[76] Afterwards incorporated in another poem.
[77] These three initials would be the proper S. T. C. affixed to his garments.
[78] This account of Mr. Coleridge's military life, I read to Mr. Wade, who remarked that the greater part of what he had heard, Mr. Coleridge had, at different times, repeated to him. Mr. W. having been an old and steady friend of Mr. C. I expressed a desire that, he would read the whole MS. Memoir thoughtfully, in my presence, on successive mornings, and, without hesitation, dissent, if he thought it needful, from any of my statements. He afterwards remarked, "I have read deliberately the whole manuscript with intense interest, as all who knew Coleridge will, and, I think, those who knew him not. It is Coleridge himself, undisguised. All the statements I believe to be correct. Most of them I know to be such. There is nothing in this Memoir of our friend to which I object; nothing which I could wish to see omitted." He continued, "With respect to those letters relating to opium, I think you would be unfaithful, if you were to suppress them: but that letter addressed to me, must be published, (according to Mr. Coleridge's solemn injunction,) either by you, or myself. The instruction to be derived from this and his penitential letters addressed to you, is incalculable. All my friends unite with me in this opinion."
Mr. W. related, at this time, one circumstance, received by him from Mr. Coleridge, which was new to me, and which is as follows. One of the men in Mr. C.'s company, had, it appeared a bad case of the small pox, when Mr. C. was appointed to be his nurse, night and day. The fatigue and anxiety, and various inconveniences, involved in the superintendence on this his sorely diseased comrade, almost sickened him of hospital service; so that one or two more such cases would have reconciled him to the ranks, and have made him covet, once more, the holiday play of rubbing down his horse.
[79] At the time Mr. Coleridge belonged to the 15th Light Dragoons, the men carried carbines, in addition to swords and pistols. More recently, a shorter gun has been substituted, called a fusce.
[80] Mr. Stoddart was a gentleman of whom he often talked, and spoke feelingly of Mr. S.'s chagrin, in the earlier part of his professional career. Briefs were then scarce, yet one evening an attorney called with the object of his desire, but Mr. S. was not at home, and the urgency of the case required it to be placed in other hands. This was long a subject of lamentation to the young barrister, and also to his friends; but success followed.
[81] Mr. Coleridge sustained one serious loss, on quitting Malta, which he greatly deplored. He had packed in a large case, all his books and MSS. with all the letters received by him during his residence on the island. His directions were, to be forwarded to England, by the first ship; with Bristol, as its ultimate destination. It was never received, nor could he ever learn what became of it. It may be lying at this moment in some custom-house wareroom, waiting for the payment of the duty! Of which Mr. C. probably was not aware.
[82] It was a remarkable quality in Mr. Coleridge's mind, that edifices excited little interest in him. On his return from Italy, and after having resided for some time in Rome, I remember his describing to me the state of society; the characters of the Pope and Cardinals; the gorgeous ceremonies, with the superstitions of the people, but not one word did he utter concerning St. Peter's, the Vatican, or the numerous antiquities of the place. As a further confirmation, I remember to have been with Mr. Coleridge at York on our journey into Durham, to see Mr. Wordsworth, when, after breakfast at the inn, perceiving Mr. C. engaged, I went out alone, to see the York Minster, being, in the way, detained in a bookseller's shop. In the mean time, Mr. C. having missed me, he set off in search of his companion. Supposing it probable that I was gone to the Minster, he went up to the door of that magnificent structure, and inquired of the porter, whether such an individual as myself had gone in there. Being answered in the negative, he had no further curiosity, not even looking into the interior, but turned away to pursue his search! so that Mr. C. left York, without beholding, or wishing to behold, the chief attraction of the city, or being at all conscious that he had committed by his neglect, high treason against all architectural beauty! This deficiency in his regard for edifices, while he was feverishly alive to all the operations of mind, and to all intellectual inquiries, formed a striking and singular feature in Mr. Coleridge's mental constitution worthy of being noticed.
[83] It was a favourite citation with Mr. Coleridge, "I in them, and thou in me, that they all may he one in us."
[84] In corroboration of this remark, an occurrence might be cited, from the Life of Sir Humphry, by his brother, Dr. Davy.—Sir Humphry, in his excursion to Ireland, at the house of Dr. Richardson, met a large party at dinner, amongst whom, were the Bishop of Raphoe, and another Clergyman. A Gentleman, one of the company, in his zeal for Infidelity, began an attack on Christianity, (no very gentlemanly conduct) not doubting but that Sir H. Davy, as a Philosopher, participated in his principles, and he probably anticipated, with so powerful an auxiliary, an easy triumph over the cloth. With great confidence he began his flippant sarcasms at religion, and was heard out by his audience, and by none with more attention than by Sir Humphry. At the conclusion of his harangue, Sir H. Davy, instead of lending his aid, entered on a comprehensive defence of Christianity, 'in so fine a tone of eloquence' that the Bishop stood up from an impulse similar to that which sometimes forced a whole congregation to rise at one of the impassioned bursts of Massillon.