On the stage,
indeed, it is often the sole means of expressing the fluctuation of the
passions. I myself have heard of a "Pooh!" which interrupted a long
intimacy, when the pander was administering sweet words in too liberal a
measure.
As with Lamb so with his companions. Each was notable for some individual
mark or character. His own words will best describe them: "Not many
persons of science, and few professed _literati_, were of his councils.
They were for the most part persons of an uncertain fortune. His intimados
were, to confess a truth, in the world's eye, a ragged regiment; he found
them floating on the surface of society, and the color or something else
in the weed pleased him. The burrs stuck to him; but they were good and
loving burrs, for all that."
None of Lamb's intimates were persons of title or fashion, or of any
political importance. They were reading men, or authors, or old friends
who had no name or pretensions. The only tie that held these last and Lamb
together was a long-standing mutual friendship--a sufficient link. None of
them ever forsook him: they loved him, and in return he had a strong
regard for them. His affections, indeed, were concentrated on few persons;
not widened (weakened) by too general a philanthropy.
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