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MEMOIRS

OF THE LATE

WILLIAM COBBETT, Esq
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EMBRACING
ALL THE INTERESTING EVENTS OP HIS MEMORABLE LIFE,
OBTAINED FROM PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL
SOURCES ;
ALSO,
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By ROBERT HUISH, Esq. F.L.A. & Z. Soc.
Author of the Life of the late Henry Hunt, Esq.; Last Voyage of Captain Sir John
Ross, for the Discovery of the North West Passage ; Travels of
Lander into the Interior of Africa, &c. &c.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.
 o 
0= ® M © © M ;
Published for the Proprietors, by
JOHN SAUNDERS, 25, NEWGATE STREET.
1836.

Engraved., 6y JAegcrs . from, a, Drawing by J ChcOor
, IHIIilTif 2HHJNTB.E.S<q>: BflJP.
Monjg,p-pv--e. J?7S. ., DIMD.XIBJSJSSS

\^Ji?ndon~f'uUished,(rfortheIr-opmtorsJ: by
,S Saunders, 25. Newgate Street.1835

MEMOIRS

OF THE l.ATE

WILLIAM COBBETT, Esq.

M. P. FOR OLDHAM.

CHAPTER I.

It was a short time previously to the action which was
brought against Cobbett, for a libel on Lord Hardwicke and
others, that he became personally acquainted with the cele
brated Henry Hunt. An occasional correspondence had
taken place between them, but as yet they had never entered
into a personal communication. In the memoirs of Hunt,
we find a description of their first interview, and it is so de
scriptive of the real character of the man, so full of a display
of the eccentricity which so eminently distinguished him
from the common herd of mankind, that we are certain our
readers will be indebted to us for the amusement which the
perusal of it will afford them.
Mr. Hunt at the period of his introduction to Mr. Cobbett,
had distinguished himself in the west of England, and par
ticularly at the Bristol election, as a thorough-bred determined
reformer; and as Cobbett in his Political Register, advocated
the same principles, a correspondence took place between
them, from which Mr. Hunt acknowledges that he derived
great instruction and information, independently that his
Register was made the vehicle, and a powerful one it was,
21. — VOL. II. B

2 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
of giving notoriety to those proceedings at the different elec
tions and meetings, in which Mr. Hunt cut so conspicuous a
figure, and in which he was always the foremost, and the
most strenuous in the promulgation and defence of liberal
principles in the true spirit of the British constitution.
It was on the impeachment of Lord Melville that Cobbett
put forth his gigantic powers, crushing with herculean force
the hydra head of corruption and political profligacy ; and so
edified and enlightened was Hunt by his masterly writings,
not only on the gross and scandalous act of Lord Melville, but
also of his participants in criminality, that he longed to become
personally acquainted with the man, who, by the vigour and
energy of his writings, appeared to rule the destinies of the
country. The Weekly Political Register of Cobbett was
universally read, not only in the metropolis but all over the
kingdom. His clear, perspicuous, and forcible reasoning
upon this transaction, convinced every one who read the
Register, he proving to demonstration, that Mr. Pitt had
been privy to, and connived at his friend, Lord Melville's
delinquency, and it was made evident to the meanest under
standing that the public money had been constantly used for
private purposes, and to aggrandize the minister's tools and
dependants. Perhaps no circumstance could have happened more oppor
tunely for the leaders of the reform party, than the detection
of the glaring peculations of Lord Melville and his friend Trot
ter, who from being a comparatively needy man, became on a
sudden possessed of immense wealth, clandestinely extracted
from the pockets of the people. Hunt, though by no means
a powerful writer, far outshone Cobbett as a public speaker,
he having a peculiar manner of working upon, and rousing
the passions of his audience, beyond, perhaps, what any
other man ever possessed. The cause, therefore, which Cob
bett espoused as a writer, and Hunt as an orator, possessed in
those individuals alone, such a tower of strength that nothing
could stand against it, and it therefore became the desire pf
Hunt to establish that personal intimacy between .them, that

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
an effectual co-operation might be established between them,
and such plans arranged, that like two hounds, they might
hunt their game in couples, and little chance indeed had the
individuals whom they had determined to run down.
Mr. Hunt thus describes his first interview with Cobbett :
" As I had taken a conspicuous part at the Wiltshire
county meeting, I called on Mr, Cobbett the first time that I
went to London after it had occurred, as I was desirous to
obtain a personal interview with a man who had afforded me
so much pleasure by his writings, and who had weekly given
me so much useful information as to politics and political
economy. He lived in Duke-street, Westminster, where on
my arrival I sent in my name. I was shown into a room
tinfurnished, and as far as I can recollect, without a chair in
it. After waiting some time the great political writer ap
peared ; a tall, robust man, with a florid face, his hair cut
quite close to his head, and himself dressed in a blue coat
and scarlet cloth waistcoat ; and as it was then very hot
weather, in the middle of summer, his apparel had to me a
very singular appearance. I introduced myself as a gentle
man from Wiltshire, who had taken the lead at the county
meeting, the particulars of which I had forwarded to him.
He addressed me very briefly and very bluntly, saying ' that
we must persevere, and we should bring all the scoundrels to
justice.' He never asked me to sit down — " but the truth
must be spoken, we do not see how Mr. Hunt could take
umbrage at this apparent neglect, for having previously in
formed us that there was no chair in the room, had Mr. Hunt
been invited to sit down, it must have been on the floor, and
if Mr. Cobbett had seated himself by his side, they must have
carried on their conference a la musselman, and a delectable
subject would it have proved lor the caricaturist to sketch the
two great politicians in their humble posture.
" I departed," continues Mr. Hunt, " not at all pleased
with the interview, I had made up my mind for a very dif
ferent sort of a man ; and to tell the truth, I was very much
disappointed by his appearance and manners, and mortified at

4 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
the cool reception which he gave me. As I walked up Par
liament-street, I mused upon the sort of being I had just left,
and I own that my calculations did not in the slightest degree
lead me to suppose that we should ever be upon such friendly
terms, and indeed upon such an intimate footing, as we as
suredly were for a number of years afterwards. It appeared
to me, that at our first meeting, we were mutually disgusted
with each other, and I left his house with the determination,
in my own mind, never to seek a second interview with him.
I thought that of all the men I ever saw, he was the least
likely for me to become enamouTed of his society. The re
sult was, nevertheless, quite the reverse, we lived and acted
for many years with the most perfect cordiality, and I believe
that two men never lived that more sincerely, honestly, and
zealously advocated public liberty than we did hand in hand,
for eight or ten years. Although it would perhaps be impos
sible to point out two men more different in many respects
than we are to each other, yet in pursuing public duty for so
many years together there never were two men, who went
on so well together, and with such trifling difference of opinion
as occurred between Mr. Cobbett and myself. It was, how
ever, some years after this before we became intimate. I
constantly read his Political Register with unabated admira
tion and delight, for even at this time he surpassed, in my
opinion, any other political writer.
" I was, as I have already said, a constant reader of Cob-
bett's Register, and although I had been rather disgusted
with the man at my first interview with him, yet I was quite
enraptured with the beautiful productions of his pen, dictated
by his powerful mind."
With great truth indeed might Mr. Hunt declare that no
two individuals, although agreeing in the great political ques
tions, were yet in their dispositions so opposite to each other.
With all the faults which Mr. Hunt possessed (and let him
who is without a fault throw a stone at him,) there was an
open, straight-forward manliness of character about him,
which was in a certain degree foreign to that of Cobbett, and

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 5
there was an innate pride, a noble sense of honour about
him, which would not let him stoop to a mean or pitiful action.
Cobbett on the other hand cared not to what length he went,
so that he could humble the individual, who had by any means
rendered himself obnoxious to him. There was not in Cob
bett a particle of the enthusiasm or the disinterestedness of
friendship; his eye was directed solely to self, and in that
self was centred all his aims and pursuits, it was the nucleus
round which all his actions revolved, and to bring them to a
successful issue, it was in a comparative degree indifferent
to him as to the injury which it might inflict upon another.
We may be considered as being severe in these strictures on
the character of Cobbett * but in reference to Mr. Hunt alone,
we shall have several opportunities of confirming, the; truth
of the remark, and of showing that there existed a duplicity
in his character, which ill assorted with the open ingenuous
character of Hunt. The latter was rising fast in importance
in the political world, and as there is no occasion for the ex
istence of two suns in heaven, so Cobbett thought there was
no necessity for the existence of the Gemini in the zodiac of
politics, he himself being, according to his own opinion, all-
sufficient to direct the minds of the English people, and to
impel them on to the attainment of those measures, which the
great political leaders of the day had in view. Cobbett
thought he perceived in Hunt a formidable rival, in acquir
ing that influence over the people, which it was his wish to
engross to himself \ and although in vigour of mind, and in
intellectual energy, the former might surpass the latter, yet,
perhaps no man has existed in England, as a public speaker,
or as he has been sarcastically styled, a mob-orator, who knew
how to work upon the feelings of a crowd better than Hunt.
In this respect he was by far the superior of Cobbett, al
though as a writer, he never could compete with him. Hunt
indeed possessed one superiority over Cobbett, and that was
a classical and liberal education ; Cobbett was in every re
spect a self-educated man, more sO peihaps than any other
public character that ever existed, but the difference in these

6 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
two essential points of character was never more apparent,
than in the exhibition which those two individuals made in the
exercise of their respective talents. Hunt was a most incorrect
writer, but a good and a florid speaker ; Cobbett was one of
the most, if not the most energetic and powerful writers of
his own or any other times, in his oratory, the workings of a
great and splendid mind frequently exhibited themselves, but
they came upon us like the coruscations ol Heaven, rendering
the after-gloom more perceptible. Cobbett sought to accom
plish his object by downright main force, he dealt his argu
ments around him with the power of the sledge hammer;
what he could not wield, he crushed, or reduced it to a shape
less mass. Hunt, on the contrary, adopted a more free and
conciliating tone, he applied himself more to the suaviter in
rnodo, although in a manner peculiarly his own, and he won
his way to the hearts of his audience by the most apt illus
trations, and a happy display of wit and humour, which Cob
bett would not condescend to use, or which, more properly
speaking, he did not know the use of. A mob was the ele
ment in which Hunt delighted, to breathe and move ; Cobbett
hated a mob, and of all mobs, an English mob ; the concen
trated force, however, of two such men, if mind be the stand
ard of the man, might have driven a nation to the verge of a re
volution, or have raised in it an enthusiasm of patriotism,
which would have impelled it to deeds of the noblest enterprise
in defence of their laws* their constitution, and their rights.
At the time when Mr. Cobbett was committed to the cus
tody of the marshal of the King's Bench, preparatory to the
passing of his sentence, it happened that Mr. Hunt was then
confined in the same prison, under a sentence of the court for
an assault committed on a man of the name of Stone ; and
he no sooner heard that Mr. Cobbett was at the marshal's
house, where he was waiting until some accommodation could
be procured for him in the prison, than he hastened to him,
and offered his apartments in the prison for the use of Mr.
Cobbett and his family, until he could suit himself to his
liking. Mr. Cobbett accepted the offer, and it may be said

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 7
that the King's Bench prison now contained two of the most
extraordinary men of the times in which they lived. Mr.
Cobbett seemed to be perfectly conscious of his superiority,
and was in consequence too prone to look down upon others
with rather an unbecoming degree of disdain. On the other
hand, Mr. Hunt allowed his character to speak for itself;
he made no parade, no ostentation of the great talents which
he possessed, and as the display was not done with design,
the effect was the more forcible. There was also a Teserve
attached to the character of Cobbett, descending almost to
surliness, which was wholly foreign to that of Hunt ; the
former was very willing to receive an act of kindness, the
latter was very willing to grant it, and herein lay the dis
tinctive marks of their respective characters. Mr. Hunt,
from an innate generosity of disposition, took a pleasure in
obliging a friend, even to the detriment of his own personal
interests : Hunt would run to any extreme to save a friend.
Mr. Cobbett would ponder long before he moved a step, and
then he would not move at all, if the consequences were
likely to affect his own interest. It was generally admitted
that Mr. Cobbett fulfilled with the most laudable propriety
the relations of father and husband, but the relation of a friend
was wholly unknown to him.
During the few days that Mr. Cobbett remained in the
King's Bench, intervening between the trial and the sen
tence, he was violently attacked by some of the writers be
longing to the public press, who accused him of having
offered to compromise with the government by giving up his
Register, and undertaking to write no more upon politics.
Amongst this number was Mr. Leigh Hunt, of the Examiner ;
and in the enthusiasm of his zeal for the character of his
calumniated friend, Henry Hunt took up the cudgels, and
condemned in the most unqualified terms, all those who had
been guilty of such base conduct as that of falsely accusing
a man at such a moment as that, which he held to be a politi
cal crime of the deepest die. Mr. Hunt found, however,
that in espousing the cause of his friend, he had drawn a nest

8 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT FSQ.
of hornets about, him, and he began to reflect, whether it
would not have been more prudent in him to have left Mr.
Cobbett to fight his own battles, seeing that he was so able,
having the power of the press in his hands, which Mr. Hunt
had not, and not allow himself to be bedaubed and be
spattered with all the feculent matter which the editors of the
papers could collect to throw at him. If Mr. Cobbett, for
some reasons best known to himself, did not think it worth
his while to justify himself from the attacks of his enemies,
it would only have been liberal in him to have prevented a
zealous and disinterested friend from exposing himself to
many unpleasant circumstances, in a cause in which he was
the principal, but in the defence of which he appeared to have
no objection that other persons should come off with broken
heads, provided he kept his own safe and uninjured. It is
also worthy of remark, that Mr. Hunt was fighting the battles
of an individual, who had never deigned to inform him
whether the charges, which were brought against him were
not actually founded in truth. It was not believed by Mr.
Hunt, that Cobbett could possibly commit such a political
crime as to tamper with government, for the purpose of avoid
ing the punishment which awaited him ; but although Mr.
Hunt was daily and hourly in communication with Mr. Cob
bett during his short residence in the bench, yet the latter
possessed not either the candour or the ingenuousness to deny
in the most positive terms the truth of the allegations brought
against him, but left his friend exposed to the most violent
and virulent attacks both in a personal and political character,
on the mere supposition, that he could not possibly be guilty
of the charge imputed to him. The eyes of Mr. Hunt were,
however, first opened to the impolicy of his conduct, by
Mr. Peter Finnerty, who strenuously advised him to take
care of himself, and to leave Cobbett to do the same. This
advice was taken, and Mr. Hunt subsequently discovered
that he had been led away by an enthusiastic disposition to
befriend the oppressed, without at the moment stopping to
inquire whether the object were worthy of it.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 9
On the 9th July Mr. Cobbett was brought up for judgment
for the libel on Lord Hardwicke, and sentenced to two years
imprisonment in Newgate, to pay a fine of £1000 to the king,
and to find security for his good behaviour for seven years.
Severe as this sentence was in many instances, yet it pos
sessed this alleviation, that he was not, as was strongly sus
pected he would have been, removed to a distant prison,
and thereby deprived of all intercourse with his family, as
well as proving of the most serious injury to his literary and
professional pursuits.
The arm of the law had, however, reached him, and al
though the blow was tremendous, and might have been
deemed all-sufficient for the purpose required, yet it was
quickly followed by another, which in a pecuniary point of
view threatened to crush Mr. Cobbett altogether. This was
a civil action brought by Mr. Plunkett, solicitor-general for
Ireland, against Mr. Cobbett, contained in the same article
in the Weekly Register in which had appeared the libels on
Lord Hardwicke, Mr. Justice Osborne, and Mr. Marsden. It is
perhaps impossible to produce a stronger instance of the vin
dictive spirit, which then actuated the imbecile administration
of this country under such men as Addington, and Perceval,
whose relatives are now doubly and trebly pensioned on the
public purse, than the prosecutions which were carried on
against Mr. Cobbett. It might have been supposed that, how
ever nice and sensitive an individual might be in regard to
his character, yet, that as strong and efficient means had been
already adopted to purify that character from imputation of
any base or criminal act which had been attached to it, that
the party would have remained satisfied, and not to have
carried their vindictive spirit to such an excess, as to ruin for
ever the prospects of the offending individual, and consign
himself and his unoffending family to actual penury. It is
far from our wish to extenuate the conduct of the professed
and systematic libeller, but as long as the British constitution
is in force, the people living under that constitution have a
political right vested in them, to canvass the conduct of their
22. — vol. n. c

10 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
rulers, and to expose every instance of mal-administration ,
such as the appointment of unfit or unworthy persons to fill
the high offices of state, and to employ every legal and con
stitutional step for the removal of those persons, by whose
incompetency and ignorance the dearest interests of the
country are threatened to be sacrificed. The guardian genius
of England must have been asleep, when the destinies of tl is
great and powerful empire were entrusted in the hands of the
present Lord Sidmouth, ci-devant, Doctor Addington, and we
find that the same principle operates in political life as in the
moral one ; for in the latter, we generally find that the most
rotten and questionable characters are the most vindictive and
malignant when any attack is made upon them ; the pure and
upright character enshrines itself in the consciousness of its
unsullied purity and integrity, it treats with contempt the
innocuous attempts of the unprincipled slanderer; whilst on
the other hand, the individual who is sensible that his cha
racter is full of flaws, puts on the semblance of extreme indig
nation towards any one, who can presume to hold them up
to the inspection of the public. So was it situated with the po
litical characters at the head of his majesty's government in the
year 1801. The vessel of the state was navigated by men,
who knew not how to steer it according to the commonest
principles of constitutional polity. Corruption sat at the
helm, imbecility directed the course, and the sails by which
the vessel was impelled, were filled by the blasts of royalty,
aristocracy, and episcopacy. If then some old experienced
pilot, foreseeing the danger which impended over the vessel,
and that from ignorance of the helmsman, it was running
direct for the rocks of ruin and anarchy, should boldly step
forward, and proclaim aloud to the nation the weakness and
xmoecility of the navigators, he was to be attacked immedi
ately by a blood-hound in the shape of an attorney-general,
who was to prostitute his talents and his power in attempting
to prove the fitness and ability of those persons to whom the
navigation of the state vessel was intrusted, although such
qualities could not be discovered by any one, who contributed

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 11
to the support and the equipment of the vessel, and who con
sequently possessed a voice in the election of the pilot, to
whom the management of it was to be entrusted.
The severe sentence of the Court of King's Bench had
safely lodged Mr. Cobbett within the walls of his majesty's
gaol of Newgate, and so far the ministers of that same ma
jesty were satisfied. It was not therefore considered neces
sary to bring a criminal action on the part of Mr. Plunkett,
but to bring a civil one, that is, that the character of Mr.
Plunkett was to be put into one scale, and the pounds, shil
lings and pence of Mr. Cobbett in the other, any deficiency
in the sterling weight of the former, to be made good by the
sterling pounds of the latter. We know not the maximum at
which in those times a public character was rated, but the
deficit in the character of Mr. Plunkett, as alleged by Cob
bett in his Weekly Register, must have been enormous, when
he laid the damages which the said character had received by
the stabs and wounds inflicted on it by Mr. Cobbett, at the
very moderate sum of £10,000.
The trial came on in the Court of King's Bench, on the
25th May 1804, before Lord Ellenborough and a special
jury. The counsel for the plaintiff being Mr. Erskine, Mr.
Garrow, Mr. Dampier, and Mr. Nolan. The counsel for
the defendant, Mr. Adam, and Mr. Richardson.
The Information contained three counts, which, being
nearly similar in their wording to those in the Information in
the cause of Lord Hardwicke, we shall purposely omit, and
proceed immediately to the speech of Mr. Erskine, which,
as containing some important points relative to the character
and genius of Mr. Cobbett, we recommend to the careful
study of our readers.
The declaration having been read, Mr. Erskine addressed
the Court and Jury as follows :
My Lord, and Gentlemen of the Jury. — Independently of
the pannel annexed to the record, which enabled me to see that
I ,was before the same jury who, the day before yesterday,
tried the defendant for a libel on his majesty's government of

12 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Ireland, I could not help observing, from my familiarity with
your features, that I was in that situation ; a situation which
the defendant could have prevented, had he thought proper,
because, being called upon to answer in an action for slander,
it was in his power to have selected another jury, either by a
particular application to the court, or by availing himself of
his right to expunge from the pannel the names of any persons
whom he might dislike. But, gentlemen, I am not sure that
he has not made a prudent choice, in having the same persons
to try him a second time ; because it affords him the oppor
tunity of introducing himself to your attention by the cha
racter which has been given him with regard to his talents,
his education, his morals, and his attachment to the consti
tution of the country. So far, therefore, am I from wishing
you to forget that the defendant is not a low, obscure, con
temptible, and uninteresting individual, I am rather desirous
that you should contemplate him, as he has been described by
his counsel, a gentleman of great talents, possessing the ad
vantage of a powerful and energetic mode of expressing his
sentiments in writing ; one who well knows how to wield
that useful weapon, the pen — that weapon so dangerous when
not restrained by morality and by law ; one who, having
raised himself from humble parentage by his intellectual en
dowments, ought to have recollected, that others who had
done the same, were as jealous as himself of their fair fame,
reputation, and esteem of the world. — Gentlemen, the defen
dant, Mr. Cobbett, is called upon to answer for part of the same
libel which was laid before you the other day, at the instance
of the crown; for by the mode of libelling which Mr. Cob
bett has adopted, he takes care to throw far and wide his
slander, and has thereby rendered it necessary for an indi
vidual who has been grievously calumniated, to come forward
in vindication of himself against an attack upon his character,
through the medium of the magistracy, and the situation
which he holds as solicitor-general of that part of the United
Kingdom, called Ireland. It is not for me to enter into th«
considerations which determined you in your former verdict

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 13
but I confess, it appeared extraordinary to me to hear it stated
by the defendant's counsel, that the libel was dictated by a
regard for his majesty's government in Ireland, and a zeal
for the constitution of the country, when, at the same time,
the author describes that part of the United Kingdom as
brought into peril by sedition and rebellion, and shaken to its
centre by intestine commotions ; and by way of curing that
strife and discord, represents his sovereign, whom he pro
fesses to love, but whom he cannot love, if he is guilty of the
libel before you, as employing his executive authority at this
awful juncture, in selecting persons who, so far from having
the capacity to govern a country, are not fit to be constables
for the meanest parish. Because a person in Lord Hard-
wicke's situation chooses to devote his leisure hours to agri
cultural pursuits, Mr. Cobbett represents him as a nobleman,
" having a good library in St. James' Square, and cele
brated for understanding the modern method of fattening a
sheep as well as any man in Cambridgeshire." He takes the
same liberty with another noble lord, with whom we are all
well acquainted. I mean my Lord Redesdale ; who is re
presented as " a very able and strong-built chancery pleader
from Lincoln' s-Inn." Now, gentlemen, is it a disgrace to
a man to be a feeder of sheep in Cambridgeshire, or a chan
cery pleader ? Yet, in this strain of ridicule does Mr. Cob
bett treat them, for the purpose of making the world believe,
that they are unfit persons for the situation their sovereign has
called them to fill. In this way he thinks fit to stab, and de
stroy, the character of these noblemen, and to inflict such a
wound, such a dastardly and malignant wound, that I should
change my opinion of you, gentlemen, and I should be sorry
to do so, after so many years acquaintance with most of your
countenances, if, after hearing what I shall have to address
to you, you could suffer such a libeller to go out of this court
unpunished, — Gentlemen, this is a civil action; I therefore
trust you will not suffer your minds to be distracted by those
important considerations of the liberty of the press, which
have so often agitated parliament and courts of justice. It

11 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
would ill become me to say any thing against that sacred pri
vilege ; seeing that I consider it as almost the only honour of
my humble life, that I took an active part in framing the
statute for its protection, and assisted the eminent statesmen
who brought that law into parliament, which was referred to
on the former trial, and so ably commented upon by my
learned friend Mr. Adam. The reason of that law was this :
it never was disputed, it never can or will be disputed,
that a man is entitled to that tranquillity, happiness, and
peace of mind, which is the result of an honourable re
putation, provided his conduct in life entitles him to it.
There is implanted in every man's bosom an invincible
sensibility to the opinion of his fellow creatures, which
nothing can destroy. It is the foundation of all patriotism,
the sentiment which rears states from infancy to maturity,
the principle that makes eminent 'men struggle for dis
tinction, and keeps them in the straight paths of their duty
when called to the high offices of magistracy ; therefore, the
laws of society protect mankind in this dearest of all human
blessings ; and, if any man writes of another that which is
injurious to him in his trade, profession, or character, or
which tends to expose him to penalties, or brings him into
contempt, all this is libellous, and the law deems it an object
of penal animadversion. But, to use the language of my
Lord Chief Justice Holt, a man peculiarly a friend to the
liberty of the press, " words tending to scandalize magis
trates or persons in public trust, are more injurious than when
spoken against private men," and for this obvious reason,
that magistrates are placed on a pinnacle to which the public
attention is directed ; they, know that the public have a right
to call on them for an account of their conduct ; whereas pri
vate men are known only among the circles of thejr own
families or immediate friends. In the case before you, mv
client is attacked not only as a private individual, but as a
magistrate also; it is, however, necessary, that in appealing
for satisfaction, he should come into this court erect in his in
tegrity, and conscious of his innocence. If he is the man

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 15
Mr. Cobbett has represented him, it was for the defendant
to have justified the libel and to have proved it. But all this
he has not so much as attempted to do. Had he done so, I
would rather die than hold communion with an abandoned,
profligate wretch, such as my client is here represented to be.
It never can have been said, that it was other than a question
of law, what was a libel which brought a man into contempt?
it is a question of fact whether it has been written, and the
meaning and intention of the author are also a question of
fact. With respect to libels which have a tendency to bring
the government into contempt, the question of the law is mixed
with fact, upon which the judge is to give the general prin
ciples, leaving the jury to draw their own conclusions. It
was not Lord Mansfield who first departed from this rule ; it
had been departed from by judges before his time for so long
a series, that his lordship considered juries, the moment the
publication was proved, without any jurisdiction to consider
its tendency, but bound to return their verdict for the crown.
The consequence of this was, that libellers became popular.
They made use of the office of jury as a stalking horse to cover
iniquity ; and it thereby became easy to confound the most es
sential and substantial privileges of the people with the worst
offences. To remedy this evil, the libel bill was brought in. It
was a great satisfaction to my mind, to hear so eminent a person
as the noble lord now on the bench, declare to you the other
day, that, independently of this law, its principle is the one
which he should have adopted. In the present case, I must
first prove that the defendant published the libel ; but, I shall
not expect that you will give damages, unless I also prove,
that this libel is of the most malignant, injurious, and de
structive nature ; that it might lead in its probable conse
quences to the premature death of the unfortunate person,
my client, and that, at all events, it strikes most deeply at his
honour. Before the publication of this libel, Mr. Robert
Emmett, the son of an eminent physician in Ireland, and
brother to a barrister, had mixed himself abroad with seditious
persons, who had fijled his mind with an enthusiastic notion,

16 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
that the interest and happiness of Ireland could only be ef
fected by a separation from Great Britain. He directed all
his views to the accomplishment of this purpose. He avowed
his design, he gloried in it when the sword of justice was
lifted up against him ; and when he was asked by the judge,
why judgment should not be passed on him, he entered into
a declaration of his principles, and avowed his determination
to die in defence of them. Lord Norborry, before whom he
was tried, fearful of allowing him to avail himself of his
situation to foment rebellion, interrupted the unfortunate
young man more than once. Highly as every one must ap
prove the conduct of the noble lord, it is, nevertheless, to be
lamented, that it should have become necessary to have in
terrupted him ; for, gentlemen, what will you say, when I
tell you, that, to the confusion of this libeller, this unfor
tunate young man, after he retired, made this declaration,
" that such had been the mildness of the government of Lord
Hardwicke," of which the defendant has spoken with such
contempt, because the father of the late minister was a doctor
— such, I say, had been its mildness, " that he was obliged
to push on the catastrophe that took place, lest there should
have been an end of rebellion, by the causes of it having
ceased." Mr. Emmett, after he had been prevented from do
ing any more mischief, so far from complaining that he had
been insulted by my client, Mr. Plunkett, openly acknow
ledged that it was the wisdom, the moderation, the forbearance,
the prudence, and the virtue of the government of Lord Hard
wicke, that were dissolving rebellion and the spirit of it, like
enchantment, by working in secret on the minds of a noble-
minded people. Mr. Emmett could not wait, for fear the
people should be divested of their insane prejudices. They
were induced to return to their duty and their allegiance, in-
the same manner as the fog is dispersed at the rising of the
sun, not from its heat, but the benignity of its beams. Lord
Hardwicke, gentlemen, has governed Ireland in a most ex
cellent manner. I have some reason to be acquainted with
his private character, as his lordship married one of my

MemoIRs of witiaAM cobbett, esq. 17
neatest relations. He has conducted himself in Ireland with
such mildness^ that a change in the minds of people has al»
ready begun to take place; It is not by long speeches that
the ruler of a nation discovers his ability to govern ; it is not
by sesquipedalia verba, nor by high-sounding eloquence; In
Ireland particularly, from circumstances which have occufredy
the people of that country require to be restrained with a de
licate hand. Mr; Burke once said, speaking of America,
" you should send her the angel of peace* but instead of the
angel of peace, you are sending her the destroying angel."
The high characters, to whom I allude, appear to have
adopted with respect to Ireland, what the great Lord Chat
ham so well recommended when speaking of America.—
" Be to her faults a little blind,
Be to her virtues ever kind,
Let all her wajs be unconfin'd,
And clap tl.e padlock on your mind."
By acting upon this principles the government of Ireland
was daily reconciling the affections of the people ; so much
so, that Mr. Emmett thought, if he deferred his scheme of
insurrection, it would be difficult at a future day to bring
them up to the pitch of disaffection which was necessary to
its success. The attempt was accordingly made. The re
sult it is unnecessary for me to state. Mr. Plunkett, the
plaintiff, was employed to assist the Attorney General in the
prosecution against Mr. Emmett ; and the case was so clear,
that the counsel who was engaged for that unhappy person
did not call any witnesses to protect him. My Lord Norberry
Was of opinion, that this did not prevent the counsel for the
Crown from making observations to the jury. My client was
far from desiring to treat with contempt, or insult a man who
was about to suffer death. I do say, and Mr. Cobbett was
at liberty to prove the contrary, if he could have done so,
that Mr. Plunkett availed himself of this useful opportunity
to warn others from the fate of this wretched young man-
He told them, that if they expected France to assist them in
the forming of their republic, they would find themselves
22. — VOL. IT. D

18 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
dreadfully deceived ; that the time was not far off when they
would see that their leader was actuated by nothing but am
bition, by a desire to aggrandize his own family, and a total
forgetfulness of every thing that had animated the mind of the
great Washington. Was not this the duty of the counsel of
the crown ? This is what Mr. Plunkett did. This is what I
should have done in a similar situation. He made such ob
servations as were calculated to redeem the people of Ireland
to a love of their country and of its government. It was not
with a view to Mr. Emmett alone that he addressed the jury,
but that the scaffold might not bleed in vain. — Gentlemen,
I am by no means desirous of calling in question the high
character which was given of Mr. Cobbett on a former day ;
but if he be the lover Of his country, which he has been de
scribed to you, he must shew his attachment by obedience to
its laws. The defendant has not merely thrown out the
ambiguas voces,- but, day after day> this lover of the king's
government has been writing and sending forth his libels
into that distracted country. It is no defence to say, that
Mr. Cobbett is an admirer of the king and constitution, if he
is constantly libelling the ministers of that king and trans
gressing the laws of that constitution. It is nothing for a
man to say, "I believe in the merits of my Saviour, I respect
my religion and my God," if he is hourly in the practice
of breaking the ten commandments. The defendant does
not fall into sin from the infirmities of his nature. The
Saviour of man has said, " by their fruits ye shall know
them," and by the libels which I am about to read to you,
you will be enabled to judge of Mr. Cobbett. Although, as
I have shewn to you, Mr. Emmett had hot the least idea of
complaining of harsh treatment on the part of my client
towards him, the defendant has nevertheless thought proper
to publish the following most scandalous libel : " If any one
man could be found, of whom a young but unhappy victim
of the justly offended laws of his country, had, in the mo
ment of his conviction and sentence, uttered the following
apostrophe : — ' That viper, whom my father nourished ! He

MEMOIRS OF WILtlAM COBBETT, ESQ. 19
it was from whose principles and doctrines, which no\v, by
their effects, drag me to my grave ; and he it is, who is now
brought forward as my prosecutor, and who, by an unheard-
of exercise of the prerogative,, has wantonly lashed, with a
speech to evidence, the dying son of his former friend, when
that dying son had produced no evidence, had made no de
fence, but on the contrary, acknowledged the charge, and
submitted to his fate." Lord Kenyon would have turned with
horror from such a scene, in which, although guilt was in
one to be part punished, yet irt'the whole drama justice was
confounded, humanity outraged, and loyalty insulted." Now,
gentlemen, what can be said of a man worse than this ? My
Lord Coke, with all his great fame, never has outlived, and
never will outlive, the memory of the manner in which he
treated Sir Walter Raleigh in a court of justice, So re
volting was his conduct upon this occasion, that it stands like
a blot upon his escutcheon. The conduct imputed to the
plaintiff would have been brutal, even if Mr. Emmett had
been a perfect stranger to him, instead of the " dying son of
his former friend." But, the assertion is false, or Mr. Cob
bett might have proved it. Was Mr. Cobbett present when
Mr. Emmett made use of these words ? And, if not, where
had he his authority ? Has he any right to insert in his
papers, what renders me the object of universal horror and
detestation ? No crime can be more detestable, than that
which the plaintiff is here charged with ; that he had " in
stilled into the mind of this young man, principles which, by
their effects dragged him to his grave ; and that, by an un
heard-of exercise of prerogative he had wantonly lashed, with
a speech to evidence, the dying son of his former friend,
when that dying son had produced no evidence, had made no
defence, but, on the contrary, had acknowledged his charge,
and had submitted to his fate." He goes on to say, that " Lord
Kenyon would have turned with horror from such a scene, in
which, although guilt was in one part to be punished, yet, in
the whole drama, justice was confounded* humanity outraged,
and loyalty insulted." Gentlemen, is this true? Did Mr.

20 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COIiBETT, ESQ.
Cobbett believe it to be true when he published it ? But,
.notwithstanding this, he sells these libels to this very hour \
he sells them in volumes, the more effectually to blast the
character of this man to future times. But, Mr, Adam tells
you, that his client is a man of strong powers of mind ; that
he writes from a spirit and principle of his own ; that he
raised himself tQ his present re- pe< table situation by un-r
wearied industry ; that he was the son of a farmer, and the
grandson of a day labourer; that he is self-taught in the
grammar of his native language, and knows how to use that
language with acuteness and precision. All these qualifi
cations I am ready to allow Mr. Cobbett, and over and above
these qualifications I give him the merit of having published
this libel ; which I will venture to say is one of the most
clever, as well as one of the most wicked efforts of his
genius.— Gentlemen, there is nothing so popular in England
as a judge. The people of England love their laws, and love
their judges. But what does this artful libeller do ? Under
the mask of praising my Lord Kenyon, and telling us what
that noble lord would have done in such and such situations,
he seizes the opportunity it affords him, of sending forth
against the plaintiff, Mr. Plunkett, one of the most abomina
ble libels that ever was brought into a court of justice. —
Gentlemen, upon the subject of damages, I contend, the in^
jury the plaintiff has received is one of those which it is
almost impossible to compensate by money. I beseech you
to make the plaintiff's case your own, and by that standard
appreciate what he ought to recover. A jury cannot "mi?
nister to a mind diseased," but it can, and I trust will, by
an honest verdict, give ample reparation to the gentleman so
basely injured, and thereby proclaim the justice of the British,
law. The libel goes on to say : " Lord Kenyon must have
known that a noble duke, for having toasted at a drunken
club, in a common tavern, to a noisy rabble, ' the sovereignty
. of the people,' was 8truck by his majesty's command out of
the Privy Council, and deprived of all his offices both civil

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 21
and military." Gentlemen, this is a libel upon the Duke of
Norfolk, This libeller is not satisfied with employing single
ball, but canriister, grape shot, old nails, every thing is
brought into his battery, and hurled around, so as to do the
utmost possible mischief. Here is a libel, too, upon the
Whig Club. What will my friend Adam say to this ? Gen
tlemen, I assure 'you 'the Whig Club is not a drunken club,
nor are its members a noisy rabble. But, does not Mr. Cob
bett know that the Duke of Norfolk is riot the only man that
was struck out of the Privy Council ? Does he not know, that
the name of that great statesman Mr. Fox was struck out
also ? And does he not know, that the person who induced
his majesty to make that erasure, has since endeavoured to
persuade him to strike it in again ?— He goes on to say :
f If, therefore, any man were tb be found who, not at a
drunken club, or to a brawling rabble, but in a grave and
high assembly, not in the character of an inebriated toast-
master, but in that of a sober, constitutional lawyer, had in
sisted on the sovereignty of the peaple as a first principle of
the English law, and had declared, that by law an appeal lay
from the decision of the tellers of the Houses of parliament,
to that of the ' tellers of the nation,1 and that if a particular
law were disagreeable to the people, however it might have
been enacted with all royal and parliamentary solemnity,
nevertheless it was not binding, and the people, by the ge
neral law, were exempted from obedience to such a particular
law, because the people were the supreme and ultimate judges
of what was for their own benefit. Lord Kenyon, if he had
been chancellor in any kingdom in Europe, would have
shrunk from recommending any such man to the favOur of a
monarch, while there yet remained a shadow of monarchy
visible in the world." Here again this lover of the British
constitution attacks that constitution in one of its three
branches. We know, gentlemen, that every member of
Parliament has a right to deliver his free, unbiassed senti
ments ; and if the plaintiff, in the execution of that right, did
exceed the bounds prescribed by the rules of that House, it

22 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
would have been a libel on the then Speaker of the Irish
House of Commons, who now sits on the bench with his
lordship, if he had not called him to order. Why will Mr.
Cobbett meddle with matters of so high and important a
nature ? — Gentlemen, the questions for your consideration
are simply these : Is the defendant the proprietor ? Did he
persist in the publication ? Is it a libel upon the plaintiff?
And does it affect him in his character and reputation ? —
Gentlemen, if the libel be true, if the plaintiff be the aban
doned miscreant here described, we ought to draw a curtain
before him, and hide him from the world for ever, A thou
sand poniards are unsheathed to revenge the death of Em
mett, and this inflammatory libel is calculated to direct them
to the heart of the plaintiff. If he goes away from this court
with small damages, I shall lament that I brought the busi
ness before you. The people of Ireland are deeply interested
in the verdict you shall deliver. I love and venerate the
people of Ireland. I love those who are loyal. 1 love those
who are not loyal — because I believe they will shortly become
so. I trust your verdict will have the effect of doing away
all jealousies and prejudices between the two countries, by
shewing that an Irish gentleman is not disfranchised by the
union, but that, under the mild administration of the laws
of England, he is entitled to, and will receive the same
measure of justice as in his own country. — Gentlemen, I
shall not occupy any more of your attention, but shall con
clude, with expressing a hope, that I have said nothing capa
ble of widening the breach between Great Britain and Ireland.
EVIDENCE ON THE PART OF THE PLAINTIFF.
Mr. James Pole examined by Mr. Garrow.
Q. Did you ever purchase any numbers of Cobbett's Po
litical Register ?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Where did you purchase them ?
A. In Pall-mall, at a shop described as Cobbett's Political
Register Office.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 23
Q. Did you ever buy any other numbers at any other
time ?
A. Yes, on the 24th of May, at Bagshaw's, in Bow-street,
Covent-garden, Q. Had you any opportunity of knowing whether that
work has a rapid sale ?
A. Yes ; a lady at the shop in Pall-mall told me —
Mr. Adam. — My lord, I object to that question.
Lord Ellenborough. — ] do not think the question necessary.
It is enough to prove that the work has been in a course
of sale.
Mr. Garrow. — Q. Did you find any difficulty in obtaining
those numbers ?
A. None at all.
Mr. Crowe examined by Mr. Garrow.
Q. I believe you have got the patent under the great seal
appointing Mr. Plunkett Solicitor General of Ireland ?
A. I have. [Read by Mr. Lowten.]
Q. 1 believe you have also a copy of Mr. Plunkett' s re
turn for the borough of Carlow.
A. Yes, I have. [Read by Mr. Lowten.]
Q. Have you a copy of the conviction and judgment of
Robert Emmett ?
A. I have. [Here the copy was produced and read by-
Mr. Lowten.]
The Right Honourable W. Wickham, examined by
Mr. Garrow.
Q. Were you in Ireland at the time of the trial of Robert
Emmett ?
A. I was.
Q. Are you acquainted with Mr. Plunkett the present
Solicitor General of Ireland ? ,
A. Yes.
Q. Did he officiate as one of his Majesty's Counsel ?
A. Yes. He was one of his Majesty's Counsel.

21 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT; ESQ'
Q. Was he confidently advised with on all occasions Ort
which the law officers of the crown are generally consulted ?
A. Yes. Whenever it was necessary, which frequently
occurred — almost daily. . , ,
Q". Have you looked at the paper in questipn, called the
libel? A. I have not.
Q. Cast y^our eye over the passage^ page 808, beginning
with " a couple of lawyers without political habjts, political
information, or honourable connexions." , Do you understand
those passages to apply to Mr. O'Gfrady the Attorney Ge
neral, and Mr; Plunkett the Solicitor General ?
A. Clearly of the Attorney and Solicitor General.
Cross-examined by Mr. Adam.
Q. They were the confidential counsel of the executive
government at that time ?
A. Yes ; they certainly were;
Q. Both Mr. O' Grady as well as Mr; Plunkett?
A; Yes, they were.
Q. Both in the confidence of the executive government of
Ireland ?
A; Yes, both of them.
Mr. Barnard examined by Mr. Dampier.
Q. Were you in Ireland at the time of Mr. Emmett's trial ?
A. I was.
Q. Did you see Mr. Plunkett at that trial ?
A. Yes, I did;
Q. Was he employed for the prosecution ?
A. He was.
Q. Did he make any observations to evidence, in the
course of that trial ?
A. He did.
Q. Look at this number of Cobbett's Political Register,
page .808, and read the passage beginning with the words
" If any one man could be found of whom a young but un-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ES.Q. 25
happy victim of the laws,' ' — Whom do you conceive to be
meant by " a young but unhappy victim of the laws ?"
A. I should suppose Mr. Emmett.
Q. Conceiving Mr. Emmett to be the person alluded to
by the words " young and unhappy victim of the laws,"
whom should you suppose to be intended by the passages,
" if any one man could be found," and " that viper whom
my father nourished?" &c.
A. I do not know that Mr. Plunkett was nourished by
Mr. Emmett's father.
Q. But to whom do you suppose them to apply ?
A. To Mr, Plunkett.
Q, Did Mr. Emmett' s counsel make no defence ?
A. None,
The Right Honourable John Foster examined by
Mr. Nolan.
Q. I believe you were Speaker of the Irish House of
Parliament previous to the union ?
A. I was.
Q. Do you remember Mr. Plunkett sitting as a member
in that House ?
A. I do.
Q, Do you remember whether Mr. Plunkett ever delivered
his opinions on the different subjects agitated in debate ?
A. I do not think it proper to state whether or not he
delivered his opinions-
Lord Ellenborough. — It only goes to state whether or not
he gave any opinions on the subjects in debate,
Q. Do you recollect whether he ever delivered h;s opinions
on the different subjects agitated in debate ?
A. He frequently took a part in the debates.
Q. Have you read the libel ?
A. I have.
Q. Do you suppose Mr. Plunkett is the person intended
in the libel ? *
22.— vol. n. e

26 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ,
Lord Ellenborough.— Mr; Nolan read what particular part
you mean.
Mr. Nolan.— Q. Read the passage " if any man could be
found," &c. Taking the whole context of. this passage,
Whom do you conceive to be meant by it .?
A- Taking the whole, I should certainly conceive Mr.
Plunkett to be meant by it. Taking the last sentence, I
should not, Crps#*exqmined by Mr. Adam.
Q. Mr, Plunkett was a member of the Irish House of
Parliament previous tp the union ?
A. He was,
Q; Did he speak on questions relative to the union be*.
tween Great Britain, and Ireland ?
A. Yes, he did,
Q. Do you recollect any of the expressions or arguments
he made use of in the course of those debates ?
Lord EllenbOrough. — It would be a breach of his duty and
his oath, to reveal the councils of the nation.
Mr. Adam,'— -Q. What are your reasons for believing that
Mr. Plunkett. is not the person meant by the latter part of
the passage ?
A. I said, that, taking the whole context, I should suppose
Mr, Plunkett to be the person meant ; but, taking the sen
tence just read, I should not suppose it was him.
The evidence being closed on the part of the plaintiff,
Mr. Lowton read the passages in the Political Register com
plained of in the declaration ; after which,
Mr, Adam rose and addressed the Court as follows ; — My
Lord, and Gentlemen of the Jury ; — The task now
devolves on me fo occupy a portion of your attention. My
learned friend, in his address to you, has made repeated al
lusions to the proceedings which took place on a former day.
He tells you, that he observes the names of the same jury on
the pannel, and that he sees the same faces in the box. Gen-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ; 27
tlemenj I am not, indeed, acquainted, like my learned friend,
with your persons ; but I know the uprightness of, your
minds ; I know in general the upright character of an Eng
lish jury ; I know your powers of distinguishing between a
civil action for the. purpose of damages, and a criminal pro
secution, I know, too, gentlemen* that you are capable of
feeling the grand and. leading, distinction, that in an action
for personal damages, the defendant is capable of justifying
his conduct. My learned friend has endeavoured to inflame
your minds by adverting to the present state of Ireland, and
by repeated allusions to the trial on a former day, with
which the present action has no connexion whatever. With
respect to that trial, you are bound to blot from your me
mories all recollection of it, to divest yourselves of all pre
judices, to try this action with free and unfettered minds,
and to consider, as my Lord Kenyon used to say, only what
is within the four corners of the record. It is not a libel on
my Lord Hardwicke which you have now to try ; it is not a
libel upon my Lord Redesdale ; it is not a libel upon Mr.
Justice Osborne, or Mr. Secretary Marsden ; but : it is, as I
before informed you, a civil action for the purpose of damages.
My learned friend, with that power of; calling up images
which he possesses in so eminent a degree, has called up the
departed spirits of Mr. Burke and the great Earl of Chatham.
He has reminded you of the lines made use of by that noble
lord, when speaking of Americas
*• Be to her »trtue9 ever kind,
Be to her I'aultx n little blind.
And clap the padlock on your mind."
Gentlemen, I beg you will transpose theselines, and apply
the two first to the defendant, Mr. Cobbett :
" Be to his virtues ever kiiid,
Be to Mi fault* a little blind."
and '" clap the padlock on your mind," as to the inflamma
tory effects of those parts of my learned friend's speech,

28 -MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM coRbeTt* ESQ';
which have no connexion with the subject before you.—*
Gentlemen, in any thing I am about to say, I beg you will
not suppose for one moment, that I am not an enemy to all
professed libellers; I can honestly exclaim with the poet,
"Curs'd be the verse, how smooth soe'er it flow,
That tends to make one virtuous man my foe."
And if I express myself in any way that can be construed
into a justification of what has been written and published, I
entreat that you will not clothe my client with that blame,
and that you will not, from any want of art or ability oh my
part, visit him, therefore, with an increase of damages.—^
There is another point which I think I have a right to com
plain of in my learned friend's address to you. He has
spoken very highly of Mr. Cobbett as a public character, and
has made use of the evidence produced oh the former trial in
favour of the defendant, in order to enhance the damages
against him. This I am sure you will not suffer to enter
into your consideration.— I hope I shall be able to convince
you, that now, when the settled state of Ireland renders a
repetition of those animadversions on the government, which
have been so long suffered with impunity, unnecessary, it
would be an act of severity, if the defendant, who is the last
person who has fallen into the snare, should be visited with
a vindictive verdict. With respect to the amount of damages,
(for some damages, I admit, ybu must give,) I earnestly en
treat you to consider, that Mr. Cobbett is a man virtuous in
private life, that he is the father of a numerous family, and
the husband of an amiable wife, and that he is a person who
maintains himself, not by ribaldry in his writings, for those
writings are uniformly characterized by an honest zeal in
defence Of the aristocracy Of this country, as well as the
other component parts of its government. He left his
father's house when he was hardly eighteen years of age;
since which time he has been the successful champion, and
almost sole defender of the rights of this country in America.'
At the moment I am speaking, he is several years under the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 29
age of forty, and consequently cannot be supposed to have
obtained that independence which would not make the heavy
damages which my learned friend wishes to wring, from you,
but which I am sure he will not wring from you, worse than
the severest sentence ever inflicted on any person convicted
of the grossest libel. If you were to measure them in the
proportion my learned friend calls upon you to measure them,
you would doom him to an eternal imprisonment ; you would
doom him to that situation to which it never was meant,
and never will be meant by an English jury, that any man
should be subjected by the consequences of a civil action.—
My learned friend says, that this action was brought, in order
to shew the falsehood of the libel. Gentlemen, I have the
best authority for saying, that the defendant never entertained
the idea of justifying this libel. It was impossible for him to
justify it. For, in order to have satisfied your minds, we
must have produced that testimony from which we are shut
out by the established laws and usages of parliament. The
Bill of Rights expressly says, that no words uttered in par
liament shall be said any where but in parliament. When,
therefore, you are considering that you are called upon to
pronounce a verdict of damages, high in their,. nature, and
completely ruinous to Mr. Cobbett, if you should pronounce
it, I humbly submit, gentlemen, that you will not throw out
of that consideration the situation in which the defendant is
thereby placed. — Gentlemen, there were other topics in the
speech of my learned friend, of Which I have a right to com-
plain, but he knows I am not in the/habit of complaining. I
will therefore give over my Complaints, and come to the
other points upon which he has so eloquently descanted.
He has called your attention to the Whig Club, to his
Grace the Duke of Norfolk, and to another great and il
lustrious character, Mr. Fox. Most undoubtedly < it is true,
that that illustrious character was struck by his majesty's
command,; out of the list of Privy Council. But, gentlemen,
this is not all. My learned friend has stated another circum
stance. He has told you at the same time, that the present

30 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, EsQi
Chancellor of the Exchequer, who counselled and advised his
majesty so to do, has since advised him to call that illustrious
character to the cabinet, and thereby to strike his name in
again. If Mr. Fox had thought proper to bring an action
against Mr. Cobbett or any other person* I should have said
to him, you are not injured by what has been done, but are
even thought a proper person to form part of his majesty's
government. Gentlemen, mutate > nomine, the case applies
to the plaintiff in the present action. Were you to give one
fourth, nay, one twentieth part of the sum at which the plain
tiff has thought proper to lay his damages, it would produce
the effect upon my client which I have already stated. Gen
tlemen, this is a grave question. You have already pro*
nounced a verdiet which applies to the whole criminality of
the case. Mr. Cobbett has been pronounced guilty, not
only of the other parts of the publication, but of this very part
also. And, if it be unfair to hold up a civil action to criminal
punishment, I submit that it would be more especially so in
the present case. I, therefore, have every reason to hope, on
the part of the character of the defendant, on the part of the
wife and children of the defendant, on the part of the fortune
of the defendant, that you will be lenient towards him, and
that you will not, by excessive damages, doom him to per
petual imprisonment. — My learned friend has treated Mn
Cobbett as the author of this libel, which he represented to
you as written with all the nerve and energy which charac
terize that gentleman's publications. On the other hand,
Mr. Attorney-General the other day, gave you to understand,
that he had reasons for believing it was not written by Mr.
Cobbett. Now, let us examine a little what the nature of
this libel is; and, in what I am about to say, I shall state to
you a plain unvarnished tale. I acknowledge the inuendoes
to have been fully proved, and therefore what I have to dis
cuss relates generally to the libel itself. It says, " from a
rare modesty of nature, or from a rare precision of self-know
ledge, Lord Kenyon would have acted with reserve and
circumspection, on his arrival in a country, with the moral

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT ESQ. 31
quality of the inhabitants of which, and with their persons,
manners, and individual characters and connexions, he must
have been utterly unacquainted. In such a country, torn
with domestic- sedition 'and treason, threatened with foreign
invasions and .acting, since the union, under an untried con
stitution;" now let us stop here for a moment and recollect,
that in this, sentence there is nothing that can be construed
info alibel upon the constitution of Ireland, but directly the
reverse. It goes on to say, "if Doctor Addington had required that
Lord Kenyon should direct a Cambridgeshire earl ' in all his
councils,' Lord Kenyon would as soon, at the desire of Lord
St. Vincent, have undertaken to pilot a line of battle ship
through the Needles," And then it comes to that part which
is the ground work of the present action ; " that viper! whom
my father nourished ', he it was from whose lips I first im
bibed those principles and doctrines, which now by their
effects drag me to my grave." Now, gentlemen, I entreat
you to notice and consider the connexion which this passage
has with the other parts of the libel, and, having done so, I
am persuaded you will be of opinion with me, that it must
have been used in a figurative manner.
It then states, " Of Lord Kenyon, therefore, (Cambricus
must well know) it never could have been believed, that he
himself would lead such a character forward, introduce him
to the favour of a deceived sovereign, clothe him in the robes
and load him with the emoluments of office. Lord Kenyon
must have known, that a noble duke, for having toasted at a
drunken club, in a common tavern, to a noisy rabble, ' the
sovereignty of the people,' was struck by his majesty's
command out of the Privy Council, and deprived of all his
offices both civil and military. If, therefore, any man were
to be found who, not at a drunken club, or to a brawling
rabble, but in a grave and high assembly, not in the character
of an inebriated toast-master, but in that of a sober consti
tutional lawyer, had insisted on the sovereignty of the people,
as a first principle of the English law, and had declared, that

32 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
by law an appeal lay from the decision of the tellers of the
Houses of Parliament, to that of the ' tellers of the nation ;"
and that if a particular law were disagreeable to the people,
however it might have been enacted with all royal and par
liamentary solemnity, nevertheless it was not binding, and the
people, by the general law, were exempted from obedience to
such a particular law, because the people were the supreme
and ultimate judges of what was for their own benefit ; Lord
Kenyon, if he had been Chancellor in any kingdom of Europe,
would have shrunk from recommending any such man to
the favour of a monarch, while there yet remained a shadow
of monarchy visible in the world." Now, gentlemen, this
part of the question relates to a circumstance, the particulars
of which, we have been prevented, by the established law of
Parliament, from diving into ; nor do I wish to bring it for
ward in this place ; but I have a right to state, that if any
person should have printed, so far back as the year 1799,
a speech importing to be a speech made by the plaintiff, Mr.
Plunkett, and if it should appear that the passage I have just
read to you, is an exact copy of a passage in that speech, I
submit, that this is a case extremely favourable to my client.
My learned friend in the course of his speech, has alluded to
me. Let me also in my turn beg leave to allude to him.
Suppose in a lecture room he had insisted on the sovereignty
of the people as a first principle of the English law, and had
declared, that by law an appeal lay from the decision of the
tellers of the Houses of Parliament, to that of the tellers of
the nation ; what species of moral offence would it have been
to have said, that he was an improper person to become the
law officer of the crown ? Where would have been the moral
crime in publishing that my learned friend had made use of
those expressions ? And more j if it could be proved, that
those expressions had been published and attributed to him
in newspapers and in pamphlets, from the year 1800 up to the
present year 1804, and that he had never called upon any of
those publishers for an explanation, what sort of damages, I
ask, would you have given to my learned friend? Having

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 33
said this, let me read to you the infamous libel attributed to
Mr. Plunkett. It is stated in this book, purporting to be a
collection of speeches on the Union, that, in the Irish House
of Commons, on the 22nd of June 1799, Mr. Plunkett made
use of these words, "I, in the most express terms deny the
competency of Parliament to do this Act," (meaning the Act
of Legislative Union between the two countries.) " I tell
you that if, circumstanced as you are, you pass this Act, it
will be a mere nullity, and that no man in Ireland will be
bound to obey it. I make the assertion deliberately, I repeat
it, aud call on any man who hears me, to take down my
words 
Mr. Erskine. — I submit to your lordship, that this sort
of evidence is perfectly inadmissible.
Lord Ellenborough  Altogether so, and when I come
to address the Jury, I shall certainly take occasion to remind
them, that they must discharge it totally from their recollec
tion. Mr. Adam. — I feel a considerable degree of embarrass
ment at this interruption. I did not interrupt my learned
friend when he was impressing your minds with the idea that
Mr. Cobbett was the author of this libel. — Gentlemen, the
point on which I was addressing you was this, that if such
words have been attributed to Mr. Plunkett, I was submitting
to you, that after five years of silent acquiescence on the part
of Mr. Plunkett, after suffering the expressions here attri
buted to him, to be sent to every corner of the kingdom in
the form of newspapers and of pamphlets, it would be an
extremely hard case to inflict severe damages upon Mr. Cob
bett for the mere republication of them.
Lord Ellenborough.— I have no objection to your
stating this as matter of supposition, but, in the shape of
evidence, it cannot possibly be admitted.
Mr. Adam. — My lord, I was just about to state, that I
did not mean to proceed further into the detail of this subject.
Gentlemen, I wish you to consider in what state this cause
stands, and what the circumstances are, which entitle my
23. — VOL. II. F

34 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
learned friend to demand such excessive damages. I have
stated to you the situation of Mr. Cobbett and that of his
family, and I trust I have done it with decorum. With re
gard to the plaintiff, Mr. Plunkett, you have it in evidence,
that he was his majesty's Solicitor General in Ireland at the
time of the publication, and you also have it in evidence, that
he is still in the confidence of the Irish government ; but you
have ho evidence, that any step whatever has been taken to
remove him from the situation which he enjoys. Has he
received any injury by the publication ? Is he not still his
majesty's Solicitor General? Is he not still in the high career
to honours and emoluments ? I ask then, as my learned friend
has not produced one single circumstance to prove to you that
Mr. Plunkett has been injured by the publication in question,
— I ask, I say, whether, under all these circumstances, this is
a case which calls for those excessive damages, which my
learned friend has entreated you to give ? Gentlemen, you
have already passed a verdict of guilty upon the information
for public criminality. You are now considering an action
for private damages. Mr. Plunkett has received redress as
to the former, and if you should find, as I suppose you will
find, the defendant guilty, (as no justification whatever has
been attempted,) he will have a further opportunity of shew
ing to the world, that Mr. Cobbett never attempted to justify
the truth of it, that he did not wait to consult counsel, but
took his immediate determination to enter no justification
upon the record. Gentlemen, I submit that, under these
circumstances, you must quit the box before you pronounce
a verdict of damages. Let those damages be ever so low,
that verdict will be sufficient to establish, that Mr. Plunkett
has completely vindicated his character, and will shew to the
world, that what was alleged against him was untrue. Gen
tlemen, I am persuaded that the plaintiff does not come here
to take out of the pocket of Mr. Cobbett a sum, which would
not enrich him, but make Mr. Cobbett poor indeed. Gen
tlemen, I shall not trouble you with any further observations,
but shall conclude with expressing my firm reliance, that you

MEMOIRS. OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 35
will not inflict a punishment beyond what the justice of the
case requires.
Lord Ellenborough. — Gentlemen ; this is an action
for reparation in damages for a civil injury done to Mr.
Plunkett, the Solicitor General of Ireland, by the publication
of a libel, with the contents of which you have been made
fully acquainted. The defendant's counsel has admitted, that
the preliminary proof has been adduced, and no justification
appears on the record. The only question, therefore, for
your consideration is, the qualityof the libel, and the measure
of damages you will give in the exercise of your sound dis
cretion. You will lay out of your consideration the antece
dent matter of the criminal trial, on which the defendant has
been convicted. This is an action for the injury done to the
fair fame of an individual, and to ascertain the damages to
which he is entitled. That which gave the public a title to
reparation, ought not, however, to operate to the abridgement
of the right of a particular individual who complains of a
private injury. It will be for you to consider carefully the
circumstances of the case and the malignity of the libel, and
to say, what reparation in damages the plaintiff ought to
receive. These damages are not to be reduced by the
poverty of the defendant, if he is poor, nor increased by his
wealth, if he is rich; but are to be admeasured by the size
and magnitude of the injury done to the plaintiff. The only
way of measuring the extent of the injury done to a man's
fame is, by asking yourselves, what would make my mind
and my feelings an adequate compensation if such a libel as
this were true ? That it is not true, is admitted. If it were
true, it would have been open to the defendant to have jus
tified it on the record. If a man thinks proper to assert that
which it is difficult to prove, or represent that which cannot
be revealed, they are difficulties of his own creating, and the
libel must go forth accredited or discredited, according to the
circumstances. But, gentlemen, as to the first part of the
libel, I take the principal gravamen of the injury to lie in that
passage which commences with the words, " that viper whom

36 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
my father nourished'" To this passage I am desirous of
drawing your particular attention ; and, really, it seems hardly
possible to depict a person in more odious colours than are
here employed. I would ask, what could give more pain to
a virtuous mind, than to insinuate that he had acted like our
common enemy, "the seducer 'ere the accuser of mankind ;"
that he had first seduced and afterwards destroyed, whom he
had first corrupted; that he had instilled into the mind of
Mr. Emmett, the son of his friend, principles of disloyalty
and rebellion, and had afterwards, not in the ordinary exercise
of his duty, but "with a speech to evidence" wantonly lashed
the man to whom he was under family obligations, and who
was the pupil of his own sedition ? It appears to me hardly
possible to depict any one under more odious colours. It
matters not whether the defendant be the author or only the
publisher and adopter of another man's malignity. If he
chooses to send it into the world, he is criminal and guilty,
and is liable to all the consequences. Leaving the other
parts of the libel out of the question, I shall shortly call your
attention to that part which relates to the plaintiff. It says,
"if any one man could be found, of whom a young but un
happy victim of the justly offended laws of his country had,
in the moment of his conviction and sentence, uttered the
following apostrophe — " That viper! whom my father
nourished !" Is it possible to state any thing more detesta
ble, than that a person, who had been nourished by the
father of a man who had rendered himself amenable to the
infliction of the law, should insult and sting his son to death ?
"He it was from whose lips I first imbibed those principles
and doctrines, which now by their effects drag me to my
grave ; and he it is who is now brought forward as my pro
secutor, and who, by an unheard of exercise of the preroga
tive, has wantonly lashed with a speech to evidence the
dying son of his former friend, when that dying son had
produced no evidence, had made no defence ; but, on the
contrary, had acknowledged the charge, and had submitted
to his fate. — Lord Kenyon would have turned with horror

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 37
from such a scene, in which, although guilt was in one part
to be punished, yet, in the whole drama, justice was con
founded, humanity outraged, and loyalty insulted." Gentle
men, this is the part which particularly presses on my mind.
As to the language which the plaintiff may be supposed to
have held in the Irish House of Parliament, it might, if true,
render him unfit for recommendation to his majesty — it might
be improper. This, however, the defendant has not at
tempted to justify. But it is the other part of the libel, con
taining the most bitter and acrimonious observations that can
possibly be made use of, to which 1 wish to confine jour
attention. Consider what situation Mr. Plunkett is in. He
holds an office at all times and in all countries of an invidious
nature ; that of a public prosecutor, whose denunciations
may probably terminate in the death of the criminal. The
libel states, " that such a scene was acted as Lord Kenyon
would have turned away from with horror; a scene, in which,
although guilt was in one part to be punished, yet, in the
whole drama, justice was confounded, humanity outraged,
and loyalty insulted." To say of a public officer of the
crown, that he has acted in such a scene, is to imply that he
is forgetful of every principle of justice, and is placing him
in the lowest possible state of degradation. These, gentle
men, are the circumstances of this case. It is for you to
say, without considering the capacity of the defendant as to
his wealth or poverty, what reparation the plaintiff is en
titled to receive from the justice Of his country. Whatever
you may determine upon, I have no doubt they will be such
as ought to satisfy the party aggrieved ; and, with these few
observations, I leave the decision in the hands of those to
whom, by the constitution, it is solely referred.
The Jury retired for about twenty minutes, and returned
with a verdict for the Plaintiff — Damages £500.

38 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.

CHAPTER II.
Cobbett was now an inmate of Isewgate, smarting in
person and in purse, for his vigorous support of the blessed
constitution of England, and he had ample time to ponder
on the reward which he had received, and to devise those
means, by which he could assail his enemies in their strong
holds. Many of his old friends deserted him, but on a sud
den, he acquired new ones, by altering the tone of the senti
ments which he had been accustomed to use. Amongst
those new friends was Sir Francis Burdett, whom he had
generally treated with an unbecoming severity, but who now
suddenly became the object of his warmest panegyric. Sir
Frauds often visited him in Newgate, where the party fre
quently consisted Of four of the most notorious characters of
the times, Sir Francis Burdett, Major Cartwright, Henry
Hunt, and William Cobbett. It was in this conclave that
the affairs of the nation were canvassed with a degree of
perseverance and acuteness superior to any thing which had
ever taken place before, and which may be said to have laid
the foundation of many of those great political events which
were afterwards recorded in the annals of the country.
The question was often discussed, not only of the legality,
but also of the positive necessity of canvassing the actions of
public men, and thence the inference was drawn, that the
incarceration of Cobbett for so long a period as two years, to
which was attached the ruinous fine of £1000, with £500
added to it, for one and the same libel, only brought before
the jury of the country under a different shape, was a direct
act of oppression. It was fully determined upon, that freely
to make observations on, openly and undisguisedly to approve
of or to censure the conduct of men in place and power, is the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 39
undoubted right of every subject of this realm, and in every
one who, through the means of the press, undertakes to com
municate political information to the public, is not only a right
but a duty. In speaking of the liberty of the press, we should
always remember that which is but too often forgotten, to dis
criminate carefully as to the objects and the occasions, to which
the due exercise of this liberty applies, because from an indis
criminate application, either of the words or of the thing,
doubts frequently arise, and, indeed, it becomes a disputable
point, whether the thing, of which we boast so much, be a good
or an evil, and of course whether it ought to be encouraged or
suppressed. The inutility, and the public as well as indivi
dual injury in many cases of exposing, through the means of
the press, the faults of persons in private life, is so obvious,
that though no more than the truth be so exposed, the act, from
whatever motive proceeding, seldom fails in this feeling and
sensitive age to meet with general disapprobation. Perceiving
this propensity of the mind, all those who wish to prevent a
freedom of language with regard to public men, let them
take care first to confound public with private character and
faults ; next, to give the appellation of slander to all censure
indiscriminately, and then to break forth into a high-wrought
description of the odiousness and wickedness of slander.
Whether the art of printing has proved to mankind in
general, and to this nation in particular, a fortunate or an
unfortunate discovery, whether that mode of applying this
art, which is here denominated the liberty of the press,
ought or ought not to have been tolerated, these are questions
which we shall not here stop to discuss. The art has been
discovered ; the liberty of the press exists, and in exercising
this liberty, we should not regard it as an indulgence, as
something that is winked at, and with respect to our own
duty, as a right which we may either exercise or not, as our
interest or our caprice may happen to dictate. It should be
recollected that our laws, our public regulations and institu
tions are framed with the knowledge of the existence of a
certain influence of the press. All legislators leave some-

40 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
thing to be effected through the influence of religion, morality,
and public opinion, and ours in particular fail not to make
besides, an allowance for the liberty of the press. The
liberty of the press, therefore, really forms a part of the pre*-
sent constitution of our government, and when exercised
with respect to the public character or conduct of public men,
there seems to be no sound reason for our circumscribing it
within any other boundary than that of Truth, especially
when it be remembered that these public men have it at all
times in their power to cause the press to be used in their
behalf, and when it is well known that they do cause it to
be so used, and that too at the expense of the public. A
sophistical mode of statement has been employed in order to
screen public men from the animadversions of the press.
We have been told that their character is public property,
that it ought, therefore, to be watched over by the law.
True, in the plain sense of the words, but by this careful
watching is meant a power in the law to punish men for
writing truth, if in censure of public men. Here then lies
the' deception : the character of public men is public pro
perty, bat it is their true character, and no man should,
therefore, be liable to punishment for writing the truth of
public men. The character of the Duke of Cumberland as a
public man may be said to be public property, although it is
a property which the public have no great reason to boast the
possession of. The historian of the life of this man, must, if
he confines himself to the relation of simply what is true, find
himself in a very awkward predicament, for the public being
bound to protect their property, however bad and rotten that
property may be, and the character of the Duke of Cumber
land forming a part of that property, the historian must
either banish from his pages whatever is true, or he must fall
a victim to the vengeance of the public in the defence of their
property, such defence to be paid for out of the very purse to
which the historian is himself contributing. According, how
ever, to the law, the historian would not be allowed to prove
that what he has asserted is true., and probably he would

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 41
lose his liberty, if not his ease, in endeavouring to open the
eyes of his countrymen. While, however, this doctrine re
strains the press within very narrow bounds, as to the follies
and the crimes of men in power, it* makes ample amends on
the side of their wisdom and their virtue, both of which, in the
highest possible degree, we are freely permitted to attribute
to them, though they are well known to be fools or knaves,
or, if we may be allowed to use a parliamentary phrase, in
reference to the Duke of Cumberland, or something more.
Should we, however, be obliged in our editorial capacity to
confine ourselves to an eulogium of the extraordinary wisdom
and virtue of his royal highness, our pages would resemble
the celebrated one in Tristram Shandy, on which not a
single letter is impressed, and, therefore, the reader is left to
form his own conclusions, as to what ought to be inserted,
or for his own satisfaction and amusement, he might fill
it up himself.
Seeing, however, that the character of public men is public
property, wilhout allowing the public at the same time to do
what they like with their own property, and seeing also, that
the law considers, or is made to consider the public as a
party deeply interested in such cases, it would, we opine, be
very hard to show that false praise is not as likely to be in
jurious to the public, as false censure of public men. Truth
is, in such cases, the boundary marked out by reason, by jus-
lice, and by the spirit of the laws and constitution of the
kingdom, and while we confine ourselves within that boun
dary, we must set at defiance the outcry of those, who, for
reasons, which are obvious enough, stigmatize as a libeller
every man that ventures to satirize the conduct of a Guelph,
or a minister of state. "There is not," says Pope, "a
greater error in the world than that, which fools are so apt to
fall into, and knaves with good reason to encourage, the mis
taking of a satirist for a libeller, whereas, to a true satirist no
thing is so odious as a libeller, for the same reason as to a
man truly virtuous, nothing is so hateful as a hypocrite."
With respect to the character and conduct of persons in
23. — VOL. II. G

42 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
private life, this doctrine may, as was before observed, be
too full of terrors to the childish follies, and low beggarly
vices of the present day ; but if it be not admitted with re
spect to the public character and conduct of men in place and
power, if they can and do at all times command four fifths
of the press ; if their partizans be permitted constantly to ply
the public with praises of every part of their character and
conduct, if even their vices and their crimes be thus made
the subject of eulogium ; if all this be so, and if, neverthe
less, a man be liable to punishment for uttering the truth in
censure of men in place and power, then is the liberty of the
press, considered as a check upon such men, a mere mockery;
while on the other hand, it is to them a most convenient
instrument in deluding the people into an approbation of, or
at least a great submission to measures, against which, were
they left to judge from their own observation and feelings,
their minds could not fail to revolt.
A gradual and important change now took place in the
political disquisitions of Cobbett; and foreseeing that he
would be attacked for his apparent inconsistency, in so
openly and courageously defending the conduct of Mr. Pitt,
and then suddenly veering against him, he sent forth the
following exposition of his reasons, although it may be dis
tinctly seen, that there was working in his breast at the time,
a deep corroding spirit of revenge, for the prosecutions which
had been brought against him, and which, in a pecuniary
point of view, went far to reduce him to poverty. He com
mences the extenuation of his conduct, in the following
manner : —
" In calling for public censure on Mr. Pitt, I am fully
aware of the still considerable prejudice that is to be en
countered. We are all of us very much the creatures of
habit. It has long been the habit of many good men to ap
prove, without much examination, of every thing said and
done by Mr. Pitt, and to give him their support accordingly.
Attachments of this sort are not so easily shaken as some of
those of a more private nature, for besides that we are less

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 43
vigilant in public than in private concerns, besides that the in
dulgence of false pride in adhering to our errors, costs us less
in the former than in the latter case ; we are prone, from a
weakness of almost universal prevalence, to prefer being
thought ignorant of our own business, than ignorant of the
business of the state ; and you shall hardly find a man amongst
your acquaintance, who will not, without the least reluctance
or reserve, acknowledge himself to have been the dupe of a
crafty servant, or professed friend, and yet who will not re
sort to every species of disguise, rather than confess that he
has been deceived in the character of a political leader. This
propensity, when not carried beyond the limits of reason and
of honour, when confined to the excusing of venal political
sins, is to be applauded, because without a readiness to make
such allowances, there can be nothing worthy of the name of
attachment. But when it is pushed to extremes, when the
resolution to adhere is so strong, as to set at nought the dictates
of truth and of justice, then the adherent becomes a mere
partizan, and we are upon no principle of charity forbidden
to consider him as an ignorant, an obstinate, or an interested
person. Lightly to change our opinion of those, whom we
have long greatly admired and extolled, is a mark of that
weakness and fickleness, which are but too frequently ac
companied with a want of integrity, but, on the other hand,
to persevere in expressing an opinion, which has been
proved to us to be ill founded, and which, therefore, we do
not entertain, is, especially when the interests of our eountry
are concerned, an act of insincerity highly criminal, and
characteristic of a mind destitute of every just and generous
principle." In the delineation of a political character, in the exposure
of the tricks and artifices, the crimes and delinquencies of men
in power, no man can venture to compete with Cobbett.
His history of the conduct of Pitt, from his quitting office in
February 1801 to April 1804, and his return to office in
May 1804, and then after the Tenth Report of the Naval Com
missioners, which implicated Lord Melville in the peculation

44 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
of the peoples' money, may be considered as one of the most
energetical specimens of historical writing, which this country
can produce. To insert the whole of it, would far exceed
the limits to which we are necessitated to adhere, we shall,
therefore, briefly confine ourselves to those parts, which throw
an important light upon the political intrigues of those times,
and which show the difference of the principles which influ
enced the conduct of Mr. Pitt, at the outset of his political
career, and those which he professed when he appeared as
the prime minister of this country.
It may be hardly necessary to remind our readers, that at
the time when Mr. Pitt resigned in 1801 , we were engaged
in war, and that the epoch, though not the most, was cer
tainly, not the least alarming of that war. The ground of
his resignation, as it was afterwards clearly proved by him
self in the House of Commons, was this, as expressed in his
own words, on the 16th February 1801. "It was upon the
turn which the Catholic Question took, the success of which
I conceive to be essentially necessary to the strength, pros
perity, and unanimity of the United Kingdom, that I felt
myself bound in conscience and in honour to give in my
resignation. The early discussion and decision of that ques
tion were incumbent upon those, who under the circumstances
of the Union, considered it as a measure of the utmost im
portance to the strength and tranquillity of the empire. So
strong is my conviction of the propriety and necessity of
the measure, that / could not continue to remain a member Oj
that government, which deemed it inexpedient to entertain it? '
This was the open declaration of his motive for resigning,
but if we follow him to his conduct at the time of making the
peace with France, what an apostacy of principle presents
itself. To say that George III. was competent to choose a
man to rule the destinies of his kingdom, at a time of the
most alarming events, as connected with the integrity of
the empire, is investing him with a power of discernment
and discrimination, which he evinced but a very small por
tion of, in the other transactions of his life. It was acciden-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 45
tally ascertained, that on the resignation of Mr. Pitt, Mr.
Addington was the man of the king's own choice, who was
to compete in talent, energy, and diplomatic intrigue with
such a man as Napoleon, and the great and talented men by
whom he was surrounded.
The father of this Mr. Addington, now the pensioned
Lord Sidmouth, was family doctor to Mr. Pitt's father, who
brought up his son to the bar, where, like many others who
crowd the benches of our courts, of law, he seldom saw a
brief, though perhaps, by some lucky freak of fortune, a half
guinea motion now and then fell to his lot. From this com
parative obscurity he was raised to the chair of the House of
Commons, and by the most judicious choice of his sovereign,
was called from that important post, to appear on the floor
of the house, as the champion and defender of the rights and
privileges of the country. Perhaps, however, from a con
sciousness of his imbecility, he would not consent to become
minister, till he had consulted with, and obtained the appro
bation, and a positive promise of support from Mr. Pitt ;
nay, Mr. Pitt, although his conscience and his honour had
told him to resign, consented to remain in office upon certain
conditions, after Mr. Addington had been so fortunately
honoured with the choice and approbation of his sovereign.
Mr. Pitt's offer was not accepted, but nevertheless he had
the choosing of the persons, who were to come into the mi
nistry of his own choosing, and obviously intended by him
as the mere delegates of his power in the government. When
the peace came before the public, Mr. Pitt, whom the mi
nistry had consulted in every stage of the negotiations, and who
retained, in fact, as much authority, as if he had still been
minister, supported it in Parliament. He not only supported
it with his vote upon every important question arising out
of it, but he by words defended it, and gave to all and every
part of it his most unqualified approbation ; declaring that
the ministers who made it, were entitled to the hearty thanks
and the lasting gratitude of their country. Here the people,
had not their senses been drowned in the delirious and fleet-

46 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
ing joy of the day, would have recalled to their minds, the
solemn resolutions, which he had so often expressed, the so
lemn promises, which he had so often made them during the
war, and the whole of which he had now broken and falsi
fied. He had solemnly declared, not much more than two
years before, that war might be carried on for any length of
time, without the creation of new debt. That it would not
be difficult to provide taxes for eight years ; that he never
would be satisfied with false security; and that he never
would consent to any peace, but such a one as should at
once restore to Europe her settled and balanced constitution
of general polity, and to every negotiating power in parti
cular, that weight in the scale of general empire, which had
ever been found the best guarantee and pledge of local inde
pendence and general security. Yet in direct contradiction
to those very sentiments, did he help to negotiate, and finally
express his approbation of a peace, in which all these objects
were abandoned. The kingdom of Sardinia he left a con
quest to France ; of Italy, Buonaparte took possession in the
quality of President, at the very moment that the treaty was
negotiating ; Portugal ceded part of her foreign dominions to
France ; Switzerland was left under the control of a French
army ; Naples in a situation very little better ; and Holland
in a state of dependence, as complete as if it were a province
of France ; and as to this kingdom, what degree of security
he obtained for it, the reader, be his rank in life what it may,
hardly needs to be asked. No security have we since felt, not
one moment of tranquillity have we since that day experienced.
In that peace he tacitly surrendered the honour of the flag,
because in former treaties it was stipulated for, and in that
of Amiens it was not ; therefore the omission amounted to a
positive surrender ; the surrender of an honour claimed by
England from her earliest days ; demanded by her, and
yielded to her, in the reigns of even her most pusillanimous
princes, retained through every vicissitude of her fortune,
every change in her dynasties, and every revolution in her
government, sometimes indeed neglected, and sometimes im-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 47
paired, but at all times in existence ; at all times the boast
of Englishmen, and never completely abandoned and effaced
from the heraldry of nations, till the administration of
William Pitt. Let this be recorded upon the pedestal of
his statue ; and on the reverse of it, let it be engraven
by the hand of some indignant Englishman, " This was
THE MAN, THROUGH WHOSE COUNSELS, WAS SURREND
ERED THE DEAREST BIRTHRIGHT OF ENGLISHMEN, THE
LILIES AND THE TITLE WON BY THEIR FOREFATHERS
IN THE FIELDS OF FRANCE, AND HANDED DOWN UNTAR
NISHED, TILL THE DAYS OF HIS ALL-DEGRADING ADMI
NISTRATION." The following, Cobbett calls the coquetry of Pitt, and cer
tainly his conduct not only partakes strongly of that quality,
but it must impress the reader with rather a degrading opi
nion of the character of the heaven-born minister, who could
stoop to such petty artifices, in order to bring himself back
again into power.
"The nation," says Cobbett, "began to perceive that
government could go on without Mr. Pitt; the people seemed
very willing to indulge him in his love of retirement, and
indeed he was on the point of sinking out of sight for ever.
To prevent this, tricks, that would have disgraced mounte
banks or hireling harlots, were played off by his partizans,
who, in order to keep his name alive, contrived, and in con
junction with certain jews and contractors, grown rich under
him, actually set on foot, the scheme of erecting a statue
in honour of him, in honour of a man, under whose sway
the nation had been more burdened and disgraced than ever
nation before was in the world. Finding that this scheme
did not succeed to their wishes ; perceiving that the name of
Pitt was pronounced every day less and less frequently,
they had recourse to other contrivances. The public writers,
who yet lived in hope of his return to power, endeavoured by
all the means they could devise, to awaken the remem
brance of the public. Mr. Pitt was, they told us, resolved to
devote the remainder of his life to agricultural pursuits,

48 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
would to God, the report had been true, for after having
harrowed the feelings of "the people of this country almost
past endurance, it would have been a little pastime for him
to have spent the remainder of his life in Jiarrowing the
ground. His partizans shed their tears most copiously at the
prospect of never seeing him in Parliament again. His
clo-e adherent, Mr. Canning, told the House of Commons
that his right honourable friend was labouring to detach the
people of England from him (Mr. Pitt,) and he had the
mortification to observe, that the house seemed to say : ' Gtd
send your right honourable friend success.'
" Next we were told in the Pitt newspapers, that Mr. Pitt
proposed to go abroad, and travel over the continent of
Europe. All would not do ; the nation appeared quite in
different as to what became of him — for instead of shedding
tears at his proposed departure from the country, a hope
was expressed that the languishing and voluptuous beauties
of Italy, might be able to penetrate a heart, which had hitherto
proved impervious to the fascinations of the English beauties.
The last shift was tried, and we were assured that he was
dangerously sick, and in order to bolster up that report, he
actually went to Bath for his recovery, though it was after
wards found that, at that very moment, he was willing to re
turn to office, and of course, to take upon him those duties,
which it is impossible for a person in ill health to perform.
Still the nation was insensible, and when his name was men
tioned, instead of expressing an anxious fear that so great a
blessing to the nation should be prematurely carried off by
death, the general exclamation was: " Let him go to Bath."
Neither the threatened absence, nor the death of Mr. Pitt
appeared to produce any effect whatever upon the public
mind. All the inventions of meanness, of beggarly ambition
were exhausted, and to no purpose, and to the new war
it was, that he was solely indebted for a temporary resus
citation." On the 18th February appeared the celebrated Tenth Re
port of the Naval Commissioners, "And now," says Cob-

5

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 4.9
bett, " there was some fine work cut out for the heaven-born
minister." The charge against Lord Melville was so simple,
the delinquency was so flagrant, the proof against him so
satisfactory, that it was by many persons firmly believed that
Mr. Pitt would not attempt to screen him. The people had
not forgotten his speech, in the true spirit of virtuous indig
nation on the subject of abuses in the expenditure of the
public money; political impressions are well known to be
most powerful, and, therefore, it was not to be wondered at,
that those, whose attachment to Mr. Pitt was founded in his
conduct at the outset of his political career, should, especially
if they had not been very attentive observers of his progress,
have continued that attachment to the very eve of Lord
Melville's disgrace.
" Never, however, did a man sink so low in the estimation
of the public as William Pitt ; when, in his place in the House
of Commons, he boldly and unblushingly declared, that the
public had not suffered any actual loss by the conduct of
Melville and Trotter, although it had been distinctly proved,
that owing to their malversations, the country had sustained
a loss of many millions. Yet, because Lord Melville was
not what is called a defaulter, because he, at going out of
office, paid over to his successor the mere balance that he had
in his hands, because this was the case, Mr. Pitt contended,
that there had arisen, from the misapplication of the public
money, no actual loss to the public. The fallacy of this po
sition is so glaring, that little needs be said in answer to it,
for the reader has only to consider himself having large con
cerns, the disbursements of which are managed by a steward,
who, instead of calling upon his master for money no sooner
than it is wanted, takes care to call for a sum always before
hand, and constantly to keep out at interest, for his own
emolument, a sum that would otherwise be kept out at in
terest for the emolument of his master."
It was at first apprehended by Cobbett, that the steady
opposition, which he evinced to the ministry of Mr. Pitt,
would prove of serious disadvantage to him in the sale of his
23.— VOL. II. h

50 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Register, but this, fortunately for him, did not turn out to be
the case. It was also natural to be supposed, that many
very worthy and sensible, men would recollect the professions
with which he commenced his career in England, and then
think that they had perceived a departure of principle, and
a gross recantation of those opinions, which his writings so
particularly exhibited ; and although no such departure, even
in the slightest degree, was proved, yet it might reasonably
have been feared, that the deep-rooted prejudices of geod
men, long attached to the name' of Pitt, from the purest of
motives, and moreover strongly averse from making an ac
knowledgment, involving an accusation of their own discern
ment, would have alienated a number of his subscribers,
particularly when it was considered, that his Register stood
at first almost exclusively upon the support of persons of that
very description. So far, however, from these fears being
realised, Mr. Cobbett received from persons, formerly strongly
attached to Mr. Pitt, not less perhaps, than a hundred and
fifty written assurances, that the reasons, on which he had
founded his conviction of the destructive tendency of that
minister's administration, had produced a conviction equally
strong on their minds ; whilst on the other hand, he received
only seven letters, expressing a dissent from his opinions,
two of which letters he published. Nevertheless, there were
not wanting many, amongst the well known and undisguised
hirelings of the day, who believed, and wished others to be
lieve also, that Cobbett was "a self-interested scribbler."
" A scribbler," retorted Cobbett, "I may be, but to believe
that I am a self-interested one, not only must the believer
know nothing of my character, but he must be totally blind
to the tendency of my conduct, for if self-interest were my
object, who is there that can fail to perceive, that as to any
thing beyond the effects of mere industry, I long have been,
and yet am pursuing exactly the wrong course."
Mr. Cobbett having to his own satisfaction, and that of
all the nation, whose eyes were not hoodwinked^ or who had
not been blinded by the golden dust of the treasury, demon-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 51
strated the ruinous tendency of the administration of Mr.
Pitt, proceeds to launch the bolts of his thunder at the reck
less manner in which that heaven-born minister lavished the
public money, in the grant of pensions to individuals, who
had no claim whatever upon the country by the commission
of a single great or patriotic action. The subject at this time
is one of paramount interest, as it is attempted, at the present
day, to be shown, that the enormous burden of the Pension
List has been brought upon this country by the whigs. It
would be an idle task, to look for any consistency between
the actions of public men and their professions; but, perhaps,
in the whole history of this country, it will be impossible to
adduce a stronger proof of the folly of attaching any belief
or importance to the opinions of public men, as, expressed in
the senate of the nation, and which are to be taken as the
touchstone of their private or political conduct. For the pur
pose of exemplifying this matter in its fullest force, we will
quote the words of Mr. Pitt, as given in a speech, when the
proposition was made for reducing the expenses of the Civil
List:— " The proposition would have come," said Mr. Pitt, " with
more grace ; it would have come with more benefit to the
public service, if it had sprung from the royal breast. His
majesty's ministers ought to have come forward, and proposed
a reduction in the Civil List, to give to the people the conso
lation of knowing, that their sovereign participated in the
sufferings of the empire, and presented an honourable ex
ample of retrenchment in an hour of general difficulty. And
surely it is no reason, that because ministers fail to do their
duty, the house should fail to do theirs. Acting as the
faithful representatives of the people, who have trusted them,
they ought to seize upon every object of equitable resource
that presents itself, and certainly none are so fair, so pro
bable, or so pleasing as retrenchment and economy. The
obligations of their character demand from them not to hesi
tate in pursuing those objects, even to the foot of the throne.
Such conduct would become them, as the councillors of his

52 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
majesty, and as the representatives of the people, for it is
their immediate duty as the Commons House of Parliament,
to guard the liberties, the lives, and the properties of the.
people. The last obligation is the strongest, it is more imme
diately incumbent upon them, to guard the properties, be
cause they are more liable to invasion by the secret and
subtle attacks of influence, than either their lives or their
liberties. The tutelage of this house may be a harsh term,
but it cannot be disgraceful to a constitutional king. The.
abridgment of unnecessary expense can be no abatement of
royalty. Magnificence and grandeur are not inconsistent
with retrenchment and economy, but on the contrary, in a
time of necessity and common exertion, solid grandeur is de
pendent on the reduction of expense."
Such were the patriotic sentiments delivered by William
Pitt in 1781, we will now contrast his conduct with them for
about ten months, that is from 1st May 1804, to the 1st
April 1805. It must be admitted that actions ought always
to be estimated with due reference to the professions, or the
general ascribed motives, or character of the person from
whom they proceed. A lavish expenditure of the public
money, and especially when evidently made for purposes of
private ambition, or any other purposes disconnected from,
if not opposed to the good of the nation, must in any minister
call for the censure of all loyal and public-spirited men, in
whatever rank of life they may be placed ; when, therefore,
we see such an expenditure falling from the hands of one,
who rose into public favour by professions, such as those as
given in the speech of Pitt, who acquired his power over the
public purse, by the most solemn promises to guard it with
fidelity and vigilance, when in such a person we meet with a
waste of the public treasure, surpassing all former example,
it is certainly just that our indignation should be greater
against him, than against a person from whom we have never
heard any professions of purity.
It would far exceed our limits, to enter into a full exposi
tion, as given by Cobbett, of the grants of pensions given by

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 53
Pitt, to obscure individuals, in the course of ten months,
amounting in the whole to £38,000 a year ; and yet the
conservatives of the present day have the effrontery to tell
us, that the enormity of the Pension List is to be attributed
solely to the wanton and lavish extravagance of the whigs.
The opinions of Cobbett on this subject, are of sterling value,
as many of them are applicable to the present list of pen
sioners, who may be classed as the state paupers of the nation,
but who, like other out-door paupers, ought to be made to
contribute to their living, by some kind of active labour.
The funds from which some of the pensions are paid, fur
nished Cobbett with many good subjects for his sarcastic
talent. Thus it appears that the pensions of Sir W. D'Arley,
Lady Thompson, T. Fitzgerald, Lucy Marsh, Benjamin
Tucker, Sir J. E. Courtenay, and Mr. Stew. Courtenay,
were said to be payable out of old stores. " Old hemp and
worn-out sail cloth," exclaims Cobbett, "good for nothing
at all ! Quite a clear gain to the country to pay pensions from
such a source. That Lady Thompson should live upon old
junk ! and Lucy Marsh ! I wonder who in all the world is
Lucy Marsh ! It really is fitting that we should know some
thing of the pedigree of these fair ones, towards the decorating
of whose persons, we have the honour so largely to contri
bute.* There will at any rate be something grateful in the
task I am performing, for it will introduce to the knowledge
and notice of the whole nation, many persons never before
* We perfectly agree with Mr. Cobbett, that the public should know some
thing of the pedigree of the swarm of Lucys and Charlottes, of Susans, and
Margarets, who figure to a good round amount in our pension list ; the accom
plishment of such a task would, however, be one of extreme delicacy, for we
will venture to say, that there are many, who could not tell who was their father,
although they might know something about their mother. The Fitz-Jordana
would here have the advantage, for they know something about both father and
mother; and if report be true, the former frequently knows more about his
offspring than is agreeable to him ; of their mother, however, it may be said,
that they pretended to know nothing, at a time, when all the world knew that
she could scarcely find a grave to hold her mouldering form.

54 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
heard of, except within the walls of their own houses and
those of the treasury."
We recommend the following to Mr. Hume, as it may
give him a clue to the unravelment of some of the sources
from which the pensions are paid :
" A certain number of pensions," says Mr, Cobbett, " are
paid out of the duties of 4 J per cent, in Barbadoes and the Lee
ward Islands. And here we may stop for a moment, to ob
serve on the perplexity, the apparently studied perplexity of
all those lists and accounts, as laid before Parliament. Why
not pay all the pensions out of one fund, and let them come
under one single head, in chronological or alphabetical order?
Why not divide them, the males and the females ? Why not
give them some division more rational, than that of referring
merely to the sources whence is drawn the money to pay
them ? which appears not to be less difficult, than it would
be for a merchant to class his payments under heads appro
priated to the different sorts of currency in which he should
make such payments. But this perplexity is neither with
out its object nor its use. It bewilders those ivho examine,
or rather, look at the accounts. They do not easily come to
a clear understanding of what they see ; and there are very
few, who will bestow much time and pains in order to acquire
a clear understanding of it. By mixing and confusing the
dates and names, more time is rendered necessary to find out
any particular pensioner, or to ascertain any particular fact.
And then, by representing the pensions as " payable out of
old stores,*" out of the revenue of the Isle of Man, out of the
4| per cent, in Barbadoes, many unreflecting persons are led
to suppose, that the money does not come out of the pockets
of the people, but proceeds from sources, which, if not ex
hausted by pensions, would be exhausted in some other way,
* Is the pension of the Earl of Munster paid out of the old stores .'If so, a
considerable quantity might be found in the royal palaces, which it would be
an advantage to the nation, if they were got rid of. Perhaps Lady Bloomfield,
of Hampton Court palace, and some others of that grade, might come under the
character of old stores !.'

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 55
and would be of no advantage to the nation ; not perceiving
that all the sources above mentioned, are in fact sources of
revenue, as much as the excise or the custom duty is, and
that whatever is extracted from them for the purpose of pay
ing pensions, must be added to the amount of taxes."
In the list of pensions granted in May 1804, was one of
£616 to Mrs. Charlotte Sargent, wife of J. Sargent, Esq. in
reversion to the said J. Sargent. On this, Cobbett face
tiously expresses himself: — "What claims, Mrs. Sargent
may have upon us, I know not, but that her husband has
none, and never had any, cannot be denied. He was a mer
chant, he continued to be a merchant while secretary of the
treasury, and he is still a merchant. He was in the public
service three years, for which service he received £12,000.
We left him where we found him, having put £12,000 in
his pocket, and now, behold, we find him fastened upon us
for £616 a year for life, or which is worse, for the life of his
wife and himself. Why this provision for the wife first ?
Lord Chatham was too much of a patriot to accept of a
coronet for himself, but accepted of it for his lady, taking
care, however, afterwards, to slide it from her head to his
own.* This has always appeared to me as an act of mean
ness, unpardonable in any man ; and really Mr. Sargent's
obtaining a pension for his wife, with the reversion to him
self, in case of her death, is something not much behind it.
The philosophy of Lord Melville, who could so deliberately
calculate, and even speculate upon the death of his son, as to
secure the reversion of his place to himself, in case of such an
accident, has been very much admired ; and there appears no
good reason why the philosophy of Mr. Sargent should ex
cite less admiration. Some persons, however, have ascribed
the securing of the reversions, to excessive affection in the
party so securing. For instance, they say, that a husband

* A similar farce has been played off at the present time. The lady of Sir
John Campbell, the Attorney General, is elevated to the peerage. Sir John
still remains a commoner, but the time may not be far distant, when he will
make use of the patent of nobility, which he has in his pocket.

56 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
who dotes upon his wife, ought to secure a reversion of her
pension, in order that her death may be sure to bring with it
something by way of a set-off; something that may tend to
make the world worth remaining in for a little while longer.
After all, however, perhaps this is mere refinement, and that
the obtaining the pension for the wife, and the reversion for
the husband, would require no explanation, if one were to be
admitted to the honour of seeing their faces. We should, it
is probable, at once perceive, that the mode of the grant had
been adopted upon the plain and unerring rules of the Insur
ance offices, and that, to all appearance at least, the lady's
was, as the phrase is, "the better life of the two," but as
there is no certainty in life, that gentleman had a mind to
make assurance double sure."
Of the pension of £91 to Miss Rosalie Huyghnes, Cob-
bet says, " that he verily believed that it was a feigned name
to cover some secret act, that should not be disclosed." In
deed," he adds, "there are as many romance names on the
Pension List, as in the volumes of a circulating library."
" Last upon the list," says Cobbett, " comes Lady Eleanor
Auckland, with her £500 a year, and which £500 a year, I
for my part, do most heartily grudge her. Her husband re
ceives as a pension £2300 a year from the public ; and ob
serve, that he stands his chance of official emoluments besides,
being in place always as often as he can, and when out of
place, returning to his pension. Her children, some of them
at least, are provided for at the public expense, reversions of
sinecures are secured for them. And now comes Lady Ele
anor Auckland, with her claim for £500 a year, in addition
to what is enjoyed by her family. Am I told, that Lord Auck
land is poor, and having a large family, has not wherewith to
support an appearance suitable to his rank, without some aid
from the minister ? My answer is, that we did not compel Lord
Auckland to assume that expensive rank ; the assumption
was his own choice, for his own and his family's gratification,
and not in any degree for the advantage, or the gratification
of the king or the people. It is one thing to apply the public

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 57
money in aid of the aristocracy ol the kingdom, and an
other thing to apply it in the creating of a new aristocracy.
The former, every man, who wishes to preserve the monarchy,
will approve of, when the support is unconnected with cor
rupt influence ; but the latter, who does not wish to see the
monarchy destroyed, must earnestly reprobate. And yet it
must be allowed, and cannot be contradicted by the most
strenuous supporters of royalty, that it is the cause of more
state paupers being brought upon the Pension List, than any
other branch of the constitution. We hesitate not to say,
that the debauchery and libertinism of George the Fourth,
loaded the nation with a greater number of pensions to right
honourable pimps and female demireps, than would pay the
expense of the whole civil establishment of America.
In February 1806, Mr. Cobbett put forth the prospectus
of his Parliamentary Register, which was to consist of 16
volumes, containing a full and accurate report of all the re
corded proceedings, and of all the speeches in both Houses of
Parliament, from the earliest times to the year 1803. Mr.
Cobbett was induced to enter upon this speculation, in con
sequence of the great difficulties which those experienced,
who had to consult the proceedings of Parliament of former
times ; in addition to which, the expense of obtaining the ne
cessary books was so great, as to put it beyond the power of
the generality of men to accomplish the design which they
had in view. It was calculated by Cobbett, that to obtain
the books necessary for a compilation of the parliamentary
history of this country, would exceed £150, independently of
the tedious task of wading through one hundred volumes in
folio, which contain the Journals of both Houses of Parlia
ment. Upon the supposition, however, that these difficulties
were got over, another and still more formidable obstruction to
the acquiring information, presented itself, which consisted,
not merely in the bulk and number of the volumes, but also
in the want of a good arrangement of the contents of most of
them, and further, in the immense load of useless matter,
quite unauthenticated, and very little connected with the real
24. — vol. n. i

58 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
proceedings of Parliament, to be found in most of them. In
numerous instances, we find three fourths of the volume to
consist of papers laid before Parliament, of mere momentary
utility, or interesting only to individuals, repeated in subse
quent and more correct statements, and now presenting
nothing more than an incumbrance to the reader, and a con
stantly intervening obstacle to his researches ; to which may
be added, with respect to all the debates from Almon's in
clusive downwards, that there is a total want of all that aid,
which is afforded by well-contrived running titles, tables, and
indexes, and which are so necessary- in every voluminous
work, particularly if it relate to the transactions of a long
series of years. By the publication of his Parliamentary Re
gister, Cobbett expected to remedy all these evils, and he
succeeded in a great degree, but the speculation was by no
means one of profit to him.
The death of Mr. Pitt drew forth the powers of Cobbett,
in a most extraordinary manner, and in many pages of his
Register, he exposes the conduct of the " heaven-born youth,"
as he styles him, in terms of the bitterest sarcasm and vitu
peration. " Not content," says Cobbett, "with saddling the
country with pensions to the amount of half a million, he
leaves a debt behind him, of £40,000, which the country,
for his services, are called upon to pay, and to pay them too,
out of those taxes imposed by himself, and which are already
weighing the people of this country down to the earth. And
here the first argument in favour of this measure, which pre
sents itself for our examination, is that which was grounded
upon a supposed admission of his disinterestedness ; and this
argument is the more worthy of notice, from its having been,
not without exciting some degree of surprise, used both by
Mr. Windham and Mr. Fox. But let Mr. Windham and
Mr. Fox declare, whether that was a mark of disinterested
ness, taking into view the millions upon millions, which were
subsequently lavished upon Mr. Pitt's relations, private
friends, school-fellows, and adherents, for whose subsistence
in a life of splendour, the people are now taxed, and if all

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 59
things remain unaltered, will continue to be taxed for half a
century to come.* The clerkship of the pells, the disinter
ested, the heaven-born youth, generously gave away, and
thereby eased the people of the paynusnt of a pension of
£3000 a year, and thereby too, secured to himself that popu
larity, which enabled him to retain his power, in defiance of
every principle of the constitution, and which power again
enabled him to make grants and pensions to the amount of
more than half a million a year. But to confine ourselves to
the mere personal view of the matter ; mark the result, he
generously foregoes the taking of £3000 a year for his life;
he took quite enough without it ; quite as much as any subject.
ought to receive out of the public purse; but that consider
ation aside, he generously foregoes £3000 a year for his life,
he lives twenty years, and the people, the cajoled, the infa
tuated, the stupid people, who, when he rejected the £3000
a year for life, made the air ring with shouts of applause, are
called upon to pay £40,000 to discharge his debts at his
death. They are called upon to pay, and if any one amongst
us hesitates, he is loaded with the foulest reproaches ; they
are, Good God ! called upon to pay £40,000 in money, as a
debt due to that disinterestedness, which they have over and
over again so dearly paid for in popularity ; but I am told that
the heaven-born subject of these remarks had no notion of
ever putting the people to this expense ; that he had no notion
©f the people ever being called upon to pay in money, that
which they had before so amply paid in disinterestedness :
here, however, is a dilemma, not easily gotten out of by the
utmost powers of rhetorical ingenuity ; for if he did not en
tertain this notion, what shall we say of the moral honesty,
* In the exposition of the enormous amount granted by Pitt, in the way of
pensions, to his friends and adherents, it is our design to refute the charge,
brought at the present day, by the Tories against the Whigs, that the villany of
the Pension List is to be ascribed to the latter. We admit that the Wl.igs have
imposed some scandalous pensions upon the public ; but Pitt was not merely
satisfied with pensioning the favourite, but he granted it in reversion to the
descendants through a dozen generations.

