ionalty' to its true purposes; that is, especially to
the maintenance of universities, of a parochial clergy, and of schools
in every parish. Unluckily, Henry VIII.'s 'idea' of a national church
was vague. Ideas were not his strong point. Coleridge appears to be
especially troubled to work the principles into conformity with his
views of Catholic emancipation. The peculiarity of the theory is that
the church, according to him, seems to be simply a national
institution. It might exist, and in fact, did exist before
Christianity, as is proved not only by the Jewish but by the Druidical
church.[175] That it should be Christian in England is a 'blessed
accident,' or 'providential boon'--or, as he puts it, 'most awfully a
godsend.' Hence it follows that a primary condition of its utility is
that the clerisy should contribute to the support of the other organs
of the community. They must not be the subjects of a foreign power,
nor, as he argues at length, subject to the desocialising influence of
celibacy. It follows that the Roman church is unfitted to be ever a
national church, although, if that danger be sufficiently obviated, no
political disqualifications should be imposed upon Romanists. And
thus, too, the Church Catholic is essentially a body which has no
relations to any particular state. It is opposed to the world, not to
the nation, and can have no visible head or 'personal centre of
unity.'[176] The church which makes such claims is the revelation of
Antichrist.

We need not inquire into the prophecies. It is enough to say that to
Coleridge as to Southey the preservation of an established church
seemed to be an essential condition of morality and civilisation. They
differed from the ordinary Tory, who was content to defend any of the
abuses by the cry of sacrilege and confiscation. The church was to be
made worthy of its position, and rendered capable of discharging its
high functions effectually. Coleridge, it may be said, would fully
admit that an organ which had ceased to correspond to its idea must
die. It could not continue to preserve itself by mere force of
obstruction, but must arouse, throw off its abuses, and show itself to
be worthy of its high claims. Meanwhile, however, he was perhaps more
anxious to show the Utilitarians that in assailing the institution on
account of its abuses, they were really destroying the most essential
guarantee of progress. He sums up, in a curious passage, the proofs of
mode