New-York tribune., 1905-11-22
a Perfect Book about Charles
Jomb. His Sister and His Friends.
-ur1IFE OF CHARLES LAMB.. BY E. V Lucas.

- eods have been kind TO Charles Lamb.
= EARLIEST biographers were men like Tai
- ana Barry Cornwall. IN later times he
oornmemorated in a volume by Canon
.r and now the defnitive book on him
rr~ttten by a man of letters after his own
-. we have often had occasion to speak
a. annreciation Of MIR. Lucas and his deal
- ,vitl, the Lambs AS the best of the re-
-. editors of their works. he has earned the
.:,,,6e of all those who love them, using the
s.-s.ior that flows from complete sympathy.
-, sririt Of his work, quite much as his
.-e+-v in matters OF research. has provoked
-. ,ra-nlest admiration. The present volumes
' oven more deeply in his debt. He has
.,.s5 the records with zeal beyond that OF
o-s;narv literary historian; he is never the
.,ro sntiouary, turning over old documents for
- oun sake, but always the devoted artist.
L.. onIv for that which will enable him
.,int a truthful living portrait of one whom
las in reyerent regard. New matter has
.. - the composition of this biography, but
= ~ T1lcas takes a Just pride in 1t he does
arov, that fact to come TO the surface.
- .,a contrary he has done his best 10 keep
t,rself in the background, saying in his preface,
@ have tried as far as possible to
80, the story of Lambs life in his own and
,ts sisters words, and in those OF their con-
..,orsries nv part will he found to be less
.,.+ of author than of stage manager inns
--o5est disclaimer will not keep the reader from
..,+;re him as the ideal historian of the
Lambs 81
IN nothing does he do more to deserve this
designation than in the !eisurely insnuatlon OF
&c mind inro the very soul and movement of the
life he has set out TO portray This book might
have been written by a contemporary Of Lambs
l.. cd
,bor must have taken immense pains 10 recon-
s+-,rt the old scenes and people them with the
I'D se7res. but as n matter of fact his pages
s,gresf in their simplicity their easy flow and
..-;r ac,,tality nothing so much direct obser-
.stton. Thus We may say Of his opening chap
.a-s which depict the household into which
lamb was born. that we have rarely known
genealogical details 10 be more unobtrusvely
handled We are made 10 feel at once that we
know John Lamb and his employer, Samuel
Salt. 1t is true that We have Lambs own testi-
ronv 10 90 on for the former, in the Lover
Of the essay on the Old Benchers of the Inner
TEMPLE and light is thrown Salt in the same
niece Of writing which Mr.. Lucas of course,
invokes But. al the same time, this biographer
has way of adapting his narrative to his quo
tatons which makes the final delightful result
seem an affair of his own talent For one thing
right passages. We have a new sense as
90 through these earlier chapters, of the pecu-
liar conditions which went 20 the moulding of
Lambs character. We grasp more firmly the
sound nature of John Lamb, the liveliest little
fellow breathing" as his called him, and
we learn to have deeper appreciation of good
Samuel Salt Then there was affectionate Aunt
Hetty. with her dron slips OF the tongue. DO
take another slice, Mr.. Billet" she said TO the
old gentleman from the Mint. on whom Lamb, in
his boyhood, used to gaze with kind of adora-
ton, for you do not get pudding every day"
Later in the evening came the awful retort.
Woman, you are superannuated!' But this
anecdote only serves to i'll out the picture of
the sweet and gentle life that went on in those
humble rooms IN the temple. John Billet got
over the unintentional affront Of course, for he
knew that peace and good will brooded over the
place. Charles and his sister Mary grew up in
sn atmosphere which knew not priggishness,
but made in every hour for the development of
lie kindly virtues.
Many years afterward. when Lambs life was
ended, Wordsworth wrote the poem. three lines
of which were inscribed upon his friends tomb
stone:
Al the. centre of his being lodged
A soul by resignation SaDCtified
o. he was good If eer good Man lived.
point 10 this epitaph could have been applied TO
him at any stage OF his career. Even in his boy
hood there was something about him that placed |
him apart Lamb was amiabe, gentle boy" |
wrote Valentine lie Grfce one of his companions |
at Christs Hospital. 10 Talfourd. II never
heard his name mentioned without the addition !
OF Charles. although, there was no other boy !
OF the name OF Lamb, the addition was unneces- |
Saryi but there was an implied kindness in it. |
and II was a proof that hfs gentle manners ex- !
cited that kindness" His manners were the ex- |
preston Of his nature Mr.. Lucas notes that the |
linpeoiment in Lambs speech was considered an |
lnsuperable obstacle TO his entering holy orders,
rs ne might have done, according to the tradi- |
lions Of Christs Hospital *Posterty has rea-
son TO bless that stutter" he adds, and we agree
with him. for while It Is true that the Church
would not necessarily have wholly de-Elianated |
him. ii is also true that zone cannot see the
Rev. Charles Lamb producing quite such work |
Is came from Charles Lamb of East Indian
House, and the least differences are not TO be
ihought Of But We Ike best to think of the
Nnoness Of fate in this matter as something
winch, If it deprived the Church of a good
clergyman. sent noble soul out into the world
20 practise as high an ideal in everyday life as
any priest could put 10 his credit Mr.. Lucas
tells pretty story to Illustrate the affectionate
regard in which Lambs name is held"
80, = ogee9at boy walking through residential
sstISst IN London astoniShed to hear himself
@ @a4eo oy ( strange. bare headed elderly gentleman
-ael!-4hs On doorstep. Come here boy. ne
tSTledi come here and when the boy reached
IN ne pressed q five shilling piece IN his hand,
WIN the words, IN memory Of Charles Lamb
The reader who wants to get to the very core
o. the character inspiring such feeling as this
hss only 10 read what Mr.. Lucas has TO tell Of
NE great tragedy In Lambs life, his sisters
mania and the catastrophe which il involved
The death of their mother The episode is treated