60 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
which could induce him to contract so large a debt, without
the prospect of the ability to pay,* and which, during the
continuance of a pretty long illness, could suffer the hour of
dissolution to arrive, without having made any provision for
payment. ' He looked to his friends.' May be so. But it
must have been to friends rendered able to pay, by his
largesses, by his generosity, by his munificence, all, yea all,
and every part and particle of them, at the expense of the
people ; and, therefore, from whatever source he expected, or
could even in possibility expect the payment to come, the
choice of his defenders upon this score still lies, between
sham disinterestedness and moral dishonesty ; the former of
which being perhaps the least reprehensible of the two, I
cheerfully own that to that I attribute his conduct. Will I
then not allow that the foregoing of pecuniary emoluments to
himself, when he has such emoluments within his reach, is
any mark at all of disinterestedness in a minister ? In itself
it is a mark of disinterestedness, but, as in all other cases, the
motives, as illustrated by the general tenour of his conduct,
must be taken into the account ; and when we apply this
standard to the motives of Mr. Pitt, is there in the whole
kingdom, and not within the circle of his own pensioned, or
job-fattened swarm, one man, who will attempt to maintain
that he was disinterested. For a minister to merit the praise
of disinterestedness, it will, I think, not be denied, that in
his abstaining from taking to himself pecuniary emoluments,
he must not, under the persuasion, that by so abstaining, he
is benefiting the public, and of course, that the benefit will
arise from a certain retrenchment of, or prevention of addi
tion to the public expense. Admit this position, and deny it
who will, for then the very ground of your argument slides
from beneath you: admit this, next look at the pensions and
* An action of this kind, the legislature of the present day, has declared to
be so criminal, as to subject the individual committing it, to a protracted im
prisonment. The circumstance is, however, by no means new to us, that the
great (we mean in rank) may commit many acts with impunity, for which those
of a humbler grade are severely punished.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 61
grants of William Pitt, concluding with the addition of
£1500 a year to the sinecure salary of Lord Melville, and
the new grant to the Duke of Athol ; and then, with attitude
erect, with eyes unblinking, and cheek unblushing, look at
the people, weighed down under their accumulated burdens,
and not only themselves, but their posterity ; and awaiting
the annunciation of the budget, as the helpless brood awaits
the pouncing of the kite ; then look at them, and then say that
Mr. Pitt was a disinterested minister."
Scarcely were the debts of Mr. Pitt paid, to the great
chagrin and annoyance of Mr. Cobbett, than another subject
arose, which, if possible, excited his ire in a still stronger
degree, and seduced him into the use of certain expressions,
which might not be considered exactly loyal, or exactly be
coming an individual, who had always been so loud in his
praise of royalty, as one of the greatest blessings which a
country can enjoy. This subject was nothing less than a
message from his majesty, recommending to his faithful Com
mons, to make such further allowances to the junior branches
of his family, as the circumstances of the times, and the de
creased value of money, should render necessary. " Here
are fine doings," exclaims Cobbett, "here is one of the
effects of the measures of the heaven -born minister, by
whose measures such a decrease has taken place in the value
of money, that the members of the royal family can no longer
live upon their incomes, and their father is obliged to come
begging to his people, to enhance their salaries, in order to
enable them to maintain the splendour necessary to their ex
alted rank." Lord Grenville, on taking the message of his
majesty into consideration, declared, that so far from not act
ing in conformity to the wishes of the king, it was a matter
of great surprise to him, that his majesty had not made the
application before ; and Lord Henry Petty, in the House of
Commons, followed in the same strain, and proposed an ad
dition of £6000 a year to each of the royal family, with the
exception of the Duke of York, whose extreme modesty
would not allow him to receive any further augmentation to

62 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
his income, for two reasons, first, that the situation of the
country ivould not alloiv it, and secondly, that he thought,
he already received quite enough from the pockets of the
people ; to which not a dissentient voice can be raised, con
sidering to what uses he applied the sums, which the people
did actually allow him. The whole increase of income to
the royal family was £51,000!! a year, at a time when
the Duke of York, one of their own members, declared, that
the situation of the country would not allow of any increase
to his income. On this augmentation Cobbett says, " Let it
be observed, that this is £51,000 annually, that is £51,000
of income, that is, an annuity of £51,000, to be paid out of
the taxes every year, and that, therefore, taking the average
of the lives of the royal personages at thirty years now to
come, the grant now to be made imposes taxes upon us,
and upon our immediate children, to the gross amount of
£1,530,000 ! ! * Ought such a grant to be made, or ought it
not ? This is the question for us to answer. My answer is,
that I am decidedly of opinion that such a grant ought not to
be made, and for this opinion, the following are my reasons.
It is stated in the message, that this grant is called for by the
circumstances of the times — though, as the Duke of York said,
the circumstances of the country would not allow it. It is,
however, at best but a very vague phrase. The decrease in
the value of money is a reason something more specific, but
in the first place, be it remembered, that if money has de
creased in value, the taxes have more than doubled in nominal
amount. Be it remembered, that the poor rates have been
augmented three fold. Be it remembered, that the pecuniary
embarrassments of the country have gone on increasing.
Be it remembered, that we are continually told, that to make
pecuniary sacrifices, sacrifices of conveniences, of comforts.
* Thirty-six years have elapsed since Cobbett published these remarks, dur
ing which, three of the royal weights have, for the benefit of the nation, been
kindly struck off the Pension List, or the Consolidated Fund, which is nearly the
same thing, by the interference of death. The amount, however, received by
the surviving branches amount to nearly two millions ! !

MEMOIRS OF WTILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 63
and even of necessaries, is now become indispensable for the
sake of preserving the throne of our sovereign, and our own
liberties ; and why should not the practice upon this precept
extend to the royal family as well as to the people ? Lord
Henry Petty, in his speech, dwelt upon the advanced age of
the royal persons in question ; but, I believe it will appear,
that when their several pensions were settled, they had all
arrived at the age, when they betook themselves to separate
establishments,* except the maiden princesses, who were
looking out for an establishment in some of the German
pauper principalities ; and it is evident, that their expenses
can be no greater now than they were then, all of them still
making part of the household of their royal father, and all of
them liable to come to Parliament with a demand, and a fair
one, for the means of supporting another state of life, when
the removal to the German principalities should fortunately
take place. The advance of age, therefore, appears to me
to be no reason at all for the proposed augmentation, and let
us remember that the advance of age has not come without
its advantages. Most, if not all of the royal sons of his
majesty, receive from the public purse salaries and emolu
ments now, to a considerable amount, which they did not
receive at the time their pensions were granted. It was com
pletely overlooked, and that quite wilfully by Lord Henry
Petty, that all the male branches of the royal family were
either colonels of regiments, or governors of fortresses, which
they never saw in their lives, or islands, or provinces, which
they never visited, but the people heartily wished them away
again, or generals upon the staff, without ever having per
formed the duties of a general ; and then the rangerships of
the parks, those scandalous sinecures, have generally been
looked upon as the cheese-parings and candle-ends of royalty,
therefore, it becomes ridiculous to take the bare amount of
the pension to one of the royal dukes, for instance, and
place it against the amount of a gentleman's income, and
* This will peculiarly apply to the then Duke of Clarence, who was at that
time living with Mrs. Jordan, who was separated from her husband, Mr. Ford.

64 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
then ask, whether this ought to be, whether under such pecu
niary circumstances, the royal duke can possibly support the
dignity due to his station. But not to say, how low must
be the mind, that can find out no means other than money, of
supporting dignity ; this mode of representing the case is fal
lacious in the highest degree. The royal dukes have palaces
or lodges, they have gardens and parks, not only rent free,
but tax free ; indeed, when we cast our eyes onwards from
St. James's and its parks, to Hyde Park, to Kensington, to
Kew, to Richmond, to Bushy, to Hampton Court, to Bagshot,
to Windsor, when we cast our eyes over these immense do
mains, situated in the very garden of England, and when we
consider the royal rights enjoyed in forests and other lands,
are we not tempted to ask, what more can be wanting to the
dignity and splendour of the king and his family, however
numerous that family may be. Nor should we forget, that
though each branch of the royal family be separated in point
of mere locality, from the household family of the king, no
thing can cut off any branch of it from the share of the splen
dour, which belongs to the throne. Does not every younger
child of a noble family, though without a penny of fortune,
still enjoy a share of the honours of that family ? And where
is the man, who will pretend that, in order to support the
aristocracy, it is necessary that every younger son of a lord
should have an income equal to, or surpassing that of any
other commoner. Great stress has been laid upon the Duke
of York not coming forward for an augmentation to his in
come ;¦ it would have been a scandal to him if he had, for,
independently of his rangerships, and other sly and secret
sinecures, he was in possession of an income of £35,000, a
year.* * Men are often praised for acts, which, if properly scrutinized, would turn
out to their shame. The Duke of York dared not advance any demand, for
there is very little doubt that the following ilem on the credit side of the Civil
List would have peeped forth, " By amount of sums advanced to his royal
highness the Duke of York, to be paid by instalments at ^lOOO quartet ly,
j?54,000. 17. 6." Quere, Did the duke ever pay his instalments 1-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 65
It cannot have escaped the memory of those acquainted
with the politics of those times, that just as the Income Tax
Bill was about to pass, a motion was made from the Treasury
Bench, " To exempt from the tax all stock or dividends the
property of his majesty, in whatever name they might stand."
This motion was carried, by which it was tacitly acknow
ledged, that his majesty had property in the funds, " Where
then," says Cobbett, "would have been the harm of ad
vising his majesty to apply that property to the use of his
children, as in the case with all other fathers, and if such ad
vice had been given by the ministers, where is the man
who will doubt that it would have been cheerfully followed ?*
Had I been a minister, I would have given such advice, and
had I been a member of Parliament, one of the grounds
upon which I would have opposed the new grants, would
have been, that the royal parent of the grantees, was pos
sessed of funds unemployed, and not necessary to the support
of the dignity and splendour of the crown. It is not for me
to say whence his majesty has derived his funded property ;
but, it appears most singular, that an application to Parlia
ment should be made in 1804, for grants of public money to
pay off the arrears of the Civil List, that is, to pay off the
bills of tradesmen, and the wages of servants, when at the
same time, both the king and queen were accumulating
money, and investing it secretly in the foreign funds.
When the question was debated in the house, if it de
serve the name of a debate, as in such a corrupt and profli
gate parliament, there was only one member (Sir Ridley
Colborne) who ventured to express disapprobation of the
* We, for one, do express our doubt, that it would have been cheerfully
complied with, on the contrary, we give it as our decided opinion that it would not
have been complied with at all. It was well known that both the king and the
queen had large property in the funds, and the former not being desirous that his
subjects should know the extent of his funded property, invested very large
sums in the Venice bank. But would either the king or queen have lent the
Duke of York ,£50,000 out of their funded property, to be paid by instalments?
No. And why 1 They would not have approved of the security.
24. — VOL. II. K

66 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
measure. George Rose, said, that as to the offices, which
some of the princes may hold, (nay, which they do hold) at
the royal pleasure, they should not be taken into contempla
tion, when the question was respecting a permanent provision.
"No?" exclaims Cobbett, "and why not? I would ask this
true and trusty host of Cuffnels? why not? Are not the
pensions of ambassadors, of under secretaries of state, and
others granted with the express provision, that if the grantee
should hold any place with a salary equal to the pension, the
pension shall cease during the tenure of such place ? And
what is the reason that the principle, upon which this con
dition is made, with respect to others, should not be acted
upon with respect to those members of the royal family, who
choose to fill places ? Were it my desire to see ill befall the
king and his family, I should hold my tongue upon such
subjects as this, or rather, I should endeavour to cause the
number and amount of such grants to be increased a thou
sand fold ; but convinced as I am, from as much reflection as
my mind is capable of, from as much and as close observa
tion, and as much actual experience as most men have had
to guide them in the forming of their opinions ; convinced as
I am that kingly government is the best of all possible govern
ments, that the constitution of England unimpaired is the
best of all constitutions, and whatever specious appearances
may exist to the contrary, in any part of the world, it is here
in England, where men do, after all, enjoy the greatest portion
of real freedom ; convinced as I am of this, I am willing to
do all in my power for the preserving of this constitution of
government ; and, although I know the above remarks will
not be palateable, though I know they will reach the ear of
royalty, in company with the malicious hiss of those syco
phants, nest upon nest, whom the sunshine of a court seldom
fails to warm into life, the royal hearers may be assured,
that he who tells them what others think, is their real friend,
and that in an hour of danger, if such hour should come,
they will find one such man worth ten thousand flatterers."
The augmentation of the income of the royal family having

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 67
been agreed to, it must have been the wish of every good
subject to see it judiciously expended ; to see it, agreeably
to the declarations of ministers, employed in supporting the
dignity of the several persons, on whom it had been be
stowed; and under the influence of this wish, what must
have been the public feeling, at reading the following ac
count, ostentatiously published in all the London news
papers. We will give the account as Cobbett gives it, for the gra
tification of laying before our readers, one of the most severe
and biting sarcasms, which ever flowed from his pen.
" The Duke of Clarence's birth-day was celebrated with
much splendour in Bushy Park on Thursday. About five
o'clock, the Prince of Wales, the Dukes of York, Kent,
Sussex, and Cambridge, &c. arrived from reviewing the
German Legion. After they had dressed for dinner, they
walked in the pleasure grounds, accompanied by the Lord
Chancellor, Earl and Countess of Athlone and daughter,
Lord Leicester, Baron Hotham and Lady Baron Eden, the
Attorney General, Colonels Paget and M'Mahon, Sergeant
Marshall, and a number of other persons. At seven o'clock,
the second bell announced the dinner, when the Prince took
Mrs. Jordan by the hand, led her into the dining room, and
seated her at the head of the table. The Prince took his seat
at her right hand, and the Duke of York at her left. The
Duke of Cambridge sat next to the Prince, the Duke of Kent
next to the Duke of York, and the Lord Chancellor next to
his Royal Highness. The Duke of Clarence sat at the
foot of the table. It is hardly necessary to say, the table
was sumptuously covered with every thing the season could
afford. After dinner, the Duke's numerous family were
introduced, and admired by the Prince, the royal dukes, and
the whole of the company. An infant in arms, with a most
beautiful white head of hair, was brought into the dining
room, by the nursery maid. The Duke of Kent's band
played some of the chorusses and movements from Haydn's
oratorio of the Creation, by command of his Royal High-

68 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
ness. After dinner, the Prince gave the Duke of Clarence,
with three times three. The Duke of Clarence gave the
Duke of York and the Army. His Royal Highness's band
then struck up his celebrated March."
The following are the comments of Cobbett on this extra
ordinary affair, which was an outrage against all decorum, in
placing a woman of Mrs. Jordan's character at the head of
the table, where sat the heir apparent to the throne, four of
his royal brothers, and some of the female nobility, who,
under any other circumstances, would have considered it as
one of the greatest insults, which could be offered to them,
in supposing them fit companions for the mistress of a royal
duke. " I have given the particulars of this disgraceful business,"
says Cobbett, " and I wish to see the statement contradicted
by order of his royal highness the Prince of Wales, or of
some of his brothers ; then observing and explicitly stating
that my object is to remove the evil impression, which its
publication must necessarily tend to produce upon the minds
of a people, who, by the express commands of his majesty,
have read to them from the pulpit, four times a year, a long
exhortation against vice and immorality, and who have fresh
in their minds the large grants of money recently made for
the declared purpose of enabling the several branches of the
royal family ' to support the dignity of their station ;' thus
previously shewing, I would beg leave, as a beginning of my
comments upon the statement as quoted above, to ask the
writer of it, what march he means, when he talks of the cele
brated March of the Duke of York ; and I would further ask
him, what necessity there was to remind the people of Eng
land of the Duke of York's marches, and why the writer
could not have so far got the better of his too obvious dispo
sition, as to suffer these celebrated marches to rest quiet and
unattended to.* The representing of the Oratorios of the
* History has preserved in its records some of these celebrated marclies, the
first and foremost of which took place at Dunkirk, which, however, there lost
the appellation of a march, to be distinguished ever after, on account of the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 69
Creation, and arranged too by the Duke of Kent, applied
to the purpose of ushering in the numerous family of the
Duke of Clarence ; the thus representing the Duke of Kent
as employed in an act, whereby the procreation of a brood
of illegitimate children, is put in comparison with the great
work of the Almighty, is, in this writer, an act of the most
insidious disloyalty, and of blasphemy the most daring. We
all know that the Duke of Clarence is not married, and that,
therefore, if he had children, these children must be bastards,
and that the father must be guilty of a crime, in the eye of
the law as well as of religion ; and that he would exhibit a
shocking example of that vice and immorality, which his
royal father's proclamation, so regularly read to us by our
pastors, commands us to shun and abhor, and enjoins upon
the magistrates to mark out and to punish wherever they
shall find them existing amongst us. While we hear this
command so often repeated to us, and know that, from the
form in which it is conveyed, it comes immediately from his
majesty's mind and conscience, can we possibly suppose that
he would wink at acts in his own family, such as are de
scribed in the statement I have given ! And when to this
consideration, we add the many others that present them
selves upon the subject, can we hesitate to declare that to
represent the Duke of Clarence as having a ' numerous fa
mily of children,' is foully to slander his Royal Highness ;
and that further to represent him as ostentatiously exhibiting
'this numerous family' in public, and in the immediate
presence of all his royal brothers, and of the Lord Chancellor
rapidity of the movement, as Dunkirk Races; and where, but for a little treach
ery on the part of Dumouriez, the royal duke would have been taken prisoner and
marched off to Paris. In this celebrated inarch he lost for England the finest
park of artillery that ever left her shores. His next celebrated march was in
Holland, where, but for the treachery of General Daendels, who was bribed by
the surrender to him of the whole stud of the royal duke, England would have
had to deplore the loss for some time to come, of the great military talent which
he fancied he possessed, and to commemorate which, his foolish countrymen
have perched him on a monument, towering over every other surrounding object,
illustrative of his exalted talent and imperishable fame.

70 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
of England, and others of the nobles of the land, is to accuse
him of a gratuitous and wanton insult against the laws, the
manners, and morals of the country. This representation
and accusation I must, and I do, therefore, consider as false,
and I am confirmed in this my opinion, when I find it also
asserted, that the Prince of Wales took Mother Jordan by the
hand, and in the presence of a countess, a countess' s daughter,
and a baroness, seated her at the head of the table, taking his
place upon her right hand ; his royal brothers arranging
themselves according to their rank, on both sides of the table,
the post of honour being nearest Mother Jordan,* who, the
last time I saw her, cost me eight-pence, in her character of
Nell Jobson ! This part of the account proves the falsehood
of the whole. But though, amongst persons, who are at all ac
quainted with the characters of the illustrious personages, who
are, by the writer in the Courier newspaper, represented as
having been actors in the scene, there can be no doubt that the
whole representation is false ; more especially when we take
into view the pious and strenuously enforced precepts of the
royal father's proclamation ; yet, amongst that part of his ma
jesty's subjects who know nothing of the manners of the great,
except what they learn through the channel of the newspapers,
doubts upon the subject may prevail, nay, such persons
may actually believe the representations of the Courier, par
ticularly as it has been given, and in nearly the same words
too, by all the other newspapers, and, therefore, being fully
convinced that the representation must produce, in whatever
degree it is believed, an impression extremely injurious to the
character of the parties named, not less injurious to the
manners and morals of the people, and eventually greatly
dangerous to the stability of the throne ; for this plain reason,
* It is generally supposed that Mrs. Jordan was the repudiated wife of a
Mr. Jordan, the fact is, that she was never married to a person of the name of
Jordan, nor had any further right, to the name, than that it was given to her at
Bath, to make her debut in, according to the well-known story, in consequence of
her being sent to fetch a certain chamber utensil, commonly called a Jordan. —
Could the Duke of Clarence possibly have descended lower ?

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 71
that the most virtuous part of the people, that part of them
in whose minds truth and justice are predominant, that part
of them on whom alone reliance could safely be placed,
would infallibly be the most disgusted, and the most alien
ated by the belief of such a representation. Being fully con
vinced of these important truths, I venture to beseech the
royal parties, whose names have been so unwarrantably
brought before the public in the above-cited publication, to
cause a formal contradiction thereof to be publicly made. I
venture to beseech them to reflect on the fatal consequences,
which have uniformly ensued, and especially in recent in
stances, from proceedings such as are described in this pub
lication, and to remember, that to be blameless, as they
doubtless are, in this and in all other cases of the kind, is
not enough, unless they are also thought to be blameless.
I venture to beseech them, above all things, to reflect upon
what must be the natural and inevitable effect produced in
the minds of the people, if they were once to believe that
any portion of the grants made out of the taxes, in times
like the present, was expended upon objects, such as those
described in this publication ; and lastly, as I have in pro
portion to my means and capacity, done as much as any pri
vate individual ever did in support of the throne, and the
reputation (?) of the royal family, I hope it will not be
thought presumptuous, now that I make them a tender of my
pages and my pen, for the purpose of making and promul
gating that contradiction, which every truly loyal subject
is so anxious to see."
As might be naturally supposed, no attention was paid to
Cobbett's offer, and, in fact, he knew well that the whole
statement was founded on truth. The irony, however, which
pervades the whole of his strictures on so scandalous an affair,
is truly worthy of his pen ; and if the feelings of the individuals
to whom he alludes, had not been previously well cauterized
by repeated inflictions of the lash from other quarters, ren
dering them in future callous to any further castigation, they

72 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
must have smarted under the severe punishment which Cob
bett bestowed upon them.
From this loathsome subject we turn to one of a more
edifying nature, and that is, the controversy in which Cobbett
was at this time engaged, in regard to the utility of the
learned languages, the whole of it arising from the use of
the two words uti possidetis, which, in the opinion of Cob
bett, might have been given in plain English, and not in a
foreign jargon, which, according to Cobbett's opinion, few
understand. " Do those who make use of such phrases,"
says Cobbett, " which the stupidest wretch on earth might
learn to use as well as they in a few hours, nay, which a par
rot would learn, or which a high Dutch bird-catcher would
teach to a bullfinch or a tomtit in the space of a month, and
do they think in good earnest, that this last relic of the mum
mery of monkery, this playing off upon us of a few gallipot
words, will make us believe that they are learned. Learning,
truly so called, consists in the possession of knowledge, and
in the capacity of communicating that knowledge to others ;
and as far as my observation will enable me to speak, what
are called the learned languages operate as a bar to the ac
quirement of real learning. I already hear some pedagogue
or pedant exclaim, ' This is precisely the reasoning of the
fox without a tail.' But to bring this matter to the test,
I hereby invite the learned gentlemen of the two Univer
sities to a discussion upon the subject. / assert that what
they call the learned languages are improperly so called,
and that as a part of general education, they are worse than
useless. Two months will afford time enough for any of the
gentlemen just spoken of, to disprove these positions, I will
therefore give them until Lady-day next. I will publish
their defence of their calling, and if I do not fairly beat them
in the controversy, and that too, in the space of twenty
columns of the Register, I will then beg their pardon, and
will allow, that to be able to speak or write in a language
which the people do not understand, is a proof of learning.
But until then, I shall dissent from the opinion, that none

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 73
but clear streams are shallow, and that the muddier the water
the deeper the well."
Our limits will not allow us to enter at full length into this
interesting controversy, which called forth on both sides an
extraordinary display of talent and erudition, and during the
whole of which, Cobbett came in for no small portion of
abuse, intermixed at times, with a degree of scurrility far
beneath the dignity of an educated man and a classical
scholar to use. We cannot refrain from inserting the follow
ing letter, as it appears to have riveted the attention of
Cobbett more than any other, at the same time that he bore
the abuse which it contains, with that imperturbable good
humour, which was one of the chief features of his character.
" I am sorry to see in your Register, that you are
disposed to turn your attention from political subjects, in
which you are no doubt qualified to instruct and amuse your
readers, to others of a literary nature, in which you are not
so competent to do either. The use of the words uti possidetis
in the late debate on the negotiation for peace, has to be sure
thrown you into a most hideous rage, though you, I think, on
your own principle, have least occasion to quarrel with them,
inasmuch as you allow they may be easily understood by
the stupidest wretch in a week ; and from this you are led
into a bitter philippic against classical erudition in general,
with which by the way, the words have nothing to do, they
being, as you tell us, a relic of the mummery of monkery,
which mummery it was the effect of classical erudition to
abolish. Nor will any pedagogue or pedant be easily in
clined to compare you to the fox in the fable, inasmuch as he
was conscious of the loss he had sustained, but your want of
learning, though obvious enough to others, is not equally so
to yourself. An overweening confidence in what you do pos
sess, has blinded you to the value of attainments which you
do not possess ; and, indeed, from the subject and manner of
your late challenge to the two Universities, I am almost in
duced to join in an opinion, which I heard suggested some
24. — vol. n. L

74 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
time ago, that the warmth of your feelings, and the insolence
of success were operating a gradual derangement of your
intellects. The two Universities may probably never hear
of your appeal to them, and it is still less likely that they
will pay any attention to it, but I think it not difficult for one
who knows but little of either of them, to disprove as much
of your assertion respecting the inutility of the Greek and
Latin languages, in a genera! plan of education, as has any
thing of sense or meaning in it ; for as to your objection to
their being called learned, that can only be a cavil about
words ; they are not called so exclusively, they are as often
termed the dead, or the ancient languages, and more usually
described, as I have done them above, by appellations taken
from the country where they were spoken ; and when you
have shown the world a more proper term than any or all
of these, the world may, if it pleases, adopt your improvement,
but it will be without any the slightest alteration in the in
trinsic value of the learning and knowledge their respective
authors possess. ' Learning,' you say, ' consists in the
possession of knowledge, and in the capacity of communicat
ing that knowledge to others.' And did the Greek and
Roman writers possess the knowledge, or were they without
the faculty of communicating it to others, in apposite, per
spicuous, and elegant language ? If neither of these suppo
sitions be true, the inference which you draw, viz. that the
learned languages operate as a bar to real learning, has no
relation whatever to your premises, that learning consists in
the possession of knowledge, and in the faculty of communi
cating it. But if you really presume to say, that the ancients
have written nothing, which it is not waste of time for us to
know, I shall not upbraid you with the trite adage, that no
one ever despised learning but those, who had it not, because
I still think, you do not deserve such a reproof, but I will
venture to say, that no man, who ever wrote on any subject,
so much as you have done on that of politics, has been known
to entertain a similar opinion; and further, that you will find
some difficulty in persuading mankind to sacrifice their faith

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 75
in all authors, both ancient and modem, both foreign and do
mestic at the shrine of your assurance. The most instructive
of the Roman poets, has enjoined his countrymen to take
Greek patterns of fine writing into their hands, and to study
them by night and by. day :
Nocturna versata innuu, versate diurna.— Hor.
And there can be no doubt that the same advice is at present
applicable, both to Greeks and Romans. What was it that
drew Europe from the sink of barbarism, in which it had been
plunged for so many ages, hut the discovery of ancient manu
scripts, the dispersion and study of them? Every author
who has treated of this subject, either professedly or inciden
tally, has ascribed the present improved state of society to
this primary cause. I am aware that the authority of great
names does not weigh with one, who is but little acquainted
with the merits of their possessors, and quotations are super
fluous, where they would be endless. I shall just, however,
mention to you, that you will have to contend with Hume,
Gibbon, Robertson, Mosheim, Voltaire, Burnett, and others
too numerous to mention. Neither do I mean to say, that a
child of the nineteenth century will not grow up somewhat
more enlightened, without the study of ancient literature,
than one of the fourteenth ;, it will no doubt partake of the
general diffusion of knowledge around it. But it comes into
the world with no new faculties ; it has no new* senses.
What has enlarged its mind, and increased its stock of ideas
five hundred years ago, will do the same now. A man of
eminence in literature, cannot at his decease place his pos
terity upon the summit to which he has climbed, if he could,
it would be unnecessary to tread the same ground over again,
his children might go On ascending from the point where
their father left them. But no, every individual must tread
the steep for himself, some may mount faster indeed, and
some slower, but each must mount for himself. Aristotle
told Alexander, there was no royal way of acquiring know-

76 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
ledge, and 1 doubt much whether you can show us any vulgar
one. A ready child will find no material obstruction to his ac
quisition of knowledge, in the merely learning any language
in which knowledge may be contained. A slow one will
attain to great learning in no way. Those in the interme
diate stages, will acquire each his proportionate degree of
improvement, but be assured that none can hope to slip out
of the tried and beaten path, and arrive first at the goal. So
much as to the general plan of education, and now as to the
effects resulting from it. ' As far as my observation will
enable me to speak, what are called the learned languages,
operate as a bar to real learning.' No sentence was, I be
lieve, ever more preposterously dogmatical, more gravely
ridiculous, nor will I believe, for the honour of your under
standing, that you ever made any observation on the subject
till the moment you were writing the words. For, in reality,
this notable sentence, this Pythagorean aphorism, this ipse
dixit, nay, don't start at the expression, there is the same
reason for your being in amity with it, which you gave for
quarrelling with other two harmless latin words ; ' They
may be understood by the stupidest wretch on earth, they
may be taught to a bullfinch, a tomtit, &c.' After all, I say,
your only meaning can be, that the easiest way to acquire
learning is to neglect a part of it ! ! Indeed, the matter may
be easily enough ascertained, whether the learned languages
operate as a bar to real learning, by a reference to history and
fact. There have been, at all times since the revival of letters,
men of classical erudition, and men of no classical erudition.
Which have done most in the cause of science ? Take for
example the beginning of last century, the men of classical
learning were Steele, Addison, Pope, Swift, Arbuthnot, &c.
Their earlier productions were translations from those lan
guages,* which you by way of derision, and I out of respect,
call learned ; every page of their more mature writings teems
* This statement of the opponent of Cobbett, is not borne out by the fact.
With the single exception of Pope, not one of the celebrated men mentioned,
is known ta English literature, as a translator from the dead languages.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 77
with recommendations of the study or transfusion of the
spirit of ancient authors. These are the men, who with the
avenues ' to real learning' barred, as you suppose, against
them, whose time and labour had been employed, as you tell
us, in a manner ' worse than uselessly ;' these are they who
have instructed and inspired mankind for the last century,
and will probably continue to do so till the end of the
world. Now, what were your friends of the same period
doing, who had no such bar operating in their way to real
learning ? There might then be probably about seven millions
of such in this kingdom ; of these seven millions, one million
might be able to read and write ; one hundred thousand ca
pable of writing their native language correctly ; a twentieth
part of these to acquire real learning, without the obstruction
of the ancient languages ; what have these five thousand men
done in the cause of literature, compared with their five co-
temporaries mentioned above? Nay, if there were but five
hundred of them, or only fifty in the whole kingdom, what
knowledge did they possess ? How, and where have they
communicated it to others, how has the world benefited by
their attainments ? Some such men there must have been,
except you mean to maintain that there were no men of na
tural parts and science to improve them, but those whom I
have mentioned above *, and that those were such misled crea
tures, that they immediately began to clog the talents God
had given them, by an application to such learning as was
worse than useless. Where then are the works of their rivals,
who were free from this clog and obstruction ? What are
their opinions ? Refer me to their writings. The same ob
structions will apply to every other period, both of British
and European history. I shall just select as a further proof,
one more, where probably at first sight, the comparison may
appear more favourable to your opinions, I mean the reign
of Queen Elizabeth. The men of classical erudition in her
time, were Sydney, Raleigh, Hooker, Bacon, &c. Will any
man in his senses deny to those illustrious persons, the pos
session of knowledge, and the faculty of communicating it to

78 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
others. Yet not only all of them were excellently versed
in the learned languages, but the three latter could not have
moved one step in their respective walks of science, without
the most 'extensive knowledge of them. Opposed to these
and to many more, whom I could mention, you may perhaps
be inclined to place Shakespeare. But there are many
reasons why he can be of no service to your cause, for, in
the first instance, your position is, that the learned languages
operate as a real bar to learning. Now Shakespeare, it is
allowed on all hands, that, whatever he did, was by dint of
genius only. Johnson calls it ' intuition ;' so that where
learning is the subject, he is quite out of the question. Hume
considers him as a person without any instruction, either
from the world or books ; and Dryden describes him as too
lofty to need being raised by the stilts of learning, or some
thing to that effect. But even were this not the case, and
supposing him to have derived great advantages from the
study of whatever English authors might exist in his day,
yet what sueh a genius can do, forms no general rule for a
general plan of education, or of any thing else. Corelli, I
believe it was, could play an air on the violin with all the
strings loose, yet few musical professors would recommend
the want of pegs and rosin on that account. In this manner
I might go, and show that all the knowledge which the world
possesses, except perhaps in some of the mere mechanical
arts, and the phenomena of nature, has sprung from the
same source, from men of great talents, cultivated by learn
ing of every kind, but more especially classical. One ad
vantage derived from the study of ancient literature, is so
appropriate to the nature of your employment, that I am
tempted to give it you, in your own words of the enlightened
author. ' In England the love of freedom, which, unless
checked, flourishes extremely in all liberal natures, acquired
new force, and was regulated by more enlarged views, suit
ably to that cultivated understanding, which became every
day more common among men of birth and education. A
familiar acquaintance with the precious remains of antiquity,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ, 79
excited in every generous breast, a passion for a limited con
stitution, and begat an emulation of those manly virtues,
which the Greek and Roman authors, by such animating ex
amples, as well as pathetic expressions, recommend to us.'
" You have made a reference to Milton, in the column
following these your remarks on education. Have you never
heard of his Teading the ancient authors, 'till his mind was
full fraught ?' Of his employing his daughters in the same
task ? Of his warming his imagination from them before he
sat down to compose ? From you he might have learned that
such labours were ' useless,' that his time was worse than
misspent in them, in short, that learning was not real learn
ing, if it was not written in plain English. It will be some
testimony of the esteem in which I hold your talents, if I
venture to recommend the application of them ; confine your
remarks to the Jenkinsons and the Roses of the present time,
wield your powerful pen in the obtainment of a reform in
Parliament, and the abolition of useless sinecures and pen
sions, but do not have any thing to do with the Platos and
Xenophons of antiquity; you have shewn that you can ex
press with energy, the feelings which are excited in ingenuous
breasts, by the passing occurrences of the day, and that ought
to satisfy you. Thucydides and Tacitus were men of gener
ous natures, they have bequeathed their gathered stores as an
eternal inheritance to posterity, while the placemen and
pensioners are sucking the blood of the present generation ;
the former would enrich the world after their decease, the
latter are plundering their country during their lives. Lest I
should appear to pay an undue respect to classical literature,
an exclusive deference to ancient authors, I shall conclude
with Petrarch's recommendation of books in general, it is
taken, 'to avoid the pedantry of a learned language, from
the Abbe de Lade's life of that elegant poet, and great re
storer of letters. But the biographer was not aware that
Petrarch had himself borrowed the ideas from his English
friend Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham : Ce sont des
gens de tous les pais, et de tous les siecles distingues a la

80 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
guerre, dans la robe, et dans les lettres ; aises a vivre,
toujours a mes ordres, je les fair venir quand je veux, et je le
renvoye de meme ; ils n'ont jamais d'humeur, et repondent
a toutes mes questions."
That the subject of the learned languages had excited an
extraordinary interest, may be gathered from the circum
stance, that Mr. Cobbett received between forty and fifty
communications on the subject, the majority of them written
by individuals evidently of high classical attainments, and
well able to refute the position, which Cobbett had so pre
sumptuously and indiscreetly laid down, and in which his
best friends were obliged to allow that he had grossly com
mitted himself. A stronger proof of which cannot be given,
than that, although Cobbett had pledged himself in a certain
number of pages in his Register, to refute all the arguments
which might be brought against him, he tacitly withdrew
from the contest, and never published his threatened refu
tation. The publication of the Register had now continued with
out interruption for several years, during which Mr. Cobbett
had established himself as the most powerful political writer
of the day, when, in an unguarded moment, he inserted in
his Register on the 1st July 1809, some severe strictures on
the flogging of some of the privates of the Cambridgeshire
local militia, which attracted the notice of the Attorney
General, Sir Vicary Gibbs, one of the most waspish, biting,
snarling curs of a lawyer, that ever infected the courts of law
with his breath, and that indeed is not say-ing a little. Mr.
Cobbett, as the author of the letter, was accordingly indicted,
and the action came on to be tried in the court of Kind's
Bench, on Friday, June 15th, before Lord Ellenborough, the
same judge, who had presided at the former trial of Cobbett,
for a libel on the Lord Hardwicke and Mr. Plunkett.
It must be previously observed, that an interval of nearly
twelve months had taken place, between the publication of
the libel and the trial, but the delay was attributed by the
attorney general to Mr. Cobbett himself, who, owing to his

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 8F
non-residence in town, he then living at Botley, had taken
advantage of the delay, which the law allowed him, to put
off his trial, or otherwise it would have come on in the Mi
chaelmas term of 1809. In order fully to understand the
nature of this libel, for which Cobbett was amerced in such
heavy damages, we must give the paragraph which appeared
in the Courier newspaper, and on which the libel was founded.
London, Saturday, July 1, 1809.
" Motto. The mutiny amongst the local militia,
which broke out at Ely, was fortunately suppressed on Wed
nesday, by the arrival of four squadrons of the German
Legion cavalry from Bury, under the command of General
Auckland. Five of the ringleaders were tried by a court
marshal, and sentenced to receive five hundred lashes
each, part of which punishment they received on Wednes
day, and a part was remitted. A stoppage for their knap
sacks was the ground of complaint which excited this mutin
ous spirit, which occasioned the men to surround their officers
and demand what they deemed their arrears. The first divi
sion of the German Legion halted yesterday at Newmarket,
on their return to Bury."
On the foregoing passage Cobbett built the following ob
servations. " Summary of Politics. Local Militia and German
Legion. See the motto, English reader ! see the motto, and
then pray do recollect all that has been said about the way
in which Buonaparte raises his soldiers. Well done, Lord
Castlereagh ! This is just what was thought your plan would
produce. Well said, Mr. Huskisson ! It was really not
without reason you dwelt with so much earnestness upon
the great utility of the foreign troops, whom Mr. Wardle ap
peared to think of no utility at all. Poor gentleman! He
little thought how great a genius might find employment for
such troops. He little imagined they might be made the
means of compelling Englishmen to submit to that sort of
discipline, which is so conducive to the producing in them a
25. — VOL. II. m

82 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
disposition to defend the country at the risk of their lives,
Let Mr. Wardle look at my motto, and then say whether the
German soldiers are of no use. Five hundred lashes! each.
Aye ! that is right, flog them ! flog them ! ! flog them ! ! !
they deserve it and a great deal more. They deserve a flog
ging at every meal time. Lash them daily ! lash them daily.
What ! shall the rascals dare to mutiny, and that too, when
the German legion is so near at hand. Lash them ! lash
them ! ! lash them ! ! ! they deserve it. O yes, they deserve
a: double-tailed cat. Base dogs, what, mutiny for the sake
}f the price of a knapsack. Lash them ! flog them ! ! lash
:hem ! ! ! base rascals. Mutiny for the price of a goat skin,
md then upon the appearance of the German soldiers, they
ake a flogging as quietly as so many trunks of trees. I do
lot know what sort of a place Ely is, but I really should like
o know how the inhabitants looked one another in the face,
vhile this scene was exhibiting in the town. I- should like
o have been able to see their faces, and to hear their obser-
'ations to each other at the time.
" This occurrence at home will, one would hope, teach the
tyal, a little caution in speaking of the means, which Napo-
eon employs, or rather which they say he employs, in order
9 get together, and discipline his conscripts. (The Attorney
reneral here observed on the sneer in which the phrase loyal
7&s couched.) There is scarcely one of those loyal persons,
pho has not at various times cited the hand-cuffs, and other
leans of force, said to be used in drawing out the young
len of France ; there is scarcely one of the loyal, who has
ot cited these means as a proof that the people of France
ate Napoleon and his government ;. assist with reluctance
i his wars, and would fain see another revolution. I hope, I
ly, the loyal will hereafter be more cautious in drawing such
jnclusions, now that they see that our 'gallant defenders,'
Dt only require physical restraint in certain cases, but even
little blood drawn from their backs, and that too with the
d and assistance of the German troops. Yes, I hope the
yal will be a little more on their guard, in drawing con-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 83
elusions against Napoleon's popularity. At any rate, every
.time they do, in future, burst out into execrations against the
French, for sufferihg themselves to be chained together, and
forced at the point of the bayonet to do military duty."
The Attorney General having finished the perusal of this
passage, for the writing of which, Cobbett as the author, was
dragged into a court of law, proceeded to give his own
opinion of the dangerous tendency of it. "I," said the
learned counsel, "here impute to the defendant, that he
charges the government with cruelty, that he charges the
military authorities with cruelty, that he suggests to mutineers
the injustice of their sentence, and that he ridicules the pati
ence with which they endured their punishment, and the com
punction with which they regretted their offence. He, the
defendant, tells you that it is said as an extreme of cruelty in
the French governor, that he drags the youth of France to
join his armies, chained and hand-cuffed, and then compares
this act of tyranny to the just punishment of the local militia.
They rose in actual mutiny, they surrounded their officers,
they committed dangerous breaches of the public peace. The
ringleaders were brought to trial by the known and regular
forms of the service, they were found guilty, and guilty as
they were, a portion of their punishment was remitted, and
this he, the defendant, holds up as equal to the unprovoked
practices of the French ruler on the rights of his people. He
compares the mild and regular process of the British law,
mild in its progress, mild in its conclusion, to the unhallowed
licentiousness of an authority, capricious in its justice, and
tyrannical in its punishment. There is something peculiarly
revolting in all this, to the feelings which still distinguish the
hearts and actions of generous and British men. The Ger
man Legion are talked of in the libel, as if fit for no other
work than to stand by, and see the oppressive exercise of
military vengeance, men only fitted to keep guard at execu
tions. But what has, degraded these otherwise brave and
honourable men? They are foreigners, they have been driven

84 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
from their own country, and have sought shelter in. ours ;
they have offered no unworthy price for protection, they have
offered their blood, and they have shed it in battle, for the
glory and safety of their adopted country. They have seen
their own country swept by a fearful visitation, and rather
than submit to the government of France, they came to ours;
though there might be men in whose breasts that would be
no merit, they were received into the service of their legiti
mate king, and their service was worthy of their cause. Thus
far as to the tendency of the libel, with respect to the local
militia and the German Legion. As to the effect intended
to be produced by it on the country, the obvious consequence
would be, to prevent the people from entering into that de
scription of force, which, from the nature of the times, was
required by the situation of the country. Whatever the au
thor of the libel can have to say in his defence, will of course
be heard patiently ; no advantage for the conduct of his de
fence will be denied him ; but the opinion which I have now
delivered on the subject of the paper, is my serious, decided,
personal opinion on its true tendency."
The libel was then handed up to the proper officer of the
court, and read.
Bagshaw and Budd, the printer and publisher of the
Register, were included in the prosecution, but they suffered
judgment to go by default, Mr. Cobbett admitting that he
was sole proprietor of the Register, and author of the alleged
libel. The defence of Mr. Cobbett, is one which will be read
with the greatest interest, inasmuch as it furnished him with
an opportunity of refuting many of the calumnies, which had
been circulated about him ; and as it was the first time that
he had publicly spoken in a court of law, his character
showed itself in a new light, and made even the Attorney
General himself quail under the acknowledged superiority of
his talent.
Mr. Cobbett commenced by declaring to the jury, that no
part of the delay in the prosecution, was to be attributed to

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 85
him. He was anxious to have so powerful and weighty a
matter settled as the law would direct, and as soon as would
be permitted by the law. It was not his intention to dilate
upon the formidable apparatus of charges, which the king's
Attorney General had set in motion against him ; he would
pass by all this thunder of technical phrases, and harsh, legal,
and overpowering accusations, which were, after all, little
more than the customary declamation of the law officers of
the crown. " It is my wish that the intention, which was in
my mind, at the time of writing the paper in question, may
be the thing tried, for my intention would fully acquit me.
You are not to place too solemn a reliance upon the judg
ment of the Attorney General ; he is not infallible. I believe,
I firmly and conscientiously believe, that in the whole world,
there is not a man so much calumniated as myself. The
most false and atrocious calumnies have been spread con
cerning me, and my motives, and my life. I would not say
it as of certain knowledge, nor as intending to say a harsh
thing, but I believe that these calumnies have found much of
their propagation from the influence of the ministry. I
complain of these calumnies, because, if you believe them,
you must condemn me, I must deserve punishment. His
lordship will permit me to mention one or two of those facts.
You have seen in the streets posted up, papers pretending to
give an account of my life. I am in these, accused by a per
son, whom I can prove to have had a pension of two hundred
pounds a year, till Lord Sidmouth struck him off, of a trans
action, that ought to have degraded any man. It states that
I, having received from government four thousand pounds,
for spreading a certain pamphlet throughout the country,
diverted the money to my own purposes, and refused to give
any further account of it up to this day. On this point I have
written to Lord Sidmouth, and have received his answer."
Mr. Cobbett then read his letter, requesting from Lord
Sidmouth a public answer to the calumny. His lordship's
answer was as follows :

86 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Sir, I have but just received your letter, requesting my
declaration as to your having received £4000 for the alleged
purposes. I think it only due to you to answer you as soon
as possible, and to say, that the transaction never had any
existence.
Sidmouth.
" After having done away this charge, I must refute an
other. I am stigmatized as having been frequently liable to
prosecutions like the present. Gentlemen, I once before
stood in this court,* not on my own account, but that of a
learned judge. I published the letter, and the hand dis
covered the author. But so little was any thing in the shape
of guilt, connected with ' that ¦ conviction, that the learned
judge immediately afterwards obtained a pension of £1200
a year. I may say further, and say it as some proof of the
proper feeling of Mr. Perceval, since he has ceased to be
attorney general, that in his capacity as chancellor of the
exchequer, he has paid over £800 to that judge, which were
kept back as accruing during the time of the prosecution.
I must answer another charge. ; for, gentlemen, I have been
the most calumniated man in the world. I have been talked
of as a convicted libeller in America. This is the very es
sence of stupid calumny. I was prosecuted for a libel on the
Spanish minister. But for what ? For his attempts to raise
an insurrection in Canada ; for his detected attempts to poison
the minds of the soldiery in Quebec; for his scattering
money through the country to detach the Canadians, the sub
jects of my natural king, from their allegiance. I attacked
him, I exposed him. For this I was attacked in my turn, by
a wicked judge. A wicked judge was found, who took upon
him to hurt and harass me for doing what was only my duty.
* It is rather a singular circumstance, that Cobbett should have forgotten
his conviction for a libel on Lord Hardwicke, in the same court, in which he
was then speaking. We shall say more of th,is in another place.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 87
That wicked judge brought a prosecution upon me ; seven
special juries were struck, before they could find the one that
would be fit for their purpose. I was subjected to the most
galling oppression, yet I sustained it firmly. I lost, in this
life of difficulty and struggle, the little property that I had
acquired through difficulties of no common order. I finally
left the country, and left it because I could serve the cause
of my lawful king no longer. And yet this, this was what
an attorney general ripped up against me, and blazoned me
out as a convicted libeller in America as well as in Europe.
" The posted papers, to which I have already alluded, dare
to speak of me as an oppressor of the poor, and as converting
the property and influence which I may have acquired, into
the means of disturbing the country, in which I have settled.
But this is weak and unworthy ; the whole charge is false.
It does not become any man to speak in high terms of him
self ; but I have been no oppressor, no defrauder of the
rights of any human being, no insulter of the poor. I have
done good according to my measure. I have not been indo
lent in promoting the industry, the interests and peace of
Hampshire. I am frequently consulted on matters relating
tp the county, and I never refuse advice or assistance. I
must give one instance some time since. The general com
manding the district, wished to have a road made through
out a particular part of the county. His aide-de-camp
was sent amongst, the gentlemen of Hampshire, to make in
quiries, and get whatever assistance he could for the work.
They all directed him to me. I was not suspected of dis
loyalty. I gave my assistance, and it was effectual. The
road was laid out. I spent a considerable part of the winter
in town, attending the progress of the bill through parlia
ment, and the road is now in a state of great forwardness.
" Having now, as I trust, removed from your minds any
unfavourable impressions, which such calumnies must natu
rally produce, I am now to consider the matter upon which I
am charged.. I am charged, and the whole criminality of the
charge rests in this, with having written this paper with an

88 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
intention hostile to the king, and subversive of his govern
ment, or in other words, with meaning to do some injury to
the country. If you find me guilty of the charge, you must
find me guilty in manner and form as alleged against me.
The wicked intention is necessary to constitute the crime I
am accused of, and it is upon this point alone, that the whole
merits of the case depend. The Attorney General has told
you most erroneously, that I availed myself of the circum
stance of living in the country, to put off the trial, or in other
wTords, to evade justice. In this statement, Mr. Attorney
General has been greatly in error, my attorneys, who are
here present, know that this is not the fact ; but that, on the
contrary, I came to town, at considerable inconvenience to
myself, and waited for my trial, but it was not brought on.
I was quite ready for my trial before, and it would have been
more convenient for me, that it had been brought on at once
and disposed of. The circumstance of the delay did certainly
require some explanation from the Attorney General, but that
explanation is not to be found from the circumstance of my
living in the country. It was certainly a very unpleasant
thing to me, to be proclaimed throughout the country, as a
criminal, over whom a prosecution was depending. To a
man like me, who has a large family, with some children just
old 'enough to be alarmed, and a wife, in a situation, in
which alarms are often dangerous, it was most particularly
unpleasant to have this prosecution long hanging over my
head, like a sword suspended by a single thread. My prose
cutors got an order for me to come up to town to be tried,
and when I came up for that purpose, I was told to go back
again about my business.
"The Attorney General has made great use of the word
loyal, which he says I am in the habit of using as a term of
reproach. Now, my own property, and all my interests and
prospects are so connected with the security of the country,
that it would be strange indeed if I were to use the word
loyalty as a term of reproach. If any of you gentlemen are
in the habit of reading my paper, you must know that I

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 89
Jo not mean to consider loyalty as a subject of reproach.
The Attorney General must know it, and does know it. Every
man of common understanding, that reads the article, will see
that the word loyal is used in an ironical sense. Every one
knows that there are a set of men, who wish to claim an ex
clusive loyalty. Such men, for example, as John Bowles, Mr.
Hunt, Mr. Villiers, and others of that description, who pre
tend to an extraordinary degree of loyalty, and who endea
vour to cry down, as disloyal and disaffected men, all who
will venture to say any thing tending to remove the present
administration from their places. It was to those pretended
loyalists that I applied the term, and the Attorney General
must know my meaniiig well enough. When in another
part of the paper, I say, ' fiOg them, flog them,' then he
finds out that I am speaking ironically, but in the other ex
pression, he wishes it to be supposed that I was in downright
earnest. Now it is not fair in him to pick and choose in this
manner. He should either have considered both these ex
pressions as serious, or both as ironical. I really, gentlemen,
do not want to impress you with the belief, that 1 meant any
thing else by the words I used, than what I really did mean.
I meant to apply the term loyal in an ironical sense, to those'
hypocrites and flatterers, who pretend to be loyal, but who
are really the greatest enemies of the country. There is an
other term, that he takes notice of, 'the king's friends.'
This is a phrase, which every body, who has either read my
paper, or any other paper that is published, must understand.
It is not applied to those who really are the best friends to the
king and country, but to that party, who choose to call them
selves exclusively the king's friends, and would represent all
other men as his enemies. Neither the term ' king's friends'
nor loyal, can ever be used as a term of reproach, except when
applied ironically to those hypocrites and flatterers, who
claim exclusive loyalty and attachment to the king's person.
In this paper, which I am charged with as being a libel, I
have not mentioned the king's name, nor that of any of his
family, nor any thing respecting the royal authority. This
25. — VOL. II. n

90 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
article, which was satirical, hyperbolical, and perhaps clum
sily and badly written, (certainly written in a great hurry,)
did not reflect upon his majesty, but upon his ministers.
Ministers, however, have a way of construing every attack
upon them, as an attack upon the king. When I say, ' well
done, L&rd Castlereagh,' his lordship would say, this is not
meant for me, but for the king. Lord Castlereagh would
certainly never admit that any thing which spoke of cruelty,
or flogging, could be meant for him ; they might as well say,
if a minister were walking through the streets and had mud
thrown at him, that it was the king himself who was pelted.
I certainly did not invent or devise those facts upon which I
commented ; and if, upon those facts, my comment was some
what angry and hasty, it cannot be inferred from thence, that
it was my intention to overturn the government, or do any
injury to my country. The learned Judge Blackstone, from
whom every lawyer in the court, and even the learned judge
himself, who is now presiding on the bench, had imbibed
their first lessons of law, in speaking of the forms of trial,
states, that the trial of information, ex officio, was only to be
used in cases of such enormity, that the least delay would
endanger his majesty's government, or where his majesty
was molested or affronted in the exercise of his royal func
tions. In all other cases, the subject is entitled to the double
shield of a grand jury, as well as a petty jury. Did this
paper endanger his majesty's government? Was this a case
which would not bear a moment's delay ? or if it were so, why
was it delayed for a whole twelvemonth ? If instead of call
ing me a person disaffected to his majesty, they had said, that
I disliked Lord Castlereagh, and that I had intended and de
vised to bring Lord Castlereagh into dislike ; I would not
have known what defence to have made to such a charge,
and I believe I must have admitted it to be true. It
was but a short time ago, that this Lord Castlereagh com
plained in the house, of the difficulty of bringing libellers to
punishment. Lord Ellenborough.— I must interrupt you, you must

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBEETT, ESQ. 91
not make your defence a means of traduction.; the particular
crime that you are charged with, of publishing the paper,
which has been read, cannot be defended by charging other
men with doctrines delivered in Parliament.
Mr. Cobbett. — I shall return then to the forced construc
tion, which I say the Attorney General has put upon my
words. In that paper I was ridiculing the measure of the
local militia, introduced by Lord Castlereagh. When I set
down ' aye, the rascals, flog them, flog them ;' no man
could suppose that I was speaking seriously. The Attorney
General says, I mean to say, that Buonaparte behaved with
less cruelty to his conscripts, than our government behaves
to the local militia ; now my meaning in referring to Buona
parte on this occasion, was merely to sting them with this
observation, that it would not.be prudent for them to be al
ways inveighing against the cruelty of Buonaparte, unless
they would themselves leave off such practices as these. As
to making some observation upon the treatment of soldiers, 1
will now ask. are we never to be allowed upon any occasion,
to say that soldiers have been cruelly treated ? If one of us
was in a garrison town, and saw a soldier flogged to death,
which I hope will never occur since the case of General Wall,
would it be criminal to say any thing, or to write any thing
upon the subject ? What ! is every man who puts on a red
coat, to be from that moment deserted by all the world, and
is no tongue, no pen, ever to stir in his defence ? Who were
those local militia men ? The greater part were then young
men, probably in smock frocks, just taken from the plough,
and ignorant of that subordination, that, is practised in the
army. I allow, that against a serious mutiny, severe measures
may be necessary, but then by mutiny I understand taking
up arms, and forcibly and violently resisting the officers in
the execution of their military duties. I do not think a mere
discontent and a squabble in a corps, about the marching
guinea, should either receive the name or punishment of mu
tiny. I and other people told Lord Castlereagh, from the
beginning, that it would come to this, that these local militia

92 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
would be made just soldiers enough to be disinclined to re
turn to labour, and that they would be so much of labourers
as never to be made effective soldiers. But it is not always
conceived criminal to speak of our soldiers having received
cruel treatment. I shall now read to you many extracts of
speeches delivered in Parliament, respecting the treatment of
the British army in Walcheren. The sentiments which I
shall now read to you, are much stronger than any thing con
tained in the paper for which I am prosecuted. I shall first
aead the words of Lord Grenville.
Lord Ellenborough. — I must prevent this, I cannot allow
speeches stated to have been spoken in Parliament on
other matters, to be read to the jury. If you have any ex
tracts from other sources, which you think applicable to
your case, you may read them.
Mr. Cobbett. — Well then, it will suffice for me to say
shortly, that there is no degree of cruelty, hardship and op
pression, which has not been charged to those who conducted
the Walcheren expedition. When people speak against the
ill-treatment of our soldiers, the fair and natural presumption
is, not that they want to overturn the government, but that
they want those evils of which they complain to be remedied
in future. When Mr. Whitbread said a few days ago, that
there prevailed as much cruelty in the Duke of Cumberland's
regiment as there ever did, and that it was in that regiment
only, that the practice of picketting was continued, did any
body believe that Mr. Whitbread really meant to excite a
mutiny ? No, every body must be convinced that the thing
was mentioned only, that the evil might be corrected.
The Attorney General, complained to his lordship of the
impropriety of thus quoting speeches made in Parliament.
Lord Ellenborough again informed Mr. Cobbett, that
it was improper to quote speeches made in the imperial
chambers of Parliament.
Mr. Cobbett continued.— " It appeared to me that the
reasonable conclusion, which is formed in other cases, and
which also ought to be formed in mine, is, that a person gene-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 93
rally complains, not with a view of doing an injury to his
country by the complaint, but with the view of having that
altered of which he complains. A man may be mistaken in
the subject of which he complains, and yet may act without
any of those bad intentions, which have been imputed to me.
There is indeed a circumstance respecting my paper, which
shows that it could not have been my intention to produce
any mutiny. My paper cannot get amongst the soldiers, but
by mere accident. Its cireulatisn is- principally amongst
those classes, who are best informed, and most capahle of un
derstanding its real object and meaning. If one wanted to
do mischief in the army, it is not by such papers as mine,
but by placards and handbills that soldiers would be easiest
worked upon.
" I do conceive, however, that there are cases in which much
real mischief might be done by publications in newspapers.
For example, if a fleet were on the point of sailing on a par
ticular destination, and any body were to publish, that the
transports were altogether deficient for the accommodation of
the troops, and that there was no manner of attention to their
comfort or their health, such publication might do considerable
mischief, and, therefore, be deserving of punishment. In fact,
such a publication had taken place in a morning paper, and
it appeared to the last Attorney General (Sir A. Piggot,) as so
very dangerous, that he filed an information ex officio upon it,
and yet the present Attorney General did not conceive it in
that light, and abandoned it. I think that the Attorney
General acted rightly in. abandoning this prosecution, but I
think that, upon the same principle, he should also have given
up the present prosecution. In the last trial for a libel, the
Attorney General laid down very liberal doctrines. He said,
that it was not his practice to prosecute men, for expressing
their sentiments even with some degree of warmth and in
discretion in the discussion of public affairs ; and, that when
such warmth was only displayed in arraigning the conduct
of ministers, or in discussing what belonged to the important
interests of the country, or the happiness of, mankind, no

94 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
notice of this sort was ever taken of it. It is a thing per
fectly well known, that in cases of this sort, words should be
judged of by the intention, rather than by the literal construc
tion. Lord Erskine expressed this in a striking manner,
when he was pleading for a defendant in a case of this
nature, in this very court, (at that time the trial of Hastings
had been going on for a considerable length of time, and the
court erected for the trial, obstructed the avenues of the Court
of King's Bench.) 'What!' said Mr. Erskine, 'if when I
am making my way through dismal passages to this hole in
the wall, I should mutter to myself, and in an ill-humour,
wish that the roof of the building would fall upon king,
lords, and commons, upon prosecutors and defendants, such
a wish might shew ill-temper ; if I expressed it aloud, it would
be indecorous^ but if any one wished to take it up seriously,
and complained of me to the House of Commons, how
would the house take it up, or how would the person, who
brought so frivolous a complaint, be treated ?' I do not, how
ever, pretend to say, that I was in such a passion at the time
of my writing this article, as not to know what I was about,
but still I say, that it was an article written in a hurry, and
without much time for reflection. The article in the Courier
was dated the 24th June, and the comment on it appeared in
my paper on the 1st July. As it was necessary to send to
and from Botley, in the interval, no great time was left for
deliberation. If every expression was to be strained, as the
Attorney General has attempted to strain the expressions in
this article, no person could be safe. Half the language of
mankind is figurative, and nothing can be more unfair, than
construing according to the letter, which is meant as irony.
Men in common conversation, often use expressions that are
hyperbolical, and those expressions are never understood
literally. If a different construction were to be put on every
thing which appears in print, the press must either be wholly
silent, or confine itself to the praises of administration.
" I perhaps should not have said any thing about the
German troops, if it were not for the high eulogium that

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 95
the Attorney General has been pleased to bestow upon them.
I am free to confess, that 1 was adverse to the employment of
German troops in this country ; and it did particularly move
my indignation, that German troops should be brought to
witness the punishment of the local militia men of this
country, who, as I said before, were most of them young
fellows, just taken from the plough, and unacquainted witn
the forms of military discipline. The introduction of foreign
troops into this country, was always warmly objected to by
our ancestors, and in their objection and dislike of them I
perfectly agree. This objection then does not proceed from
any Jacobinical aversion for his majesty, but it is ah objec
tion, which has been justly entertained at all times by those,
who had the best British feeling/ So early as the year 1628,
the House of Commons presented a petition to Charles I., in
which they complained of bringing German tiorse into this
country. The bringing in of strangers has been injurious
to every country, but to England it has often been fatal.
They held it to be far beneath the character, and the bold
hearts of Englishmen, to think it necessary to bring over
foreigners for their protection.
" There is another authentic instance of the dislike of our
ancestors to the introduction of foreign troops. In the year
1692, very shortly after the revolution, there was a debate in
the House of Commons, upon the introduction of foreigners,
or their commanding Englishmen. Sir Peter Collier, in the
course of his speech, said, ' that Englishmen bore a love to
their own country, which it is impossible that strangers could
feel. Foreigners could not have the same affection for this
country, as the men, who had been born in it.' He con
cluded his speech, by moving that none but natives should
command Englishmen.
"This motion although very much against the inclination
of William the Third, who was naturally much attached to
his foreign troops, was agreed to and became a law. Notwith
standing this, there are now no less than four or five German
generals, commanding districts, or on the staff. Since the year

96 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
1806, this force has increased, from twenty-four to thirty-nine
thousand men, including five thousand provincial troops in
Nova Scotia, &c» There are four German lieutenant-gene
rals, four major-generals, and nineteen colonels, many of
whom have the rank of brigadier-general, and who com
manded not only English men, but English officers. There
are not only many Germans in high command in this country,
but there are Frenchmen also. There is one Frenchman
of the name of Montalembert, who is on the staff in
Sussex, and I understand that there are, or there were two
of them lately entrusted as overseers of a dock yard in Wales.
Although the law says that no foreigner shall be employed
in any office of trust, civil or military, yet the whole country
is full of those foreigners, so employed in places of trust.
The two acts which authorized the introduction of these Ger
man troops into this country, were not enacting statutes, but
merely acts of indemnity. The law of the country was
such as was agreed to, at the bargain made at the revolution
by the Act of Settlement, and that act prohibited foreigners
from holding those situations of trust. There are now no
less than seven hundred and seventy-three of these German
officers ; and if we take in all the foreigners who hold offices
of trust in our military service, contrary to the law, there are
no less than one thousand five hundred and three.
" The Attorney General has mis-stated the fact, when he
represents those German legions as entirely or principally
composed of Hanoverians, who have enlisted from an attach
ment to their legitimate sovereign. It is a very small part
indeed, not more than four or five thousand, who enlisted in
Hanover ; the great bulk of them is composed Of persons',
enlisted in the prisons of Spain and England. I have heard
that a considerable number of them were enlisted from the
prisoners of Dupont's army. When an army of foreigners
is raked together' in this manner ; when their officers com
mand over Englishmen, and when part of them are brought
to witness the flogging of our local militia men, how can I avoid
feeling the greatest indignation, and feeling, as I must do, this

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 97
indignation, why should I not be permitted to express it !
and if I do express this indignation which I feel, in somewhat
of angry language, are you upon that account to presume
that I am guilty of deliberately wishing and contriving to
subvert the government of the country ?
"The Attorney General talks of the gallant conduct of these
troops at the battle of Talavera. Now, 1 have heard that
they behaved very badly at the battle of Talavera, and if I
had expected the Attorney General to make this assertion,
I should certainly have brought in my pocket a letter, which
I think will warrant one in saying, that they behaved badly
there. The letter is from an officer in the horse artillery,
Lieutenant Frederick Read, and directed to a person in a high
situation in this country. Amongst other things it states, that
if it was not for the timely arrival of the 29th regiment, their
whole brigade would have been taken, in consequence of the
cowardly conduct of the German Legion. It is not merely
from this letter, that I derive my information on the subject,
but I have spoken with many officers from Spain, who passed
through my neighbourhood in the country, and whom I in
vited to take up their quarters at my house at Botley. All
these officers agreed in stating, that the Germans had be
haved very ill. One of their officers, indeed, planted the
standard close to the enemy, and endeavoured to rally them,
but it was impossible. The Attorney General must have
been much misled, when he made this statement, and indeed
I do not wonder at it, when I recollect that, since leaving
Portugal, the officers have not been allowed to write, or even
to speak about what takes place in that part of the world.
The Attorney General appeals to the testimony of all in
whose neighbourhood these Germans have been quartered,
to say what well-conducted troops they are. Now, as to
what I know of them, their character is directly the reverse.
I shall first speak of the regiment commanded by the Duke
of Brunswick, and in giving their character, I shall first state
what was the opinion of the Arch- Duke Charles, respecting
the regiment. The Archduke, in a letter to the Duke of Bruns-
25. — vol. ii, o

98 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
wick, states, ' It is with great concern that I learn, that the
troops under the command of your Highness in Saxony, have
been guilty of such extortions and excesses as to dishonour the
army, rendered forgotten all the atrocities committed by the
French, and dispose the minds of the people against the com
mon cause. I have therefore given orders to General Kica-
mager commanding in Saxony, to see that the most rigorous
military discipline be enforced, as long as a corps continues
there, which, like that under your command, is composed
of people, having no country? Such is the character that the
regiment of the Duke of Brunswick held in Germany.
"When they came to this country, one of the first places
they were sent to, was the Isle of Wight. There they com
mitted all manner of violence, enormities and devastation.
They were charged with committing two murders. I cannot
pretend to say they actually did commit them, but this I will
say, I have seen a letter stating that the bar of a public house
had been chopped through with their sabres, and the landlord
put into the greatest danger of his life, for not supplying
them with liquor. In short, they were the terror of the
whole neighbourhood, who rejoiced most sincerely, when .they
were sent off somewhere else. Nevertheless, I do not pre
tend to deny, that many of them may be very good men ;
but yet I have an objection to their being employed in this
country, on the ground that our ancestors objected, that they
never can participate in the feelings of Englishmen. Their
attachments lie not to England, but to Germany. It is im
possible, from the feelings of human nature, that it should be
otherwise. The graves of their fathers, and their properties,
if they have any, lie in Germany, and there, are their affec
tions also. This is a principle of human nature too strong to
be eradicated. If you take a Laplander from his own country,
and bring him here, he will still suppose that there is some
thing in Lapland, superior to any thing he sees elsewhere.
When Germany shall be completely under the dominion of
Buonaparte, if he should ever invade this country, is it Ger
man troops that are fit to be sent forward to oppose his

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 99
armies ? I believe, in my conscience, that it would be highly
dangerous to trust them in such a situation. I believe, that
the mass of foreign troops, which ministers are collecting in
this country, will rather serve as the vanguard of Buonaparte's
armies ; that it will be like the Trojan horse, only filled with
Germans instead of Greeks.
" Another instance of the value of these troops was recently
displayed at Guadaloupe. A part of the 60th regiment, who
were mostly Germans, ran away from the enemy. The
depot of this regiment was established at Lymington, in
Hampshire, and they kept the whole neighbourhood in terror
and alarm. I certainly have had my eye constantly on
these German troops, since Iheir first introduction into the
country, and I am convinced that the employment of them is
most injurious to the true interests of this country. I will
allow, that my indignation was much excited at their being
employed, as I thought, indecently, in witnessing, if not
assisting in the flogging of Englishmen. In my hasty ob
servations on this subject, there may have been much bad
taste, and many things which cannot bear the test of literary
criticism, but I trust you will believe there was no bad
meaning. My property, the profits of my .publications, the
very trees of my planting, all depend upon the security of
the country, under the government of his majesty and his
successors; and 1 must be the greatest beast and fool, as well
as knave and traitor, if I could seriously and deliberately in
tend the subversion of the government, or to do any injury
to the country. I have now nothing more to say, than to
thank you, gentlemen of the Jury, and you my lord, for the
attention with which you have been good enough to favour
me." The Attorney General immediately rose to reply. He
began — I cannot help thinking, that the present defendant
would better have consulted his own fame, and the character,
which he has, in order to answer this day's purpose, placed f-o
high, if he had followed the example of his own printer and
publisher, and admitted the libel of which he stands accused —

100 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ'
made no defence, and suffered judgment to have gone against
him by default, rather than have resorted to such a defence,,
as he has this day made ; for he has only made it the occa
sion for uttering new slanders against innocent and unde
fended persons, to whom he has thought proper incidentally
to allude. It has pleased the defendant to complain loudly
of delay in bringing the present information to trial. He
has stated, that the libel was published on the 1st July 1809,
and he asks, Why was I not called upon to answer for it at
an earlier j>eriod ? And why am I at length, when I supposed.
the prosecution was deserted, brought up in 18 JO, to answer
for an offence committed in July 1809? I will tell you why,
and I will tell you truly, because by the course of this court,
I could not bring the defendant to trial sooner, he might have
enabled me to have done so, but he would not do it. His
lordship on the bench, will tell you, that a perspn living in
the country, is entitled to fourteen days notice of triaj ; that a
defendant is entitled to an imparlance, which will give him
a whole term's delay, and the defendant actually had this ; and
that a defendant cannot be made to plead without three rules,
the last of which only is peremptory. Now, if the defendant
had pleaded to the first rule, notice of trial could have been
given him for the sittings after last Hilary Term, but he did
not plead till the third, and the sittings coming on the 13th of
the month, and he not pleading till the 1st, fourteen days
notice could not have been given him. If he had lived in
town, ten days notice would have been enough, and the trial
might have come on ; but he lived in the country, and, there
fore, it was, that I said he had had the benefit of his living
in the country in the present delay, of which he now dares
to complain; though I flatter myself I have shown, that he
himself was the cause of it. He stated as a fact, and I
beseech you to hold it in your remembrance, as a standard of
his credibility, that he was brought up to London, and was
told when he came there, " I won't try you now, go back
again, and come another time." He said, that thus he was
treated, and for this assertion there is no more foundation,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 101
than for any fhvention which might spring from the wildest
imagination of the wildest person. I am sorry to say, that
it is a dry, cold invention, made only for the purpose of
serving this trial ; I would not speak so positively, but of
what I have stated, I am certain from my own knowledge.
The defendant has urged as a reason, why he should not be
prosecuted for this libel, that there have been others which
were worse, and which were either not prosecuted at all, or
the prosecutions of which were abandoned ; fecesunt alii et
multi et pejores. It is true, there was such a lihel in the
MorningPost, as that to which the defendant has alluded ; it
is true, that for that libel a prosecution was instituted by my
learned and most honourable predecessor, Sir Arthur Piggott,
and it is true that that prosecution was not further carried on,
but not for the reason assigned by the defendant, I speak in
the hearing of the learned counsel for the Admiralty, to whose
care, prosecutions of the same nature as that of the Moving
Post are entrusted, and whose opinion upon that prosecution,
jointly with mine, is now before me. There is no comparison
in the degrees of wickedness, between the printer of a libel
and the author of it ; and though it is sometimes found neces
sary, by prosecuting the circulators of a libel, to deter printers
and publishers from the offence, yet there is no occasion in
which, wherever the author can be got at, he is not preferred
by the law advisers of the crown. The other defendants in
the present information, who have suffered judgment to go
by default, are innocent when compared with Mr. Cobbett.
The printer of the Morning Post gave up the name of the
author of the libel, and that name is now before me ; but the
prosecution against him has not been proceeded with, because
he is not in England. It waits, however, for his, return,
when he certainly will be prosecuted ; and I agree with the
defendant, that the libel was most malicious, and if it can be
proved against him, as I flatter myself I have means to do it,
the court of King's Bench will no doubt punish him with
severity. So much for the argument, that the prosecutions

102 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
against others for worse libels than that of the present defen
dant have been dropped ; they are only suspended.
The defendant, for the purpose of removing all prejudices
against him, has favoured us with an account of himself, in
which he says, that no man was ever so much abused and
calumniated as he has been. . I am not sure that he makes a
very accurate distinction between the active and the passive
voice. Mr. Cobbett — the most calumniated — the most li
belled man in the whole world. I am not a constant reader
of Mr. Cobbett's works, much of them is doubtless unknown
to me, but I have certainly seen enough of them to be able
to pronounce him not the most calumniated man in the world.
Indeed it has not fallen in my way to meet with many pub
lications, which so little prove their author to be a man more
sinned against than sinning; and after what I have seen, I
certainly cannot subscribe to his assertion in this particular.
The defendant has certainly bestowed no inconsiderable
praise on himself, for the purpose of repelling the abuse of
others, and I readily admit it to be generally true, as far as
you believe it. There was a part of the defendant's life, when
his publications justified the character of loyalty, which he
has to-day put upon himself, but he must borrow from those
publications, and not from the present, to prove it. I should
not have touched upon this point, but he refers himself per
sonally to me, and says that I know him to be a loyal man.
I am obliged to say that I am not possessed of any such
knowledge. I am bound to say, that from any means in my
power, I have no such knowledge as he ascribes to me.
Having repelled all former calumny against him, the defend
ant admits that the article in question is written in bad taste,
he wrote it in a hurry ; he knew what he was writing, but as
to any wish to excite disaffection in the minds of his majesty's
subjects, is perfectly ridiculous. It is true, he says, I think
with certain persons in the reign of Charles I. that foreign
troops ought not to be received into England, and he reads a
passage from some publication, protesting against the intro-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 103
duction or such troops. I don't quarrel with this opinion of
the defendant ; if he thinks that foreign troops ought not to
be received into the English service, let him indulge that
notion ; it is of no consequence to any one else, what his
opinion is. But is this all ? Has he only set himself up as
wiser than the legislature ? He states, that the acts of that
legislature were merely acts of indemnity, but the contrary
is the case. There were acts of indemnity for past offences
which it would be difficult to find out, and authorizing his
majesty to raise by the first act 10,000, and by the second
act 16,000 foreign troops. The numbers' of the German
Legion are 12,000, and there are fewer than 1000 of them
now in this country. The defendant, in defending himself,
little adverted to the matter of the libel ; he stated his conduct
and life generally, and said that the libel was merely a mode
of pointing out his disapprobation of Lord Castlereagh's plan
of Local Militia. Is there any one word of discussion in the
whole paper ? Is there any examination of the wisdom or
propriety of the measure ? Does he suggest any other, which
may have been more prudently adopted ? Does he think
there was any other, or that this was not the true course,
when our country was threatened with invasion, than to give
the people a habit of arms before the danger falls, or rather
would he not have discountenanced every other method of
training the people? He does, indeed, generally say, "This
is what I always said would be the consequence." When this
measure was the law of the land, when a mutiny had taken
place, when the mutineers had been tried by a regular, court
martial, when five of the ringleaders had been sentenced to
a punishment, which had been partly inflicted, when the
whole disturbance was over, the defendant endeavours to
light the flame again, by holding the mutineers out to disgrace
for submitting to their just punishment, and the German
Legion to odium, for being employed upon the necessary
service of quelling this mutiny, and to insinuate that the
soldiers of our army were driven into it by means more
tyrannical than the conscriptions of Buonaparte. This was

104 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
the object of the libel, and however the defendant may en
deavour to call your attention from the real question by a
history of his life, his lordship will tell you that the question
you l\ave to consider, is, whether the object of this paper is
that of fair, candid inquiry, or that of exciting discontent in
the minds of those whom it may concern. I shall just draw
your attention to a few passages in the libel, and then I am
sure you will have a persuasion which nothing can shake,
that the objects of the libel are such as I have represented
them to be.; As to the expression, "they deserve it," is it
riot plainly ironical, and intended to reproach and taunt the
men on account of their punishment ? Is it not the language
of insult ? Does tie not mean to nose them for having been
so dastardly as to submit to the German Legion ? I say, too,
that the defendant plainly meant to reproach the people of
Eiy for not siding with the mutineers, in that passage where
he says, " I do not know what kind of place Ely is, &c."
No man imputes want of sense or apprehension to Mr. Cob
bett, and can any man similarly blessed; doubt that this
passage was intended as a reproach to the witnesses of the
scene ; and what was the scene ? Why, those men whose
duty it was to obey, offered their officers, for obedience, re
sistance ; surrounding and besetting them, for what they
thought was their arrear of wages. To quell this mutiny a
force was procured from a neighbouring town. The muti
neers were brought to a court martial ; the ringleaders were
sentenced to a punishment, the whole of which was not in
flicted. And this Mr. Cobbett called only a little mutiny
amongst the men, and only for a mere mutiny against officers,
probably their equals, they were condemned to suffer this
punishment ; and the indignation against the German Legion
for inflicting it, led Mr. Cobbett into the libel in question.
The German Legion were not sent for to inflict the punish
ment, but while the mutiny lasted, they were, sent tor to
suppress that spirit — a very necessary service ; and I cannot
think him a good loyal subject, or one who Understands the
word loyal, who would write such a paper as this, in order to

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESfy 105
expose the German Legion to the indignation of the peopje,
as foreigners. This was a little mutiny  ¦
The Attorney General was here told, that the defendant
had called it mere disorderly conduct.
It was not, continued the Attorney General, even a mutiny
then I only disorderly conduct. The paper from which Mr.
Cobbett takes his motto, the Courier, truly states that there
had been a mutiny. It would be wasting time , further to
show the object of this publication, but I must say one word,
by way of repelling the defendant's calumny against those
brave, gallant and loyal persons, who compose the German
Legion ; there may have been some of them found to have
occasionally misconducted themselves, but that their general
conduct is such as has been described by the defendant, I
have taken pains to inquire, and I utterly deny. Some of
]them may have been guilty of little excesses, and it is im
possible to keep a large body of men free from them ; but
upon the whole, there never was a body of men, of whom
there was so little to complain.* I have no doubt that every
complaint against every individual of them, misconducting
himself, finds its way to the commander in chief, and there;?
fore this is an ascertainable fact. From all these complaints,
which have found their way to Mr. Cobbett, no doubt a
highly-finished picture of their misconduct might be drawn.
* We cannot refrain here from making a few remarks on this part of the
Attorney General's speech. When he came into court, he must have been by
necessity wholly ignorant of the exact line of defence, which Cobbett would
chalk out for himself, and consequently, the Attorney General must have been
ignorant of the charges, which Cobbett intended to institute against the Gerr
man Legion. He, however, by way of rebutting the accusations of Cobbett,
says, that he had taken pains to inquire into their conduct, and found it amply
deserving of commendation. When and where, did the lawyer make this in
quiry? did he possess the foreknowledge of the attack, which Cobbett intended
to make against the German Legion, — and, therefore, byway of anticipation, in
stituted the alleged inquiry ? It belongs not, however, to the character of a
lawyer, to be very nice in regard to assertions, which, by virtue of his profes
sion, he considers himself entitled to make ; but the truth was on Cobbett's
side, as every one can substantiate, who had ever the misfortune to reside in
the place, where the German mercenaries were quartered.
26.— vol. 11. *

106 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
These, however, will be only particular cases ; their general
conduct, however, is such as I have described. It has beeri
stated to the defendant by a particular individual, whom he
.named, that they were guilty of cowardice at Talavera, I
confess the assertion surprised me, because I knew their con-'
duct to be directly the contrary, and that out of four stand
ards, that were taken, three were so taken by the German
Legfon. This must have been rather an extraordinary effect
of cowardice, or else it must have been strange, that they
who had taken three standards, should betray cowardice in
fight. I cannot hear such calumny of absent brave foreigners,
and not refute it, and this I do in justice to them, not that
the cause requires it ; for the question for your consideration
is not, whether the German Legion be brave, or not, but that
they being in the service of his majesty, whether one object
of this paper be not to revile them for inflicting discipline
upon bis majesty's native troops, and I sit down without the
smallest doubt, that you will be of opinion that the libel
has that tendency.
Lord Ellenborough then charged the jury, to the following
effect. You have been assembled and are sworn to try an
Information filed by his majesty's Attorney General, against
William Cobbett, charging him with being the author of a
libel, intended to injure the king's military service, and to
represent that certain soldiers in the local militia were treated
with oppression. This is the substance of the charge and
mischief, and the question is, whether the mischief be justly
ascribable to the libel in question, and whether it be of that
noxious tendency. The defendant has said in the course of
his defence, that he has been the subject of much calumny.
Whether he has been so or no, I know not, but I am quite
sure you will divest your minds of every prejudice against
the defendant, on account of either his actual or supposed
conduct, and consider him only upon the demerit imputed to
him by this publication. The publication took its rise in a
passage of the Courier, which the defendant took for his
motto.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 1Q7
Lord Ellenborough here read the passage.
It appears by this, that the soldiers had actually been tried
by a court martial for mutiny, but the defendant has stated
this to have amounted in his conception, merely to a squabble
between officers and soldiers about a marching guinea ; but
how this can be construed to be other than a mutiny, and
that of the most dangerous sort, exceedsmiy comprehension.
Lord Ellenborough then read the libel as far as the words
" It really was not without reason, that you dwelt with so
much earnestness upon the great utility of the foreign troops,
whom Mr. Wardle appeared to think of no utility at all."
Although the introduction of foreign troops is certainly
sanctioned by law, yet every individual has a right to suggest
an alteration in that law, provided that suggestion be made in
temperate and qualified terms ; he may address himself to the
sober reason of his country, that mischief will result from pre
sent measures, and endeavour, through the people, to impress
the parliament with the necessity of their being changed. I am
sure that if such a discussion had been brought before a jury,
you would have been no more inclined to construe it, than
any judge in the situation which I unworthily fill, would be
to recommend you so to construe it, a libel. But, gentlemen,
it is for you to consider whether this publication has a bad
intention, and intention is principally to be looked'at by a
fair- consideration of terms. If intention be to be judged
otherwise, a defendant would have nothing to do upon all
occasions, but to say, my mind was innocent, but my pen
slipped, the libel was unguarded, acquit me. But this is
not one random expression, there is a continuity of the same
thought, and can you infer from it any purpose but one?
The libel proceeds :
Lord Ellenborough read " Poor gentleman ! he little ima
gined how gr^at a genius might find employment for such
troops. , Let Mr. Wardle look at my motto,' and then say
whether the German soldiers are of no use." The "employ
ment," here talked of, must have been that of chastising the

108 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
mutineers, and the words " useful employment/' are evi
dently used in an ironical and a calumnious sense.
" He little imagined that they might be made the means
of compelling Englishmen to subrriit to that sort of discipline,
which is so conducive to the producing in them a disposition
to defend the country at the risk oftheir lives."
This, continued "Lord Ellenborough, is partly charge and
partly sneer; I was at first doubtful as to the meaning of the
former part of it, and alluded to what was said On both sides,
leaning, if at all, to that of the defendant, who appeared here
as his own defender. But the words of his defence leave no
doubt as to his meaning, for in the course of it, you remember
him to have said, " I should not have said so much about
the German Legion, if they had not been brought to flog
the backs of my own countrymen." That part about " the
risk of lives," is sneer. Is this not naturally calculkted to
generate distrust in the army? Has it not the tendency to
loosen all the links and ties of military subordination and to
renew mutiny ? And if so, it must be understood to have
been intended to do so.
Lord Ellenborough then proceeded to read the libel from
the words "five hundred," to "trees."
Now, what is the fair meaning of this passage ? Is it ex
hortation or advice, to lay on punishment, or is not the mean
ing to reproach the mutineers for submitting to be punished
with arms in their hands ?
Lord Ellenborough then read from the words, " I do not
know," to "at the time." Does not this appear to convey an
imputation against the inhabitants of Ely, for suffering the
punishment to be inflicted ? In what manner can this be pal
liated or explained ? The defendant admitted, that it was a
passionate article, and written in bad taste. If it were only
so, the reprobation and discontinuance of the practice would
be enough to require. But can sentiments like these proceed
from any other purpose, than to hold the government and
constitution up to contempt ?

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 190
Lord Ellenborough then read from the words, " this oc
currence," to the end.
If this passage allude to any publication on the nature of
the French government, there is only one, who has come
under my view, by an American of some distinction, as a
writer, but Mr. Cobbett himself explains his allusion to have
been to Mr. Bowles, Mr. Villiers, and Mr. Hunt. They
may or they may not have cast these imputations on Buona
parte ; the words apply to those persons, whoever they are.
But the object of this paragraph is, to say to the Ehglish
people, " You have not a right to complain of Buonaparte ;
look at home." This is the scope of the publication, and
was not its tendency to injure the military service ? It is
for you to say, whether these be words escaped in haste from
a man, otherwise writing temperately, but whose zeal over
shot his discretion, or whether they are the words of a man,
"who wished to dissolve the Union of the military, upon which,
at all times, but now especially at this time? the safety of the
kingdom depends. If this latter be the case, surely the defen
dant will meritedly fall under the character of that seditious
person, which the information charges him with being. In
cases like the present, the law requires me to state my opi
nion to the jury, and where I have held a different opinion
to .that which I have of the present case, I have not with
held it from the jury. J do pronounce this to be a most in
famous and seditious libel.
The Jury, after consulting together for five minutes, with
out retiring from the box, pronounced the defendant guilty.
The trial lasted from nine o'clock in the morning till twelve
at night.
Mr. Cobbett left the court previous to the verdict being
given, and set off directly for Botley, from which place, how
ever, he returned immediately in order to put in bail for his
appearance to receive judgment ; one of the tipstaffs of the
court having been despatched after him, to seize him person
ally, and to bring him up to London.

tlO MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
On Thursday the fifth of July, Mr. Cobbett was brought
up to receive judgment, when he was committed to the King's
Bench prison, to be brought up again on the 9th.
. On this occasion Mr. Cobbett was attended by many of
his friends, in full expectation that the sentence would be
pronounced on that day. The court was crowded to suffo
cation, and as soon as the bustle had subsided, the Attorney
General moved the judgment of the court on William Cob
bett, Messrs. Bagshaw and Budd, and Mr. Hansard, the
printer of the Political Register.
Lord Ellenborough recapitulated the evidence, and at the
conclusion he inquired whether the defendants had any affi
davits to produce.
Mr. Cobbett replied, that he did not intend to offer any to
the court.
Affidavits having been read on the part of Messrs. Bag
shaw and Budd, and Mr. Hansard, Lord Ellenborough in
quired, whether the defendants had any counsel.
Mr. Cobbett replied — My Lord, after what has been already
said upon the subject, I have nothing at present to trouble
your lordship with, except to say, that the defendants had no
share whatever in the composition of the Register, and I
believe no opportunity of looking over it before publication.
In this I except Mr. Hansard, the printer; but I here declare
that in my whole intercourse with them, I cannot recollect
ever having heard a disloyal sentiment from the lips of one
of them. I need not now repeat, that the paragraph which
has been the foundation of the charge, was not written by
me with any evil or libellous intention.
The Attorney General. — I think the defendant let drop the
word present, which seems to imply a future address, but
your lordship will inform him that what he has to say, he
must say now.
Lord Ellenborough then addressed Mr. Cobbett, and de
sired him to speak at the present time, whatever he might
have to urge before the court.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ^ Hf
Mr. Cobbett replied, that he was aware of that, but after
what had been already said, he did not intend to trouble the
court with any further observations.
The Attorney General now rose to speak in praying the
judgment of the court, but to follow him through the whole of •
it, would merely be to recapitulate the principal subjects on
which he dwelt at the trial ; at the close, lie said — My lord,
the Army, insulted by this libel, Calls on you for justice.
The Government, which, however it may be formed, must
look to public esteem for any power of public good, and
whose authority to be useful, must be conformable to the
laws. The People, terrified, disgusted, and indignant at the
calumnies by which this libeller would shake all the founda
tions of national security, call on you for justice.
1 leave the case to you : I know that justice administered
by you will be tempered with mercy, but your lordship will
not forget, that if there be a mercy due to the individual,
there is a' more solemn and' important mercy due to the
nation. Lord Ellenborough. — Let the four defendants be brought
up for judgment on Monday next.
The remarks which Mr. Cobbett makes on the speech of
the Attorney General, are both curious and interesting, and
particularly in the latter sense, as we thereby obtain some
glimpses of his private character, which, on other occasions,
he appears desirous to conceal.
" There are," he says, " three assertions made by the Attor
ney General, during this memorable speech, which assertions
materially affect me, and upon which, therefore, I may be
allowed to make a few observations. The first of these as
sertions is, that I made my defence a vehicle for other calum
nies and slanders, almost as bad as the original libel. The
second, that I wrote the publication in question, and gene
rally every thing I wrote, for base lucre. And then in
another part of his speech, where he is stating the evil conse
quences, which, in the way of example, will arise from a
slight punishment of me ; he asks, if other libellers will not,

112 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
iq such a case, be entitled to say, * If I, by libelling, be en
abled to make a fortune, and to amass wealth, when in return
I shall only have to sustain so 'slight a punishment as that
passed on Mr. Cobbett, will I not cheerfully incur the
penalty ?'
"The third assertion is, that the Army called upon the
court to punish me. The words are these as given in the
report. 'The Army, against whom this libel is in a peculiar
manner directed, calls on the court for justice against its tra~
ducer? f With respect to the first, namely, that I made my de
fence a vehicle for other calumnies and slanders ; much more
need not to be said, than was said by every one who heard
or read the speech, and that is, that it is very strange thaf.
these new calumnies were not named by the person, who
was speaking, in aggravation. He had had nearly a month
to consider of, and inquire into the facts, for I dealt not in
insinuations, stated by roe in my defence, and how comes it,
that he did not contradict any of those facts ? How came he
to content himself with a general assertion, unsupported
with even an alleged fact. Had he not time to go more mi
nutely into the matter ; or did he, out of mercy, forbear to
prove these new calumnies upon me ? Was it compassion,
that operated with him upon this occasion ? These ' calum
nies,' as he calls them, were brought forth in answer to, and
in contradiction of assertions made by him in his first speech.
It is therefore very surprising, that he should not have made
an attempt, at least, to refute them. He seems to have been
very anxious to put every thing rig]\t in the public mind ;
and how comes he then to have left these calumnies totally
unanswered, especially when he looked upon them as being
almost as bad as the original libel ?
" Upon the second assertion, that I had written the pub
lication in question, for gain's sake; that I had amassed
wealth, made a fortune by libelling, and that I had, in short,
in my writings been actuated by a craving after base lucre ;
upon this, the first observation to make, is, that it pays a

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 113
beautiful compliment to the people of this country, and comes
in with a peculiar fitness close after the assertions, that their
good sense prevented the mischiefs, which the publication was
calculated to excite, and that even they called -Upon the court
to punish me. No, the people of this country were so sen
sible, so discerning, so loyal, and held libelling in such ab
horrence, that they were not to be excited to sedition by me,
and in a minute afterwards to publish libels, is, in this
country, the way to make a fortune. The Army, too, ab
horred this work of libelling, and even called upon the court
to punish me for it, and yet, but Only a minute before, there
was great danger Of my creating disaffection in the Army;
of throwing every thing into confusion, and of producing the
destruction 'of Social order and our holy religion,' as John
Bowles has it. The Attorney General was in a difficulty.
It would not do to say, that my writing had no effect upon
either the People or the Army ; it would not do to say, that
what I wrote, dropped deadborn from the press, or that it
made no impression upon any body; it would not do to say
this, and yet it was payingme too" great a compliment, to
suppose that I had the power of inducing any body to think
or feel with.me, therefore I was, in one and the same speech,
represented as a most mischievous and a most insignificant
writer. "- But to return to the charge of writing for base lucre. I
think the public will have perceived, that there was nothing
original in this part of the Attorney General's speech; for
the charge had, in all forms of wOrds, been long before made
by the basest of my calumniators, by 'the Vile wretches, who
notoriously use their pen^nd their pencils for pay, and who
c\o. not, like me, look for remuneration to the sale of their
works to the public. The idea of my having amassed wealth,
arose, in the first place, perhaps, from the envy of the worst,
and most despicable part of those i who wished to live by the
press, but who did not possess the requisite talents to ensure
success to their endeavours, and at the same time preserve
their independence, or who were- so deficient in point of in-
26. — vol. n. Q

114 MEMOIRS OF WILL-IAM COBBETT, ESQ.
dustry, as to render their talents of no avail, and who, there
fore, resorted to that species of traffic, which exposed them
to my lash. Such men would naturally hate me ; such men
would naturally wish for my destruction. Such men would
naturally stick at no falsehood, at no sort or size of calumny
against a man, whose success was at once an object of their
envy, and the means of their continual annoyance. But from
a person in. the situation of Attorney General, one might have
expected a little more caution in speaking of the character
and motives of any man.
" Let me, before I come to my particular case, first ask why
the gains of a writer, or of a book, or newspaper proprietor,
are to be called base lucre, -any more than the gains of any
other description of persons. Milton, and Swift, and Addison
received money for their works ; nay, Pope received more,
perhaps, than all of them put together, and wrote too, with
tert times more severity and more personality, than I ever did,
and yet no one ever thought, I believe, of giving to his gains
the name of base lucre. This is a most sweeping blow at
the press. Let no one connected with it in any way what
ever, imagine that his pecuniary possessions, or his estate, if
he has gained one, will or can escape the application of this
liberal charge. The fortunes of Mr. Walter, and Mr. Perry,
and Mr. Stuart, and Mr. Longman, and Mr. Cadell, and of
all the rest of them, are all to be considered as base lucre.
Base lucre is the fruit Of the industry and talents of every
man who works with his pen ; and those, whose business it is
to instruct and inform mankind, are either to be steeped in
poverty, or to be regarded as sordid and base hunters after
gain. Dr. Johnson, if now livihg,,must at this rate be liable
to be charged with hunting after base lucre, for he really
lived by the use of his pen. Paley, also, sold his writings,
and so, I dare say, did Locke ; and why not then impute base
ness to them on this account ? It is notorious, that thousands
of priests, and even bishops, have sold their writings, not ex
cepting their sermons, and is not that hunting after ' base
lucre?' It is equally notorious, that lawyers are daily in-

TUEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 115
.the habit of selling reports of cases, and other writings ap
pertaining to their profession, and what can their gain there
by be called but ' base lucre ?' Burke sold his writings, as
well as Paine did his, nay, the former, for many years, and
being a member of the honourable House all the while,
actually wrote for pay in a periodical work, called the
Annual Register, and of course, he sought therein after 'base
lucre.' Base lucre, it was, according to this. doctrine, that
set Malone to edite ShakespeareJ(r and that induced Mr.
Tooke to write his diversions of Purley, and in short, every
writer, whether upon law, physic, divinity, politics, ethics, or
any thing else, if he sells the productions of his pen, is ex
posed to this new and hitherto unheard-of charge.
"There is indeed a species of gain, arising from the use
of the pen, which does well merit the appellation of base
lucre, but the ' learned friend,' seems to have mistaken the
mark. When a man bargains for the price of. maintaining
such and such principles, or of endeavouring to make out
such or such a case, without believing in the soundness of the
principles, or the truth of the case, such a man, whether, he
touch the cash, or paper money, before or alter the perform
ance of his work, and whether he work with his tongue or
his pen, may, I think, be pretty fairly charged with seeking
after base lucre; for he, in such case, manifestly sells not only
the Use of his talents, but his sincerity into the bargain, and
drives a traffic as nearly allied to soul selling, as any thing in
this world can be, nor does it signify a straw from what
quarter, or in what shape, the remuneration may come, for
the motive being base, the gain or lucre must be also. Judas
Iscariot sold his Lord and Master for ' base lucre,' and there
is scarcely a lawyer who does not sell his soul to the devil,
every hour of his life, for 'base lucre,' except what he passes
in sleep, which is the only time that the noxious creature can
be said to be harmless. Again, if a man receive from the
taxes, that is to say, from the people's money, a reward for
writing any thing, especially upon controverted or political-
questions, the lucre accruing to him may fairly be said to be

U6 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ;
base, for here, as in the former ease, he makes a base bargain.
for the use of his talents;.-' It is the, game with those, who are
mere proprietors of works* ahd>;not writers', and 'Who vend
their pages for a likft consideration, coming ffprp a like source.
But if a man sell to the pu.b.he, s;el|, fo any one that chooses
to buy with his own money, and rfisort Jo-no means of cheat-,
ing the purchaser out of the price of; what is sold; there can
be nothing of baseness attached, to his gains. The article
is offered to the public, those who do not choose to purchase,
let it alone'; there is no compulsion,' there is, no monopoly in
the way. of purchasing. elsewhere, and there- is' nothing of
baseness belonging to the transaction ; the gain is fair and
honourable; it is. the right of the possessor, and more per«-
fectly his right, perhaps, than gaip of any other' sort can
possibly be. .; ; ¦
" After these general observations, it is hardly necessary.
for me to say much upon my particular case, it. being im
possible that the reader should npt have/already distinctly
perceived, that the charge of seeking after base lucre is quite
inapplicable; to me. But I cannot upon such an occasion re
frain from stating some facts,. calculated to show the injustice
and falsehood; of this charge, when preferred against me as
proprietor of a public print- I have, now been,:; jeitheT in
America or England, sole proprietor of a public print for
upwards of fourteen years, with the intermission of about a
year of that time, and I never did, upon any occasion what
ever,, take money pr money's worth for the insertion or
suppression of any paragraph or article whatever, .though.
it is, well known, that thp practice ; is a§ common as: any
other branch of the business belonging to newspapers in
general. Many hundreds of pounds have been offered to me
in this way, as my several clerks and agents can bear witness,
and had 1 hankered after base lucre, the reader will readily
believe, that I should have received ad that Was so offered.
From the daily newspapers which I published after my
return to England, I excluded all quack advertisements, be
cause I looked upon them as indecent and having a mischiev-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 117
ous tendency, and because inserting them appeared to me to
be assisting imposition. These advertisements are, it is well
known! a great source of profit to the proprietors of news
papers* and if I had been attached to base lucre, should I
have rejected my share of that profit ? I lost many hundreds
of pounds by my daily newspaper, which failed, not for
want of readers, but solely because 1 would not take money
in the same way that other proprietors did. Whether this
were wise or foolish is now of no consequence, but the fact
is at any rate, quite sufficient to repel the charge of -seeking
after ' base lucre.'
" From my outset as a writer to the present hour, / have
always preferred principle to gain. In America, the king?s
ministers made, and not at all improperly, offer's of service to
me on the part of the ministry at home. The offer was put
as of service to any relations that I might have in England,
and my answer was, that if I could earn any thing myself,
wherewith to assist my relations, I should assist them, but
that I would not be the cause of their receiving any thing but
of the public purse. Mr. Liston, then our minister in
America, can bear testimony to the truth of this statement.
And was this the conduct of a man who sought after base
lucre ? Is this the conduct which is now fashionable amongst
those who call themselves thy loyal, and the king's friends ?
Do they reject offers of the public purse ? Do they take
care to keep their poor relations out of their own earnings or
property, or do they throw them neck and heels upon the
public, to be maintained out of .the taxes, as a higher order of
paupers ? I have acted up to my professions. I have at
this time dependant' upon me for almost everything; nearly
twenty children, besides my own. I walk on foot, where
others would ride in a coach, that I may have the means of
yielding them support, that I may have the means of pre
venting every one belonging to me, from seeking support
from the public in any shape whatever. Is this the fashion
of the loyal ? Do the loyal act thus ? Do they make sacri
fices in order that their poor relations may not become a

118 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ;
charge to the public? Let that public answer this question,
and say to whom the charge of seeking after base lucre be
longs ?
" I wonder whether it has ever happened to the Attorney
General to reject the offer of two services of plate, tendered
to him for the exertion of his talents ? This has happened
to me, though the offer on each occasion was made in the
most delicate manner, though the service had been already
performed, though the thing was done with, and the offer
could not have a prospective view, and though the service
had been performed without any previous application. 1
wonder whether Sir Vicary Gibbs did ever reject an offer of
this sort ; and I do wonder how many there are amongst the
whole tribe of ' learned friends,' who have or ever will have
to accuse themselves of such an act. Yet has he the assur
ance to impute my writings to motives of base lucre. The
truth is, that I am hated by the pretended loyal, because
J am proof against all the temptations of base, lucre. I have
spoken of the offer made me while in America; upon my re
turn home the ministers made me other offers, and amongst
the rest they offered me a share of the True Briton newspaper,
Conducted and nominally owned by Mr. Herriot.* I, who
was what the country people call a greenliorn{?) as to such
matters, and who was gull enough to ( think that it was
principle that actuated every writer, on what I then deemed
the right side, / was quite astonished to find that the Treasury
was able to offer me a share in a newspaper. I rejected the
offer in the most delicate manner tliat I could, but I was
never forgiven ; I have experienced, as might- have been ex
pected, every species of abuse from that time ; but I did not,
* We do not mean to say exactly, that in this statement, Cobbett tells an
untruth, but it is very much like it. Mr. Herriot was the bonafide proprietor
of the True Briton newspaper, and so far ftom Cobbett being offered a share
in it by government, they had it not to offer him. After the demolition of
Cobbett's house, on the occasion of the illumination for peace, lie sold the Por
cupine newspaper to Mr. Herriot, and it became merged in the True Briton.
under the title of the True Briton and Porcitine.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 119
1 must confess, expect ever to' be accused' of writing for base
lucre. This is a charge, which, as I showed upon me trial,
originated with the very scum of the press, and had its foun
dation in the wor,st and most villanous of passions.
"In general it is a topic of exultation, that industry and
talent are rewarded with the possession of wealth. The
great object of the teachers of youth in this country, seems
always to have been the instilling into their minds, that
wealth was the sure reward of industry and ability. Upon
what ground is it then, the amassing of wealth, the making
of a fortune, by the use of industry and talents, is to be Con
sidered as meriting reproach in me ? The fact is not true.
I have not amassed wealth, and have not made a fortune in
any fair sense of those phrases. I do not possess a quarter
part as much as I should, in all probability, have gained by
the use of the same degree of industry and talent in trade or
commerce. But if the fact were otherwise, and if I rode in a
coach and four, instead of keeping one pleasure horse, and
that one only, because it is thought necessary to the health of
my wife ; if I had really a fortune worthy of being so called,
what right would any one have to reproach me with the pos
session of it? I have been labouring seventeen years since
I quitted the army. I have never known what it was to enjoy
any of that, which the world calls pleasure. From a begin
ning with nothing, I have acquired the means of making
some little provision for a family of six children, the remains
of thirteen, besides having, for several years, maintained
almost wholly, three times as many children of my relations;
and am I to be reproached as a lover of base lucre, because
I began to have a prospect, for it is nothing more* of making
such provision ? was it not manly and brave, for the Attorney
General, when he knew that I should not be permitted to
answer him, to make such an attack not only upon me, but
upon the future comfort of those, who depend upon me for sup
port. Verily this is not to be forgotten presently. As long
as I or my children are able to remember, this will be borne
in mind, and I have not the smallest doubt of seeing the day,

120 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
when SirVicary Gibbs, and those, who belong to him, will
not think of any such thing, as that of reproaching us with
the possessioh of our earnings.
" During the time I was absent from home, for the purpose
of giving bail, as before stated, a man dressed like a gentle
man, went upon my land in the neighbourhood of Botley,
got into conversation with my servants, asked them how much
property I had, where it lay, of whom I had purchased it,
what I bad given for it, whether I was upon the point of pur
chasing any more, and a great many other questions of the
same sort. When he went away from one of them, he told
them, ' You will not have Cobbett here again for one while,
or words to that effect. I leave the public to form their
opinions as to the object of this visit, and of the person who
made it. The truth of the fact can at any time be verified
upon oath. If this scoundrel had been put to the test, I
wonder what account he could have rendered of the source
of his means ; of the money which had purchased the clothes
upon his back. Not long before the time just mentioned,
another person, of a similar description, went to another man
who works for me, asked him what sort of a man I was, what
he had ever hearA me say about the king or the government,
and told him, that some people thought me a very great enemy
of the government. The person went into a little public
house, in: the neighbourhood of my farm, where he got into
conversation with those whom he found there, and contrived
soon to make that conversation turn upon me. He heard
nothing but good of me as a neighbour and master; and as to
politics, not a soul that he talked to, knew what he meant,
never in their Jives having heard me utter a word upon any
subject of that sort. Of, the two servants, whom I have
alluded to above, the name of the former is John Dean, and
that of the latter James Cowherd, both of them men, on
whose word I can rely, and who, as I said before, are ready
to verify this statement upon their oaths. The modesty and
good manners of my men, induced them to give answers to
the questions of these base rascals, without suspecting any

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 121
thing of their real character or design ; nor had either of them
the smallest notion of that design, until my return home, and
until I had acquainted them with the nature of my situation.
If the design, which must, I think, be manifest enough to the
reader, had been known, their bones, or at least their skin,
would, I' am afraid, have carried off a testimonial of their
baseness, and of the indignation of my servants. The base
miscreants would then have had a feeling proof of the sen
timents entertained towards me, by those who knew me
best, and have had the greatest experience of my disposition.
I leave the public to ruminate upon what I have here stated,
relative to the inquiries of these villains. The miscreant,
who went to make the inquiries about the extent of my pro
perty, did not, it seems, go to Botley, but appeared to go
from, and to return to some town or village upon the Gosport
road, fearing, apparently, to be known, or at least traced, if
he put up at the inn at Botley.
" One cannot, however, help observing, how very finely
all these things agree with the notion, now, and occasionally
heretofore endeavoured to be propagated, that I am a person
not worthy of notice. This notion agrees admirably with all
that the public has seen and heard of me for the last twelve
months, during which time there has been more written and
printed against me individually, than would, if collected to
gether, make twenty thick quarto volumes ; and melancholy to
relate ! without producing the loss of one of my friends, the
falling off of one of my readers, or the robbing me of one
wink of my sleep, while my enemies, if, upon any occasion,
they dare show themselves, became objects of public hatred
and scorn ; and I solemnly declare, that I would rather com
mit the horrid and cowardly act of suicide, than change
names and characters with the very best, or rather, the least
bad of all those enemies, whether I look amongst the profli
gates or the hypocrites, amongst the daring robbers, or the
sly and smooth cheaters.
" My readers know, that besides the Political Register, I
have undertaken, and am carrying on three other publicar
26. — VOL. II. R

122 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
tions, namely, the Parliamentary History, the Par
liamentary Debates, and the State Trials; and, under
the present circumstances, I think it will not be cteemed
egotism, if I say something about them. These works,
particularly the former and the latter, so far from being
undertaken with the hope of merely gaining money, were
undertaken • with the certainty of sinking money, for some
time at least, probably for many years, and possibly for
ever.* They were works- which, though absolutely neces
sary to the completing of our political libraries, none of the
booksellers in London, though many of them are possessed
of ten times my pecuniary means, would venture to under
take. After long waiting, they promise profit ; but it must
'be evident fo every man, at all acquainted with the matter,
that base lucre could form no part of the object, with which
they were undertaken. I have heard others applauded for
their public spirit, in encountering What have been called
great national works. What, a clutter was made in this way,
about large editions of Shakespeare and of Milton, which
were at last got rid- of- by the means of a'lottery, authorized
by act of Parliament. The terms liberality and munificence
were given to the undertakers of thqse works ; but was there
any thing in them of national utility ¦', worthy of being com
pared with these works of mine? I have encountered these
works, unaided by an v body. I shall ask the honourable
House for no lottery to carry them through. I trust solely
to their really intrrrreTC* merit for their success, and if they
do succeed, shall .Ljhere'fore be accused of seeking after base
lucre ? This work (i. e. the Political Register) of which I
now begin the eighteenth volume, has had nothing to support
* Cobbett labours hard to persuade his readers, that the chief, the principal,
the only object of his literary undertakings, had nothing to do with "gaining
money." For what purpose then did he enter uppn them 1 He was by far too
shrewd and close a calculator, to enter upon any speculation, if it did not pro
mise him an adequate profit ; and to say that ultimate gain was not his object
in all and every one of his literary undertakings, carries with it i's own con
tradiction.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 123
it but its own, merits. Not a pound, not even a pound in>
paper money, was ever expended upon advertising it. It,
came up like a grain of mustard seed, and like a grain of
mustard seed, it. has spread over the whole civilized world.
. And why has it spread more than other publications of the
same kind? There have not been wanting imitations of it.
There have been some dozens of them, I believe. Same
size, same form, same type, same heads of matter, same title,
all but the word expressing my name. How many efforts
have been made to tempt the public away from me, while
not one attempt has been made by' .me, to prevent it. Yet !
all have failed. The changeling has been discovered, and
the wretched adventurers have then endeavoured to wreak
their vengeance on me. They have, sworn that I, wrote
badly, that I publish nothing but trash, that I am both fool
and knave. But still the readers hang on me. One would
think, as Falstaff says, that I had given them love powder.
No, but I have given them as great a rarity, and something
full as attractive, namely truth in clear language. I have
stripped statement and reasoning of the foppery of affecta
tion, and amongst my other sins, is that of having shown, of
having proved beyond all dispute/that very much of what
is called learning is imposture, quite useless to any man,
ivhom God has blessed ipith brains. The public, howeyer
much, in many cases, some of them dissent from my opinions,
will never be persuaded that my views are inimical to my
country, or have any dishonourable object. Nothing will
ever persuade any man, be he who he may, sincerely' to be
lieve this. There are many who will pretend to believe it,
but they will not believe it at bottom, and they will read on.
The public has perceived in me, a sort of conduct towards
my adversaries, which they never witnessed in any other
public writer. They have seen that I always insert, and
give publicity fo whatever is sent in answer to myself. This
is a proof of my love of truth, ten thousand times stronger
than any professions, however strong. It is a speaking fact,
which is always the thing to pmduce the most impression.

