bly than in any other of his writings, his belief in the progress and inherent excellence of popular principles; in the distinct stages of civilization through which nations have to pass; and in the philosophical divisions of ancient and modern history, of which he made so much use in treating of either of them. But the work which naturally excited most public attention, was a pamphlet on "the Christian Duty of conceding the claims of the Roman Catholics," published in February, 1829. To those who knew him in later life, it may appear strange that he should have treated at length of the question of Ireland, which he was accustomed to shun as a problem of inextricable difficulty, and on which nothing but a sense of justice could ever prevail upon him to enter. But this sense of justice was, at this time, quickened by the deep conviction which, for some years past, he had entertained of the alarming state of the Irish nation. "There is more to be done there," he writes in 1828, from Laleham, "than in any corner of the world. I had, at one time, a notion of going over there and taking Irish pupils, to try what one man could do towards civilizing the people, by trying to civilize and Christianise their gentry." And the particular crisis of the Roman Catholic Relief Act was exactly one of those occasions which brought him into direct collision, both with the tone of the Liberal party, who assumed that, as being a political measure, it could not be argued on religious grounds; and of the Tory party, who assumed that, as being a religious question, it was one on which the almost united authority of the English clergy ought to have decisive weight; whereas, his own views of course led him to maintain that, being a great national question of right and wrong, it must, on the one hand, be argued on Christian grounds, and yet, on the other hand, that the clergy would not be the best judges of it, because" the origin, rights, and successive revolutions of society, were subjects which they avowedly neglected to study." The pamphlet was published at so late a stage of the controversy, that it had not time to reach a second edition before the act was passed. But the grounds of solemn duty on which his vindication of the Relief Act was based, as the best mode of repairing the sin and mischief, never yet effaced, of the original conquest of Ireland, and as a right, which, as being still a distinct national society, the Irish people justly claimed,-attracted considerable attention, whilst parts, such as that in which he denied the competence of the clergy to pronounce upon historical questions, created an impression against him in the great body of his profession, which, perhaps, was never wholly removed. Its intrinsic interest, independent of the particular controversy, consists in its being his first and most emphatic protest against the divorce of religion and politics, and the most complete statement of his abstract views of political science, as his Appendix to Thucydides furnished his statement of their historical development. 1. TO J. T. COLERIDGE, ESQ. Rugby, August 29th, 1828. Here we are actually at Rugby, and the school will open to-morrow. I cannot tell you with what VOL. I. Q deep regret we left Laleham, where we had been so peaceful and so happy, and left my mother, aunt, and sisters for the first time in my life, except during my school and college absences. It was quite "feror exul in altum," &c., but then we both looked upon Rugby as on our Italy, and entered it, I think, with hope and with thankfulness. . . But the things which I have had to settle, and the people whom I have had to see on business, have been almost endless; to me, unused as I was to business, it seemed quite a chaos; but, thank God, being in high health and spirits, and, gaining daily more knowledge of the state of affairs, I get on tolerably well. Next week, however, will be the grand experiment; and I look to it naturally with great anxiety. I trust, I feel how great and solemn a duty I have to fulfil, and that I shall be enabled to fulfil it by that help which can alone give the "Spirit of power and love, and of a sound mind;" the three great requisites, I imagine, in a schoolmaster. You need not fear my reforming furiously; there, I think, I can assure you; but, of my success in introducing a religious principle into education, I must be doubtful; it is my most earnest wish, and I pray God that it may be my constant labour and prayer; but to do this would be to succeed beyond all my hopes; it would be a happiness so great, that, I think, the world could yield me nothing comparable to it. To do it, however imperfectly, would far more than repay twenty years of labour and anxiety. Saturday, August 30th. I have been receiving, this morning, a constant succession of visitors, and now, before I go out to return August 31st. I was again interrupted, and now, I think, that I had better at once finish my letter. I have entered twenty-nine new boys, and have got four more to enter; and I have to-day commenced my business by calling over names and going into chapel, where I was glad to see that the boys behaved very well. I cannot tell you how odd it seems to me, recalling, at once, my school-days more vividly than I could have thought possible. . . . II. TO REV. F. C. BLACKSTONE. Rugby, September 28, 1828. It is, indeed, a long time since I wrote to you, and there has been much of intense interest in the period which has elapsed since I did write. But it has been quite an engrossing occupation; and Thucydides and every thing else has gone to sleep while I have been attending to it. Now it is becoming more familiar to me, but still the actual employment of time is very great, and the matters for thought which it affords are almost endless. Still I get my daily exercise and bathing very happily, so that I have been, and am, perfectly well, and equal in strength and spirits to the work. For myself, I like it hitherto beyond my expectation, but, of course, a month is a very short time to judge from. [After speaking of the details of the school, and expressing his generally favourable impression of it.] I am trying to establish something of a friendly intercourse with the Sixth Form, by asking them, in succession, in parties of four, to dinner with us, and I have them each separately up into my room to look over their exercises. I mean to bring in something like " gatherings" before it is long, for they understand that I have not done with my alterations, nor probably ever shall have; and I am going to have an Examination for every form in the school, at the end of the short half-year, in all the business of the half-year, Divinity, Greek and Latin, Arithmetic, History, geography, and chronology, with first and second classes, and prize books for those who do well. I find that my power is perfectly absolute, so that I have no excuse if I do not try to make the school something like my beau ideal-it is sure to fall far enough short in reality. There has been no flogging yet, (and I hope that there will be none,) and surprisingly few irregularities. I chastise, at first, by very gentle impositions, which are raised for a repetition of offences-flogging will be only my ratio ultima—and talking I shall try to the utmost. I believe that boys may be governed a great deal by gentle methods and kindness, and appealing to their better feelings, if you show that you are not afraid of them; I have seen great boys, six feet high, shed tears when I have sent for them up into my room and spoken to them quietly, in private, for not knowing their lesson, and I have found that this treatment produced its effects afterwards, in making them do better. But, of course, deeds must second words when needful, or words will soon be laughed at. . . . . .... III. TO THE SAME. Laleham, Dec. 19, 1828. I should have greatly enjoyed seeing you again, and seeing you with your wife, and at your own home, to say nothing of resuming some of the matters we discussed a little in the summer. The constitutional tone of different minds naturally gives a different complexion to their view of things, even when they may agree in the main; and in discussing matters besides, one, or at least I, am apt to dwell on my points of difference with a man rather than on my points of agreement with him, because, in one case, I may get my own opinions modified and modify his—in the other, we only end where we began. I confess that it does pain me when I find my friends shocked at the expression of my sentiments, because, if a man had entered on the same particular inquiry himself, although he should have come to a wholly different conclusion at last, still if he gave me credit for sincerity, he ought not to be shocked at my not having as yet come to the same conclusion with himself, and would rather quietly try to bring me thereand if he had not inquired into the subject, then he certainly ought not to be shocked; as giving me credit for the same fundamental principles with himself, he ought not to |