CHAPTER II

PERSONAL ESSAYS
 31

Most of the essays of Lamb are deeply personal and autobiographical.

Lamb uses the essay as a vehicle of Self-revelation. He takes the reader into

confidence and speaks about himself without reserve. These essays, acquaint

us with Lamb's likes and dislikes, his preferences and aversions, his tastes

and temperaments, his nature and dispositon, his medtitations and reflec­

tions, his observations and comments, his reactions to persons, events, and

things and so on without openly taking himself as a subject. Lamb is for

ever speaking of himself. This constant pre-occupation with himself and his

use of the personal pronoun "I" is by some described as his egotism. It is

just that Lamb relates what he knows best. The past, like the present, offers

him an inexhaustible store house from which he freely draws for his mate­

rial. From the personal and autobiographical portions of the essays, it is

possible to reconstruct the inner life and no little of the outer life of Lamb.

Among the essays in which Lamb reveals himself more conspicuously are:

1) Oxford in the vacation, (2) Christ's Hospital Five and Thirty years

Ago 3) New Year's Eve, (4) A Chapter on Ears (5) All Fool's Day (6)

Imperfect Sympathies (7) My Relations (8) Grace Before Meat (9) Dream

Children (10) In Praise of Chimney - Sweepers (11) Modern Gallantry (12) A

Dissertation upon Roast Pig & (13) The Superannuated Man.

A Hamilton Thompson's says that

“His gentle expostulations only deepened the mystery. A

part from personal gratification however, his method of
employing autobiography is strictly in keeping with the
cannons of Art. 'The Essays of Elia1 is primarily a work of
imagination. Autobiographical detail is not its purpose, but
 32

is merely incident to it, and the writer is at liberty to keep to

the strict truth or draw upon his imagination as he will." 1

In the Essay "Oxford in the Vacation" Lamb expresses his helplessness

in the matter as, "being plain Elia", He has no voice indetermining or fixing

the number of holidays. After disclosing to us the identity of Elia, he

informs us that his real vocation is not auditing and accounting which he

does in the office, but the writing of poems, epigrams and essays which he

undertakes after office hours.

This is a highly personal and autobiographical essay. Lamb lays bare

his mind before us. Not only does he tell us something about his work in

the South-Sea-House but also something about his literary activities in which

he is more interested than in his office work. He speaks of his love of

holidays also and expresses his regret at the reduction in the number of

holidays as compared with days gone by. There is a touch of pathos in his

telling us that he could not reap the benefits of a University education. How

wistfully he imagines himself as a sizar or a servitor or a gentle man

commoner, or a master of arts one can experience his pathos and autobio­

graphical element from these following lines:

"I can here play the gentle man, enact the student To such
a one as myself, who has been defrauded in his young years
of the sweet food of academic institution, no where is so
pleasant, to while away a few idle weeks at, as one or other
of the universities. Their vocation, too, at this time of the
year, falls in so pat with ours. Here I can take my walks
unmolested and fancy, myself of what degree or standing I
please I seem admitted ad, enludem, I fetch up past oppor­
tunities. I can rise at the chapel - bell, and dream that it
rings for me. In moods of humility I can be a sizar, or a
servitor, when the peacock vein rises, 1 strut a Gentleman
commoner. In graver moments I proceed Master of Arts. In
deed I do not think. I am much unlike that respectable
character".2
 33

These lines throw light on Lamb's interest in university education and

even without a university education we find Lamb to be a learned man.

How much more learned he might have been with a university education.

Almost half of the essay has been devoted to a delineation of the

character of George Dyer. We are given a striking portrayal, of the man, his

literary scholarship, his proclivities towards research, his love of creative

writing, his absent-mindedness etc. This portion of the essay reads almost

like a story. We have here a combination of Lamb's narrative quality with

his gift for character - portrayal.

The essay is written in a scholarly style. The following sentences may be quoted

as an example of highly verbose manner of writing:

"The enfranchised quill, that has plodded all the morning

among the cart-rucks of figures and cyphers, frisks and
curvets so at its ease over the flowery carpet ground of a
midnight dissertation. It feels its promotion. So that you see,
upon the whole, the literary dignity of Elia is very little, if at
all, compromosed in the condescension'^

Lamb's style is highly figurative. For instance, George Oyer living

among attorneys and vermin of the law is campared to a dove sitting on the

asp's nest. The fangs of the law pierce him not, we are told. The following

sentences are not only written in a richly figurative style but also provide us

an example of Lamb's biting irony:

"Your caputs and heads of colleges, careless than any body

else about these questions. Contented to suck the milky
fountains of their Alma Maters, without enquiry into the
venerable gentle women's years, they rather hold such curi­
osities to be impertinent - unrevearend. They have their
good globe lands in manu, and care not much to rake into
the title - deeds".4
 34

In these sentences Lamb ridicules the attitude of the dons and fellows

and are not concerned with the controversy into which George Dyer has been

investigating.

The Essay "Christ's Hospital Five And Thirty years Ago" is one of the

highly personal and autobiographical essays of Lamb. It is replete with

recollections and reminiscences of his life at the charity school of Christ's

Hospital. Here we see Lamb as a "Visualiser of Memories. Lamb gives us

his memories of his life at Christs Hospital, his school - mates, some of the

masters, and so on.

This essay is a formula for the Romantic essay. The formula in this

essay is that it is out side streets waste wrappers, Do receive into them. It

is a Romantic essay. It is fragmentary, abbrevated or cutting not sustained

undertaking.

Secondly, it is paradoxically both a part and apart from society at last

because it doesn's discuss society. It is derived from and intimately linked

to the products and things of life. At the same time it is something cast

aside separate from the counting houses, and crowded streets.

Thirdly, it is setting up a beginning a trial, in authorship.

Fourthly, it contains and deals with the things of life in literal and

inetaphorical senses. It also refers back to itself, reflects itself.

One of the mot striking features of this essay is Lambs' portrayal of

certain characters, especially of the upper master, James Boyer, and the
 35

Lower Master. The contrast between the natures and temperaments of these

two school masters is vividly drawn.

The following lines tell Us Lamb's portrayal of certain characters -

The upper Master, James Boyer and the Lower Master.

The upper and the Lower Grammar schools were held in the same

room, and an imaginary line only divided their bounds. Their character was

as different as that of the inhabitants on the two sides of the Pyrenees. The

Rev. James Boyer was the upper Master, but the Rev. Matthew Field

Presided over that portion of the apartment, of which I had the good fotune

to be a member. We lived a life as careless as birds. We talked and did

just what we pleased, and nobody molested us.

