Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1880-01-22
WILLIAM COBBETT.

\
press, and by far the ablest; and his
stormy career in Philadelphia casts a
side-light upon the politics of the day
and the history of the time. But much
broader and deeper interest is attached
to Cobbett in another way. He was the
abstract and brief chronicle" of the vi
olent controversies engendered by the
French Revolution, of the forces which
that mighty convulsion let loose, and of
the consequent struggles and changes
produced in England. Cobbett was es-
sentially and in every way a typical
and representative man. He was the
type Of the mass of EngliShmen, the ex-
ponent of great social and political
conflict, and the representative of the
passions. hopes, and inspirations which
agitated the English people at the be-
ginning of the nineteenth century.
Cobbett's grandfather was a day-la-
borer, and his father small farmer;
but, although his immediate ancestry
was hnmble, he could boast that he was
the pure-blooded descendant of a mighty
line. He belonged to the great family
of the common people of England, and
was thorough. Saxon in every nerve
and fibre.
In every way he was typical, physi-
cally and mentally. The round, rosy.
rasher heavy face, the fiaxen hair, the
powerful and thickset frame, the gener-
al air of hearty animal vigor,-all be-
speak his nationality; and mind and
character corresponded to the body
which enclosed them. In every incident
of Cobbett's life, the sturdy, stubborn
persistence, the love of home and indie
pendence. the delight in fighting for
fghting's sake, and the utter ineapacity
to recognize defeat,-all of which mark
the AnglO-Saxon,-co out with Won
derful clearness, and form a combina-
tion of qualities for which one may look
in vain among other nations. Such a
character has, of course, grave defects.
Its possessors are apt to be narrow,slow
of perception, brutal at times, and nei
ther adaptable nor adroit. But it is pre-
eminently character of force, fitted for
conquest, government, and freedom; and
its results can be estimated by the place
which the English speech and the En-
| glsh race hold to-day in the world, and
by the magnitude of the States they,
have erected, and the wealth and power
they control.
From France, after short sojourn,
he emigrated to the United State, and in
the year 1902 established himself at Will
mington, and soon after at Philadelphia,
as teacher of English. The demand
for such instruction and the character
of his pupils show the condition of the
time. They were French emigres, and
CObbett found himself in the midst of
the agitation which the events in Paris
had started in the United States. For
some time he quietly attended to his
work of teaching and translating, and
wrote an English grammar for the use
of Frenchmen, which, for practical pur-
poses, has seldom been surpassed. But,
as the combat thickened, the innate love
of fighting. and the strong, conservative,
English hatred of the atrocities in Par
is asserted themselves, and Cobbett
rushed into the fray.
His peculiar fitness for rough conflict
was obvious, and his career as popu-
lar controversialist began. Pamphlet
followed pamphlet; then came his re-
ports of the doings of Congress, and. IL
nally, "Porcupine's Gazette" Thus Cob
bett was fairly embarked upon the
stormy sea of newspaper controversy.
The field had been occupied first by the
aurora" which under the guidance of
Bache and Duane had for some time a
monopoly of partisan attacks, and much
the advantage of the defenders of the
Government, so far as the power of the
press was concerned. All this was
changed by the appearance of CObbett.
The question of revolution and anti
| revolution principles had gradually re-
solved itself into the more concrete form
of England and France. The strict neu-
trality of the Government had led to vi
olent abuse of all the members of the
administration, including Washington,
as partisans of the hated mother coun-
try. A bold man was needed to combat
the popular prejudices, but Cobbett was
fully equal to the emergency. He not
only supported the administration
measures, the neutrality, and the Jay
treaty, but he even dared to defend En-
gland as against France. The rage of
the opposition, thus confronted, knew
no bounds. Mobs and libel suits were
among the rewards of the hardy En-
glishman; but he also gained the sup
port and countenance of powerful and
energetic party among the ultra-Fe eder-
alists, to whom he not only rendered ef-
ficient aid, but whose cause, it must be
admitted, he ultimately injured by his
extreme opiOnions. :
| Cobbett turned his back on America
with heart full of bitterness, and with
deep curses upon all Republics, ancient
and modern. But his reception in En-
gland, while it confirmed all these preju-
dices, did much to allay the smart of the
losses to which he had been subjected in
the United States. He found himself
welcomed by Mr.. Pitt and by all the
leaders of the Tory aristocracy. His
services in alternating the United States
from France, and in sustaining the En-
glish cause, received prompt and hearty
recognition. He enlisted at once under