“THE OUTCRY AGAINST ME IS LOUDER THAN EVER.”
The little estate, which was being formed on the banks of the Hamble,
was now beginning to wear a face of its own, in the spring of 1808.
The consolidation of two or three small farms, and the replanting of
a large portion of the ground, with oak, thorn, ash, acacia, &c., was
the outline of a plan, which now showed some promise of a return. Mr.
Cobbett’s favourite notion had been, that a fair provision for his
family might be thus made. And now, after three full seasons, the new
plantations had entirely fulfilled the expectation.[1] They were
flourishing and healthy, and a large supply of material for the London
stick-makers appears as part of this year’s cropping. In May, there is
another large parcel of land added, containing sixty-seven acres of
wood, besides arable land and water-meadow.
All this makes the need of any visit to London still more irksome; and
Mr. Wright has to do the honours for his leader. There is talk of a
grand demonstration at Westminster, to celebrate the anniversary of
Burdett’s election; but Mr. Cobbett doesn’t care to be dragged away
from his beloved fields into “the cursed smoke,” as he calls it:--
“… Go to the committee by all means. Let us suffer no little
slights to interfere with our public duty. That is the way with
those only who are actuated by selfish motives. I shall be in
town on Thursday night next, or on Saturday night.… If I find
all to be good men and true, we will make such a stir as has
not for sometime been made. All the gentlemen whom I meet with,
are loud in Sir Francis Burdett’s praise. The motion about the
cashiering of offices has gained him thousands of valuable
friends. So bent was I upon calling for a purgation of that
d---- House, that I was resolved to petition alone, if any one
would have presented my petition. The nation is heart-sick of
it. 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,[2] the Bristol man.
Beware of him. He rides about the country with a * * the wife
of another man, having deserted his own. A sad fellow! Nothing
to do with him.
“P.S.--I will write to Sir J. Astley. I am very sorry for his
misfortune indeed. I want very much to see some man who has
planted upon a large scale. Cutting upon a large scale is the
order of the day here.”
* * * * *
“… Now, as to the dinner, it is dreadfully distressing for
me to go; for, the season being so backward, has thrown the
oak-cutting into this week and the two succeeding ones, and
you will easily guess how necessary my personal attendance is,
while it lasts. Yet I will go, if alive and well; but I must go
up on the Sunday, and come back on the Tuesday, for I cannot
be longer absent. I have many reasons for going as well as for
staying; but the former prevail.
“I have not sold my second lot of timber that I had marked
while I was in London. When I come to see it again, and to
consider that the 300 that would have sold for a thousand
pounds were gaining in growth above 150_l._ a year, I could
not bring myself to commit such flagrant murder of property.
The new purchase has upon it about 6000 trees, that now cost
me from a shilling to two-and-sixpence apiece, and that in
twenty years’ time will be worth 3_l._ apiece, at the very
least. This, I think, is the best way of insuring a fortune for
children.”
“Only the day before yesterday, I was bent upon going to town
for the 23rd, and had written to Mr. H---- of Fontington, to
meet me there about the farm. But now I find that it cannot
be, without an inconvenience and risk which, I am sure, no
friend would wish me to incur, especially as my journey would
produce little more than my own gratification at witnessing the
assemblage of so many public-spirited men. You know very well
that this is my harvest, and that this year I have a tenfold
harvest. I allude to the oak-tree cutting, which must be done
while the sap is in the flood of its spring, or not at all;
and the bark, you will observe, is of the little thinners that
I am cutting upon my own account, worth three times as much
as the timber. In the average of years, this sap season lasts
a good month; but the very extraordinary backwardness of this
spring, and the very rare hot weather that has come on after
it, has made the season last only three weeks, a fortnight of
which has already passed. Owing to this, I, who waited till the
several companies of fellers had finished the great timber, am
obliged to fall to work on Saturday, instead of waiting till
next Tuesday. I am compelled to set sixty men on at once, and
as mine is a work of thinning, it will require my constant
attendance from the time the men begin till they leave off.
I must be with them to mark the trees; to see the effect of
taking out some, before we take out others; and, in short,
the health and growth, as well as the future beauty, of 100
acres of the finest woods in England depend upon my personal
attendance between Saturday and Wednesday next. Nothing ever
was more pointedly perverse; but I trust that all those who
wished me to attend the dinner will be convinced that I ought
not to leave home at this time.