"Field never used the rod; and in truth he wielded the cane
with no great good will - holding it "like a dancer". It
looked in his hands rather like an emblem than an instru­
ment of authority; and an emblem, too he was ashamed of.
He was a good easy man, that did not care to ruffle his own
peace, nor perhaps, set any great consideration upon the
value of Juvenile time. He came among us, now and then,
but often staid away whole days from us and when he
came, it made no difference to us - he had his private room
to retire to, the short he staid, to be out of the sound of our
noise our mirth and up roar went on".5

From this essay we learn that Matthew Field, was an easy going

person who hardly ever used his school - master's rod. He allowed his

pupils to have their own way. They could read what they liked and they

could pursue any hobbies and diversions that they liked. He was a mixture,

in an equal proportion, of the gentleman, the scholar, and the Christian. He

was more intereted in attending social parties than in giving lessons. James

Boyer, on the other hand, maintained a strict discipline and kept a vigilant
 36

eye on his pupils. His pupils turned out to be good scholars because he

did not relax his hold on them and insisted upon their assiduously studying

the classics Matthew Field made the life of his pupils a "playing holiday".

While the life of James Boyer's pupils was one of intellectual drudg­

ery and scholarship. The pupils of Matthew Field were "a Sort of Helots to

James Boyer's Young Spartans" while we venerate James Boyer as depicted

by Lamb, we love Matthew Field as portrayed by his pen. The brief studies

of certain other individuals, in this essay also show Lamb's skill as a

delineator of character. The essential qualities of these Individuals are

conveyed to us in a few words. The close friendship of Stevens and

Trollope finds expression in the following words. "Oh, it is pleasant, as it

is rare, to find the same arm linked in yours at forty, which at thirteen

helped it to turn over the cicero De Amicia. Thornton is described as a "tall,

dark, saturnine youth, sparing of speech with raven locks" Middleton bore

his mitre high in India, but with a humility "Quite as primitive as that of

Jewel or Hooker"

We learn a good deal about Coleridge also from this essay Coleridge

was a hypochondriac lad who, even in those early years of his life. Showed

his philosphical bent of mind. Even a casual passer through the cloisters of

Christ's Hospital would be entranced with admiration to hear Coleridge

unfold the mysteries of philosophers like Jambilichus and Plotinus. Many

were the "Wit combats" that took place between him and Charles valentine

Le Grice.
 37

This eassy affords an excellent illustration of the mingling of humour

and pathos in the work of Lamb. A vein of humour runs throughout the

essay, but there are many touching episodes in it.

The poor and inadequate meals that the boys used to get at school are

amusingly described. But this is followed by a touching description of

Coleridge's feelings of loveliness and his home-sickness.

"I was a poor friendless boy My parents, and those who

should care for me, were faraway.... and I felt myself alone
among six hundred play mates O the crucelty of separating
a poor lad from his early homestead. How in my dreams,
would my native town come back"6 (p 12-13)

Another essay, "NEW YEAR'S EVE" reveals to us the mind, tempera­

ment and personality of Lamb. Lamb takes the reader into confidence

regarding his nature and disposition. From beginning to end this essay

deals with Lamb's own mind, his prejudices, his preferences his likes and

dislikes, his predilections etc. He is a visualiser of the past and dwells

fondly upon the years of his child hood. The chief interest of the essay lies

in Lamb's self-revelation his frank disclosures of his mind and thoughts.

Most of us if we are truthful, would share Lamb's fear of death. But with

this pessimism, resulting from his haunting fear of death is mixed a healthy

optimism or hopefulness which finds expression, to wards the end of the

essay. The quotation of Charles Cotton's poem is an example of Lamb's

habit of interspersing his essays with references to other writers.

The following lines show lamb's temperament and personality

Why, to confort me, must Alice W-n be a goblin? More than

 38

all, I conceive disgust at those impertinent and misbecoming

familiarities, inscribed upon your ordinary tombstones. Every
dead man must take upon himself to be lecturing me with
his odious truism, that "Such as he now is I must shortly be
"Not so shortly, friend. Perhaps, as thou imaginest. In the
meantime I am alive. I move about. I am worth twenty of
thee. Know thy betters! Thy New Year's days are past. I
survive, a jolly condidate for 1821. Another cup of wine -
and while that turn coat bell that just now mournfully
chanted the obsequies of 1820 departed, with changed notes
lustily rings in a successor, let us attune to its peal the song
made on a like occasion by hearty, cheerful Mr. Cotton". 7

These lines mean his elders never failed to bid fare well to the old

year with due ceremonies. The sound of the church bells symbolising the

death of the old year and the birth of the new always roused feelings of joy

in them but this sound brought into his mind a series of pensive images.

Not only children but also young men till the age of thirty never have the

feeling that one day death will over take them.

The fear of death haunts Lamb especially during winter time. The

thought of death does not frighten him in the genial month of August. But

the coldness of winter lends special emphasis to his fear of death. There are

some people who claim to be indifferent to life and look upon death who

feels a keen hatred for death, who curses death and who looks upon it as

something ugly, foul and evil. The consolations, that are offered to human

beings as an antidote against the fear of death are totally unacceptable to

Lamb. For Lamb there is no pleasure in the hope that one day he will lie

down with kings and emperors in death. A living man however humble is

superior to a dead man, however, A is worth twenty dead men. It is in this

spirit that Lamb bids fare well to the year 1820 and welcomes the year 1821.
 39

"A Chapter on Ears" is another essay that is wholly personal. In this

essay, he tells us that music does not have much of an appeal for Lamb.

Here Lamb frankly reveals an aspect of his constitutional make up. He tells

us that he is unable to appreciate music.

These following lines illustrate the point,

"I am constitutionally susceptible of noises. A carpenter's

hammer in a warm Summer noon, will fret me into more
than midsummer madness. But those unconnected, unset
sounds, are nothing to the measured malice of music. The
ear is passive to those single strokes, willingly enduring
stripes while it hath no task to con. To music it cannot be
passive. It will strive - mine at least will - spite of its
inaptitude, to thrid the maze, like an unskilled eye painfully
poring upon hieroglyphics. I have sat through an Italian
opera till; for sheer pain, and inexplicable anguish, I have
rushed out into the noisiest places of the crowded streets, to
solace myself with sounds, which I was not obliged to follow,
and get rid of the distracting torment of endless, fruitless,
barren attention! I take refuge in the unpretending assem­
blage of honest common - life sounds - and the purgatory
of the Enraged Musician becomes my paradise".8

"All Fools Day" is an essay written in a light - hearted mood and

in a humorous vein. In fact, the principal quality of this essay is its rich

humour and gay abandon. Lamb here spontaneously enters the spirit of the

first' of April, a day on which people try to befool one another and enjoy the

fooling. After wishing many happy returns of this day to others, Lamb

directs the shaft of his wit against himself by calling himself a fool, though

in the same breath he wants others also to look upon themselves in the same

light. The "Four quarters of the globe". Are on the side of the fraternity of

fools, he humorously says.

