Charles Lamb’s essay, The Praise of
Chimney Sweepers brings out the
societal realities of the late 18th and
19th century English society. Comment.
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Answer:
Lamb: Essays
Charles Lamb: Essays Summary and Analysis of "The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers"
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Summary
Elia remarks that he likes to meet young chimney sweepers, boys who have just recently started out in the profession. He speaks of the drama of one of those young boys disappearing down a chimney as if lost forever, only to rise out of it like the ghost in a stage direction in Shakespeare's Macbeth. He then begins talking of a sassafras tea called Saloop served a shop in London which he himself hasn't tried, but which is treasured as a delicacy by the young chimneysweeps.
Mr. Read, who owns the Salopian house, boasts that his is the only one in town despite the countless imitators. Other vendors serve it on the street to the chimney sweeps at dawn, as the young chimney sweeps take a moment before they embark on their work to enjoy the tea with a slice of bread. On the subject of the street, Elia says that the only street encounters he enjoys are with the young chimney sweeps. He recalls a time he fell on his back on ice, leading a grinning chimney sweep to laugh at him in a way that was so infectious that Elia couldn't keep from grinning himself.