124 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
The Register has created in England, and even in other
countries, a new taste in reading, and an entirely new set of
notions on political matters ; and can it be possible, that any
one is to be persuaded that such an effect is to be produced
by mere libelling ? No, nor will any one believe, that it is
to be produced by a mind bent upon base lucre. If base
lucre had been my principal object, or indeed if it had been
a considerable object with me, I never should have written
with effect, because to write with effect, one's mind must be
free, which it never can be, if the love of gain be uppermost.
Besides, how inconsistent is this charge of base lucre, with
the charge of seditious intentions? The two things are ab
solutely incompatible with one another, for, if insurrection "
and confusion were to take place, all. the works formerly
mentioned, all the numerous volumes of those works, whence
my profits, are to come, if they come at all, would at once'
cease to be of any more use than so many square bits of wood.
For a man, who has real property, to wish for the annihila
tion of those laws, by which alone that property is secured
to him, is not very likely; for a man like me, who is plant
ing trees and sowing acorns, and making roads, and breaking
up wastes, to wish for the destruction of order, and law, and
property, is still less likely; but for a man, the chief part of
whose property consists of what must of necessity become
mere waste paper, in case of a destruction of order and law,
for such a man, to wish for such destruction, is utterly out of
belief, and quite impossible, if he be a seeker after 'base
lucre.' " It remains for me to notice the third assertion of the
Attorney, General, namely that the Army called upon the
court to punish me. The words as given in the report were
these, * the Army, against whom this libel is in a peculiar
manner directed, calls on the court for justice against
its traducers.' "
We cannot follow Cobbett through his long discursive
refutation of this statement, but we shall merely confine our
selves to those passages which throw a light upon his character,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 125
or possess any interest to the general reader. After having
proved by a reference.to several facts, that he has always been
a staunch advocate of the soldier, he says,
" To the army, to every soldier in it, I have a bond of
attachment quite independent of any political reasonings or
considerations. I have been a soldier myself, and for no
small number of years, at that time of life when the feelings
are most ardent, and when the strongest attachments are
formed. Once a soldier always a soldier, is a maxim, the
truth of which I need not insist on, to any one who has ever
served in the army for any length of time, and especially if
the service he has seen, has embraced those scenes and occa
sions, where every man, first or last, from one cause or
another, owes the preservation of his all, health' and life not
excepted, to the kindness, the generosity, the fellow-feeling
of his comrades. A communion of monks hate one another,
because they are compelled to live together, and do not stand
in need of each other's voluntary assistance in the procuring
of the things necessary to health and life. It is precisely the
contrary with soldiers, and a soldier has not only a regard for
all the men of his own corps, but in a degree, a little fainter,
for all the soldiers in the army. Nay, the soldiers of two
hostile armies, have a feelingof friendship for each other, and
this feeling and the acts arising from it, have, when occasion
has offered, always been found to exist in proportion to the
bravery with which they have fought against each other. Of this
military feeling, I do not believe that any man ever possessed
a greater portion than myself. I was eight years in the
army, during which time I associated less with people out of
the army, than any soldier that ever I knew. This partiality
I have always retained, I like soldiers, as a class in life,
better than any other description of men. Their conversa
tion is more pleasing to me. They have generally seen more
than other men ; they have less of vulgar prejudices about
them: to which maybe added, that having felt hardships
themselves, they know how to feel for others. This does not,
indeed, apply to such as those of whom Mrs. Clarke was the

126 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM GOBBETT, ESQ.
protectress, but. those who have seen service, or who depend
solely on their merit for their success. Amongst soldiers.
less than amongst any other description of men, have I
observed the vices of lying and hypocrisy. . 1 do not recollect
a single instance of a soldier in any corps having betrayed,
or given up,, or exposed another soldier, even for the sake of
saving himself from most terrible punishment; and as for
selfishness, a soldier who would not give his dinner, his day's
provisions, to a comrade in want, would be looked upon as
an unnatural brute. It is not to be expected that such ge
nerosity of . feeling should be found amongst the i mass of
mankind ; those who have not known the vicissitudes and
the many wants of a soldier's life, cannot be expected to. have
the soldier's feelings. I have known the one, aud I possess
the other ; and notwithstanding I have now been accused of
hankering after nothing but ' base lucre,' upon this feeling I-
have always acted. Ay, and upon this feeling I shall have
been known to have acted, too, in spite of all that can be
done to misrepresent me in the army.
" Under the present circumstances, there is nothing which,
I can say of myself, that can fairly be called egotism, and
there is nothing in praise of. my conduct, which can with truth
be said that ought not to be said. Being of this opinion, and
being sure that every just and sensible man will join therein,:
I will here introduce a fact or two, which, under any other
circumstance, it would .be a shame to mention. Lover as I am
of base lucre, no soul in distress was ever sent empty away
from my door, be the cause of that distress what it might.
But to soldiers, their wives and children, to every creature
bearing the name or sign of military service about it, I, nor
any one belonging to me, ever omitted to show particular
marks of compassion and kindness. I wish the public could
now pass in review before them, all the unfortunate soldiers
that have come to my door, and those who have been to the
door of the man, who has called me the traducer of the army.
Would to God that this exhibition could take place, and that
an inquiry could be made as to the reception that each had

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 127
met with. I should not be afraid of the comparison, though
he represents me as the enemy of the army, as the man
whom the army calls upon the judges to punish.
" Late in October, or early in November last, returning
home in the dusk of the evening, I found our village full of
soldiers. There were about five hundred men, a number
nearly equal to the whole population of the parish, who had
arrived from Portsmouth, last from Portugal, many of whom
had been at the battle of Talavera, and had served in both
the arduous- and fatal campaigns in Spain, and most of whom
had suffered either from sickness or from wounds actually re
ceived in battle. These men, who had landed at Portsmouth
that same morning, had marched eighteen miles to Botley,
where they found for their accommodation one small inn, and
three public houses. All the beds in the whole village, and
in the whole parish to its utmost limits, -including the bed of
every cottager, would not have lodged these men and their
wives and children, and all the victuals in the parish would
not of course have furnished them with a single meal, without
¦taking from the meals of the people of the parish. The
stables, barns, and every other place in which a man could lie
down out of the way of actual rain, were prepared with straw.
Every body in the village was ready to give up: all his room
to these people, whose every garment, and limb, and feature,
bespoke the misery they had undergone. It was rather un
fortunate that both myself and my wife were from home,
when they arrived in the village, or I should have lodged
a company or two of the privates at least. I found the
greater part of them already gone to their straw lodging, and
therefore I could do nothing for them, but I brought two of
the officers, the commanding officer and another, to my house,
not having spare beds for any more, upon so short a notice.
The next day, which happened to be on a Sunday, the whole
of the officers, thirteen or fourteen in number, lived at my
house, the whole of the day ; and of all my whole life, during
which I have spent but very few unpleasant days, I never
spent so pleasant a day as that. After a lapse of sixteen

128 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
years, I once more saw myself at table with nothing but
soldiers; nothing but men in red coats, and I felt so happy in
being able to give them proofs of my attachment. I never
upon any occasion, so much enjoyed, never so sensibly felt
the benefits of having been industrious and economical. My
guests, on their part, soon found they were at home, and gave
full scope to that disposition of gaiety, which prevails amongst
soldiers, and particularly after long-endured hardships. It
was the first whole day of their being in England, from the
time they had quitted it, and certain I am that not a man of
them has since seen a happier.
On the Monday morning, before daylight, my whole
family, children and all, were up to prepare them a break
fast, and to bid them farewell, and when they left us, the
commanding officer, who was a modest (?) and sensible
Scotchman, observed, that he had in his life heard much
of English hospitality, but that at Botley, he had seen and
felt it.* Now this was no more than what it was my duty
to do towards those gentlemen, some of whom had been
wounded, and all of whom had greatly suffered in their en
deavours, at least, to serve their country, while I and my
family had been living at home in ease, comfort, and security ;
and it was a duty peculiarly incumbent upon me, who had
* We are fully disposed to give Cobbett all due credit, for his disposition
towards the soldiers, but there is something in the story of the five hundred
men at Botley, which is contrary to all probability. The circumstance, of a
marching regiment being directed to halt for a night and the whole of the
following day and night, at a small obscure village, where it must have been
well known, that no accommodation whatever could be procured, and not even
food sufficient for their maintenance, except it were given gratuitously by the
inhabitants, is in such direct variance with the plan universally adopted in
cases of this kind, that we are bound to express our doubts of the truth of a
great part of the story as related by Cobbett. With the knowledge which the
authorities possessed, of the slender means which the village of Botley pos
sessed for the accommodation of troops, they would have been sent forward in
companies or detachments; but to send five hundred men with wives and
children into a village, which on a sudden could not provide support for fifty,
is rather taxing our credulity at too high a rate.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 129
been a soldier myself, and who knew to what hardships they
had been exposed by sea as well as by land. There might
too, perhaps, if the workings of my heart could have been
i icely analyzed, be something of vanity in my motives,
though I do not believe that there teas. But, at any rate,
/ think I may defy even the devil, in whatever character he
may choose to appear, whether as a lawyer, a judge, or an
attorney general, to ascribe this action to enmity to the army,
or to a disposition or a feeling towards the army, that would
lead me to traduce them. What then ! was it that army, to
which these gentlemen belonged, who called upon the judges
to punish me ? did this call come from those, who experienced
the hospitalities of Botley ? did they accuse me of being their
traducer, and as being such, call upon the judges to shut me
up in prison, and to load me with fines and securities, and
would they have accused me of being a lover of base lucre ?
" To bring forward to the public, and especially in a work
of my own, the relation of a fact like this, would, as I observed
before, be a shame, under almost any other circumstances
than the present ; but under these circumstances, it will, I
am confident, be, by every lover of truth, deemed perfectly
justifiable. I am, however, less anxious to clear myself to
the public, from the charge of being a traducer of the army,
than I am to clear myself of that charge to the army itself,
I wish not to be thought, and I will not be thought an enemy
or a traducer of the army. I have always been a friend of
the army. I have never traduced it. I have spent days, and
hours, and weeks, in studying how the bettering of the situ
ation of the army might be combined with its efficiency, and
both with the security of the country's civil and political
liberties. The plan of service for seven years, which was
so generally approved of, was, I believe, first suggested to
Mr. Windham by me, soon after he was in office. I drew
up, in consequence of previous communication with him,
the plan which I afterwards published. I have not the vanity
to suppose, that in so great a matter, it was likely that I
should devise a faultless scheme. But the plan, such as it is,
27. — vol. n. s

130 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
contains quite sufficient proof, that I was no traducer of the
army, that I was no enemy of the army ; and that I wished
at least, to see formed such a military force, as should at all
times, under all circumstances, in all emergencies, render
England perfectly safe, defended by the arms of her own
sons, who, while they were soldiers, and well disciplined and
efficient soldiers, should have all the interests and all the
feelings of citizens, and who, in defending the soil of their
country, should be sensible that they were defending its
rights and liberties."
It might have been supposed, from the publicity which
Cobbett gave to those sentiments, that some relaxation in the
sentence intended to be passed upon him would have taken
place ; in this, however, he was mistaken, for on the 9th July
he was brought up from the King's Bench prison, and the public
expectation, which had been for some days previous so much
excited, in anticipation of the sentence which the court would
deliver, that Westminster Hall was crowded at an early hour,
and it was with considerable difficulty that the avenue to the
court could be approached. At the time when the judges
took their seats, the passages were so full that all the exertion
of the tipstaffs was necessary to make way for the counsel-
Lord Ellenborough directed the lower part of the court to be
cleared of strangers, but the crowd was too dense to be re
moved without great confusion, and as the less of the two
evils, strangers were suffered to remain.
After the tumult had subsided, the defendants, Mr. Cobbett,
Messrs. Budd and Bagshaw, and Mr. Hansard, were brought
into court. After the Attorney General had prayed judg
ment in the usual form; Mr. Justice Grose proceeded to
pass the sentence of the court, and principally addressed him
self to Mr. Cobbett, animadverting with peculiar severity
upon the libel on which the defendant was convicted, f It
was a work," said the learned judge, " which no well-dis
posed mind could doubt to have been framed for the most
pernicious objects. Looking at the time at which it was
written— looking at the circumstances of the world, there

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 131
could be no doubt of the evil intention of the paper. The
whole tendency of it is in so many words to excite unwilling
ness and dislike to the service of the country, amongst those
' who are to be its defence, and to insult those foreigners who
are in our service, to deprive the country of their honourable
assistance, and paralyze the energies of the state.
" At what time was this libel published ? At a time when
a violent and lawless enemy was threatening our shores.
And yet it was with this enemy that the mild and parental
government of this country was to be contrasted, and dis
graced by the contrast. Our country, where every comfort,
every privilege, and every honour, that could be afforded to
the army, was afforded by the liberality of the laws ; was
this to be compared with that country, whose object was con
quest, and whose soldiers were sacrificed to every pursuit of
insolent and unfeeling ambition ? The evil of the publication
was, therefore, enhanced by the time at which it was sent
forth through the nation.
" The defendant could not complain of any severity in the
justice, which had been freely and fairly dealt out to him.
He had had a patient trial. He might have removed, if he
could, the .doubts which the jury might have entertained of
the evil of the pernicious libel, for which he has now to re
ceive sentence. But the objects of the libel were too palpable.
The jury found you, William Cobbett, guilty, upon the fullest
and most satisfactory evidence. If it were to be allowed that
your object was not to enfeeble and embarrass the operations
of government, there can be no ground for exculpating you
from the guilt of libelling, for the base and degrading object
of making a stipend by your crime. If there had been no
other imputation upon you, the court, as protecting the purity
and peace of the public mind, would have felt itself called on
to punish you severely. It is strange that a man, who mixes
so much in general and private life as you do, should not see
that such acts as those for which you have been tried are only
productive of mischief to every mind that is influenced by
them, and that they necessarily terminate in punishment on

132 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
the guilty authors. It is strange that experience should not
have taught you, and that you should be only advancing in
a continual progress of malignity. What were the circum
stances which you distotfed in your libel ? the whole intention
of which was, to throw disgrace on the government, and to
disgust and alienate the army. If you had any thing to offer
in extenuation, you might have offered it ; the court would
have received it, and at all events impartial justice would have
been dealt to you. I now pass the sentence of the court upon
you, William Cobbett, as the principal criminal amongst
those who now stand before the court ; the court do accord
ingly adjudge— that you, William Cobbett, pay to our lord the
king a fine 6f £1000, that you be imprisoned in his majesty's
gaol of Newgate for the space of two years, and that at the
expiration of that time, you enter into a recognizance to keep
the peace for seven years, yourself in the sum of £3000, and
two good and sufficient securities in the sum of £1000 each,
and further, that you be imprisoned till that recognizance be
entered into, and that fine paid."
Messrs. Budd and Bagshaw were sentenced to two months'
imprisonment in the King's Bench, and Mr. Hansard, whose
offence was considered by the court as second in enormity to
Mr. Cobbett's, was sentenced to three months' imprisonment
n the King's Bench, and to enter into recognizances to keep
the peace for three years, himself in £400, and two sureties
in £200 each.
Mr. Cobbett appeared not much affected by his sentence,
his deportment during the delivery was unembarrassed, he
left the court with a smile on his countenance, and was im
mediately conveyed to Newgate.
The day subsequent to his committal to prison, Cobbett
sent forth the following most extraordinary statement, which
we shall give entire, as one of the most extraordinary in
stances of misrepresentation, not to call it by a harsher name,
which was perhaps ever submitted to the public, who were
decidedly able, from the notoriety of the case, to give to it
the fullest and most complete contradiction.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 133
"The notoriety," says Cobbett, "of what has taken place
in regard to myself, renders it almost unnecessary for me
to say anything in the way of apology for once more send
ing my Register forth to the public, without containing any
thing written by myself. The time I had to remain at home,
was not a tenth part sufficient for the making of anything
like a due preparation for my departure. On Wednesday
morning about five o'clock, I left my home and family, and
yesterday (the 6th July) I had to- appear in the Court of
King's Bench, and now for the first time in my life,
ON ANY ACCOUNT WHATEVER, I AM A PRISONER, AFTER
HAVING BEEN A PUBLIC WRITER FOR TEN YEARS IN ENG
LAND, AND NEVER HAVING BEFORE BEEN EVEN CALLED
IN QUESTION, NEVER HAVING BEFORE HAD EVEN PRO
CEEDINGS COMMENCED AGAINST ME IN ANY SHAPE, FOR
any thing written by me. In such a situation, to set
about writing for the information or amusement of the pUblic,
would be the height of affectation, for every one must feel,
that it is, under such circumstances, quite impossible to divest
one's mind from those circumstances. Indeed, to be able to
do this, would argue a degree of insensibility, incompatible
with private affection, and public-spirited motives. It is im
possible, that so situated, I can feel inclined to write for the
press, and this being manifest to everybody, it must be
equally manifest, that if I were to attempt to write now, I
should force the task upon myself for motives, arising merely
out of considerations connected with the proprietorship of
the Register, and as I never have in any one instance, written
for gain, so I am resolved not to do it now. Yesterday the
6th July, exactly ten years ago, I landed in England, after
having lost a fortune in America, solely for the sake of that
same England, and yesterday saw me sent to a prison for
that same England. It is quite impossible for me to banish
reflections of this nature from my mind, but they are in some
measure driven out, by the contempt which I feel for the
venal slaves, who have seized upon this, as they regard -it,
moment of my depression, to misrepresent and insult me."

i34 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
We have not the slightest disposition to cavil with Mr. Cob
bett on minor points, but where he wilfully and boldly imposes
upon the public, a statement at variance with all truth, we
cannot, with that regard to partiality which we have uniformly
observed, in the delineation of the character of that extraor
dinary man, and consistently with that fidelity, which, as the
biographer of his life, we ought to adopt, allow so gross a
mis-statement to pass unnoticed. Mr. Cobbett, with the
view, no doubt, of exciting the compassion of the public, as
well as their indignation at the severity of the sentence, which
had been passed upon him, tells them, in the foregoing
passage, extracted from his Register of July 7th 1810, " that
for the first time in his life, on any account whatever, he is
now a prisoner, never having before been even called in
question; never having before had even proceedings com
menced against him in any shape, for anything written
by HIM."
Where must have been the memory of Mr. Cobbett when
he published the foregoing statement ? Had he no recol-
1 ction left of a nobleman of the name of Hardwicke, whom
he libelled? — of another nobleman of the name of Redesdale,
whom he also libelled ?— of an honourable judge of the name
of Osborne, whom he also libelled ? — and of a Mr. Marsden,
under Secretary of State for Ireland, whom he also libelled,
and for which libels he was sentenced to the payment of a
fine to the king of £1000 and to be imprisoned two years in
Newgate, finding security for his future good behaviour ?
Had Mr. Cobbett wholly forgotten another gentleman of the
name of Plunkett, whom he had also libelled, and for which
libel he was sentenced to pay a fine of £500 ? all of which
occurrences took place in the year 1804, only six years pre
viously to his second introduction into the prison of Newgate ;
and yet Cobbett boldly publishes to the world, that he had
never been a prisoner before the year 1810, that he had never
been prosecuted for any thing that he had ever written, or
that legal proceedings were ever adopted against him for
any thing that had ever emanated from his pen. We shall

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 135
say nothing of the prosecution against him by Dr. Rush, in
America, for a libel, by which he lost almost the whole of
his property, and was obliged to return to England, although
he very positively tells us, that it was on account of that same
England that he lost his property ; whereas no doubt what
ever can exist, that if he had not lampooned Dr. Rush as
Dr. Sangrado, and allowed him to 'pursue his own course in
bleeding and purging the good citizens of New York, he
would have remained in possession of the property, which his
talents and economy had enabled him to amass, without
being obliged to sacrifice it under the hammer of a sheriff's
broker. He was also prosecuted in America for a libel on
the Spanish ambassador, of which he was found guilty ; and
having now adduced two prosecutions in America and two in
England for things written by him, we cannot wholly acquit
Cobbett of a gross intent to impose upon the English people,
by telling them, that he had never had any proceedings in
stituted against him in any shape, for any thing that had been
written by him.
In regard to the punishment inflicted upon Cobbett, for the
alleged libel on the German Legion and the government, it was
allowed by every one to have been most severe ; it must not,
however, be supposed, that in the punishment awarded to him,
government kept its eye only upon the libel on the affair at
Ely. In the estimation of governmebt, Cobbett was one of
the most notorious political offenders. The style of his writ
ings, so well adapted to the capacity of Englishmen, the manly
and patriotic sentiments which breathed in every page, and
above all, his powerful and unflinching opposition to "the mi
nisters of the day, drew down upon him their secret enmity,
and the Attorney General was instructed to watch his writings
narrowly, with the hope of soon succeeding in catching hind
in their net. The result of the Ely affair, soon proved to
Cobbett, that he was a selected victim of an oppressive, over
bearing, and tyrannical aristocratic al government. The
flogging of Englishmen under the bayonets and sabres of
Hanoverians, and the dregs of the prisons, was an atrocity

136 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
excessive enough to move even a stone that lay in native
• Eng^sh soil ; nor is it to be wondered at, that it thrilled the
spirit of a brave, warm-hearted, and genuine Englishman,
and a lover of his country even to the verge of prejudice.
He was at that time living in the bosom of his family, on his
farm at Botley, cutivating those useful and rational pursuits
to which he had been accustomed from his youth, in the
midst of domestic enjoyment of no ordinary kind, and leading
no inglorious or useless life. His long imprisonment, and
he luin of his affairs, left deep traces on a quick and resent
ful, but certainly not an ungenerous mind. Cobbett had at
least the negative merit of never making any secret of his
hatred of the wretches, who had stabbed him, and through
him the liberties of Englishmen. In the dedication from
: Long Island of one of his books to a friend, Timothy Brown,
Esquire, of Peckham Lodge, Surrey, he thus alludes to this
infamous transaction :
" You were one of those who sought acquaintance with
me, when I was shut up in a felon's jail for two years
for having expressed my indignation at seeing Englishmen
flogged in the heart of England, under a guard of German
.bayonets and sabres, and when I had on my head a thousand
.pounds fine, and seven years recognizances.* You, at the
end of the two years, took me from the prison in your
carriage home to your house. You and our kind friend,
Walker, are even yet held in bonds for my good behaviour,
the seven years not being expired. All these things are
written in the very core of my heart, and when I act as if I
had forgotten any one of them, may no name en earth be so
• much detested and despised as that of
Your faithful friend, and most obedient servan .,
W. Cobbett.
* With the extraordinary vindictive spirit with which Cobbett was treated
by the government, how did it happen that these recognizances were notes-
treated. The libel on Lord Hardwicke was tried in Easter term 1804, when
the seven years recognizance was imposed upon him. In 1810, he was tried
and convicted of another libel on government, nearly two years before the term
of his former recognizances expired

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 137
Cobbett never pretended to forgive his persecutors, he
denied that this was a christian duty, but as his glowing resent
ment was surely not without cause, it .is not without excuse.
The following picture of domestic life, which must charm
every body, and which is well worth the attentive, study of
every man and woman, who has a family to train, will be
the means of introducing Cobbett's own remarks on this1
eventful period of life.
" Being myself fond of book-learning, and knowing well
its powers, I naturally wished my children to possess it too;
but never did I impose it, upon any one of them. My first
duty was to make them healthy and strong, if I could, and to
give them as much enjoyment of life as possible. Born and
bred up in the sweet air myself, I was resolved that they
should be bred up in it too ; enjoying rural scenes and sports,
as I had done when a boy, as much as any one that ever was
born, I was resolved that they should have the same enjoy
ments tendered to them. When I was a very little boy, I
was in the barley, sowing season, going along by the side of
a field near Waverley Abbey ; . the primroses and blue-bells-
bespangling the banks on both sides, of me, a thousands linnets
singing in a spreading oak over my head, while the gingle of
the traces and the whistling of the plough boys saluted my.
ear from over the hedge ; and as it were to snatch me from the
enchantment, the hounds at that instant, having started a
hare in the hanger on the other side of the field, came up
scampering over it in full cry, taking me after them for many
a mile. I was not more than eight years old, but this par
ticular scene has presented itself to my mind many times
every year from that day .to this. I always enjOy it over
again; and I was resolved. to give, if possible, the same en
joyments to my children.
" Men's circumstances are so various ; there is such a
great variety in their situations in life, their business, the ex
tent of their pecuniary, means, the local state in which they
are placed, their internal resources ; the variety in all these
respects is so great, that, as applicable to every family, it
27.— VOL. II. T

138 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ:
would be impossible to lay down any set of rules, or maxims,
touching every matter relating to the management and the
rearing up of children. In giving an account, therefore, of
my own conduct, in this respect, I am not to be understood
as supposing, that every father can, or ought to attempt to do
the same, but while it will be seen that there are many, and
these the most important part of their conduct, that all fa
thers may imitate if they choose ; there, is no part of it which
thousands and thousands of fathers might not adopt and
pursue, and adhere to, to the very letter.
" I effected every thing without scolding, and even without
command. My children are a family of scholars ; each sex
its appropriate species of learning, and I could safely take
my oath, that I never ordered a child of mine, son or daughter,
to look into a book in my life. My two oldest sons, when about
eight years old, were for the sake of their health, placed for
a short time at a clergyman's at Micheldever, and my eldest
daughter, a little older, at a school a few miles from Botley to
avoid taking them to London in the winter. But with these
exceptions, never had they, while children, teacher of any
description, and I never, and nobody else ever taught any
of them to read, write, or any thing else, except in conversa
tion, and yet no man was ever more anxious to be the father
of a family of clever and learned persons.
" I accomplished my purpose indirectly. The first thing of
all was health, which was secured by the deeply interesting
and never ending sports of the field and pleasures of the
garden. Luckily, these things were treated of in books and
pictures of endless variety, so that on wet days, in long
evenings these came into the play. A large, strong table in'
the middle of the room, their mother sitting at her work,
used to be surrounded with them, the baby, if big enough,
set up in a high chair. Here were inkstands, pens, pencils,
india-rubber and paper, all in abundance, and every one
scrabbled about as he or she pleased. There were prints of
animals of all sorts, books treating of them, others treating
of gardening, of flowers, of husbandry, of hunting, coursing,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 139
shooting, fishing, planting, and in short of every thing, in
regard to which we had something to do. One would be try
ing to imitate a bit of my writing, another drawing the pic
tures of some of our dogs and horses, a third poking over
Bewick's quadrupeds, and picking out what he said about
them, but our book of never failing resource was the French
Maison Rustique or Farm House, which it is said was
the book that first tempted Dtiquesnois, the famous phy
sician in the reign of Louis XIV. to learn to read. Here
are all the four-legged animals, from the horse down to the
mouse, portraits and all, all the birds, reptiles, insects, all
the modes of rearing, managing and using the tame ones,
and of destroying those that are mischievous ; all the various
traps, springs, nets, all the implements of husbandry and
gardening, all the labours of the field and garden exhibited,
as well as the rest in plates, and there was I, in my leisure
moments, to join the inquisitive group, to read the French,
and to tell them what it meaned in English, when the picture
did not sufficiently explain itself. I have never been without
a copy of this book for forty years, except during the time
that I was flying from the dungeons of Castlereagh and Sid
mouth, in 181 7, and when I got to LOng Island, the first
book T bought was another Maison Rustique.
" What need we of schools? What need we of teachers ?
What need of scolding and force to induce children to read,
write, and love books ? What need of cards, dice, or any
other game to kill time ? but in fact to implant in the infant
heart a love of gaming, one of the most destructive of all
human vices ? We did not want to kill time, we were always
busy, wet weather Or dry weather, winter or summer. There
was no force in any case, no command, no authority, none of
these was ever wanted. To teach children the habit of early
rising was a great object, and every one knows how young
people cling to their beds, and how loth they are to go to
those beds. This was a capital matter, because here were
industry and health both at stake. Yet, I avoided command
even here, and merely offered a reward. The child that was

140 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
down stairs first, was called the Lark for that day, and. fur
ther, sat at my right hand at dinner. They soon discovered
that to rise early, they must go to bed early, and thus was
this most important object secured, with regard to girls as
well as boys. Nothing more inconvenient, and indeed more
disgusting than to have to do with girls, or young women,
who lounge in bed. ' A little more sleep, a little more slum
ber, a little more folding of the hands to sleep.' Solomon
knew them well ; he had, I dare say, seen the breakfast
cooling, carriages and horses, and servants waiting, the, sun
coming burning on, the day wasting, the night growing
dark too early, appointments broken, and the objects of
journeys defeated, and all this from the lolopping in bed of
persons, who ought to have risen with the sun. No beauty,
no modesty, no accomplishment are a compensation for the
effects of laziness in woman, and of all the proofs of laziness,
none is so unequivocal as that of lying late in bed. Love makes
men overlook this vice, for it is a vice for a while, but this
does not last for life ; besides health demands early rising ;
the management of a house imperiously demands it; but
health that most precious possession, without which there is
nothing else worth possessing, demands it too- The morning
air is the most wholesome and strengthening, even in crowded
cities, men might do pretty well with the aid of the morning
air, but how are they to rise early, if they go to bed late ?
" But to do the things, I did, you must love your home your
self to rear up children in this manner, you must live with
them, you must make them too feel by your conduct, that
you prefer this to any other mode of passing your time. All
men cannot lead this mode of life, but many may, and all
much more than many do. My occupation, to be sure was
chiefly carried on at home, but I had always enough to do, I
never spent an idle week or even day in my whole life, yet
I found time to talk with them, to walk or ride about with
them, and when forced to go from home, always took one
or more with me. You must be good tempered too with
them; they must like your company better than any other

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. Ill
persons ; they must not wish you away, not fear your coming
back, not look upon your departure as a holiday. When my
business kept me away from the scrabbling table, a petition
often came, that I would go and talk with the group, and
the bearer was generally the youngest, being the most likely
to succeed. When I went from home all followed me to the
outer gate, and looked after me till the carriage or horse was
out of sight. At the time appointed for my return, all were
prepared to meet me, and if it were late at night, they sat up
as long as they were able to keep their eyes open. This
love of parents, and this constant pleasure at home, made
them not even think of seeking pleasure abroad, and they
thus were kept from vicious playmates and early corruption.
" This is the age too to teach children to be trust-worthy,
and to be merciful and humane. We lived in a garden of
about two acres, partly kitchen-garden with walls, partly
shrubbery and trees, and partly grass. . There were the
peaches as tempting as any that ever grew, and yet as safe
from fingers as if no child were ever in the garden. It was
not necessary to forbid. The black-birds, the thrushes, the
white throats, and even that very shy bird, the goldfinch,
had their nests, and bred up their young ones in great abund
ance, all about this little spot, constantly the play-place of six
children, and one of the latter had its nest, and brought up its
young ones in a raspberry bush, within two yards of a walk,
and at the same time that we were gathering the ripe rasp
berries. We give dogs, and justly, great credit for sagacity
and memory, but the following two mOst curious instances,
which I should not venture to state, if there were not wit
nesses to the facts in my neighbours at Botley, as well as in
my own family, will show that birds are not in this respect,
inferior to the canine race. All country people know that
the skylark is a very shy bird, that its abode is the open
fields, that it settles on the ground only, that it seeks safety
in the wideness of space, that it avoids enclosures, and is
never seen in gardens. A part of our ground was a grass
plot of about forty rods, or a quarter of an acre, which one

142 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
year was left to be mowed for hay. A pair of larks coming
out of the fields into the middle of a pretty populous village,
chose to make their nest in the middle of this little spot, and
at not more than about thirty-five yards from one of the doors
of the house, in which there were about twelve persons liv
ing, and six of those children, who had constant access to
; 11 parts of the ground. There we saw the cock rising up
and singing, then taking his turn upon the eggs, and by and
by we observed him cease to sing, and saw them both con
stantly-engaged in bringing food to the young ones. N>
Unintelligible hint to fathers and mothers of the human race,
who have before marriage taken delight in music. But the
time came for mowing the grass, I waited a good many days
for the brood to get away, but ; t Inst I determined on the
day, and if the larks were there still, to leave a patch of
grass standing round them. In order not to keep them in
dread longer than necessary, I brought three able mowers,
who would cut the whole in about an hour, and as the plot
was nearly circular, set them to mow round, beginning at the
outside. And now for sagacity indeed ! The moment the
men began to whet their scythes, the two old larks began
to flutter over the nest, and to make a great clamour. When
the men began to mow, they flew round and round, stooping
so low, when near the men, as almost to touch their bodies,
making a great- chattering at the same time ; but before the
men had got round with the second swarth, they flew to the
nest, and away they went, young ones and all, across the
river, at the foot of the ground, and settled in the long grass
in my neighbour's orchard.
¦The other instance relates to a house marten. It is well
known that, these birds build their nests, under the eaves of
inhabited houses, and. sometimes under those of door-porches,
but we had one that built its nest in the house, and upon the
top of a common door case, the door of which opened into a
room oUt of the main passage into the house. Perceiving
that the marten had begun to build its nest there, we kept
the front door open in the day time, but were obliged to fasten

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM C315B1.TT, ESQ. 143
it at night. It went on, had young ones, and the young ones
flew. I used to open the door in the' morning early, and
then the birds carried on their affairs till night. The next
year the marten came again, and had another brood in the'
same place. It found its old nest, and having repaired it,
and put it in order, went on again in the former way, and it
would, I dare say, have continued to come to the end of its'
life, if we had remained there so long, notwithstanding there
v ere six healthy children in the house, making just as much
noise as ihe> pleased.
" Now what sagacity in these- birds, to discover that those
were places of safety; and how happy must it have made us,
the parents, to be sure, that our children had thus imbibed
habits the contrary of cruelty. For be it engraven on your
heart, young man, that whatever appearances may say to
the contrary, cruelty is always accompanied with cowardice,
and also with perfidy, when that is called for by the circum
stances of the case ; and that habitual acts of cruelty to other
creatures, will nine times out of ten, produce, when the power
is possessed, cruelty to human beings. The ill-usage of
horses, and particularly asses, is a grave and a just charge
against this nation. No other nation is guilty of it to the
same extent. Not only by blows, but by privation, are we
cruel towards these useful, docile, and patient creatures, and
especially towards the last, which is the most docile, (?) and
patient, and laborious of the two, whilst the food that satis
fies it, is of the coarsest and least costly kind, and in quantity
so small. In the habitual ill-treatment of this animal, which,
in addition to all its labours, has the milk taken from its
young ones, to administer a remedy for our ailments, there
is something that bespeaks ingratitude hardly to be described.
In a Register that I wrote from Long Island, I said that
amongst all the things of which I had been bereft, I regretted
no one so much as a very diminutive mare, on which my
children had all, in succession learned to ride. She was be
come useless for them, and indeed for any Other purpose, but
the recollection of. her was so much entwined with so many

144 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
past circumstances, which at that distance my mind conjured
up, that I really was very uneasy, lest she should fail .into
cruel hands.. By good luck, she was, after a while, turned
out on the wide world to shift for herself, and when we got
back, and had a place for her to stand in, from her native
forest we brought her to Kensington, where she soon became
as fat as a mole. Now, not only have I no moral right, con
sidering my ability to pay for keeping, to deprive her of life,
but it would be unjust and ungrateful in me, to withhold from
her sufficient food and lodging, to make life as pleasant as
possible, while that life lasts.
" In the mean time the book-learning crept in of its own
accord, by imperceptible degrees. Children naturally want to
be like their parents, and to do what they do ; the boys follow
ing their father, and the girls their mother ; and as I was
always writing or reading, mine naturally desired to do some
thing in the same way. But at the same time, they heard
no talk from fools or drinkers ; saw me with no idle, empty,:
gabbling companions ; saw no vain and affected coxcombs,
and no tawdry and extravagant women ; saw no nasty gor
mandizing, and heard no gabble about play houses, and ro
mances, and other nonsense that fit boys to be lobby loungers,
and girls to be the ruin of industrious and frugal young men.
"We wanted no stimulants of this sort to keep up our.
spirits, our various pleasing pursuits were quite sufficient for,
that, and the book-learning came amongst the rest of the
pleasures, to which it was in some sort necessary. I remem
ber, that one year I raised a prodigious crop of fine melons,
under hand glasses, and I learned how to do it from a garden
ing book, or at least that book was necessary to remind me
of the details. Having passed part of -an evening in talking to
the boys, about getting this crop, ' Come,' said I, 'let us now
read the book? Then the book came forth, and to work we
went, following very strictly the precepts of the - book. I
read the thing but once, but the eldest boy read it perhaps.
twenty times over, and explained all about the matter to the
others. Why here was a motive. Then he had to tell the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 145
garden labourer what to do with the melons. Now, I will
engage, that more was really learned by this single lesson,
than would have been learned by spending at this son's age,
a year at school, and be happy and delighted all the while.
When any dispute arose amongst them about hunting or
shooting, or any other of their pursuits, they by degrees
found out the way of settling it by reference to some book,
and when any difficulty occurred as to the meaning, they re
ferred to me, who, if at home, always instantly attended to
them, in these matters.
" They began writing, by taking words out of printed
books, finding out which letter was which, by asking me, or
asking those, who knew the letters one from another, and by
imitating bits of my writing, it is surprising, how soon they
began to write a hand like mine, very small, very faint stroked,
and nearly plain as print. The first use that any one of them
made of the pen, was to write to me, though in the same
house with them. They began doing this in mere scratches,
before they knew how to make any one letter, and as I was
always folding up letters and directing them, so were they,
and they were sure to receive a prompt answer, with most
encouraging compliments, if not by the bearer, yet by a
juvenile messenger of the family. All the meddlings and
teazings of friends, and what was more serious, the pressing
prayers of their anxious mother, about sending them to
school, I withstood, without the slightest effect on my resolu
tion. As to friends, preferring my own judgment to theirs,
I did not care much, but an expression of anxiety, imply
ing a doubt of the soundness of my own judgment, coming
perhaps twenty times a day from her, whose care they were
as well as mine, was not a matter to smile at, and very great
trouble it did give me. My answer at last was, as to the
boys, I want them to be like me, and as to the girls, in whose
hands can they be so safe as in yours. Therefore my reso
lution is taken, go to school they shall not.
" Nothing is much more annoying than the intermeddling
of friends in a case like this. The wife appeals to them,
27. — vol. ii. u

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
and good breeding, that is to say, nonsense, is sure to put
them on her side. Then they, particularly the women, when
describing the surprising progress made by their own sons
at school, used, if one of mine were present, to turn to him,
and ask, to what school he went, and what he was learning ?
I leave any one to judge of his opinion of her, and whether
he would like her the better for that. Bless me, so tall !
and not learned any thing yet ? O yes, I used to say, he
has learned to ride, and hunt, and shoot,, and fish, and look
after cattle and sheep, and to work in the garden, and to
feed his dogs, and to go from village to village in the dark.
This is the way I used to manage with troublesome customers
of this sort. And how glad the children used to be, when
they got clear of such criticising people. And how grate
ful they felt to me, for the protection which they saw that I
gave them, against that state of restraint of which other
peoples' boys complained. Go whither they might, they
found no place so pleasant as home, and no soul that came
near them, afforded them so many means of gratification as
they received from me.
"In this happy state we lived until the year 1810, when
the government laid its merciless fangs upon me, dragging
me from these delights, and crammed me into a jail amongst
felons. This added to the difficulties of my task of teaching,
for now I was snatched away from the only scene, in which
it could, as I thought, properly be executed. But even these
difficulties were got over. The blow was, to be sure, a terri
ble one, and, O God ! how was it felt by these poor children.
It was in the month of July, when the horrible sentence was
passed upon me. My wife having left her children in the
care of her good and affectionate sister, was in London wait
ing to know the doom of her husband. When the news
arrived at Botley, the three boys, one eleven, the other nine,
and the other seven years old, were hoeing cabbages in that
garden, which had been the source of so much delight.
When the account of the savage sentence was brought to
them, the youngest could not for some time be made to

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 147
understand what a jail was, and when he did, he all in a
tremour exclaimed, ' Now, I am sure, William, that papa is
not in a place like that.' The other, in order to disguise his
tears, and smother his sobs, fell to work with the hoe, and
chopped about like a blind person. This account, when it
reached me, affected me more, filled me with deeper resent
ment, than any other circumstance. And oh, how I despise
the wretches who talk of my vindietiveness, and of my ex
ultation at the confusion of those, who inflicted those suffer
ings. How I despise the base creatures, the crawling slaves,
the callous and cowardly hypocrites, who affect to be shocked
(tender souls!) at my expressions of joy, at the death of
Gibbs, Ellenborough, Perceval, Liverpool, Canning, and the
rest of the tribe, that I have already seen out, and at the
fatal workings of that system, for endeavouring to check
which, I was thus punished. How I despise the wretches,
and how I above all things enjoy their ruin, and anticipate
their utter beggary. " What ! I am to forgive, am I, such in
juries as these, and that too without any atonement ? Oh no !
I have not so read the Holy Scriptures, I have not from them
learned that I am not to rejoice at the fall of unjust foes, and
it makes a part of my happiness, to be able to tell millions of
men that I do thus rejoice, and that I have the means of call
ing on so many just, and merciful men to rejoice along with
me." In another part of his work, Cobbett thus speaks ol this
transaction : —
" In the year 1809, some English local militia men were
flogged in the Isle of Ely, in England, under a guard of
Hanoverians, then stationed in England, I reading an ac
count of this in a London newspaper, called the Courier, ex
pressed my indignation at it in such terms, as it became an
Englishman to do. The Attorney General Gibbs, was set
on upon me ; he harrassed me for nearly a year, then brought
me to trial, and I was by Ellenborough, Grose, Le Blanc,
and Bailey, sentenced to two years imprisonment in New
gate, to pay a fine to the king of a thousand pounds, and to

148 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
be held in heavy bail fpr seven years after the expiration of
the imprisonment. Every one regarded it as a sentence of
death. I lived in the country at the time, seventy miles from
London ; I had a farm on my hands ; I had a family of small
children, amongst whom I had constantly lived; I had a
mOst anxious and devoted wife, who was too in that state,
which rendered the separation more painful tenfold. I was
put into a place amongst felons, from which I had to rescue
myself at the price of twelve guineas a week ! ! for
the whole of the two years. The king, poor man ! was at.
the close of my imprisonment not in a condition to receive
the thousand pounds, but his son punctually received it " in
his name and behalf," and he*keeps'it still.
" The sentence, though it proved not to be one of death,
was, in effect, one of ruin, as far as then possessed property
went. But this appeared as nothing, compared with the cir
cumstance, that I must now* have a child bprn in a felon's jail,
or be absent from the scene at thetime of its birth. My wife,
who had come to see me for the last time previously to her ly
ing in, perceiving my deep dejection at 'the approach of her
departure for Botley, resolved not to go, and actually went and
took a lodging as near to Newgate as she could find one, in
order that the communication between us might be as speedy
as possible, and in order that I might see the doctor and re
ceive assurances from him relative to her state. Themearest
that she could find, was in Skinner-street, at the corner of a
street leading to Smithfield. So that there she was, amidst
the incessant rattle of coaches and butchers' carts, and the
noise of cattle, dogs, and bawling men, instead of being in a
quiet and commodious country house, with neighbours and
servants, and every thing necessary about her. Yet, so great
is the power of the mind in such cases, she, though the cir
cumstances proved uncommonly perilous, and were attended
with the loss of the child, bore her sufferings with the greatest
composure, because at any minute she could send a message
to, and hear from me. If. she had gone to Botley, leaving
me in that state of anxiety in which she saw me, I am satis-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 149
fied she would have died, and that event taking place at such
* a distance from me, how was I to contemplate her corpse,
surrounded by her distracted children, and to have escaped
death or madness myself.?
" If such was not the effect of this merciless act of the
government towards me, that amiable body may be well as
sured that I have taken and recorded the will for the deed,
and that as such it will live in my memory as long as that
memory shall last." r
Speaking of the conduct of his family during his imprison
ment, Cobbett says, " Now then the book-learning was
forced upon us. I had a farm in hand. It was necessary
that I should be constantly informed of what was doing. I
gave all the orders, whether as to purchases, sales, ploughing;
sowing, breeding, in short, with regard to every thing, and
the things were in endless number and variety, and always
full of interest. My eldest son and daughter could now
write well and fast. One or the other of these was always
at Botley, and I had with me, having hired the best part of
the keeper's house, one or two besides, either their brother
or sister. We had a hamper with a lock and two keys,
which came up once a week, or oftener, bringing me fruit
and all sorts of country fare ; for the carriage of which, cost
free, I was indebted to as good a man as ever God created,
the late Mr. George Rogers, of Southampton ; who, in the
prime of life, died deeply lamented by thousands, but by none
more deeply than by me and my family, who have to thank
him, and the whole of his excellent family, for benefits and
marks of kindness without number.
" This hamper, which was always at both ends of the line
looked for with the most lively interest, became our school.
It brought me a journal of labours, proceedings, and occur
rences, written on paper of shape and size uniform, and so
contrived, as to margins, as to admit of binding. The jour
nal used, when my eldest son was the writer, to be inter
spersed with drawings of our dogs, colts, or any thing that he
wanted me to have a correct idea of. The hamper brought

150 MEMOIRS OK WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
me plants, bulbs, and the like, that I might see the size of
them, and almost every one sent his or her most beautiful
flowers, the earliest Violets, and primroses, and cowslips, and
blue bells, the earliest twigs of trees, and in short every
thing that they thought calculated to delight me. The mo
ment the hamper arrived, I, casting aside every thing else, set
to work to answer every question, to give new directions,
and to add any thing likely to give pleasure at Botley. Every
hamper brought one letter, as they called it, if not more, from
every child, and to every letter I wrote. an answer, sealed up
and sent to the party, being sure that that was the way to
produce other and better letters, for though they could not
read what I wrote, and though their own consisted at first of
mere scratches, and afterwards, for a while, of a few words
written down for them to imitate, I always thanked them for
their pretty letter, and never expressed any wish to see them
write better, but took care to write in a very neat and plain
hand myself, and to do up my letter in a very neat manner.
" Thus, while the ferocious tigers, thought I was doomed
to incessant mortification, and to rage that must extinguish
my mental powers, I found in my children, and in their spot
less, and courageous, and affectionate mother, delights to which
the callous hearts of those tigers were strangers. ' Heaven
first taught letters for some wretches aid.' How often did
this line of Pope occur to me, when I opened the little
' spuddling letters' from Botley. This correspondence oc
cupied a good part of my time. I had all the children with
me, turn and turn about ; and in order to give the boys
exercise, and to give the two eldest an opportunity of be
ginning to learn French, I used, for a part of the two years,
to send them for a few hours a day to an abbe, who lived in
Castle-street, Holborn. All this was a great relaxation to
my mind, and when I had to return to my literary labours, I
returned fresh and cheerful, full of vigour, and full of hope
Of finally seeing my unjust and merciless foes at my feet; and
that, too, without caring a straw on whom their fall might
bring calamity, so that my own family were safe, because,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 15l
say what any one might, the community, taken as a whole,
had suffered this thing to be done unto us.
" The paying of the work people, the keeping of the ac
counts, the referring to books, the writing and reading of letters,
this everlasting mixture of amusement with book-learning,
made me, almost to my own surprise, find at the end of two
years, that I had a parcel of scholars growing up about me, and
long before the end of the time, I had dictated my Register to
my two eldest children. Then there was copying out of
books, which taught spelling correctly. The calculations
about the forming of affairs forced arithmetic upon us ; the
use, the necessity of the thing, led to the study. By and by
we had to look into the laws to know what to do about the
highways, about the- game, about the poor, and all rural and
parochial affairs. I was, indeed, by the fangs of government,
defeated in my fondly cherished project of making my sons
farmers on their own land, and keeping them from all tempt
ations to seek vicious and enervating enjoyments, but those
fangs, merciless as they had been, had not been able to
prevent me from laying in for their lives a store of useful
information, habits of industry, care, and sobriety, and a
taste for innocent, healthful, and manly pleasures : the fangs
had made me and them penny less, but had not been able to
take from us our health, or our mental possessions, and these
were ready for application as circumstances might ordain."
Such were the lucubrations of William Cobbett during his
imprisonment in Newgate, but considering the apparent in
dependence of his character, his hatred of even the semblance
of showing to his enemies that he quailed under the infliction
of the heavy blows which they had so unmercifully laid upon
him, it must excite some little surprise that he could stoop to
send forth such an address to the public, apparently for the
purpose of discountenancing a penny subscription, which was
proposed to be set on foot by a few individuals, but in reality
to puff off his Registers, and to induce the public to come
forward and purchase them, as the best and most efficient
means of assisting him under his present trying difficulties.

152 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
With a becoming sense of propriety he objects to the penny
subscription ; but in return, he has the modesty to inform the
public, that if they will buy up all his Registers, it will be a
source of great benefit to him. Now there is no doubt that
many hundreds of persons would have been found, who
would willingly have given their penny towards the liquidation
of the heavy fine that was imposed upon him, and in some
degree to reimburse him for other losses to which his incar- '
ceration must have exposed him, but it was no trifle to tell
an individual that the price of a copy of his Register was
25| Guineas, and that if the public would take the whole
stock off his hands, it would render him an essential service.
The following is the address which he issued from New
gate, and there are in some parts of it a littleness, which is
by no means calculated to enhance the character of Cobbett
in the opinion of our readers.
" Many Gentlemen have by letter, as well as verbally,
proposed to me the putting forward a subscription, for the
purpose of indemnifying me and my family, against the
heavy expences and loss, which have been, and must be in
curred in consequence of that prosecution ; the nature, the
progress, and the result of which are too well known to be
here dwelt upon. It must be manifest to every one, that
these expences, including all the various sorts of them, will
extend to several thousands of pounds, besides the loss which
I must suffer in my concern at home, and indeed in many
ways, which cannot well be mentioned, and which it is not
at all necessary to mention, or to hint, to those who have
ever known what it is to be so situated, as to lead the world
to believe that pecuniary distress, if not ruin is even the
possible consequence. I am, however, happy to say, that I
have been not only able to withstand all pressure of the sort
here alluded to, but that without any extraordinary aid from
any quarter, I should feel confident of my ability to pro
ceed, and with the blessing of continued health, make a suit
able provision for all my children ; yet, though I neither feel
nor dread poverty, I do not think that I ought to neglect any

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
means consistent with honesty and honour, to guard myself,
and what is of more consequence, my family against it.
My health, thank God, is as good as ever it was. But I
have no security for either health or life, any more than other
men, and if I were now to attempt an insurance upon my
life, Newgate would tell pretty strongly against me. It is,
therefore, impossible for me not to feel an anxious desire to
see my family at least guarded, against the certain expense and
loss above mentioned. But I have, as has been stated, to
two in particular, of the gentlemen, who have proposed the
subscription, an objection to that mode of obtaining indem
nity. There is, however, another mode, which though per
haps attended in the end with little positive and numerical
gain, which would answer all my views full as well, while
it would remove every objection, which the mode of sub
scription presents. It is this, upon reviewing my stock of
printed books, I find that I have a number of sets of the
register, from its commencement to the present time,
which by reprinting one whole volume, and part of another,
I can make complete. There will be in each set seventeen
volumes, the price of which, bound in the usual way, will be,
what it has always been, 25 J guineas ! ! about one third of
which goes to the bookbinder and the publisher, exclusive of
the cost of paper and printing. The exact number that I
have of these sets, I do not yet know, but this I know, that
when these are disposed of, there never will be another com
plete copy to be sold, as I shall now have every set that can
be completed, made up and prepared for sale. In the course
of a few years, all these sets would be disposed of in the
usual course of bookselling, but an immediate sale of the
whole, would from the considerations before mentioned, pro
duce great convenience to me, besides the ease of mind,
which would arise from reflecting on the security that it
would give to my family, in case my long imprisonment
should, as I trust it will not, be attended with consequences
fatal to myself. Such gentlemen, therefore, as wished for
28.— vol. n. x

154 memoirs of William cobbett, esq.
the opening of a subscription for the purpose above men
tioned, will in this mode have an opportunity of doing that
Which will be equally advantageous, and much more agree
able to me ; and all that I shall say in the way of request, is,
that each individual disposed to further the object in view,
would recollect that in this case, as in all others where suc
cess depends upon the co-operation of many, each individual
so disposed, should look upon that success as depending
Wholly upon himself, and should conclude, that unless he act
Up to his wishes, every one else will content himself with
ivishes alone. The sets are now completing as fast as possi
ble, and will be ready for delivery on the 1st September."
Cobbett lost no time in completing the sets of the Register,
but he found that they still remained on his hands, and that
25 guineas was a sum of money, which few were disposed
to pay, notwithstanding the great advantage and the ease of
n-.ind, which it would be the means of procuring him. In
this instance, Cobbett truly experienced the verity of the
adage, that by asking too much, we frequently get nothing.
His demand upon the public was by far too extortionate; the
penny subscription was put a stop to, and Cobbett soon found
that there was no great occasion for any particular expedi
tion to be used in the making up of his Registers.
One of the first acts which Cobbett performed after his
liberation from Newgate, was to send forth another statement
of the prosecution to which he had been subject, but which
was in a great degree unnecessary ; it was almost verbatim
With that which he published in his Register, immediately on
his imprisonment taking place ; he, however, closes this state
ment, with some remarks, which nOt only apply very par
ticularly to his private life, but as a specimen of his strong,
and nervous style of writing, is not to be paralleled in any
other part of his work
Having vented the blackness of his spleen upon the At
torney General, Cobbett enters upon the nature and effect of
his imprisonment. " I was well aware," says he, " that a

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 155
prison, though I had never seen the inside of a prison in my
life* must differ very materially from a dwelling house. I
was aware of many of the disagreeable circumstances attend
ant on such a state, but I had no idea of the reality. That
part of the prison to which I was committed, consisted of a
yard and divers rooms. The rooms were numerous, the yard
about 35 feet, by 25 feet. Each room contained, or was in
tended to contain, two or three more beds. Each bed room
was locked up at about nine o'clock at night, and kept locked
till about seven o'clock in the morning. The doorway lead
ing from the passage of the rooms to the yard, was also
locked. The windows were barred with iron. The walls
that surrounded the yard were the sides of houses, and of
course there could be very little sun or air. But the com*.
panions ! ! What companions had I ? Men, guilty of the
most odious and detestable crimes: swindling, fraud, em=-
bezzlement, and even of those crimes, which are too horrid to
name, but which have been committed by so many within
these last two or three years. With wretches like these, I
was destined by my sentence to dwell for two years ; I, who
had never seen the inside of a jail in my life time, and
who, amidst all the temptations of youth, had been eight years
in a regular regiment, without ever being in a single instance
confined for a moment ! One fact will enable the reader to
judge of the society I was sentenced to keep for two years.
There was a man taken out and sent to Botany Bay, two
days after I entered the prison. He was taken out of the
same part of the prison, and perhaps out of the very room,
in which I was to have slept for two years, if I lived so long.
Here was I then sentenced to live for two years amongst
felons, and men guilty of unnatural crimes, and to pay a
thousand pounds to the king, aye, to the king, at the end of
that time. I have three sons, and if any one of them ever
forgets this, may he that instant be — — — ¦  riot stricken
dead, but worse than that, bereft of his senses. May he ber
come both rotten and mad, May he, after having been a
* See page 131, Vol. II.

156 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
gabbling, slavering, half-idiot, all the prime of his life, be'
come in his last days loathsome to the sight, and stinking in
the nostril. I am, however, not at all afraid, that any child
of mine will merit this curse, for they have all been shown
the horrid place, where their father was sentenced to be im
prisoned, and I am satisfied that nothing more is necessary.
From the place and the society here, I was ransomed by my
purse ; but while I say this, I must beg to be understood, as
hinting no complaint against the keeper, who gave up the
best part of his house to me, from whom I and my family and
friends always received the most civil and kind treatment,
and whom I believe to be a very honest and humane man.
I can speak from my own knowledge, that he is constantly
endeavouring to obtain, and frequently does it, relief and as
sistance of various sorts for those of his unfortunate prisoners,
who stand most in need of it. He is strict in adherence to
his rules and regulations, but, I am persuaded, that it would
be very difficult to find a more fit man for his situation.
Having formed this opinion for two years of actual observa
tion, I think it, now that I am no longer in the power of Mr.
Newman, my duty to declare it. During my imprisonment,
the conduct of my friends. was such, as was naturally to be
expected from men, who regarded me as suffering in the
public cause. The attentions of all • sorts, the acts of real,
solid service, were as numerous and great, perhaps, as any.
man ever received in a like space of time. But the circum
stance of this sort, which gave me the most pleasure, was that
during the two years, I was visited by persons, whom I had.
never seen before, from one hundred and ninety-seven cities
and towns, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, the greatest
part of whom came to me as the deputies of some society,
club, or circle of people in their respective places of residence.
I had the infinite satisfaction to learn from the gentlemen,
who thus visited me, that my writings had induced those, who
had read them, to think. This fact, indeed, of being visited
by persons from almost every considerable town in the king
dom, speaks a language that, cannot be misunderstood.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 157
" Within these ten years I have dealt Corruption many a
heavy blow ; but, in no two years did I «ver deal her so
many and such deadly blows as during the two years that I
was in Newgate. I am not vain enough to suppose, that it
was I who made her reel as she now does ; but, I trust that
nobody will deny that I pretty largely contributed towards it.
When I compare her state at my coming out of Newgate
with her state at my going into Newgate, I see as much
difference as I now see in one of* the old ewes, which were
full-mouthed at my leaving home. She has been pulled down
without violence. She has been exposed to a degree that has
deprived her of all power longer to deceive. She is,- in short,
now come to that pass, where neither impudence nor hypo
crisy will serve her turn ; where, if she could any longer de
ceive, it would be of no use to her. The long faces of the
children and champions of Corruption show us what is pass
ing in their minds. They yet enjoy the fruit of their corrupt
practices, but they seem to be in hourly dread of losing them.
There is, in this respect, a great change since I was put into
Newgate ; and, if I could persuade myself, that my being
imprisoned another two years would totally destroy Corrup
tion ; that it would root her and all her infamous brood out
of the land, I would cheerfully endure it, taking my chance
of foul air and jail distempers.
"As to what has taken place at the expiration of my im
prisonment, and to the time of my arrival at Botley, where
I now am, it will not be necessary to be very particular. I
do not want to have it believed, that I am caressed by the
public. I have no ambitious purposes to answer. I am re
solved to do all in my power to destroy Corruption in all her
branches and all her fibres ; and, to do this, or any thing to
wards it, I "know that I must leave all self-gratifications out
of my account. I am aware of this, and Corruption may be
assured that I am quite prepared for it. I laugh at all the
alarms of envy. They are wholly groundless. I only want
to see Corruption destroyed, without caring a straw who ha?
the honour of doing it. In the desire of seeing this accom->

158 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
plished, I overlook all minor considerations. It is, however,
due to the nation to state here, for the information of foreign
ers, that, on the 9th of July, the day on which my imprison
ment ceased, I was invited to a grand dinner at the Crown
and Anchor Tavern in the Strand, at which dinner upwards
of 600 persons were present, and, which bespoke the cha
racter of the whole, Sir Francis Burdett was in the chair.
I have no desire to draw a picture here ; no desire to swell
out any of the circumstances. The bare fact is enough ; that
this dinner, as large a one, I believe, as ever was known
upon any occasion, even in London, took place in approbation
of my writings ; and especially in approbation of that par
ticular writing for which I was imprisoned. At this dinner
there arose some circumstances not less important than the
dinner itself. It was not to be supposed, that such an oc
casion would pass without an attempt to do something to
annoy me. Accordingly it was, in the shape of newspaper
paragraphs of the same day, and in the shape of handbills
distributed at the door of the Tavern as the gentlemen went
in ; in vehicles of this sort, it was shown, or asserted,
" 1st. — That I had, ten years ago, expressed my decided
disapprobation of the conduct, and even the principles of Sir
Francis Burdett.
" 2nd, — That, in the time between my conviction and my
being brought up to judgment, I formed the design of drop
ping my Register, to announce which design I had prepared
and actually caused to be printed an advertisement.
" 3rd, — That this design was coupled with a negociation
with the government for making the dropping of the Register
a condition upon which forgiveness was to be obtained.
" 4th,— That this offer on my part having been refused by
the government, I next offered to turn about and write for
them. " 5th, — That on account of this having been rejected, I
abandoned the design, and continued the Register.
" I shall answer these one by one. — As to the first, I had
as much right to express my disapprobation of the conduct

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 159
and principles of Sir Francis Burdett ten years ago as I have
now to express my approbation of them. Whether the
change has been produced by conviction, or proceeded from
some selfish motive, the reader must be the judge, though I
must say, that I think it would be very difficult to make out
the probability of the latter. At any rate, it was impossible
that the change should arise out of a desire to get at any
share of the public money ; and that is the great point to keep
in view. As to the second, it is perfectly true; and, surely,
I had a perfect right to cease writing whenever I pleased.
That man must have but little consideration who does not
see many good reasons for my adopting such a course ; but,
my answer to the charge is this ; that I had, and have a
right to cease writing whenever I pleased or shall please ;
and that, if I were to give up this right, I should, while I am
endeavouring to ensure freedom to my country, be myself a
slave. As to the third, fourth and fifth propositions, all that
I can say of them is, that they are false ; that they are
wholly destitute of truth ; that they have been invented as
much as any fairy tale ever was invented ; and, indeed, their
falsehood is proved by the advertisement itself, which says,
that I intended to discontinue the Register ; because — what ?
Why, because I feared, that it would be impossible for me to
continue it without softening my tone. This was stated
as the reason ; it was so to be stated in print ; who, then,
will believe either of the three last propositions to contain a
single word of truth ? Having made this denial, I make it
once for all. I shall always insist upon my right to cease
writing whenever I please ; and, while I continue to write,
the reader will always be able to judge of the value of what
I write. If he finds it useful, he will continue to supply
himself with it ; if not, he will cease so to do ; and thus, he
and I shall never be under obligations to each other.
" That I should be pursued with the same envy, hatred,
and malice, out of prison that I was pursued with into prison,
I naturally expected. Had I not been, I should have feared

160 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
that 1 had lost my sting. For all the falsehoods, for all the
blows that baseness of all kinds has aimed at me, I have
found more than sufficient compensation in the applause of
the meeting at the Crown and Anchor ; in the cordial recep
tion I met with, upon my return, at Winchester, where there
were gentlemen, whom I had never seen, who had come
thirty miles to meet me ; and, above all, in the kindness, the
warmth of affection, with which I was received at Botley,
into which the young men of the village (without even a hint
from any one belonging to me) drew my carriage from the
distance of more than a mile.
" When we got into the village, about nine o'clock in the
evening of the 11th July, there was a sight for Sir Vicary
Gibbs, and Lord Ellenborough, and his brother judges to see !
The inabitants of the village gathered round me ; the young
men and the boys, and.their fathers and mothers, listened to
my account of the cause of my absence ; hearing me speak
of the local militia and the German troops at the town of
Ely ; hearing me calling upon fathers and mothers to reflect
on what I said, and on their sons to bear in mind to the last
hour of their lives. In short, the. thing ended precisely as it
ought to end, in a plain appeal to the understanding of the
inhabitants of a village ; to young countrymen and boys,
and their fathers and mothers.
" To express my feelings upon this occasion is quite im
possible. Suffice it to say, that the good behaviour, the
civility and kindness of all the people of the village to my
family during my absence ; and their most affectionate re
ception of myself at my return, will never be effaced from
my recollection. If there had wanted a motive in me to love
my country, here would have been motive sufficient. That
nation cannot be otherwise than good, where the inhabitants
of a whole parish are so honest, so just, and so kind. For
my part, born and bred amongst the farmers and labourers
of England, I have entertained towards them feelings of kind
ness ; but, I have now to add the feeling of gratitude, and of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 161
that feeling I shall, I hope, never fail to give proof, when it
is in my power to defend any of my poorer neighbours
against the oppressions of the more powerful.
Botley, 15th July, 1812. William Cobbett.
Mr. Cobbett had been but a few days liberated from New
gate, when it was proposed to celebrate his liberation by a
public dinner at the Crown and Anchor ; previously, how
ever, to entering upon the detail of the proceedings of that
day, it will be necessary, in order to render some parts of the
speech which Cobbett delivered at the dinner intelligible,
to notice some very strong and caustic remarks, which ap
peared against him in the public papers, and particularly in
the Times.
On the day on which the dinner was to be held, the 9th
July, the following appeared in the Times :
" To the Persons, who meet to celebrate Mr. Cobbett's
Liberation from Prison, by a Dinner.
" Gentlemen, "As your purpose is to evince your love for a free
press, by dining together on this day, with a supposed
martyr in its service, I cannot help thinking, that I am
performing an act of the greatest kindness both to you and
the press, by shewing that you have chosen a highly irra
tional occasion of testifying your regard for that greatest of
all public blessings. If you had any mark of esteem to be
stow on the victims of government prosecutions, the industry
of the last Attorney General has unhappily supplied you with
a sufficient number, on all of whom you are inflicting the
most manifest injustice, by your exclusive selection of one,
who, as I shall shortly shew you, would have sold both us,
the free press, and himself, to have escaped, or indemnified
himself for the late prosecution. If there was any man
breathing, from whom the people had a right to expect fide
lity in their cause, it was from Mr. Cobbett, for he was the
28.— vol. ii. *

162 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
man, whom, above all others, the people had raised from the
lowest poverty to the greatest affluence, by their partiality
and attention. He had; nothing but what he owed to the
people, and yet, as I shall shortly prove to yon, generous as
that people had been to him, he would have imposed an
additional tax upon them, after their antecedent liberality,
to pay him for his imprisonment ; and next, he would have
bought his exemption from that imprisonment, by giving
up his Register, and your cause, at once to the government.
And this is the patriot* whose release you are met to com
memorate. " Gentlemen, shortly after Mr. Cobbett's conviction, he
put forth a public address, stating what surprised me very
much, that many gentlemen ' had proposed setting on foot
a subscription, for the purpose of indemnifying him and his
family against the heavy expences and losses which he had
incurred.' Gentlemen, this is an idea which no rational or
honourable man, I will venture to say, ever entertained ; no
rational one, for all such must have known, that though Mr.
Cobbett might sustain loss and inconvenience on this parti
cular occasion, yet was he, in the general balance of trade,
an infinite gainer; the gainer of Bottleys, the gainer, besides,
of some thousands a year, none of which he would have ever
had, but for his being a successful dealer in political writing;
No honourable man could have thought of subscribing, be
cause all such must have conceived, that an honest- English
man, in easy circumstances, would have considered it as the
greatest of all possible insults, to have had a base barter
tendered to him by his friends, probably most of them poorer
Ulan himself, for their sufferings, in their cause and his own,
a cause too, which to him had been so lucrative, and by
which they had gained nothing. This being the case, gentle
men, how does Mr. Cobbett receive this supposed proposal
of subscribing for him? By one of the meanest and dirtiest
suggestions that- ever disgraced, I will not say a champion of
public freedom, but even an oppressor of it, base and1 dirty
as the whole herd of them are. I shall give it in his own

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 163
words, extracted from the Register of August 11th, 1810, and
which was the last of that work I ever took in.*
" This is Mr. Cobbett's patriotism, gentlemen, and thus it
is that he would have converted the cause of freedom, that
cause, which has sustained the fainting spirits of many a
hungry sufferer, in darkness, in prison, and in bonds, during
the atrocious reigns of the Charles's and the second James ;
thus it is that he would; at the expence too of his own friends,
have converted that cause into a sordid provision for his wife
and family. O yes ! each individual must, to be Sure, so
stir himself for Mr. Cobbett, (the poor famished, wretched
prisoner, and his injured family) as if the success of the sub
scription depended wholly on himself. Modest claims of the
selfish impostor Upon his silly dupes.
" Having thus shown you, gentlemen, how Mr. Cobbett
would have cheated you out of your money, to pay him for
a prosecution, sustained in a cause, which was no otherwise
yours, than as it was his, and which had already paid him
well, I shall next proceed to show, what perhaps some of
you little think, that he would actually hate given up the
cause itself, together with his Register, to government, if they
would have spared him the pain of suffering a two years im
prisonment in its behalf. This is the hero to Whose firmness
we are to look up when the day of trial comes.
"No sooner was Mr. Cobbett convicted, than he endear
voured to gain the forgiveness of government, and to pre
vail upon the Attorney General to refrain from calling him
up for judgment. There is nothing he Would not have be
trayed, in order to save himself, I verily believe, had it been
in his power ; he would have sacrificed- his wife- arid children1,
on whom he had modestly called upon you to Settle a pen
sion for that end,: at least I shall show you that he would
have sacrificed his Journal, whieh had been the support of
his wife and children, and as Shylock says,
" You- tttfce their fife,
When-yon: db take the means- whereby they live."
* For this address of' Cobbett to the readers of the Register; see rjage' 15?.

164 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
" The following are the words of an advertisement, which
he actually got ready and printed, at a time, when he errone
ously thought he had made his peace with ministers ; and
after the production of this address, the penning and printing
of which, upon the supposition I have imputed to him, he
dares not deny, I think there are few friends of liberty and
a free press, who will not turn from such a supporter of them
with disgust, and choose to celebrate some other era, rather
than the release of this man from a prison, which he had in
truth merited for his whole life, by the selfish and unmanly
acts, which he used to escape it, or to pay himself for it.
To the Readers of the Register.
" As I never have written merely for the sake of gain,
and as I have always held it to be a base act, to write upon
political subjects, or, more correctly speaking, to take a part
in the war of politics, merely with the view to emolument,
or the means of a livelihood, I cannot, of course,, after what
has taken place, think it proper, let the pecuniary loss be
what it may, to continue any longer this publication, and,
therefore, with this present number, which also concludes the
volume, I put an end to it for ever. I hardly think that any
statement of my reasons for doing this can be necessary to '
any body, for it must be manifest, that if the work were con
tinued, it could not be what it has been, and of course it could
no longer meet with the approbation of those by whom it has
hitherto been approved of. It is manifest, that if continued, it
must take quite a new tone and manner ; nay, that its matter
must also be changed, that in' short, it must be totally dif
ferent to (from) what it has hitherto been, and, therefore,
those who have most highly valued its existence, must of
course be the most desirous that it should now cease to exist.
" I know that there will nevertheless be enough persons to
say that I have deserted the cause, but I shall ask whose
cause ? It is, I presume, meant, the cause of the public, or
the people, or the country, give it what name you please.
Well, if the putting a stop to this work be an injury to the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 165
country, let it be recollected that it is the country itself who
have condemned me."
" Thus, then, it is, Gentlemen, that he has every way be
trayed us. He would have pensioned his wife and family
upon us by a subscription for his old work, though it was by
that work, that himself, his wife, and family had been wholly
maintained and enriched, and then he would have given up
that work, and the cause which it so advantageously sus
tained, in order to escape prosecution ; so that either in the
desertion or maintenance of patriotism, it is clear that he has
nothing but gain in view, as far as he can obtain it with
personal safety ; and earnestly do I caution our well-tried
friend, Sir Francis Burdett, against longer lending his valu
able and untainted name to the support of such dupery.
(Signed,)
From a Fellow Sufferer under
Unjust Prosecution."
The charges brought forward against Cobbett, in the
foregoing letter, were of too grave and serious a nature to
pass unnoticed. In the estimation of the public, he had fallen
some degrees, in consequence of the bargain which he wished
to make with them, respecting the purchase of his Registers ;
and the apparently authentic statement of his disposition to
suspend the publication of his Register, for the purchase of
his freedom, and the remission of the fine, had raised up
against him a host of enemies in certain quarters, where
formerly he had found the staunchest friends. These cir
cumstances imparted a degree Of interest to the approaching
dinner at the Crown and Anchor, as it was known that Mr.
Cobbett would be there publicly accused of the above-men
tioned acts, and great anxiety was manifested to hear his
explanation. Thursday, the 9th of July, was the day appointed for the
dinner, and as early as three o'clock, the company began to
assemble, and at four the doors of the great room were

166 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
thrown open, and all the tables immediately afterwards
filled. By five o'clock no admission to the apartment could
be obtained, and a very large proportion were accommodated
in adjoining rooms. The dinner was served up at five o'clock,
and shortly afterwards Sir Francis Burdett, Mr. Cobbett,
Major Cartwright, Mr. Brown, Mr. Bosville, Aldermen
Wood and Goodbehere, Sir William RaWlins, Mr. Waith-
man, Mr. Fawkes, with many other gentlemen, preceded
by the Stewards, entered the room, and were received with
reiterated plaudits by the whole company.
On the removal of the cloth, after some preliminary toasts,
Sir Francis Burdett proposed,
" Our sincere Congratulations on the release of that able
advocate of Parliamentary Reform, and zealous opposer of
the Flogging System, William Cobbett.
Which being drank in the usual complimentary manner,
Mr. Cobbett rose and spoke as follows — Gentlemen,
unused as I am to speak in public, 1 should have contented
myself on the present occasion with returning you my sincere
thanks for the honour you have this day conferred upon me,
and more particularly for the warm expression of your appro
bation of those principles, for the maintenance of which I
have been so severely punished. This much is all I intended
to have said ; but while I was in the country this morning,
and at my entrance into this room, The Times newspaper
was put into my hand,, together with another paper, which
has been industriously distributed,, and which yOu have,,
doubtless, all seen.* Some severe accusations are there
brought against me, and- surely the government,, after having
confined me for two years in a felon's jftil, having com
pelled me to pay a, fine of £ 1000, afld to. provide sureties for
seven years, in the sum of £5*000, might have permitted me
to receive your congratulations, without attempting to wound
my reputation with such calumnies, or attempts, at calum
nies,, as; you. have, reeently perused.— (Applause,!} The
* Various contradictory, extracts from Mr.. Cobbett'stworksi.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 167
source whence these attacks proceed, no one can doubt, and
I need not require you to reflect for a moment in passing
your judgment upon this sort of criticism, which only
amounts to informing you, that ten years ago I had the
boldness (a great boldness it was) in harsh language, to ex
press opinions regarding the man who now has the honour
to sit in the chair, different from those which I now enter
tain. In doing so, I exercised only a right for which I have
been always contending : that rigbt which yon are now as
sembled to sanction.— (Lewd cheers !) — But supposing that
I was wrong, as I have since fairly and1 candidly acknow
ledged my error— (hear, hear .') — where, I may ask, is there
a man in the world, who, at some time or other, has not
found it necessary to change his sentiments ? out of what do
our settled opinions arise ; but reflection, discussion, and ob
servation, and what is to produce these settled opinions, but
time ? I have confessed the change fully and openly ; and
I entreat you always to bear this in mind, that alteration of
sentiment is not to be ascribed as a demerit to any man,
unless it be discovered, that there lurk some suspicions that
he has altered his sentiments from self-inteTested motives.
— (Repeated applauses.) I am very certain that neither
friend nor enemy will deny, that in changing my opinion re
garding the honourable baronet's polities, I did not consult
my interests, (hear!) — The paper to which I have before
alluded, also gives me occasion to observe, that while in the
clearest manner,, it demonstrates the unmanly malignity and
malevolent revenge of those who published, probably at your
expence, (hud shouts,) if also establishes beyond the possi
bility; of contaoversy, the honour that is due to your chairman.
He- did' not require: to be told that ten years ago my opinions
were different.. I then treated him with undeserved severity,
and in what an amiable light does he now appear, and how
provoked are his. antagonists, while they behold him main
taining, not the man, but the principle (continued plaudits).
" With respect to the other publication to which I have
alluded} ini the Times newspaper, and which you have pro-

168 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
bably read, I only think it proper to declare, that the whole
of it, as far as it accuses me of any slavish and corrupt act
or motive, is a tissue of falsehood, (hear, hear!) The adver
tisement therein inserted, I had sent for insertion in the
Register, a short time before I was sent to prison. It ex
presses my design not to continue the publication of the Re
gister ; because, what ? — Not because I repented any thing
I had done or said, but because I was apprehensive that I
could not exercise the same liberty I had heretofore enjoyed,
and because I would not consent to lower the tone I had
heretofore held. (Repeated cheers.) The substance of that
advertisement is the same as I had intended to have published
in the newspapers ; it was written on Wednesday (I beg you
to bear the dates in mind,) at Botley, seventy miles distant,
and was transmitted from thence to London. After it had
been put into the post, on reflection by Mr. Finnerty and
myself (who was with me, and will bear testimony to the
truth of my statement,) we determined on the following day,
that since it might be construed into an abandonment of the
cause, it would be better that it should not be inserted, at
least until the court of King's Bench had pronounced upon
me the sentence it chose to inflict. On Thursday, therefore,
it was resolved that Mr. Finnerty should proceed to London
to stop the publication, as no answer could be received in .
time by the post. He did so ; so that it is impossible that my
conduct could have been influenced by any considerations
of the consequences that might result to my person or pro
perty. " Being now upon my legs, as many gentlemen from the
country may be present, I shall do what I had not at first in
tended, viz. state to you some circumstances respecting the
nature of the punishment inflicted upon me. In the fi*.»t
place, it was two years' imprisonment ; but it is not mere
confinement in a house, but imprisonment with the most de
graded felons, unless you can redeem yourself from their
society at an enormous price : two years' imprisonment
means being shut up for that time in a place, with a yard of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 169
35 one way, and about 25 feet the other, to which belong a
number of rooms, having the appearance of, and being in
reality cells, in each of which are four Or five beds, with as
many persons as they will hold, consisting, not of persons
guilty of libels, or of similar offences, but of persons con
victed of felony and misdemeanours, even those who have
been found guilty of unnatural crimes. Such is the situation
to which I was destined to be sent by the Court of King's
Bench, and where our venerable friead, Major Cartwright,
first visited me. Here were also to be found Aslett, and a
man who was transported to Botany B ay the ensuing morning ;
so that, had I not redeemed myself from this society by my
purse, I should for two years have been Confined with the
most abandoned felons {Loud applause). It is not, therefore,
absolutely a bed of roses to which they send a man, When he
goes to Newgate (Laughter). Mr. Eaton is now confined
there. He is sentenced to be there imprisoned for twenty*
two months, and to stand once on the pillory.: In the same
place, since I was in Newgate, was a man found guilty of
an unnatural crime, who was sentenced to stand once in the
pillory, and to be imprisoned oniy twelve months (Reiterated
shouts)-** such is the equality in the distribution of justice.
I mention this fact that the case of Mr. Eaton may particularly
attract your notice (Hear, hear!) Having said so much, I
will not further trespass upon your time : I shall only con
clude by observing, that if I wanted any tie to bind me
faster to the cause of liberty, that motive, I trust, would be
found in the gratitude I shall always feel for the honour you
have done me."
Mr. Cobbett sat down amidst shoots of applause that shook
the apartment for some minutes.
Mr. Graves, in a short speech, proposed the following
toast, which was drank with most enthusiastic clamour :
" May the Servants of the People be prevented from be
coming their Masters, by that Radical Reform, proposed by
that firm oppose* of undefined privilege— Sir Francis
Burdett." 28. — VOL. II. z

170 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Sir F. Burdett rose and stood for some minutes upon the
table, unable to procure a hearing from the rapturous ap
plauses with which he was greeted. When silence had been
procured, the honourable baronet observed, that it frequently
fell to his lot to -address the assembly alluded to in the senti
ment just drank, which justly deprecated the presumption of
those who ought to be the servants of the people, in erecting
themselves into their masters. This sort of scene of " High
Life below Stairs," he had often witnessed, but never with
out opposing such unjustifiable usurpation of power, and en
deavouring to prove that the rights of the people were con
sistent with, and necessary to the interests and prerogatives
of the crown. On this day the company had, in the first
place, to congratulate Mr. Cobbett on his enfranchisement—
a man Whose merits were so well understood, that praise was
now superfluous ; whose pen was too powerful an instrument
not to make a due impression on the public mind ; and who,
notwithstanding the unhandsome attack made upon him,
would, the honourable baronet trusted, always stand the test
of public opinion (Hear, hear .') — It was impossible for any
man, or any tribunal of Englishmen, to reflect upon the sub
ject which had immured Mr. Cobbett in a jail, without horror ;
and he thought, that instead of being punished by the im
prisonment he had so meritoriously endured, he should have
been rewarded with a civic crown, for his -exertions against a
system, which was literally the scourge of the nation (Ap
plauses). — In the next place, the company would observe,
that that gentleman had put upon its true footing the prin
ciple of the meeting, free discussion and a love for truth, on
which alone we could depend, that we might in reality be a
toasted and not a boasting nation. To free discussion, we
should in all probability be indebted for the restoration. of the
temple of liberty from the ruins of the constitution, with
which Corruption had nearly smothered it. The truest test
of the state of freedom in a nation, was the freedom that was
allowed.to discussion' (Loud cheers).— It was the best mode
of enlightening the public mind— of giving it the nourish-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 171
'ment required for the invigoration of the tree of liberty.
Without it, a people was not only enslaved, but likely to con
tinue slaves ; with it, sanguine hopes might yet be indulged of
shaking corruption to its basis (Hear). Whether the Report
of the Secret Committee, which only that day had appeared,
would generate any of those prolific monsters which had
¦before been seen to issue from sealed bags and boxes, he
could not tell, for ministers had studiously kept it a secret,
not only from the public, but even from themselves, though
as early as to-morrow they would be called upon to make up
their determination ; but of this he was certain, that the great
enemy to free discussion, was the notoriously and confessedly
unconstitutional power usurped by the King's Attorney, of
filing informations ex officio (Repeated cheers). It was a
-power assumed without reason or , common sense, against
positive law, which enabled a man, at will, to punish another
for an undefinable offence ; for such, he contended, a libel to
be. Gentlemen would recollect also what sort of a thing a
trial was, when the king named the judges (Hear).^ King
James, when he came to the throne, inquired what power he
should have, and being informed that he had the nomination
of the bishops and judges, he declared that he could have such
law and such gospel as he pleased (A laugh). The as-
ertion was now very nearly verified, in contempt of what
were called the barbarous opinions of our rude and uncivilized
ancestors, who had said, that an Englishman's life and fortune
should depend upon his country alone, for which purpose the
Trial by Jury had been established. ¦ This institution was at
present almost annihilated by the assumption of the King's
Attorney General, and by the usurpation of the Master, of
the Crown Office, who had the power of selecting the Jury
(Cheering). Even Judge Blackstone, formerly considered
a servile court lawyer, had condemned the issue of ex officio
informations,. excepting in cases where the public safety was
immediately endangered, and now by some strange perver
sion was called a Jacobinical writer (Hear, hear). A libel
by no ingenuity could be converted into an offence imme-

172 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
.diately endangering the safety of the state. To talk of free
discussion now, was a mere mockery ! In ancient history a
tyrant was mentioned, who had manufactured a brazen bull,
and when a fire was lighted under it, and a criminal put in
the inside of it, the king amused himself with hearing the
bull roar, We were in a worse condition : we were not
even allowed the privilege of roaring in our pain (Laughter).
Another tyrant, whose name blackened the page of history,
had an iron bedstead made of a certain length, upon which,
we were fold, that he had men laid down, and if they were
too short, their limbs were stretched to the. proper length, and
if too tall, their extremities were proportionably shortened by
amputation. Such was the attempt of the enemies of a free
press at the present moment, reducing the sentiments of all
men to their own arbitrary standard (Loud bursts of applause).
Inhumanity and absurdity in this enlightened age were car
ried even further than in the days of Dionyeius. That such
a state of things ought not to continue, none would deny; and
Mr. Cobbett had truly stated, that he had constitutionally a
right to express freely his opinion of any public man or
measure, and in the exercise of that privilege, he had thought
fit to blame him (Sir F. Burdett). If, too, he found the
sentiments, he formerly entertained, not justified by future
experience, he had not only a right, but it was his duty to
avow his change of opinion.
All, the honourable baronet observed, which the friends
to the principles of the present meeting wished, was fair dis«
qussion, They asked but a plain Englishman's demand,
"A clear stage and no favour." They were met here to
day, not only t© congratulate the gentleman on his (Sir F.
Burdett's) right hand on his liberation, but also to express,
their ©pinion as to the sufficiency of the Common Law of the
land to protect individuals arid the public, without the aid of
ex officio informations, and. on the authority of that Common
Law, that where a man was to be punished in purse, he was
not also to be punished in person, unless for an atrocious act.
There was no court in which auoh a principle had been tele-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 173
rated, except the Court of Star Chamber, and other courts of
the same kind, and the mere entertaining of such principles
had been the downfal of all such courts. Till late years,
from the time of the Star Chamber, no such punishments as
those to which he had alluded had been thought of ; and if
nothing intervened to prevent it, he was afraid that the in
fliction of such punishments would do much to take away the
credit which it was necessary the Court of King's Bench
should possess. It was necessary that the credit of the Court
of King's Bench should be upheld, but, he was satisfied,
that this would most effectually be accomplished by the
maintenance of justice and moderation. If the credit of this
or of any other court, however, was to be held up, this must
not be attempted to be done contrary to truth, nor could it
be accomplished by resorting to oppression. It was an axiom
in this country, which he hoped never to see disputed, that
discussion should be like the air— free. If mischief was at
any time done to any man, the. law was free, and would
afford him ample relief, without the resorting to ex officio in
formations. When they stood up as advocates for the liberty
of the press, they did not stand up for calumniators, but they
stood up in support of free discussion. Free discussion was
the life and soul, or rather it was the evidence of the very
existence of freedom. He who could, and would enter upon it,
might do so, if he chose to run the risk ; he who would not,
might hold his peace. As matters now stood, however, to
adventure upon discussion with impunity was hardly possible.
One might be found, who, like Daniel, would be ready to
consent to be thrown into the den of lions, rather than forego
his opinions— hut he could not, like Daniel, have any chance
of escaping. Few, if any ever escaped, who came into the
hands of the Attorney General in modem times. Could any
man doubt this, when it was seen that the gentleman next
him, whose liberation they had met that day to celebrate, had
been imprisoned, fined, &e.„ merely for decrying the prac
tice of calling a man from the plough to have his flesh torn
from bis bones; and this, too in the presence of German

174 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
troops, whose mere appearance in this land, in former
times, would have been enOugh to have converted the whole
country into a forest, of arms. The honourable gentleman
to whom he had alluded, however, was not to be deterred
even by such a punishment. He knew how little he was,
compared with the country. He reflected on the dignity of
his mind ; and considered that though he might even fall in
the cause, like a Sidney or a Russell, no man of feeling could
consider his as a lot to be avoided, but rather as one to be
envied. He said what he did now, not with the view of.call->
ing the attention of the meeting to the case of Mr. Cobbett,
but to that of Mr. Eaton, who, after great sufferings, was
now, at an advanced age, a prisoner in Newgate, suffering
for a crime, which when compared with others was as nothing.
He hoped on some future occasion, something might be done
to relieve this unfortunate man, and trusted he would feel an
advocate in every breast. The honourable baronet con
cluded, by expressing a hope that he should always merit the
reception he had met with this day ; he should be sorry not
to receive it ; and he was determined always to deserve it.
The speech was received throughout with bursts of applause.
The chairman then proposed as a sentiment : —
"A revision of the Penal Code — may it be rendered more
severe against public depredators, and. less severe against
starving manufacturers.' '
After a song from a gentleman of the name of Wright. —
the chairman gave : —
"Civil and religious Liberty all over the world."
The Rev. Mr. Nightingale then addressed the meeting,
declaring that it would be found to be a never failing obser
vation, that enemies to religious liberty were enemies to civil
liberty also. As a Christian too, he must protest against the
unchristian punishment inflicted on Mr. Eaton.
A gentleman then rose in the centre of the room, entreated
the indulgence of the company, although he had no claim to
it, but as a sincere and ardent friend to:the principles on
which the meeting was assembled.' He said that Mr. Cobbett

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 175
had complained of malignant enemies, and he was anxious
that they should not be repeated. On this account, he begged
to call his attention to the publication to which Mr. Cobbett
had alluded, The Times newspaper, which contained two
distinct charges, to neither of which a satisfactory reply had
bee yet given ; 1st. That Mr. Cobbett unworthily and indi
rectly attempted to raise a sum of money from the public, to
defray the expences of his trial, when the public had already
enabled him fully to sustain them.^ 2nd. That he had offered
to discontinue his Register, for the purpose of inducing the
Court of King's Bench to mitigate the sentence they were
about to pass upon him. The speaker's object was, that no
further attacks should be made, on the ground that Mr. Cob
bett had offered no contradiction, although it might still be
urged by the venal writers of The Times, that,
" If their purgation did consist in words,
" They are as innocent as grace itself."
At least, however, he wished the accusations to be denied,
although there were some now. in high situations under go
vernment, who had not deemed it necessary to acquit them
selves from, heinous charges even by " purgation of words."
¦ Mr. Cobbett immediately rose. He said the gentleman
had alluded to the article which he (Mr. Cobbett) had al
ready noticed as having appeared in The Times newspaper
of this day ; and had looked on it as containing two accusa
tions, which, in his opinion, ought to be refuted and rebutted
by him (Mr. Cobbett) at this meeting. In candour, he
thought the questions should have been put to him before this
day, and that he should not have been deprived of the same
medium of answering the charges as had been employed
against him. He did not know, if the gentleman who had
just spoken, was author of the article in question ; but, un
questionably, in that article having appeared for the first
time this morning, he (Mr. Cobbett) was deprived of the ad
vantage of meeting the charges in writing. He was, as the
gentleman who had just spoken, conceived it, accused of two

176 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
charges :— First, that he had not agreed to an open subscrip
tion, but that he had contrived to accomplish the same object in
an indirect way. How, he would ask, had he done this ? — Why,
by advertising for sale a certain number of books which he
had printed, which he then had in his possession, and which
he all along intended for sale. The fact was, a subscription
had been proposed to him, but he had declined it. He hoped
there was nothing offensive in this. But when he had in his
hands many sets of the same Register, for which he had been
prosecuted, was it unreasonable that he should call the at
tention of his friends to this circumstance, and should offer
them for sale ? .The gentleman who had just sat down had
maintained, that he (Mr. Cobbett) had realized property suf
ficient to indemnify him for all his losses ! Did he therefore,
mean to say, that he ought not to have offered his books for
sale ? If he had somewhat more property than that which
was to be taken from him, had he not, on that account, a
right to that which he possessed ? He had never in his life,
though he had been repeatedly offered it, received a single
farthing of the public money. He had never received nor
solicited a favour for himself or any of his friends. What he
had, therefore, he conceived belonged to himself. That he
was not so poor as some persons, against whom ex officio
informations had been filed, he admitted. That, however,
some persons might be inclined to think partook of a degree
of merit in him. He had risen from the rank of a private
soldier in the army, and after serving his country for eight
years in that capacity, and having learned to love the persons
whom he had recently observed had been ill treated, he had,
from that situation, been enabled by the exertion of his own
mind, to realize any property which he now possessed. He
thanked no man for this, not even the public. He aid not
even say in his advertisement, that he would thank any one
who would buy his books. But if he had a right to sell his
own property, he presumed to think he had answered this
part of the charge. — The second charge was, that after the
conviction in the Court of King's Bench he had intended fo

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 177
give up the publication of the Register. This he had already
explained. — He suTely had a right to discontinue his Register,
if he inclined. He had not contracted with the public to
continue it for any particular period. Supposing he had
made, according to his own ideas, a sufficient sum of money
to enable him to cease from labouring any farther, surely he
had a right to do so. The bare circumstance of his discon
tinuing his publication, therefore, could have nothing in it
whatever. If he had, indeed, made it a condition of his
punishment being remitted or mitigated — if he had made a
proposition agreeing to discontinue his Register, if the Attor
ney General would remit his punishment ; or if he had even
acceded to such a proposition when made to him, then he
would have abandoned his principles. This, however, he
utterly denied. He denied distinctly that he ever had made
such a proposition — that such a proposition had ever been
made to him — that he had ever entertained such an idea — or
had ever thought of it.
The gentleman who had called up Mr. Cobbett, again rose,
but the tumult occasioned by those, who wished him to be
heard, and by those who wished to prevent him, was so great
as to render it impossible to distinguish a single word.
Sir Francis Burdett came forward, and recalled to the re
collection of the meeting, that they were here assembled in
support of the right of free and impartial discussion. He
was sure, therefore, he needed not put in a plea of equity in
favour of every person who wished to address them. Here
there was no packed jury — no sham representation. — He
could not doubt therefore that every one would receive an im
partial hearing. — At the same time, he hoped, that no man
would come to this meeting to fight in armour. Mr. Cobbett
was a marked object, he was open to the attack of every one,
it was but fair, however, that those who attacked him should
be known. This seemed to him to be but equal justice.
The gentleman again rose and said, that although he was
not anxious for public notoriety, and although he disputed the
right of the honorable baronet to make the call upon him, he
29. — vol. n. 2 a

