New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-15
COLERTDGE MARGINALLA.
SOME ANNoTATIONs LATELY DISCOVERED.


interested him, whether II belonged 10 himself OF 20
another. OF his own books he made perfect conn
dants. telling them much about himself ana Iils
ideas that would otherwise have been lost to the
world. This was more especially the case IN tne
latter and lonely years of his life, when he READ
much and wrote less-whcn his metaphysical IN
stincts became more and more dominant-when ne
occupied himself almost exclusively with the VAN
atcmp; to solve the riddles OF life, that comihohGSt
OF sources according to DE Qninccy of begui!lng the
sense of misery Owing to this habit, therefore, OF
writing IN his books there are still extant many
COlcridgeana which have never seen INC ngnt Oh
day, although already possess several VoIulncs
Of such margiualia. pom his death, many OF ms
books would appear to have found their way l" INC
shelves of his executor Mr. Green.
II is but the other day that 10y fortunate chance
the British Museum became possessed of some Sixty
and odd rchl auuof atch yoluucS once the property
of COlerdCc, and aftcrward OF Mr.. Green. WIN
few exception they are German books ana almost
all of philosophical and metaphysical CHAR
acter Rarely, very rarely has C0lerIdge dated his
aunotatons and hence there is nothing but internal
evidence whereby 10 determine to winch period OF
the poets life they belong. .,
Ii was COlrridgc's habit to annOtate with pencil
only very occasionally he has recourse to pen;
For Dr. Nehemiah Grew, the botanist, COlerldge
expresses much admiration and high estimate %
his powers. TO folio of his "COSInOlo%a Sacia,
he appcnds many notes that have bcccme llcgloIe'
But he great interest of this volume. as regards
Colerldge, consists III the circumstance llat Oh some
blank pages at he end, he has inscribed two varl-
ants of the famous epitaph on himself One CORE
spends to That printed III his works. except the he
a poet les tnat which once seemed he;
which i'm this Ms. runs:
Here lies a poet, or what he"
1t is headed "Epitaph in IIon.ey Churchyard.
He j1cet :. T. c. The second, headed "EieSlS
Epltaph," runs
"stop, Christian visitor stop, child of God!
Here lies poet; or what once was he
Pause. traveller, pause and pray for :. 7. C.;
That he who many a year win toni Of i BREATH -.
Found Death IN Life, may here lind Life III Death.
And read with gentle heart-beneath this sod
Tucre lies poet"
Beneath il written
tgnfDf rptu xrAOr
YET more commonly known by the initials OF Ills name
than by the name Itself
In his notes TO Theological works, COlenGgcs con-
slant swaying of opinion is very marked Thus his
annotations TO Waterlands Importance of the Doc
trne OF the Holy Trinity are wonderfully orthodox
according to present ideas of the views think
ing and reading man like COleTldgc might mold Ill
our own day. He writes:
81 know Of no one point in the New Testament that
perplcxes much as these tsOcallcdl miraculous
Pphs / feel n,ora rcpngnance 10 the reduction Of
them to natural and acquired talents ennoDed ana made
energetic by Tie Ire and conycrgcncy OF faith and yet
other scheme can reconcile them with the idea Of
Christianity the particular supposed with the general
k non paris But thank God f. question that does
in the least degree agCct oT t"h or practice; Bat
mean. If God permit To 90 through the Ni!iletonlan
controversy as soon I procure the loan of the
books or have health enough TO become reader at the
British Museum"
This il by no means in harmony with what he af-
terward wrote in his paraphrlsG of Lcssings Bibl
DIARY. In n work entitled The Coming of the
Messiah translation from the writings of a con-
vcrted Spanish jew, pre- aced by Edward Irving,
there are some most remarkable notes, that would
lead to suppose that at one time of his life
Colcridgc a sympathZer with lryngS curious
sect Still more interesting Is il TO find that Cole
ridge must have annotated this volume twice, the
notes from this work, printed by II. y. COleTldge in
vol ". of the Literary Remains" IN no wise cor
responding to the volume before us. The date of
this book is Is21, therefore the time when C0leldge
lived in Highgate, and saw much OF the Young
Scotch divine His remarks are written quite in
Irvug's spirit showing how receptive was Cole
ridges mind even latc IN life None of his usual
critical temper peeps forth; he would seem TO Lave
suoordinated his Judgment to his reverend friend
who, As an 0IdIIned minister of Christ, must know
better" and so forth.
