Dr. Keate, the late head-master of Eton, [6] Dr. Bethell, the present
Bishop of Bangor, and Coleridge. Dr. Butler was the successful
candidate."

Coleridge always spoke of this decision as having been in every way
just, and due to Butler's merit as a clever and industrious scholar.

"But pause a moment," says this writer, "in Coleridge's History, and
think of him at this period! Butler! Keate Bethell! and Coleridge! How
different the career of each in future life! O Coleridge, through what
strange paths did the meteor of genius lead thee! Pause a moment, ye
distinguished men! and deem it not the least bright spot in your
happier career, that you and Coleridge were once rivals, and for a
moment running abreast in the pursuit of honour. I believe that his
disappointment at this crisis damped his ardour. Unfortunately, at
that period, there was no classical tripos; so that, if a person did
not obtain the classical medal, he was thrown back among the totally
undistinguished; and it was not allowable to become a candidate for
the classical medal, unless you had taken a respectable degree in
mathematics. Coleridge had not the least taste for these, and here his
case was hopeless; so that he despaired of a Fellowship, and gave up
what in his heart he coveted--college honours and a college life. He
had seen Middleton (late Bishop of Calcutta) quit Pembroke under
similar circumstances. Not _quite_ similar, because Middleton had
studied mathematics so as to take a respectable degree, and to enable
him to try for the medal; but he failed, and therefore all hopes
failed of a Fellowship--most fortunately, as it proved in after-life,
for Middleton, though he mourned at the time most deeply, and
exclaimed--'I am Middleton, which is another name for misfortune!'