 40

This essay celebrates the first of April, which is regarded as all fool's

day. Lamb gets into the spirit of all fools day on which all kinds of

practical jokes are played by people on one another. Lamb gets into the

spirit of all fool's day and wishes manyhappy returns of the day to every

body, No body, he says, should keep away from the celebration of this

festival. Every body, according to Lamb, has a touch of the fool in him

"speck of the motley". He himelf, says Lamb, belongs to the category of

fools and would like his readers to regard themselves as having a touch. Of

the fool in their composition. Here in the following lines one can see the

humour.

What 1 man, we have four quarters of the globe on our side at the

least computation. Fill us a cup of that sparkling gooseberry we-will drink

no wise, melancholy, politic port on this day - and let us troll the catch of

Amiens - due ad me - due ad me - how goes it?

Here shall he see

Gross fools as he

Now would I give a trifle to know, historically and authentically,

who was the greatest fool that ever lived. I would certainly give him a

bumper Marry, of the present breed, 1 think I could without much difficulty

name you the party.

The meaning of these lines is that the majority of the people in

this world have something of the fool in their make-up. Lamb invites every
 41

body to share the goose berry wine with him and to sing the song of folly

that Amiens sings in Shakespeare's play. He would like to know who was

the greatest fool that ever lived and would like to drink a toast to that man.

"Imperfect sympathies", is one of the most self-reievatory essays of

Lamb. In this essay Lamb has given us an admirable one-sided picture of

each of the categories of persons he has dealt with—Scotchmen, Jews, Ne­

groes and quakers are given interesting and entertaining okctohe»-of thooe.
S. K. U LIBRARY
various types. The following lines are from this ess|y&f»r 9.19
93913f9

I confess that I do feel the differences of ma

vidual, to an unhealthy excess. I can look with no in different eye upon

things on persons. Whatever is, is to me a matter of taste or distaste; or

when once it becomes indifferent. It begins to be disrelishing. I am in

plainer words, a bundle of prejudices - made up of likings and dislikings

- the veriest thrall to sympathies apathies, antipathies. In a certain sense, I

hope it may be said of me that I am a lover of my species. I can feel for

all indifferently, but I cannot feel towards all equally. The more purely -

English word that expresses sympathy, will better explain my meaning. I

can be a friend to a worthy man, who upon another, account cannot be my

mate or fellow. I cannot like all people alike.

In these lines Lamb frankly tells us that at the very outset that he is

not in agreement with Sir Thomas Browne who had no dislike for anything

or any person and who felt no prejudice against any nationality - the French,
 42

Italian, Spaniard, or Dutch with a frankness that is almost brutal, Lamb

declares that he cannot feel equally towards all kinds of persons and all

nationalities. He cannot like all people alike.

Lamb candidly tells us that he hates Scotchmen and Jews giving his

own reasons for both these aversions of his. His reasons are, of course, not

wholly convincing. In fact, we get the impression that Lamb has a narrow

mind. There is certainly need for half-truths, compromise and dubious

statements in the course of our daily living. But this does not mean that

Lamb should feel intolerant towards a Scotchman because the latter never

allows himself to fall into a state of uncertainty or doubt. Lamb's preju­

dice against Jews is also not understandable. On one hand he admits that

Jews have been the victims of injury contempt, and hate for centuries and

on the other, he has an undisguised contempt for them indeed, it is most

strange that Lamb should want the Jews to get converted to Christianity. The

only redeeming feature Lamb in his attitude towards Scotchmen and a Jews

is that he frankly confesses that he is prejudiced against them prejudice is

never based on reason. Even so, Lamb's attitude towards these two catego­

ries of people is jarring to our minds, similarly, we find him irrational in his

appreciation of the generous nature of Negroes and his refusal to mix with

them because of their black complexion.

"My Relations" is purely a personal essay in which Lamb speaks of

some of his relations. The essay begins with a statement that blessed is the

man either of whose parents continues to live even when he has himself
 43

grown old. Then comes the philosophical observation that a man is forgot­

ten soon after death. Let a man reflect upon the oblivion which will descend

him soon after he is dead.

Lamb then introduces us to an aunt of his. He gives us a vivid and

interesting portrait of the woman. In the following lines:

"I had an aunt, a dear and good one. She was one whom
single blessedness had soured to the world she often used to
say, that I was the only thing in it which she loved; and,
when she thought I was quitting it, she grieved over me with
mother's tears. A partiality quite so exclusive my reason
cannot altogether approve. She was from morning till night
poring over good books and devotional exercises. Her favourite
volumes were "Thomas a Kempis”, in Stan hope's translation,
and a Roman catholic prayer. Book, with the matins and
complines regularly set down terms which I was at that time
too young to understand. She persisted in reading them,
although admonished daily concerning their papistical ten­
dency; and went to church every sabbath, as a good protes-
tant should do. These were the only books she studied;
Though, I think at one period of her life, she told me, she
had read with great satisfaction the "Adventures of an
unfortunate young. Noble man". 9

In these lines Lamb says, among his relations, he had an aunt, a dear

and good one. This aunt had never got married and, for that reason, she felt

a bitterness towards people in general. However, she was very fond of her

nephew, Charles Lamb. From morning till night, she used to pour over

religious books. She was especially fond of reading. Imitation of Christ (by

Thomas a Kemp's) and a Roman catholic prayer book. The latter book she

read, even though she was a good protestant. She went to church every

Sunday. In spite of her bitterness towards people in general, she was a fine

old Christian. She had a shrewd mind and was very good at witty retorts.
 44

The only non-religious task that she performed was the splitting of French

beans and dropping them into china basin of water.

George Gordon says :

"The providence which endowed him fortunately decreed

that he should be not only the best essayist and autobigrapher,
but also the best letter-writer of his time... evidently por­
trayed. Yet much remains for intimacy. It is the exquisite
secret of Elia as of Johnson that every reader must discover
him for himself, and think himself alone in the discovery." 10
The "Grace Before Meat" is a highly personal essay "Subjectivity" is its

most striking quality. It is an essay in which Lamb freely reveals his mind

and disposition to us. The romantic tendency to a disclosure of one's own

prejudices and predilections is its marked feature. It is his epicurean taste

on which Lamb dwells in this essay.