“I am of opinion, too (and I should like to hear what the Major
says of the matter), that I am of most weight as a _spectator_
and _comment-maker_. This way my word and opinion pass for a
good deal; but I am not clear that whatever good I could do as
an _agitator_, would not be more than counterbalanced by the
loss of weight in the other character. I know it is the opinion
of Sir Francis, that to put me in parliament would be to lessen
my weight; and, really, I think that the same reasoning will
apply to the other case. In fact, we cannot _act_ and _write_
too, with so much advantage. The way in which I am most able to
aid the cause of the country is to sit quietly here, and give
my sincere and unbiased opinions upon all that passes which
appears worthy of particular notice.
“In the copy last sent you, there is the phrase ‘_old_ G.
Rose.’ Upon second thoughts, it may as well be left out. It is,
perhaps, right to cease to use that, and the like phrases. One
puts them down under the influence of indignant feelings, but
they probably do more harm than good.”
Although he does not go up to the festival at the “Crown and Anchor,”
Mr. Cobbett does justice to the opportunity as a “comment-maker.” In
supporting Burdett’s views, as expressed at the meeting, he remarks:--
“I am persuaded that if the nation were polled, leaving out
those who have an interest in corruption, there would appear
a majority of a thousand to one in favour of the reform,
which he recommends, and which, in their better days, had
been recommended by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Wilberforce.… A minister
may desire to do that which is for the good of the country;
he may have an anxious desire to promote its happiness (and,
his errors aside, I do think that Mr. Perceval is such a
man); but, before he can stir an inch, he has the feelings
and interests of the borough-mongers to consult; he has party
to counteract, and faction to mollify. How much more at his
ease must such a man feel: what a load would be removed from
his mind, if he could step into a House of Commons freely
chosen, and having no object in view but that of agreeing to
what they thought good, and opposing what they thought bad! A
House of Commons in which there would be no strife for office
or emolument, and in which, nine times out of ten, truth would
prevail.”
There is an excursion to Cornwall, in August, on occasion of the
trial of Sir Christopher Hawkins and others, at Penrhyn, for corrupt
practices at a past election. The electors of Westminster are forthwith
treated to a new lecture, upon the prevalence of the “vile traffic”
in seats; and Mr. Wright is favoured with an account of the aspect of
things and people as they appear from behind the scenes. One remark is
interesting: “Notwithstanding all I have said about the lawyers lately,
the whole of them have treated me with distinguished civility.”
* * * * *
The following, dated 17th September, 1808, is worth preserving, as
upon a subject concerning which Mr. Cobbett had some real practical
knowledge:--
“The essay upon planting, which you sent me some time ago, is
very well done, and is particularly interesting to me. It
establishes, from experience, what I had before made up my mind
to, in theory. Certainly, there is no way in which the very
best lands are to be employed to so much ultimate advantage.
If your friend should be actually about planting himself, my
experiments, in a year or two, may be of great use to him. Of
two things, however, I can now speak with positive certainty;
viz., that to obtain quick produce, the trees planted should
be small; deciduous trees from the seed-bed, and firs not
above a foot or eighteen inches high. And, that all deciduous
trees, of whatever size, should be, after planting, cut down
to the ground. Last year (March, 1807), I planted ten planes,
about eight feet high. Some of them shot very well, others not,
their tops dying, and the new shoots breaking out some distance
from the branches. One of them, in the month of May, 1807, we
thought was dead; but my man, thinking that there was some life
in the root, cut it off within two inches of the ground.… This
tree is now twelve feet high, a beautiful straight stem, with
proper side-branches, while the highest of the others (with
heads too large for their bodies) is not more than ten feet
high. I have proved the same with all sorts of deciduous trees.
