ABSTRACT
Coleridge was living there with his wife and children in the same house, Greta Hall, as Southey and his family. Hazlitt left in a hurry in October after, allegedly, spanking the bottom of a girl who refused his advances. Mill’s essays helped establish the importance of Coleridge: ‘no one,’ he remarked, ‘has contributed more to shape the opinions of those among younger men, who can be said to have opinions at all’. The edition quoted from here is the first; Hazlitt published a second in the same year, rearranging many of the essays and replacing one or two. In the case of Coleridge, he added a new final paragraph. Hazlitt left in a hurry in October after, allegedly, spanking the bottom of a girl who refused his advances. Whatever exactly happened, Hazlitt’s sexual conduct caused a scandal.
