" Lamb at once perceived the
character of the purchaser, and taking off his hat, said, humbly, "Then I
hope, ma'am, you'll give me a drink of small beer." This was of course
refused. He afterwards called upon the grocer, on the boy's behalf--with
what effect I do not know.
POSTSCRIPT.
I have thus told, as far as my ability permits, the story of the life of
Charles Lamb.
I have not ventured to deduce any formidable moral from it. Like Lamb
himself, I have great dislike to ostentatious precepts and impertinent
lessons. Facts themselves should disclose their own virtues. A man who is
able to benefit by a lesson will, no doubt, discover it, under any husk or
disguise, before it is stripped and laid bare--to the kernel.
Besides, too much teaching may disagree with the reader. It is apt to
harden the heart, wearying the attention, and mortifying the self-love.
Such disturbances of the system interfere with the digestion of a truth.
Even Gulliver is sometimes too manifestly didactic. His adventures, simply
told, would have emitted spontaneously a luminous atmosphere, and need not
have been distilled into brilliant or pungent drops.
No history is barren of good.
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