6).--Poet and divine, _s._ of the Rev. John K.,
Vicar of Coln St. Aldwyn's, Gloucestershire, _b._ at Fairford in the same
county, _ed._ by his _f._ and at Oxf., where he was elected a Fellow of
Oriel Coll., and was for some years tutor and examiner in the Univ. His
ideal life, however, was that of a country clergyman, and having taken
orders in 1815, he became curate to his _f._ Meantime he had been writing
_The Christian Year_, which appeared in 1827, and met with an almost
unparalleled acceptance. Though at first anonymous, its authorship soon
became known, with the result that K. was in 1831 appointed to the Chair
of Poetry at Oxf., which he held until 1841. In 1833 his famous sermon on
"national apostasy" gave the first impulse to the Oxf. movement, of
which, after the secession of Newman to the Church of Rome, he, along
with Pusey, was regarded as the leader, and in connection with which he
contributed several of the more important "tracts" in which were enforced
"deep submission to authority, implicit reverence for Catholic tradition,
firm belief in the divine prerogatives of the priesthood, the real nature
of the sacraments, and the danger of independent speculation." His _f._
having _d._, K. became in 1836 Vicar of Hursley, near Winchester, where
he remained until his death. In 1846 he _pub._ another book of poems,
_Lyra Innocentium_. Other works were a Life of Wilson, Bishop of Sodor
and Man, and an ed. of the Works of Hooker. After his death appeared
_Letters of Spiritual Counsel_, and 12 vols. of _Parish Sermons_. The
literary position of K. must mainly rest upon _The Christian Year_,
_Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays_, and _Holidays throughout the Year_,
the object of which was, as described by the author, to bring the
thoughts and feelings of the reader into unison with those exemplified in
the Prayer Book. The poems, while by no means of equal literary merit,
are generally characterised by delicate and true poetic feeling, and
refined and often extremely felicitous language; and it is a proof of the
fidelity to nature with which its themes are treated that the book has
become a religious classic with readers far removed from the author's
ecclesiastical standpoint and general school of thought. K. was one of
the most saintly and unselfish men who ever adorned the Church of
England, and, though personally shy and retiring, exercised a vast
spiritual influence upon his generation.

_Life_ by J.D. Coleridge (1