Cucridg,|S keen sense of fun breaks out in the
most unexpected places; and even when he is most
absiruse, he still remains Practical EnglIshman.
This feature out strongly In his philosophical
notes, though at times he allowed hlmScftO be
caught in the meshes OF IDLE words. To Jmiens
" History of the Council OF Trent, C"lendge makes
another of the arch criticisms of shat COmmOn-Scnse
character that has been 30 well defined as uucOm-
mon sense.
A beech rises IN n colunna trunk to the height Of
twenty feot from TIC ground, ana then It divides into
one Widening stream over vast tract OF coumiry and
through various soils. tan 1t reaches bed OF rocks
and between which 1t twists IOam5, rOdrs, eddcs, for
b,w ildcrd PUSHES divIuuOIs ALL rushing impcnOus on
wards u it Is NEE by vast compact brcastWOrK OF
rock which divides the stream into TWO dyersng chan
ncs and obtains tue name of the Rock Of separation
Which of the two limbs shall cal Itself the beechree
and retain tHe name OF trunk Which OF the two streams,
the the south snail call itself Hc rvCri l.
not question papahy absurd What the geuii or
naiad OF the channel should, With angry sneer,
a1b the SISTER nalad. Where you your stream
actiy where you WeIe sister To be- sure, have depOs-
tied a good deal Of the mud and the hlth which our
waters mad cont, acted du E their hong journey. wish,
slser, you would Lkc use OF NV hl,erng machine. To
the purpose was tlt anaWerdf - to his Catholic
nciglbor who mad ASKED uim, Where y"ur religion
before Luther then Where was your face before you
washed 10 ans morning !
Mcsmers first work appears to have much inter
ested Coleridgc but he makes few notes on 1t, aud
winds ny with
81 think it probable the animal magnetism will be
found connected with ra.iH sense, viii confirm
IA
touch"
But by far The most interesting, as throwing
lipht on COicrIdgc'S mind, ms notes to the
philosophical authors lie especially admired
Kant. A complete set of the sagt'5 works are CO.
piOusly annotated -annotatlons, unfortunately, roo
strictly phi p'Ophlcal 10 be IN place mere bat which
should be examined before th.y vanish, they are
rapidly doing. How much more thoroughly ne
comprehcnded Kant than the men who proposed to
walk in MS footsteps TINS note will show:
Kant had "A good deal OF the EDgisman in him. and
Of all people the English are the !east tolerant OF
charlutIuis III any but admitted chnrlans. Now that
LNbuitz, with all his Acknowledged genius and merits,
had dah Of tue koscrucian IN ms compound, cannot
be denied"
Kant, he says elsewhere,
Orote for his age ,cih It, with only as far ns
the form aud H,thOd extend Kant had hrst, 10 over
throw secondly build the best possible temporary
shed and toonOsc Dotu fOg those clyctci the ola
edicc and lOr the 0bOrrrs exc; u~uy in tins shed 10
give the hints great Ideas for the eviction OF new
c,lhce What since Kant j. not IN Kant, as germ at
leasti"
Kants heavy and buckram" style, as Hcne
works. and hence lew oil them are aware that there
exists from his pen most attractive and readable
book, written within the comprehension of ali men.
Ih.s the AnthrOpoogle, seems 10 have delighted
CultrIdge rs u must all who peru,e IT, HIS notes
upon il cannot, however, with one exception, be
quoted intclnuby without the context. This eX-
ccpton apples to the passage where Kan discusses
the orgn OF formal speech, such as when the kings
say we in lien OF ~ Kant trnccs the cause TO
egOi IN, coudcscensiOn, ana Ieuddlsm. COlerIdge,
on the other hand. says:
Rather from % reliquc OF democracy retained by the
policy Of Augustus. who, merging Ia the upOr-
liant nag ,rcirs, would be- addressed not a person,
but - proxy OF the majority =maiesJas WI, r. the
Iribuues, the POutll Max, ANA The IImcrps -tuat."