicated by the 
 natural perplexity of those who are repeatedly 
 asked for the use of the same MSS. by different 
 editors, and who are not readily satisfied that 
 those, who have gone before, have not taken full 
 advantage of their opportunity. In the Notes 
 here and there one, on second thought, adds a 
 few items, a passage or two, or whatever it may 
 be, which ought to have formed part of the text, 
 and might very well have done so, as the matter 
 W51S before him in the first instance. 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 9 1 
 
 The extension of a pruning hand to his corre- 
 spondence might not have surprised Lamb so 
 greatly as the notion that it was deemed worthy 
 of survival in a printed shape. Had such a 
 thing been possible, only one other spedlacle — 
 I mean the fadl that his own works and his 
 sister's occupy nearly five-and-twenty pages of 
 the British Museum Catalogue — could have in- 
 spired the author with more profound astonish- 
 ment and even dismay, than the produ(5tion of 
 his written conversations with his friends, to 
 which a fair proportion of the letters amount, 
 in type for universal currency and instrudlion. 
 
 But the feature about them in their transformed 
 condition, which would have most forcibly struck 
 him, would have been the theory that a consider- 
 able number of passages required castration in 
 order to satisfy the public sense of decorum. In 
 one of his later communications he humourously 
 refers to having unexpedledly lived to grow into 
 " an indecent characSler ;" but he never seriously 
 dreamed that his correspondence would undergo 
 two inquiiitiones post mortem. 
 
 We have only to wait to see Walpole, Sterne, 
 Voltaire, Pepys, and all the rest, reformed secun- 
 dum usum Christianum, or, rather, denaturalized, in 
 order to pander to a morbid effeminacy of taste. 
 
92 THE LAMBS 
 
 Canon Ainger is sanguine, indeed, where he 
 remarks in his Introdudlion : " Material for a 
 final colledlion of Lamb's letters has been gra- 
 dually accumulating since the appearance of 
 Talfourd's well-known volumes " — sanguine, that 
 is to say, if he looks on his own edition or any 
 other hitherto in the market as answering to 
 such a description or requirement. 
 
 The access to the Manning and Barton papers 
 was a stroke of good fortune, for which I feel 
 grateful in the public interest, and the letters to 
 Dodwell, Dibdin, and Chambers are desirable 
 accessions. But, after all, the bulk of Canon 
 Ainger's volumes is not fresh, and the remainder 
 is only a further quota, in common with much in 
 my own, toward the really final colletftion of the 
 letters — whenever that may be attempted or be- 
 come feasible. 
 
 The expression on the title-page, " Newly 
 arranged with additions," might perhaps lead the 
 reader or student to conclude that the method 
 there followed is new, and that, while there are 
 supplementary items, the whole of the matter in 
 former editions is incorporated. Such is, how- 
 ever, not the case, and the withdrawal or sup- 
 pression of certain portions of the correspondence 
 by the Canon cannot always be justified on the 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 93 
 
 score of insignificance, though it may have been 
 prompted by delicacy. Yet we must note that 
 in other instances the Canon has freely adopted 
 the Hazlitt text, just as he has done the Hazlitt 
 arrangement. 
 
 These are points of detail. The main con- 
 sideration is, that neither the Ainger nor the 
 Hazlitt book is all that we want. Very far 
 from it indeed ; for the two negatives, so to 
 say, would scarcely make an affirmative ! 
 
 The two are before the reading public, and 
 are more or less capable of telling their own 
 story. 
 
 The matter still required to complete even 
 the sequence of such letters as are already in 
 type is susceptible of a distribution into two 
 categories : i , those which are hopelessly lost ; 
 2', those which are probably recoverable. 
 
 The vitally important chara<5ler and great 
 extent, by fair inference, of the former division" 
 throw into the shade all the possibilities likely 
 to arise under the second head. Let me enum- 
 erate. There are seemingly beyond redemption : 
 
 1 . The entire correspondence with 
 
 John Lamb. 
 
 2. „ „ » Fenwick. 
 
 3. „ „ „ TuthiU. 
 
 4. „ „ „ " the rich relation." 
 
94 THE LAMBS 
 
 5 . Commencement of correspondence with 
 
 Coleridge. 
 
 6. 
 
 )) 
 
 
 If 
 
 Southey. 
 
 7- 
 
 »J 
 
 
 }> 
 
 Manning (?), 
 
 8. 
 
 I) 
 
 
 )f 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 9- 
 
 }} 
 
 
 11 
 
 Hazlitt & Stoddart. 
 
 10. 
 
 JJ 
 
 
 >) 
 
 Mrs. Williams. 
 
 II. 
 
 Portions of corres 
 
 ;pondence with Charles 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lloyd and his wife. 
 
 12. 
 
 )» 
 
 
 »> 
 
 Charles Chambers. 
 
 13- 
 
 s> 
 
 
 )j 
 
 John Chambers. 
 
 14. 
 
 )> 
 
 
 J) 
 
 George Dyer. 
 
 IS- 
 
 J) 
 
 
 )* 
 
 William Godwin, 
 
 16. 
 
 }) 
 
 
 9) 
 
 B. W. Prodter. 
 
 17- 
 
 »» 
 
 
 }» 
 
 W. H. Ainsworth. 
 
 18. 
 
 Later letters to W 
 
 . Hazlitt. 
 
 It was by the purest miracle that the surviving 
 letters to the Hazlitts were saved from a similar 
 fate. By a singular, yet common, obliquity of 
 reasoning, the majority of people argue that the 
 moment a distinguished connedtion has ceased 
 to breathe, his papers ought to share his lot, 
 whereas the fadl is exadlly the reverse. 
 
 The unprinted matter divides itself into what 
 is in all appearance irrecoverable, and what 
 has not yet come into the hands of an editor. 
 In the latter category may be comprised : — 
 
 1. Letters to Coleridge after 1796. 
 
 2. ,, Rickman. 
 
 3. „ the Bethams. 
 
 4. „ the Stoddarts. 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 95 
 
 5. Letters to the Kenneys. 
 
 6. „ Colleagues at the India House. 
 
 John Chambers and others. 
 
 7. A letter to Annette Lane, the adlress. 
 
 8. ,, Miss Humphreys. 
 
 9. Letters to other members of the Chambers 
 
 family. 
 
 Nos. I, 2, 7, and 8 are almost certainly in 
 existence, and the same is believed to be the case 
 with the letters to Charles and John Chambers, 
 of each of which series only a single item has so 
 far been published. 
 
 The eighteenth century letters to Coleridge, 
 from 1796 to 1800, always struck me as imper- 
 fedlly presented in the editions ; and since the 
 issue of Canon Ainger's and my own I have 
 had the opportunity of verifying my surmise, 
 and supplying the lacuna. 
 
 A thorough collation, not only of the Coleridge, 
 but of the Wordsworth and Manning series, is, 
 as the late Mr. Dykes Campbell said to me, im- 
 perative. 
 
 From a thoughtful survey of this schedule, 
 some notion may be derived of what the cor- 
 respondence might have been, if it had been 
 preserved in its fullest integrity; and, again, 
 how splendidly different it would have appeared, 
 even supposing that every extant letter had 
 
96 THE LAMBS 
 
 been forthcoming in its true unsophisticated 
 proportions. But between the latter alterna- 
 tive and the best, which has heretofore been 
 accomplished, there is longum intervallum. 
 
 I may, perchance, find myself fortunate 
 enough to secure a fair share of support in my 
 contention and belief that Lamb was, above 
 all, a Letter- Writer. Our estimation of him 
 would be very much the same, if he had not 
 given us anything but his correspondence. 
 
 His poetical and dramatic trifles amount, of 
 course, to very little indeed. Mr. H. is scarcely 
 more than a joke theatrically formulated ; and, 
 except the Extraiis from the Garrick Plays, there 
 is really nothing which might not have been 
 embodied in an epistle to Coleridge, or to 
 Manning, or to Barton. 
 
 There are letters upon letters, capable of 
 being particularized, at least as fine, as wise, as 
 witty, and (save the mark !) as pure as any 
 Elian paper, while it would not prove a very 
 difficult task to throw the two series, and all 
 the other writings of that nature, into the epis- 
 tolary form without substantial damage. 
 
 If it be true, then, that the correspondence 
 is the central point of interest and consequence, 
 the duty grows all the more onerous and re- 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 97 
 
 sponsible of establishing a standard text, and 
 arriving as soon as possible at completeness of 
 material. 
 
 I affirm that the admirers of Lamb on both 
 sides of the Atlantic ask for the means of 
 judging for themselves exactly on the same 
 principle as the movement now in prepress 
 for giving us at last, after a terrible struggle, 
 the Diary of Pepys, with the fewest possible 
 exceptions, just as Pepys left it to posterity. 
 Numerous enough, to be sure, are the dry, dis- 
 pensable entries; but let us have the whole— 
 prythee, let us not be dependent on individual 
 or temporary sentiment. 
 
 The best plan to conceal an objedlionable 
 feature is to say nothing about it, not, if it is an 
 engraving, to put it in a pocket at the end of the 
 volume, or if it is letterpress, to relegate it to 
 an appendix, as Dr. Furnivall did with the 
 " Loose and Humorous Ballads '' in the Pefcy 
 Folio MS. 
 
 In the letter to Manning (Ainger, No. 79), 
 where, in speaking of the powerful and enduring 
 irnpression made upon him by some hostile 
 criticism, he employs an honest Saxon word 
 totally unsuitable for the ear polite, Talfourd, to 
 compromise the matter, and let everyone under- 
 
 H 
 
98 THE LAMBS 
 
 stand that he has ventured upon a genteeler 
 phrase, prints the substitute in italics, " My back," 
 Lamb is made to write, "tingles from the 
 northern castigation." The oddest case of this 
 sort, however, is where, in a note to Moxon, of 
 August, 1833, Lamb himself mistook the drift 
 and terms of the once popular metaphor, " An 
 ass in a bandbox." 
 
 In the letter to Coleridge of September 8, 1802, 
 a vital passage, of which the suppression even 
 by Talfourd is barely intelligible, seeing that 
 Lloyd died long before 1848, is omitted by the 
 more recent editors. It runs as follows: "Lloyd 
 has written me a fine letter of friendship, all 
 about himself and Sophia, and love, and cant, 
 which I have not answered. I have not given 
 up the idea of writing to him, but it will be 
 done very plainly and sincerely, without acri- 
 mony." 
 
 The omissions in the letter to Manning of 
 February 26, 1808, are rather serious (Hazlitt, i., 
 388 ; Ainger, i., 243). After " sinful" we ought 
 to read : " Splendida vitia at best. Stay, while I 
 remember it, Mrs. Holcroft was safely delivered 
 of a girl some day in last week. Mother and 
 child doing well. Mr. Holcroft has been attacked 
 with a severe rheumatism. They have removed 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE 99 
 
 to Clipstone Street." And on the next page, after 
 " something like that," Lamb wrote : " Godwin 
 keeps a shop in Skinner Street, Snow Hill ; he 
 is turned children's bookseller, and sells penny, 
 twopenny, threepenny, and fourpenny books. 
 Sometimes he gets an order for the dearer sort 
 of books. (Mind, all that I tell you in this 
 letter is true.)" Finally, the Latin quotation 
 just below should be, Pauper est Cinna tamen sed 
 amai. 
 
 In the letters to William Godwin, of which 
 both the writer and Canon Ainger had the use, 
 by favour of Mr. Kegan Paul, it so happened 
 that, the former being first in the field, he was 
 not apprised, till it was too late, that three serious 
 misprints had been overlooked by the biographer 
 of Godwin in seeing his volumes through the 
 press, and had been of course transferred to his 
 own pages. Two occur in letters given both by 
 Ainger and Hazlitt, but the remaining one is in 
 an extradl given by Kegan Paul as the only 
 portion of a piece of the correspondence referring 
 to Godwin's Antonio, in his judgment worthy of 
 preservation. The word beg, near the end, was 
 substituted for lug. 
 
 H — 2 
 
lOO THE LAMBS 
 
 To William Godwin. 
 
 [A portion of a letter.] 
 
 [1800.] 
 
 " Enviable " is a very bad word. I allude to 
 "enviable right to bless us." For instance* 
 Burns, comparing the ills of manhood with the 
 state of infancy, says, " Oh ! enviable early days ; 
 here 'tis good, because the passion lay in com- 
 parison. Excuse my insulting your judgnlent 
 with an illustration. I believe I only wanted to 
 lug in the name of a favourite Bardie, or at most 
 to confirm my own judgment." 
 
 These and such like are what are technically 
 denominated "literals," and under the same 
 head must be classed a slip of the pen in a 
 letter to Hazlitt of 1826, of which the history 
 is rather curious. It was a stray from the family 
 colle(5lion,and was accidentally recovered shortly 
 before the appearance of the volumes issued by 
 Messrs. Bell in 1886. The text was derived from 
 a transcript in a not too legible hand, and two 
 inaccuracies in it were only detedted when, by 
 an afterthought, a. facsimile of the document was 
 inserted as a specimen of Lamb's writing, and 
 a collation of the two revealed the unfortunate 
 inadvertence. Never was so striking an instance 
 known before of an unhappy editor standing for 
 ever self -convidled — " hoisted by his own petard." 
 There, surely enough, are the type and the 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE lOI 
 
 lithograph face to face ! On the other hand, in 
 a letter to Manning not given by me, I observe 
 at a cursory glance that Canon Ainger, just at 
 the end, prints for " Ware road daily,'' bare road 
 duly. 
 
 As an illustration of the liability of editors to 
 be misled, where the dependence is on an indis- 
 tin(5l postmark or on a secondary authority, 
 the letter sent by Lamb to John Taylor from 
 Margate in 1821, respecfling a proposed paper 
 on Midsummer-Day for the London Magazine, 
 proves a salient piece of evidence. In the 
 Hazlitt book it is cited as written July 8, 183 1, 
 and in Ainger as belonging to June 8, same 
 year, whereas the true note of time is June 8, 
 1 82 1 . Internal evidence shews that it was written 
 in June, that it was prior to 1 825, when the writer 
 retired from the India House, and that it was in 
 existence while the London Magazine still sur- 
 vived. It is due to Ainger to add that, while 
 he ranges it under 183 1, he intimates in his 
 notes a suspicion that it properly forms part 
 of the correspondence of a decade before. 
 
 Lamb left his friends very frequently to rely 
 on the postmark or on internal testimony for the 
 chronology of his notes to them, and this course 
 was attended by a degree of inconvenience at 
 
I02 THE LAMBS 
 
 and near the period of dispatch not comparable 
 with that which it produces after the lapse of 
 many years and the death of all immediately 
 concerned. Sometimes, as if to illustrate the 
 principle that the exception proves the rule, 
 Lamb was almost ostentatiously elaborate in 
 his indications, as in the letter to Bernard 
 Barton of July 25, 1829, where he excuses the 
 customary omission of such particulars on the 
 plea that since his superannuation he had no- 
 thing to do with time : — 
 
 " What have I with time to do ? 
 
 Slaves of desks, 'twas meant for you," 
 
 Yet he is, perhaps, equally remiss prior to his 
 retirement. 
 
 In the Ainger volumes occur three consecutive 
 letters to Joseph Cottle, of Bristol (Nos. 177-8-9). 
 They are dated respectively [1819], [1819], and 
 November 5, 1819. 
 
 The first states that Lamb had not seen or 
 heard so long of Cottle, that he was ashamed to 
 apply to him for a favour, which, however, he 
 did by soliciting for a friend (and colleague at 
 the India House, Mr. William Evans) a portrait 
 of Cottle, for the purpose — as the Canon was the 
 first to discover — of having it reproduced to 
 illustrate the copy of Byron's English Bards and 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE IO3 
 
 Scotch Reviewers, then the property of Mr. Evans, 
 and at present in the British Museum. 
 
 These letters were originally printed by Cottle 
 in his Recollections of Coleridge, 1837, and are 
 reprinted in the book as reissued in 1847. 
 Cottle furnishes no dates to the first and second 
 (Nos. 177-8 of Ainger), but implies that they 
 were written in 1819. I have referred to the 
 purport of the first ; the second reports the 
 execution of the copy of Cottle's likeness by a 
 daughter of Josephs, A.R.A., the intended resti- 
 tution of the original, and the receipt of a copy 
 of Cottle's Messiah, on which Lamb offers certain 
 criticisms. 
 
 So far, so good. But the remaining com- 
 munication offers a difficulty. Cottle himself 
 dates it : " London, India House, May 26, 
 1829." The year is undoubtedly wrong; for a 
 glance will shew that it was written at the India 
 House before 1825. The Canon gives November 
 S, 1819, as the true point of time; but the letter 
 applying for the loan of the portrait bears date in 
 the autograph MS. November 5, 1819, although 
 the third figure of the year might easily be mis- 
 taken, as it was by me in my Mary and Charles 
 Lamb, 1874, and in the 1886 volumes, for a 2. 
 The Ainger sequence seems to be corredt ; but 
 
I04 THE LAMBS 
 
 whence did the reverend editor derive his 
 authority for dating No. 179 November 5 ? The 
 first was written on that day, and there must 
 have been an interval of many weeks between 
 177 and 179 of the Canon's colle(5lion. It is a 
 case in which nobody is exadtly right, and every- 
 one somehow rather wrong. But the context 
 must be allowed to govern the order, the dis- 
 crepancies as to the dates or supposed dates 
 being subjedl to redlification on that basis. The 
 Hazlitt book, owing to the misreading by the 
 editor of the original MS., unfortunately lets 
 the item, which should be the last of the 
 triad, fall altogether out of its natural suc- 
 cession. The tiresome result, is that three 
 items in the series, which are closely con- 
 nedled together, have been separated by a 
 whole decade, and that all sorts of halting con- 
 clusions have been formed about the circum- 
 stances. Next time the present writer will not 
 trust even his very author ; for the Canon ha? 
 capitalized the blunder, and proclaimed its 
 enormity from the house-top. In truth, he has 
 slightly exceeded the fa6t; for in the Hazlitt 
 book one of the trio is in its right place, and 
 I also see that all are more accurately presented 
 in Hazlitt than in Ainger, especially the last, of 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE IO5 
 
 which the Ainger text is very unsatisfacftory. 
 He did not resort to the originals nor to his 
 immediate precursor. 
 
 But I have not yet quite done with the Cham- 
 bers affair. I discern in the letter, as printed by 
 Canon Ainger, a vein of pleasant exaggeration 
 and one or two hoaxes interspersed ; but the 
 whole, no doubt, is substantially true, and not 
 " a tissue of audacious invention and wildest 
 humour," or the " simplest romance," as the 
 Canon thinks and writes. We are all perfectly 
 aware that Lamb was prone to facetious out- 
 rages on veracity, which he usually avowed and 
 retradted in a later communication. The pre- 
 valent superstition as to an inevitable underplot 
 in every serious statement made by a man, who 
 had gained notoriety as a humourist, seems to 
 be at the bottom of this mischief. The Canon 
 would have treated as a grim or quaint joke a 
 note from Grimaldi, purporting to have been 
 sent from a bed of sickness, or from Liston, 
 complaining of hypochondria. Lamb " em- 
 bellishes " a little, and it is all wild humour and 
 romance ! 
 
 A more egregious example, however, is afforded 
 by the letter to Prodler of January 19th, 1829, 
 about the Dowden business, which Talfourd 
 
I06 THE LAMBS 
 
 appears to have treated with his customary 
 negligence and laissev allev indifference at a jest 
 pure and simple. The Canon considers that 
 the outline of the statement is veracious, but 
 all the explanatory technicalities "the wildest 
 romance." 
 
 I contend, on the contrary, that the view taken 
 by me in 1886 is the corredt one, and that Lamb 
 was thoroughly serious throughout. The affair 
 cost him a vast amount of worry and sleepless- 
 ness, and engrossed a good deal of time. Up- 
 ward of a twelvemonth later, in a letter to 
 Louisa Martin (July nth, 1830), he says ex- 
 plicitly: — "I am engaged all over with Mrs. 
 Dowden, my niece, who has come from Brighton 
 on business very pressing to her." It is high 
 time that this ostensible misrepresentation about 
 Lamb's " wild humour " was discontinued. Of 
 his real wit and fun we can never have a surfeit. 
 
 The true letter-hunter is constantly multi- 
 plying his experiences alike in the diredlion of 
 triumph and failure. In the HazUtt book of 
 1886, the editor, in a footnote to the letter to 
 Bernard Barton, of July loth, 1823, in which 
 Lamb describes his impressions of Hastings, 
 imagined himself on the track of a second allusion 
 to the same place, having in fa(5t mistaken an 
 
THE CORRESPONDENCE IO7 
 
 extract from the Elian paper on the Old Margate 
 Hoy for one from a communication to some friend. 
 The for the moment prevailing cue was the 
 source of deception; the only comfort is that 
 there is one lost or strayed letter the less to seek 
 or to regret. 
 
 The Canon by no means stands alone in taking 
 the public into his confidence by requiring them 
 to receive his judgment on trust. The editor of 
 the correspondence of Leigh Hunt prints an 
 extradl from a letter sent to Hunt by Lamb, in 
 recognition of a presentation copy of the Story of 
 Rimini. It is apparently the earliest communi- 
 cation between the two schoolfellows, yet we 
 are to content ourselves with a bit of it, and on 
 personal inquiry many years since I was informed 
 that the Hunt family knew nothing about the 
 original. It was probably extant in i860, when 
 the Letters of Hunt were published by his son. 
 What has become of it ? This form of vandalism 
 is deplorable. 
 
SIXTY-FOUR LETTERS AND NOTES 
 
SIXTY-FOUR LETTERS AND NOTES 
 
 I HAVE now the pleasure of laying before the 
 reader a long series of letters of the brother and 
 sister, many of which are here first printed, 
 while very few are in the editions by Canon 
 Ainger and myself. It was deemed, on the 
 whole, better to group the whole of this body of 
 matter together, and to distinguish letters which 
 have been given on former occasions, imperfedtly 
 or inaccurately, by an asterisk. Without receiving 
 into account the slight textual divergences from 
 the foUowmg letters to Coleridge as given by 
 the two latest editors, a considerable portion is 
 altogether omitted by both in common, of course, 
 with all their predecessors. In the second letter 
 we have hitherto missed the important reference 
 to Godwin and the description of his movements, 
 not long prior to the unsuccessful producflion of 
 Antonio. Lamb generously desired to afford the 
 author of Political Justice an opportunity of ex- 
 
112 THE LAMBS 
 
 tending his acquaintance among the circle at 
 the Lakes. Coleridge he already knew. 
 
 I* 
 
 "To S. T. Coleridge,^ 
 
 [" Little Queen Street, Night of December 9, 1796. Post- 
 marked December 10, 1796.] 
 
 " I am sorry I cannot now relish your poetical 
 present ^ as thoroughly as I feel it deserves ; but 
 I do not the less thank Lloyd and you for it. In 
 truth, Coleridge, I am perplexed, and at times 
 almost cast down. I am beset with perplexities. 
 The old hag of a wealthy relation, who took my 
 aunt off oUr hands in the beginning of trouble, 
 has found out that she is ' indolent and mulish '^■ 
 I quote her own words, and that her attachment 
 to us is so strong, that she can never be happy 
 apart. The Lady, with delicate Irony, remarl« 
 that, if I am not an Hypocrite, I shall rejoyce to 
 receive her again, and that it will be a means of 
 making me more fond of home to have so dear 
 a friend to come home to ! The fadl is shfe is 
 jealous of my aunt's bestowing any kind recol- 
 le(5tions on us, while she enjoys the patronage of 
 her roof. She says she finds it inconsistent with 
 her own ' ease and tranquility' to keep her any 
 longer, and in fine summons me to fetch her 
 home. Now, much as I should rejoyce to trans- 
 plant the poor old creature from the chilling air 
 
 1 From the original autograph. 
 
 2 Poems. By S. T. Coleridge. Second Edition. Towhidi 
 are now added Poems ysy Charles Llo^d and Charles Lamb, 
 1797- 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES II3 
 
 of such patronage, yet I know how straitened 
 we are already, how unable already to answer 
 any demand, which sickness or any extraordinary 
 expence may make. I know this, and all unused 
 as I am to struggle with perplexities, I am some- 
 what nonplusd, to say no worse. This prevents 
 me from a thorough relish of what Lloyd's kind- 
 ness and yours have furnished me with. I thank 
 you tho from my heart, and feel myself not quite 
 alone in the earth. 
 
 " Before I offer, what alone I have to offer, a 
 few obvious remarks on the poems you sent me, 
 I can but notice the odd coincidence of two 
 young men, in one age, carolling their grand- 
 mothers. Love, — ^what L[loyd] calls ' the fever- 
 ish and romantic tye,' hath too long domineerd 
 over all the charities of home : the dear domestic 
 tyes of father, brother, husband. The amiable 
 and benevolent Cowper has a beautiful passage 
 in his Task, — some natural and painful reflec- 
 tions on his deceased parents: and Hayley's 
 sweet lines to his mother are notoriously the 
 best things he ever wrote. Cowper's lines* 
 some of them are — 
 
 ' How gladly would the man recall to life 
 The boy's neglected sire ; a mother, too, 
 That softer name, perhaps more gladly still. 
 Might he demand them at the gates of death.' 
 
 r cannot but wish to see my Granny so gayly 
 deck'd forth, tho', I think, whoever altered ' thy' 
 praises to ' her ' praises — ' thy ' honoured memory 
 to ' her ' honoured memory, did wrong — they best 
 exprest my feelings. There is a pensive state of 
 
 ' Winter Walk at Noon. 
 
114 THE LAMBS 
 
 recoUedlion, in which the mind is disposed to 
 apostrophise the departed objedts of its attach- 
 ment ; and breaking loose from grammatical 
 precision, changes from the ist to the 3rd, and 
 from the 3rd to the ist person, just as the ran- 
 dom fancy or feeling diredts. Among Lloyd's 
 sonnets, 6th, 7th, 8th, gth, and nth are eminently 
 beautiful. I think him too lavish of his exple- 
 tives ; the dos and dids, when they occur too 
 often, bring a quaintness with them along with 
 their simplicity, or rather air of antiquity, which 
 the patrons of them seem desirous of conveying. 
 " The lines on Friday are very pleasing — 'Yet 
 calls itself in pride of Infancy woman or man,' 
 &c., ' aflfedlion's tottering troop ' — are prominent 
 beauties. Another time, when my mind were 
 more at ease, I could be more particular in my 
 remarks, and I would postpone them now, only 
 I want some diversion of mind. The Melancholy 
 Man is a charming piece of poetry, only the 
 ' whys' with submission are too many. Yet the 
 questions are too good to be any of 'em omitted. 
 For those lines of yours, page 18, omitted in 
 magazine, I think the 3 first better retain'd — the 
 3 last, which are somewhat simple in the most 
 affronting sense of the word, better omitted — ^to 
 this my taste direcTts me — I have no claim to 
 prescribe to you. ' Their slothful loves and 
 dainty sympathies ' is an exquisite line, but you 
 knew tkit when you wrote 'em, and I trifle in 
 pointing such out. Tis altogether the sweetest 
 thing to me you ever wrote — tis all honey — ' No 
 wish profaned my overwhelmed heart. Blest 
 hour, it was a Luxury to be.' I recognise feel- 
 ings, which I may taste again, if tranquility has 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES II5 
 
 not taken his fligfht for ever, and I will not 
 believe but I shall be happy, very happy again. 
 The next poem to your friend is very beautiful 
 — need I instance the pretty fancy of ' the rock's 
 colledted tears ' — or that original line ' pour'd all 
 its healthful greenness on the soul' — let it be, 
 since you asked me, ' as neighbouring fountains 
 each reflecT; the whole ' — tho' that is somewhat 
 harsh — indeed the ending is not so finish'd as 
 the rest, which if you omit in your forthcoming 
 edition, you will do the volume wrong, and the 
 very binding will cry out. Neither shall you 
 omit the 2 following poems. ' The hour when 
 we shall meet again,' is fine fancy tis true, but 
 fancy catering in the Service of the feeling — 
 fetching from her stores most splendid banquets 
 to satisfy her. Do not, do not omit it. Your 
 sonnet to the River Otter excludes those equally 
 beautiful lines, which deserve not to be lost, 
 ' as the tired savage,' &c., and I prefer that 
 copy in your Watchman. I plead for its pre- 
 ference. 
 
 " Another time I may notice more particularly 
 Lloyd's, Southey's, Dermody's Sonnets. I shrink 
 from them now : my teazing lot makes me too 
 confused for a clear judgment of things, too 
 selfish for sympathy; and these ill-digested, 
 meaningless remarks I have imposed on my- 
 self as a task, to lull refledtion, as well as to 
 show you I did not neglecft reading your valu- 
 able present. Return my acknowledgments to 
 Lloyd ; you two appear to be about realising an 
 Elysium upon earth, and, no doubt, I shall be 
 happier. Take my best wishes. Remember me 
 most affedtionately to Mrs. C, and give little 
 
Il6 THE LAMBS 
 
 David Hartley —God bless its little heart !— a 
 kiss for me. Bring him up to know the mean- 
 ing of his Christian name, and what that name 
 (imposed upon him) will demand of him. 
 
 "C. Lamb. 
 " God love you ! 
 
 " I write for one thing to say that I shall write 
 no more, till you send me word where you are, 
 for you are so soon to move. My sister is pretty 
 well, thank God. We think of you very often. 
 God bless you, continue to be my correspondent, 
 and I will strive to fancy that this world is not 
 ' all barrenness.' " 
 
 [Endorsed] Samuel T. Coleridge, Bristol. 
 
 The reference to Dr. Anderson, of Isleworthi 
 in a second letter to Coleridge, may form a justi- 
 fication for pointing out that Lamb, in his Essay 
 on Oxford in the Vacation, as printed in the London 
 Magazine for October,i 1820, having made a state- 
 ment about Dyer and the Doctor, which proved 
 distasteful to a correspondent. Lamb, in the 
 December issue, caused to be inserted under 
 the Lion's Head what follows : — 
 
 " Elia requests the Editor to inform W. K. 
 that in his article on Oxford, under the initials 
 G. D., it was his ambition to make more familiar 
 to the public, a charadler, which, for integrity and 
 single-heartedness, he has long been accustomed 
 to rank among the best patterns of his species. 
 
 ' The passage is suppressed in the collected edition of 1823. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES II7 
 
 That, if he has failed in the end which he pro- 
 posed, it was an error of judgment merely. 1 hat 
 if, >in pursuance of his purpose, he has drawn 
 forth some personal peculiarities of his friend 
 into notice, it was only from convidtion that the 
 public, in living subjedts especially, do not endure 
 pure panegyric. That the anecdotes, which he 
 produced, were no more than he conceived neces- 
 sary to awaken attention to chara(5ler, and were 
 meant solely to illustrate it. That it is an entire 
 mistake to suppose that he undertook the charac- 
 ter to set off his own wit or ingenuity. That, he 
 conceives, a candid interpreter might find some- 
 thing intended, beyond a heartless jest. That 
 G. D., however, having thought it necessary to 
 
 disclaim the anecdote respedting Dr. , it 
 
 becomes him, who never for a moment can doubt 
 the veracity of his friend, to account for it from 
 an imperfedl remembrance of some story he heard 
 long ago, and which, happening to tally with his 
 argument, he set down too hastily to the account , 
 of G. D. That, from G. D.'s strong affirmations 
 and proofs to the contrary, he is bound to believe 
 it belongs to no part of G. D.'s biography. That 
 the transadtion, supposing it true, must have 
 taken place more than forty years ago. That, 
 in consequence, it is not likely to ' meet the eye 
 of many, who might be justly offended.' 
 
 " Finally, that what he has said of the Book- 
 sellers, referred to a period of many years, in 
 which he has had the happiness of G. D.'s ac- 
 quaintance ; and can have nothing to do with 
 any present or prospedlive engagements of G. D. 
 with those gentlemen, to the nature of which he 
 professes himself an entire stranger." 
 
Il8 THE LAMBS 
 
 II* 
 " To Mr. Coleridge. 
 "[Southampton Buildings,] August 26th, 1800. 
 " How do you like this little epigram ? It is 
 not my writing, nor had I any finger in it. If 
 you concur with me in thinking it very elegant 
 and very original, I shall be tempted to name 
 the author to you. I will just hint that it is 
 almost or quite a first attempt. 
 
 " Helen repentant too late, 
 [Here Miss Lamb's little poem of Helen was 
 introduced.] 
 