Those who want, quickly, fine plantations about their houses,
should plant and cut down to the ground; and of course those
should do it who plant for profit. If this were done, you would
not see so many acres of poor, sickly, dead-topped things,
called shrubberies, about new-built houses. A tree planted
large, and its head left on, is a continual eyesore, until it
be rooted up. I transplanted some American walnuts last March;
they were three feet high in the seed-bed. Some I cut down
before I planted them, the rest not; and the former are now as
high as the latter, with fine straight stems, while the others
are top-heavy, and must be cut down at last, in order to make
them grow freely.…
“The rascals in Portugal have made a pretty mess of it! To be
sure, one cannot say how they have been criminal; but to me
it appears that both our admiral and our general ought to be
hanged.…”
This last paragraph refers to the convention at Cintra, by which the
French army was permitted to retire from Portugal in British ships.
This advantage, granted to the ubiquitous enemy, caused a great popular
outcry in England. The Hampshire people had a grand demonstration at
Winchester, in November; in which occasion Mr. Cobbett took a prominent
part.
Another useful scheme is now in preparation. In his reading,
necessitated by the production of the “Parliamentary History,” Mr.
Cobbett had found the need of an accessible edition of the State
Trials; and he resolved to supply the want by reproducing them, with
additional matter, in the belief that other students of history would
find it of advantage. Mr. Wright entered warmly into the notion,
and procured the services of a gentleman to act as editor. This was
Thomas Bayly Howell, whose name has sometimes been associated with the
work.[3] But there seems to have early arisen some dissatisfaction
with him, and the engagement went very near to be cancelled. The
following has the first of several references to this matter:--
“Enclosed is a letter for you to read, and then send. I cannot
consent to a partnership. Upon reading my letter, you will
see what difficulties it must lead to. Only think of having
another person invested with a right, a legal right, to make us
account,--_us_, whose accounts the devil himself would never
unravel. I would not take such a weight upon my mind for all
the profits of all the books in the universe. No, no: you and
I were never made to have our accounts examined by anybody but
ourselves. Besides, you know what _all_ authors are. They are
all impatient for sale. But I need say no more. My letter will
adjust everything, I am certain.…
“… I thank you for the caricature. One would suppose that I
had given the hint myself, and, indeed, I am afraid the town
will say so. But, d---- the town! I care not what it says or
thinks of me.… We shall have, I think, a blazing meeting at
Winchester, and I have written to Finnerty to come down. Mind
Deverell. Never say anything to him that you do not wish the
world to know. He is a trading politician,--a mere party agent.
I have several letters from very respectable men in the county
intimating their wish to join me; particularly from Mr. Lowth
(a son of Bishop Lowth), a man of great property, and not less
respectability.…
“… William writes me a letter every week, copies a page of the
history of England every day, reads my part of the _Register_
every week, and is to get as far as the Rule of Three,
complete, by Christmas. He rode from school to Weyhill Fair,
and back, in a day; and he frequently rides to Winchester by
himself, puts his horse up at the inn, and, when he has done
his business, goes off home again. He is not yet ten years
old. What a base thing it would be to put such a boy to have
outlandish words flogged into him by an old dotard in a big
white wig! Why, if you were to put one of these * * * upon a
horse, he would fall off into the dirt! I will, if I live,
teach William to shave himself, and that will be much more
useful to him than Latin and Greek. I think of sending Nancy
for a year to the nuns at Winchester, where they teach people
to talk French and make puddings.”
“… We have had a good meeting, and Mr. Finnerty[4] will be
with you with the account of it, some time early to-morrow. I
missed by a mere hair carrying a petition, upon independent
grounds, against both parties … the Whigs, with their lords and
baronets, had been a week preparing their address; mine was
done in Finnerty’s room, while he was getting his breakfast;
and in I went to the hall without knowing any soul on my side
but Mr. Smith, Farmer Mears, about ten other yeomen who went to
dine with me, and Mr. Baker, who very boldly and well seconded
my motions.”
“… I have had letters from all parts of the country beseeching
me to persevere.…”
Concerning the forthcoming “State Trials:”--
“I must confess that I am less pleased with this thing than I
should have been, if it had remained solely in your hands. I
very much question whether Mr. H.’s taste is so good as your
own; and I am quite sure that we shall derive no comfort from
any connexion with an author.
“But it is too late to reflect; we will go on as well as we
can. Only mind to be always upon your guard against letting
him assume anything like a dictatorial tone. Keep up your
own consequence; for I know that your modest merit is not
very well calculated to resist the encroachments of conceited
importance.… Be sure to tell him none of our political secrets.
