John Lamb, Charles's father, came from Lincoln. A recollection of his boyhood there is given in the _Elia_ essay "Poor Relations." The "stream" seems completely to have ended with Charles Lamb and his sister Mary: at least, research has yielded no descendants. Crabb Robinson visited Goethe in the summer of 1829. The _Diary_ has this entry: "I inquired whether he knew the name of Lamb. 'Oh, yes! Did he not write a pretty sonnet on his own name?' Charles Lamb, though he always affected contempt for Goethe, yet was manifestly pleased that his name was known to him." In the little memoir of Lamb prefixed by M. Amédée Pichot to a French edition of the _Tales from Shakespeare_ in 1842 the following translation of this sonnet is given:-- MON NOM DE FAMILLE Dis-moi, d'où nous viens-tu, nom pacifique et doux, Nom transmis sans reproche?... A qui te devons-nous, Nom qui meurs avec moi? mon glason de poëte A l'aïeul de mon père obscurément s'arrête. --Peut-être nous viens-tu d'un timide pasteur, Doux comme ses agneaux, raillé pour sa douceur. Mais peut-être qu'aussi, moins commune origine, Nous viens-tu d'un héros, d'un pieux paladin, Qui croyant honorer ainsi l'Agneau divin, Te prit en revenant des champs de Palestine. Mais qu'importe après tout ... qu'il soit illustre ou non, Je ne ferai jamais une tache à ce nom. Page 44. _To John Lamb, Esq._ John Lamb, Charles's brother, was born in 1763 and was thus by twelve years his senior. At the time this poem appeared, in 1818, he was accountant of the South-Sea House. He died on October 26, 1821 (see the _Elia_ essays "My Relations" and "Dream Children"). * * * * * Page 45. _To Martin Charles Burney, Esq._