 " Godwin returned from Wicklow the week 
 before last, tho' he did not reach home till the 
 Sunday after. He might much better have 
 spent that time with you. — But you see your 
 invitation would have been too late. He greatly 
 regrets the occasion he mist of visiting you, but 
 he intends to revisit Ireland in the next summer, 
 and then he will certainly take Keswick in his 
 way. I dined with the Heathen on Sunday, 
 
 " By-the-by, I have a sort of recoUedlion that 
 somebody, t think you, promised me a sight of 
 Wordsworth's Tragedy. I should be very glad 
 of it just now ; for I have got Manning with me, 
 and I should like to read it with him. But this, 
 I confess, is a refinement. Under any circum- 
 stances, alone in Cold Bath Prison, or in the 
 desert island, just when Prospero & his crew 
 had set off, with Caliban in a cage, to Milan, 
 it would be a treat to me to read that play. 
 Manning has read it, so has Lloyd, and all 
 Lloyd's family; but I could not get him to 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES II9 
 
 betray his trust by giving me a sight of it. 
 Lloyd is sadly deficient in some of those vir- 
 tuous vices. I have just lit upon a most beau- 
 tiful fidlion of hell punishments by the author 
 of ' Hurtothrumbo,' a mad farce. The inventor 
 imagines that in hell there is a great caldron 
 of hot water, in which a man can scarce hold 
 his finger, and an immense sieve over it, into 
 which the probationary souls are put. 
 
 ' And all the little souls 
 
 Pop through the riddle holes.' 
 
 " Mary's love to Mrs. Coleridge — mine to alL 
 N.B. — I pays no postage. 
 
 " George Dyer is the only literary charadler 
 I am happily acquainted with. The oftener I 
 see him, the more deeply I admire him. He is 
 goodness itself. If I could but calculate the 
 precise date of his death, I would write a novel 
 on purpose to make George the hero. I could 
 hit him oif to a hair. 
 
 •* George brought a Dr. Anderson to see me. 
 The Dodtor is a very pleasant old man, a 
 great genius for agriculture, one that ties his 
 breeches-knees with Packthread, & boasts of 
 having had disappointments from ministers. The 
 Dodtor happened to mention an Epic Poem by 
 one Wilkie, called the ' Epigoniad,' in which 
 he assured us there is not one tolerable line 
 from beginning to end, but all the charadlers, 
 incidents, &c., verbally copied from Horner.^ 
 George, who had been sitting quite inattentive 
 
 1 "The Epigoniad," by William Wilkie, D.D., 8vo., 
 1757 and 1769. The same writer produced a volume of 
 "Fables," 8vo., 1758. There is an account of "The Epi- 
 goniad " in Burton's " Life of Hume," p. 25. 
 
I20 THE LAMBS 
 
 to the Dodtor's criticism, no sooner heard the 
 sound of Homer strike his pericraiiiks, than up 
 he gets, and declares he must see that poem 
 immediately : where was it to be had ? An epic 
 poem of 800 [? 8000] lines, and he not hear of 
 it ! There must be some things good in it, and 
 it was necessary he should see it, for he had 
 touched pretty deeply upon that subjedl in his 
 criticisms on the Epic. George has touched 
 pretty deeply upon the Lyric, I find; he has 
 also prepared a dissertation on the Drama and 
 the comparison of the English and German 
 theatres. As I rather doubted his competency 
 to do the latter, knowing that his peculiar turn 
 lies in the lyric species of composition, I ques- 
 tioned George what English plays he had read. 
 I found that he had read Shakspere (whom he 
 calls an original, but irregular, genius), but it 
 was a good while ago ; and has dipt into Rowe 
 and Otway, I suppose having found their names 
 in Johnson's Lives at full length ; and upon this 
 slender ground he has undertaken the task. He 
 never seem'd even to have heard of Fletcher, 
 Ford, Marlow, Massinger, and the Worthies of 
 Dodsley's CoUedlion ; but he is to read all these, 
 to prepare him for bringing out his ' Parallel ' 
 in the winter. I find he is also determined to 
 vindicate Poetry from the shackles which Aris- 
 totle & some others have imposed upon it, which 
 is very good-natured of him, and very necessary 
 just now! Now I am touching so deeply upon 
 poetry, can I forget that I have just received 
 from Cottle a magnificent copy of his Guinea 
 Epic.^ Four-and-twenty Books to read in the 
 
 1 "Alfred," a Poem by Joseph Cottle. A reference- 
 occurs to it in a later letter to Coleridge (Oct. 9th, i8oo). 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 121 
 
 dog-days ! I got as far as the Mad Monk the 
 first day, & fainted. Mr. Cottle's genius strongly 
 points him to the Pastoral, but his inclinations- 
 divert him perpetually from his calling. He 
 imitates Southey, as Rowe did Shakspeare, with 
 his ' Good mori'ow to ye ; good master Lieut.' 
 Instead of a man, a woman, a daughter, he con- 
 stantly writes one a man, one a woman, one his 
 daughter. Instead of the king, the hero, he con- 
 stantly writes, he the king, he the hero — ^two 
 flowers of rhetoric palpably from the 'Joan.' 
 But Mr. Cottle soars a higher pitch : and when 
 he is original, it is in a most original way indeed. 
 His terrific scenes are indefatigable. Serpents, 
 asps, spiders, ghosts, dead bodies, staircases 
 made of nothing, with adders' tongues for ban- 
 nisters — My God ! what a brain he must have ! 
 He puts as many plums in his pudding as my 
 Grandmother used to do j and then his emerging 
 from Hell's horrors into Light, and treading on 
 pure flats of this earth for twenty-three Books 
 together ! 
 
 " C. L." 
 " Mr. Coleridge, 
 Greta Hall, 
 Keswick, 
 Cumberland." 
 
 Ill* 
 "To Mr. Southey. 
 
 "Dec. 27, 1798. 
 " Dear Southey, — Your friend John May* has 
 
 1 Southey, in a letter to Cottle, of May, 1797, speaks of him 
 as " a Lisbon acquaintance, and a very valuable one. " Perhapsi 
 
122 THE LAMBS 
 
 formerly made kind offers to Lloyd of serving' 
 me in the India house by the interest of his 
 friend Sir Francis Baring, — It is not likely that 
 I shall ever put his goodness to the test on my 
 own account, for my prospe(5ts are very com- 
 fortable. But I know a man, a young man, 
 whom he could serve thro' the same channel, 
 and I think would be disposed to serve if he 
 were acquainted with his case. This poor fellow 
 (whom I know just enough of to vouch for his 
 stri(5t integrity & worth) has lost two or three 
 employments from illness, which he cannot re- 
 gain ; he was once insane, and from the dis- 
 tressful uncertainty of his livelihood, has reason 
 to apprehend a return of that malady — He has 
 been for some time dependant on a woman 
 whose lodger he formerly was, but who can ill 
 afford to maintain him, and I know that on 
 Christmas night last he acflually walkd about 
 the streets all night, rather than accept of her 
 Bed which she offer'd him, and offer'd herself 
 to sleep in the kitchen, and that in consequence 
 of that severe cold he is labouring under a 
 bilious disorder, besides a depression of spirits 
 which incapacitates him from exertion when he 
 most needs it— For God's sake, Southey, if it 
 does not go against you to ask favors, do it 
 now, ask it as for me — but do not do a violence 
 to your feelings, because he does not know of 
 this application, and will suffer no disappoint- 
 
 he assisted Southey in his Brazilian researches ; and I take 
 him to have been the same person, at whose house Lamb 
 speaks in one of his letters of Coleridge and himself passing 
 some agreeable winter evenings in London. Coleridge's 
 tailor, whose score Lamb settled, bore the same names. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 23 
 
 ment. — What I meant to say was this— there 
 are in the India house what are called Extra 
 Clerks, not on the Establishment, like me, but 
 employed in Extra business, by-jobs, — these get 
 about ;^5o a year, or rather more, but never 
 rise, — a Director can put in at any time a young 
 man in this office, and it is by no means con- 
 sider' d so great a favor as making an establish'd 
 Clerk, He would think himself as rich as an 
 Emperor if he could get such a certain situation, 
 and be relieved from those disquietudes which 
 I do fear may one day bring back his dis- 
 temper 
 
 " You know John May better than I do, but 
 I know enough to believe that he is a good 
 man — he did make me that offer that I have 
 mention'd, but you will perceive that such an 
 oflFer cannot authorize me in applying for another 
 Person. 
 
 " But I cannot help writing to you on the 
 subjedl, for the young man is perpetually before 
 my eyes, and I should feel it a crime not to 
 strain all my petty interest to do him service, 
 tho' I put. my own delicacy to the question by 
 so doing — I have made one other unsuccessful 
 attempt already. 
 
 " At all events I will thank you to write, for 
 I am tormented with anxiety — 
 
 " I suppose you have somehow heard that 
 poor Mary Dollin has poisoned herself, after 
 some interviews with John Reid, the ci-devant 
 Alphonso of her days of hope. How is Edith ? 
 
 "C. Lamb." 
 
124 THE LAMBS 
 
 IV* 
 " To Mr. Southey. 
 
 [Postmarked] " May 20th 1799. 
 
 " Dr. Southey, — Lloyd will now be able to, 
 give you an account of himself, so to him I leave 
 you for satisfaftion. Great part of his troubles 
 are lightened by the partial recovery of his sister, 
 who had been alarmingly ill with similar diseases 
 to his own. The other part of the family troubles 
 sleeps for the present, but I fear will awake at 
 some future time to confound and disunite. He 
 will probably tell you all about it. Robert still 
 continues here with me, his father has proposed 
 nothing, but would willingly lure him back with 
 fair professions. But Robert is endowed with a 
 wise fortitude, and in this business has adted 
 quite from himself and wisely adled. His parents 
 must come forward in the end. I like reducing 
 parents to a sense of undutifulness. I like con- 
 founding the relations of life. Pray let me see 
 you when you come to town, and contrive to 
 give me some of your company. 
 
 " I thank you heartily for your intended presentsi, 
 but do by no means see the necessity you are under 
 of burthening yourself thereby. You have read 
 old Wither's Supersedeas to small purpose. You 
 objecfl to my pauses being at the end of my lines. 
 I do not know any great difficulty I should find in 
 diversifying or changing my blank verse ; but I go 
 upon the model of Shakspere in my Play,' and 
 endeavour after a colloquial ease and spirit, 
 
 J [" J(.hti Woodvil," already commenced, but not printed 
 tiU 1801.] 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES ISg 
 
 something like him.i I could so easily imitate 
 Milton's versification; but my ear & feeling 
 would reje(5l it, or any approaches to it, in the 
 drama. I do not know whether to be glad or 
 sorry that witches have been detedled aforetimes 
 in shutting up of wombs. I certainly invented 
 that conceit, and its coincidence with fadt is 
 incidental, for I never heard it. I have not seen 
 those verses on Col. Despard — I do not read any 
 newspapers. Are they short, to copy without 
 much trouble ? I should like to see them. 
 
 " I just send you a few rhymes from my play, 
 the only rhymes in it — a forest-liver giving an 
 account of his amusements : — 
 
 ' What sports have you in the forest ? 
 Not many, — some few, — as thus. 
 To see the sun to bed. and see him rise, 
 J^ike some hot amourist with glowing eyes, 
 
 'In the first volume of the "Retrospective Review," 
 p. IS, in the course of a paper on the dramatic criticisms 
 of Rymer, the writer observes : — " The old English feeling 
 of tender beauty has at last begun to revive. Lamb's ' John 
 Woodvil,' despised by the critics, and for a while neglected 
 by the people, awakened those gentle pulses of deep joy, 
 which had long forgotten to beat. Here first, after a long 
 interval, instead of the pompous swelling of inane declama- 
 tion, the music of humanity was heard in its sweetest tones. 
 The air of freshness breathed over its forest scenes, the 
 delicate grace of its images, its nice disclosure of consolations 
 and venerableness in the nature of man, and the exquisite 
 beauty of its catastrophe, where the strong remorse of the 
 hero is melted into child-like tears, as he kneels on the little 
 hassock where he had often knelt in infancy, is truly Shake- 
 spearian." This notice came from a very frieniily pen in 
 1820, nineteen years after the first appearance of the volume; 
 and Lamb, who probably saw it, must have been struck by the 
 contrast between the critical tone and that with which the little 
 book was greeted on its original publication, whatever he might 
 privately think of the comparison now flatteringly instituted. 
 
126 THE LAMBS 
 
 Bursting the lazy bands of sleeo that bound him 
 
 With all his fires and travelling glories round him : 
 
 Sometimes the moon on soft night-clouds to rest, 
 
 Like beauty nestling in a young man's breast, 
 
 And all the winking stars, her handm lids, keep 
 
 Admiring silence, while those lovers sleep : 
 
 Sometimes outstretch'd in very idleness. 
 
 Nought doing, saying little, thinking less. 
 
 To view the leaves, thin dancers upon air. 
 
 Go eddying round; and small birds how they fare, 
 
 When mother Autumn fills their beaks with com, 
 
 Filch'd from the careless Amalthea's horn ; 
 
 And how the woods berries and worms provide. 
 
 Without their pains, when earth hath nought beside 
 
 To answer their small wants ; 
 
 To view the graceful deer come trooping by, 
 
 Then pause, and gaze, then turn they know not why, 
 
 Like bashful yout.kers in society ; 
 
 To mark the s ructure of a plant or tree ; 
 
 And all fair things of earth, how fair they be ! ' &c &c. 
 
 " I love to anticipate charges of unoriginality : 
 the first line is almost Shakspere's : — 
 
 ' To have my love to bed & to arise.' 
 
 Midsummer Night's Dream. 
 
 " I think there is a sweetness in the versifi' 
 cation not unlike some rhymes in that exquisite 
 play, and the last line but three is yours : 
 
 ' An eye 
 That met the gaze, or tum'd it knew not why.' 
 
 Rosamund's Epistle. 
 
 " I shall anticipate all my play, and have 
 nothing to shew you. 
 
 " An idea for Leviathan. 
 
 " Commentators on Job have been puzzled to 
 find out a meaning for Leviathan, — 'tis a whale, 
 say some ; a crocodile, say others. In my simple 
 conjecfture. Leviathan is neither more nor less than 
 the Lord Mayor of London for the time being. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 27 
 
 " ' Rosamund ' ' sells well in London, maugre 
 the non-reviewal of it. 
 
 " I sincerely wish you better health, & better 
 health to Edith. Kind remembrances to her. 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 
 " If you come to town by Ash Wensday, 
 you will certainly see Lloyd here — I expedt him 
 by that time. 
 
 " My sister Mary was never in better health 
 or spirits than now." 
 " Robert Southey, 
 Joseph Cottle's, 
 Bookseller, 
 High Street, 
 Bristol." 
 
 V* 
 " To Mr. Manning. 
 
 " My dear Manning, — The general scope of 
 your letter aiForded no indications of insanity, 
 but some particular points raised a scruple. For 
 God's sake don't think any more of ' Indepen- 
 dent Tartary.' What are you to do among 
 such Ethiopians? Is there no litieal descendant 
 of Prester John ? 
 
 " Is the chair empty ? Is the sword un- 
 swayed ? — depend upon't they'll never make you 
 their king, as long as any branch of that great 
 stock is remaining. I tremble for your Chris- 
 tianity. They will certainly circumcise you. 
 Read Sir John Maundevil's travels to cure you, 
 or come over to England. There is a Tartar- 
 man now exhibiting at Exeter Change. Come 
 1 Rosamund Gray, printed in 1798. 
 
1 28 THE LAMBS 
 
 and talk with him, and hear what he says first. 
 Indeed, he is no very favorable specimen of his 
 Couritrymen 1 But perhaps the best thing you 
 can do, is to try to get the idea out of your 
 head. For this purpose repeat to yourself every 
 night, after you have said your prayers, the 
 Words Independent Tartary, Independent Tar- 
 tary, two or three times, and associate with 
 them the idea of oblivion ('tis Hartley's method 
 with obstinate memories), or say, Independent, 
 Independent, have I not already got an Inde- 
 pendence ? That was a clever way of the old 
 puritans — pun-divinity. My dear friend, think 
 what a sad pity it would be to bury such parts 
 in heathen countries, among nasty, unconver- 
 sable, horse-belching, Tartar people ! Some say, 
 they are Cannibals ; and then conceive a Tartar- 
 fellow eating my friend, and adding the cool malig. 
 nity of mustard & vinegar ! I am afraid 'tis the 
 reading of Chaucer has misled you ; his foolish 
 stories about Cambuscan and the ring, and the 
 horse of brass. Believe me, there's no such 
 things, 'tis all the poet's invention; but if there 
 were such darling things as old Chaucer sings, 
 I would up behind you on the Horse of Brass, 
 and frisk off for Prester John's Country. But 
 these are all tales ; a Horse of Brass never flew, 
 and a King's daughter never talked with Birds ! 
 The Tartars, really, are a cold, insipid, smouchey 
 set. You'll be sadly moped, (if you are not 
 eaten) among them. Pray try and cure yourself. 
 Take Hellebore (the counsel is Horace's,' 'twas 
 
 ' " Hie ubi cognatorum opibus curisque refectus 
 Expulit helleboro morbum bilemque meraco " — 
 
 kfut. ii. 2, 137. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 29 
 
 none of my thought originally). Shave yourself 
 oftener. Eat no saffron, for saffron-eaters con- 
 tradl a terrible Tartar-like yellow. Pray, to 
 avoid the fiend. Eat nothing that gives the 
 heart-burn. Shave the uj>per lip. Go about like 
 an European. Read no books of voyages (they're 
 nothing but lies) : only now and then a Romance, 
 to keep the fancy under. Above all, don't go to 
 any sights of wild beasts. That has been your ruin. 
 Accustom yourself to write familiar letters on 
 common subjecTls to your friends in England, 
 such as are of a moderate understanding. And 
 think about common things more. There's your 
 friend Holcroft now, has written a play. You 
 used to be fond of the drama. Nobody went 
 to see it. Notwithstanding this, with an audacity 
 perfedlly original, he faces the town down in a 
 preface, that they did like it very much. I have 
 heard a waspish punster say, " Sir, why do you 
 not laugh at my jest ? " But for a man boldly 
 to face me out with, "Sir, I maintain it, you did 
 laugh at my jest," is a little too much. I have 
 seen H. but once. He spoke of you to me in 
 honorable terms. H. seems to me to be drearily 
 dull. Godwin is dull, but then he has a dash of 
 ^ffecftation, which smacks of the coxcomb, and 
 your coxcombs are always agreeable. I supped 
 last night with Rickman, and met a merry natural 
 captain, who pleases himself vastly with once 
 having made a Pun at Otaheite in the O. lan- 
 guage.i 'Tis the same man who said Shak- 
 
 1 Captain, afterward Admiral Bumey, who became one 
 of the most constant attendants at Lamb's parties, and whose 
 son, Martin, grew up in his strongest regard, and received the 
 honour of the dedication of the second volume of his works. 
 
130 THE LAMBS 
 
 speare he liked, because he was so much of the 
 Gentleman. Rickman is a man 'absolute in all 
 numbers.' I think I may one day bring you 
 acquainted, if you do not go to Tartary first; 
 for you'll never come back. Have a care, my 
 dear friend, of Anthropophagi! their stomachs 
 are always craving. But if you do go among 
 [them], pray contrive to think as soon as you 
 can that you may hang on hand at the Butcher's, 
 'Tis terrible to be weighed out for 5d. a-pound. 
 To sit at table fthe reverse of fishes in Holland), 
 not as a guest, but as a meat." 
 
 " God bless you : do come to England. Air 
 and exercise may do great things. Talk with 
 some Minister. Why not your father ? 
 
 " God dispose all for the best. I have dis- 
 charged my duty. 
 
 " Your sincere fr"*., 
 
 "C. Lamb. 
 19th Feb., 1803, London. 
 
 [Endorsed] 
 Mr. Manning, 
 Hotel de Paris, 
 Rue de la Loi, 
 a Paris. 
 
 ' It seems that Lamb had some vague idea that the 
 Tartars were really anthropophagi, for Alsop says, " Lamb 
 one night wanted to demonstrate, after the manner of Swift, 
 that the Man-t-chou (query, man-chew?) Tartars were Can- 
 nibals, and that the Chinese were identical with the Celts 
 (Sell Teas.)" But Lamb had no geography; he did not 
 know the map, as he expressed it ; and it is quite likely that 
 he had a serious undercurrent of suspicion that, joking apart, 
 human flesh was an article of merchandize and consumption 
 in Tartary. Comp. Shakespear s Hamlet, iv., 3, 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 13I 
 
 VI 
 
 " To Mr. Manning. 
 
 "May 10th, 1806. 
 
 " My dear Manning, — I didn't know what your 
 going was till I shook a last first with you, & 
 then 'twas just like having shaken hands with 
 a -wretch on the fatal scaffold, & when you are 
 down the ladder, you can never stretch out to 
 him again. Mary says you are dead, & there's 
 nothing to do but to leave it to time to do for 
 us in the end what it always does for those who 
 mourn for people in such a case. But she'll see 
 by your letter you are not quite dead. A little 
 
 kicking and agony, and then Martin Burney 
 
 took me out a walking that evening, and we talked 
 of Mister Manning ; and then 1 came home and 
 smoked for you, & at twelve o'CIock came home 
 Mary and Monkey Louisa' from the play, and 
 there was more talk & more smoking, and they 
 all seemed first-rate charadters, because they 
 knew a certain person. But what's the use of 
 talking about 'em ? By the time you'll have 
 made your escape from the Kalmuks, you'll have 
 staid so long I shall never be able to bring to 
 your mind who Mary was, who will have died 
 about a year before, nor who the Holcrofts 
 were ! me perhaps you will mistake for Phillips, 
 or confound me with Mr. Daw, because you 
 saw us together. Mary (whom you seem to 
 remember yet) is not quite easy that she had 
 not a formal parting from you. I wish it had 
 so happened. But you must bring her a token, 
 
 ^ Louisa Martin, 
 
132 THE LAMBS 
 
 a shawl or something, and remember a sprightly 
 little Mandarin for our mantle piece, as a com- 
 panion to the Child I am going to purchase at 
 the Museum. She says you saw her writings 
 about the other day, and she wishes you should 
 know what they are. She is doing for Godwin's 
 bookseller' twenty of Shakspear's plays, to be 
 made into Children's tales. Six are already 
 done by her, to wit, ' The Tempest,' ' Winter's 
 Tale,' ' Midsummer Night,' ♦ Much Ado,' ' Two 
 Gentlemen of Verona,' and ' Cymbehne : ' & 
 ' The Merchant of Venice ' is in forwardness. 
 I have done ' Othello ' & ' Macbeth,' and mean 
 to do all the Tragedies. 1 think it will be 
 popular among the little people. Besides money, 
 it's to bring in 60 guineas. Mary has done 
 them capitally, I think you'd think. These are 
 the humble amusements we propose, while you 
 are gone to plant the cross of Christ among 
 barbarous Pagan anthropophagi. Quam homo 
 homini prsestat ! but then, perhaps, you'll get 
 murder'd, & we shall die in our beds with a 
 fair literary reputation. Be sure, if you see any 
 of those people, whose heads do grow beneath 
 their shoulders, that you make a draught of 
 them. It will be very curious. O Manning, I 
 am serious to sinking almost, when I think that 
 all those evenings, which you have made so 
 pleasant, are gone perhaps for ever. Four years 
 you talk of, maybe ten, and you may come back 
 & find such alterations ! Some circumstance 
 
 ' Godwin had a dep6t for books in Hanway Street, 
 whence he subsequently removed to Skinner Street. His 
 wife helped him greatly in the business, and several friends 
 lent their co-operation. Lamb does not seem to have been 
 awaie that it was his friend's own speculation. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 33 
 
 may grow up to you or to me, that may be a 
 bar to the return of any such intimacy. I dare 
 say all this is Hum, & that all will come back ; 
 but indeed we die many deaths before we die, 
 & I am almost sick when I think that such a 
 hold as I had of you is gone. I have friends, 
 but some of 'em are changed. Marriage, or 
 some circumstance, rises up to make them not 
 the same. But I felt sure of you. And that 
 last token you gave me of expressing a wish 
 to have my name joined with yours, you know 
 not how it afFetfted me : like a legacy. 
 
 " God bless you in every way you can form 
 a wish. May He give you health, & safety, & 
 the accomplishment of all your objetfts, and re- 
 turn you again to us, to gladden some fireside 
 or other (I suppose we shall be moved from the 
 Temple). I will nurse the remembrance of your 
 steadiness and quiet, which used to infuse some- 
 thing like itself into our nervous minds. Mary 
 called you our ventilator. Farewell, and take 
 her best wishes & mine. 
 
 " One thing more. When you get to Canton, 
 you will most likely see a young friend of mine, 
 Inspector of Teas, named Ball. He is a very 
 good fellow & I should like to have my name 
 talked of in China. Give my kind remembrances 
 to the same Ball. 
 
 " Good bye, 
 
 " C. L." 
 
 " Mr. Manning, 
 Passenger 
 
 On board the Thames 
 East Indiaman, 
 Portsmouth." 
 
134 THE LAMBS 
 
 My reason for reproducing the next is that it 
 has not been given either in the Ainger or my 
 own collection, and appeared in the so-called 
 Fitzgerald edition of 1 868 as belonging probably 
 to 1822, or at least finds itself placed thereabout 
 in the order of precedence. Its real season of pro- 
 dudtion was, however, prior to November, 1806, 
 when Coleridge returned home from abroad ; for 
 in a letter to Manning of December 5, the same 
 year, Lamb says : " Coleridge is come home, and 
 is going to turn lecturer on Taste at the Royal 
 Institution." The verses, with which the letter 
 winds up, remind us of the Podvy for Children, 
 and are poor stuff, regarded as literary pro- 
 dudls, their interest being limited by their con- 
 temporary incidence and atmosphere : — 
 
 VII* 
 Miss Lamb to Miss Wordsworth. 
 
 [Temple, late in the Autumn of 1806.] 
 "My dear Miss Wordsworth, — I thank you, 
 my kind friend, for your most comfortable letter. 
 Till I saw your own handwriting I could not 
 persuade myself that I should do well to write 
 to you, though I have often attempted it ; but I 
 always left off dissatisfied with what I had 
 written, and feeling that I was doing an im- 
 proper thing to intrude upon your sorrow. I 
 wished to tell you that you would one day feel 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 35 
 
 the kind of peaceful state of mind and sweet 
 memory of the dead, which you so happily de- 
 scribe as now almost begun; but I felt that it 
 was improper, and most grating to the feeUngs 
 of the afflidled, to say to them that the memory 
 of their affedtion would in time become a con- 
 stant part, not only of their dream, but of their 
 most wakeful sense of happiness. That you 
 would see every objedt with and through your 
 lost brother, and that that would at last become 
 a real and everlasting source of comfort to you, 
 I felt, and well knew, from my own experience 
 in sorrow; but till you yourself began to feel 
 this I did not dare tell you so ; but I send you 
 some poor lines which I wrote under this con- 
 vidtion of mind, and before I heard Coleridge 
 was returning home. I will transcribe them- 
 now, before I finish my letter, lest a false shame 
 prevent me then, for I know they are much worse 
 than they ought to be, written, as they were, with 
 strong feeling, and on such a subjedt. Every line 
 seems to me to be borrowed ; but I had no better 
 way of expressing my thoughts, and I never have 
 the power of altering or amending any thing I 
 have once laid aside with dissatisfadtion. 
 
 "Why is he wandering on the sea? — 
 Coleridge should now with Wordsworth be. 
 By slow degrees he'd steal away 
 Their woe, and gently bring a ray 
 (So happily he'd time relief) 
 Of comfort from their very grief. 
 He'd tell them that their brother dead, 
 When years have passM o'er their head, 
 Will be remember'd with such holy, 
 True, and perfect melancholy, 
 That ever this lost brother John 
 Will be their hearts' companion." 
 
136 THE LAMBS 
 
 VIII 
 To Robert Southey. 
 " Dear S., — I have this day deposited with 
 Mr. G. BedP the essay you suggested to me. 
 I am afraid it is wretchedly inadequate. Who 
 can cram into a strait coop of a review any 
 serious idea of such a vast & magnificent poem 
 as Excurs" ? 
 
 " I am myself, too, peculiarly unfit from con- 
 stitutional causes & want of time. However, 
 it is gone. 
 
 " I have 9 or 10 days of my holydays left, but 
 the rains are come. 
 
 " Kind remembr"=« to Mrs. S. & sisters. 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "C. L." 
 20th Octob', 1814. 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 R. Southey, Esq., 
 Keswick, 
 
 Near Penrith, 
 
 Cumberland. 
 IX 
 To Leigh Hunt. 
 " Dear Sir, — I thank you much for the Curious 
 Volume of Southey, which I return, together with 
 FalstaiF's Letters, Elgin Stone Report, & a little 
 work of my own, of which perhaps you have no 
 copy & I have a great many.' 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " C; Lamb." 
 [In Hunt's hand bdow.J 
 Received from C. Lamb, 13th May, 181 6. — 
 
 L. H. 
 
 ' "John WoodvU," &c^ l2ino., 1801. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 37 
 
 It is probable that many attentive and earnest 
 admirers of Elia, if they were to be told that that 
 admirable man and writer was entitled to a place 
 among those who may be considered the modern 
 disciples of Apicius, would ask a little time to 
 consider and refer, before they agreed with such 
 a proposition. In his earlier and poorer days, 
 Lamb, so far as we can make out, had few 
 opportunities of indulging in the pleasures of 
 the table and the palate. But as his means 
 improved, and his circle of friends widened, we 
 easily discover evidences of his appreciation of 
 certain delicacies, which in some cases shewed 
 his taste for such matters to be as idiosyncratic 
 as his views about books. Almost the very latest 
 of his essays was a contribution to the A thenaum 
 called " Thoughts on Presents of Game," and as 
 early as 1810 he exhibits an entertaining gusto 
 on the subje(5l of a pig, which had been sent up 
 to him as a present by the Hazlitts from Win- 
 terslow. The series of notes to Alsop deals con- 
 siderably with acknowledgments of oblations of 
 game and " shining " birds ; and scattered through 
 the friendly correspondence are numerous hints 
 that Lamb was by no means indifferent to tooth- 
 some dishes and flavorous bonnes houches. 
 
 The letter now given is a masterpiece of opu- 
 
138 THE LAMBS 
 
 lent fancy. We have, in the main, an elaborate 
 disquisition on the comparative recommendations 
 of John Dory, Brighton turbot, and cod's head 
 and shoulders, and it is assuredly a masterpiece 
 of its kind. It is an epicurean essay, powerfully 
 illustrating the writer's versatility at what may 
 may be deemed in some respedls the finest and 
 most matured period of his literary career. There 
 is nothing finer in Elia. The letter is all the 
 more delightfully humorous because it is couched 
 throughout in a perfectly grave tone. The simili- 
 tude in one place of a cod's head and shoulders 
 from its flakiness to a sea-onion is unique. But 
 the whole producflion deserves study. 
 
 X 
 
 To Charles Chambers. 
 
 [September I, 1817.]' 
 
 " With regard to a John-dory, which you de- 
 sire to be particularly informed about, I honour 
 the fish, but it is rather on account of Quin who 
 patronised it, and whose taste (of a dead man) I 
 had as lieve go by as anybody's (Apicius and Helio- 
 gabalus excepted — this latter started nightingales' 
 tongues and peacocks' brains as a garnish). 
 
 " Else in itself, and trusting to my own poor 
 single judgment, it hath not that moist mellow 
 oleaginous ghding smooth descent from the 
 
 1 This date is not in Lamb's hand ; probably it was sup- 
 plied by the recipient. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 39 
 
 tongue to the palate, thence to the stomach, 
 &c., that your Brighton Turbot hath, which I 
 take to be the most friendly and familiar flavor 
 of any that swims — most genial and at home to 
 the palate. 
 
 "Nor has it on the other hand that fine falling 
 off flakiness, that oleaginous peeling off (as it 
 were, hke a sea onion), which endears your cod's 
 head & shoulders to some appetites, that manly 
 firmness, combined with a sort of womanish 
 eoming-in-pieces, which the same cod's head & 
 shoulders hath, where the whole is easily separ- 
 able, pUant to a knife or a spoon, but each indi- 
 vidual flake presents a pleasing resistance to the 
 opposed tooth — you understand me — ^these deli- 
 cate subjedls are necessarily obscure. 
 
 " But it has a third flavor of its own, perfedtly 
 distin<5l from Cod or Turbot, which it must be 
 owned may to some not injudicious palates render 
 it acceptable — but to my unpradlised tooth it pre- 
 sented rather a crude river-fish-flavor, like your 
 Pike or Carp, and perhaps like them should have 
 been tamed & correcfted by some laborious & well 
 chosen sauce. Still I always suspedl a fish which 
 requires so much of artificial settings-off. Your 
 choicest relishes (like nature's loveliness) need 
 not the foreign aid of ornament, but are when 
 unadorned (that is, with nothing but a little plain 
 anchovy & a squeeze of lemon) are then adorned 
 the most. However, I shall go to Brighton again 
 next Summer, and shall have an opportunity of 
 correifting my judgment, if it is not sufficiently 
 informed. I can only say that when Nature was 
 pleased to make the John Dory so notoriously 
 deficient in outward graces (as to be sure he is 
 
140 THE LAMBS 
 
 the very Rhinoceros of fishes, the ugliest dog 
 that swims, except perhaps the Sea Satyr, which 
 I never saw, but which they say is terrible), when 
 she formed him with so few external advantages, 
 she might have bestowed a more elaborate finish 
 in his parts internal, & have given him a relish, 
 a sapor, to recommend him, as she made Pope 
 a Poet to make up for making him crooked. 
 