Suffer no inquiries into our affairs. Let him see no copy of
mine, or my correspondents. Tell him of none of our intentions
about anything. I know how easy it is for any one to worm
himself into your unsuspecting breast; and, therefore, I give
these cautions. I think I perceive, in his letters, a rather
consequential air. But I am resolved to have no partner, nor
any one to give me advice, except yourself. We have gone on so
happily, and so advantageously, by ourselves, that I am really
in a state of alarm at the prospect of admitting anything like
an associate. It must not be.…”
A vacancy in the representation of Hampshire brings another county
assemblage at Winchester; on which occasion Mr. Cobbett requires each
candidate to take a pledge, that, if elected, he would never accept
the public money as long as he lived; and would, moreover, use every
endeavour to obtain redress of the public grievances, especially that
trying one of having their money “voted away by those, amongst whom
there are many who receive part of that money.”
“… The meeting at Winchester was very large, and consisted of
almost the whole of the people of considerable property. Rose
and his son were deterred from appearing at the castle. The
speech was infinitely better than the _report_. I made use
of no notes, except as far as related to the sums. Not the
smallest hesitation from beginning to end; and, owing to the
strength of my voice and the clearness of my articulation,
every word I said was heard by the man the most distant from
me. The effect was very great. I spoke three-quarters of an
hour with very little interruption indeed, notwithstanding I
spoke to a party assembly, hostile to me, as far as party could
influence men. I wish you could have seen how _little_ the
_great_ looked after the speech had been made! They went up to
the castle swaggering, and in crowds; they came sneaking back
in ones and twos. Many of them had the meanness to compliment
me upon my speech. I was invited to dinner by several; but I
went to my inn and dined with Mr. Baker, another neighbouring
clergyman, and Dr. Mitford, and then set off home.
“No, be in no alarm about my hazarding my reputation and
happiness by standing as a candidate for this county, or
for any other place. That I never will be. If any body of
electors, anywhere, have a mind to choose me, without giving
me any trouble, I will serve; but at this time, I have not the
least desire for that; on my own account, I should wish not;
but I am, in such a case, not to consider myself only. I feel
that I should have power to serve with great effect; and I
shall never, I hope, be backward to make any useful sacrifice.
But I never will ask anybody to elect me.
“The boys have met me at Winchester sometimes; and it is no
bad school for them. While I was speaking, I saw in the crowd
several persons from Farnham, whom I had never seen before,
since I was their playmate. I saw many to whom I used, when
a boy, to make a very low bow. Lord Temple came and shook
hands, even after the speech. And I must say that I think
Mr. Herbert[5] a very modest young man. In one part of my
speech, an attorney of the Rose party, who stood just under
the window, made an attempt to excite a clamour; but I fixed
my eye upon him, and, pointing my hand downright, and making a
sort of chastising motion, said, ‘Peace, babbling slave!’ which
produced such terror amongst others, that I met with no more
interruption.…”
That Mr. Cobbett was unwilling to join in a cry against a public
character, without reason or justice, was often manifest. His entire
freedom from party bias, as such, accounts for the frequent distrust
which he inspired, at the same time that it helped to keep away from
him the temptation to hunt a man down merely because he was an
opponent. For example, he did not readily give ear to the charge made
against the Duke of York on the part of Major Hogan, although he was,
at the very time, raising the question of the Duke’s exorbitant income.
Mr. Cobbett could be just, and loyal too. This story of Hogan’s might
suit the tribe of malignant, unreasoning scribblers; but he has no idea
of weakening his own writings by an appeal to what looks uncommonly
like an invention. The _Register_ holds out several warnings to the
Major; and Cobbett tells Mr. Wright more plainly that he believes
“Major Hogan has certainly told a d---- lie, and ought to be exposed.…
As for Hague,[6] he really seems to have courted a jail.”
He presently adds:--
“They are fools, however, for touching him. But thus they will
go on to the end of the chapter. _Force_, _force_, that is all
their reliance. How much better to do as I do--let slander work
itself dead!
