Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1848-07-06

no other boy of the name of Lamb, the ad-
dlslon was unnecessary; but there was an
implied kindness in it, and It was a proof
that his gentle manners excited Kindness"
Gentle he undoubtedly was and gentle
spirit lends lis grace to all his writings. Blu,
there was also a whimsical wrecklessness
which would occasionally beset him. To
give an instance he dined one day at the
house of a friend Of ours, and on entering
the drawlng-room, after dinner, saw gen.
'leman standing in The middle Of the room,
whose bent shoulders, in school-boy leap
frog phrase, "made back - the temptation
was too great for Lamb; he placed his
hands on the unconscious victim, and FLEW"
over his head, to the as,onished indignation
OF many, and amusement of The lew. This,
perhaps, may be called mere disregard to
The ProprIetors of time and place; but Lamb
was at times less excusably aggressive. He
was fond of startling people on sacred sub
Jeets; though really religious himself, he
liked to play with the religious scruples of
others. In the same way he reversed the
process ON those who held skep,ical opin-
IONS. We have heard friend of his saw,
that whenever Goodwin preached any infdel
doctrines in Lambs loom, Lamb would
check him by pointing to volume of SER
mons on the shelf which Goodwin had writ
ten early in life. But to return to his ag-
gressiveness: his love of practical Joking is
surely strong proof: His jokes were
more ludicrous than malicious, and in this
they differ from ordinary practical jokes !;
nor do we wish much stress to be laid on
them, hut they indicate, as we SAID, GER
tam aggressive tendency, which must be
taken as a set-off against his gen.leness-
While on this subject, and because, like the
former anecdotes, it has no. been made pub
lie, we may relate the story Of his first meet
ing with Thomas Carlyle. Lamb was new
er partial to the Scolch,* ant. on this even
ing he was more than usually offensive in
his remarks on their character but when
supper appeared, and bowl of porrdge was
placed before Carlyle, Lambs Jokes and re-
marks upon it were so insulting, as almos.
to lead 10 an open quarrel. Even Lambs
friend, from whom we had the story, could
say nothing in his justification his beha-
'tor was WaninnlV offensive.
The epi,het "gen,le" was not the less mer-
tied because of these occasional outbreaks :;
and we should be sorry if our endeavor to
represent more accurately the man, should
lead any one to suppose that he was not
as kind and gentle as his writings. Even in
bis writings there are outbreaks:
''And as round mountainous the lightning plays,
Thus innocently sported, breaking forth
AS from cloud of some grave sympathy,
Humor and wild instructive wit, and all,
The vivid flashes of his spoken Words
So Wordsworth. Leigh Hunt gives ano,h-
err and truer explanation :-"His sensibilitv
TO strong contrasts is the foundation of his
humor, which is that of wit at once me-
lancholy and willing to be pleased. He will
beard a superstition, and shudder at the old
phan,asm while he does it. One could i'm
agine him cracking a jest in the teeth of
ghost, and melting into thin air himself out
of sympathy with the aw(ul''
Lamb was heart and soul Londouer.-
DR.. Johnson himself was not more so. AL
though he passed The greater part of his
life as clerk in the India House-doomed to
the desk in murky Leadenhall- street, We.
had he no warnings for the country. He
was not the man to sing
81 care not for fortune, what you me deny,
Y ou cannot rob me of S v Get Natures face" etc.
Johnson said ''When you have seen one
green field, you have seen all green fields.
Sir, like to look upon mank ind let us
walk down Fleel-sreet." Lamb said the
same he Was, as TaIfourd prel,ily says Of
him, "formed to nestle rather than to roam''
In letter to Soulhey, he says:
81 have a timid Imagination, am afraid
| do not willingly admit of strange beliefs,
or out-of-lhe-way creeds or places. Inev.
er read books of travels; a, least not further
than Paris or Rome. can just endure
Moors, because of their connection as foes
with Christians but Abyssinians, Elhiops,
Esquimaux, Dervises, and all that tribe, ]
hate. believe fear them in some manner.
Mahomelan turban on The stage, though
enveloping some well-known face, (Mr
Cook or Mr.. Maddox, whom ! see another
day good Christian and English walters,
inn-keePers, &c. does not give me pleasure
unaIloyed. am Christian Englisman,
London I'emplar.''
And again in letter from Eng6eld to
Wordsworth -
"Here we have nothing to do with our
vIctnals but 10 eat them; with the garden
but to see It grow; with the ax-gaherer but
to hear him knock; with the maid but to
hear her scolded. Scot and lot, butcher,
baker, are things unknown 10 US. save as
spectators OF The pageant. We are fed we
know not how; quielis.s-confding ravens.
we have the otium pro dignitate, respect
able inslgnficance. Yet in the self-con-
demned obliviousness, in the stagnation,
81 have been trying all my life to like Scotch
men, and am obliged to desist from the experiment
in despair -Essays Of Ella: On Impsetsct synpa-
thies.