Letter from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Bristol, to Mr. and Mrs. Morgan and Charlotte Brent, 1814 June 30 : autograph manuscript signed with initials

Writing first to Mrs. Morgan and her sister Charlotte Brent and continuing with a letter on the same night to Mr. Morgan; sending his love to Mary & Charlotte and instructing them not to read beyond the first page of the letter as "...the overleaf part of this Letter is for Morgan alone, respects me alone, & is fit for Men alone;" adding in a postscript that "Porter called once before my entire confinement - then never called for 8 weeks...from his having been occupied concerning his Brother!;" adding, in a second postscript, that he "...took all imaginable precautions to secure the arrival of the Salmon this Evening...but should you smell before you see it, I shall be more vexed than surprized - but when I come, I shall bring one with me, I trust;" continuing with a letter just meant for Mr. Morgan on his theory that the "...Source of Disease in myself anterior to, & even more serious than, the Opium; & which had been from it's constitutional effects the cause of my resorting to that Drug : tho' from never having had any Complaint in my whole Life, and having since my twenty second year never had any illicit connection, I did not till lately even suspect it - from the mistaken supposition, that Strictures in the Urethra always originated in some vicious Cause. - But since I have read Sir Everard Home's two Volumes on Strictures, & Whately's milder Plans, a mass of Evidence has crowded on me; & this morning I took courage & communicated my Fears to Daniel : who very judiciously replied, that whether so or not, it was highly improper that such a Dread should haunt my mind, when the Point might be settled in a few minutes...;" relating the procedure Daniel will do and expressing his anxieties about the procedure; discussing the accidental drowning of a young medical student whom Coleridge liked and saying that although the Coroner ruled the death accidental he had a conversation with the young student on Suicide; relating his discussion with Daniel on suicide and concluding that he believed "There is no doubt, that he struggled hard to save himself, & twice on rising called out for Help - & Kidd swore that he fell sideways with his shoulder foremost;" adding, in a first postscript dated "12 o'clock" "My God! what if in some whim of mind I had palliated, or attempted to defend, Suicide! It proves how careful we ought to be. - If I had done it, it might have made [me] unhappy for my Life-long. - Tho' I look, and in many respects am, so much better, yet mark my words! I am much nearer the narrow Bed of 6 feet by 2 than any of my friends imagine. - I hope, however to see you & you (i.e. M & C) before my Finale. Believe me, I am not hypped; but have grounds for my presentiment- Coffin grounds black as Coffee Grounds;" referring, in a second postscript dated "Saturday Night", to a "Money-demand from a Reverend of our Acquaintance" which upset him and which delayed his medical procedure to Monday morning.