Gents Mag 1834 part 2 p.546
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Gentleman's Magazine 1834 part 2 p.546
it was to diffuse the new political doctrines, he set out like Wildgoose in Mr. Grave's admirable novel, to make proselytes, and above all, to procure subscribers. No "Diffusion Society" had then prepared his way in the manufacturing towns; the Watchman languished on the tenth number, and then its warning voice was heard no more. This woeful disappointment in his political expectations was in some measure relieved by the favourable reception given to a volume of Poems, the quick sale of which induced him to a republication, with the addition of some communications from his friends, Charles Lamb and Charles Lloyd. Still the ardour of liberty, and the establishment of a perfect order of things, continued to prevail, and Mr. Coleridge, with his friends Southey and Lovell, were bent upon trying their skill as political philosophers, not in correcting the evils of a old state, but in the settlement of a new one. This Utopia, which was to bear the high-sounding name of PANTISOCRACY, they proposed to found on the banks of the Susquehanna, where all property was to be held in common, and every man in his turn to be a legislator. But while preparations were making to carry out this fine project into execution, the whole scheme blew up by a spark of another description; for in the midst of their dreams of immortality, these rivals of Solon, Lycurgus, and Numa, became enamooured of three sisters of the name of Fricker. Thus the business of Love thrust out the mighty concern of what Jeremy Bentham was wont to call the science of Codification, and in a short time our author and his two associates, instead of seeking happiness in the wilds of America, were content to sit down in the bosom of domestic enjoyment, according to the laws and usages of their fathers. In plain terms, all three married; and the scheme of foreign colonization being given up, they began to think about settling in their own country. Mr. Coleridge went to reside at Nether Stowey, a small town near Bridgewater, where he contracted an acquainance with Mr. Wordsworth. At this period the circumstances of our author were far from being comfortable, and his principal subsistence depended upon literary labours, the remuneration for which, at such a distance from the metropolis, could not be adequate for the necessities of a growing family. In this perplexity he was relieved by the generous and munificent patronage of Mr. Josiah and Mr. Thomas Wedgwood, who enabled him to finish his education in Germany, where he began to study the language at Ratzeburg; after acquiring which he went through Hanover to Goettingen. Here he diligently attended the lectures of Blumenbach on physiology and natural history; and those of Eichhorn on the New Testament: but his chief application was to philosophy and polite literature. This important event in the life of Mr. Coleridge occurred in 1798, and during his residence abroad he had the satisfaction of meeting Mr. Wordsworth, then on a tour in Germany with his sister. Soon after the return of our author from Germany, he undertook the literary and political department of the Morning Post, on entering into which engagement, it was stipulated that the paper should be conducted on certain fixed and announced principles, from which the editor should neither be obliged nor requested to deviate in favour of any party or circumstance. This connexion continued during the Addington Administration, after which, the paper being transferred to other proprietors, Mr. Coleride relinquished the management. While he was in this concern he published translations of two of Schiller's Dramas, on the story of Wallenstein. Mr. Coleridge now became Secretary to Sir Alexander Ball, whom he accompanied to Malta, of which island that distinguished officer was appointed Governor; but this situation our author did not long retain, nor did it prove any otherwise advantageous to him than by extending his knowledge of the world, and giving him an opportunity of treading the classic ground of Italy. During his wanderings, his wife and family resided under the roof of Mr. Southey, at Keswick, and thither our poet bent his course on his return to England. We next find him lecturing on poetry at the Royal Institution, and an occasional writer in the Courier, his political principles having now undergone a complete transmutation. In 1812 he produced a series of miscellaneous essays entituled "The Friend;" which, though they had but a very limited circulation, he subsequently revised, enlarged, and re-printed. The year following appeared "Remorse;" a tragedy. This was originally written some years before at the suggestion of his friend Mr. Bowles, in consequence of a wish expressed by Sheridan, but who, when he saw it, had considered it unsuitable for performance. In 1816 Mr. Coleridge published Christabel, &c.; and the Statesman's Manual, a Lay Sermon; in 1817 his Bibliographia Literaria, in two vols.; in 1818 |
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