personalities, gossipy tabloid anecdotes, and, as in the Journal, much detail about the inhabitants, natural history and topography of North America. Indeed, intellectual meanderings hark Lamb’s back to when Renaissance humanist scholars wrote elaborate treatises which, at an individual, virtuosic level were a means of showcasing their scholarship, while at the level of public service imbued learning with a moral dimension, yet in as diverting a fashion as possible. Certainly a didactic agenda is consistent with post-military profession of schoolmaster, and is reinforced Lamb’s in the so-called Advertisement prefacing the where he Memoir, declares his aim to be instruct as much as possible the young ‘to and unguarded, by furnishing the example of his own life without self-disguise or (p. iv). But the reader is left with a sense vanity’ that the impetus of the is away from its putative subject of Memoir service in the American War, rather as that famous English treatise, Robert (first published Anatomy of Melancholy Burton’s 1621), employs its many digressions of anatomy, of the misery – of scholars, of the air, of love, and so on so that both writer and – reader might forget and subsequently conquer melancholy itself. technique is similarly Burtonesque, in that it is divergent Lamb’s in content and therefore centrifugal in effect, allowing readers only small glimpses of Sergeant Lamb at war as they are made to observe a world in which he and his service record are minor events. Graves instead adapts the broad humanist goal of delightful instruction to create an ethnography of warfare: within the framework of a lively and interesting tale his digressive strategies are convergent and thus centripetal, in that they keep drawing us back towards Lamb and the profession of soldiering, making these the centre of the reader’s imaginative orbit. In dealing with the topic of warfare itself, Lamb prefers an abstract and often indirect approach. For example, stimulated by that the patriot army might make Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion effective use of bows and pikes when it can’t obtain sufficient firearms, he slips on his and discourses at schoolmaster’s gown length on medieval archery and classical spear formations, eventually coming out in favour of firearms (Lamb, pp. Memoir,
personalities, gossipy tabloid anecdotes, and, as in the Journal, much detail about the inhabitants, natural history and topography of North America. Indeed, Lamb’s intellectual meanderings hark back to when Renaissance humanist scholars wrote elaborate treatises which, at an individual, virtuosic level were a means of showcasing their scholarship, while at the level of public service imbued learning with a moral dimension, yet in as diverting a fashion as possible. Certainly a didactic agenda is consistent with Lamb’s post-military profession of schoolmaster, and is reinforced in the so-called Advertisement prefacing the Memoir, where he declares his aim to be ‘to instruct as much as possible the young and unguarded, by furnishing the example of his own life without self-disguise or vanity’ (p. iv). But the reader is left with a sense that the impetus of the Memoir is away from its putative subject of service in the American War, rather as that famous English treatise, Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy (first published 1621), employs its many digressions – of anatomy, of the misery of scholars, of the air, of love, and so on – so that both writer and reader might forget and subsequently conquer melancholy itself. Lamb’s technique is similarly Burtonesque, in that it is divergent in content and therefore centrifugal in effect, allowing readers only small glimpses of Sergeant Lamb at war as they are made to observe a world in which he and his service record are minor events. Graves instead adapts the broad humanist goal of delightful instruction to create an ethnography of warfare: within the framework of a lively and interesting tale his digressive strategies are convergent and thus centripetal, in that they keep drawing us back towards Lamb and the profession of soldiering, making these the centre of the reader’s imaginative orbit. In dealing with the topic of warfare itself, Lamb prefers an abstract and often indirect approach. For example, stimulated by Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion that the patriot army might make effective use of bows and pikes when it can’t obtain sufficient firearms, he slips on his schoolmaster’s gown and discourses at length on medieval archery and classical spear formations, eventually coming out in favour of firearms (Lamb, Memoir, pp.
1294_paul_skrebels,_%5c'cocked_hats_and_firelocks%5c'_(final).docx