“… Bagshaw’s way is to be very quiet: when any one mentions
the matter to him, to say that he did as others do, sold the
book because it was called for. This prosecution is the very
foolishest thing that the Duke of York ever was advised to
do. Had he not begun this, Hogan would have gone nearly to
whitewash him.… Poor Finnerty! what the devil did he suffer
himself to be so provoked for? I hope he will not incur a
prosecution for Hogan.…
“As to Howell, I always was afraid of him. I know that he is
what the French call ‘_un homme à grandes pretensions_;’ as,
indeed, all your authors are.… They think that every book that
is printed is so much money coined. They take the price, the
full retail price, of a volume, say a guinea-and-a-half, then
they take the number of copies, and hence they reckon that the
bookseller has so many guineas and halves in his drawer, the
moment the book is printed. You cannot beat this out of their
brains. They will have it so. Then they are full of their
college conceit, which is so intolerable.… With such people,
a partnership would be, for you and me, a most uncomfortable
thing. I greatly approve of the scheme of a ‘fag;’ and as to
expense, four guineas a week would be cheap. But he must work
and be obedient.… I would sooner give an additional guinea
a week on the score of _obedience_, than on the score of
_talent_: though there must be considerable talent too. If you
can get rid of H., I shall be very happy. I know what your
college gentlemen are. They always have, and will have, the
insolence to think themselves our betters; and our superior
talents, and industry, and power, and weight, only excite their
envy. I am heartily sorry we ever had anything to do with H.
All this may blow off; but I shall never have confidence in
him.…
“I will write to the major,[7] and to Holt White, upon the
subject of the Trials. Two better men there are not in all
England. The major is the very best writer that I know, though
he has scarcely a drop of blood in his veins. Oh, that my mind,
at his age, may be like his!
“Be sure to send off _Register_ to Lord Cochrane, up to this
time. He is not come home. And no one can tell when he will.
Pray do not neglect this a day. I should like him to see that I
did justice to him in this country. He, after all, is the best
member for Westminster.
“Nancy will copy the manuscript of which you spoke lately. She
copied the whole of the Winchester proceedings, with only three
errors.”
The dissatisfaction with Mr. Howell would appear to have arisen
partly from an extreme slackness in providing “copy;” and, with
this, a disposition to consider his own remuneration as of the first
importance. The difficulty, however, did blow over.
The following refers to a letter of Major Cartwright’s on the affairs
of Spain:--
“… Now, as to the major’s letter. Room I am ready to spare him
for four or five columns. But, if you have the smallest doubt
upon the libel subject, do not put it in. Mark well every
word relating to the Parliament. Ferdinand, mind, must not be
libelled; and _anything is a libel_. If you can, by leaving
out, or altering, or adding, or qualifying, make it quite safe,
put the letter in; but not else.…”
This one appeared in the _Register_, but with reference to a succeeding
letter:--
“… Upon looking at the major’s last letter, page 944, I am
induced now to tell you not to put in his letter, if there be
the smallest thing doubtful in it. It may suit him to accuse
the judges, and the Attorney-General: _me_ it does not. I
should be more afraid of that letter than of anything I ever
published in my life. They would never touch a hair of _his_
head. Therefore, mind!”
The fatal news of Corunna came, and routed up the nation once more, in
the course of January. Two of Mrs. Cobbett’s brothers were with the
forces there, and no tidings had come from them:--
“Mrs. Cobbett and all of us join in best thanks to you for
your kindness and anxiety, in which you are never wanting, and
which, at this horrible hour, are so peculiarly acceptable and
grateful.… Poor Palmer! I can easily conceive what he must
feel, having myself held a dying son in my arms. Mrs. Cobbett
and Ellen, both of whom love their brothers very dearly, are
almost bursting with grief and apprehension. Indeed, I feel
most sensibly myself. The whole nation will be in mourning.”