 " I am sorry to find that you have got a knack 
 of saying things which are not true to shew your 
 wit. If I had no wit but what I must shew at 
 the expence of my virtue or my modesty, I had 
 as lieve be as stupid as ... at' the Tea 
 Warehouse. Depend upon it, my dear Chambers, 
 that an ounce of integrity at our death-bed will 
 stand us in more avail than all the wit of Con- 
 greve or . . . For instance, you tell me a fine 
 story about Truss, and his playing at Leaming- 
 ton, which I know to be false, because I have 
 advice from Derby that he was whipt through 
 the Town on that very day you say he appeared 
 in some charadter or other, for robbing an old 
 woman at church of a seal ring. And Dr. Parr 
 has been two months dead. So it won't do to 
 scatter these untrue stories about among people 
 that know any thing. Besides, your forte is not 
 invention. It is judgment, particularly shown in 
 your choice of dishes. We seem in that instance 
 born under one star. I like you for liking hare. 
 I esteem you for disrelishing minced veal. Liking 
 is too cold a word. I love you for your noble 
 attachment to the fat undtuous juices of deer's 
 flesh & the green unspeakable of turtle. I honour 
 you for your endeavours to esteem and approve 
 
 ' So in the original. Query Bye, one of Lamb's colleaguest 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I4I 
 
 of my favorite, which I ventured to recommend 
 to you as a substitute for hare, bullock's heart, 
 and I am not offended that you cannot taste it 
 with my palate. A true son of Epicurus should 
 reserve one taste peculiar to himself. For a long 
 time I kept the secret about the exceeding de- 
 liciousness of the marrow of boiled knuckle of 
 veal, till my tongue weakly ran riot in its praises, 
 and now it is prostitute & common. — But I have 
 made one discovery which I will not impart till 
 my dying scene is over, perhaps it will be my 
 last mouthful in this world, delicious thought, 
 enough to sweeten (or rather make savoury) the 
 hour of death. It is a little square bit about 
 this size in or near the 
 knuckle bone of a fried 
 joint of ... fat I can't call 
 it nor lean neither alto- 
 gether, it is that beautiful 
 compound, which Nature 
 must have made in Paradise Park venison, 
 before she separated the two substances, the 
 dry & the oleaginous, to punish sinful man- 
 kind ; Adam ate them entire & inseparate, and 
 this little taste of Eden in the knuckle bone of 
 a fried . . . seems the only relique of a Para- 
 disaical state. When I die, an exadl description 
 of its topography shall be left in a cupboard with 
 a key, inscribed on which these words, ' C. Lamb 
 dying imparts this to C. Chambers as the only 
 worthy depository of such a secret.' You'll drop 
 a tear. . . ." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Mr. C. Chambers, 
 Leamington, 
 
 near Warwick. 
 
142 THE LAMBS 
 
 Our next is a note to the publishers of Lamb's 
 Works, as they were called on the title-page, in 
 1818, in two duodecimo volumes. The book was 
 nearly out of the printer's hands, 
 
 XI* 
 
 C. Lamb to the Messrs. Oilier. 
 
 [28th May, 1818.] 
 
 " Dear Sir,— The last sheet is finish' d. All 
 that remains is the Title page and the Contents, 
 which should be uniform with vol. i . Will you 
 be kind enough to see to it ? There is a Sonnet 
 to come in by way of dedication. I have not the 
 sheet, so I cannot make out the Table of Con- 
 tents, but it may be done from the various 
 Essays, Letters, &c. by you, or the Printer, as 
 thus. [Here follows a rough sketch of the 
 writer's plan.] 
 
 " Yours in Haste. " C. Lamb, 
 
 " Let me see the last proof, sonnet, &c." 
 Messrs. Oilier, Booksellers, 
 
 Vera Street, Oxford Street. 
 
 The letter was directed in the singular number, 
 that either of the brothers might open it. The 
 OUiers figure in the correspondence during some 
 years. 
 
 A note of about the same date from Miss 
 Lamb to Mrs. J. D. Collier, mother of the 
 antiquary, was written on behalf of the only 
 unmarried Miss Fricker. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I43 
 
 XII 
 Miss Lamb to Mrs. Collier. 
 
 [No date.] 
 " Dear Mrs. C, — This note will be given you 
 by a young friend' of mine, whom I wish you 
 would employ ; she has commenced business as 
 a mantua-maker and if you and my girls ^ would 
 try her, I think she would fit you all three, and 
 it will be doing her an essential service. She is, 
 I think, very deserving, and if you procure work 
 for her, among your friends and acquaintances, 
 so much the better. My best love to you and 
 my girls. We are both well. 
 
 " Yours affedlionately, 
 
 " Mary Lamb."' 
 
 Miss Betham, or, indeed, more than one of 
 the six-and-thirty feet of daughters. Miss Mary 
 Hazlitt, younger daughter of the painter, and 
 Mrs., afterward Lady, Stoddart, conspired, 
 during many years, to vex the soul of Lamb 
 by their perpetual calls upon him to adl the 
 part of a literary censor ; and certain of Mrs. 
 Stoddart's performances in the shape of novels, 
 and Miss Hazlitt's only one, even with this 
 
 1 Sister of the three "milliners of Bath," Mrs. Coleridge, 
 Mrs. Southey, and Mrs. Lovell. 
 
 2 Mrs. Collier's daughters. 
 
 8 See Collier's Diary, p. 80. The writer notes his recol- 
 lection that Miss Fricker remained seven years in his family, 
 and then returned to Bristol Compare Cottle's Recollections 
 of S. T. Coleridge, 1837, p. 2. 
 
144 THE LAMBS 
 
 succour and an inclusive word of recommen- 
 dation to some publisher, never reached the 
 printer's hands. They belonged to a short- 
 lived type, and became no better than dead 
 leaves. In turning over the pages of two or 
 three unpublished romances by Mrs. Stoddart, 
 one is struck by the wholesale castigation of 
 the text in Lamb's hand and by the marginal 
 expressions of impatience which he has left 
 behind him — the sole features of interest for 
 us in these feeble literary eiforts of an amiable 
 lady of the old school. 
 
 Is it more than justice, however, to recolledt 
 that the Lambs were by tradition and training 
 of this set. Much of their early work, the 
 Poetry for Children and Mrs. Leicester's School, 
 and even of Lamb's somewhat later eiforts, 
 his Prince Dorus and Beauty and the Beast, par- 
 took of the same colourless insipidity; and 
 had it not been for that marvellously fruitful 
 communion with other minds, and the Elia and 
 the Letters, the name would certainly not hold 
 the rank which it does at the present moment. 
 
 The " Little Barbara," afterward Mrs. Ed- 
 wards, to whom the following letter was ad- 
 dressed, was the youngest sister of Matilda, one 
 of the regular correspondents of Lamb himself. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 45 
 
 XIII* 
 
 THE BETHAM CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 "Miss Lamb to Miss Barbara Bethajn.^ 
 
 " Novr. 2, 1814. 
 " It is very long since I have met with such 
 an agreeable surprise as the sight of your letter, 
 my kind young friend, afforded me. Such a 
 nice letter as it is too. And what a pretty hand 
 you write. I congratulate you on this attain- 
 ment with great pleasure, because I have so 
 often felt the disadvantage of my own wretched 
 handwriting. 
 
 " You wish for London news. I rely upon 
 your sister Ann for gratifying you in this 
 respecft, yet I have been endeavouring to recol- 
 le(5t whom you might have seen here, and what 
 may have happened to them since, and this effort 
 has only brought the image of little Barbara 
 Betham, unconnedled with any other person, so 
 strongly before my eyes that I seem as if I had 
 no other subject to write upon. Now I think I 
 see you with your feet propped upon the fender, 
 your two hands spread out upon your knees — 
 an attitude you always chose when we were 
 in familiar confidential conversation together — 
 telling me long stories of your own home, where 
 now you say you are ' Moping on with the 
 same thing every day,' and which then presented 
 nothing but pleasant recoUedtions to your mind. 
 How well I remember your quiet steady face 
 bent over your book. One day, conscience 
 Struck at having wasted so much of your pre- 
 
 1 From the autograph. 
 
146 THE LAMBS 
 
 cious time in reading, and feeling yourself, as 
 you prettily said, ' quite useless to me,' you went 
 to my drawers and hunted out some unhemmed 
 pocket-hankerchiefs, and by no means could I 
 prevail upon you to resume your story books 
 till you had hemmed them all. I remember, 
 too, your teaching my little maid to read — your 
 sitting with her a whole evening to console her 
 for the death of her sister ; and that she in her 
 turn endeavoured to become a comforter to you, 
 the next evening, when you wept at the sight 
 of Mrs. Holcroft, from whose school you had 
 recently eloped because you were not partial to 
 sitting in the stocks. Those tears, and a few 
 you once dropped when my brother teased you 
 about your supposed fondness for an apple dump- 
 ling, were the only interruptions to the calm 
 contentedness of your unclouded brow. We still 
 remain the same as you left us, neither taller 
 nor wiser, or perceptibly older, but three years 
 must have made a great alteration in you. How 
 very much, dear Barbara, I should like to see 
 you ! 
 
 " We still live in Temple Lane, but I am 
 now sitting in a room you never saw. Soon 
 after you left us we we[re] distressed by the 
 cries of a cat, which seemed to proceed from the 
 garrets adjoining to ours, and only separated 
 from ours by a locked door on the farther side 
 of my brother's bedroom, which you know was 
 the little room at the top of the kitchen stairs. 
 We had the lock forced and let poor puss out 
 from behind a pannel of the wainscot, and she 
 lived with us from that time, for we were in 
 gratitude bound to keep her, as she had intro- 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 47 
 
 duced us to four untenanted, unowned rooms, 
 and by degrees we have taken possession of 
 these unclaimed apartments — First putting up 
 lines to dry our clothes, then moving my 
 brother's bed into one of these, more commo- 
 dious than his own room. And last winter, my 
 brother being unable to pursue a work he had 
 begun, owing to the kind interruptions of friends 
 who were more at leisure than himself, I per- 
 suaded him that he might write at his ease in 
 one of these rooms, as he could not then hear 
 the door knock, or hear himself denied to be at 
 home, which was sure to make him call out and 
 convi(5l the poor maid in a fib. Here, I said, 
 he might be almost really not at home. So I 
 put in an old grate, & made him a fire in the 
 largest of these garrets, and carried in one table, 
 and one chair, and bid him write away, and 
 consider himself as much alone as if he were 
 in a new lodging in the midst of Salisbury Plain, 
 or any other wide unfrequented place where he 
 could expecft few visitors to break in upon his 
 solitude. I left him quite delighted with his 
 new acquisition, but in a few hours he came 
 down again with a sadly dismal face. He could 
 do nothing, he said, with those bare white- 
 washed walls before his eyes. He could not 
 write in that dull unfurnished prison. 
 
 " The next day, before he came home from 
 his office, I had gathered up various bits of old 
 carpetting to cover the floor ; and, to a little 
 break the blank look of the bare walls, I hung 
 up a few old prints that used to ornament the 
 kitchen, and after dinner, with great boast of 
 what an improvement I had made, I took 
 
148 THE LAMBS 
 
 Charles once more into his new study. A week 
 of busy labours followed, in which I think you 
 would not have disliked to have been our 
 assistant. My brother & I almost covered the 
 walls with prints, for which purpose he cut out 
 every print from every book in his old library, 
 coming in every now and then to ask my leave 
 to strip a fresh poor author — which he might 
 not do, you know, without my permission, as 
 I am elder sister. There was such pasting, such 
 consultation where their portraits, and where 
 the series of pidlures from Ovid, Milton, & 
 Shakespear would show to most advantage, and 
 in what obscure corner authors of humbler note 
 might be allowed to tell their stories. All the 
 books gave up their stores but one, a translation 
 from Ariosto, a delicious set of four & twenty 
 prints, & for which I had marked out a con- 
 spicuous place ; when lo ! we found at the mo- 
 ment the scissars were going to work that a 
 part of the poem was printed at the back of 
 every pidture. What a cruel disappointment ! 
 To conclude this long story about nothing, the 
 poor despised garret is now called the print 
 room, and is become our most favorite sitting 
 room. 
 
 " Your sister Ann will tell you that your 
 friend Louisa is going to France. Miss Skepper 
 is out of town, Mrs. Reynolds desires to be 
 remembered to you, and so does my neighbour 
 Mrs. Norris, who was your dodlress when you 
 were unwell, her three little children are grown 
 three big children. The Lions still live in Exeter 
 Change. Returning home through the Strand, 
 I often hear them roar about twelve oclock at 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 49 
 
 night. I never hear them without thinking of 
 you, because you seemed so pleased with the 
 sight of them, & said your young companions 
 would stare when you told them you had seen 
 a Lion. 
 
 " And now my dear Barbara fare well, I have 
 not written such a long letter a long time, but 
 I am very sorry I had nothing amusing to write 
 about. Wishing you may pass happily through 
 the rest of your school days, and every future 
 day of your life, 
 
 " 1 remain, your afFedlionate Friend, 
 
 " M. Lamb. 
 
 " My brother sends his love to you, with the 
 kind remembrance your letter shewed you have 
 of us as 1 was. He joins with me in respedts 
 to your good father & mother, and to your 
 brother John, who, if I do not mistake his name, 
 is your tall young brother who was in search 
 of a fair lady with a large fortune. Ask him 
 if he has found her yet. You say you are not 
 so tall as Louisa — you must be, you cannor so 
 degenerate from the rest of your family. Now 
 you have begun, I shall hope to have the 
 pleasure of hearing from [you] again. I shall 
 always receive a letter from you with very great 
 delight." 
 
 XIV* 
 
 C. Lamb to Miss Matilda Betham. 
 
 " Dear Miss Betham, — I have sent your very 
 pretty lines to Southey in a frank, as you requested. 
 Poor S., what a grievous loss he must have had ! 
 Mary and I rejoyce in the prospedl of seeing you 
 soon in Town. Let us be among the very first 
 
150 THE LAMBS 
 
 persons you come to see. Believe me that you 
 can have no friends who respedl & love you 
 more than ourselves. Pray present our kind 
 remembrances to Barbara and to all to whom you 
 may think the}' will be acceptable. 
 
 " Yours very sincerely, 
 
 "C. Lamb. 
 
 " Have you seen Christabel since its publica- 
 tion ? " 
 
 E. I. H., ist June, 1816. 
 
 The subjoined, from Miss Lamb, was written 
 subsequently to the removal of the brother and 
 sister from the Temple and the alteration of their 
 reception-day. 
 
 XV* 
 
 Miss Lamb to the Same. 
 
 [20, Russell Street, Covent Garden, 
 about i8i8.] 
 
 " My dear Matilda, — Coleridge has given me a 
 very chearful promise that he will wait on Lady 
 Jerningham any day you will be pleased to ap- 
 point ; he offered to write to you ; but I found it 
 was to be done tomorrow, and as I am pretty well 
 acquainted with his tomorrows, I thought good 
 to let you know his determination today. He is 
 in town today, but as he is often going to Ham- 
 mersmith for a night or two, you had better 
 perhaps send the invitation through me, and I 
 will manage it for you as well as I can. You 
 had better let him have four or five days' pre- 
 vious notice, and you had better send the invi- 
 tation as soon as you can ; for he seems tolerably 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I51 
 
 well just now. I mention all these betters, because 
 I wish to do the best I can for you, perceiving, as 
 I do, it is a thing you have set your heart upon. 
 He dined one [d] ay in company with Catilana 
 ( 1 is that the way you spell her Italian name ? — 
 I am reading Sallust, and had Hke to have 
 written Catiline). How I should have liked, and 
 how you would have liked, to have seen Coleridge 
 and Catilana together ! 
 
 " You have been very good of late to let me 
 come and see you so seldom, and you are a little 
 goodish to come so seldom here, because you stay 
 away from a kind motive. But if you stay away 
 always, as I fear you mean to do, I would not 
 give one pin for your good intentions. In plain 
 words, come and see me very soon ; for though 
 I be not sensitive as some people, I begin to feel 
 strange qualms for having driven you from me. 
 " Yours affedlionately, 
 
 " M. Lamb. 
 
 " Wednesday. 
 " Alas ! Wednesday shines no more to me 
 now. 
 
 " Miss Duncan played famously in the new 
 comedy, which went off as famously. By the 
 way, she put in a spiteful piece of wit, I verily 
 believe of her own head ; and methought she 
 stared me full in the face. The words were 
 ' As silent as an author in company.' Her hair 
 and herself looked remarkably well." 
 [Endorsed] 
 Miss Betham, 
 49 Upper Marybone Street. 
 
 ' Catalani, who married M. Valabrfegue. 
 
152 THE LAMBS 
 
 The Miss Duncan named in the postscript was 
 the a<5lress who took part, in the absence of Mrs. 
 Jordan, in Holcroft's play of the Vindictive Man, 
 which was brought out and damned in 1806. 
 
 The next letter is not only now exhibited for 
 the first time as it came from Lamb's pen ; but 
 the earliest opportunity is taken to correal the 
 misapprehension, into which all the editors have 
 been betrayed, of confounding it with that of 
 June ist, i8i6. 
 
 XVI* 
 
 C. Lamb to the Same. 
 
 [Postmark illegible, ? East India House, 
 no date, about 1824.] 
 
 " Mary goes to her Place on Sunday — I mean 
 your maid, foolish Mary ; she wants a very little 
 brain only to be an excellent serv'- She is 
 excellently calculated for the country, where no 
 body has brains. 
 
 " Dear Miss Betham, — All this while I have 
 been tormenting myself with the thought of 
 having been ungracious to you, and you have 
 teen all the while accusing yourself. Let us 
 absolve one another, & be quits. My head is 
 in such a state from incapacity for business that 
 I certainly know it to be my duty not to under- 
 take the veriest trifle in addition. I hardly know 
 how I can go on. I have tried to get some re- 
 dress by explaining my health, but with no great 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 53 
 
 success. No one can tell how ill I am because 
 it does not come out to the exterior of my face, 
 but lies in my skull, deep & invisible. I wish I 
 was leprous & black -jaundiced skin-over, and 
 that all was as well within as my cursed looks. 
 You must not think me worse than I am. I am 
 determined not to be overset, but to give up 
 business rather, and get 'em to give me a trifle 
 for services past. O, that I had been a shoe- 
 ;maker, or a baker, or a man of large independent 
 fortune. O darling laziness! heaven of Epi- 
 curus ! Saints' Everlasting Rest ! that I could 
 drink vast potations of thee thro' unmeasured 
 Eternity. Otium vel cum vel sine dignitate. 
 Scandalous, dishonorable — any kind of repose. 
 I stand not upon the dignified sort. Accursed, 
 damned desks, trade, commerce, business ! In- 
 ventions of the old original busy-body, brain- 
 working Satan — Sabbathless, restless Satan ! 
 
 " A curse relieves — do you ever try it ? 
 
 " A strange letter this to write to a lady ; but 
 mere honeyed sentences will not distil. I dare 
 not ask who revises in my stead. I have drawn 
 you into a scrape and am ashamed ; but I know 
 no remedy. My unwellness must be my apology. 
 God bless you (tho' He curse the India House 
 and fire it to the ground) and may no unkind 
 Error creep into ' Marie ' ! May all its readers 
 like it as well as I do, and every body about you 
 like its kind author no worse. Why the devil 
 am I never to have a chance of scribbling my 
 own free thoughts, verse or prose, again ? Why 
 must I write of Tea & Drugs, & Piece goods 
 & bales of Indigo ? Farewell. 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 
154 THE LAMBS 
 
 The following letter to the same lady is also 
 safely assignable, I conceive, to that period just 
 antecedent to Lamb's retirement from the India 
 House, when he began to grow restless and 
 impatient, and to give vent to his feelings in 
 no measured terms. Of course it is more or 
 less hazardous to fix the date within this certain 
 space, since even so early as the end of 1818, 
 in writing to Coleridge, Lamb inveighs against 
 official drudgery and confinement. 
 
 XVII 
 
 The Same to the Same. 
 
 " Dr Miss B., — Mr. Hunter has this morning 
 put into a Parcel all I have received from you at 
 various times, including a sheet of notes from 
 the Printer and two fair sheets of Mary. I hope 
 you will receive them safe. The poem I will 
 continue to look over, but must request you tff 
 provide for the rest. I cannot attend to any- 
 thing but the most simple things. I am very 
 much unhinged indeed. Tell K. I saw Mrs. K. 
 yesterday and she was well. You must write to 
 Hunter if you are in a hurry for the notes, &c. 
 " Yours sincerely, " C. L. 
 
 " Saturday. 
 
 " Shall I diredl the Printer to send you fair 
 sheets, as they are printed ? " 
 
 A second letter to the same lady, without note 
 of time, but written while Lamb was still allow- 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 155 
 
 ing himself to be retained as Miss Betham's 
 literary counsel, has not yet found its way into 
 any of the editions. 
 
 XVIII 
 Miss Lamb to Miss Matilda Betham. 
 
 " My dear Miss Betham, — My brother and 
 myself return you a thousand thanks for your 
 kind communication. We have read your poem 
 -many times over with increased interest, and 
 very much wish to see you to tell you how highly 
 we have been pleased with it. May we beg one 
 favour ? I keep the manuscript in the hope that 
 you will grant it. It is that, either now or when 
 the whole poem is completed, you will read it 
 over with us. When I say with us, of course I 
 mean Charles. I know that you have many 
 judicious friends, but I have so often known my 
 brother spy out errors in a manuscript which 
 has passed through many judicious hands, that 
 I shall not be easy if you do not permit him to 
 look yours carefully through with you ; and also 
 you must allow him to corredt the press for 
 you. 
 
 " If I knew where to find you I would call 
 upon you. Should you feel nervous at the idea 
 of meeting Charles in the capacity of a severe 
 censor, give me a line, and I will come to you 
 anywhere and convince you in five minutes that 
 he is even timid, stammers, and can scarcely 
 speak for modesty and fear of giving pain when 
 he finds himself placed in that kind of office. 
 Shall I appoint a time to see you here when he 
 
156 THE LAMBS 
 
 is from home? I will send him out any time 
 you will name; indeed, I am always naturally 
 alone till four o'clock. If you are nervous about 
 coming, remember I am equally so about the 
 liberty I have taken, and shall be till we meet 
 and [throw] off our mutual fears. 
 
 " Yours most affecTtionately, 
 
 " M. Lamb." 
 
 The next letter to the same lady, within my 
 present knowledge, is of August 23, 1833. It 
 has never hitherto appeared in its integrity or 
 in its true order. It is one of the Edmonton 
 series, and was posterior to Emma Isola's mar- 
 riage. 
 
 XIX 
 
 C, Lamb to the Same. 
 
 " Dear Miss B., — Your Bridal verses are very 
 beautiful. Emma shall have them, as here cor- 
 redled, when they return. They are in France. 
 The verses, I repeat, are sweetly pretty. I know 
 nobody in these parts that wants a servant ; 
 indeed, I have no acquaintance in this new 
 place, and rarely come to town. The rule of 
 Christ's Hospital is rigorous, that the marriage 
 certificate of the parents be produced, previous 
 to the presentation of a boy, so that your re- 
 nowned Protegfe has no chance. Never trouble 
 yourself about Dyer's neighbour. He will only 
 tell you a parcel of fibs, and is impra<5licable to 
 any advice. He has been long married and 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 57 
 
 parted, and has to pay his wife a weekly allow- 
 ance to this day, besides other incumbrances. 
 " In haste and headake, 
 
 " Yours, [Signature lost.] 
 "Aug* 23, 1833." 
 
 XX 
 
 The Same to the Same. 
 
 [January 29, 1 834.} 
 " Dear Miss M., — I have had a letter from 
 your sister Mary, and come to town on Monday 
 next in consequence. I shall take an early chop 
 in town, and will call upon you about 2 or 3 in 
 the afternoon. My poor Mary is terribly ill 
 again. " Yours, 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 [Endorsed] 
 Miss Betham, 
 Vicarage, 
 
 near the Church, 
 Islington. 
 
 THE NORRIS CORRESPONDENCE. 
 XXI 
 
 C. Lamb to Mrs. Norris. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. N., — Mary will be in town this 
 Evens or to-morrow morn8. As she wants to 
 see you about another business. She will in the 
 meantime enquire respefling the young woman. 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 E. I. H. " C. Lamb." 
 
 26 Mar. 1822. 
 Mrs. Norris, 
 Tanfield Court, Temple. 
 
158 THE LAMBS 
 
 The next in order of date was seemingly de- 
 spatched by Lamb soon after their return from 
 France in 1825, when he was still labouring 
 under the humorous idiosyncrasy of interlarding 
 his sentences with very bad French, or rather 
 an Anglo-French doggrel of his own. Our text 
 follows the original among the Norris papers : — 
 
 XXII 
 
 The Same to Miss Norris. 
 [No superscription.] [1825,] 
 
 " Hypochondriac. We can't reckon avec any 
 ertainty for une heure ... as follows : 
 
 England. 1 
 
 " I like the Taxes when they re not 00 many, 
 I like a sea-coal fire when not too dear ; 
 
 I like a beefsteak, too, as well as any. 
 Have no objection to a pot of beer ; 
 
 I like the weather when it s not loo rainy, 
 That is, I like two months of every year. 
 
 Italy. 
 
 " I also like to dine on becaficas. 
 
 To see the sun set, sure he'll rise to-morrow. 
 Not through a misty morning twinkling weak as 
 
 A drunken man's dead eye in maudlin sorrow. 
 But with all heaven t'himself ; that day will break as 
 
 Beauteous as cloudless, nor be forced to borrow 
 That sort of farthing candlelight which glimmers 
 Where reeking London's smoky cauldron simmers. 
 
 " Kind regards to Mama & remembrances to 
 Frere Richard. Dieu remercie mon frere can't 
 
 ' From Byron's Beppo, 'slightly out of order. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 59 
 
 lizer Fransay. I have written this letter with a 
 most villainous pen — called a Patent one. 
 
 " En finis je remarque I was not offens^ a votre 
 fransay et I was not embarrasse to make it out. 
 Adieu. 
 
 " I have not quite done that instead of your 
 
 •company in Miss N orris ; epistle has determined 
 me to come if heaven, earth, & myself can com- 
 pass it. Amen." 
 
 [No signature.] 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Mary Lamb to Mrs. Norris. 
 The succeeding letter from Miss Lamb fur- 
 nishes a curious account and pidlure of the 
 brother's and sister's experiences in one of their 
 seaside holiday excursions, posterior to that of 
 1823, when we know that they also went to 
 Hastings. It is in the writer's usual manner — 
 frank, gossiping, and affecftionate : — 
 
 " Hastings, at Mrs. Gibbs, York Cottage, 
 Priory, No. 4. [1825 6.] 
 
 " My dear Friend,— Day after day has passed 
 away, and my brother has said ' I will write to 
 Mrs. Norris to-morrow,' and therefore I am re- 
 solved to write to Mrs. Norris to-day, and trust 
 him no longer. We took our places for Sevenoaks, 
 intending to remain here all night in order to see 
 Knole, but when we got there we chang'd our 
 minds, and went on to Tunbridge Wells. About 
 a mile short of the Wells the coach stopped at a 
 little inn, and I saw lodgings to let on a little. 
 
l6o THE LAMBS 
 
 very little house opposite. I ran over the way, 
 and secured them before the coach drove away, 
 and we took immediate possession : it proved a 
 very comfortable place, and we remained there 
 nine days. The first evening, as we were wan- 
 dering about, we met a lady, the wife of one of 
 the India House clerks, with whom we bad been 
 slightly acquainted some years ago, which slight 
 acquaintance has been ripened into a great inti- 
 macy during the nine pleasant days that we 
 passed at the Wells. She and her two daughters 
 went with us in an open chaise to Knole, and as 
 the chaise held only five, we mounted Miss James 
 upon a little horse, which she rode famously. I 
 was very much pleased with Knole, and still more 
 with Penshurst, which we also visited. We saw 
 Frant and the Rocks, and made much use of your 
 Guide Book, only Charles lost his way once going 
 by the map. We were in constant exercise the 
 whole time, and spent our time so pleasantly that 
 when we came here on Monday we missed our 
 new friends and found ourselves very dull. We 
 are by the seaside in a still less house, and we have 
 exchanged a very pretty landlady for a very ugly 
 one, but she is equally attratftive to us. We eat 
 turbot, and we drink smuggled Hollands, and we 
 walk up hill and down hill all day long. In the 
 little intervals of rest that we allow ourselves I 
 teach Miss James french ; she picked up a few 
 words during her foreign Tour with us, and she 
 has had a hankering after it ever since. 
 
 " We came from Tunbridge Wells in a Post- 
 chaise, and would have seen Battle Abbey on the 
 way, but it is only shewn on a Monday. We are 
 trying to coax Charles into a Monday's excursion. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES l6l 
 
 And Bexhill we are also thinking about. Yester- 
 day evening we found out by chance the most 
 beautiful view I ever saw. It is called ' The 
 Lovers' Seat.' . . . You have been here, 
 therefore you must have seen [it, or] is it only 
 Mr. and Mrs. Faint who have visited Hastings ? 
 [Tell Mrs.] Faint that though in my haste to get 
 housed I d[ecided on] . . . ice's lodgings, yet 
 it comforted all th . . . to know that I had a 
 place in view. 
 
 " I suppose you are so busy that it is not fair 
 to ask you to write me a line to say how you are 
 going on. Yet if any one of you have half an 
 hour to spare for that purpose, it will be most 
 thankfully received. Charles joins with me in 
 love to you all together, and to each one in par- 
 ticular upstairs and downstairs. 
 
 " Yoiurs most affecftionately, 
 
 " M. Lamb. 
 
 "June i8." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Randal Norris, Esq., 
 Inner Temple, London. 
 For Mrs. N. 
 
 There is an interval of a full decade between 
 the last letter and those which follow, and which 
 illustrate more or less valuably the latest years 
 as well of Charles as of his sister. 
 
 It is possible that some intervening matter 
 has disappeared, but let us bear in mind that 
 Lamb — nay, both, were rather spasmodic in 
 their communications all round, especially to- 
 ward the last. 
 
 M 
 
1 62 THE LAMBS 
 
 Here is a note to Mrs. Norris, enclosing one 
 which had come from Joseph Jekyll, acknow- 
 ledging the receipt of a gift of the second series 
 of Elia. Autograph-colle<5lors will mark what 
 is said of their pursuit ! Emma is of course 
 Miss Isola, afterward Mrs. Moxon. 
 
 XXIV 
 
 C. Lamb to Mrs. Norris. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Norris, — I wrote to Jekyll, and 
 sent him an Elia. This is his kind answer. So 
 you see that he will be glad to see any of you that 
 shall be in town, and will arrange, if you prefer 
 it, to accompany you. If you are at Brighton, 
 Betsey will forward this. I have cut off the 
 name at the bottom to give to a foolish kuto- 
 graph fancier. Love to you all. Emma sends 
 her very kindest. 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 [Postmarked] July lo, 1833. 
 
 [Enclosure.] 
 
 " My Dear Sir,— I must not lose A moment 
 in thanking you for another volume of your 
 delightful pen, which reached me this Morning, 
 but I hope not the last Essays of Elia. 
 
 " For Faint I had much Regard, and it de- 
 lights me to hear he has manifested such good 
 Feelings towards Mrs. Norris and her Daughters. 
 On their Visit to London, it would afford me 
 much pleasure to see them, and, still more, if 
 you could contrive to accompany them. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 63 
 
 " Poor George Dyer, blind, but as usual 
 chearful and content, often gives, on my En- 
 quiry, good accounts of you. With my Regards 
 to Mrs. Norris, 
 
 [Signature cut ofif.] 
 " Spring Garden, 
 " Thursday, June 27, 1833. 
 " C. Lamb, Esq." 
 
 The excessive rarity of letters addressed to the 
 Lambs is probably well known ; and the present 
 only escaped by being forwarded to a friend. 
 
 XXV 
 When the next subscribed EUa was written, 
 Lamb had paid a visit to Mrs. and Miss Norris 
 at Widford, near Ware, and it is manifest that 
 they, or one of them, had expressed, perhaps 
 for the first time in all these years, a desire to 
 see some of his literary produtftions : — 
 The Same to the Same. 
 " Mrs. Walden's, Church Street, Edmonton. 
 
