E. V. Lucas: Letters of Charles Lamb

DEAR Sir—You must think me ill mannered not to have replied to your first letter sooner, but I have an ugly habit of aversion from letter writing, which makes me an unworthy correspondent. I have had no spring, or cordial call to the occupation of late. I have been not well lately, which must be my lame excuse. Your poem, which I consider very affecting, found me engaged about a humorous Paper for the London, which I had called a “Letter to an Old Gentleman whose Education had been neglected”—and when it was done Taylor and Hessey would not print it, and it discouraged me from doing any thing else, so I took up Scott, where I had scribbled some petulant remarks, and for a make shift father’d them on Ritson. It is obvious I could not make your Poem a part of them, and as I did not know whether I should ever be able to do to my mind what you suggested, I thought it not fair to keep back the verses for the chance. Mr. Mitford’s
1823 DINING IN PARNASSUS 605
sonnet I like very well; but as I also have my reasons against interfering at all with the Editorial arrangement of the London, I transmitted it (not in my own handwriting) to them, who I doubt not will be glad to insert it. What eventual benefit it can be to you (otherwise than that a kind man’s wish is a benefit) I cannot conjecture. Your Society are eminently men of Business, and will probably regard you as an idle fellow, possibly disown you, that is to say, if you had put your own name to a sonnet of that sort, but they cannot excommunicate Mr. Mitford, therefore I thoroughly approve of printing the said verses. When I see any Quaker names to the Concert of Antient Music, or as Directors of the British Institution, or bequeathing medals to Oxford for the best classical themes, etc.—then I shall begin to hope they will emancipate you. But what as a Society can they do for you? you would not accept a Commission in the Army, nor they be likely to procure it; Posts in Church or State have they none in their giving; and then if they disown you—think—you must live “a man forbid.”

I wishd for you yesterday. I dined in Parnassus, with Wordsworth, Coleridge, Rogers, and Tom Moore—half the Poetry of England constellated and clustered in Gloster Place! It was a delightful Even! Coleridge was in his finest vein of talk, had all the talk, and let ’em talk as evilly as they do of the envy of Poets, I am sure not one there but was content to be nothing but a listener. The Muses were dumb, while Apollo lectured on his and their fine Art. It is a lie that Poets are envious, I have known the best of them, and can speak to it, that they give each other their merits, and are the kindest critics as well as best authors. I am scribbling a muddy epistle with an aking head, for we did not quaff Hippocrene last night. Marry, it was Hippocras rather. Pray accept this as a letter in the mean time, and do me the favor to mention my respects to Mr. Mitford, who is so good as to entertain good thoughts of Elia, but don’t show this almost impertinent scrawl. I will write more respectfully next time, for believe me, if not in words, in feelings, yours most so.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) English poet and philosopher who projected Lyrical Ballads (1798) with William Wordsworth; author of Biographia Literaria (1817), On the Constitution of the Church and State (1829) and other works.

James Augustus Hessey (1785-1870) London publisher in partnership with John Taylor; they published the London Magazine from 1821 to 1825.

John Mitford (1781-1859) Educated at Oriel College, Oxford, he was rector of Benhall in Suffolk, a friend of Charles Lamb and Samuel Rogers. He was a book collector and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine (1834-50).

Thomas Moore (1779-1852) Irish poet and biographer, author of the Irish Melodies (1807-34), The Fudge Family in Paris (1818), and Lalla Rookh (1817); he was Byron's close friend and designated biographer.

Joseph Ritson (1752-1803) English antiquary and editor remembered as much for his quarrelsome temperament as for his contributions to literary history.

Samuel Rogers (1763-1855) English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular Pleasures of Memory (1792), Columbus (1810), Jaqueline (1814), and Italy (1822-28).

John Scott of Amwell (1730-1783) Quaker poet and essayist, and acquaintance of Samuel Johnson; his odes and elegies were widely read.

John Taylor (1781-1864) Publisher of the London Magazine and poems of John Keats, and a prolific writer in his own right.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) With Coleridge, author of Lyrical Ballads (1798), Wordsworth survived his early unpopularity to succeed Robert Southey as poet laureate in 1843.

The London Magazine. (1820-1829). Founded by John Scott as a monthly rival to Blackwood's, the London Magazine included among its contributors Charles Lamb, John Clare, Allan Cunningham, Thomas De Quincey, and Thomas Hood.

Bernard Barton (1784-1849) “A Poet's Thanks” in London Magazine. Vol. 7 (April 1823): 421. In verse.

Charles Lamb [Elia] (1775-1834) “Letter to an Old Gentleman whose education has been neglected” in London Magazine. Vol. NS 1 (January 1825): 95-99.

Charles Lamb [Elia] (1775-1834) “Ritson versus Scott the Quaker” in London Magazine. Vol. 7 (April 1823): 445-48. Reprinted in Last Essays.

John Mitford (1781-1859) “Sonnet addressed to Bernard Barton” in London Magazine. Vol. 7 (June 1823): 620.

INFORMATION FROM TEI HEADER

Source Description:

Authors: Charles Lamb; Mary Lamb

Title: The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb. Letters (London: Methuen and Co., 1905).

Electronic Edition:

Series: Lord Byron and his Times: http://lordbyron.org

Encoding Description: Any dashes occurring in line breaks have been removed. Obvious and unambiguous compositors’ errors have been silently corrected.

Markup and editing by: David Hill Radcliffe

Completed January 2012

Publication Statement:

Publisher: Center for Applied Technologies in the Humanities, Virginia Tech

Availability: Published under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License