"I am no quaker at my food I confess I am not in different to the kinds

of it. Those unctuous morsels of deer's flesh were not made to be received

with dispassionate services. I hate a man who shallows it, affecting not to

know what he is eating. I suspect his taste in higher matters I shrink

instinctively, from one who professes to like minced veal. There is a

physiognomical character in the tastes for food. C -holds that a man cannot

have a pure mind who refuses apple dumplings. I am not certain but he is

right with the decay of my first innocence, I confess a less and less relish

daily for those innocuous cates."

In these lines Lamb tells us that he is not indifferent to the kind of

food that is served to him. He does not believe in swallowing his food if
 45

it is some delicacy that he is partaking of. He has a relish for cats and

dainties, vegetables, he says, are no temptation, for him but he finds the

flesh of a deer to be irresistible. He feels disappointed if, expecting some

savoury dish he gets one that is tasteless and sapidless. Butter ill-melted

puts him out of humour.

"Dream Children" is the reverie of a man who was intensely human

and whose life was a tragedy. Lamb was born into a poor family, but

poverty was not such a great misfortune as certain other misfortunes that

befell him. Following an unsuccessful love affair with Ann Simmons, he

became mentally unhinged and had to remain for some time in a lunatic

asylum. In the following year, his sister was seized with acute mania and

in a fit of madness stabbed her mother to death. Lamb displayed an

admirable self mastery, and exhibited a supreme self-sacrifice by undertaking

the responsibility for the safe keeping of his sister who became prone to

occasional fits of Lunacy. His essential humanity appears in this nobel self

renunciation and singular loyalty as a brother. He sacrificed his own

comfort and convenience for his sister's sake and was forced to give up the

idea of marriage for some time for her sake, again, he had to leave London

and go to the quiet countryside. He was thus deprived of the stimulating

society of his literary friends to whom he used to give a monthly "at home".

This deepened his listlessness and hopelessness. When he did think of

marriage, with the full consent of his sister, his proposal to Fanny Kelly an

actress, was rejected, and he remained a bachelor throughout his life. Thus

was his life a tragedy.

 46

Such was the man that wrote this essay which is highly moving,

almost heart-rending, being imbued with the tragedy of his life. He gives

here a concrete shape to his unfulfilled paternal longings. This essay is a

reverie because it contains a fanciful or imaginary account. Of his talk with

the children whom he never had and who, threfore, have been called "dream

children". Alice and John are the imaginary off - spring of his imaginary

marriage with Ann Simmons whom he had loved in his youth but who had

not responded to his love. Pathos is the key note of this essay.

"Here the children fell a - crying, and asked if their little mourning

which they had on was not for uncle John, and they looked up, and prayed

me not to go on about their uncle, but to tell them some stories about their

pretty dead mother. Then I told how for seven long years, in hope

sometimes, some times in despair, yet persisting ever, I courted the fair

Alice W - n."

Here in these lines Lamb told the children something about their

uncle John L - Joh L - was a handsome and courageous youth and was very

fond of riding and hunting. Then Lamb spoke of John L's death. At this the

children began to cry and requested their father not to tell them anything

more about Uncle John but to tell them some stories about their pretty dead

mother. Then Lamb told them how for seven long years he had courted the

fair Alice W - N. Sometimes in hope and sometimes in despair. As Lamb

gazed at his children, he found that both of them gradually grew fainter,

and then receded till he could see nothing but two sad features which
 47

appeared to be saying "We are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children

at all, "And Lamb woke up in his bachelor chair where he had fallen asleep

and had been day - dreaming.

The end of the essay is marked by deep poignancy and heart breaking

pathos. We are told how Lamb courted Alice W-N (Ann Simmons) for a

long time without any success in his purpose. And then the dream children

begin slowly to fade. They grow gradually fainter to Lamb's view and go

on receding till only two mournful faces are in distinctly seen in the

distance; saying; "we are not of Alice, nor of thee, nor are we children at all.

We are only what might have been". This is the climax of pathos. We are

deeply touched by the utter frustration of Lamb's hopes of a conjugal life

and the Joys of having a family.

This essay is full of reminiscences and anecdotes Lamb recalls the

lonely life of his grand mother and then goes on to recall his memories of

his own early boyhood. Recollections of his brother John. The retrospective

character of this essay is, therefore, clearly seen. Lamb had a genius for

reminiscence. He liked to chew the cud of memory. It is for this reason that

he has been called "a visualiser of memories". This is essentially an auto

biographical essay.

"THE PRAISE OF CHIMNEY SWEEPERS" is a deeply personal essay.

Lamb here talks as much about himself as about chimney-sweeprs. We get

an insight into Lamb's mind and nature. The personal pronoun "I" is used

throughout. But the kind of egotism that we find in this essay is charming
 48

and not irritating or annoying. The personality of Lamb shines through this

essay. And it is a very attractive personality indeed. His advocacy of the

unfortunate class of young chimney - sweepers endears him to us. So

persuasively does he speak in their behalf, that we readily begin to share his

sentiments with regard to them.

Lamb is fond of interspersing his essays with anecdotes. There is the

story of how once he slipped in the course of a walk and became the butt

of ridicule for a young chimney-sweeper.

I am by nature extremely susceptible of street afforonts; the jeers and

taints of the populace; the low-bred triumph they display over the casual

trip, or splashed stocking of a gentle man, yet can I endure the jocularity of

a young sweep with something more than forgiveness. In the last winter but

one, pacing along cheap side with my accustomed precipitation when I

walk west ward, a treacherous slide brought me upon my back in an instant,

I scrambled up with pain and shame enough -

In these lines Lamb says that, although he cannot tolerate the jeers and

ridicule of a street crowd, he does not mind a young chimney - sweeper

jeering and laughing at him. Once, in the course of a walk, Lamb slipped

and fell on his back in a street. A roguish young Chimney-sweeper, seeing

him in that condition, laughed and laughed till the tears flowed from his

eyes. But Lamb did not feel offended in the least, Indeed, he felt happy

that he had provided so much fun to a young chimney sweeper. After all,

there is not the least malice in a young chimney - sweeper's laughter.

 49

Lamb does not like young ladies to make a display of their beautiful

white teeth. But the sight of a young chimney - sweeper displaying his

white and shining teeth is welcome to him. A black and sooty figure

showing a set of white teeth looks an attractive sight.

