No considerate friend, it might be thought, would have desired the
suppression of this letter, but rather its most extended circulation; and
that, among other cogent reasons, from the immense moral lesson, enforced
by it, in perpetuity, on all consumers of opium; in which they will
behold, as well as in some of the other letters, the "tremendous
consequences," (to use Mr. Coleridge's own expressions) of such
practices, exemplified in his own person; and to which terrible effects,
he himself so often, and so impressively refers. It was doubtless a deep
conviction of the beneficial tendencies involved in the publication, that
prompted Mr. C. to direct publicity to be given to this remarkable
letter, after his decease.

The incidents connected with the lives of Mr. Coleridge and Mr. Southey,
are so intimately blended, from relationship, association, and kindred
pursuits, that the biography of one, to a considerable extent, involves
that of the other. The following narrative, however, professes to be
annals of, rather than a circumstantial account of these two remarkable
men.

Some persons may be predisposed to misconstrue the motive for giving
publicity to the following letter, but others, it is hoped, will admit
that the sole object has been, not to draw the reader's attention to the
writer, but to confer _credit on Southey_. Many are the individuals who
would have assisted, to a greater extent than myself, two young men of
decided genius, like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey, who
required, at the commencement of their literary career, encouragement,
and a little assistance. Few however, would have exhibited the
magnanimity which Southey displayed, in seasons of improved
circumstances, by referring to slender acts of kindness, long past, and
scarcely remembered but by himself. Few are the men, who, after having