By Mary Lamb.  Much of the description of the farm and country is probably from memory of the old days at Mackery End, where we know Mary Lamb to have gone with her little brother Charles some time about 1780, and perhaps herself earlier.  It is, however, possible that Blakesware is meant, since Mary Lamb speaks of the grandmother:  Mrs. Bruton of Mackery End was her great aunt.  One feels that the grandmother’s sorrow at not being remembered (on page 329) is from life; and also the episode with Will Tasker (on the same page), and the description (and probably the name) of Old Spot, the shepherd, on page 333.

Page 334.  III.—­Ann Withers.  “The Changeling.”

By Mary Lamb.  In one of the later editions of this story certain small changes were made, not, I fancy, by Mary Lamb.  For example, on page 349, line 19, the sentence was made to read:  “Neither dancing, nor any foolish lectures, could do much for Miss Lesley, she remained for some time wanting in gracefulness of carriage; but all that is usually attributed to dancing music finally effected.”  The italics indicate the additions of the nice editorial hand.

Page 350.  IV.—­Elinor Forester.  “The Father’s Wedding Day.”

By Mary Lamb.  It is this story which Landor so much admired (see above).  The pretty song, “Balow, my babe,” was probably “Ann Bothwell’s Lament,” beginning “Balow, my boy.”

Page 354.  V.—­Margaret Green.  “The Young Mahometan.”

By Mary Lamb, and perhaps her most perfect work.  Here we have a description of Blakesware, the home of the Plumers, which for many years was uninhabited by the family, and left from 1778 to 1792 in the sole charge of Mrs. Field, Charles and Mary’s maternal grandmother.  Charles, since he was born in 1775, would on his visits have known no power superior to his grandmother; but Mary, who was born in 1764, would have occasionally encountered Mrs. Plumer, just as Margaret Green met Mrs. Beresford.  Probably Mrs. Plumer and Mrs. Beresford were very like.  Probably also Mrs. Field maintained silence with her grandchild, for we know that neither she nor her daughter rightly understood Mary Lamb.  Mrs. Field used to speak of her “poor moythered brains.”  Mary’s description of the old house should be compared with Charles’s in the Elia essays “Blakesmoor in H——­shire” and “Dream-Children.”  In one point they are at variance; for Mary says that the twelve Caesars “hung” round the hall, and her brother that they were life-size busts.  I have the authority of a gentleman who remembers them at Gilston, whither they were removed, for saying that Charles Lamb’s memory was the more accurate.  The picture of the little girl with a lamb seems to have made an equal impression on both their minds; and both mention the shuttlecocks on the table.

Page 360.  VI.—­Emily Barton.  “Visit to the Cousins.”