Indeed, any one who goes to the study of
Kant, after having made himself acquainted with the writings of
Coleridge, will be impressed by the spontaneous and vital concurrence of
the latter with the former--the heartiness and entireness with which the
Englishman enters into the method and system of this, in many respects,
greatest philosopher of the modern world."[143]
The Platonic element in the speculations of Coleridge is of earlier date
than the German. It was his reliance until introduced to the captivating
opinions of the philosopher of Koenigsberg. But it never wholly left
him,--it was the enchantment of his life.
He had severe struggles. His conquest of the habit of opium-eating,
contracted to soothe physical suffering, is an index of the persistent
purpose of the man. At first an ardent Unitarian, he was once about to
assume charge of a congregation at Shrewsbury. But he finally declined
the offer, by saying that, "Active zeal for Unitarian Christianity, not
indolence or indifference, has been the motive of my declining a local
and solid settlement as preacher of it.
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