Accustom yourself to write familiar letters on common subjects to your
friends in England, such as are of a moderate understanding. And think
about common things more. I supped last night with Rickman, and met a
merry _natural_ captain, who pleases himself vastly with once having
made a pun at Otaheite in the O. language. 'Tis the same man who said
Shakspeare he liked, because he was so _much of the gentleman_. Rickman
is a man "absolute in all numbers." I think I may one day bring you
acquainted, if you do not go to Tartary first; for you'll never come
back. Have a care, my dear friend, of Anthropophagi! their stomachs are
always craving. 'Tis terrible to be weighed out at fivepence a pound. To
sit at table (the reverse of fishes in Holland), not as a guest, but
as a meat!
God bless you! do come to England. Air and exercise may do great things.
Talk with some minister. Why not your father?
God dispose all for the best! I have discharged my duty.
Your sincere friend,
C. LAMB.
[1] Manning had evidently written to Lamb as to his cherished
project of exploring remoter China and Thibet.
XLII.
TO MANNING.
_February_, 1803.
Not a sentence, not a syllable, of Trismegistus shall be lost through my
neglect. I am his word-banker, his storekeeper of puns and syllogisms.
You cannot conceive (and if Trismegistus cannot, no man can) the strange
joy which I felt at the receipt of a letter from Paris.
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