"Then I told how for seven long years, in hope sometimes, sometimes in despair, yet persisting ever, I courted the fair Alice W----; and as much as children could understand, I explained to them what coyness, and difficulty, and denial, meant in maidens--when suddenly, turning to little Alice, the soul of the first Alice looked out at her eyes with such a reality of re-presentment that I became in doubt which of them stood there before me, or whose that bright hair was; and while I stood gazing, both the children gradually grew fainter to my view, receding, and still receding, till nothing at last but two mournful features were seen in the uttermost distance, which--without speech--strangely impressed upon me the effects of speech:--We are not of Alice, not of thee, nor are we children at all. The children of Alice call Bartram father, we are nothing--less than nothing and dreams. We are only what might have been, and must wait upon the tedious shores of Lethe, millions of ages, before we have existence and a name; and immediately awaking, I found myself quietly seated in my arm-chair--where I had fallen asleep, with the faithful Bridget unchanged by my side." Lamb was not deep-thoughted; he would have lost the trail in those meditations and searchings to which Coleridge in his cooler and clearer moments invited and led the way; but there was about him an individuality, a delicacy of thought, {325} a quaint play of airy fancies, a beguiling inconsequence, that have made his path in letters a delightful one for thousands to follow. I cannot leave his name without calling attention to the charming little stories of Mrs. Leicester's School--written by Charles Lamb and his sister jointly. They are--or profess to be--the tales told by school children themselves of their memories--whether sorrows or joys; and are so artless in their narrative, so pathetic often, that you cannot help but follow the trend of their simple language as you would follow a story which an older sister might tell you about your own homes and your own father and mother.