_Charles Lamb's Epitaph_ (Vol. iii., p. 322.).--I can explain to MARIA
S. how this epitaph came to be attributed to Wordsworth. The late
laureate did write some lines on the occasion of Lamb's death,
beginning--
"To a good man of most dear memory,
This stone is sacred."
They were composed, the author says,
"With an earnest wish,
Though but a doubting hope, that they might serve
Fitly to guard the precious dust of him,
Whose virtues called them forth. _That aim is missed._"
Vol. v. p. 141. ed. 1850.