The two brothers, Tom and Frederick Reid, are safe, however. Little
Nancy writes thus to Mr. Wright:--
“DEAR SIR,--My papa being very busy, he has desired me to write
to you and thank you for the trouble you have respecting my
uncles, and to tell you he went yesterday afternoon in a great
hurry to Portsmouth, thinking they might be there, where he met
with Colonel Harding, commander of the artillery; who told him
that they were gone to Plymouth, and that they were both well
at Corunna when he came away, and that they were not in the
action, neither have they been much engaged in active service,
as some have. And, indeed, mama and papa feel very much
surprised and indignant at not having heard from them at all,
knowing that they have been at Corunna almost all the time,
and having had so many opportunities (which they must have
had) of writing either to papa or mama. Papa is so much vexed,
that he says now, if he had known they had been at Corunna all
this time, he would not have gone to Portsmouth after them as
he did. The colonel, he said, told him, if they came there,
he would send them over to Botley directly. While papa was
there, he found out some officers of the 10th dragoons: he went
directly, and sent in his name by a waiter, and begged to know
whether Major Palmer was there, or whether he was safe. Upon
hearing their major’s name, two or three came to him and told
him he was safe at Plymouth, which was good hearing. Mama will
be very much obliged to you if you will have the goodness to
send her down a box of the biscuits you have gotten several
times; they are to be got at the corner of Bond Street, in
Piccadilly. She is quite ashamed to trouble you; but a lady,
one of the Miss Boxalls, is coming here to stay some time next
week, and she never eats bread, always those biscuits; and
there are none to be got in Southampton. Mama and papa desire
to be very kindly remembered to you. Excuse haste. I remain,
&c.,
“ANNE COBBETT.”
The very interesting inquiry into the private affairs of the Duke
of York was perilous to editors and pamphleteers. Mr. Wright
sends word down to Botley of his increasing fears lest his chief
should be compromised; and not without reason. The exasperation of
ministerialists was at its height. Their writers brought forth wild
imputations against the opposition scribblers, and twisted and tortured
their language and their meaning. In vain, however; facts could not be
gainsaid, and upon facts alone they relied. The _Examiner_ which was
then young, got into trouble over Major Hogan; the _Morning Chronicle_
was in danger. But nothing could stop the ball which Colonel Wardle had
set rolling.
And, just as Mr. Cobbett had hesitated over Major Hogan, he is still
as cautious as ever concerning Wardle; and wants to know, first, his
correspondent’s opinion as to Wardle’s capability to bring forward
proof of his charges, before entering the lists himself. Yet, the game
being started, he laughs away fear; and, acknowledging the kindness
of Mr. Wright’s expressions of anxiety, he says he “must stand the
brunt. No flinching would either be honourable or politic.” He will
defy prosecution, rather than give up the fight, much as he “loves his
fields and woods.”
One singular incident of this period is the case of Miss Taylor; a
lady who had, unfortunately for herself, to give evidence of her
acquaintanceship with Mrs. Clarke. She, with her sister, had kept a
school, and the two were earning a respectable livelihood. There was
not the slightest ground for tainting her character; but, having to
admit, upon a very unnecessary and malicious cross-examination, that
she was not born in wedlock, the fathers and mothers of that moral,
that highly-toned age, could not brook the notion of their children
being educated by a ----, whatever name offended society chose to give
her. Her appearance in the inquiry was the prelude to immediate ruin,
for her pupils suddenly vanished; and, as the affair got into the
papers, it was felt by some of the new “patriots” that, to some extent,
she was a martyr to the cause. So they got up a subscription:[8] Mr.
Cobbett leading the way; and she was eventually provided for. They
should get husbands, he says in one of his letters, “in spite of the
_Morning Post_.” But with his characteristic pertinacity, he will have
the money invested in no treacherous “Scrip.” Lord Folkestone suggests
India Bonds as a mode of investment; but Cobbett’s answer is that not
one farthing of money, the disposal of which lies with him, shall ever
be laid out, for one hour, in any India or Government security.
“I am fixed as a rock never to have any hand in doing
anything that shall tend to keep the Funds and the Nabobs in
countenance. It would be a pretty thing indeed for me to
appeal to the compassion of the public, in order to raise the
means of supporting these infernal impostures. No, I will do no
such thing, and besides, I do not believe that the money would
be secure.”
* * * * *
“… From the article which appeared in the _Courier_ of
Saturday, it is beyond a doubt that one of two things must have
taken place; either a copy of the Register, or of proofs, must
have been gotten out of Mr. Hansard’s office; or my ‘copy’ must
have been read and copied at the post-office, previously to its
going to you. This latter would not at all surprise me; and,
indeed, I believe it to have been so. But I wish you to speak
of it to Hansard, and ask him for answer, positively, whether,
to his knowledge or belief, my copy did prematurely get out of
the printing-office. Because, this is a thing to state. It is
another striking instance of the desperateness of our opponents.
