The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-25

W uTiHhAHk hulOnk ItkLlSHHeh VI III o'h
generation. Mr. Hazlitt submits hat one riset
from q study a the club and coffee house LIE
VI the las, century and the opening years VI ih.
present, with an inclination u view the matter
Ia q omewhat lenien light During their earlier
life. Lamb and Hazlit, we're In the midst Of a
society which s,il preserved the old TOPPING ira
'1tons, The modern domestic hospitality mOdi
fed by a more refined and limited Use Of the club,
had yet to come. II seems probable that Lamt
and Hazlitt far from drinking more than others.
drank much less, II merely for the reason that,
In both instances, u slight quantity went a long
way. Lamb adhered to his porter and weak
diluted gin 10 ne last. his friend during many
years partooh exclusively of water and tea The
decline Of the coffee house and Of the original
plan Of club life may be- ascribed to changes In
English social habits. Cornwall institutions
which nccessitate attendance at stated hours have
erased u BE- In harmony with the ordinary mode
OF life among educated Englishmen
Tothe new data regarding Lamb which are here
published the editor adds q biog phical docu
J mentor which he Is indebted to NOtrsand Queries
for Oct Is, 1879 This is n letter written by the
mos, valued and in ONE ways Interesting OF Lamb
later correspondents, Bernard Barton. N his friend
James Keyner, a man formerly well known IN
a certain literary circle, The following eSttac,
from the letter may interest Lambs admirers.
III thou canst give me any further account OF
his Iastfew days, pray do torl should like 10 hear
all ] can Of him. Was he at all aware, ere his
close, that Il was drawing nigh | should like
to know how such a man would meet death, With
all his Wit and humor, unriyalled as il was, he
was no good, would hope too rich, in nigh, feel
ing. to die testing. as Hume did. Often as his
sportive sallies seemed to border on what appeared
irrevsront, and to some rigid people the verge
Of profanity, ! an disposed 10 acquit him Of all
Intentional offence Of that kind. lie was no,
heattless. however his playful Imagination might
betray him into frequent improprieties Of ex-
preston. Ills vast and desultory reading, his
constitutional temperament, his habits OF life.
his eecentricities Of manner, all combined TO rem
der him the very sort Of character likely To be com
ple,ely misunderstood by superficial observers.
A cold, philosophical scspiic might have set him
down az q crack Drained enthusiast, while with
a high flown formal professor Of orthodoxy he
would have passed Tor an inldel and q scorner
| believe him 10 have been az remote from the one
as from the other"
The peculiar intimacy Of Hazlitt and Lamb
Is, Of course, the plea for blending tho contents
Of this book. II was an intimacy maintained
under rather difficult circumstances, inasmuch as
the two men, in their political opinions or ways
Of looking at public affairs, were, or claimed To
be, widely discordant. Lamb was what may he
termed a literary amateur, not being de-
pendent on his writings for n livelihood
II iS true that through his acquain
tance with Coleridge. Lloyd. Lowell and others.
he exposed himself in early days to the attack
OF the anti Jacobin reviewers and caricaturists.
during his maturnr life, however, he took an att
tude Of neutrality, and counted among his friends
/ men who held irreconcilable public views. his
well known letter 10 Southey was in defence II
Others as much as Of him self. Ha1litt, on the
contrary, a man Of peculiarly sensitive and init
able temperament. had throughout his life TO
owe his support to literary hack work, and was,
moreover. an honest and ardent Liberal in poll
tics. He had imbibcd from his father a sympa-
thy for the cause Of American independence and
a steadfast faith in the beneficial effects OF the
first revolution In France upon human happiness.
His inherited allegiance 10 the principles Of the
French Revolution was eventually transferred 70
Napoleon, the man who stepped outot the throng
and, by his sunerlauye genius, erected on the ruins
OF the former abSolutism a new one u hi. own
II was with chacrn and anger that IIa,litt wit
messed the secession Of many ot the Liberal party.
Of Colrridge and Southey for instance. and others
whom he had known or with whom ne was con.
nectnd. He and they consequently exchanged
criticism that was scarcely complimentary; even
Lambs ind ference he could barely tolerate,
Goblet, Hone and Ifa1litt remained stanch
to the old flag, Itmay b. rrmembered that Hone,
like C0bbett, suffered severely for his Republican
opinions, and was tried before Lord Ellenborough
for publishing a pamphlet decried by the author.
lilies as blaSphemy. II was ON this occasion
that the defendant handed up to the a pamph.
let written on similar lines by Ellenboroughs
father. the Bishop Of Carlisle.
The relations between llazlitt and Lord Byron
wAro never cordial Byron. indeed. could scarcely
be counted a. an active Liberal, outside OF his
generous fight for Greek freedom. His lordship
refers to ~ilaz,itt's mole OF writing az not gentle
manly. and the other dubbed the author N "Childe
Harold a sublime coxcomb" On the other
hand the editor nj this volume believes that Haz-
lit entertained a SINGER, regard for Leigh Hunt,
with the slightest possible jealousy Of his per
sonal nCconpl shments II ia common to think
Of llazlitt as socially osiracized but il seems that
the houses open 10 him, especially when his repu.
tation was established, were numerous enough
He had no occasion to confine himself 10 the
o%uthamp ton Arms, even II he had not latterly
divided hS time between London and Salisbury.
lie occasionally made one AZ Talfourd's Wednes
days. when the author OF Ion" was residing in
Castle street. ~lIolborn. a barriser In moderate
practice, and. a. get, only known 10 a select circle
Of admirers Hazlitt also attended Charles
kanialis oonrerJdSi0nt
4 number Of thu letters printed in the volume
deal with q sIngulsrly strange and malodramatto
incident in Hazit,'s life A report NJ tho most
clrrunstantial nature WAS circulated that he had
died by his own hand, on Dec. rs. 1907 The
original instiga'nf II this elaborate hoax Is AZ
unknown az the account Of il which IL now for the
first time published. The editor suspects that
the whols affair was concoc,ed between Lamb
and Joseph Hume. both friends Of the alleged
victim Of the tragedy, Hayli,t expressly charges
the former with being the rlngleade.. II is hard
for us now TO appreciate the humor Of the business.
and the lest strikes one as drawn out TO its maxi.
mum possibilities, vet II Is evident that, during
a few days, II occupied the attention OF the actors
in Il, Hazllttt included, TO a considerable extent
1t may be regarded A. a practical Joke more charac.
ter,+tic 81 the hois,erous hilarity Of Lambs earlier
career than Of a time when he had emerged from
mystifcations Perhaps in this instance, none
Of the parties concerned regarded the matter
seriously for, even In TIH2litt's petition 10 be re-
CARRIED AZ alive, there is no symptom NJ v~r1ation
or resentment
Jesu. and Paul.
Under the name Of A Problem IN Ven Tesla
-. --4..- IL