The records of his boyhood are
very scanty. He was always a grave, inquisitive boy. Once, when walking
with his sister through some churchyard, he inquired anxiously, "Where do
the naughty people lie?" the unqualified panegyrics which he encountered
on the tombstones doubtless suggesting the inquiry. Mr. Samuel Le Grice
(his schoolfellow) states that he was an amiable, gentle youth, very
sensible, and keenly observing; that "his complexion was clear brown, his
countenance mild, his eyes differing in color, and that he had a slow and
peculiar walk." He adds that he was never mentioned without the addition
of his Christian name, Charles, implying a general feeling of kindness
towards him. His delicate frame and difficulty of utterance, it is said,
unfitted him for joining in any boisterous sports.
After he left Christ's Hospital, he returned home, where he had access to
the large miscellaneous library of Mr. Salt. He and his sister were (to
use his own words) "tumbled into a spacious closet of good old English
reading, and browsed at will on that fair and wholesome pasturage." This,
however, could not have lasted long, for it was the destiny of Charles
Lamb to be compelled to labor almost from, his boyhood.
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