XX. It is mournful to think how many recent writers have criminated
our Church in consequence of their ignorance and inadvertence in not
knowing, or not noticing, the contra-distinction here meant between
power and authority. Rites and ceremonies the Church may ordain _jure
proprio_: on matters of faith her judgment is to be received with
reverence, and not gainsayed but after repeated inquiries, and on
weighty grounds.
XXXVII. It is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the
magistrate, to wear weapons, and to serve in wars.
This is a very good instance of an unseemly matter neatly wrapped up.
The good men recoiled from the plain words--"It is lawful for
Christian men at the command of a king to slaughter as many Christians
as they can"!
Well! I could most sincerely subscribe to all these articles.
September, 1831.
[184] "Should it occur to any one that the doctrine blamed in the text
is but in accordance with that of the Church of England, in her rubric
concerning spiritual communion, annexed to the Office for Communion of
the Sick, he may consider, whether that rubric, explained (as, if
possible, it must be) in consistency with the definition of a
sacrament in the Catechism, can be meant for any but rare and
extraordinary cases; cases as strong in regard of the Eucharist, as
that of martyrdom, or the premature death of a well-disposed
catechumen, in regard of Baptism." Keble's Preface to Hooker, p. 85,
n. 70.--H. N. C. [It should be mentioned that "the doctrine blamed in
the text," which Keble comments upon, is not the doctrine blamed in
Coleridge's text, above,--or, rather, the "text" alluded to is not the
text above. The text alluded to by Keble is that with which he was
then dealing, viz., the text of Hooker. Keble's edition of Hooker's
works was published in 1836, two years before Coleridge's "Literary
Remains" were first published.--ED.]
[185] According to Bishop Home, the allusion is to the destruction of
Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea.--H. N. C.
[186] See Horne in loc. note.--H. N. C.
[187] See p. 140, _ante_. In addition to the 'Vindiciae Hebraicae,'
there alluded to, Mr. Hyman Hurwitz was the author of 'Elements of the
Hebrew Language,' which reached a fourth edition in 1848, and other
works. He was Professor of Hebrew at the University of London, and
master of the Hebrew Academy at Highgate. Our author's intimacy with
him is indicated by the fact that on Hurwitz publishing his 'Dirge
Chaunted in the Great Synagogue, St. James's Place, Aldgate, on the
Day of the Funeral of the Princess Charlotte,' 1817, Coleridge added a
translation in English. The translation appears in late editions of
Coleridge's poems with the title 'Israel's Lament,' &c. The following
also testifies to the friendship, and likewise to Coleridge's
proficiency in Hebrew. In Hurwitz's preface to his collection of
'Hebrew Tales,' 1826, he says:--"Excepting the three moral tales
originally published in that valuable work, 'The Friend,' ['Whoso Hath
Found a Virtuous Wife,' &c., 'The Lord Helpeth Man and Beast,' and
'Conversation of a Philosopher with a Rabbi:' see Standard Library
edition, 1866, pp. 246-8], so admirably translated by my friend Mr. S.
T. Coleridge, and which are by his kind permission inserted in this
collection," &c., &c. See also H. N. Coleridge's note to the 'Table
Talk' of April 14, 1830.--ED.