178 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
had no objection distinctly to state to the meeting, that his
name was Collier. He assured the company that they had
misapprehended his intention ; all he wished was that calumny
should be distinctly refuted, and he was happy to hear the
direct negative put upon the charges by Mr. Cobbett. As
the accusation had been public, so he wished the vindication
to be public also. He could not agree with the assertion of
Mr. Cobbett, that he had a right to discontinue his register
at pleasure, because he had gained a competence ; if the cause
in which that publication had been employed, were good, and
if its support in any degree depended upon it, it was a duty
that he owed to the cause to persist in it. He denied that he
was the author of the calumny published in the Times, and
apologized to the company for having detaiibed them, but he
thought that they were indebted even to him, who had been
the insignificant instrument of producing an explanation from
Mr. Cobbett.
About half-past nine o'clock, Sir F. Burdett left the chair,
and the company began to disperse,
A publication, titled — " Mr Cobbett to the people of Eng
land," containing extracts from the earlier numbers of the
Political Register, at a time when Mr. Cobbett's sentiments
were not exactly what they had been for some time, was
distributed with considerable industry at the door ; but not
content with this mode of giving it publicity, the propagator
was at the trouble, after the meeting had assembled, and just
as dinner was removing, to have copies of the publication
sealed up and directed to the different stewards, and put into
their hands.
Notwithstanding the prompt and unequivocal denial on the
part of Cobbett, of any and all the charges which had been
brought against him by some individuals, and which were
most industriously circulated in the immediate vicinity of the
Crown and Anchor, still his justification was not considered
by many so complete, as to abolish all suspicion that might at
tach to his character, were any of the alleged charges to have
been substantiated against him. It is true that Cobbett in his

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 179
Register of the following week laboured most industriously
to prove that his anonymous opponent was both a blackguard
and a liar, certainly it must be allowed, if vulgar abuse, and
scurrility, unbounded crimination, low invective and ribaldry
could carry off the victory, no doubt whatever could exist, that
Cobbett richly earned it. On the other hand, his opponent
met him with the following strong statement, which for some
reasons, best known to himself, Cobbett did not condescend
to take any notice of. It appeared in the Times of the 23rd
July, and was addressed,
" To the Friends of the Liberty of the Press,
lately assembled at the crown and anchor, on
the Release of Mr. Cobbett from Newgate.
" Gentlemen.
" You now, so far as I can learn, are of opinion, that
I have ' put Mr. Cobbett down,' or rather wholly to vary
the phrase, that I have held him up to you in his proper
colours, as a coward and double apostate, and that hence, he
has fallen of himself. I must, however, yet bestow a few
words upon his last letter. How altered is his tone ; Gen
tlemen ! How mean and abject is detected guilt ! He makes
no reply to any part of my charge, or rather of your charge^
with respect to his bartering the continuance of his Register
for his exemption from punishment, but instead of this, he in
vents and denies a wholly ficticious accusation, namely, that
' he offered to turn about and write for government,' whereas,
Gentlemen, you know we never accused him of any such
thing, I only said in my last, that some of the members of
government, when they saw that he was in such a fright,
suggested that he might be induced to write for them, but
that others replied, ' he had changed too often already, and was
not worth a louse to them.' And yet, Gentlemen, with all his
meanness, he is not very modest, for observe you, he who
would thus have betrayed the cause of freedom, rather than
enter the doors of a prison, has the effrontery to tell you that
he, yes he, even after this shameful apostacy, had contributed

180 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ
very much to the fall of corruption. Oh! sirs, ifcorruption
had no more hardy champion to encounter than this mer
cenary in our service ; this runaway from his ranks, then
might she indeed triumph. Neither does he, I observe in his
last letter, now pretend to have any principle in him, or to
have in the least degree his heart in the cause. He only
says, if the reader thinks there is value in his writings, he
ought to purchase them. No, Gentlemen, there was value in
Pitt's speeches, there is value even in old George Rose's,
but what we want are men, not words.
" That Mr. Cobbett's conduct is without example I will
not say, for the great master of human life has excellently
drawn it in his character of Parolles, in the play of ' All's
well that ends well,' and whoever would see an exact pa
rallel of the manner in which that said Parolles proceeded
when he was captured by his supposed enemy, in the re
covery of his drum ; read, Gentlemen, read act IV. scene
III. of the play above cited, beginning at the words put in
Parolles mouth, so similar in meaning to Mr. Cobbett's ad
dress, ' I will confess what I know without constraint, if ye
pinch me like a pasty, I can say no more.'
" As to the insolence with which Mr. Cobbett treats Sir
Francis Burdett, declaring that he had as great a right to
abuse him ten years ago, as he has to praise him now : I
shall certainly concede that right to such a man as Mr. Cob
bett, and do verily believe, that before other ten years are
over, he will be abusing him again as much as ever,* But
to you, Gentlemen, it is unnecessary to say, that the conduct
of Sir Francis Burdett, was the same ten years ago as it is
now, and as much entitled to the praise of every honest
man. " The nastiness which he talks about his son's slavering
and stinking, can only excite the contempt of even that
young man himself, but while Mr. Cobbett was reminding
his family so forcibly, that they had lost a thousand pounds
* This prediction was actually verified.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 181
in our cause, surely gratitude should likewise prompt them to
remember, that they have gained, perhaps, other forty thou
sand by it, so that the concern which their head would have
betrayed, has been a lucrative one to them.
" And now adieu, Mr. Cobbett. He has been the worst
enemy we ever met with, because his timidity has caused
our adversaries to think, that we shall all be found like him,
when the time of trial comes, so that his act has, in truth,
slandered the whole of us. It becomes, therefore, a duty
which we owe ourselves to cast him off, as indeed we have,
and sincerely do I hope and believe, that the next who is called
upon to suffer for the cause of freedom, and the liberty of
the press, will wipe away by his manly fortitude the shame
resulting from one base example.
" I am, Gentlemen, &c.
"A Sufferer by Unjust Prosecution."
The controversy, if it may be so called, here stopped be
tween Mr. Cobbett, and his anonymous opponent ; who, if
" the last word," be significative of victory, may certainly
lay claim to it. The egotism of Cobbett, however, shortly
broke out afresh in the pompous and inflated account which
he sent for insertion in the Statesman, of his triumphant
entry into Botley, and which he afterwards inserted in his
Register, and from which the public were led to believe, that
Cobbett himself had not even given a hint to any one be
longing to him, of his desire to be drawn into Botley, and
that the whole proceedings were the spontaneous efforts of
the people of Botley, stimulated by an enthusiastic regard for
him, personally and politically. Cobbett further endeavoured
to show, that the honours thus paid him, were forced upon
him ; that they were, in fact, irksome and disagreeable to him,
and that his greatest and proudest satisfaction was in having
suffered in the cause of freedom.
Unfortunately, however, for Mr. Cobbett, there were some
persons who were not to be made the dupes of his inflated
panegyrics upon himself, and who unhesitatingly published

182 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
an account of the whole affair, which gave the triumphant
entry into Botley rather a different aspect, than Cobbett
wished or intended that it should bear. The following is the
account of the getting up of the triumphant entry, as pub
lished in the Times newspaper, and we find the same cor
roborated in other quarters.
" Some days previously to Mr. Cobbett's return to Botley,
a person, who resides therein, and who lias frequently been
the agent of Mr. Cobbett, both before, and especially dur
ing his absence from Botley, interested himself particularly
in making preparations for celebrating the return of Mr.
Cobbett. By way of enlisting a number of idle fellows in
the drama that was to be acted, he proclaimed, ' by beat of
drum,' that four half-hogsheads of beer should be given
away in the village, on Mr. Cobbett's return. There was
a paucity of musicians in the village, not a violin was to be
had, but after canvassing the abodes of the villagers, where-
ever ' the concord of sweet sounds' ' had been accidentally
heard, two clarionets were obtained, and fortunately a time
drum was obtained, to increase the grandeur of the wind in
struments. In the village was a benefit club society, who were
wont, on the anniversary of their foundation, to parade the
town, eke with the clarionets and drum, preceded by their
colours, on which the heraldic honours, and other effigies of
the society were richly emblazoned. These colours, were
deposited with the person who kept the principal inn, or
public house in the village, and who, in the processions of
the society, enjoyed the honour of bearing the colours before
his brethren, to the no small gratification and admiration of
the ladies of the village, who displayed their elegant forms,
and fashionable attire from the open casements of the win
dows, congratulating themselves with the view of the stately
and martial air which their brothers or their lovers assumed
in the ranks of the society. In the ardour of his enthusiasm,
the agent of Mr. Cobbett, without consulting the committee
of the society, directed the landlord of the inn, to project the
colours of the society from one of his windows, and as Boni-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 183
face saw that some profit would most likely accrue to him, by
the display of the colours, thereby making his house a kind of
head quarters of the victorious party, he testified no objection
to the colours being displayed on the occasion, although dur
ing the day, some very unpleasant insinuations reached his
ears, that he had without any authority made use of what was
not his own, and that the colours of the society were disgraced
by the use to which they were applied. ' Mine host,' was,
however, not only called upon to display the colours, but he
had also a very prominent station appointed to him in the
procession ; which, not being regulated upon the general prin
ciple, that the most important personage walks the last, was
so ordered, that the landlord should walk the first in the pro
cession, decorated with any coloured ribands, which his wife,
the worthy landlady might possess, so that they were not
too much faded by an excess of wear. In the church of
Botley, as in most other churches, there was a belfry, and
this belfry, not like the belfries of some other churches, had
four bells in it, the ringing of which did not require any great
knowledge of the science of campanology, for as they were
not made to harmonize in their tone, the ringers of Botley
knew very little of grand-sire cators, or treble bob major:;.
Nevertheless, amongst the enlightened people of England,
the clashing of bells has always been considered as a direct
manifestation of joy, whether it be for a wedding or a bloody
victory, at which a few thousand human creatures have been
massacred, and the greater the number, the greater is the
clashing of the bells. The return of Mr. Cobbett, after his
dreadful sufferings in the cause of the people, was no doubt a
most joyous event, and therefore ' the youths,' of Botley
were applied to, to clash the bells, for it could not be called
ringing a peal, to celebrate the auspicious event, the said
youths being promised their due proportion of the four half
hogsheads of ale which were to be distributed on the occa
sion. There were, however, some persons in the village, of
staid and sober habits, who could not be made to understand
what sufferings Cobbett had endured, or if endured, whether

184 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
he had not richly deserved them : and further, who were so
stiffly starched with loyalty, and adherence to the ministers of
the day, of whatever principles they might be, that they ob
jected to hold any converse with men of Cobbett's stamp,
who, they prognosticated, would ultimately bring ruin on the
country. Amongst those individuals was the rector of the
parish, to whom the ringers had to apply for the keys of the
belfry, but who very unceremoniously informed them, that
the bells of his church should not be rung upon any such
occasion ; that if his parishioners felt no objection to make
fools of themselves, he had a most decided one, and therefore
he would not, by delivering up the keys of the belfry, be
said to give his sanction to the torn foolery, which was then
getting up. In vain did the ringers urge to the rector their
loss in a pecuniary point of view, their great deduction in the
quantity of the beer which would otherwise be allotted to
them ; in vain did they broadly hint to the rector that the time
might not be far distant, when he might require their services
on the occurrence of some great national event, or even at
the happy accouchement of his lady, which was shortly ex
pected to take place, and then, in remembrance of their pre
sent disappointment, they might refuse to ring at all ; still the
rector was inexorable, the bells should not be rung, and as to
their threat of not celebrating the accouchement of his lady,
he thought his wife and child would do better without their
noise than with it. Thus a very important part of the pa
geant was, through the qualms of the rector, utterly abolished.
The English people are well known in many instances to
make beasts of themselves, and under no circumstances do
they show that propensity in a more degrading manner, than
when they unharness the beasts from a carriage and assume
their places. Thus, according to the opinion of Mr. Cob
bett's agent, the farce would not be complete, unless the
young men of Botley travelled about three miles on the
London road, and immediately on meeting the carriage of
Mr. Cobbett, to harness themselves to it, and drag him in
triumph to his residence at Botley. Strange to say, however,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 185
the agent did not find the young men of Botley quite so
pliant and tractable as he could wish. The dog days had set
in ; the weather was hot and sultry ; they should be smothered
with dust ; they might be trampled under foot, and a variety
ef other excuses were made, evidently showing that the
dragging of Mr. Cobbett was not exactly congenial with
their tastes. The agent, however, had one strong and forci
ble argument against them, and which few of them could
withstand. He enlarged inflowmgi\&r\guage on the strength
and flavour of the four half hogsheads of ale, that were to be
given away, and he declared it to be a sine qua non, that
they who refused to drag should not be allowed to drink.
An immediate change took place in the sentiments of the
Botley youths, if the weather were hot and the roads dusty,
the ale would amply remedy those evils, and as the agent
had informed them that Mr. Cobbett bad suffered greatly on
tbeir account,, they surely could not refuse to suffer a little on
his. Whatever might have been the force of the latter part
of his argument, it is impossible to say, but the former part
of it had such an overpowering force, that no further ob
jection was made by the youths of Botley, to take upon
themselves, for a time, the character of beasts ; although at
the same time, there were many residents of Botley, who
very indecorously and unpojitely made the remark, that they
did not know which was the greatest beast, he who dragged,
or he who was dragged. The important point of the drag
ging being settled, a report was promulgated that. Mr. Cob
bett was to dine at Winchester, but from what quarter that
report originated, or the authority on which it was circulated,
was a problem too difficult for many of .the Botley people to
solve; nevertheless it was at first gently hinted at by the
agent, that it would be only paying Mr. Cobbett that respect
which his sufferings entitled him to receive from them, if a
body of the parishioners of Botley were to set forth towards
Winchester, and meet Mr. Cobbett at dinner : on the prin
ciple that as Mr. Cobbett was undoubtedly the lion of the day,
and as the people in London flock in crowds to see the lions eat
29. — vol. n. 2 b

186 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
at the Zoological Gardens, it would only be consistent with
the character of the people of Botley, if they would go to
Winchester to see their own great lion eat his dinner. This
suggestion was looked upon as coming rather too close to an
extravaganza, for although they had some secret conscious
ness that the whole of the affair was nothing but a farce, yet
they did not wish to be brought into such a dilemma, in
which they would be obliged to make downright fools of
themselves. The project of going to Winchester to see Mr.
Cobbett eat his dinner was, therefore, very wisely and pru
dently abandoned, on the principle that many people take
upon themselves the merit and the wisdom of abandoning a
project, when they find that they cannot possibly carry it
into execution. Mr. Cobbett, therefore, finished his dinner
'at Winchester, without any molestation on the part of the
good people of Botley; and on Saturday evening, July 11th,
exactly at eight o'clock, the landlord of the inn, with the em
blazoned colours of the benefit club, preceded by the two
clarionets and drums as aforesaid, sallied forth to meet Mr.
Cobbett, and at his heels were a number of boys, girls, and
the mothers of the same, all well taught and disciplined to
join in a loud huzza, whenever the signal was given by the
busy and officious agent of Mr. Cobbett, It was, however,
remarked, that on this occasion, Botley appeared to have
poured out the dregs of its population, for not a single person
of respectability, mechanic or labourer, joined in the proces
sion. Mr. Cobbett was met about a mile from Botley in a
landau ; and on the appointed signal being given, the boys
gave a loud huzza, and the disappointed ringers, and a set of
idle dissolute young fellows, whose principal resort is the
the ale house, proceeded to unharness the horses, and having
taken the place of the beasts, they dragged the carriage with
its valuable contents down to the front of the agent's house,
where Mr. Cobbett harangued the motley group before him,
whom the novelty of the scene had attracted to the spot, in a
speech replete with self- panegyric and egotism, in its most
comprehensive sense — the agent ever and anon huzzaing,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 187
and exclaiming, " There, my boys, what do you say to that ?
This first act of the farce being concluded, the second com
menced by drawing Mr. Cobbett to his own house, when the
promised four half hogsheads of ale were presented to the
eyes of the thirsty individuals, who, for a time, had degene
rated from the dignified character of a human being to that
of a beast of draught, without any pretensions to many of the
good qualities which the latter possesses, and in one respect
showing themselves by far its inferior, for as long as there
was a drop of ale in the hogsheads, the liquid was poured
down their throats, which reduced some of them to a state in
which no beast was ever known to exhioit itself. A scene
of confusion and rioting now commenced, which lasted until
early on the Sunday morning, when the constables were
called in to put an end to the disgraceful scene.
With a little amplification the foregoing may be considered
as a true statement of the triumphant entry of Mr. Cobbett
into Botley, and which he considered as affording him grati
fication sufficiently ample to repay him for every thing which
he had suffered, and this will sufficiently prove that the act
of a set of individuals whose support and approbation at any
other previous period, Mr. Cobbett would have disdained
either to receive or acknowledge, was not the voluntary act
of the inhabitants in general, who, although ever ready to
compassionate the truly oppressed, and to defend the rights
and liberties of the subjects, are not less ready, when oc
casion requires it, to prove by their support of its laws,
their real attachment to the constitution of the country.
In March, 1817, we find Mr. Cobbett involved in an affair
of some difficulty and danger. On the 11th of that month
a public meeting had been convened at Winchester by the
sheriff, for the purpose of presenting an address to the Prince
Regent. In the course of the proceedings Mr. Cobbett pro
posed an amendment to the address, by inserting after the
word " Constitution," as " established by Magna Charta, the
Bill of Rights, and the Act of Habeas Corpus, for which our

MEMOIRS OF WIILIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
forefathers fought and bled." Previous to putting this
amendment Mr. Lbckhart, (a gentlemeh Well known for hig
cdnnexion with the Quarterly Review,) came forward and
declared that, if the meeting adopted Mr» Cobbett's amend
ment, they would declare against loyalty, and for every thing
that was seditious and wicked. Urion which Mr. Cobbett
came forward, again, and exclaimed :— " Gentlemen, I am
happy to say, that however we have beeh misled by our
passions this day to express oUr difference in so violent a
fnanner, upon one point I am sure we shall be perfectly una
nimous, and that is, that Mr, LOckhart has been guilty of the
foulest misrepresentation that ever was made by mortal
man." In consequence Of the severity of this expression* on the
same evening, after the meeting broke, up, Mr. Lockhart
Waited on Mr. Cobbett at his inn, accompanied by two gen
tlemen. What followed is thus related by Mr. Cobbett, " I
told him that I would have ho communication with him, ex
cept it was in writings. They wanted to sit down in the
room Where Mr. Goldsmith, Mr. Hunt, and other gentlemen
were with me ; but this I told them I would not suffer, and
bade them go Out of the room. They did so, and then a cOrT
respondence took place, which I insert here word for wotd
and letter for letter, ahd if the learned friend should feel sore
at seeing his agitation exposed in his illiterate notes, let him,
thank his own folly and imprudence' for. the exposure."
" Sir, " As you requested me to put in writing the object
of my requesting a meeting with you, I beg to inform you, it
was \vith a view to your retracting the word foul, which you
applied to me, by stating I had been guilty of ' foul misre
presentation.' I did not hear whether you said ' of youT
language or intentions.' " I am, sir, your obedient Servant,
"X. J. LOCKHART."

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 189
"Winchester, 11th of March, 1817,
"Sir* " I did not say that it was • a foul misrepresenta
tion' which you had made, but ' the foulest misrepresentation
that ever was made by mortal man,' an opinion which I still
entertain, and -always shall, until you shall fully express
your sorrow forche effects of that mortification which I hope,
led your tongue beyond the cool dictates of your mind.
" I am, sir,
" Your most humble and obedient servant,
" Wm. Cobbett."
"Sir, "I have received, your answer, which leaves no
alternative, except that of my insisting on that satisfaction
Which yon owe the as a gentleman, and- which I wish you
wouM empower some friend to arrange this evening.
" I am, sir, your obedient servant.
March 11th, 1817. " J. J. Lockhab.t.
" I shall remain in Winchester this evening for this pur
pose until eight o'clock, and a friend will deliver this letter to
you, to aceept your arrangement.
" To Wm. Cobbett, Esq."
To this hostile communication Mr. Cobbett returned the
following pithy reply :— " Winchester, March llth, 1817.
"Sir, ¦*' If 1 could stay here another day, I would arriuse
myself with some fun with you, but having business of more
importance on hahd, I must request of you to renew ydur
pleasant correspondence, Upoh our arrival in toWh. In the
meanwhile, I remain, '
" Your most obedient,
" and most humble servant,
" Wm. Cobbett."

190 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Now a few plain facts will enable the reader to form a
perfectly correct judgment of the case between these two
parties, — First, Mr. Lockhart knew that Cobbett had written
many essays reprobating, in the strongest terms, the practice
of duelling. — Second, he knew that the person he had thus
challenged, had ever held it is a species of suicide, for a man in
his situation, to fight a duel, seeing, that if onemissed him,
another would be found, till some one should kill him. —
Third, (and this was Mr. Lockhart's rock of safety,) he knew
well that if Cobbett accepted of his challenge^ he must in
stantly forfeit five thousand pounds. He knew that the man
he had thus challenged had been bound in recognizances for
seven years from the year 1812. In this then, we see the
safety of this political wrangler. Mr. Cobbett wisely refused
to give the required meeting, and we think the reader must
be perfectly satisfied that his refusal did not in any way com
promise his character or fair fame.
In a few days after this affair, a report was industriously
circulated by some injudicious friends, that Mr. Cobbett had
been horsewhipped by Lockhart, while returning from a Mr.
Brown's at Peckham, where he (Mr. C.) had slept the pre
vious night. To this allegation Mr. Cobbett promptly replied,
and in the next number of the Register appeared the follow
ing denial.
" Now, who, at a distance from London, would not believe
this to be true ? Who would not believe that there was, at
least, truth in some part of it ? Who would not believe, that,
at any rate, I was at Mr Brown's on Sunday ? Who would
believe that it was wholly false ? Nevertheless, I was not
within several miles of Peckham last Sunday; I slept at
No. 8, Catherine Street on that night ; I never was out of
that house on the Monday ; and I have never seen Lockhart
the Brave since he came to me, with his two witnesses, at
the Black Swan at Winchester." Thus then were their lies
refuted by a few plain facts, and Mr. Cobbett was never
again troubled by these retailers of foul inventions.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 191

CHAPTER. III.

The attention of Cobbett was now chiefly directed to his
Register, which might be considered to him in the character
of the Goose and the Golden Eggs ; it being a source of con
stant emolument to him, and with the sense of the injury
which he had received from the government of the country,
his activity appeared to have received a fresh stimulus, seeking
for every possible means of annoying those who sat at the
helm of the state. He reduced the price of his Register,
and called into existence that "two penny trash" which, being
to be had so cheap, became the vehicle of infusing into the
minds of the people, particularly the lower classes, the dan
gerous principles of disaffection and sedition, and above all,
of exciting the people to a contempt and hatred of royalty
itself. The year 1817 was an epoch of fearful and engrossing in
terest, and of the most perilous importance to the cause of that
reform, which, in spite of the desperate attempt of power to
crush it for ever in 1817, has since obtained a partial triumph,
the sure precursor of a future and complete victory. The
Habeas Corpus Act was suspended by Parliament, on the
4th of March 1817, at the same time that other bills were
passed, now known by the name of the Six Acts Bill by which
the punishment of death was to be inflicted on those, who at
tended public meetings and did not disperse on being ordered
so to do by the magistrates.
It must be admitted, that the country was in a most alarm
ing state, and that some strong coercive measures were ne
cessary, to keep down the rising spirit of the people ; but in
regard to the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, it was
openly avowed by government, that this stretch of arbitrary

192 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
power was chiefly occasioned by the writings of William
Cobbett, and was resorted to for the purpose of enabling the
Home Secretary to throw that formidable champion of reform
again into prison, or what was still more, to entrap him in
the infraction of some of the clauses of the Six Acts Bill, by
which even his life might become forfeit. This avowal was
the more extraordinary and humiliating, inasmuch as it was at
the same time acknowledged by Lord Sidmouth, that the law
officers of the court had not been able to find anything in Mr.
Cobbett's writings upon which a prosecution could be insti
tuted, with a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction
against him. The constitution of the country was, therefore,
temporarily subverted, and the personal freedom of every
one of its inhabitants flagitiously placed at the absolute dis
posal of the government, for the purpose of silencing a man,
against whose language no violations of the law could even
be alleged, and whose influence and reputation had been only
increased by the futile attempts, which had been previously
made, on the part of all the advocates of corruption, to com
bat his principles and doctrines through the medium of the
press. The Habeas Corpus Act was no sooner suspended, than
Mr. Cobbett secretly determined to fly from a power, which
had thus trampled upon the only law to which he could apr
peal for protection. In the meantime, however, and while
he was preparing for his departure, he published his Political
Register of the 8th March. "On the Habeas Corpus Sus^
pension Act." " On the Sedition and Treason Bills."
" On the state to which we are reduced." This was followed
by the Political Register of March 15th and 22d, the former
addressed, " To the true and good men of Hampshire." " On
the Meeting at Winchester" &c.and the latter "A Letter to
the deluded People," in which he exposes the despotism
under the gloom of which the country was then placed.
At lehgth he set off for Liverpool to take shipping for Ame
rica. The following description of his journey from London,
though, short is exquisitely beautiful apd touching. Few

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 193
men, even of those endowed with the necessary faculties
and qualifications, could have maintained a state of mind fit
for shewing and feeling the beauties of the sceenry through
which Mr. Cobbett passed, under the trying circumstances
that had driven him from a country, which he evidently loved
so well, and during his actual flight from the dangers with
which he was threatened.
" I and my two sons, William and John, set off from
London early in the morning of Saturday, the 22nd of March.
We reached Litchfield that night, and Liverpool the next
night about ten o'clock. Of the whole country through which
we passed, and all of which was very fine, we were most
delighted with ten miles from Dunchurch to Coventry, in
Warwickshire. The road very wide and smooth, rows of
fine trees on the side of it, beautiful whitethorn hedges, and
rows of ash, and elm, dividing the fields ; the fields so neatly
kept; the soil so rich; the herds and' flocks of fine fat cattle
and sheep on every side ; the beautiful homesteads and nu
merous stacks of wheat. Every object seemed to say. Here
are resources I here is wealth! here are all the means of
national power and individual happiness ! And yet at the
end of these ten beautiful miles, covered with all the means
of affording luxury in diet and dress, we entered that city of
Coventry, which, out of twenty thousand inhabitants, con
tained at that very moment, upwards of eight thousand mi
serable paupers, a fact which we well knew, not only from
the petition just presented to the Parliament, but also from a
detailed official account' in manuscript, which I had in my
possession amongst my papers in London, and one of the
members for which, formerly publie spirited, though now
miserable city, (Butterworth, the law stationer of Fleet-
street,) had voted for all the recent measures of government,
and had been one of the most active, thciugh the most silent
enemies of the cause of reform.
" As we proceeded on through Staffordshire and Cheshire,
all the same signs of wealth' and sources of power on the
surface of the earth, struck us by day, and by night those
29. — vol. n. 2 c

194 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
more sublime signs, which issued from the furnaces on the
hills. The causeways for foot passengers, paved in some
instances for tens of miles together, as well and more neatly
than the streets of London are paved ; the beautiful rows of
trees, shading those causeways ; the canals, winding about
through the valleys, conveying coal, lime, stone, merchandize
of all sorts ; the immense and lofty woods on the hills ; and
the fat cattle and sheep everywhere, every object seemed to
pronounce an eulogium on the industry, the skill, and per
severance of the people. And why then are these people in
a state of such misery and degradation ? We knew the cause
before, and so did you. The fat cattle and corn do not re
main in sufficient numbers amongst those, who, by their
various toil, produce them. The farmer, instead of giving to
his labourer a sufficient share of what is produced, is com
pelled to give it to the tax-gatherer ; the tax-gatherer hands it
over to the fundholder, the sinecurist, the pensioner, the mi
litary department, the placemen, &c. It is the same with
the master manufacturer, and the master tradesman, who,
instead of giving their work people a sufficient quantity of
money to enable them to share in the fat cattle and sheep,
are compelled to give that share to the tax-gatherer. Hence
it is that the far greater part of these things go away from
the spot, and the neighbourhood where they are raised, to be
eaten by those who receive the taxes, and by those, who
attend upon them; the taxes are carried away in the pockets
of the taxing people, and the wagons and barges carry the
corn, the butter, the cheese; and their own legs carry the
cattle, pigs, and sheep, after the taxes. Accordingly we
met every few miles, droves of fat oxen, pigs, and sheep,
marching up towards the grand resort of the fundholders and
boroughmongers and others who live upon the taxes."
Cobbett's farewell to England, is an extraordinary and
remarkable document, extraordinary for the cause of its pro
duction, and remarkable for the nature of its contents. It is
dated Liverpool, March 28th 1817. As soon as the pub
lisher in London was assured that Mr. Cobbett had

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 195
actually set sail, it was published under the title of " Mr.
Cobbett's taking leave of his Countrymen." It was exten
sively circulated throughout the kingdom, and was univer
sally read, by the authors and supporters of public abuses,
with open exultation and seeming triumph, though with secret
shame ; the self-abusing consciousness of degradation and
guilt ; by the friends of Mr. Cobbett, the Reformers, the ad
vocates and adherents of liberty, with deep and unfeigned
regret, and undisguised though short lived dismay. Consis
tently however, with that spirit of candour and impartiality
with which this work has been distinguished, we are free to
confess, that those, who attribute the flight of Cobbett to
America to political motives, and to a fear of the operation
of the Six Acts Bill, form a very erroneous opinion of the
secret motives by which he was governed. It was given
out by Cobbett, and echoed by his friends, that the ministers
in bringing forward the Six Acts Bill, had their eye princi
pally directed to the publications of Cobbett, which it was
their positive intention to suppress. On the other hand, we
will venture to affirm, that the passing of the Six Acts Bill
would not have driven Cobbett from England ; but his tem
porary departure from the country, was an act of necessity,
he was literally weighed down with a load of debt, and he had
only the option of liberty in America, or imprisonment in
England. His intended departure was kept a profound
secret, and so little did any of his advocates and adherents
know of his intention, that he was actually under an engage
ment to assist Mr. Hunt at a meeting at Devizes, to support
a petition for a Reform in Parliament, and when Mr. Hunt
was momentarily expecting him, the Courier newspaper was
put into his hand, announcing the sailing of Cobbett from
Liverpool. At the time of Cobbett's departure from London,
on his way to Liverpool, he had not brought himself under
the penal power of the Six Acts Bill ; he had nothing to fear
from any immediate prosecution against him, on the score of
any thing which he had written in his Registers, and therefore
he fled the country, according to his report, on account of

196 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
some prospective evil that might happen to him, but which
had not yet overtaken him. The caution of the publisher of
?'His Farewell to England," is strongly corroborative of the
sentiments now advanced ; he would not publish the Farewell
until he knew that Mr. Cobbett had actually set sail; and
why was this precaution necessary ? because he knew, that
were his creditors to have arrived at the fact of his intended
departure from this, country, the most immediate steps would
have been taken to prevent it.
We are by no means disposed to attach either belief or
importance to any statement which may appear in the Quar
terly Review,* touching the actions of a political opponent,
and particularly to any accusations which, in the overflowings
of their black and rancorous venom, they may spew out
against a man like Cobbett, who, in their opinion, was an
amalgamation of all that is base and vicious inhuman nature.
In the review, however, of Eearon's Sketches in America,
inserted in the Quarterly, we find some strictures on the
flight of Cobbett to America, which are characterized by that
low scurrility and abuse, which so frequently disfigure the
pages of that work, but which certainly have truth for their
foundation in as far- as regards the expatriation of Cobbett.
We will not here insert Mr. Fearon's account of his visit
* We will take this opportunity of condescending , to notice a statement
made in the Quarterly Review respecting ourselves, where the sapient Quid
nuncs, who fill the pages of that work with their dull and leaden lucubrations,
conferred on us the positive service of their condemnation of our "voyage of
Captain Ross to the Arctic Regions." We certainly did speak in a most dis
paraging manner of the value of the discoveries of Captain.Ross, and we treatedi
the whole of his service? on that expedition, with that contempt and ridicule,.
which they so richly merited. Great and wonderful, however, as may have been
the discoveries of Captain Ross, they sink into direct insignificance, when com
pared with one made by the hireling scribe, (I thank thee, slave, for teaching
me that word,) of the Quarterly, for although we be perfectly conscious^of jour
own existence, and thpt we are at this moment a tangible and living body, now
seated at one of the tables in the Reading Room of the British Museum, yet.
the political slave of the Quarterly has discovered that there is no such person
living, or ever did live, as Robert Huish, andithat the Opera Huishiana, are, like
talent in the Quarterly, no where to ,be fojind.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 197
to Cobbett, as it will appear in its appropriate place, but we
shall merely confine ourselves to those passages, as quoted
from Mr. Fearon' s work, which have an immediate reference
to the cause of Cobbett's flight. " My feelings," says Mr.
Fearon, " in walking along the path, which led to the resi
dence of this celebrated man, are difficult to describe. The
idea of a person self-banished, leading an isolated life in a
foreign land : a path rarely trod, fences in ruin, the gate
broken down, a house mouldering to decay, added to much
awkwardness of feeling on my part, calling upon an entire
stranger, produced in my mind, feelings of thoughtfulness and
melancholy." " There is, however," says the Reviewer, "an inaccuracy
in this sombre delineation. Had Mr. Fearon condescended
to learn any thing about Cobbett, that was not taught in
Cobbett's Register, he might have known that this ' cele
brated man,' was no otherwise self-banished, than those of his
party, so justly uescribed by Mr. Bristed, as defrauding the
jails and the gallows by a precipitate flight. The ' celebrated'
Cobbett fled from his creditors. That he should do this, is
perfectly natural ; the thing to he admired is, (we suppose the
reviewer meant wondered at) that such a man should have
creditors to flee from. Had he staid at Liverpool another
tide, he would have been brought back, and consigned to
Newgate or the King's Bench, for the remainder of his life.
The good genius of England prevailed, and he escaped,
leaving behind him debts to the amount of six and thirty
thousand pounds!! In Long Island he can do no mischief.
' Measters Yorkshire too .'' "
We give the list of Cobbett's creditors at this time, from
an authentic document : £.
Mr. T— n— o, Mortgagee of the Botley Estates 16,000
Mr.R  ... - 01,000
Sir Francis Burdett - 4->000
Tipper and Fry, Stationers - - 3,500
Mr. B— n - 2,000

198 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Mr. L  r - 1,300
Executors of Mr. B  e - - - 900
Mr. P  s - 450
Mr. W  e - - - - 500
Messrs. H. T. and M  x, Printers - 500
Mr. S  n, Printer - - - 100
Sundry poor Shopkeepers at Botley - 400
The above is sufficient to show that Mr. Cobbett had
other reasons than the Six Acts Bill, for choosing America
as his temporary place of residence.
As on the return of Cobbett from America, we shall have
occasion to enter again upon the discussion of his debts, in
consequence of the treatment, which he received immediately
on his arrival, we shall now proceed to give his Farewell
Address.
" My Beloved Countrymen,
" Soon after this reaches your eyes, those of the writer will,
possibly, have taken the last glimpse of the land that gave
him birth, the land in which his parents lie buried, the land of
which he has always been so proud, the land in which he
leaves a people, whomhe, shall to his last breath, love and
esteem beyond all the rest of mankind.
"Every one, if he can do it without wrong to another, has a
right to pursue the path to his own happiness ; as my hap
piness, however, has long been inseparable from the hope of
assisting in restoring the rights and liberties of my country,
nothing could have induced me to quit that country,while there
remained the smallest chance of my being able, by remain
ing, to continue to aid her cause. No such chance is now
left. The laws which have just been passed, especially if
we take into view the real objects of those laws, forbid us
to entertain the idea, that it would be possible to write on
political subjects according to the dictates of truth and reason,
without drawing down upon our heads certain and swift de
struction. It was well observed by Mr. Brougham, in a late

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 199
debate, that every writer, who opposes the present measures,
' must now feel, that he sits down to write with a halter about
his neck ;' an observation the justice of which must be obvious
to all the- world.
" Leaving, therefore, all considerations of personal interest,
personal feeling, and personal safety ; leaving even the peace
of mind of a numerous and most affectionate family wholly
out of view, I have reasoned thus with myself: What is now left
to be done ? We have urged our claims with so much truth ;
we have established them so clearly on the ground of both
law and reason, that there is no answer to us to be found,
other than that of a suspension of our personal safety. If
I still write in support of those claims, I must be blind not to
see, that a dungeon is my doom. If I write at all, and do
not write in support of those, I not only degrade myself, but
I do a great injury to the rights of the nation by appearing
to abandon them. If I remain here, I must, therefore, cease
to write, either from compulsion or from a sense of duty to my
countrymen ; therefore, it is impossible to do any good to
the cause of my country by remaining in it; but if I remove
to a country where I can write with perfect freedom, it is
not only possible, but very probable, that I shall, sooner
or later, be able to render that cause important and lasting
services. " Upon this conclusion it is, that I have made my deter
mination ; for, though life would be scarcely worth preserving,
with the consciousness that I walked about my fields or slept
in my bed, merely at the mercy of a Secretary of State;
though, under such circumstances, neither the song of birds
in the spring, nor the well-strawed homestead in winter could
make me forget, that I and my rising family were slaves, still
there is something so powerful in the thought of country and
neighbourhood, and home, and friends, there is something so
strong in the numerous and united ties with which these and
endless other objects fasten the mind to a long-inhabited spot,
that to tear one's self away nearly approaches to the separat
ing the soul from the body. But, then, on the other hand, when

200 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
I asked myself : ' What ! shall I submit in silence ? Shall I
be as dumb as one of my horses ? Shall that indignation
which burns within me, be quenched ? Shall I make no effort
to preserve even the chance of assisting to better the lot of my
unhappy country? Shall that mind, which has communicated
its warmth to millions of other minds, now be extinguished
for ever ? and shall those, who with thousands of pens at their
command, still see the tide of opinion rolling more and more
heavily, against them, now be for ever secure from that pen,
by the efforts of which, they feared being overwhelmed ?
Shall truth never again be uttered? Shall her voice never
again be heard, even from a distant shore ?'
" Thus was the balance turned ; and, my countrymen, be you
well assured, that, though I shall, if I live, be at a distance
from you ; though the ocean will roll between us, not all the
barriers that nature as well as art can raise, shall be sufficient
to prevent you from reading some parts, at least, of what I
write ; and, notwithstanding all the wrongs of which I justly
complain ; notwithstanding all the indignation that I feel ;
notwithstanding all the provocations that I have received, or
that I may receive; never shall there drop from my pen any
thing, which, according to the law of the land, I might not
safely write and' publish in England. Those, who have felt
themselves supported by power, have practised towards me
foul play without measure ; but, though I shall have the means
of retaliation in my hands, never will I follow their base ex
ample. " Though I quit my country, far beit from me to look upon
her cause as desperate, and still farther be it from me to wish
to infuse despondency into your minds. / can serve that cause
no longer by remaining here ; but the cause itself is so good,
so just, so manifestly right and virtuous, and it has been
combated by means so unusual, so unnatural, and so violent,
that it must triumph in the end. Besides, the circumstances
of the country all tend to favour the cause of reform. Not a
our tenth part of the evils of the system is yet in existence.
The country gentlemen, who have till now been amongst

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 201
most decided adversaries, will be very soon compelled, for their
own preservation, to become our friends and fellow-labour
ers. Not a fragment of their property will be left, if they
do not speedily bestir themselves. They have been induced
to believe, that a reform of the Parliament would expose them
to plunder or degradation ; but they will very soon find, that
it will afford them the only chance of escaping both. The
wonder is, that they do not see this already, or, rather, that
they have not seen it for years past. But, they have been
blinded by their foolish pride ; that pride, which has nothing
of mind belonging to it, and which, accompanied with a con
sciousness of a want of any natural superiority over the labour
ing classes,. seeks to indulge itself in a species of vindictive
exercise of power. There has come into the heads of these
people, I cannot very well tell how, a notion, that it is proper
to consider the labouring classes as a distinct caste. They
are called, now a days, by these gentlemen, the peasantry.
This is a new term as applied to Englishmen. It is a French
word, which, in its literal sense, means, country folks. But,
in the sense, in which it is used in France and Germany, it
means, not only country people, or country folks, but also a
distinct and degraded class of persons, who have no preten
sions whatever to look upon themselves, in any sense, as
belonging to the same society, or community, as the gentry ;
but who ought always to be kept down in their proper places.
And, it has become, of late, the fashion to consider the la
bouring classes in England in the same light, and to speak of
them and treat them accordingly, which never was the case
in any former age.
" The writings of Malthus, who considers men as mere
animals, may have had influence in the producing of this
change ; and, we now frequently hear the working classes
called the population, just as we call the animals upon a farm
the stock. It is curious, too, that this contumely towards the
great mass of the people, should have grown into vogue
amongst the country gentlemen and their families, at a time
30.— vol. ii. 2d

202 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBF.TT, ESQ.
when they themselves are daily and hourly losing the estates
descended to them from their forefathers. They see them
selves stript of the means of keeping up that hospitality, for
which England was once so famed, and of which there re
mains nothing but the word in the dictionary ; they see
themselves reduced to close up their windows, live in a corner
of their houses, sneak away to London, crib their servants in
their wages, and hardly able to keep up a little tawdry show;
and it would seem that, for the contempt which they feel that
their meanness must necessarily excite in the common people,
they endeavour to avenge themselves, and at the same time to
di guise their own humiliation, by their haughty and and in
solent deportment towards the latter ; thus exhibiting the
mixture of poverty and pride, which has been ever deemed
better calculated than any other union of qualities, to draw
down upon the possessors the most unfriendly of human
feelings. '•' It is curious, also, that this fit of novel and ridiculous pride
should have afflicted the minds of these persons at the very time
that the working classes are become singularly enlightened.
Not enlightened in the manner that the sons of Cant and
Corruption would wish them to be. The conceited creatures
in what is called high life, and who always judge of men by
their clothes, imagine that the working classes of the people
have their minds sufficiently occupied by what is called
religious and moral tracts — simple, insipid dialogues and
stories, calculated for the minds of children seven or eight
years old, or for those of savages just beginning to be civilized.
These conceited persons have no idea that the minds of the
working classes ever presume to rise above this infantine level.
But these conceited persons are most grossly deceived : they
are the deluded part of the community ; deluded by a hireling
and corrupt press, and by the conceit and insolence of their
own minds. The working classes of the people understand
well what they read ; they dive into all matters connected with
politics ; they have a relish not only for interesting statement,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 203
for argument, for discussion ; but the powers of eloquence
are by no means lost upon them ; and, in many, many in
stances, they have shewn themselves to possess infinitely
greater powers of describing and of reasoning, than have
ever been shown generally by that description of persons, who,
with Malthus, regard them as mere animals. In the Teport of
the Secret Committee of the House of Lords, it is observed,
that, since the people have betaken themselves to this reading
and this discussion, their character seems to be wholly changed.
I believe it is indeed ! It is the natural effect of enlightening
the mind to change the character. But, is not this change
for the better? If it be not, why have we heard so much
about the efforts for instructing the children of the poor ?
Nay ; there are institutions for teaching full-grown persons
to read and write ; and a gentleman, upon whose word I can
rely, assured me, that in a school of this sort, in Norfolk, he
actually saw one woman teaching another woman to read, and
that both teacher and pupil had spectecles upon their noses !
.What, then ! Has it been intended, that these people, when
taught to read should read nothing but Hannah More's Sinful
Sally, and Mrs. Trimmer's Dialogues ? Faith ! The work
ing classes of the people have a relish for no such trash. They
are not to be amused by a recital of the manifold blessings
of a state of things, in which they have not half enough to
eat, nor half enough to cover their nakedness by day, or to
keep them from perishing by night. They are not to be
amused with pretty stories about the " bounty of Providence,
in making brambles for the purpose of tearing off pieces of
the sheep's wool, in order that the little birds may come and
get it to line their nests with to keep their young ones warm !"
Stories like these are not sufficient to fill the mind of the
working classes of the people. They want something more
solid. They have had something more solid. Their minds,
like a sheet of paper, have received the lasting impressions
of undeniable fact and unanswerable argument ; and it will
always be a source of the greatest satisfaction to me to reflect,

201 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
that I have been mainly instrumental in giving those im
pressions, which I am very certain, will never be effaced from
the minds of the people of this country.
"Do those, who pretend to believe that the people are de
luded, and who say that these laws are not aimed against
the people, but merely against their seducers ; do those persons
really imagine, that the people are thus to be deceived ? Do
they imagine, for instance, that the people who read my
Register, will not in this case, regard any attack upon me,
as an attack upon themselves ? It is curious enough to observe
how precisely the contrary, the reasoning of these persons is in
all other cases. An attack upon the clergy is always deemed
by them to be an attack upon religion. An attack upon the
king is always deemed by them to be an attack upon the
nation. And it is very notorious, that in all criminal cases,
the language of the law is, that the offence has been com
mitted against the peace of the realm, and in contempt of the
king, his crown, and dignity. Yet in the present case, the
leaders of the reformers are to be supposed to have no
common interest with the reformers themselves ; and it
appears to be vainly imagined, . that millions of men, all
united in petitioning in the most peaceable and orderly man
ner for one particular object, will be easily persuaded to
believe, that those who have taken the lead amongst them
may be very properly sacrificed, and that, too, without
any injury at all to the cause ! What should we think of an
enemy in the field, who were to send over a flag of truce,
and propose to us to give up our Generals ! Only our gen
erals ! That is all ! The enemy has no objection to us : It
is only our generals that he wants ; and, then we shall have
peace with him at once, There was once, the Fable tells us,
a war between the Wolves and the Sheep, the latter being
well protected by a parcel of brave and skilful Logs. The
Wolves set on foot a negotiation, the object of which was
everlasting peace between the parties, and the proposition
was, on the part of the Wolves, that there should be hostages

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 205
on both sides ; that the Wolves should put their young ones
into the hands of the Sheep, and the Sheep should put their
Logs into the hands of the Wolves. In an evil hour the
Sheep agreed to this compact ; and the very first oppor
tunity, the Wolves, having no longer any Dogs to contend
with, flew amongst the fleecy fools and devoured them and
their lambs without mercy and without mitigation.
" The flocks of reformers in England are not to be deluded
in this manner. They well know, that every blow, which
is aimed against the men who have taken the most prominent
part in the cause of reform, is aimed against that cause itself,
and at every person who is attached to that cause, just as
much, just as effectually, as a blow aimed at the head of a
man is aimed at his fingers and his toes.
" The country gentlemen, therefore, will never see the
day when the working classes will again be reconciled to
them, unless they shall cordially take the lead amongst those
working classes. This, I am in hopes, they will do ; for
every day of their lives will make their own inevitable ruin
more and more manifest. But whether they do this or not,
the consequences of the present measures will, I am con
vinced, be the same. They will only tend to make the ca
tastrophe more dreadful than it would otherwise have been.
The funding system will go regularly on , producing misery
upon the back of misery, and irritation upon the back of
irritation. It is that great cause which is constantly at work.
Nothing can stop its progress, short of reduction of the interest
of the debt ; and as that measure seems to be rejected with
obstinacy as perseverving as are the destroying effects of the
system itself, nothing can reasonably be expected but a violent
dissolution. " The nation will recollect how confidently the ministers
spoke last year of a speedy restoration to prosperity. Mr.
Vansittart talked in a very gay and flippant style, about the
raising of fourteen millions in taxes, in order to keep up the
sinking fund, which fourteen millions, he said, would return

206 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
back to the country to enliven manufactures, commerce,
and agriculture. The words were hardly out of his mouth,
when I told you, that, if the fourteen millions did return
back to the country, it would only be for the purpose of
transferring fourteen millions worth more of the property of
the land-owners, the ship-owners, the manufacturers, the
farmers, and the traders, from them to the pockets of the
fund-holders and the sinecure placemen and pensioners,
together with all those who lived upon the taxes. But
all the former classes are now become so reduced in point
of property ; all their property has so fallen in value, that
they now have nothing to offer in pledge for the money
which the fund-holders have to lend them ; and the con
sequence of this is, that we now behold the curious spectacle
of a loan made by the fund-holders to the government of
France. This loan is stated at ten millions sterling. And
now, my Friends, pray observe what a traffic is here going
on ! These ten millions of money have been raised in taxes
upon us to pay the interest of the debt, or part of it. The
fund-holders having got this money into their possession,
lend it to the government of France, because we, who pay
the taxes, are become too poor ; our property is fallen too
low in value for the fund-holders to lend it to us ; and thus
ten millions worth of the income of the gentlemen and of the
fruits of the labour of the people, are conveyed over to
another nation, which must tend to give life to agriculture,
and trades, and manufactures in that nation, in just the same
degree, that the operation tends to depress and ruin our own
country. To make this as clear as day-light, let us suppose
the Isle of Wight to be cut off from all trade and all inter
change of commodities with the rest of the kingdom. Let us
suppose that all the people in the Isle of Wight are compelled
to pay a great portion of their incomes and of the fruit of
their labour every year to be sent over and expended in the
rest of the kingdom ; and that no part of what they thus pay
is to go back again to the Isle of Wight, except the interest

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 207
of it. Is it not evident, that the Isle of Wight must shortly
become most wretchedly poor and miserable? Will not
the proprietors there get rid of their property as fast as they
are able, and will not they get away into other parts of the
kingdom? Yes ! and this is what the people of England are
now doing with regard to France. The property of England
is now going away, and all those who are able, and do not
live upon the taxes, are following the property as fast as they
can. To take a single instance ; suppose me to be living in
the parish of Botley, or rather, to suppose something nearer
the reality, suppose Mr. Eyre, who does live there, and who
having a landed estate, to the amount, perhaps, of two or
three thousand pounds a year, and who, being a very good
master, very hospitable and kind to all his neighbours, em
ploying great numbers of them and expending the greater
part of his clear income amongst them, were, instead of so
expending his income, to lend it to the government of
France, and to receive from that government the interest
only every year : it is clear, that instead of two thousand
pounds a year to expend among his neighbours, he would
have only two hundred pounds a year to expend amongst
them. Here would be a falling off of eighteen hundred
pounds a year, which, at thirty pounds per family, would
takeaway the means of living from sixty families. If this
mode of disposing of Mr. Eyre's income would deprive sixty
families of the means of living, the loan which has been
made to the government of France by the fund-holders,
through the agency of the Barings and others, must deprive
of the means of living thirty three thousand three hundred
and thirty -three families ! And this is a truth, my good and
perishing countrymen , which I defy the William Giffords,
the apostate Southeys, and all the herd of sinecure and hired
writers, to contravert. The interest, you will perceive, will
come back again to England, and may possibly be expended
amongst the people of England, but all the principal will be
expended in France, to animate French manufactures, com-

208 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
merce, trade, and agriculture, all of which will be fed by the
ruin of England.
" The same will be going on, in other shapes, with regard
to other foreign countries, and especially with Tegard to
America. For can it be believed, that men, in the farming
and trading line, will remain here to give their last shilling
to the fund-holders, and to see their families brought to the
workhouse, while a country of freedom extends its arms to
afford protection to their property as well as to their persons ?
At this very moment hundreds of farmers are actually pre
paring to remove themselves and their property to America,
and many are now upon the voyage. Now, then, let us see
what will be the effects of operations of this sort. A man,
who rents a farm, we will suppose, determines not to remain
any longer under such a state of things. He sells off his
stock, amounting, we will say, to five thousand pounds. He
turns the stock into money, and he carries the money to
America. In England he gave employment and paid in
poor-rates the means of supporting about twelve or fourteen
families. Whence are to come the means of supporting
these families when he is gone ? There is no one to supply
his place ; for there are thousands of farms now lying waste.
These families must go to augment the already intolerable
burden of the poor-rates ; they must go to add to the immense
mass of misery already existing, while the farmer himself,
though he has lost, by the low price of his stock, two thirds
of his fortune, carries away the remainder, together with
his valuable industry and skill, to add to the agriculture
of America ; to give employment to families there ; to add to
the population and power of that country ; and to congratu
late himself on his escape from ruinous taxation, and his
family upon their escape from the horrors of a poor-house.
And who can blame such a man ? He must still love his
country ; but the first law of nature, self-preservation, im
periously calls on him to abandon it for ever !"
Mr. Cobbett then goes on to say, that from these and other

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 209
causes the country must as long as the same state of things
continued, go on declining and perishing, — with its means
daily diminishing, — and having no remedy for the evil but
that of nearly annihilating the National Debt, and of reducing
nine tenths of the expenses of maintaining the army, for which
army, indeed, there would be no occasion but for debt. The
great question was, whether the boroughmongers could carry
on the military and suspension system after the funding system
should be destroyed. This order of things, — an immense
standing army, with corps of yeomanry all over the country,
with the press under the superintendence of the magistrates,
and with the personal safety of every man taken from him,
he called the boroughmongering system; notoriously adopted
for the purpose of crushing the reformers. The funding
system could not last long. No measures, no powers, no
events, could save it from destruction at the end of a few
years. The vital question was, whether the boroughmonger
ing system could support itself amidst all the uproar and
turmoil of the breaking up of the funding system, and whe
ther it could consolidate itself in this country, — a question
which would settle the fate of England, but the solution of
which appeared to be more difficult than any other that had
ever presented itself to his mind. — A change had already
taken place in the tone of those who talk so boldly about the
endless resources of the country. They began to falter,
and were frightened at the work of their own hands. Though
surrounded with all the securities of an army and of the ab
solute power of the imprisonment act, still they trembled
within, and were scared at the desolation they had brought
upon the country. They were compelled to smile upon the
fund-holders, and yet they would fain that there were no such
people in existence ; and being baffled in all their projects
and prospects, they knew not which way to turn themselves.
It had been their project to cause the Bank to pay again in
specie : but it appeared to be now their project to get fresh
quantities of paper again afloat. This, however, would be
30. — vol 11. 2 E

210 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
difficult if not impossible of accomplishment, seeing that the
proprietors of lands and of goods had nothing to offer in
security for it ; and besides, if it were effected, it would be
equal to reducing the value of the currency one-third, and
would in fact be a proportionate breach of all contracts.
The discredit of the paper money would become so notorious,
that the people of all foreign nations would keep aloof from
it, and would exclaim, "Babylon the great has fallen!"
After some more observations on the question of the cur
rency, and after reiterating his reasons for quitting England
for America, and cautioning the people as to the calumnies
which would be published against him in his absence, Mr.
Cobbett concludes his Farewell Address as follows : —
" A mutual affection, a powerful impulse, will, I hope,
always exist between me and my hard-used countrymen ; an
affection, which my heart assures me, no time, no distance,
no new connections, no new association of ideas, however
enchanting, can ever destroy, or, in any degree, enfeeble or
impair. The sight of a free, happy, well-fed, and well-clad
people, will only tend to invigorate my efforts to assist in
restoring you to the enjoyment of those rights and of that
happiness, which are so well merited, by your honesty, your
sincerity, your skill in all the useful arts, your kind-hearted
ness, your valour, and all the virtues which you possess in so
supereminent a degree. A splendid mansion in America
will be an object less dear to me than a cottage on the skirts
of Waltham Chace or of Botley Common. Never will I
own as my friend him who is not a friend of the people of
England. I will never become a Subject or a Citizen in
any other state, and will always be a foreigner in every
country but England. Any foible that may belong to your
character, I shall always willingly allow to my own. All
the celebrity which my writings have obtained, and which
they will preserve, long and long after Lords Liverpool and
Sidmouth and Castlereagh are rotten and forgotten, I owe
less to my own talents than to the discernment and that noble

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 211
spirit in you, which have at once instructed my mind and
warmed my heart : and, my beloved countrymen, be you
assured, that the last beatings of that heart will be, love for
the people, for the happiness, and the renown of England ;
and hatred of their corrupt, hypocritical, dastardly, and mer
ciless foes. * * * *
" It has been my misfortune to be doomed to chop blocks,
and having been warned by Swift, (the first author after
Moses I ever read,) of the misery of ' chopping blocks with a
razor? I have generally employed a tool better suited to the
stubs that I had to work upon. It shall be my endeavour in
future to operate gently and smoothly ; and if you should find
me now and then laying on more like a hewer than a shaver,
I beg that you will be pleased to ascribe it, not to any rude
ness of disposition, but merely to that hardness and heaviness
of hand, which my long and laborious chopping of blocks has
naturally produced.
"The beautiful country, through which I have lately tra
velled, bearing, upon every inch of it, such striking marks of
the industry and skill of the people, never can be destined to
be inhabited by slaves. To suppose such a thing possible
would be at once to libel the nation and to blaspheme against
providence.
"Wm. Cobbett-
"Liverpool, 28th March, 1817."

212 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.

CHAPTER IV.
Of his proceedings in America, Mr. Cobbett gives us an
account in his publication, entitled, " A Year's Residence in
the United States of America," to which, however, we can
not, by any means, give our unqualified approbation. It
partakes more of the character of a boarding school miss's
pocket book, than the journal of a man who pretends to give
us an account of the manners and customs of the people, and
of the inhabitants of the country, civil, political, and religious.
From the spirit of egotism, tinctured with no small proportion
of vanity and self conceit, which so particularly distinguished
the character of Cobbett, he might suppose that whatever
fell from his pen, however trifling and ridiculous in itself,
would, in the general estimation, possess an intrinsic value,
although had the same matter issued from any other pen, he
would have been the first to reprobate and condemn it. The
whole of his journal is a mixture of the ridiculous, the ludi
crous, the egotistical, the eccentric, and the entertaining. What
boots it to the reader to be informed that in the year 181 7,
such a day was very hot, or that it rained, or that the weather
was the same for three or four consecutive days, and yet we
find whole pages nearly filled with such trivial and senseless
stuff, for example, from the 18th to the 27th of August we
meet with the following valuable information.
" 18th.— Fine and hot.
" 19th. — Very hot.
" 20th.— Very hot.
" 21st.— Fine hot day.
"22nd.— Fine hot day.
" 23rd. — Fine hot day." To this, however, is appended
a valuable remark, " I have now got an English servant, and

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 213
she makes us famous apple puddings. She says, she has
never read Peter Pindnr's account of the dialogue between
the king and the cottage woman, and yet she knows very
well how to get the apples within side of the paste. N.B. —
No man ought to come here whose wife and daughters cannot
make puddings and pies.
" 24th.— Fine hot day.
" 25th.— Fine hot day.
" 26th. — Fine hot day. Have not seen a cloud for many
days. " 27th.— Fine hot day.
" 28th. — Windy, and rather coldish. Put on cotton stock
ings, and a waistcoat with sleeves : do not like this weather."
And with such trivial and unimportant stuff does Cobbett
fill his pages, and calls it the History of a Year's Residence,
embracing a number of useful topics for the emigrant, the
farmer, and the labourer ; not but that in many parts of it,
which we shall transcribe, the mind and character of Cobbett
display themselves in their natural and inimitable colours, and
which, in some degree, make ample amends for the dross
which disfigures the remainder.
It is, however, but fair and liberal that Cobbett should
be allowed to declare the motives for which he compiled his
Year's Residence, and the only question then will be, whether
he has fully satisfied the expectations which the perusal of
his preface naturally gives rise to, and whether that informa
tion be really given, which can be of permanent and general
value to the emigrant farmers, for whom he principally pur
poses to write. On this subject Cobbett asks, how is it that
much can be known on the subject ol farming by a man,
who, for thirty-six out of fifty-two years of his life, has been
a soldier or a political writer, and who of course has spent so
large a part of his time in garrisons and cities ? This natural
curiosity I will endeavour to satisfy.
" Early habits and affections seldom quit us, while we
have vigour of mind left. I was brought up under a father,
whose talk was chiefly about his garden and his fields, with

214 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
regard to which he was famed for his skill and exemplary
neatness. From my very infancy, from the age of six years,
when I climbed up the side of a steep sandrock, and there
scooped me out a plot four feet square, to make me a garden,
and the soil for which I carried up in the bosom of my little
blue smock frock (or hunting shirt), I have never lost one
particle of my passion for these healthy, and rational, and
heart-charming pursuits, in which every day presents some
thing new, in which the spirits are never suffered to flag, and
in which industry, skill, and care are sure to meet with their
due reward. I have never for eight months together during
my whole life, been without a garden. So sure are we to
overcome difficulties when the heart and mind are bent on
the thing to be obtained.
" The beautiful plantation of American trees round my
house at Botley, the seeds of which were sent me, at my
request from Pennsylvania in 1806, and some of which are
now nearly forty feet high, all sown and planted by myself,
will I hope long remain as a specimen of my perseverance in
this way. During my whole life, I have been a gardener.
There is no part of the business, which, first or last, I have
not performed with my own hands, and as to it, I owe very
little to books, except that of Tull, for I never read a good
one in my life, except a French book called the " Manuel du
Jardinier. *
"As to farming, I was bred at the plough tail, and in
the hop gardens of Farnham in Surrey, my native place, and
which spot as it so happened, is the neatest in England, and
I believe in the whole world (??) All there is a garden. The
neat culture of the hop extends its influence to the fields
round about. Hedges cut with shears and every other mark
* Mr. Cobbett appears to have for a time a favourite book, like the Sultan
a favourite mistress, with whose beauties and excellencies no other work can
possibly compete. We have been informed, that the book from which he derived
the greater part of his knowledge on Gardening and other useful pursuits, was
La fflaison Rustique, and that he prized it above all other works — we are
however, now told, that he never read a good book on the subject of gardening
in his life.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 215
of skill and care strike the eye at Farnham, and become
fainter and fainter as you go from it in every direction. I
have had, besides, great experience in farming for several
years of late, for one man will gain more knowledge in a year
than another will in a life. It is the taste for the thing that
really gives the knowledge.
" So this taste, produced in me by a desire to imitate a
father whom I tenderly loved, and to whose every word I
listened with admiration, I owe no small part of my happi
ness, for a greater proportion of which very few men ever
had to be greateful to God. These pursuits, innocent in
themselves, instructive in their very nature, and always tend
ing to preserve health, have a constant, a never-failing source
of recreation to me, and which I count amongst the greatest
of their benefits and blessing: they have always in my house
supplied the place of the card table, the dice box, the chess
board, and the lounging bottle. Time never hangs on the
hand of him, who delighteth in these pursuits, and who has
books on the subject to read. Even when shut up in the walls
of a prison, for having complained that Englishmen had been
flogged in the heart of England, under a guard of German
bayonets and sabres, even then I found in these pursuits
a source of pleasure inexhaustible. To that of the whole of our
English books on these matters, I then added the reading of all
the valuable French books ; and I then for the first time, read
that book of books on husbandry, the work of Jethro Tull, to
the principles of whom I owe more than to all my other read
ing and all my experience, and of which principles I hope to
find time to give a sketch, at least, in some future part of this
work. "I wish it to be observed, that in any thing which I may
say during the course of this work, though truth will compel
me to state facts, which will doubtless tend to induce farmers
to leave England for America, I advise no one so to do. I
shall set down in writing nothing but what is strictly true.
I myself am bound to England for life. My notions of alle-,
giance to country ; my great and anxious desire to assist in

216 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
the restoration of her freedom and happiness ; my opinion,
that I possess in some small degree, at any rate, the power to
render such assistance, and above all the other considerations,
my unchangeable attachment to the people of England, and
especially those, who have so bravely struggled for our rights ;
these bind me to England, and I shall leave others to judge
and act for themselves."
Mr. Cobbett arrived at New York on the 5th May 1817,
and the following day went over to Long Island, where it
was his intention to settle, and at which place he commences
his journal. During the whole month of May not a single
remark occurs which is worth transcribing, or the like of which
might not be found in the diary of any school boy. On
the 14th he informs us that people travel with great coats, to
guard themselves against the morning and evening dew. And
on the 23rd the valuable intelligence is communicated, that
not a sprig of parsley was to be had for love or money
what improvidence ! nevertheless, he saw some cabbage
plants up and in the fourth leaf.
The subject of the Indian corn furnishes Cobbett with an
opportunity of paying his compliments to the lordlings of the
English aristrocacy, and as it is written in the true spirit of
Cobbett, and the latter part not devoid of instruction, we will
transcribe the whole passage.
" June 3rd. — Fine and warm. The Indian corn is generally
come up, but looks yellow in consequence of the cold nights
and little frosts. N.B. — I ought to describe to my English
readers what this same Indian corn is. The Americans call
it corn by way of eminence, and wheat, rye, barley, and
oats, which we confound under the name of corn, they con
found under the name of grain. I was at a tavern in the
village of North Hampstead, last fall (1817) when I just read
in the Courier English newspapers, of a noble lord, who had
been sent on his travels to France at ten years of age, and
who, in his high-blooded ignorance of vulgar things, I suppose,
had swallowed a whole ear of corn, which as the newspaper
told us, had well nigh choaked the noble lord. The landlord

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 217
had just been showing me some of his fine ears of corn, and
I took the paper out of my pocket, and read the paragraph,
'what,' said he, 'swallow a whole ear of corn at once ! No
wonder then that they have swallowed up poor old John Bull's
substance.' After a hearty laugh, we explained to him, that
it must have been wheat or barley, ' then,' said he, and very
justly, that, ' the lord must have been a much greater fool
than a hog is.' Indian corn is eaten, and is a very delicious
thing in its half ripe or milky state, and these were the ears
of corn, which the Pharisees, complained of the disciples for
plucking off to eat on the sabbath day, for how were they to
eat wheat ears, unless after the manner of the noble lord
above mentioned? Besides, the Indian corn is a native of
Palestine. The French, who doubtless brought it originally
from the Levant, call it Turkish corn: The Locusts that
John the Baptist lived on were not (as I used to wonder at,
when a boy) the noxious vermin, that devoured the land of
Egypt, but the Bean which comes in the long pods borne by
the three-thorned locust tree, and of which I have an abun
dance here. The wild honey was the honey of the wild bees,
and the hollow trees here contain swarms of them. The
trees are cut, sometimes, in winter, and the part containing
the swarm brought and placed near the house. I saw this
lately in Pennsylvania.
"June 16th. — Fine, beautiful day, and when I say fine, I
mean really fine. Never saw such fine weather. Not a
morsel of dirt. The ground sucks up all — that is the ground
sucks up the dirt. I walk about and work in the land in
shoes made of deer skin. They are dressed white, like
breeches leather, I began to leave off my coat to day and do
not expect to put it on again until October. My hat is a
white chip, with broad brim ! ! Never better health !" On
the 17th the journal contains the valuable information, that
a dove is sitting on her eggs in an apple tree ! !
" 19th June, Friday. But nowj" journalizes Cobbett,
"now comes. my alarm. The musquitoes, and still worse
the common housefly, which used to plague us so in Penn-
30.— vol. h. 2f

218 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
sylvania, and which were the only things I ever disliked
belonging to the climate of America. Musquitoes are bred
in stagnant water, of which here is none. Flies are bred in
filth, of which none shallbe near me, as long as I can use
a shovel and a broom. They will follow fresh meat and fish.
Have neither, or be very careful. I have this day put all
these things into practice, and now let us see the result."
The remainder of the information for the month of June,
consists in telling us that the may-duke cherries are ripe,
and that the white heart and black heart cherries are getting
ripe. On the 1st July, Mr. Cobbett buys some salt, and on the
5th, though it was a very hot day, he congratulates himself
with " No flies yet." On the 8th, he informs us that he
now wears no waistcoat, except in the morning and evening ;
the 9th was a fine hot day, closing that intelligence with
the climax, "Apples to make puddings and pies, but our
house-keeper does not know how to make an apple pudding.
She puts the pieces of apple amongst the batter ! ! She has
not read Peter Pindar."
"Jul}'- 10th. — Fine hot day. I work in the land morning
and evening, and write in the day, in the north room. The
dress is now become a very convenient, or rather a very
little inconvenient affair. Shoes, trousers, shirt, and hat.
No plague of dressing and undressing."
On the 1 2th, Mr. Cobbett had still reason to congratulate
himself, "No flies yet? no musquitoes?' and the following
day he found. " hot and heavy, like the pleading of a quarter
sessions lawyer!" From the 13th fo the 20th, all fine hot
days ; on the 15th, he had some turnips, sown in June, and
early cabbages, sown in May. On the 21st, there was some
heavy rain at night, and a few flies ! Not more than in
England. "My son John," memorializes Cobbett, " who
has just returned from Pennsylvania, says, they are as great
a torment there as ever. At a friend's house (a farm house)
there, two quarts of flies were caught in one window in one
day. I do not believe there are two quarts on all my

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 219
premises. But then I cause all wash and slops to be carried
forty yards from the house, (thirty nine, we suppose would
not be sufficient.) I suffer no peelings, or greens, or any
rubbish to lie near the house. I suffer no fresh meat to
remain more than one day fresh in the house. I proscribe all
fish. Do not suffer a dog to enter the house. Keep all pigs
at a distance of (exactly!) sixty yards, and sweep all round
about once every week at least." The foregoing may be
said to be Cobbett's recipe for keeping away flies.
" The 25th was a fine hot day. Not more flies than in
England ! The 26th was a broiling day, and the 27th was
another broiler. Some friends from England here to day.
We spent a pleasant day. Drank success to the Debt, and
destruction to the boroughmongers, in gallons of milk and
water. Not more flies than in England.
" The 28th. — Hot, very hot. Never slept better in all
my life. No covering. A sheet under me, and a straw
bed. And then so happy to have no clothes to put on but
shoes and trousers. My window looks to the east. The
moment the Aurora appears, I am in the orchard. It is im
possible for any human being to lead a pleasanter life than
this. " The 29th was another broiler. The dews now are
equal to showers. I frequently, in the morning, wash hands
and face, feet and legs, in the dews on the high grass !"
On the 1st August we have some important particulars
presented to us, " Same broiling weather. I take off two
shirts a day wringing wet. i" have a clothes horse to hang
them on to dry. Brink about twenty good tumblers of milk
and water every day. No ailments. Head always clear.
Go to bed by daylight very often ; just after the hens go to
roost, and rise again with them.
"August 2nd. — Hotter and hotter. Not a single mus-
quitoe yet." To the 15th it was very hot and close, on that
day we are informed, " three wet shirts to day. Obliged
put on a dry shirt to go to bed in.
" The 17th, a fine hot day, very hot. I fight the borough

220 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
villains stripped to my shirt, and with nothing on besides but
shoes and trousers. Never ill, no head-aches, no muddled
brains. The milk and water (twenty good tumblers a day,)
is a great cause of this. I live on salads, other garden
vegetables, apple puddings and pies, butter, cheese, (very
good from Rhode Island,) eggs, and bacon. Resolved to
have no more fresh meat, till cooler weather comes. Those,
who have a mind to swallow, or be swallowed by flies,
may eat fresh meat for me." From the 18th to the 28th, no
other information is given, than that they were all fine hot
days, and that on the latter day he put on cotton stockings
and a waistcoat with sleeves.
The 3rd of September, we are informed was famously hot,
and on that day Mr. Cobbett says, he began to imitate the
disciples, at least in their diet, if in nothing else, " for to
day we began plucking the ears of corn in a patch planted
in the garden, on the second of June. But we, in imitation
of Peter Pindar's pilgrim, take the liberty to boil our corn.
We shall not starve now.
" The 9th was rather hot. We, amongst seven of us,"
says Cobbett, " eat about twenty-five ears of corn a day ! !
With me it wholly supplies the place of bread. I believe
that a wine glass full of milk might be squeezed out of one
ear. No wonder the disciples were tempted to pluck it
when they were hungry, though it was on the sabbath
day." On the 15th, Mr. Cobbett made afire to write by, and on
the 18th, the same weather continued; we read, that he
now wore stockings, and a waistcoat, and neckhandkerchief ,-
but that on the 28th he left off the stockings again.
From the 28th of September to the 7th October, the journal
tells us that the weather was very fine and warm, and that
on the latter day, the wind was knocking down the fall-
pipins for them. One weighed 12| ounces avoirdupoise !
and Cobbett closes his remarks on the fall-pipins, with the
pungent observation, "If the king could have seen one of
these in a dumpling !"

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 221
"October 11th. — Beautiful day! Sixty-one degrees in the
shade. Have not put on a coat yet. Wear thin stockings
or socks, waistcoat with sleeves, and neckcloth.
" 27th. — Rain. Warm ; 58 degrees in the shade. Put
on coat, black hat, and black shoes.
" 28th. — Fine day. 56 degrees in the shade. Pulled up
a radish that weighed 12 pounds!!! (prodigious!) I say
twelve, and measured two feet five inches round, from com
mon English seed. (Cobbett should have brought this radish
with him to England, in the same chest as Paine's bones,
one, at all events, would have been as great a curiosity as
the other.)
The beginning of November was beautifully fine, and hav
ing given us the state of the weather for every day up to the
7th, Cobbett says of that day, " Most beautiful weather, 63
degrees in the shade." But for fear his readers should have
forgotten it, he closes his remarks on that day with the fol
lowing notice. " N.B. — This is November !"
" November 11th. — Very fine. When I got up this morn
ing, I found the thermometer hanging on the locust trees,
dripping with dew, at 62 degrees. Left off my coat again."
To the 22nd of December, we have no other information
than that it " rained very hard" one day, and froze " very
sharp indeed " on another ; on the 22nd it was so sharp that
" it makes us run where we used to walk in the fall, and to
saunter in the Summer. It is no new thing to me, but it
makes our other English people shrug up their shoulders.
" 24th. — A thaw. Servants made a lot of candles from
mutton and beef fat, reserving the coarser parts to make
soap. ,
" 25th. — Rain. Had some English friends. Surloin of
own beef. Spent the evening in light of own candles, as
handsome as I ever saw, and I think the very best I ever saw.
(candles made on the 24th and used on the 25th must, we
guess, be somewhat new,) The reason is, that the tallow is
fresh, and that it is unmixed with grease, which, and stale-
ness is (are) the cause, I believe, of candles running, and

222 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
plaguing us while we are using them. What an injury is it
to the farmers in England, that they dare not in this way use
their own produce. Is it not a mockery to call a man free,
who no more dares turn out his tallow into candles for his
own use, than he dares rob a man on the highway ? Yet it is
only by means of tyranny and extortion like this, that the
hellish system of funding and of seat-selling can be upheld.
" January 4th. — A frost that makes us jump and skip like
larks. Very seasonable for a sluggish fellow. Prepared for
Winter. Patched up a boarded building, which was formerly
a coach house, but which is not so necessary to me in that
capacity as in that of a fowl house. The neighbours tell me
the poultry will roost out on the trees all the Winter , which,
the weather being so dry in Winter, is very likely, and in
deed, they must, if they have no house, which is almost uni
versally the case. However, I mean to give the poor things
a choice. I have lined the said coach house with corn stalks
and leaves of trees, and have tacked up cedar boughs to hold
the lining to the boards, and have laid a bed of leaves a foot
thick all over the floor. I have secured all against dogs, and
have made ladders for the fowls to go in at holes six feet
from the ground. I have made pigstyes, lined round with
cedar boughs and well covered. A sheepyard for a score of
ewes to have lambs in Spring, surrounded with a hedge of
cedar boughs, and with a shed for the ewes to lie under, if
they like. The oxen and cows are tied up in a stall. The
dogs have a place well covered and lined with corn stalks and
leaves. And now I can without anxiety sit by the fire or
lie in bed and hear the north-wester whistle."
We will here, for a short time, discontinue this egotitical
Journal of Cobbett, to give an account of the visit, already
briefly alluded to, which was paid him by Mr. Fearon, who
had been sent to America by thirteen families, as their agent,
to ascertain what part of the United States would be suitable
for a residence. This traveller committed a most unpardon
able offence against Cobbett, of too deep a dye ever to be
forgiven, for having ventured to expose the condition of his

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 223
farm at Long Island, as ruinous, dilapidated, and badly ma
naged, when at the same time, he was holding forth to the
good people in England, that there was not a farm in Long
Island, nor indeed in America, which could vie with his in
cleanliness , judgment, and general agricultural skill.
"I went," says Mr. Fearon "to Long Island, for the pur
pose of visiting Mr. Cobbett, at Hyde Park Farm, which is
18 miles distant from the city. I had no previous personal
knowledge of Mr. Cobbett, nor had I letters of introduction
to him, but believing that he could give information and advice
concerning America, and also feeling a strong desire to see
a character so celebrated, I resolved to forego the usual pre
requisite in calling upon a stranger. The conveyance from
the city (New York) to Brooklyn on Long Island, is by a
steam ferryboat : the east river, at the point, is about one third
wider than the Thames at Greenwich. Horses and carriages
are driven into the boat, those, who ride seldom dismount
ing. In order that I might be in time for the stage, I did
not go to my lodgings for dinner, supposing that as Brooklyn
was a place of considerable population, I should find no
difficulty in obtaining an article so necessary for a traveller.
I found there several places of public entertainment, the signs
and outward appearance of which bespoke a similarity to
English taverns. The first into which I went had one large
public room, without a table, or I believe a chair, with a bar
railed off like a prison. The inhabitant of this department,
was not dissimilar to many of his countrymen ; tall, thin,
yellow, cold, suspicious, and silent. At this place I did not
venture to make known my wants. I passed several others,
before I presumed to make a second attempt, when I did so,
it was at "9 tavern and hotel;" the bar was like the one
before described, but there was the convenience of a private
room, the floor of which was covered with a neat and eco
nomical species of carpet, of domestic manufacture. I made
known my wants to the landlady, saying that I was not at all
particular, and should be glad of any thing she had in the
house, she walked on to her bar, answering without looking

224 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
at me ' I guess we have got no food for strangers ; we do
not practice those things at this house, I guess.' The stage
was ready ; the driver informed me that he would take me
to Wiggin's inn a distance of about four miles from Mr.
Cobbett's. The vehicle was a kind of light farmer's wagon,
with three seats, carrying two persons each ; there was no
covering, and of course a want of protection from the weather,
which at this time was oppressively severe."
We have already slightly hinted at the feelings of Mr.
Fearon on approaching Cobbett's house, and the dsecription
of which, such as " a path rarely trod. — fences in ruins — the
gate broken— a house mouldering to decay," roused at a
future period all the acerbity of Cobbett's disposition, and
exposed his unlucky visiter, who could publish his imperfec
tions as a farmer to the world, to the unmitigated severity of
his merciless lash. " I would fain," continues Mr. Fearon,
" have returned without entering the wooden mansion, imagin
ing that its possessor would exclaim, " What intruding fellow
is here coming to break in upon my pursuits ? But these dif
ficulties ceased almost with their existence. A female ser
vant (an Englishwoman) informed me that her master was
from home, attending at the county court. Her language was
natural enough for a person in her situation ; she pressed me
to walk in, being quite certain that I was her countryman,
and she was so delighted to see an Englishman, instead of
these nasty guessing Yankies. Following my guide through
the kitchen (the floor of which, she asserted, was embedded
with two feet of dirt when Mr Cobbett came there, it having
been previously in the occupation of the Americans) I was
conducted to a front parlour, which contained but a single
chair and several trunks of sea clothes.
"A French gentleman, whom I found in the house, residing
with Mr. Cobbett, interested me much by his character and
conversation. He had been in the suite of Napoleon and
came over with Santini. At half past eight in the evening
Mr. Cobbett had not returned. My design was to walk back
to Wiggin's inn. The idea, however, I abandoned on the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 225
recommendation of an English servant, who as it proved knew
little of the country. He conducted me to the road side, di
recting me to proceed in a direction opposite to that, which
led to Wiggins' , stating that in about one hundred yards dis
tance I should see a tavern. My walk extended for many
hundred yards distance, but no human habitation appeared.
I proceeded at a slow and thoughtful pace, willing to foster a
faint hope, that I might yet arrive at a tavern. A house ap
peared, but it was a private one, and all were gone to bed.
At length, to my great joy, I saw a light at a considerable
distance ; it proved to come from a hut by the road side, upon
my approach to the door, a dog jumped out ; when he was
partially silenced, I enquired for a public house ; none was
near : this habitation belonged to an old woman, who once
kept what is here called a tavern. After the repetition of
my request, she answered, by desiring to know, 'What do
you want with a public house ? What is your name ? Where
were you raised ? Where are you going ? You are from York
(New York) I guess ? You want a bed I guess ? Now I guess
if you be not a hard character, I will let you have elegant
lodgings, I guess ?' I accepted the offer with a combination of
fear and gladness. The old lady still sells liquors. Her pre
sent stock is contained in three dirty bottles carefully preser
ved in a corner cupboard. At the moment of my entrance,
she was supplying a black pedlar with a glass of New Eng
land, or what is here denominated Yankee rum. The old
lady's witch-like appearance, and the cast of character of her
guest, were strong drawbacks upon my desire for repose.
The pair seemed living portraits of Dirk Hattarick and Meg
Merrilies ; they looked really terrific. I seated myself, and
was buried in physiognomical research, when the man, hol
ding a candle in my face, exclaimed, ' she wants to look at
you.' When I had passed my examination, the old woman
withdrew to prepare a bed ; her guest continued drinking,
giving me a great many winks and nods, and saying, ' how
wealthy the old baggage was.' I was heartily glad to find
31.  VOL II. 2 G

226 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
that this sable hero was not to be an occupant of the same
house as myself. As the old lady conducted me to an apart
ment, she apologized for the passage to it being through a
room in which were an entire family strewed over the floor.
The wretchedness and poverty of my chamber must remain
undescribed. " Before seven o'clock on the following morning, I re
gained Mr. Cobbett's. His servant conducted me into a
room, in which he was writing, with his coat off. The first
question was, ' Are you an American, sir ?' then, what were
my objects in the United States ? was I acquainted with the '
friends of liberty in London ? How long I had left ? &c. He
was immediately familiar. I was pleasingly disappointed with
the general tone of his manners. His sons, particularly the
second, are genteel young men. Of their talents, I had no
opportunity to form a judgment. Mr. Cobbett thinks meanly
of the American people, but spoke highly of the economy of
their government. He does not advise persons in respectable
circumstances to emigrate, even in the present state of England.
In his opinion, a man who can but barely live upon their pro
perty will more consult their happiness by not removing to the
United States. He almost laughs at Mr. Birkbeck's settling
in the western country. This being the first time I had seen
this well-known character, I viewed him with no ordinary de
gree of interest. A print by Bartolozzi, executed in 1801,
conveys a correct outline of his person. His eyes are small,
and pleasingly good-natured. To the French gentleman, he
was attentive ; with all his sons familiar, to his servants easy,
but to all in his tone and manners resolute and determined.
He feels no hesitation in praising himself, and evidently
believes that he is eventually destined to be the Atlas of the
British nation. His faculty of relating anecdotes is amusing.
" My impressions of Mr. Cobbett are, that those who
know him would like him, if they can be content to submit
unconditionally to his dictation. Obey me, and I will treat
you kindly, if you do not, I will trample on you, seemed

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 227
visible in every word and feature. He appears to feel in its
fullest force the sentiment,
" I have no brother — am like no brother —
I am myself alone."
" Mr. Cobbett complained of the difficulty of obtaining
labourers, at a yrice by which the agriculturist could realize
a profit, so much so that he conceives that a farmer in Ame
rica cannot support himself, unless' he has sons, who with
himself, will labour with their own hands. He had contracted
with a man to do his mowing, the terms were an equal
division of the produce. Mr. Cobbett took me round his
grounds. The contractor complained that even half the hay,
for merely his labour, was a hard bargain. With pleasing
sensations I departed from Mr. Cobbett's residence, and most
willingly express my obligation to him for a reception gene
rous and liberal."
We will now exhibit the manner in which Cobbett treats
this Mr. Fearon, whom, although there was some justice
mingled with the absurdity of his description of Cobbett and his
residence, he could not forgive, nor could he abstain from re
venging himself upon the author, and that too in his often-
adopted style of hard hitting, and coarse invective. As soon
as he heard that Fearon had published an account of his visit
to Long Island, he writes an article, which he commences
with a bitter adducement of the evidence of his housekeeper,
Mary Churcher, (the Englishwoman) against the personal
appearance of the gentleman, who had made free with his
own. It is quite in the " kick for a bite " style.
" It is unlucky for this blade," Cobbett begins, " that the
parties are alive. First, let the Englishwoman speak for
herself, which she does in these words, ' I remember that
about a week after I came to Hyde Park in 1817, a man
came to the house in the evening, when Mr. Cobbett was out,
and that he came again the next morning. I never knew
nor asked what countryman he was. He came to the back
door, I first gave him a chair in a back room ; but as he was

228 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
a slippery-looking young man, and as it was growing late,
my husband thought it was best to bring him down into the
kitchen, where he staid till he went away. I had no talk
with him. I could not know what condition Mr. Cobbett
found the house in, for I did not come there till the middle of
August. I never heard whether the gentleman that lived here
before Mr. Cobbett was an American or not. I never in my
life said a word against the people or the country. I am very
glad I came to it. I am doing very well in it, and have
found as good and as kind friends amongst the Americans as
I ever had in all my life.
' Mary Anne Churcher.' "
After this declaration, which flatly contradicts a great part
of Mr. Fearon' s statement, Cobbett on his own account at
tacks that gentleman, in a manner for which he will not hold
himself highly indebted to him.
" Mrs. Churcher," says Cobbett, " puts me in mind that
I asked her what sort of a looking man it was, and that she
said, he looked like an exciseman, and that Churcher exclaim
ed, ' Why you fool, they don't have any excisemen and such
fellows here.' I never was at a county court in America in
my life. I was out a shooting. As to the house, it is a
better one than he ever entered, except as a lodger, a servant,
or to carry home work. The path, so far from being track
less, was as beaten as the highway. The gentleman who
lived here before me was an Englishman, whose name was
Crow. But only think of dirt, two feet deep in a kitchen !
All is false. The house was built by Judge Ludlow, it is
large and very sound and commodious. The avenue of trees
before it, the most beautiful I ever saw, the orchard, the fine
shade, and fine grass all about the house ; the abundant gar
den, the beautiful turnip field, the whole subject worthy of
admiration, and not a single drawback. A hearty unosten
tatious welcome from me and my sons. A breakfast, such
probably as this fellow will never eat again : I leave the pub
lic to guess whether it be likely, that I should give a chap like

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 229
this my opinions about government or people, just as if I did
not know the people. Just as if they were new to me. The
man was not in the house half an hour in the morning, judge
then, what he could know of my manners and character. He
was a long time afterwards at New York, would he not have
been here a second time, if I had been familiar enough to
relate anecdotes to him ? Such blades are not backward in
renewing their visits, whenever they get but a little encourage
ment. He in another part of the extracts that I have seen,
complains of the reserve of the American ladies. No social
intercourse, he says, between the sexes, that is to say, he
could find none. I'll engage he could not, amongst the
whites at least. It is hardly possible for me to talk about
the public affairs of England, and not to talk of some of my
own acts, but is it not monstrous to suppose, that I should
praise myself, and show that I believed myself destined to be
the Atlas of the British nation, in my conversation of a few
minutes with an entire stranger; and that too, a blade whom I
took for a decent tailor, my son William, for a shop-keeper's
clerk, and Mrs. Churcher, with less charity, for a slippery
young man, or at best, for an exciseman ? as I said before,
such a man can know nothing of the people of America. He
has no channel through which to get at them, and indeed,
why should he ? Can he go into the families of people at
home? Not he, indeed, beyond his own low circle. Why
should he do it here then ? The black woman's hut indeed,
he might force himself into with impunity ; sixpence would
secure him a reception there, but it would be a shame, indeed,
if such a man could be admitted to unreserved interviews
with American ladies. Slippery as he was, he could not
slide into their good graces, and into the possession of their
father's soul-subduing dollars, and so he is gone home to
curse the nasty guessing Americans."
It is by no means probable that Mr. Fearon, after this
castigation from Cobbett, ever ventured to speak again of
"fences in ruins, — of gates broken, — of a house mouldering
to decay.' ' and especially " of dirt two feet deep in the kitchen,"

230 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, esq.
whenever he had to write of his visit to Long Island, at the
same time, it must be admitted that the abuse, which Cobbett
throws upon Mr. Fearon was void of all candour and liberality.
It is by no means a difficult task to load a man with obloquy
and vituperation, but the question thence arises, does he
deserve it? Cobbett adduces not a single proof that Mr.
Fearon was in any degree the character as represented by
him, or that by any of his actions he was deserving of those
opprobrious epithets, which Cobbett so profusely bestows upon
him. We must also candidly confess, that we do not hold the
veracity of Mr. Cobbett in such very high estimation, as
utterly to reject and discard the allegations of others, and
attach our unqualified belief to whatever he himself asserts.
Mr. Fearon had touched him upon a most vulnerable point,
for with the opinion which Cobbett entertained of himself
in all matters relating to the management of a farm, not
only in its practical details, but in all its subordinate depart
ments, no greater or more severe wound could be inflicted upon
him, than to impugn his character on that head, and hence
the cause of that scurrility and abuse, with which Cobbett
visited his offending countryman. It may be monstrous in
the opinion of Cobbett, for him to praise himself, but, short
as may have been the interview which Mr. Fearon had with
Cobbett, it cannot be denied, that he caught hold of one trait
of his character, which is too fully displayed in all his actions
and writings, to question its existence for a moment. On the
whole, we think the abuse which Cobbett bestows upon Mr.
Fearon to be undeserved, and that revenge had more to do
in it, than a sense of justification, or a love of truth.
To return to the Journal, the 10th January, Mr. Cobbett
set off on his journey to Pennsylvania, having for his object,
an appeal to the justice of the legislature of that state for re
dress, on account of the great loss and injury sustained by him
in consequence of the tyranny of one Mc'Kean, who was then
the chief justice of that state. As it might be expected, the
appeal was unsuccessful, and certainly it was no proof of
the judgement or prudence of Mr. Cobbett to undertake a

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 231
task, which from the beginning he must have regarded as
hopeless. On his arrival at Philadelphia, the question put to him by
every one was " Don't you think the city greatly improved?"
On which Cobbett makes the following remarks "They seem
to me to confound augmentation with improvement. It
always was a fine city, since I first knew it, and it is very
greatly augmented. It has, I believe, nearly double its ex
tent and number of houses since the year 1799. But after
being for so long a time familiar with London, every other
place appears little. After living within a few hundred
yards of Westminster Hall, and the Abbey Church, and the
Bridge, and looking from my own windows into St. James's
Park, all other buildings and spots appear mean and insig
nificant. I went to day to see the house I formerly occupied.
How small ! it is always thus ; the words large and small are
carried about with us in our minds, and we forget real dimen
sions. The' idea, such as it was received, remains during
our absence from the object. When I returned to England
in 1800, after an absence from the country parts of it, of
sixteen years, the trees3 the hedges, even the parks and woods
seemed so small. It made me laugh to hear little gutters that
I could jump over, called rivers. The Thames was but a
creek. But when in about a month after my arrival in London
I went to Farnham, the place of my birth, what was my
surprise. Every thing was become so pitifully small. I had
to cross in my post-chaise, the long and dreary heath of
Bagshot, then at the end of it to mount a hill called Hungry
Hill, and from that hill, I knew I should look down into the
beautiful fertile vale of Farnham. My heart fluttered with
impatience, mixed with a sort of fear, to see all the scenes
of my child-hood, for I had learnt before, the death of my
father and mother. There is a hill not far from the town
called Crooksbury Hill, which rises up out of a flat, in the
form of a cone, and is planted with Scotch fir trees. Here I
used to take the eggs and young ones of crows and magpies.
This hill was a famous object in the neighbourhood. It

232 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
served as the superlative degree of height ' as high as Crooks-
bury Hill ' meant with us, the utmost degree of height.
Therefore the first object that my eyes sought for was this
hill. I could not believe my eyes, literally speaking, I for a
moment thought the famous hill removed and a little heap put
in its stead, for I had seen in New Brunswick a single rock
or hill of solid rock, ten times as big, and four or five times
as high. The post boy going down hill, and not a bad road,
whisked me in a few minutes to the Bush Inn, from the
gardens of which I could see the prodigious sand hill, where
I had begun my gardening works. What a nothing! But
now came rushing into my mind all at once, my pretty little
garden, my little blue smock frock, my little nailed shoes,
my pretty pigeons, that I used to teed out of my own hands ;
the last kind words and tears of my gentle, and tender-heart
ed, and affectionate mother ! I hastened back into the room.
If I had looked a moment longer, I should have dropped.
When I came to reflect what a change! I looked down at
my dress. What a change ! What scenes I had gone through.
How altered my state ; I had dined the day before at a Se
cretary of State's, in company with Mr. Pitt, and had been
waited upon by men in gaudy liveries. I had nobody to
assist me in the world. No teachers of any sort. Nobody
to shelter me from the consequence of bad, and no one to
counsel me to good behaviour. I felt proud. The dis
tinctions of birth, rank, and wealth all became nothing in my
eyes, and from that moment (less than a month after my ar
rival in England) I resolved never to bend before them."
Speaking of the Philadelphians, Mr. Cobbett says, " They
are cleanly, a quality which they owe chiefly to the Quakers.
But after being long and recently familiar with the towns in
Surrey and Hampshire, and especially with Guildford, Alton
and Southampton, no other towns appear clean and neat, not
even Bath or Salisbury, which last is much about upon a par
in point of cleanliness with Philadelphia, and Salisbury is
deemed a very clean place. Blandford and Dorchester are
clean, but I have never seen any thing like the towns in

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 233
Surrey and Hampshire. If a Frenchman born and bred
could be taken up and carried blindfold to Guildford, I won
der what his sensations would be, when he came to have use
of his sight, every thing near Guildford seems to have received
an influence from the town. Hedges, gates, stiles, gardens,
houses, inside and out, and the dresses of the people. The
market day at Guildford is a perfect show of cleanliness.
Not even a carter without a clean smock frock, and closely
shaven and clean washed face. Well may Mr. Birkbeck, who
came from this spot, think the people dirty in the western
country. I'll engage, he finds more dirt upon the necks and
faces of one family of his present neighbours, than he left
behind him upon the skins of all the people in the three
parishes of Guildford, However, he would not have found
this to be the case in Pennsylvania, and especially in those
parts where the Quakers abound, and I am told that in New
England States, the people are as cleanly and as neat as
they are in England. The sweetest flowers, when they be
come putrid, stink the most, and a nasty woman is the
nastiest thing in nature.
On the 26th Cobbett arrives at Harrisburgh, but on the
27th he was tired to death of the tavern there, although a very
good one. " The cloth spread three times a day, fish, fowl,
meat, cakes, eggs, sausages, all sorts of things in abundance.
Board, lodging, civil, but not servile waiting on, beer, tea,
coffee, chocolate; price, a dollar and a quarter a day. Here
we meet altogether, senators, judges, lawyers, tradesmen,
farmers and all. I am weary of the everlasting loads of meat.
Weary of being idle. How few such days have I spent in
my whole life.
"28th. My business not coming on, I went to a country
tavern, hoping there to get a room to myself, in which to
read my English papers, and sit down to writing. I am
now at Mc'Allister's tavern, situated at the foot of the first
ridge of mountains, or rather upon a little nook of land, close
to the river, where the river has found its way through a
break in the chain of mountains. Great enjoyment here ;
31 — vol n. 2 H

234 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
sit and read and write. My mind is again in England.
Mrs. Mc'AUister just suits me, does not pester me with
questions ; does not cram me with meat ; lets me eat and
drink what I like, and gives mugs of nice milk.
" 31st. Two farmers of Lycoming county had heard that
William Cobbett was here, they modestly introduced them
selves. What a contrast with the yeomanry cavalry !
" February 4th. This day thirty three years ago, I enlisted
as a soldier — I always keep the day in recollection.
" 11th. Went back again to Harrisburgh.
" 12th. Not being able to bear the idea of dancing attend
ance, came (went?) to Lancaster in order to see more of this
pretty town. A very fine tavern. Room to myself. Excellent
accommodations. Warm fires. Good and clean beds. Civil
but not servile landlord ; the eating still more over-done than
at Harrisburgh. Never saw such profusion. I have made
a bargain with the landlord, he is to give me a dish of cho
colate a day, instead of dinner.
" 13th. A real rain, but rather cold.
" 15th. A hard frost, much about like a hard frost in the
naked parts of Wiltshire. Mr. Hulme joined me on his way
from the the city of Washington to Philadelphia.
" 16th. Lancaster is a pretty place. No fine buildings, but
no mean ones. Nothing splendid and nothing beggarly. The
people of this town seem to have had the prayer of Hagar
granted them, ' Give me, O Lord, neither poverty nor riches.'
Here are none of those poor wretched habitations, which
sicken the sight at the outskirts of cities and towns in England,
those abodes of the poor creatures, who have been reduced
to beggary by the cruel extortions of the rich and powerful.
And this remark applies to all the towns of America that I
have ever seen. This is a fine part of America. Big barns
and modest dwelling houses, barns of stone, a hundred feet
long, and forty wide, with two floors and raised roads to go
into them, so that the wagons go into the first floor up stairs;
below are stables, stalls, pens and all sorts of conveniences.
Upstairs are rooms for threshed corn and grain, for tackle,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 235
for meal, for all sorts of things. In the front (south) of the
barn is the cattle yard. These are very fine buildings, and
then all about them looks so comfortable, and gives such
manifest proofs of ease, plenty, and happiness. Such is the
country of William Penn's settling! It is a curious thing to
observe the farm houses in this country. They consist
almost without exception of a considerably large and a very
neat house, with sash windows, and of a small house, which
seems to have been tacked on to the large one, and the pro
portion they bear to each other in point of dimensions is as
nearly as possible, the proportion of size between a cow and
her calf, the latter a month old. But as to the cause, the
process has been the opposite of this instance of the works of
nature, for it is the large house, which has grown out of the
small one. The father or grandfather, w hile he was toiling
for his children, lived in the small house, constructed chiefly
by himself, and consisting of rude materials. The means
accumulated in the small house, enabled the son to rear the
large one, and though, when pride enters the door, the small
house is sometimes demolished. Few sons in America have
the folly or want of feeling to commit such acts of filial
ingratitude and of real self-abasement. For what inheritance
so valuable and so honourable can a son enjoy as the proofs
of his father's industry and virtue ? The progress of wealth,
and ease, and enjoyment, evinced by this regular increase of
the size of the farmers' dwellings, is a-spectacle, at once
pleasing in a very high degree in itself, and in the same de
gree it speaks the praise of the system of government, under
which it has taken place. What a contrast with the farm
houses in England ! There the little farms are falling into
ruins, or are actually become cattle sheds, or at best cottages,
as they are called, to contain a miserable labourer, who ought
to have been a farmer, as his grandfather. Five or six farms
are there levelled into one, in defiance of the law, for there is
a law to prevent it. The farmer has indeed a fine house, but
what a life do his labourers lead. The cause of this sad change
is to be found in the crushing taxes ; and the cause of them

236 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
in the borough usurpation, which has robbed the people of
their best right, and indeed without which right, they can
enjoy no other. They talk of the augmented population of
England, and when it suits the purposes of the tyrants, they
boast of this fact, as they are pleased to call it, as a proof of
the fostering nature of their government ; though just now,
they are preaching up the vile and foolish doctrine of Parson
Malthus, who thinks there are too many people, and that they
ought, those, who labour at least, to be restrained from
breeding so fast. But as to the fact, I do not believe it.
There can be nothing in the shape of proof, for no actual
enumeration was ever taken till the year 1800. We know
well that London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bath, Ports
mouth, Plymouth, and all Lancashire and Yorkshire, and
some other counties have got a vast increase of miserable
beings, huddled together. But look at Devonshire, Somer
setshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire and other coun
ties. You will there see hundreds of thousands of acres of
land, where the old marks of the plough are visible, but
which have not been cultivated, perhaps, for half a century.
You will there see places, that were once considerable towns
and villages, now having within their ancient limits, nothing
but a few cottages, the parsonage and a single farm house.
It is a curious and melancholy sight, where an ancient church,
with its lofty spire or tower, the church sufficient to contain
a thousand or two or three thousand of people conveniently,
now stands surrounded by a score or half a score of misera
ble mud houses, with floors of earth and covered with thatch ;
and this sight strikes your eye in all parts of the five western
counties of England. Surely these churches were not built
without the existence of a population somewhat proportionate
to their size, certainly not, for the churches are of various
sizes, and we sometimes see them very small indeed. Let
any man look at the sides of the hills, in these countries and
also in Hampshire, where downs or open lands prevail. He
will there see, not only that these hills were formerly culti
vated, but that banks from distance to distance were made

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 237
by the spade, in order to form little flats for the plough to go
to, without tumbling the earth down the hill, so that the side
of a hill looks in some sort, like the steps of a stairs. Was
this done without hands, and without mouths to consume the
grain raised on the sides of these hills ? The funding, and
manufacturing, and commercial, and taxing system has, by
drawing wealth into great masses, drawn men also into great
masses. London, the manufacturing places, Bath and other
places of dissipation have, indeed, wonderfully increased in
population. Country-seats, parks, pleasure-gardens, have
in like degree increased in number and extent, and in just
the same proportion has been the increase of poor-houses,
mad-houses and jails. But the people of England, such as
Fortescue described them, have been swept away by the
ruthless hand of the aristocracy, who making their approaches
by slow degrees, have at last got into their grasp the sub
stance of the whole country.
" 19th. Quitted Harrisburg very much displeased, but on this
subject, I shall, if possible, keep silence till next year, and
until the people of Pennsylvania have had time to reflect ;
to clearly understand my affair, and when they do understand
it, I am not at all afraid, of receiving justice at their hands,
whether I be present or absent.
" 20th. Arrived at Philadelphia with my friend Hulme.
They are roasting an ox on the Delaware. The fooleries of
England are copied here, and every where in this country,
with wonderful avidity, and I wish I could say, that some of
the vices of our higher orders, as they have the impudence
to call themselves, were not also imitated. However I look
principally at the mass of farmers, the sensible and happy
farmers of America.
" February 28th. Very warm. I hate this weather. Hot
upon my back, and melting ice under my feet. The people,
those who have been lazy, are chopping away with axes the
ice, which has grown out of the snows and rains before their
doors during the winter. The hogs, those best of scavengers,
are very busy in the streets, seeking out the bones and bits of

238 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
of meat, which have been flung out and frozen down amidst
water and snow, during the two foregoing months. At New
York, and I think at Philadelphia also they have corporation
laws to prevent hogs from being in the streets. For what
reason I know not, except putrid meat be pleasant to the smell
of the inhabitants. But corporations are seldom the wisest of
law makers. It is argued, that if there were no hogs in the
streets, people would not throw out the orts of flesh and vege
table. Indeed ! what would they do with these orts then ?
Make their hired servants eat them ? The very proposition
would leave them to cook and wash for themselves. Where
then are they to fling these effects of superabundance ? Just
before I left New York for Philadelphia, I saw a sow very
comfortably dining upon a full quarter part of what appeared
to have been a fine leg of mutton. How many a family
in England would, if within reach, have seized this meat from
the sow. And are the tyrants who have brought my in
dustrious countrymen to that horrid state of misery never to
be called to account ? Are they always to carry it as they
do now? Every object almost that strikes my view sends
my mind and heart back to England. In viewing the ease
and happiness of this people, the contrast fills my soul with
indignation, and makes it more and more the object of my
life to assist in the destruction of the diabolical usurpation,
which has trampled on king as well as people.
"March 1st. Dined with my old friend Severne, an honest
Norfolk man, who used to carry his milk about the streets,
when I first knew him, but who is now a man of considerable
property, and > like a wise man, lives in the same modest
house, where he formerly lived. Excellent roast beef and
plum pudding. At his house I found an Englishman, and
from Botley too. I had been told of such a man being in
Philadelphia, and that man said he had heard of me, 'heard of
such a gentleman, but did not know much of him? this was
odd ! ! I was desirous of seeing this man. Mr. Severne got him
to his house. His name is Verb. I knew him the moment
I saw him, and I wondered why it was that lie knew so little

MEMOIRS. OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 239
of me! I found that he wanted work, and that he had been
assisted by some society in Philadelphia. He said, he was
lame, and he might be a little perhaps. I offered him work
at once. No : he wanted to have the care of a farm. Go
said I, for shame, and ask some farmers for work. You
will find it immediately, and with good wages. What should
the people in this country see in your face to induce them to
keep you in idleness. They did not send for you. You are
a young man, and you come from a country of able labourers.
You may be rich, if you will work. This gentleman who is
about to cram you with roast beef and plum pudding came
to this city nearly as poor as you are, and I first came to this
country in no better plight. Work and I wish you well, be
idle, and you ought to starve. He told me, that he was a
hoop-maker, and yet observe, he wanted to have the care of a
farm. This man being from Botley, I had every inclination to
serve him ; indeed, I have a pleasure in thinking of all my
Botley neighbours, except the parson, who for their sakes,
I wish, however, was my neighbour now, for here he might
pursue his calling very quietly,
" 2nd. Went to Bustleton, after having seen Messrs.
Stevens and Penrill, and advised them to forward to me
affidavits of what they knew about Oliver, the spy of the
Boroughmon gers .
" 13th. Here I am amongst the thick of the Quakers,
whose houses and families pleased me so much formerly, and
which pleasure is now all revived. Here all is ease, plenty,
and cheerfulness. These people are never giggling, and
never in low spirits. Their minds like their dress, are simple
and strong. Their kindness is shown more in acts than in
Words. Let others say what they will, I have uniformly
found those whom I have intimately known of this sect, sin
cere and upright men : and I verily believe that all those
charges of hypocrisy and craft, that we hear against Quakers,
arise from a feeling of envy; envy inspired by seeing them
possessed of such abundance of all those things, which are the
fair fruits of care, industry, economy, sobriety, and order; and

240 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
which are justly forbidden to the drunkard, the prodigal, and
the lazy. As the day of my coming to Mr. Townshend's had
been announced before hand, several of the young men, who
were babies when I used to be there formerly, came to see
' Billy Cobbett,' of whom they had heard and read so
much. When I saw them and heard them, ' What a con
trast,' said I to myself, ' with the senseless, gaudy, hectoring,
insolent, and cruel yeomanry cavalry in England, who, while
they grind their labourers into the revolt of starvation, gal
lantly sally forth with their sabres to chop them down at the
command of a Secretary of State, and who the next moment
creep and fawn like spaniels before their boroughmonger
landlords.' At Mr. Townshend's I saw a man in his service
lately from Yorkshire, but an Irishman by birth. He wished
to have an opportunity to see me. He had read many of my
' little books-' I shook him by the hand, told him he had now
got a good house over his head, and a kind employer, and
advised him not to move for one year, and to save his wages
during that year.
" 11th. I am now at Trenton in New Jersey, waiting
for something to carry me on to New York. Yesterday Mr.
Townshend sent me on under an escort of Quakers to Mr.
Anthony Taylor's. He was formerly a merchant in Phila
delphia, and now lives in his very pretty country house, on a
very beautiful farm. Here my escort quitted me, but luckily
Mr. Newbold, who lives about ten miles nearer Trenton than
Mr. Taylor does, brought me on to his house. He is a much
better gardener, or rather, to speak the truth, has succeeded a
better, whose example he has followed in part. I saw in Mr.
Taylor's service another man recently arrived from England.
A Yorkshire man. He, too, wished to see me. He had got some
of my ' little books,' which he had preserved, and brought
out with him. Mr. Taylor came this morning to Mr. New-
bold's, and brought me on to Trenton. I am at the stage
tavern, where I have just dined upon cold ham, cold veal,
butter and cheese, and a peach pie, nice clean room, well
furnished, waiter clean and attentive, plenty of milk! and the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 241
charge a quarter of a dollar ; I thought the other tavern-
keepers were low enough in all conscience, but really this
charge of Mrs. Anderson's beats them all. I had hot the face
to pay the waiter a quarter of a dollar, but gave him half a
dollar, and told him to keep the change !!! He is a black man.
He thanked me. But they never ask for any thing. But my
vehiele is now come, and now I bid adieu to Trenton, which
I should have liked better,- if I had hot seen so many yoUhg
fellows lounging about the streets, and leaning against door
posts, with quids of tobacco in their mouths, or segars stuck
between their lips, and with dirty hands and faces. Mr.
Birkbeck's complaint on this score is perfectly just.
" Brunswick, New Jersey. Here I am, after a ride
of about 30 miles, since two o'clock, in what is called a Jersey
wagon, through such mud as I never saw before. Up to the
stock of the wheel, and yet a pair of very little horses have
dragged us through it in the space of five hours. The best
horses and driver, and the worst roads I ever set my eyes on.
This part of Jersey is a sad spectacle, after leaving the
brightest of all the bright parts of Pennsylvania. My driver,
who is a tavern keeper himself, would have been a very
pleasant companion, if he had not drunk so much spirits on
the road, This is the great misfortune of America. As we
Were going up a hill very slowly, I coUld perceive him
looking very hard at my cheek for some time. At last he
said, ' I am wondering, sir, fo see you look so fresh and so
young, considering what you have gone through in the world?
though I cannot imagine how lie had learnt who I was. ' I'll
tell you,' said I, ' how I have contrived the thing. 2" rise
early, go to bed early, eat Sparingly, never drink any thing
stronger than small beer, shave once a day, arid wash my
hands and face clean three times a day at the very least? He
said that was too much to think of doing.
" March 12th. Like an English first of May in point of
warmth. I got to Elizabeth Town through beds of mud.
Twenty minutes too late for the steam boat. Have to wait
here at the tavern till to-morrow. Great mortification. Sup-
31 . — vol. n. 2 i

242 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
ped with a Connecticut farmer, who was taking on his
daughter to Little York in Pennsylvania. The rest of his
family he took on in the fall. This Yankey (the inhabitants
of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New
Hampshire only are called Yankeys,) was about the age of
Sir Francis Burdett, and if he had been dressed in the usual
clothes of Sir Francis, would have passed for him. Features,
hair, height, make, manner, look, hasty utterance at times,
musical voice, frank deportment, pleasant smile. All the
very fac-simile of him. (The following is truly Cobbett-
ish.) I had some early York cabbage seed, and some cauli
flower seed in my pocket, which had been sent me from
London in a letter, and which had reached me at Harrisburg.
/ could not help giving him a little of each." The trans
mission of a little early York cabbage seed from London to
Long Island in a letter, which might have been purchased at
any of the seed shops in New York for a penny, and the
quantity which Cobbett was enabled to give the Connecticut
Yankey from the said letter, invest the whole of the trans
action with such a degree of bombastical egotism, as to throw
over it a positive air of ridicule.
" 13th. Came to New York by the steam boat. Over
to this island (Long Island) by another, took a light little
wagon, that whisked me home over roads as dry and as
smooth as gravel walks in an English bishop's garden in the
month of July (Why particularly the walks in a bishop's
garden ? Cobbett was not generally in the habit of eulogising
the ivays and paths of the bishops.)
" 15th. Young chickens. I hear of no other in the neigh
bourhood. This is the effect of my warm fowl house. The
house has been supplied with eggs all the winter without any
interruption. lam told that this has been the case at no other
house hereabouts.* We have now an abundance of eggs.
* Cobbett frequently takes upon himself the character of a critic on the
style of other writers, and perhaps no one was more in fault than himself. The
passage to which this note refers is given as a specimen of the inaccuracy of
his style, and which exhibits itself in almost all his writings. The passage
should have been written thus — " I am told that this has not been the case, in
any other house hereabouts."

