Chapter II (4)

"At the beginning of the French Revolution, Klopstock wrote odes of
congratulation. He received some honorary presents from the French
Republic (a golden crown, I believe), and, like our Priestley, was
invited to a seat in the legislature, which he declined: but, when
French liberty metamorphosed herself into a fury, he sent back these
presents with a palinodia, declaring his abhorrence of their
proceedings; and since then he has been more perhaps than enough an
Anti-Gallican. I mean, that in his just contempt and detestation of
the crimes and follies of the revolutionists, he suffers himself to
forget that the revolution itself is a process of the Divine
Providence; and that as the folly of men is the wisdom of God, so are
their iniquities instruments of his goodness."

'Biographia Literaria,' vol. ii. p. 243.]

[Footnote 5: Coleridge in the 'Friend,' says:

"My feelings, however, and imagination did not remain unkindled in
this general conflagration (the French Revolution); and I confess I
should be more inclined to be ashamed than proud of myself if they
had. I was a sharer in the general vortex, though my little world
described the path of its revolution in an orbit of its own. What I
dared not expect from constitutions of government and whole nations, I
hoped from Religion."]

[Footnote 6: This is a mistake. The candidate was Mr. Bethell, one of the members for Yorkshire, and not the Bishop of Bangor, as is commonly supposed. Bishop Bethel himself, not long ago, told me this.]

[Footnote 7: The writer of the article above quoted followed Coleridge in the school, and was elected to Trinity College a year after. As I have before observed, he seems to have been well acquainted with his habits; yet, with regard to his feelings on certain points, as his ambition and desire for a college life, I think he must have misunderstood him. Ambition never formed any part of Coleridge's character. Honours, titles, and distinctions had no meaning for him. His affections, so strong and deep, were likely to be his only stimulants in the pursuit of them.]

[Footnote 8: Frend's trial took place at Cambridge, in the Vice-Chancellor's Court, in the year 1793, for sedition and defamation of the Church of England, in giving utterance to and printing certain opinions, founded on Unitarian Doctrines, adverse to the established Church.--'Vide' State Trials. Sentence of banishment was pronounced against him: which sentence was confirmed by the Court of Delegates, to which Mr. Frend had appealed from the Vice-Chancellor's Court. He then appealed from the decision of the Court of Delegates, protested against the proceedings, and moved this cause to the Court of King's Bench. This Court, after an examination of the case, decided, that the proceedings at Cambridge having been strictly formal, they had no power to interfere, and therefore the sentence against Frend remained in full force. Being a Fellow of Jesus' College at the time that Coleridge was a student, he excited the sympathies of the young and ardent of that day.]

[Footnote 9: The repetition of Middleton's name, so frequently occurring may appear to a stranger unnecessary; but Middleton, loving Coleridge so much, and being his senior in years, as well as in studies, was to him, while at school and at college, what the Polar Star is to the mariner on a wide sea without compass,--his guide, and his influential friend and companion.]

[Footnote 10: There is another incident which I shall here relate that raised him in the esteem of his comrades. One of them was seized with confluent small-pox, and his life was considered in great danger. The fear of the spread of this had produced such alarm in his quarters, that the sufferer was nearly deserted. Here Coleridge's reading served him; and, having a small quantity of medical knowledge in addition to a large share of kindness, he volunteered his services, and nursed the sick man night and day for six weeks. His patient recovered, to the joy of Coleridge and of his comrades. The man was taken ill during a march, and in consequence of the fears of the persons of the place, he and Coleridge (who had volunteered to remain with him) were put into an out-building, and no communication held with them--Coleridge remaining the whole time in the same room with the man (who, during part of his illness, was violently delirious) nursing and reading to him, &c.]

[Footnote 11: In a published letter to a friend is the following observation:

"I sometimes compare my own life with that of Steele (yet oh! how
unlike), led to this from having myself also for a brief time 'borne
arms', and written 'private' after my name, or rather another name;
for being at a loss when suddenly asked my name, I answered
'Comberbach', and verily my habits were so little equestrian, that my
horse, I doubt not, was of that opinion."]

[Footnote 12: Capt. Nathaniel Ogle sold out of the 15th Dragoons, Nov. 19th, 1794.

Comberbacke enlisted at Reading, Dec. 3rd, 1793, commanded at this time by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Churchill, who was a Major in the regiment at the time Comberbacke was discharged at Hounslow, on the 10th of April, 1794, according to the War-Office books.]

[Footnote 13: Probably the week in which he enlisted.]

