Charles Lamb

B >> Barry Cornwall >> Charles Lamb

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12

Wordsworth was not in the Lake country when Lamb visited Coleridge; but
after his return the great poet visited Charles in London, passed some
time there, and then departed for Yorkshire, where he went in order to be
married.

At this time Lamb contributed (generally facetiae) to various newspapers,
now forgotten. One of them, it was said jocosely, had "two and twenty
readers, including the printer, the pressman, and the devil." But he was
still very poor; so poor that Coleridge offered to supply him with prose
translations from the German, in order that he might versify them for the
"Morning Post," and thus obtain a little money. In one of his letters Lamb
says, "If I got or could but get fifty pounds a year only, in addition to
what I have, I should live in affluence."

About the time that he is writing this, he is recommending Chapman's
"Homer" to Coleridge; is refusing to admit Coleridge's _bona fide_ debt to
himself of fifteen pounds; is composing Latin letters; and in other
respects deporting himself like a "gentleman who lives at home at ease;"
not like a poor clerk, obliged to husband his small means, and to deny
himself the cheap luxury of books that he had long coveted. "Do you
remember" (his sister says to him, in the Essay on "Old China") "the brown
suit that grew so threadbare, all because of that folio of Beaumont and
Fletcher that you dragged home late at night from Barker's, in Covent
Garden; when you set off near ten o'clock, on Saturday night, from
Islington, fearing you should be too late; and when you lugged it home,
wishing it was twice as cumbersome," &c.

These realities of poverty, very imperfectly covered over by words of
fiction, are very touching. It is deeply interesting, that Essay, where
the rare enjoyments of a poor scholar are brought into contrast and relief
with the indifference that grows upon him when his increased income
enables him to acquire any objects he pleases. Those things are no longer
distinguished as "enjoyments" which are not purchased by a sacrifice. "A
purchase is but a purchase now. Formerly it used to be a triumph. A thing
was worth buying when we felt the money that we paid for it."

(1804.) The intimacy of that extraordinary man, William Hazlitt, was the
great gain of Lamb at this period of his life. If Lamb's youngest and
tenderest reverence was given to Coleridge, Hazlitt's intellect must also
have commanded his later permanent respect. Without the imagination and
extreme facility of Coleridge, he had almost as much subtlety and far more
steadfastness of mind. Perhaps this steadfastness remained sometimes until
it took the color of obstinacy; but, as in the case of his constancy to
the first Napoleon, it was obstinacy riveted and made firm by some
concurring respect. I do not know that Hazlitt had the more affectionate
nature of the two; but assuredly he was less tossed about and his sight
less obscured by floating fancies and vast changing projects (_muscae
volitantes_) than the other. To the one are ascribed fierce and envious
passions; coarse thoughts and habits--(he has indeed been crowned by
defamation); whilst to Coleridge have been awarded reputation and glory,
and praise from a thousand tongues. To secure justice we must wait for
unbiassed posterity.

I meet, at present, with few persons who recollect much of Hazlitt. Some
profess to have heard nothing of him except his prejudices and violence;
but his prejudices were few, and his violence (if violence he had) was of
very rare occurrence. He was extremely patient, indeed, although earnest
when discussing points in politics, respecting which he held very strong
and decided opinions. But he circulated his thoughts on many other
subjects, whereon he ought not to have excited offence or opposition. He
wrote (and he wrote well) upon many things lying far beyond the limits of
politics. To use his own words, "I have at least glanced over a number of
subjects--painting, poetry, prose, plays, politics, parliamentary
speakers, metaphysical lore, books, men, and things." This list, extensive
as it is, does not specify very precisely all the subjects on which he
wrote. His thoughts range over the literature of Elizabeth and James's
times, and of the time of Charles II.; over a large portion of modern
literature; over the distinguishing character of men, their peculiarities
of mind and manners; over the wonders of poetry, the subtleties of
metaphysics, and the luminous regions of art. In painting, his criticisms
(it is prettily said by Leigh Hunt) cast a light upon the subject like the
glory reflected "from a painted window." I myself have, in my library,
eighteen volumes of Hazlitt's works, and I do not possess all that he
published. Besides being an original thinker, Hazlitt excelled in
conversation. He was, moreover, a very temperate liver: yet his enemies
proclaimed to the world that he was wanting even in sobriety. During the
thirteen years that I knew him intimately, and (at certain seasons) saw
him almost every day, I know that he drank nothing stronger than water;
except tea, indeed, in which he indulged in the morning. Had he been as
temperate in his political views as in his cups, he would have escaped the
slander that pursued him through life.

