LETTER255

letter255

charleslambtojosephcottle

[notdated.?late1819.]

dearsir—myfriendwhomyouhaveobligedbytheloanofyourpicture,havinghaditveryexactlycopied(andaveryspiriteddrawingitis,aseveryonethinksthathasseenit—thecopyisnotmuchinferior,donebyadaughterofjosephs,r.a.)—hepurposessendingyoubacktheoriginal,whichimustaccompanywithmywarmthanks,bothforthat,andyourbetterfavor,the"messiah,"which,iassureyou,ihavereadthro'withgreatpleasure;theverseshavegreatsweetnessandanewtestament-plainnessaboutthemwhichaffectedmeverymuch.

icouldjustwishthatinpage63youhadomittedthelines71and'2,andhadendedtheperiodwith

"thewillowybrookwasthere,butthatsweetsound—whentobeheardagainonearthlyground?"—

twoverysweetlines,andthesenseperfect.

andinpage154,line68,"icomeordainedaworldtosave,"—thesewordsarehardlyborneoutbythestory,andseemscarceaccordantwiththemodestywithwhichourlordcametotakehiscommonportionamongthebaptismalcandidates.theyalsoanticipatethebeautyofjohn'srecognitionofthemessiah,andthesubsequentconfirmationfromthevoiceanddove.

youwillexcusetheremarksofanoldbrotherbard,whosecareer,thoughlongsinceprettywellstopt,wascoevalinitsbeginningwithyourown,andwhoissorryhislothasbeenalwaystobesodistantfromyou.itisnotlikelythatc.l.willeverseebristolagain;but,ifj.c.shouldevervisitlondon,hewillbeamostwelcomevisitortoc.l.

mysisterjoinsincordialremembrancesandirequestthefavorofknowing,atyourearliestopportunity,whethertheportraitarrivessafe,theglassunbroken&c.yourglassbrokeinitscoming.

morganisalittlebetter—canreadalittle,&c.;butcannotjoinmrs.

m.tilltheinsolventact(orwhateveritiscalled)takesplace.then,

ihope,hewillstandclearofalldebts.meantime,hehasamost

exemplarynurseandkindcompanioninmissbrent.

oncemore,dearsir,

yourstruly

c.lamb.

[cottlesentlambaminiatureofhimselfbybranwhite,whichhadbeencopiedinmonochromeformr.evans'book.g.j.joseph,a.r.a.,madeacoloureddrawingoflambforthesamework.itservesasfrontispiecetovol.i.ofthepresentedition.byron'slinesreferasamatteroffactnottojosephbuttoamoscottle:—

o,amoscottle!—phoebus!whataname.

andsoforth.mr.evans,however,dispensedwithamos.anothergrangerisededitionofthesamesatire,alsointhebritishmuseum,compiledbyw.m.tartt,hasanengravingofamoscottleandtwoportraitsoflamb—thehancockdrawing,andthebrookpulhamcaricature.byron'slinestouchinglambranthus:—

yetletthemnottovulgarwordsworthstoop,

themeanestobjectofthelowlygroup,

whoseverse,ofallbutchildishprattlevoid,

seemsblessedharmonytolambeandlloyd.

afootnotestatesthatlambandlloydarethemostignoblefollowersof

southey&co.

cottle'smessiah,ofwhichtheearlierportionhadbeenpublishedlongsince,wascompletedin1815.canonaingersaysthatlines71and72inlamb'scopy(notthatof1815),followinguponthecouplet"ed,were:—

(whilesorrowgaveth'involuntarytear)

hadceasedtovibrateonourlisteningear.

coleridge'sfriendmorganhadjustcomeuponeviltimes.subsequentlylambandsoutheyunitedinhelpinghimtotheextentof£10ayeareach.]