From The Coleridge Bulletin The Journal of the Friends of Coleridge New Series 31 (NS) Summer 2008 © 2008 Contributor all rights reserved http://www.friendsofcoleridge.com/Coleridge-Bulletin.htm Coleridge as Public Secretary in Malta: the Surviving Archives 1 Barry Hough and Howard Davis ____________________________________________________________________________________________ FULL UNDERSTANDING of Coleridge’s achievement as acting Public A Secretary in Malta 1805 has been constrained by a belief in a greater destruction of relevant materials than may actually have been the case.2 The purpose of this article is to describe and briefly contextualise a range of pertinent materials available in Malta that may be of interest to scholars interested in Coleridge’s Malta period. Preliminary Remarks The role of the British officials in the early years of the British occupation was at least to keep open the possibility of securing Malta for the British Empire. The broad strategy was a principle of continuity by which the constitution, laws, governmental institutions and administrative practices of the last legitimate government were continued by the new rulers.3 The system continued by the British was that in force under the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem who had had possession of the Islands from 1530 until the French invasion of 1798. At its head was the Grandmaster who exercised autocratic authority, including the power to enact new laws. Under the Maltese constitution, the Grandmaster’s powers were almost completely unfettered: and the British Civil Commissioners, for the purposes of Maltese law, effectively stepped into the shoes of the Grandmaster. Naturally, however, they were subject to instructions from time to time issued by the British Secretary of State for war and the Colonies as to the conduct of their Administrations, albeit that these instructions did not create legally binding limitations on their powers. How these powers would be exercised would reveal British conceptions of the colonial project and their understanding of their relationship with the Maltese. Of particular interest is the extent to which the British were willing to exercise self-restraint so as to operate Maltese government in a manner consistent with constitutional principles and practices familiar in the ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Professor Barry Hough, Director the Centre for Legal Studies, Business School, Bournemouth University and Dr Howard Davis, also of the Centre for Legal Studies. The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the British Academy for a small grant that enabled them to undertake research for this article 2 The major destruction of records took place in the 1870’s: Despatch to Secretary of State 412 19th December 1936 (see Caruana, below n. 12). See also Coburn, K . In Pursuit of Coleridge, London: Bodley Head, 1977 and Coburn, K, The Notebooks of Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1957-1974, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962, Appendix B, vol 2, (Notes) 1804-1808 (CNB). 3 Such a policy was becoming an important characteristic of the wartime approach to conquered and ceded colonies: see generally Manning, H. T. British Colonial Government after the American Revolution 1782-1820 New Haven: Yale University Press, 1933. The principle of continuity was expressed forcefully in the Royal Instructions given to the first civil commissioner, Charles Cameron 14th May 1801, see Hardman, W. (ed) A History of Malta During the French and British Occupations, 1798-1815, London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1909, at pp 350-359. These were not replaced until 1813 and provided the constitutional basis of successor British civil administrations including Sir Alexander Ball’s second administration (1802-1809). 91 Coleridge as Public Secretary in Malta ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Metropolitan polity. This went to the question of Maltese identity and the nature of their new (but publicly undisclosed) status as British subjects.4 In his political journalism, Coleridge had interested himself in constitutional debates and had advocated the importance, not just in Britain, of adherence to such principles as the Rule of Law and the Separation of Powers.5 Coleridge had, for example, repeatedly argued that the British Constitution is founded upon certain fundamental moral principles, including principles designed to protect the individual from the unlawful predations of Government.6 Measures inimical to the idea of Rule of Law were a fundamental erosion of the nation’s constitutional morality, weakening the very foundations of a stable society.7 Most significantly, he regarded these as universal entitlements.8 His involvement with the Maltese system in which these values were formally absent is thus of great interest to scholars, not least because of his subsequent engagement with the subject of principled politics in The Friend.9 Coleridge, who had arrived in Valletta in May 1804 in pursuit of improved health and a cure for his addiction, was appointed in January 1805 as acting Public Secretary pending the installation of Edmond Chapman, the official already nominated to fill the role. Chapman had been sent to the Black Sea region for purposes connected with the government’s plan to speculate on the international grain market which is described below. Coleridge would act as Public Secretary until the latter’s return, which was delayed for longer than either Coleridge or Ball anticipated. On first appointment Coleridge thought he could stand down in March 1805,10 in the event he somewhat reluctantly remained in office until September 21st 1805.11 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 The British did not publicly reveal that the Maltese were British subjects, although this was acknowledged in international relations: see e.g. Treaty with the Dey of Algiers 19th March 1801, Hardman loc cit p. 349. 5 See e.g. “Essays on his Times in ‘The Morning Post’ and ‘The Courier'” vol 1 pp 282-4, 3rd December 1801, Erdman, D. (ed) vol 3 The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (General editor, Coburn, K.) London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, Bollingen Series, 1978. 6 EOT, above n.5, vol 1, p. 272, 27th November 1801; id. pp. 282-28, 3rd December 1801; id p. 287, 11th December 1801. 7 See EOT, above n.5, 11th December 1801 p. 295. In Coleridge’s thought a formal adherence to the Rule of Law by compliance with positive law was insufficient if positive law undermined some conception of political morality. 8 E.g. his analysis of the French Constitution which established the Consulate and placed military and political power in the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte. The Constitution was formally adopted on December 24th 1799. Coleridge’s articles appeared on 7th , 26th, 27th and 31st December, 1799: EOT, , above n.5, vol 1, pp. 31-57. 9 Coleridge’s essays on the life of Sir Alexander Ball and Malta would appear in issues 19, 21, 22, 26 and 27 of The Friend. The Friend, II 1809-10, Rooke, B.E. (ed), vol 4 The Collected Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, (General Editor, Coburn K.) London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, Bollingen Series, 1969. 10To Robert Southey, 2nd February 1805, Griggs, E.L. Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge vol II 1801-1806, Oxford: Clarendon Press , 1956, 1163. 11Avviso (Public Notice) dated 21st Sept. 1805, National Library of Malta (NLM) LIBR/MS 430 2 Bandi (Proclamation) 1805 AL 1814 f 23. Coleridge as Public Secretary in Malta 92 ____________________________________________________________________________________________ The National Archives of Malta12 The archives indicate that Coleridge was never formally appointed to the Public Secretary’s role; nor was he announced to the officials of central government, and the Luogotenente (Mayors of local government) as the new appointee occupying the pro tempore role.13 Thus there was not only a de jure interregnum between the death of the superannuated Macaulay and the appointment of Chapman, but also a low-profile commencement to Coleridge’s new role. The former is easily explained,14 but the latter is important because it may indicate Ball’s intention for Coleridge’s role ― most significantly that Coleridge would only have a limited engagement with the officials of both central and local government following his appointment.15 But this remains speculation. For the sake of convenience we can describe Coleridge’s activities as including legal and the administrative functions. The former involved him in drafting laws to implement Ball’s polices. If Coleridge’s own account is to be believed, he would have played a significant role in the formulation as well as the implementation of these policies by presenting argument to Ball about whether these polices were coherent, well-reasoned and effective.16 Laws and Public Notices The laws and public notices he issued included six Bandi and fifteen Avvisi. Bandi were law making instruments, whilst the Avvisi ostensibly notified the public of important announcements, such as the conviction of notorious defendants or the distribution of bounty. In practice, the boundary between these two kinds of instrument is obscure because Coleridge appears to have used some Avvisi to impose new forms of criminal liability-thus they could take on a law making role as a well as a role in government communication.17 There is also one instance where Ball’s confuses the two, which