Letter from Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Keswick, to William Godwin, 1800 October 13 : autograph manuscript signed.

Writing of his current projects: "An attempt to finish a poem of mine for insertion in the second Volume of the Lyrical Ballads has thrown me so fearfully back in my bread-and-beef occupations, that I shall scarcely be able to justify myself in putting you to the expence of the few lines, which I may be able to scrawl in the present paper - but some points in your letter interested me deeply - & I wished to tell you so;" giving him advice on the mounting of his play Antonio: "First then, you know [John Philip] Kemble, & I do not. But my conjectural Judgements concerning his character lead me to persuade an absolute passive obedience to his opinions - and this too, because I would leave to every man his own Trade;" discussing the differing roles of playwright and actor, and collaboration generally: "I should regard it in almost the same light as if I had written a song for [Joseph] Haydn to compose, & [Gertrud Elisabeth] Mara to sing - I know indeed what is poetry, but I do not know so well as he & she, what will suit his notes & her voice. That actors & managers are often wrong, is true : but still their Trade is their Trade, & the presumption is in favor of their being right;" giving him advice on dealing with the press ("I should wish you to be solicitously nice"); inviting him to come and discuss "every page & every line," should Godwin have the time before opening night; discussing Godwin's philosophical writings and his current standing with the public compared to James Mackintosh; arguing that public opinion swings between poles and Godwin will come back into favor: "...you may well exclaim with Job, O that my Adversary would write a Book - when he publishes, depend on it, it will be all over with him & then the minds of men will incline strongly in favor of those who would point out in intellectual perceptions a source of moral progressiveness. Every man in his heart is in favor of your general principles;" analyzing the reasons for Mackintosh's current popularity ("A party of dough-baked Democrats of Fortune were weary of being dissevered from their Fellow Rich men - they want to say something in defence of turning round - ; Mackintosh puts that something into their mouths - and for a while they will admire & bepraise him"); responding to Godwin's self-appraisal: "As to your first objection, that you are no logician, let me say, that your habits are analytic ; but that you have not read enough of Travels, Voyages, & Biography - especially, of Men's Lives of themselves - & you have too soon submitted your notions to other men's censures in conversation. A man should nurse his opinions in privacy & self-fondness for a long time - and seek for sympthy & love, not for detection or censure;" saying that he would like to write further to Godwin about a lucrative job opportunity in Keswick and that he wishes Godwin would look for a house nearby; asking if Stuart has remitted the £10 Coleridge owes Godwin; adding in a postscript that he would "gladly write any Verses, but to a Prologue or Epilogue I am absolutely incompetent."