 [July 18, 1833.] 
 " Dear Mrs. Norris, — I got home safe. Pray 
 accept these little books, and some of you give 
 me a line to say you received them. Love to all, 
 and thanks for three agreeable days. I send 
 them this afternoon (Tuesday) by Canter's 
 coach. Are the little girls packed safe ? They 
 can come in straw, and have eggs under them. 
 Ask them to lie soft, 'cause eggs smash. 
 
 " Elia." 
 
 M— 2 
 
164 THE LAMBS 
 
 " The first volume printed here ' Poetry for 
 Children '] is not to be had for love or money, 
 not even an American edition of it, and the 
 second volume, American also, to suit with it. 
 It is much the same as the London one." 
 
 XXVI 
 We are not at liberty to question that Lamb 
 was again at Widford in the last year of his life, 
 and that he there drew up, for the information 
 of his entertainers, a bibliography of his works 
 as follows : 
 
 " Blank Verse (with C. Lloyd). 
 
 " Rosamund Gray, a tale. 
 
 " John Woodvil, a tragedy. 
 
 " Those 3 printed separately, together with 
 Poems and Essays, & Mr. H., a farce, were col- 
 le(5led in two volumes call'd Works of C. Lamb. 
 
 "Album Verses. 
 
 " Elia's Essays. 
 
 " Last Essays of Elia. 
 
 " Adventures of Ulysses. \ 
 
 "Poetry (with Mary L.). I ,, . _, ., , 
 
 " Talefof Shaksp. (Do.). h" ^°' Children. 
 
 "Mrs. Leicester's School (Do.). J 
 besides The Pawnbroker's Daughter, a farce, and 
 numberless nonsense, prose and worse, scatter'd 
 about in Magazines and Newspapers, never got 
 together, irrepa[ra]bly gone to oblivion. 
 
 '■ These are all the follies I can remember 
 just now. 
 
 «'C. Lamb. 
 "Widford, 3 Nov., 1834." 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 65 
 
 XXVII 
 On his return from this second visit he made 
 up a package of all such of his own books as 
 he could find at home, and sent them off to 
 Widford. 
 
 The Same to the Same. 
 
 [Edmonton : November, 1834,] 
 " Dear Mrs. Norris, — I found Mary on my 
 return not worse, and she is now no better. I 
 send all my nonsense I could scrape together, 
 and wish your young ladies well thro' them. I 
 hope they will like ' Amwell.' Be in no hurry 
 to return them. Six months hence will do. 
 Remember me kindly to them and to Richard. 
 Also to Mary and her cousin. 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 
 " Pray give me a line to say you receiv'd 
 'em. I send 'em Wednesday 19th, from the 
 Roebuck." 
 
 About six weehs subsequently to this note 
 Lamb died (December 26, 1834), and we have 
 now to do with three letters which derive their 
 principal importance from being, as I appre- 
 hend, the only remaining documents illustrating 
 the last days of Charles's sister and life-com- 
 panion. When the third was written by Miss 
 James, the old and faithful attendant recom- 
 mended by the Kenneys, Miss Lamb was no 
 
1 66 THE LAMBS 
 
 longer capable, it may be more than inferred, 
 of using her pen, and was not in a state of mind 
 to bear much conversation or any excitement. 
 
 XXVIII 
 Mary Lamb to Miss Norris. 
 
 [41 Alpha Road, Regent's Park] Christmas Day [1841]. 
 
 " My dear Jane, — Many thanks for your kind 
 presents — your Michalmas goose. I thought 
 Mr. Moxon had written to thank you — ^the 
 turkeys and nice apples came yesterday. 
 
 " Give my love to your dear Mother. I was 
 unhappy to find your note in the basket, for I 
 am always thinking of you all, and wondering 
 when I shall ever see any of you again. 
 
 " I long to shew you what a nice snug place 
 I have got into — in the midst of a pleasant little 
 garden. I have a room for myself and my old 
 books on the ground floor, and a little bed- 
 room up two pairs of stairs. When you come 
 to town, if you have not time to go [to] the 
 Moxons, an Omnibus from the Bell and Crown 
 in Holborn would [bring] you to our door in 
 [a] quarter of an hoiu:. If your dear Mother 
 does not venture so far, I will contrive to pop 
 down to see [her]. Love and all seasonable 
 wishes to your sister and Mary, &c. I am in 
 the midst of many friends — Mr. & Mrs. Kenney, 
 Mr. & Mrs. Hood, Bar[r]on Field & his 
 brother Frank, & their wives &c., all within a 
 short walk. 
 
 *' If the lodger is gone, I shall have a bedroom 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 67 
 
 will hold two ! Heaven bless & preserve you all 
 in health and happiness many a long year. 
 " Yours affedlionately, 
 
 " M. A. Lamb." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Miss Jane Norris, 
 Widford, near Ware, 
 Hertfordshire. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 The Same to the Same. 
 
 " Oct. 3, 1842. 
 " My dear Jane Norris, — Thanks, many thanks, 
 my dear friend, for your kind remembrances. 
 What a nice Goose ! That, and all its accom- 
 paniments in the basket, we all devoured ; the 
 two legs fell to my share ! ! ! 
 
 " Your chearful [letter,] my Jane, made me feel 
 * almost as good as new.' 
 
 " Your Mother and I must meet again. Do not 
 be surprized if I pop in again for a half-hour's 
 call some fine frosty morning. 
 
 " Thank you, dear Jane, for the happy tidings 
 that my old friend Miss Bangham is alive, an[d] 
 that Mary is still with you, unmarried. Heaven 
 bless you all, 
 
 " Love to Mother, Betsey, Mary, &c. How I 
 do long to see you. 
 
 " I am always your afFec»'='y grateful friend, 
 " Mary Ann Lamb. 
 "No. 41. A[l]pha Road." 
 [Endorsed in another hand] : 
 Miss Jane Norris, 
 
 Goddard House, Widford, 
 near Haddum [Hadham], Herts. 
 
1 68 THE LAMBS 
 
 XXX 
 
 Miss yames to Miss Norris. 
 
 " 41 Alpha Road, Regent's Park, 
 London, July 25, 1843. 
 " Madam, — Miss Lamb having seen the Death 
 of your dear Mother in the times News Paper is 
 most anxious to hear from or to see one of you, 
 as she wishes to know how you intend settling 
 yourselves, and to have a full account of your 
 dear Mother's last illness. She was much shocked 
 on reading of her death, and appeared very vexed 
 that she had not been to see her, [and] wanted 
 very much to come down and see you both ; but 
 we were really afraid to let her take the journey. 
 If either of you are coming up to town, she would 
 be glad if you would call upon her, but should 
 you not be likely to come soon, she would be 
 very much pleased, if one of you would have the 
 goodness to write a few lines to her, as she is 
 most anxious about you. She begs you to excuse 
 her writing to you herself, as she don't feel equal 
 to it ; she asked me yesterday to write for her. 
 I am happy to say she is at present pretty well, 
 although your dear Mother's death appears to 
 dwell much upon her mind. She desires her 
 kindest love to you both, and hopes to hear from 
 you very soon, if you are equal to writing. I 
 sincerely hope you will oblige her, and am, 
 " Madam, 
 
 " Your obedient, &c., 
 
 " Sarah James. 
 " Pray don't invite her to come down to see you." 
 [Endorsed on envelope] 
 Miss Norris, 
 Goddard House, Widford, 
 near Ware, Hertfordshire. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 169 
 
 XXXI 
 The correspondence of the Lambs with the 
 Kenney family was rather suspecfled, than abso- 
 lutely ascertained, till of late years. Two letters 
 to Kenney were furnished by the present writer, 
 and Canon Ainger has added a third, a remark- 
 ably beautiful one, — a bipartite producflion to 
 Mrs. Kenney and her daughter, Sophy Holcroft, 
 afterward married to Dr. Jefferson of Leaming- 
 ton. I have met this lady more than once. Now 
 I cap this triplet with a fourth and fifth, the 
 former from Miss Lamb to Mrs. Kenney, also 
 composed, of course, after the visit to France in 
 1822, and the return of Miss Lamb herself in 
 September. The second division of the letter, 
 diredled to Sophy Holcroft, recalls those delight- 
 ful effusions of Southey to his children. I regret 
 my inability to decipher the whole of Miss 
 Fanny Kelly's accompaniment. 
 
 Miss Lamb to Mrs. Kenney.i 
 
 [About October, 1822.] 
 " My dear Friend, — How do you like Har- 
 wood ? 2 Is he not a noble boy ? I congratulate 
 
 ' From the original autograph. The letter from Miss Lamb 
 is accompanied by one from her brother to Kenney, and by 
 a few lines from Miss Fanny Kelly, the celebrated actress. 
 Lamb's letter was printed in Hazlitt's edition of the Corre- 
 spondence for the first time. 
 
 ' Harwood Holcroft. 
 
170 THE LAMBS 
 
 you most heartily on this happy meeting, and 
 only wish I were present to witness it. Come 
 back with Harwood, I am dying to see you — we 
 will talk, that is, you shall talk and I will listen 
 from ten in the morning till twelve at night. My 
 thoughts are often with you, and your children's 
 dear faces are perpetually before me. Give them 
 all one additional kiss every morning for me. 
 Remember there's one for Louisa, one to Ellen, 
 one to Betsy,' one to Sophia, one to James, one 
 to Teresa, one to Virginia, and one to Charles. 
 Bless them all ! When shall I ever see them 
 again ? Thank you a thousand times for all your 
 kindness to me. I know you will make light of 
 the trouble my illness gave you ; but the recol- 
 ledlion of it often sits heavy on my heart. If I 
 could ensure my health, how happy should I be 
 to spend a month with you every summer ! 
 
 " When I met Mr. Kenn[e]y there, I sadly 
 repented that I had not dragged you on to Dieppe 
 with me. What a pleasant time we should have 
 spent there ! 
 
 " You shall not be jealous of Mr. Payne.* 
 Remember he did Charles and I good service 
 without grudge or grumbling. Say to him how 
 much I regret that we owe him unreturnable 
 obligations ; for I still have my old fear that we 
 shall never see him again. I received great 
 pleasure from seeing his two successful pieces. 
 My love to your boy Kenney, my boy James, 
 
 1 Louisa, or Lou- Lou, Ellen, Betsy, and Sophy were Mrs. 
 Kenney's daughters by Holcroft. James, Teresa, Virginia, 
 and Charles were the same lady's children by Kenney. 
 
 2 John Howard Payne. See Hazlitt's edition of Corre- 
 spondence, ii. 84 et seqq. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 171 
 
 and all my dear girls, and also to Rose ; I hope 
 she still drinks wine with you. Thank Lou- Lou 1 
 for her little bit of letter. I am in a fearful 
 hurry, or I would write to her. Tell my friend 
 the Poetess that I expedl some french verses 
 from her shortly. I have shewn Betsy's and 
 Sophy's letters to all who came near me, and 
 they have been very much admired. Dear Fanny 
 brought me the bag. Good soul you are to think 
 of me ! Manning 2 has promised to make Fanny 
 a visit this morning, happy girl ! Miss James ^ 
 I often see, I think never without talking of you. 
 Oh the dear long dreary Boulevards ! how I do 
 wish to be just now stepping out of a Cuckoo* 
 into them ! 
 
 " Farewel, old tried friend, may we meet 
 again ! Would you could bring your house 
 with all its noisy inmates, and plant it, garden, 
 gables and all, in the midst of Covent Garden. 
 " Yours ever most afFedlionately, 
 
 "M. Lamb. 
 
 " My best respedts to your good neighbours." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Mrs. Kenney. 
 
 Miss Kelly's scrap, written very faintly across 
 the outside of the sheet, runs as follows : — 
 
 ' Louisa Holcroft married Dr. Badams, and secondly the 
 Baron De Merger, of Plessis la Barbe, near Tours, where I 
 visited them in or about 1855. 
 
 2 The Manning, of course, of the Letters. 
 
 ' The lady who took charge of Miss Lamb during her 
 French trip. 
 
 * A diligence, so called, which used to ply between the 
 Champs Elys^es and St. Cloud, Versailles, &c. 
 
172 THE LAMBS 
 
 " The real old original Fanny Kelly takes this 
 opportunity of assuring Mrs. Kenney that she 
 remembers with pleasure them all, Oh, how 
 imperfedl is expression" [The rest, through the 
 faint ink employed and the creasing of the paper, 
 has become illegible ; but the substance is that 
 Miss Kelly hoped soon to have an opportunity 
 of squeezing Mrs. Kenney's hand, and shewing 
 her respedtful and grateful attachment.] 
 
 Patmore, in his Rejected Articles, 1826, begins 
 with An Unsentimental Journey, by Elia, which 
 is nothing more than a fabrication by himself, 
 based on his own experiences of French hotels 
 and localities. He does not even mention that 
 Lamb had a companion on his trip, and several 
 friends at Paris and other points. 
 
 XXXII 
 Here is another long one to the Kenneys 
 from Lamb himself, of the Anglo-Gallic epoch : 
 
 Charles Lamb to the Kenneys. 
 
 Lonres, Odtober month, 1826. 
 
 " Dear Friends, — It is with infinite regret I 
 inform you that the pleasing privilege of receiv- 
 ing Letters, by which I have for these twenty 
 years gratified my friends and abused the lib- 
 erality of the Company trading to the Orient, 
 is now at an end. A cruel edicft of the Direftors 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 73 
 
 has swept it away altogether. The devil sweep 
 away their patronage also. Rascals, who think 
 nothing of spunging on their employers for their 
 venison and Turtle and Burgundy five days in 
 the week, to the tune of five thousand pounds a 
 year, now find out that the profits of trade will 
 not allow the innocent communications of thought 
 between their underlings and their friends in chs- 
 tant provinces to proceed untaxed, thus withering 
 up the heart of friendship and making the news 
 of a friend's good health worse than indifferent; 
 a tidings to be deprecated as bringing with it 
 ungracious influences. Adieu, gentle correspon- 
 dents, kindly interchange of soul, interchange of 
 love, of opinions, of puns, and what not. Hence- 
 forth, a friend that does not stand in visible or 
 palpable distance to me is nothing to me. They 
 have not left to the bosom of friendship even 
 that cheap intercourse of sentiment — the two- 
 penny medium. The upshot is you must not 
 diredt any more letters through me. To me 
 you may annually or biennially transmit a brief 
 account of your goings on, in single sheet, from 
 which, after I have deducfted as much as the 
 postage comes to, the remainder will be pure 
 pleasure. But no more of those pretty com- 
 missions and counter-commissions, orders & 
 revoking of orders, obscure messages & ob- 
 scurer explanations, by which the intelledls of 
 Marshall and Fanny used to be kept in a pleas- 
 ing perplexity at the moderate cost of six or 
 seven shilhngs a week. In short, you must use 
 me no longer as a go-between. Henceforth I 
 write up No Thoroughfare. 
 
 Well, and how far is Saint Wallery suer Some 
 
174 THE LAMBS 
 
 from Paris, and do you get wine and walnuts 
 tolerable, and the vintage, does it suffer from 
 the wet. I take it the wine of this season will 
 be all wine and water. And have you Plays 
 and Green rooms, and Fanny Kellies to chat 
 with of an evening, and is the air purer than 
 the old gravel pits, and the bread so much 
 whiter as they say ? Lord, what things you see 
 that travel. I daresay the people are all French, 
 wherever you go ; what an overwhelming effedl 
 that must have. I have stood one of 'em at a 
 time, but two I generally found overpowring ; 
 but then in their own vineyards may be they 
 [are] endurable enough. They say marmosets 
 in Senegambia are as pleasant as the day's long, 
 jumping and chattering in the orange twigs ; 
 but transport 'em one by one over here into 
 England, they turn into monkeys, some with 
 tails, some without, and are obliged to be kept 
 in cages. I suppose you know we've left the 
 Temple pro tempore. By the way, this con- 
 du(5t has caused many strange surmises in a 
 good lady of our acquaintance. She lately sent 
 for a young gentleman of the India House, who 
 lives opposite her at Monroe's the flute shop 
 in Skinner Street, Snowhill, — I mention no 
 names. You shall never get out of me what 
 lady I mean, — on purpose to ask all he knew 
 about us. I had previously introduced him to 
 her whist table. Her enquiries embraced every 
 possible thing that could be known of me —how 
 I stood in the India House, what was the 
 amount of my salary, what it was likely to be 
 hereafter, whether I was thought clever in busi- 
 ness, why I had taken country lodgings, why 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 75 
 
 at Kingsland in particular, had I friends in that 
 road, was anybody expedled to visit me, did I 
 wish for visitors, would an unexpedled call be 
 gratifying or not, would it be better that she 
 sent beforehand, did any body come to see me, 
 was not there a gentleman of the name of Mor- 
 gan, did he know him, did'nt he come to see 
 me, did he know how Mr. Morgan lived, she 
 could never make out how they were maintained, 
 was it true he lived out of the profits of a linen 
 draper's shop in Bishopsgate Street ? (There 
 she is a little right & a little wrong. M. is a 
 Gentleman tobacconist). In short, she multi- 
 plied demands upon him till my friend, who is 
 neither over modest nor nervous, declared he 
 quite shuddered after laying me as bare to her 
 curiosity as an anatomy. He trembled to think 
 what she would ask next, my pursuits, incli- 
 nations, aversions, attachments (some, my dear 
 friends, of a most delicate nature), she lugged 
 'em out of him, or would, had he been privy to 
 them, as you pluck a horse bean from its iron 
 stem, not as such tender rosebuds should be 
 pulled. The facft is, I am come to Kingsland 
 . . . and that is the truth of the matter ; and 
 nobody but yourselves should have extorted 
 such a confession from me. I suppose ^you 
 have seen by the Papers that Manning is- ar- 
 rived in England He expressed much mortifi- 
 cation at not finding Mrs. Kenney in England. 
 He looks a good deal sunburnt, and is got 
 a little reserved, but I hope it will wear off. 
 You will see by the Papers also that Dawe is 
 Knighted. He has been painting the Princess 
 of Coborg & her husband. This is all the 
 
176 THE LAMBS 
 
 news I could think of. Write to us, but not hy 
 us, for I have near ten correspondents of this 
 latter description, and one or other comes pout: 
 ing in every day, till my purse strings and heart 
 strings crack. Bad habits are not all broken at 
 once. I am sure that you will excuse the appa- 
 rent indelicacy of mentioning this, but dear is 
 my shirt but dearer is my skin, and 'tis too late 
 when the steed is stole, to shut the stable door. 
 
 Well, and does Louisa grown \_sic] a fine girl, 
 is she likely to have her mother's complexion, 
 and does Tom Polish in French air ? — Henry I 
 mean— and Kenney is-not so fidgety. YOU sit 
 down sometimes for a quiet half hour or so, and 
 all is comfortable, no bills (that you call writs), 
 nor anything else (that you are equally sure to 
 miss-call), to annoy you. Vive la gaite de cceur 
 at la bell pastime, vive la beau France et revive 
 mon cher Empreur. 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 
 [Endorsed] 
 Mr. Kenney, 
 Saint Valery sur Somme, 
 France. 
 
 THE WILLIAMS CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 I now approach a remarkable series of 
 letters sent by Lamb to Mrs. Williams, wife 
 of the Rev. Mr. Williams, redtor of Fornham, 
 near Bury St. Edmunds. In the printed col- 
 leftions which have been so far given to the 
 public, the correspondence with Mrs. Williams 
 is limited to two letters, of which one has never 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 77 
 
 yet been presented in its integrity. I was 
 enabled by the kindness of that lady's grand- 
 son and representative, Mr. Cecil Turner, to 
 increase the series to seven, and at the same 
 time to supply the omitted passages in that of 
 April 2, 1830. 
 
 But there were unquestionably other com- 
 munications, now irretrievably lost, both before 
 and after the dates of those which are preserved. 
 We must rest and be thankful. The enrich- 
 ment of the existing store is equally fortuitous 
 and" acceptable. 
 
 So far back as 1822, Crabb Robinson, who 
 was himself an East Anglian, and who had 
 relatives whom he frequently visited at Bury, 
 gave the Lambs an introdu(5lion to Miss Wil- 
 liams, — probably related to the redlor of Forn- 
 ham, perhaps his sister, — just prior to their 
 departure on their French trip ; but it was a 
 different Mrs. Williams, whom Alsop once met, 
 with Mrs. Shelley, at Colebrooke Cottage, 
 Islington, We hear nothing farther of any inter- 
 course between the families, till we find Emma 
 Isola established as a governess to the redtor's 
 daughters in 1830. 
 
 A good deal of information about this young 
 lady, whom the Lambs adopted, occurs in the 
 
178 THE LAMES 
 
 biographies and letters ; and it is well known 
 that she was the daughter of Carlo Isola, an 
 Italian professor at Cambridge ; but I do not 
 recollecft to have seen it anywhere mentioned 
 that she was, no doubt, the grand-daughter of 
 Agostino Isola, who brought out at Cambridge 
 in 1786 an edition of Tasso, and whom his son 
 may have succeeded in his educational funsTtions 
 at the University. 
 
 Was it in Agostino Isola's edition that the 
 Lambs read the poet, — for Miss Lamb, at least, 
 had made an attempt to learn Italian,— or in 
 Fairfax's English version, an old acquaintance? 
 For Lamb notes the purchase of a copy in a 
 letter of 1797 to Coleridge, and calls upon him 
 to rejoice with him at the piece of good fortune. 
 
 Emma Isola had gone down to Fornham to 
 discharge her duties as governess in the house 
 of Mrs. Williams, and was taken ill. On the 
 2ist February, 1830, Lamb writes from Enfield 
 to Moxon : 
 
 " A letter has just come from Mrs. Wms. to 
 say that Emma is so poorly that she must have 
 long holydays here. It has agitated me so much, 
 and we shall expedl her so hourly, that you 
 shall excuse me to Words'i^ for not coming up, 
 we are both nervous and poorly." 
 
 Of course this letter from Fornham has shared 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 79 
 
 the doom of all but a fradlion of Lamb's papers 
 of the kind ; but on the 26th he wrote to Mrs. 
 Williams the first of the group which succeeds : 
 
 XXXIII 
 
 C. Lamb to Mrs. Williams. 
 
 [February 26, 1830.] 
 
 "Dear Madam, — May God bless you for 
 your attention to our poor Emma ! I am so 
 shaken with your sad news I can scarce write. 
 She is too ill to be removed at present ; but 
 we can only say that if she is spared, when that 
 can be pradticable, we have always a home for 
 her. Speak to her of it, when she is capable of 
 understanding, and let me conjure you to let us 
 know from day to day, the state she is in. But 
 one line is all we crave. Nothing we can do 
 for her, that shall not be done. We shall be in 
 the terriblest suspense. We had no notion she 
 was going to be ill. A line from anybody in 
 your house will much oblige us. I feel for the 
 situation this trouble places you in. 
 
 Can I go to her aunt, or do anything ? I do 
 not know what to offer. We are in great dis- 
 tress. Pray relieve us, if you can, by somehow 
 letting us know. I will fetch her here, or any- 
 thing. Your kindness can never be forgot. Pray 
 excuse my abruptness. I hardly know what I 
 write. And take our warmest thanks. Hoping 
 to hear something, I remain, dear Madam, 
 " Yours most faithfully, 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 
 " Our grateful respedts to Mr. Williams." 
 
 N — 2 
 
l8o THE LAMBS 
 
 This singular letter betrays the passionate 
 concern felt by the brother and sister for the 
 young lady of their adoption, and places us in 
 full inferential possession of the gravity of the 
 illness by which Miss Isola had been so unex- 
 pe<5ledly overtaken. It was an attack of brain 
 fever, 
 
 XXXIV 
 To the Same, 
 
 " Enfield, i March, 1830, 
 
 " Dear Madam, — We cannot thank you enough. 
 Your two words ' much better ' were so consi- 
 derate and good. The good news affedled my 
 sister to an agony of tears ; but they have re- 
 lieved us from such a weight. We were ready 
 to expe(5l the worst, and were hardly able to bear 
 the good hearing. You spieak so kindly of her, 
 too, and think she may be able to resume her- 
 duties. We were prepared, as far as our humble 
 means would have enabled us, to have taken her 
 from all duties. But, far better for the dear girl 
 it is that she should have a prospedt of being 
 useful. 
 
 " I am sure you will pardon my writing again ; 
 for my heart is so full, that it was impossible to 
 refrain. Many thanks for your offer to write 
 again, should any change take place. I dare not 
 yet be quite out of fear, the alteration has been 
 so sudden. But I will hope you will have a 
 respite from the trouble of writing again. I 
 know no expression to convey a sense of your 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES l8l 
 
 kindness. We were in such a state expedting 
 the post. I had almost resolved to come as near 
 you as Bury; but my sister's health does not 
 permit my absence on melancholy occasions. 
 But, O, how happy will she be to part with me, 
 when I shall hear the agreeable news that I may 
 come and fetch her. She shall be as quiet as 
 possible. No restorative means shall be wanting 
 to restore her back to you well and comfortable. 
 
 " She will make up for this sad interruption of 
 her young friend's studies. I am sure she will — 
 she must — after you have spared her for a little 
 time. Change of scene may do very much for 
 her. I think this last proof of your kindness to 
 her in her desolate state can hardly make her 
 love and respedl you more than she has ever 
 done. O, how glad shall we be to return her fit 
 for her occupation. Madam, I trouble you with 
 my nonsense ; but you would forgive me, if you 
 knew how light-hearted you have made two poor 
 souls at Enfield, that were gasping for news of 
 their poor friend. I will pray for you and Mr. 
 Williams Give our very best respe(51:s to him, 
 and accept our thanks. We are happier than we 
 hardly know how to bear. God bless you ! My 
 very kindest congratulations to Miss Humphreys.^ 
 
 " Believe me, dear Madam, 
 
 " Your ever obliged servant, 
 
 "C. Lamb." 
 
 It must be admitted that this unpublished 
 
 ' There is, I believe, a letter from Lamb to Miss Humphreys 
 extant ; but I have not yet been able to see it. Miss Hum- 
 phreys was apparently at Fornham Rectory, and the letter to 
 her, if so, belongs no doubt to the present group. 
 
1 82 THE LAMBS 
 
 matter, as it proceeds, is of very peculiar interest. 
 The whole mind of the writer is irresistibly con- 
 centrated on a single point. He has cast aside 
 all thought for things indiiferent and external, 
 and all power and desire to indulge in any allu- 
 sions of a playful, much less jocose, characfter. 
 The force of his mind was so thoroughly absorbed 
 by this sorrow, that if early relief had not arrived 
 by the convalescence of the invahd, the most 
 serious effedls might have followed. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 " Enfield, 5 Mar., 1830. 
 " Dear Madam, — I feel greatly obliged by your 
 letter of Tuesday, and should not have troubled 
 you again so soon, but that you express a wish 
 to hear that our anxiety was relieved by the 
 assurances in it. You have indeed given us 
 much comfort respecting our young friend, but 
 considerable uneasiness respedting your own 
 health and spirits, which must have suffered 
 under such attention. Pray believe me that 
 we shall wait in quiet hope for the time, when 
 I shall receive the welcome summons to come 
 and relieve you from a charge, which you have 
 executed with such tenderness. We desire 
 nothing so much as to exchange it with you. 
 Nothing shall be wanting on my part to remove 
 her with the best judgment I can without (I hope) 
 any necessity for depriving you of the services of 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 83 
 
 your valuable housekeeper. Until the day comes, 
 we entreat that you will spare yourself the trouble 
 of writing, which we should be ashamed to im- 
 pose upon you in your present weak state. Not 
 hearing from you, we shall be satisfied in believing 
 that there has been no relapse. Therefore we beg 
 that you will not add to your troubles by unne- 
 cessary, though most kind, correspondence. Till 
 I have the pleasure of thanking you personally, 
 I beg you to accept these written acknowledg- 
 ments of all your kindness. With respetfts to 
 Mr. Williams and sincere prayers for both your 
 healths, I remain, 
 
 " Your ever obliged servant, 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 " My sister joins me in respecfts and thanks." 
 
 From this third letter we colletSt that Mrs. 
 Williams had overtaxed her strength in nursing 
 her patient. Miss I sola was steadily rallying ; 
 but these communications from Lamb, we must 
 recolle<5t, arrived at very short intervals. Up- 
 ward of a fortnight, however, intervened before 
 another letter from Lamb apprises us that Mrs. 
 Williams now gave him and Miss Lamb hope 
 that they might soon expe<5l to be able to remove 
 Miss I sola to Enfield. 
 
 XXXVI 
 
 To the Same, 
 " Dear Madam, — Once more I have to return 
 you thanks for a very kind letter. It has glad- 
 
184 THE LAMBS 
 
 dened us very much to hear that we may have 
 hope to see our young friend so soon, and through 
 your kind nursing so well recovered. I sincerely 
 hope that your own health and spirits will not 
 have been shaken : you have had a sore trial 
 indeed, and greatly do we feel indebted to you 
 for all which you have undergone. If I hear 
 nothing from you in the mean time, I shall 
 secure myself a place in the Cornwallis Coach 
 for Monday. It will not be at all necessary that 
 I shall be met at Bury, as I can well find my 
 way to the Redlory, and I beg that you will 
 not inconvenience yourselves by such attention. 
 Accordingly as I find Miss I sola able to bear the 
 journey, I intend to take the care of her by the 
 same stage or by chaises perhaps, dividing the 
 journey ; but exa(5lly as you shall judge fit. It 
 is our misfortune that long journeys do not agree 
 with my sister, who would else have taken this 
 care upon herself, perhaps more properly. It is 
 quite out of the question to rob you of the ser- 
 vices of any of your domestics. I cannot think 
 of it. But if in your opinion a female attendant 
 would be requisite on the journey, and if you or 
 Mr. Williams would feel more comfortable by her 
 being in charge of two, I will most gladly engage 
 one of her nurses or any young person near you, 
 that you can recommend ; for my obje<5t is to 
 remove her in the way that shall be most satis- 
 fadtory to yourselves. 
 
 " On the subjedl of the yoimg people that you 
 are interesting yourselves about, I will have the 
 pleasure to talk to you, when I shall see you. I 
 live almost out of the world and out of the sphere 
 of being useful ; but no pains of mine shall be 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 85 
 
 spared, if but a prospedt opens of doing a service. 
 Could I do all I wish, and I indeed have grown 
 helpless to myself and others, it must not satisfy 
 the arrears of obligation I owe to Mr. Williams 
 and yourself for all your kindness. 
 
 " I beg you will turn in your mind and consider 
 in what most comfortable way Miss Isola can 
 leave your house, and I will implicitly follow 
 your suggestions. What you have done for her 
 can never be effaced from our memories, and I 
 would have you part with her in the way that 
 would best satisfy yourselves. 
 
 " I am afraid of impertinently extending my 
 letter, else I feel I have not said half what I 
 would say. So, dear madam, till I have the 
 pleasure of seeing you both, of whose kindness 
 I have heard so much before, I respetftfully take 
 my leave with our kindest love to your poor 
 patient and most sincere regards for the health 
 and happiness of Mr. Williams and yourself. 
 May God bless you. 
 
 " Ch. Lam?. 
 
 " Enfield, Monday, 22 March." 
 
 The four letters which have gone before harp 
 almost exclusively on one string ; but they are 
 of special value, since they exhibit the writer in 
 the light nearest to that of a fond and anxious 
 parent that he could ever expedt to attain, and 
 so far the present series, hitherto almost un- 
 known, may be said to stand quite by itself. 
 
 The worst was over. Miss Isola was con- 
 veyed safely back to Enfield by her affedtionate 
 
I 86 THE LAMBS 
 
 guardian, and the next letter reported her arrival 
 and condition after the journey. It has been 
 repeatedly printed, and may be found in Canon 
 Ainger's colledlion. 
 
 I repeat that Mr. Cecil Turner furnished me 
 in the most poljte manner with this valuable 
 information many years since, but I have not 
 hitherto had an opportunity of utilizing it, and 
 of publicly thanking him. 
 
 XXXVII* 
 
 To the Same.^ 
 
 " Enfield, April 2, 1830. 
 
