This was subsequently carried into effect, and a drama was composed.
This drama, still extant in the British Museum, in Lamb's own writing,
appears to be a species of comic opera, the scene of which is laid in
Gibraltar, but is without a name. I have not seen it, but speak upon the
report of others.
In 1809 Lamb moved once more into the Temple, now to the top story of No.
4 Inner Temple Lane, "where the household gods are slow to come, but where
I mean to live and die" (he says). From this place (since pulled down and
rebuilt) he writes to Manning, who is in China, "Come, and bring any of
your friends the Mandarins with you. My best room commands a court, in
which there are trees and a pump, the water of which is excellent cold--
with brandy; and not very insipid without." He sends Manning some of his
little books, to give him "some idea of European literature." It is in
this letter (January, 1810) that he speaks of Braham and his singing,
which I have elsewhere alluded to; of Kate with nine stars *********
("though she is but one"); of his book (for children) "on titles of
honor," exemplifying the eleven gradations, by which Mr. C. Lamb rises in
succession to be Baron, Marquis, Duke, and Emperor Lamb, and finally Pope
Innocent, and other lively matters fit to solace an English mathematician
self-banished to China.
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