[Footnote 14: A gentleman much interested in these lectures, who was also present, has given the following version of the story, and it is so well done, that I am desirous of inserting it:--

"In all Mr. Coleridge's lectures he was a steady opposer of Mr. Pitt
and the then existing war; and also an enthusiastic admirer of Fox,
Sheridan, Grey, &c. &c., but his opposition to the reigning politics
discovered little asperity; it chiefly appeared by wit and sarcasm,
and commonly ended in that which was the speaker's chief object, a
laugh. Few attended Mr. C.'s lectures but those whose political views
were similar to his own; but on one occasion, some gentlemen of the
opposite party came into the lecture-room, and at one sentiment they
heard, testified their disapprobation by the only easy and safe way in
their power; namely, by a hiss. The auditors were startled at so
unusual a sound, not knowing to what it might conduct; but their noble
leader soon quieted their fears, by instantly remarking, with great
coolness, 'I am not at all surprised, when the red hot prejudices of
aristocrats are suddenly plunged into the cool waters of reason, that
they should go off with a hiss!' The words were electric. The
assailants felt, as well as testified their confusion, and the whole
company confirmed it by immense applause! There was no more hissing."]

[Footnote 15: This note was written at Highgate, in a copy of the 'Conciones ad Populum'.]

[Footnote 16:

"With the exception of one extraordinary man, I have never known an
individual, least of all an individual of genius, healthy or happy
without a profession, i.e., some 'regular' employment, which does not
depend on the will of the moment, and which can be carried on so far
'mechanically', that an average quantum only of health, spirits, and
intellectual exertion are requisite to its faithful discharge. Three
hours of leisure, unannoyed by any alien anxiety, and looked forward
to with delight as a change and recreation, will suffice to realize in
literature a larger product of what is truly genial, than weeks of
compulsion. Money, and immediate reputation form only an arbitrary and
accidental end of literary labour. The 'hope' of increasing them by
any given exertion will often prove a stimulant to industry; but the
'necessity' of acquiring them will, in all works of genius, convert
the stimulant into a 'narcotic'. Motives by excess reverse their very
nature, and instead of exciting, stun and stupify the mind; for it is
one contra-distinction of genius from talent, that its predominant end
is always comprised in the means; and this is one of the many points,
which establish an analogy between genius and virtue. Now, though
talents may exist without genius, yet, as genius cannot exist,
certainly not manifest itself, without talents, I would advise every
scholar, who feels the genial power working within him, so far to make
a division between the two, as that he should devote his 'talents' to
the acquirement of competence in some known trade or profession, and
his genius to objects of his tranquil and unbiassed choice; while the
consciousness of being actuated in both alike by the sincere desire to
perform his duty, will alike ennoble both. 'My dear young friend,' (I
would say), suppose yourself established in any honourable
occupation. From the manufactory or counting-house, from the
law-court, or from having visited your last patient, you return at
evening,

'Dear tranquil time, when the sweet sense of home
Is sweetest...'

to your family, prepared for its social enjoyments, with the very
countenances of your wife and children brightened, and their voice of
welcome made doubly welcome by the knowledge that, as far as 'they'
are concerned, you have satisfied the demands of the day, by the
labour of the day. Then, when you retire into your study, in the books
on your shelves, you revisit so many venerable friends with whom you
can converse. Your own spirit scarcely less free from personal
anxieties than the great minds, that in those books are still living
for you! Even your writing-desk, with its blank paper and all its
other implements, will appear as a chain of flowers, capable of
linking your feelings, as well as thoughts to events, and characters,
past or to come: not a chain of iron which binds you down to think of
the future and the remote, by recalling the claims and feelings of the
peremptory present: but why should I say retire? The habits of active
life and daily intercourse with the stir of the world, will tend to
give you such self command, that the presence of your family will be
no interruption. Nay, the social silence, or undisturbing voices of a
wife or sister will be like a restorative atmosphere, or soft music
which moulds a dream without becoming its object. If facts are
required to prove the possibility of combining weighty performances in
literature with full and independent employment, the works of Cicero
and Xenophon among the ancients; of Sir Thomas Moore, Bacon, Baxter,
or, to refer at once to later and contemporary instances, Darwin and
Roscoe, are at once decisive of the question."

'Biog. Lit.']

[Footnote 17: Tale and novel writing of second-rate order, somewhat spiced and stimulating, are sure to succeed, and carry 'of course' popularity with their success, by advertising the writer. Of this there is an instance in Coleridge's own works. The "Zapoyla," entitled a "Christmas Tale," (and which he never sat down to write, but dictated it while walking up and down the room,) became so immediately popular that 2000 copies were sold in six weeks, while it required two years for the sale of 1000 copies of the "Aids to Reflection," which cost him much labour, and was the fruit of many years' reflection.]