 " Dear Madam, — I have great pleasure in 
 letting you know Miss Isola has suffered \eiy 
 little from fatigue on her long journey. I am 
 ashamed to say that I came home rather the 
 more tired of the two, but I am a very un- 
 pradtised traveller. She has had two tolerable 
 nights' sleep since, and is decidedly not worse'' 
 than when we left you. I remembered the 
 magnesia according to your directions, & 
 promise that she shall be kept very quiet, 
 never forgetting that she is still an invalid. 
 We found my sister very well in health, only 
 a little impatient to see her ; and, after a few 
 hysterical tears for gladness, all was comfort- 
 able again. We arrived from Epping between 
 
 ' Now first completely printed from the autograph. 
 2 I am rather uncertain about this word ; the transcript 
 is on tracing paper, and is here and there rather indistinct. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 87 
 
 five and six. The accidents of our journey 
 were trifling, but you bade me tell them. We 
 had then in the coach a rather talkative gentle- 
 man, but very civil all the way, and took up a 
 servant maid at Stanford, going to a sick mis- 
 tress. To the latter a participation in the hos- 
 pitalities of your nice rusks and sandwiches 
 proved agreeable, as it did to my companion, 
 who took merely a sip of the weakest wine and 
 water with them. The former engaged in a 
 discourse for full twenty minutes on the pro- 
 bable advantages of steam carriages, which 
 being merely problematical I bore my part in 
 with some credit, in spite of my totally un- 
 engineer-like faculties. But when somewhere 
 about Stanstead he put an unfortunate question 
 to me as to the probability of its turning out a 
 good turnip season, and when I, who am still 
 [less] of an agriculturist than a steam philoso- 
 pher, not knowing a turnip from a potato ground, 
 innocently made answer that I believed it de- 
 pended very much upon boiled legs of mutton, 
 my unlucky reply set Miss I sola a laughing to a 
 degree that disturbed her tranquility for the only 
 moment in our journey. I am afraid my credit 
 sank very low with my other fellow-traveller, 
 who had thought he had met with a well-informed 
 passenger, which is an accident so desirable in a 
 Stage-coach. We were rather less communica- 
 tive, but still friendly, the rest of the way. 
 
 How I employed myself between Epping and 
 Enfield the poor verses in the front of my paperi 
 may inform you, which you may please to chris- 
 ten an Acrostic in a Cross Road, and which I 
 
 1 See the Acrostics now first published, post. 
 
1 88 THE LAMBS 
 
 wish were worthier of the lady they refer to; 
 but I trust you will plead my pardon to her on 
 a subjedl so delicate as a lady's good name. 
 Your candour must acknowledge that they are 
 written straight. And now, dear Madam, I 
 have left myself hardly space to express my 
 sense of the friendly reception I found at Forn- 
 ham. Mr. Williams will tell you that we had 
 the pleasure of a slight meeting with him on 
 the road, where I could almost have told him, 
 but that it seemed ungracious, that such had 
 been your hospitality that I scarcely missed the 
 good master of the family at Fornham, though 
 heartily I should have rejoiced to have made a 
 little longer acquaintance with him. I will say 
 nothing of our deeper obligations to both of you, 
 because I think that we agreed at Fornham that 
 gratitude may be over-exadted on the part of the 
 obliging, and over-expressed on the part of the 
 obliged, person. 
 
 My sister and Miss Isola join in respedls to 
 Mr. Williams and yourself, and I beg to be 
 remembered kindly to the Miss Hammonds' and 
 the two Gentlemen whom I had the good for- 
 tune to meet at your house. I have not for- 
 gotten the ele<5lion'2 in which you are interesting 
 yourself, and the little that I can I will do. 
 
 Miss Isola will have the pleasure of writing 
 to you next week, and we shall hope, at your 
 leisure, to hear of your own health, &c. I am, 
 dear madam, with great respedl, your obliged, 
 
 " Charles Lamb." 
 
 • Probably of Woodbridge. 
 
 2 The case, to which Lamb refers in the letter of March 22. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 89 
 
 On the back of this letter occur a few Unas in 
 Miss Isola's hand, as follow : — 
 
 " I must just add a line to beg you will let us 
 hear from you, my dear Mrs. Williams. I have 
 jiist received the forwarded letter [from] Forn- 
 ham. We have talked about you constantly, 
 and I felt strange at this home the first day '' 
 [the rest is unintelligible] . 
 
 One more letter, about two weeks later, com- 
 pletes the series, so far as it is my power to 
 complete it. The epistle now to be given 
 accompanied the " Acrostic to a Young Lady, 
 who desired me to write her epitaph." 
 
 XXXVIII 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 "Enfield, Tuesday [April 21, 1830]. 
 ^' Dear Madam, — I have ventured upon some 
 lines, which combine my old acrostic talent 
 (which you first found out) with my new pro- 
 fession of epitaph-monger. As you did not 
 please to say, when you would die, I have left 
 a blank space for the date. May kind heaven 
 be a long time in filling it up. At least you 
 cannot say that these lines are not about you, 
 though not much to the purpose. We were 
 very sorry to hear that you have not been very 
 well, and hope that a little excursion may revive 
 you. Miss Isola is thankful for her added day ; 
 but I verily think she longs to see her young 
 friends once more, and will regret less than ever 
 
I go THE LAMBS 
 
 the end of her holydays. She cannot be going 
 on more quietly than she is doing here, and you 
 will perceive amendment. 
 
 " I hope all her little commissions will all be 
 brought home to your satisfacSlion. When she 
 returns, we purpose seeing her to Epping on 
 her journey. We have had our proportion of 
 fine weather and some pleasant walks, and she 
 is stronger, her appetite good, but less wolfish 
 than at first, which we hold a good sign. I hope 
 Mr. Wing will approve of its abatement. She 
 desires her very kindest respedts to Mr. Williams 
 and yourself, and wishes to rejoin you. My 
 sister and myself join in respedt, and pray tell 
 Mr. Donne, with our compliments, that we shall 
 be disappointed, if we do not see him. 
 
 " This letter being very neatly written, I am 
 very unwilling that Emma should club any of 
 her disproportionate scrawl to deface it. 
 " Your obliged servant, 
 
 '^' C. Lamb." 
 Mrs. Williams, 
 
 W. B. Donne, Esq., 
 
 Matteshall, East Dereham, 
 Norfolk. 
 
 The Mr. Donne mentioned by Lamb was the 
 late William Bodham Donne, Deputy Licenser 
 of Plays, and at one period Secretary to the 
 London Library. 
 
 Miss Isola did return to Fornham, and was 
 there on the 28th June, 1830, when Lamb, writing 
 to Bernard Barton, says : — 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I9I 
 
 " You will see that I am worn to the poetical 
 dregs, condescending to acrostics, which are nine 
 fathoms beneath album verses ; but they were 
 written at the request of the lady, where our 
 Emma is." 
 
 But I am informed that she did not remain 
 long, though the reason of her final relinquish- 
 ment of the duties is not specified. 
 
 Lamb is found below introducing to his 
 official friend in Thiefland an acquaintance of 
 the Whites — not James White, but Edward of 
 the India House. He mentions Leigh Hunt 
 and the Examiner. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 To Barron Field. 
 
 " London, 16 Aug., 1820. 
 
 " Dear Field, — Captain Ogilvie, who conveys 
 this note to you, and is now paying for the first 
 time a visit to your remote shores, is the brother 
 of a Gentleman intimately connedted with the 
 family of the Whites, I mean of Bishopsgate 
 Street — and you will much oblige them and 
 myself by any service or civilities you can 
 shew him. 
 
 " I do not mean this for an answer to your 
 warm-hearted Epistle, which demands ahd shall 
 have a much fuller return. We receiped your 
 Australian First Fruits, of which I shall say 
 nothing here, but refer you to . . . [? Hunt] 
 of the Examiner, who speaks our mind on all 
 
192 THE LAMBS 
 
 public subjedls. I can only assure you that both 
 Coleridge and Wordsworth, and also C. Lloyd, 
 who has lately reappeared in the poetical horizon, 
 were hugely taken with your Kangaroo. 
 
 " When do you come back full of riches and 
 renown, with the regret of all the honest, and all 
 the other part of the colony ? Mary swears she 
 shall live to see it. 
 
 " Pray are you King's or Queen's men in 
 Sidney ? Or have thieves no politics ? Man, 
 don't let this lie about your room for your bed 
 sweeper or Major Domo to see, he mayn't like 
 the last paragraph. 
 
 " This is a dull and lifeless scroll. You shall 
 have soon a tissue of truth & fidlion impossible 
 to be extricated, the interleavings shall be so 
 delicate, the partitions perfedtly envisible [? in- 
 divisible], it shall puzzle you till you return, 
 & [then I will not explain it. Till then a . . . 
 adieu, with kind rem'"'<=« of me both to you & 
 . . . [Signature and a few words torn off.] 
 
 " B. Field, Esq." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Barron Field. Esqf. 
 
 By favor of Capt° Ogilvie. 
 
 The connedlion of Lamb with the London 
 Magazine (it is stated by Talfourd, through the 
 introdu(5lion of Hazlitt) brought him into contacfl 
 with John Scott, the accomplished and ill-fated 
 editor of that periodical. The few lines below 
 allude to some trifling contribution for the Poets' 
 Corner. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I 93 
 
 XL 
 
 To jFohn Scott. 
 
 " Dr Sir, — I sent you yesterday by the 2d post 
 2 small copies of verses diretft'^ by mistake to 
 N. 8 York St. if you have not rec^ them, pray 
 favor me with a line. From your not writing, 
 I shall conclude you have got them. 
 " Yours respfly 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 "Thursday 24 Aug. 20. E. L H." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 J. Scott Esqr., 
 
 4 York Street Gov Qarden. 
 
 XLI 
 
 To y^ohn Taylor. 
 
 "July 21, 1821. 
 " Dr. Sir, — The Lord. Mag. is chiefly pleasant 
 to me, because some of my friends write in it. 
 I hope Hazlitt intends to go on with it, we can- 
 not spare Table Talk. For myself I feel almost 
 exhausted, but I will try my h,an4 a little longer, 
 and shall not at all events be -svritten out of it 
 by newspaper paragraphs. Your proofs do not 
 seem to want my helping hand, they are quite 
 correcft always. For God's sake change Sisevci 
 to yael. This last paper will be a choke-pear 
 I fear to some people, but as you do not objedt 
 to it, I can be under little apprehension of your 
 exerting your Censorship too rigidly. 
 
194 THE LAMBS 
 
 " Thanking you for your extra(5t from M' E.'s 
 letter, " I remain, D^ Sir, 
 
 " Your obliged, 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 " Mess« Taylor & Hessey, 
 Booksellers, 
 
 Fleet Street. 
 " Mr Taylor." 
 
 Canon Ainger and myself print two letters 
 from Lamb to William Harrison Ainsworth, at 
 the time a mere youth, but beginning to interest 
 himself in literary matters. They are dated re- 
 spedtively December g and 29, 1823 ; it may be 
 pointed out that the Warner received as a book 
 offered for Lamb's acceptance, and eventually 
 retained by him, was a poetical volume entitled 
 Syrinx, 1597, by that writer, and not, as has 
 always been imagined, his A Ihion's England. The 
 copy which belonged to Lamb is now in the 
 Dyce CoUedlion. 
 
 The two letters in question are incorredtly 
 given by me, who am followed by the Canon 
 as usual; but the divergences are not vital. 
 Lamb himself misquotes Marlowe. Both the 
 letters are direcfted to Ainsworth at King Street, 
 Manchester. 
 
 But the acquaintance with Ainsworth had 
 commenced some time before the unpublished 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 1 95 
 
 letter, which I shall presently give, and which 
 goes back to the May of 1822 ; for then Lamb 
 had lent his Manchester correspondent a copy 
 of Cyril Tourneur's play or plays, in which 
 Ainsworth must have shown his interest. Doubt- 
 less several letters have to be recovered, or are 
 lost. Altogether, the one here printed is as 
 interesting as the couple in type. 
 
 A good deal of interest still survives in the 
 author of Rookwood. My father used to relate 
 a personal trait of him, when he had friends 
 to dinner. He locked his outside gate at the 
 stroke of the clock, and no late comer was 
 admitted. 
 
 XLII 
 
 To William Harrison Ainsworth. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I have read your poetry with 
 pleasure. The tales are pretty and prettily told, 
 the language often .finely poetical. It is only 
 sometimes a httle careless, I mean as to redun- 
 dancy. I have marked certain passages (in 
 pencil only, which will easily obliterate) for your 
 consideration. Excuse this liberty. For the 
 distindtion you offer me of a dedication, I feel 
 the honor of it, but I do not think it would 
 advantage the publication. I am hardly on an 
 eminence enough to warrant it. The Reviewers, 
 who are no friends of mine — the two big ones 
 
 o — 2 
 
196 THE LAMBS 
 
 especially who make a point of taking no notice 
 of anything I bring out— may take occasion by 
 it to decry us both. But I leave you to your 
 own judgment. Perhaps, if you wish to give me 
 a kind word, it will be more appropriate before 
 your republication of Tounieur. 
 
 " The ' Specimens ' would give a handle to it, 
 which the poems might seem to want. But I 
 submit it to yourself with the old recoUetftion 
 that ' beggars should not be chusers ' and remain 
 with great respedt and wishing success to both 
 your publications 
 
 " Your obe« Ser' 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 
 " No hurry at all for Tourneur.i 
 
 " Tuesday 7 May '22." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 W. H. Ainsworth Esq, 
 
 XLIII 
 
 To Thomas Hardy. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — Miss Hazlitt^ has begged me 
 to say to you that the novel, which you kindly 
 promised to introduce to Mr. Ridgway, is lying 
 for that purpose at Mr. Hone's, Ludgate Street, 
 where you will perhaps be so kind as to send 
 for it. She is going on loth May as Governess 
 into the family of Mrs. Brookes, Dawlish, where 
 she shall be thankful to receive any communi- 
 
 1 This is the only intimation, I believe, that Ainsworth 
 projected a reprint 0/ Tourneur's play or plays. 
 3 Mary, daughter of the miniature-painter. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES I97 
 
 cations respecfling the novel. She is now at 14, 
 Queen's Square, Bristol. 
 " I am, Sir, 
 
 " With great respetft, 
 " Yours, &c., 
 
 " Ch. Lamb. 
 " India House, 
 
 " 24 Apr. 1824." 
 [Endorsed :] 
 Mr. Hardy, 
 
 30 Queen's Square, 
 Pimlico. 
 
 XLIV* 
 
 To Miss Hutchinson. 
 
 " Desk, II Nov., 1825. 
 " My Dear Miss Hutchinson, — Mary bids me 
 thank you for your kind letter. We are a little 
 puzzled about your whereabouts. Miss Words- 
 worth writes Torkay, and you have queerly 
 made it Torquay. Now Tokay we have heard 
 of, and Torbay, which we take to be the true 
 male spelling of the place J but somewhere we 
 fancy it to be on ' Devon's leafy shores,' where 
 we heartily wish the kindly breezes may restore 
 all that is invalid among you. Robinson is 
 returned, and speaks much of you all. We 
 shall be most glad to hear good news from you 
 from time to tiiiie. The best is, Pro(5ter is at 
 last married. We have made sundry attempts 
 to see the bride, but have accidentally failed, 
 she being gone out a gadding. We had promised 
 our dear friends the Monkhouses — promised our- 
 
I 98 THE LAMBS 
 
 selves rather — a visit to them at Ramsgate ; but 
 I thought it best, and Mary seemed to have it 
 at heart too, not to go far from home these last 
 holydays. It is connedted with a sense of un- 
 settlement, and secretly I know she hoped that 
 such abstinence would be friendly to her health. 
 She certainly has escaped her sad yearly visita- 
 tion, whether in consequence of it, or of faith 
 in it, and we have to be thankful for a good 
 1 824. To get such a notion into our heads may 
 go a great way another year. Not that we quite 
 confined ourselves; but assuming Islington to 
 be head quarters, we made timid flights to 
 Ware, Watford, &c., to try how the trouts 
 tasted, for a night out or so, not long enough 
 to make the sense of change oppressive, but 
 sufficient to scour the rust of home. Coleridge 
 is not retiumed from the sea. As a little scandal 
 may divert you recluses, we were in the Summer 
 dining at a clergyman of Southey's " Church of 
 England," at Hertford, the same who officiated 
 to Thurtell's last moments, and indeed an old 
 contemporary Blue of C.'s and mine at school. 
 After dinner we talked of C. ; and F., who is a 
 mighty good fellow in the main, but hath his 
 cassock prejudices, inveighed against the moral 
 cheiraiSler of C. I endeavoured to enlighten him 
 on the subjedt, till having driven him out of 
 some of his holds, he stopped my mouth at 
 once by appealing to me whether it was not 
 very well known that C. " at that very moment 
 was living in a state of oi>en adultery with 
 Mrs. I * * * * * *at Highgate?" Nothing 
 I could say, serious or bantering, after that, could 
 remove the deep inrooted convidlion of the 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 199 
 
 whole company assembled that such was the 
 case ! Of course you will keep this quite close, 
 for I would not involve my poor blundering 
 friend, who I dare say believed it all thoroughly. 
 My interference of course was imputed to the 
 goodness of my heart, that could imagine 
 nothing wrong, &c. Such it is if ladies will go 
 gadding about with other people's husbands at 
 watering places. How careful we should be to 
 avoid the appearance of evil ! 
 
 " I thought this anecdote might amuse you. 
 It is not worth resenting seriously; only I give 
 it as a specimen of orthodox candour. O 
 Southey, Sou they, how long would it be before 
 you would find one of us Unitarians propa- 
 gating such unwarrantable scandal ! Providence 
 keep you all from the foul fiend, scandal, and 
 send you back well and happy to dear Gloster 
 Place ! 
 
 " C. L. 
 
 " Miss Hutchinson, 
 " T. Monkhouse, Esq., 
 " Strand, Torkay, Torbay, Devon. 
 
 XLV 
 
 To B. W. Procter. 
 
 [No date or postmark.] 
 
 " Dear P, — We shall be most glad to see you, 
 though more glad to have seen double you, but 
 we will expedt finer walking-weather. Bring 
 my Congreve, o,^ vol., in your hand. I have 2 
 books of yours lock'd up, but how shall I tell 
 
200 tHE LAMBS 
 
 it, hoyrisco veferens, that I miss, and can't pos- 
 sibly account for it, HolUs on Johnson's Milton 1 
 I will march the town thro', but I will repair 
 the loss. You will be sorry to hear that poor 
 Monkhouse died on Saturdy at Chfton. 
 
 " C. L." 
 
 XLVI 
 To Charles Oilier. 
 
 " Dear O., — I send you 8 more jests, with the 
 terms which my friend asks, which you will be 
 so kind as to get an answer to from Colbum, 
 that I may tell him whether to go on with them. 
 You will see his short note to me at the end, and 
 tear it off. It is not for me to judge, but, con- 
 sidering the scarceness of the materials, what he 
 asks is, I think, mighty teasonable, Do not let 
 him he even known as a friend of mine. You seie what 
 he says about 5 going in first as a trial, but these 
 will make 13 in all. Tell me by ^hat time he 
 need send more, I suppose not for some time (if 
 you do not bring 'em out this month). 
 
 " Keep a place for me till the middle of the 
 month, for I cannot hit on anything yet. I meant 
 nothing by my crochets but extreme difficulty in 
 writing. But I will go on as long as I can. 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 [Endorsed] 
 Mr. Oilier, 
 
 Mr. Colburn's, 
 New Burlington Street. 
 
 [Postmarked] 
 
 Jan. 25 [?], 1826. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 20I 
 
 XLVII 
 To the Same. \) 1826.] 
 
 "Dr O., — We dine at 4 on Monday. As I 
 expert the Authoress to tea, pray have a bit of 
 opinion to give on her Manuscript, or she will 
 haunt me. Could you let me have the last 
 Magazine I wrote in, & which I had not about 
 July or August last, containing the Essay on 
 Sulkiness, being the last of the Popular Fallacies. 
 Till I see you. A-Dieu 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 
 "Saty" 
 
 For Mr. Oilier, at Mr. Colburn's, 
 Burlingtn Street. 
 
 The next item is addressed to an hitherto 
 unknown correspondent, and from the tone we 
 are perhaps justified in concluding that the re- 
 cipient was a person at whose house the Lambs 
 occasionally stayed, when in town, at this 
 period. 
 
 XLVIII 
 
 To Mrs. Dillon. 
 
 [Postmarked] July 21, 1827. 
 
 " I think it is not quite the etiquette for me to 
 answer my sister's letter, but she is no great 
 scribe, and I know will be glad to find it done 
 for her. We are both very thankful to you foir 
 your thinking about Emma, whom for the last 
 seven weeks I have been teaching Latin, & 
 
202 THE LAMBS 
 
 she is already qualified to impart the rudiments 
 to a child. We shall have much pleasure in 
 seeing Mr. Dillon & you again, but I don't 
 know when that may be, as we find ourselves 
 very comfortable at Enfield. 
 
 " My sister joins in acknowledgments, & 
 kindest respedls to Mr. Dillon & yourself. 
 " Your obliged, 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 " Enfield." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Mrs. Dillon, 
 
 8, Fitzroy Street, 
 Fitzroy Square, 
 
 London. 
 
 There now comes a little batch of Enfield 
 letters to Hood, Cowden Clarke, and Hone, 
 Those to Hood are on the death of his infant 
 daughter, and in relation to an expedted visit 
 from his wife and himself. 
 
 In the Gejn for 1829 Hood printed the verses 
 by Lamb, which in the original manuscript 
 occupy two pages and a half of quarto paper, 
 and were posted by him to the bereaved father 
 on the 30th of May, 1827. They are headed, 
 " On an Infant Dying as soon as born," and are 
 diredled to " T. Hood, Esqr., 2, Robert Street, 
 Adelphi." 
 
 It is very striking that Lamb, in his letter of 
 condolence, cannot withstand the temptation not 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 203 
 
 merely of making a pun, but of confessing that 
 he had laid a sixpenny wager with Moxon as to 
 the sex of the poor little creature. 
 
 XLIX 
 To Thomas Hood, 
 
 [May, 1827.] 
 " Dearest Hood, — ^Your news has spoil'd us a 
 merry meeting. Miss Kelly and we were coming, 
 but your letter elicited a flood of tears from Mary, 
 and I saw she was not fit for a party. God bless 
 you and the mother (or should be mother) of your 
 sweet girl that should have been. I have won 
 sexpence of Moxon by the sex of the dear gone 
 one. 
 
 " Yours most truly and hers, 
 
 "C. L." 
 
 L 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 [No date.] 
 
 " Dear Hood, — We will look out for you on 
 Wednesday, be sure, tho we have not eyes like 
 Emma, who, when I made her sit with her back 
 to the window to keep her to her Latin, literally 
 saw round backwards every one. that past, and, 
 O, she were here to jump up and shriek out 
 ' There are the Hoods ! ' We have had two 
 pretty letters from her, which I long to show 
 you — ^together with Enfield in her May beauty. 
 
 " Loves to Jane." * 
 
 [Here follow rough caricatures of Charles and 
 his sister, and " I can't draw no better."] 
 
 ' Mrs. Hood, sister of John Hamilton Reynolds. 
 
204 THE LAMBS 
 
 LI 
 
 To Charles Cowden Clarke. 
 
 " Dear C, — I shall do very well. The sunshine 
 is medicinal, as you will find when you venture 
 hither some fine day. Enfield is beautiful. 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "C. L." 
 
 Of a letter to Hone respeefling the Every Day 
 Book, which the author forwarded to Lamb in 
 numbers, a portion has been given by the present 
 writer ; but the entire text is now first printed. 
 There is no difficulty in believing that the good- 
 ness of the Lambs to Hone, and the interest 
 which they awakened in others on his behalf, 
 were of vital service to that estimable and unfor- 
 tunate man. 
 
 LII 
 
 To William Hone. 
 
 [August 12, 1825.] 
 " Dear Hone, — Your books are right accept- 
 able. I did not enter further about Dogget, 
 because on 2d thoughts the Book I mean does 
 not refer to him. A coach from Bell or Bell 
 and Crown sets of to Enfield at | past 4. Put 
 yourself in it tomorrow afternoon, and come to 
 us. We desire to shew you the country here. 
 If we are out, when you come, the maid is 
 instru(5led to keep you upon tea and proper 
 bread and butter till we come home. Pray 
 secure me the last No. of Every day bookj that 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 205 
 
 which has S. R[ay] in it, which by mistake has 
 never come. Did our newsman not bring it on 
 Monday ? Don't send home for it, for if I get it 
 hereafter (so I have it at last) it is all I want. 
 Mind, we shall expedt you Saty night or Sundy 
 morning. There are Edmonton coaches from 
 Bishopsg«= every half hour, the walk thence to 
 Enfield easy across the fields, a mile and half. 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 
 " This invitation is ' ingenuous.' I assure you 
 we want to see you here. Or will Sundv night 
 and all day Monday suit you better ? 
 
 " The coach sets you down at Mrs. Leishman's. 
 
 " Friday." 
 
 As far back as April 3, 1828, Lamb had ad- 
 dressed from Enfield a letter of appeal to the 
 Rev. Edward Irving, of which Hone was appa- 
 rently the bearer. It is in the edition of the 
 Letters by Canon Ainger, and I need not there- 
 fore do more than refer to it. 
 
 A couple of years later, with the assistance of 
 friends, and principally of Lamb himself, doubt- 
 less, the Hone family had established a coffee- 
 shop, The Grasshopper, in Gracechurch Street. 
 In an inedited letter to Basil Montagu, May 10, 
 1830, poor Hone draws a dreadful picflure of his 
 financial and domestic condition. The friend 
 referred to was, of course, Lamb, who had 
 enlisted the sympathy and professional or 
 
206 THE LAMBS 
 
 official assistance of Montagu in the matter. 
 Hone writes as follows to the Commissioner of 
 Bankruptcy : — 
 
 " It may be easily conceived that since the 
 day you kindly proffered me your aid if it were 
 requisite in the Bankrupt's Court at Whitehall, 
 I have not been ' tried with riches ' — no one can 
 imagine the distresses and heart sickenings I 
 endured with my wife and eight children while 
 we secretly struggled through a subsequent 
 twelvemonth of concealed destitution. Literary 
 employment was precarious; a friend advised 
 and assisted in the taking of these premises, 
 which he judiciously conceived might be opened 
 as a respetftable coffee house, under the manage- 
 ment of my eldest daughter." 
 
 The next has not hitherto been printed. It 
 refers to Matilda Hone's illness, to the Extracts 
 from the Garrick Plays for the Table Booh, and 
 to Hone's straitening circumstances : 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 Enfield [August lo, 1827]. 
 
 " My dear Hone, — We are both excessively 
 grieved at poor Matilda's illness, whom we 
 have ever regarded with the greatest respedt. 
 Pray God your next news, which we shall 
 expecft most anxiously, shall give hopes of her 
 recovery. Mary keeps her health very well, 
 and joins in kind rememb<=« and best wishes. 
 
 "A few more numbers, about 7, will empty 
 my Extradl book, then we will consult about 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 207 
 
 the Specimens ; by then I hope you will be 
 able to talk about business. How you con- 
 tinue your book at all and so well in trying 
 circumst^s I know not. But don't let it stop. 
 Would to God I could help you ; but we have 
 the house full of compv- which we came to avoid. 
 " God bless you, 
 
 "C. L." 
 LI 
 To the Same. 
 
 [Postmarked] May 12, 1830. 
 " Dear H.,— I heard from Rogers that Southey, 
 is, or is expedted to be, in town. You may 
 learn at my friend Rickman's in Palace yard. 
 Go there. R. is one of my oldest friends. 
 
 " C. Lamb. 
 " R. lives next door to the Entrance to West- 
 minsf Hall. 
 " M' Hone, 
 
 " 13, Gracechurch Street.'' 
 
 "Note on hack ? in Hone's hand: " Rickman, 
 then 2^ clerk at the table of the House of 
 Commons. Mr. S. used, when in town, gene- 
 rally to remain at Mr. R.'s house." 
 
 LH 
 To the Same. 
 
 [Postmarked] July i, 1830. 
 Pray let Matilda keep my Newspapers till 
 you hear from me, as we are meditating a town 
 residence. " C. Lamb. 
 
 " Let her keep them as the apple of her eye." 
 [Endorsed] 
 Mr. Hone, 
 
 13, Gracechurch Street. 
 
208 THE LAMBS 
 
 I now return to Miss Lamb, and have the 
 pleasure of inviting attention to an interesting 
 and rather long letter by her, diredted to the 
 Hoods at Winchmore Hill, who had been staying 
 under their roof at Enfield, and whom the 
 writer was apprehensive of having somehow 
 offended. Mrs. Paris, from Cambridge, had 
 been paying a visit to the Lambs, and they 
 had not only Emma Isola, but her sister Harriet, 
 with them. Emma was expedlihg a summons 
 to return to Fornham ; Lamb was helping her 
 to "rub up" her Latin. 
 
 LHI 
 
 Miss Lamb to the Hoods. 
 
 [Enfield, end of AprU, 1828]. 
 "My dear Friends, — My brother and Emma 
 are to send you a partnership letter, but as I 
 have a great dislike to my stupid scrap at the 
 fag end of a dull letter, and, as I am left alone, 
 I will say my say first ; and in the first place 
 thank you for your kind letter ; it was a mighty 
 comfort to me. Ever since you left me, I have 
 been thinking I know not what, but every 
 possible thing that I could invent, why you 
 should be angry with me for something I had 
 done or left undone during your uncomfortable 
 sojourn with us, and now I read your letter and 
 think and feel all is well again, Emma and 
 her sister Harriet are gone to Theobalds Park, 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 209 
 
 and Charles is gone to Barnet to cure his 
 headache, which a good old lady has talked 
 him into. She came on Thursday and left us 
 yesterday evening. I mean she was Mrs. Paris, 
 with whom Emma's aunt lived at Cambridge, 
 and she had so much to [tell] her about Cam- 
 bridge friends, and to [tell] us about London 
 ditto, that her tongue was never at rest though 
 the whole day, and at night she took Hood's 
 Whims and Oddities to bed with her and laught 
 all night. Bless her spirits ! I wish I had them 
 and she were as mopey as I am. Emma came 
 on Monday, and the week has passed away I 
 know not how. But we have promised all the 
 week that we should go and see the Pidlure 
 friday or Saturday, and stay a night or so with 
 you. Friday came and we could not turn Mrs. 
 Paris out so soon, and on friday evening the 
 thing was wholly given up. Saturday morning 
 brought fresh hopes ; Mrs. Paris agreed to go 
 to see the pidture with us, and we were to walk 
 to Edmonton. My Hat and my new gown were 
 put on in great haste, and his honor, who 
 decides all things here, would have it that we 
 could not get to Edmonton in time ; and there 
 was an end of all things. Expedling to see 
 you, I did not write." 
 
 •' Monday evening. 
 
 " Charles and Emma are taking a second walk. 
 Harriet is gone home. Charles wishes to know 
 more about the Widow. Is it to be made to 
 match a drawing? If you could throw a little 
 more Ught on the subje(5t, I think he would do it, 
 when Emma is gone ; but his time will be quite 
 
2IO THE LAMBS 
 
 taken up with her ; for, besides refreshing her 
 Latin, he gives her long lessons in arithmetic, 
 which she is sadly deficient in. She leaves in a 
 week, unless she receives a renewal of her holy- 
 days, which Mrs. Williams has half promised to 
 send her. I do verily believe that I may hope to 
 pass the last one, or two, or three nights with 
 you, as she is to go from London to Bury. We 
 will write to you the instant we receive Mrs. W.'s 
 letter. As to my poor sonnet, and it is a very 
 poor sonnet, only answered very well the piirpose 
 it was written for, Em'ma left it behind her, and 
 nobody remembers more than one line of it, which 
 is, I think, sufficient to convince you it would 
 make no great impression in an Annual. So pray 
 let it rest in peace, and I will make Charles write 
 a better one instead. 
 
 " This shall go to the Post to-night. If any 
 [one] chooses to add anything to it they may. 
 It will glad my heart to see you again. 
 
 " Yours (both yours) truly and affedlionately, 
 
 " M. Lamb. 
 
 " Becky is going by the Post office, so I will 
 send it away. I mean to commence letter-writer 
 to the family." 
 
 LIV 
 Charles Lamb to Miss James. 
 
 [Dec. 31, 1828.] 
 
 " We have just got your letter. I think Mother 
 
 Reynolds will go on quietly, Mrs. Scrimpshaw 
 
 having kittens. The name of the late Laureat 
 
 was Henry James Pye, and when his ist Birthday 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 2 I I 
 
 Ode came out, which was very poor, somebody 
 being ask'd his opinion of it said — 
 
 And when the Pye was open'd, 
 
 The birds began to sing, 
 And was not this a dainty dith 
 
 To set before the King ? 
 