The great intimacy between these two distinguished writers, Charles Lamb
and William Hazlitt (for they had known each other before), seems to have
commenced in a singular manner. They were one day at Godwin's, when "a
fierce dispute was going on between Holcroft and Coleridge, as to which
was best, 'Man as he was, or Man as he is to be.' 'Give me,' says Lamb,
'man as he is _not_ to be.'" "This was the beginning" (Hazlitt says,) "of
a friendship which, I believe, still continues." Hazlitt married in 1805,
and his wife soon became familiar with Mary Lamb. Indeed, Charles and his
sister more than once visited the Hazlitts, who at that time lived at
Winterslow, near Salisbury Plain, and enjoyed their visits greatly,
walking from eight to twenty miles a day, and seeing Wilton, Stonehenge,
and the other (to them unaccustomed) sights of the country. "The quiet,
lazy, delicious month" passed there is referred to in one of Miss Lamb's
pleasant letters. And the acquaintance soon deepened into friendship.
Whatever good will was exhibited by Hazlitt (and there was much) is repaid
by Lamb in his letter to Southey, published in the "London Magazine"
(October, 1823), wherein he places on record his pride and admiration of
his friend. "So far from being ashamed of the intimacy" (he says), "it is
my boast that I was able, for so many years, to have preserved it entire;
and I think I shall go to my grave without finding or expecting to find
such another companion."

Lamb's respect for men and things did not depend on repute. His fondness
for old books seldom (never, perhaps, except in the single case of the
Duchess of Newcastle) deluded him into a respect for old books which were
without merit. He required that excellence should be combined with
antiquity. A great name was generally to him simply a great name; no more.
If it had lasted through centuries, indeed, as in the case of Michael
Angelo, then he admitted that "a great name implied greatness." He did not
think that greatness lay in the "thews and sinews," or in the bulk alone.
When Nelson was walking on the quay at Yarmouth, the mob cried out in
derision, "What! make that little fellow a captain!" Lamb thought
otherwise; and in regret for the death of that great seaman, he says, "I
have followed him ever since I saw him walking in Pall Mall, _looking just
as a hero should look_" (_i.e._, simply). "He was the only pretence of a
great man we had." The large stage blusterer and ostentatious drawcansir
were never, in Lamb's estimation, models for heroes. In the case of the
first Napoleon also, he writes, "He is a fine fellow, as my barber says;
and I should not mind standing bareheaded at his table to do him service
in his fall." This was in August, 1815.

The famous "Ode to Tobacco" was written in 1805, and the pretty stories
founded on the plays of Shakespeare were composed or translated about the
year 1806; Lamb taking the tragic, and his sister the other share of the
version. These tales were to produce about sixty pounds; to them a sum
which was most important, for he and Mary at that time hailed the addition
of twenty pounds to his salary (on the retirement of an elder clerk) as a
grand addition to their comforts.

Charles was at this period (February, 1806) at work upon a farce, to be
called "Mr. H.;" from which he says, "if it has a 'good run' I shall get
two hundred pounds, and I hope one hundred pounds for the copyright." "Mr.
H." (which rested solely upon the absurdity of a name, which after all was
not irresistibly absurd) was accepted at the theatre, but unfortunately it
had _not_ "a good run." It failed, not quite undeservedly perhaps, for
(although it has since had some success in America) there was not much
probability of its prosperity in London. It was acted once (10th December,
1806), and was announced for repetition on the following evening, but was
withdrawn. Lamb's courage and good humor did not fail. He joked about it
to Wordsworth, said that he had many fears about it, and admitted that
"John Bull required solider fare than a bare letter." As he says, in his
letter to the poet, "a hundred hisses (hang the word, I write it like
kisses) outweigh a thousand claps. The former come more directly from the
heart. Well" (he adds), "it is withdrawn, and there's an end."

In 1807 were published "Specimens of Dramatic Poets contemporary with
Shakespeare;" and these made Lamb known as a man conversant with our old
English literature, and helped mainly to direct the taste of the public to
those fine writers. The book brought repute (perhaps a little money) to
him. Soon afterwards he published "The Adventures of Ulysses," which was
intended to be an introduction to the reading of "Telemachus," always a
popular book. These "adventures" were derived from Chapman's "Translation
of Homer," of which Lamb says, "Chapman is divine; and my abridgment has
not, I hope, quite emptied him of his divinity."

In or about 1808 Miss Lamb's pretty little stories called "Mrs.
Leicester's School" (to which Charles contributed three tales) were
published; and soon afterwards a small book entitled "Poetry for
Children," being a joint publication by brother and sister, came out. "It
was done by me and Mary in the last six months" (January, 1809). It does
not appear to what extent, if at all, it added to the poor clerk's means.

