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great outburst of the French Revolution came, that dawn of the new 

 epoch for Europe, he rejoiced in it, and threw into its cause all his 

 youthful enthusiasm. Gradually as life went on, as he became older, 

 and knew more what the world is, his enthusiasm cooled down. The 

 terrible crimes which dyed with blood the advancing times of the great 

 change ; its tremendous wrenches and excesses and throes, in escaping 

 from the past ; its trampling under foot all that man's spirit had ever 

 carved out for itself as dear and venerable, perhaps disgusted his gentle 

 nature ; and as his years went on, he sank into an acquiescent, if not 

 a vehement admirer of established modes of carrying on the world's 

 business. Perhaps he never, like Southey, became a Tory ; he loved 

 liberty to the end ; but he saw better and more clearly how only it could 

 be gained and kept. He wrote essays in his latter days on the Consti- 

 tution of Church and State ; but he never advocated stagnation and 

 absolute conservativism. He taught that there must always be progress, 

 but that the progressive and permanent elements in a State should work 

 together. While advocating rights and realities of property, he acknow- 

 ledged the majesty and supremacy of law. But I don't know that these 

 changes of mind are worth dvveUing upon, or indeed, that they are in 

 any way uncommon. What we see taking place in Coleridge, I think, 

 we see taking place in a vast number of minds. The great majority of 

 thinking men get to know in time, that all changes must be brought 

 about gradually and slowly, if the improvement is to be permanent; 

 and they get to see that rushing headlong into the future, and dashing 

 one's head against the strong wall which the spirit of the time has thrown 

 up, never succeeds. It is only by slow and patient sapping and mining 

 that the walls of human prejudices ever come to fall. The enthusiasm 

 of youth invariably gives way to the clearer and calmer insight of 

 advancing life, and at last we learn that hard lesson — waiting patiently. 

 Mental Philosophy always had more attractions for Coleridge than 

 any other kind. He was above all things a metaphysician. There are 

 many different ideas as to the possibility of anything worthy the name of 

 science in this region. Certainly, a survey of what has been thought and 

 written and said about the science of mind, is not encouraging. Perhaps 



