Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. VI-VII. Letters
Charles Lamb to Walter Wilson, 14 August 1801
DEAR Wilson.—I am extremely sorry that any serious difference should
subsist between us on account of some foolish behaviour of mine at Richmond;
you knew me well enough before—that a very little liquor will cause a
considerable alteration in me.
I beg you to impute my conduct solely to that, and not to
any deliberate intention of offending you, from whom I have received so many
friendly attentions. I know that you think a very im-![]()
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portant difference in opinion with respect to some more serious
subjects between us makes me a dangerous companion; but do not rashly infer,
from some slight and light expressions which I may have made use of in a moment
of levity in your presence, without sufficient regard to your feelings—do not
conclude that I am an inveterate enemy to all religion. I have had a time of
seriousness, and I have known the importance and reality of a religious belief.
Latterly, I acknowledge, much of my seriousness has gone off, whether from new
company or some other new associations; but I still retain at bottom a
conviction of the truth, and a certainty of the usefulness of religion. I will
not pretend to more gravity or feeling than I at present possess; my intention
is not to persuade you that any great alteration is probable in me; sudden
converts are superficial and transitory; I only want you to believe that I have
stamina of seriousness within me, and that I desire nothing more than a return
of that friendly intercourse which used to subsist between us, but which my
folly has suspended.
Believe me, very affectionately yours,
Walter Wilson (1781-1847)
The illegitimate son of John Walter, founder of the
Times; he was
a London bookseller and collector who published a three-volume life of Defoe (1830).
