Confessions Of An Inquiring Spirit And Some Miscellaneous Pieces

Confessions OF AN Inquiring Spirit.

TO WHICH ARE ADDED MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS FROM “ THE FRIEND .” BY SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. CASSELL &amp; COMPANY, Limited : LONDON , PARIS &amp; MELBOURNE . 1892....

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INTRODUCTION.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on the 21st of October, 1772, youngest of many children of the Rev. John Coleridge, Vicar of the Parish and Head Master of the Grammar School of Ottery St. Mary, in Devonshire. One of the poet’s elder brothers was the grandfather of Lord Chief Justice Coleridge. Coleridge’s mother was a notable housewife, as was needful in the mother of ten children, who had three more transmitted to her from her husband’s former wife. Coleridge’s father was a kindly and learn

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LETTER I.

My Dear Friend , I employed the compelled and most unwelcome leisure of severe indisposition in reading The Confessions of a Fair Saint in Mr. Carlyle’s recent translation of the Wilhelm Meister , which might, I think, have been better rendered literally The Confessions of a Beautiful Soul . This, acting in conjunction with the concluding sentences of your letter, threw my thoughts inward on my own religious experience, and gave immediate occasion to the following Confessions of one who is neit

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LETTER II.

My Dear Friend , In my last Letter I said that in the Bible there is more that finds me than I have experienced in all other books put together; that the words of the Bible find me at greater depths of my being; and that whatever finds me brings with it an irresistible evidence of its having proceeded from the Holy Spirit. But the doctrine in question requires me to believe that not only what finds me, but that all that exists in the sacred volume, and which I am bound to find therein, was—not

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LETTER III.

Having in the former two Letters defined the doctrine which I reject, I am now to communicate the views that I would propose to substitute in its place. Before, however, I attempt to lay down on the theological chart the road-place to which my bark has drifted, and to mark the spot and circumscribe the space within which I swing at anchor, let me first thank you for, and then attempt to answer, the objections—or at least the questions—which you have urged upon me. “The present Bible is the Canon

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LETTER IV.

My Dear Friend , You reply to the conclusion of my Letter: “What have we to do with routiniers ? Quid mihi cum homunculis putata putide reputantibus ? Let nothings count for nothing, and the dead bury the dead! Who but such ever understood the tenet in this sense?” In what sense then, I rejoin, do others understand it? If, with exception of the passages already excepted, namely, the recorded words of God—concerning which no Christian can have doubt or scruple,—the tenet in this sense be inap

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LETTER V.

Yes , my dear friend, it is my conviction that in all ordinary cases the knowledge and belief of the Christian Religion should precede the study of the Hebrew Canon. Indeed, with regard to both Testaments, I consider oral and catechismal instruction as the preparative provided by Christ himself in the establishment of a visible Church. And to make the Bible, apart from the truths, doctrines, and spiritual experiences contained therein, the subject of a special article of faith, I hold an unnec

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LETTER VI.

My Dear Friend , In my last two Letters I have given the state of the argument as it would stand between a Christian, thinking as I do, and a serious well-disposed Deist. I will now endeavour to state the argument, as between the former and the advocates for the popular belief,—such of them, I mean, as are competent to deliver a dispassionate judgment in the cause. And again, more particularly, I mean the learned and reflecting part of them, who are influenced to the retention of the prevailin

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LETTER VII.

You are now, my dear friend, in possession of my whole mind on this point—one thing only excepted which has weighed with me more than all the rest, and which I have therefore reserved for my concluding letter. This is the impelling principle or way of thinking, which I have in most instances noticed in the assertors of what I have ventured to call Bibliolatry, and which I believe to be the main ground of its prevalence at this time, and among men whose religious views are anything rather than e

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ESSAY ON FAITH.

Faith may be defined as fidelity to our own being, so far as such being is not and cannot become an object of the senses; and hence, by clear inference or implication to being generally, as far as the same is not the object of the senses; and again to whatever is affirmed or understood as the condition, or concomitant, or consequence of the same. This will be best explained by an instance or example. That I am conscious of something within me peremptorily commanding me to do unto others as I w

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Prayer.

A man may pray night and day, and yet deceive himself; but no man can be assured of his sincerity who does not pray. Prayer is faith passing into act; a union of the will and the intellect realising in an intellectual act. It is the whole man that prays. Less than this is wishing, or lip-work; a charm or a mummery. Pray always , says the apostle: that is, have the habit of prayer, turning your thoughts into acts by connecting them with the idea of the redeeming God, and even so reconverting

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The Sacrament of the Eucharist.

