He worked laboriously at
the India House from boyhood to manhood; for many years without repining;
although he must have been conscious of an intellect qualified to shine in
other ways than in entering up a trader's books. None of those coveted
offices, which bring money and comfort in their train, ever reached
Charles Lamb. He was never under that bounteous shower which government
leaders and persons of influence direct towards the heads of their
adherents. No Dives ever selected him for his golden bounty. No potent
critic ever shouldered him up the hill of fame. In the absence of these
old-fashioned helps, he was content that his own unassisted efforts should
gain for him a certificate of capability to the world, and that the choice
reputation which he thus earned should, with his own qualities, bring
round him the unenvying love of a host of friends.
Lamb had always been a studious boy and a great reader; and after passing
through Christ's Hospital and the South Sea House, and being for some
years in the India House, this instinctive passion of his mind (for
literature) broke out. In this he was, without doubt, influenced by the
example and counsel of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, his school-fellow and
friend, for whom he entertained a high and most tender respect.
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