In the same year (as Miss Lamb writes in December, 1808), Charles was
invited by Tom Sheridan to write some scenes in a speaking Pantomime; the
other parts of which (the eloquence not of words) had been already
manufactured by Tom and his more celebrated father, Richard Brinsley. Lamb
and Tom Sheridan had been, it seems, communicative over a bottle of
claret, when an agreement for the above purpose was entered into between
them. This was subsequently carried into effect, and a drama was composed.
This drama, still extant in the British Museum, in Lamb's own writing,
appears to be a species of comic opera, the scene of which is laid in
Gibraltar, but is without a name. I have not seen it, but speak upon the
report of others.

In 1809 Lamb moved once more into the Temple, now to the top story of No.
4 Inner Temple Lane, "where the household gods are slow to come, but where
I mean to live and die" (he says). From this place (since pulled down and
rebuilt) he writes to Manning, who is in China, "Come, and bring any of
your friends the Mandarins with you. My best room commands a court, in
which there are trees and a pump, the water of which is excellent cold--
with brandy; and not very insipid without." He sends Manning some of his
little books, to give him "some idea of European literature." It is in
this letter (January, 1810) that he speaks of Braham and his singing,
which I have elsewhere alluded to; of Kate with nine stars *********
("though she is but one"); of his book (for children) "on titles of
honor," exemplifying the eleven gradations, by which Mr. C. Lamb rises in
succession to be Baron, Marquis, Duke, and Emperor Lamb, and finally Pope
Innocent, and other lively matters fit to solace an English mathematician
self-banished to China.

In July, 1810, an abstinence from all spirituous liquors took place. Lamb
says that his sister has "taken to water like a hungry otter," whilst he
"limps after her" for virtue's sake; but he is "full of cramps and
rheumatism, and cold internally, so that fire don't warm him." It is
scarcely necessary to state that the period of entire abstinence was very
transient.

A quarterly magazine, called "The Reflector," was published in the autumn
of 1810, and contained Essays by Charles Lamb and several other writers.
Amongst these are some of the best of Lamb's earlier writings--namely, the
paper on Hogarth and that on the Tragedies of Shakespeare. It is singular
that these two Essays, which are as fine as anything of a similar nature
in English criticism, should have been almost unnoticed (undiscovered,
except by literary friends) until the year 1818, when Lamb's works were
collected and published. The grand passage on "Lear" has caused the Essay
on the Shakespeare Tragedies to be well known. Less known is the Essay on
Hogarth, although it is more elaborate and critical; the labor being quite
necessary in this case, as the pretensions of Hogarth to the grand style
had been denounced by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

In affluence of genius, in variety and exuberance of thought, there surely
can exist little comparison between Reynolds and Hogarth. Reynolds was,
indeed, the finest painter, especially the most superb colorist, of the
English school. But Hogarth was the greatest inventor,--the greatest
discoverer of character,--in the English or any other school. As a painter
of manners he is unapproached. In a kindred walk, he traversed all the
passions from the lowest mirth to the profoundest melancholy, possessing
the tragic element in the most eminent degree. And if grandeur can exist--
as I presume it can--in beings who have neither costume nor rank to set
off their qualities, then some of the characters of Hogarth in essential
grandeur are far beyond the conventional figures of many other artists.
Pain, and joy, and poverty, and human daring are not to be circumscribed
by dress and fashion. Their seat is deeper (in the soul), and is
altogether independent of such trivial accretions. In point of expression,
I never saw the face of the madman (in the "Rake's Progress") exceeded in
any picture, ancient or modern. "It is a face" (Lamb says) "that no one
that has seen can easily forget." It is, as he argues, human suffering
stretched to its utmost endurance. I cannot forbear directing the
attention of the reader to Lamb's bold and excellent defence of Hogarth.
He will like both painter and author, I think, better than before. I have,
indeed, been in company where young men, professing to be painters, spoke
slightingly of Hogarth. To this I might have replied that Hogarth did not
paint for the applause of tyros in art, but--for the world!

