"The quiet,
lazy, delicious month" passed there is referred to in one of Miss Lamb's
pleasant letters. And the acquaintance soon deepened into friendship.
Whatever good will was exhibited by Hazlitt (and there was much) is repaid
by Lamb in his letter to Southey, published in the "London Magazine"
(October, 1823), wherein he places on record his pride and admiration of
his friend. "So far from being ashamed of the intimacy" (he says), "it is
my boast that I was able, for so many years, to have preserved it entire;
and I think I shall go to my grave without finding or expecting to find
such another companion."
Lamb's respect for men and things did not depend on repute. His fondness
for old books seldom (never, perhaps, except in the single case of the
Duchess of Newcastle) deluded him into a respect for old books which were
without merit. He required that excellence should be combined with
antiquity. A great name was generally to him simply a great name; no more.
If it had lasted through centuries, indeed, as in the case of Michael
Angelo, then he admitted that "a great name implied greatness." He did not
think that greatness lay in the "thews and sinews," or in the bulk alone.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99