[Footnote 18: i.e. Nether Stowey, at the foot of the Quantock Hills.]

[Footnote 19: Thomas Poole, Esq.]

[Footnote 20: The following lines are here referred to

"And now, beloved Stowey! I behold
Thy Church-tower, and, methinks, the four huge elms
Clustering, which mark the mansion of my friend;
And close behind them, hidden from my view,
Is my own lowly cottage, where my babe
And my babe's mother dwell in peace. With light
And quicken'd footsteps thitherward I tend,
Remembering thee, O green and silent dell!
And grateful, that by nature's quietness
And solitary musings, all my heart
Is soften'd, and made worthy to indulge
Love, and the thoughts that yearn for human kind.

Nether Stowey,

April 28th, 1798." ]

[Footnote 21: Ossian.]

[Footnote 22: This ill-natured remark requires no comment: but I would fain recommend the reader to peruse the beautiful and faithful portrait of him in the Preface to the second edition of the "Table Talk," Murray, Albemarle Street.]

[Footnote 23: He was not an enthusiast in the sense this individual used the word; in whatever studies he was engaged, he pursued them with great earnestness, and they were sufficient to excite his powerful and sensitive intellect, so as to induce an observer not well acquainted with him to form this opinion. In the character of preacher, he exhibited more the character of philosopher and poet, never manifesting that sectarian spirit, which too often narrows the mind, or perhaps is rather the 'result' of a narrow mind, and which frequently seems to exclude men from the most substantial forms of Christianity, viz. "Christian charity and Christian humility." His religion was the very opposite of a worldly religion, it was at all times the religion of love.

This visit to Shrewsbury, as the probable successor of Mr. Rowe, was undertaken by the advice of Mr. afterwards Dr. Estlin, a Unitarian dissenter and preacher in Bristol, a man possessed of great kindness and of great influence among this sect, to whom Coleridge had been indebted for many kind offices; the result of this visit forms a part of the sequel.]

[Footnote 24: 'Poetical Works,' vol. i. p. 238.]

[Footnote 25:

"No little fish thrown back into the water, no fly unimprisoned from a
child's hand, could more buoyantly enjoy its element than I this clear
and peaceful home, with the lovely view of the town, groves, and lake
of Ratzeburg."]

[Footnote 26: From the earliest periods of authentic history, the Brocken has been the seat of the marvellous. On its summits are still seen huge blocks of granite, called the Sorcerer's Chair and the Altar. A spring of pure water is known by the name of the Magic Fountain, and the Anemone of the Brocken is distinguished by the title of the Sorcerer's Flower. These names are supposed to have originated in the rites of the great Idol Cortho, whom the Saxons worshipped in secret on the summit of the Brocken, when Christianity was extending her benignant sway over the subjacent plains. As the locality of these idolatrous rites, the Brocken must have been much frequented, and we can scarcely doubt that the spectre which now so often haunts it at sunrise, must have been observed from the earliest times; but it is nowhere mentioned that this phenomenon was in any way associated with the objects of their idolatrous worship. One of the best accounts of the Spectre of the Brocken, is that which is given by M. Haué, who saw it on the 23rd May, 1797. After having been on the summit of the mountain no less than thirty times, he had at last the good fortune of witnessing the object of his curiosity. The sun rose about four o'clock in the morning through a serene atmosphere. In the south-west, towards Achtermannshöhe, a brisk west wind carried before it the transparent vapours, which had yet been condensed into thick heavy clouds. About a quarter past four he went towards the inn, and looked round to see whether the atmosphere would afford him a free prospect towards the south-west, when he observed at a very great distance, towards Achtermannshöhe, a human figure of a monstrous size. His hat having been almost carried away by a violent gust of wind, he suddenly raised his hand to his head, to protect his hat, and the colossal figure did the same. He immediately made another movement by bending his body, an action which was repeated by the spectral figure. M. Haué was desirous of making further experiments, but the figure disappeared. He remained however in the same position expecting its return, and in a few minutes it again made its appearance on the Achtermannshöhe, when it mimicked his gestures as before. He then called the landlord of the inn, and having both taken the same position which he had before, they looked towards the Achtermannshöhe, but saw nothing. In a very short space of time, however, two colossal figures were formed over the above eminence, and after bending their bodies, and imitating the gestures of the two spectators, they disappeared. Retaining their position and keeping their eyes still fixed upon the same spot, the two gigantic spectres again stood before them, and were joined by a third. Every movement that they made was imitated by the three figures, but the effect varied in its intensity, being sometimes weak and faint, and at other times strong and well defined----. "Vide Sir D. Brewster's Natural Magic, p. 128.]