“The news from the continent[9] is not quite so good as
we thought it. That rogue, Boney, will certainly put an
extinguisher upon another venerable order of things, and we
shall (Lord have mercy upon us!) have another gang of kings
and princes to keep. It is odd enough that we never get a
queen here. We may have the Queen of Naples anon, perhaps.
‘The Archduke Charles and George Rose’ is, I hear, a toast
at Southampton, which really does make me hesitate before I
decidedly pray for the archduke’s further ‘success,’ and before
I draw out my handkerchief again to weep for the capture of
Vienna. If George Rose wishes success to the Austrians, it
is, I think, a pretty good proof that their success does not
tend to _our_ good. The sheep must necessarily have wishes
in opposition to those of the wolf. I must confess that this
toasting of old Rose along with the archduke has tended to
make me somewhat more reconciled to the fate of the continent.
What is good for the wolf must be bad for the sheep; and _vice
versa_, as the learned say, what is good for George Rose must
be bad for us. No matter what it is: if it be good for George
Rose, it must be bad for us. Whatever makes the public-robbers
weep ought to make us laugh; and it does make me laugh. Every
blow that aims at their execrable power is a blow to be
applauded by us, and by the king too, who is as badly treated
as we are.
“I have a fine jackass, some pointers, and some beautiful
merino sheep, sent me from Spain; and they are safely arrived.
As I am very desirous of stinging the robbers, I wish it to be
said in some of the newspapers that Mr. Cobbett has received a
present ‘from Seville, of a jackass of the real royal blood,
two brace of Andalusian pointers, and some merino sheep; the
whole of which are said to be the most perfect of their kind of
any that have ever been seen in this country.’ I should like
very much to have this inserted in a paper or two, merely to
enrage the rascals.
“The ass and the pointers I must send to London, for they were
carried round by mistake. The sheep I have here, and most
beautiful little things they are. I intend to breed from them.”
The “rascals” were now at work over the Court-Martial. As related in
an early chapter of this history (vol. i. p. 63), a garbled account of
the affair was being circulated broadcast over the country. Thousands
of copies were sent into Hampshire; and bales of them were brought
down by people from London, in their carriages, and tossed out to the
passers-by.
For once in a while, then, Mr. Cobbett thinks it proper to notice the
current calumny. Although it is obvious that the object of the attack
is to discredit him, and thus endeavour to destroy the effect of his
weekly writings, the story can be told in a different way when it is
discovered that part of it has been suppressed; whilst the motive can,
at the same time, be exposed and expounded. Here are Mr. Perceval and
Lord Castlereagh conniving at the sale of seats in Parliament,[10]
and being exposed to the world: is it any wonder that they should
retaliate? Is it any wonder that they also find a story to tell?
But the _Weekly Political Register_ having devoted twenty columns to a
version of the story, which has truth and manliness in every sentence,
and which throws still more light upon the meanness of its opponents:
the thing drops out of sight and hearing! If anybody does bring it up
again, it is only the exulting accused himself, who has found one more
opportunity, at their own hands, of disconcerting his antagonists.
He is urged to pursue the matter; but he protests his unwillingness to
take up his time, and that of his readers, with personal matters. He
has only done it now because it gives him an opportunity of showing
up the “incomparable baseness” of Corruption; and the futility of her
resistance to the impending Reform: the blind and passionate course
which she is taking, in order to stifle inquiry.
One letter from Botley, referring to this matter, is worth quoting:--
“… As to the twenty-two letters, I have full copies of all
the principal ones, and memorandum copies of all the others.
