His Letters to friends continue copious;and he has,as always,a loyally interested eye on whatsoever of notable is passing in the world.Especially on whatsoever indicates to him the spiritual condition of the world.Of "Strauss,"in English or in German,we now hear nothing more;of Church matters,and that only to special correspondents,less and less.Strauss,whom he used to mention,had interested him only as a sign of the times;in which sense alone do we find,for a year or two back,any notice of the Church,or its affairs by Sterling;and at last even this as good as ceases:"Adieu,OChurch;thy road is that way,mine is this:in God's name,adieu!""What we are going _to_,"says he once,"is abundantly obscure;but what all men are going _from_,is very plain."--Sifted out of many pages,not of sufficient interest,here are one or two miscellaneous sentences,about the date we are now arrived at:--_To Dr.Symonds_.
"_Falmouth,3d November_,1841.--Yesterday was my Wedding-day:eleven years of marriage;and on the whole my verdict is clear for matrimony.
I solemnized the day by reading _John Gilpin_to the children,who with their Mother are all pretty well....There is a trick of sham Elizabethan writing now prevalent,that looks plausible,but in most cases means nothing at all.Darley has real (lyrical)genius;Taylor,wonderful sense,clearness and weight of purpose;Tennyson,a rich and exquisite fancy.All the other men of our tiny generation that I know of are,in Poetry,either feeble or fraudulent.I know nothing of the Reviewer you ask about."_To his Mother_
"_December 11th_.--I have seen no new books;but am reading your last.
I got hold of the two first Numbers of the _Hoggarty Diamond_;and read them with extreme delight.What is there better in Fielding or Goldsmith?The man is a true genius;and,with quiet and comfort,might produce masterpieces that would last as long as any we have,and delight millions of unborn readers.There is more truth and nature in one of these papers than in all ----'s Novels together."--Thackeray,always a close friend of the Sterling house,will observe that this is dated 1841,not 1851,and have his own reflections on the matter!
_To the Same_.
"_December 17th_.--I am not much surprised at Lady ----'s views of Coleridge's little Book on _Inspiration_.--Great part of the obscurity of the Letters arises from his anxiety to avoid the difficulties and absurdities of the common views,and his panic terror of saying anything that bishops and good people would disapprove.He paid a heavy price,viz.all his own candor and simplicity,in hope of gaining the favor of persons like Lady ----;and you see what his reward is!A good lesson for us all."_To the Same_.
"_February 1st_,1842.--English Toryism has,even in my eyes,about as much to say for itself as any other form of doctrine;but Irish Toryism is the downright proclamation of brutal injustice,and all in the name of God and the Bible!It is almost enough to make one turn Mahometan,but for the fear of the four wives."_To his Father_.
"_March 12th_,1842.--...Important to me as these matters are,it almost seems as if there were something unfeeling in writing of them,under the pressure of such news as ours from India.If the Cabool Troops have perished,England has not received such a blow from an enemy,nor anything approaching it,since Buckingham's Expedition to the Isle of Rhe.Walcheren destroyed us by climate;and Corunna,with all its losses,had much of glory.But here we are dismally injured by mere Barbarians,in a War on our part shamefully unjust as well as foolish:a combination of disgrace and calamity that would have shocked Augustus even more than the defeat of Varus.One of the four officers with Macnaghten was George Lawrence,a brother-in-law of Nat Barton;a distinguished man,and the father of five totally unprovided children.He is a prisoner,if not since murdered.Macnaghten I do not pity;he was the prime author of the whole mad War.But Burnes;and the women;and our regiments!India,however,I feel sure,is safe."So roll the months at Falmouth;such is the ticking of the great World-Horologe as heard there by a good ear."I willingly add,"so ends he,once,"that I lately found somewhere this fragment of an Arab's love-song:'O Ghalia!If my father were a jackass,I would sell him to purchase Ghalia!'A beautiful parallel to the French _'Avec cette sauce on mangerait son pere_.'"