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 243
More than a large family can consume. The fowls, I find,
have wanted no feeding, except during the snow, or in the
very, very cold days ; they did not come out of their house
all the day ; a certain proof that they like the warmth.
" 20th. Opened several pits, in which I had preserved all
sorts of garden plants, and roots, and apples. Valuable ex
periments, as useful in England as here, though not so abso
lutely necessary.
" 21st. The day like a fine May day in England. I am
writing without fire, and in my waistcoat without coat.
" 23rd. Mild and fine. A sow had a litter of pigs in the
leaves under the trees. (A strong proof of Mr. Cobbett's
good management) Judge of the weather by this. The
wind blows cold, but she has drawn together great heaps
of leaves, and protects her young ones with surprising saga
city and exemplary care and fondness.
" 26th. Very cold wind. We try to get the sow and pigs
into the buildings (a careful vigilant farmer would have got
the sow there before she farrowed) but the pigs do not follow,
and we cannot with all our temptations of corn and all our
caresses get the sow to move without them by her side. She
must remain, till they choose to travel. (It is an admitted
truism, that a moral is to be deduced from apparently the
most trivial subjects, and therefore the mothers of England
must acknowledge their obligations to Cobbett in furnishing
them with one from the conduct and behaviour of his sow.)
How, says Cobbett, does nature, through the conduct of this
animal, reproach those mothers, who cast off their new-born
infants to depend on a hireling's breast." On this subject
Mr. Cobbett recommends two books to every young man
before he marries, the one is the pretty poem of Mr. Roscoe
called, ' The Nurse,' and the other, wonderful to say, is Rous
seau's Emilius, a work which in the precepts which it inculcates
on the systems of education, is.as opposite to the plans adopted
and recommended by Cobbett, as the methods pursued by
Parr and Hamilton. The time of a young man previously

244 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
to marriage, spent in the perusal of Roscoe's Nurse, would
be just as much thrown away, as if a young woman pre
viously to her marriage were to study Kant's Transcendental
Philosophy. "March 31st. Fine warm day. As the winter is now
gone, let us take a look at its inconveniences compared with
those of an English winter, we have had three months of it,
for if we had a few days sharp in December, we have had
many very fine, and without fire in March. In England,
winter really begins in November, and does not end till
mid March- Here we have greater cold, there four times as
much wet. I have had my great coat on only twice, except
when sitting in a stage travelling. I have had gloves on no
oftener, fori do not, like the clerks of the houses of borough-
mongers write in gloves. I seldom meet a wagoner with
gloves or great coat on. It is generally so dry. This is the
great friend of man and beast. Last summer I wrote home
for nails to nail my shoes for winter. I could find none here.
What a foolish people not to have shoe nails ! I forgot, that
it was likely that the absence of shoe nails argued an absence
of the want of them. The nails are not come, and I have
not wanted them. There is no dirt, except for about ten
days at the breaking up of the frost.* The dress of a labourer,
does not cost half so much as in England. This dryness is
singularly favourable to all animals. They are hurt far less
by dry cold, than warm drip drip drip as in England. There
has been nothing green in the garden, that is to say above
ground since December, but we have had all winter, and have
now white cabbages green savoys, parsnips, carrots, beets,
young onions (green!) radishes ( green !) white turnips,
Swedish turnips, and potatoes, and all these in abundance,
and always at hand at a minute's warning."
Cobbett tells us that he had nothing green above ground
* Speaking of Long Island, Mr. Fearon says " In time of rain, this is tl^e
dirtiest place I ever was in." On the other hand, Cobbett say«, "The ground
sucks up all the dirt." CQuere, how »

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 245
since December and yet in the same breath he tells us, that '
he has had all winter green savoys, green radishes, green
young onions, and green turnip tops ! !
April 18th. Cold and raw. Damp too, which is extremely
rare. The worst day I have yet seen during the year ; it
stops the grass, stops the swelling of the buds. The young
chickens hardly peep out from under the wings of the hens.
The lambs don't play, but stand knit up. The pigs growl
and squeak, and the birds are gone away to the woods
again. " 19th. Same weather with an easterly wind. Just such a
wind as that which in March, brushes round the corners of
the streets of London and makes the old muffled up de
bauchees hurry home with aching joints,
" 20th. Just the weather to give drunkards the blue devils.
"25th. Went to New York. Forgot to take my shaving
materials with me, hate to have my face lathered by another
person. Called at a hair-dresser's in Broadway, nearly
opposite the city hall, the man in the shop was a negro. He
had nearly finished with me, when a black man, very respect
ably dressed, came into the shop and sat down. The barber
inquired if he wanted the proprietor or his Boss, as he termed
him, who was also a black, the answer was in the negative,
but that he wished to have his hair cut, my man turned upon
his heel, and with the greatest contempt muttered in a tone
of great importance, " We do not. cut coloured men here,
sir." The poor fellow walked out without replying, ex
hibiting in his countenance, confusion, humiliation, and
mortification. I immediately requested, if the refusal was
on account of my being present, he might be called back.
The hair-dresser was astonished. " You cannot be in earnest,
sir," he said. I assured him that I was so, and that I was
much concerned in witnessing the refusal from no other cause
than that his skm was of a darker tinge than my own. He
stopped the motion of his scissors, and after a pause of some
seconds, in which his eyes were fixed upon my face, he said,

246 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
' Why, I guess a? how, sir, what you say is mightily elegant,
and you're an elegant man, but I guess you are not of these
parts ?' ' I am from England,' said I, ' Where we have neither
so cheap nor so enlightened a government as yours, but we
have no slaves.' ' Ay, I guessed you were not raised here,
you salt water people are mightily grand to coloured people,
you are not so proud, and I guess you have none to be proud
of ; now I reckon that you do not know that my Boss would
not have a single ugly or clever gentleman come to his store,
if he cut coloured men ; now, my Boss, I guess, ordered me
to turn out every coloured man from the store right away,
and if I did not, he would send me of slick, for the slimmest
gentleman in York would not come to his store, if coloured
men were let in ; but you know all that, sir, I guess, without
my telling you ; you are an elegant gentleman, too, sir.
" I assured him I was ignorant of the fact, which he stated,
but which from the earnestness of his manner I concluded
must be true.
" And you come all the way right away from England.
Well ! I would not have supposed, I guess, that you come
from there from your tongue ; you have no hardness like, I
guess, in your speaking ; you talk almost as well as we do,
and that is what I never see, I guess, in a gentleman so
lately from England. I guess your talk is within a grade as
good as ours. You are a mightily elegant gentleman, and if
you will tell me where you keep, I will bring some of my
coloured friends to visit you. Well, you must be a smart
man to come from England, and talk English as well as we
do, that were raised in this country.' At the dinner table I
commenced a relation of this occurrence to three American
gentlemen, one of whom was a doctor, the others were in
the law ; they were men of education and of liberal opinions.
When I arrived at the point of the black being turned out,
they exclaimed, ' Aye, perfectly right, I would never go to a
barber's, where a coloured man was cut.' Observe these
gentlemen were not from the south ¦ they were residents of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 247
New York, and I believe were born there. I was upon the
point of expressing my opinion, but withheld it, thinking it
wise to look at every thing as it stood, and form a deliberate
judgment when every feature was finally before me. They
were amused with the barber's conceit about the English lan
guage, which, I understood, is by no means a singular view
of the subject."
At the close of his journal, Mr. Cobbett allows his abuse to
flow upon Mr. James Perry, who had ventured to dispute the
knowledge of Cobbett in his construction of the English verbs.
Speaking of the middle of April, he says, "The grass begins
to afford a good deal for sheep, and for my grazing English
pigs, and the cows and oxen get a little food from it. The
pears, apples, and other fruit trees have not made much pro
gress in the swelling or bursting of their buds. The buds of
the weeping willow have bursted (for in spite of that conceited
ass, Mr. James Perry to burst is a regular verb, and vulgar
pedants only make it irregular) and those of a lilac in a warm
place are ' almost bursted,'. which is a great deal better than
to say ' almost burst? Oh ! the coxcomb ! as if an absolute
pedagogue like him could injure me by his criticisms, and,
as if an error like this, even if it had been one could have
any thing to do with my capacity for developping principles
and for simplifying things, which in their nature are of very-
great complexity.*
From the following singular and concise statement, the
* Cobbett is in general very unfortunate when he enters upon the discussion
of the correct construction of the English language, and more especially so as
from his pretensions, a positive degree of accuracy ought to be expected. The
verb, to Burst, whether taken in its active or neuter sense, is decidedly an ir
regular verb, There is no such participle to the verb as bursted, and Cobbett
should have given us his authority for making burst a regular verb, before he
stigmatizes those as vulgar pedants and literary coxcombs, who adhere to the
generally received opinion of its being an irregular one. The preterite and
the participle of the verb, are both burst, and we might have defied Cobbett to
produce a classical writer who makes use of the participle bursted. The Saxon
participle bwrsten was formerly used, but is now obsolete.

218 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
mode of life which Cobbett led in Long Island may be dis
tinctly ascertained, at the same time, that now and then the
character of the man displays itself, in those strong and
never-fading colours, which stamp it as one of the most ex
traordinary of the age.
" In the gardens in general (April 25th) there is nothing
green, while in England they have broccoli to eat ; early cab
bages planted out, coleworts to eat, peas four or five inches
high. Yet we shall have green peas and loaved cabbages as
soon as they will. We have sprouts from the cabbage stems
preserved under cover; the Swedish turnip is giving me
greens from bulbs planted out in March, how I got these
Swedish turnips, you shall know. And I have some broccoli
too, just coming On for use. How I got this broccoli, I must
explain in my Gardener's Guide, for write one I must. I
never can leave this country without an attempt to make every
farmer a gardener. In the meat way, we have beef, mutton,
bacon, fowls, a calf to kill in a fortnight's time, sucking pigs
when we choose, lamb Hearty fit to kill, and all of our own
breeding or our own feeding. We kill an ox, send three
quarters and the hide to market, and keep one quarter. Then
a sheep, which we use in the same way. The bacon is
always ready. Some fowls always fatting. Young ducks
are just coming out to meet the green peas. Chickens, as
big as American partridges (misnamed quails,) and ready for
the asparagus, which is just coming out of the ground, eggs at
all times more than we can consume. And if there be any
one, who wants better fare than this, let the grumbling glut
ton come to that poverty, which Solomon has said shall be
his lot.
On referring to Cobbett's GardeneT, we find that he forgot
to fulfil his promise of telling us how he came by his broccoli
seed, but on referring to one of his Registers, we find the
history of his Swedish turnip seed, of which, as he takes to
himself the merit of being the introducer of that valuable es
culent into America, we will insert his account, premising at

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 249
the same time that it furnishes us with some links in the chain
of his history, which could not be found elsewhere. The fol
lowing account is in a letter addressed to Samuel Clarke, Esq.
on Scotch Impudence and English Sheepishness. Cobbett at
the outset candidly acknowledges that the cultivation of the
Swedish turnip, has nothing to do with Scotch impudence
or English sheepishness, yet it is his whim to write upon
both in the same Register.
"I came," says Cobbett, " to London late in November
(1816) to carry on the war against corruption, owing to the
falseness and cowardice of the shuffling chief (Sir Francis
Burdett) under whose banners, I had, like an unassuming
fool as I was, condescended to range myself; we were defeated,
and some of us compelled to flee. I had then fifty two acres
of transplanted Swedish turnips, containing upon an average
not less than twenty tons to the acre, but they brought little
or nothing. They were sold, I believe, to be what they
call fed off by sheep, in short an almost total destruction of
this beautiful crop took place. I knew this. It was full in
my mind when I was preparing to go off, in order to make
corruption feel the force of my long arm. I knew I was leav
ing my fine crop of turnips to be wasted and destroyed, but
though I had to move, merely with a trunk, and as quick as
a post chaise would carry me,* though I left books, papers,
and even the great part of my shirts and coats behind, I found
time to get, and room to contain, ten pounds of Swedish tur
nip seed ! Nothing put this out of my head, no bills and no
dungeons frightened this away.
The foregoing account of the turnip seed is in full keeping
with the real character of Cobbett. Whatever colouring he
may think proper to throw over those events, which led to
his sudden flight to America, there is no doubt whatever,
* Could all this extraordinary expedition have been necessary, merely be
cause the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act had taken place, and at the
same time that Cobbett had not yet brought himself within the penalties of the
Six Acts Bill? Truth will in the end force its way, although every attempt be
made to prevent it.
32. — vol. n 2 k

250 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
that it was occasioned by the threats of an immediate visit
from Messrs. John Doe and Richard Roe, unless he liquidated
certain demands against him, and he wisely preferred liberty
and a farm in America, to imprisonment without a farm in
England. He informs us that his departure from home was so
sudden, that he had not time even to take his shirts and coats
with him. — But then the ten pounds of turnip seed! Nothing
could put that out of his head — No bills nor dungeons could
frighten them out of his mind — The turnip seed was all up
permost ! He had, perhaps, the example of Goldsmith before
him, who, when his house was beset with bailiffs and his escape
was planned by one of his friends, coolly asked him to stop
a moment, whilst he went into his bedroom for his clothes'
brush. "That ten pounds of turnip seed," continues Cobbett,
"I sent for from Mason in the Strand, and had I not just
thought of that ten pounds of turnip seed, America would, per
haps, to this day have heen without that valuable vegetable,
and I never reflect on this ten pounds of turnip seed, without
feeling more satisfaction, than I have derived from almost
any thing during the whole course of my life. The thought
which led to the getting of this little bag of seed, finally
produced the book which has been of such great utility to
England, and of the merits of which I have received such
flattering testimonials.* A very few days before my depar
ture for England, a gentleman came to me a great distance
out of the State of Connecticut, that is, above eighty miles,
for no other purpose than to bestow his thanks upon me for
the introduction of the Swedish turnip, thinking that a letter
was not upon such an important occasion, a mode of acknow
ledgement, such as my claims upon his gratitude demanded.
As to letters of thanks, they would have amounted to volumes,
and indeed I was at last sorry to receive them, because it
was wholly out of my power to answer them, and this I was

* This alludes to "An Account of the Culture, Mode op Preserving,
and Uses of the Ruta Baga, sometimes called the Swedish Turnip."
Published with the " Journal of a Year's Residence."

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 251
obliged to state in the public newspapers. The Americans,
let them be of what party they would, were always forward,
not only to acknowledge, but to proclaim the benefits they
derived from my ten pounds of turnip seed, but then they
were not borne down by corruption ; they did not live in fear
of her fangs ; they were, in short, freemen, as their and our
forefathers were. They were under no apprehension of
being turned out of house and home ; of being harrassed by
the agents of any tyranny, of being marked out for -ruin for
doing justice to their instructor."
The great benefits derived by America from the ten pounds
of turnip seed furnishes Cobbett with an opportunity of com
paring the strength of the Yankee labourers with those of
England, and also of noticing some most extraordinary feats
performed by the said Yankees in the tilling of their land,
and the construction of their roads and bridges. Truly may
Cobbett say, there is no doing justice to America, ivithout
going to see it, and certainly to the curious, could they see,
what Cobbett saw, a trip thither would amply repay a
month's sea sickness, or a reduced allowance of a biscuit and a
glass of water per day. Some parts of the following are,
indeed, by no means complimentary to the race of men, who
at present inhabit England, but Cobbett was perhaps of the
opinion of the late Lord Monboddo, that the human race have
so degenerated, and are still so degenerating, that eventually
there will be none but pigmies on the earth.
Speaking of the strength of an American labourer who
can mow from three to four acres of grass in a day, carrying
a swarth full eight feet wide ! Cobbett says, " Strange
thing ! that those giants should have sprung from Englishmen !
But the truth is, the bodies and limbs of the English have
grown smaller than they were forty years ago. Why not ?
do we not see all animals fall off, if kept badly, and especi
ally if worked hard too. To have the horse fine, must we not
feed the dam and the colt well ? There is then no mystery
in the fact, that four Yaukee mowers will weigh down eight
English ones ! However there is no doing justice to Ame-

252 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
rica without going to see it ! If, you could see their mile long
bridges, without a single pier, wagons going over, and ves
sels sailing under ! ! If, you could see them with forty oxen
to a p 'ough, forming a new turnpike road, just as you would
f rm a ten furrow ridge in one of your fields. If, you could
see them with a team of twenty or thirty oxen, and only one
man, with what they call a scraper filling in the roots, and
smoothing and rounding a turnpike road at the rate of three
miles an hour to each side, and doing about fifteen miles in a
day ! with what shame you would think of the toddlers, the
poultry in human shape, that you had left behind, pecking in
the ruts in England. You are clever fellows in Norfolk. You
have things in great perfection, but it would be worth while for
you to send an embassy to Connecticut to fetch over a Yan
kee ploughman, his pair of oxen, his yoke, his chain and his
plough : He needs no driver, no reins, no whip. Haw and
gee, ghup and whoa, these with the different modulations of
the voice, do the whole thing. I wish to God, you could see a
Yankee ' Baw ' going out to the pasture at sunrise, bare
footed and bare-legged, with no clothing but trousers and shirt
and a straw hat, with his yoke upon his shoulder, and could
hear him calling his oxen by their names, and could see the
gentle animals so obedient to his call, and in such haste to get
to him, if he call in a tone of impatience. Taking the whole
of the proceedings of the day together ; the part acted by
man and oxen ; the manners of both, the little noise that they
make, the quantity and quality of their labour, the simplicity
and trifling cost of the implements ; the circumstances, that
it is the ploughman himself who repairs and frequently makes
these implements ; taking the Whole together, the Yankee
ploughman's day is the most interesting thing that the interest
ing affairs of husbandry present. If you could see a Yankee
ploughman at work, you would never rest till you had rid
ded your farm of horses."
In the course of Cobbett's short residence in America, the
idea had entered his mind, that the cultivation of the locust
tree, and of Indian corn was practicable in this country ; On

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 253
which subject, the following will be read, not only with great
interest, but amusement also, as being no weak specimen of
the hard blows which Cobbett was in the habit of dealing out
to his opponents.
" Curious," says he, " that while our snorting, groping,
grasping, conceited, jackass-like managers of our ' Royal
Woods and Forests," never have been able to perceive that
it was their duty to pay attention to what I said about locust
trees : curious, that while I have actually caused a million or
more of these trees to be planted in England, and in going
through that country, see beautiful plantations of them ;
curious, that while my book, called The Woodlands, would
have taught these nasty, snorting creatures how to furnish
the English navy with pins, or trunnels, as they are vulgarly
called, long and long ago, and a thousand times as good as
the best oak that they can find ; curious that, while those
nasty, snorting things have been totally disregarding this
very important matter, the Americans themselves should
have their attention stirred up by my exertions in England.
There requires, however, an observation or two on the subject.
The reader will wonder at the necessity of encouraging people
to plant this tree in a country, which he will think full of
them. In the first place, it is a rare tree all along the sea
coast of America, and when you get as far south as Mary
land, it will not grow near the sea at all. You must go back
nearly a hundred miles before the trees grow freely and finely,
and even there, they do not grow so finely as in England.
The reader will see mention of a worm that is injurious to
this tree. There is such a worm in America. It gets into
the joints of the shoots, and they canker and die. There is
no such worm in England, and in every respect the tree is
finer here than in America ; yet our snorting government,
who understands ¦' heddekashun ' so well, who has found out
the art of making an Englishman live upon fifteen ounces of
mutton a week, weighed before cooking, and including bone ;
who understands how to lay out in time of peace, thirty
eight thousand pounds a year in secret service money ; who

254 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
beats all the turnkeys upon earth in its knowledge of ' prison
discipline,' who well understands the art of making farmers
and labourers drink at the ditch, instead of turning their own
hops and barley into beer, and yet, I say, in spite of these facts
from America, in spite of the proofs that this most essential
timber of all might be supplied to our navy, from our own
public forests, in spite of all this, this snorting government,
sleepy-eyed, and ever grasping at the same time, cannot take
even the slightest precaution necessary to this great end.
But in this, as in every thing else of its acts and its manners,
we see proofs of a downward march ; we see proofs that it is
destined to come down. The miserable wretches, who have
the management of its affairs, are in the first place, destitute
of all knowledge, that can be of any use in the sustaining of
a state. They have been twenty years at peace, and they
now tremble at the bare thought of war. They have ex
pended during this peace three hundred millions of pounds
sterling on a navy and an army ; they have four hundred and
fifty generals, und two hundred and fifty admirals, and yet
they tremble at the thoughts of a war, and tremble they well
may, for unless there be a total change in the system of tax
ing the people, and carrying on the government in England,
driven off the face of the ocean to a certainty they will be,
by the United States alone, if they dare to utter towards that
famous republic one of those insolent expressions, with which
it was so long their fashion to treat the different nations of the
world." For several months, Cobbett. continued to live at his farm,
called Hyde Park, on Hampstead Plains, Long Island, from
which he shot forth his fulminating bolts against the advocates
of corruption ; himself, as he expresses it, safe from their gags,
their prisons, and their lawyers. On the 20th of May, how
ever, a circumstance occurred, which threatened to break
even his giant mind, and render him unfit for those mental
labours, to which it was his custom to devote himself. A fire
broke out in his mansion house, and the whole building was
burnt to the ground, thus rendering him houseless, and

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 255
almost broken in spirits, in a land far distant from that of his
birth, and to which his thoughts had ever been turned during
this period of his self-banishment, with the feelings of a child,
who has been forced from the parents, whom he has reve
renced and almost worshipped. To poor Cobbett, this was a
bitter trial indeed. He had lived in some degree to triumph
over the most inveterate malice of his enemies. He had
seen them quail at the thunder of his voice, when he raised
it to denounce bad men and their evil actions. He had, it is
true, been made to suffer heavily, both in purse and in person,
for the boldness of these attacks, yet still his courage forsook
him not, even in the hour of his deepest affliction. The pre
sent calamity, however, seems to have occasioned him more
grief, than had ever before fallen to his share. In a few hours
he had seen his comfortable home reduced by the flames to a
heap of ashes. The picture of happiness that had been lately
presented to his view, had suddenly vanished. His home
was destroyed, and with it a great part of the farming stock,
corn, hay, &e. were reduced to a heap of mouldering ashes.
Cobbett looked around him, and his heart was chilled at the
black scene of desolation that presented itself. America had
lost the charm that once captivated him ; his home was gone,
and his thoughts recurring once more to England, he imme
diately began to entertain serious thoughts of returning to the
land of his birth, which he still ardently loved, in spite of the
fierce persecution, that had ever followed him there.
In forming this resolution, a thousand lurking dangers that
might there await, him arose in his mind. He knew full well
the powerful enemies he would have to cope with in this
country, and the extent to which their . vindictive feelings
would probably lead them, but he also knew that since he had
left England, a very great change had taken place. The re
formers had every where mustered, in: great numbers, and
confident in the justness of their demands, had assumed an
appearance of boldness that had terrified the members of the
government, and more than half insured their own ultimate
success. In all the northern provinces of England, these pa-

256 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
triots had exhibited themselves in great strength, and though
the ministers had succeeded in arresting and punishing some of
the boldest amongst the advocates of reform, it was now
become apparent to all, even to those who had been the
most adverse to it, that the day was not far distant, when
some measure must be introduced to satisfy the loud and
incessant demands that were being made for a. more just and
equitable representation of parliament. With this cheering
prospect before him, Cobbett at once resolved to return to
England, where he hoped his own presence and influence
might hasten a communication most devoutly to be wished.
Previously, however, to Cobbett putting his plan into execu
tion, Messrs. Johnson Baguley, and Drummond, were brought
to trial, and Cobbett no sooner heard of the severe sentence
passed upon them, somewhat similar to his own, of two years
imprisonment, than he endited the following letter to them,
which will be read with extraordinary interest, not only on
account of the insight which it gives us into Cobbett's cha
racter, but of the value of the advice which is contained in
it to all those who may be similarly circumstanced.
"To Messrs. Johnson, Baguley, and Drummond. — On
their imprisonment, and on the line of conduct w hich they
ought to pursue ; and on Political Shoy-hoys.
"North Hampstead, Long Island,
30th June, 1819-
" Gentlemen,
"The news of the proceedings against you have reached
me. They do not at all surprise me ; for such things have
taken place, in all ages and in all countries, during the strug
gles of the oppressed against the oppressors. Men should
never despair of the Commonwealth; for, even in the hardest
of their sufferings, there is a source of consolation ; seeing
that, in the end, those sufferings are always visited upon the
heads of the oppressors. If you look back into history, you
will find, that tyrants have, for the most part, been brought
to punishment by the immediate exertions of those, who have

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 257
smarted under their tyranny. Be of good cheer, therefore.
You are young men. The present active tyrants will, accord
ing to the course of nature, quit the world before you. But,
the chances are, that, if you be prudent, and especially sober,
you will see the effect of complete justice on their heads.
" Thev sentenced me, or rather, caused me to be sent to
prison for the same length of time, that they have caused you
to be sent to prison. At that time all was a deep gloom.
The public mind was in darkness. ,
" One half of even good men thought my horrid punishment
necessary, if not just. Then my punishment was, with
many, a subject of jesting. There was one villain, whose
name was Gillray, and who was pensioned by the borough-
mongers, who caricatured me looking through my prison walls.
Some villains of farmers, then fat, riding by one of my fields,
where my men were putting up a fence, cried out, ' wheer
be the iron bars?' This scoundrel race has been well pinched
since, and Gillray, before I had been in prison eight months,
died raving mad !
" At that time delusion was at its height. The war was
profitable to many persons. The base paper-money served
its end : that is to give a florid appearance to trade and agri
culture. The nation was mad with what it deemed prosperity.
Ths commerce of all nations was laid under contribution by
the boroughmongers. There never was so gloomy a period
for the friends of law and justice.
"But I did not despair. On the contrary, I never had
hopes more lively or thoughts more gay. The time, which
the tyrants had given ; the ' abstraction from Society? as the
old hard-hearted ruffian in the den called it, or, rather, the
abstraction from rural affairs, in which the barbarous villains
had placed me, enabled me to reflect on, and to examine into
the real state of their affairs. That reflection and that exami
nation led to the series of papers entitled, Paper against Gold,
which has contributed more than any other effort towards the
danger, which the tyrants now experience.
We must be patient. We must * cast our bread on the
32. — vol. n 2 l

258 MEMOIRS CfF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
waters.' The efforts which destroy tyrannies are, generally,
those which have not an immediate effect, visible to all eyes.
Sap and mine are better than assault, where the fortress is
strong. I was convinced that the nation's best hope was the
insolvency of the borough tyrants, money being the all-in-all
with a system of corruption. I had long been of opinion
that the bank-notes could never be paid in specie, and, in
Paper against Gold, I proved that this was the case. That
is to say, they never could be paid in specie, without a total
breaking up of the whole system of corruption and tyranny.
If corruption attempted to pay, she could not raise the taxes
necessary to pay the interest of her debt. She could not
attempt to pay without putting a stop to all the labours which
sustained her, and gave her the means of tyrannising and of
making war against freedom. Yet, if she could never pay,
without blowing up herself at once, it was clear, that, sooner
or later, she must be overwhelmed by her own base paper.
" Therefore, I, within my prison walls, bent all my force to
prove, that she could never pay without blowing herself up
by the act of paying. This was a heavy blow to ber ; for,
though the nation took little notice, at the time, of what I said,
events went on, as I knew they would, to confirm all my
doctrines and predictions.
" At the time I was sent to what corruption thought to be
death, or total ruin, the Westminster wiseacres had before them
what they called a Report from a Committee, which in their
gibberish, was called the Bullion Committee. This had been
produced by a motion of the out-faction, who pretended to
want to make the Bank pay in specie at the end of two years,
from 1811. This faction proposed the passing of a law to
compel the Bank to pay at the end of two years. The in-f ac
tion resisted this, and said, that, though the Bank had ample
means, it would be unwise to suffer it to pay, as long as ' the
tyrant of Europe had power to disturb all the relationships of
commerce.' When peace came, they said, all would put
itself to rights again. Then the gold would return as a matter
of course.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 259
"I exposed the folly of this expectation. I had proved
that it was impossible that the expectation could be realized.
I was treated by many as a dreamer. I was, however, con
vinced that time would confirm all that I had said ; and in
that conviction, I enjoyed myself exceedingly. I never en
joyed better health, better spirits, or greater pleasure, than in
that prison, in which the borough tyrants expected me to go
mad, pine myself to death, die of contagion, or cut my throat.
I had the pleasure to reflect, that5 1 was striking my bloody
ferocious tyrants in their tender part. Call this revengeful,
if they choose. A pretty doctrine, indeed, is this doctrine of
forgiveness. It is cooked up for our use ; for the tyrants never
use it. Their forgiveness is only a mitigated vengeance.
They rob us, and, if we so much as murmur, they scourge us.
They compel us to come forth and bear arms in defence of
what they call the country ; they flog, us if we be guilty of
a breach of military discipline ; they take from us more than
the half of our earnings ; they deny us any right to choose
those who make the laws ; and if we complain, they shut us
up in dungeons and keep us there as long as they please, in
despite of all the laws of the land. This is the manner in
which you were treated. Being again at liberty, you publicly
threatened vengeance. This was your crime ; and now by
the decision of a Special Jury, you are to endure two years
more of imprisonment. And this, even this, you are to for
give! Blistered be the tongue that counsels you to such a
course ! You are young men, and if you be prudent, ven
geance you will have ; and as to what will be prudence on
your part, I now take the liberty to offer you my opinion.
" Coolness, patience, sobriety ; above all things sobriety.
These are necessary even to your health. No man living is
more impatient than I, under the suffering of wrong, intention
ally done me. The wrongwhich I felt, when sent to Newgate,
was great, Very great in itself; but besides this, it was ac
companied with so many provoking circumstances, that per
haps, no wrong was ever calculated to produce so deep and
lasting an impression. I did not swear vengeance ; I made

260 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
no vows. To be revenged on the barbarous, base, cowardly,
hypocritical ruffians, became instantly an object with me
that swallowed up all others. And was not this right ?
What would there be to check powerful tyrants, if their victims
were to suffer contentedly? Was it not the just vengeance
of the oppressed, that drove the tyrannical nobles and bloody
clergy from France ? What but just vengeance was it, that
drove James the second from England? And, observe, too,
that, in this case, the sins of the father were visited upon the
children from generation to generation. Why then, are we.
not to think of revenge ?
" But though to seek vengeance became the main object
of my life, I did not fly out into vain threats and clamorous
curses. I kept myself cool ; I calculated patiently upon a
ten or twenty years' war against the ruffians. That melan
choly fellow, Doctor Johnson, observes, that when a man plants
a tree, he begins to think of dying. If this were the fact,
is that to prevent the planting of trees ? I have been planting
of trees in every spot that I have occupied, all my life time;
and I am now collecting seeds of trees to carry home, and
to sow in England next spring. I expect to sit under the
shade of the trees, which these seeds will produce ; and, if I
only see them six inches high, have I not the enjoyment of
so much of them ? So, in seeking justice of our oppressors,
if we die before we have obtained that justice, we enjoy, in
the meanwhile, the blows we inflict on them. We enjoy
their fears, their embarrassments, their disgrace, their infamy.
The ruffian band are now writhing under my blows, given a
few months after I was in my prison. I have been dealing
them blows from that day to this. All my plans in private
life ; all my pursuits ; all my designs, wishes, and thoughts,
have this one great object in view : the overthrow of the
ruffian Boroughmongers. If I write grammars ; if I write on
agriculture ; if I sow, plant, or deal in seeds ; whatever I do,
has fiist in view the destruction of those infamous tyrants.
" But as I said before, I keep in good humour. I keep
steadily on. If events move slower than I could wish. I

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 261
labour more sedulously to accelerate their pace. This is
what I advise you to do. Sobriety is the first thing ; for with
out that, there is no healthy body and no sound mind. In
the midst of a society, where wine and spirits are considered
of little more value than water, I have lived two years with
out either, and with no other drink but water, except when I
have found it convenient to obtain milk ; ' not the smallest
ailment ; not a restless night ; not a drowsy morning, have I
known during these two famous years of my life. The sun
never rises before me. I have always to wait for him to
come and give me light to write by, while my mind is in full
vigour and while nothing has come to cloud its clearness. At
this very moment that I am writing to you, it is not eight
o'clock, and I have written thus far before my breakfast,
having employed, too, a quarter of an hour in giving direc
tions to my men.
" All the plans for husbanding our time, are folly, without
sobriety. Without sobriety we cannot be industrious ; and,
without industry we are no terror to our tyrants. You see
what embarrassment the villains are now in. You see how
they are puzzled to invent new lies, in order to hide the fact
of their irrevocable insolvency. They are at their wit's end.
And, a satisfaction it is to me to reflect, that it is I, who have
more than all other men put together, brought them into this
state ! Very few days of my life have been unhappy ; but,
if I were not to be happy now, how could I ever be happy ?
All this I owe to my sobriety ; and, therefore, let me exhort
you to be sober. You are so, I hope ; but I am sure you
will excuse me for pressing on you the necessity of sobriety.
"A jail is as good a place for study as any other. To
study, a man must be confined in some place. It matters
little where we are, if we have health and leisure. It is in
this case the mind that works, and not the body. Now is
the time for you to become grammarians. In your place I
should reason thus : ' How shall I be able most effectually to
annoy the tyrants ? By my pen, combined with my other
means. How shall I qualify myself to use my pen with

252 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
effect ? By knowing how to write correctly. How shall I get
that knowledge ? By learning grammar. Therefore I will
learn grammar.'
Do this, and you will, at the end of the two years, be a
great deal more formidable to the ruffians than you were
when they seized hold of you. Besides, you will find in this
study, a source of continual amusement and encouragement.
At every stage of your progress, you will feel yourself more
a match for your oppressors ; and, long before the close of
your studies, you will despise the ruffians even more than you
hate them. You have long lives yet to live. You are placed
aloft by your sufferings. You start from the most favourable
point. And you may, if you will, become men, famous in
the annals of England. But, without literary talent, you
will be able to do little. Mr. Johnson's pistol was a good
thing ; but a pen is a great deal better ; and the pen you can
not use with effect, without acquired knowledge.
" To repine, to revile, to storm, are of no real use. Sailors,
in a gale, do not curse the winds and the waves. They
mount the yards, reef the sails, lower the masts, and patiently
wait the moment when they dare rehoist and unfurl. This
must be your way of proceeding, if you mean to arrive safe
at the end of your voyage. To execrate the tyrants is right
and fitting ; but without exertion against them, execration is
folly in the extreme. Say little, think much, and be con
stantly at work, cultivating your minds, that you may be able
fo inflict vengeance on the oppressors of your country.
" I, who am old enough, probably, to be the father of you,
never despair. Nothing that does not tie my hands, or take
my health from me, can make me slacken my efforts in the
war against our villains. The difficulties that I have had to
struggle with, in order to carry on this war, are not to be
described. But, they have never disheartened me for one
single moment. I have often been in a state to make it a
question with me, whether or not it was probable that I should
end my days in the capacity of a gardener, or a common
labourer ; for, under such an infernal system, no man can

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 263
count upon any thing as^ a provision for age or sickness.
But, never did it occur to me to desist from the strife, in
order to insure even bread to eat. My hatred of the borough
villains, and my anxious desire to assist in the infliction of
vengeance on them, have made me more and more rigid as
to sobriety and abstemiousness. At every stage of their op
pressions, I have become more and more careful to avoid any
thing that might tend to narrow my sphere of exertion. Be
fore they imprisoned me, I was pow and then tempted to
drink wine and spirits and water. I, after the imprisonment,
sometimes drank ale and porter. But, since their dungeon
Bill, milk and water, or water alone, has been my drink.
When I rise in the morning, while others lie snoring; when
I perceive how much younger I look, how much stronger I am
and how much nimbler I move, than men in general who are
younger than I ; when I think of my ability to encounter
labour in the fields, and of the sound sleep which I enjoy on
a bed and pillow of straw ; when I see others, and young
men too, detained at home by foul weather, or muffled up in
order to venture out in it, while I care for neither heat, wet,
nor cold ; when under any of these circumstances, I always
bear in mind, that this happy habit, this iron constitution
have been, in a great measure, the effects of my anxious
desire to inflict vengeance on our country's foes. I have
lately met with an accident from fire. The house in which
I lived was burnt down. This threw me out for a month.
I should have gone to New York, and remained there till the
time of my departure for England ; but, when I considered
the interruptions which such a removal would occasion, and
when I thought of the injury that these and the air of a city
might be to my literary labours, I resolved on making a sort
of thatched tent, in which I might enjoy tranquillity, and in
which I might labour without intermission. In this tent,
made of poles, thatch, and English newspapers, I have now
the honour to address you. Happiness never depends upon
mere place. It depends little more on food or raiment. My
diet all comes from my own fields, and my cow is my vintner

264 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
and brewer. I am asleep on my straw by nine o'clock, and
I am in my orchard before four o'clock. Yet, who can be
happier ? My mind is, for the far greater part of my time, in
Engk d. And I have the infinite satisfaction to see, that I
have from this distance, stricken blows which have made
the tyrants half distracted.
" A young man, from England, who came, a few days
ago, to ask my advice, and who had just arrived from England,
exclaimed, upon seeing my gipsy-like habitation, ' Only think
of papers being written in this place, and at such a distance,
to produce so much effect upon the English nation ! ' ' Oh ! '
said I, ' England is just on the other side of that plain there.
A ship is always ready to carry the papers. And as to this
tent, it is not the tent, but my head, which produces the pa
pers, which you have been so kind and partial as to admire.'
I showed him the fine umbrageous walnut tree, under which
I wrote the letter, last summer, to the old battered hack,
Tierney. I gave him some bacon and cabbage, and dump
ling ; and we toasted the debt, in milk and water.
" Now, it appears to me, that you are nearly as well sit
uated as I am for mental exertion. You cannot go out of
your prison, and I never want to stir from my tent. Resolve
to study ; resolve to become able to obtain revenge ; and re
venge you will obtain.
" The situation of our tyrants is now such as no one, not
at the gallows, ought to envy. In spite of all the falsehoods,
which their prime tools put forth, the distresses of their slaves
go on regularly increasing. You are deceived, if you suppose
that I want proofs of this. These proofs are the daily ar
rival of farmers and labourers from England. Within the
last twelve months, upwards of a hundred and fifty thousand
have landed from England to settle here. My family con
sists of an English woman, an English girl, an English boy,
and three young Englishmen. They are all excellent ser
vants. The men receive twelve dollars a month, with board,
lodgings, and washing found them. The same men could not
now obtain, in England, four dollars a month. And, as to

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 265
living, my men have bacon, the best in this world; best
wheaten bread ; a fat sheep or lamb once a week, flinging
the head and pluck to the dogs ; good puddings and pies,
fruit and other ; a cherry orchard to go and eat what cherries
they please ; and to drink, they have about four gallons of
milk a day. Each of these young men has a good bag of dol
lars. The first of these men is Thomas Knight, from Charl
ton in Hampshire ; the second is Richard Haines, from
Shalford, in Berkshire ; the third is Charles Cobbett, from
Rumsey, in Hampshire. Here they are, engaged in the work
of cultivating things, hardly ever cultivated in this island
before. Here they are, teaching the people some things, at
least, that they did not know before. Here they are, most
admirable workmen, exerting all their skill and strength for
the benefit of a foreign nation. Thousands upon thousands
of such men are daily coming. And come they will, until
the tyranny be abated. So that, if we could suppose it
possible for the barbarous system to last another ten years,
the borough villains would be left with nobody but the very
paupers. There has recently arrived a man from Kent,
with his wife and family, to whom the parish gave twenty
pounds to bring him out ! The scheme was wise for both
parties; but only think of the infernal system that could make
it ivise ! Future ages will read of the borough villains, as of
monsters unparalleled. It will be a subject of wonder how
such monsters came to be suffered to live."
Cobbett had no sooner formed the resolution of returning
to England, than the most extraordinary crotchet entered his
brain, of exhuming the bones of Thomas Paine, and convey
ing them to England, for the purpose of laying them in the
land of his nativity. This extraordinary change in the opinions
of Cobbett of a man, whom he had denounced as a rebel, a
wretch, a ragamuffin, and in fact on whom he had emptied
his whole stock of vituperative epithets, more copious, per
haps, than ever belonged to any other man, naturally ex
posed him to the well-founded charge of inconsistency, and
tergiversation. We have only to turn our attention to Cob-
32. — vol. n. 2 m

266 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBB1.TT, ESQ.
bett's remarks on Paine' s Age of Reason to exhibit the as
tonishing difference which had taken place in the mind of
Cobbett, during his first residence in America, and during his
latter sojourn there, touching the character of Paine, to whose
remains he now paid as much homage as ever was paid by
pious Catholics to the relics of departed saints. We shall
take the few following extracts as they rise, being a good
sample of the remainder of the work, and which are signifi
cantly called the " Beauties of Cobbett."
" The wretch Paine has all his life been employed in
leading fools astray from their duty, and as nothing is more
easy, he has often succeeded. His religion is exactly of a
piece with his politics ; one inculcates the right of revolting
against government, and the other of revolting against God.
How Tom came to think of exercising his clumsy, battered
pen upon the christian religion, is what has excited a good
deal of curiosity, without ever being well accounted for in this
country ; notwithstanding, the circumstances under which a
man writes ought to be attended to, in forming a judgment
of his opinions, particularly, if those opinions be new and ex
traordinary. For this reason I shall endeavour to trace this
Ragamuffin Deist from America to his Paris dungeon,
and to account for his having laid down the dagger of insur
rection, in order to take up the chalice of irreligion.
* * * * %
" Thomas, after having retailed out a good deal of Common
Sense, commonly called nonsense, found himself rather
richer than when he began. This gave him a smack for re
volutions, but finding himself sinking fast into his native
mud, and universally despised, and neglected by the people
of this country, in short, that the Americans were returning
to order, and feeling that his, element was confusion, he crossed
the Atlantic to bask in the rays of the French revolution. Off
goes Tom with his Rights of Man, which he had the abomin
able impudence to dedicate to General Washington. The
English jacobins stared at him at first ; he went a step further
than they had ever dreamed of ; his doctrines, however, grew

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 267
familiar to their ears ; they took him under their wing, and he
made sure of another revolution. This security was his mis
fortune, and had nearly cost him a voyage to the South
Seas. ffi t* 3(* 3|t if*
" From the thiefcalchers in England, Tom fled, and
took his seat among the thieves of Paris. After having dis
tinguished himself in execrating the constitution he had
written in defence of, he and two or. three others set to work,
and made a new one, quite brand new, without a single ounce
of old stuff. This crowned Tom with glory7 soon after, when
it was unanimously accepted by the rich, free, generous, and
humane French nation. This may be looked upon as the
happiest period of Tom's life. He had enjoyed partial revolts,
had seen doors and windows broken in, and had probably par
taken of the pillage of some aristocratical stores, and dwelling
houses, but to live in a continual state of insurrection, ' sa
cred, holy, organised insurrection,' to sit seven days in the
Week issuing decrees for plunder, proscription, and massacre,
was a luxurious life indeed. It was, however, a short life
and a merry one ; it lasted but five months. The tender
hearted, philanthropic murderer, Brissot, and his faction, fell
from the pinnacle of their glory, poor Tom's wares got out
of vogue, and his carcass got into a dungeon. ' Et cetera
desunt? "
We will now give, by way of contrast, the opinion of
Cobbett touching " this wretch," " this ragamuffin," " this
fiend," as it was openly avowed by him in the defence that
he made to an attack which was levelled at him by a mer
chant of Liverpool, of the name of Cropper, and on whom
Cobbett had dealt some harsh blows relative to the part which
Mr. Cropper was supposed to take in the slave trade.
In one of Mr. Cropper's Letters, which he wrote under
the signature of Veritas, he says, speaking of Cobbett, " You
say, I do not feel it incumbent upon me to discuss the merits
of Mr. Cropper's reasoning, or to question his facts, for I
believe both to be incontrovertible, and certainly they are

268 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
uncontroverted by you. My attention is to connect malice
with all your abuse, and to prove that you have abandoned
truth, and adopted your base passions as unerring guides in
the pursuit of your revenge."
Thus retaliates Cobbett, " This is very bad, friend Crop
per. This is very poor and mean. To look about after the
motives of the writer, instead of boldly meeting the writing
itself, was a very poor way of convincing peopl e, that you
felt strong in your cause. However as the fact comes out
here so plainly that Veritas is James Cropper, as we get the
old fox here fast by the brush, I will notice what you say
about these motives, which you state in the following pas
sage. " ' A short time after you deserted your post, and ran away
from this country to America, you set about raking together
the bones of Tom Paine. Possessed of the relics of your
newly-adopted saint, you determined on returning to England,
and either took or wished to take your passage in one of the
packet ships, which ply between New York and Liverpool.
These ships are owned by Isaac Wright and Sons, who are
' of the people called Quakers.' These gentlemen, it seems,
had heard of your insolent and offensive conduct during your
voyage to America on board the Importer, and they deter
mined you should not have a passage in any ship of theirs.
To this determination I believe they were impelled by the
passengers, who declared, that if you were suffered to go
they would stay behind. This, sir, was an offence which
you can never forgive, and here is the animus of your attack
on Mr. Cropper. You know, sir, that it. is unlawful for an
Englishman to own part of an American vessel, yet you
charge him with the crime of being a partner with Mr.
Wright, and then proceed to wreak your malice on both.'
" Here is," says Cobbett, " more than one self-contradic
tion, besides all the falsehoods that are huddled together. We
will pass over the desertion of the post, that desertion, which
you well know did amongst a great many other things, pro
duce Peel's Bill. I was in America two years and five months,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 269
during the last of these five months Mr. Paine's remains, were
disinterred, and even, I believe, after I had taken my passage
of Isaac Wright. So much for your veracity on that point.
But Wright and sons had heard of my insolent and offensive
conduct during my voyage to America on board the Importer;
and they (that is to say, in consequence of which) determined
that I should not have a passage in any of their ships, and yet
just before you had said, that I either took or wished to take
my passage in one of their ships. , Ah! you cunning old fox!
You know well that I did take my passage, and that old Wright,
for the base reasons by and by to be stated, broke his word
and his contract. They had heard of my conduct on board of
the Importer ! ! Why, that conduct was two years and fire
months old, and yet you are too cunning to say that I did not
take my passage; that Wright did not agree with me for it,
though you afterwards assert that they determined that I
should not come in their ships in consequence of that conduct,
and yet upon the heels of this comes that other lie of Wright,
and this other self-contradiction of yours, that to this deter
mination they were impelled by the passengers, who declared,
if I were suffered to go, they would stay behind. So that
here is Wright, determined that I should not go in conse
quence of my conduct in the Importer, and we have him im
pelled to that determination by the passengers, and keeping
me back unfairly, in violation of his contract with me, if I
had taken the place, and that to according to your own con
fession from the base motive of having two or three passen
gers instead of one.
" Thus far on your own showing, and now for the facts
of the case, all facts, either of public notoriety, or capable of
proof upon oath.
" As to ' raking together the bones of Tom Paine,' Mr.
Paine was the only man of distinguished talent ever produced
amongst the society of Quakers. He. did not like the idea of
having his bones dug up by prejudiced bigots, and treated
in a beastly manner. His wish was, therefore, to be buried
in the Quaker's burying ground at New York. His wish was

270 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, JJSQ.
expressed, I believe, to Mr. Willet Hicks of that city, who
is, I am told, at this moment inyour house at Liverpool. And
what was the reason on which the Quakers founded their ob
jection ? Why this, that there were many luho accused them
of deism already, and that if they buried him in their ground,
the accusation would have a circumstance to rest on. The
reason was very mean, to say the best of it, and all the Qua
kers that I have talked with on the subject in America, will,
if they be not as tricky as you, acknowledge that I reproached
them with their cowardice ; with their want of all feeling of
honour, with their casting, from them the only great man
that their sect ever produced.
" Mr. Paine was buried in a corner of one of his fields.
The land, which he had left by will, had just been sold, with
a reservation of that spot, but the party who was to take care
of that spot, was so sensible of the risk of a brutal disturbance
of his ashes, that a negociation was carried on with the church
wardens of one of the churches at New York, for the removal
of the remains into the churchyard; but the utmost that
could be obtained, was leave to put them in the ground, in a
refuse place, where strangers, and soldiers, and other friend
less persons were usually buried.
" This was the state of the case in the month of October
1819. It was under these circumstances that I did that,
which it was no more than a duty to have done under any
circumstances, and while I am satisfied that I have the ap
plause for this deed of all the just and generous amongst
mankind, I shall console myself under the endurance of the
maiignant sneer, of a selfish, hardened, sly old Quaker, re
collecting, too, that Paine was a man of rare mental endow
ments ; that he was the scourge of tyrants, under lohateoer
name they disguised their tyranny, and that heaven is not
farther from hell than he from being a spy, and meriting a
death upon the gallows.
" So much for bones, then, friend Cropper, and now for
the Importer and Isaac Wright.
"As to the Importer, the Captain's name was Ogden.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 271
There were two Yankees in the cabin, and two cubs from
Manchester, besides me and my two sons. The Yankees,
who had been at sea before, complained bitterly (behind the
captain's back,) that they had not fresh bread, and assured us
that they had it in the ship in which they came to Europe.
As for me and my sons, always up early, never drinking but
at meal times, and then only tea, or a very little porter, we
cared very little about the matter, and heard these complaints
for a long while without taking any part in the conversation.
At last, after repeated requests on the part of these four pas
sengers, and not then, till they were joined by a very nice
modest woman from Manchester, who was in the cabin with
her two small children and who wished very much for some
fresh bread, I did not attempt to say a word about the matter.
I then did, and merely requested the captain to let us have
some fresh bread. The captain, who was one of those greedy
fools, who have no idea of true economy, behaved upon this
occasion like a little blackguard in authority, and he appealed
to the other passengers, who were sitting round the table at
the time, whether they had any fault to find, getting no answer,
he put the question to them, one by one, in a most peremptory
tone, and to my utter astonishment, all the four men or rather
male animals, expressly said, that they were very well con
tented. ' There,' said he, ' turning to me, you see others are
very well contented, but they are gentlemen, and know how
to behave themselves,' whereupon I observed looking round
at them ; ' Certainly, those gentlemen are very well con
tented with your fare ; those four gentlemen have no relish
for fresh bread, or else they would be four of the basest
cowards that ever poisoned a cabin with their stink.' A great
deal more passed, in which the captain got nothing. After this,
he adopted a rude behaviour, and used to call my son John by
his plain christian name ; played the Quaker in this case,
though not in others. In his presence, therefore, I told John,
who was then sixteen, that the captain should play the Qua
ker towards every body, or not towards him, for if he did,
John had the liberty to chastise him upon the spot. This

272 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
nettled the blackguard and, especially when John replied
' Depend upon it, I will?
" The hectoring fellow swelled and boiled, and looked red
even through his tawny and thick skin, crammed a fist full
of tobacco into his cheek, swallowed a glass of rum, and mut
tered out an abundance of broken curses. After a while,
however, cowardice seems to have come to the relief of his
swelling bosom. He said that he had meant no harm. If
he had stopped there, all would have been well, but the evil
genius of this man, was something like my friend Cropper's,
that is to say, being in a mess of mischief, he must needs
keep on adding to the mass. He happened to fix his eye in
that unfortunate moment upon one of the Yankees, who was
the son of an opulent merchant and ship-owner of New York,
and of course, an employer of captains having so fixed his
eye, while his brain was fermented, and his tongue set in
motion by the spirit, that is to say of the rum and tobacco,
out came, while the fawning cur smiled upon the merchant's
son, these words, 'I must confess that there are gentlemen on
board my ship, that I respect more than I do you and your
sons ;' 'For which,' said I, finishing the sentence for him, 'we
can the more easily console ourselves, seeing that I never
believe you upon your word, and would not believe you
upon your oath.'
" A sort of hubbub ensued, and a cry amongst the four
gentlemen, that I could not mean what I said. The ship
being in a brisk gale, the thing passed off till night, but then
the sea being more calm, and the spirits of our four gentle
men having rallied, I heard them, while I was walking
the deck, whispering that the captain ought not to put up
with it. The captain, however, who knew more of his own
merits than the Yankees or the cubs, did not seem very anx
ious to demand an explanation. The night was very fine,
and I walked the deck till very late, going down into the
cabin about midnight, I lound the captain seated with the
four gentlemen round him, my two sons being in bed and
asleep. One of the cubs addressed me thus, ' Sir, as I mean

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 273
to go bock with the copten, I wish to know what it was you
said to-day about the copten' s taking a false oath? I could
easily see what the plan was ; and I deliberately and distinctly
pronounced, with my finger within a foot of his nose, these
words five times over, ' Captain Ogden, of the ship Importer,
I do never believe you upon your word, and I would not believe
you upon your oath ; and that you may possess evidence of
this saying of mine, I will to-morrow, if you wish it, give
you the words signed with my name !' In America, they
have a phrase not common here, they call a passionate, vio
lent, death-doing man an ugly fellow, and the captain, upon
my sort of oratorical declaration, affected to be swoln with
passion, and taking off his hat, flung it with great force upon
the floor, said, ' You had better mind what you say, for if you
put me up, you will find me a d — d ugly fellow? ' To put
you up captain? said I, 'is by no means necessary to convince
me of a fact, which my eyes conveyed to my mind the first mo
ment that I saw you? ' This provoking coolness on my part,
and this cruel assault upon the personal charms of as really
an ugly a little dog as I ever saw, put ' the copten' of the
Manchester cub into such a rage that he roused the whole ship
with his stamping and swearing. However, he grew cool at
last, and got quiet in the end, with as much ridicule as we
found leisure to bestow on him and that was a great deal,
during the remainder of the voyage.
"Now these are the facts, and in support of the truth of
them, I have to state that which is notorious at New York,
namely, that the cub's copten, though he had nearly fifty pas
sengers on board, did not dare publish, as was the uniform
practice in similar cases, a certificate or declaration on the
part of those passengers, of his good treatment of them, such
a paper was drawn up, it was signed by the two Yankees
and the two cubs ; it was carried into the steerage, amongst
the steerage passengers, just as we were coming off the port
of New York. It was signed, I believe, by the greater part of
them, but I declared my resolution, that if any such paper ap
peared in print, I would publish my account of the behaviour
33. — vol. n. 2 n

274 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
of the cub's copten. No certificate ever appeared in print, and
I appeal to every one, except sly old Quakers and their slaves }
whether this be not proof sufficient of my having been in the
right in this transaction.
" If any persons want to know what sort of an inmate I
am on board a ship, let them ask Captain Cobb, of the ship
Hercules, who is now with his ship at Liverpool, and with
whom I came home. He will say, that he never had so little
expensive and troublesome a passenger in all his numerous
voyages. He will say, that he never heard me find fault, but
with the superabundance, and really waste of his excellent
provisions. He will say, that I know how to keep young
men, strangers to me, from drinking even on board of ship,
and that I know how to make a cabin t heerful, and to make
the time seem short, and at the same time to banish cards and
dice. He will say, that the ship having come to an anchor,
and we having heard that the Anne of New York had been
seized, on account of smuggled Canton crapes ; he will say,
that suspecting us to have some, he looked very hard at us and
said, ' I hope that none of you would expose me to ruin.' He
will say, that upon his barely uttering these words, I told the
ship's steward (to whom I had given mine) to bring them out,
to tie them up in a peice of canvass, to fasten a sounding
plummet to them, and I then had them tost into the sea,
though they had cost me several hundred dollars, and though
I had taken great pains to select them as presents for my
wife and daughters. Captain Cobb will further say, that he
saw my conduct with surprise, and that he exclaimed, ' Never
did I before see a man do a thing like that ! ! !' He expressed
great sorrow for the disappointment of my wife and daughters,
upon which, as he will remember, I said ' Oh! captain, don't
make yourself uneasy about that ; they will think these Can
ton crapes well disposed of, in relieving your mind, or they
are unworthy of wearing Canton crapes ! !'
" This detail, will, I dare say, be, by base and envious
wretches, like Egerton Smith, called egotism, disgusting
egotism, and it is disgusting to me to be compelled to enter

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 275
into such details. But what am I to do ? Am I to be silent,
while a swarm of corrupt miscreants are endeavouring to en
feeble the effect of my public labours, by calumniating my
private character ? If I were to notice a fiftieth part of these
calumnies I should want room, though I filled my Register
with nothing else. I mean the printed calumnies, for as to
those which are uttered from the lips, a thousand volumes a
year would not hold them. But I will just here give warn
ing to a cub who is a member of a county, that if I hear any
more of his base and cowardly backbitings, I will make him,
before I have done with him, glad to seek refuge in that
suffocation, for which a vat of drug juice, called London por
ter, will afford the appropriate and convenient means. Not
in this case will it be ashes to ashes, but poison to poison.
If such a stupid oaf be endured in silence, he surely ought to
think himself too fortunate, and ought to take great care how
he endeavours to blacken those who possess talent, and whose
duty, strictly speaking, it is to expose and lash him."
A man, it is said, is seldom the judge of his own character,
in this respect, however, Cobbett was an exception, and cer
tainly whatever might be the opinion, which other persons
might be disposed to form of him, no doubt can exist, that he
stood very high in his own estimation, as the following will
testify. Having disposed of the cub, the member of a county,
he thus proceeds, " If any one should be disposed to ask,
' How comes it, that a man so directly the opposite of all that
is selfish, ungenerous, and unfeeling ; so kind, so indulgent,
so tender towards all that come under his poiver, down to the
lowest of animals ; so forbearing as to lose thousands upon
thousands, without ever having brought an action in the ivhole
of his life; so completely destitute of insolent pride, so affable
and obliging ; in his very nature so happy, so good humoured,
and gay? If any person should ask, how it comes to pass,
that such a man should by so many of ' the race that write,'
be held up as a hard, morose, violent, ill-tempered, unfeeling
ruffian, let that person find the answer in the remark, which

276 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
I quote from memory, of the Dean of St. Patrick, * The
dunces are lenient enough towards each other, but if a man
of real talent happen to make his appearance, they are all
instantly up in arms, and as they cannot pull him down to
their own level in any other way, they will endeavour to
murder and blast his character.' "
Cobbett felt extremely indignant at the statement put forth
by Cropper, under the name of Veritas, that the Wrights had
refused him a passage to England on board one of their ships,
especially as Cobbett takes to himself no little credit for hav
ing been the instrument, through the medium of his Register,
of convincing the people of New York, and through them,
the people of Liverpool, of the excellence of the line of packet
system, which had been adopted between those two places ;
little imagining at the same time, that for the high eulogiums
which he had passed on the system, he was to be treated with
ingratitude by the very owners of those vessels, and actually
to be refused a passage in them. Cobbett thus enters upon
his own defence, and his attack upon the Wrights, and
roughly indeed did he handle them.
" You say that Wright and sons had taken their deter
mination in consequence of my behaviour on board the Im
porter. Now this conduct must have been known by the
partners and brothers of Isaac Wright, for it had taken place
in May 1817, and it had even been the subject of publication
(drawn forth by a lie in the London Courier,) so early as the
fall of 1817. Now then, take these facts ; Jourdan Wright,
a brother of Isaac, came to visit me with one of his sons,
about the month of June, 1818, and to invite me to visit him,
which I frequently afterwards did. Charles Wright, another
brother of Isaac, met me at Jourdan Wright's, and very
kindly invited me to his house, to which I went once or
twice. Anthony Franklin, one of the partners, I believe, came
and invited me to his house. James Bird, whose daughter
has married a son of Jourdan Wright, did the same. I never,
till I went to take my passage, personally knew Isaac or his
sons, but if Isaac thought me a bad man, and not fit to go in

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 277
one of his ships, what the devil were all these relations about,
who were really as good people as ever existed in the world,
and as sensible as Isaac, at the least. Bear in mind, cunning
old fox, that I did not scrape acquaintance with any of these
gentlemen, for such they were in manners as well as in for
tune and style of living; they came to invite me, and I
should be a great hypocrite, if I denied that their behaviour
towards me was always polite and kind. It was not I, how
ever, who went to them first, or to any body else of an
opulent character or appearance. I did, as I always do,
scrape acquaintance enough, but it was always with the
humbler farmers ; mere wealth or fine clothes, never having
been with me an object of respect, nor even of attention.
What then, I repeat, were all these relations about, eating
drinking, talking, aye, and even langhing with William
Cobbett, and ' pleased to see him,' if Isaac and his sons re
garded him as unworthy to go in one of their packets ? More
over my intended return to England was always a subject of
conversation amongst us, and long before the month of Oc
tober came, they knew that I was to return in the ship Amity,
which it was known of course would sail from New York on
the tenth of that month.
" About a fortnight or three weeks before that day, I went
to Isaac Wright at his own house, about three miles from
New York, which happened to be close by the house where I
then lived, and agreed with him for my passage, for which I
" was to pay forty guineas. I had never seen this Wright before,
and I must say that I did not like his looks. He really looked
what he proved to me. He was a sly-looking fellow, with a
hard, slate-coloured countenance. However, he agreed with
me for my passage. In some days after, I sent my son
James to pay him the forty guineas, and was surprised to
find that he refused to take the money, alleging that seven
other passengers, who had also taken places, said they would
not go in the ship, if I went. For a reason, presently to be
mentioned, I was well convinced that this was a lie. I then
wrote to the old blackguard, stating to him the injustice of

278 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
his proceeding; representing to him, that fully warranted by his
public advertisements of packets regularly plying between
New York and Liverpool, for the accommodation of passen
gers, I had long ago written home to my family, that I
should sail in the Amity on the tenth of October. That to
refuse me a passage was to violate faith with the public, as
pledged in the standing advertisements ; that it was in this
case, to create disappointment and uneasiness in my family;
that to do this act of injustice, to be guilty of this breach of
agreement, on the alleged ground that he should lose money
by letting me go, was something so very scandalous, that I
hoped a little reflection would convince him, that in the end,
it could not fail to expose him to just, severe, and general
reproach, but that if after all, he was resolved to persevere,
I requested him to furnish me with the names of those pas
sengers, who had refused to sail with me, for unless he did
that, my conclusions as to his conduct would be, if possible,
still more unfavourable.
" This letter was taken to the old vagabond by my son
James, who was then sixteen years of age. The old rip took
the letter into another room, to consult the devil, I suppose,
how he should get out of the scrape, and in the meantime,
the sneaking son of a hound said to James, in a sort of whin
ing voice ' Why now friend Cobbett, thee canst not expect that
father should give up seven for one? To which James replied,
' I do not know what I am to expect from your father, but I
know that my father would give up a million for one, rather
than be guilty of so base an act, and that if any passengers
were to propose such a thing to him, he would kick them out
of the house.' The cub was as insensible to all feelings of
honour as the old fox himself. I got no answer to my letter,
other than a verbal message by James, that the old dog hoped
I should not be offended, that I could take a passage in some
other ship ; that to tell me the names of the passengers could
only lead to cause quarrels and strife, and that it was the duty
of christians to promote peace and good will amongst men.
" I shall make no comment on this, otherwise than by re-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 279
lating what passed between me and a very eminent lawyer, a
countryman and a townsman of this shameless old reprobate
Quaker. I said to him, ' Cannot you help me to torment
this vile old dog ? ' His answer was ' What can you do with
such a blackguard ? As to shame he has none, and though a
jury would certainly give you some of his money, the thing
would not be worth the trouble. By the cant of his sect, he
has the same protection, that we give to the most audacious,
and profligate of women, but I think he should not escape
chastisement altogether. If you horsewhip him yourself, they
will hold you to bail for your appearance, and that is just
what is wanted by him, and those, to gratify whose wishes,
and his own interest, he acts. You may, if you like, let your
son horsewhip him. I will engage he comes off with a fine
of a quarter of a dollar.'
" I did not like to leave my son to do that, which I would
not have done myself, and so the dirty old dog has escaped
all punishment till now, and now friend Cropper, you it is
that have drawn forth that, which he long ago merited. Not
that this act of his did not excite general indignation, con
tempt, and reproach. The old vagabond made the apology
about the seven passengers to Dr Taylor, who arrived in
one of his ships before I came away, but Dr. Taylor told him
to his face, that he knew of no breach of contract, and no act
of fraud even, that might not be justified upon similar grounds.
And to do the sect justice, one Quaker, and not a low one
neither, who had heard the story, and who came to ask me
about it, said ' That Wright was a d — d old rascal, and ought
to be flung over the wall ; ' for Quakers will now and then
rap out, and I have observed that those that do are by no
means the least sincere.
" Thus stands friend Isaac, upon your own showing, but
he is not yet exhibited in his true colours, as you will pre
sently see. When I took my passage of him, the yellow
fever was raging in New York, and he told me that he feared
that he should not be able to obtain a letter of health from
the English consul, Buchanan, by the tenth of October.

280 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
He said he had been to the consul, and was trying to get
such letter, it being of vast importance to him, seeing that if
the ship did not sail on that day, or if the ship were compelled
to perform quarantine at Liverpool, there would be a gap in
the line of packets, and that the whole of this great concern
would be thrown into confusion. Now attend, reader, and
mark the wonderously extensive workings of THE THING
that famous THING that I have so often failed in my en
deavours adequately to describe.
" Thus then, much depended upon this consul, who had
been appointed by Castlereagh to the port of New York.
Just at this precise time we had received news of the memora
ble Manchester affair, and of all the hubbub that was going
on in England. If Isaac had me on board his ship, he
imagined in the first place, that no point would be stretched
in giving him his letter of health, and in the next place that
his quarantine at Liverpool, if at last, he was compelled to
sail without the letter of health, would not be shortened, on
account of my being on board the ship. The result was, the
yellow fever still raged on the 10th October, the letter of
health could not be given without an open violation of the
reports of the board of health, but though the ship was laden
with things and with people coming from the very seat of
deadly infection, she performed no quarantine at Liverpool,
and lay in the quarantine ground only while one letter was
passing to London and another coming back."
That Cobbett was refused a passage in the Amity is a
fact admitted even by himself ; but the cause of that refusal
has never been properly explained, for although Cobbett
gives his own version of the transaction, and attributes the
refusal to his alleged indecorous conduct on board the Im
porter, yet it is evident, that some other reasons actually
existed, and which, we are in some degree warranted in
conjecturing, were well known to Cobbett, but which, from
prudential motives, he refrained from exposing.
Having obtained the inestimable treasure of the bones cf
Paine, he sailed in the Hercules, and on the 20th November,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 281
found himself lying off the town of Liverpool, from which
place he had embarked about two years previously, com
pelled to expatriate himself from the mere dread of an act,
which had been scarcely called into operation, and none of
the clauses of which he had yet infringed.
As soon as it was known in Liverpool, that Cobbett was
amongst the passengers of the Hercules, a great number of
his friends and political adherents hastened to the shore, in
order to greet him on his return once more amongst them.
On landing, he was received by them with all the fervour that
men can express when they behold once more a friend whom
they had respected, at the same time, that some hisses were
also heard, which were presumed to arise more from the extra
ordinary circumstance of his being the importer of the bones
of Paine, than from any motive of personal disrespect. In
the evening, accompanied by Mr. Egerton Smith, he visited
several of his friends, and on the following morning, he
proceeded to the Custom House, whither his luggage had been
brought up from the vessel, to undergo the usual inspection,
and where a number of persons had congregated to see him.
When the last trunk was opened and sundry deeds and
manuscripts removed, a division of woollen appeared, and
Cobbett standing up, said to the surrounding spectators,
" Here are the bones of the late Thomas Paine." This in
telligence excited a sudden and visible sensation, and the
crowd pressed forward to see the contents of the package.
Cobbett remarked, " Great indeed must that man have been,
whose very bones attracted such attention." The officer
took out the coffin plate, inscribed, " Thomas Paine, aged 74,
died 8th June 1809,' ' and having lifted up several of the bones,
replaced the whole, and passed them. They were imme
diately sent off to London ; Cobbett is said to have apostro
phized the skull of Paine, but whether in the style of Hamlet,
or that of Yorick, is not mentioned.
As soon as it was understood that the stay of Mr. Cobbett
in Liverpool, would not exceed a very few days, the reformers
announced their intention of giving him a public dinner on
33  vol. n. 2 o

282 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
his return to England. To effect, their purpose, and to
ascertain his own opinion upon the subject, a letter signed
by some of the most influential of the party was addressed to
him, requesting an answer as to his acquiescence or refusal
to meet them on the occasion. To this letter Mr. Cobbett
returned an answer of some length, together with the follow
ing brief note. " TO THE PEOPLE OF LIVERPOOL.
"Liverpool, Nov. 24th, 1819.
" On the day of my landing here, I promised my friends,
who were anxious to see me, that I would give them an
opportunity of doing it before my departure. In fulfilment
of this promise, I intend to be at a public meeting in Clayton
square on Friday, the 26th instant, at twelve o'clock.
(Signed) " William Cobbett."
Friday morning was remarkably unfavourable for thp
meeting, the snow and sleet fell copiously, and visibly
damped the ardour of the Liverpool reforming patriots. Va
rious accounts have been published of this meeting, not two
of which agree as to the manner in which it was conducted ;
one representing that Cobbett was received with the expres
sions of the most ardent enthusiasm, whilst the others declare,
that he met with the most violent hisses and other tokens of
disapprobation. He arrived in a hackney coach, accom
panied by his son William, Mr. Thomas Smith, and one or
two other individuals. The applauses and hisses were con
tinued with great vehemence, and several contests took place
between the contending parties. In one or two instances,
attacks were made on persons, who had the temerity to
express their disapprobation of Cobbett, and they were
roughly handled by the mob for it. Several false alarms of
danger, were in the course of the performance raised ; and it
afforded not a little amusement to see the trepidation, with
which great numbers fled from the square, through the dif
ferent streets, which lead out of it. Cobbett endeavoured

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 283
repeatedly to obtain a hearing, but so loud was the storm,
and so great the confusion that prevailed amongst the mul
titude, that none but the favoured few around the carriage
could catch with accuracy the purport of his observation.
They were, however, directed to two points ; the statement
of his motives for bringing the bones of Paine from America,
which certainly had raised up against him a host of enemies,
and the necessity of a reform in the Commons House of Par
liament, and a detail of the plan of reform. After the coach
had remained about a quarter of an hour in the ground where
it first drew up, it was removed to another part of the square,
and the orator proceeded with his speech with less interrup
tion, than before. In the conclusion of his harangue, he
informed the multitude that it was his intention to offer
himself as a member for the city of Chichester, where there
was then a vacancy, in consequence of the Earl of March
having been called to the House of Peers, and that he had
already sent off his address to the electors of that place.
The following was certainly not written by one of Cobbett's
partizans, or one who admired either the man or his princi
ples, but we will not alter the style of it.
" A most august and impressive ceremony now took
place. The deputies from the reformers of Manchester,
amongst whom was the celebrated Mr. Johnson, and who
had been standing during the delivery of the speech at the
side of the carriage, with the addresses in their hands, were
graciously permitted to enter the carriage. They approached
the great man with becoming reverence, and were received
with the most affable condescension ; Mr. Johnson holding his
credentials in his hand, and taking off his hat, proceeded to
address Cobbett in a strain of diffidence and humility. The
worthy deputy's speech could not be heard, but he appeared
as if conscious of being in the presence of a superior genius.
Cobbett listened to him with dignified attention. Mr. John
son then presented addresses from Manchester, Warrington,
Blackburn, Bolton, and other places ; amongst them was one
from a female reform society. Cobbett received the addresses

281 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
in the most gracious manner, and briefly expressed his thanks
for the honour which the reformers of Lancashire had con
ferred upon him by their attention on the present occasion.
He then took leave of the multitude, and the coach drove from
the square ; when it had reached the top of Hanover-street,
the horses were taken off, and Cobbett was drawn to his
lodgings by the populace.
" In the evening, the dinner given to Cobbett in honour of
his arrival in England, took place at the Castle Inn, Lord-
street. The company who sat down to it did not. exceed
sixty, Mr. Thomas Smith was in the chair. It was a truly
radical meeting ; nothing but the radical beverage, water,
was on the table during dinner, of which the company took
copious libations. Many, however, did not relish such in
sipid beverage, and suffered the force of habit, or the cravings
of appetite to predominate over a sense of public duty in
abstaining from every taxable commodity. Mr. Cobbett,
however,, remained true to the radical resolution, and mag
nanimously abstained from drinking any thing but pure
water. " After the cloth had been removed, the chairman pro
ceeded with the toasts, amongst which was the following :•
" * The memory of our famous countryman, Thomas Paine,
the NOBLE OF NATURE; THE CHILD OF THE LOWER ORDERS ;
illustrious from his unrivalled talents, and still more illus
trious from the employment of those talents in the cause of
the oppressed of all nations.'
" The chairman then proposed the health of Cobbett, which
was drank with thunders of applause.
'< Cobbett addressed the company in a long speech. He
first noticed the slanders, which had been heaped upon him
during his absence from England, and which, he said, were
not. only false, but atrocious and unmanly, but he had to
thank the good sense of the country, for having rendered
them of no effect. He then proceeded to the subject, of par
liamentary reform. Upon the present corrupt state of the
representative system, and the necessity, nature, and extent

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 285
of reform, he descanted at some length. He then adverted
to the subject of the bones of Thomas Paine, and entered
into a long justification of his motives for disinterring and
bringing them to England. He then proceeded to' defend
himself from the charge of inconsistency, which had been
brought against him, in having once abused the very man,
whose bones he now intended to honour. This he did by
urging the plea of immaturity of judgment and want of ex
perience at the time he attacked Paine, and because Paine
was then supporting the enemies of his country. Conscious
that he had done Paine an injustice in his early days, he was
willing on his return to America to listen to a suggestion of
Mr. Benbows to bring his bones to England His remains
had been dishonoured in America, though he was the founder
of her independence, for he was the first man to propose the
declaration against England, though the proposal was op
posed by the celebrated Dr. Franklin. With respect to his
object in bringing these bones to England, it was to have
them exhibited in London to as many persons as might
choose to come to see them. He intended to do every thing
he could to raise a sufficient, sum, in order that a colossal
statue might be erected to Paine' s memory, and if he lived,
he hoped to execute his purpose.
" Cobbett retired from the dinner about eleven o'clock,
followed by a great number of his friends."
On the 28th of November, Mr. Cobbett took leave of his
friends in Liverpool, for the purpose of visiting a number of
his acquaintance at Manchester. At Irlam, a plaee about ten
miles from the last named town, he stopped for a short time
to take some refreshment, and before her could again start
on his journey, a messenger arrived from Manchester with
a letter from the boroughreeve and constables, urging upon
him the impolicy of his entering a town, which had recently
been the scene of a dreadful conflict between the cavalry
yeomanry, and the people, who had assembled with Mr.
Hunt for the purpose, of petitioning for parliamentary Teform.
The following is a copy of the letter.

286

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.

" Sir, " Manchester, Nov. 28th, 1819.
" Having reason to believe that your introduction
into the town of Manchester, on Monday the 29th instant, is
intended to be public, and to be accompanied by an unusual
procession and multitude of people, as well strangers, as
inhabitants, we, the undersigned, being boroughreeves and
constables of the towns of Manchester and Salford, beg to
inform you, that we consider such an assemblage of a great
mass of the population of this district, in the present situation
of the country, is necessarily attended with considerable
danger to the public peace. We do, therefore, caution you
against making any public entry into the town of Manchester,
and if you persist in so doing, or if you adopt any other
proceeding, whereby the public peace may be broken or en
dangered, we shall feel it our indispensable duty immediately
to interfere. " We are, " Sir,
" Your obedient servants.

Thomas Sharp
John Orford
Richard Smith
I. E. Scholes
T. Mariot
S. Mathews

Boroughreeve Constables Boroughreeve Constables

Manchester.

Salford.'

Upon receiving this letter, Mr. Cobbett immediately re
plied to Messrs. the Boroughreeves and Constables, in the
following terms.

" Gentlemen, " Irlam, Nov. 29th, 1819.
" If it had come from any other person in this world,
the notification which I have just received from you, would
have surprised me. Coming from you, it excites no surprise,
nor any sort of feeling towards you, which was not before

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 287
entertained by every just man in every part of the world
where your deeds and character have been heard of.
" But, Gentlemen, is it really come to this, that a man
upon returning to his country, or upon moving from one
part of England to another, is to be stopped on his way by
threats of interference on the part of officers appointed to
keep the peace, lest the concourse of people which his mere
presence may draw together should produce danger of a
breach of the public peace ? Is it really come to this ? Is this
the state of England ? Is this the law ? Is this one of the
effects of that system, which we are told is so excellent that
it requires no reform ? The laws of England secure to us the
right of loco-motion, that is to say, the right of moving our
bodies from one place to another. Now, if your notification be
any thing more than a mere empty putting forth of words, it
presumes that you have a right to prevent me from enjoying
this liberty of loco-motion, for you tell me you shall interfere,
if I persist in my intention of making a public entry into
your town ; and alas ! we know too well what you mean by
interference. And what do you mean by public entry?
What do you mean, I say, by public entry ? How am I to
make any other than a public entry, if I enter at all ? Like
other persons, my intention must have been to enter your
town in a carriage, or on horseback, or on foot ? Are not
these the ways in which all other persons enter ? and have I
not a right to enter as other persons do ? Either, therefore,
you must mean' to forbid me to enter at all, or you must
mean that I shall move like the women of the seraglio of the
dey of Algiers, shut up in a box with large air holes in it, or
ride upon a horse, my body and head being covered with a
species of tub. This is the state, is it, to which the system
has brought once free and happy England ?
" To what a pitch must men have arrived, when they
could sit down and look at one another in the face, while they
wrote and signed a paper, such as that you sent me. This
paper was addressed to a man having no power and no in
clination to disturb the public peace, a man who, with the

288 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
knowledge of recent events daily impressed upon his mind,
has taken the precaution to beseech the people not to mix up
a reception of him with even an allusion to those events. It
appears manifest, that the public peace could not have been
endangered from my entrance into Manchester. But to
see such multitudes of people assembled together to show
their respect for me, appeared to be more than you could
endure. We read the accounts of the prince of Saxe-Coburg,
the Marquis of Anglesea, the Duke of Wellington, and other
great personages, moving here and there amidst public
plaudits. Infinite pains at any rate are taken to make us
believe that this is the case. What right, therefore, have you
to make any attempt either directly or indirectly to prevent
the people from bestowing their applause upon me in person ?
Is not my right to move from place to place as perfect as
any of the three men that I have just mentioned. Aye, but
then the assemblages that they cause are so small.
" Suppose I were at this moment living at an inn at Man
chester, it is pretty clear, 1 believe, that an assembly of per
sons would take place at any time that I chose to walk out
to the spot, where the dreadful scenes of the 1 6th of August
were exhibited. What, then, would you expel me your
towns, or compel me to keep myself shut up in a room ?
And if the people presumed to come to show me marks of
their respect, would you visit them with your awful inter
ference ? Gentlemen, we shall live to see the day, and that
day is not far distant, when I shall be able to visit the ex
cellent people of Manchester, and its neighbourhood, without
you daring to step in between us with threats of interference.
" Let me call on you to think a little on the figure you
now make in the world. Here I am at ten miles from Man
chester, there are the people whom you call an unusual
multitude, ready to receive me, and to bestow upon me all
possible marks of respect, and there are you sending me
threats of interference, and preparing all sorts of means for
making that interference effectual, in order to intercept a
verbal expression of popular approbation, intended to be be-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 289
stowed upon a man destitute of every species of means of
obtaining that approbation, other than the means naturally
arising from his integrity and his talents, his well known love
for his country, and his well known zeal in her cause, during
the whole course of his life, under all circumstances, whether
abroad or at home, whether in prosperity or adversity.
" Thus the parties stand before the world. I disdain to tell
you what my intentions are, whether I intend to enter Man
chester or not. I have made this comment upon your com
munication, in order that the nature of your conduct may be
the better understood, and even in doing this, I have con
descended to bestow on you too great an honour.
" With feelings, such as a real friend of the people, a real
lover of his country, and faithful subject of the king must
ever entertain towards men like you, " I am,
" William Cobbett."
Having despatched this severe reply to the worthy borough
reeves and constables of Manchester and Salford, Mr. Cob
bett began to think more calmly upon the subject, and to
place things in a truer light before his own mind. He now
foresaw the greatest danger lurking behind him, if he should
unwittingly throw himself within the power of those, who
would gladly have proved themselves the instruments of his
destrutcion. Millions of eyes were anxiously fixed upon his
every movement, in order to seize upon the first opportunity of
fixing him with some vamped up charge of sedition or treason,
that would be sufficient to throw hirn entirely on the tender
mercies of those who had hitherto regarded him with a hatred
the most profound. They only hoped for some such oppor
tunity, and had Cobbett been a man of less judgment or pene
tration, the natural warmth of his temper would undoubtedly
have led him into the commission of some act or other, that would
have been twisted and tortured into a treasonable attempt
, against the life of our sovereign king, his crown, and dignity.
On first receiving the above-named polite note or warning
33.— vol. ii. 2 p

290 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM cobbett, esq.
from the worthy officials of Manchester, the natural obstinacy
of his disposition prevailed, and he determined, let the con
sequences to himself be what they might, to visit his friends
at Manchester, and thus prove to his vile aspersers, that he
could by his own influence gather together a large assemblage
of persons, restrain them from acts of violence, and event
ually disperse each man to his home without the commission
of even a single outrage. A little reflection, however,
changed this hastily formed resolution ; his carriage was at
the door, and stepping into it, he desired the driver to take a
more circuitous route, and thus avoid Manchester, and the
evil consequences that might have arisen had he ventured to
carry his original design into execution.
In the meantime, the female reformers of Manchester had
been anxiously looking out for the arrival of their champion,
to whom it was their intention to have presented a most ele
gant silver inkstand, and to deliver to him an address of
congratulation on his safe arrival in his native land. The
lady reformers, accused him of a want of gallantry, the
gentlemen of a want of spirit, and of a becoming confidence
in their resolution to abstain from every act, which could
be construed into a breach of the peace.
On arriving at Coventry, he drove to the Craven Arms
Hotel, intending to stay there that night. He then immediately
sent for a Mr. Lewis, who printed the Conventry Recorder,
but being told he was in London, he sent for Mr. James Grant,
at that time one of the principal leaders among the radical
reformers, who shortly waited upon him, and the evening
was passed together, talking over the then threatening aspect
of the political horizon. In the morning, after having par
taken of his breakfast, perceiving that a large concourse of
people had assembled round the house, for the purpose of
welcoming him on his arrival amongst them, he threw up the
window sash, and began addressing the concourse, whom he
promised to meet at the end of the town, when he would
address them in a speech, that should enlighten their under
standings as to the dreadful state the country was in. He

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 291
then closed the window, but scarcely had he done so, when
the landlord (a purse proud tory of course), sent him the fol
lowing insolent note.
" Sir, " You have taken an unwarrantable liberty in ad
dressing the populace from the windows of my house, and I
hereby request your immediate departure from it.
" To Mr. Cobbett. " William Whitlock."
Immediately upon receiving this impertinent epistle, Mr.
Cobbett sent for the landlord and asked him if he had written
it ; he told him he had, and the sooner he quitted the house
the better. To this gentlemanly request, of course, Mr.
Cobbett could offer no resistance, he at once ordered his chaise
and during the time it was getting ready, a large placard was
fastened to the windows of the same officious personage,
stating that the bones of Cobbett and Tom Paine are ordered
to quit this house. Cobbett then mounted the bar of the
chaise, and with his hat in his hand, was driven to the ex
tremity of the city of Coventry, where he addressed an
assemblage of persons, who, not having their skins and purses
so well filled as this insolent tavern keeper, were well pleased
to hear the exposition with which he then favoured them.
The treatment which Cobbett received at Coventry was
by no means calculated to flatter his vanity and self-love.
He was assailed from every quarter by the most degrading
epithets, some calling him a resurrection man, in allusion to
Paine's bones, whilst others assailed him on the ground of
his cowardice in flying to America, before any danger awaited
him. Previously to his departure from Coventry, the follow
ing lines were put into his hands, entitled,
COBBEY's DREAM.
The moon retired behind a cloud,
And fast asleep were young and old,
In nasal twangs, both long and loud ;
" Past three o'clock," had watchey told, , r

292 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
When Cobbey lay him down to snore.
His thoughts ohPaines, Cabliles, and Honks
When lo, a hollow voice did roar,
0 give me back my pilfer'd bones.
Pale horror raised erect his hair,
Above the sheets he popped his chin,
And saw Tom Paine before him stare
With menacing terrific grin,
O rascal, why my name a fresh
Dost thou lug forth in canting tones,
The worms content were with my flesh,
But thou hast robbed me of my bones ;
Why didst thou on the billows toss,
Or why thy native country fled,
Why thou the vast Atlantic cross 1
Why caitiff, thief ! to rob the dead.
Lay by thy pen, cork up thine ink,
None read thee now but drivelling drones,
Thy boasted fame will end in stink,
So give me back my pilfer'd bones.
0 scrub, how didst thou once becall
The wretched elf, thou now dost praise,
Prepare thee for thy destined fall,
Whence none give two pence thee to raise."
Awake, he cried, " Avaunt ye fears |
'Tis but a dream my mind dethrones,
Come, let me bellow in thy ears
I'll SEE THEE D  D, I'll KEEP THY BONES.'
On the arrival of Cobbett in London, the crests of the radi
cals, which had been for some time in a falling state, rose
with increased pride, for their champion was returned to them,
in whose powerful pen, they beheld the instrument, which
was to lay their enemies prostrate, and crown their cause with
triumph. His arrival at Liverpool was no sooner known
than a gentleman of Westminster waited upon Mr. Hunt,
and suggested that the return of Mr. Cobbett to England
should be celebrated by a public dinner. Mr. Hunt acceded
at once to this proposal, and in consequence, an advertise
ment was put into "the public papers, when, as instantly no

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 293
less than forty persons offered themselves as stewards. A
letter announcing this intention on the part of the radicals
was forwarded to Mr. Cobbett at Liverpool, but he had left
that place before the letter arrived, and it was not until his
arrival in London on the Thursday preceding the dinner,
that he was at all apprised of the manner in which his return
to England was to be celebrated.
The dinner was accordingly held at the Grown and An
chor Tavern in the Strand, on the 3rd December, and at the
hour announced for dinner above 400 persons had assembled,
the meeting, however, were exposed to some inconvenience,
for provision had only been made for about 200, and the
bustle and anxiety in catering for the additiopal numbers
that arrived, created considerable delay and impatience. Mr.
Hunt was called to the chair, and this circumstance was
greedily seized upon, by the opposite party to show the gross
inconsistency of the character of Cobbett, and the apparent
meanness of Hunt in presiding at a dinner given in honour
of a man, who to use Cobbett's own words, had blackguarded
him in every possible way that his fancy could devise. In
fact, Hunt had not long taken his seat before a packet was
delivered to him, containing a number of copies of the follow
ing extract from one of Cobbett's Registers.
"It is impossible for both factions united to calumniate
our motives, if we proceed as we ought, and do not mix with
men of bad character. There is one Hunt, a Bristol
man — beware of him. He rides about the country with a
w  , the wife of another man, having deserted his own.
He IS A SAD FELLOW. HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH
HIM. This untoward circumstance threw a little damp upon the
conviviality of the day, if such a meeting can be called con
vivial in its generally accepted sense, for when the cloth
was withdrawn and Mr. Hunt rose to propose the first toast,
he first complimented " the immense multitude " on their
abstinence from wine and spirits, although unfortunately for
the chairman, there were at that time about half a dozen

294 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
bottles of wine, and a bowl of punch on the table. Mr.
Hunt, however, whose vision for the time must have been
somewhat clouded, declared that he did not see a single
bottle of wine on the table, and he sincerely trusted, that as
the thing had begun, so it would end ; that the enemies of.
radical reform would not see them reeling home dead drunk,
and that the meeting would indeed prove " The feast of
reason, and the flow of soul."
On the health of Mr. Cobbett being drunk, the " ardent and
zealous defender of our rights and liberties, by whose lumi
nous and incomparable writings the public opinion of the
people of this country, had undergone a change unparalleled
in the history of the world," and the toast having been drunk
with three times three, Mr. Cobbett rose and prefaced his
speech by observing that he thanked the company for the
honour which they had just done him, but that he would be
paying the company a bad compliment, if he did not consider
that he was in reality deserving of that honour. He pro
ceeded to notice the attacks which had been made upon him
in his absence, for he well knew the prejudices and passions
which actuated mankind. The road to eminence was rugged
and steep, and those who travelled it, were like him, exposed
to scorn, rebuffs, and jealousies. He felt nothing but contempt
against his slanderers. He recollected that when young, he
often acted from ignorance himself, but he had since seen his
error, and he had no doubt that when he was dead, his surviving
calumniators would be sorry for the injury which they had
done his character. He then informed the company that it
was impossible for him to say when parliamentary reform
would be obtained, but he was convinced that it never would
be obtained until ministers relinquished the funded system,
it, however, appeared, that ministers were totally ignorant
of what that funded system was, and, therefore, the chances
of obtaining parliamentary reform were still greater against
the people. He then proceeded to give the company some
information about America, on which occasion he attributed
the whole of the distresses of that country to the conduct of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 295
one or two shabby Quakers, who had embarked in the paper
money system and that one Jacob Barker was, in the opinion
of Mr. Cobbett, as an issuer of paper money, one of the
greatest delinquents that ever polluted the soil of America.
From Jacob Barker, Mr. Cobbett passed to the bones of
Thomas Paine, which he very truly designated as a ticklish
subject. He confessed that he had written against Thomas
Paine, and he was sorry for it, but at the same time, he con
fessed also that he had never read the works, which he had so
abused and vilified, that he had read none of his works against
Christianity and therefore for aught he knew, Paine might be
as good a believer as himself. Further Cobbett informed the
company, that as soon as his eyes were opened as to the sickly
state of "The old lady in Threadneedle street" and then looked
into Paine, he felt convinced of his greatness, and that he
had done him great injustice. He should never forget that
Paine had foretold in 1796, the state of that old lady, and of
her present quivering condition. He would certainly exert all
his energies to have a statue or pedestal of bronze raised to
the memory of the exalted Thomas Paine, whom he could not
but designate, though rising himself from the lowest walks of
life, as the greatest enlightener of the human mind that ever

Mr. Hunt then gave a toast. "The memory of the ennobled
friend of nature, Thomas Paine, and may his calumniators
imitate his virtues, and his friends avoid his errors."
On the toast being given, " Success to the Reformers of
England, Ireland, and Scotland," Mr. Wooler made a long
harangue, closing his speech with the following most equivocal
sentence, and which was open to a certain construction, which
Cobbett could not certainly consider as a compliment to him.
" Cobbett," said Wooler, "had proposed a pedestal for Paine,
he would have Cobbett by the side of that great man, for
THEY ARE WORTHY OF EACH OTHER IN THE EYES OF THE
COUNTRY." Mr. Wooler then proposed the health of Mr. Hunt, who
in his speech defended himself from the imputation of being

296 ' MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
concerned with Carlile. He declared he did not know him,
and the chance alone of his having a cause of his own in the King's
Bench, he met him there upon his trial, and from humanity
assisted him. He afterwards offered to be his bail, but from
no religious motive, as he declared he had never read or even
heard of the works of Thomas Paine, until the trial of Carlile
took place ! ! He had learnt at one time to detest that man,
having seen his effigy burnt in his youth, and he would add,
that if his mind was not made up on the subject, the conduct
of the deists in not bailing Carlile, would at once determine
that point. He finally recommended abstinence and early
hours to the reformers. Hot water and ginger had served
him for a complaint in the stomach instead of gin.
After a few more unimportant toasts, the company broke
up, but as Cobbett was leaving the tavern, he was arrested
by one of the Middlesex officers for a debt contracted pre
viously to his departure from this country. He was, however,
subsequently bailed by Mr. Hunt, and Mr. Dolby, the pub
lisher of his Register.
The latter incident serves to prove how constantly his
enemies were at work to annoy, even to ruin him. It was
hoped that a gaol would now be his future doom, and that being
thus in some degree separated from the other reformers, he
would become more pliant to the will of the government, and
that if not an advoeate of their unjust measures, he would
at least cease to annoy them with his perpetual abuse of their
infamous policy.
In the mean time, the speculation of Cobbett in the impor
tation of Paine's bones turned out to be a decided failure, and
in fact, he began to feel that he had committed a most egregious
blunder. He certainly dilated largely on the value of his trea
sure, but he could not get many to be of the same opinion as
himself. With the more serious and reflecting part of the com
munity, his valuable ossifications produced rather disgust, than
either admiration or approbation ; and with those, who treated
them with levity, he became the favourite object of their ridicule
and mockery. To complete the farce, a report was circulated

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 297
that Cobbett had made a grievous mistake, and that instead
of the bones of Paine, he had brought away with him, those
of an old negro, who' had been buried by his side, whilst
another version of the tale was, that some mischievous witlings
had taken the opportunity of exchanging the bones of Paine,
for those of an old woman ; at all events, the business became
to Cobbett any thing but one of gain or pleasure. He found
himself continually annoyed by lampoons of the following
tendency. Cobbett, through all his life a cheat,
Yet as a rogue was incomplete,
For now to prove a finished knave
To dupe and trick, he robs a grave,
The radicals seem quite e ated,
And soon will be intoxicated
For Cobbett means to turn their brain
With his American Sham Paine.
Cobbett made an attempt to get up a dinner on Paine's
birthday, but the demand for tickets was very small, and
finally, the projector was saved the mortification that awaited
him, had the festival taken place, by the refusal of the land
lord of the tavern, where it was to have been held, to lend
his house for such a purpose.
Whatever may have been the greatness of the intellectual
character of Cobbett, it cannot be disguised, that on several
occasions he descended to the commission of many petty acts
in his private transactions, which his friends could not approve
of, and of which bis enemies greedily and joyfully laid hold,
wherewith to depreciate his character, and to lower him
in the estimation of the people of this country. A man of
inferior power would have been irretrievably ruined, had he
taken some of the steps, which marked the conduct of Cob
bett, and from the consequences of which he was in a great
degree able to save himself by the vastness of his resources,
and by his unparalleled energy and perseverance, that enabled
him to bear up against the torrent of public opinion, which
on several occasions set in decidedly against him.
34. — vol. ii. 2 Q

298 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
At this time scarcely a Register appeared, in which Cob
bett did not refer t o the bones of Paine as a treasure beyond all
price, and expressed his determination of rendering them
some signal marks of honour. The public, however, ap
peared to Cobbett to be stricken with an obtuseness respecting
the value of these bones, which he could not account for as
emanating from an enlightened people, but in order to stim
ulate them to some sense of respect for his adopted idol, he
proposed that a magnificent funeral should take place, but
not until the arrival of the season, when twenty wagon-load
of flowers could be procured from all the gardens in the
suburbs of the metropolis, wherewith to strew the path, on
which the bones of " the ennobled of nature," as Cobbett
now styled Paine, were to be borne. A splendid monument
was also to be erected, but as the means to carry these
measures into effect were not exactly at hand, Cobbett set
his ingenuity to work and devised the following scheme,
which was either too deep for some to understand, or too shal
low for others to be taken in with. In addition to the wagon-
loads of flowers, and other funeral and monumental honours,
locks of hair of the deceased " noble of nature" were to be
distributed amongst his admirers, as appropriate memorials
of the man, whom Cobbett now delighted to honour. The
question was, indeed, mooted by some cavillers, that if the de
mand for these locks should be great, from what quarter was the
supply to be obtained, but Cobbett assured these sceptical
gentlemen, that he had an ample supply on hand to satisfy
all demands, and he would not hesitate to warrant the gen
uineness of the article. These love-locks were to be placed
in gold rings, but in order to secure the precious relic from the
dishonesty or rather from the waggery of the goldsmiths, the
hair was never to be out of the possession of Cobbett until it
was fairly and honestly soldered up in the rings ; and as a
further guarantee to the purchasers, the latter operation was
to be performed in the presence of Cobbett, or some one
deputed by him. These rings were to be sold to all, who
were willing to possess such an inestimable treasure, and

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 299
should the demand amount to twenty thousand, the stock of
hair on hand was amply sufficient for the purpose. Nor did
Cobbett consider that the demand was exorbitant, considering
the intrinsic value of the lock, as he only charged one
guinea for each, exclusive of the goldsmith's charge for gold
and workmanship. Thus, the cheering prospect opened
itself to Cobbett of reaping not a little profit from the hon
oured bones, or rather the honoured hair, of " the noble of
nature." The whole scheme, however, turned out to be a
complete bubble, the people designated it as a bare-faced,
impudent hoax, not a single ring was made, for none were
ever demanded , After this attempt, the bones and the hair
of Paine, might, for aught the public knew, have been placed
in the tomb of all the Capulets, for Cobbett observed a studied
silence about them, and the public did not appear to be in the
least disposed to break it.
It was generally allowed, even by the warmest partizans
of Cobbett, that this experiment, not only upon the taste, but
also upon the purse of the public, was highly detrimental to
his reputation ; they saw in it an attempt to raise a sum of
money by the actual means of fraud and deception, for it was
well known that at the time of Paine's death, he was almost
bald, and that in fact the hair, which Cobbett alleged as having
once adorned the head of " the noble of nature," was to have
been supplied from the sweepings of the floor of some bar
ber's shop.
A very short time had elapsed after Cobbett's return
from America, when an attempt was made to effect a recon
ciliation between him and Sir Francis Burdett, the latter of
whom had taken great offence at some aspersions thrown out
against him by Cobbett in his Registers, as well as on
account of some pecuniary transactions, which had passed
between them. For the better understanding of the causes
of the quarrel, and in order to place the character of the two
litigants in their proper light, it will be necessary to state
some facts which took place when the two reformers were
staunch friends, and when their combined popularity, con-

300 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
tributed essentially to the diffusion of those political principles,
which gained for them the applause and approbation of every
true lover of the British constitution.
Cobbett has been frequently, and not without good cause,
accused of political apostacy, and since the change in his
politics in 1805, he had unflinchingly and with his customary
talent advocated the principles of Sir Francis Burdett. He
had mixed himself up with his elections for Westminster with
all the influence of his person and all the power of his pen,
and to those very elections are the public indebted for some
of the most masterly productions of Cobbett's genius. He
was, however, not only the partizan, but the friend of Sir
Francis, for not only a personal, but a political intimacy ex
isted between them. When Cobbett was released from the
prison of Newgate, Sir Francis was the chairman of a dinner
that was given to Cobbett at the Crown and Anchor, and it
was well known, that during his imprisonment, he had re
ceived many unequivocal proofs of the Baronet's friendship.
This intimacy between the two renowned reformers was
maintained until the month of February, 1817, when it was
suddenly broken off, and no intercourse afterwards took place
between them, even up to the time of Cobbett's death.
During the existence of the intimacy, Sir Francis, with
the view of relieving Cobbett from some pecuniary demands
which were pressing heavily upon him, advanced him the
sum of two thousand pounds, and here the difference arose,
Sir Francis contending that it was a loan, and Cobbett
maintaining that it was a gift. However, to which ever
character the advance belonged, the sum was never afterwards
repaid ; a fact, which has always been taken hold of by the
enemies of Cobbett, as indicative of his want of honour or
principle in the discharge of his pecuniary obligations. It
must be fairly owned, that Cobbett had turned round upon
Sir Francis with a hatred violent in proportion to his former
friendship, and the attack which he then began upon " West
minster's glory " was continued up to the last years of his
life, with a perseverance at once unceasing and vindictive.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 301
Sir Francis, it must be confessed, returned some of these as
saults with interest, and then began the many imputations,
criminations, and recriminations about the two thousand
pounds. " But," says Cobbett, " he himself never for one
moment regarded any part or portion of this transaction as
being dishonest on my part. He was angry he had canied
his liberty doctrine so far, and in some respects too far, that
he began to wish that he could stop a little short of that
which he had so long professed in his more giddy days.
Though he had a great opinion of me, he was displeased with
me because I would not let him stop, because I would pull
him along, or push him along, or else assail him. This was
the fact, and then he said and wrote, while he was angry,
that which he did not think, and which he never could have
thought." [In order to show that Cobbett was here in an error, and
that Sir Francis Burdett had not a great opinion of him, we
subjoin a letter of the baronet's, in answer to an application
made to him to attend a meeting for the purpose of erecting
a monument to the memory of so great a man. It is, how
ever, worthy of remark, that Sir Francis makes the sum due
to him as £8000, which, at compound interest for fourteen
years since the money was lent, makes the money lent to be
£4000, which is the exact sum mentioned by the Quarterly
Review (see page 197, vol. 2. of this work).
The latter part of Sir Francis' letter must be highly gratify
ing to the committee for the erection of the monument.
" Sir> "I am directed by the Provisional Committee to
acquaint you that the public meeting for originating a sub
scription for erecting a monument to the memory of the late
William Cobbett, M.P., will be held at the Crown and An
chor Tavern, on Monday, the 13th of June next ; and that
Daniel O'Connell, Esq., M. P., has promised to take the
chair. " I am further directed to express the anxious hope of the

302 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
committee that you will favour them with your presence and
powerful influence ; and, as it is desirable to make proper ar
rangements for Members of Parliament and others who may
attend the meeting, I shall feel obliged by a letter expressive
of your intentions. " I have the honour to be,
" Sir,
"J. Oldfield, Secretary.
" To Sir Francis Buroett. " 1 1, Bolt-court, Fleet-street."
" Sir, " A letter from you, dated the 16th of May, having
followed me here, I lose not a moment in returning, accord
ing to your request, an answer.
" You invite me to a meeting to be held on the 13th of the
month, at the Crown and Anchor, at which Mr. D. O'Con-
nell is to preside, for the purpose of raising a subscription for
a monument to be erected to the memory of the late Mr.
Cobbett. The application is unique, as the French say, see
ing that whoever attends that meeting becomes a public
voucher, for the honesty, disinterestedness, and patriotism of
the said Mr. Cobbett. Now, as I believe, or rather know, the
reverse, and as all the world besides know my opinion and
experience thereon, it would be something worse than foolish
in me to attend such a meeting, and I can only wonder at
the application. At the same time, I cannot but acknowledge
that the United Empire could not furnish a more appropriate
chairman. Nor can I offer to the committee any contribution
more appropriate than Mr. Cobbett's bonds now in my pos
session, which, as considerably more than fourteen years have
elapsed since the money was lent, will amount to consider
ably more than £8000. I trust the committee will think this
a handsome and suitable offer.
" I remain, " Gentlemen,
" Your most obedient servant,
" Leamington, June 1st, 1836. " F. Burdett."]