The Essays of Lamb record the life in England during Regency period.

The period in which it evolved the Romantic essay, seems to be both

objectivity pragmatic and subjectively self reflexing.

The subject of the essay 'Modern Gallantry' is one of general interest.

Every woman expects a certain amount of courtesy and respect from the men

folk, but every woman does not get it. Lamb rightly points out that men

display a spirit of gallantry only towards those women who are beautiful or

wealthy or highly placed in life. Lamb's treatment of the subject of a want

of true gallantry in modern times is perfectly frank. He does not mince

matters. He candidly points out the lapses on the part of men in their

behaviour towards women. He gives various examples to show that gal­

lantry among men of modern times is merely a conventional fiction. And he

rightly points out that women can enforce gallantry among men only if they

first show a reverence for their sex.

This is frankly a didactic essay. It contains a whole some lesson for

men in the matter of their behaviour towards women. It may be regarded

as almost a sermon on male conduct towards the fair sex. Unlike most other

essays of Lamb, this one does not have much entertainment value. The two
 50

most important features of Lamb's essays humour and pathos-are both

missing here. It is a serious essay in which Lamb reveals himself as a great

champion of the fair sex. Like all other essays of Lamb, it gives us a

glimpse into Lamb's temperament and personality. The personal note in

the essay is very strong and we feel greatly attracted towards Lamb by

virtue of the genuine affection and deference which he feels towards

women. This essay shows one of the most amiable aspects of Lamb's

character.

Lamb's essays are replete with episodes and anecdotes. Here half the

essay is devoted to an anecdote about Joseph Paice, a man who was taught

the lesson of gallantry towards women by his finance, Susan Winstanlay

who never after wards failed in offices of tenderness towards members of the

fair sex.

"She rather seemed to resent his compliments. He could not set it

3own to caprice, for the lady had always shown hereself above that littleness

when he ventured on the following day, finding her a little better humoured,

to expostulate with her on her coldness of yesterday, she confessed, with her

usual frankness, that she had no sort of dislike to his attentions that she

could even endure some high flown compliments that a young woman

placed in her situation had a right to expect all sorts of civil things said to

her"

Here in these lines Lamb goes on to speak of Joseph Paice, an

merchant by profession and one of the directors of the south sea company,.
 51

who was a model of gallantry. Joseph Paice had a great respect for the

female sex. He was the type of man who would affectionately escort a

market-woman caught in a shower of rain, as if she were a countess. He

showed this kind of respect to women irrespective of their age or looks. He

had in him the spirit of gallantry which in olden times existed in Sir Tristan

and Sir Calidore when, on one occasion, he paid many high-flown compli­

ments to the beautiful Susan Winstanley whom he wanted to marry but who

died prematurely. She refused to respond on the ground that he was paying

those compliments to her not because she was a woman but because she

was beautiful and rich and because he wanted to marry her. This mild

rebuke from Susan Winstanley was the beginning of that courtesy and

gallantry towards women in which he never fattered for the rest of his life.

Lamb would like all women in the world to adopt Miss Winstanley's

attitude, an attitude that demands from men a spirit of gallantry towards the

entire female sex irrespective of social position, age or looks. It is only by

respecting themselves and their whole sex that women can enforce a spirit

of gallantry among men. If, however, a beautiful or rich woman selfishly

accepts the compliments paid to her by men without bothering whether

those men treat the humbler or plainer of members of her sex politely and

courteously, then she too will lose the respect of those men when she ceases

to be rich or beautiful.

"A Dissertation upon Roast Pig" is a highly personal essay in

which, after having given us the amusing stories connected with the orgin of
 52

the practice of roasting pigs, he reveals his own temperament and tastes. He

waxes eloquent while speaking of the flavour and taste of roast pig. He

writes here like a true epicure. He declares roast pig to be the chief of

dainties. He discriminates between an infant pig and a grown-up pig. He

describes his preference for "Crackling" with its coy, brittle resistance. He

finds roast pig "to be the best of sapors" He recommends a sauce made of

a few bread crumbs, done up with the liver and brains of a pig and a dash

of mild sage.

There is one aspect of this essay which some what jars upon our

sensibility Lamb betrays a strange callousness towards the pig. His eloquent

praise of roast pig may be all right, but the gluful manner in which he

describes the process of pig being roasted shows a cruel nature. "How

equably he (a pig) twirleth round the string! Now he is just done. To see

the extreme sensibility of that tender age, he hath wept out of his pretty eyes

radiant Jellies - Shooting stars". Lamb enjoys the right of the beautiful eyes

of a pig melting and dropping in the fire. Similarly, his approving of a pig

being whipped to death before being cooked also bespeaks an infeeling

heart. In this essay Lamb appears to be a kind hearted and merciful type

of person but his complete indifference to the agony of a pig in the process

of being whipped or roasted is ununderstandable. One can see this in the

following lines.

Without placing too implicit faith in the account above given, it must

be agreed that if a worthy pretext for so dangerous an experiment as setting

houses on fire (especially in these days) could be assigned in favour of any

 53

culinary object, that protext and excuse might be found in ROASI PIG of all

the delicacies in the whole mundus edibilis, I will maintain it to be the most

delicate - princeps obsonicrum.

I speak not of your grown porkers - things between pig and pork -

those hobblede hoys - but a young and tender suckling - under a moon old

- guiltless a yet of the sty - with no original speck of the amor immunditioe,

the hereditary failing of the first part yet manifest - his voice as yet not

broken, but some between a childish treble and a grumble - the mild fore

runner - or proeludium of a grunt.

%

He must be roasted, I am not ignorant that ancestors ate them seethed,

or boiled - but what a sacrifice of the exterior tegument.

Here in these lines Lamb says that he likes to share the good things

of life with his friends. If he receives a present of hares, pheasants,

partridges, snipes, barn-door chickens, capons, plovers brawn, barrels of

oysters, he distributes them freely among his friends. But he must draw a

line some where. Where a pig is concerned he would not like to share it

with his friends. If seems ungrateful to God to give away a pig or portion

of a pig to any body else. Lamb remembers how, as a boy, he bitterly

repented of having given away to a beggar a plum cake which his good old

aunt had given him. Some such feeling of repentance he would experience

if he were to give away a pig to any body.

