, and that his love of the _actual_ does not
proceed from a want of taste for the _ideal_. His worst fault is an
over-eagerness of enthusiasm, which occasionally makes him take a surfeit
of his highest favourites.--Mr. Lamb excels in familiar conversation
almost as much as in writing, when his modesty does not overpower his
self-possession. He is as little of a proser as possible, but he _blurts_
out the finest wit and sense in the world. He keeps a good deal in the
back-ground at first, till some excellent conceit pushes him forward, and
then he abounds in whim and pleasantry. There is a primitive simplicity
and self-denial about his manners; and a Quakerism in his personal
appearance, which is, however, relieved by a fine Titian head, full of
dumb eloquence! Mr. Lamb is a general favourite with those who know him.
His character is equally singular and amiable. He is endeared to his
friends not less by his foibles than his virtues; he ensures their esteem
by the one, and does not wound their self-love by the other. He gains
ground in the opinion of others, by making no advances in his own. We
easily admire genius where the diffidence of the possessor makes our
acknowledgment of merit seem like a sort of patronage, or act of
condescension, as we willingly extend our good offices where they are not
exacted as obligations, or repaid with sullen indifference.--The style of
the Essays of Elia is liable to the charge of a certain _mannerism_. His
sentences are cast in the mould of old authors; his expressions are
borrowed from them; but his feelings and observations are genuine and
original, taken from actual life, or from his own breast; and he may be
said (if any one can) "to have coined his heart for _jests_," and to have
split his brain for fine distinctions! Mr. Lamb, from the peculiarity of
his exterior and address as an author, would probably never have made his
way by detached and independent efforts; but, fortunately for himself and
others, he has taken advantage of the Periodical Press, where he has been
stuck into notice, and the texture of his compositions is assuredly fine
enough to bear the broadest glare of popularity that has hitherto shone
upon them. Mr. Lamb's literary efforts have procured him civic honours (a
thing unheard of in our times), and he has been invited, in his character
of ELIA, to dine at a select party with the Lord Mayor. We should prefer
this distinction to that of being poet-laureat. We woul