Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey

Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor
Coleridge and Robert Southey

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Title: Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey
Author: Joseph Cottle
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[Illustration: Portrait.]
* * * * *
REMINISCENCES OF SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE AND
ROBERT SOUTHEY
by JOSEPH COTTLE
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION.
It is with a solemnized feeling that I enter on these Reminiscences.
Except one, I have survived all the associates of my earlier days. The
young, with a long life in perspective, (if any life can be called long, in
so brief an existence) are unable to realize the impressions of a man,
nearer eighty than seventy, when the shadows of evening are gathering
around, and, in a retrospective glance, the whole field of past vision
appears, in all its complexities, like the indistinct tumults of a dream.
The acute reasoner--the fiery politician--the eager polemic--the
emulous aspirant after fame; and many such have I known, where are
they? and how mournful, if any one of them should be found, at last, to
have directed his solicitudes, alone, to material objects;--should have
neglected to cultivate his own little plot of earth, more valuable than
mines! and have sown no seeds for eternity. It is not a light motive
which could have prompted me, when this world of "Eye and Ear" is
fast receding, while grander scenes are opening, and so near! to call up
almost long-forgotten associations, and to dwell on the stirring,
by-gone occurrences that tend, in some measure, to interfere with that

calm which is most desirable, and best accords with the feelings of one
who holds life by such slender ties. Yet through the goodness of the
Almighty, being at the present moment exempt from many of the
common infirmities of age, I am willing, as a last act, to make some
sacrifice to obtain the good which I hope this recurrence to the past is
calculated to produce.
With respect to Mr. Coleridge, it would be easy and pleasant to sail
with the stream; to admire his eloquence; to extol his genius; and to
forget his failings; but where is the utility, arising out of this homage
paid to naked talent? If the attention of posterity rested here, where
were the lessons of wisdom to be learnt from his example? His path
through the world was marked by strong outlines, and instruction is to
be derived from every feature of his mind, and every portion of his
eventful and chequered life. In all the aspects of his character, he was
probably the most singular man that has appeared in this country during
the preceding century, and the leading incidents of whose life ought to
stand fairly on record. The facts which I have stated are undeniable, the
most important being substantiated by his own letters; but higher
objects were intended by this narrative than merely to elucidate a
character, (however remarkable), in all its vicissitudes and
eccentricities. Rising above idle curiosity, or the desire of furnishing
aliment for the sentimental;--excitement the object, and the moral
tendency disregarded, these pages take a wider range, and are designed
for the good of many, where if there be much to pain the reader, he
should moderate his regrets, by looking through the intermediate to the
end.
There is scarcely an individual, whose life, if justly delineated, would
not present much whence others might derive instruction. If this be
applicable to the multitude, how much more essentially true is it, in
reference to the ethereal spirits, endowed by