His essay "The super Annuated Man" is an autobiographical essay

containing the writer's memories of his past life and his retirement from

service.
 54

This essay has a personal and autobiographical character because the

writer acquaints us with the circumstances of his own life. It throws much

light on Lamb's life and temperament. Firstly, we learn that Lamb did not

like a life of hard work, the drudgery of office duties weighed heavily upon

his mind on entering life as a clerk, he greatly missed the abundant play

time and the frequent holidays of his school career. He felt melancholy

when he had to work from eight to ten hours daily over office files. But he

had to accept his fate, and as time passed he became contented like animals

in cages. Secondly, we find that Lamb was a sensitive person. He was not

a happy-go-lucky or devil-may care fellow. He took his work so seriously

that it disturbed his peace of mind. Especially in his later life, his work

became a nightmare to him. The fear that he might have made mistakes in

the accounts or in other items of his clerical routine kept him awake at

nights. Thirdly, Lamb was fond of stir, excitement, hustle and bustle. A

Sunday was a day of gloom to him. When on Sundays he saw the shops

closed, and the buzz and bustle of the streets absent, he felt depressed. He

liked the cheerful cries of London, the music, the balled Singers, Pictures

and ornamental articles displayed in shop windows. Finally, Lamb did not

favour too much work or excessive activity. All the labours in which human

beings are so feverishly bsuy seemed a calamity to him. He was altogether

for the contemplative life. He believed that a man was our of his element

as long as he was operative.

The starting point of this essay is an event, namely retirement in the

life of Lamb, but the finished product has a universal human significance.
 55

The whole essay is thoroughly personal because it describes Lamb's feelings,

thoughts, and fancies during the period of his retirement. But there is a

universality in this description. Lamb's feelings and thoughts on retiring

from active duty are such as almost every body would experience on

retirement. In Lamb's description of his feelings and thoughts we see a

reflection of the feelings and thoughts of every retired person.

The starting lines of this essay are : "It is now six - and - thirty years

since I took my seat at the desk in Mincing Lane. Melancholy was the

transition at fourteen from the abundant playtime, and the frequently - inter

verning vacations of school-days, to the eight, nine, and some times ten

hours a day attendance at a counting - house. But time partially reconciles

us to anything. I gradually become content doggedly content, as wild

animals in cages"

In these lines Lamb shows his memories of his past life and his

retirement from service Lamb begins this essay by referring to the joy and

delight which a man experiences on retiring from a life of hard work and no

holidays. He tells us that he became a clerk at the age of fourteen, and that

he worked for thirty six years in that capacity from eight to ten hours a day

without those holidays and vacations which as a schoolboy he used to enjoy.

He had, no doubt, his Sundays. But the shops being closed on Sundays, and

there being no hustle and bustle on Sundays, he did not really enjoy himself

on these holidays. Then there was an Easter holiday and a Christmas

holiday. He had one weeks holiday in summer, but this week always

seemed to pass too soon, without his really being able to enjoy it.
 56

Apart from the duty of daily attendance in the office, Lamb always felt

a dislike for his office work. His life was a drudgery and he used to have

terrible dreams in his sleep. When he was fifty, the directors of the firm

proposed that Lamb should retire and should accept a pension for life equal

to two-thirds of his salary. He accepted the proposal with gratitude.]

For the first few days after retirement, he was like a man who is

suddenly released from Jail after an imprisonment of forty years. But soon

he began to feel that he now had more time than that he could manage.

From an over-worked, over busy man, he had suddenly became a man of

too much leisure, He had no sense of hurry now. Infact he felt that he

needed an adviser to suggest to him how he ought to make use of his

unlimited time just as a wealthy man needs a manager to guide him with

regard to the proper untilisation of his vast property. Let not a man

suddenly give up his occupations. Says Lamb, because by doing so such a

man will find himself faced with a problem.

*** *** ***

Till now we have made a close study of personal essays of Lamb and

now, we are going to make a close study of personal essays of the great

essaist - Hazlitt.

The outstanding feature of Hazlitt's essay's is their subjectivity. Like

Charles Lamb. Hazlitt is one of the greatest essayists in English Literature.

As a romantic author he tends to take his readers into his confidence and he
 57

even develops an intimate relationship with them. The personal element in

Hazlitt's essays is as conspicuous as it is in the essays of Lamb. His

personal element does not irritate us or jar upon our minds. This element

imparts a great charm to Hazlitt's essay. We feel greatly attracted by these

essays because Hazlitt here reveals to us his own temperament, his own

disposition, his likes and dislikes, his preferences and prejudices our knowl­

edge of an author personality, mind and character, derived directly from his

own accounts, certainly adds to our enjoyment of the writings of that author.

There is hardly an essay by Hazlitt in which he does not tell us something

about himself. The very abundance of his reminiscences and recollections of

the past is one of the evidences of self-revelation in them.

The essay 'On Going a Journey' is wholly personal from beginning to

end. The very first sentence expresses a preference of Hazlitt's own one of

the pleasent test things in the world in the going on a Journey. But I like

to go by myself. I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is

company enough for me. I am then never less alone than when alone.

Hazlitt would like to go on a journey all alone. He can enjoy

company in a room, but onside Nature is company enough for him, He

further says this idea is developed and expanded in the essay at great length

and, throughout, he talks about himself and his own preferences and tastes.

Walking through the country side alone, he might begin to laugh or to run

or to leap or to sing joyously, he says. Later in the essay, he recalls some

of his past experiences, so that we get a number of reminiscences which

 58

throw considerable light on Hazlitt's preferences among the authors and also

upon his love of Nature.

"The other essay "The Indian Jugglers" is largely an objective essay

but even here Hazlitt introduces the personal element. After describing the

wonderful performance of an Indian Juggler with balls, where he thinks of

the extra ordinary skill of an Indian Juggler, he feels ashamed of himself

because he finds that there is nothing which he can do with as much skill

as the Indian Juggler shows in tossing up the brass balls. He can write a

book. Says Hazlitt, but there is nothing remarkable about it, He writes

essays but he thinks his essays to be unsuccessful attempts or "abortions".

Thus Hazlitt here gives us his personal feelings on watching the performance

of an Indian Juggler and, later, also on watching the performance of a rope-

dancer."

This essay is from Table Talk starting in a light vein with an

apparently trivial theme, viz., the amazing manual dexterity displayed by the

Indian Juggler, Hazlitt passes on to serious and thought - provoking discus­

sions on the difference between perfection attained by constant practice

through trial and error in mechanical exercises and perfection attempted but

hardly ever attained by the artist, and finally brings out vividly the syble

distinction between cleverness, talent, genius, accomplishments, ingenuity,

and greatness. The essay reveals Hazlitt's matchless powers of discrimina­

tion and definition.