 " Pye was brother to old Major Pye, and father 
 to Mrs. Arnold, and uncle to a General Pye, all 
 friends of Miss Kelly. Pye succeeded Thos. 
 Weston, Weston succeeded Wm. Whitehead, 
 Whitehead succeeded Colly Gibber, Gibber suc- 
 ceeded Eusden, Eusden succeeded Thos. Shad- 
 well, Shadwell succeeded Dryden, Dryden suc- 
 ceeded Davenant, Davenant succeeded God 
 knows whom. There never was a Rogers a 
 Poet Laureat, there is an old living Poet of 
 that name, a Banker, as you know, author of 
 the Pleasures of Memory, where Moxon goes to 
 breakfast in a fine house in the Green Park, but 
 he was never Laureat. Southey is the present 
 one, & for anything 1 know or care Moxon 
 may succeed him. We have a copy of ' Xmas ' 
 for you, so you may give your own to Mary as 
 soon as you please. We think you need not 
 have exhibited your mountain shyness before 
 Mr. B. He is neither shy himr.elf, nor patronizes 
 it in others. So with many thanks Good Bye. 
 Emma comes on Thursday. 
 
 "C. L." 
 
 " The Poet Laureat' whom Davenant suc- 
 ceeded was Rare Ben Jonson, who I believe was 
 the first regular Laureat with the appointm' of 
 
 ' On a separate slip of pnper. 
 
 P — 2 
 
212 THE LAMBS 
 
 _;^ioo a year & a Butt of Sack or Canary. So 
 add that to my little list. 
 
 "C. L." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Miss James, 
 
 20, Upper Charles Street, 
 Paid. Goswell Street Road. 
 
 A short note to Coleridge supplies, if nothing 
 else, a potent contrast to the letters of earlier 
 years. 
 
 LV* 
 To S. T. Coleridge. 
 
 " 13 April, 1831. 
 " Dear C, — I am daily for this week expedling 
 Wordsworth, who will not name a day. I have 
 been expecting him by months and by weeks; 
 but he has reduced the hope within the seven 
 fradlions hebdomidal of this hebdoma. Therefore 
 I am sorry I cannot see you on Thursday. I 
 think within a week or two I shall be able to 
 invite myself some day for a day, but we hermits 
 with difficulty poke out of our shells. Within 
 that ostraceous retirement I meditate not unfre- 
 quently on you. My sister's kindest remem- 
 brances to your both. 
 
 "C. L." 
 
 Moxon having established a new venture, under 
 the title of The Englishman's Magazine, in 1 831, it 
 almost necessarily became part of Lamb's duty 
 to lend it a helping hand, which he did in certain 
 papers headed " Peter's Net." This explains the 
 signature. 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 213 
 
 LVI 
 
 To Edward Moxon. 
 
 [183 1.] 
 "Dear M., — I have ingeniously contrived to 
 review myself. 
 
 " Tell me if this will do. Mind, for such things 
 as these — half quotations — I do not charge Elia 
 price. Let me hear of, if not see you. 
 
 " Peter." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 Mr. Moxon, 
 Publisher, 
 
 64, New Bond Street, 
 London. 
 
 The next item was addressed to the daughters 
 of Mr. Joseph Hume, at one time of Somerset 
 House and of Bayswater, the common friend of 
 Lamb and Hazlitt. Amelia Hume became Mrs. 
 Bennett, Julia Mrs. Todhunter. The latter per- 
 sonally informed me in 1888 that her Aunt 
 Augusta perfectly recolletfted all the circum- 
 stances. The incident seems to have taken 
 place at the residence of Mr. Hume, in Percy 
 Street, Bloomsbury, and it was Amelia who 
 found the threepence-halfpenny in the coat 
 which Lamb left behind him, and who repaired 
 the button-holes. The sister who is described 
 as "-Scots wha ha'e" was Louisa Hume ; it was 
 a favourite song with her. These lines may be 
 added to the series of light and jocose effusions 
 
214 THE LAMBS 
 
 already in print. The Gallicism carries evi- 
 dence of them having been written posterior 
 to the period of Lamb's return from his French 
 trip in 1825. The recolledlion of the journey 
 continued to linger for some time in the letters 
 in the shape of scraps of the language of the 
 country very much of the school of Stratford-at- 
 Bow. Mrs. Todhunter supplies the exact date. 
 
 LVII 
 
 To the Misses Hume. 
 
 , C1832.] 
 " Many thanks for the wrap-rascal, but how 
 delicate the insinuating in, into the pocket, of 
 that 3ii., in paper too ! Who was it ? Amelia, 
 Caroline, Julia, Augusta, or ' Scots who have ' ? 
 " As a set-ofif to the very handsome present, 
 which I shall lay out in a pot of ale certainly to 
 her health, I have paid sixpence for the mend of 
 two button-holes of the coat now return'd. She 
 shall not have to say, ' I don't care a button 
 for her.' 
 
 " Adieu, trfes aimables ! 
 
 Buttons . . . 6d. 
 Gift .... 35 
 
 Due from 2| 
 
 which pray accept . . . from your foolish coat- 
 forgetting "C. L." 
 
 In the following we too readily discern one of 
 those intervals of depression which marked the 
 closing years : 
 
LETTERS AND NOTES 215 
 
 LVIII 
 
 To Edward Moxon. 
 
 [Postmarked] July 12, 1832. 
 " Dear M., — My hand shakes so, I can hardly 
 say don't come yet. I have been worse to-day 
 than you saw me. I am going to try water gruel 
 & quiet if I can get it. But a visitor hast [sic] 
 just been down, & another a day or two before, 
 & I feel half frantic. I will write when better. 
 Make excuses to Foster [s»c] for the present. 
 
 " C. Lamb, 
 " Mr. Moxon, 
 
 64, New Bond Street." 
 
 LIX 
 
 To Charles Ryle.^ 
 
 [5 Nov., 1833]. 
 "Dear Ryle, — Please to pay the Bearer ;»?»« 
 shillings on my account. 
 
 " Yours ever with loves at home, 
 " C. Lamb. 
 " To Chs Ryle, Esq« 
 
 " East India House." 
 
 [Endorsed] 
 M' Gunston, 
 
 Spencer's Public Library, 
 314, Holborn. 
 
 LX 
 
 To Edward Moxon. 
 " Dear M., — As I see no blood marks on the 
 Green Lanes road, I conclude you got in safe 
 
 1 Now first printed. Ryle was one of Lamb's executors, 
 and the sole interest of the little note is, that it seems to be 
 the only extant communication to him by his friend. 
 
2l6 THE LAMBS 
 
 skins home. Have you thought of enquiring 
 Miss Wilson's change of abode ? Of the 2 
 copies of my Drama I want one sent to Words- 
 worth, together with a complete copy of Hone's 
 Table Book, for which I shall be your debtor 
 till we meet. Perhaps Longmans will take 
 charge of this parcel. The other is for Cole- 
 ridge, at Mr. Oilman's, Grove, Highgate, which 
 may be sent, or, if you have a curiosity to see 
 him, you will make an errand with it to him, 
 & tell him we mean very soon to come & 
 see him, if the Gilmans can give or get us 
 a bed. I am ashamed to be so troublesome. 
 Pray let Hood see the Ecclectic Review — a rogue ! 
 
 " Yours truly, 
 
 "C. L. 
 "The 2^ parts [stV] of the Blackwood you 
 may make waste paper of." 
 
 [Endorsed] 
 E. Moxon, Esq" 
 
 LXI 
 
 To W. P. Sherlock. 
 
 [Postm. Nov. IS, 1834]. 
 " Sir, — The pidlure you allude to is not in 
 my possession. It was painted for D' Stoddart, 
 now in Malta. 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 [Endorsed] 
 
 M-- W. P. Sherlock, 
 67 [obliterated by p.m.]' 
 
 ' Note in another, probably one of the Sherlocks* hand : 
 " From C. Lamb [Elia] to W. P. Sherlock, who had applied 
 to him for his Portrait painted by Hazlet." Probably the 
 Macmillan copy. 
 
LETTERS TO LAMB 
 
LETTERS TO LAMB 
 
 So much has been said and written of the 
 destrucftion by Lamb of all the communications 
 addressed to him by friends, and notably by 
 Coleridge (that early and life-long one), that I 
 may perhaps be forgiven, if from the originals 
 in my own hands I reproduce for the first time 
 in an accurate form two of the four letters from 
 Coleridge to Lamb at present extant, and one 
 or two others similarly situated. The former 
 occur in a manner which accounts for their 
 preservation ; for they are written on the fly- 
 leaves of a copy of the Works of Samuel Daniel, 
 1718, which once belonged to Elia, and was 
 given by his sister, about fifty years ago, to the 
 father of the present writer — the son of the 
 Hazlitt whom Elia knew so well. 
 
 The copy of Daniel, which they accompany, 
 is further enriched by copious MSS. notes in the 
 hands of Coleridge himself and Lamb, and it 
 is one of some dozen books, which, when the 
 
2 20 THE LAMBS 
 
 coUedlion was purchased by a New York House 
 in 1848, did not form part of the bargain, having 
 been already distributed as souvenirs among the 
 personal friends of the family. To speak the 
 plain truth, the choicest portion of the library 
 remained behind. Both letters are hmited to 
 literary criticism on the merits of Daniel in the 
 eyes of the writer : — 
 
 Tuesday, Feb. 10, 1808. 
 " Dear Charles, — I think more highly, far 
 more, of the ' Civil Wars ' than you seemed to 
 do on Monday night (Feb. 9'h 1808). The 
 verse does not teaze me ; and all the while I am 
 reading it I cannot but fancy a plain England- 
 loving English Country Gentleman with only 
 some dozen Books in his whole Library, and 
 at a time when a ' Mercury ' or ' Intelligencer ' 
 was seen by him once in a month or two, 
 making this his Newspaper & political Bible 
 at the same time, & reading it so often as to 
 store his memory with its aphorisms. Conceive 
 a good man of that time, diffident and passive, 
 yet rather inclined to Jacobitism, seeing the 
 reasons of the Revolutionary Party, yet by 
 disposition and old principles leaning in quiet 
 nods and sighs, at his own parlour fire, to the 
 hereditary Right — (and of these charadlers there 
 must have been many) — & then read the poems, 
 assuming in your head his character — conceive 
 how grave he would look, and what pleasure 
 [there would be, what'] unconscious, harmless, 
 
 ^ Supplied in the handwriting of Lamb, 
 
LETTERS TO LAMB 221 
 
 humble self-conceit, self - compliment in his 
 gravity — how wise he would feel himself — & yet 
 how forbearing, how much calmed by that most 
 calming refledtion (when it is really the mind's 
 own reflecftion) — aye, it was just so in Henry 
 the 6'*>'s Time — always the same passions at 
 work, &c. Have I injured thy book ? — or wilt 
 thou like it the better therefore? But I have 
 done as I would gladly be done by — thee at 
 least. 
 
 " S. T. Coleridge." 
 
 In estimating the remarks of Coleridge re- 
 specting Daniel it must, I think, occur to 
 any one, that he has confounded the date of 
 the particular edition employed with the period 
 to which the poet belonged. Jacobitism and 
 hereditary right were questions which had not 
 arisen in the lifetime of Daniel. In compiling 
 his metrical narrative of the Civil Wars of the 
 Roses, he went, not to Mercuries and Intelli- 
 gencers, because they did not exist, but to the 
 Chronicles. 
 
 Second Letter, j hours after the first. 
 
 " Dear Charles, — You must read over these 
 ' Civil Wars ' again. We both know what a mood 
 is, and the genial mood will, it shall, come for 
 my sober-minded Daniel. He was a Tutor and a 
 sort of steward in a noble Family, in which Form 
 was rehgiously observed, and Religion formally, 
 & yet there was such warm blood & mighty 
 
2 22 THE LAMBS 
 
 muscle of substance within, that the moulding 
 views did not diredt, tho' they stiffened the vital 
 man within. Daniel caught & communicated 
 the spirit of the great Countess of Pembroke, 
 the glory of the North ; he formed her mind, and 
 her mind inspirited him. Gravely sober on all 
 ordinary affairs, & not easily excited by any — 
 yet there is one, on which his Blood boils — 
 whenever he speaks of English valour exerted 
 against a foreign Enemy. Do read over — but 
 some evening when we are quite comfortable, 
 at your fireside — and, O, where shall I ever be, 
 if 1 am not so there ? — that is, the last Altar, on 
 the ... of which my old Feelings hang ; 
 but, alas ! listen & tremble — nonsense ! — well i 
 will read it to you & Mary, the 205th, 206th, and 
 207th page, above all that g3rd stanza— what is 
 there in description superior even in Shakespere ? 
 only that Shakespere would have given one of his 
 Glows to the first line, and flattered the mountain 
 Top with his sovran Eye, instead of that poor 
 ' a marvellous advantage of his Years.' But this, 
 however, is Daniel ; and he must not be read 
 piecemeal. Even by leaving off & looking at a 
 stanza by itself, I find the loss. 
 
 " S. T. Coleridge. 
 
 " O Charles ! I am very, very ill. Vixi." 
 
 " And, in a different style, the 98th stanza, 
 p. 208; & what an image in 107, p. 211 !i 
 Thousands even of educated men would become 
 more sensible, fitter to be members of Parlia- 
 ment, or Ministers, by reading Daniel— and even 
 
 ' Theve are long MSS. notes by Coleridge at both these 
 places. 
 
LETTERS TO LAMB 223 
 
 those who quoad intelle£tum only gain refreshment 
 of notions already their own, must become better 
 Englishmen, & if not too late, write a kind note 
 about him. 
 
 " S. T. Coleridge." 
 
 " Is it from any hobby-horsical love of our old 
 writers (& of such a passion respedting Chaucer, 
 Spenser, Ben Jonson's Poems, I have occasionally 
 seen glaring proofs in one, the string of whose 
 shoe I am not worthy to unloose), or is it a real 
 Beauty — the interspersion, [ mean, in stanza 
 poems o^* rhymes from polysyllables— such as 
 Eminence, Obedience, Reverence ? To my ear 
 they convey not only a relief from variety, but a 
 sweetness as of repose — and the understanding 
 they gratify by reconciling Verse with the whole 
 wide extent of good Sense without being dis- 
 tindtly conscious of such a Notice, having rather 
 than refie(fting it (for one may think in the same 
 way as one may see and hear). I seem to be 
 made to know that I need have no fear that 
 there's nothing excellent in itself which the Poet 
 cannot express accurately & naturally — nay, no 
 good word." 
 
 Tn this second epistle, " written," as Coleridge 
 states, " five hours after the first," there is some 
 account of Daniel, seeming to shew that in the 
 meantime Coleridge had turned to the biogra- 
 phical account of the Poet prefixed to the book ; 
 but he does not retradt his apparent inadvertence 
 in speaking and thinking of his author as an 
 eighteenth century man. This letter is a curious 
 
224 THE LAMBS 
 
 rhapsody, and we are apt to be rather mystified 
 by the language of the writer, unless we are to 
 infer that both communications were finished 
 before the book was sent back to Lamb. 
 
 This is one of the periods of great obscurity 
 in the career of the latter. We are aware that 
 he was engaged in compiling and seeing through 
 the press the Adventures of Ulysses and the 
 Dramatic Specimens. But there is no letter 
 between January 29th, 1807, and February i8th 
 of the following year in the printed coUeiflions 
 or in any other form known to me at present. 
 With Coleridge himself there is no vestige of 
 any correspondence between 1803 and 1809. 
 Consequently the history of the loan of this 
 book, and of the circumstances under which 
 it again reached home, must remain doubtful, 
 pending the possible recovery of new clues. 
 
 The letter from Coleridge to Lamb, respe(fling 
 the tragical end of the mother of the latter in 
 1796, is printed by Oilman and Mrs. Gilchrist. 
 It is of the most commonplace stamp, and might 
 have been written by the parson of the parish. 
 
 This, with those in the Daniel, the one 
 from Holcroft below, that from Jekyll printed 
 among the Norris letters, and a sixth preserved 
 in the Memorials of Hood, seem to constitute the 
 
LETTERS TO LAMB 2?5 
 
 grand total. It was a pitiless sacrifice. So late 
 as August 31, 1 80 1, all the letters from Coleridge 
 at all events, which the recipient had kept, were 
 safe; for in a letter of that date we find him 
 forwarding them for the perusal of Manning. 
 Can the latter have lost or failed to restore 
 them ? 
 
 Thomas Hokroft to Charles Lamh.^ 
 
 [Dec. 4— s, 1806.] 
 
 " Dear Sir, — Miss L. has informed us you are 
 writing to Manning. Will you be kind enough 
 to inform him direcflly from me, that I and my 
 family are most truly anxious for his safety; 
 that if praying could bring down blessings on 
 him, we should pray morning, noon and night ; 
 that his and our dear friends the Tuthills are 
 once more happily safe in England, and that I 
 earnestly entreat not only a single letter, but a 
 correspondence with him, whenever the thing is 
 pradticable, with such an address as may make 
 letters from me likely to find him. In short, 
 dear sir, if you will be kind enough to speak of 
 me to Manning, you cannot speak with greater 
 friendship and respedl than I feel. 
 
 " Yours, with true friendship and kindness." 
 
 [Signature lost.] 
 
 ' Appended to a letter from Lamb to Manning, of Dec. S, 
 1 806, but omitted in all the editions. At the commencement 
 of the same occurs, also left out : " Tuthill is at Crabtree's, 
 who has married Tuthill's sister;" and there is lastly the 
 address, " T. Manning, Esq., Canton." 
 
 Q 
 
UNCOLLECTED POEMS 
 
 Q—t 
 
UNCOLLECTED POEMS 
 
 It was my original design to have confined 
 this little enterprise to a review of the present 
 state of the Lamb Correspondence and an in- 
 stalment in completion of the material for a 
 new and more exhaustive edition hereafter- 
 But the opportunity has presented itself from 
 time to time of adding to my colledtanea a few 
 poetical pieces apparently not yet incorporated 
 with the various texts, and it seemed worth 
 while to append three or four produdlions of 
 interest in this way before I parted with the 
 subjedl — perhaps for ever. 
 
 The lines " What is an Album ? " have been 
 transcribed from a volume which formerly be- 
 longed to Mrs. Moxon, and which in its integrity 
 had enshrined no fewer than thirty-two contri- 
 butions ; but nine only remained when it came 
 under my notice.^ 
 
 1 See a full description of this book, so frequently referred 
 to in the later letters, in Hazlitt, ii., 298. 
 
230 THE LAMBS 
 
 To Samuel Rogers, Esq., on the New Edition 
 OF HIS " Pleasures of Memory."' 
 
 "When thy gay book has paid its proud devoirs, 
 Poetic friend, and fed with luxury 
 The eye of pampered aristocracy 
 In glittering drawing rooms and gilt boudoirs 
 O'erlaid with comments of pictorial art, 
 However rich or rare, yet nothing leaving 
 Of healthful acftion to the soul — conceiving 
 Of the true reader — yet a nobler part 
 Awaits thy work, already classic styled, 
 Cheap-clad, accessible, in homeliest show 
 The modest beauty through the land shall go 
 From year to year, and render life more mild ; 
 Refinement to the poor man's hearth shall give, 
 And in the moral heart of England live." 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 
 To Miss Burney,* on her Character of 
 Blanch in " Country Neighbours," a 
 Tale. 
 
 " Bright spirits have arisen to grace the Burney 
 name, 
 And some in letters, some in tastefiil arts, 
 
 ' Bookman, May, 1893. There is, I understand, a verbal 
 inaccuracy in the seventh tine ; but I have not been able to 
 see the original, 
 
 2 Afterward wife of Mr. John Thomas Payne, the eminent 
 bookseller. She was the daughter of the Rev. Charles 
 Burney, son of the historian of music. A copy of Elia, 
 1823, exists, with an inscription: "Mrs. J. Payne, with 
 Elia's friendly remembrances." 
 
UNCOLLECTED POEMS 23 I 
 
 In learning some have borne distinguished 
 parts ; 
 Or sought through science of sweet sounds their 
 fame : 
 
 " And foremost she, renowned for many a tale 
 Of faithful love perplexed, and of that good 
 Old man who, as Camilla's guardian, stood 
 
 In obstinate virtue clad like coat of mail. 
 
 Nor dost thou, Sarah, with unequal pace 
 Her steps pursue. The pure romantic vein 
 No gentler creature ever knew to feign 
 
 Than thy fine Blanch, young with an elder grace 
 In all respe(5ls without rebuke or blame. 
 Answering the antique freshness of her name." 
 
 "C. L." 
 
 The following produdlion was written in the 
 album of Emma Isola. 
 
 " What is an Album ? 
 
 " 'Tis a Book kept by modern Young Ladies for 
 
 show, 
 Of which their plain grandmothers nothing did 
 
 know. 
 'Tis a medley of scraps, fine verse, & fine 
 
 prose. 
 And some things not very like either, God 
 
 knows. 
 The soft First Effusions of Beaux and of Belles, 
 Of future Lord Byrons, and sweet L. E. L.'s ; 
 Where wise folk and simple both equally shine. 
 And you write your nonsense, that I may write 
 
 mine. 
 
232 THE LAMBS 
 
 Stick in a fine landscape, to make a display, 
 A flower-piece, a foreground, all tinted so gay, 
 As Nature herself (could she see them) would 
 
 ' strike 
 With envy, to think that she ne'er did the like : 
 And since some Lavaters, with head-pieces 
 
 comical. 
 Have pronounc'd people's hands to be physiog- 
 nomical, 
 Be sure that you stuff it with autographs 
 
 plenty. 
 All framed to a pattern, so stiff, and so dainty. 
 They no more resemble folks' every-day writing, 
 Than lines penn'd with pains do extemp'rel en- 
 
 diting ; 
 Or the natural countenance (pardon the stric- 
 ture) 
 The faces we make when we sit for our pidture. 
 
 " Thus you have, dearest Emma, an Album 
 
 complete — 
 Which may ymt live to finish, and / live to see it ; 
 And since you began it for innocent ends, 
 May it swell, & grow bigger each day with 
 
 new friends. 
 Who shall set down kind names, as a token and 
 
 test. 
 As I my poor autograph sign with the rest." 
 
 " C. Lamb." 
 
 The following lines appear to have been 
 composed for the album of another young lady 
 friend, Sophy Holcroft, afterward Mrs. Jeffer- 
 son : — 
 
UNCOLLECTED POEMS 233 
 
 " To THE Book. 
 
 " Little casket, storehouse rare 
 Of rich conceits to please the fair ! 
 Happiest he of mortal men 
 I crown him Monarch of the Pen — 
 To whom Sophia deigns to give 
 The flattering Prerogative 
 To inscribe his name in chief 
 On thy first and maiden leaf. — 
 When thy Pages shall be full 
 With what brighter Wits can cull 
 Of the tender, or Romantic — 
 Creeping prose, or verse gigantic — 
 Which thy spaces so shall cram, 
 That the Bee-like epigram. 
 Which a twofold tribute brings, 
 Hath not room left wherewithal 
 To infix its tiny scrawl ; 
 Haply some more youthful Swain 
 Striving to describe his pain. 
 And the Damsel's ear to seize 
 With more expressive lays than these, 
 When he finds his own excluded. 
 And their counterfeits intruded, 
 While, loitering in the Muses' bower. 
 He over-staid the Eleventh Hour 
 Till the Table's filled— shall fret, 
 Die, or sicken, with regret, 
 Or into a shadow pine. 
 While this triumphant verse of mine, 
 Like to some poorer stranger-guest 
 Bidden to a Good Man's feast 
 Shall sit — by merit less than fate — 
 In the upper seat in state." 
 
 " Chs Lamb." 
 
234 THE LAMBS 
 
 The turn of Lamb for the acrostic set in at a 
 late period of Ufe, and he flattered himself that 
 he attained considerable proficiency in the art 
 of composing it. Some of those inserted in 
 the printed editions are not quite accurately 
 given ; but I shall limit myself to copies of 
 verses on the names of Edward Hogg and 
 Rotha. 
 
 " An Acrostic against Acrostics. 
 
 " E nvy not the wretched Poet 
 D oomed to pen these teasing strains, 
 W it so cramped, ah, who can show it, 
 A re the trifles worth the pains. 
 R hyme compared with this were easy, 
 D ouble Rhymes may not displease ye. 
 
 " H omer, Horace sly & caustic, 
 O wed no fame to vile acrostic. 
 G 's, I am sure, the Readers choked with, 
 G ood men's names must not be joked with." 
 
 " To R. Q. 
 
 Acvostic. 
 
 " R otha, how in numbers light, 
 O ught I to express thee ? 
 T ake my meaning in its flight — 
 H aste imports not always slight — 
 A nd believe, I bless thee." 
 
 "Charles Lamb." 
 
UNCOLLECTED POEMS 235 
 
 These nugte one is almost ashamed of per- 
 petuating. Lamb thought that album verses 
 were rather undignified; but he lived to find a 
 lower depth, as he himself has put it in a letter 
 to a friend. 
 
INDEX OF NAMES 
 
INDEX OF NAMES 
 
 Abercrombys, The, 41 
 Ainger, Canon, 5, 20-1, 31, 
 %-ietsegg., 87-92, 95-6, 169 
 Ainsworth, W. H., 194-6 
 Alsop, Thomas, 14, 44, 177 
 Anderson, Dr., 116, 119 
 Bangham, Miss, 167 
 Baring, Sir Francis, 122 
 Barton, Bernard, 42, 44 
 Bartrum the Pawnbroker, 76 
 Bell and Crown, Holborn, 
 
 166 
 Bennett, Mrs., 213 
 Bethams, The, 94, 143-57 
 BewdIey,Worcestershire,24-5 
 Bexley, 46 
 Bird, W., S 
 Birmingham, 72 
 BJack, Algernon, 40 
 Blake, William, 42-3 
 Brailsford, W., 48 
 Broadwood, James, 37 
 Brookes, Mrs., 196 
 Barneys, The, 34, 129, 230 
 Byron, Lord, 48, 54, 158, 
 
 231 
 Campbell, J. Dykes, 95 
 Catalani, 151 
 Chambers Family, 20, 36-40, 
 
 44.53-4.92,95.105.137-41 
 Christ's Hospital, 8, 16-17, 
 
 22, 28 
 
 Cibber, CoUey, 21 1 
 Clarke, Cowden, 44, 202 
 Coleridge, Hartley, 116 
 
 S. T., 12, 14, 
 
 18-19-20, 22, 28-9, 32-3, 
 35, 41. 43-4, 48, 61-2, 64, 
 77,79,95,98, III etseqg., 
 134-S, 150, 192, 198, 212, 
 219-24 
 Collier, Mrs., 142-3 
 Cottle, Joseph, 14, 32 
 Cottles, The, 32, 102-5, 120-1 
 Coulson, William, 76 
 Coventry, Thomas, 8, 25 
 Crablree, 225 
 Crown Office Row, 29 
 Cuckoo, The (a Paris dili- 
 gence), 171 
 Daniel, George, 78 
 
 Samuel, 219-24 
 
 Davenant, Sir W., 211 
 Dibdin, J. B., 20, 92 
 Dillons, The, 201-2 
 Dodwell, Henry, 20, 92 
 DoUin, Mary, 123 
 Donne, W. B., 190 
 Dowden, Isaac, 9, 105 
 Duncan, Miss, 151 
 Dyer, George, 18, 20, 22-3, 
 33,43,116-17,119-20,156 
 Edmonton (back of half- 
 title) 
 
240 
 
 THE LAMBS 
 
 Enfield, 21, 48, iSo et seqq., 
 
 202-S 
 Epping, 187, 190 
 Eusden, 211 
 Evans, Mary, 35 
 
 Thomas, 35 
 
 William, 34-5, 54 
 
 Faints, The, 161-2 
 
 Fauntleroy, 77 
 
 Fell, 33 
 
 Fenwick, John, 33, 93 
 
 Field, Barron, 10, 166, I91 
 
 Frank, 166 
 
 Henrietta, 7, 29-30 
 
 Fields, The, 14 
 Fox, Caroline, 77 
 Galton, S., 79 
 Garrick Plays, 206 
 Gilchrist, Anne, 86, 224 
 Gilmans, The, 198, 224 
 Godwin, W., 32-33. 43.4, 77, 
 
 99-100, 118 
 
 M. J., 72-3 
 
 Grasshopper, Gracechurch 
 
 Street, 205 
 Gutch, J. M., 32 
 Hancock the Artist, 15, 55 
 Hastings, 159 
 Hays, Mary, 33 
 Hazhtts, The, 8, 21, 22, 31, 
 
 33-4, 43, 48. SS-6, 64, 83 
 
 a leqq., 94, 129, 143, 152, 
 
 »92-3. '9S-6. 216. 224-S 
 Highgate, 198 
 Hogg, Edward, 234 
 Holcroft, Thomas, 32-3, 129, 
 
 152, 224-S 
 
 Mrs., 146 
 
 Holcrofts, The, 169-76, 233 
 Hone, William, 44, 202, 
 
 204-7 
 Hoods, The, 166, 202-3, 
 
 208-10, 224 
 Hornidge, M., 53-4 
 
 Humes, The, 213-14 
 Humphreys, Miss, 95, 181 
 Hunt, Leigh, 20, 107, 136, 
 
 191 
 Hutchinson, Miss, 197-9 
 India House, 17, 51-5 
 Inner Temple, 75 
 Inner Temple Lane, 8, 13, 
 
 21, 29 
 Ireland, W. H., 10 
 Irving, Edward, 205 
 Islington, 121, 198 
 Isola, Agostino,. 178 
 
 Carlo, 178 
 
 Emma, 178 et seqq., 
 
 ■2a\, 203, 229, 231 
 James, Miss, 30, 165, 168, 
 
 171, 210-11 
 Jefferson, Dr., 169 
 Jekyll, Sir Joseph, 162-3 
 Johnson, Dr., 200 
 Jonson, Benjamin, 211 
 Jordan, Mrs., 152 
 Kelly, Fanny, 169, 171-2, 
 
 211 
 Kenneys, The, 20, 33, 44, 
 
 95, 165-6, 169-76 
 Knole, 160 
 Lake Country, 26 
 Lamb, Charles, 3 et seqq. 
 
 Curate of 
 
 Enfield, 48 
 
 Charles, Esq., 48-9 
 
 Elizabeth, 17, 41 
 
 John the elder, 5-7, 
 
 12-15, 28 
 
 John the younger, 
 
 8-11,20, 93 
 - Mary, 20, 30, 52, 56-7, 
 
 63, 118-19, 131 2, 145-7, 
 150-1, 155-6, 159-61, 188, 
 198, 203, 208-10 
 
 Landon, Miss, 231 
 
 Lane, Annette, 95 
 
INDEX OF NAMES 
 
 241 
 
 Lavater, 232 
 
 Le Greis, C. V., 12, 18, 20, 
 
 22-4, 43 
 Samuel, 12, 18, 
 
 22-3, 43 
 Library, Lamb's, 61 ei seqq. 
 Little Queen Street, 13, IJ, 
 
 18, 21-2 
 Lloyd, Charles, 12, 18, 19, 
 26-8, 31, 41, 72, 79, 
 119, 124, 127, 192 
 
 Charles the younger, 
 
 26-7 
 
 Sophia, 26 
 
 Lockhart, A. W., 22 
 Lyndhurst, Lord, 23^ 
 Macgeorge, B. B., 79 
 Macmillan the Publisher, 56, 
 
 2i6 
 Manning, T., 12, 19-20, 
 
 31-2-3, 41, 43-4-S-6, 50, 
 
 94-5-7-8, 127-33-4. 171. 
 
 ^7% 225 
 Marshall, 173 
 Marlowe, C, 194 
 Martin, Louisa, 106, 131 
 May, John, 121-2-3 
 Merger, Baron de, 171 
 Miller, Major, 38 
 Milton, John, 10, 200 
 Mingay, James, 75 
 Monkhouses, The, 197, 200 
 Montagu, Basil, 205-6 
 Morley, Professor, 75 
 Moseley, near Birmingham, 
 
 26 
 Moxon, Edward, 44, 166, 
 211,212-13, 215-16 
 
 — Mrs., 229, 231 
 
 Norris Family, 18, 28-31, 43,' 
 
 148, 156 et seqq. 
 Novellos, The, 44 
 Ogilvie, Captain, 191-2 
 OUier, Charles, 200-1 
 
 Oxford, 116 
 Patmore, P. G., 172 
 Paul, Kegan, 100 
 Payne, Howard, 33, 44, 170 
 
 John Thomas, 230 
 
 Mrs. J. T., 230 
 
 Pearson & Co., 79 
 Pemberton, Sophia, 26 
 Penshurst, 160 
 Penzance, 23 
 Phillips, Colonel, 34 
 Procters, The, 3, 15, 19^ 
 Pulham, J. Brook, 54 
 Pye, H. J., 210 
 
 General, 211 
 
 Major, 2H 
 
 Q., Rotha, 234 
 Reynolds, Mrs., 148, 2io 
 Rickmans, The, 35-6, 207 
 Robinson, H. C, 11, 30, 33,. 
 
