His next publication was the Zapolya, which had a rapid sale, and he then began a second edition of the Friend-if, indeed, as he observes, "a work, the greatest part of which is new in substance, and the whole in form and arrangement, can be described as an edition of the "former."

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At the end of the autumn of 1817, Coleridge issued the following prospectus, and hoped by delivering the proposed lectures to increase his utility; they required efforts indeed which he considered it a duty to make, notwithstanding his great bodily infirmities, and the heartfelt sorrow by which he had, from early life, been more or less oppressed:

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"There are few families, at present, in the higher and middle classes of English society, in which literary topics and the productions of "the Fine Arts, in some one or other of their

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various forms, do not occasionally take their "turn in contributing to the entertainment of "the social board, and the amusement of the "circle at the fire-side. The acquisitions and attainments of the intellect ought, indeed, to hold a very inferior rank in our estimation, opposed to moral worth, or even to professional "and specific skill, prudence, and industry. But why should they be opposed, when they may be made subservient merely by being subordi"nated? It can rarely happen that a man of

"social disposition, altogether a stranger to sub'jects of taste (almost the only ones on which persons of both sexes can converse with a com

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mon interest), should pass through the world "without at times feeling dissatisfied with him"self. The best proof of this is to be found in "the marked anxiety which men, who have suc"ceeded in life without the aid of these ac

complishments, shew in securing them to their children. A young man of ingenuous mind "will not wilfully deprive himself of any species "of of respect. He will wish to feel himself on a "level with the average of the society in which "he lives, though he may be ambitious of distinguishing himself only in his own immediate pursuit or occupation.

"Under this conviction, the following Course "of Lectures was planned. The several titles "will best explain the particular subjects and

purposes of each; but the main objects proposed, as the result of all, are the two fol"lowing:

"I. To convey, in a form best fitted to render "them impressive at the time, and remembered afterwards, rules and principles of sound judg"ment, with a kind and degree of connected information, such as the hearers, generally speaking, cannot be supposed likely to form, collect, and arrange for themselves, by their own unassisted studies. It might be presump

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tion to say, that any important part of these Lectures could not be derived from books; but none, I trust, in supposing, that the same information could not be so surely or conveniently acquired from such books as are of "commonest occurrence, or with that quantity "of time and attention which can be reasonably expected, or even wisely desired, of men engaged in business and the active duties of the "world.

“II. Under a strong persuasion that little of "real value is derived by persons in general from a wide and various reading; but still more

deeply convinced as to the actual mischief of "unconnected and promiscuous reading, and that "it is sure, in a greater or less degree, to ener"vate even where it does not likewise inflate; I

hope to satisfy many an ingenuous mind, se

riously interested in its own development and "cultivation, how moderate a number of volumes, "if only they be judiciously chosen, will suffice for the attainment of every wise and desirable purpose: that is, in addition to those which he "studies for specific and professional purposes. "It is saying less than the truth to affirm, that "an excellent book (and the remark holds almost

equally good of a Raphael as of a Milton) is like a well-chosen and well-tended fruit-tree. "Its fruits are not of one season only. With the "due and natural intervals, we may recur to it

year after year, and it will supply the same "nourishment and the same gratification, if only "we ourselves return with the same healthful "appetite.

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"The subjects of the Lectures are indeed very

different, but not (in the strict sense of the

term) diverse: they are various, rather than "miscellaneous. There is this bond of connexion "common to them all,-that the mental pleasure "which they are calculated to excite is not dependant on accidents of fashion, place or age, or the events or the customs of the day; but "commensurate with the good sense, taste, and feeling, to the cultivation of which they them"selves so largely contribute, as being all in kind, though not all in the same degree, productions "of GENIUS.

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"What it would be arrogant to promise, I may yet be permitted to hope,-that the execution "will prove correspondent and adequate to the plan. Assuredly my best efforts have not been

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wanting so to select and prepare the materials, "that, at the conclusion of the Lectures, an at"tentive auditor, who should consent to aid his

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future recollection by a few notes taken either during each Lecture or soon after, would rarely “feel himself, for the time to come, excluded

from taking an intelligent interest in any ge"neral conversation likely to occur in mixed society. S T. COLERIDGE."

SYLLABUS OF THE COURSE.

"LECTURE I. Tuesday Evening, January 27, "1818.-On the manners, morals, literature, phi

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losophy, religion, and the state of society in "general, in European Christendom, from the eighth to the fifteenth century (that is, from "A.D. 700 to A.D. 1400), more particularly in "reference to England, France, Italy, and Germany in other words, a portrait of the (so called) dark ages of Europe.

"II. On the tales and metrical romances "common, for the most part, to England, Germany, and the North of France; and on the English songs and ballads; continued to the reign of Charles the First.-A few selections "will be made from the Swedish, Danish, and "German languages, translated for the purpose by the Lecturer.

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"III. Chaucer and Spenser; of Petrarch; of Ariosto, Pulci, and Boiardo.

" IV. V. and VI. On the Dramatic Works of "SHAKSPEARE. In these Lectures will be comprised the substance of Mr. Coleridge's former "Courses on the same subject, enlarged and "varied by subsequent study and reflection.

"VII. On Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, "and Massinger; with the probable causes of "the cessation of Dramatic Poetry in England