 59

The other essay of persons one would wish to have seen which, again,

has considerable personal flavour about it though it is a largely objective

essay. Here, at the very outset, Hazlitt gives us an insight into his mind

when he says that he thinks himself to be a better reporter of the ideas of

other people than an expounder of his own ideas. Later in this essay he

gives us his personal views about certain authors such as chaucer, Dante,

and spenser, of course much of this essay has been devoted to the state­

ments made by the other participants in the discussion but Hazlitt could

never have missed the opportunity to insert his own views. And so we find

him praising chaucer for having been the first poet to tune his native

language to modern ears. He also here says that he would have liked to see

chaucer talking to Boccacio (the author of the Decameron) Dante in Hazlitt's

opinion, was an interesting a person as the character, Ugolino, created by

Dante speaking about Spenser; he says that Spenser's poetry was the essence

of romance and that his beauties were ideal or visionary, not palpable or

personal. Indeed, we feel almost thrilled to read about Hazlitt's own

reactions to these famous poets. The following lines show his skill.

Hazlitt's Essay, "The sick chamber" discusses his literary preferences

to illustrate his argument that books are the best antidote to a man's pitiable

condition after he has just recovered from an illness. He expresses his liking

for fielding's novel Tom Jones which, he thinks, can evencure a man of

indigestion. Hazlitt also here expresses his preference for other old books

such as Bulwer-Lytton's novel, Paul Clifford, in which the characters feel a

genuine interest in themselves. In this context, Hazlitt says that, when he

 60

goes through his novel, his nerves get refreshed, and his spirits experience

an exhilaration. In this essay he also gives us paraphrase on the Beggar's

opera. In the following few lines one can see this :

"A set of well-dressed gentlemen picking their teeth with a

graceful air after dinner, endeavouring to keep their cravats
from the slightest discomposure, and saying the most insipid
things in the most insipid manner, do not make a scene well,
then, I have got the new paraphrase on the Beggars's opera,
am fairly embarked on it; and at the end of the first volume,
where I am galloping across the health with the three high
waymen, while the moon is shining full upon them, feel my
nerves so braced, and my spirits so exhilarated, that, to say
truth, I am scarce sorry for the occasion that has thrown me
upon the work". 11
The essay concludes with the above lines.

In his essay on Reading old Books, Hazlitt plainly and bluntly says

that he prefers to read books written by the authors of the past, and that he

does not like to go through the books written by the authors of his own

time. Hazlitt gives us some strong reasons for his liking old books. In the

case of an old book, he knows what to expect from it when he picks it up

once again to go through it when he picks up a new book, written by a

living author, he has a sense of uncertainty about the contents of that book.

Newfangled books,

In the following lines he says about the books he prefers from his

child hood.

"I remember, as long ago as the year 1798 going to a

neighbouring town (Shrewsbury, where Farquhar has laid
the plot of his Recruiting officer) and bringing home with
me, at one proud swoop; a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost,
and author of Burkes Reflections on the French Revolution -
both which I have still, and I still recollect, when I see the
covers, the pleasure with which 1 dipped into them as I
returned with my double prize I was set up for one while
that time is past 'with all its giddy raptures" but I am still
anxious to preserve its memory, 'embalmed with odours'.12
 61

Here in these lines Hazlitt names a number of books which he had

gone through in the days of his childhood; and he speaks about many other

books which he had enjoyed reading in the past and which he can enjoy

even now. The essay ends with Hazlitt's telling us about the books which

he had not gone through but which he would certainly have liked to go

through.

His essay "On the Fear of Death, is written objectively and yet it

contains some personal revelation by the author, Here Hazlitt says that,

before dying, he would like to do some thing solid and valuable. If he can

leave some substantial achievement behind him, he would not mind dying

and quitting this world. He would then write on his grave the following

words. "I died contented and grateful".

But in the absence of any such achievement, Hazlitt feels that he has

thought and suffered toomuch, and that all his thinking and suffering have

been in vain. Here our hearts go out to Hazlitt in sympathy. His life was

surely one of disappointment and frustration and his meditation on the

subject is really touching. In this very essay Hazlitt also speaks of having

seen the dead body of a child. Although there was no mark of pain on the

dead child's face. Yet Hazlitt felt most uncomfortable when the coffin-lid

was about to be closed. He felt stifled when the lid was actually closed.

This is surely a poignant reminiscence.

His other essay "A Farewell to Essay-writing". Attempts to reveal

Hazlitt's self. In fact, this essay may be regarded as a self-portrait. Here

 62

Hazlitt tells us that his ideas and beliefs have not changed with the passing

of time. He then proceeds to reply to some of Leigh Hunts accusations

against him, saying that Hunt had missed the opportunity of depicting his

(Hazlitt's) character justly and clearly. Hazlitt here assures Hunt that he is

not a buffoon a fop, or an absurd person. He says that he has been leading

a laborious life and has always been a hard thinker. There is no doubt of

Hazlitt's sincerity about what he here says. The opening lines of the essay

are as follows: "This life is best, if quiet life is best' Food, Warmth, Sleep

and a book; these are all I at present ask-the ultima thule of my wandering

desires. Do you not then wish for.

"A friend in your retreat,

Whom you may whisper, solitude is sweet?

Expected well enough:- gone, still better such attractions are strength­

ened by distance. Nor a mistress? "Beautiful mask! I know thee!"

As leslie Stephen observes: 'a curious variety of that protean passion,

compounded as skilfully as the melancholy of jacques......... dashed with

some thing of. the feeling common among his dissenting friends......

The other essay "My First Acquaintance with poets" is wholly per­

sonal. In fact, this essay is a record of Hazlitt's first meeting with Coleridge

and Wordsworth. Besides giving us an account of his meeting with those

celebrated person. Hazlitt also here gives us a vignette of his father who,

was, in those days, working as a Dissenting minister at wern. Hazlitt draws

a contrast between his father and Coleridge who was at that time a preacher
 63

of the Gospel in addition to being a poet what impressed Hazlitt most on

the occasion of his first meeting with Coleridge was Coleridge's enormous

talking for taking eloquently and ceaselessly. This essay contains many

other details about Coleridge's and also about Workds Worth and about

himself (Hazlitt). This is one of Hazlitt's finest essays and one of the most

candid confessions. Hazlitt has here shown a remarkable frankness and a

remarkable capacity to take the reader into his confidence. In this essay,

through personal reminiscences he thus describes a walk which he took in

Coleridge's company.

