Abstract
On the Constitution of the Church and State1 is Coleridge’s last and most important contribution to political theory. In this work he analyses the constitutional requirements of a state that would facilitate an advance towards the ends specified in A Lay Sermon and in The Friend. The principle of balance, which plays an important role in A Lay Sermon, is here applied to the organisation of political and constitutional, rather than social, forces, although these are seen as reflecting the social and economic power associated with the ownership of property. Coleridge focuses on both a narrow and a wide conception of the Constitution. The ‘constitution of the state’ (narrow conception) is concerned with the organisation of government, and the representation of interests; it balances differing proprietorial interests and different sorts of social powers. The ‘constitution of the nation’, however, is broader, and necessarily includes the National Church. This institution counterbalances the interests and powers included in the narrow idea of the Constitution by providing an institutionalised and independent focus for an educated and educational elite who preserve, convey and enrich the ‘culture’ of the community, or its particular expression of those distinctly human values that reflect men’s status as creatures who are marked off from the rest of God’s creation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Edinburgh was, of course, associated with the Edinburgh Review; there were well-known dissenting institutions at Hackney. Jonathan Edwards (1703–58) was the author of Enquiry into … Freedom of Will (1754); Alexander Crombie (1762–1840) wrote A Defence of Philosophic Necessity (1793); and William Lawrence (1783–1867) was the author of On the Physiology, Zoology, and Natural History of Man (1819), which was regarded as materialistic and atheistic. On these men see C & S, pp. 17–18, nn. 3–5.
Edinburgh was, of course, associated with the Edinburgh Review; there were well-known dissenting institutions at Hackney. Jonathan Edwards (1703–58) was the author of Enquiry into … Freedom of Will (1754); Alexander Crombie (1762–1840) wrote A Defence of Philosophic Necessity (1793); and William Lawrence (1783–1867) was the author of On the Physiology, Zoology, and Natural History of Man (1819), which was regarded as materialistic and atheistic. On these men see C & S, pp. 17–18, nn. 3–5.
Edinburgh was, of course, associated with the Edinburgh Review; there were well-known dissenting institutions at Hackney. Jonathan Edwards (1703–58) was the author of Enquiry into … Freedom of Will (1754); Alexander Crombie (1762–1840) wrote A Defence of Philosophic Necessity (1793); and William Lawrence (1783–1867) was the author of On the Physiology, Zoology, and Natural History of Man (1819), which was regarded as materialistic and atheistic. On these men see C & S, pp. 17–18, nn. 3–5.
Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (1792), II.iv.
From Sir John Davies, Irish Reports (1615), and Andrew Horn, The Mirrour of Justices (1646). Coleridge’s use of Davies makes his position sound similar to the form of ‘ancient constitutionalism’ found in Edmund Burke — see J. G. A Pocock, ‘Burke and the Ancient Constitution: A Problem in the History of Ideas’, Politics, Language and Time (New York, 1971) pp. 202–32 — but in fact Coleridge’s idea of the Constitution is far less static than Burke’s; see J. D. Coates, ‘Coleridge’s Debt to Harrington: A Discussion of Zapolya’, JHI, 38 (1977) 501–8.
From Sir John Davies, Irish Reports (1615), and Andrew Horn, The Mirrour of Justices (1646). Coleridge’s use of Davies makes his position sound similar to the form of ‘ancient constitutionalism’ found in Edmund Burke — see J. G. A Pocock, ‘Burke and the Ancient Constitution: A Problem in the History of Ideas’, Politics, Language and Time (New York, 1971) pp. 202–32 — but in fact Coleridge’s idea of the Constitution is far less static than Burke’s; see J. D. Coates, ‘Coleridge’s Debt to Harrington: A Discussion of Zapolya’, JHI, 38 (1977) 501–8.
From Sir John Davies, Irish Reports (1615), and Andrew Horn, The Mirrour of Justices (1646). Coleridge’s use of Davies makes his position sound similar to the form of ‘ancient constitutionalism’ found in Edmund Burke — see J. G. A Pocock, ‘Burke and the Ancient Constitution: A Problem in the History of Ideas’, Politics, Language and Time (New York, 1971) pp. 202–32 — but in fact Coleridge’s idea of the Constitution is far less static than Burke’s; see J. D. Coates, ‘Coleridge’s Debt to Harrington: A Discussion of Zapolya’, JHI, 38 (1977) 501–8.
From Sir John Davies, Irish Reports (1615), and Andrew Horn, The Mirrour of Justices (1646). Coleridge’s use of Davies makes his position sound similar to the form of ‘ancient constitutionalism’ found in Edmund Burke — see J. G. A Pocock, ‘Burke and the Ancient Constitution: A Problem in the History of Ideas’, Politics, Language and Time (New York, 1971) pp. 202–32 — but in fact Coleridge’s idea of the Constitution is far less static than Burke’s; see J. D. Coates, ‘Coleridge’s Debt to Harrington: A Discussion of Zapolya’, JHI, 38 (1977) 501–8.
See Spinoza, Tractatus politicus (1677) VI.iii.5; in The Political Works of Benedict de Spinoza, tr. A. G. Wemham (Oxford, 1958) pp. 315–17.
See Spinoza, Tractatus politicus (1677) VI.iii.5; in The Political Works of Benedict de Spinoza, tr. A. G. Wemham (Oxford, 1958) pp. 315–17.
See also CL, II, 803, 806; and John Morrow, ‘The National Church in Coleridge’s Church and State: A Response to Allen’, JHI, 47 (1986) 644–7.
Sharon Turner (1768–1847), A History of the Reign of Henry VIII (1826).
Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto, n.ix.48; translation from A. L. Wheeler’s edn in the Loeb Classical Library (1924) p. 363.
Charles Dallison, The Royalist’s Defence (1648) p. 41. See above, note 61.
Martin Luther, Colloquia Mensalia (1652) p. 298; translation from C & S, p. 130, n. 2.
Based on Henry More (1614–87), A Modest Inquiry into the Mystery of Iniquity, II.ix, in Theological Works (1708) pp. 486–7.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1990 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Morrow, J. (1990). The Idea of the Constitution: On the Constitution of the Church and State, According to the Idea of Each (1829). In: Morrow, J. (eds) On Politics and Society. Coleridge’s Writings. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09667-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-09667-1_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-09669-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-09667-1
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)