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Coleridge's Laws Barry Hough and Howard Davis With an Introduction by Michael John Kooy Coleridge’s Laws A Study of Coleridge in Malta Translations by Lydia Davis Coleridge’s Laws Barry Hough was formerly Professor in English Law at Bournemouth University and is now at the University of Buckingham. He is the author of numerous articles in the field of Constitutional and Administrative law and Employment law and of the leading monograph Street Trading and Markets and Fairs (Boston, UK, 1994). Barry Hough is also a contributor to four editions of J. Alder, Constitutional and Administrative Law (Basingstoke and New York) and to William Blake Odgers (ed.), High Court Pleading & Practice (London, 1991). Howard Davis is Reader in Public Law at Bournemouth University. As well as law and literature his other research and teaching interests relate to constitutional law and human rights, in particular the reception of European human rights law through the Human Rights Act 1998. His textbook, Human Rights Law Directions (Oxford, 2009) is now in its second edition. Michael John Kooy is Associate Professor at the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at Warwick University. His main research interests lie in British and European Romanticism, especially Coleridge, and in the relationship between philosophy and literature. Kooy is the author of Coleridge, Schiller and Aesthetic Education (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002) and he is currently completing a book called Coleridge and War, which assesses Coleridge’s wartime activities as a journalist and poet in relation to his political theology. Lydia Davis took her degree in Latin and Ancient History at Edinburgh University. Her PhD on British Travellers and the Rediscovery of Sicily, 16th- 19th Centuries was awarded in 2006. She has lived and studied in Rome and Sicily. She currently works for Hansard at the House of Commons. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1819) drawn by C. R. Leslie, engraved by H. Meyer, published 1st April 1819 by Henry Colburn. Barry Hough and Howard Davis With an Introduction by Michael John Kooy Coleridge’s Laws A Study of Coleridge in Malta Translations by Lydia Davis Cambridge 2010 40 Devonshire Road, Cambridge, CB1 2BL, United Kingdom http://www.openbookpublishers.com © 2010 Barry Hough and Howard Davis (except Introduction and Translations) Introduction © 2010 Michael John Kooy Translations © 2010 Lydia Davis Some rights are reserved. This book is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. This license allows for copying any part of the work for personal and non-commercial use, providing author attribution is clearly stated. Details of allowances and restrictions are available at: http://www.openbookpublishers.com As with all Open Book Publishers titles, digital material and resources associated with this volume are available from our website: http://www.openbookpublishers.com ISBN Hardback: 978-1-906924-13-3 ISBN Paperback: 978-1-906924-12-6 ISBN Digital (pdf): 978-1-906924-14-0 Acknowledgement is made to the National Library of Malta for generously permitting use of material in their possession and for allowing the reproduction of the ‘Bandi’ and ‘Avvisi’ in this volume. All paper used by Open Book Publishers is SFI (Sustainable Forestry Initiative), and PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) Certified. Printed in the United Kingdom and United States by Lightning Source for Open Book Publishers To Mary and to Stella Acknowledgements We would like to express our gratitude to the British Academy without whose financial support this book would not have been possible. Dr Elinor Shaffer’s keen interest in the project not only saw it through its early gestation but it also continued to guide, enrich and challenge our work as it progressed. Dr Michael John Kooy’s interest, advice and enthusiasm have also been great encouragement to us. We are particularly delighted that he accepted an invitation to write the Introduction to this book. The staff of the National Library of Malta, Valletta, and the National Archive of Malta, Rabat, have also shown us kindness and tireless assistance in locating sources. Dr Maroma Camillieri, Dr Charles Farrugia, and Dr Joseph Amodio have each provided us with tireless and valuable assistance. Richard Ireland and Robert Ireland each of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth also provided their scholarly expertise in interpreting some of the obscure Latin used in some of the witness statements. Our thanks are also due to Craig Willox of the Department of Law, Bournemouth University, for his assistance with the manuscript. Contents Illustrations ix Abbreviations xi Foreword xii Preface xiv Introduction (by Michael John Kooy) xvi 1. The Battle