ERRATA. Vol. I. p. 34, line 21, for "Malden" read Maldon. p. 106, line 19, for "from 925. to 135. " read from 925. to 30s. p. 375, note, omit "not contained in his published works." C. Lamb's his collected poems. Vol. II. In Table of Contents, "Croker," instead of being at the beginning p. 3, line 19, for "Bannister" read Banister. p. 7, line 21, for "Buck's" read Bucks. p. 64, line 8, for "Hutchinson" read Hutchison. p. 71, line 13, for "Carlisle" read Carlile. p. 114, line 20, for "presents" read presented. p. 116, line 28, for "Jekyl" read Jekyll. p. 208, line 6, for "Being" read He being. p. 286, line 9, for "Alsop" read Allsop. p. 290, note, for "General Gifford" read Captain, now Major Gifford. p. 418, line 27, for "en bon point" read embonpoint. Vol. III. p. 277, line 3, for "Melancthon" read Melanchthon. a singie mai ue name, who пas ever been My father used to say that his great-grandfather was VOL. I. B IT is one of the evidences, or shall I say consequences, of a happy frame of mind, that I am capable of deriving pleasure from things, the absence or even loss of which does not give me pain. I should have rejoiced had I been well born, could I have reckoned historical characters among my ancestors; but it has never occasioned me any serious uneasiness that my family are of Ancestors. as insignificant a class as can be imagined. Among the Robinsons I cannot find a single individual who appears to have acquired any distinction, and among the Crabbs only a remote probability of an affinity to a single individual of the name, who has ever been heard of-and that is the Poet. My father used to say that his great-grandfather was a tanner at Bildeston in Suffolk, and that his name was Henry. My great-grandfather was Thomas. He was VOL. I. B 2 CHAP. I. Family. a tanner at Sudbury, where he is said to have attained the dignity of Mayor. Some circumstances concerning the marriage of my father and mother are worth writing down. I have forMarriage gotten from whom I heard them. My mother Jemima of H.Robinson Crabb was the eldest daughter of a large family, and Crabb. Jemima and when of an age to be useful she left her father's crowded house to reside at Bury with a family very intimate with her own. Mr. Bullen, the head of this family, being a Dissenter, it was quite a matter of course that Miss Crabb should be known to the Robinsons. My grandfather was reputed wealthy, and was certainly one of the most respectable of the Dissenters. - Jemima Crabb could have very little fortune, and my grandfather did not consent to a love-match between her and his second son Henry. She therefore returned to Wattisfield. One day her brother Zachariah seeing Henry Robinson in the Market-place, said to him, "Not yet married, Master Henry? I expected to hear of your marriage before this time." Henry answered, "No, Mr. Zachary, as I cannot have your sister Mimie I won't marry at all." A few days after this, a letter came to him from Miss Crabb, in which she said she was sorry for what she had heard from her brother-that it would be sinful in him not to marry, for it is God's ordinance, and he should not refuse to do so because he could not have the first woman he had taken a liking to. It would be undutiful to his father also, who did not approve of his marrying her. She hoped to hear that he had thought better of this, and that he would make a happy marriage in conformity with his father's wishes. Birth. This letter Henry showed to his brother Thomas, who carried it to his father. The old gentleman was so pleased with its tone that he withdrew his objection. Henry immediately went over to Wattisfield with the good news, and the marriage soon followed. It took place in 1766. There were born two children, who died in infancy; and besides these Thomas, born January 25th, 1770, Habakkuk, born June 4th, 1771, and Henry Crabb, the writer of these Reminiscences, born May 13th, 1775. When I was about twenty-one years of age I met on a stage-coach a very gentlemanly man, who, hearing my name, asked me whether my father was not a tanner, and whether my mother's name was not Crabb. Surprised at the question from a stranger I inquired why he asked. He thus explained himself—" More than twenty years ago I attended the Gentlemen's Club at The Angel, when the chairman gave as a toast, 'The Handsome Couple;' I was from the country, and it was then related to me that that morning there had been married a couple said to be the handsomest pair ever known to have lived at Bury. I recollect that the names were Robinson and Crabb, and that he was a young tanner." CHAP. I. 1775. Birth of Henry Crabb Robinson. 1775. Recollections of H. C. R. In general, it is not easy to fix a date to the earliest Earliest recollections. My mother's pocket-books supply a few. The very earliest that I am aware of is the being taken out one night in the arms of the nurse to see an illumination. I recollect being frightened at the report of a gun, or some fireworks, and that advantage was taken of my crying to carry me home. Now my mother writes under February 15th, 1779, "The town (Bury 3 |