10* 8. IV. SEPT. 23,1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES. 257 given for "he ought to work" and "he should work." ALFRED F. BOBBINS. YORKSHIRE DIALECT (10th S. iv. 102, 170, 190).—Is it permitted to withdraw what I wrote in haste, and which I was not in time to cancel ? I see now that it was a foolish guess that " fastening penny " (ante, p. 191) could have anything to do with festa. The origin oi festa, is not clear to me. T. WILSON. Harpenden. |Jli:;rrIl;nuoHS. NOTES ON BOOKS, *o. The Life of Charle* Lamb. By E. V. Lucas. 2 vols. (Methuen & Co.) THAT Mr. Lucas's exemplary edition of Lamb, to the merits of which we have rendered frequent homage, was to include or be supplemented by a life of the great humourist, has long been known. With •commendable expedition, considering the amount of labour involved, the task has been executed, and an ample, and indeed exhaustive, biography is now within reach of the public. For the manner in which Mr. Lucas's work has been accomplished we have nothing but praise. His book is one with which no scholar or lover of literature will dispense. It is the amplest, the most satisfac- tory, and the most indispensable narrative of Lamb's life that has appeared : and to those even —few as these must now be—who recall the appearance of Talfourd's two volumes, and have framed thereon conceptions as to what is an ideal biography, it brings an enhancement of delight as of knowledge. Sad every life of Lamb must necessarily be, and this, as the most exact and ample, is naturally the saddest. It preserves, however, the charm of previous works. Like will to like. The eminently lovable nature of Lamb himself has attracted men of kiudred qualities, and there are few writers who have found bio- graphers so sympathetic and so appreciative as Talfourd, Barry Cornwall, Alfred Ainger. Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, and now finally Mr. Lucas. What, however constitutes the principal charm of the memoirs of Lamb is that the humourist is his own biographer. No other writer is so outspokenly autobiographical; and though Lamb'i revelations are not always to be accepter literally, this reservation affects their trust- worthiness rather than their charm. There is no •other Knglish man of letters—except it be Johnson— of whom we know so much as of Lamb, and what we learn concerning the younger writer has the advantage of being obtained chiefly at first hand Too much has been made of the "gentleness" o! Charles Lamb. To reconcile ourselves to the constant use of the term we have to recall that it was similarly applied to Shakespeare by so good a judge even as Milton. We are disposed, with Mr. Augustine Birrell, to "grow sick" of thi iteration of such phrases as " poor Charles Lamb!' " gentle Charles Lamb." "Charles Lamb earnec his own living, paid his own way ; was the helper oot the helped; a man who was beholden to nt one, who always came with gifts in his hand; a shrewd man, capable of advice, strong in council 'oor Lamb! indeed. Poor Coleridge! robbed of is will. Poor Wordsworth ! devoured by his own go. Poor Southey! writing his tomes and deeming limself a classic. Poor Carlyle ! " These com- nents, equally just and well spoken, are quoted by dr. Lucas (vol. i. p. 311). Besides, Lamb was not in- •ariably gentle, and it must at times have required 11 the affection and indulgence of his friends to >ardon utterances that were emphatically rude, ind barely escaped the charge of being savage. 3arlyle's utterances concerning Lamb (quoted vol. i. p. 240), though discreditable and dis- graceful to Carlyle, and requiring more in- lulgonce than has to be accorded to Lamb limself, had some underlying element of truth, since Lamb was indeed at times " ill-mannered to i degree." Those whose studies of Lamb have aecome remote will learn with regret how strong a sway his habits of drunkenness came to exer- cise over him, and may possibly realize for the first time how frequent were the attacks of insanity to which his sister was subject. These things are responsible for the feeling of sadness which the perusal of Mr. Lucas's volumes conveys. It must not, however, be asserted that sadness is the prevalent impression. There is no more of such than is almost inevitable when a human career is traced—or tracked, rather—to the close. We agree with Mr. Lucas in holding that Lamb's retirement From the India Office might with advantage have been deferred. A man less fitted than Lamb for a life virtually solitary in the country cannot be found. He did not even want, with Charles Morris, " the sweet shady side of Pall Mall." He was as fond of Fleet {Street as was Dr. Johnson, and it is touching to find, when he started from Knfield or Edmonton for a walk, how he invariably turned Londonwards. Scenery, of course, impressed him, but there are few signs of delight in country objects, scenes, or sounds. It is difficult to feel very keen interest in Lamb's shadowy love affairs, though Mr. Lucas has hunted out all there is to be learnt. Lamb's devotion to his sister is doubtless respon- sible in part for his determination not to marry. Had she, instead of outliving him, died while he was • i ill young, his knowledge of his own mental infirmities ana his sense of justice would presum- ably have kept him from matrimony—to which, indeed, he seems to have been nowise prone. Over Lamb's style Milton seems, next to Shake- speare, to have exercised most influence. There are scores of quotations, such as in the description of James White and the chimney-sweeper, " The universal host would set up a shout that tore the concave." which is, of course, almost word for word from ' Paradise Lost,' book i. 11. 541-2. In sup- posing that Lamb had a share greater than is generally acknowledged in Burnett's ' Specimens' Mr. Lucas is probably right. Barron Field was not the editor of the Heywood executed for the Shake- speare Society. He is responsible for the first two volumes only. Mr. Lucas attempts to answer the question why Lamb holds his place in literature and our hearts. He gives some capital reasons, but there are more to be advanced. Space fails us to go on with our comment, though we have not touched on half the matters marked for notice. The volumes are worthy in all respects, and may be read with unending delight. An especially attractive feature is found in the illustrations. These consist, largely of portraits, and supply for us admirable presentments of the Lamb circle