The "Reflector" was edited by an old Christ's Hospital boy, Mr. Leigh
Hunt, who subsequently became, and during their joint lives remained, one
of Lamb's most familiar friends. It was a quarterly magazine, and
received, of course, the contributions of various writers; amongst whom
were Mr. Barnes (of the "Times"), Barron Field, Dr. Aikin, Mr. Landseer
(the elder), Charles Lamb, Octavius Gilchrist, Mitchell (the translator of
Aristophanes), and Leigh Hunt himself. I do not observe Lamb's name
appended to any of the articles in the first volume; but the second
comprises the Essays on Hogarth and on Burial Societies, together with a
paper on the Custom of Hissing at the Theatres, under the signature of
"Semel Damnatus." There is a good deal of humor in this paper (which has
not been republished, I believe). It professes to come from one of a club
of condemned authors, no person being admissible as a member until he had
been unequivocally damned.

I observe that in the letters, &c., of Lamb, which were published in 1841,
and copiously commented on by Sir Thomas N. Talfourd (the editor), there
is not much beyond a bare mention of Leigh Hunt's name, and no letter from
Charles Lamb to Mr. Hunt is published. It is now too late to remedy this
last defect, my recent endeavors to obtain such letters having resulted in
disappointment: otherwise I should have been very glad to record the
extent of Lamb's liking for a poor and able man, whom I knew well for at
least forty years. I know that at one time Lamb valued him, and that he
always thought highly of his intellect, as indeed he has testified in his
famous remonstrance to Southey. And in Mr. Hunt's autobiography I find
abundant evidence of his admiration for Lamb, in a generous eulogy upon
him.

Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, and Leigh Hunt, formed a remarkable trio of
men, each of whom was decidedly different from the others. Only one of
them (Hunt) cared much for praise. Hazlitt's sole ambition was to sell his
essays, which he rated scarcely beyond their marketable value; and Lamb
saw enough of the manner in which praise and censure were at that time
distributed, to place any high value on immediate success. Of posterity
neither of them thought. Leigh Hunt, from temperament, was more alive to
pleasant influences (sunshine, freedom for work, rural walks,
complimentary words) than the others. Hazlitt cared little for these
things; a fierce argument or a well-contested game at rackets was more to
his taste; whilst Lamb's pleasures (except, perhaps, from his pipe) lay
amongst the books of the old English writers. His soul delighted in
communion with ancient generations, more especially with men who had been
unjustly forgotten. Hazlitt's mind attached itself to abstract subjects;
Lamb's was more practical, and embraced men. Hunt was somewhat indifferent
to persons as well as to things, except in the cases of Shelley and Keats,
and his own family; yet he liked poetry and poetical subjects. Hazlitt
(who was ordinarily very shy) was the best talker of the three. Lamb said
the most pithy and brilliant things. Hunt displayed the most ingenuity.
All three sympathized often with the same persons or the same books; and
this, no doubt, cemented the intimacy that existed between them for so
many years. Moreover, each of them understood the others, and placed just
value on their objections when any difference of opinion (not infrequent)
arose between them. Without being debaters, they were accomplished
talkers. They did not argue for the sake of conquest, but to strip off the
mists and perplexities which sometimes obscure truth. These men--who lived
long ago--had a great share of my regard. They were all slandered, chiefly
by men who knew little of them, and nothing of their good qualities; or by
men who saw them only through the mist of political or religious
animosity. Perhaps it was partly for this reason that they came nearer to
my heart.

All the three men, Lamb, Hazlitt, and Hunt, were throughout their lives
Unitarians, as was also George Dyer; Coleridge was a Unitarian preacher in
his youth, having seceded from the Church of England; to which, however,
he returned, and was in his latter years a strenuous supporter of the
national faith. George Dyer once sent a pamphlet to convert Charles to
Unitarianism. "Dear blundering soul" (Lamb said), "why, I am as old a One
Goddite as himself." To Southey Lamb writes, "Being, as you know, not
quite a Churchman, I felt a jealousy at the Church taking to herself the
whole deserts of Christianity." His great, and indeed infinite reverence,
nevertheless, for Christ is shown in his own Christian virtues and in
constant expressions of reverence. In Hazlitt's paper of "Persons one
would wish to have seen," Lamb is made to refer to Jesus Christ as he "who
once put on a semblance of mortality," and to say, "If he were to come
into the room, we should all fall down and kiss the hem of his garment." I
do not venture to comment on these delicate matters, where men like
Hazlitt, and Lamb, and Coleridge (the latter for a short time only) have
entertained opinions which differ from those of the generality of their
countrymen.

During these years, Mary Lamb's illnesses were frequent, as usual. Her
relapses were not dependent on the seasons; they came in hot summers and
with the freezing winters. The only remedy seems to have been extreme
quiet when any slight symptom of uneasiness was apparent. Charles (poor
fellow) had to live, day and night, in the society of a person who was--
mad! If any exciting talk occurred, he had to dismiss his friend with a
whisper. If any stupor or extraordinary silence was observed, then he had
to rouse her instantly. He has been seen to take the kettle from the fire
and place it for a moment on her head-dress, in order to startle her into
recollection. He lived in a state of constant anxiety;--and there was no
help.