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 303
Cobbett was at this time in Long Island, and his Registers,
which contained his attacks upon Sir Francis, were forwarded
to this country, so that it was in his absence that the as
persions about the money were first thrown out. On the re
turn of Cobbett to England a reconciliation, more on political
than personal grounds, was thought advisable by the friends
of Cobbett, and accordingly a friend of the latter waited upon
Sir Francis, with the view of bringing about that desirable
event. The baronet, however, was found to be inexorable.
He said Mr. Cobbett could not forget the many falsehoods
published in the Twopenny Register, which the writer must
have known, if true or false. If true, no honest man would
wish to renew an acquaintance with him, (Sir Francis) and
if false, what could be thought of the individual promulgating
such atrocious calumnies, with the knowledge of their being
such," Here the conversation ended, and Mr. Cobbett's
friend retired.
Cobbett gives the following explanation of this affair :
" When I was at Liverpool, I was strongly urged in private,
and even by a speech, a very eloquent speech of one of the
gentlemen at a dinner given to me there to unite with Sir
Francis Burdett. A similar request, and from persons on
whose judgment I set great value, was made to me at New
York. As I came on to London, I perceived that the wish
was very general. While at New York I had read Sir
Francis' Letter to the Electors of Westminster upon the
Manchester tragedy, of which letter I very much approved.
I had read also an account of the proceedings in Palace yard,
relative to the Manchester transactions, and in those proceed
ings, I thought I perceived what amounted to a proof of Sir
Francis' desire to co-operate with Mr. Hunt. My deter
mination from the moment I read of those proceedings, was
this, that when I came to England, I would bury, with regard
to the baronet, all the past in oblivion, and that if he were
disposed to exert himself to his utmost in behalf of the people,
to co-operate cordially with him. At the dinner at Liverpool,
I declared my readiness to be the first to move, and to go to

304 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
him and in the language of Scripture to say, " Is it peace ?"
When I came to London, a gentleman from the country, in
a day or two after the dinner at the Crown and Anchor,
asked me whether there were no means of producing a re
conciliation between Sir Francis and myself. After some
conversation upon the subject, I gave this gentleman his
commission in the following terms : " Dec. 4th, 1829.
" I am ready to tender my hand to Sir Francis
Burdett, and to tender my whole heart and mind to be ex
erted in co-operation with him, for the purpose of endeavour
ing to rescue our country from the fangs of its oppressors.
I am ready to bury all private considerations in oblivion. I
have seen all through the country, proofs of a most ardent
desire, that a union should take place, and I am resolved that
no private feelings of mine shall obstruct that union.
(Signed) " William Cobbett."
At the same time that I delivered this paper, I told the
gentleman, who was the bearer of it, what I had told all my
English friends at New York* and what I told to particular
friends at Liverpool, that I never would be the underworker
of Sir Francis Burdett again, and that I would have nothing
to do with him any more than with any other common per
son ; that I never would consult with him, and in short that
I would have nothing in the shape of co-operation with him,
except as one of a public meeting, perhaps, unless he would
IMMEDIATELY, AND OUT OF HIS OWN PURSE, FURNISH THE
MEANS OF FACILITATING, AS SOON AS THE OCCASION SHOULD
OFFER, THE ENTRANCE OF Mr. HUNT AND MYSELF INTO
the House of Commons. And this I told the gentleman
who was the bearer of the paper, and that he had full liberty
to state it to any person whatever either in conversation or in
print. This gentleman expressed his wish that these terms
might be communicated to Sir Francis Burdett by myself,
to which I had no objection, and I told him I should give the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 305
terms in writing, with permission to their being published
as soon as Sir Francis chose, and with a declaration on my
part that I should make them known to the public without
loss of time.
" The reasoning on which I proceeded was this : Sir
Francis Burdett lias now no influence, no weight of character
more than a common man. He is unable to give me any
support or aid. I can derive no assistance from his mere
name or countenance, I can gain no weight of character ; no
power to do good by the mere circumstance of intimate co
operation with him. But he has the power to put me in a situa
tion where I shall be able to do for the good of my country
ten thousand times as much as I am able to do with my pen
alone. He has ample means to effect this object. To him
it would be a sacrifice, if a sacrifice at all, not worth a mo
ment's thought. If, therefore, he will not do this, I shall lose
in point of consequence and influence, or by any intimate
communication that shall be known to take place between
him and me, and though I am not requested to tender any
such terms on the part of Mr. Hunt, I think his services to
the public give him a fair claim to be included in the negociation.
I observed at the same time, that I could perceive no ground
for preferring Sir Francis Burdett, before any other common
man of ordinary talent, unless the preference were given on
the score of his fortune, and that this fortune ought to be no
ground of preference, unless the fortune were to be brought
into action in favour of the cause : Suppose there are two
men, alike in all other respects, both friends to reform, both
zealous in the cause ; their talents equal and their courage
equal, only the one has great heaps of money, and the other
has none. Now what baseness is it to pretend that the poor
man is not of equal value to the rich man, unless the rich
man puts his hand into one of his bags in order to furnish the
means of surpassing the poor man's single exertions. This
was the ground that I proceeded upon, and I am very cer
tain that this ground will be regarded as perfectly good by
34. — vol. n. 2 r

306 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
every one, who is not servile enough to say that mere money
ought to be preferred to every thing else.
" On the 9th December I received the following note from
the gentleman, who had been the bearer of the paper above
inserted.
' Dear Sir,
' From a conversation I have just had with Sir
Francis Burdett, I am persuaded the enclosed cannot be
rendered available. This causes me regret, but I have
thought it best to return it to you with my assurance, that it
has not been used nor seen.'
"This was the whole that took place with any knowledge
of mine."
The foregoing most extraordinary document on the part
of Cobbett, requires little comment, it speaks most loudly
for itself, and perhaps as a specimen of sophistical reasoning,
its parallel will be difficult to be found. According to Cob
bett's own statement, he had determined whilst in America
to offer the olive branch to Sir Francis Burdett, but then no
mention whatever is made of the onerous proviso, by which
Sir Francis was to purchase the co-operation of Mr. Cobbett,
and not only of him, but of Mr. Hunt. Now it does not appear
that the baronet had at any time expressed his desire for the
co-operation of either of those gentlemen, but he was now to
be called upon to purchase it at the expence of two seats in
parliament, and the most extraordinary feature of this trans
action is, that Cobbett must have known that there was not
a borough in England that would return him as its member,
if such return depended upon the mere suffrages. How then
was Sir Francis Burdett to obtain the return of the two
radicals to parliament ? The baronet had frequently himself
experienced the expences of contested elections, and there
fore, were he disposed to accede to the exorbitant terms of
Mr. Cobbett, there was no other way of seating him in par-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 307
liament, than by one of those "villain boroughmongers,"
whom Cobbett himself had been so unmercifully lashing for
the last dozen years of his life. On the other hand, Sir
Francis Burdett might have felt disposed, previously to
entering into any negociation for a seat in parliament for
Cobbett, to investigate rather closely the value of the thing
he was to purchase, and whether it were in reality worth the
price he was called upon to pay for it. Perhaps he had
arrived at a private opinion of his own, that the House of
Commons was not a sphere in which Mr. Cobbett would
be of much use, but rather whether he would not actually
prove an injury to the cause, which he was exerting himself
to promote, at all events, it would have been only politic
and sensible in Cobbett to have ascertained the private sen
timents of Sir Francis on the subject, before he publicly sent
forth the grounds on which his co-operation was to be obtained.
The whole statement, however, of Cobbett, is replete with
deep finesse and subtlety ; when he sent forth his statement
to the public containing his proviso, that a seat in parliament
should be the price of his reconciliation with Sir Francis, it
was well known to him that the baronet had fully, and ex
plicitly rejected his overtures, and as he did not wish it to be
thought that the proposed reconciliation should be refused by
Sir Francis, he tries to impress upon the minds of the public,
that he himself would not accede to it, unless Sir Francis
agreed to the performance of such conditions, which no one
but a fool or a madman would have imposed upon him. Mr.
Cobbett talks of obtaining two seats in parliament, as acrifice
not worthy of a moment's thought by Sir Francis Burdett ;
which shows that Cobbett was well aware that Sir Francis
must have purchased those seats, and it would certainly have
been a delectable bonne bouche for the enemies of Cobbett, to
see him seated in a parliament, which he had characterized as
composed of a herd of venal slaves — the tools of the borough-
mongers and himself adding to the number.
In regard, however, to the affair between Cobbett and Bur
dett, when the former was attacked by the Morning Chronicle,

308 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
with a spirit approaching to fierceness, he sent form the
following defence.
" Having mentioned the affair of Burdett, I will here for
about the hundredth time expose the infamous lie which has
been circulated, and is still circulated with regard to that
affair. Let it be a loan, which it was not ; but let it be a
loan. I owed it him then ; and the story is, that I, owing it
him, wrote to him from America to say, that I would not pay
him. Now the senselessness of this lie, one would think
would cause it to be universally disbelieved. I was attack
ing him at the time, I was accusing him distinctly of having
abandoned the reformers in the months of February and
March 1817, I was laying it upon him with a heavy hand.
I was telling him that I would bring him down, though it
might cost me about ten years to do it, and at this time, I
was writing to him, and acknowledging the debt, and telling
him that I would never pay him. This is a thing not to be
believed of a sane person. I was in Long Island, to be sure,
but a power of attorney and writ would have stripped me
of every thing I possessed in that country, down to the very
bed that I lay in. But, as if this were not daring enough,
I came to England in a year and a half after I had told him,
that I never would pay him. And I came to London, too,
at about the end of that year and a half. What ! come across
the sea on purpose to put myself within his reach after having
stirred up his animosity, and declared that I never would pay
him. The fact is, that I knew what he had said in his anger, he
never would swear, and therefore Iwas sure that he neverwould
commence a suit against me for that money. Very soon, how
ever, after my arrival, he had an opportunity of swearing, if
he chose, for I became a bankrupt ; of which he was duly
informed, of course ; to prove his debt, he must swear to the
debt, but though invited to do so by Mr Brown, he never did
it, and the truth is never would he have said a word about the
matter, had it not been for his anger at the attacks, which I
had made upon him.
" But did I then never tell him that I would not pay him ?

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 309
Verbally this is impossible, because he and I were intimate
until the month of February 1817, and we have never spoken
together from that time to this. Was it in writing ? then he
has the letter, and then he can produce it, but I will state the
substance of the contents of the letter alluded to, and then the
reader will see the peg upon which this abominable lie has
been hung, and a member of parliament, whom I will not
now name, will take care how he again makes allusion to any
thing resting on such a foundation.
" In Long Island, about the spring of 1818, having had
time then to learn all the waste, the spoliation, the total
annihilation of all my property in England of every descrip
tion, I wrote a circular letter to all those to whom I owed
money in England, amongst whom I included the baronet. I
had been driven away from what was then become really an
enormous income. Sidmouth and Castlereagh's powers of Im
prisonment Bill had been passed, my choice lay between
flight and a dungeon; the laws of personal liberty were
abrogated as far as related to me.* In writing the above
circular letter, I made observations of this sort ' That the
laws of civil society made it incumbent on men to pay the
debts which they had contracted in that society, but that if
a partial tyranny arose, depriving a portion of the society of
the power of pursuing the calling which they had pursued
while the debt was contracted, and if the society as a whole,
were either unwilling or unable to abate such tyranny, then
that society bad no right to demand the payment of debts
due from those, who had been prescribed by that tyranny,
* This statement of Cobbett's is not borne out by the fact. The Six Acts
Bill contained no retrospective power of punishing a man for what he had
already done. It was enacted to prevent the future commission of those acts,
which endangered the safety of the state, and until Cobbett did actually commit
one of those acts, his personal liberty was secured to him. The option was
his own between liberty and imprisonment ; he might be assured of the undis
turbed enjoment of the former, so long as he brought not himself under the
penal clauses of the Six Acts Bill ; he knew well how far he could go without
subjecting himself to the penalties of that bill, and if he did actually exceed
those limits, he had only himself to blame if a dungeon became his lot.

310 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
any more than you have a right to demand of a man the per
formance of a foot race, which he has contracted to perform,
you having first given your assent to the cutting off of one
of his legs. But after having stated this doctrine, I expressly
told him in that same letter, that in his case, I would waive
every such right of refusal, but that as soon I was able, I
would satisfy his claim to the last penny, and that no exertion
on my part should be wanting for the purpose of effecting
that object. If this be not a true statement of the substance
of the letter, let him produce the letter.'
" However at last came the bankruptcy, and then the
creditor were paid at any rate, as far as the law could pay
him. As I said before, he never came to prove his debt, and
I was sure he never would, and I owe him nothing now,
unless he has some peculiar privilege to set aside. But the
best answer to all these most atrocious calumniators, and to
the vile hypocrites, who pretend to believe them is his own
conduct with regard to me since 1822. About 1823 or 1824
I think it was, there was a subscription proposed to raise a
sum of money to defray the expence of an election to put me
into parliament * This was talked of most in Norfolk. Upon
that occasion he wrote to Richard Gurney to say that he
would subscribe five hundred pounds towards the fund, and
that he did not care who knew it. This was told me by
Mr. Withers of Holt, and by Mr. Spalding of Stoke Holy
Cross. I have mentioned the thing before in print, and it
has never been contradicted by him or by any body else. In
1826, when the election for Preston was coming on, and
when a subscription was again proposed for that purpose, he
offered again to subscribe, and by letter to Colonel Johnstone,
who was then a member of parliament. Just before Sir
Thomas Bower and I set off for Preston, Colonel Johnstone
left us at a house, somewhere about Dover Street, I think it
was, while he went to ask the baronet the amount of the sum
that he intended to subscribe, because upon that depended
* When we come to this period, we shall find that it was Cobbett himself
who -proposed the subscription.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 311
the scale of our operations, Colonel Johnstone brought us
back word that he would subscribe, but that he did not name
the sum, but told us distinctly that he had told him he would
subscribe towards that election. He did not do it, it is true,
but this does not at all mend the matter with regard to him,
nor make it worse with regard to me, for here was a second
declaration that he was ready to subscribe to put me into
the House of Commons, where I now am without any sub
scription at all.* So that here he is caught, somehow or
the other in the dilemma, either he did not think me a dis
honest man, or he was ready to give his money to put a
dishonest man into parliament. It was the former. I do
not wish to blacken him so much as to inculcate the belief
that it was the latter. When he acted hostile (query, hostilely)
to me, it was from anger, and unjust anger too, for he should
have reflected, that if I were going too far, the fault was his
and not mine. Before I dismiss this proposition, I must ob
serve, that though the subscription for the election for Preston
amounted, I believe, to more than seventeen hundred pounds,
I did not escape quite clear out of that, and if I add this to
the other sums of hard money, which I have expended really
and truly in the cause of parliamentary reform, and if the
public acknowledge any debts on that score, I have expended
out of my own earnings more than all I have received, the
two thousand pounds of Burdett included."
This then is Cobbett's own defence of a transaction, which
by many has been thought to sully his integrity, and by all
his enemies quoted in support of their assertions that he was
a lover of gold, the mammon worshipper under the patriot's
mask. The controversies between Cobbett and Sir Francis
Burdett must be familiar to all the readers of his Register,
and although the former certainly had the advantage in point
of low scurrility and abuse, yet the latter eventually suc
ceeded in fixing the stigma of ingratitude deeply on the
character of his opponent.
* It must be remarked, that this defence of Cobbett was published in his
Register for October 1833, but being applicable to the charges brought against
him, in 1819—20, it is here inserted.

312 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.

CHAPTER V.
We are now about to enter on a most momentous epoch in
the life of Cobbett, when his character for integrity, consis
tency, and truth received a blow from which it never recovered,
and which, if inflicted on any other man than Cobbett, would
have forced him to retire from the walks of public life. It may
be remembered at the time of Cobbett's incarceration in
Newgate, that a charge was brought against him of having
offered to government to discontinue his Register, provided
he was not called up for judgment. This he most positively
denied to be the fact ; that he had never made any such offer
to government ; that he had never attempted to compromise
his principles at the expense of his being held harmless from
the payment of the fine inflicted upon him, and that in fact,
the whole statement was a fabrication of his enemies, for
which they had no substantial ground. On the expiration of
his imprisonment, the charges were repeated against him at
the dinner which was given in celebration of his release from
Newgate, and he again stoutly and unequivocally denied that
there was the slightest foundation for the report. A few
weeks after the return of Cobbett from America, an action
was brought by Mr. Wright against Mr. Clement as the
publisher of Cobbett's Register, for a series of libels against
him, and shortly after the termination of the trial, Mr. Wright
published an account of the trial, in which he gives a full
and authenticated statement of Cobbett's offer to suppress
his Register, if he were permitted to escape the punishment
which hung over his head. We need not recapitulate that
part of the history which has been sufficiently enlarged upon
in our account of the dinner which was given to celebrate the
release of Cobbett. Two letters, however, appeared in the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 313
Times newspaper, one of which was dated two days after the
dinner, in which the writer accuses Cobbett of being guilty
of a direct falsehood. "I charge him," said the writer, " with
having made an offer to government to give up the Register,
if they would give up the punishment. I charge Mr. Cobbett,
that through Mr. Reeves of the Alien office, he made the base
proposal attributed to him. This is the fact, which we
heard him basely deny, and it was his falsehood which rescued
him from the disgrace of being hissed out from amongst us."
The writer then goes on to state, that when Cobbett's proposal
was made of relinquishing his Register, a member of adminis
tration said, " Why here's Cobbett squeaking ; he'll give up
the Register, if you wont send him to Newgate.' ' It was then
suggested that this hardy patriot might, to save himself from
so terrible a calamity, "go a little" (and by the way but a
very little) farther and be induced, to save himself, to write for
government. Such is the substance of the two letters, which appeared
in the Times. Of the second letter, Mr. Cobbett took no
notice, but in November 1816, shortly after his first Two
penny Register appeared, the editor of the Times renewed
the accusation, and by way of reply to this accusation, Mr.
Cobbett in his Register of the 4th of January 1817, published
the following article :
"Walter says that I made a proposition to the government
to this effect, that if the proceedings were dropped, that is to
say, that if I were not brought up for judgment, but suffered
to remain unmolested, I never would publish another Re
gister, or any other thing. The charge is basely false. No
proposition of any sort was ever made by me, or by my au
thority, to the government. The grounds of the charge were
as follows : A few days before I was brought up for judgment,
I went home to spend the remaining short space of personal
freedom with my family. The public will easily believe that
the apprehension of an absence of years, and a great chance
of loss of health, if not of life in a prison, produced nothing
like laughter at Botley. It was at this crisis, no matter by
34. — vol. n. 2 s

314 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
what feeling actuated, I wrote to my attorney, Mr. White, in
Essex-street, to make the proposition stated above. But fits
of fear and despair have never been of long duration in my
family. The letter was hardly got to the post office at
Southampton, before the courage of my wife and daughter re
turned. Indignation and resentment took place of grief and
alarm, and they cheerfully consented to my stopping the
letter. Mr. P. Finnerty was at my house at the time ; a
post chaise was got, and he came off (query, went) to London
during the night, and prevented Mr. Wright from acting on
the letter. Now Mr. Finnerty, whom I have not had the
pleasure to see for some years, is alive and in London. Mr.
White is also alive. The public will be sure that I would not
dare to have made the above statement, if it had not been
true to the very letter. If I am asked, how it happened that
Walter came in possession of the fact of my having written
to Mr. White the letter, which was recalled by Mr. Finnerty,
I answer, that I cannot tell, but that I suspect it was com
municated to him, (with the suppression of the recalling) by
a wretch, whom he knows to be without an equal in the annals
of infamy, not excepting the renowned Jonathan Wild, and
whom I will, when I have time, drag forth, and hold up to the
horror of mankind."
The foregoing statement on the part of Cobbett, appears
at first sight to be very plausible, admitting that, actuated
upon by the fears and alarms of his family, he did actually
make the proposition of discontinuing his Register, but that
the letter containing such proposition was suppressed by the
individual to whom it was addressed, before he had time to
make any communication to government on the subject. But
in what light will the character of Cobbett appear for veracity
or honour, when it will be seen, that although he might have
written to Mr. White, authorizing him to make the proposal,
which was subsequently suppressed by Mr. Finnerty, yet
that he at the same time had written to another person, Mr.
Reeves of the Alien, giving him full powers to treat with the
government for the discontinuance of the Register, on condi-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 315
tion that he should not be brought up for judgment for the
libel of which. he had been convicted. The proofs and docu
ments establishing that important fact are too authentic and
genuine, to doubt for a moment that the proposition was ac
tually made to government, and were those proofs not all
sufficient to carry conviction to the most dubious mind, the
circumstance, as we shall hereafter show, of Mr. Reeves
being called as a witness on the trial of Wright v. Cobbett,
and there on his oath declaring that, he did make such a pro
posal to government at the express desire and by the authority
of Cobbett himself, places the matter beyond any further
dispute. The individual, whom Mr. Cobbett designates as the great
est wretch in the annals of infamy, is Mr. Wright himself,
and certainly, it cannot be expected that Mr. Cobbett would
speak well of an individual, who had been the instrument of
exposing one of the most unprincipled and dishonourable acts
of his life, and attaching a stigma to his character, which
clung to it for the remainder of his existence.
The following is the version which Mr. Wright gives of
this singular transaction :
" On the 15th July 1810, Mr. Cobbett received judgment
for the libel. Terrified at the idea of being sent to prison,
he forthwith (being then in London, without imparting his
intention to his family, who were at Botley, or to myself, who
then superintended his Register, made a proposition to govern
ment, through the medium of John Reeves, Esq. to discon
tinue the Register, provided he was not brought up for
judgment. This proposition was made on Wednesday 20th
June. On Thursday the 21st. (a memorable day, the day on
which parliament was prorogued and Sir Francis Burdett
liberated from the Tower) I was first informed by Dr. Mit-
ford of Reading that Mr. Cobbett had opened a negociation
with the government, for the purpose above mentioned.
Horror-struck at the folly, to say nothing worse of his con
duct, I begged of him to abandon a step so fatal to his interest

316 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
and reputation. Mr. Cobbett was deaf to my entreaties, and
on Saturday the 23rd June he left for Botley, where he was to
send up to Mr. Reeves for the consideration of government,
a statement of his claims to indulgence, and also a copy of
his Farewell Address to the public on dropping the Register.
"On Monday the 25th June, Mr. Cobbett writes to me
from Botley thus, ' To-morrow I shall send to Mr. Reeves,
not only my statement of claims to indulgence, but also my
farewell article, which, when he has shown it, he will hand
to you. Proceed at once with the index &c. &c. for this is
to be the last number. I found all at home pretty well. God
bless you.'
" On Tuesday, the 26th June, he writes thus, 'I now en
close you all that part of my article, which will touch upon
the dropping of the Register. I wrote to Reeves to-day with
a copy of my article. I hope it may succeed, and so does
Mr. Hallett, who has just been here, and who quite approves
of what I am doing. He says, that he had told Mrs. Hallett
it must be so.'
" On Wednesday, the 27th June, Mr. Reeves wrote the
following letter to Mr. Cobbett :
' Dear Sir, ' Wednesday, June 27th, 1810.
' I have your letter with the enclosure, and I have
left them both in the hands of Mr. Yorke. He will see what
can be done on the subject with Mr. Perceval.
' If the government should feel themselves so circumstanced
that they cannot hold their hand, but must direct the Attor
ney-general to proceed according to his notice on Thursday,
you will still have the benefit of your measure in the eyes of
the court. No doubt they will take such a sacrifice into
consideration, and it is in their power also to postpone their
judgment till Michaelmas Term. There are, therefore, two
chances, one with the government, the other with the court,
and both grounded on the same principle. I hope one may
take place, if the other does not. 1

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 317
' You shall hear from me again to-morrow. I go on Fri
day or Saturday to Oxford, and shall be there all the following
week. So I shall be out of the way of negociation soon.
' Believe me, dear Sir,
' Yours ever most truly,
' To Wm. Cobbett Esq. - John Reeves.'
" A rumour that Mr. Cobbett, prievously to his leaving
town had made the above-mentioned offer, had now got wind.
The government appear to have treated the offer with the
contempt which it deserved. The first law officer of the crown
was reported to have said in the court of King's Bench, to
some of the gentlemen of the bar behind him, ' That 
Cobbett has offered to give up his Register, provided we do
not call him up for judgment.' Most of Mr. Cobbett's friends
came flocking to me to know whether there was any founda
tion for the rumour, and among others, I well remember the
venerable Major Cartwright paid me *a visit, and appeared
greatly shocked that ' the cause' was about to lose so powerful
a supporter. Being thus harrassed on the one side by the
entreaties of his friends, and on the other by the taunts and
sarcasms of his enemies, I came to the resolution of making
an effort to save Mr. Cobbett from the disgrace and ruin that
were about to fall upon him. I therefore late in the afternoon
of Wednesday the 27th, waited on Mr. Reeves at his then
residence in Duke-street, Westminster, and intreated him to
tell me, whether or no Mr. Cobbett was to be called up for
judgment, at the same time saying with some warmth, that
unless I received a positive assurance, that the proceedings
against him would be dropped, I would not discontinue the
Register. Mr. Reeves told me that Mr. Cobbett's proposition
to government had been forwarded through Mr. Yorke to
Mr. Perceval, but that no answer had yet been received.
He said, he would step, across the park. to the Admiralty
where Mr. Yorke, who was then first lord, resided, and see
whether any thing had been determined upon. He. went
accordingly, and on his return, finding his answer to be any

318 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
thing but satisfactory, I went home, and as it was too late
for the post, I made up a mail coach parcel, acquainted Mr.
Cobbett, with what I had done, and implored him not to
sacrifice character and fame and fortune, without the proba
bility of securing freedom in return."
" Now follows Mr. Cobbett's letter of Thursday the 28th
June, in answer to the few hasty lines which I sent him in
the mail coach parcel.
" ' I got your coach letter, and also that of Mr. Reeves,
which I enclose for your perusal. No, I will not sacrifice
fortune without securing freedom in return, this I am resolved
on. It would be both baseness and folly. Your threat to
Reeves was good, and spoke my sentiment exactly. I have not
time for telling you my plan now, but let it suffice, that really
from the bottom of my soul, I would rather be called up than
put down the Register. Now, therefore, unless before you get
this, you know for a certainty that I am not to be called up,
suppress the article sent you, stuff in something just to fill up
one sheet, and put the little notice I now send at the head of
that sheet. Leave me to manage the rest. In a conversation
with any one, say, you do not know what I intend to do, that
it will depend upon circumstances, and the like. Never fear,
do thus, and all will be well. God bless you.'
" I now come to the part in which Mr. Finnerty is in
troduced. On Friday the 29th of June, Mr. Cobbett writes
to me thus, ' If you have received my letter of yesterday,
you will of course have altered the publication, you will have
cancelled my abandoning article, and have put in the notice.
It is from fear that my letter may have miscarried, that I now
send off Mr. Finnerty express to acquaint you with the pur
port of it. Lest any accident should have taken you out of
the way, I give Mr. Finnerty a note to Mr. Hansard, and
one to Mr. Bagshaw."
"Such is the plain unadorned history of Mr. Cobbett's
negociation with government, a negociation which he has
solemnly assured the public never took place. I will here
introduce the names of sundry persons, who, if necessary, can

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 319
establish in a court of justice the facts I have stated, and will
do it a la Cobbett. To begin then, there is Mr. Reeves,*
there is Mr. Charles Yorke, there is Dr. Mitford, there is Mr.
Hansard, there are his account books to prove that Mr. Cob
bett paid him for printing the abandoning article, there are
George Cross and Louis Liber, two of his apprentices, who
set up the type, there are Mr. Cobbett's own letters, there is
Mr. Reeves' letter, there is Mr. Hallett, who actually told
Mrs. Hallett it must be so, and lastly, there is the abandoning
article itself, which was on the eve of being worked off at the
press." The summary of that article has been already given in a
former part of this work and after the full and explicit state
ment which Mr. Wright sent forth of the attempt of Cobbett
to negociate with government for the suppression of his Re
gister, words are inadequate to describe the astonishment which
must pervade every mind, at the unparalleled boldness, min
gled with an equal proportion of the most brazen impudence,
which could have carried Cobbett through the scene at the
Crown and Anchor, where in the face of his friends and the
whole public, he denied in the most unqualified terms that
any such negociation was ever entered into. His statement
also about his extreme sensitiveness respecting his feelings
so strongly excited by the fears and tears of his wife and
children, as to induce him under their immediate influence to
write to Mr. White, the solicitor of Essex-street, proposing
the suppression of the Register, turns out to be sheer humbug,
when we find that previously to his going to Botley, and before
his feelings had been so acutely worked upon by the distress
of his family at their approaching separation, he had actually
unknown to any of them made the proposition to government
through the medium of Mr. John Reeves. His statement
also about despatching Mr. Finnerty express to Mr. White
restricting that gentleman from making the proposal to govern-
* In justice to the character of the late Mr. Perceval, it is right to state.
that he addressed a letter to Mr. Reeves in which Mr. Cobbett's offer was treated
by him with the scorn which it so richly merited.

320 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
ment, is also based on falsehood, for at that very time, the
negociation was going on between Mr. Reeves and Mr. Yorke,
and according to Mr. Cobbett's own letter to Mr Wright,
as inserted above, his real motive for despatching Mr. Fin
nerty express, was not to Mr. White, but to Mr. Wright,
for fear he had not cancelled the abandoning article, or al
tered the publication of the Register.
With all the admiration which we entertain for the intel
lectual powers of Mr. Cobbett, we cannot consistently with
our professed spirit of impartiality, avert our view from those
actions of his life, which had a direct influence upon the esti
mation in which he was to be held by the present generation,
and of the character of him which was to be transmitted to
posterity. From the time that Mr. Wright's statement was
published, accompanied by such unequivocal proofs of its
veracity, the character of Cobbett fell in the public opinion ;
his friends saw that he was the advocate of the great politi
cal questions which he supported, no longer than his own
interest demanded it, and that he was in fact ready and dis
posed to sell himself, whenever that interest could* be more
securely promoted. His enemies had him now in their power,
and as it may be naturally supposed, they did not spare the
lash with which they so unmercifully thrashed him. In the
midst of all the abuse, however, which was poured out against
him, Cobbett stood with a brazen front, and lashed his ene
mies in return. He appeared, like Achilles, invulnerable to
all the shafts which were levelled against him, some of which
were shot with a fierceness which would have made any-
other person quail with terror. He appeared the very rhi
noceros of the human race, the balls rebounded from him,
and not seldom in the very faces of those who shot them. He
was truth itself, and truth was in him ; whilst on the other
hand, his enemies were a herd of base, degraded, d  d
calumniators and traducers ; monsters, whom he would hold
up to the horror of mankind, and who were instigated to
their attack upon him by their envy of his transcendent
talents, and of that fame which, to use his own hyperbolical

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 321
mode of expression, had spread itself to all the four quarters
of the globe, and by which he had earned for himself the
GLORIOUS TITLE OF THE GREAT EtfLIGHTENER OF THE
HUMAN RACE.
The life of Cobbett, on the whole, presents a singular pic
ture of the way in which great talents have been counteracted
and rendered of comparatively little value, by a devouring
egotism. In his times Cobbett advocated so many opposite
opinions, that his assistance has done little for any of them.
Whatever side he espoused, he was equally violent and in
veterate against his adversaries for the time being. All se
curity in his constancy or consistency was out of the question.
He would write for one side just as long as he thought he
was looked up to as the greatest man amongst his party, but
no sooner did he find out that others were preferred to him
self, that any other notions were entertained than his own,
that all would not join in attacking what he attacked, and
admiring what he admired, than he turned fiercely round,
flew off to the other side, and called all those who had the
presumption to retain his cast off opinions fools and knaves.
No political event happened in England but which he thought
he had a hand in producing, or which was not foretold by
him. It was he alone who made the people sensible they
were oppressed ; against him alone was the Habeas Corpus
Suspension Act directed, and on account of which it was
necessary for him to fly to America, and there with his
" long arm," reaching across the Atlantic, in his opinion he
caused Sir Francis Burdett to be almost rejected by the
electors of Westminster.

35— vol II. 2 x

322 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.

CHAPTER VI.
The situation of the country at the commencement of 1820,
was more tranquil than the violent popular agitation of the
preceding months could have given reason to expect. That
agitation, though it had produced little actual mischief, had
been in a high degree appalling. We were regarded by foreign
nations as on the eve of a revolution, arid even the wise and
experienced amongst our own nation, were not without appre
hension with respect to the possible result. The tumult was
now hushed, and in a country like England, external tran
quillity is a decisive proof, whatever discontent may exist, of
the absence of any intention of breaking out into open vio
lations of the law.
This change must in part be ascribed to the rigorous
measures pursued by government, and in part to the natural
course of events. The manufacturing population had been
deluded into a line of conduct inconsistent with civil order ;
all their passions had been excited ; all their wildest prejudices
and caprices had been flattered, and they had been taught
that they might, by their violent proceedings, regulate the
course of public events. They had' followed to a certain
point, those, who had presented themselves as leaders. The
Manchester meeting was part of a system, which had been for
years advancing to maturity, and of which we afterwards
witnessed, in organized assassination and rebellion. Seditious
writers led the way, seditious speakers followed, and the
common aim of both was to inflame the multitude, to intimi
date the government, and thus to pave the way to a san
guinary and terrible revolution, under the specious pretence
of reform. We do not mean to impute that the aim of either
Cobbett or Hunt was actually to bring about a revolution,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 323
but no doubt can exist, that both of those celebrated reformers
had got themselves entangled with a set of men, such as those
who constituted the Cato-street gang, whose sole aim was to
raise themselves, if possible, upon the ruin of their country.
Plunder was the cry of these infatuated men, and although
we cannot openly accuse either Cobbett or Hunt of being
desirous to bring about the fatal consequences of a revolution,
yet it is certain that they instigated measures eminently
calculated to produce such a result.
The circumstances which had transpired in the action
which Mr. Wright had brought against Clement, nad given
an almost irrecoverable blow to the reputation of Cobbett,
and it was now destined to undergo a further exposure, in two
actions which were brought against him for libels, one by a
person of the name of Cleary, and the other by Mr. Wright,
the same plaintiff in the action against Mr. Clement. In the
former action a most singular occurrence took place, which
was nothing less than Mr. Cobbett, who was to defend his
own cause, being taken by the collar of his coat by the door
keeper and actually thrust out of the court.
When the cause was called on, Mr. Brougham, who was
for the plaintiff, said that the action was for a certain libel,
written by the defendant, imputing that he (Mr. Cleary) had
forged a certain letter. A gentleman of the name of Wright
had also brought an action against Mr. Cobbett for an im
putation contained in the same libel, to wit, that he (Mr.
Wright) had uttered the letter forged by Mr. Cleary, knowing
that letter to be a forgery. In the case of Mr. Cleary, which
was a common jury cause, the defendant had pleaded the
general issue ; in the case of Mr. Wright, however, which
was a special jury cause, a justification was pleaded, and
Mr. Brougham therefore now prayed that Cleary' s action
might stand over, until tne cause of Wright and Cobbett should
be decided. Mr. Cobbett not being present, the application
of Mr. Brougham was not granted. The cause was again called
on at the close of the sittings of the court, and the defendant
still not being present, the Lord Chief Justice consented that

324 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT. ESQ.
the case should be postponed until after the trial of Wright
v. Cobbett, unless good cause were shown to the contrary.
As the court were about to rise, Mr. Cobbett made his ap
pearance, and addressing himself to the Lord Chief Justice
intimated, that he understood that his case had been put off.
The Lord Chief Justice replied, "Yes, because you were not
here when it was called."
" My lord," said Cobbett, " I attended in this court all day
on Friday, and all day on Saturday. This morning at half
past ten o'clock, I was entering the court when the door-keeper
seized me by the collar and thrust me out. I said that I was
a defendant, but that did not avail me, and as I did not wish
to disturb the proceedings of the court, I submitted . During the
day I have been at the tavern hard by, with my sons to and
fro bringing me information. At last I heard that Mr. Broug
ham had made a motion to postpone the cause, but that your
lordship had not acceded to it, but when I now come into court,
I hear that the trial is put off. This will be a great injury to me
my lord. I am brought here by a fiat granted by the court."
The Lord Chief Justice asked Mr. Cobbett, what he meant
by a fiat ? " I mean a warrant," said Mr. Cobbett, " and I
trust your lordship will do me justice." The Lord Chief
Justice desired that the door-keeper who had excluded Mr.
Cobbett might be called. On the officer being questioned
he admitted that he had turned the defendant out about half
past ten in the morning. The Lord Chief Justice then thought
that under those circumstances, he could not delay the trial
of the cause. Mr. Brougham then said that he would renew
his application on its own merits, because in case the justifica
tion in Wright v. Cobbett was made out, the case of Cleary
v. Cobbett need not be tried. The Lord Chief Justice asked
Mr. Cobbett, if he consented. " No !" replied Mr Cobbett,
in a tone that made some of the barristers start upon their seats.
"The learned counsel's statements proceed from his not having
read his brief." "Under favour," said Mr. Brougham, "I
believe I have read my brief." The Lord Chief Justice said
that he could not put off the trial without the consent of Mr.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 325
Cobbett, and as that cannot be obtained, the cause of Cleary v.
Cobbett must stand the first for the following day.
It would occupy too much space to give the whole of the
trial, we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to the facts from
which the libel originated, and which was considered as of so
injurious a nature to the plaintiff's character, that he estimated
his damages at £3000.
Cleary was an attache of Major Cartwright, who had taken
a prominent part in an election for Westminster, while Cob
bett was out of the country, and having obtained possession
of a letter written by Cobbett to Mr. James Wright, contain
ing certain reflections upon the character of Mr. Hunt (one
of the candidates to whom Cleary was opposed), he read it
publicly on the hustings. Cobbett then, notwithstanding his
having written the letter, published in his Register of the 5th
September 1818, a certain libel upon the plaintiff, intimating
that the letter which the plaintiff had read as his (Cobbett's)
letter, had not been written by him, but that it was in truth
a forgery, and that the plaintiff had been concerned in forging
it. There were other counts for general aspersion of the
plaintiff's character, and the damages were laid at £3000.
Witnesses were called to prove the facts of the case, and
among them Mr. James Wright, the defendant's former part
ner, and Mr. William Adams, a currier in Westminster, and
an active member of the once famous committee of that city.
Cobbett's cross-examination of the latter gentleman, as to
the circumstances of what was called the rump committee,
was marked by his characteristic talent, and long formed a fa
vourite subject for his political opponents. The following
may be taken as a specimen of his style. Alluding to the
plaintiff Cleary, he said, " The learned counsel had said that
his client, was so much agitated by the alleged libels, that
they were but too likely to interfere with his capabilities to
become a practical barrister, to which object his present
studies were directed. Now, considering the scarcity of the
gentlemen of the bar, and the difficulty of procuring a bar
rister for love or money, (Cobbett here gave a significant

326 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
look at the benches, which were crowded with barristers, and
which occasioned a hearty laugh in the court) he must say
that he should feel seriously responsible, if he had the mis
fortune to occasion a deduction from that learned profession
of such an eminent personage as Mr. T. Cleary, It was held
a crime, even by poachers, to crush a bird in the egg, but
how deeply criminal must it be, if he happened to crush a
lawyer in the egg, (this remark excited the risibility even of
the judges, and it was some time before the laughter subsided.)
He should be really sorry to commit such a crime, although
so frequently and so severely provoked by Mr. Cleary. For
this person had published several libels upon him before his
return from America, in the composition of which libels, his
faithful agent, Mr. Jackson refused to say that he did not
assist. Cleary indeed boasted, that he had four times killed
him (Mr. Cobbett) with his pen while in America, and the
first communication he received from that literary warrior
upon his return to England, was a challenge to fight a duel,
threatening him with a stamp of cowardice if he refused to
attend to the challenge, but complacently adding, that if he
himself were too old to meet the challenger, that challenger
would meet his eldest son, for whom he professed a great
regard." At the close of his speech, Cobbett said, talk of carry
ing war into the bosom of families, could any act like this be
ascribed to William Cobbett in the long course of his public
life ? And he, the mild Mr. Cleary, came to be protected
against the furious William Cobbett. Feebleness was often
mistaken for mildness, but they should recollect that the
feeblest animals were often the most malicious, reptiles were
more mischievous than animals. He begged the jury to look at
the whole transaction honestly from the beginning to the end,
that they would not be made the instruments of robbing him
and his family of the little they possessed, though he would
rather work to get it, or apply to his friends, than knuckle to
the learned gentleman or his client. He begged they would
not give their sanction to the basest treachery ever known.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 327
He begged them to think once again of the witnesses before
their decision, afterwards they would, no doubt, be glad to
forget them for ever. He begged them to mark for repro
bation this abominable espionage, this spy system, to show the
natural abhorrence of Englishmen at what was base, and let
their decision stamp the infamy of those who had been guilty
of such a breach of private confidence.
The Lord Chief Justice summed up, not without some
tincture of partiality towards the plaintiff. The Jury, how
ever, did not estimate the character of Cleary very highly, for
after deliberating about three quarters of an hour, they re
turned a verdict for the plaintiff of 40 shillings damages.
As this trial terminated with merely nominal damages, it
might have been supposed that some others who were ready
to pounce upon Mr. Cobbett, would have been discouraged
from prosecuting any further suit against him, but in this
Cobbett himself was mistaken, for on the 1 1th December,
the trial of Wright against Cobbett came on in the same
court for a second charge of libel, in which, in reality, the
same parties were concerned who constituted the plaintiffs in
the former action.
On the case being called on, Mr. Cobbett rose and inti
mated to the court that he intended to withdraw his plea of
justification. Mr. Chitty then opened the pleadings. The ibels charged
were three in number, and consisted of certain paragraphs
published in the Political Register of the 4th January, 1817,
9th March 1819, and the 6th January 1820. These para
graphs severally charged the plaintiff, Mr. Wright, with
forgery and fraud, and describing him as an individual to be
held up to the horror and detestation of mankind.
Mr. Scarlett, in opening the case, stated, that the plaintiff,
Mr. Wright, of whom, excepting professionally, he knew no
thing, had been introduced and recommended to him by per
sons of the highest rank and of the most illustrious honour.
He was, therefore, justified in saying that he was a man re
spected and entrusted by those persons, whose confidence and

328 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
respect gave weight to a man's character, and that neither
fraud nor falsehood had ever been imputed to him, except
by the defendant, upon the record before the court. Mr.
Wright was known to the world as the editor of the Par
liamentary History, the Parliamentary Debates, and other
works of great utility and learning. Those works, which had
been originally introduced to the public under the shelter
of Mr. Cobbett's name, having been conducted, in fact, en
tirely by the plaintiff. To introduce the defendant to the
jury would scarcely be necessary. During many years no
person had been more the object of public notice than Mr.
Cobbett. By his writings, that individual had made himself
known in every part of the globe where the English language
was spoken or known, and far was he (Mr. S.) from wishing
to insinuate against a man of undoubted talent, more than
his duty to the plaintiff actually demanded. This he would
say, that he possessed such talents for writing as during a
long term of years had been unparalleled in the history of
the literature of this country ; powers which, whether employed
for a good or a bad purpose, and frequently they were em
ployed for purposes apparently inconsistent with each other,
always enabled him to handle his subject with force of argu
ment, and dexterity of expression, perhaps in a more eminent
degree than any writer ever known. Mr. Cobbett possessed
great power over the minds of the lower orders, and he was in
debted principally for that power to the knack which he had
of mixing up in his compositions coarseness, occasionally with
feeling and truth, sometimes with the peculiar expression
which the occasion might demand. Need he (Mr. S.) remind
the jury in how perilous a situation that individual was
placed who became the subject of attack by such a writer ?
Need he say that it required no mean degree of courage to
call even at the bar of an English jury for justice on such an
opponent ? The connexion between Mr. Wright and Mr.
Cobbett commenced, when no man need to be ashamed of
Mr. Cobbett's acquaintance. It arose out of a change of
books ; Mr. Wright being a bookseller, and the first trans-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 329
action to which he should advert was the loan of £20 by
the plaintiff to the defendant, when the latter arrived from
America. One of the first acts which Cobbett performed on
his commencing the bookselling business in Pall Mall was
to publish a life of Paine, for the express purpose of holding
that individual up to the execration of mankind, and it was
subsequent to the publication of that work for the benefit of
the people of England,* that the self-designated enlightener
of the people, for so Mr Cobbett thought fit to term himself,
had commenced his Political Register, and about that time,
a connexion was formed between the plaintiff, the defendant,
and a gentleman of the name of Howell, for the publication
of the Parliamentary Debates, the State Trials, and the Par
liamentary History. This went on until Mr. Cobbett, on
taking a trip to Southampton, was seized with the desire to
become a land speculator, and during his absence from town
Mr. Wright inspected and corrected the Register. By aid of
the paper system, which Cobbett was then writing down, he
got accommodation to the amount of between 60 and 70,000Z,
and these discounts were principally effected, one bill being
given as another became due, through the medium of Mr.
Wright in London. One transaction begot another, and a
great deal of money passed through Mr. Wright's hands.
Wright in fact became the publisher of the Register, for he
received the proceeds and paid the outgoings, and remitted
cash at times to Mr. Cobbett at Botley between the years
1805, and 1810 — 1811. The accounts, as would commonly be
* We cannot refrain making an extract from that work, as exhibiting the
astonishing change which must have taken place in the opinion of Cobbett.
when on exposing the bones of Paine, he called him " the ennobled of nature."
" How Tom lives, or what brothel' he inhabits, I know not, nor does it much
signify ; and whether his carcass is at last to be suffered to rot in the earth, or
to be dried in the air, is of very little consequence. Whenever, or wherever he
breathes his last, he will excite neither sorrow nor compassion no friendly hand
will close his eyes, not a groan will be uttered, not a tear will be shed. Like
Judas he will be remembered by posterity, men will learn to express all that is
base, malignant, treacherous, unnatural, and blasphemous, by the single mony-
syllable — Paine." And yet a few straggling hairs of this monster were after
wards worth one guinea ! ! I
35. — VOL. II. 2 U

330 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
found the case, when accommodation paper was employed
became extremely intricate between Mr. Wright and Mr.
Cobbett, and, in short, they were in such a state, that to use
the very forcible language employed by the defendant him
self, when a partner in the business was proposed " They
were in such a state that the devil himself could not unravel
them." Things were in this situation, when Mr. Cobbett
was called upon to defend himself against the charge of
libel, and upon that charge was convicted. Upon that con
viction the question arose as to what steps should be taken to
avert the impending calamity of judgment, and those mea
sures led to the first of the libels for which Mr. Cobbett was
now to be tried. Mr. Cobbett proposed a gentleman, who
was to be called as a witness to make a bargain for him
with government, that he should not be called up for judg
ment, and upon that condition he would give up his Re
gister. The negotiation did not succeed. Mr. Cobbett
appeared to receive judgment and was thrown into prison.
The plaintiff then applied for a settlement of his accounts,
when to his utter astonishment, Mr. Cobbett answered that
he had no accounts, nor any letters, and put Mr. Wright
to the proof of every sixpence, which in the course of his
long agency, he had distributed or received. An account
ant was employed to collect the various documents and they
were submitted to Mr. Cobbett for inspection. Mr. Cobbett,
admitted nothing ; disputed every thing, called upon him to
produce vouchers, even for sums of money paid to himself,
and finally refused to allow him any thing for agency. The
disputed accounts were arranged by the award of Mr. William
Cook. Mr. Cobbett claimed about £12,000 and received
about £6,000, and the effect of this curtailment of his claim
was an inveterate hostility conceived against Mr. Wright,
Before Mr. Cobbett went to prison, a publication took place
in the Times newspaper, hinting that Mr. Cobbett had been
disposed to abandon his Register, on which Mr. Cobbett
wrote an article to refute this imputation, and called it "A
Year's New Gift to old George Rose." Now the first of the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 331
libels rose out of a suspicion that it was by Mr. Wright, that
the fact had been communicated to the Times, and in express
ing his opinion that such had been the course of communica
tion, Cobbett spoke of Mr. Wright as a wretch unequalled in
the annals of infamy, and whom he would hold up to the
horror of mankind.
Mr. Scarlett then proceeded to advert to the second libel
upon the record, which originated out of the conduct of Mr.
Cleary, in reading at the Westminster election in 1818,
Mr. Cobbett's letter of 1808, in which he spoke of Mr. Hunt
with feelings very different from those which he subsequently
expressed towards that gentleman. That letter Mr. Cobbett,
who did not disdain occasionally to employ a falsehood when
he found it impossible by argument to overcome his adver
sary, treated as forged, and as the work of a man who had
forged his (Cobbett's) name upon several occasions. Mr.
Cobbett in his plea upon the record, had pledged himself to
prove these assertions to be true. The paragraph in which
he described the big drop of sweat, Mr. Scarlett read to the
jury- ' ' You, my dear sir, know the history of this Wright ; you
know all his tricks, all his attempts, the public do not, and
I will not now trouble the public with a detail, which, if put
in a suitable form, would make a romance in the words of
truth, far surpassing any thing that was ever imagined of
moral turpitude. I will execute this task one day or other.
If the caitiff should put forth any thing by way of palliation
in the meantime, there is Mr. Walker, there is Mr. Margrave,
there is my attorney, there is Mr. Swann, there is Sir Francis
Burdett himself; there is my son John, who though he was
then a child, will never forget the big round drops of sweat
that in a cold winter's day rolled down the caitiff's forehead
when he was detected in fabricating accounts, and when I
took Johnny by the hand, who had begun whimpering for
poor Wright, and said, ' Look at that man, my dear, those
drops of sweat are the effect of detected dishonesty. Think
of that/ my dear child, and you will always be an honest

332 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
man.' Mr. Peter Walker and Mr. Swann were present at
this scene, which took place in my room in Newgate in
1811." The contents of this paragraph, Mr. Cobbett undertook to
prove the truth of, and although all the parties were in court,
Mr. Cobbett did not call one of them.
The printing of the libels in question was proved by Mr.
Hay, and the publication of the Register was proved by
Mr. Dolby. Mr. W. Jackson proved that he published the
Political Register at the time when Mr. William Cobbett,
Jun., arrived from America in January 1819. He then re
signed the publication to William, the son, in consequence of
a letter received from the father.
Mr. John Reeves proved that he knew Mr. Cobbett in the
year 1810 and 1811, and that he had been convicted of libel.
At the time of that conviction, he had a commu
nication with Mr. Cobbett, before he left town
to join his family ; in consequence of which he
MADE A PROPOSAL TO Mr. YORKE, AND THROUGH THAT
GENTLEMAN TO MR. PERCEVAL, THAT Mr. COBBETT
WOULD ABANDON HIS REGISTER, ON CONDITION OF NOT
being called up for judgment. Mr. Reeves could not
recollect whether he had seen Mr. Perceval on the subject,*
and he had no recollection of ever seeing Mr. Wright after
that period. Several letters were produced, which Mr. Reeves
believed to be in the hand-writing of Mr. Cobbett.
Mr. Cobbett examined Mr. Reeves, with the intent of
affixing the writing of those letters upon his son William,
but Mr. Reeves positively' swore to the hand writing being
that of Mr. Cobbett, as he said, that he knew it, it being a
very particular hand, on the contrary, he had no recollection
of having seen the hand writing of his son William in his
life. The letter of Mr. Reeves to Mr. Cobbett dated June
27th, 1810, was produced and read,t as were also the letters
* We have already stated, that Mr. Perceval wrote to Mr. Reeves on the
subject. + This letter has been already given.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 333
of Mr. Cobbett to Mr. Wright, stating that he would send his
proposition to Mr. Reeves, as well as his farewell article.
The case for the prosecution being closed, Mr. Cobbett
entered upon his defence, and in explanation of the charge
of his having borrowed £20 of Mr. Wright, he accounted
for it in the following manner. When he was in America
previous to the year 1800 he gave a commission to a friend
to send him some books, who fixed upon this Mr. Wright.
Mr. Wright sent out the books with the invoice of them, and
the money was punctually paid to him. Their acquaintance,
therefore, did not commence, as was stated by the learned
counsel, by Mr. Wright lending him £20, but, by his being
an excellent customer to Mr. Wright. The fact as to the
£20 was this. He did not come from America without
money or resources, but having stopped at Halifax in Nova
Scotia longer than he intended, he became short of money ;
he drew upon Mr. Wright for £20 sending him at the same
time a draft, which he had no doubt was paid 24 hours after
his arrival in London. Shortly after their acquaintance
commenced, Wright fell into difficulties, failed in his trade,
and in the year 1803 or 1804, was confined in the King's
Bench Prison. Whenever the transactions between them
come to be brought fully before the public, as he was re
solved they should in all their details, the world would be
able to judge how far Mr. Scarlett was justified in asserting,
he hoped by instruction and not voluntarily, that their con
nexion began by Wright's lending him £20. It was stated
by Mr. Scarlett that his acquaintance with Mr Wright com
menced at the time he was writing against Paine, and that
when he began to write, the connexion ceased.
Mr. Scarlett here made the severe remark, that he did not
wish to be misrepresented. He had never distinguished any
period of Mr. Cobbett's life, in which he did not write libels.
On this Mr. Cobbett remarked that the proverb, forbidding
the cobbler to go beyond his last, might be extremely applic
able as well as useful to lawyers, and if Mr. Scarlett had not
gone beyond his brief, a great deal of time would have been

334 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
saved to the jury. In the prosecution of his defence, Mr.
Cobbett entered into a long rambling account of his motives
for exhuming the bones of Paine, the principal of which was
to show to the people of England, how completely all public
spirit and all public virtue were destroyed by republican
governments. In regard to the evidence of Mr, Reeves, he
carefully abstained from even remotely touching upon it,
thereby letting an opportunity escape him of justifying him
self in the eyes of the public, for the commission of one of
the most dishonourable acts in his life, and which he attempted
to support by falsehood and prevarication. The chief ground
of Mr. Cobbett's defence, however, was, that the action
should not have been brought against him but against his sons,
who were in reality the publishers of the Register, and who
were in the habit of making alterations in the articles which
he transmitted for publication, and that they had actually made
most material alterations in the Register which contained
the libels. In this statement, Cobbett was corroborated by
his two sons, who deposed that several alterations were made
by them in the manuscript of the Register, particularly com
plained of in the present trial, as they had inserted the name
of Wright, which never appeared in the manuscript. They
did so, because they understood that Wright had been ex
posing the private letters of their father, and slandering his
character. Therefore, they were anxious the character of
Wright should be perfectly understood.
Mr. Scarlett, in his reply, dwelt upon the unnatural and
dastardly conduct of the defendant, in putting forth his " infant
sons" to meet all the consequences of his own libelling,
whether such libelling should lead to civil actions, the penal
ties, of which they could not afford to pay, or to criminal
punishment, which they must be condemned to endure, but
he reminded the jury that the indicting or dictating of a libel
rendered the author liable, whoever the publisher might be.
The Lord Chief Justice, in his summing up, held that Mr.
Cobbett, either as the bonafide proprietor, or as the editor of
the Political Register, would be liable for its contents. With

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 335
respect to the alterations he had authority to make, if a prin
cipal authorized an agent to make reasonable alterations, he
was still responsible. It was for the jury to decide whether
the evidence had brought home to the defendant the libels in
question. If they were of that opinion, the line of defence
adopted by Mr. Cobbett, if not permitted to weigh in aggra
vation of damages, would certainly be a very sufficient bar to
any plea in mitigation.
The jury, after deliberating nearly an hour and three
quarters, returned with a verdict for the plaintiff, damages
£1000, costs 40 shillings.
These were very inauspicious circumstances under which
Cobbett was to commence his new career in England, but
his mind, ever full of activity and ingenuity, devised a plan
by which he could at once effect two purposes, the first to put
five thousand pounds in his pocket, of the manner, however,
of its appropriation, he was not to be called upon ; and se
condly, that with such five thousand pounds, he would be
able materially and essentially to assist the cause of reform.
The plan which Mr. Cobbett recommended must have been
highly delightful to the imagination, on account of its patri
archal simplicity and innocence, and no doubt whatever
existed, that from some singular exposures which had been
lately made, touching the character of Mr. Cobbett, the
subscribers to his fund would place so much confidence in
his honour and integrity, as not to raise even a bubble of
suspicion, that every farthing of the money so subscribed,
would be religiously and punctually applied to the purpose
for which it was raised.
The following is the plan, v, hich emanated from the brain
of the ingenious financier. "He proposes to raise a fund for
furthering the cause of reform in a icay such as his discre
tion shall point out. The sum which he thinks will be re
quired will be five thousand pounds. This is to be collected
amongst the male and female reformers, and lodged in his
hands ; to be used solely by him, and ivithout any one ever
having a right to ask him, what he is going to do with it.

336 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
People will conjecture what they please, he will only say
this, that he shall never employ it for any private purpose,
for the advancement of his own emolument in any shape
whatever. " It requires only two pence each from six hundred thou
sand men and women, to raise the sum required, and oh !
what benefits would arise from those seemingly trifling two
pences. The money that is spent by the labouring classes
upon the mere foolish article of snuff in one single week, and
perhaps in one single day would more than make up this
sum. Only think," says Mr. Cobbett, " of the enormous
sacrifices which I have made, and only think of the task
which I am now offering to undertake. It is useless to call
upon others for exertions ; to call upon others to do some
thing, and to do great things too, unless you (the reformers)
will every man of yrou do some little trifling thing, and what
can well be more trifling than the abstaining from the use of
part of a pint of beer. This is the way to act with effect.
One meeting of five thousand pounds will do more than five
thousand meetings of fifty thousand men each. I," con
tinues Mr. Cobbett, " take it for granted that I possess your
confidence (query) ! ! To blare out before hand how I mean to
employ the money, must be to defeat the object altogether,
and therefore I again repeat, that I must answer no questions
put to me upon the subject, let them come from what quarter
they will."
Now to the mode of making the collections.
In London, or other large towns, persons who take a
lead in societies, lodges, or clubs of trades, may very con
veniently become the depositaries of a collection. Other per
sons may be chosen to receive money in the metropolis and
large towns. And these receivers, on or before the sixth of
February, will be pleased to forward the amount to William
Cobbett. " Though " says Mr. Cobbett, " I have mentioned the
sum of two pence, there are doubtless persons of ability, who
will be ready to subscribe larger sums, and I have reason to

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 337
believe there are some gentlemen, who will be ready to do
this in a very liberal manner indeed. Such persons may not
wish to lodge their subscriptions with a third party, and they
will of course communicate directly with myself, and I shall
acknowledge the receipt of every sum so received by letter
directed to the person received from. Persons living in small
towns or villages, may, without any display of subscription,
make up a pound or two, which can be forwarded as before-
mentioned direct to myself.
" I have thought it might be useful in populous places for
those who receive subscriptions to open books, in order that
such subscribers, as chose to do it, might write their names
in them, for I trust in God, the time is not very distant, when
a man will be proud to know that his name is recorded in
such a book. When the subscription is closed, I should
like to have the books sent up to me, as I should do myself
the honour of icriting my name at the bottom, and send them
back, to be kept amongst those who have distinguished them
selves upon such a memorable occasion.
" Lastly, I wish every such book, and every subscription
paper to be entitled, Cobbett's Fund for Reform, and
as the sooner we begin a good work the sooner we shall end
it, let me request you to lose as little time as possible. I
wish to have the means in my hands by the third week in
February at least.
" God bless and preserve all
" the Reformers."
The foregoing may be considered as a matchless specimen
of impudence, vanity, and egotism, and mean, indeed, must
have been his opinion of the penetration and sagacity of the
English people, to suppose that they could not see through
such a flimsy veil, as he had endeavoured to throw over his
financial plan of raising five thousand pounds for himself,
under the pretext of applying it to the cause of reform. His
plan of raising money by Paine's hair had totally failed, and
the twopenny speculation from six hundred thousand men
and women shared the same fate. It was, however, actions
such as these, which inflicted those severe blows upon the
35. — vol. n. 2 x

338 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
character of Cobbett, which gradually lowered him in the
estimation of the people, hurt the cause he intended to serve,
and through which he was borne by his unparalleled impu
dence, whilst persuading the people that they had the utmost
confidence in him, when in reality the stock on hand was
very small indeed. Mr. Cobbett imagined that he could
convince the reformers that not a farthing of the fund was
to be made available for any private purpose of his own, and
the female reformers would have an opportunity of repaying
him by their two-pences, for all those fine compliments which
he had lavished upon their sense, their virtue, and beauty,
and the male reformers would cheaply purchase the honour
at the price of two pence, of having their names transmitted
to posterity in a book at the bottom of which was to stand
emblazoned the name of William Cobbett, and its title to
be "Cobbett's Fund for Reform."
A powerful writer, under the signature of Aglaus, thus
speaks of this disgraceful business :
" What didst thou think that the most thinking people of
England had really parted with their senses ; that they really
could forget thy numerous apostacies, and give so substantial
an evidence of folly, as to place five thousand pounds in the
hands of Peter Porcupine ? To be sure, the bottle conjuror
first received his money and then decamped ; then why not
William Cobbett ? Hast thou not travelled ? Do we not
want some bold and impudent adventurer, some strange no
velty to mislead the woe-begone people ? Why may not
William Cobbett out Katerfelto Katerfelto ? Unfortunately
thy recent attempt to bamboozle Sir Francis, is still fresh
upon our memory, but what signifies that ? It is ' a great
man,' who proposes the scheme, and another great man, the
Black Dwarf himself, will support it, and who knows what
may not be accomplished by the united efforts of such power
ful mental energies? Therefore be not disheartened, friend
Cobbett, at the burning of thy Register.* It was only amidst
* This alludes to the circumstance of Cobbett's Register being burnt at a
meeting of the radicals, shortly after the exposure of the negotiation for the
suppression of that work.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 339
a little group of radicals. They were but poor men ; they
can only withhold their pence, whilst the opulent reformers
will come forward open-handed, and give thee twice five
thousand pounds by the middle of February. Keep up thy
spirits then, and proceed in thy honourable undertaking, and
if after all, the rogues fail to supply thee with so small a
sum, why then conclude, they are not worthy of thy noble
consideration, and e'en take thyself back again to Long
Island. The Americans esteem and love thee, the sensible
English loathe and despise thee."
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary incidents of Cob
bett's life, was the celebrated hoax which was played upon him
by the lady reformers of Richmond, and it is scarcely to be
credited how a man, possessed of a tithe of the penetration
of Cobbett, could be so completely duped. His vanity, the
prevailing foible of his heart, was wonderfully tickled, and
for a time, all the other energies of his mind seem to have
been paralyzed, so absorbed was he in the nauseous flattery,
which was so copiously administered to him. The following
address, supposed to be sent him by the female reformers of
Richmond, and received by him as such, contains what its
authors, whether priests or laymen, meant it should contain.
It contains falsehood and scandal, the traducement of worth,
the vilification of virtue, and the principles of robbery and
murder; all, all, under the gentle garb of radicalism and
spencean philosophy. That it was complete in its purpose is
palpable from its being gulped down by the devouring maw
of Cobbett.
" From the Female Reformers of Richmond in
Surrey, to William Cobbett, Esq.
" Richmond, Jan. 1820.
" From amidst parks and palaces, royal and noble, sur
rounded with gorgeous grandeur, yet hourly witnessing the
most squalid penury, seldom and never, incapriciously miti
gated by even the scraps, which, sometimes, falling from the
tables of the falsely termed — great, are occasionally doled out
in fits of vanity. With duchesses before our eyes, some of

340 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
£8000 per annum, others of nearly double that jointure, toge
ther with many more scarcely inferior in titles and wealth ;
from the daily views of such overgrown possessions, a dispro
portion which to us would not be more irksome, than to the
general mass of the people of England, if it helped to lighten
the pressure of the poor rates upon our families : from a centre
of scenery of this description, we, the female reformers of
Richmond, in the county of Surrey, approach the real friend
of the people, with sincere congratulations upon his safe return
to his native land in health and in strength, to pursue his
generous career in the blessed work of virtuous reformation.
" Though later in our address than our sisterhood in the
north, be assured that even they cannot surpass us in ardent
admiration of your unparalleled powers, and while we envy
the priority of the female reformers of Bolton-le-Moors, and
of Ashton-under-Lyne, in their testimonials to your rare ex
cellence, we are proud to follow the example of the good
women of Manchester, by marking, like them, our sense of
your exalted merit, in a piece of plate, which an affectionate
husband and a provident head of a family will not value
' the less, for being full as much calculated for utility as for
ornament. This small, but earnest tribute from thankful
hearts (which is not quite finished), shall, as well this commu-
cation, find its way to your hands, without even the expenee
of carriage.
" It will please you to learn that we have successfully in
troduced into our families the wholesome, and indeed palatable
substitute recommended by you, in place of an article which
nourishes corruption, by exacting from the vitals of the la
borious. Those amongst us, who are in the public line, must
of course supply our customers according to their wishes,
without, however, affecting our family discipline.
" This most faithful representation of the trading interests
of this township has been long and well considered. There
is scarcely one female head of any important business in this
place, whose name you will not find underneath. Whilst we
abjure all kind of offence to those, who resort to our places of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 341
trade, we will not practice the deceit of disguising our senti
ments. The worst has already happened, and has recoiled
upon those, who would be oppressors. The father-in-law of
one of the undersigned, only for the high crime of presiding
at a reform meeting in this town about two months since,
lost, it is true, twenty-eight of his customers upon the day
after the meeting, but we have the comfort to assure you,
that those twenty-eight were replaced by thirty new customers,
as soon as that tyrannical meanness became generally known.
Buyers and sellers are connected by reciprocal necessities.
We are duly thankful for all favours in our respective con
cerns, but commercial gratitude does not imply servility of
dependence. " You, sir, may be assured that your Political Register, in
whatever shape you may publish it, as well as your intended
Evening Post, will not throughout the British Empire have
more zealous promoters than the women of Richmond in
Surrey, with the heartfelt concurrence of their male relatives,
resolved to prove themselves as more inflexibly bent on con
tinuing their co-operation in all lawful means for effectuating
that paramount object, a radical reform of the Commons
House of Parliament, upon which all other reforms are es
sentially consequential."
Cobbett saw not through the waggery of this address, he
believed it to be genuine, the real dictates of the hearts of the
female reformers of Richmond in Surrey, and he longed for
the hour, when he was to be presented with the piece of plate,
which at the time of getting up the address was not yet finished.
After the lapse of about a fortnight, the piece. of plate, being
a tea-pot, was sent to Mr. Cobbett with the following in
scription, " From the Female Reformers of Rich
mond in Surrey, to the Guardian Angel of Re
form." Within the vessel was a paper containing these
words, " The donors wish their humble gift was surrounded
with gold and jewels." Thus far things went on satisfactorily,
and Mr. Cobbett announced his intention of visiting his fair
admirers, in the following singular and bombastic note.

342 memoirs of william cobbett, esq.
" My Dear Countrywomen,
" The female reformers of Richmond in Surrey, are
hereby most respectfully informed, that I have, as the place
is so near, resolved to go to Richmond, and deliver my an
swer to their sensible, public spirited, and eloquent address, in
person ; and that for that purpose, I shall, with a few friends,
be at the Talbot on Sunday next, after divine service in the
afternoon. " N. B. — It will be best to fix on a precise time, I will,
therefore, if I am alive and well, be at the Talbot, at pre
cisely half -past four on Sunday."
However, in the course of that day, a suspicion arose that
all was not right, and upon a close inspection of the tea-pot,
it was discovered to be brass slightly plated over. Thus was
the hoax discovered, but the manner in which Cobbett turns
the tables upon the hoaxers, and makes them believe that they
are the hoaxed, is a gem in the mine of Cobbett's treasures.
Shakespeare says :
P. Henry. What trick, what device, what starting hole canst thou now find
out, to hide thee from this open and apparent shame'
Poins. Come, lets hear, Jack, what trick hast thou ;
Falstaff. By the Lord, I know ye as well as he that made ye.
Shakespeare was undoubtedly an admirable master of
humour, and Falstaff is one of his richest comic characters,
and this barefaced out-facing of the truth, is the very hap
piest touch in the picture of Falstaff, but Cobbett in his
history of the hoax puts poor Shakespeare to the blush.* It
must, however, be previously noticed that to the address
which was sent to Cobbett, were attached the names of Mrs.
Forty of the Castle Tavern, of Mrs. Cream of the Star and
Garter, of Mrs. Topham of the Talbot, together with the
names of divers other females of respectability, by way of
representing the female reformers of the town of Richmond ;
the ladies above alluded to, knowing no, more than the dead
of the wel-lmeant use, which had been made of their supposed,
signatures. By way of his avant couriers, Cobbett sent a

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 343
number of his newspapers (the Evening Post) which he had
just started, to various places at Richmond, not forgetting to
send two to Mr. Topham of the Talbot, whose lady had so
nobly come forward in her congratulations on the return of
the great champion of reform, and who also was supposed
to have contributed to the silver tea-pot. The sun, however,
which was to see Cobbett at the Talbot never rose, his in
tended visit was indeed promulgated by the parties connected
with the hoax, who enjoyed to their hearts' content to see the
arrival of some of the reformers for the purpose of welcoming
Cobbett to the good and loyal town of Richmond. About
the appointed hour, two radicals appeared at the Talbot, and
very confidently inquired for Mr. Cobbett — The worthy host
stared at the querist, for he neither knew Mr. Cobbett, nor
wished for his presence in his house. In a short time, two
more radicals crept into the Talbot, and again surprised the
worthy host with their inquiry after Mr. Cobbett. These
two were the precise counterparts of the two Puritans sent
out of Gloucester to negotiate with the royalists at the siege
of that city by king Charles' troops. No Cobbett, however,
made his appearance at half-past four, nor at five — nor at
six — nor at all, and now we come to relate the story in Cob
bett's own words ; and we may repeat. " By the Lord I
knew ye, as well as he that made ye !!"
" The Courier," says Cobbett, " would fain make the
public believe that I had been hoaxed by some persons at
Richmond in Surrey. The facts are these. About three
weeks or a month ago, I received an address from that town,
signed by about forty' female names. It was drawn up with
great art, and the signatures were so ingeniously fabricated,
that the authors must have made sure of success. Pains
had been taken to change the hand-writing forty times, and
to change the ink several times. The address itself contained
excellent sentiments. But still the thing smelt of the priest!
I took no notice of it. The address said that a piece of
plate ivas preparing, and would be sent, as soon as finished.
Finding that the bait had not taken, the indefatigable authors

344 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
after waiting three weeks, sent a tea-pot, so well fashioned
as at first sight to be taken for silver, even by persons accus
tomed to examine such things. But the bearer slipping away
without speaking of the nature of the contents of the box,
led to an examination at once, when the . deceit was discov
ered. The question now was how to hoax the hoaxers. I
first on Thursday, said I would answer the address in print
the next day, then on Friday, that I would answer the address
in person at the Talbot Inn on Sunday evening. At this inn,
and near it crowds were, I am told, assembled at the appointed
hour, and amongst the most eager inquirers for my arrival,
were three gentlemen in black, with short powdered hair, and
with hats in the shape of fire shovels ; and as I am informed
by a gentleman who was present, when these black gentlemen
found themselves hoaxed, they assumed countenances exactly
like that of the hideous side of Mr. Hone's clerical magistrate.
The Courier says that I was at Richmond incog. This is
false upon the face of it. If I had been really hoaxed, and
had gone to Richmond, I should have proceeded to the Talbot
to be sure. No ! the crafty gentlemen in fire shovel hats,
were hoaxed after all, in spite of their change of hands writing
and of ink, and in spite of their tea-pot into the bargain, which
by the by, must have cost them two or three pounds at
least." Such is Cobbett's own account of this memorable hoax,
but like the eel wriggling in the net, the more he attempts
to escape, the more he becomes entangled. No doubt what
ever existed that Cobbett was completely hoaxed, and no
one can deny that it was only Cobbett's unconquerable
effrontery that could have carried him through the affair with
the appearance of so much success.
On the day preceding the death of George the third, Cob
bett established an evening newspaper, entitled Cobbett's
Evening Post, and as the demise of the crown occasioned
a dissolution of parliament, an opportunity offered itself for
the reformers of England to place their champion in parlia
ment, when according to his own statement, by his sole efforts,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 345
the country was to be saved from the ruin which, whilst he
was in America, he had prophesied would ere long fall upon
it. Coventry was the place fixed upon, that was to be hon
oured by so great a representative, but unfortunately previously
to his being returned, it was necessary that a sum of money
should be raised, and in proposing a subscription for that
purpose, Cobbett presents us with a specimen of modesty,
vanity and egotism, not to be paralleled in the history of
any other man.
He thus addresses himself to the reformers of the kingdom,
" To you I do, and I must look for support in my public
efforts. As far as the press can go, I want no assistance.
Aided by my sons, I have already made the ferocious
cowards of the London press sneak into silence. But there
is a large range, a more advantageous ground to stand on,
and that is the House of Commons. If / were there, the
ferocious cowards of the press would be compelled, through
their three hundred mouths to tell the nation all that / should
say ! how much / should do ! ! and it is easy to imagine what
/ should say, how much I should do. A great effect on the
public mind I have already produced, but what should 2" pro
duce in only the next session, if I were in the House of Com
mons. Yet there, I cannot be without your assistance.
" The Fund for Reform, I shall for the present, divert
to this more pressing object ; so that that may go on under its
present name, or under this new appellation. The parlia
ment may be dissolved in less than a week, so now there is
no time to be lost ; I would not call upon you for a farthing,
but situated as I am, I should not, if I were to go, on this
account, to any expence out of my own means, act prudently
in regard to myself, nor justly towards others. What will be
the sum required, I cannot exactly say. Two thousand
pounds, perhaps a little more or less. But whatever there may
be over a sufficiency, shall be applied to the cause of reform.
Something approaching nearly £200 has been already ac
tually received towards the fund for reform."
After this appeal to the reformers, and the subscriptions
36.— VOL. n. 2 Y

346 memoirs of william cobbett, esq.
not coming in so fast, in the opinion of Cobbett, as they ought
to have done, taking into consideration the incalculable bene
fit that was to be obtained by it, he sent forth a circular to
gentlemen of fortune, modestly calling upon them to sub
scribe each £ 10 ! ! for the purpose of securing his seat in
parliament. This circular is perhaps one of the most divert
ing specimens of impudence and egotism, that was perhaps
ever committed to types and ink. Mr. Cobbett commences
by stating, that he fears " that the sum necessary to carry in
the outlaying voters will not be sufficient.* Success is certain
if we raise the money. We shall be, I think, about £700
deficient, at the time when it will be wanted. A letter is this
day despatched to seventy gentlemen, and if you, together
with the rest of the seventy, send each of you ten pounds, /
shall to a certainty, be returned a member for Coventry."
We will proceed to the exquisite reasons, which Mr. Cobbett
urged to prove the deposit of ten pounds sterling a wise and
prudent measure on the part of each of the gentlemen to whom'
he sent his circular, " I ! ! ! am of opinion that my ! ! ! stock
of knowledge, my!!! industry, and my!!! recent experience,
if they had a sphere for their full exertion, would greatly tend
to produce, without any shock at all, the so anxiously desired
change in public affairs ! ! For the express purpose of doing
my ! ! ! utmost to save my ! ! ! country, I have returned to that
country. My ! ! ! mind is my ! ! ! own, my ! ! ! love for my ! ! !
country, and my ! ! ! fear of her dangers, have swallowed up
all private resentments. I !! ! most anxiously desire to see
* In a letter which Mr. Cobbett wrote to Mr. Tipper from Long Island, he
tells him that he is getting ready a Grammar of the English language, and that
in that work he had assembled together the fruits of all his observations on the
construction of the English language. Now the fruits of those observations
must have been very small indeed, for as a faulty and inaccurate writer, Mr.
Cobbett will ever stand conspicuous. Thus, what sense can be made of the
passage, " That the sum necessary to cany in the outlaying voters will not be
sufficient." It is sheer nonsense ; he meant to say, we suppose, " That the sum
subscribed will not be sufficient to carry in the outlaying voters." This is,
however, but one instance amongst a thousand, which could be selected of faulty
construction, committed by an individual, who considered himself the most per
fect writer of the age.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 347
Hhe present form of government preserved ! ! ! I\'.\ wish to
see my !!! country again free and prosperous, and/!!! am
convinced, that in one month (query, calendar or lunar,) I\ '. !
should be able to suggest the means of effecting in a com
paratively short time (i. e. ten days, or a fortnight ?) her
complete restoration ! ! !"
By way of a climax to this egoistical rhapsody, we will
give an extract from Cobbett's letter to his son, James Paul
Cobbett, giving him an account of the Coventry election.
" This election," says Cobbett, " as far as I had any part
in it, must be considered as immediately connected with my
return to England, for had it not been with the hope of getting
into parliament, I should not have returned, foreseeing and
foretelling as I did, that measures for stifling the press would
certainly be adopted, before the end of last year. Before I
sailed, we had the news of the Manchester tragedy, and Sid-
mouth's letter to the magistrates. It was easy to see what
was to follow, and it was at New York a common observa
tion, that the parliament would be sitting to receive me with
new laws against the press. My uncommonly short passage
prevented this prediction from being fulfilled.
" But / calculated on the king's death, and the chance of
getting into parliament, when that should happen. If I suc
ceeded in this, I knew that I should very quickly produce a
great effect of one sort or another'.! My desire was
to produce a healing effect ; to produce a change within, and
to prevent it from being produced from without ; to propose
measures, calculated to restore the country to prosperity and
peace ; in short, to do great things for the country, without
any view to self-interest."
In regard to the Coventry election, it would be presump
tuous to give the history of it in any other words, than those
in which Cobbett himself has described it ; some parts of
which are so truly original, so inimitably characteristic of the
man, that on no account ought they to be omitted.
Mr. Cobbett commences by informing his son James Paul ;
" The moment the king's death was announced. I an-

348 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
nounced my intention to stand for Coventry," and he then
proceeds to give his son a description of the city, informing
him that nature and art appear to have exhausted their joint
stock upon the land and cattle in that part of England, but
that his future constituents — " Good God ! what a miserable
race of human beings ! what a ragged, squalid, woe-worn
assemblage of creatures," from which it would appear that
the good people of Coventry in the time of Cobbett, were
pretty much the same as in the time of Falstaff, when his
recruits were such a set of ragged ragamuffins that he would
not be seen marching through Coventry with them, " that's
flat." Cobbett proceeds, " My first step was to meet the London
voters, to address them, and to explain my motives to them as
fully as was necessary. You would have been charmed with
their enthusiasm. You would have thought, that they would
have gone barefooted and fasting to Coventry to vote for me.
They did not forget, however, to grasp as much money as
they could, and while I am happy to have to say, that some
of them acted a most honourable and patriotic part, others of
them appeared to be as selfish and greedy and base a crew
as I ever set my eyes on. However the main part of the
people at Coventry were very different from those London
speculators in corruption, and had not brutal force been em
ployed, / should have been elected by a very large majority."
It would also appear from the following statement, that the
enthusiasm of some of the good people of Coventry, was not
so charming as that exhibited by the London speculators in
corruption, for on the arrival of the candidate at Daventry,
he was met by a parcel of men, whom the rich ruffians had
made drunk, and who very unceremoniously informed him,
that if he did not instantly return to London, they would take
the liberty to throw him over the bridge. This circumstance
rather staggered Mr. Cobbett, for he expected to have been met
with banners flying, with drums beating and a crowd at least
of 10,000 men, each vyeing which should have the honour
of dragging him into Coventry. From this perplexity Cobbett

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 349
was happily relieved by the arrival of a gentleman, who in
formed him, that the enemy had drawn up, rank and file in
the city, and that they were marching off to wreak their
vengeance upon "the great enlightener of the human race,"
when the partizans of the latter nobly and boldly attacked
them, and having broken their banners and split their drums,
dispersed them in all directions, and were then on their way
to greet his arrival.
This flattering inteligence induced Mr. Cobbett to push on
with all possible speed ; but alas ! he was again doomed to en
dure a severe disappointment, for on his arrival at Dunchurch,
the landlords of the two inns stood with their arms akimbo,
and would neither allow him to enter their premises, nor
furnish him with a chaise to convey him to Coventry. In this
difficulty, Mr. Cobbett and his daughter got into a gig, which
had been brought out by a friend, and got on as fast as they
could. About four miles from Coventry, they were met by
parties of young men, with laurel in their hats, and all the
villages on each side of the road poured out their population,
like bees swarming from a hive, to meet the great man, and
by the time they had arrived at Coventry, the number had
swelled to more than 20,000.
A post chaise being sent from Coventry, Mr. Cobbett and
his daughter entered it, and now another calamity befel
the candidate, which was the loss of his voice, which he re
presents as more vexatious to him than the loss of the election.
It shall be told, however, in his own words.
" The people had drawn the chaise from the distance of
about three miles from the city, and before we actually got
into the streets, the curiosity to see me was so strongly ex
pressed, that I was obliged to get out of the chaise, and stand
upon the foot-board, with my hat off. The effect of this,
added to a cold caught in London, proved in the end an evil,
which I have lamented more than any other misfortune of my
life, or rather than all .other misfortunes put together. The
loss of the election was a mere nothing, when compared with

350 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
the loss of my voice, which was nearly as complete, as if I
had been dumb from my birth.
" I was thus drawn through all the principal streets, which
did not occupy a space of much less than two hours in a
frosty evening, part after sunset. The acclamations were so
general and so hasty ; the enthusiasm so great ; the words
as well as the actions of the mass of the people so clearly ex
pressive of ardent attachment to the cause, of which I was
the representative, that it was not being at all credulous
to suppose, that corruption, however foul and persevering,
would be unable to produce finally, a successful resistance
against me."
Cobbett now enters into a description of the savage and
and brutal conduct of the people of Coventry, which after
making all due allowance for the exaggerating disposition of
the narrator, is a disgrace to the character of the English
nation. Cobbett gives an account of the way in which, as
he terms it, he managed the brutes, and there cannot be a
dissentient opinion, that it is truly worthy of his pen.
" The way," says Cobbett, " I managed the brutes, was
well calculated to sting them and their employers to madness.
I have, perhaps, as much of good humour on my countenance
naturally, and as little of the gloomy, as any man that ever
lived, and I defy the rich ruffians of Coventry to say, that
the thousand pounds a day, which they expended on their
savages, ever took away that good humour for a moment.
My way was to stand and look upon the yelling beasts, with
a most good humoured smile, turning my head now and then,
leaning it as it were to take different views of the same person
or the same group. I now and then, substituted something
of curiosity, instead of the general total unconcern, that was
seated upon my face. Now and then I would put my mouth
close to the ear of some friend that stood by me, and then
point to some beast that was foaming with rage, giving him at
the same time a laughing look, such as we bestow upon a
dog that is chained up and barking at us. Then another

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 351
time, when half a dozen fresh-drenched brutes were bursting
forth close under my nose, I would stretch up my neck and
look with apparently great curiosity, and anxiousness towards
a distant part of the crowd, as if to ascertain what was pass
ing there, and this I would do with so much apparent earnest
ness, and continue in the attitude so long, that the beasts
really seemed, some times, as if they were going mad. I
never had so good an opportunity to philosophise before. A
friend, who saw these man brutes, said that they shook his
faith in the immortality of the soul. But I see no reason at
all for any such conclusion. I believe, and have long believed,
that there are more sorts of men than of dogs. The mere cir
cumstance of a creature walking upon two legs, is no proof
that he is of the same kind and sort as I am, or as any other
man of mind is. I really looked at and heard these brutes,
till they became a subject of amusing speculation, and I could
not help concluding that it would be a species of impiety to
consider them as partaking in the smallest degree of such
men as Pope or Paine. Your old sow, that went to the top
of the hillock to ascertain which way the wind was coming,
before she fixed on the side of the barn to put her pigs to bed
for the night; your dog, Carnot, who finding his game, comes
and in looks asks you to go with him to the spot ; Boxer and
Nap, who when on Long Island, sucked, in one year, at least
five thousand eggs, and yet so wisely managed their affairs, as
never to get one single drubbing, but even when the whip
was raised, disarmed us all one after another — I thought of
all these, whilst I was looking at and hearing the hired savages
of Warwickshire, and I could not bring myself to feel any
thing like anger towards the poor beasts, every one of whom
I sincerely regarded as inferior to any of the animals above
mentioned, and perhaps the far greater part of their employers
are greatly inferior to Carnot or old Bess. I am sure they
are much less decent in their behaviour and discover less of
intellect. The word fellow creature is generally very fool
ishly used. All created things, whether animate or inanimate,
are fellow creatures. A Warwickshire savage or his em-

352 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
ployer, is therefore my fellow creature, but so is a bug, a flea
or a louse as Swift observes, and as I may hold these latter
things wholly beneath me in nature, so I trust, I may the
former. I am sure I should be very miserable, if I could be
lieve myself to be of the same nature.
" This, or something very much like it, was the train of my
ideas, while contemplating the horrid groups at the booth.
A parcel of frogs or toads croaking in a pool of dirty water
could as soon have disturbed the muscles of my face, as these
miserable and degraded creatures could have done it. When
one of the beasts attempted to strike me, however, the feel
ing became different. He reached over the side of the booth,
and caught me by the collar, which was instantly repaid by
a blow in his face, for, as Swift says, if a flea or a louse bite
me, I'll kill it, if I can."
The ladies of Coventry will not feel grateful to Mr. Cob
bett for the following exhibition of their character, "But what
was still more shocking and disgusting than all the rest, was
the sight of the wives and daughters of the rich ruffians, who
were seated on the balconies and at the windows, looking
directly down upon this scene and discovering every symp
tom of satisfaction and delight at hearing what would have
made a bevy of common prostitutes hang their heads with
shame ; and observe, these base-minded, these vile creatures,
call themselves ladies. I most solemnly declare, that I have
never seen any company of negro women, who I believe
would not have run away at hearing what appeared to be
highly engaging by these ladies of Coventry. Amongst the
wives and daughters of the freemen and others, I met with
some most excellent women, but I must say that the females
of the rich ruffians of Coventry, were the most impudent,
shameless, and hardened set of women that I ever saw. I
remember seeing crowds of prostitutes on the point at Ports
mouth, and I once saw three hundred, as- they told us, on
board of a seventy-four at Spithead, but I never before saw
any thing in the shape of women, that would, as I believe,
have remained and listened to what appear to give de-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 353
light to the wives and daughters of the rich ruffians of
Coventry. The Tesult of the Coventry election was, that Ellice and
Moore were elected, by a majority of nearly 1000 over Cobbett,
who only polled 517 voters, but he congratulated himself with
the idea, that they were all plumpers, and therefore had his
votes been split, he would have come very near to his oppo
nents in the gross poll.
It was, however, not only the loss of the election, which
Cobbett had to deplore, but he experienced a treatment from
some of the aristocratical party in the immediate neighbour
hood of Coventry, and particularly from the earl of Aylsford,
which does not speak very highly for the character of that
nobleman. The following is Cobbett's own account of this
singular transaction, in a letter addressed to the earl of Ayls
ford. " On the 5th, March, I went from Coventry to the Bull
Head Inn, at the village of Marsden, five miles from Coventry,
in the hope that a change of air would restore to me the use
of my voice, which I had almost wholly lost by a cold, caught
before I entered Coventry. I arrived there on the Wednesday
afternoon. On the Thursday, the landlord, Mr. Hether-
ington told me that while I was out on a walk you (Lord Ayls
ford) had called to ask whether I was in the house, and being
told that I was, you told the landlord, that you supposed he did
not expect to have any connection with the gentlemen in the
neighbourhood. The landlord, when he told me of this, ap
peared rather alarmed, but he was somewhat roused and
fortified, and appeared to feel that he was not quite destitute of
a soul, when I spoke of you and your interference, in terms of
merited reprobation and contempt.
" The next day, whilst I was out on another walk, the
adjutant of the Warwickshire yeomanry cavalry, of which I am
told you are the colonel, came, and as the landlord told me,
in true military style, demanded my expulsion from the inn.
This hero swore in grand style, and threatened tremendously.
36.— vol. n. 2 z

354 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
I could hardly refrain from treating the landlord as a slave,
when I heard that he had not kicked the adjutant out of the
house. And when he told me the story of your interference,
I said to my son, if he had interfered thus with an American
innkeeper, how the latter would have sent him across the
road from the toe of his shoe.
" When I came in from a walk on Saturday, the landlord
came to me with an account of new complaints, and told me
that he had been assailed by several persons, and had at last
been threatened, that unless he put me out of his house he
should have his licence taken away. That is to say, unless
he would commit a gross violation of the law of the land, he
should have taken from him the means of gaining his liveli
hood. " Having ordered dinner, the waiter informed us, that
his master could not provide us with any more. Upon this,
I sent for the landlord, and told him in plain terms, that if
he was a slave, I was not, and that unless he supplied me
with what I wanted, I would in the first place not pay his
bill, and that in the next place, I would bring an action
against him. The poor man was exceedingly distressed, but
at last, we got some dinner. We returned to Coventry, ac
cording to my intention in the evening, and for that time
heard no more of the matter. I left Marsden, feeling sorrow
at seeing an Englishman reduced to a state of such complete
slavery ; but not without feeling some pride, that my bare
presence near your dwelling had been capable of inspiring
you with fear. You may come and reside at the inn at Botley,
and not a soul in the county will either know or care when
you come, or when you will go away, or will ever hear who
or what you are. What a poor thing in the creation you are.
when compared to me ! ! What an insignificant thing !"
While this verbal altercation was going on at Marsden,
there was it seems something in the documentary way pre
paring, and we have it in the following article, copied from a
Coventry newspaper.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 355
"COBBETT AT MARSDEN.
" We, the undersigned inhabitants of Marsden and its neigh
bourhood, in order to manifest our abhorrence and detestation
of the principles of Cobbett, and his adherents, do hereby
publicly express our astonishment and disgust at the conduct
of the proprietor of the Bull's Head Inn, in having enter
tained him for so long a time, contrary to our general feeling
and loyal spirit, and further declare that we neither have had,
nor will have any connection with Cobbett.
(Signed) " Aylsford"
and thirty-one other persons.
"Here is a goodly group," exclaims Cobbett, "to disclaim
all connection with me. You might have stopped till you
had been asked to form such a connection, of which I never
should have thought, unless I had been reduced to a state to
' say unto corruption, thou art my father, and to the worms
thou art my mother and my sister!' "
The 9th May, 1821, was a day of triumph for Cobbett,
the Bank commencing on that day to pay off their one pound
notes in specie. The counsel which he gives on this occasion
to the ladies, is truly original. He thus begins his friendly
advice to them.
" Eh ! It is, it is a guinea ! Not less delighted than Scrub
was when Archer put the shiner into his hands, am I at this
moment, with a sum of sovereigns lying upon the table on
which I am writing, just brought from the Bank, from the
dear old lady in Threadneedle-street ! She had numerous visit
ers yesterday, and she paid her one pounders honestly. Gold
is always good. It does not burn to ashes. The breaking of
bankers does not effect its value. Maiden ladies ! Neat
servant maids turned of thirty ! Pray remember, that if a
purse of gold is not so good as a lover of twenty-two, it is of
earthly blessings, the next thing to him. Turn the dirty rags
out of your escrutoires and boxes. Let them no longer de
file your smoothly-ironed robes and nicely-plaited caps. Put
a purse of gold in the snug corner, which those vile rags so

356 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
unworthily occupy, and if it bring you not lovers, it will secure
you every comfort short of that, which lovers only can com
municate, and in the meanwhile, instead of the picture of an
old hag upon the corner of a bit of paper, it will give you the
picture of our gay and gallant king, stamped on imperishable
gold, and on the other side, you will see him on horseback,
driving his spear into the bowels of the paper money hydra
while he utters these words, " Honi soit qui mal y pense,"
that is shame to the base villians, who disapprove of this
my deed.
The year 1821 was a busy year for Cobbett in the business
of publishing, embracing subjects.of a very different character,
but all of them treated in a way peculiarly his own. He
first published his work of Paper against Gold, which may
be considered as one of the best ever published on that sub
ject, consisting of all the essays which he wrote on the paper
system from 1803 to 1806. His next work was his " Cottage
Economy," embracing the most approved " Method of brew
ing, baking, rearing cows, pigs, poultry, and bees." This
work Cobbett informs us, was written with the view of pre
venting the misery which is brought upon labouring families
by the pot-house and the tea-kettle.
We know that it is customary to eulogize this work, as
containing sound practical remarks, on the subjects of which
it professes to treat — We, however, must express our dissent
to the above opinion, and openly declare, that. the instructions
given therein are not founded on correct practice, and that who*-
ever follows them, will find himself egregiously disappointed in
his expectations. The pages of the Cottage Economy are not
appropriated to the subjects of which the author professes to
treat, for when the cottager opens it with the view of being
instructed in the art of brewing, he will find a long tirade
against taxation, and a violent philippic against excisemen.
Six eighths of the book are taken up with political disquisitions
on the injustice of taxing the commodities of life, on the
comparatively degenerate condition of the English farmers
with that of former times, and the extreme folly of a man

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 357
not being able to make his breakfast on a couple of pounds
of cold fat bacon. On the subject of bees, the book is not
worthy of being consulted at all; there is not a single precept
in it that can be followed with any hope of success, or which is
in the least consistent with the natural economy of the insect.
On the whole, the Cottage Economy, is a work which will
never sustain the character of a standard book of reference,
nor will it add to the literary reputation of the author.
His next work was a " Volume of Sermons ! !" On this
subject Cobbett says, " That it was the Six Acts which in
spired me with the thought of preaching in print. Tract is
beneath the thing described, and besides, the public will have
mine to be sermons. Sermons, therefore, they shall be. As
a proof of the piety of the days in which we live, and of my
superiority over the doctors, I will venture to say, that I am
able to prove a ten times greater sale of my sermons, than
can be proved of the sermons of any doctor that belongs, or
ever did belong to either of the universities."
Not satisfied with expressing this high eulogium of his
sermons, Cobbett sends forth a challenge to the two univer
sities and all the parsons, " Five of my monthly sermons,
price three pence each," says he, " have been published, and
nearly forty thousand sermons have been sold. Now I here
by challenge the above bodies and individuals to show, that
any hundred sermons, published by members of their cloth,
ever had a sale to the same number. We already beat the
' Tract Society ' out of the water, and it must mind its hand,
or people will not take its pamphlets, even at a gift, except
for purposes which it would be hardly decent to describe.
The nation has to thank Six Act for this publication. The
spirit was in motion ; it was working within, and feeling it
self cheeked in its former channel by Six Act, it broke out
in this new manner."
Of these sermons, of which twelve were published, it is
merely necessary to state, that the only characteristics which
they bear of that particular species of literature, are the texts
at the beginning, and the frequent quotations of scripture; in

358 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
other respects, they are nothing more than a series of political
essays, on some of Cobbett's favourite subjects, such as
" Public Robbers," " Tithes and Parsons," " God's Judg
ment on Unjust Judges,"* &c. &c.
Having fully satisfied himself, and as he supposed the pub
lic too, of the excellence of his sermons, and his challenge to
the universities, like that of Paul of Russia to the kings of
Europe, never having been answered, he next gives his ad
vice to the money hoarders of the kingdom, to sell out stock
and get sovereigns, and by no means to keep a bank note in
their possession, the latter particularly, on account of the
character, which he lays before them, of the lady of Thread-
needle-street. The following sketch of her could only have
been written by Cobbett.
" The old lady in Threadneedle-street, is in one respect,
I believe, like all other ladies, young as well as old ; that is,
if you mean to enjoy her favours, take her when she is in the
mood. Ladies are very punctillious in this particular, and
they are in the right. Their favours are of a nature to be not
received, but leaped at. It is not coldness in such a case
which is to be talked of, but want of fire. Bear this in mind
my friends, the hoarders ; recollect that the dame is rather
ancient too ; she makes the first advance ; for the honour of
both sex, take her at her word ; fly to her embraces, and rifle
her of those charms, which will give you enjoyments un
speakable, and that will stick by you to the end of your
lives. " She may, and suddenly too, change her mind. She is
no chicken, no sighing shepherdess, not she. She will never
dangle from a bed tester, nor dive into a pond at the coldness
of a lover. She has been long disciplined in the ways of
man. She can give a coy swain a kick in the ribs, or a slap
in the chops, with any lass of Billingsgate. Take her, there
fore whilst she is kind. Her heart is open now ; jump at
her, lest she close it up again, some slight symptoms of a
* Particularly those who condemned him to two years imprisonment, ai;d
afterwards to a fine of 1000Y for a libel on Mr. Wright.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 359
disposition to do which I have already observed, and have
duly informed you of. And remember, she is a very devil
incarnate, if you slight her. She is pretty well accustomed to
acts of a sternish cast. If she take the whim, she will throttle
you in a moment. Take the dame while the smiles are on
her face, for if she frown only once more, the Lord have
mercy upon you. No matter for her expiring in the fit of
rage herself, you are destroyed in the mean time, therefore
be warned and be wise in time."
Having thus settled the affairs of the old lady of Thread-
needle-street, Mr. Cobbett next turns his attention to ladies'
bonnets — Thus Cobbett writes, " The thoughtless young
fellow may exclaim, ' What have you to do with ladies' bon
nets, or anything else belonging to them, sour and shrivelled
old crab as you are ?' Come, sirs, no abuse ; age is honour
able, though seldom covetted, and wrinkles are better, and
even less ugly than bloated cheeks and eyes red with wine.
Learn this from me, women like sober men ; they would
rather indeed that they were young too, and a great deal
rather ; but still they will put up with a little age, and even
with a few wrinkles, in preference to bloated, beastly youth,
with the smell of an over-night's table, and with breath like
the stale exhalation of a bunghole. I have to do with ladies'
bonnets, and strange as it may appear at first sight, this really
is a subject of a political nature."
It appears from Cobbett's account that a bonnet had
been sent to the Society of Arts in the Adelphi, from a
Miss Woodhouse, living at Weathersfield, in the State of
Connecticut, in the United States of America, and a Mr.
Hack, a member of the Society of Arts, wrote to Mr. Cob
bett, stating to him what had taken place in regard to this
bonnet, which was declared by persons connected with the
Leghorn bonnet trade to be worth fifty guineas ! It was
necessary that some one should see Miss Woodhouse and
obtain some further knowledge of the nature of the grass of
which the bonnet was made, accordingly Mr. Cobbett wrote
to his son James, " his dear little James," as the refined and

360 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
delicate Scarlett called him, and for which, says Cobbett, I
trust he will live to make Scarlett a suitable return. This
son James, accordingly went to Weathersfield, although a
distance of 100 miles, obtained a specimen of the grass, and
despatched it to his father in London. Some seeds of the
grass were afterwards obtained, the grass was grown by
Mr. Cobbett, and when woven into plait, the Society of Arts
bestowed upon him the silver medal for the introduction of
so valuable a commodity into this country.
Towards the close of 1821, Mr. Cobbett began the publi
cation of his Rural Rides, which may be considered as one of
the most entertaining works he ever wrote ; for obvious reasons,
however, we decline the insertion of any part of them, having
some fear about us of the Attorney-general, and not being
desirous of it being imputed to us, that with the knowledge
of one party having been prosecuted for the publication of
them, we should be guilty of the folly of following so dan
gerous an example.*
In the month of May 1822, Mr. Cobbett received an in
vitation from some gentlemen of the town of Farnham and
its neighbourhood, to dine with them on the thirtieth of that
month. We regret that our limits will not allow us to give
the whole of the proceedings which took place on that oc
casion, and therefore we shall briefly confine ourselves to
those prominent parts which bear particularly upon the
character of Cobbett. He thus commences his account of the
meeting. " I have long since passed that point within which man
can with propriety be accused of what is called egotism. If
I were not, it would be impossible for me to separate, at this
time of day, a great deal of that which closely concerns my-
* In regard to the injunction which was obtained against a work, entitled
the Beauties of Cobbett, on the ground that it was an infraction of copy-
' right, we are decidedly of opinion, that had either the proprietors or the pub
lishers of that work gone into court, the injunction would have been dissolved,
on the ground that the person claiming the copyright could not, as the law
now stands, have proved his title to it.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 361
self, from that which must now be interesting to the country
at large. I proceed, therefore, without more ceremony to
state, that for the last, thirty years I have been almost wholly
unacquainted with any person, except merely my immediate
relations, living in or near the place of my birth, and when I
was a boy, my situation in life was such as to preclude the
probability of persons at all connected with wealth or influ
ence, having any knowledge of me. When I say thirty
years, I mean that I have scarcely been in that place, except
passing through it, during the whole of that time, and from
about twelve years of age, I resided in or near the place but
very little. It was, therefore, with a degree of gratification,
that I should very difficultly express, that I received about ten
days ago, a written invitation, signed by about thirty gen
tlemen of the town of Farnham and its neighbourhood, to
dine in that town on the thirtieth instant, in company with
such of my townsmen, as would be there present on the day
appointed. On Tuesday morning I set off from London for
Mr. Knowles's, atThursley, and yesterday proceeded in com
pany with that gentleman to Farnham."
The dinner was held at the Goat's Head, Mr. John Leech,
of Lea, in the chair, and on the health of Mr. Cobbett being
drunk, he addressed the company in a long and able speech,
from which we must be content to make the following ex
tracts. " Gentlemen," said Mr. Cobbett, " it is not a nabob,
loaded with the spoils of slaves ; it is not a lucky adventurer
in the rich mines of corruption, whose return you are assem
bled to welcome, but one, who after a long absence, and after
having had to endure the bufferings of that corruption, comes
back to you almost as destitute as to riches, as he left you.
On your part, therefore, no motive can be more pure, no
motive more generous. It must be well known to you all,
that for many years past, I have been endeavouring in every
way that suggested itself to my mind, to stem the torrent of
corruption, and to produce a reform in the parliament. Those
who have been fattening on that corruption, or have been
36. — vol. n. 3 a

362 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
wishing to fatten upon that corruption, the faction out of
power, as well as the faction in power, have entertained a
degree of hatred towards me quite commensurate with the
magnitude of these my exertions. For nearly twenty years,
and incessantly for thirteen years, this combination, not less
unnatural than it was powerful, has existed, and it is by no
means an exaggeration to say, that one object of which they
have never lost sight, has been to keep me doion. Strange as it
it may seem, incredible as it may appear to posterity, mon
strous as is the proposition, there is no person of the present
day, who has paid but an ordinary attention to what we call
politics, but must be convinced that no small part of the
measures of those, who have borne sway in this country have
turned on the question, Will their adoption or rejection tend
to fulfil the prophecies of Cobbett ?"
In regard to radical reform, Mr. Cobbett says, " For my
own part, I prefer radical reform. The word radical has been
interpreted to mean, amongst other horrid things, sedition
and rebellion. But what does it mean ? It means something
belonging to or appertaining to the root, and if we have an
evil to remove, is it not necessary to go to the root of it ?
can we remove it without going to the root of it ? There may
be those who have their pastures infested with docks, who
prefer the cutting of them off just beneath the ground, to the
digging of them clean up. I am for the latter mode, in
politics as well as in husbandry, I am for going to the root,
and therefore am for a radical reform. We are asked by
those who are really for doing nothing, what good a reform
can do us, and whether it would put any money into the dis
tressed farmer's pocket, perhaps it might not put money into
his pocket, but the next best thing is to prevent money from
being taken out of his pocket, and this to- a certainty is what
a reform in the House of Commons would do."
Mr. Cobbett closes his account of this meeting in the fol
lowing style :
" I came away, and returned home to Kensington, having
spent a days which certainly I may consider as one of the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 363
happiest of my life, though few men perhaps ever spent so
many happy days as myself. Farnham, compared with many
other places, is small, and somewhat obscure, and the value
I set upon this invitation, is founded principally upon the
evidence, which I consider it to be, of the progress of those
opinions and those principles, in the general prevalence of
which, and in that alone I can see, and have been able to see
any hope of deliverance for the country. The progress of
knowledge is at all times slow, even under the most favour
able circumstances, what must then be its progress, not only
with nothing extraneous to aid it, but with the whole force of
every man in power in the kingdom against it, with ninetv-
nine hundredths of that powerful engine, the press, constantly
aiding that tremendous opposition. The base ruffians; the
hired, the mercenary, the savage knaves, that have been
spreading slanders about the country under my own name ;
these most detestable villains, who conscious of impunity,
knowing well what picking and packing can do in the way
of giving them security ; these worse than poisoners and
cut-throats, who have been spreading about the country, at
the enormous expence of villains, who, if possible, exceed the
agents in atrocity ; these ruffians have constantly taken par
ticular pains to supply the town of Farnham with publications
purporting to be written by me, but containing the most
abominable falsehoods, the most diabolical slanders against
myself. These have not wanted circulators amongst the
peculators, or would be peculators, in the town and neigh
bourhood. But where were the slanders, and the slanderers,
when I myself made my appearance upon that spot ? In how
many cases have these vile ruffians been furnished with op
portunities to meet me face to face, to avow their publications,
and to vouch for the work of their pen with their tongue. In
how many cases have I afforded them this opportunity ? My
path has been straight-forward, and straight-forward it shall
be. I detest above all things that hypocrisy, which fain
would, but which dare not commit the acts, of which the bold
and open villain is guilty."

