The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-12-07

cuniary demands that existed against her.
What Miss rennell forms more formidable
objections" fail to bear rigorous examination.
We nro told on one page that Mary. II sho
married Inlay. would DO obliged to pro-
claim herself British subject. and would
thus bc risking imprisonmrnt. and pcr-
| haps DEATH" But after clundcstine relations
| mad subsisted for some timo Miss Woll-
stonccraft lived openly VIVA Inlay rs his wife
and the author Justfes this step by considera-
tons which arc quite irreconcilnblc with what
| sho had lust written. Now we hear that tho
| peril pf the English increased with every new
| devciopinont OF tho struggle: but Americans
| were looked upon as stanclI brother citizens
| and II man who had fought for tho American
republic was esteemed ms tho friend and hon.
orod guest of tho French republic. As 1mlay's
wife, Mary's safety would therefore DO assured"
But II tho moro pretencc Of marriage to an
| American was SO useful TO the young English
woman. what risk could she have
run from tho reality? Neither can wo
| see much force in the doubt ON pressed whether
| II marriage ceremony performed by the Frcnch
anthor'ics would DO recognized in England MS
| valid. We think 1t would have held. but whcth-
or or no nh English court would havo pro-
nounced it binding. tho performance OF it
would have redeemed the character OF tho con-
| nection in the eyes OF society. Curiousy
| reason given for tho marriage OF Miss Wolf
| stonecrait 20 Godwin should have been every
| whit as potent in the ease Of Inlay. "Thcy
| U'odwn and Mary We're induced to take this
step.' sho says. not by any dissatisfaction
| with the nature OF the connection thoy had
alreadv formed, but bv tho fact that Mary was
soon to become n mother" But she had al
ready had n child Fanny by Inlay yet at that
time We heard nothing about the duty OF in
| ~ Ina wall Of h,, hos INF.
truth is that the defence OF n complex and
problcmntical character like Mary Wostone-
| crafts demands not only ingenuity but
| rcticence and crcumspection. and Miss Pen
nells zeal has led her into tho blunder often
comtnitted by young lawyers. of trying to OK
cuse too much and prove too much.
But after all deductions have been made for
! her weaknesses it remains incontcstable that
Mary Wollstonecraft was lovable. n loyal,
| and in many respects an admirable woman
and that her story is IL pitiful and trngical
record OF sof-immolation. She possessed q
noble nature. and no one brought within its in
iluence will be disposed to lnger on its flaws.
| Cnleridse.
High as Is the average level OF excellence
maintained throughout the series OF volumes
devoted to English Men OF Letters" none it
seems to us. has risen moro conspicuously
| apoNe luc Ol fugitive anu swallow crltl-
cism or challenged for itself flrmer place in
substantive literature than the sketch Of
Colerid1e by Mr.. II. ID. TRAILL tHarpersl. For
none Of tho preceding memoirs we're the mate-
| rails SO fragmentary and undigested and in no
instance. except possibly that of Milton. did
the mutiform achievements of the subject
demand such broad and various aualin-
cations in the biographer 1t Is one thing to
estimate a poet on tho score not only OF his
technical proficiency. but of his insight his
sympathies. his range and depth OF thought :: it
is quito another to discuss the principles tho
conclusions. and the dialectcal apparatus of a
PHILOSOPHER and theologian. But while both Of
these tasks are incumbent upon Coleridge's
| Interpreter. he must likewise keep in view that
the same man was also n historian. n drama
list. the most incisive. luminous. and sugges-
tive Of critics. a keen and wise observer OF con-
temporary politics and one OF the most effec-
tive journalists that the London press has
ever known. Few things. as Mr.. Trail points
out. seem at first sight more homogeneous than
the application OF powers and attainments like
| those OF Coeridge to the hackwork of news
papers; and 1t is equally surprising that a pro-
fcssional journalist like Mr.. Trail should be
competent to give q felicitous. satisfactory. and
| probably decisive estimate Of n remarkable man
of genius. But Coleridxe himself demonstrated
that Pegasus may sometimes be harnessed to
| tho plough. and there il conclusive proof in
| those scintilating pages that the hand made
| callous by journalistic toll may yet direct the
sensitive pencil Of the literary artist.
The reader OF Mr.. Trail s,biography is not
allowed to miss tho perplexing and character
istic feature Of Coleridge's career. Wiz that tho
| poet should havo given place prematurely
and irrevocably to the philosopher; that his
song should have been husheh on the very
threshold OF maturity. whom it might have been
expected that tho teachings OF the bard would
be most worthy OF a lyro attuned to such rare
melody. 1t cannot be said that this extraordi-
nary phenomenon is explained In the BIZ
| oSraphy before us. and it is likely to remain
inexricable until the relations OF pathology to
psychology have been moro successfully an
nlyzed. Mr. Trail for his part. believes that
| tho gulf which separated the creator OF the
Ancient Mariner from the didactic inditer
OF the Aids to Reflection - was impossible
and that Coleridge himself was mistaken in
imagining that If easy in his mind" he
could have finished "Christabel in his later
years-a belief shared by the way by his own
son. Hartley Coloridge. who did not hesitate to
| declare that his father could not have COM
peted the poem.
Due attention Is also paid to another striking
circumstance connected with the splendid but
short flight OF Coleridgo in the realm OF the
imagination. namely. the faint impression
which his poems made ON the contemporary
audience. To us who sec the undsputed and
illustrous rank attained by certain OF his mas
tor works among English lyrics. and who can
trace the deep and abiding marks OF his i'm
pulse and example on the ideals and the
methods Of later poets in his century-ou those
Of Tennyson. for instance and still more de-
cisivey OF Swinburne-it seems incredl-
| bic that his most admirable compost
! tions should have been so i'll appreciated
| on their first publication. This astonishing
frIgidity Of the public. displayed also toward
| Wordsworth. but in that instance more intelli-
gibe. is illustrated bv an anecdoto recounted in
this monograph: The Longmans" it seems
" told ColerdGe that the greater part OF the
first edition of the Lyrical Ballads had been
sold to seafarnG men. who having heard OF the
Ancient Mariner took the volume for q naval