Not to neglect Charles Lamb's migrations, it should be noted that he moved
his residence from Inner Temple Lane ("where he meant to live and die")
into Russell Street, Covent Garden, in the latter part of the year 1817.
When there, he became personally acquainted with several members of the
theatrical profession; amongst others, with Munden and Miss Kelly, for
both of whom he entertained the highest admiration. One of the (Elia)
Essays is written to celebrate Munden's histrionic talent; and in his
letters he speaks of "Fanny Kelly's divine plain face." The Barbara S. of
the second (or last) series of essays is, in fact, Miss Kelly herself. All
his friends knew that he was greatly attached to her.

He also became acquainted with Miss Burrell--afterwards Mrs. Gould--but
who, he says, "remained uncoined." Subsequently he was introduced to
Liston and Elliston, each of whom received tokens of his liking. The first
was the subject of an amusing fictitious biography. In Lamb's words, it
was "a lying life of Liston," uncontaminated by a particle of truth.
Munden, he says, had faces innumerable; Liston had only one; "but what a
face!" he adds, admitting it to be beyond all vain description. Perhaps
this subject of universal laughter and admiration never received such a
compliment, except from Hazlitt, who, after commenting on Hogarth's
excellences, his invention, his character, his satire, &c., concludes by
saying, "I have never seen anything in the expression of comic humor equal
to Hogarth's humor, except Liston's face."

In the course of time, official labor becomes tiresome, and the India
House clerk grows splenetic. He complains sadly of his work. Even the
incursions of his familiars annoy him, although it annoys him more when
they go away. In the midst of this trouble his works are collected and
published; and he emerges at once from the obscure shades of Leadenhall
Street into the full blaze of public notice. He wakes from dullness and
discontent, and "finds himself famous."

[1] As Lamb's changes of residence were frequent, it may be convenient to
chronicle them in order, in this place, although the precise date of his
moving from one to another can scarcely be specified in a single instance.
1775, Charles Lamb, born in Crown Office Row, Temple. 1795, lives at No. 7
Little Queen Street, Holborn. 1800 (early), lives at No. 45 Chapel Street,
Pentonville. Same year, lives in Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane.
Same year, removes to No. 16 Mitre Court Buildings, Temple. 1809, removes
to No. 4 Inner Temple Lane. 1817, removes to Russell Street, Covent
Garden. 1823, removes to Colebrook Row, Islington. 1826, removes to
Enfield. 1829, removes into lodgings in Enfield. 1830, lodges in
Southampton Buildings. 1833, lives at Mrs. Walden's, in Church Street,
Edmonton; where he dies on 27th December, 1834.

CHAPTER V.

_My Recollections.--Russell Street.--Personal Appearance.--Manner.--
Tendency of Mind.--Prejudices.--Alleged Excesses.--Mode of Life.--Love of
Smoking.--His Lodgings.--His Sister.--Costume.--Reading aloud.--Tastes and
Opinions.--London.--Love of Books.--Charity.--Wednesday Parties.--His
Companions.--Epitaph upon them._

In the year 1817 or 1818 I first became personally acquainted with Charles
Lamb.

This was about the time of his removal from the Temple. It was in the
course of the year 1818 that his works had been first collected and
published. They came upon the world by surprise; scarcely any one at that
time being aware that a fine genius and humorist existed, within the dull
shades of London, whose quality very few of the critics had assayed, and
none of them had commended. He was thus thrown (waif-like) amongst the
great body of the people; was at once estimated, and soon rose into
renown.

Persons who had been in the habit of traversing Covent Garden at that time
(seven and forty years ago) might, by extending their walk a few yards
into Russell Street, have noted a small, spare man, clothed in black, who
went out every morning and returned every afternoon, as regularly as the
hands of the clock moved towards certain hours. You could not mistake him.
He was somewhat stiff in his manner, and almost clerical in dress; which
indicated much wear. He had a long, melancholy face, with keen,
penetrating eyes; and he walked, with a short, resolute step, city-wards.
He looked no one in the face for more than a moment, yet contrived to see
everything as he went on. No one who ever studied the human features could
pass him by without recollecting his countenance: it was full of
sensibility, and it came upon you like a new thought, which you could not
help dwelling upon afterwards; it gave rise to meditation, and did you
good. This small, half-clerical man was--Charles Lamb.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12