of Self 1 2. Coleridge’s Malta 50 2.1. Maltese Social Political and Economic Context 51 2.2. The Maltese Economy 58 2.3. British Model of Government on Malta: the “Continuation” Strategy 65 2.4. Maltese Institutions 69 2.5. The Public Reputation of the British Administration 1802-1806 98 3. The Constitutional Position of the Civil Commissioner 107 3.1. Colonial Policy and the Civil Commissioner 108 3.2. Legal Restraints on Power 127 3.3. Political Constraints 135 3.4. Conclusion 140 4. Coleridge’s Proclamations and Public Notices 143 4.1. Coleridge’s role: the “Most illustrious Lord, the Public Secretary“ 143 4.2. The Nature of Bandi and Avvisi 151 5. Thematic Analysis of the Proclamations and Public Notices 164 5.1. Reconstruction 166 5.2. Distribution of Prize 173 5.3. Taxation 186 5.4. Public Order and Crime 199 5.4.1. The Anti-Semitic disturbances 208 5.4.2. Immigration and the Detection of Crime 230 5.5. Corruption 239 viii Coleridge’s Laws 5.6. Consumer Protection 243 5.6.1. The Regulation of Spirits in the Bando of 22 March 1805 244 5.6.2. The Avviso 12 June 1805 257 5.7. Regulation of Trade 259 5.8. The Harbours 263 5.9. Passports 267 5.10. Military Discipline 275 6. An Assessment of the Proclamations and Public Notices 288 6.1. Constitutional Questions 304 6.2. Coleridge’s Laws and the Rule of Law 308 6.3. Enforcement and Forms of Punishment 314 Appendix 1. Translations of the Proclamations and Public Notices (by Lydia Davis) 325 Appendix 2. The British Occupation of Malta 353 References 362 Index 366 Illustrations Page Cover: Detail from Figure 5. Frontispiece: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1819) drawn by C. R. Leslie, engraved by H. Meyer, published 1st April 1819 by Henry Colburn [private collection]. 1. A view of Valletta from South Street with the Marsamxett or Quarantine Harbour on the left [B. Hough, 2007]. 27 2. San Antonio Palace, now the official residence of the President of Malta, at St Anton, Attard. During the Maltese uprising 1799-1800 Captain Ball used it as his residence. He returned when he became Civil Commissioner in 1802. Coleridge spent much of his time there [B. Hough, 2006]. 28 3. The interior of the President’s Palace, Valletta. It would not have been less opulent when Coleridge resided there [B. Hough, 2007]. 35 4. The Governor’s [Civil Commissioner’s] Palace with the Treasury Building in the background (now the Casino Maltese). Coleridge moved from the Civil Commissioner’s Palace in Valletta to the Treasury in late 1804. Coleridge described his garret room as a “sky- chamber” with a painting of the four winds on the ceiling “& the pencil of Blast from each of the curly-wigged Nobodies” CN 2 2370. The room was destroyed by enemy action during the Second World War. Lithograph by C. de Brocktorff [1838] [private collection]. 35 5. Aquatint bearing the inscription: “To the R.t Hon.ble. Lord Viscount Nelson, K.B. Duke of Bronte &c. &c. &c., This Print of the commencement of the gallant defence, made by His Majesty’s Sloop Arrow of 23 Guns & 132 Men, Richard Budd Vincent Esq.r Commander; and His Maj: Bomb Vessel Acheron of 8 Guns and & x Coleridge’s Laws 57 Men, Arthur Farquhar Esq.r Com.r against the French Frigate, L’Hortense and L’Incorruptible of 44 Guns & 550 Men each, including troops of the Line, which took place on the Morning of the 4.th of Feb.y 1805, off Cape Palos; for the preservation of a Valuable Convoy is by Permission most humbly Dedicated by his most obliged humble Servant, George Andrews. [&] To the R.t Hon.ble. Lord Viscount Nelson, K.B. Duke of Bronte &c. &c. &c.,” Painted by F. Sartorius. Engraved by J. Jeakes. Published Oct. 21. 1805, by G. Andrews, No. 7, Charing Cross [private collection]. 42 6. Coloured aquatint of the sinking of His Majesty’s Sloop Arrow. Painted by F. Sartorius. Engraved by J. Jeakes. Published Oct. 21. 1805, by G. Andrews, No. 7, Charing Cross [private collection]. 43 7. The Porte des Bombes, a gateway into Floriana and thus into Valletta from the countryside of Malta. Lithograph by C. de Brocktorff [1838] [private collection]. 53 8. St John’s Cathedral, Valletta. Lithograph by C. de Brocktorff [1838] [private collection]. 57 9. The presence of studded wheels on this Calesse suggests that Coleridge’s Bando had not fully succeeded by the late 1830s. Lithograph by C. de Brocktorff [1838] [private collection]. 172 10. The Avviso of 22nd May 1805 announcing the convictions of Borg, Hasciach and Bonello [B. Hough, 2009]. 213 11. The letter from the official of the Corte Capitanale which reveals that the Civil Commissioner had instructed the judge to sentence Fortunata Tagliana to exile in Gozo [B. Hough, 2009]. 219 12. The Naval Arsenal in the Grand Harbour, Valletta. Lithograph by C. de Brocktorff [1838] [private collection]. 264 13.
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