"As we passed along between w-m and shrews bury, and, I

eyed their blue top's seen through the wintry branches, or
the red rustling leaves of the sturdy oaktrwes by the road­
side, a sound was in my ears as of a sirens song; I was,
stunned with it startled, as from deepsleep; but I had no
notion-then that I should ever be able to express my admira­
tion to others in motley imagery or quaint allusion, till the
light of his genius shone into my soul, like the sun's rays
glittering in the puddles of the road was at that time dumb,
in articulate, helpless, like a worm by the way-side, crushed,
bleeding, life less; but now, brusting from the deadly bands
that bound them".14

In these lines Hazlitt has revealed to us his love of natural scenery but

more than that his rapturous admiration of Coleridge's genius similarly, In

the other Essay on the pleasure of painting reveals good deal of Hazlitt's

tastes and preferences, In these essays he gives us not only the reasons for

the pleasure which a man derives by looking at famous masterpieces of art,

but also his personal experiences in this connection, For instance, he tells us

that he does not experience the same pleasure in writing his essays as he

experiences in looking at great paintings. After he has once dealt with a

subject in an essay he forgets all about it, and his feelings about it melt
 64

away. But he cannot forget a great painting once he has seen it, In this

connection be writes.

"Rembrandt's landscapes ! How often have I looked at them and

Nature, and tried to do the same". Similarly, he tells us of his pleasure in

having looked at the paintings of Rubens and clande. Then he tells us how,

on one occasion, he had painted the head of an old woman, and how he had

also painted a portraint of his father's portrait. The hours which he spent in

painting this portrait were the happiest in his life. He also tells us in these

essays that was first initiation in the mysteries of painting began at the art

gallery at Orleans, and that, subsequently he had made some progress in

painting when he went to the Louvre to study the great master pieces by

Titan, Poussin, Raphael, and others.

In this essay he writes :

One of my first attempts was a picture of my father who was then in

a green old age, with strong-marked feature and scarred with small pox. I

drew it with a broad light crossing the face, looking down, with spectacles

on, reading.... The sketch promised well : and I set to work to finish it,

determined to spare no time nor pains. My father was willing to sit as long

as I pleased... Those winter days were among the happiest of my life.

Here again, we have a reminiscence revealing to us Hazlitt's

youthful sentiments as in the case of the reminiscence quoted earlier. And

thus, in essay after essay, we find this author dwelling upon his mind, his
 65

personality and his predilections and aversions. The personal element in

these essays certainly enhances their appeal and their interest.

Hazlitt's Reactions to the Actors of the Time gives us his personal

reactions to actors and the art of acting. Besides praising some of the great

actors of the time, he also tells us how sad he had felt when an actor by the

name of Bannister, had announced his retirement from the stage. Hazlitt

found an air of romance about the great actors of his time. Similarly,

Hazlitt tells us about his reactions to the boxers of the time and the interest

which he took in a certain pugilistic encounter, already mentioned above.

"According to Ian Jack :

"This seemed to me to promise a greater variety and richness,

and perhaps a greater sincerity, than could be attained by a
more precise and scholastic method. The same consideration
had an influence on the familiarity and conversational idiom
of the style which I have used "15

To conclude Lamb's personal essays reveal his abundant humanism.

His friends and relatives, His likes and dislikes etc. like The cashier, Evans,

The accountant John Tipp, like George Dyer, a professor, Lambs aunt Hetty,

and His lover Ann Simmons, His schoolmate Coleridge etc. are primarily

humanists. This is evident from his essays like "The south sea house, oxford

IN THE VACATION, CHRIST'S HOSPITAL FIVE AND THIRTY YEARS AGO

AND NEW YEAR'S EVE.

One can also see Hazlitt essays, reveal ing his abundant humanism,

his friends and relatives His tastes and temperaments his likes and dislikes
 66

etc. like Indian Jugglers, Tabletalle OF persons one would wish to have seen

The Sick Chamber all these essays reveal us his primarily humanism. We

can see in both these essayists. The common factor of personal reveals

abundant humany.

Lamb's essays are deeply personal and autobiographical. He uses the

essays as a vehicle of selfrevelation. He takes the reader into confidence

and speaks about himself without reserve. Hazlitt's essays are also, written

in a wholly objective manner Majority of his essays reveal his personality.

Like Lamb Hazlitt also takes the reader into confidence and speaks about

himself without reserve one can feel greatly attracted by these essays. The

personal element in Hazlitt's essays is as conspicuous as it is in the essays

of Lamb. In most of Lamb's personal essays Lamb relates what he knows

best. The past like the present offers him an inexhaustible store house, from

which he freely draws for his material and from his personal essays, one can

reconstruct the inner life and no little of the outer life of Lamb. In Hazlitt's

essays we can see subjectivity which means giving prominence to one's own

personal idiosyncrasies and to one's own individual point of view, i.e. only

his inner life, Hazlitt's essays consist of egotist element i.e. egotist is person

who keeps on talking about himself most of the time.

Self-revelation by an author adds greatly to the appeal of his writings,

much of the pleasure that we derive from the essays of Lamb. The essays

of Hazlill are simply irresistible and will always endure.

 67

Great critics like J.B. Priestly, Walter Savage Landor, George Gor­

don have commented that Lamb's personal essays are humorous, pathetic

prosaic fantastic erratic. Ian Jack, tells that his personal essays are com­

pounded as skilfully as the melancholy of Jacques as we have already read.

From the study of these two great essayist's personal essays, it is also

evident that the books in their library concern themselves about humanism.
 68

1. J.B.PRIESTLEY : F.B. Pinion English Humour, A Lamb Selec­

tion (London, Macmillan & Co., Ltd. New
York, St. Martin's Press (1965) p. 215

2. Ibid : p. 108

3. Ibid : g&5c*-XS OP p. 7,

4. Ibid : bm-ys op &U*

5. CHRIST'S HOSPITAL FIVE K.G. Seshadri

AND THIRTY YEARS AGO : Selected Essays OF CHARLES LAMB
(MACMILLAN INDIA LIMITED MADRAS,
MACMILLAN India Press, 1980) p.20.

6. Ibid : pp 12 - 13

7. Ibid : pp 32

8. Ibid : pp 38

9. Ibid : pp 43

10.George Gordon : F.B. Pinion A Lamb Selection (London.

Macmillan & Co., Ltd. Newyork, ST Martins
Press 1965) p 214

11. The Sick Chamber : M.G. Gopala Krishnan

Selected Essavs of William Hazlitt (Macmillan
India Ltd. Madras, 1982) p 180.

12. Ibid : p 84

13. Ibid : p XXXII

14. Ibid : pp. 51 - 52

15. Ibid : p XXV