Aurum Press first edition - 1997
In the middle of reading this biography, the latest Catalogue - number CCLXI - turned up from Jarndyce. These catalogues are collectors' pieces in their own right; this one was on The Romantic Background: Revolutionaries, Reactionaries, Radicals & Royals. It concentrates on items relating to the period roughly from 1790 to 1830 and, rightly, says in its Introduction, It was an extraordinarily fertile period in British literary history, and one in which writers, and poets in particular, engendered a new and more socially aware canon of writing. I looked for, and of course found, publications by and linked to William Cobbett. Items 434 to 485 relate to the man whom the compilers of the Catalogue say was a perennial thorn in the side of the establishment and who campaigned ceaselessly to expose corruption, to oppose abuses of power, and to champion the causes of the beleaguered and downtrodden. Ten other items for sale are also linked to Cobbett. I have purchased No. 472, the first edition of Cobbett's Legacy to Parsons, which queries their right to tithes etc, greater than the Dissenters have to the same? The copy will need 'work' on it, as the front board is partly detached. *
Cobbett's story is a fascinating one. As I read on, I found myself more and more impressed with his determination and staying power. He must have been nearly impossible to live with, and one's heart goes out to his long-suffering spouse Anne (Nancy). He met her in St. John, New Brunswick, where her father was an artillery sergeant. She was a tiny creature, just four feet two inches tall and only thirteen years old, but he decided at once that she should be his wife. She was beautiful, which to Cobbett was an 'indispensable qualification'. Thus, at least one good came out of Canada, which Cobbett described as 'the offal' compared with the USA which was the 'sir-loins'. That was in 1785. Back in England, they were married in 1792. She stuck the life with him until 1827, when she attempted suicide. Cobbett's relations with her never really recovered and, as he grew more paranoid in old age, they were barely on speaking terms. Tragically, on his death bed, she had to wait until he had lost consciousness before she was allowed into the room.
Modesty was never a part of Cobbett's nature. Too true! You were right if you agreed with him; simply wrong if you disagreed. His life is littered with argument, invective, fallings-out with former allies, and rarely with magnanimity. He hated William Pitt, George Canning, and Viscount Castlereagh; despised Sir Francis Burdett (whom he saw as a turn coat); alternated between praise and scorn for Thomas Paine (he brought his body/bones back to England for reburial!); but was a cheer leader for the 'wronged' Queen Caroline. He had to escape abroad to the United States on two occasions; he was imprisoned in Newgate from 1810 to 1812 (Anne was pregnant again and debts were mounting, but she stood by him).
He was born a century too early, as few in power and authority shared his views. He increasingly saw it as his purpose on earth to be the champion for the poor - rather like Gladstone, he moved from being a reactionary to a radical, although the former never moved to the extremes that Cobbett did. Cobbett's great weapon was his ability to convey his views in print - his Rural Rides may have been his best work (the one which is probably his most known today), but from his first appearance in print - as Peter Porcupine in the United States, a stream of writing - newspapers ( the Register, Cobbett's Evening Post etc.), tracts, manuals, travel books and letters kept him at the forefront of political and social affairs. He ranted against Rotten Boroughs (Old Sarum was the accursed hill) and the Church of England and its clergy, particularly the hierarchy, homing on on the iniquity of tithe gathering. He loathed Methodists - who preached servility on earth, with the promise of rewards in heaven. He was apoplectic over Peterloo 'massacre'
One of Burton's chapters is entitled The Angry Man - it could well sum up Cobbett's entire life! He had much to be angry about and did his best to ensure his readers knew about real poverty not just the abstract idea. He crossed literary swords with Rev. Thomas Malthus - poverty was not the end result of a natural law. It was due to particular actions taken by specific men, and these actions could be changed...he dreamed of his perfect land: he fought all his life for justice for the poor.
Another biography, which I have, by Daniel Green - which has as its subtitle The Noblest Agitator - puts on the back flap of its dust wrapper: He was moralistic, dogmatic, pugnacious, prejudiced, scurrilous, and deeply compassionate, and as much of a humbug as any other successful agitator, for all his belief in his own absolute rectitude. Spot on!
Hodder and Stoughton first edition - 1983
I saw great Cobbett riding
The Horseman of the shires;
And his face was red with judgement
And the light of Luddite fires.
G.K. Chesterton: The Old Song
*It has gone off to my favourite, and extremely skilful, bookbinder. I look forward to reading it in a pristine state when it returns.
No comments:
Post a Comment