LAMBLANCASTER. 



593 



ties of character with wonderful readiness ; and he 

 described, not represented, them with truth and 

 wit. But he did not, and could not, bring a con- 

 sistent being before us, and exhibit it in all the 

 varieties of action and passion. His play of 

 "John Woodvil" has a few fine poetical pas- 

 sages, and some happy imitations of old English 

 dramatists ; but it shows no talent for the stage. 

 In his own walk, however, he was unrivalled. 

 The short, humorous essay he carried to a point 

 of excellence never before attained. His style is 

 ever happy and original ; his wit, of the rarest and 

 most pungent description. The native peculiari- 

 ties of his mind appear, fresh, racy and delightful. 

 The love of quaint conceits, which was a part of 

 his nature, was increased by his enthusiastic study 

 of the early English authors, who furnished his 

 mind with its most genial sustenance ; and his 

 easy flow of expression and pithy language re- 

 ceived a certain antique colouring from the same 

 source. His wit, clothed in this curious garb, 

 comes upon the mind with the most irresistible 

 effect. We regard it as something singular, some- 

 thing remote from every thing else within our 

 knowledge, and yet wholly free from affectation. 

 His mind sympathised so completely with his fa- 

 vourite writers, that he became almost their con- 

 temporary, and poured out his rich drollery in their 

 quaint expressions, with the same natural gush of 

 imagination and whim, as they would have done 

 themselves. It is not easy to say in what his wit 

 mainly consists. Certainly it does not depend for 

 its effect upon single brilliant sallies ; upon pointed 

 antithesis ; upon repartee. It is rather a quality, 

 a flavour, with which all his thoughts and images 

 are impregnated. It is the concentrated fragrance 

 of a thousand scattered perfumes. The senses are 

 delighted with the united sweets, but the several 

 ingredients escape the minutest analysis. If we 

 say that his perception of the ludicrous is his 

 strongest point, we speedily find ourselves in the 

 wrong. Others have this power to a greater 

 extent than he, without a millionth part of his 

 wit. He is constantly punning; but that is not 

 the secret. His wit is not the perception of ludi- 

 crous images ; it is not a play upon words ; it is not 

 the sudden exhibition of unexpected relations ; but 

 it is something wholly inseparable from the texture 

 of his mind, and his habits of association, and 

 assuming all the outward forms, of which language 

 is capable. It is a subtile spirit, pervading all his 

 writings, and reaching the reader's mind by a thou- 

 sand different avenues. We can neither seize it 

 nor escape from it. 



Turning from his literary character to his private 

 life, we find it marked by as strong peculiarities as 

 his writings. Though indifferent to the benevo- 

 lent projects of the day, his affections for those 

 about him were strong and tender. The amiable 

 qualities of his heart endeared him to many, not 

 only of different but of opposite characters. He 

 had a strange facility in passing over the disagree- 

 able things in his associates, and fastening only on 

 those traits which pleased him. This was partly 

 owing to his indifference to great principles of 

 action, and his dislike of change and agitation. 

 He was consequently surrounded by people, whose 

 voices must have occasionally produced a strange 

 discord, that all the gentleness of his nature could 

 scarcely hush. " Lamb's indulgence," says Ser- 

 geant Talfourd, "to the failings of others could 

 hardly be termed allowance the name of charity 



VII. 



is too cold to suit it. He did not merely love his 

 friends in spite of their errors, but he loved them, 

 errors and all, so near to him was every thing 

 human." But the most pleasing trait in his pri- 

 vate life, is the extraordinary love he bore his 

 sister. She had taken care of his sickly infancy, 

 and in return, he devoted the flower of his life to 

 her comfort and happiness. He abstained from 

 forming any other and closer ties, that he might 

 bestow his undivided care upon the companion of 

 his childhood. How well that high duty was per- 

 formed, and how justly this beautiful part of his 

 chequered character was appreciated by his friends, 

 is feelingly shown in Serjeant Talfourd's volumes. 

 LAMB, HON. GEORGE, under secretary of state 

 for the home department, and M. P. for Dungar- 

 von, brother to lord viscount Melbourne, was born 

 July 11, 1784, being the fourth and youngest son 

 of Penniston, first viscount Melbourne, by Eliza- 

 beth, daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, bart. He 

 was educated at Eton, where, together with his 

 brothers, he was under the immediate care of the 

 late Rev. Dr Langford ; and at Trinity College, 

 Cambridge, where he was created M.A. in 1805, 

 and passed through the usual course of university 

 studies with greater success than, from his retired 

 habits and unpretending character, was generally 

 known. He was early entered of Lincoln's Inn, 

 and called to the bar, after which he for a short 

 time went the northern circuit ; but he soon ceased 

 to practise, partly on account of ill health, arid 

 devoted his attention principally to literature. 

 His brother, the hon. Penniston Lamb, who died 

 in 1805, had also been bred to the law, and left 

 him an extensive library. Mr Lamb was one of the 

 most active members of the committee of manage- 

 ment of Drury Lane Theatre, when the earl of Essex, 

 lord Byron, and the hon. Douglas Kinnaird, were 

 his associates. He was himself the author of 

 " Whistle for it," an operatic piece, 1807. He 

 also published some minor poems; but his most 

 elaborate and remarkable work, was a translation of 

 Catullus. In the year 1819 he was put forward 

 by the Whigs to contest the representation of 

 Westminster against the Radicals, on the death of 

 Sir Samuel Romilly. The contest lasted fifteen 

 days, and terminated as follows: 



Hon. George Lamb, . 4465 

 Mr Hobhouse, . . . 3861 

 Major Cartwright, . 38 

 In 1826, he entered parliament, through the inter- 

 est of the duke of Devonshire, as member for 

 Dungarvon, and he had represented that borough 

 in four parliaments at the time of his death. On 

 the accession of the Grey ministry, he became 

 under secretary of state to his brother lord Mel- 

 bourne in the home department. His official 

 duties were executed in an efficient manner, and 

 his speeches in parliament were delivered in a sen- 

 sible and intrepid style. In private society Mr 

 Lamb was unreserved, communicative, and agree- 

 able ; his accomplishments were admitted by all 

 who knew him ; his kindness of heart and mildness 

 of temper were proverbial. He married, May 17, 

 1809, Mademoiselle Caroline-Rosalie Adelaide St 

 Jules, a relation of the duke of Devonshire, and 

 with that estimable lady, ox a character entirely 

 assorting with his own, he enjoyed the truest 

 domestic felicity. His death took place on the 

 2nd Jan. 1834. 



LANCASTER, JOSEPH, the promulgator of the 

 system of mutual instruction known by his name, 

 9t 



