… ethics, psychology, sociology … Coleridge kept pace with the progress of these sciences, and these fuelled his thinking about natural affections and natural sociability. However, he also increasingly worried about the effects of such … with his older brother Francis who enjoyed beating him up, but he was extremely fond of his sister Nancy whose kindness offset the coldness of his mother. As noted by Richard Holmes, Coleridge was a beloved and spoilt child but … only seven, he fled home after a fight with Francis over food, and spent the night on the bank of the river Otter thinking, ‘with inward & gloomy satisfaction, how miserable [his] Mother must be!’ 2 The incident, which would later …