354 CHAP. XIV. 1811. Godwin. Coleridge's Lectures. a time, treated of the inferior characters, and delivered a most eloquent discourse on love, with a promise to point out how Shakespeare had shown the same truths in the persons of the lovers. Yesterday we were to have a continuation of the theme. Alas! Coleridge began with a parallel between religion and love, which, though one of his favourite themes, he did not manage successfully. Romeo and Juliet were forgotten. And in the next lecture we are really to hear something of these lovers. Now this will be the fourth time that his hearers have been invited expressly to hear of this play. There are to be only fifteen lectures altogether (half have been delivered), and the course is to include Shakespeare and Milton, the modern poets, &c.!!! Instead of a lecture on a definite subject, we have an immethodical rhapsody, very delightful to you and me, and only offensive from the certainty that it may and ought to offend those who come with other expectations. Yet, with all this, I cannot but be charmed with these splendida vitia, and my chief displeasure is occasioned by my being forced to hear the strictures of persons infinitely below Coleridge, without any power of refuting or contradicting them. Yet it is lucky he has hitherto omitted no lecture. Living with the Morgans, they force him to come with them to the lecture-room, and this is a great point gained. December 15th.-Called on Godwin, who thinks Coleridge's lectures far below his conversation. So far from agreeing with Coleridge, that Shakespeare's plays ought only to be read and not acted, Godwin said, "No plays but Shakespeare's deserve to be represented, so CHAP. XIV. admirably fitted are his for performance." 16th. Took Miss Flaxman to Coleridge's lecture. Very desultory again at first, but when about half way through, he bethought himself of Shakespeare; and though he forgot at last what we had been four times in succession to hear, viz. of Romeo and Juliet as lovers, yet he treated beautifully of the "Tempest," and especially Prospero, Miranda, Ariel, and Caliban. This part most excellent. 1811. Coleridge. Senr. Christmas Day (at Royston).—A very agreeable tête- Mr. Nash à-tête walk with Mr. Nash, Senr., round his farm. I enjoyed his society with more relish, probably, than I ever shall again. He is getting old, though, excepting in the decline of his memory, there are no traces yet of bodily infirmity. Sometimes, however, the effects of old age throw a tender grace over men of his amiable and excellent character. In his youth he was a Methodist, and he was industrious, patient, abstinent, capable of continuous labour, mental and bodily. His education was not of a superior kind, but he had the advantage of great personal beauty, as well as ability in business. He was brought up to the law, and had offers of a partnership in London; but these he declined because he saw practices of which his conscience disapproved. Marrying early, he settled down as a country practitioner. In religious opinions he became a Unitarian, and Robert Robinson* was the object of his admiration. His single * An eminent Dissenting Minister of Cambridge. Born 1735. Died 1790. His immediate successor was the Rev. Robert Hall. Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Robert Robinson were written by 356 1811. Quaker Anecdote. CHAP. XIV. publication, in which he called himself "A Country Attorney," was one of the hundred-and-one answers to Burke on the French Revolution. His life was prosperous, and alike honourable to himself and, within his limited sphere, useful to others. The latter days of a good man are not a melancholy object, even when one thinks that his moral and intellectual qualities might have been more advantageously employed in a wider field. This alone renders departing excellence a subject of melancholy observation.* A scandal on Quakers. Coleridge's lecture. December 28th.-A gossip with E. till late. He related a curious Quaker anecdote, which suggests a law question. One friend, a merchant, proposes to another, an underwriter, to insure his ship, lost or not lost, which ought soon to arrive. The underwriter hesitates, takes the policy home, and says, "I will return it to-morrow, signed or unsigned." Early in the morning the merchant receives intelligence of the loss of his vessel. He knows his religious brother, and sends a clerk (who is ignorant of the loss) to say, "Neighbour A. informs thee that if thou hast not underwritten, thou needest not do it." The underwriter draws the inference that the vessel is safe. He has not actually signed, but pretending to look for the policy, contrives to sign it by stealth, and says to the clerk, "Tell thy master I had signed." E. assured me that this was a real occurrence. December 30th.-Attended Coleridge's lecture, in which he kept to his subject. He intimated to me his George Dyer. This biography was pronounced by Wordsworth to be one of the best in the English language. See also p. 156. * See ante, pp. 35, 293. Dawn of a New Year. intention to deliver two lectures on Milton. 357 As he had CHAP. XIV. written to me about his dilemma, having so much to do in so little time, I gently hinted in my reply at his frequent digressions-those splendida peccata which his friends best apologized for by laying the emphasis on the adjective. 1811. December 31st.-In the evening at a very pleasant| Flaxman. party at Flaxman's. A Mrs. Wilkinson there with her son, a most interesting young man, with one of those expressive countenances which imply intellect and heart alike. Flaxman admires him much, and says he would prefer him as a son to all the young men he ever saw. Rem.*-Closed the year most agreeably, in the act, I believe, of repeating to Mr. Flaxman Charles Lamb's prologue to "Mr. H." The society I beheld at the dawn of the New Year consisted of people possessing as high moral and intellectual excellences combined as are to be found in this great city. tion to I had now made up my mind to study for the Bar. DeterminaThis resolution was formed through an apparently in- study for the Bar. significant occurrence. It was on the 1st of March, when my sister (who with my brother had been on a visit to London) was about to leave, that Mr. Collier received an application from York to send down a reporter for the State Trials there. He requested me to go, but I declined on the ground of the objection taken to reporters being called to the Bar. Speaking of this to my sister, she said, "For a man who has the repute of having sense, you act very like a fool. You decline 358 1811. Sisterly counsel. Determination to study CHAP. XIV. reporting because that might be an obstacle to your being called to the Bar, and yet you take no steps towards being called to the Bar. Now, do one or the other. Either take to newspaper employment, or study the Law at once, and lose no more time." There was no reply to such a remonstrance. On the Sunday following, I went to Amyot to consult with him. There was then visiting him a Norwich attorney, Mr. Adam Taylor, who strongly advised me to go to the Bar, adding, “There is an opening on the Norfolk circuit. I am sure you would succeed. You shall have such business as I have, and as I can obtain." It was this that more than anything determined me. My old acquaintance, Walter Wright, my new acquaintance, Serjeant Rough, and my friend Anthony Robinson,* all supported me in the resolution; but perhaps they all feel as Benvenuto Cellini felt on a similar occasion: "Have you, my lord, really bought the picture, or do you only think of buying it?"-"What has that to do with your opinion, Cellini?" -"A great deal. If you have really bought the picture, then I have only to make such remarks as will render Anthony Robinson (born in 1762), was originally brought up in connection with the Established Church; but, changing his opinions, was educated at Bristol for the Dissenting ministry. Robert Hall was one of his fellow-students. He did not long remain in the ministry, but entered into business as a sugarrefiner, in which he continued till his death. Though, however, he professed to be merely a tradesman, he yet retained a lively interest in social and religious questions, and was a steady and active supporter of civil and religious liberty. He published several pamphlets and articles in reviews. Among the former was an able examination of Robert Hall's celebrated "Sermon on Modern Infidelity." H. C. R. said of him, "as I scarcely ever knew Anthony Robinson's equal in colloquial eloquence, in acuteness and skill, and promptitude in debate, so I never knew his superior in candour and sincerity." Between H. C. R. and his friend there was no relationship, though they have the same surname. |