his friend.

On this announcement, or soon after, a tumult of fearful intensity arose
in Mr. Coleridge's mind, which filled the whole circle of their friends
with grief and dismay. This unexpected effect, perhaps, may be ascribed
to the consciousness now first seriously awakened, of the erroneous
principles on which all his calculations had been founded. He perceived
at length, (it may be) that he had been pursuing a phantom; and the
conviction must have been associated with self-upbraidings. It is
commonly found, that the man who is dissatisfied with himself, is seldom
satisfied long with those around him; and these compound and accumulated
feelings must necessarily be directed against some object. At this
brain-crazing moment, the safety-valve of feeling was Mr. Southey.

Being familiar with the whole affair, I completely justified Mr. S. as
having acted with the strictest honour and propriety, and in such a way
as any wise man, under such circumstances, would have acted. The great
surprise with their friends was, that the crisis should not have occurred
earlier, as a result certain to take place, and delayed alone by the
vivid succession of objects that gave, it must be said, a temporary
suspension to the full exercise of their understandings. Justice to Mr.
S. requires it to be stated, that he acted purely on the defensive;
adopting no epithets, and repelling offensive accusations and
expressions, with sober argument and remonstrance alone. I spoke to each
in succession, and laboured to procure a reconciliation; but oil and
water would sooner have united than the accuser and the accused.

This difference occurred only two or three days before Mr. S. set off on
his Spanish and Portuguese expedition. During his absence, the fire lay
smouldering, and on his return to England, in May, 1796, the