New-York tribune., 1903-03-23
ELIINA.
Some Notes on Lambs omposite
Portraits.


Portraits.
John Rogers in The London Academy.
That in every case Lambs characters had
their respective prototypes cannot, 1 think, be
questioned. To build ap a character II was
necessary that he should have "someoody to
work from: he nearly always discarded his
model after It had furnished him with the re-
cutred start, but he needed some definite per
eonslty TO begin with.
How careful! he was to hide away his model
or the first possible opportunity might be seen
IN his treatment Of Captain Jackson Here II
original he thrust II from him, In some over
powering dread. Little wonder that Captain
Jackson" has so far ''bafied research"
Captain Jackson" originally appeared IN me me
London Magazine for November. 1924; ano the
paper. It VIII be remembered. begins; Among
the deaths in our obituary for this nontn oD
serve with concern AT his cottage on the 6atn
Road Captain Jackson He Whom
man was q retired haIf-pay officer" The essay
tp-well Eiian and as such offers scope to all
students OF Lamb who care to pursue the SUD
sect Sufhce 1t for us here to direct a1tenuon 10
the obituary column of The London Magazine
for December 1921. where particulars are gwen
Of the death OF Lambs old friend, Captain Ve-
Gently gazetfed Rear AdmraD Burney, Al ms
house. St Jarnes-st. Buckingham Gate. in his
eeventy-second year.
Then with reference TO Mrs. Battle-"oid Sarah
Battle (now with Cod, who, next 10 ner oeEG-
tons loved good game OF whist! Lamb teiis
US that she died in that haunted room N
Blakesrnoor in H-shire- Some particular ele-
nents of her composition probably did. but
others clearly continued to exist In the per
eonaiity Of Mre- Burney, whose deternineo
absolutely gone 70 the ID" vas one Of the
old images revived in Lambs mind by letter
OF Ayrton's in 1880.
and Tom Hood Hood, II will be remembered,
married in 1924 daughter ot Reynolos, the
writing master of Christ's Hospital. who lived
In Little Britain. About this time HOOD Wrote
q fscetteus proposal Of marriage in verse ad-
dressed TO Mrs. Battle. care OF Mrs. Reynolds,
2 Jt-rIs Brit in nd
whether any Mrs. Battle was known 10 the
Reynoldses- II not one OK TWO con3ecroT5s noISs
circle some one lived answering sut1ciently 20
Lambs picture OF the immortal MIS- BaftIe
20 cause friends to conclude that she was the
original. or tAat as result OF LAMBS pre-
sentiment OF Mrs. Battle as the incarnation OF
the temper Of the game, any one deEoteo 10
whist became known as OF the tribe or Batue'
and that one such enthusiast lived, at the time
OF Hoods writing, under the Reynolds roof
We incline 10 the opinion that Hood knew no
AS 10 the name Sarah Battle! II the two MRS.
R-Battle and Burney-were Identical, we
have not far to seek for part OF it Mrs
Burney's Christian name was Sarah For Bat
tie must go further afeld
Before ne as I write lies a little octave IN old
brown calf entitled Vulgar Errors in Divinity
Removed published in 1888 The dedication
IS signed by Ralph BattelL 1t is tust such oook
as Lamb would have picked up for a few pence
on one of his rambles. Between Its pages Is
e letter in the autograph Of Allan CUNNINGHAM,
dated August Is 1S22. TegTettfng his inaolhty
70 accept his correspondents welcome invita-
sfon adding: In the course Of eight or ten
davs I U;Ii hazard an evening call on you
your prints and your company will be enough
the addition OF Irish whisky would make q
feast for the gods like to think that this
this letter was addressed TO him, escaping In
some way the fate OF his friends comnunica-
tons Bu; there is no PROOF of this ana 1a.ti tne
Il is however possible that the name of the
author OF the book furnished Lamb with his
Battle" Mrs Burneys had given him
r I K
larIty between some OF the text OF BsttelIs s
Vulgar Errors and that Of Lambs Mrs Bat
-1e,s Opinions on Whist" to make 1t likely that
s copy OF the former was not only In the
possession Of Ella, but was also read by him.
about the time his essay was written.
Lamb probably also took from this old authors
name the Ralph Of his Ralph Bigod'' Cthe
John FenHick Of The Two Races OF Men. an
essay written about the same time as Mrs
BattIe'D Lambs The latter are born de-
graded: He shall serve his brethren" appears
but compression Of the old authors The elder
shall serve the younger, it IS written. Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have 1 hated
These words are not spoken Of Jacob or
either is put TO represent and shadow out the
condition Of their posterities. and so on
Another Lamb production Of this period was
"A Quakers' Meeting" Any one reading II to-
gethe- with passages such as He assisting US
tons with zeal and fervency, further than natu-
rally they would tend" might eaelly oe par
doned for associatng with Elias production the
chapter BatteiI entities Vulgar Errors Concern
ing Praying by the Spirit Removed"
Take again the case Of Lambs Mr.. Hedges,
who for some reason seems have been as
sociated in his mind with his friend Tohin- IN
letter 10 Southey. August 9. 1918, Lamb
writes: ''Tobin Is dead. But there is a man in
my Office, a Mr. Hedges. who proses II away
from morning 10 night and never gets beyond
corporal and material verities- When
can't sleep O. nights imagine q dialogue with
M Hedges upon any given subject, and 60
pressing on in fancy with him, till either laugh
or fall asleep" In his "Christ's Hospital Five
and Thirty Years Ago" Lamb gives US the pict-
ure Of q monitor "one H who. learned in
after DAYS was seen expiating some maturer
offence in the hUlks. do fatter myself in ran
cying that this might be the planter OF that
name who suffered-at Nevis, think, or ST
Kirts-sorne few years since? My friend Tobln
vas the benevolent instrument Of bringing him
70 the gallows.D This petty Nero actually
branded boy. who had offended him. with & red
hot iron: and nearly starved forty Of US, with
exacting contributions. to the one-helf or our
bread. TO pamper a young ass. etc as the
Mr Hedges OF the India House, with his ma
ter1al yerities," the grown up H, the perry
Nero OF Christ'G Hospital? His fellow CLERK
Pttrran once got Lamb 10 solve for him the nd
OF Ella" and against this Il" Lamb set
down Hodges" disguise well under
stand, II the Hedges Of his ONCE was really the
individual intended. The MS to which refer
lies before me. and the alterations IN II n
Lambs autograph are interesting Against
S" he had at first written Stevens died in
Bedlan." and NJ had been interpreted os
subsequently altered 10 Scott" and Middleton"
10 ''Maunde.~ But the %" in Hodges" did not
become 'e
Il might interest readers 10 know. in connec-
tion with the bove. that Lamb presented copy
Of his 179S "Rosamund Gray" TO q certain