[Footnote 27: Horseley appears to have been in his way a Christian Hercules, and well adapted for cleansing even an Augean stable of apostasy.]

[Footnote 28: "Letter sixteenth," p. 264. ed. 1789, in Bishop Horsley's 'Tracts' in controversy with Dr. Priestley.]

[Footnote 29: This observation, it is presumed, alludes to the time when he was 'preaching' Unitarianism.]

[Footnote 30: Written in 1805.]

[Footnote 31:

Alas! for myself at least I know and feel, that wherever there is a
wrong not to be forgiven, there is a grief that admits neither of cure
nor comforting.

'Private Record, 1806.']

[Footnote 32: It appears that Mr. Alexander Macauley, the secretary, an honest and amiable man, died suddenly, without "moan or motion," and Coleridge filled his situation till the arrival of a new secretary, appointed and confirmed by the ministers in England.]

[Footnote 33: 1805.

"For months past so incessantly employed in official tasks,
subscribing, examining, administering oaths, auditing," &c.]

[Footnote 34: April 22, 1804.

"I was reading when I was taken ill, and felt an oppression of my
breathing, and convulsive snatching in my stomach and limbs. Mrs.
Ireland noticed this laborious breathing."]

[Footnote 35: I would fain request the reader to peruse the poem, entitled "A Tombless Epitaph," to be found in Coleridge's 'Poetical Works', 1834, page 200.]

[Footnote 36: Coleridge when asked what was the difference between fame and reputation, would familiarly reply, "Fame is the fiat of the good and wise," and then with energy would quote the following beautiful lines from Milton:--

Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil,
Nor in the glistering foil
Set off to the world, nor in broad rumour lies:
But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes,
And perfect witness of all-judging Jove;
As he pronounces lastly on each deed,
Of so much fame in Heaven expect thy meed.

'Lycidas.']

[Footnote 37: "The following memoranda written in pencil, and apparently as he journeyed along, but now scarcely legible, may perhaps have an interest for some readers:--

"Sunday, December 15th, 1805.

"Naples, view of Vesuvius, the Hail-mist--Torre del Greco--bright amid
darkness--the mountains above it flashing here and there from their
snows; but Vesuvius, it had not thinned as I have seen at Keswick, but
the air so consolidated with the massy cloud curtain, that it appeared
like a mountain in basso relievo, in an interminable wall of some
pantheon."]

[Footnote 38: The order for Coleridge's arrest had already been sent from Paris, but his escape was so contrived by the good old Pope, as to defeat the intended indulgence of the Tyrant's vindictive appetite, which would have preyed equally on a Duc D'Enghien, and a contributor to a public journal. In consequence of Mr. Fox having asserted in the House of Commons, that the rupture of the Truce of Amiens had its origin in certain essays written in the Morning Post, which were soon known to have been Coleridge's, and that he was at Rome within reach, the ire of Buonaparte was immediately excited.]

[Footnote 39: Though his Note Books are full of memoranda, not an entry or date of his arrival at Rome is to be found. To Rome itself and its magnificence, he would often refer in conversation. Unfortunately there is not a single document to recall the beautiful images he would place before your mind in perspective, when inspired by the remembrance of its wonder-striking and splendid objects. He however preserved some short essays, which he wrote when in Malta, Observations on Sicily, Cairo, &c. &c. political and statistical, which will probably form part of the literary remains in train of publication.

Malta, on a first view of the subject, seemed to present a situation so well fitted for a landing place, that it was intended to have adopted this mode, as in 'The Friend', of dividing the present memoir; but this loss of MS. and the breaches of continuity, render it impracticable.]

[Footnote 40: At this time all his writings were strongly tinctured with Platonism.]

[Footnote 41: Each party claimed him as their own; for party without principles must ever be shifting, and therefore they found his opinions sometimes in accordance with their own, and sometimes at variance. But he was of no party--his views were purely philosophical.]

[Footnote 42: The character of Buonaparte was announced in the same paper.]

[Footnote 43: Those who spoke after Pitt were Wilberforce, Tierney, Sheridan, &c.]

[Footnote 44: This speech of Mr. Pitt's is extracted from the 'Morning Post', February 18th, 1800.]

[Footnote 45: The following exquisite image on Leighton was found in one of Coleridge's note books, and is also inserted in his Literary Remains:

"Next to the inspired Scriptures, yea, and as the vibration of that
once struck hour remaining on the air, stands Archbishop Leighton's
commentary on the first epistle of Peter."]

[Footnote 46: In his later days, Mr. Coleridge would have renounced the opinions and the incorrect reasoning of this letter].