364 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
The suicide of Lord Castlereagh in August 1822 furnished
Cobbett with an ample theme for the exercise of his talents,
and perhaps on no occasion did he put them forth with greater
force or effect. In his Register of August 24th, he addresses
" A Letter to the boroughmongers on Castlereagh's cutting
his throat, and on their own probable fate." At the com
mencement, Cobbett says, " Let me express to you my
satisfaction that Castlereagh has cut his throat. Only a few
weeks ago I addressed a Register to this very man who has
now cut his throat. In that Register, which by-the-by was
much more likely to be the cause of his throat-cutting, than
the causes assigned by his friends, in that Register I re
minded him of what I said to him in the year 1815, when he
was making such fine treaties, when he was bargaining about
the museums and Napoleon, and when he was clapped and
huzzaed by the very basest crowd, the most degraded and
most cruel and cowardly and infamous gang of vagabonds
that ever disgraced the human form. In 1816, 1 declared him
to be out of his wits. His language in the debates upon Mr.
Western's motion of that year, and about the time of that
motion, convinced me that he was what they call cracked, or
that he was, at the very least, the wildest of mortals.
" It would seem at first sight that the concern would lose
something by the death of this silly creature. But this is a
concern of a singular character. It does not stand upon sense
or reason. Those who have the carrying of it on, need not
be overburdened with understanding. Indeed, men of real
knowledge and talent never could make it wag an inch. But
notwithstanding this, the throat-cutting will produce a great
effect. Some are talking about the difficulty to find a man
to supply the place of Castlereagh, but the thing for the
minister to look after is, something that will make those who
followed at his heels forget that it has now been proved, that
they were all the while crouching and confiding in an insane
person." In the letter which Cobbett wrote to Joseph Swann, who
was sentenced to four years and a half imprisonment in

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 365
Chester jail for selling pamphlets, he thus begins " Castle
reagh HAS CUT HIS THROAT AND IS DEAD. Let that SOUnd
reach you in the depth of your dungeon, and let it carry con
solation to your suffering soul."
He then goes on to state. " To talk of his mind having
sunk under the load of his business is quite monstrous. It is
beastly nonsense, it is nonsense such as Castlereagh himself
ever uttered, to talk of his having been driven out of his senses
by his load of business. Deep thinking, some people say, will
drive a man mad. This is a very foolish notion, but at any
rate how deeply Castlereagh thought maybe judged of by his
speeches and the result of his measures. It is not now that
I say it for the first time or for the thousandth time, for I have
always said, that it was one of the most empty-headed
creatures that ever existed, and that it was sheer impudence,
and the imbecility of its opponents that carried it through
with a sort of eclat, such as a mountebank obtains amongst
clowns. As to compassion ! as to sorrow upon this occasion, how
base a hypocrite I must be to affect it, nay how base a hypo
crite to disguise, or attempt to disguise my satisfaction. Can
I forget Ireland? can I forget Mr. Finnerty? can I forget
Napoleon ? Marshal Ney ? can I forget the Queen, who
though she suffered so much, though she suffered to the break
ing of her heart, never thought of the dastardly act of cutting
her own throat.
"Now let us take another view of the matter. According
to the witnesses examined on the inquest, his lordship had
been insane for a fortnight. According to others, he had been
insane for a shorter space of time. But it unfortunately hap
pened, that he was present and formed one in council with
the king on the Friday previously to the Monday on which he
cut his throat. According to the lady's maid's account he was
insane some days, while he was appearing and speaking in
parliament. These witnesses do indeed call it illness, and
mental delusion, and nervousness, and head-ache, and mental
delirium but it will be evident to every one that its proper

366 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
name was insanity or madness ; for if it did not amount to
this, it was nothing in exculpation. Here then we have the
proof, proof sufficient to satisfy a jury, that we had a mad
leader of the House of Commons, and a mad minister sitting
in council with the king ! ! Here are fine doings for Eng
land!!!" In the year 1826, Mr. Cobbett made another attempt to
get into parliament, and a meeting was held at the Freema
son's Tavern on the 2nd February, the object of which was to
raise a subscription to enable Mr. Cobbett to obtain a seat in
parliament. The room at the Freemason's Tavern being too
small to accommodate the people, the meeting was adjourned
to Lincoln's Inn Fields in the north angle of which a large
wagon was placed to serve as a hustings. A chair was placed
in the wagon for Sir Thomas Beevor, who presided as
chairman, accompanied by Mr. J. Cobbett, Colonel Johnson,
Mr. Peter Walker, and other gentlemen.
Sir Thomas Beevor in addressing the crowd, said, that it
seemed to him that the opinions of Mr. Cobbett were the only
rational ones on the subjects treated by that distinguished
writer, and as he (Sir Thomas) by persevering in Mr. Cobbett's
advice had saved himself and family from that ruin in which
he saw so many others involved, he felt most grateful to him,
and was anxious to obtain the same benefits to his fellow
subjects by promoting Mr. Cobbett's return to parliament.
Colonel Johnson seconded the motion, and Mr. Cobbett then
made a speech, in which he recapitulated the general subjects
which had engrossed his attention. Mr. Hunt followed Mr.
Cobbett, and although he expressed himself willing to con
tribute his mite towards effecting the return of Mr. Cobbett,
yet he wished to call the attention of the meeting to a pledge
which Mr. Cobbett had made to the electors of Honiton in
1806, and repeated to the electors of Hampshire in 1812, " I
never, as long as I live, either for myself or for, or through
the means of any one of my family, will receive under any
name, whether of salary, pension, or otherwise, either directly
or indirectly one single farthing of the public money." It

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 367
was not men of talent, continued Mr. Hunt, that were so
much wanted in parliament, as men in whom the people could
place confidence, and a declaration of this kind was in his
opinion, greatly calculated to conciliate that confidence.
To insure it, however, it was necessary for the person seeking
it to pledge himself not to meddle with the public money. If
Mr. Cobbett would, therefore, repeat his declaration he should
have his best support, to place him in parliament.
The cry of " the pledge," " the pledge," was now heard
from all parts.
Mr. Cobbett said, that what a man swore in 1806 was
surely biuding on him in 1826. It was the greatest act of
self-degradation that a man could commit, to repeat an oath
which he had already sworn. There his oath was, and there
it would continue, as strongly binding on him now as then.
He hoped, therefore, the meeting would spare him so great a
humiliation, as that of calling upon him to repeat an oath
which he had already sworn.
This explanation was not by any means satisfactory to the
meeting, and the thanks being voted to Sir Thomas Beevor,
• it broke up.
The following are the remarks of Cobbett on this, affair as
far as regards Mr. Hunt :
" When the unny man appeared the other day at our
meeting at the 'Freemason's Tavern, people were a good
deal puzzled to know what he would be at. Some thought
that he was only anxious that my purity should be preserved,
but when he said that he was ready with his mite, with your
spite, you mean, said a gentleman in the crowd, and he said
it quite loud enough for the unny man to hear him."
That these two great champions of radicalism should have
quarrelled, and as it were become the bitterest of foes, is not
to be surprised at, when we consider that both of them were
trying for pre-eminence, that they were jealous of each others
fame, and that both had laid themselves open to each other
in certain points, on which individuals are in general the
most sensitive, and where the wound that is; inflicted is at-

368 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
tended with the greatest pain. At this particular period, the
asperity between these two radicals was greatly augmented
in consequence of an action which was brought by Byrne,
for whom a subscription was raised in London, against
Sheriff Parkins, to whom the subscriptions were paid, on the
ground that he had not duly accounted for all the sums which
he had received. The trial came on, and a verdict was given
in favour of Byrne, for £ 196. Mr. Parkins was not satis
fied with this verdict, and applied for a new trial, which was
granted, and the verdict was reduced to £ 150. On the latter
trial, Mr. Hunt was examined, who stated that Byrne had
called upon him, and in the course of conversation mentioned,
that Mr. Cobbett had not paid over to Mr. Parkins all the
money that he had received, and spoke in very obscure terms
of Mr. Cobbett. A few days afterwards, Mr. Hunt was
very much surprised to read in one of Cobbett's Registers, a
direct charge of perjury against him, as connected with the
evidence he had given upon the trial. On the other hand,
Byrne makes an affidavit, that he never spoke to Mr. Hunt
disrespectfully or injuriously of Mr. Cobbett, but that on the
contrary, Mr Cobbett and all his family had acted towards
him with a generosity and kindness that totally surpassed his
powers of description.
In the face however of this affidavit, Mr. Hunt brought an
action against Mr. Cobbett for the publication of a libel,
founded upon the testimony given by him in the cause of
Byrne v. Parkins. The cause came on for trial, and Mr. C.
Phillips, who was counsel for Mr. Cobbett, kept the court
in a continual roar of laughter in the facetious comparisons
which he drew between the highly polisheJ character of Mr.
Hunt, and the high polish of his blacking.
The jury considering that the character of Mr. Hunt stood
as high after the publication of the alleged libel, as it did be
fore, found their verdict for Mr. Cobbett. We shall have an
opportunity in a subsequent part of this work to exhibit the
manner in which Mr. Hunt repaid Mr. Cobbett, for the abuse
which the latter heaped upon him.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 369
Mr. Cobbett was now busity employed in his literary la
bours, his work on the Protestant Reformation, and the
Woodlands, both going through the press at the same time.
Of the latter work, he says, " The second number of the
Woodlands was very nearly ready for the press, when the
smashings in London, and all over the country, when the
howlings of the jews, and the whinings of the quakers came
and drove out of my head all thoughts about Woodlands, and
all the poetical ideas about the blowing of the flowers and the
singing of the birds. I hope that I shall shortly resume
these sylvan labours, much sooner, 1 hope, than Mr. Robinson
will again be able to cause prosperity to be dispensed from
the ancient portals of a constitutional monarchy?'
The smashing of the rooks, (i. e. the country banks) as
Cobbett styled them, although it might for a time have di
verted his mind from the Woodlands, did not wholly abstract
it from attending to objects connected with them, and from
which he expected to derive a considerable profit. Scarcely
a Register now appeared in which he did not inform the
public of the different sort of seeds and trees which he had
on hand, specifying their prices, and eulogizing their res
pective qualities. Of apple trees, of the first and second
class, he informs his readers that he has none, aud therefore
they need not trouble him on that head, but of the third class,
they are welcome to trouble him as much as they please,
advising them to take a hundred at a time, by which a saving
will be made of fifteen shillings, as singly, they are nine
pence each. It is really amusing to observe the quaint and
concise manner in which Cobbett announces the prices and
qualities of these seeds and trees, founding their goodness
chiefly on their being collected and grown by himself, "My
cleverness in which," says Cobbett, "it would be folly to
dispute." In the month of March 1826, Mr. Cobbett paid a visit to
Norwich, and in his Register of that month, he inserts the
following singular advertisement.
" / notify to my friends in Norfolk, that it is my intention
37. — vol. n. 3 b

370 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
to be at Norwich on the 24th, and that I will dine with as
many as have a mind to dine with me, at the Bowling Green
Inn on the 25th."
Although this invitation to the good people of Norfolk
smacked strongly of vanity, and a hunting after popularity,
yet Cobbett was punctual to his time at the Bowling Green
Inn, his motive for going thither, being according to his own
account, "merely to talk to his friends in Norwich, as those
gentlemen have made me talk to the whole country, and I am
much, very much obliged to them for having done so."
To give an account of the dinner or of Mr. Cobbett's
speech, would be merely a repetition of the sentiments which
he had expressed a hundred times before, not forgetting,
however, to impress it strongly upon the minds of his auditors,
that they were henceforth to look upon him as one of the
greatest prophets, who had appeared since the days of Moses.
They all knew that he had predicted the smashing of the
rooks, and smashed they had, his prophecy had been fulfilled,
and it was not to be disputed, that he who prophecied and
whose prophecy came true— was to all intents and purposes,
indisputably a prophet.
The trade in seeds and trees not having exactly fulfilled
the expectations of the projector, Mr. Cobbett proceeds to
inform the readers of his Registers, that he has another ar
ticle to dispose of, which are some maps of the United States
of America. The chief recommendations of these maps are,
in Cobbett's own words "That the map is covered, it is on
canvass, and on rollers ; it was executed at Philadelphia
the year before — it is very pretty, and, in truth, it is the com-
pletest thing I ever saw in my life. The price four gui
neas." We mention these apparently trivial things, to show the
singularity of the human character, and particularly that of
Cobbett. Great and noble in some things was the mind of
that extraordinary man, mean and petty was it in others. It
could wrestle at one moment with a giant, and the next make
a giant of a pigmy. It could attach an importance to an

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 371
object, in which no one else could discover any importance
at all, and in which none did actually reside. Borne away
by an unconquerable spirit of vanity, Cobbett considered
that whatever he did, or said, whatever article he recommended
or had to dispose of, derived all its value from himself, its
intrinsic worth in the hands of any other person would be
nothing. It is, however, in these minor shades, that the real
character of the man peeps out, and it is impossible for any
one to peruse his little notices at the end of his Registers,
without discovering in every one a fresh proof of the most
egregious vanity and egotism, and of the extreme meanness
of the individual, who with the view of collecting a few pounds,
had become a dealer in almost every article by which a
penny was to be got. As a further recommendation and
inducement to the readers of the Register to purchase his
maps, he informs them that he intends to keep one for his
own use, " which must convince my readers at once that it
is a good thing. I shall therefore only dispose of nine, and
if any one will take the whole off my hands at once, I will
say 36 pounds instead of 36 guineas ! ! "
The month of April 1826 was a busy month for Cobbett,
for we find him taking the chair at the Feast of the Grid
iron at the London Tavern, and we also find him, where he
was generally to be found, in one of the courts of law de
fending himself either from a charge of libel, or for having
overlooked the payment of some pecuniary obligation. In
regard to the first, it may be necessary to state the origin
of Mr. Cobbett affixing the figure of the gridiron to his Re
gister, which was a mark of triumph that his prophecy
respecting Peel's Bill was completely verified, and it was
taken from the following remark, extracted from one of
Cobbett's Registers written at Long Island. In the room in
which the feast of the gridiron was held, the following placard
was posted. "PEEL'S BILL.
" This bill was grounded on concurrent reports of both
houses, it was passed by unanimous votes of both houses ;

372 memoirs of william cobbett, esq.
it was at the close of the session a subject of high eulogium
in the speaker's speech to the regent, and in the regent's
speech to the two houses. Now then I, William Cobbett,
assert, that to carry this bill into effect is impossible, and I
say that if this bill be carried into full effect, I will give
Castlereagh leave to lay me on a gridiron and broil me
alive, while Sidmouth may stir the coals, and Canning stand
by and laugh at my groans."
The small note bill, passed in 1822, partly repealed Peel's
Bill before the day for its going into full effect, and in De
cember 1825, the one pound notes of the Bank of England
came out again, so that here was the above prophecy com
pletely fulfilled.
Mr. Cobbett took the chair at this dinner, and as usual
delivered a speech full of abuse of the ministers, and es
pecially of the members of the committee, who sat on the
Bank Restriction Bill. The toasts which he proposed were,
perhaps, such as were never drunk at any public dinner be
fore, and we will venture to say, will never be drunk again.
The following may serve as a specimen.
The King, and may he once more and exclusively exercise
the prerogative of making money."
" The Industrious and Labouring People, and may
their food and raiment cease to be taken from them by the
juggling of the paper system? '
" Beef, Mutton, Pork, and Veal, may they be again,
as they formerly were, the food of the poorer sorts of people
in this kingdom."
" Potatoes and Potatoes alone, may they become the
diet of those who still uphold the paper money."
" The Ministers, thanks to them for their intention to
put an end to the worthless rags, which, worthless as they are,
can cause famine in the midst of plenty."
" On the meeting breaking up," Mr. Cobbett says, " many
of those present got about me, and eagerly sought to pay me
some mark of respect, which I consider was due to me for
my exertions in smashing the rooks." Well might Cobbett

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 373
say, that he was arrived at that period of life, when he might
be allowed to indulge in a little egotism, if he had added
vanity, no one would have felt disposed to contradict him.
In the month of April 1826, we find Mr. Cobbett in a
court of law, on an action brought against him by a person
of the name of Farlar, for the recovery of the sum of £32
5s. being the amount due to the plaintiff for two brewing
machines, one of which Cobbett alleged was a present to
him, and consequently would reduce the debt to about £15.
This was very satisfactorily proved to have been the case,
and the jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for only £ 14 10s.
considering that the larger machine was a present. It was
supposed that this action never would have been brought
against Mr. Cobbett, but for the disparaging manner in
which he had spoken of the brewing machines, of which Mr.
Farlar was then the patentee, and it may be added, that it
was chiefly owing to the character which Mr. Cobbett put
forth of these machines, that the demand for them rapidly de
clined, and they are now wholly out of use.
The dissolution of parliament in May 1826, gave Mr.
Cobbett another opportunity of attempting to obtain a seat
in parliament, and accordingly he issued an address to the
electors of Preston, offering himself as a candidate for their
suffrages, and telling them, that there was not an individual
in all England so fit to represent them as himself. " You
have seen, my good friends," he says, " what one man,
though at a distance of three thousand miles, with a great
ocean between you and him has been able to do out of the
house, and I trust in God, you will see the day, when that
man will show you what one man can do in the house."
On the 16th May, Mr. Cobbett left Kensington for Pres
ton, taking Liverpool in his way, from which place he was
accompanied by Mr. Thomas Smith, and on arriving at
Preston they were met by a considerable number of people,
bearing two or three flags, on one of which was painted a
gridiron, with other emblems descriptive of the triumph of

374 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
his doctrines, and having written upon it the substance of
the gridiron prophecy, and the date, Long Island. Mr.
Cobbett shortly after his arrival, addressed the people from
the window of the inn, stating the grounds on which he
solicited their suffrages, and the great benefit which the
country would derive by sending him into parliament. On the
following day, Sir Thomas Beevor addressed the people, en
larging on the wonderful talents of Mr. Cobbett, and pledg
ing himself for the reformation of certain abuses, should Mr.
Cobbett obtain a seat in Parliament. Having made a fa
vourable impression on the minds of the electors of Preston,
Mr. Cobbett and his friend, Sir Thomas Beevor, returned to
London, and every thing which ingenuity or talent could
devise to raise a fund sufficient for defraying the expences
of the election was put in force. The villains of the press,
as Cobbett called them, branded him with the names of
" Beggarman," " Pauper," " The Mendicant Candidate,"
but he bore it all with his accustomed callousness. In his
Register he called upon all England to hasten forward with
their subscriptions, for the reception of which a house was
opened in Fleet-street, Sir Thomas Beevor acting as trea
surer, the subscriptions, however, were to be forwarded to
Mr. Cobbett, Mr. John Dean giving his receipts for the sums
paid in. The people of Preston, says Mr. Cobbett, in his
Register of the 27 th of May are numerous, the electors are
numerous ; and many of them poor, and even if the seat were
obtained without the expenditure of a hundred pounds, it
would be due to them after the election was over for us
to drink with the husbands and brothers, and dance with the
wives and daughters ; it is what I would do at any rate, and
I am sure that all our cordial friends would do the same.
While these proceedings were going on, another of those
pitiful attempts to raise money was made by Cobbett, which
threw a deep shade over his character, and the one which we
have now to relate was more atrocious than any of the for
mer, as he attempted to persuade the public that he had no

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 375
nand in the business, when it was well known, that the whole
affair was got up by himself, and that the profits were to go
into his own pocket.
The following is Mr. Cobbett's announcement of this
speculation. " There is a bronze medal of me, which has been made
from a cast taken about a year ago. It is about four inches
in diameter, and is, I believe, a very good likeness, as far as
such things ever are or can be likenesses. It is by my per
mission sold at No 183 Fleet-street, for the artist or pro
prietor. I do not recommend any one to purchase it, it was not
made by my desire. I yielded with great reluctance to the
taking of the cast ; my best picture is in my books ; when they
shall be forgotten, all other pictures of me will be rubbish,
but the artist has made the medal, and that too by great
labour and at great expence, and I should think it hard in me
not to give this notification on the subject. There are many
persons, who are curious in this way, I am not, but I am
not to control the taste of others. I have no interest whatever
in this thing : I do not even recommend the purchase of it,
but I think it would have been hard to refuse to give this
notice of it. Mr. Rouw took the cast and made the medal,
and the die was made by Mr. Baddely. The price is one
pound ! ! which I consider cheap ! !"
This speculation was a decided failure, some of the public
said, they had had quite enough of his bronze, and others could
not be brought to consider the medal of William Cobbett
cheap at a pound, when the medal of Napoleon could be ob
tained for ten shillings. The die of William Cobbett was
indeed cast* and the chances turned out to be decidedly against
him. The dissolution of parliament took place, and Mr. Cobbett
as soon as the writ was issued for the election of the new par
liament, left Kensington for Preston. He was accompanied
by his four sons, on their arrival at Bolton, a great concourse
of people were soon assembled, when Mr. Cobbett addressed
the people from one of the windows of the Bridge Inn. The

376 memoirs of william cobbett, esq.
topics of his speech were the same as he had introduced into
his speech at Preston.
At Chorley he also stopped to address the people, and at a
little village called Bamber Bridge, about seven miles nearer
to Preston, the crowd had swelled to a vast body. It was,
however, remarked that the great majority of the assembly
was composed of young women, who, according to Mr. Cob-
belt's own account, all seemed very anxious that he should
address them. He was, however, very coy omthis occasion,
and pleaded fatigue, but on seeing so many pretty smiling
faces about him, he could not leave them without saying a
few words to them. He explained to them the way in which
they particularly were made to pay the taxes ; they paid a
tax on sugar, tea, soap, &c. the items of which he minutely
explained, "Now," said Mr. Cobbett "this is the way in
which you pay the taxes, though you do not know that you
are paying them. But we have been told by Sir Robert Peel,
the great master manufacturer, you know, that this paying
of taxes is nothing ; it is only a paying by one part of the
family into the pockets of another part. To be sure it is in
the family way, but you will please to recollect, how many
a single family get as much as all of you here together, and
get it too out of your earnings. A pretty family concern it
is truly. These things must be remedied. Measures must
be proposed and adopted for that purpose; and it is in your
power to do something towards that issue, by helping to send
to parliament a man, who can propose such a measure. I
therefore exhort you, my fair countrywomen, to exercise
that influence with which you are gifted over those men, who
have anything fo do with Preston. You are all so young
that I am sure you cannot be married. If you have not hus
bands, you certainly have sweethearts, prevail on them, such
at least as are connected with Preston, to give me all the
support they can."
Having uttered a few more pleasing flatteries to the spinsters
of Chorley, Mr. Cobbett proceeded to Preston, where he was
received in the most flattering manner, and when the carriages

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 377
arrived at the Castle Inn, the people were so densely wedged
together, that all access to the inn was rendered impossible.
Mr. Cobbett could not address them from the carriage, and
therefore he was very politely lifted out of it, and being placed
on the shoulders of a sturdy Preston man, he was carried
pickaback into the Castle Inn amidst much cheering and
laughing. In a short time he appeared at one of the win -
dows, and made a long speech to the multitude, assuring them,
that if they returned him as their member, they would have
the most efficient one, which had ever sitten for the borough
of Preston.
An active canvass was now commenced by Mr. Cobbett
and his party ; there were three candidates opposed to him,
Mr. Stanley, (now Lord Stanley,) Mr. Wood, and Captain
Barrie. The limits of this work will not allow of our enter
ing upon the details of the occurrences which marked the
progress of the election. The following are, however, the
leading facts. The candidates, to whom Mr. Cobbett was
most opposed were Mr. Stanley and Mr. Wood. The elec
tion of the former was considered pretty certain, and there
fore the contest lay between Mr. Wood and Mr. Cobbett.
It is much to be regretted, that in the different speeches which
Mr. Cobbett made, he entered into personalities respecting
the candidates, which, as between gentlemen, are perfectly
unjustifiable, even on occasions of acrimonious contention.
It was by this coarse and ungentlemanly conduct on the part
of Mr. Cobbett, that he alienated from him the votes of many
individuals, who, had he confined himself within the limits of
fair, temperate discussion, would doubtless have given him
their support. We will only give one specimen of the con
duct of Cobbett, which took place at the close of the election.
Referring to the candidates, he said, " My feelings towards
them are all pretty much upon an equality. The Captain I
hate and detest."
Captain Barrie, (very good humouredly) " Thank you sir."
Mr. Cobbett, " Because "—
37- — vol. u. 3 c

378 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBKTT, ESQ.
Captain Colquitt, "Because he is an honest man and a
gentleman !"
Mr. Cobbett, "Because. he is so ungenerous and so cruel
as to put the oath of supremacy to the catholics. As to the
gentleman upon his left ; the gentleman of the Book of
Wonders, that prince of hypocrites, Mr. Wood, I despise
him from the bottom of my soul, (cries of shame and hisses)
and as to the individual (Mr. Stanley) the very much spitten
upon individual, upon his left, again I tell him that I loathe
him, as I loathe everything that is nasty (cries of shame,
and turn him out, turn the old bone grubber out). At the
captain I knit my brows and bite my lips ; at the hero of
the Book of Wonders, (Wood) I turn up my nose ; at the
foolish, haughty, insolent individual (Mr. Stanley), I stop my
nose," (tremendous uproar ; cries of disgusting ; off Cob
bett). In this strain did Mr. Cobbett- continue to speak till
his friends were ashamed of him, and his enemies hooted and
hissed him, until he was completely silenced.
The election closed on the 26th June, when Mr. Stanley
and Mr. Wood were declared duly elected — the numbers being
for Stanley 3,044, Wood 1982, Barrie 1657, Cobbett 995.
The account which Mr. Cobbett gives of his departure from
Preston, and the occurrences which took place on his way to
London, is perhaps unparalleled in the whole range of Eng
lish literature for bombast, hyperbole, and the most inflated
egotism. We regret much that our confined limits prevent
us giving the whole account, and therefore we must content
ourselves with the following extracts.
" The election," says Mr. Cobbett, "ended on Monday the
26th June, and I staid at Preston during the 27th, until about
eight in the evening. At that hour I addressed the people at
the usual place. There were from ten to fifteen thousand
assembled. At the conclusion of my speech, I said that the
whole town was there assembled, and, therefore, I called
upon them to signify by a show of hands whether they would
still wish to have me for their member. Never was there

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 379
suck a show of hands, never approbation so unanimous,
cheers so cordial, and honour so great ! ! !
" We took our departure from Preston in an open carriage
and pair. We were preceded by a volunteer band of music,
and we were accompanied by not less than ten or fifteen
thousand people, and greeted with cheers and blessings until
we got quite beyond the boundaries of the town. From the
moment of my entering the town, to the moment of my
quitting, no one ever heard my name pronounced in public un
accompanied by applause, and I can truly say, that the zeal,
that the testimony of public regard for me, that every demon
stration which I could wish to behold, became more general
and more ardent from the first moment of my appearance on
the scene, until the last moment of my remaining upon it.
"From Preston we pushed on to Blackburn. Here we
found a people equal to those which we had left. An ad
vanced guard had come out to meet us, and to inform us that
there were thousands assembled at the entrance of the town ;
we soon found ourselves surrounded by not less than ten or
fifteen, thousand people, (Mr. Cobbett's favourite number).
Such huzzaing ! such shaking of hands ! ! such congratula
tions ! ! ! such praises ! ! ! ! such blessings from hundreds and
thousands of lips ! ! ! ! ! Why, a day of life like this is better
than a whole age of the life that a tyrant or a log has to live.
I would not exchange the recollection of what passed at Black
burn, for all the riches that the world has to bestow. Ex
cellent good fellows at Blackburn, say I ! ! The streets of
Blackburn are narrow, and the houses lofty, the people were
so thick in the street, the weather was so hot, the evening
so close, and the exertion of the people to squeeze along to
get to me to shake hands with me was so great, that the
sweat and the breath together made a sort of fog, through
which we rode for more than half a mile ! ! ! For fear of
accidents, I had allowed the horses to be taken from the
carriage, and we were thus conducted to a house called the
Bull, into which for some reason or other, we could not get
admittance, (excellent good fellows at Blackburn, say I ! !)

380 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM cobbett, esq.
but the people took the carriage to another house, where we
were well received and very well entertained.
"Our next town was Bolton-le-Moors," continues Mr.
Cobbett, and here we were again met at about two miles
from the town by an advanced guard. A band of music was
ready for us further on, and we entered Bolton amongst im
mense multitudes (?) of people. Being in uncertainty as to
the time of our arrival, the band of music had been waiting
for us nearly all night. This circumstance, however, did not
appear to have slackened the zeal of these most ardent and
most grateful people. The great and general desire of both
men and women was to shake hands with me. I put my arm
over the side of the carriage and sometimes both arms to
gether, and let them pull and squeeze my hands about just
as they pleased, till my hands were sore from my wrists to
the points of my fingers.* My right arm was so much pulled
between Blackburn and Bolton, that I could not the next
morning lift it up to tie on my cravat. We were very hos
pitably received at the Commercial Inn ; I made a speech to
the people, in which I told them that I should set off in the
evening, but that I should first get something to eat, and go
to sleep on a bed, in order to fetch up a little of the lost time,
and to be ready for the future. In the evening I gave them
another short speech, and then set off for Manchester."
At that place, owing to some recent circumstances, Mr.
Cobbett wished to remain incog, but that was not to be ex
pected could be allowed by the people of Manchester. " I
was determined," says Cobbett, "to goon like a common
traveller, and with this view I went to an inn called the
Albion Hotel, where I arrived about eight or nine o'clock,
but it was no sooner known that I was there, than a great
* This outrageous puff of Cobbett's did not escape the caricaturists of
London, who drew "the great man" seated in a carriage, his arms extended
right and left out of the window, like the projections of a clothes' horse, whilst a
crowd of dirty urchins and wenches, drunken prostitutes and ragged ragamuffins
are shaking his two hands ; ¦' the great man," bawling out " I am William
Cobbett, the enlightener of the human race."

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 381
crowd collected round the house. I was tired and wished
to go to bed, and lifting up the sash I told them, that as there
was no doubt I was the object of their curiosity, that curiosity
should be gratified the next evening at about half past seven
o'clock, when I should set off for London. It was my inten
tion to make a speech from one of the windows of the inn
before my departure, but I heard that the police had sent
word to the landlord of the inn, not to permit me to make a
speech from one of the windows, on which I wrote to the
boroughreeve and constables for an explanation, but I only
received a verbal answer that if I attempted to speak I should
be made answerable for the consequences. I was at once re
solved upon coming away, without any attempt to speak, but
at the same time I resolved to come openly from the front door,
where I had alighted, to come away with my carriage open,
and to let the boroughreeve and constables do what they
pleased. As the time of my departure approached, the passage
and hall and yard of the hotel began to be very much crowded
with persons that I looked upon as being of a sort of ruffian
gentility. At one time, a column of them wanted to crowd
into our room. We put them out and guarded the door.
We got into the carriage without any difficulty. To see me
was doubtless the principal object of this immense multitude,
and I must have been a most ungrateful and insensible man,
indeed, not to have a strong desire to gratify this wish of so
many people. While Mr. Clarke sat down, therefore, I
jumped upon the seat of the carriage, stood there with my
hat off, turning all about me, and repeating in a very loud
voice " Gentlemen, I thank you, God bless you all, laugh at
the rotten lords." The concourse of people that accompanied
us was immense. The general desire here as elsewhere was
to shake hands with me, and though I had suffered so severely
from this, the day before, I could not withliold my hands,
and had them pulled about again, till they were both black
and sore."
We will give one more display of this gross egotism on
the part of Cobbett, premising at the same time that in his

382 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ:
description of his departure from Preston, and of his sub
sequent journey on his route to London, every line of it so
smacks of vanity and conceit, that the reader becomes sur
feited with it usque ad nauseam. The account of Mr. Cob
bett's abrupt departure from Manchester was published in
the Morning Herald, and it is there described as being con
sidered inglorious by his friends, many of whom were dis
appointed with his weak compliance with the unreasonable
mandates of the authorities there. The account in the Herald
closes with. " In what other town in England could a
genteel rabble be found to elbow and jostle an old man, a
stranger in getting into his carriage."
" Now," says Cobbett, " the mere circumstance of age is
trifling, but it is worth while to notice, that having been beaten
in every other way, these reptile calumniators of mine, having
been reduced to silence by these astonishing proofs of
industry, sagacity, perseverance and resolution that I have
displayed ; the caitiffs having been absolutely abashed into
silence by the very look of the public : now begin to comfort
themselves with the thought that I am a poor old man,
and that I cannot possibly last long. It is an old man,
recollect, who can travel five hundred miles, make speeches
of a half an hour long twice a day for a month, put down
the saucy, the rich, the tyrannical ; make them hang their
heads in his presence ; an old man recollect that can be
jostled out of his majority at an election, and that can return
towards his home through forty miles of huzzas from
THE LIPS OF A HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND PEOPLE ! ! !
an old man, let Thwaites of the Morning Herald recollect,
who could catch him by one of those things, which he
calls his legs and toss him over the fence, from Piccadilly
into the Green Park. An old man that is not so ungrateful
to God as to ascribe his vigour of body and of mind to his
own merit, but certainly, who happens to know of no young-
man able to endure more hardships or perform more labour
than himself."
The defeat at Preston was for a long time a rankling sore

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 383
in Cobbett's mind on every occasion, and he was not very
scrupulous where he looked for them, he poured out his tor
rents of abuse on the sitting members, and all those, who
had espoused their cause, in terms which in some instances
would have disgraced the mouth of a Billingsgate fish-woman.
This extreme coarseness and vulgarity injured Cobbett in
the estimation of his friends, nor did it tend to advance tha
cause which he had espoused.
According to the promise which Mr. Cobbett made to his
friends at Preston, he presented a petition to the House of
Commons against the return, and the names of the recog
nizances were given in viz. Mr. Walker and Mr. James
Thompson. In a letter which Cobbett wrote to the electors
of Preston, he gives the following account of this singular
transaction, commencing with informing them that the wishes
of their hearts in seeing him in parliament, will not this time be
accomplished. He then goes on to state, " I shall have to give
an account of the conduct, and that too on the part of a man
professing the sincerest of personal friendship, the purest of
political principles, and the greatest anxiety for our success
on this occasion. This man's name is Joseph Thompson.
This man had introduced himself to me originally; the ac
quaintanceship began on his part ; it commenced when I was
in the King's Bench, and by an act on his part, which showed
the best of feelings, and the best of principles. He gave me
some money with the greatest of apologies for the liberty he
was taking, but observing at the same time that as he thought
the public in general ought to compensate me for the suf
ferings I endured for the sake of that public, he at any rate,
was determined to do his duty. From that time I have
known this man, was always happy to see him, went to see
him as often as I could, got him to come to my house as often
as I could prevail upon him to do it, was always very much
pleased with his conduct upon all occasions ; always thought
him a singularly sound and sensible man.
" When, therefore, I had to nominate sureties, the first
name that occurred to me, was that of my friend Mr. Walker,
and the next was that of Mr. Thompson ; the first would

384 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
have thought himself neglected and slighted if I liad not put
his name down, the latter was chosen in preference to one of
twenty or fifty others, that I might have had, because he lived
close by me ; because I knew Mr. Walker would be staying
at my house ; because we should thus be all on the same spot,
and be ready at any moment, and thus prevent the possibility
OF FAILURE.
"Thus by over precaution — yes, actually by taking too
great care ; by having their surety under my own roof, as
it were, all your hopes have been disappointed and all my
labours thrown away.
Not to enter upon a full transcript of the whole of Cobbett's
account of this transaction, it would appear, that an ap
plication was made to Mr. Thompson to become one of the
sureties, and that he gave his consent accordingly, in the
presence of a barrister, but who that barrister was, no informa
tion was given, and therefore we have nothing more to depend
upon for the truth of the statement, than our great confidence
in the veracity of Mr. Cobbett. As the time, however, ap
proached for the sureties to enter into the recognizances, Mr-
Thompson, it appears, had taken a different view of the matter,
and declined becoming the surety at all, by which singular
conduct, Cobbett was unable to prosecute his petition, as the
time had elapsed, which by the rules of the House of Com
mons, the names of the sureties should be given in. Thus, if
Mr. Cobbett could have procured another friend, his petition
would not have been received by the house, and the electors
of Preston lost the member, who had promised them, if he
were elected, to do such things as no member of the House
of Commons ever had done — ever contemplated to do, or
ever could do.
That Cobbett was highly mortified at the loss of this election,
was fully apparrent in every Register which was published —
the ranklings of a wounded mind exhibited themselves on every
occasion, but still he attempted to make his readers believe,
that he could have been returned, if he would have descended
to the pernicious and unconstitutuonal practice of giving the
electors something to drink previously to voting, " A hundred

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 385
pounds worth of ale would have secured my election," says
Cobbett, " but I would rather not sit in parliament at all,
than get into it by filling the bellies of my friends with a
poisonous compound." No man had a happier knack of
making the public believe, that he was perfectly resigned
under whatever misfortune might befal him, than Cobbett
evinced on every occasion in which he could put it forth.
Whatever might have been at this time the opinion which
Mr. Cobbett entertained of himself, and certainly no man stood
higher in his opinion than William Cobbett himself. It is
certain that his extraordinary vanity, his bloated egotism, and
his insufferable conceit, had rendered him exceedingly ob
noxious to the really sensible and well thinking part of the
community ; the castigations which he daily received through
the medium of " the broad sheets," as he styled the newspapers,
would have made any other being wince and writhe with pain;
but on the back of Cobbett, however, they appeared to make no
deeper impression than a drop of rain on the back of a goose. Of
the many severe proofs which he received about this time of
the public opinion towards him, the following may be consider
ed as one of the most biting, and one which Cobbett him
self never forgave.
" At a meeting held recently at the Fox and Goose, of the
followers and admirers of Mr. W- Cobbett; Sir Thomas
Swallowall in the chair, after a due and solemn considera
tion, it was resolved unanimously.
" That in the present awful crisis of public affairs, there ap
pears to this meeting no other mode of saving the country from
irretrievable disgrace and utter ruin, than that of placing at
the head of the government, a man eminent for wisdom, virtue,
great political sagacity, sound discretion and invincible courage.
" That from our own experience, and what must be more
satisfactory on such a point, the often-repeated declarations
of William Cobbett himself, there is not another man in the
whole kingdom, who possesses both the ability and inclination
to relieve the country, from the calamities with which it is
now so unhappily burthened.
37.— vol n 3d

386 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
" That although there are many apparently disinterested
and able persons, who affect to doubt the prodigious advantages
that would arise to the nation from the official services of Mr.
W. Cobbett, it is manifest to this meeting, that Mr. Cobbett's
description of these doubters, is a perfectly honest and correct
one, namely, that they are a vile, selfish, corrupt, degenerate,
base, and beastly set, in other words a band of miscreants
and wretches, fit only to be cudgelled, despised, loathed, and
spit upon, even worse than, according to the report of the said
William Cobbett, Mr. Stanley was spitten upon by the pretty
girls of Preston.
" That the entire periodical press, with one single glorious
exception, the Register, conducted by Mr. W. Cobbett, is
in the hands of a low, hired, profligate, ill-educated, ill-
favoured, chocolate-cheeked, and ragged set of garret-inhabit
ing ruffians, whose opposition to Mr. William Cobbett arises
solely from the worse than brutal envy of his superior talents
and character, and the fear produced by his unrivalled exposures
of their impotence, baseness, blackguardism, and knavery.
" That therefore an humble address be prepared and pre
sented to the king, earnestly beseeching his majesty, to lose
no time in appointing Mr. William Cobbett prime minister
by which appointment his majesty may be assured the
country will not only be saved, from ruin, but that peace
prosperity and glory will rapidly succeed to the frightful
discord, universal sufferings, and unparalleled degradation,
with which the nation is now tormented and oppressed — all,
(as Mr. William Cobbett has so often publicly asserted, with
a modesty and self-knowledge peculiarly his own) all arising
from the wilful and deplorable neglect of Mr. W. Cobbett's
re-iterated prophetic warnings and sagacious counsels.
(Signed) " Thomas Swallowall, Bart,
Chairman."*
* Sir Thomas Beevor was at this time called Sir Thomas Swallowall, in
allusion to the aptitude which he evinced of s« allowing all the statements
of Cobbett, and considering every thing as true and genuine, which appeared
under the sanction of his name.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 387
" While at the above meeting, Mr. W. Cobbett with his
accustomed discretion and good taste, despatched a letter to
Mr. Henry Hunt, offering to. smother all political differences,
and to forgive all personal scurrilities, however numerous and
gross, that existed and had passed between them, solely for
the good of the nation at this crisis, to form a junction with
him, in order to unmask and oppose the shocking, shameful,
preposterous, unprecedented, venal, and unnatural coalition
that had just taken place between Sir Francis Burdett and Mr.
Canning, in despite of good faith, public decency and common
consistency. It is said that Mr. Henry Hunt thought this letter
at first to be a hoax, but being assured to the contrary by
Mr. Cobbett's messenger, as well as by a little reflection upon
the conduct often before adopted by that great patriot on cer
tain perplexing occasions, Mr. Henry Hunt, actuated by a
spirit equally dignified, discreet, and disinterested, promptly
acceded to the offer, and forthwith repaired to the Fox and
Goose, where he was most graciously received by Mr. W.
Cobbett and the chairman. The interview between the two
worthies is described as having been inconceivably novel and
touching, vows of friendship were renewed, not a word was
hinted of the past, all was harmonious, gentlemanly, dignified,
and a writing was immediately drawn up by the high con
tracting parties to be despatched to the Morning Herald broad
sheet, announcing this coalition as the only junction calculated
to expose inconsistency, confound hypocrisy, frustrate knavery,
uphold the character of public men, satisfy the people, and
save the country. Sir Thomas Swallowall, and the meeting
in general were in raptures at this blessed re-union. Burdett,
Brougham, Hume, &c. were loudly denounced as incapables,
impostors, and apostates, and the walls of the Fox and the
Goose resounded with cries of William Cobbett, and Henry
Hunt for ever ! ! ' ' 
It must be stated that the foregoing pungent satire, took
its rise on account of a public meeting, which was convened
to take place in Covent Garden, for the purpose of addressing
the king on some recent ministerial changes, and thanking

388 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
him for the firmness he had displayed in the use of his pre
rogative. It was or this occasion that a coalition took place
between Mr. Cobbett and Mr. Hunt, who for some time
previously had been exhausting the English language of all
its opprobrious epithets, wherewith to bespatter one another,
but who at this meeting were seen together in one of Mr.
Hunt's blacking vans, much to the surprise and amusement ol
the people, " Mr. Hunt and I," said Mr. Cobbett " may and
have differed on minor points, but we have always agreed on
great questions, and further, when bad men conspire, good
men unite." Dr. Tucker, who was in the chair, declared that
the people had only to cast their eyes to the good men, who
then filled the van, to confirm the truth of that statement, in
which opinion he was seconded by Mr. Pitt of the Adelphi,
who closed his eulogium on the goodness of the people by
whom he was surrounded, by intimating that some light
fingered gentleman, not having the fear of Botany Bay before
his eyes, had just" eased him of his watch, chain and seals, and
if he would be so good as to bring them back to him, he
would give him £5 reward.
That Cobbett was falling in the good opinion of the people
was too evident at almost all the public meetings which he
attended, but his conduct on the occasion of the dinner at
the Crown and Anchor, to celebrate the twentieth anniver
sary of Sir Francis Burdett's election, was well calculated to
expedite his fall, and if conviction could have been impressed
on his mind, he must have felt that his influence was strongly
on the wane, and that the people did not entertain that high
opinion of him, which he informed them in his Register,
that he knew they had, and which to his knowledge was
daily and hourly increasing.
This dinner was attended by almost all the great political
characters of the day, professing liberal principles, and when
Sir Francis Burdett, the chairman, rose to give the toast " A
full, fair, and free representation of the people in parliament,
the only efficient remedy for all our national grievances,"
Mr. Cobbett rose to prop.ose an amendment, and an uproar

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 389
immediately commenced, such as was never heard before at
a public dinner. The room resounded with cries of " off,
off" "Turn him out," "Turn him out." Several of the
stewards expostulated with Mr. Cobbett, and a disposition was
manifested to get rid of his interruption by main force. This
provoked the resistance of his personal friends, who gathered
round him, and in the conflict, some blows were interchanged.
Two constables were introduced, who took their places by
the side of Mr. Cobbett ; all was confusion and uproar. Mr.
Galloway at length obtained silence, and called on the as
sembly, in the name of the stewards, to hear the gentleman.
They lost a great deal more by opposing him, than they
would do, if they allowed him to proceed.
Mr. Cobbett then proceeded to suggest his amendment to
the toast, " That his majesty be respectfully, but earnestly
solicited, speedily to chase from his counsels, and strip of his
confidence those men, who have undisguisedly declared, that
they will never consent to reform in any shape whatever. I
call upon this meeting," said Mr. Cobbett "to receive this a-
mendment, I say that unless you petition the king to remove
that immortal, implacable, and defalcating enemy of reform
Mr. Canning, you are acting inconsistent with yourselves."
The noise continuing to increase, Mr. Cobbett's voice was
entirely drowned. A toast was then called from the chair,
but under the most violent demonstrations of protest from
Mr. Cobbett, who swung his body about, lifted his hands in
deprecation, laughed hysterically, and seemed to be writhing
with impatience. At length, apparently exhausted with his
own futile efforts to be heard, he sat down, upon which a
general shout was raised.
On Mr. Sturch rising to propose the health of Sir Francis
Burdett, Mr. Cobbett again arose, vociferating No, no, and
flourishing his arms about in the most extraordinary manner.
A great commotion took place in that part of the room where
Mr. Cobbett was stationed, and some movements took place
indicatory of a determination to eject Mr. Cobbett from the
room.

390 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Sir Francis Burdett mounted the table to return thanks,
but Mr. Cobbett again interfered, and demanded that his
amendment should be put. Sir Francis on this resumed his
seat. "What!" exclaimed Cobbett, "hear him, a traitor
in the cause of the people. They are afraid to put the ques
tion — byG — d they are." He then proposed an amendment,
" That Sir Francis Burdett now sits at the back of Mr. Can
ning, which Mr. Canning before the face of Sir Francis
Burdett, has positively declared that he will oppose parlia
mentary reform to the last hour of his parliamentary ex
istence, in whatever shape it may appear ; that same Mr.
Canning, who has always been the determined enemy of
reform, and who has announced himself its implacable
enemy." In the midst of the confusion occasioned by putting the
toast of Sir Francis Burdett, Mr. Cobbett declared by G — d,
that not one out of ten was in favour of the vote to Sir
Francis Burdett. " Let them," he said, " submit it to a
show of hands. They are afraid, by G — d. I now under
stand that Burdett says I have written nonsense. He is a
pretty fellow to say I have written nonsense. That at least
will not be believed of me." Here Sir Francis arose and Mr.
Cobbett was at length induced to take his seat, exclaiming,
" Oh ! I would not interrupt the finest speech in the world.
Ha! ha! ha!"
On Lord William Russell rising to propose the health of
John Cam Hobhouse, Esq. that gentleman and Mr. Cobbett
rose at the same time, and the cries of " Hobhouse, Hob
house," and " Cobbett, Cobbett," resounded through the
room. Mr. Hobhouse stood as if patiently determined to
obtain a hearing, Mr. Cobbett appeared equally resolved.
He placed his hands in his waistcoat pockets, he bent his
arms akimbo, lolled forth his tongue, gnashed his teeth, and
by other significant motions gave the company distinctly to
understand, that he was not at all pleased with the opposition
which he experienced.
The scene which now took place is past all description.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 391
Mr. Hobhouse appeared still endeavouring to obtain a hear-*
ing, but the screaming, howling, and hissing on the one
hand, and the cheers and clapping of hands on the other were
almost deafening. The stewards rushed to the table upon
which Cobbett stood, speaking at the utmost pitch of his
voice to those around him. They pressed upon him and his
friends, and endeavoured to force him from the table. A
scuffle ensued, in which Mr. Cobbett's friends defended him
stoutly, and surrounding a corner in which he had placed him
self, they resisted all attempts to come near him. Many
white wands were broken, and many thumps and pushes
were exchanged in the scuffle, chairs were upset, glasses and
decanters demolished, and many were prevented, by the spilling
of their wine, from becoming more inclined for a Tom and
Jerry row. Mr. Cobbett in his addresses to those around
him, frequently mentioned the name of Mr. Hobhouse,
coupled with some offensive epithets, one of which, when
Mr. Cobbett called him "My dear little Sancho", so exas
perated Mr. Hobhouse, that he snatched a wand from the
hands of one of the stewards, and going up to the place where
Mr. Cobbett stood, swore he would knock him down if he
repeated his abuse of him, telling him at the same time, that
he held him unworthy of any gentleman's chastisement, and
that nothing would induce him to look upon such a miscreant
as he was, in the light of a political opponent.
During this very disgraceful scene the chairman and the
gentlemen around him had taken their hats, and were about
to depart, but again resumed their seats.
Nothing could equal the Billingsgate language which was
used upon this occasion. "Go to h — ,"said Mr. Cobbett's
friends. " Oh ! you old bone-grubber, why dont you pay
Sir Francis Burdett his £3000," said one of the adverse
party. "You wanted to make money of the bones," cried
another, and then "the lie," and the more coarse expressions
which usually flow in other places, were used in abundance
here. In the midst of this confusion , Mr. Hobhouse repeatedly
presented himself, and uttered a few sentences with a view

392 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
to obtain a hearing, but they were completely drowned in
the uproar which prevailed.
Sir Francis Burdett again appeared upon the table, and as
chairman of the meeting, called upon them to perserve order.
The call, however, appeared to be unanswered ; the most
riotous confusion still prevailed, and at the end of a very
warm altercation in Mr. Cobbett's corner, he was observed
to get upon the table, with his waistcoat somewhat disordered,
and his countenance exhibiting marks of ill-suppressed irri
tation. The remainder of the meeting was one continued
scene of uproar and contention ; several of the most eminent
leaders of the reform party attempted to speak, but little
could be gathered of what they said, and the meeting was at
length broken up, after a series of scenes disgraceful in the
extreme, and excessively injurious to the character of Mr.
Cobbett. Nevertheless, in his Register of the 26th May, it is
truly laughable to see the style and manner in which Cobbett
dresses up this affair. In his own opinion, he was the hero
of the day ; nothing was able to stand against the undaunted
courage which he displayed. In comparison to him, Mr.
Hobhouse was a cypher, Lord John Russell a fool, Lord
Nugent a great taptub, and Sir Francis Burdett a wriggling,
twisting, shuffling, whimpering, canting, political culprit. So
great also was his influence over a certain portion of the
meeting, that had it not been for his interfernce, Sir Francis
Burdett would have been sent out of the- window, and Mr.
Hobhouse and the whole tribe of noblemen and gentlemen
after him, leaving him, William Cobbett, the lord paramount
of the assembly.
This bombast and rodomontade which disfigured the pages
of the Register, might have been all very satisfactory and
pleasing to the self-love and vanity of Cobbett, but it was
admitted by the majority of his friends, that his conduct at
that meeting alienated from him the good opinion of many,
and was a prelude to that decline in the scale of respectabil
ity, which he had hitherto endeavoured to maintain.
The pecuniary affairs of Mr. Cobbett were also at this time

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 393
known to be in a deranged state, for although his Register
continued to be a source of considerable profit to him, yet he
was continually harrassed by the creditors, to whom he was
indebted previously to his embarkation for America, and the
only method which was left for him to extricate himself
from his embarrassments was to declare himself insolvent.
He had at this time, to the surprise of all his friends, and of
the public in general, entered upon a line of business, as
strange as it was new to him, for although he had employed
himself during the whole of his life in cutting up the charac
ters of both his friends and enemies, they little thought to see
him in a shop at Kensington, in the character of a butcher,
cutting up the carcases of pigs, sheep, and oxen. Such, how
ever, was now the case ; many who had never seen William
Cobbett, had now only to take a ride or a walk to Kensing
ton and the " great man " might be seen, particularly early in
the morning, examining the excellence of his carcases, and
wondering at the same time, that the whole town of Kensing
ton and its vicinity, did not give his shop the preference
above every other of the same description, with which the
place abounded. But of all the places in the vicinity of
London, Cobbett, perhaps, could not have selected one more
unsuitable for him than the town of Kensington. He was in
the very midst of the atmosphere of courts and palaces ; he
was surrounded by the followers and dependants upon royal
patronage ; the royal arms stood prominently displayed over
a number of shops, indicating that the owners thereof were
in the enjoyment of the peculiar privilege of serving royalty
with the respective articles of their trade. And was this a
place in which William Cobbett could locate himself with
any chance of success, the sound of whose very name was as
grating to the ears of royalty as a cracked bagpipe, and whose
presence was shunned by the neighbouring aristocrats, as if
he were infected with the plague ? In vain did Cobbett send
forth his outrageous puffs of the cheapness and excellence of his
meat ; in vain did he tell the people of Kensington that they
were bound to deal with him on the score of patriotism ; in
38.— vol. n. 3 e

394 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
vain did he tell the people in his Register, that although the
adage might be true, that there were tricks in all trades, yet,
it would be found, if they applied to his shop at Kensington,
that they would be dealt with on an established principle of
honour and fair dealing. The public either doubted this as
sertion, or had imbibed an opinion from some late transactions
that had been made public, that William Cobbett, to use a
homely phrase, was no honester than he ought to be. Let
the cause, however, be what it may, the butcher's shop was
a decided failure, and William Cobbett took his station in the
Gazette, in the list of bankrupts, as butcher of Kensington.
On the whole, the spirit of trade appears at this time to have
taken full possession of all the energies of William Cobbett,
for his Register was now made the vehicle of puffing off the
various articles which he had for sale, and it was only Wil
liam Cobbett who could describe their good qualities in the
way which he did. Not a Register now appeared, but a
paragraph presented itself, commencing with " I have for
sale such and such an article — the very best in all England."
The range of these articles was astonishing, beginning with
apple trees and running through the whole alphabet, stopping
at tulip tree wood ; and some idea of the manner in which
Cobbett dressed up his recommendation of his articles, may
be gathered from that exhibited on his announcing that " I
have for sale fifty-four planks of tulip tree wood, and they
are at my house at Kensington, where they may be seen on
application to the gardener, at any hour between four in the
morning and five in the afternoon. There is the mark on
each plank expressing the number of feet which it contains.
The marks were put on in America, and therefore are accord
ing to our old-fashioned English kingly measure, and not
according to the , grand and sublime imperial measure,
which being an improvement of the age, produced by liberal
principles, the offspring of the march of mind guages, (in de
fiance of Bedlam) ales, metes oysters, and ascertains the
length and width of shirting, by the beat of a pendalum in a
heat of sixty-two degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer."

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 395
At the outset of this puff, Mr Cobbett finds that he had
fifty-four planks, at the close of it, he finds that he has not
half that number and therefore he advises gentlemen to lose
no time in purchasing all that are left, for as one plank would
make a table to dine twenty persons, and only at the cost of
four pounds, five shillings, besides the great advantage of
being able to keep it always as clean as a marble slab, he
confidently expects not to have occasion to repeat this notice.
On the establishment at Kensington being broken up, Mr.
Cobbett retired to Barn Elm Farm, whence he continued to
send forth his Registers and his puffs, the latter of which
were now taken up with his eulogiums on the merits of indian
corn, and particularly of that sort which he had for sale, im
ported direct from America, as a proof of which, " I have for
sale 50 barrels, made of oak staves, in which the corn was
imported." In addition to the indian corn, " I have for sale a
quantity of American seeds, of which I purpose to put com
plete assortments in boxes at the moderate price of £5 a box.
It would, however, be necessary in purchasing the box, to
purchase also my work, called the Woodlands, because op
posite to the seed of the birch I shall say, see the Woodlands,
paragraph 153. Then when I come to the Georgia bark, I
shall say, see the Woodlands, paragraph 158." In this man
ner did Cobbett make one branch of his business dovetail in
with another, although at the same time, the whole was
carried on with such a dogmatical spirit, and so full of con
ceit and egotism, that it was at last said that Cobbett's puffs
were the most relishing part of his Register.
Towards the close of the year 1828, Cobbett again rendered
himself conspicuous, by proposing himself as a candidate for
the place of common councilman for the Ward of Farringdon
Without. On this occasion, also, did Cobbett and Hunt
meet, both as candidates for the same office, and it was not
the least curious part of the scene to hear two individuals be-
praising and complimenting each other, when it was well
known that scarcely a Register appeared in which Cobbett
did not vent his scurrilous abuse upon Mr. Hunt, and the

396 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
latter seldom let slip an opportunity, in which he could ex
pose and depreciate the character of Cobbett. Mr. Hunt was
duly proposed and seconded as a candidate, but Mr. Cobbett in
forms us, that he would not condescend to be nominated by any
of the electors, for the best of all reasons, that no one seemed
disposed to undertake the task. The two radical candidates
must, however, have been doubly bronzed to have endured
the lacerations which were inflicted upon them by some of the
rival candidates. From the beginning of the meeting to the
end, it was one tissue of abuse uttered against Hunt and
Cobbett, particularly by Messrs. Wood, Blackett, Figgins,
and Galloway, at the same time it must be admitted, that
the latter gentlemen received from the two sturdy radicals
some heavy blows, which told with such precision, that to
use Mr. Hunt's own phrase, " made their old rotten teeth
almost drop out of their head." It is scarcely necessary to
remark, that neither of the radicals was successful in his at
tempt to represent the Ward of Farringdon Without; indeed,
Mr. Cobbett never went to the poll at all, and Mr. Hunt
soon saw that he was no great favourite with the good people
of that part of the city.
High intellectuality is generally accompanied with eccen
tricity of conduct, and to no one can that proposition be
more aptly applied than to William Cobbett. It is well known
that the emperor Paul of Russia sent a challenge to all the
monarchs of Europe to meet them in single combat, and not
less extraordinary was the challenge which William Cobbett
sent forth at this time to the whole world, and which we are
certain cannot be read without a laugh at the subject upon
which Cobbett chose to challenge his countrymen, at the
same time it lets us into the knowledge of the mode of life to
which he thought proper to restrict his household. He begins
his challenge as follows :
" The following propositions will be denied by nobody
that does not covet a broomstick, that paleness is a sign of
feebleness, if not of ill-health ; that as soon as a body becomes
dead, its cheeks are pale ; that when a person, from whatever

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 397
cause, faints, the blood totally leaves the cheeks, and that in
short, a pale face is a sure sign of a want of vigorous health.
Now these premises being undeniable, I shall first, state a fact,
and then throw out my challenge. The fact is this, that during
three months, or thereabouts, no wheat, or any thing pro-.
ceeding from wheat, and no sort of thing usually obtained
from a grocer, or in other words, no -sort of thing which is
not the produce of the soil of England, that none of these
things have been consumed under the roof of my farm house.
Now then my challenge is this, there are twelve of us under
this roof, who live in the manner aforesaid, without wheat, or
any think proceeding from wheat, and without any thing not
produced from the land in England. And I hereby offer
TO BET ANY MAN ONE HUNDRED POUNDS, THAT, HE DOES
NOT FIND UNDER ANY ROOF, NAY, UNDER ANY SIX ROOFS,
ANY TWELVE PERSONS THAT HAVE SO MANY SQUARH
INCHES OF RED UPON THEIR CHEEKS, AS ARE TO BE
FOUND BY DUE ADMEASUREMENT, UPON THE CHEEKS OF
THE TWELVE WHO LIVE UNDER THIS ROOF, AND WHO
FEED IN THE MANNER ABOVE SPOKEN OF. I have kept
this farm house for more than a year without spirits, without
sugar, tea, coffee, or any sort of grocery, without any of
these ever having made their appearance under this roof;
though observe, I have never been without two women in the i
house.* These things I have done for more than a year, and
no doctor or apothecary has ever set his foot within the doors
of this farm house, during the whole of that time, though, let
it be observed, I am the first to apply for medical assistance
for any body in my house, in case of even the appearance of
illness. But we have had no illness. The accursed tea has
not been here to shake our nerves ; and the brandied wine,
and the vitrioled spirits, and the abominable brewer's poison
have been kept away from under this roof, and we have been
* Cobbett does not inform us of the length of time these women stopped
with him ; we, however, know, that a month was a very long time for him to
retain a female servant, and we heard one of his domestics says, that she would
rather live with the d — I than with William Cobbett.

398 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
well, though close upon the border of a marshy meadow,
which I was told would give us all agues and typus fevers.
Now, if people will not live as we live, let them be ill, say I,
I have no pity for them, they are drunkards and gluttons, for
drunkenness and gluttony are only things of degree. In
short, if people will not restrain themselves from those in
dulgences, which cause sickness, sick they will be,, and sick
they ought to be."
This challenge was followed by another characteristic trait
of Cobbett's mode of life, and we strongly recommend it to
the attention of all the young, aye, and of all the old bachelors
of the kingdom, not suspecting at the same time, that the
advice which Cobbett gives them will be followed by one out
of twenty, or that the regimen which he recommends would
in the least reconcile the newly-married wife to the change
in her condition.
To YOUNG MEN, WHO HAVE THE LAUDABLE WISH TO
BE MARRIED.
" This," says Cobbett, " is a very important matter, I am
therefore tempted to relate an anecdote, which will afford, I
am certain, great consolation to many young persons of both
sexes, who would feign obey the divine precept, increase
and multiply ; but who are deterred by the fears of not being
able to obtain a livelihood after they have entered upon the
holy work. Not long ago, two young gentlemen, who have
genteel employments in London, dropped in upon me at my
farm, about eleven o'clock in the forenoon. Each had his
gun, and they had a pointer between them. One of them I
had known pretty nearly from his infancy, the other was a
stranger to me. I asked the young man whom I knew,
whether he was married; the answer was a congratulation to
himself, that he was not ; I inquired after another young
fellow that I had known formerly ; he was married, I was
¦told, and great sorrow was expressed for the poor fellow.
I appeared, as I really was, uneasy to a considerable degree,
at hearing this sort of language from young men, and began

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 399
to fear that Malthus and Carlile had made great and general
impression by their teaching. I found, however, that the
great obstacle to matrimony was the fear of not being able
to provide for the wife and family. While I was talking
with these abstemious bachelors upon the subject, the maid
came to lay my cloth for dinner, it being now within a few
minutes of twelve o'clock, seeing two gentlemen with me,
she drew back, held the cloth up to her body, and looked me
very hard in the face, " Go on," said I " lay the cloth, and
when you have put down the men's dinner, bring me a cut
off their joint." My visiters rose, preparing to go away and
not interrupt me at my dinner. I begged them to be seated, and
to do me the pleasure of dining with me, which they seemed
not to disrelish by any means, having probably had tea slops
for their breakfast, and having had their appetite sharpened by
coming from town on a fresh frosty morning, with guns in
their hands, rambling backwards and forwards amongst the
hedges and bushes. Dinner was quickly served. About four
pounds, perhaps, of solid fat bacon, without one morsel of lean
in it, but exquisitely good, rosy as a cherry, and transparent
as glass. This was the joint of which they heard me speak ;
along with it came a pudding made of corn meal (indian corn)
and mutton suet, a dish of Swedish turnips, boiled along with
the bacon, as the pudding had also been, besides these, a loaf
of bread, made partly of rye flour and partley of corn meal,
and a full pot of fresh beer ; thirty gallons made from a
bushel of malt. We drew up to the table without my offer
ing any apologies, seeming to look upon the dinner as a
matter of course, being quite proper for me to invite them to
take a part of, and without any ceremony I furnished their
plates, which, by the by, as well as the dishes and beer mug,
consisted of good solid pewter ; to my agreeable surprise, they
not only played a good knife and fork, but praised the victuals
exceedingly. As soon as the repast was over, I told them
that they now knew the grand secret of being able to marry
with safety, for that, if they, as they might, if they would
live just in that manner, and no other, and avoid the accursed

400 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
tea and all its accompaniments, resolve to use nothing in the
way of food or raiment, which the land of England did not
produce, each of them might marry to-morrow, and with their
incomes, might each save fortunes for their children. There
were we four, (including my clerk, or secretary of state,) who
had dined upon about one pound of bacon, about a pound and
a half of pudding, a pound of bread, twopennyworth of beer,
and a farthing's worth of Swedish turnips, making altogether
elevenpence farthing, or less than threepence a piece. Now
a young fellow will be married for some time before he will get
four full grown sets of teeth at work upon his joint of meat.
His breakfasts would be monstrous indeed, if they exceeded
the dinner in expence, and as to the suppers, a pennyworth
of bread and cheese, and a halfpennyworth of beer, is as
much as any body can think of. Allow then, three pence for
the dinner, two pence for the breakfast, and three halfpence for
the supper, that makes sixpence halfpenny a day, or three
shillings and nine pence halfpenny a week for one individual,
or seven shillings and seven pence a week for man and wife.
Go on, young fellow, have as many children as your wife
pleases; they will amount to ten in number, before the
victuals and drink need cost you more than twenty shillings
a week, but if-you will insist in dealing in exotic articles, if
you will insist upon having the tea tackle, and the wine de
canters, and all the rest of that ruinous and ridiculous and
contemptible set, resolve at the same time not to marry, for
the consequence must be a life of uneasiness to youself, a ter
mination of it in the King's Bench, or in some jail, or some
workhouse ; and at the very best, a shifting and shuffling along
through life, always dependant upon some haughty scoundrel
or other, and being in fact a miserable slave and a hungry
slave into the bargain, with the fair chance of leaving behind
you a bevy of daughters to become prostitutes, and a pack
of sons to become toadeaters of the vilest and most odious of
of the aristocracy. I remember that after Fox got into place
in 1806, 1 said that could he have lived upon bread and cheese
and small beer, he ivould have been a great man. I said this

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 401
in the Register. I have often thought of it since. For the
want of money, which want was created by his luxurious and
extravagant living, Fox became, and remained all his life,
the tool of the boroughmongers, who furnished him with
money, and for whom, and whose vile and corrupt interests he
worked as steadily as ever a journeyman worked for his
weekly pay."
On the 10th April, 1830, Mr. Cobbett sent forth his
modest address to his political friends, the principal aim of
which was to set on foot a subscription in all the counties of
England, for the purpose of purchasing for him an estate
adequate to the qualification of two members, himself of
course being one, and the other to be of his own nomination,
thereby constituting, him to all intents and purposes, a bo-
roughmonger. The sum requisite for the purchase of this
qualification was according to his own calculation, about
£10,000 ; he had no objection, if it exceeded that sum ; and
he gives the actual sums which each county was to raise.
" Two pounds each," he says, " from every reader of the
Register, ivould about do the thing. Forbearance from one
single glass of grog for one market day, on the part of each
farmer, would do the thing."
How fully and unequivocally does the character of Cobbett
peep out in the following method which he lays down for the
raising of this £10,000, which he considered could be done
immediately, if set about in the proper manner, and therefore
he says, " My friends should write to me as soon as possible,
at No. 183 Fleet-street, postage paid, authorizing me to say,
that they will be collectors ; that I should then publish their
names ; that they should, if they choose, appoint some one
of themselves to receive their various collections, and that
when the sum is completed for the county, say £790 for
Middlesex, £770 for Lancashire, Nottinghamshire £350,
and so on, it shall be transmitted to me, and my
receipt of it to be published. If any gentleman chooses to
subscribe singly, he may do it at Fleet-street, where a book
38. — vol. n. 3 f

402 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
will be kept for the purpose, or he may do it by letter to me,
paying the postage."
This speculation was a decided failure, and if Cobbett had
had the courage or the candour to own it, he would have
confessed at once, that he was mistaken in the opinion which
he held, of the wishes of the people of England to see him in
parliament. In the Register of the 1st May, he gives the
names of seven individuals, who were willing to receive sub
scriptions, and at the close acknowledges the receipt of £ 12 2s.
for Middlesex, £10 for Herefordshire, and £5 for Northamp
tonshire, making the sum total of £27 2s. towards the
£10,000. Here, however, the subscription must have stop
ped, for we find no further announcements of receipts, and
therefore we suppose the sums subscribed were returned to the
subscribers. On further examination, however, we find the
subscribers were anonymous, and therefore no fault could be
imputed to, Mr. Cobbett that the money was not returned.
In this address of Mr. Cobbett to his political friends, we
meet with some very interesting particulars concerning his
life, which cannot pass unnoticed. Speaking of Sir Francis
Burdett, he says, " For seven long years I was his sole prop.
A good large volume would not, put all together, contain the
facts that I collected for him, the notes that I made for his
speeches, the various things that I wrote to uphold him. Two
particularly I must mention. His sensible speech on the
currency, recorded in Paper against Gold, / wrote out for
him, and then published and praised it as his, which was
indeed my constant practice. In 1812 he made a grand
stroke, he moved the answer to the king's speech, or rather
the regent's, and made a long speech, which brought plaudits
from every part of the country. I wrote the answer
and the speech, and the former was copied by his own
daughter, that my hand might not appear, and that the secret
should not become public. Nay, these were published in a
pamphlet by subscription, and I was myself the greatest sub
scriber. Shame, indeed, would it be to relate this, but good

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 403
God ! what has he not endeavoured to do to me. What has
he left undone that he thought had a tendency to destroy my
character, to destroy the effect of my herculean labours, and
to entail upon my virtuous wife and children, the ruin of their
kind, disinterested, zealous, and generous, and above all
things, their beloved husband and father.
But I wrote him a letter from America, containing an as
sertion that a man against whom ruinous laws had been
singly pointed, was by the laws of nations exonerated from
obligations by which men, not so singled out were bound ;
but at the same time saying, that I would not avail myself
of that principle, but would pay every one (though out of the
reach of creditors,*) as fast as I could earn the money. The
ungrateful fellow, keeping the letter out of sight, published
an answer to it, misrepresenting its meaning. I sent a copy
of the same letter to my friend, Mr. Timothy Brown, to
whom I owed a good deal. Did he cavil at it ? He hastened
to me on my arrival in London, though then bandaged up
for the gout, took me to his house ; brought on my bank
ruptcy in the most friendly manner, cherished me to the last
hour of his virtuous life, and has left his memory engraven
on a heart which has never been wanting in gratitude. I
wrote the same letter to Mr. Tipper, a paper merchant, to
whom I really owed £3000, and with whom I was but very
slenderly acquainted. Without a farthing of dividend, (for I
had not a penny,) he signed my certificate at the first possi
ble moment, and he or Mr. Brown, I forget which, actually
gave me a pound note and a few shillings, that I might, for
form's sake, have something to surrender to the commission
ers, and I must do those commissioners the justice to say,
that they, seeing a great crowd in Guildhall staring at me,
behaved towards me in a manner, that showed the best of
* Mr. Cobbett is here in an error, he «as not out of the reach of his
creditors ; the Atlantic was, it is true, between them and him, but a rronth or
six weeks would have been sufficient to carry a power of attorney across it,
which would soon have enforced the payment of the debt, or deprived him of
every particle of property.

404 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
feelings, put no questions to me, dismissed me in a minute,
and very kindly shook me by the hand when I went away.
" In January 1821, my family, after having for years been
scattered about like a covey of partridges, that had been sprung
and shot at, got once more together, in a hired lodging at
Brompton, and our delight and our mutual caresses, and our
tears of joy, experienced no abatement at our actually finding
ourselves with only three shillings in the whole
world, and at my having to borrow from a friend the money
to pay for the paper and print of the then next Saturday's
Register. All that I possessed worth speaking of consisted
of the copyrights of my books. They are valuable ; that of
my English Grammar* was given up to help to pay my debts,
but I have earned it back, and actually paid 1200 sovereigns
for it several years ago. These copyrights I have given to
my children,^ their generous mother being quite willing that it
should be done. All I can yet earn is due to them, and more
especially to her, and there is no one, whose heart is not like
that of Burdett, who will not say, that not one single shilling
of those earnings ought to be withdrawn from them — On
this account, therefore, as I have during the whole of my life
fought the battle of the people of England, the same people
must return me to parliament at their expence, for not a
shilling of my own will I spend in the business.
It will no doubt be in the recollection of our readers, that
* It is well known that " The English Grammar" was one of the most
favourite books of Cobbett's genius, but at the same time, it is equally well
known, that he far over-rated its excellences. It was never received as a class
book, and as a guide to the philological student, it cannot be considered as
one worthy of adoption. We do not believe that a publisher can be found, who
would give a twelfth part of the sum, mentioned by Cobbett for the copyright
of it.
+ Mr. Cobbett might have given the copyrights to his children for his life
time, but at his death, unless previously properly and legally assigned for the
usual term of the copyright act they become the property of the public. We
speak advisedly when we say, that not one of Mr. Cobbett's children could
maintain an action for the piracy, or even the entire re-publication of any of those
works the copyright of which was given to them by their father.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 405
in the course of the year 1830, a great number of incendiary
fires broke out in almost every part of England. There
were numerous causes assigned for this unequivocal demon
stration of popular discontent, such as agricultural distress —
a desire to expedite the progress of a reform in the constitu
tion. Whatever the cause might have been, is not a question
that we can be expected to answer at this moment, ,and it is
merely alluded to in reference to the part taken under the
circumstances by Mr. Cobbett, and the result which it led to,
namely, a trial for sedition, in having spoken somewhat too
openly on the subject in his Political Register of December
11th 1820.
After a long and vexatious delay, Mr. Cobbett was tried
on the 7th of July, 1831 , in the court of King's Bench, Guild
hall, before Lord Tenterden and a special jury, upon the
prosecution of the Attorney General, Denman, for the pub
lication of a seditious and malicious libel, tending to excite
the agricultural labourers to acts of sedition, insurrection,
arson, &c. This was, to say the least of it, a most indis
creet proceeding on the part of government. It gave to
Mr. Cobbett an opportunity of animadverting upon their
weak and wicked policy towards the agricultural labourers,
and of indulging in a strain of irony and sarcasm, which
he could not otherwise have had the opportunity of doing,
their departure from those principles they had professed when
in opposition, and upon the credit of which they had been
borne into office.
This was an indictment against Mr. William Cobbett,
charging him with the publication, on the 11th of December
preceding, of a libel with intent to raise discontent in the
minds of the labourers in husbandry, and to incite them to
acts of violence, and to destroy corn, machinery, and other
property — at least this was the language of the indictment,
but to the charges therein preferred the defendant pleaded
not guilty.
When he attended the court, attended by his sons, his
attorney, and two friends, some persons in the gallery im-

406 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
mediately greeted him by clapping their hands, and, on pro
ceeding to take his seat, they gave three loud huzzas. The
defendant seemed highly gratified, and turning round and
looking towards the gallery, said, " If truth prevails, we
shall beat them."
The Attorney General, Denman, then stated the case for
the crown, adverting to the system of riot, fire-raising, and
breaking machinery, which had spread destruction through
so many counties in the end of the last, and the beginning of
that year. It was, (he said) at this particular time, when
special commissioners were issued for the investigation of
crimes of this description, that the defendant published the
number of the Weekly Political Register, on which the in
dictment was founded. The paper was ushered in with a
heading taken from another paper by the same author,
published on the 24th of October, 1815, in the following
terms : — " At last, it will come to a question of actual star
vation, or fighting for food ; and when it comes to that point,
I know that Englishmen will never lie down and die by
hundreds by the way side."
Following up the idea in the motto, (continued the Attorney
General) there was a paper called the Rural War, as if those
unhappy persons were banded together to commit acts of vio
lence, like troops carrying on a war against those who with
held from them provisions. Then the " Special Commission"
came, as the next general title, and a letter appeared, addressed
to those very people who were likely to be called upon to
take their trials for the offences with which they were charged.
The first paragraph related to the commission ; then there
was an observation about some clergyman, who had written
a paper which had given great offence to Mr. Cobbett. -Mr.
Cobbett made some severe remarks, not only upon the con
duct of the clergyman who published that paper, but on the
conduct of the clergy in general. He also made some strong
observations upon the title to tithes, with which it was not
necessary for him, (the Attorney General) to trouble the jury.
The particular paragraph to which he was bound to allude,

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, EsQ. 407
as seditious, was the following : — " In the meantime, however,
the parsons are reducing their tithes with a tolerable degree of
alacrity ! It seems to come from them like drops of blood
from the heart ; but it comes, and must all come, or England
will neveT again know even the appearance of peace. ' Out
of evil comes good.' We are not, indeed upon that mere
maxim 'to do evil that good may come from it.' But
without entering at present into the motives of the working
people, it is unquestionable that their acts have produced
good, and great good too. They have been always told,
and they were told now, and by the very parson that I have
quoted above, that their acts of violence, and particularly
their burnings, can do them no good, but add to their wants,
by destroying the food that they would have to eat. Alas !
they know better ; they know that one threshing machine
takes wages from ten men ; and they also know that they
should have none of this food, and that potatoes and salt do
not burn ! therefore, this argument is not worth a straw.
Besides, they see and feel that the good comes, and comes
instantly too. They see that they get some bread in con
sequence of the destruction of part of the corn ; and while
they see this, you attempt in vain to persuade them that that
which they have done is wrong. And as to one effect, that
of making the parsons reduce their tithes, it is hailed as a good
by ninety-nine hundredths, even of men of considerable
property ; while there is not a single man in the country who
does not clearly trace the reduction to the acts of the labourers,
and especially to the fires ; for it is the terror of these, and
not the bodily force, that has prevailed. To attempt to per
suade either farmers or labourers that the tithes do not do
them any harm, is to combat plain common sense. They
must know and they do know, that whatever is received by
the parson is just so much taken from them, except that part
which he may lay out for productive labour in the parish ;
and that is a mere trifle compared with what he gives to the
East and West Indies, to the wine countries, to the footmen,
and to other unproductive labourers. In short, the tithe

408 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
owners take away from the agricultural parishes, a tenth
part of the gross produce, which, in the present state of
abuse of the institution, they apply to purposes not only not
beneficial, but generally mischievous to the people of those
parishes. " In another passage," continued the Attorney General,
" the defendant expressed his opinion that the criminals ought
not to be made to suffer for any thing they had done ; and,
speaking of the probability of some of them losing their
lives, this language was used : —
" No ; this will not be done. The course of these ill-used
men had been so free from ferocity, so free from any thing
like blood-mindedness ! They have not been cruel, even to
their most savage and insolent persecutors. The most vio
lent thing that they have done to any person, has not amounted
to an attempt on the life or limb of the party ; and in no case but
in self defence, except in the cases of the two hired overseers
in Sussex, whom they merely trundled out of the carts which
those hirelings had had constructed for them to draw like
cattle. Had they been bloody, had they been cruel, then it
would have been another matter ; had they burnt people in
their beds, which they might so easily have done ; had they
beaten people wantonly, which has always been in their
power ; had they done any of these things, then there would
have been some plea for severity. But they have been guilty
of none of these things ; they have done desperate things,
but they were driven to desperation ; all men, except the
infamous stock-jobbing race, say, and loudly say, that their
object is just ; that they ought to have that for which they
are striving ; and all men except that same hellish crew, say
that they had no other means of obtaining it.' '
The Attorney General said, after reading these passages,
that he should think it a waste of time, if he pursued the
argument further. He could not conceive that there would
be a doubt in any reasonable, unbiassed mind, that there was
a tendency not to be mistaken — an inference of an intention
not to be resisted — with regard to the conduct which these

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 409
persons were taught to pursue, by a reference to the success
of those offences which they had committed. What was the
tendency of all these things ? to excite a suffering people,
but at all events a people whose minds were inflamed to a
repetition of crime.
The publication of the libel complained of having been
proved, Mr. Cobbett addressed the jury in a long speech, arguing
against the criminal intent and tendency imputed in the in
dictment to the publication, but principally employing himself
in an exposure of the government which had prosecuted him
and more especially the Attorney General. He referred to
the language which had been held regarding him in parlia
ment, and complained that his trial had been going on there
since the beginning of the session, one member after another
" falsely, maliciously, and scandalously," imputing to him,
his lectures, and publications, the crimes which had been
committed in the agricultural counties. He next alluded to
" the vast affection which our present whig government en
tertain for the liberty of the press. They never proceed by
information ! O, no ; and then their Attorney General, Sir
Thomas Denman, he also had a particular affection for the
liberty of the press. O yes, Denman was an honest fellow,
and would not, on any account, touch the liberty of the press.
Yet it so happened that their whig government, with their
whig Attorney General, had carried on more state prosecutions
during the seven months that they had been in office, than
their tory predecessors had in seven years. The tories — the
haughty and insulting tories — showed their teeth to be sure,
but they did not venture to bite. Not so with the whigs. If
they should happen to remain in office a twelvemonth, all the
gaols in the kingdom must be enlarged, for they would not
contain room for the victims of this whig government. The
government itself, he (Mr. Cobbett) maintained, and its
organs, were now the most atrocious of all libellers. Their
newspapers libelled right and left — but libelled on their own
side, and therefore were allowed to libel with impunity. He
38.— vol. ii. 3 g

410 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
referred to the abuse which the Times (then a whig paper),
for instance, was every day pouring on the House of Com
mons, not only with the tendency, but with the loudly pro
claimed purpose of bringing that branch of the legislature
into utter horror and contempt. Did Sir Thomas Denman
prosecute? No, no, That was his side — and instead of pro
secuting, when Sir R. Inglis, brought the Times before the
house, he maintained that the libel was true, and should be
passed over. Not even the judges had escaped. Not two
months before, the Times put forth, that Mr. William
Brougham, a candidate for Southwark, said to the electors,
in regard to the Reform Bill, " Among the devices to defeat
the measures of ministers, a canvass is going on by the
judges of the land, who have degraded themselves and their
station." This was pretty well, coming from a brother of
the Lord Chancellor, the first judge in the country. Then
came the Times — a paper in close connection with the govern
ment, and after stating that the dignified neutrality which the
judges had observed since the last days of Charles, were now
at an end, added : " These judges expect a reformed parlia
ment to ask, why they should receive £5,500 a year each,
these hard times :" thus imputing to those learned personages
the basest motives.
Next day the Courier, the heir-loom of all administrations,
saying that there had been a total disregard of decency on the
part of the judges ; that such men were not fit to preside on
trials of a political nature ; and then they asked, " What
chance has areformer, if he be tried before one of these judges?
How is he to expect a fair trial ? We almost wish that the
judges did not hold their office for life !"
Then came on the Morning Chronicle, stating that the
conduct of Mr. Justice Park, who was one of thejudges who
had acted so shamefully, was to be made the subject of some
parliamentary proceedings, perhaps even some motion of an
impeachment. As the Attorney General had taken notice
of the observations of the judges — as he had left them to
defend themselves, to puff off themselves, and to pay for news-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 411
paper paragraphs if they pleased — he ought to have called
upon him to answer for what he had published. There was
a person who had written, " Down with kings, lords and
priests." That person entitled his paper The Republican,
and his advice to the people was to put down kings, lords,
and priests. The Attorney General had said in parliament,
that he thought it better to leave such things to the good sense
of the people. Then why did he not leave his publication to
the good sense of the people ? Was this partial selection to
be endured ? Would the jury allow themselves to be degraded
into the mean tools of such foul play ? The Attorney General
himself, might recollect the circumstance of a person, who
was never a hundred miles distant from Sir Thomas Denman,
comparing the late king to Nero, and calling the present king
a "royal slanderer." But all these things were nothing;
you might publish as many libels as you chose, but only
don't touch the faction. "That," continued Mr. Cobbett,
"is my whole offence. For years I have been labouring to
lop off useless places and pensions, and that touches the faction.
These whigs, who have been out of office for five-and-twenty
years — these lank whigs — lank and merciless as a hungry
wolf — are now filling their purses with the public money, and
I must be crushed, and to-day, gentlemen, they will crush
me unless you stand between me and them."
"In regard to the tendency of the publication," said Mr.
Cobbett, " the indictment charged that he published, contriv
ing and intending to incite the labourers in husbandry to
outrages — to various acts of violence, by breaking of ma
chinery and setting fires. Now the jury must be satisfied,
not from what was set out in the indictment, containing, as
it did, garbled extracts, but they must be satisfied from the
whole context — from the whole scope and tenour of the
article — that the intention was that which the indictment
charged it to be, before they could find a verdict of guilty.
They had a right to look, not only to what was stated in other
parts of the publication, but even to other writings of his.
The Attorney General knew this — somebody had taught him

412 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
law enough to know, that if he set forth in the indictment the
whole of the publication, he would at once burn his fingers.
The jury must be satisfied that he (Mr. Cobbett) put forth this
publication for the purpose of inciting the labourers to do that
which was charged in the indictment ; that was ' to set fire to
ricks, to pull down machinery, and so to commit outrages.' '
The defendant then proceeded to comment on the article,
and to read several other passages, which had not been set
out in the indictment, and he argued that the tendency of the
whole article was the reverse of that which had been ascribed
to it by the Attorney General, and which the partial extracts
might lead some persons to suppose. He said in one passage,
that " out of evil came good." But was that evil ? But he
had also said, that he did not wish people to do evil that good
might come from it. Having cautioned them against any
such conclusion, he went on to say that the outrages had done
good, and he gave his reason for that ; but it did not follow,
because he thought good had arisen, that he approved of evil ;
much less that he intended to incite the people to commit
them, when he said just the contrary. Would the jury find
a false, perfidious whig, who would not tell them that the re
volution was a glorious revolution, and yet it was the overturn
ing of a king, and the downfal of his dynasty ? A flash of
lightning which set fire to a barn or a rick, might do much good.
This trial would do a great deal of good ; it had done a great
deal already, as it had enabled him in the presence and hearing
of this great audience, to cast off those vile slanders which had
been circulated against him. In one of the articles there was
a petition to parliament signed by himself. The jury would
take that petition and read it, for they were bound to take the
whole publication together, and judge of its effects accordingly.
In that petition he stated the case of the wretched labourers,
their sufferings, and the causes of those sufferings. In that
petition he had defended the farmers, and showed it was not
they, who were in fault. How then could it be the tendency
of the publication to stir up the labourers to destroy the pro
perty of the farmers, when it showed that it was not they

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 413
who had caused the distress ? Nay, it even referred to Lord
Melbourne's circular, a document of a conciliatory nature,
and the only one of that character which had emanated from
the whigs ; it had referred to that circular to show the labourers
that they need not despair, as the government sympathized
with their sufferings, and directed its attention to the causes
of them ; yet now it was contended that this object was to
incite them to the acts of violence.
He now came, he said, to the great and obvious object of
the article, and he would put it to the jury, when they should
have carefully read it all through, whether they could entertain
the slightest doubt that his object was, to save the lives of
those who were convicted under the special commission.
When that commission went out, he anticipated g\eat shedding
of blood, and he therefore felt himself called upon to endeavour
to prevent it. Now let the jury read the article in question
from beginning to end, and say whether they could possibly
come to any other conclusion, than that it was written for
the express purpose of preventing blood from being shed;
Let that fact then be bore in mind. Now the object being to
save the lives of these unfortunate men, was it possible to sup
pose that he (Mr. Cobbett) would incite them to acts of outrage,
which would of course be the means of defeating its object ?
He repeated that his only object was to save the lives of these
men, and for that purpose he had availed himself of the licence
allowed by Paley, and had recourse to every means in his
power to accomplish his object; he had invited all parts of
the country, the parishes of the metropolis, to petition on this
behalf. Such was his object ; such the tendency of the article
for which this foul, malicious, scandalous and wicked in
dictment had been preferred against him.
The defendant here read over various parts of the publication
containing the alleged libel, and again put it to the jury
whether it was possible to come to any other conclusion, than
that his object in publishing it was what he now stated ; and
if so, then he was perfectly satisfied that they would pronounce

414 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
him not guilty, although he admitted that in so doing they
would at the same time be pronouncing a verdict of guilty on
this whig government. Mr. Cobbett now referred to his
other publications, such as " Rural Economy," to show that
he was an encourager of the solid and peaceful comforts of
the labourer, not an instigator to crimes ; and told the jury
that he would give them, to that effect, the evidence of no less
a man than the Lord Chancellor of this very whig govern
ment. In the year 1816, he (Mr. Cobbett) had published a letter
to the Luddites in Nottinghamshire. Towards the close of the
last year, the Lord Chancellor applied to him for leave to re
publish that letter, in a work called the " Library of Useful
Knowledge,'* in order that it might be circulated amongst
the very labourers whom he (the defendant) was now charged
with inciting to acts of violence. What times were these !
Would the Lord Chancellor come to Cobbett's sedition shop
to get something wherewith to quiet the labourers ? Nay,
the Attorney General himself was another member of the
same society that wished to publish his letter. When the
Lord Chancellor made the application, he asked, at the same
time, on what terms I would consent to the re-publication ?
Now, I disliked the use of the word " terms," but I replied I
would consent to its being re-published on this condition,
that it should be published altogether, and not garbled by ex
tracting any portions of it, because I would not allow those
parts which set forth the rights of the labourer to be left out,
whilst all that was calculated to throw censure upon the
violence which their wrongs had goaded them on to commit
should go forth to the world. Upon this condition I gave my
consent to the re-publication, and lent him a copy of the book.
By so doing the learned judge will tell you I re-published
the letter. I do not know what the Lord Chancellor did with
it, but I shall ask him by and by, as I intend to put him into
the box. What then has the Lord Chancellor done ? As an
author, he takes my book to re-publish ; As Lord Chancellor

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 115
he applies to his colleague, with whom " he had stood together
in their chivalry," to institute a proceeding against me, to
punish me as the author of a libel, calculated to excite the
labourers to outrage and disorder. Here then is the Lord
Chancellor in November borrowing my book, in the next
month prosecuting me for a libel, and a false, malicious, and
seditious person, to be robbed of property, and of life too, if
the whigs were to have the power of causing it. I have lived
twenty-one years under a tory administration, and under six
tory Attorney Generals, but have never been prosecuted,
although, if the present be considered a libel, I have written
plenty of a similar description. The country has been ruled
with rods by the tories, but the whigs scourged them with
scorpions." «
The defendant concluded by declaring, that whatever might
be the verdict of the jury, if he were doomed to spend his last
breath in a dungeon, he would pray to God to bless his country;
he would curse the whigs, and leave his revenge to his children
and the labourers of England.
Mr. Cobbett then sat down amidst loud demonstrations
of applause by numerous persons, which the officers with diffi
culty suppressed.
Mr. Cobbett. — I will thank your lordship to let Henry
Brougham be called — Lord Brougham then entered the court
from the judge's private room, and was sworn by the officer
of the court.
Mr. Cobbett. — Does your lordship recollect ever applying
to me for a copy of my letter, addressed to the Luddites against
the breaking of machinery ?
Lord Brougham — I recollect making some application, I
believe through the secretary to a society to which I belong, for
a copy of a paper written by you some years ago, the date of
which we could not recollect, and also applying for permission
to make use of it by re-publication. I have no recollection
of the mode of application ; it is possible I applied through
the medium of your son. I think I had some intercourse
with your son, respecting his admission to Lincoln's-inn.