But, is it not evident, internally evident, that letters were
suppressed? Does the thing begin with my charge? No, I cannot
take your advice in keeping the thing up. Those who like the
fun of seeing me on my defence, have either very little regard
for my reputation, or very little taste. It is useless to write
any more about it. What! do you really think I would condescend
to answer any one, who should call upon me to _produce_
letters, from which I make extracts, and which I say I have
before me? Why, don’t you see that even already the _Post_
calls my extract from my letter to Pitt a ‘fabrication’? What
nonsense is it, then, to talk of producing the letters! Would
not they be called fabrications too? Oh, no! there may be just
a sentence or two; but there must be no more _defences_, take
my word for that.… I will, at any time, show Finnerty, Power,
or any friend, the original letters from the Secretary-at-War
to me, and mine to him; and also my letter to Pitt, and all
the charges. But I cannot condescend to do this to the public;
indeed, it is impossible. They must believe me, or let it
alone.”
Again:--
“As to the public-robbers, one _must lose_ by a continuation of
the warfare with them. It is impossible to answer fellows who,
in their very signature, call ‘_Scoundrel_.’ Seriously to sit
down to answer such fellows would be to degrade oneself in an
obvious manner. That will never do. Besides, the thieves are
beaten.…”
Lose: indeed! the day had come, at last. On the very morrow of these
swaggering lines being penned, the _Political Register_ had committed
itself.
As, when the heated pursuer, sure of his game as far as will, and
equipment, are concerned, is brought to the ground by some mean and
unconsidered obstacle: so this eager one, at the very heels of his
adversaries, finds himself suddenly prostrate. And the now-exulting foe
stands over him; while cries of _Habet! Habet!_ sound upon his ears.
FOOTNOTES
[1] This enterprise attracted the notice of the Surveyor to the Board
of Agriculture:--“Mr. Cobbett has been most particularly fortunate in
raising, chiefly from seed, a vast nursery of almost all the different
sorts of forest trees known on the Atlantic side of the middle states
of North America. The vast variety of strong and flourishing plants
which his seed-bed of oaks exhibited in the course of the last summer
bids fair to render his success on this occasion of much importance
to our country,” &c., &c. _Vide_ Vancouver’s “Agricultural Survey of
Hampshire,” 1808.
[2] _I.e._ Henry Hunt, who had recently entered into public life, with
an address to the electors of Wilts. This note (dated 10th April) got
Mr. Cobbett into trouble many years after, when he had long forgotten
this his first impression of Hunt, and dreamed not of the possibility
of such old confidences ever seeing the light of day.
[3] Mr. Howell was a barrister, and a very fair lawyer, but had no
taste for practice at the bar. He pursued this task with the State
Trials until his death in 1817, after which date it was carried on to
completion by his son. It eventually reached thirty-four volumes in
royal 8vo. The enterprise passed into the hands of Hansard, about the
year 1810.
[4] Peter Finnerty, whose name occurs several times in these pages, was
an Irishman, and had been brought up as a printer. In consequence of
a press prosecution in Dublin, he came and settled in London, when he
became Parliamentary reporter on the _Morning Chronicle_, and a popular
character in the journalistic world. He died in 1816, aged fifty-six,
some time after the close of a term of imprisonment for “libel” in
Lincoln jail.
[5] The Hon. William Herbert, one of the candidates. He afterwards
“took the pledge,” as far as regarded pensions and sinecures, but would
not bind himself to decline the offer of _a place_.
[6] Author of another attack on the Duke.
[7] Cartwright.
[8] The inevitable pamphlet appeared--a very funny one in this case.
For the information of the curious, the title is, “Caution against
Future Subscriptions for Prostitutes and their Associates, with Free
Animadversions on several Political Gentlemen who have been Prominently
Active in Promoting Subscriptions for Miss Taylor; with Particulars of
the Duke of York and Mrs. Clarke” (London, 1809).
[9] The Austrians had just suffered two serious defeats.
[10] Mr. Madocks had brought forward distinct charges of corruption
against these two ministers, but the House negatived his motion for
inquiry. This case of “stifling” was one of the most bare-faced of even
that dark age, the debate going off on the dangers of Parliamentary
reform, and the “blessings we derive from the present order of things.”
One thing is certain, that not a soul in that House doubted Madocks’s
case. The “factious” minority numbered eighty-five, of whom Sir Samuel
Romilly was one. He thought it impolitic of the ministry, on their own
account, to try and screen themselves, and justly concluded that the
debate and decision would powerfully act upon the cause of Reform.
(_Vide_ his “Life,” ii. 116.)