[165] In the _Aids to Reflection_, at the close of a long comment on a passage in Field, Coleridge alludes to "discussions of the Greek Fathers, and of the Schoolmen on the obscure and abysmal subject of the divine A-seity, and the distinction between the [Greek: thelêma] and the [Greek: boulê], that is, the Absolute Will as the universal ground of all being, and the election and purpose of God in the personal Idea, as Father." Coleridge's _Works_, 1853, i. 317.
[166] The bill in which Coleridge interested himself, and in favour of which he wrote two circulars which were printed and distributed, was introduced in the House of Commons by the first Sir Robert Peel. The object of the bill was to regulate the employment of children in cotton factories. A bill for prohibiting the employment of children under nine was passed in 1833, but it was not till 1844 that the late Lord Shaftesbury, then Lord Ashley, succeeded in passing the Ten Hours Bills. In a letter of May 3d to Crabb Robinson, Coleridge asks: "Can you furnish us with any other instances in which the legislature has interfered with what is ironically called 'Free Labour' (_i. e._ dared to prohibit soul-murder on the part of the rich, and self-slaughter on that of the poor!), or any dictum of our grave law authorities from Fortescue--to Eldon: for from the borough of Hell I wish to have no representatives." Henry Crabb Robinson's _Diary_, ii. 93-95.
[167] James Maitland, 1759-1839, eighth Earl of Lauderdale, belonged to the party of Charles James Fox, and, like Coleridge, opposed the first war with France, which began in 1793. In the ministry of "All the Talents" he held the Great Seal of Scotland. Coleridge calls him plebeian because he inherited the peerage from a remote connection. He was the author of several treatises on finance and political economy.
[168] It was, I have been told by an eyewitness, Coleridge's habit to take a pinch of snuff, and whilst he was talking to rub it between his fingers. He wasted so much snuff in the process that the maid servant had directions to sweep up these literary remains and replace them in the canister.
[169] A pet name for the Gillmans' younger son, Henry.
[170] Coleridge was fond of quoting these lines as applicable to himself.