Characteristics of Lamb [pp. 652-660]

1840.] Characteristics Lamb. 653
through the groves about Oxford in the vacation solitude,
or seated in a little back study, intent upon an antiquated
folio, appear like actual reminiscences rather than pictures
of the fancy. The face of his old schoolmaster is as some
familiar physiognomy; and we seem to have known Bridget
Elia from infancy, and to have loved her, too, notwithstanding her one "ugly habit of reading in company." Indeed
we can compare our associations of Charles Lamb only to
those which would naturally attach to an intimate neighbor with whom he had, for years, cultivated habits of delightful intercourse,-stepping over his threshold, to hold
sweet commune, whenever weariness was upon our spirits
and we desired cheering and amiable companionship. And
when death actually justified the title affixed to his most
recent papers-which we had fondly regarded merely as
an additional evidence of his unique method of dealing
with his fellow beings,-when they really proved the l ast
essays of Elia, we could unaffectedly apply to him the
touching language with which an admired poet has hallowed
the memory of a brother bard:
its melancholy aspect by the simple record of literary success. Earnestly as we honor the principle of self-devotion, our sympathy with beings of a strong intellectual and
imaginative bias is too great not to awaken, above every
o ther consideration, a desire for the self-possession and
native exhibition of such a heaven-implanted tendency.
We cannot but wish that natures thus e ndowed should be
true to themselves. We feel that, in this way, they will
eventually prove most useful to the world. And yet one
of the rar est results which such men ar r ive at, is self-satisfaction in the course they pursue-we do no t mean a s rezards the success, but the d irection of their lab ors. Sir
James Mackintosh continually lamented, in hi s d iary, the
failure of his splendid inten tions, c onsole d hi mself with
the idea of additio nal en terprises, and finally die d with out
completing his history. Coleridge has left on ly, in a fragmentary and scattered form, the philosophical system he
proposed to develope. Both these remarkable men passed
intellectual lives, and evolved, in conversation and fugitive productions, fruits which are worthy of a perennial
existence; yet they fell so far short of their aims, they
realised so little of what they conceived, that an impression the most painful remains upon the mind that, with due
susceptibility, contemplates their career. We find, therefore, an especial gratification in turning from such instances, to a far humbler one indeed,-but still to a man of
genius, who richly enjoyed his pleasant and sequestered
inheritance in the kingdom of letters, and whose comparatively few productions bear indubitable testimony to a
mind at ease,-a felicitous expansion of feeling,-an imaginative and yet contented life. It is as illustrative of this,
that the essays of Elia are mainly valuable.
In our view, the form of these writings is a great recommendation. We confess a partiality for the essay. In the
literature of our vernacular tongue, it shines conspicuous,
and is environed with the most pleasing associations, To
the early English essayists is due the honor of the first and
most successful endeavors to refine the language and manners of their country. The essays of Dr. Johnson, Goldsmith, Addison, and Steele, while they answered a most
important immediate purpose, still serve as instructive
disquisitions and excellent illustrations of style. The
essay is to prose literature, what the sonnet is to poetry;
and as the narrow limits of the latter have enclosed some
of the most beautiful poetic imagery, and finished expressions of sentiment within the compass of versified writing,
so many of the most chaste specimens of elegant periods,
and of animated and embellished prose, exist in the form
of essays. The lively pen of Montaigne, the splendid
rhetoric of Burke, and the vigorous argument of John
Foster, have found equal scope in essay writing: and
among the various species of composition at present in
vogue, how few can compare with this in general adaptation. Descriptive sketches and personal traits, speculative suggestions and logical deductions, the force of direct
appeal, the various power of illustration, allusion and comment, are equally available to the essayist. His essay
may be a lay-sermon or a satire, a criticism or a reverie.
" Of the words of men," says Lord Bacon, " there is nothing more sound and excellent than are letters; for they
are more natural than orations, and more advised than sudlen conferences." Essays combine the qualities here ascribed to epistolary composition; indeed, they may justly
be regarded as letters addressed to the public; embodying —
in the delightful style which characterises the private correspondence of cultivated friends-views andl details of
more general interest.
There is more reason to regret the decline of essay
writing, from the fact, that the forms of composition now
in vogue, are so inferior to it both in intrinsic excellence
and as vehicles of thought. There is, indeed, a class of
And were it o nly fo r the peculiar species of fame which
Lamb's co ntributi ons to th e light lite rat ure of his country
have obtained him,-were it only for the valuable lesson
insv olved in this tributary heritage,-in the method by
which it was won,- in the example with which it is associate d, ther e would r emain ample cause for congratulation
among the r eal frien ds of h uman improvement; there
would be sufficient reason to remember, gratefully and
long, the gifte and and amiable essayist. Instead of the feverish passion for reput ation, which re nders the existence of
the major ity of profess ed littnrateurs of the present day, a
wearing and anxious trial, better becoming the du st and
he at of the arena, th an the peaceful shades of the academy,
a can l and self-reposing spiri t pervades and characterises
the writings of Lamb. The y are obviously the offspring
of thoughtfill leisure; they are r edolent of the otium; and
in this consists their peculiar charm. We are disposed to
v alue this ch aracteristic highly, at a time which abounds,
as does our age, w ith a profusion of forced and elaborate
writings. It is truly delightful to encounter a work, however limit ed in design and unpretending in execution,
which revives the legitimate idea of literature,-which
makes us feel that it is as ess ential ly spontaneous as the
process of v egetation, and is only true to its source and
its object, when instinct with freshness and fre edorth. No
mind, restlessly urged by a mor bid appe tit e for literary
fame, or disciplin ed to a mechanical development of
thought, could hav e origina ted the attractive essays we are
consider ing. Th e y indica te quit e a different parentage.
A lovely spirit of contentment, a steadfast determination
towards a genlerou s cultu re of the s oul, b reathes through
these mental emanations. Imaginative elnjoyment,-the
boon with which the Creator has permitt ed man to melior ate th e trying circumstances of his lot, is evidently the
gr eat r ecreation of the author, a nd to this he would introduce his reade rs. It is inter esting to feel, that among the
many accomplished men, whom necessity or ambition inclined to the pursuit of literature, there are those who find
the time and possess the will to do something like justice
to their own minds. Literary biography is little else than
a history of martyrdoms. We often rise from the perusal
of a great man's life, whose sphere was the field of letters,
with diminished faith in the good he successfully pursued.
The story of disappointed hopes, ruined health, a life in
no small degree isolated from social pleasure and the incitement which nature affords, can scarcely be relieved of
1840.]
C-haracteristies of Lamb.
653
" Green be the turf above thee,
Friend of my better days,
None knew thee, but to love thee,
Nor named thee, but to praise."
or
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