The best preparation for taking this sacrament, better than any or all of the books or tracts composed for this end, is to read over and over again, and often on your knees—at all events with a kneeling and praying heart—the Gospel according to St. John, till your mind is familiarised to the contemplation of Christ, the Redeemer and Mediator of mankind, yea, of every creature, as the living and self-subsisting Word, the very truth of all true being, and the very being of all enduring truth; the

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Companion to the Altar.

First, then, that we may come to this heavenly feast holy, and adorned with the wedding garment, Matt. xxii. ii, we must search our hearts, and examine our consciences, not only till we see our sins, but until we hate them. But what if a man, seeing his sin, earnestly desire to hate it? Shall he not at the altar offer up at once his desire, and the yet lingering sin, and seek for strength? Is not this sacrament medicine as well as food? Is it an end only, and not likewise the means? Is it me

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Communion Service.

In the first Exhortation, before the words “meritorious Cross and Passion,” I should propose to insert “his assumption of humanity, his incarnation, and.” Likewise, a little lower down, after the word “sustenance,” I would insert “as.” For not in that sacrament exclusively, but in all the acts of assimilative faith, of which the Eucharist is a solemn, eminent, and representative instance, an instance and the symbol, Christ is our spiritual food and sustenance....

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Marriage Service.

Marriage, simply as marriage, is not the means “for the procreation of children,” but for the humanisation of the offspring procreated. Therefore, in the Declaration at the beginning, after the words “procreation of children,” I would insert, “and as the means of securing to the children procreated enduring care, and that they may be,” &amp;c....

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Communion of the Sick.

Third rubric at the end. But if a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, &amp;c. I think this rubric, in what I conceive to be its true meaning, a precious doctrine, as fully acquitting our Church of all Romish superstition, respecting the nature of the Eucharist, in relation to the whole scheme of man’s redemption. But the latter part of it—“he doth eat and drink the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ profitably to his soul’s health, although he do not receive the sacrament with

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XI. Sunday after Trinity.

Epistle.—l Cor. xv. 1. Brethren , I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you . Why should the obsolete, though faithful, Saxon translation of εὐαγγέλιον be retained? Why not “good tidings?” Why thus change a most appropriate and intelligible designation of the matter into a mere conventional name of a particular book? Ib. — how that Christ died for our sins . But the meaning of ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν is, that Christ died through the sins, and for the sinners. He died through our

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XXV. SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

Collect. —that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded. Rather—“that with that enlarged capacity, which without thee we cannot acquire, there may likewise be an increase of the gift, which from thee alone we can wholly receive.”...

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Ps. VIII.

V. 2. Out of the mouth of very babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength , because of thine enemies ; that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger . To the dispensations of the twilight dawn, to the first messengers of the redeeming word, the yet lisping utterers of light and life, a strength and power were given because of the enemies , greater and of more immediate influence, than to the seers and proclaimers of a clearer day: even as the first reappearing crescent of the eclipsed

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Ps. LXVIII.

V. 34. Ascribe ye the power to God over Israel : his worship and strength is in the clouds . The “clouds,” in the symbolical language of the Scriptures, mean the events and course of things, seemingly effects of human will or chance, but overruled by Providence....

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Ps. LXXII.

This psalm admits no other interpretation but of Christ, as the Jehovah incarnate. In any other sense it would be a specimen of more than Persian or Moghul hyperbole, and bombast, of which there is no other instance in Scripture, and which no Christian would dare to attribute to an inspired writer. We know, too, that the elder Jewish Church ranked it among the Messianic Psalms.—N.B. The word in St. John and the Name of the Most High in the Psalms are equivalent terms. V. 1. Give the king thy

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Ps. LXXIV.

V. 2. O think upon thy congregation , whom thou hast purchased and redeemed of old . The Lamb sacrificed from the beginning of the world, the God-Man, the Judge, the self-promised Redeemer to Adam in the garden! V. 15. Thou smotest the heads of the Leviathan in pieces ; and gavest him to be meat for the people in the wilderness . Does this allude to any real tradition? The Psalms appears to have been composed shortly before the captivity of Judah....

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Ps. LXXXII. vv. 6–7.

The reference which our Lord made to these mysterious verses gives them an especial interest. The first apostasy, the fall of the angels, is, perhaps, intimated....

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Ps. LXXXVII.

I would fain understand this Psalm; but first I must collate it word by word with the original Hebrew. It seems clearly Messianic....

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Ps. LXXXVIII.

Vv. 10–12. Dost thou show wonders among the dead , or shall the dead rise up again and praise thee ? &amp;c. Compare Ezekiel xxxvii....

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Ps. CIV.

I think the Bible version might with advantage be substituted for this, which in some parts is scarcely intelligible. V. 6.— the waters stand in the hills . No; stood above the mountains . The reference is to the Deluge....

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Ps. CV.