 42, 177 
 Rogers, Samuel, 211, 229 
 Russell Street, Covent Gar- 
 den, 21 
 Ryle, C, 53-4, 215 
 SaintValery-sur-Somme, 173, 
 
 176 
 Salt,, Samuel, 8, 16, 75 
 Savory, William, 152 
 Scarlett, Sir James, 33 
 Scott, John, 192-3 
 Shadwell, Thomas, 211 
 Shakespear, W., 10, 53, 71, 
 
 78, 130 
 Sheepshanks, Archdeacon, 24, 
 Sherlock, W. P., 216 
 Skepper, Miss, 148 
 South Sea House, 8-9, 19 
 Southey, Robert, 7, 12, 15, 
 
 19. 41. 43-4, 121-27, 136,. 
 
 198, 207, 211 
 Starkey, Capt., 5 
 Stoddarts, The, 17, 20, 32-3^ 
 
 44. I43-4j 178 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 THE LAMBS 
 
 Talfourd, Sir T. N., 3, 8, 
 14-15, 17-18, 84, 92, 192 
 
 Talma the Actor, 10 
 
 Taylor, John, 193 
 
 ThelwaU, John, 33 
 
 Thurtell, 198 
 
 Todhunter, Mrs., 213 
 
 Toumeur, Cyril, 195-6 
 
 Trereife, 23-4 
 
 Tunbridge Wells, 159-60 
 
 Turner, Cecil, 177, i86 
 
 TuthJU, Sir George, 32, 46, 
 93. 225 
 
 Twopeny, Mr., 75 
 
 W . . n, Alice, 76 
 
 Wainewright, Griffiths, 41 
 
 Ware, 198 
 
 Watford, 198 
 
 Weathercock, Janus, 41 
 
 Weston, Thomas, zii 
 
 ■Whitghead, W., 211 
 
 WiUiams, Miss, 177 
 
 Mrs., 177 
 
 Mrs.,of Fomham, 
 
 33, 42, 176-91 
 
 Rev. Mr., 176 it 
 
 seqq. 
 Willoughby, Lord, 37 
 White, Edward, 40, 54, 191 
 
 James, 23-6, 43, 52, 
 
 191 
 
 the younger, 
 
 12, 18, 22-6 
 
 Samuel, 24 
 
 Wilkie, William, 119 
 Wilson, Miss, 216 
 Wordsworths, The, 41, 43-4, 
 
 94,118,134, 136,192,212, 
 
 216 
 Yates, Susan, 74 
 yeats, Timothy, 16, 74 
 
NOTE. 
 
 THE RARER ELIANA. 
 
 P. 72-3. Beauty and the Beast. Since the remarks 
 on p. T}) were printed, I have met with a copy of an 
 earUer, perhaps the original, edition of this work. The 
 title is as follows : — 
 
 BEATTTT 
 
 AND 
 
 THS BEAST: 
 
 A ROUGH OUTSIDE WITH A 
 
 GENTLE HEART. 
 
 A Poetical Version of an Ancient Tale. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH 
 
 A SERIES OF ENGRAVINGS 
 
 AND BEAUTY'S SONG AT HER SPINNING WHEEL, 
 
 Set to Music by Mr. Whitaker, 
 
 London : 
 
 Printed for Mr. J. Godwin, 
 
 At the Juvenile Library, 41, Skinner Street ; 
 
 And to be had 0/ all Booksellers and Toymen 
 
 throughmt the United Kingdom. 
 
 1B13. 
 
 Price ss. 6d. coloured; or 2s. 6d. plain, 
 
 lamo. pp. 32., + title-page, eight beautiful plates, and 
 
 z 11. with Beauty's Song set to music. 
 
 The date is only on the cover. There is no external 
 clue to the writer. 
 
244 THE LAMBS 
 
 At the same time there fell in my way a small 
 volume, without any indication of authorship, but 
 much in the style of the Poetry for Children, entitled : 
 Simple Stories ; in Verse. Being a Collection of 
 Original Poems ; Designed for the Use of Children. 
 London, 1809, i2mo., pp. 44 + viii. and eight plates 
 by C. Knight after W. Blake, in a different style from 
 those in the preceding work. 
 
 Printed by R. ffblkard &' Son, 
 VevoKsftire Street, Bloomsbury, London, W.C^ 
 
Catalo 
 
 gue 
 
 of 
 
 Publications 
 
 TELEGRAPHIC 
 ADDRESS — 
 
 FRUCTUS'nterFOL2A 
 
 ELK IN M7\THeWS 
 LONDON vieas^^ w 
 
 "elegantia, 
 
 LONDON," 
 
 ALL THE BOOKS IN THIS CATALOGUE ARE 
 PUBLISHED AT NET PRICES 
 
 i8g6-g7 
 
Vigo Viatica 
 Lector! eme^ lege, &' gaudebis 
 
 List of Books 
 
 IN 
 
 BELLES LETTRES 
 
 (Including some Importations and Transfers) 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 Elkin Mathews 
 
 VIGO STREET, LONDON, W. 
 
 N.B. — The Authors and Publisher reserve the right of reprinting 
 any book in this list, except in cases where a stipulation has been made 
 to the contrary y and of printing a separate edition of any of the looks for 
 America. In the case of limited Editions, the numbers mentioned do 
 not include the copies sent for review^ nor those supplied to the public 
 libraries. The prices of books not yet Published are subject to variation. 
 
 The Books mentioned in this Catalogue can be obtained to order by any 
 Bookseller. It should be noted also that they are supplied to the Trade on 
 terms which will not allow of discount. 
 
 The following are a few of the A uihors represented in this Catalogue : 
 
 Alfred Austin, P.L. Selwyn Image. 
 
 R. D. Blackmore, Lionel Johnson. 
 
 Robert Bridges. Charles Lamb. 
 
 Bliss Carman. P. B. Marston. 
 
 E. R. Chapman, William Morris, 
 
 Canon Dixon. Hon. Roden Noel. 
 
 Ernest Dowson. May Probyn. 
 
 Michael Field, F. York Powell. 
 
 T. Gordon Hake. William Sharp. 
 
 Arthur Hallam. J. A. Symonds, 
 
 W. C, Hazlitt. Henry Van Dyke. 
 
 Katharine Hinkson. Theodore Watts-Dunton. 
 
 Herbert P. Horne, Frederick Wedmore. 
 
 Richard Hovey. P. H. Wicksteed. 
 
 Leigh Hunt. W, B. Yeats.* 
 
The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 ABBOTT (DR. C. C). 
 
 Travels in a Tree-Top. Sm. 8vo. jj. net. 
 
 Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Company. 
 
 The Birds About Us . 73 Engravings. Second Edition. 
 Thick cr. 8vo. 5^. dd. net. 
 
 Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Company. 
 ARMOUR {MARGARET). 
 
 Thames Sonnets and Semblances. By Mrs. W. B. 
 Macdougall (Margaret Armour). With 12 full- 
 page Illustrations, Decorated Title-page and Tail-piece 
 by W. B. Macdougall. Fcap. 410. 5^-. net. 
 
 «rr„^r.,- , ., „ [_ln preparation. 
 
 AUSTIN [ALFRED). 
 
 Leszko the Bastard: A Tale of Polish Grief. First 
 Edition (1877). Crown 8vo. 3^. 6d. net. 
 
 The few remaining copies (150) of the above book having 
 been transferred to the advertiser, he begs to call the 
 attention of book-buyers to the fact that this interesting 
 Narrative Poem is not to be found in the collected 
 edition of the Laureate's works. 
 BATEMAN {MAY). 
 
 Sonnets and Songs. With a title design by John D. 
 Mackenzie. Fcap. 8vo. y. 6d. net. 
 
 ** It 13 refreshing to find in these days verse so passionate, and at the same time 
 so little physiological. . . ." — Times. 
 
 " In form and style, Miss Bateman's Poems, alike in the sonnet sequence and in 
 the miscellaneous verses, reach a very high standard; nor are they wanting in true 
 poetical inspiration ; while they are instinct with the atmosphere of the country, and 
 especially of country flowers." — Queen. 
 
 BINYON {LAURENCE). 
 
 Lyric Poems, with title page by Selwyn Image. Sq. 
 i6mo. 5^. net. 
 
 •'This little volume of LYBIC Poems displays a grace of fancy, a spontaneity 
 and individuality of inspiration, and a felicitous command of metre and diction, which 
 lift the writer above the average of the minor singers of our time. . . , We may 
 expect much from the writer of 'An April Day,' or of the strong concluding lines on 
 the present age from a piece entitled ' Present and Future.' " — Times. 
 
 First Book of London Visions. (Elkin Mathews' 
 Shilling Garland). Fcap. Svo i^. net. 
 
 \_Second Edition. 
 
 " Mr. Binyon leads off in Mr. Elkin Mathews' new poetical series . , . 
 
 with a book of new verses, *London Viqaris,' and there seems to me to be no 
 
 question ^liout (be uncommon worUi of" these. . . They are twelve genuine 
 
The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 BINYON {LAURENCE).— continued. 
 
 things cut out of the heart of London life, and some of them are poems of a big 
 order. . • . The stuA* of poetry is in him, as it is in few of our pleasant verse- 
 writers to-day; and I doubt if any of the London poets — I am not forgetting 
 Mr. Henley — has put so much of actual London into his poetry." — Sketth. 
 
 *' A gravity and gentleness of thought and feeling, warm sympathies, and a 
 power of making us see pictures, mark all the twelve poems here. . . . His 
 verse impresses us more than that of many stormier, more brilliant singers. We shall 
 look with eagerness for his Second Book of Visions." — Bookman. 
 
 ''*■ Mr. Elkin Maihews has had many happy ideas from the time he started the 
 little Mecca of Vigo Street, which wilt figure largely in the future history of 
 literature in the late nineteenth century. One does not remember any better notion 
 than this of shilling volumes of new poetry. . . . Anyone who has even the 
 faintest love of poetry should buy this splendid shillingsworth — a thing of beauty clad 
 in brown paper, decorated as only Mr. Selwyn Image knows how. Apart from the 
 certainty of its being a much sought afier volume in coming days, it is genuine true 
 currency, pure gold, loyally and well wrought." — Bookselling. 
 
 BLACKMORE (R. D,) 
 
 Fringilla : OR, Some Tales in Verse. By the Author 
 
 of "Lorna Doone." With Eleven full-page Illustrations 
 
 and numerous vignettes and initials by Louis Fairfax- 
 
 Muckley and Three by James W. R. Linton. 
 
 Crown 4to. los. net. 
 
 "^Friiigilla' must be looked upon as Mr. Blackmore's diversions, and as such 
 
 it is very delightful. A whimsical originality, an imaginative wealth of detail, a 
 
 pleasant sense of humour are among Mr. Blackmore's qualities as a poet.'* — Speaker. 
 
 *'*■ Mr. Blackmore's verse is cultured and careful j it is full of knowledge ; it has 
 
 every quality which commands our respect ; it has an old-world charm of gentleness 
 
 and peace."— MR. W, L. Courtney, in the Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "The charming and accomplished drawings of Mr, Fairfax-Muckley, so finely 
 designed, so admirably decorative." — jicadenvf. 
 
 BOWCHER {HAVERING), 
 
 The C Major of Life : A Novel. Cr. 8vo. y. 6d. net 
 
 New York : Frederick A. Stokes Company, 
 
 "A RARE NOVEL. 
 " We commend this volume with an entire sincerity to all lovers of that literature 
 which is quiet, wise, and good. ^The C Major of Life' is a tale of men and women, 
 of love and the flouting o( love, of clashing temperaments and contending ambitions. 
 ... It has delicacy— delicacy is not the note of the modern novel. It creates 
 its own atmo'-phere, and excites a genuine, if not a breathless, interest. It is written 
 quietly, composedly, yet with force and feeling. When you lay it down— which you 
 are not likely to do until you have finished it— you izfi\ you have spent your time 
 well and wisely, and you have a sense of gratitude to the author. To fling down 
 such a book as this to the great howling herd of novel readers in town and country, 
 who are fed on such food as ' The Sorrows of Satan ' or such strange meat as ' Jude 
 the Obscure,' is, we should surmise, a rash venture j but it takes all sorts to make a 
 world, and we are certain that * The C Major of Life ' will give pleasure to thousands, 
 if only the right thousands happen to hear of it and read it."— Mr. Augustine Birrell, 
 ^C, M.P. 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 
 
 [Isham Facsimile Reprint.] 
 BRETON (NICHOLAS). 
 
 No Whippinge, nor Trippinge, but a kinde 
 FRIENDLY Snippinge. London, 1601. A Facsimile 
 Reprint, with the original Borders to every page, with 
 a Bibliographical Note by Charles Edmonds. 200 
 copies, printed on hand-made paper at the Chiswick 
 Press. i2mo. 31. 6(/. nei. 
 
 Also 50 copies Large Paper. 5^. ttei. 
 
 Facsimile reprint from tlie semi-unique copy discovered in the autumn of 1867 by 
 Mr. Cliarles Edmonds in a disused lumber room at Lamport Hall, Northants (Sir 
 Charles E. Isham'a), and purchased lately by the British Museum auihorities. Wlien 
 Dr. A. B. Grosart collected Breton's Works a few years ago for his ** Chcrtsey 
 Worthies Library," he was forced to confess that certain of Breton's most coveted 
 books were missing and absolutely unavailable. The semi-unique example under 
 notice was one of these. 
 
 BRIDGES (ROBERT). 
 
 Ode for the Bicentenary Commemoration of 
 Henry Purcell, with other Poems, and a Preface 
 on the Musical Setting of Poetry. (Elkin Mathews' 
 Shilling Garland). [^Second Edition. 
 
 "The * Ode to Music* has fine passages." — Spectator. 
 
 " A poem admirable alike in feeling and expression."— Ti/nej . 
 
 "The Ode is a fine work and peculiarly happy as being fine in a kind of poetry 
 analogous in its way to the kind of music that Purcell wrote — well ordered, solid 
 stately. . One may think of Dryden while reading it." — Scotsman. 
 
 BYRON {MAY). 
 
 A Little Book of Lyrics. \^Tn preparation. 
 
 CARMAN (BLISS). 
 
 Low Tide on Grand Prk ; a Book of Lyrics. Second 
 
 Edition. Small 8vo. y- ^'^- '"^A 
 " A charming little book." AtheniEum, 
 
 Behind the Arras : a Book of the Unseen. With 
 designs by T. B. Meteyard. Fcap. 8to. 5i. net. 
 
 '*A strange, restless, decidedly impressive book with a lurid glow about the 
 lyrics it contains. Mr. Carman's vocabulary is rich and exotic. . . . The book 
 contains rich poetical ore. . . .It is sumptuously printed, and strikingly bound." 
 —Pall Mall Gaxetti. , , . ^ ,^ . . . 
 
 " A brilliant and (iee fancy decorates the fabric of his thoughts, as though the 
 wind should wave the arras and yield us glimpses of undying roses."— S/eufcr. 
 
The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 CARMAN (BLISS) fif RICHARD HOVEY, 
 
 Songs from Vagabondia. With Decorations by Tom 
 
 B. Meteyard. Fcap. 8vo. 5^. net. 
 Boston : Copeland &= Day. 
 
 *' The Authors of the small joint volume called ' Songs from Vagabondia,* have 
 an unmistakable right to the name of poet. These little snatches have the spirit of a 
 gipsy Omar Khayyam. They have always careless verve, and often careless felicity; 
 they are masculine and rough, as roving songs should be. . . . Here, certainly, 
 is the poet's soul. . . . You have the whole spirit of the book in such an unfor~ 
 getable little lyric as * In the House of Idiedaily.' . . We refer the reader to the 
 delightful little volume itself, which comes as a welcome interlude amidst the highly 
 wrought introspectivepoetry of the day."— Francis Thompson, in Merry England. 
 
 *' Bliss Carman is the author of a delightful volume of verse, ' Low Tide on 
 Grand Pre,' and Richard Hovey is the foremost of the living poets of America, with 
 the exception, perhaps, of Bret Harte and Joaquim Miller, whose names are more 
 familiar. He sounds a deeper note than either of these, and deals with loftier 
 themes.'* — Dublin Express. 
 
 *' Both possess the power of investing actualities with fancy, and leaving them 
 none the less actual j of setting the march music of the vagabond's feet to words ; of 
 being comrades with nature, yet without presumption. And they have that charm, 
 rare in writers of verse, of drawing the reader into the fellowship of their own zest 
 and contentment." — Mhenaum. 
 
 More Songs from Vagabondia. With decorations by 
 
 T. B. Meteyard. Fcap. 8vo. Sj. net, 
 Boston : Copeland &^ Day. 
 
 CHAPMAN (ELIZABETH RACHEL). 
 
 A Little Child's Wreath : A Sonnet Sequence. With 
 title page and cover designed by Selwyn Image. 
 Second Edition. Sq. i6mo. , green buckram. 3J. 6d. net. 
 New York : Dodd, Mead &^ Company, 
 
 *^ Contains many tender and pathetic passages, and some really exquisite and 
 subtle touches of childhood nature. . . . The average excellence of the sonnets 
 is undoubted," — Spectator. 
 
 *' While they are brimming with tenderness and tears, they are marked with the 
 skilled workmanship of the real poet." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 *■' Evidently describes very real and intense sorrow. Its strains of tender sym- 
 pathy will appeal specially to those whose hearts have been wrung by the loss of 
 young child, and the verses are touching in their simplicity " — Morning Pojt. 
 
 " Re-assurcs us on its first page by its sanity and its simple tenderness." — Bookman. 
 
 COLERIDGE (HON. STEPHEN). 
 
 The Sanctity of Confession : A Romance. 2nd edi- 
 tion. Printed by Clowes & Son. 250 copies. Cr, 8vo. 
 3 J. net. [ Very few remain, 
 
 Mr. Gladstone writes :— ''1 have read the singularly well told story, . . . 
 It opens up questions both deep and dark J it cannot be right to accept in 'religion 
 or anything else a secret which destroys the life of an innocent fellow creature." 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 
 
 CORBIN (JOHN). 
 
 The Elizabethan Hamlet: A Study of the Sources, 
 and of Shakspere's Environment, to show that the Mad 
 Scenes had a Comic Aspect now Ignored. With a 
 Prefatory Note by F. York Powell, Regius Professor 
 of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Small 
 4to. 3^ 6rf. net. 
 
 New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, \_Very few remain. 
 
 DANTE. 
 
 La Commedia di Dante. A New Text carefully Revised 
 with the aid of the most recent Editions and Collations. 
 Thick Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. net. 
 
 DAVIES {R. R.). 
 
 Some Account of the Old Church at Chelsea and 
 OF ITS Monuments. [^In preparation. 
 
 DE GRUCHT [AUGUSTA). 
 
 Under the Hawthorn, and Other Verses. With 
 Frontispiece by Walter Crane. Printed at the 
 Rugby Press. 300 copies. Cr. 8vo. 5^. net. 
 
 ** Distinguished by the attractive qualities of grace and refinement, and a purity 
 of style that is as refreshing as a limpid stream in tile heat of a summer's noon. . . . 
 The charm of these poems lies in their naturalness, which is indeed an admirable 
 quality in song." — Saturday Review. 
 
 DIXON {CANON R. fTATSON). 
 
 Songs and Odes. (Elkin Mathews' Shilling Gar- 
 land, No. v.). Fcap. 8vo. is. net. 
 
 DOWSON (ERNEST). 
 
 Dilemmas: Stories and Studies in Sentiment, (A Case of 
 Conscience. — The Diary of a Successful Man. — An 
 Orchestral Violin. — The Statute of Limitations. — 
 Souvenirs of an Egoist). Crown 8vo. 3^-. 6ci. net. 
 New York : Frederick A. Stokes Company. 
 
 "Unquestionably they are good stories, with a real human interest in them." — 
 St. James*! Gaxette. 
 
 " ' A Case of Conscience * ... an exceedingly good story. At first sight 
 it might appear unfinished, as one of the problems presented is left unsolved ; but one 
 soon feels that anything more would have spoilt the art with which the double tragedy 
 of the two men's lives is flashed before the reader in a few pages." — Athenaum. 
 
 "These stories can be read with pure enjoyment, for along with subtlety of 
 thougllt and grace of diction there is true lefinement." — Liverpool Mercury. 
 
The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 FIELD {MICHAEL). 
 
 Sight and Song (Poems on Pictures). Printed by 
 Constables. 400 copies. i2mo. 5^. net. 
 
 f Very few remain 
 
 Stephania : A Trialogue in Three Acts. Frontis- 
 piece, colophon, and ornament for binding designed 
 by Selwyn Image. Printed by Folkard & Son 
 250 copies (200 for sale). Pott 4to. 6s. net. 
 
 [ Very few remain, 
 
 "We have true drama in 'Stephania.' .... Stephania, Otho, and 
 
 Sylvester II., the three persons of the play, are more than mere names 
 
 Besides great effort, commendable efibrt, there is real greatness in this play; and the 
 blank verse is often sinewy and strong with thought and passion." — Speakir. 
 
 ''' Stephania ' is striking in design and powerful in execution. It is a highly 
 dramatic '• trialogue ' between the Emperor Otho 111., his tutor Gerbert, and Stephania, 
 the widow of the murdered Roman Consul, Crescentius. The poem contains much 
 line work, and is picturesque and of poetical accent. . . ." — if^eitmintttr Rtviivj. 
 
 A Question of Memory : a Play in Four Acts. 
 100 copies only. 8vo. $s. net. [Very few remain. 
 
 Attila, My Attila ! A Drama in Four Acts. 
 Wijth a. Facsimile of Two Medals. (Uniform with 
 Stephania). Pott 4to. 5^. net. 
 
 " Attila, My Attila, is another of Michael Field's notable plays." — Dally Newj. 
 
 " Michael Field has already established a claim that what she writes should be 
 read." — Timet. 
 
 " A poetic drama, it is, for a wonder, poetry, and framed on no archaic pattern ; 
 its words speak to listeners of to-day." — Mbum. 
 
 G ALTON {ARTHUR). 
 
 Essays upon Matthew Arnold.. \^In preparation. 
 
 GASKIN {ARTHUR). 
 
 Good King Wenceslas. A Carol written by Dr. Neale 
 and Pictured by Arthur J. Gaskin ; with an Intro- 
 duction by William Morris. 4to. 3^. 60?. net. 
 
 Transferred to the present Publisher. 
 
 ''Mr. Arthur J. Gaskin has more than redeemed the promise of his illustrations 
 to Hans Christian Andersen's talcs by his edition of the lace Dr. Neale's carol of 
 ' Good King Wenceslas.' . . . The pictures, pictorial borders, and initial letters 
 are remarkable both for the vigour of the drawing and the sense of the decorative 
 style which they exhibit. Mr. William Morris has shown his interest in the artist's 
 work by contributing a prefatory note."— 2)fliVv Heva. 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 
 
 GASKIN {MRS, ARTHUR), 
 
 Divine and Moral Songs. By Isaac Watts, D.D. 
 
 Pictured in Colours, by Mrs. Arthur Gaskin. 
 
 i6mo. Printed by Edmund Evans. 3^. dd. net. 
 
 A.B.C. An Alphabet Rhymed and Pictured by Mrs. 
 
 Arthur Gaskin. 60 designs. Fcap. 8vo. 3^. dd. net, 
 
 Chicago: A. C. McClurg &= Co. \_Second thousand, 
 
 *' Quite an artistic book for children, the little rhymes to each letter are amusing 
 
 and the woodcut elaboration of each are of the dear old-fashioned sort that are always 
 
 so charming,*' — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 ** Will delight children by its simple rhymes and the pretty and fanciful drawings 
 which illustrate them. Mrs. Gaskin succeeds in rendering the essential grace of 
 child-like life." — Manchester Guardian. 
 
 "The daintiest little book imaginable." — Saturday Review. 
 "This charming and dainty little volume will please most mothers, if not most 
 children. The drawings are very clever, and full of the innocent humour and sweet- 
 ness of childhood. Some of them are quite beautiful in their simple way, and the 
 verses are in keeping with the pictures. . . . The volume is produced in excellent 
 taste, and the binding is perfect in its way." — j^cademy. 
 
 HAKE {DR. r. GORDON, " The Parable Poet/') 
 
 Madeline, and other Poems. Crown 8vo. 5^. net. 
 Transferred to the present Publisher. 
 
 "The ministry of the angel Daphne to her erring human sister is frequently 
 related in strains of pure and elevated tenderness. Nor does the poet who can show 
 so much delicacy fail in strength. The description of Madeline as she passes in 
 trance to her vengeance is full of vivid pictures and charged with tragic feeling. 
 Theindividuality of the writer lies in his deep sympathy with whatever affects the 
 being and condition ofman. . . . Taken as a whole, the book has high and 
 unusual claims." — Athenaum. 
 
 **I have been reading 'Madeline' again. For sheer originality, both of conception 
 and of treatment, I consider that it stands alone."— Mr. Theodore Watts- 
 
 DtJNTON. 
 
 Parables and Tales. (Mother and Child. — The Crip- 
 ple.— The BHnd Boy.— Old Morality.— Old Souls.— 
 The Lily of the Valley.— The Deadly Nightshade.— 
 The Poet). 9 illustrations by Arthur Hughes. 
 New Edition, with Memoir by Theodore Watts- 
 DUNTON. \_In preparation. 
 
 "The qualities of Dr. Gordon Hake's work were from the first fully admitted 
 and warmly praised by one of the greatest of contemporary poets, who was also a 
 critic of exceptional acuteness — Rossetti. Indeed, the only two review articles which 
 Rossetti ever wrote were written on two of Dr. Hake's books : ' Madeline,' which he 
 reviewed in the ^efl(^£my in 1871, and 'Parables and Tales,' which he reviewed in 
 HBlZ FortnigHly \x\ 1873. Many eminent critics have expressed a decided preference 
 for * Parables and Tales ' to Dr. Hake's other works, and it had the advantage of being 
 enriched with the admirable illustrations of Arthur Hughes."— ^flrwrJa^ Revhv}.^ 
 January, 1895. 
 
10 The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 HAKE (DR. T. GORDON)— continued. 
 
 ^' The piece called ' Old Souls ' is probably secure of a distinct place in the liter- 
 ature of our day, and we believe the same may be predicted of other poems in the 
 little collection just issued, . . . Should Dr. Hake's more restricted, but lovely 
 and sincere contributions to the poetry of real life not find the immediate response 
 they deserve, he may at least remember that oihers also have failed to meet at once 
 with full justice and recognition. But we will hope for good encouragement to his 
 present and future work; and can at least ensure the lover of poetry that in these 
 simple pages he shall find not seldom a humanity limpid and pellucid — the well-spring 
 of a true heart, with which his tears must mingle as with their own element. 
 
 ^^ Dr. Hake has been fortunate in the beautiful drawings which Mr. Arthur 
 Hughes has contributed to his little volume. No poet could have a more congenial 
 yoke-fellow than this gifted and imaginative artist." — D, G. Rossetti, in the 
 Fortnightly, 1873. 
 
 HARTE {ff ALTER BLACKBURN). 
 
 Meditations in Motley : A Bundle of Papers imbued 
 with the Sobriety of Midnight. Fcap. 8vo. 3^. 6d, net, 
 
 "... His style is good, because it so excellently conveys his thought. 
 ... At his best — that is in his most characteristic ^nd seemingly unconscious 
 passages — he reminds one of Montaigne, the charming inconsequence, the egotism 
 free from arrogance." — jicademy. 
 
 HAZLirr {W. CAREW). 
 
 The Lambs : their Lives, their Friends, and their 
 Correspondents. New Particulars and New Material. 
 Thick crown 8vo. 6s. net. 
 
 This work contains (l) new biographical and bibliographical 
 matter relative to Charles Lamb and his Sister ; (2) sixty-four 
 uncollected letters and notes from the Lambs, several of which 
 have not hitherto been printed ; and (3) certain letters to Lamb 
 now first correctly rendered. 
 
 HEMINGWAY {PERCY). 
 
 The Happy Wanderer (Poems). With title design by 
 Charles I. ffoulkes. Printed at the Chiswick Press, on 
 hand-made paper. Sq. i6mo. 5i. net. 
 
 Chicago : Way &° Williams. 
 
 " *The Happy Wanderer' is an exquisite volume wliere thought and expression 
 alike are admirable. It should be read by all who are interested iu the poetry of the 
 Any ."—Black and JVhiu. 
 
 **Mr. Hemingway is thoughtful, and his felicity of phrase is more than occasional' 
 His description of the sea as ' that mighty organ only God can play,' is very fine, and 
 some of the'sonnets — notably that which gives the title — linger in the memory and 
 may not be forgotten.'' — Rtvievi ofReviezoi. 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. ii 
 
 HEMINGWAY {PERCY)— continued. 
 
 " He has a touch of true poetic genius — quite enough to give throbbing life to 
 nearly every stanza in ihis dainty little tiook. And with the strength and Icrvour 
 there is grace. These arc poems which all lovers of poetry will enjoy." — Datly Mail^ 
 
 Out of Egypt : Stones from the Threshold of the East. 
 Cover design by Gleeson White. Crown 8vo. 
 3^. 6d. net. 
 
 '* This i9 a strong book." — Academy. 
 
 "The tale ... is treated with daring directness. . . An impressive and 
 pathetic close to a story told throughout with arresting strength and simplicity " — 
 Daily News. 
 
 ^'Genuine power and pathos," — Fall Mall Ga^zette. 
 
 HICKET {EMIL7), 
 
 Poems. With a Frontispiece by Mary E. Swan. Crown 
 8vo. 5-^' ^^^■ 
 
 "This book of true and pure poetry is brought out with that care and taste for 
 which Mr. Elkin Mathews* publications are famous ' — Irhh Monthly. 
 
 '* It has charm and atrriosphere, the grace of an exalted and truthful personality. 
 . . . Phrases of her workwhich suggest howdeeplyshe has pondered upon modern 
 life; seeing it sleadidly and whole, as a poet ought.'' — Weekly Sun. 
 
 " Miss Hickey's verse (in Lady Ellen) has a rich dignity of language and quaint 
 beauty of phrase."--Imfe limes. 
 
 Verse Tales, Lykics and Translations. Printed at 
 the Arnold Press. Imp. i6mo. 5j. net. :: 
 
 [Very few remain. 
 *Miss Hickey's 'Verse Talcs, Lyrics, and Translations' almost invariably 
 reach a high level of finish and completeness. The book is a string of little rounded 
 pearls. — Athenaum . 
 
 HINKSON {HENRY A.). 
 
 Dublin Verses. By Members of Trinity College. 
 Selected and Edited by H. A. Hinkson, late Scholar 
 of Trinity College, Dublin. Pott 4to. 5^. net. 
 Dublin: Hodges, Figgis &= Co., Limited. 
 Includes contributions by the following : — Aubrey de Vere, 
 Sir Stephen de Vere, Oscar Wilde, J. K. Ingram, A. P. Graves, 
 J. Todhunter, W. E. H. Lecky, T. W. Rolleston, Edward 
 Dowden, G. A. Greene, Savage-Armstrong, Douglas Hyde, 
 R. Y. Tyrrell, G. N. Plunkett, W. Macneile Dixon, William 
 Wilkins, George Wilkins, and Edwin Hamilton. 
 
 " A pleasant volume of contemporary Irish Verse. . A judicious seleclion." 
 — Times. 
 
 " Wherever there is a group of Irish readers in near or far-off lands, these 
 ' Dublin Verses ' will be sure to command attention and applause."— G/aijom Herald, 
 
12 The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 HINKSON {KArHARINE). 
 
 A Lover's Breast Knot : Lyrics by Katharine 
 
 Tynan (Mrs. Hinkson). Decorated title-p^e. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo. y. 6d. net. 
 
 Sloes on the Blackthorn : a Volume of Irish 
 
 Stories. Crown 8vo., y. 6d. net. [In preparation. 
 
 "HOBBY HORSE {THE)." 
 
 An Illustrated Art Miscellany. Edited by Herbert 
 
 P. HoRNE. The Fourth Number of the New Series 
 
 ■will shortly appear, after which Mr. Mathews will 
 
 publish all the numbers in a volume, price £i. is. net. 
 
 Boston : Cofeland &> Day. 
 
 HORNE {HERBERT P.) 
 
 Diversi Colores : Poems. Vignette, &c., designed by 
 the Author. Printed at the Chiswick Press. 250 
 copies. i6mo. 5^. net. 
 Transferred by the Author to the present Publisher. 
 *' In these few poemsMr. Home has set before a tasteless age, andan extravagant 
 age, examples of poetry which, without fear or hesitation, we consider to be of true 
 and pure beauty."— ..inri-^^afoiin. 
 
 HOVEY {RICHARD). 
 
 See Carman. 
 
 HUGHES {ARTHUR). 
 See Hake. 
 
 HUNT {LEIGH). 
 
 A Volume of Essays now collected for the first time. 
 Edited with a critical Introduction by R. W. M. 
 Johnson. [/« prefaratoin. 
 