416 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
A letter was handed to his lordship, who admitted it to be
in his hand-writing. It was read as follows,
" Dear Sir,
" Though I could not attend myself at the bench
when you called, being engaged in the House of Lords, I
took care all should be done correctly. I want you to ask
your father about the date of a letter he has written against
the breaking of machinery, as a society with which I am con
nected is working on the same grounds, and he might, per
haps, on proper terms, give us the benefit of his labour."
Lord Melbourne was then called and sworn.
Mr. Cobbett. — Does your Lordship recollect a man named
Thomas Goodwin, who was sentenced to suffer death ?
Lord Melbourne. — Yes.
Mr. Cobbett. — Upon what grounds did he receive his
majesty's pardon ?
The Attorney General objected to so irregular an inquiry,
and the Lord Chief Justice decided that such a question could
not be put.
Mr. Cobbett said, as that was his lordship's opinion, he
had no further questions to put to this witness.
Lord Radnor sworn and examined by Mr. Cobbett. Had
known him (the defendant) upwards of thirty years, and,
during that period, had been a constant reader of his writings.
From what he (witness) had seen of him, and read of his
works, he did not think he was a person likely to excite the
working classes to outrage against their masters, or any one
else, but quite the reverse.
The examination of this witness having closed the defend
ant's case,
Lord Tenderden, in summing up the evidence, stated that
the language of the article in question seemed certainly
strongly calculated to affect the purpose charged against the
defendant, but that was a question exclusively for the jury.
The jury retired about a quarter past six o'clock, and shortly

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 417
afterwards his lordship retired to his private room. After
sending to inquire two or three times, if the jury were likely
to agree, and being answered in the negative, his lordship
left the court at half-past nine o'clock. About one o'clock the
jury sent out several notes to their friends, apprizing them
that there was no probability of their coming to a decision,
and that, therefore, they need not expect them home all
night. At eight o'clock on the following morning Lord Tenter-
den arrived at the court. At a quarter past nine the jury
entered the box, and were asked whether they were agreed
in their verdict. The foreman of the jury said they were not
agreed, nor was it likely that they should come to a con
clusion one way or the other, and it was evident they would
not yield. The jury had now been locked up for fifteen
hours, and many of them were so fatigued, that if they were
to be locked up again, serious consequences might follow.
Lord Ten terden inquired on what ground they differed? —
The jury intimated that two jurymen had declared their
sentiments so strongly, that it was impossible to expect them
to yield.
Lord Tenterden. — Then, gentlemen, you are discharged.
Thus did Mr. Cobbett escape the dreadful vengeance that
had been prepared for him by his whig persecutors. That
his innocence of any guilty intention to excite the agricultural
labourers to acts of lawless violence, was clearly proved must
be evident to anyone who has carefully read his able defence.
Nay, even Lord Brougham's evidence goes at once to destroy
every charge that had been brought against him, for if he
really had been the seditious and restless spirit represented in
the indictment, surely his lordship would have been the last
person to have been in treaty with him for the re-publication
of a work written by the defendant at a period, when his politi
cal opinions were exactly the same, that they were when the
alleged libel was sent out to the world. But the whole charge
was too trumpery to be maintained ; the honest portion of
the jury resolved to stand between an oppressed man and
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418 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
the vengeance of the law, and Mr. Cobbett escaped the
heavy doom that the malice of his enemies had prepared for
him. " On this occasion," says Mr. Cobbett, " several gentle
men called upon me at Bolt-court, respecting a subscription
to defray my expenses, and also to give me a dinner to com
memorate my escape from the fangs of my persecutors ; with
regard to the latter, though I do not like dinners, I shall leave
gentlemen to do as they please, but in regard to the former,
I absolutely decline that. AnyT thing that is done should be
calculated to have a lasting effect, such as a piece of plate
presented to me, having inscribed on it the history of
this prosecution. However the friends of reform, and of the
liberty of the press will have time enough to think of this.
In the meantime I will publish in a very few days, a full
length portrait of myself, with a fac simile of my own hand
writing : the price of the portrait will be ten shillings, with
the usual allowance to printsellers. I shall be drawn in the
dress in which I appeared at the trial, from a picture painted
by Mr. Cooke, an American artist.
The picture was published, but the piece of plate never
was given, but this trial will ever be conspicuous in English
history as a proof of the inestimable benefit of trial by jury.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 419

CHAPTER VII.
The Parliament, which had been prorogued on the 20th
October, 1831, was again assembled on the 6th December.
Even if ministers had been inclined to take advantage of a
longer interval, their reforming adherents were too violent
and impatient to leave them any chance of retaining their
popularity, unless they introduced anew, without delay, the
bill which had just been lost in the House of Lords, and pre
pared at the same time to exercise the royal prerogative in so
modelling that house, as to fill it with a majority favourable
to the popular innovations which were in prospect. The bill
had scarcely been negatived, when deputations of London re
formers intruded themselves into the presence of Earl Grey,
urging the necessity of not prolonging the prorogation beyond
a week or two, and of immediately renewing the efforts to ac
complish the same kind and measure of reform. Ministers
themselves were pledged neither to propose nor to accede to
any bill " less efficient," than the one which the Lords had
just rejected. It was possible they might consider something
very different in kind to be equally efficient in its results, but
to the ears of their supporters this language must have meant,
that the same quantity of actual innovation, was still to be
enforced, and if so, then it was not easy to see how a different
result could be anticipated in the House of Peers. The politi
cal unions, therefore, the reforming clubs, and the reforming
journals, pressed upon the ministry day and night, the ne
cessity of constraining the king to create such a number of
peers,' as would render futile all opposition in the upper house,
and Lord Grey was told, that if he hesitated to take this
step, he would be regarded and treated as a betrayer of that
cause, which alone had given him power, and had enabled

420 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
him to retain it. It was taken for granted, that the king,
who was himself held forth as the great patron of the bill,
was ready to secure its success by making the peers bend to
the prerogative, or if he should be reluctant, then it was
plainly announced, the people would find means to bring
both his majesty and the peers into a fitting temper of con
cession. On the 12th December, Lord John Russell moved for
leave to bring in a new Reform Bill, The principal of the
new measure was to be the same with that of its predecessor.
Any alteration which had been made left its efficiency un
impaired. On the 19th March, the motion for the third reading
was met by an amendment, moved by Lord Mahon, that
it should be read a third time that day six months. The
amendment was seconded by Sir John Malcolm and followed
by a debate, which was continued on the 20th and 22nd.
The division gave a majority of 116 for the third reading,
there being 355 for the motion and 239 for the amendment.
On the 23rd March, the Reform Bill was passed.
On the 16th August, parliament was prorogued, and the
registration of the new constituency having been completed
all over the kingdom, parliament was dissolved on the 3rd
December, and the first general election under the Reform
Act took place, the writs being made returnable on the 19th
January 1833.
Whilst these great events were passing in England, Cobbett
was lionizing in Scotland, his account of which is rich with
information, national, individual, and political. According to
his own description, he was one of the greatest lions that had
visited the land of cakes for the last century, and in the full
spirit of his egoistical character, he issued daily a kind of
bulletin of where William Cobbett was to be found and
seen, the time of his arrival and departure from particular
places — the inns where, he dined, and other minutiae, which
whilst they flattered his own vanity, fully exposed to the shrewd
and deep-thinking Scots the natural weakness of his character.
At Glasgow a public dinner was given to him, at which of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 421
of course he made a speech embracing the usual topics, re
peating the twentieth time told tale of the debt due to Sir
Francis Burdett, whom singularly enough he calls on this
occasion, the worthy, kind-hearted Baronet!! One circum
stance, he mentioned in this speech, of the truth of which
we must leave our readers to form their own opinion — " It was
said he was fond of money, very fond indeed, when he might
have rolled in it in 1803 ; again when the whigs came into
power in 1 806, and again in 1817 ; at all these times, he might
have had as much as he could ask in a reasonable way, not
perhaps a boll of guineas, but he was sure it might have been a
bushel. The government considered what was best, whether
to expend millions on hirelings to ivrite him down, or to give
him £100,000 to keep him silent. All these offers have been
published, with the times and circumstances, but they were
invariably refused." On this head we can only say, that
Mr. Perceval had such an opinion of the character of Mr.
Cobbett, that he did not think him worth buying at all, and
in regard to the offer of £100,000 to keep him silent, we do
not believe that it was ever made, or that if it had been
made, it would have been refused.
Preparations were now made for a general election all
over the kingdom, and perhaps amongst all the candidates, no
one was more upon the alert than William Cobbett. At
this time there were three parties in the field ; first came the
ministerial candidates, next came the tories, now ycleped
conservatives, who thought the ministers had already gone to
far, and last, but not least, were the radicals, who were deter
mined to spur the ministers on to a great deal further in their
task of reforming public abuses.
The elections went of course in by for the greater number
of instances in favour of the ministerial candidates, who pro
fessed the same general views, and declared their adherence
to a reforming ministry. Thus the ministerial candidates
obtained a majority, which, if increased by the radical
members, who were willing to go all lengths with them in
one direction, was overwhelming, and which, even without

422 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
them, seemed to be as decisive a majority as a minister could
wish. The professed radicals stood principally for the in
creased boroughs, where a large constituency seemed to offer
them the best safeguard against the bribery and corruption
of the vanquished tories.
Mr. Cobbett first started for Manchester, having received
an invitation from that place, at the same time that one was
sent to him to become a candidate for Oldham. Had the
invitation come from the latter place first, Mr. Cobbett would
have declined that from Manchester, because, according to
his own words, " My object was not to disturb any place, but
to take the seat with as much quietness as possible. But
having accepted of the invitation from Manchester, many
worthy and most zealous men having put themselves in
motion to effect this object, it became my duty to second
their efforts, with as much activity and zeal as if I had been
nominated for Manchester alone, and this duty from the first
moment to the last, I am sure I have performed to their en
tire satisfaction, though I was all along convinced that it was
next to impossible to carry the election for Manchester, espe
cially when every one in that town knew to nearly a cer
tainty, that I should be elected for Oldham. In accordance
with this, my sense of duty towards the people at Manchester,
the day of nomination being the same at both towns ; I
thought it right to appear in person at the nomination at
Manchester and not at Oldham. Even if Manchester had
not been, for the reasons before-mentioned, entitled to the
priority in this respect, there was the important circumstance,
that at Manchester, there were four rival candidates to meet,
face to face, four men of great weight on such an occasion,
each with numerous opulent supporters, whereas at Oldham,
there were none but perfectly insignificant opponents,* and
there was my intended colleague, a thousand times more than
* William Cobbett here quite forgets himself, there is neither merit nor
honour in overcoming an insignificant opponent, and considering his insatiable
vanity, it is a matter of surprise, that he did not represent his Oldham opponents
as men, whom no one could overcome but himself.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 423
a match for all those opponents put together. For these
reasons I was at the opening of the election at Manchester,
where having obtained an immense majority upon the view,
having obtained the decision of the public at Manchester, I
went off to Oldham."
In regard to the election at Manchester, Cobbett entertained
no doubt that he would have been returned by an immense
majority, but the result of the Oldham election was known
at Manchester by twelve o'clock on the first polling day,
and therefore as William Cobbett was now a member of
parliament, the voters of Manchester transferred their votes
to the next man, whom they liked best, yet in spite of this,
at the close of the poll, 1,305 persons had voted for Mr.
Cobbett. The election at Oldham commenced on Wednesday the
12th December, when five candidates presented themselves,
Fielden, Cobbett, Bright, Burge, and Stephen. The two
former having polled nearly 700 votes each, whilst two of the
latter did not reach 150, and one only 3, the contest was re
signed, and John Fielden and William Cobbett, Esqrs, were
declared duly elected to represent the town of Oldham in the
first reform parliament.
The following address to the electors of Oldham, which
was circulated by the two successful candidates, was copied
into almost every paper professing liberal principles, through
out the kingdom. It need not be stated, that the tory papers
carefully abstained from saying a word about it. It is scarcely
necessary to state that it was written by Mr. Cobbett.
" TO THE ELECTORS OF OLDHAM.
" Oldham, December 14th, 1832.
" Gentlemen,
" We return you our best thanks for the great honour
which you have done us, in choosing us to represent this
borough in parliament, and thereby declaring us to be, in your
opinion, worthy of the great trust of watching over, and taking
care to provide for the safety of your properties, your liberties,

42k MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
and your lives. Fully sensible of the great duties, which your
confidence in us has thus imposed upon us, well aware of the
arduousness of the undertaking, still we encounter the task
willingly and cheerfully. Stimulated by your example to
that steadiness of purpose, that diligence, that perseverance,
that devotion to public duty, of all which you have upon this
occasion set a pattern worthy of being followed by the whole
kingdom ; stimulated by this, your example, we confidently
hope that we shall be enabled by following that example, to
assist in producing such a change as shall cause the industrious
people in all the walks of life, and in every part of the king
dom, once more to have those enjoyments, which are the just
reward of their several labours, and as shall prevent the fruit
of those labours from being devoured by those who render
nothing in return.
'¦' Gentlemen, — where all had done so well ; where everv
man has done his best ; where electors and non-electors have
so cordially united in the performance of this great duty, it
would be invidious to attempt to discriminate, and in this case
the only subject of regret with us is, that there should have
been non-electors at all. And, gentlemen, if we had before
wanted any thing to convince us that every man being of
age, of sane mind, and unstained by indelible crime ought to
have a vote, your conduct on this occasion would have pro
duced such conviction.
" We beg leave to thank you in a more particular manner,
for your peaceable, your sensible, your decorous behaviour,
during the whole of this proceeding from the beginning to
the end, and, gentlemen, if any one in our hearing should
still have the temerity and the injustice to represent the people
of England as not well informed enough to be entrusted with
universal suffrage, you will never find us fail to produce this
excellent conduct of yours, as a conclusive answer to such
objections. " Ostentatious show of every description, and particularly
those chairings which have been customary at boroughmonger
elections, are not only contrary to our taste and to the habits

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 425
of our lives, but in this case, they are forbidden by that sound
sense of which you have given so many conspicuous proofs.
Amongst the means which tyrants make use of, are those of
amusing and diverting the miserable people with guady shows,
and pompous exhibitions, but what do we want more than
this one fact, that the legislative lacqueys of the boroughmon
gers, that those corrupt men, whose measures have brought
the country to its present state of wretchedness, have all been
carried in triumphal chairs on the shoulders of those degraded
creatures, who were base enough to be hired to perform the
disgraceful office. Never was there a chairing in the United
States of America ; slaves carry their pretended representa
tives on their shoulders, or hitch themselves on their to
chariot wheels ; freemen leave their real representatives to
walk on foot.*
" Once more, Gentlemen, accept of our sincere thanks for
the honour which you have done us, be assured of our strict
adherence to all the pledges that we have given you, be as
sured of our diligent attention to all your grievances, whether
local or general ; give us leave to hope that oppressors of
every description, by seeing your determination not to be
longer oppressed, will be disposed to relinquish all attempts
at further oppression, give us leave, in conclusion, to express
our firm reliance on your support in the performance of our
labours, and finally we express to you our confident expecta
tion of such a result, proceeding from this our meritorious
conduct, as will make your children remember this day with
gratitude to their fathers, and as will endear the name of
Oldham to every lover of freedom and of justice, from one
end of the kingdom to the other.
"With these sentiments, and with an anxious wish that we
may be able to assist in causing prpsperity to return to your
* How strangely do these sentiments clash with those which Cobbett has
frequently expressed on his entrance into and departure from the provincial towns
of England, on one of which occasions he says «' The people shewed themselves
truly English by taking the horses from my carriage, and dragging me to the

inn.

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426 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
industrious dwellings, with our best wishes for the happiness
of yourselves, your wives, and your children, and all that are
dear to you, we remain, " Your faithful friends,
"And most obedient servants
"William Cobbett,
" John Fielden."
Cobbett, in the first Register alter his election, declared
that his return to Parliament was an event, on which not
only England, but all Europe looked with interest;
(he should have added the Moguls of Tartary, and no doubt,
would have added the Esquimaux of Boothia Felix, had such
a country then been known to exist on the face of the globe.)
But there was a difficulty raised as to his ever being able to
take his seat for Oldham, and that was, his qualification. At
the time of his election, he was not possessed of an acre of
land, and yet before he could sit in the house, he had to
prove that he was worth three hundred a year in landed pro
perty. The manner in which this difficulty was overcome
was never made public, but from some private information,
we are informed, that his worthy colleague assisted him out
of his dilemma, and his qualification was accepted at the table
of the House of Commons.
As the meeting of the first reformed parliament approached,
public attention was directed with some anxiety towards its
probable temper and deliberations. The result of the general
election was decidedly in favour of the whig ministry. The
great majority of the house consisted of members inclined to
follow and support them, and as there seldom could be an
occasion on which the two divisions of the opposition, differ
ing more from each other than either of them did from the
ministry, could be expected to unite, every thing seemed to
promise that the government would be omnipotent in parlia
ment. Their measures might fall far short of what was ex
pected and desired by the lovers of yet more rigid reforms,
and might go far beyond what the conservatives deemed safe

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM CCBBETT, ESQ. 427
or convenient, but the ministers were sure of being joined
by the one of those parties to overcome the resistance or
check the fervour of the other. To one danger, indeed, the
ministers were exposed ; their performances must either fall
greatly short of what they had promised, and produce disap
pointment, or they must throw themselves, to support their
popularity, into a career of indiscriminate change, on which
they did not wish voluntarily to enter.
The public agitation, which had been created and fostered
in the great mass of the people, while" urging on the Reform
Bill, had produced extravagant expectations, that the meeting
of a reformed parliament would necessarily be followed by
the redress of every thing evil, that all taxes complained of
would forthwith disappear, that the corn laws would fall to
make cheap bread, that the wages of labour would be in
creased, while the price of all things necessary to the support
or comfortable enjoyment of life would be reduced.
The parliament about which so much expectation had been
raised, was opened by commission on the 29th January 1833,
when the election of Mr. C. M. Sutton as speaker having
taken place, which appointment, however, was opposed by
Mr. Cobbett, the king's speech and the usual address to his
majesty came under the consideration of the house. To the
one which emanated immediately from the ministers, a violent
opposition was carried byT many of .the more radical members,
which terminated with Mr. Cobbett's first effort in parliament.
On the bringing up of the report, he moved that the whole of
the address should be rejected, and that another, which he pro
posed to the following effect should be adopted, " Assuring his
majesty that the House of Commons would direct its most
serious attention to the papers which his majesty had directed
to be laid on the table of the house relating to Portugal and
Holland, and would anxiously consider the questions relating
to the charters of the Bank of England and the East India
Company ; thanking his majesty for having suggested a very
great alteration with respect to the temporalities of the church,
and assuring his majesty that the house would enter into the

428 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM cobbett, esq.
examination of that subject without passion or prejudice;
thanking his majesty for having directed the estimates to be
prepared with all due economy, and expressing regret that his
majesty had not been advised to suggest the propriety of lessen
ing the burdens of the suffering community, and assuring him
that the house would investigate the causes of distress, and
institute measures to produce effectual and permanent relief ;
informing his majesty that the house was ready to adopt every
constitutional mode of controlling and punishing the disturbers
of the public peace in Ireland, and of strengthening those ties
which connected the two countries ; deeming that their separa
tion would be fraught with destruction to the peace and wel
fare of his majesty's dominions, and assuring his majesty that
the house was determined to go into a full consideration of the
manifold grievances under which the Irish people laboured." ,
This amended address was of course not approved of by
ministers, but being pressed to a division there were 23 ayes
and 323 noes, thus rejecting Mr. Cobbett's address by a
majority of 300.
Thus defeated in the outset of his parliamentary career, Mr.
Cobbett only resolved the more vehemently to urge a variety
of motions, which, had they been successful, would have tended
greatly towards the extended freedom and happiness of the
people. Of Mr. Cobbett's appearance in the House of Commons
the following sketch is drawn by the author of Random Re
collections of the House of Commons.
" In personal stature the late Mr. Cobbett was tall and
athletic. I should think he could not have been less than six
feet two, whilst his breadth was proportionably great. He
was, indeed, one of the stoutest men in the house. I have
said there was a tendency to corpulation about him. His hair
was of a milk white colour, and his complexion ruddy. His
features were not strongly marked. What struck you most
about his face, was his small, sparkling, laughing eyes.
When disposed to be humourous himself, you had only to look
at his eyes, and you were sure to sympathize with his merri-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 429
ment. When not speaking, the expression of his eye and his
countenance was very different. He was one of the most
striking refutations of the principles of Lavater I ever wit
nessed. Never were the looks of any man, more completely
at variance with his character. There was something so
dull and heavy about his whole appearance, that any one,
who did not know him, would at once set him down for some
country clodpole, to use a favourite expression of his own,
who not only never read a book, or had a single idea in his
head, but who was a mere mass of mortality, without a par
ticle of sensibility of any kind in his composition. He usually
sat with one leg over the other, his head slightly drooping, as
if sleeping on his breast, and his hat down almost to his eyes.
His usual dress was a light grey coat, of a full make, a white
waistcoat, and kerseymere breeches, of a sandy colour. When
he walked about the house, he generally had his hands inserted
in his breeches' pockets. Considering his advanced age,
seventy-three, he looked remarkably hale and healthy, and
walked with a firm, but slow step. A fortnight before his
death, he thought himself, and so did all who saw him, that
he was destined to live for many years to come."
It may be naturally supposed, that Cobbett's Register
was at this time the vehicle for communicating to the pub
lic all that he said in the House of Commons, and not
seldom, what he did not say. That part of the Register,
however, which will afford the greatest merriment is his des
cription of the interior of the House of Commons. Alluding
to the speaker he says, "It is impossible for our speaker to
act with dignity, if he would. From his talents, his manner,
his person, and altogether, he is as much calculated to be sur
rounded with dignified appearance as any man can be, but if
my readers could see him in his chair, with two or three at a
time poking forward, to whisper him and teaze him about
something or another, and that too in the midst of a debate ;
carrying bits of paper to him with a pen and some ink in it
for him to write something, pulling him from side to side ; if
they could see this, they would certainly admire his patient

430 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
endurance of it, but they would certainly blush for their
country, if they had ever seen the manner in which members
treat the speaker of a little house of assembly in America,
where a member would no more think of going up to the chair
of the speaker, during the sitting of the house, unless in a
formal manner in the discharge of some legislative function,
than he would think of shooting that speaker through the head.' '
Speaking of the accommodation of the House of Commons,
he says, "Why are we squeezed into so small a space, that
it is absolutely impossible that there should be calm and re
gular discussion, even from that circumstance alone? Why
do we live in this hubbub ? Why are we exposed to all these
inconveniences ? Why are 658 of us crammed into a space
that allows to each of us no more than a foot and a half
square, while at the same time each of the servants of the
king, whom we pay, has a palace to live in, and more un
occupied space in that palace than the little hole into which
we are all crammed, to make the laws by which this great
kingdom is governed ? Look at the millions which have been
expended on palaces within these very few years ; look at
the pullings down * and the buildings up, and the puttings
down again, t before the thing built has been used: when
* One of these pullings down, as Cobbett styles them, was an ugly and mis
shapen mass of stone and mortar, called a palace, which George III. in a lucid
interval, erected on a swampy piece of ground at Kevv. When finished it was
found to be uninhabitable, and the stones were removed to contribute to the
erection of some other object of royal folly and extravagance.
+ Another of these buildings up and pullings down, has been that toad-in-the-
hole, called Buckingham Palace; the erection of which was, by particular
interest, intrusted to an individual, who in the end was found incompetent to
the task. What one built up, another pulled down, and considering the super
fluity of palaces in this kingdom, one of which is divided and sub-divided into
-apartments for some of the paupers and demicreps of the aristocracy; it is
much to be regretted, that as the pulling down once commenced, the palace was
not pulled down altogether.
Windsor Castle has for the last thirty years been one continued exhibition
of building up and pulling down ; the expence of some portion of which was,
it is true, defrayed by the Austrian Goosend, but it should be remembered
that the money lent to the insolvent emperor of Austria belonged to the people

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 431
they see all manner of conveniences, even extending to
eastern luxury; tables, bureaus, eastern chairs, sofas, and all
sorts of things provided in the most extensive style for even
clerks in the offices, to use or to loll upon. When they see
these, and reflect that they are paid for out of the public
money, and see us crammed into this little hole, squeezing
one another, treading upon each others toes, running about
to get a seat ; going to the hole at seven o'clock in the morn
ing, as I do, to stick a bit of paper with my name on it on a
bench, to indicate that I mean to sit there for that day, and
then to see us routed out of those places again, after a
division has taken place, and see us running and scrambling
for a seat, in just the same manner as people do, when they
are let into a dining room at a public dinner at the Crown
and Anchor or elsewhere ; when the people see all this, when
they see their representatives treated thus, and reflect at
the same time on the sofas* of the clerks in the offices,
they most know that there is a motive for it, but I much
question if they will come to a determination, that that mo
tive is likely to be the promotion of. their interests."
Cobbett agrees in opinion with many very sensible men,
that the country ought not to be saddled with the expe«ce of
the erection of new houses of parliament, as long as the thing
which has been erected at Pimlico is in existence. The king
has palaces enough, and more than he wants, unless it were
of England, and if the ministers of the day chose to compromise the debt, and
take ten shillings in the pound, the money thus obtained ought to have been
returned to those who lent it, and not squandered away in the fripperies and
gingerbread work, emanating from the crude conceptions of a Sir Jeffery
Wyatville, to whom Windsor Palace has been a better godsend than even the
Austrian was to the people of this country.
* We have been long privy to a glaring and scandalous abuse of the public
money, which is carried on by some of the principals of the public offices. We
know a tradesman, who receives an order for an article, apparently for the use
of the office, and it appears in the account to be delivered as such ; but if the
order was for a register stove, it is metamorphosed into a pair of silver candle
sticks, not for the use of the office. The tradesman must hold his tongue, or he
loses the custom.

432 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
supposed that his majesty's taste was like that of the sailor,
who having his pockets full of prize money, hired one post
chaise for himself and another for his hat. " To take your seat
in that house," says Cobbett, " and to sit as constantly as you
ought to do, requires in the present state of things, not only
perfect health but great bodily strength, and it is not always
that the wisest heads are placed upon the shoulders of the
strongest bodies. I know pretty well what a regiment of
soldiers is, and I never saw one, the private men of which
would have been able to undergo a regular and constant at
tendance in that house, constructed as it now is, and annoy
ing as every man's situation is. For my own part, I find very
little inconvenience, compared with what others experience.
I live within four hundred yards of my seat in the house. I
can come (qy. go) away and return with very little incon
venience ; My habits are such as to keep me always in good
health ; I never dine out ; I know nothing of feasting of any
sort ; I have nothing to annoy me ; I have great pleasure in
performing my duty ; I have sensible constituents, and the
perfect confidence which they have in me and my colleague
prevents them from making applications to occupy any part
of our time, or demand any part of our cares."
In regard to these applications, we cannot refrain noticing
one part of the conduct of Mr. Cobbett, which lowered him
considerably in the estimation of all the readers of the Re
gister, at the same time that it was injurious to his character
and dignity as a member of the House of Commons. In
regard, however, to what may be termed dignity of cha
racter, Cobbett scarcely knew the acceptation of the term,
in whatever situation he might be placed, his native rust
adhered to him, and in some instances the incrustation was
so deep that not the slightest polish could be given to it.
Thus, whilst on one page of his Register he was impressing
upon his readers the astounding effects which his oratory had
made upon all the members of the house, and boasting of the
extraordinary influence which he had already obtained, on
the opposite page, we find him issuing his positive declara-

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 433
tion, not to receive a single twopenny post letter without the
postage being paid. " Nothing is so easy," says Cobbett,
" as to drop a piece of paper into a post shop ; nothing is so
easy as to tax a man in this way, but this is a tax I will not
pay; it is a tax that I take especial care never to impose
upon any body. Twelve letters a day amount to eighteen
pounds, five shillings a year, which is as much as is probably
necessary to maintain my house one week out of the fifty-two.
1 1 need say no more to convince any reasonable man that all
twopenny post letters should come to me postage free." And
all this from a member of Parliament, who but a few days
before had sworn that he was worth £300 a year in landed
property, and the proprietor of a very lucrative periodical ! !
On the subject of letters, the following may be considered
as a matchless specimen of Cobbett's vanity, at the same
time that we recommend it to the perusal of the Upcotts and
the Andersons of the day, and all hunters after autographs.
" With regard to general post letters, the number which I
have received has not exceeded the fifteen, which are allowed
by the act of parliament, but several people have written to
me, merely for the purpose of receiving an answer, in order
that they might preserve ' the frank? as a specimen of my
hand writing. I have no reason to be angry with such per
sons, but this affair of collecting autographs has always ap
peared to me to be a proof that the parties want to be set to
work. Amongst the sensible and zealous working people of
Scotland, a desire to have a scrap of writing under my hand
WAS NOT ONLY EXCUSABLE, BUT LAUDABLE, because it
was bottomed on the best of principles :* but that there
should be men, or even sensible women, to make it part of
the business of their life to make a collection of hand writings,
even this alone proves that society is out of joint, and I will
* Mr. Cobbett should have informed us what those best of principles are,
for we candidly acknowledge ourselves incompetent to discover them. The
Scotch are a sensible people, and therefore relying upon that sense, we question
the fact of their having placed any value upon a scrap of Mr. Cobbett's hand
writing.
39.— vol. n. 3 K

434 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
be bound to say, that there are in England at this moment,
fifty thousand collectors of autographs, every one of whom,
were there no misapplication of the public money, would be
at work with a needle, instead of a pen, or would be wielding
a scrubbing-brush, or have their pretty hands and arms in the
washing tub. Therefore, to a folly like this, never will I give
my countenance. I have never without the greatest reluc
tance suffered a moment of my time to be taken up with the
painting of my picture, or any thing of the sort. I am known
and to be remembered by my public writings and public
acts, and if these be not sufficient for the purpose, I ought
not to be known or remembered at all."
Cobbett also desires, in the instructions to his correspond
ents, that no one will attach the cognomen of Esquire to his
name. " I have the honour," says Cobbett, " to be a member
of Parliament for Oldham ; that honour I shall endeavour to
merit as long as life and health shall enable me to take a part
in these great matters. I desire no other title, no other title
will I have ; and I shall deem it a favour if no one attempt to
give me any other."
Despite of this injunction, however, letters poured in upon
the member of Oldham, with the obnoxious appendage of
Esquire to his name, many of which were written by some
mischievous wags, who would send their orders to him for
a pennyworth of some of the seeds, which he was continually
advertising in his Register as being for sale, at the same time
constantly impressing it upon the attention of the public,
" that the money must be paid at my shop before the seed be
sent away." Cobbett generally closed his puffs direct about
his seeds, with his puffs oblique on the great merit of his
book, entitled the English Gardener, observing, that it is
a direct act of folly in a person buying seeds and at the same
time to be ignorant of how to sow them — the knowledge of
that how was only to be obtained in the English Gardener.
On this subject, neither Abercrombie, Mawe, nor Nichols
was worthy of consultation — Cobbett alone was the Cory phoeus
of Gardeners !

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 435
The character of Mr. Cobbett has already stood conspicu
ous for vanity and egotism, but in no instance did those great
and intolerable weaknesses display themselves more, than in
the case of the Coventry election, Mr. Ellice having vacated
his seat on accepting office under the ministry. On this oc
casion, Mr. Cobbett would make the people of England be
lieve, that the good people of Coventry were so much at a
nonplus for a member to prevent the return of Mr. Ellice,
that there was no one in his majesty's dominions to whom
they could more properly apply to name some person fit to re
present their city, than William Cobbett, member for Oldham.
The worthy member professes to receive a letter from a Mr.
Alexander Yates, requesting him to nominate a candidate for
Coventry, and whom does he nominate — not a person of any
standing, rank, opulence, or influence in the country, but his
own son, John M. Cobbett, at the same time informing Mr.
Yates and the electors of Coventry, that both his sons are so
ticklish, so thin-skinned as to any thing being said about
their merits, that he had made the offer of his son's services
to the good people of Coventry, without getting the consent
of the said son. John M. Cobbett was accordingly on the day
of election put in nomination as a candidate for the representa
tion of the city of Coventry — but there the bubble burst, for
no candidate of the name of Cobbett presented himself on
the hustings, being detained, according to his father's state
ment by illness in London, and Mr. Ellice was allowed to
walk over the course. "This," says the member for Old
ham, "would not have been the case had I been there; a
few speeches and addresses from me, would have done the
thing, and tripped up the heels of Ellice." The secret of the
affair was, that the member for Oldham had, in a most ex
traordinary fit of liberality, offered to Mr. Yates to defray
the expences of his son's election, and that the said Mr. Fates
might draw upon him at three day's sight for the amount.
This St. Vitus' fit of liberality, however, subsided, and John
M. Cobbett was taken ill, and Coventry lost a Cobbett for
its representative.

436 memoirs of william cobbett, esq.
Cobbett calls this an interference of Providence in the
affairs of men ; he had resolved to take the advantage of the
Easter recess to ruralize amongst the heaths of Surrey, about
thirty-six miles from London, and then and there to cleanse
himself from the dust and smoke of Bolt-court ! The affair of
the Coventry election put up its head ; the Surrey heaths saw
not the member for Oldham ; and thus, he says, does Provi
dence interfere at times in the affairs of men and nations,
and if Cobbett had followed up this idea, there is very little
doubt that he would soon have become a convert to the
Godwinian philosophy, although he might have held and did
hold the talented author of it in contempt.
With the single exception of a political tour to Ireland,
Mr. Cobbett suffered no other public engagement to with
draw his attention from his parliamentary duties. That tour
was undertaken, as he stated, for the purpose of seeing with
his own eyes the state of things in a country which had
afforded so fertile a field for political controversy. Upon
Ireland he exercised those unrivalled powers of observation
which he possessed, and the results were communicated to
the public in his well known letter to Marshall, a labourer
upon his farm. His reception in the sister island was cor
dial, and even enthusiastic. Amongst the numerous invita
tions which he received, was a very pressing one from Mr.
O'Connell, to Derrynane Abbey. This he declined, on the
plea of a want of time ; but he promised, at a future period,
to make a second journey to Ireland, for the express purpose
of visiting the great agitator at his family seat. Looking,
however, at the language exchanged between the parties, the
intention of fulfilling this promise, may perhaps, be regarded
as doubtful, for Cobbett was not a man readily to forget the
offences of an adversary, who had returned him blow for
blow, and who was found in invective and scurrility to be a
match for him.
The parliamentary career of Mr. Cobbett displayed little
of that originality which was looked for from the versatile
author of the Political Register, and was on the whole marked

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 437
by a calmness and moderation little to be expected. Although
Mr. Cobbett was on the whole a good speaker, he was not a
good debater, and therefore was not in his element in the
House of Commons. He could get on well enough in a
lecture, when he had all the talk to himself, but he could not
bear opposition with temper, and he had not a command of
resources sufficient for the exigencies of a discussion. What
he might have been, had he entered parliament at an earlier
period of his life, we know not, but he was evidently too
old, at seventy years of age to cut a figure as a ready speaker.
He made one or two good speeches, but he repeated himself,
and always made the same speech. To a certain extent,
indeed, his Register was liable to a like charge of sameness,
but his happy illustrations and descriptions made all his readers
forget that they had heard the same opinions repeated by him
a hundred times before.
The greatest stain upon his parliamentary conduct, was his
motion for an address to his majesty, praying him to dismiss
Sir Robert Peel from the privy council. This motion came
on on Thursday the 16th of May, the ground of which was
the alteration of the currency made under the auspices of the
right honourable baronet. A motion more frivolous, more
absurd, and with pain it must be added, more disreputable to
its author was never made within the walls of either houses
of parliament. On the change in the currency, various
opinions have been held, and will continue to be held, but the
honourable motives of Sir Robert Peel, have never been
questioned by any but Mr. Cobbett, and to inflict a severe
mark of disgrace upon a distinguished statesman, for the line
of conduct conscientiously adopted in the discharge of his
duty to the crown and country, would have been an act of
injustice, which few men, it is to be hoped in any station,
would have dared to recommend. When Sir Robert Peel
rose to address the house, he was received with the most
deafening cheers, which lasted upwards of a quarter of an
hour. The division, for the motion was actually pressed to
a division, was equally triumphant in his favour. In a house

438 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
of three hundred and two members, four only were found to
vote with Mr. Cobbett, viz. Mr. T. Attwood, Mr. P. Lalor,
Mr. J. O'Connell, and Mr. J. Roe, leaving two hundred and
ninety-eight to ratify the triumph of Sir Robert Peel, nor
did Mr. Cobbett's discomfiture end here, for the chancellor
of the exchequer, after observing that never within his know
ledge, had a personal attack been made within those walls
upon such grounds, or supported like the present, moved that
the resolutions which had been moved by the member for
Oldham be not entered on the minutes. The speaker put
the question, " That the proceedings be expunged." This
gave rise to some comments on the part of Mr. Cobbett, who
maintained, that expunging a resolution and not entering it
on the minutes, were two different things. "If" said Mr.
Cobbett, " the house prevent this resolution from being
entered on the minutes, then there are but two things remain
ing for ministers to do, first to let no man speak in. this house
without their permission, and next to move that the gallery
be closed." The question as worded by the speaker, was
ultimately put, when there appeared 295 for it, and 6 against
it. It may be undeniably stated that this injudicious step on
the part of Mr. Cobbett gave the death blow to even the little
influence which he possessed in the house, and rendered him
virtually one of the most inefficient members of the house.
He continued, however, to attend with great regularity, and
occasionally to take part in the debates, but he might as well
have remainded silent in his seat, so little attention was paid
to him.
On the 27th June 1833, Mr. Cobbett presented a petition
to the House of Commons, from a large number of the in
habitants of Camberwell and Walworth, being members of a
political union, in those populous places. The petitioners
complained that one William Popay became a member of
their union about fifteen months previously ; that he attended
their meetings, and frequently urged the members to adopt
the most violent course against the existing government ; that
he dressed himself in plain clothes, the more readily to deceive

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 439
and lead them on to his infamous designs, and that they (the
petitioners) were in the utmost peril of falling into the evils he
had designed, when chance led to the discovery of his motives,
and the dreadful fate he had prepared for them.
Having read the whole of the petition to the house, Mr.
Cobbett proceeded to animadvert with the utmost severity on
the baseness of the policeman, Popay, in the course he had
pursued towards these unsuspecting victims of his evil designs.
He even accused government of being privy to the whole un
dertaking, and concluded by praying that a committee should
be appointed to investigate the whole affair. This, after some
opposition, was finally acceded to, and avast mass of evidence
having been heard, the committee declared that the charges
brought against Popay were clearly proved, and that they had
detected many instances in which he had disguised himself
in plain clothes, for the purpose of misleading those parties,
whom he had joined and professed to agree with. The result
was, that Popay was discharged from the police force, and
there for the present the matter rested.
At the general election which followed Sir Robert Peel's
accession to the helm of power, Mr. Cobbett was again
returned for Oldham, and resumed his duties in the new par
liament, without any reason to believe that his mortal career
was approaching to an end. The motion of the Marquess of
Chandos on the malt tax called forth all the interest which
he was accustomed to take in agricultural questions. He re
mained in his place during the whole debate, and as he stated,
intended to answer at length the arguments of the advocates
for the continuance of the tax, but was prevented by a sudden
attack of a peculiar disease of the throat to which he was
subject. From the effects of this evening, it is supposed that
he never entirely recovered. He at length became seriously
ill, but no apprehensions were entertained by the public, at
least as to any fatal result. The news of his death burst on
the great mass of his readers somewhat unexpectedly in the
following communication from his eldest son, which was
the first article in the Register of the 20th June.

440 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
"Clifford's Inn, Friday Morning, June 19th 1833.
" It is my mournful duty to state that the hand which has
guided this work for thirty-three years has ceased to move.
The readers of the Register will of course look to this
number for some particulars of the close of my father's life,
but they will, I am sure, be forgiving, if they find them
shortly stated.
" A great inclination to inflammation of the throat had caused
him annoyance from time to time, for several years, and, as
he got older, it enfeebled him more. He was suffering from
one of these attacks during the late spring, and it will be re
collected, that when the Marquess of Chandos brought on his
motion for a repeal of the malt-tax, my father attempted to
speak, but could not make his voice audible beyond the few
members who sat round him. He remained to vote on that
motion, and increased his ailment ; but on the voting of sup
plies, on the nights of Friday, the 15th, and Monday, the
18th May, he exerted himself so much, and sat so late, that
he laid himself up. He determined, nevertheless, to attend
the house again on the evening of the Marquess of Chandos's
motion on agricultural distress on the 25th of May ; and the
exertion of speaking and remaining late to vote on that oc
casion, were too much for one already severley unwell. He
went down to his farm early on the next morning after the
debate, and had resolved to rest himself thoroughly, and get rid
of his hoarseness and inflammation. On Thursday night last
(June 11th) he felt unusually well, and imprudently drank tea
in the open air ; but he went to bed apparently in better health.
In the early part of the night, he was taken violently ill, and
on Friday and Saturday was considered in a dangerous state
by the medical attendant. On Sunday he revived again ; and
on Monday gave us hope that he would yet be well. He
talked feebly, but in the most collected and sprightly manner,
upon politics and farming ; wished for ' four days rain' for the
Cobbett corn and root crops ; and, on Wednesday, he could
remain no longer shut up from the fields, but desired to be
carried round the farm ; which being done, he criticised the

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 441
work that had been going on in his absence, and detected
some little deviation from his orders, with all the quickness that
was so remarkable in him. On Wednesday night (June 17th)
he grew more and more feeble, and was evidently sinking ;
but he continued to answer with perfect clearness, every
question that was put to him. In the last half hour his eyes
became dim ; and at ten minutes after one p.m., he leaned
back, closed them as if to sleep, and died without a gasp."
It was Mr. Cobbett's wish to be buried in the same grave
as that in which his father and grandfather were deposited.
Mr. Cobbett's friends were anxious that his remains should lie
in the most conspicuous part of Farnham churchyard, so that
a monument to his memory might meet the eye of the tra
veller, both these objects were attained. The grave of the
grandfather is just opposite the great entrance to the church,
and it is impossible to approach or leave that building with
out seeing the spot. The old tombstone of Mr. Cobbett's
ancestor was cleared of its incumbrance of clay, but time has
done its works upon it ; we could, however, distinguish the
words —
" In memory of George Cobbett, who died on the 13th
of December, 1760, aged (we think) 59." The latter part
of the inscription is obliterated. When we arrived at the
church on Friday afternoon the funeral service was performing
over an inhabitant of Farnham, and the grave of Cobbett,
which had just been dug, which was then being bricked up
so as to form a sort of vault. Round the last chamber of this
talented man were standing many old and poor inhabitants,
each of whom had a particular recollection, or a hearsay re
specting him. From these, however, we gathered only that
he was a subject of general interest and regard in Farnham
and its vicinity. As a farmer he seems to have been deemed
eccentric; it was his custom to grow wheat in strips, some
four feet apart, and between each of these to plant cabbages,
&c. Mr. Newenham and Mr. Gibson, of Farnham, were the
medical attendants of Mr. Cobbett in his last illness. The
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442 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
immediate cause of death was water on the chest, unaccom
panied by any other complaint. He suffered considerable
pain with firmness and resignation, only discovering impa
tience at being, as he frequently said, " stived up in doors."
The arrangements of the funeral were confided to Mr. George
Johnson, undertaker, of Farnham, who politely Obliged us
with a few particulars. The body was little attenuated, and
measured in the coffin six feet one inch. It was the desire
of Mr. Cobbett's friends that the funeral should be conducted
in the plainest manner, consistent with the character and sta
tion of the deceased, and that was also his own wish. The son
of the landlord of the " Jolly Farmer," a young man whom
Cobbett often noticed, having been both born in the same
house, was apprenticed to a plumber, and has had the melan
choly task of incasing the mortal remains of his late patron in
lead. The rain poured down incessantly during the day of the
funeral, and many who were expected to follow in the pro
cession had not arrived ; all that was known up to ten o'clock
that night, was that Mr. O'Connell had called in Bolt-court,
and intimated his intention of following Cobbett to the grave.
Mr. O'Connell's name, however, appearing in the evening
papers, as chairman at a public meeting to be held on Satur
day morning, threw considerable doubt upon the report.
It was rumoured that if Mr. O'Connell did attend, he would
speak over the grave. John Leach, Esq. late M.P. for the
western division of Surrey, Messrs. Mellish, and Kean,
bankers, of Godalming; and Mr. Cobbett's four sons, William,
John, James, and Richard, were the only persons that it was
positively known would attend.
A hearse and four, and two mourning coaches and four,
were the only vehicles provided at Farnham. It was arranged
that the other mourning coaches should join the procession as
they fell into the line of road from London. The bell tolled
out heavily at intervals. Mr. Alderman Scales and many
personal friends of the deceased arrived a little before noon.

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 413
ORDER OF THE PROCESSION FROM NORMANDY.
THE HEARSE
(drawn by four horses.)
Mourning coach, with four horses
(Messrs. Cobbett, Fielden and John Leach.)
Second mourning coach, with four horses
(Messrs. E. Leach, M. Knowles, Donnelly, Gutsell,
Oldfield, and another.)
Third coach, holding six was from London.
At the Greyhound, between Ashchurch and Farnham the
procession was joined by a post-chaise from London, followed
by a private carriage, in which were D. O'Connell, Esq.,
M.P. and D. W. Harvey Esq. M. P. Then three chaises,
and Mr. Leach's private carriage.
At about twelve o'clock the movement had been made at
Normandy. At the White Post, about a quarter of a mile
from the town, where the old Guildford road commences, Mr.
Gibson and some other gentlemen of Farnham were collected,
intending to fall into the procession on foot.
As the coaches were seen approaching the town, many of
the inhabitants, wearing hat-bands, hastened to meet and
join in the procession, which entered Farnham church as
follows : — Mr. O'Connell, (standing outside.)
Mr. George Johnson, (undertaker.)
Three Bearers, THE BODY. Three Bearers.
William Cobbett (the eldest son,) John, James, and
Richard Cobbett.
D. W. Harvey, Esq., M.P. John Leach, Esq.
—Knowles, Esq. E. Leach, Esq.
Captain Donnelly —Fielden, Esq.
—Gutsell, Esq. —Oldfield, Esq.
—Faithful, Esq. — Elliman, Esq.

444 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETTj ESQ
— Beck, Esq. — Grey, Esq.
— Coppin, Esq. — Mellish, Esq. (of
Godalming.)
T. Wakley, Esq., M.P. —Complin, Esq.
— Swaine, Esq. — Rogers, Esq.
— Stares, Esq. (of Titchfield) — Lutchins, Esq.
Samuel Wells, Esq. Alderman Scales.
Many other gentlemen joined the procession at the door ;
it became, therefore, impossible to take the names in the
order they entered, the crowd pressed so vehemently forward
as to obscure the view and impede one another.
The Rev. John Menzies then read the 39th and 90th Psalms,
with the usual portion of the chapter from St. Paul's Epistles,
and then led the way to the grave. The coffin, which was
exceedingly heavy, was lowered slowly into its earthly home,
and the burial service was read ; during which we were sur
prised to observe Mr. O'Connell put on his cap, which being
of green, and having a gold band, was the more remarkable.
During the service, Mr. John Cobbett with difficulty sus
tained himself on Captain Donnelly's arm. He wept bit
terly, and was, not without some difficulty, removed from the
grave. His brothers, James and Richard, who were also
deeply affected, bore him into the vestry. As the mourners
left the grave the multitude rushed forward, so as to make it
a task of difficulty to see the coffin. The inscription was
simply,
WILLIAM COBBETT,
M. P. FOR OLDHAM,
AGED 73.
DIED 18th JUNE, 1835.
The mourners, with the exception of the Messrs. Cobbett,
did not return to their carriages. Mr. O'Connell, and some
portion of the party walked to the Bush Inn, some of the
others to Mr. Grove's, the Lion and the Lamb. It was im
possible to compute the number present with any degree of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 445
accuracy. Along the line of road persons had placed them
selves in groups on all the elevations, and subsequently fol
lowed in the train. In the churchyard every flat monument
held a little knot of persons, and the church was filled in
body and galleries.
A great number of ladies were present, but the majority
were of the other sex.
Previously to filling up the grave a singular ceremony took
place. Three flat stones were lowered upon the coffin (ap
parently wedges of slate or iron stone) so as to intervene
between that and any coffin that may hereafter be placed upon
it. Hundreds pressed forward for the last look ; some picked
up portions of the earth, or plucked a little of the herbage
around the grave ; and the coaches that arrived from South
ampton about four o'clock stopped an extra quarter of an
hour in changing, to enable the passengers to step to the
churchyard, and see the last of William Cobbett. The fu
neral and all bearing relation to it was conducted in a style
of simplicity and propriety quite in keeping with him to
whose honour it was performed.
Some scattered anecdotes of Cobbett's family, &c, we
subjoin ; it is roadside matter, but obtained generally from
those whom we have reason to believe knew him well, and
who have shown an interest at his funeral highly honourable
to him and to themselves. Many members of Mr. Cobbett's
establishment were in attendance, among others Mr. Dean
and Mr. Marshall (the William Marshall named in his letters
from Ireland).
Mrs. Cobbett and her daughters were in the town of Farn
ham, and of the personal friends and admirers of the man we
could furnish a long list.
Mr. Cobbett has left seven children; of the four sons,
three are at the bar ; the fourth, Richard, is articled to an
attorney (Mr. Faithful). The daughters, Ann, Ellen, and
Susan, are unmarried, and we believe all his sons are so too.
Cobbett's grandfather lived next door to the Queen's Head,
a little roadside inn, about a mile from Farnham, on the

446 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
road to Waverley. A cousin of Mr. Cobbett's, Mr. Caesar,
a pastry-cook, lives in that town, and some other relatives
are scattered about the adjacent places.
Mr. O'Connell, whilst standing beside the grave, was asked
some questions, which we could not hear, by Mr. Harvey and
Mr. Mellish, the honourable gentleman's reply as we caught
it, was to this effect : — " No ; I would have spoken, but his
family seem to think it had better not be done; and, of
course, it rests with them — they know best." At an inn in
the town, Mr. Michael Scales had expressed his intention of
following Mr. O'Connell's speech by a few remarks, and
some persons affirmed Mr. D. W. Harvey would pronounce
an eulogium upon the deceased. These rumours proved to
be wholly unfounded. After the burial service any oration
would have been superfluous, and any eloquence, however
sparkling, must fall flatly upon the ear which has drank in
the words of that sublime composition.
The grave has now closed for ever on the mortal remains
of William Cobbett, who, during a long, active, and labour-
ious life, has engrossed, by the mere force of natural genius,
unaided by scholastic education, a far greater share of public
notice than any man of past or present times. Lord North,
whose estimate of mental power none will venture to dispute,
described Cobbett as the greatest " political reasoner " he
ever knew. He was so. It may, perhaps, fall to the lot of
few to be so highly gifted, yet the same means for the culti
vation of natural capacity are within the reach of those who
are inclined to profit by them.
Various and opposite are the opinions which the public have
entertained of the character of William Cobbett, in the follow
ing sketch of it, however, as taken from a close and accurate
examination of his good and bad qualities, as they displayed
themselves in the multifarious concerns in which he was en
gaged, and particularly as regards the rank which he held in the
literary? world, we shall fairly and dispassionately give him our
approbation where it is due, but at the same time, we shall not
avert our view from those dark and ugly spots which adhered

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 447
to him through life, and which formed the most repellent part
of his character.
Viewing him abstractedly, William Cobbett was perhaps
the greatest egotist that ever lived, and as every thing which
he did and every sentence that he uttered was important in his
own estimation, he became of course the constant theme of
his voluminous writings. William Cobbett was the object
towards which the thoughts of William Cobbett were con
tinually directed, and hence his changes of opinion with respect
to all subjects and all men. There is not, perhaps, a
question which he has not by turns advocated and opposed,
there is not a man, whom he has not by turns praised and
vilified. But, says Mr. Hazlitt, people have about as sub
stantial an idea of Cobbett, as they have of Cribb. His blows
are hard, and he himself is as impenetrable. One has no
notion of him as making use of a fine pen, but a great mutton
fist; his style stuns his readers, and "he fillips the ear of the
public with a three-man-beetle." He was too much for any
single newspaper antagonist; he "laid waste" a city orator
or member of parliament and bore hard upon the government
itself. He was a kind of fourth estate in the politics of the
country. He was not only unquestionably the most powerful
political writer of his times, but one of the best writers in
the language, marked however, with those defects of grammar,
which in him were unpardonable, and which he was too
opinionative to correct, when told of them. He thought and
spoke plain, broad, downright English. He might be said
to have had the clearness of Swift, the naturalness of Defoe,
and the picturesque satirical description of Mandeville, if all
such comparisons were not impertinent. A really great and
original writer is like nobody but himself, and in one sense
Sterne was not a wit, nor Shakespeare a poet. It is easy to
describe second rate talents, because they fall into a class,
and enlist under a standard, but first rate powers defy calcu
lation or comparison, and can be defined only by themselves.
They are sui generis, and make the class to which they
belong.

448 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Cobbett has been compared to Paine, and so far it is true,
that there are no two writers who come more into juxta
position from the nature of their subjects, from the internal
resources on which they drew, and from the popular effect of
their writings, and their adaptation (if we may be allowed
that expression) to the capacity of every reader. Paine was a
much more sententious writer than Cobbett. You cannot open
a page in any of his best and earlier works without meeting
with some maxim, some antithetical and memorable saying,
which is a sort of starting place for the argument, and the goal
to which it returns. There is not a single bon mot, a single
sentence in Cobbett that has ever been quoted again. If any
thing be ever quoted from him, it is an epithet of abuse, or a
nickname. He was an excellent hand at invention in that
way, and has "damnable iteration in him." What could be
better than his pestering Erskine year after year with his
second title of Baron Clackmannan ? He was rather too fond
of the sons and daughters of corruption. In this respect he
was like Lord Brougham as a speaker, and Walter Scott as a
writer, both had a stock of set phrases by which the speaker
or the writer could always be discovered. Paine endeavoured
to reduce things to first principles, to announce self-evident
truths. Cobbett troubled himself about little, but the details
and local circumstances. Paine appeared to have made up
his mind before hand to certain opinions, and to try to find
the most pointed and compendious expressions for them;
Cobbett appeared to have no clue, no fixed or leading prin
ciples, nor ever to have thought on a question till he sat down
to write upon it, but then there seemed to be no end of his
matter of fact and raw materials, which were brought out in
all their strength and sharpness, from not having been
squared or fritted down or vamped up to suit a theory ; he
went on with his descriptions and illustrations as if he would
never come to a stop ; they had all the force of novelty with
all the familiarity of an old acquaintance ; his knowledge grew
out of the subject, and his style was that of a man who has an
absolute intention of what he is talking about, and never

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 449
thinks of any thing else. He dealt in premises, and spoke to
evidence, the coming to a conclusion and summing up (which
was Paine's forte) lay in a smaller compass. The one could
not compose an elementary treatise on politics to become a
manual for the popular reader, nor could the other in all pro
bability have kept up a weekly journal for the same number
of years with the same spirit, interest, and untired persever
ance. Paine's writings are a sort of introduction to political
arithmetic on a new plan ; Cobbett kept a day book and made
an entry at full of all the occurrences and the troublesome
questions, that started up throughout the year. Cobbett with
vast industry, vast information, and the utmost power of
making what he says intelligible, never seemed to get at the
beginning or come to the end of any question. Paine, in a few
short sentences, seemed by his peremptory manner " to clear
it from all controversy, past, present, and to come." Paine
took a bird's eye view of things. Cobbett stuck close to
them, inspected the component parts, and kept hold of the
smallest advantages they afforded him ; or if we might be
here indulged in a pastoral allusion, Paine tried to enclose
his ideas in a fold for security and repose : Cobbett let his
pour out upon the plain, like a flock of sheep, to feed and
batten. Cobbett was a pleasanter writer for those to read
who did not agree with him, for he was less dogmatical, went
more into the common grounds of fact and argument to
which all appeal ; was more desultory and various, and ap
peared less to be driving at a previous conclusion, than urged
on by the force of present conviction. He was, therefore,
tolerated by all parties, although by turns he made himself
obnoxious to all, and even those whom he abused read him ;
the reformers read him when he was a tory, and the tories
read him when he was a reformer.
If he exhibited himself less metaphysical and poetical than
his celebrated prototype, he was more picturesque and dra
matic. His episodes, which are numerous as they are pertinent,
were striking, interesting, full of life and naivete, minute,
double measure running over, but never tedious. He was
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450 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
one of those writers, who can never tire us, not even of him
self, for there is something decidedly amusing even in his
egotism. He did not talk of himself for want of something
to write about, but because some circumstance that has
happened to himself is the best possible illustration of the
subject, and he was not the man to shrink from giving the
best possible illustrations of the subject from a squeamish
delicacy, in fact, he liked both himself and his subject too
well. Mr. Cobbett was not a make believe writer; his worst
enemy cannot say that of him. How fine were the graphical
descriptions he sent us from America; what a transatlantic
flavour ; what a native gusto ; what fine sauce piquante of
contempt they were seasoned with ! The groves of the Ohio
that had just fallen beneath the axe's stroke live in his de
scription, and the Swedish turnips that he transplanted from
Botley "look green" in prose. What havoc he makes,
when he pleases, of the curls of Dr. Parr's wig, and of the
whig consistency of the ministers.
His grammar is a book, which no one but Cobbett could
write, it blends instruction with amusement ; in it he is too
hard upon the style of others, and not enough on his own :
he exposes the inaccuracies of others, and overlooks his own.
As a political partizan, no one could stand against him. With
his brandished club, like giant despair in Pilgrim's Progress,
he knocked out their brains, and not only no individual, but
no corrupt system could hold out against his powerful and
repeated attacks, but with the same weapon, swung round like
a flail, that he levelled his antagonists, he laid his friends low
and put his own party hors de combat. This was a bad pro
pensity, and a worse principle in political tactics, though by
no means an uncommon one. If his blows were straight
forward and steadily directed to the same object, no unpopular
minister could live before him ; instead of which, he laid
about right and left, impartially and remorselessly, made a
clear stage, had all the ring to himself, and then ran out of it,
just when he should stand his ground. He threw his head into
his adversary's stomach, and took away all inclination for

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, E8Q. 451
the fight ; hit fair or foul, struck at every thing, and as you
came up to his aid, or stood ready to pursue his advantage,
he tripped up your heels or laid you sprawling, and pummelled
you when down as much to his heart's content, as ever the
Yangnesian carriers belaboured Rosinante with their pack
staves. He paid off both scores of old friendship and new
acquired enmity in a breath, in one perpetual volley, one ra
king fire of " arrowy sleet" shot from his pen. However
his own reputation or the cause he espoused might suffer in
consequence, he cared not a pin about that, so that he dis
abled all who opposed him, or who pretended to help him.
In fact he could not bear success of any kind, not even of
his own views and party, and if any principle were likely to
become popular, he would turn round against it to shew his
power in shouldering it on one side. In short, wherever power
was, there was he against it, he naturally butted at all ob
stacles, as unicorns are attracted to oak trees, and felt his
own strength only by resistance to the opinions and wishes
of the rest of the world. To sail with the stream, to agree
with the company, was not his humour. If he could have
brought about a reform in parliament, the odds are, that he
would instantly have fallen foul of and tried to mar his own
handy work, and he quarrelled with his own creatures, as
soon as he had written them into a little vogue and — a prison .
This must not be ascribed to vanity or fickleness, so much as
to a pugnacious disposition, that must have an antagonist
power to contend with, and only finds itself at ease in sys
tematic opposition. If it had not been for this, the high
towers and rotten places of the world would have fallen be
fore the battering ram of his hard-headed reasoning, but if
he once found them tottering, he would apply his strength to
prop them up, and disappoint the expectations of his fol
lowers. He could not agree to any thing established nor to
set upany thing else in its stead. While it was established,
he pressed hard upon it, because it pressed upon him, at least
in imagination. Let it, however, crumble under his grasp,
and the motive to resistance was gone. He then required

452 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
some other grievance against which to set his face. His
principle was repulsion ; his nature contradiction : he was
made up of mere antipathies, an Ishmaelite indeed without a
fellow. He was always playing at hunt the slipper in poli
tics, turning round upon whomever was next him. The way
to wean him from any opinion, and make him conceive an
intolerable hatred against it, was to place somebody near
him, who was perpetually dinning it in his ears. Whilst he
resided in England, he did nothing but abuse the borough
mongers, and laugh at the whole system, when he was in
America, he grew impatient of freedom and a republic. If
he had staid there a little longer, he would have become a
loyal and a loving subject of his majesty king Goerge IV.
He lampooned the French revolution when it was hailed as
the dawn of liberty by millions ; by the time it was brought
into almost universal ill odour by some means or other, (partly
no doubt by himself,) he had turned, with one or two or three
others, a staunch Buonapartist. He was always of the militant
not of the triumphant party ; so far he bore a gallant show
of magnanimity, but his gallantry was hardly of the right
stamp, it wanted principle, for though he was not servile nor
mercenary, he was the victim of self-will. He must pull down
and pull in pieces ; if was not his disposition to do otherwise.
This was to be deplored, for with his great talents, he might
have done great things, if he would have gone right forward
to any useful object, if he would have made thorough stitch-
work of any question, or joined hand and heart with any
principle. He changed his opinions, as he did his friends,
and much on the same account. He had no comfort in fixed
principles: as soon as any thing was settled in his own mind,
he quarrelled with it. He had no satisfaction but in the chase
after truth : he ran a question down, worried and killed it,
then quitted it like vermin, and started some new game to
lead him anew dance, and give him a fresh breathing through
bog and brake, with the rabble yelping at his heels, and the
leaders perpetually at fault. This to him was sport royal,
he thought it as good as cudgel playing, or single stick, or any

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 453
thing else that had life in it. He liked the cut and thrust,
the falls, bruises and dry blows of an argument, as to any
good or useful results that might come of the amicable settl
ing it, any one was welcome to them for him. The amuse
ment was over, when the matter was once fairly decided.
There is another point of view in which this may be put .
It might almost be said, relatively speaking, that Mr. Cobbett
was a very honest man, with a total want of principle, and this
direct paradox might be thus explained. It is thereby meant
to infer that Mr. Cobbett was in downright earnest in what
he said, or in the part he took at the time, but in taking that
part, he was led entirely by headlong obstinacy, caprice,
novelty, pique, or personal motive of some sort, and not by a
steadfast regard for truth, or habitual anxiety for what was
right uppermost in his mind. He was not a paid, time
serving, shuffling advocate, for no man could write as he did,
who did not believe himself sincere, but his understanding
was the dupe and slave of his momentary, violent, and irrit
able humours. He did not adopt an opinion deliberately or
for money, yet his conscience was at the mercy of the first
provocation he received, of the first whim he took in his
head; he saw things through the medium of heat and passion,
not with reference to any general principles, and his whole
system of thinking was deranged by the first object that struck
his fancy or soured his temper. One cause of this phenomenon
was perhaps the want of a regular education. He was a self-
taught man, and had the faults as well as the excellences of
that class of persons in their most striking and glaring excess.
It must be acknowledged that the editor of the Political
Register was not the gentlemen and scholar, he never studied
the punctilios necessary to constitute the former, and the
latter he never wished to be considered, as his philippic
against the learned languages will testify. He, however,
possessed certain qualities which, with a little better manage
ment, would have been worth both those titles to the public.
From a want of knowing what had been discovered before
him, he had not certain general landmarks to refer to, or a

451 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
general standard of thought to apply to individual cases. He
relied upon his own acuteness and the immediate evidence,
without being acquainted with the comparative anatomy or
philosophical structure of opinion. He did not view things
on a large scale, or at the horizon, dim and airy enough per
haps, but as they affected him, close, palpable, and tangible.
Whatever he found out was his own, and he only knew what
he found out. He was in the constant hurry and fever of
gestation ; his brain teemed incessantly with some new pro
ject. Every new light was the birth of a new system, the
dawn of a new world to him. He -was continually outstrip
ping and overreaching himself. The last opinion was the only
true one. He was wiser to day, than he was yesterday.
Why should he not have been wiser to-morrow than he was
to day ? Men of a learned education are not so sharpwitted,
as clever men without it, but they know the balance of the
human intellect better ; if they be more stupid ; they are more
steady, and are less liable to be led astray by their own
sagacity, and the overweening petulance and hard-earned,
and late-acquired wisdom. They do not fall in love with
every meretricious extravagance at first sight, or mistake an
old battered hypothesis for a vestal, because they are new to
the ways of this old world. They do not seize upon it as a
prize, but are safe from gross imposition by being as wise and
no wiser than those that went before them.
Paine said on one occasion, " What I have written, I have
written," as rendering any further declaration of his princi
ples unnecessary. Not so Mr. Cobbett. What he had written
was no rule to him what he was to write. He learned some
thing every day, and every week he took the field to maintain
the opinions of the last six days against friend or foe. It
is a matter of some doubt, whether this outrageous inconsist
ency, this headstrong fickleness, this understood want of all
rule and method, did not enable him to go on with the spirit,
vigour, and variety that he did. He was not pledged to re
peat himself. Every new Register was a kind of new pros
pectus. He blessed himself on being free from all ties and

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 455
shackles on his understanding ; he had no mortgages on his
brain ; his motives were free and unencumbered. If he had
been put in trammels, he might have become a vile hack,
like so many more. But he gave himself " ample scope and
verge enough." He took both sides of a question, and
maintained one as sturdily as the other. If nobody else could
argue against him, he was a very good match for himself.
He wrote better in favour of reform than any body else ; he
used to write better against it. Wherever he was, there
was the tug of war ; the weight of the argument, the strength
of abuse. He was not like a man in danger of being bed
rid in his. faculties; he tossed and tumbled about his unwieldy
bulk, and when he was tired of lying on one side, he re
lieved himself by turning on the other. His shifting his
point of view from time to time not merely added variety and
greater compass to his topics, but it gave a greater zest and
liveliness to his manner of treating them. Mr. Cobbett took
nothing for granted as what he had proved before ; he did
not write a book of reference. His ideas are to be seen in
their first concoction, fermenting and overflowing with the
ebullitions of a lively conception. We look on at the actual
process, and are put in immediate possession of the grounds
and materials, on which he formed his sanguine, unsettled
conclusions. He did not give us samples of reasoning, putting
the whole solid mass, refuse and all, and this was one cause
of the clearness and force of his writings. An argument did
not stop to stagnate and muddle in his brain, but passed at
once to its paper. Fresh theories gave him fresh courage.
He was like a young and lusty bridegroom, that divorces a
favourite speculation every morning, and marries a new
one every night. He was not wedded to his notions — not he.
He had not one Mrs. Cobbett amongst all his opinions. He
made the most of the last thought that came in his way, seized
fast hold of it, rumpled it about in all directions with rough
strong hands, had his wicked will of it, took a surfeit, and
threw it away. Mr. Cobbett changing his opinions for new
ones was not so wonderful, but what was more remarkable

456 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBliTT, ESQ.
was his facility in forgetting his old ones. He did not pre
tend to consistency, for therein he disavowed all connexion
with himself. The only time he ever grew romantic was in
bringing over the relics of Mr. Thomas Paine with him from
America, to go a progress with them through the disaffected
districts. On his arrival in London with " the canonized
bones," he made a speech to disclaim all participation in the
political and theological sentiments of his late idol, and to
place the whole stock of his admiration and enthusiasm to
wards him to the account of his financial speculations, and
of his having predicted the fate of paper money. He had a
very ill habit of prophecying, and though always, deceived,
still went on prophecying, but the art of prophecying did not
suit Mr. Cobbett's style. He had an unfortunate knack
of fixing names, and times, and places ; thus, according to
him, the reformed parliament was to meet in March 1818,
it did not meet, and we heard no more of the matter. When
ever his predictions failed, he took no further notice of them,
but applied him to make some new ones, like the country
people, who turn to see what weather there is in the almanac
for the next week, though it has been out in its reckoning
every day of the last.
Mr. Cobbett was great in attack, not in defence ; he could
not fight an up-hill battle. He could not bear the least
punishing. If any one turned upon him, which few people
were inclined to do, he immediately turned tail. Like an
overgrown school-boy, he was so used to have all his own
way, that he could not submit to any thing like a competi
tion or a struggle for the mastery ; he must lay on the blows,
and take none. He was a bully, and a coward, a kind of
big-ben in politics, who would fall upon others and crush
them by his weight, but was not prepared for resistance, and
was soon staggered by a few smart blows. Whenever he
has been fairly and boldly set upon, he has slunk out of the
controversy, and in no instance was this more apparent than
in the controversy which he courted, on his hypothesis of the
inutility of the dead languages. He found he had some able

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 457
ind sturdy combatants to deal with, with whom he was
:ompetent to fight, and although he promised that in a certain
tlegister, he would discomfit all his opponents, he considered
t more prudent to let the matter drop, and his promise to his
lying day remained unfulfilled. Some years ago, the Edin
burgh Review made a dead set at him, to which he only
retorted by an eulogy on the superior neatness of an English
kitchen garden to a Scotch one. We remember going one
jay into a bookseller's shop in Fleet-street to ask for the
number of the Edinburgh Review, and on our expressing
out opinion to a young Scotchman, who stood behind the
counter, that Mr. Cobbett might hit as hard in his reply,
the north Briton said with some alarm, " But you don't think,
sir, Mr. Cobbett will be able to injure the Scottish nation ?"
We said, we could not answer to that point, but we thought
he was very well able to defend himself, He, however, did
not, but ever after bore an implacable grudge against the
Edinburgh Review.
Nitor in adversum, said the Times newspaper, should have
been the motto of William Cobbett, but the sentence might
have been rendered more complete.

Impetus.1

-" Nee me qui caetera vincit

The fact of his struggle against adversity remained un
decided, but the journalist forgot to add, that circumstances,
which would have crushed others, left the mind of Cobbett
unsubdued. It must, however, be observed, that birth, station, employ
ment, ignorance, temper, character in early life, were all
against him. But he emerged from all, and overcame all.
By masculine force of genius, and the lever of a proud, con
fident, and determined will, he pushed aside a mass of
obstacles, of which the least and slightest would have repelled
the boldest or most ambitious of ordinary men. He ended
by bursting that formidable barrier which separates the class
40. — vol. n. 3 N

458 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM C0BBKTT, ESQ.
of English gentlemen from all beneath them, and died a
member of parliament, representing a large constituency
which had chosen him twice.
In this will, in this determination not to be borne down,
this love of living in an element of opposition, this finding in
every new misfortune a spring of fresh and flowing energy,
the secret is solved, that preserved to Cobbett a certain share
of greatness, in spite of changes and tergiversations of princi
ple, and in the face of the inconsistencies and whimsicalities
of his human nature. Thus Cobbett died unquestionably a
great man, by some regretted, by many respected, and by all
known. But he might have died a much greater man, by more
regretted, and respected as much as known. Had Cobbett died
a young man in the fullness of his early fame, the Newark
motto would justly have graced his tombstone. " Perissam
niperissam. His after existence has proved the truth of this.
He has perished by not perishing before ; not his name, but
the unmixed glory, that we should have attached to it ; not
his reputation, which must be lasting, but the value and lustre
that it would have gathered from the consistency, that would
have kept it bright. However a hundred great men have
illustrated the same principle, and none more than Napoleon,
in living after Waterloo.
The writings of Cobbett will cause him to stand out to the
future historian of his country, as infinitely the most remark
able public man upon the canvass of events, among which he
moved, during forty-three years of startling vicissitude and
changing fate. In all the annals of public proceedings in
peace or war of this period, it will be impossible to dis
connect him from the picture. Although a Proteus in changes
of opinion, although presenting himself here and there in
altered guise, his position metamorphosed, and his ground re
moved, he is still present, and present in the foreground too,
and although great and honourable, and distinguished men
will be grouped and gathered in the same immortal painting,
the figure of William Cobbett will yet be conspicuously

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 459
observed. He will not be one of any depicted party, but he
will be there, like the skeleton at the Egyptian feast, to
remind all parties of his presence.
That the efforts of his genius were, during the last twenty-
five years, too generally directed to evil purposes, we, must
be the last to dispute ; but we deny that this misdirection is
any impeachment of the eternal and universal truth of the
proposition, that without moral, there can be no intellectual
grandeur. In our imperfect nature all is mixed, good and
evil, and we cannot expect in man those qualities which we
must love and admire, without their associate defects of cor
responding magnitude. Men of limited powers may be, and
commonly are also , men of limited defect, but beside the
natural tendency of all power to abuse, the constitution of
mind, from which extraordinary vigour arises, has an original
tendency to error. Great energy is ever more or less con
nected with a more or less impetuous violence, and the ten
dency of the imaginative faculty to seduce men into moral
extravagance, and often into practical extravagance of con
duct, is a thread-bare common-place.
Of these unhappy failings of our mixed nature, Mr. Cob
bett's history affords a remarkable example. Gifted with the
most extraordinary powers of intellect, and the clearest ori
ginal views of what is right and profitable to mankind, in
stinctively imbued too with generous and manly sympathies,
more than half of his life was engaged in a course of, at least
questionable hostility to the institutions of his country, and
in a bitter warfare with all around, of all parties, about which
there cannot be any dispute. There was much in the early
part of Mr. Cobbett's life, and the state of society in our age
to account for, and therefore to excuse this seeming paradox.
Born a peasant 'in the day of wealth-idolatry, uneducated and
plain in his tastes and attainments, amongst a people of much
fallacious and artificial refinement, the son of the Farnham
cottager would originally feel his own intellectual superiority
a perpetual prompter to despise the system in which he
moved. Through life, a laborious man, uncharged with

460 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
any expensive tastes or passions, and struggling to the close
in very narrow circumstances, he would find new reason in
his own experience to condemn a state of society that
awarded as chance should direct, or suppleness, the very
brand, of inferior intellect, should lead the golden prizes of
affluence and attendant consideration, that ought to be the
meed of genius and industry.
The pride of purse persecuted him in America, and perse
cuted him no less in England, as it persecutes us all, and
will continue to persecute, until in the fulness of its cup, it
shall be laid low. The purse-proud Americans were a de
mocracy, and therefore in America, Mr. Cobbett was a
royalist ; the purse-proud English were an aristocracy, and
therefore in England, Mr. Cobbett was a democrat. It must
also be taken into consideration, that in England the vice is
impartially distributed amongst all classes of the wealthy, and
therefore in England, Mr. Cobbett's resentment took a more
definite, perhaps a more just direction, associating him suc
cessively with whatever party most unequivocally prosecuted
the war against wealth. This we believe to be the solution
of whatever seems inconsistent in the career of Mr. Cobbett.
In his early education too, and in the circumstances of his
after life will be found enough to explain the temper, as they
explain the direction of his political course. There is, un
doubtedly, a discipline which strengthens the genius, while
it polishes the manners, but this is a reasoning discipline, it
is a regimen, which from childhood teaches to control our
passions and dispositions, not under the influence of fear, but
from a sense of what is virtuous and becoming. Men trained
in this discipline acquire an art of self-government, which
qualifies them to exercise any power that they may possess
over others, with a gentleness and consideration for human
weakness, which no teacher but the early liberalized self-
love can impart. There is, however, a discipline of another
kind, which often breaks, though not always, intellectual
power, but which is sure to unfit him, who has been subject
to it, for the exercise of any power ; this is a discipline of

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 461
force. To this last discipline, Mr. Cobbett was unfortunately
subjected during that whole period in which the formation of
character is completed. There is no reasoning in the obe
dience of the farm yard ; there is no reasoning in the disci
pline of the barrack, and up to his thirtieth year, Mr. Cobbett
suffered one or other of these forms of slavery. The very
same cause which renders the harshly-reared orphan, a do
mestic tyrant ; the foremast-man or the late private, a despotic
officer ; the military man of any class, a functionary almost
too severe for civil life ; the emancipated slave, the cruellest
of slave-drivers ; this same cause would naturally give to the
polemics of a powerful disputant, all the intolerant asperity
with which Mr. Cobbett's writings have been charged.
Cobbett all along his chequered career, has performed a
great mixture of good and evil. In his nature, the good cer
tainly predominated ; in his actions, take them all in all, we
fear the mischief had the greatest share. His mind had a
strong and sound formation, but its faculties got diseased
in the development. This was the result of its want of right
education ; he had managed it himself from what he learned
from nature, he could not control it by the philosophy that is
to be gathered out of books. He could not kindle it into a
useful admiration of the lore of others, he only taught it to
exult in its knowledge. It had no subduing power, no holy
and glorious love of and wonder at the wisdom of ages, to
humble its presumptions with a pure and wholesome hu
mility. It knew of — it mingled with the present, but
could neither be guided nor governed by the morals of the
past. It was full of knowledge without learning, and there
fore of spirit without control.
The career of Cobbett as a writer, the only character in
which he will be recognized, for as an active politician, or as
a member of parliament, he was nothing, began in America,
marked by all the peculiarities of style, which have since
rendered it every where recognizable. He adopted the same
means of argument, the same homely illustrations, the same
lucidus ordo and striking marshalling of arranged facts ; the

462 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ
same battering ram system of assault ; the characteristic
nickname founded on some known event; the coarse and
vulgar abuse, the scurrilous personality, and the pervading
vengeance of hatred, which overcoming all other changes of
his mind and opinions, have maintained themselves in their
pristine vigour, ab ovo usque ad mata, from his first Porcupine
down to his last Register. But the early energies of this
school of composition were began in a better atmosphere
than that of misty confusion, which hung over his later efforts.
The first and general characteristic of his style is perspi
cuity, unequalled and inimitable. A second is homely mas
culine vigour. A third is purity, always simple and raciness,
often elegant. His argument is an example of acute, yet
apparently natural, nay, involuntary logic, smoothed in its
progress and cemented in its parts by a mingled stream of
torturing sarcasm, contemptuous jocularity, and fierce and
slaughtering invective. His faults are coarseness, brutality,
and tedious repetition. It must be added, that the matter of
this most forcible of writers rarely shows much inventive
faculty, though his active and observing mind supplied
abundance of illustration to his argument, and when he
happens to present an original view of any subject, it is al
ways more eccentric and ingenious than just.
Cobbett was in the beginning imbued with the purest prin
ciples of political virtue. He wrote as a patriot, because out
of his country, in a land where his country was hated and
reviled, and where the bitterness of enmity was fresh against
him ; in a land where it was dangerous to be an Englishman,
he supported his advocacy of England ; he affirmed his
loyalty to England's king; and he upheld his opinions in
favour of English monarchical institutions against republi
canism, against jacobinism in the heart of America and in
the face of France. There was a moral courage in this which
did him honour, a courage which he preserved in many other
instances of his life. He likewise did great service to his
country ; in his efforts for her good, he was something in the
position of Marcus Curtius in the chasm at Rome ; America

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 463
was a similar gulph of.peril into which he had fairly plunged,
only that fate did not require that it should close over his
head. The twelve volumes of pamphlets and lives and papers and
essays, which he published separately there, and afterwards
collected in this country, were preceded by a subscription
list, at the head of which stood the name of the king, followed
by a long retinue of his nobility, including many of his
ministers, and winding up with a loyal muster roll of attached
subjects, lovers and defenders of the English constitution.
Which of Cobbett's late productions could have been graced
with such an appendix ; a tribute as loud and lofty as the
genius, which it was meant to crown.
In England Cobbett continued in the same path, and let it
always be remembered that upon that path he had educated
himself. The atmosphere of Harrow had not instilled — the
influences of Oxford had not confirmed him in the principles
which he had chosen to adopt. He had brought himself up
to them, and the fact of his having first imbibed them in the
army cannot be adduced as the reason which begat his choice,
since the commander who encouraged him to education, and
promoted him as its reward, nay, who afterwards procured
him his discharge, that he might more freely exercise it, was
the unhappy Lord Edward Fitzgerald, whom no one will
certainly accuse of too strong an attachment to the love of
order, or the creed of conservatism.
No, William Cobbett, with a mind that scorned to mould
itself to opinions by any modern examples, and yet was utterly
without the benefit of any ancient lore, thought for himself
and by himself, gazed into the amphitheatre of events, drew
his inference with a clear head and steady heart, reasoned
with discretion, and finally decided with judgment, that the
wisest and purest of governments was a limited monarchy,
and the most virtuous and prudent course of politics for all
men to adopt, was that which prescribed the union of church
and state, loyalty to the monarch, and attachment to the con
stitution and altars of the land.

464 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
Cobbett had educated himself to this belief, and up to a
time, in the same creed he lived and wrote and triumphed.
And we may remark that he must have deemed it, at bottom,
pure, for naturally he was a hater of corruption, and he never
wrote for gold. We think we may fairly exculpate Cobbett
from this charge ; he has eloquently defended himself against
it, although such defence was not always to be relied upon, for
what he defended one day he would attack the next, especially
if in the mean time some one had placed himself in the way,
whom he regarded as an intruder. No doubt, he had raised
his writings into a national importance, no doubt, ministers
ought to have thanked him for his services, but in one instance,
namely, that of Pitt, when by his energetic pen he had upheld
the ruinous system adopted by that minister, and actually
governed the public mind in forming their opinion of it, then
did that haughty and arrogant tory refuse to sit at the same
table with the individual, with that individual to whom he
was chiefly indebted for the retention of his office. Of some
of the ministers he accepted the thanks, but rejected their
overtures. He was asked if government could be of any
service to any branch of his family, and he replied, that if
by his own industry, he could assist his family, he would ; but
that he would not accept of any thing for them from any
other source.
At this time Cobbett must have worked upon principle,
and for the sake of principle, and because he believed his
principle good, above all danger, and beyond all price. He
came to England, and he continued so to work. He pub
lished in defence of the constitution, and virulently opposed
the new inroads that were then advocated warmly without
the senate, and occasionally earnestly recommended within.
Above all, how did he come forward in the cause of his
country upon the subject of her threatened invasion by a
man whom he much resembled, Napoleon Buonaparte. His
remarks were cherished as the germes of a patriot's virtue,
which ministers deemed it well to scatter over the land as
seeds that must produce noble fruit. They were read from

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 465
every pulpit of every protestant church in Great Britain,
they were adverted to in the senate by one of its best and
chiefest ornaments, as entitling their author to have raised to
his memory a statue of gold. They were praised by many
Englishmen as superior to Burke, and Miiller, the Swiss histo
rian, pronounced them equal to Demosthenes.
Was not this honour ? was not this fame ? the national
gratitude was now as a pedestal upon which William Cob
bett stood. A noble basement ! which a man should either
erect into a column, or to be content to rest. Cobbett, how
ever, descended, and took his station upon other ground.
La Bruyere says, " L'on ne peut alter loin dans I'amitie,
si Von nest pas dispose a se pardonner, les uns aux au-
tres, les petits defauts." Cobbett, if he ever read, knew not
how to practice this maxim of La Bruyere, he forgave nobody
his little faults, when those faults operated against himself.
He was now in the zenith of glory, he might soon have be
come a member of parliament, and he would not have been
long a member without becoming a minister ; his path was
open, and he had only to tread it steadily to arrive at am
bition's goal. But this was not his doom. Windham asked
him to dine with him, and invited Pitt : the supercilious
statesman refused to meet the low-born but renowned writer,
who had done such service to the state. Cobbett was stung
to the quick : stung into hatred beyond forgiveness. In this
instance he would have broken his neck over the maxim of
La Bruyere, rather than not have proved its truth. His
passion had got the mastery over him, and when Cobbett
imbibed hatred, he became its victim. Because Pitt had of-
- fended him, he veered round to an absolute radicalism, he did
so gradually, but effectively. He was a conservative upon
principle, but his vindictive spirit made him a radical out of
hate. This tergiverse shifting of his opinions from a private
pique, throws rather a gloomy shade upon Cobbett's cha
racter ; it proves that his passions were stronger than his
principles, and a thousand subsequent actions of his life
prove the same thing. The point, however, is unfavourable
41. — vol. n. 3 o

466 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
to himself ; it tells nothing to his credit, and it told nothing
in his fortunes, but it has left a powerful moral lesson to
society. There can be no doubt that William Cobbett in his
heart repented the change. In his heart he was a conserva
tive up to his dying day ; he was only a radical from ne
cessity, from the influence of his passions ; he could not be
a whig, that was impossible, and he felt that he could not be
a tory, because birth, pride, and purse-pride had began to
persecute him, and to whatever persecuted him, his fierce and
unrelenting vindi.etiveness forbade him to belong. He was
aristocratic by nature, but he could not dwell amongst those
from whom he had not sprung, and after his politics began
to make him poor, he proudly knew that with whom he could
not cope, he could not associate. He had placed an insuper
able barrier between himself and his former principles, against
which it would have been vain to struggle, and therefore he
abandoned them gradually, and commenced fighting for a
cause with which he held no common sympathies, until he
had written himself into a belief that it was a just cause ;
just as men who have invented a particular story a la Mun
chausen, for the entertainment of their friends, habituate
themselves in the telling of it, till they believe it is true.
The prevailing crime of Cobbett's life, for it amounted
almost to a crime, was this falling off from mere personal
motives from his former friends. He knew men first for a
little time to love them ; they offended him, and he knew
them all the rest of his life to hate them, and to be revenged
upon them. Personal affronts always went far with Cobbett,
who acted generally upon impulse. His inconsistencies may
be in most instances traced to some offence, real or imagined,
which he received from those who once had been the objects
of his praise. Burdett, once in his opinion the saviour of
England, was transformed into Burdett the type of all that
is mean and base. Waithman, the pride of the senate, be
came Waithman, the empty shop-boy. Hunt, the patriot,
degenerated to Hunt, the greatest of liars. O'Connell, the
glory of Ireland, was at one time a vile vagabond. We are

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 467
sorry to say that kindness to him did not call forth a return
as surely as did insult or neglect. There was, indeed, a
harshness and cruelty about Cobbett, which it was impossi
ble to excuse. For an enemy he had no bowels of com
passion. The Marquess of Londonderry fell by a calamity to which
all men may be subject. In a moment of unwatched madness,
he died by his own hand, and ever after was he designated
in the Register as " Castlereagh who cut his throat at North
Cray," Or by way of an alliteration, it used to be, " the carotid
artery cutting Castlereagh." Even an individual of lower
importance, a staunch adherent of O'Connell's, who was
shot in a duel provoked by his own impertinence, was insulted,
while yet unburied, in terms of the grossest contempt and
ribaldry, for no greater crime than because in a quarrel
respecting the money to be paid by Roman Catholic eman
cipation got up between Cobbett and O'Connell, Brie on
the principle of adhering to the individual to whom he was
indebted for many services, had supported the latter. These
are cruel things, unworthy of the noble and generous mind ;
fifty other instances, however, might be adduced. The merci
less abuse of Lord Picknose Liverpool, and subsequently
to that of Mr. Justice Taunton, immediately after his death ;
the everlasting vilification which he heaped upon Mr, Scarlett,
and upon every judge who had presided on the bench during
any of the numerous trials to which he was exposed, are
all fresh in the memory of every reader of his Register.
When Canning died, he wrote over him a funeral oration of
withering intensity of censure, but this, though in some parts
harsh, and in no part kindly timed, we are not inclined to
blame. The Edinburgh Review, however, once gave a far more
slashing exposition of Cobbett on this head, and there can
be no doubt that he deserved it. It was done in a critical
survey of his articles in his Register, at the time he was
advocating the principles of Sir Francis Burdett, whom he
had so often denounced as a traitor, and whom, since his

468 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
friendship with him, he had taken especial pains to abuse.
The difference was, that Cobbett's first abuse of Burdett, was
the abuse of tory for going too far, and his second, that of a
radical for not going far enough. The extreme talent and
power of Cobbett made his political opinions readable, but
his extreme tergiversation and inconsistency, and above
all his sickening egotism, rendered them almost valueless. Yet
his common sense often thrust him into truth, as it were in
despite of himself, and the nature of his illustrations con
tinually commanded conviction which he taught, his readers
to misapply, and thus we might gather from his tory writings,
wherewith to form a radical creed, and glean from his liberal
lucubrations a fit superstructure for a conservative code of
laws. In his works of politics, however, and all Cobbett's books
were books of politics, he had one great moral and virtuous
aim in view, an aim, which if he did not keep independent
of his dislikes, he ever employed his dislikes to serve, and
never reversed the subserviency. This was the promulgation
of agriculture, and the bettering of the condition of the agri
cultural labourers. In order to bring about this purpose, he
stuck at nothing, he tried all sorts and modes of experiments.
Now he endeavoured to educate the labourers, and now he
railed against all education ; his own children, had not what
may fee properly termed been educated, and from them he
drew the standard of others, not taking into the account the
great and manifold advantages, which they possessed in such
a man as their father. At one time he abused the farmers
for not paying their men, and now he recommended the old
system of keeping them without pay ; now he exhorted them
to order and allegiance, and now he lectured them all but to
strike for wages. In early life his enemies railed against him
for keeping back liberal opinions amongst them, and in his
latter days they prosecuted him for exciting them to sedition.
But right or wrong, by this means or that, he was always
battling for them and for what he believed to be their welfare.
In fact, it was this attachment of Cobbett to the soil and

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 469
to the tillers of the soil from whom he sprang, that stamped
him so effectually with the character of Englishman. His
writings on domestic subjects, independently of politics,
proved that he was English in heart and soul. A contemporary
writer infers from the same source, that he was a genuine
descendant of the old Saxon stock, in short " the last of the
Saxons." Marked indeed must have been the character which
in these days could give rise to such an opinion.
In literature Cobbett acquired a far wider fame, than he
was in any way entitled to. He had no mercy upon bad
grammarians, and he compiled a decent grammar with a fair
explanation of the subjunctive mood, but for the sake of
appearing what he really was, quite English, he adopted
homely modes of expression, and in the use of vulgar idioms,
and the accepted vulgarities of conversation among the classes
to whom he addressed himself, he defied all the rules of gram
mar himself with a desperate impunity, that was only to pass
harmless, because it was impossible that men could imitate his
excellencies, and therefore unlikely that they would adopt his
faults. He fancied or pretended to fancy that he was indebted
for his vigour and lucidness to his grammatical knowledge of the
language, and was fond of referring to his grammar as a proof
of his profound information. If he really entertained such an
opinion, it was a great mistake. His grammars do not con
tain one grammatical principle of the slightest value beyond
what we find in a sixpenny abridgement of Lindley Murray.
Of the philosophy of language he had no idea, no acquaintance
with etymology, not a philological notion in his head. He
pulled the king's speeches to pieces in a very amusing manner,
subjecting them to a species of verbal torture, which no
writing and least of all his own could bear.
Though continually writing politics, and sometimes com
mitting what he called history, the stock of knowledge which
he brought to historical disquisitions was singularly small.
A more amusing instance of this cannot be found in the
whole range of literature than his History of the Reformation.
In this attempt Cobbett proceeded with a fearlessness which

470 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
is the usual concomitant of an intrepid ignorance. Fearless
indeed must have been the ignorance which declared Luther,
Calvin, and Beza to be the greatest ruffians that ever disgraced
the annals of the world, and condemned their labours to con
tempt and derision, without, we need hardly say, having read
One line of their works. There is a stain attached to the
conduct of Cobbett in regard to these aspersions, which he
threw out against the three great reformers, which remains-
to this day "unwashed, unannealed." It was fully believed
that he had received or was promised a certain sum by the
popish party in Ireland to espouse their cause, and hence his
journey to Ireland, where he lectured to the people on all his
favourite topics, and particularly referring them to his History
of the Reformation, as a proof that he did not exactly con
sider it a reformation ; had he been lecturing, however, to
any other than papists, it would have been the best of all
possible reformations. In " the history," however, we find
that Cranmer is a scoundrel, without a particle of redemption,
Latimer a blackguard, the burning of whom was a most
meritorious act. Cromwell a robbing blacksmith, and so
forth. Of course Henry VIII. cuts a great figure in this
history, and whatever could be objected to the character of
that burly monarch is put in the fullest light. As old bluff
Harry had many vulnerable points, it must be expected that
so great a master of the Billingsgate as Cobbett, has suc
ceeded in making a magnificent picture of that " rotten lump
of beastliness." In delineating him, he had George IV. in his
eye, and many hits directed apparently against Henry's cor
pulence, profusion, favouritism, and ill-usage of his wives,
have a secondary aim against the character of George.
Edward VI. is treated as a sickly, and diseased boy, with a
predisposition to cruelty. Against Elizabeth the full vials of
his wrath are emptied. Here, indeed, Sheridan's caution,
that there should be no scandal against queen Elizabeth, is
woefully neglected. Every slander that was ever said or
hinted against " the fair vestal throned in the west," is to be
found in this accurate and impartial History of the Protestant

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 471
Reformation. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, is equally ill-used,
Cobbett going so far as to pretend to believe the story of
some lying popish ecclesiastics, that she was the daughter of
Henry VIII. and with the usual harshness of his manner,
justifying the horrors of her trial and execution. So accurate
in examination is this book, that he attributes the rack and
the loss of Galais to Elizabeth (Lingard, impartial author ! is
his authority for the first of these discoveries,) and scruples
not to assert, that the persons, who suffered in Mary's time
suffered for felony and treason, not for heresy. He speaks
rather tenderly of Bonner, who is held up as a miracle of
gentleness, as compared with Lord Sidmouth. Philip obtains
no small praise, especially because he brought a large trea
sure to this country when he married Mary. Leopold of
Saxe Coburg is a very different kind of personage, he not
having brought a farthing, but obtained £50,000 a year when
he espoused the Princess Charlotte, and it may be added that
although the said Princess Charlotte is dead, he still, although
seated on the throne of a foreign country, extracts the same
enormous sum from the people of this country, on the plea,
that he was over-burdened with debt, which debt, like the
national debt, will never be extinguished, so long as the people
of this country will consent to pay the annuity.
In " the history," the massacre of Bartholomew is rather
eulogized, and Coligni of course set down as a scoundrel, only
worthy of being cut off. The number of people slain in that
massacre, he fixes at the precise number of seven hundred
and eighty-six. He, nevertheless, has occasionally a mis
giving that, on the whole, St. Barthelemi reflects but dubious
credit on the cause of his clients, and takes care to say that,
however necessary and justifiable in a political point of view,
the then existing state of France being considered, it was not
exactly in accordance with the generally mild and humane
spirit of Catholicism. Of the approbation of the pope, and
the joy diffused over all the Romish communities in Europe,
Cobbett knew nothing. In fact, we have never read a more
amusing specimen of the hardihood of total ignorance than

472 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
the discussion on St. Bartholomew, in his History of the
Reformation. The outrages of the inquisition, the barbarities of Bonner;
the treacherous massacres directed by Charles IX ; the ex
terminating decrees and bulls of the popes ; the sanguinary
oppression of the Spaniards in the Netherlands ; the corrup
tion, tyranny, avarice and rapacity of the Romish church in
the sixteenth century ; its reluctance to the progress of
learning, and its ceaseless attempts to perpetuate by cruelty
or fraud, by falsehood or blood, its sway over mankind : ol
all this Cobbett says nothing. But when Elizabeth sends to
the gallows those, who avowedly were engaged in ceaseless
plots against her own life ; who were endeavouring to bind
the country to a foreign yoke, whose sole thought was how
to put back the human mind a couple of centuries, that their
"order" might regain its lost supremacy, then the pathetic
soul of Cobbett is awakened into sorrow and indignation.
Nothing can be finer than his account of the gunpowder plot
and the revolution. Oliver Cromwell Tather puzzles him.
He is obliged to blame him for his cruelties to the amiable
men of 1641, reeking with the blood of the most dismal
massacre on record, but still the iron-souled protector finds
some strings in the heart of his unwilling vituperator to
vibrate in unison with his own, and he is not cursed alto
gether. Considered as a history, the book is actually droll. Cob
bett had never read a single line beyond the most ordinary
sources ; never qualified himself for his task by any study of
contemporary authors, or any researches into theology or
polemics. Cobbett never read much ; he was thirty-five years before
he read a word of Shakespeare, and then formed a very, low
opinion of him. Milton he treated with the greatest disdain ;
Sir Walter Scott was especially an eyesore. Byron he
contemned, and of Wordsworth and Southey he knew nothing
beyond the facts, that one was a stamp-master and the other
a laureat. Of the ordinary run of literary labourers he never

MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ. 473
took the slightest notice ; one author alone was worth them
all, and that was — William Cobbett.
In his domestic character, Cobbett appears to have been an
estimable man, he was a good father by the acknowledgement
of his children, the best of all tests. He was strong of heart
in the domestic affections ; he loved his wife, he loved his
children, he loved what he would have called " the people"
about him. In his family he was for peace, he only once, he
declares spoke with harshness to a single member of it, but
scevit amor ferri, the love of opposition or rather of opposing
out of it reigned predominant.
In concluding the history of this remarkable man, we can
not refrain from passing our most unqualified censure of the
manner in which some of his political opponents spoke of
him when dead. The cold-blooded manner in which the
press of this country attacked his reputation and depreciated
his merits, while yet his warm remains were scarcely smoothed
from the struggles of death, would be a disgrace to a nation
of barbarians. The ferocity, the malignity of " The Times "
appears to have been scarcely satiated with the death of an
opponent, and the observations, the deep and withering in
vective which sullied the pages of that paper, will ever re
main a stain upon the reputation of its proprietor. To the
candid and liberal mind, smarting even under a personal
injury, death generally softens all asperities, but where the
enmity was merely of a political nature, it ill became those
enemies to insult the memory of the dead, and coward-like to
triumph over an adversary, who was laid low, who had fought
the battle nobly with them, but who now could no longer
harm them. A Washington once said of a political opponent
just deceased, " Now all animosity ceases, and I will speak
of the dead as of a human being, not as of a politician ; I
will now eulogize his virtues, and in the remembrance of
them I will forget our difference of opinion." Would that
the sentiments of Washington had been perpetuated in the
minds of the opponents of Cobbett, and that they had not
disgraced the English name and character in the vilification
41. — VOL. II. 3 P

474 MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM COBBETT, ESQ.
of an individual whom death had deprived of the power of
defending himself.
The grave has closed over Cobbett, but he has taken
possession of that place which the secret pride and the nation
ality of all Englishman have long since tacitly accorded him.
His monument must be found in his works. We cannot
close this work more appropriately than with the transcription
of a few stanzas, from a poem written by the author of the
Corn Rhimes. Oh I bear him where the rain can fall,
And where the winds can blow,
And let the sun weep o'er his pnll
As to the grave ye go.
And in some little lone church-yard
Beside the growing com,
Let gentle nature's stern prose bard,
Her mightiest peasant born.
Yes, let the wild flowers wed his grave
That bees may murmur near,
When o'er his last home bend the bravo,
And say a man lies here.
For Britons honour Cobbett's name,
Though rashly oft he spoke,
And none can scorn and few will blame
The low laid heart of oak.
Dead oak, thou livest ! Thy smitteil hands,
The thunder of thy brow,
Speak with strojig tongues in many lands,
And tyrants hear the now.

THE END.

W. Hill, Printer, 48, Northampton-street, ClerkenwelL.

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