V. 3.— Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord . If even to seek the Lord be joy, what will it be to find him? Seek me, O Lord, that I may be found by thee!...

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Ps. CX.

V. 2.— The Lord shall send the rod of thy power out of Sion ; (saying) Rule , &amp;c. V. 3. Understand—“Thy people shall offer themselves willingly in the day of conflict in holy clothing, in their best array, in their best arms and accoutrements. As the dew from the womb of the morning, in number and brightness like dew-drops, so shall be thy youth, or the youth of thee, the young volunteer warriors.” V. 5. “He shall shake,” concuss, concutiet reges die iræ suæ . V. 6. For “smite in sun

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Ps. CXVIII.

To be interpreted of Christ’s Church....

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Ps. CXXVI.

V. 5. As the rivers in the south. Does this allude to the periodical rains? As a transparency on some night of public rejoicing, seen by common day, with the lamps from within removed—even such would the Psalms be to me uninterpreted by the Gospel. O honoured Mr. Hurwitz! Could I but make you feel what grandeur, what magnificence, what an everlasting significance and import Christianity gives to every fact of your national history—to every page of your sacred records!...

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Articles of Religion.

XX. It is mournful to think how many recent writers have criminated our Church in consequence of their ignorance and inadvertence in not knowing, or not noticing, the contradistinction here meant between power and authority. Rites and ceremonies the Church may ordain jure proprio : on matters of faith her judgment is to be received with reverence, and not gainsayed but after repeated inquiries, and on weighty grounds. XXXVII. It is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the magistrat

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A NIGHTLY PRAYER. 1831.

Almighty God , by thy eternal Word my Creator Redeemer and Preserver! who hast in thy free communicative goodness glorified me with the capability of knowing thee, the one only absolute Good, the eternal I Am, as the author of my being, and of desiring and seeking thee as its ultimate end;—who, when I fell from thee into the mystery of the false and evil will, didst not abandon me, poor self-lost creature, but in thy condescending mercy didst provide an access and a return to thyself, even to th

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ESSAY I.

Fortuna plerumque est veluti Galaxia quarundam obscurarum Virtutum sine nomine. Bacon . ( Translation .)—Fortune is for the most part but a galaxy or milky way, as it were, of certain obscure virtues without a name. “ Does Fortune favour fools? Or how do you explain the origin of the proverb, which, differently worded, is to be found in all the languages of Europe?” This proverb admits of various explanations, according to the mood of mind in which it is used. It may arise from pity, and the s

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ESSAY II.

Quod me non movet æstimatione: Verum est μνημόστυνον mei sodalis. Catull . xii. ( Translation .)—It interests not by any conceit of its value; but it is a remembrance of my honoured friend. The philosophic ruler, who secured the favours of fortune by seeking wisdom and knowledge in preference to them, has pathetically observed—“The heart knoweth its own bitterness; and there is a joy in which the stranger intermeddleth not.” A simple question founded on a trite proverb, with a discursive answer

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ESSAY III.

Si partem tacuisse velim, quodeumque relinquam, Majus erit. Veteres actus, primamque juventam Prosequar? Ad sese mentem præsentia ducunt. Narrem justitiam? Resplendet gloria Martis. Armati referam vires? Plus egit inermis. Claudian de laud. stil . ( Translation .)—If I desire to pass over a part in silence, whatever I omit will seem the most worthy to have been recorded. Shall I pursue his old exploits and early youth? His recent merits recall the mind to themselves. Shall I dwelt on his

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ESSAY IV.

—the generous spirit, who, when brought Among the tasks of real life, hath wrought Upon the plan that pleased his childish thought: Whose high endeavours are an inward light That makes the path before him always bright; Who, doom’d to go in company with pain, And fear and bloodshed, miserable train! Turns his necessity to glorious gain; By objects, which might force the soul to abate Her feeling, rendered more compassionate. Wordsworth . At the close of the American war, Captain Ball was entrust

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ESSAY V.

—Whose powers shed round him in the common strife, Or mild concerns of ordinary life, A constant influence, a peculiar grace; But who, if he be call’d upon to face Same awful moment, to which Heaven has join’d Great issues, good or bad for human kind, Is happy as a lover, is attired With sudden brightness like a man inspired; And through the heat of conflict keeps the law In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw. Wordsworth . An accessibility to the sentiments of others on subjects of importan

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ESSAY VI.

“The way of ancient ordinance, though it winds, Is yet no devious way. Straight forward goes The lightning’s path; and straight the fearful path Of the cannon-ball. Direct it flies and rapid, Shattering that it may reach, and shattering what it reaches. My son! the road the human being travels, That, on which blessing comes and goes, doth follow The river’s course, the valley’s playful windings, Curves round the corn-field and the hill of vines, Honouring the holy bounds of property!

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