 IMAGE {SELWYN). 
 
 Poems and Carols. {Diversi Colores Series. — New 
 
 Volume). Title design by H. P. Horne. Printed 
 
 on hand-made paper at the Chiswick Press. i6mo. 
 
 5.?. net. 
 
 *' Among the artists who have turned poets will shortly have to be reckoned Mr. 
 
 Selwyn Image. A volume of poems from his pen will be published by Mr. Elkin 
 
 Mathews before long. Those who are acquainted with Mr. Selwyn image's work 
 
 will expect to find a real and deep poetic charm in this book." — DaiU Chronicle. 
 
 " No one else could have done it C'.c, written ' Poems and Carols ') in just this 
 way, and the artist himself could have done it in no other way.'* *' A remarkable 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 13 
 
 IMAGE {SELWYN)— continued. 
 
 impress of personality, and liiis personality of singular rarity and interest. Every 
 piece is periectly composed ; the ' mental cartooning,' to use Rossetti's phrase, has 
 been adequately done . . . an air of grave and homely order ... a union of 
 quaint and suody simple homeliness, with a somewhat abstract severity. ... It 
 is a new thing, the revelation of a new poet. . . . Here is a book which may be 
 trusted to outlive most contemporary literature." — Saturday Review, 
 
 *' An intensely personal expression of a personality of singular charm, gravity, 
 fancifulness, and interest J work which is alone among contemporary verse alike in 
 regard to substance and to form . . . comes with more true novtlty than any 
 book of verse published in England for some years." — Athenaum. 
 
 '*Some men seem to avoidrameassedulously asthe majority seekit. Mr. Selwyn 
 Image is one of these. He has achieved a charming fame by his very shyness and 
 mystery. His very name has a look ot having been designed by the Century Guild, 
 and it was certainly first published in the Century Guild Hobby HorseJ''' — the Realm. 
 
 "In the liny little volume of verse, 'Poems and Carols,' by Selwyn Image, 
 we discern a note of spontaneous inspiration, a delicate and gracelul fancy, and 
 considerable, but unequal, skill of versification. The Carols are skilful reproductions 
 of that rather archaic form of composition, devotional in tone and felicitous in 
 sentiment. Love and nature are the principal themes of the Poems. It is difficult 
 not to be hackneyed in the treatment of such themes, but Mr. Image successfully 
 overcomes the difiiculty." — The Times. 
 
 *■' The Catholic movement in literature, a strong reality to-day in England as in 
 France, if working within narrow limits, has its newest interpretation in Mr. Selwyn 
 Image's 'Poems and Carols,' Of course the book is charming to look at and to 
 handle, since it is his. The Chiswick Press and Mr, Mathews have helped him to 
 realize his design." — The sketch. 
 
 ISHAM FACSIMILE REPRINTS; Nos. III. and IF, 
 
 See Breton and Southwell. 
 
 * ^ New Elizabethan Literature at the British Museum, see 
 The Times, 31 August, 1894, also Notes and Queries^ Sept., 1894. 
 
 JOHNSON [LIONEL), 
 
 Poems. With a title design and colophon by H. P. Horn E. 
 Printed at the Chiswick Press, on hand-made paper. 
 Sq. post 8vo. 5j. net. 
 
 Also, 25 special copies at 15^. net. 
 
 Boston : Copeland and Day, 
 
 '* Full of delicate fancy, and display much lyrical grace and felicity." — Times. 
 
 " An air of solidity, combined with something also of severity, is the first 
 mpression one receives from these pages. . . . The poems are more massive 
 than most lyrics are; they aim at dignity and attain it. This is, we believe, the first 
 book of verse that Mr. Johnson has published \ and we would say, on a first reading, 
 ihat for a first book it was remarkably mature. And so it is, in its accomplishmenr, 
 its reserve of strength, its unfalleiing style. . . . Whatever form his writing 
 takes, it will be the expression of a rich mind, and a rare XaXzwi"— Saturday Reviem. 
 
 "Mr. Lionel Johnson's poems have the advantage of a two-fold inspiration. 
 Many of these austere strains could never have been written if he had not been 
 
14 The Publications of ElJcin Mathews 
 
 JOHNSON (LIONEL)— continued. 
 
 Steeped in the most golden poetry of the Greeks; v/hilc, on the other hand, side by 
 side with the mellifluous chanting, there comes another note, mild, sweet, and 
 unsophisticated— the very bird-note of Celtic poetry. And then again one comes on 
 a very ripe and affluent, as of one who has spoiled the very goldenest harvests of song 
 of culiivited ages, . . . Mr. Johnson's poetry is concerned with lofty things and 
 is never less than passionately sincere. It is sane, high-minded, and full of felicities." 
 — Illustrated London News. 
 
 **The most obvious characteristics of Mr. Johnson's verse are dignity and 
 distinction; but beneath these one feels a passionate poetic impulse, and a grave 
 fascinating music passes from end to end of the volume." — Realm. 
 
 '■'■ It is at once stately and passionate, austere, and free. His passion has a sane 
 mood: his fire a v/hite heat. . . . Once again it is the Celtic spirit that makes 
 for higher things. Mr. Johnson's muse is concerned only with the highest. Her 
 flight is as of a winged thing, that goes * higher still and higher,' and has few 
 flutterings near earth." — Irish Daily Independent. ' 
 
 JOHNSON {EFFIE). 
 
 In the Fire, and other Fancies. With fronlispiece 
 by Walter Crane. Imperial i6mo. 3^. 6d. net. 
 
 KING {PAULINE). 
 
 Al.lDA Craig : A Novel. With Illustrations by T. K. 
 IIanna. Thick fcap. 8vo. y. 6d. net. 
 
 LAMB {CHARLES). 
 
 Beauty and the Beast. With an Introduction by 
 
 Andrew Lang. Facsimile Reprint of the rare First 
 
 Edition. With 8 choice stipple engravings in irmvn 
 
 ink, after the original plates. Royal l6mo. 3J. 6rf. net. 
 
 Transferred to the present Publisher. 
 
 See also Hazlitt. 
 
 LEGENDRE {ADAM), 
 
 The Letters and Papers of. (Diversi Cohres Series.) 
 
 [In preparation. 
 MARSON {REf". C. L.). 
 
 Turnpike Tales. With cover design by Edith Calvert. 
 
 Crown Svo. 3^. 6d. net. 
 CoNi ENTS ; — Mr. Lavender and his Legacy ; Wild Grapes ; 
 Miss Pattie's Rheumatism ; The Bishop ; A Realist of the Oldest 
 School ; Love in a Mist ; Abdias of Babylon ; A Satellite of 
 Saturn. 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 15 
 
 MARSrON {PHILIP BOURKE). 
 
 A Last Harvest : Lyrics' and Sonnets from the 
 Book of Love. Edited, with Biographical Sketch, 
 by Louise Chandler Moulton. 500 copies. Printed 
 by Miller & Son. Post 8vo. 5^. net. 
 
 [ Very few remain. 
 Also 50 copies on hand-made L.P. los. 6d. net. 
 
 [ Very few remain. 
 ''Among the sonnets with which the volume concludes, there are some fine 
 examples of a form of verse in which all competent authorities allow that Marston 
 excelled, 'The Breadth and Beauty of the Spacious Night,' 'To All in Haven,' 
 'Friendship and Love,* 'Love's Deserted Palace' — these, to mention no others, 
 have the 'high seriousness ' which Matthew Arnold made the test of true poetry." — 
 Athmaum. 
 
 MASON {A. E. W.), 
 
 A Romance of Wastdale. By the Author of " The 
 Courtship of Morrice Buckler.'* Cr. 8vo. 3^. 6d. net. 
 New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. 
 
 " This story of few days is full of interest from first to last, (julminating in so 
 powerful a description of the tragic avenging of a double betrayal, that, as the ghastly 
 events of ihe nieht in the mountain passes unfold themselves hour by hour, the 
 excitement becomes intense. The book is full of events of an original and striking 
 nature, and the chaiacters sketched in by subtle, telling touches. We have rarely 
 found a better told scene than that between Kate and Hawke, which the hidden 
 bn'dcgroom of the morrow sees and hears. The lovely lake land is described by one 
 who knows and loves iS. Few commencing '■A Romance of Wastdale' will lay it 
 down till the last page is turned." — ?all Mall G axe tu. 
 
 "Cleverly planned and brightly written." — Black and IVhite. 
 
 •-' May be recommended for the grace of Its style, as well as the interest of its 
 plot.*' — DaVy Telegraph, 
 
 MEYNELL (^/ILFRID). 
 
 The Child set in the Midst. By Modern Poets. 
 With Introduction by W. Meynell, and Facsimile of 
 the MS. of the "Toys" by Coventry Patmore. 
 Royal l6mo. 3^. 6d. net. 
 MORRIS {WILLIAM). 
 
 See Gaskin. 
 MORRISON (G. E.). 
 
 Alonzo Quixano, otherwise Don Quixote: being a 
 dramatization of the Novel of Cervantes, and espe- 
 cially of those parts which he left unwritten. Cr. 8vo. 
 IS. net. 
 "This play, distinguished and full of line qualities, is a brave attempt to enrich 
 our poetic drama. . . . The reverence shown for Cervantes, the care to preserve 
 intact the characteristics the Spanish master lingered over so humorously, yet so 
 lovingly, have led Mr. Morrison 10 deserved and notable success." — Academy. 
 
1 6 The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 MUSA CATHOLIC A. lln preparation, 
 
 MURRAY {ALMA). 
 
 Portrait as Beatrice Cenci. With Critical Notice 
 containing Four Letters from Robert Browning. 
 8vo. 2s. net. 
 
 NOEL {HON. RODEN). 
 
 My Sea, and other posthumous Poems. With an Intro- 
 duction by Stanley Addleshaw. Cr. 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 net. 
 
 " The volume now published from the materials the Hon . Roden Noel left behind 
 him will no way detract from his fame as a poet. We have here notes of the same 
 music that give so sweet and subtle a charm to his best poetry." —G/<jj^olo Herald. 
 
 "The ' Nature Poems ' have lines of great beauty and vigour."— ,9 li^rct. 
 
 '•'• Many of the poems in this slender volume are among the best, in our opinion, 
 that he ever wrote." — Commonwealth. 
 
 "A volume of strong and pathetic interest." — Mr. A. E. FLETCHER, in the 
 New Age. 
 
 '* Such poems as ' Wild Love on the Sea,' with its ringing rhythm and the tender 
 melodious ' To a Comrade,' leave little to be desired,"- — Pall Mall Gaxette 
 
 Poor People's Christmas. Printed at the Aylesbury 
 Press. 250 copies. i6mo. is. net, \_Veryfew remain. 
 
 "Displays the author at his best Mr. Noel always has something 
 
 to say worth saying, and his technique— though like Browning, he is too intent upon 
 idea to bestow all due care upon form — is generally sufficient and sometimes 
 masterly. We hear too seldom from a poet of such deep and kindly sympathy," — 
 Sunday Times. 
 
 O'SULLIVAN {FINCENT). 
 
 Poems. With a title design by Selwyn Image. Printed 
 at the Chiswick Press on hand-made paper. (Uniform 
 with Lionel Johnson's Poems). Sq. cr. 8vo. 5.?. net. 
 
 ' These poems are of a rich, deep sweetness, that suits well the mystical devotion 
 of the faith that has inspired them. . . . Lovers of true poetry will do well to 
 spend a few quiet hours with Mr. O'Sullivan," — Liverpool Mercury. 
 
 "Very musical are his lullabies and croons -they go to the heart." — Weekly 
 Register. 
 
 "The soul of a bibliophilist will certainly be delighted by the sight of this 
 volume." — Tablet. 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 17 
 
 PHILLIPS (STEPHEN). 
 
 Christ in Hades, and other Poems (Elkin Mathews' 
 Shilling Garland, No. III,). 
 
 \_Third Sditioit in the press, 
 
 '*lt is a wonderful dream, a dream that stira the heart in almost every line, 
 though Christ himself never utters a word throughout the poem, but only brings his 
 sad countenance and bleeding brow and torn hands into that imaginary world of half 
 conceived and chaotic gloom.** — Spectator, 
 
 " This much at least is certaiii, that here we have a new and powerful individu- 
 ality, standing quite alone among our younger poets, and one who has the courage to 
 attempt a sustained effort on a great theme. . . . We welcome this poem as a 
 high performance seriously undertaken and powerfully carried through, and as deeply 
 felt as it is vividly imagined." — Saturday Review. 
 
 " The solemn music is matched by majestic words. The poignancy of feeling 
 which is in the title-poem cries from the lyrics also." — Speaker. 
 
 "... Mr. Phillips has made an essay and a splendidly successful essay 
 towards the epic. ... It deals with a single episode in Christian legend, and 
 one feels admiration for a writer w ho has selected for his theme so lofty a subject, 
 adorned it with such majestic music, and created for it such a striking atmosphere of 
 solemnity and gloom. . . . There is something MiLtonic in the massive dignity 
 of the lines. . . . ^ Christ in Hades * is a iine imaginative poem of a rare order, 
 which everyone ought to read." — Ecko. 
 
 POWELL {F, YORK). 
 See CORBIN. 
 
 PROBYN [MAY). 
 
 Pansies : A Book of Poems. With a title-page and cover 
 design by Minnie Mathews. Fcap. 8vo. 3^. 6a. net. 
 
 "Miss Probyn's new volume is a slim one, but rare irf quality. She is no mere 
 pretty verse maker; her spontaneity and originality are beyond question, and so far 
 as colour and picturesqueness go, only Mr. Francis Thompson rivals her among the 
 English Catholic poets of to-day." — Sketch. 
 
 " This too small book is a mine of the purest poetry, very holy, and very 
 reAned, and removed as &r as possible fcotci the tawdry or the common-place. ' — Irhh 
 Monthly, 
 
 *' The religious poems are in their way perfect, with a tinge of the mysticism 
 one looks fori n the poetry of two centuries ago, but so seldom meets with nowadays.'* 
 — Catholic Times, 
 
 " Full of a delicate devotional sentiment and much metrical felicity." — Times. 
 
 New Illustrated Edition of a scarce book, 
 RADFORD {DOLL IE). 
 
 A Light Load ; a Book of Songs. With numerous full- 
 page drawings and initial letters by Beatrice Parsons. 
 Sniall 8vo. ^s. net* 
 
[8 The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 RADFORD {DOLLIE)— continued. 
 
 ^^No woman could write a sweeter verse than the dedicatory stanzas of Dollie 
 Radford's 'A Light Load.'" — Speaker, 
 
 '•^ Of one piece, it should be said that it breathes the spirit of Mr. R. L. 
 Stevenson's 'A Child's Garden of Verses.' Indeed there is not a song in this slender 
 volnme that would not bear quoting as an example of what a lyric should be." — 
 Daily Chronicle. 
 
 **The songs are full of instinctive music which soars naturally. They have the 
 choice unsought felicity of a nature essentially lyrical." — Academy. 
 
 *' There is a song to quote on every page, and we must desist^ but we are much 
 mistaken if Mrs. Radford is not the possessor os a very rare and exquisite lyric gift 
 indeed." — MR. Richard Le Gallienne, in the Star. 
 
 RHYMERS' CLUB, THE SECOND BOOK OF THE. 
 
 Contributions by E. DowsON, E. J. Ellis, G. A. Greene, 
 A. HiLLiER, Lionel Johnson, Richard le Gal 
 LiENNE, Victor Plarr, E. Radford, E. Rhys, 
 T. W. Rollestone, Arthur Symons, J. Tod 
 HUNTER, W. B. Yeats, Printed by Miller & Son, 
 500 copies (of which 400 are for sale). i6mo. ^s. net, 
 50 copies on hand-made L.P. lo^. ^d. net. 
 
 Neio York : Dodd, Mead &= Co. 
 
 "The work of twelve very competent verse writers, many of them not unknown 
 to fame. This form of publication is not a new departure exactly, but it is a recur- 
 rence to the excellent fashion of the Elizabethan age, when 'England's Helicon,* 
 Davison's * Poetical Rhapsody,' and ' Phosnix Nest/ with scores of other collections, 
 contained the best songs of the best song-writers of that tuneful epoch," — Black and 
 fVhite. 
 
 "The future of these thirteen writers, who have thus banded themselves 
 together, will be w^tehed with interest. Already there is fulfilment in their work, 
 and there is much promise." -Speaker. 
 
 'Mn the intervals of Welsh rarebit and stout provided for them at the 'Cheshire 
 Cheese,' in Fleet Street, the members of the Rhymers' Club have produced some very 
 pretty poems, which Mr. Elkin Mathews has issued in his notoriously dainty 
 manner." — Pall Mall Gaxette. 
 
 ROSEN (LEfT). 
 
 Napoleon's Opera - Glass : a Histrionic Study. 
 "With a cover design by Edith Calvert. Crown 8vo. 
 3J. bif. net. 
 
 This monograph treats of Napoleon as a critic and patron of the dramai and 
 touches upon his relations with playwrights and players. 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 19 
 
 RVDING (PTALTER), 
 
 An Evil Motherhood. An Impressionist Novel. With 
 
 a Frontispiece by Aubrey Beardsley. Crown 8vo. 
 
 3J. 6d. net, 
 
 '^The atory is, indeed, a powerful one; a tale of wrong and suiFeriiig told in a 
 
 vivid and thrilling language. Jiis in very truth the tragedy of a braiii — its revolt, its 
 
 su^riiig, its final passionate cries against the cruel wrong which sapped its strength, 
 
 tortured its intellect andiiitelligence, and then left it thus shattered to fight the healthy 
 
 world as best it could." — Sunday Times. 
 
 "Extremely original in its treatment." — IVestminster Gaxette. 
 
 SCHAFF (DR. PHILLIP). 
 
 Dante Papers. With Illustrations by W. T. Horton. 
 
 [In preparation. 
 
 Literature and Poetry. Engravings. 8vo. ioj. net. 
 
 SCULL {IV. DELAPLAINE), 
 
 The Garden of the Matchboxes, and other Stories. 
 Crown 8vo. 3^. 6d. net. 
 
 " The author of these clever and fascinating fentasies is entirely abreast of the 
 newest critical orthodoxy. ... As literary craftsmanship, these maiden stories 
 attain an unusually high and even level. They are all style. The variety of subject 
 and motive is remarkable. As a whole, 1 take it, these tales mark the advent of a 
 new story-teller, adequately equipped for the delineation of character, and possessed 
 of acute psychological insight. Besides which, he can write." — Mr. Grant Allen, 
 in Academy. 
 
 " The beauty and pathos of ' A Certain Mr. Smith ' will reward everyone for 
 taking up the book." ~ Manchester Guardian. 
 
 " It is some time since we came upon more original work than this." — Illustrated 
 Lcndon News. 
 
 SHARP {WILLIAM). 
 
 EccE Puella, and other Prose Imaginings. Cr. Svo. 
 3J. 6d, net, 
 *'The book, as a whole, will appeal to all who have a keen palate for the m:)re 
 subtle flavours of literature." — New Age. 
 
 *' Written in Mr. Sharp's brightest and happiest style.*' — Leeds Mercury, 
 
 SHILLING GARLAND {ELKIN MATHEfTS'). 
 Price One Shilling, net, each part. 
 No. I. London Visions. By L. Binyon. 
 
 \_Secoiid Edition, 
 No. II. PuRCELL Ode. By R. Bridges. 
 
 \jSecond Edition. 
 
20 The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 SHILLING GARLAND {ELKIN MATHEWS')— continued. 
 
 No. III. Christ in Hades. By S. Phillips. 
 
 [ Third Edition in press. 
 No. IV. Aeromancy. By M. L. Woods. 
 
 [Second Edition in press. 
 
 No. V. Songs and Odes. By Canon Dixon. 
 
 {_Just ready. 
 No. VI. The Praise of Life. By L. Binyon. 
 
 [/« preparation. 
 No. VII. New Poems. By Stephen Phillips. 
 
 [/« preparation. 
 
 *.,' Other Volumes in preparation. 
 The first five parts may also be had bound in cloth, ^s. 6d. net. 
 
 SONG OF SONGS, WHICH IS SOLOMON'S. 
 
 Twenty Drawings from designs by Althea Gyles. 4to. 
 One Guinea net. 
 
 Also 25 copies on special paper, Two Guineas net. 
 
 [In preparation. 
 [Isham Facsimile Reprint]. 
 
 S[OUTHW£LL] (R[OBERr]). 
 
 A Fovrefovld Meditation, of the foure last 
 things. Composed in a Dihine Poeme. By R. S. 
 The author of S. Peter's complaint. London, 1606- 
 A Facsimile Reprint, with a. Bibliographical Note by 
 Charles Edmonds. 150 copies. Printed on hand- 
 made paper at the Chiswick Press. Roy. i6mo. 
 5^. net. 
 
 Also 50 copies, large paper. Js. 6d. net. 
 
 Facaimilc reprint from the unique fragment discovered in the autumn of 1S67 by 
 Mr. Charles Edmonds in a disused lumncr room at Lamport Hall, Northants, and 
 lately purchased by the British Museum authorities. This fragment supplies the first 
 sheet ol a previously unknown poem by Robert Southwell, the Roman Catholic poet, 
 whose religious fervour lenda a pathetic beauty to everything that he wrote, and 
 future editors of Southwell's works will find it necessary to give it close study. The 
 whole of the Poeui has been completed from two MS. copies, which dilTer in the 
 number of Stanzas. 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 21 
 
 SPANISH ARMADA, 
 
 A Letter written on October 4, 1589, by Captain Cuellar, 
 of the Spanish Armada, to H.M. King Philip II., 
 recounting his Misadventures in Ireland and elsewhere 
 after the Wreck of his Ship. Translated with Notes, 
 by Henry D, Sedgwick. Finely printed on deckle- 
 edge paper. 250 copies only. Fcap. 8vo. 4^. 6ci. net. 
 
 Translated from the Spanish text given in Captain Fernandez Duro's La Armada. 
 Invincible. The letter is of extreme interest, and gives a graphic picture of the 
 demoralization of the Armada as it made iis final attempt to circumnavigate Ijcotland 
 and Ireland, and of the si^erings of the multitudes who were wrecked on the Irish 
 coast. Cuellor was wrecked in O'Rourke's country, and with many romantic 
 adventures made his way to that of O'Cahan, where he iinally found ship for 
 Scotland. His picture of the condition of Ireland is sufficiently horrible. Altogether 
 an extraordinary account of Ireland and her 'Savages/ 
 
 STMONDS (JOHN ADDINGTON). 
 
 In THE Key of Blue, and other Prose Essays. 
 With cover designed by C. S. Ricketts. Printed at 
 the Ballantyne Press. Third Edition. Thick 
 cr. 8vo. Ss. 6d. net. 
 New York : MacmiUan &^ Co, 
 ** The varietv of Mr. Symonds' interests ! Here are criticisms upon the Venetian 
 Tiepolo, upon M. Zola, upon MediEEval Norman Songs, upon Elizabethan lyrics, 
 upon Plato's ana Dante's ideals of love; and not a sign anywhere, except may be in 
 the last, that he has more concern for, or knowledge of, one theme than another. 
 Add to these artistic themes the delightfiil records of English or Italian scenes, with 
 their rich beauties of nature or of art, and the human passions that inrbrm them. 
 How joyous a sense of great possessions won at no man^s hurt or loss must such a 
 man retain ." — Daily Chronicle, 
 
 "Some of the essays are very charming, in Mr. Symonds best style, but the 
 first one, that which gives its name to the volume, is at least the most curious of tne 
 lot." — Speaker. 
 
 *'Thc other essays are the work of a sound and sensible critic." — National 
 Observer. 
 
 •'' The literary essays are more restrained, and the prepared student will find them 
 full of illumination and charm, while the descriptive papers have the attractiveness 
 which Mr. Symonds alwavs fiives to work in this genre."— Mr, Jas. ASHCROFT 
 NuBLE, in Ihe Literary florid. 
 
 TENNYSON {LORD). 
 
 See Hallam,— Van Dyke. 
 
 TTNAN {KATHARINE). 
 See HiNKSON. 
 
22 The Publications of Ellcin Mathews 
 
 FAN DYKE {HENRY). 
 
 The Poetry of Tennyson. Fifth Edition, enlarged. 
 Cr. 8vo. 5j. 6d. net. 
 
 The additions consist of a Portrait, Two Chapters^ and the 
 Bibliography expanded. The Laureate himself ^ve vahiable 
 aid in correcting various details. 
 
 "Mr. Elkin Mathews publishes a new edition, revised and enlarged, of that 
 excellent work, ' The Poetry of Tennyson,' by Henry Van Dyke, The additions 
 are considerable. It is extremely interesting to go over the bibliographical notes 
 to see the contemptuous or, at best, contemptuously patronising tone of the reviewers 
 in the early thirties gradually turning to civility, to a loud chorus of applause." — 
 Antuyaabin. 
 
 '''■ Considered as an aid to the study of the Laureate, this labour of love merits 
 warm commendation. Its grouping of the poems, its bibliography and chronology, 
 its catalogue of Biblical allusion and quotations, are each and all substantial accessories 
 to the knowledge of the author."— Dr. Richard Garnett, in the Illustrated 
 London News, 
 
 *' As an antidote to Mr. Churton Collins on Tennyson, Mr. Elkin Mathews sends 
 a new edition of Dr. Van Dyke's admirable exposition of the poet, 'The Poetry of 
 Tennyson.'" — Mr. Richard Le Gallienne, in the ^m*-. 
 
 WALKER {JOHN). 
 
 Spanish Idylls. [In preparation. 
 
 WATSON {E. H. LACON). 
 
 The Unconscious Humourist, and other Essays. 
 
 Second Edition. Crown 8vo. 4^. 6d. net. 
 New York : George H. Richmond (Sr* Co. 
 
 '* It is the best book of desultory essays given to us since the unapproachable 
 master of this form was carried to his long rest on Vailima height. ... He 
 touches nn many subjects deftly. A note of pathos, a sly stroke of humour, a aug- 
 gescion of phitusophy deep enough ro tickle one into momentary activity of thought, 
 arc his devices. The result is pleasing entertainment, and a storing away in the 
 memory of not a few ingenious and happily inspired phrases. . . .'' — 'PERCY 
 ADDLKSHAW, in the Academy, 
 
 '*Very readable essays — humorous, superficial, contemplative: you may call 
 them all these things — .on a variety of subjects, from love to bicycle tours." — Booiman, 
 
 ""These papers display a high and well-maintained standard of literary capacity, 
 together with a robust development of the critical faculty . . . The remaining 
 essays, while keenly introspective, are, like those more particularly referred to above, 
 agreeably free from the cheap cynicism that characterises so many modern productions 
 of ihis class. Eminently readable are the papers headed * Bicycle Tours,' * An Exami- 
 nation of the Commonplace,' ' Prophers of the Mist,' ' The Waters of Castaly,' and 
 * Cacoeth-s Scribendi,' in all of which amusement is felicitously combined with 
 instruction." — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 '* A pleasantly written and readable volume of essays. . . ." — Scotsman. 
 
 ^^Mr. Watson's nice and well-printed little collection of essays will prove a 
 pleasant companion on some of these bicycle tours, whose praises he sin^ so welj. 
 . . , ."—Glasgow Herald, 
 
Vigo Street, London, W. 23 
 
 {^Mr. Wedmoris Short Stories. New and Uniform Issue. 
 Crown Svo., each Volume 2>s. dd. net.] 
 
 WEDMORE {FREDERICK). 
 
 Pastorals of France. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 
 3J. 6d. net. [Ready. 
 
 New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 
 
 " a writer in whom delicacy of literary^toucli is united witli an almost disem- 
 bodied fineness of sentiment." — jStkenaum, 
 
 " Of singular quaintness and beauty." — Contemporary Review. 
 
 Renunciations. Third Edition. With a Portrait by 
 J. J. Shannon. Cr. 8vo. 3^. 6d. net. [Ready. 
 
 New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 
 
 ** These are clever studies in polite realism. * — Mhenaum, 
 
 *^ They are quite unusual. The picture of Richard Felse, with his one moment 
 of romance, is exquisite." — St. yames'sGaxette. 
 
 "'The Chemist in the Suburbs,' in * Renunciations,' is a purejoy. . . . The 
 story of Richard Pelse'slife is told with a power not unworthy of the now disabled 
 hand that drew for us the lonely old age of M. Parent." — MR. TRAILL, in The 
 New Review. 
 
 "The book belongs to the highest order of imaginative work. ' Renunciations ' 
 are studies from the life — pictures which make plain to us some of the innermost 
 workings of the heart." — Academy. 
 
 "Mr. Wedmore has gained for himself an enviable reputation. His style .has 
 distinction, has form. He has the poet's secret how to bring out the beauty of 
 common things. , . *The Chemist in the Suburbs,' in 'Renunciations,' is his 
 masterpiece." — Saturday Review. 
 
 English Episodes. Second Edition. Cr. 8vo. y. 6d. 
 net. [Ready. 
 
 New York : Charles Scribner's Sons. 
 
 "Distinction is the characteristic of Mr. Wedmore's manner. These things 
 remain on the mind as things seen ; not read of.'' — Daity Uewt. 
 
 " A penetrating insight, a fine pathos. Mr. Wedmore is a peculiarly fine and 
 sane and carefully deliberate xeuax^'—Weitmimter Gaxetie. 
 
 There may also be had the Collected Edition (iSgs) of ^' Pastorals 
 of France" and "Renunciations" with Title-page by 
 John Fulleylove, R.I. ^s. net. 
 
 WICKSTEED {P. H., Warden of Uni'versity Halt). 
 Dante : Six Sermons. 
 *:^* A Fourth Edition. (Unaltered Reprint). Cr. 8vo. 
 
 2s. net. 
 " It is impossible not to be struck wtth the reality and earnestness with which 
 Mr. Wickstccd seeks to do justice to what are the supreme elements of the Commedia, 
 its spiritual significance, and the depth and insight of its moral teaching."— Gu<ir<(i<in. 
 
24 The Publications of Elkin Mathews 
 
 WINSER {LILIAN). 
 
 Lays and Legends of the Weald of Kent, as 
 Sung and Recounted at a Twelfth-Night 
 Party. With Illustrations by Margaret Winser. 
 Crown 8vo. 5^. net. 
 
 ** In this vohime a new writer introduces us to a land almost unknown in the 
 realms of poesy^ a region of fertile Kent, which has retained maiiy of the characteristics 
 of old times An episode of rural courtship gives the contents a connected interest. 
 The illustrations are conceived in the same spirit as ihc text. In Miss Winser's 
 volume the yeoman and peasant of the pleasant soutlicni county have found an 
 exponent." 
 
 IVOODS {MARGARET L.). 
 
 Aeromancy and other Poems. (Elkin Mathews' 
 Shilling Garland, No. IV.). 
 
 [Second Edition in pi'ess, 
 
 '* Mrs. Woods is a poet of great power and originality." — Ghhe, 
 
 "'Aeromancy' is a fine poem, but there are others in the slim volume likely to 
 
 be more popular; ' The Mariner s Sleep by the Sea,' for instance, and still more so, 
 
 ' The Child Alone '—the latter a delightful picture of an imaginative child, "^5iie/Ci!t. 
 
 '^It £' Aeromancy ' ] contains some very beautiful verses, but to the uninitiated 
 
 reader they are somewhat incoiierent. . . . The gems of the small selection 
 
 are — 'An April Song' and 'The Child Alone.' The former is the very life and 
 
 breath of April at its best. . . . The latter is an exquisite sketch. ... It 
 
 would be impossible to express the elaborate and buoyant make-believe of an 
 
 imaginative child's reverie with more force and humour than are given in these 
 
 spirited verses." — Spectator. 
 
 WYNNE {FRANCES). 
 
 Whisper ! A Volume of Verse, Fcap. Svo. buckram. 
 2J. 6d. net. 
 Transferred by the Author to the present Publisher, 
 "A little volume of singularly sweet and graceful poems, hardly one of which 
 can be read by any lover of poetry without definite pleasure, and everyone who reads 
 cither of them without is, we venture to say, unable to appreciate that play of light 
 and shadow on the heart of man which is of the very essence of poetry."— 5p«w/or. 
 
 **Tha book includes, to my humble taste, many very charming pieces, musical, 
 simple, straightforward and not *■ as sad as night.' It is long since I have read a more 
 agreeable volume of verse, successful up to the measure of its aims and ambitions." — 
 Mr. ANDREW Lang, iu Longman's Magaxine. 
 
 YEATS {IT. B.). 
 
 The Wind among the Reeds (Poems). With a Cover 
 
 Design by Althea Gyles. [In the press. 
 
 The Shadowy Waters. A Poetic Play. \_In preparation. 
 
 LONDON: VIGO STREET, W. 
 
II III 
 
 III!