close intimacy as man could be with man, he
proceeded to read to us the letter from Henry Nelson Coleridge which
conveyed the tidings of his great relation's death, and of the manner of
it. It appeared that, his death was a relief from intense pain, which,
however, subsided at the interval of a few days before the event; and
that shortly after this cessation of agony, he fell into a comatose
state. The most interesting part of the letter was the statement, that
the last use he made of his faculties was to call his children and other
relatives and friends around him, to give them his blessing, and to
express his hope to them that the manner of his end might manifest the
depth of his trust in his Saviour Christ. As I heard this, I was at once
deeply glad at the substance, and deeply affected by Wordsworth's
emotion in reading it. When he came to this part his voice at first
faltered, and then broke; but soon divine faith that the change was a
blest one overcame aught of human grief, and he concluded in an equable
though subdued tone. Before I quit this subject, I will tell you what I
was interested in hearing from a person of the highest abilities,[266]
whom I had the good fortune of meeting at Rydal Mount. He said that he
had visited Coleridge about a month before his death, and had perceived
at once his countenance pervaded by a most remarkable serenity. On being
congratulated on his appearance, Coleridge replied that he did now, for
the first time, begin to hope, from the mitigation of his pains, that
his health was undergoing a permanent improvement (alas! he was
deceived; yet may we not consider this hopeful feeling, which is, I
believe, by no means uncommon, to be under such circumstances a valuable
blessing?); but that what he felt most thankful for was the deep, calm
peace of mind which he then enjoyed; a peace such as he had never before
experienced, or scarcely hoped for. This, he said, seemed now settled
upon him; and all things were thus looked at by him through an
atmosphere by which all were _reconciled and harmonised_.[267]

[266] Dr. Whewell. G.

[267] Extract of a letter to a friend, by Rev. R.P. Graves, M.A.,
formerly of Windermere, now of Dublin: _Memoirs_, pp. 288-90.

(_h_) FURTHER REMINISCENCES OF WORDSWORTH BY THE SAME, SENT TO THE
PRESENT EDITOR.

I remember to have been very much struck by what appeared to me the
wisdom of a plan suggested by Wordsworth, for the revision of the
authorised ve