Jan 15 1812 Henry Crabb Robinson

On January 15, 1812, Henry Crabb Robinson writes in his diary the following: 

Tea with the Lambs. An evening at cards Hazlitt there much depressed He seemed disposed to give up the lectures altogether. The cause of his reading so rapidly was that he was told to limit himself to an hour and what he had prepared would have taken three hours if it had been read slowly. 

The Lambs referred to in the entry are Charles Lamb and his sister Mary Lamb. Both were writers and collaborated on some works.

They both suffered from mental illness.The strain of carrying for her mother was particularly hard on Mary. Tragically, in 1796, Mary broke down. In a manic attack,  she stabbed and killed her mother with a kitchen knife. A jury returned a finding of lunacy. Charles became her official guardian when their father died. Charles and Mary lived together for the rest of their lives. Both never married. 

For more information about Robinson and Hazlitt see my earlier post  here