If it had been the name of a beast, as Bull,
Fox, Kid, Lamb, Wolf, Lion; or of a bird, as Sparrow, Hawk,
Buzzard, Daw, Finch, Nightingale; or of a fish, as Sprat, Herring,
Salmon; or the name of a thing, as Ginger, Hay, Wood; or of a
colour, as Black, Gray, White, Green; or of a sound, as Bray; or
the name of a month, as March, May; or of a place, as Barnet,
Baldock, Hitchen; or the name of a coin, as Farthing, Penny,
Twopenny; or of a profession, as Butcher, Baker, Carpenter, Piper,
Fisher, Fletcher, Fowler, Glover; or a Jew's name, as Solomons,
Isaacs, Jacobs; or a personal name, as Foot, Leg, Crookshanks,
Heaviside, Sidebottom, Ramsbottom, Winterbottom; or a long name, as
Blanchenhagen or Blanchhausen; or a short name as Crib, Crisp,
Crips, Tag, Trot, Tub, Phips, Padge, Papps, or Prig, or Wig, or
Pip, or Trip; Trip had been something, but Ho--!"
(_Walks about in great agitation; recovering his coolness a little,
sits down._)
These were weaker points in Lamb, but we must also look at the other
side. Those who have read his celebrated essay on Hogarth will find that
he possesses no great appreciation for that humour which is only
intended to raise a laugh, and might conclude that he was more of a
moralist than a humorist.
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