River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-05-27
CHARLES LAMB.
Amusing Stories of the StanlmeriBg
HumOrist.
London Standard.

Hum0rlSt.
London Standard.
Lamb was invited to meet a some-
Whist mixed company. One was Mr..
De-, a retired cheese-monger. who
had been for years in some commits
sion connected with the poor-laws. He
was u pompous man, with grand af.
fectafion of having been born to the ex.
altel position. At one time in the
cou3ae of the dinner opinions ran at va
riailces as to the proper methods of
dealing with pauperdom, and Mr.. D.
ASSUMED very high manner. Gen
tleIaen," he said, thrusting his thumbs
intI the armholes of his vest, lying
back in his chair, and initiating his
lungs TO their utmost capacity-"Gen-
tleIaer, l should know what / am
speaking of, with all my years in the
puEllc service, and with my opportuni-
TIES for studying the dispositions of
these miserable and troublesome pau.
pers. Gentlemen, they are as worth
less: and ungrateful as they are and
have been improvident. The time has
been. gentlemen, when | had some of
the milk of human kindness in my
breast for these wretches; but now
and, he paused for moment in or
derttO let the conclusion come more
Observation-Disclosures" broke iii
Lamb, with his poor, thin face all
childish innoceace-"n-now, Mr.. D
[ slp.p.pose that m-milk is all m-made
up into ch-ch. cheese" Lamb received
an invitation on certain evening to
be present at breakfast at Rogers the
FrIi Ia
auta5r, whose first volume OF poetry
left the press that day. He went trifle
early and reached the waiing-room
while ii was vacant, Rogers not having
come down, and none of the other
guests having arrived. On table lay
COPY of the young poets book. Lamb
picked it up, ran through it, saw that
1t contained nothing of any special
mark, and then, in few minutes yet
remaining, amused himself by commit
ting 10 memoroy three or
four of the short poems it
contained. The guests arrived--among
them. the young aspirant for honors.
Some of the leading men OF the Lon
don world of letters were among the
number. Rogers descended, the young
man was introduced, and the breakfast
was served. Some literary matters
came under discussion, pending the af-
eIiusroductioA of the young poets
book. With the gravest Of faces, after
few moments, Lamb said: IL DIDN'T
think, g-gentlemep, that h-have ever
re-repeated to you one OF my b.best
poems. What s-say? VIII you h-have
ill., Nobody quite understood what
ltrt oil
mIsohievous flash in the eye that was
usually so kindly; and the demand for
the poem was general. Lamb
quietly repeated, word for word,
one of the poems from
the young mans book. The key was
furnished to the rest, when they saw
the young poet pale, then redden, and
then fall back in his chair, as astonish-
ed as if thunderstruck, and as helpless
as il paaralyzed. Loud cheers, clap
ping of hands, and demands for more.
Lamb bowed his thanks, pretended not
to remember anything else that he had
lately written, and then, under urging,
repeated another, and vet another,-of
the poems from the young mans book,
the budding poet manifesting symp-
toms of doubt whether he was himself,
whether anything on the earth was
real, whether he had really written the
| poems that up to that time he had be-
! lieved that he had-untll he heard
| m6n declaiming them for his own;
man who could not even have seen his
unpublished book. Louder cheers, and
a SILL louder demand for yet another.
The fun, with all the "old uns" now
thoroughly instructed, began to grow
fast and furious" Lamb, who had
previously retained his sitting position,
now rose and said:
sc gentlemen. have only been g-giv-
ing you s-some little bits ofmy p-poet-
ry. But l h-have one p-poem that i
am, p,proud of. wr-wrote it a g-good
m-many years ago. This is h-how 1t
| begins.
| of that forOi dden tree. whose msrtal t-task
| Brought d-death Into the world. Win our woe
The recitation was doomed to go no
further. For the previous few min
utea the young poet, crszed with Won
der, and yet aware that in some unac-
coun,able manner he was being robbed
had simply been tearing his hair.
But OF this juncture be could restrain
himself no longer. Ee sprang to his
feet, his face ablaze, and burst out:
Gentlemen, this is too muchl have
sat here, gentlemen, and heard that
man repeat poem after poem of mine,
claiming them for his own, and have
borne il. But when hear him attempt
to claim the opening lines of Millions
Paradise Lost"
That address, too, was doomed to be
cut short like the recitation. Rogers
avesred that never, beneath his roof,
with all the merry madness that break
fast&table knew, had such a storm OF
laughter and applause gone over it, as
finished that speech and sent the young
mar to his chair, for the time little less
thar an absolute maniac, under the
pressure of Lambs browning atrocity.