William Cobbett, the Press and Rural England: Radicalism and the Fourth Estate, 1792–1835

264 Pages·2014·4.52 MB·English

by  James Grande (auth.)

Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture
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James Grande
WILLIAM COBBETT, THE PRESS AND RURAL ENGLAND
Radicalism and the Fourth Estate, 1792–1835
F. Elizabeth Gray (editor)
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‘Making a Name for Herself’
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William Cobbett, the Press
and Rural England
Radicalism and the Fourth Estate,
1792–1835
James Grande
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, King’s College London, UK
© James Grande 2014
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-38007-4
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ISBN-978-1-349-47910-8 ISBN 978-1-137-38008-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137380081
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grande, James, 1984–
William Cobbett, the press and rural England : radicalism and the fourth estate, 1792–
1835 / James Grande, British Academy postdoctoral fellow, King’s College London, UK.
pages cm — (Palgrave studies in nineteenth-century writing and culture)
Summary: “William Cobbett, the Press and Rural England offers a thorough re-appraisal of
the work of William Cobbett (1763–1835), examining his pioneering journalism,
identifi cation with rural England and engagement with contemporary debates. It offers a
new interpretation of Cobbett as a Burkean radical, whose work cuts across the ‘revolution
controversy’ of the 1790s and combines Tom Paine’s common sense and transatlantic
radicalism with Edmund Burke’s emphasis on tradition, patriotism and the domestic
affections. To Hazlitt, Cobbett came to represent ‘a kind of fourth estate in the politics of
the country’, becoming the virtual embodiment of both rural England and the campaign for
parliamentary reform. This study draws on Cobbett’s published writings and unpublished
correspondence to show how he achieved this status. Individual chapters focus on his
writings as Peter Porcupine, publication of parliamentary debates, imprisonment in Newgat!
e, exile on Long Island, role in the Queen Caroline affair, Rural Rides, his prosecution
after the Captain Swing riots and his wide-ranging legacies”— Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-349-47910-8
1. Cobbett, William, 1763–1835. 2. Great Britain—Politics and govern-
ment—1789–1820. 3. Politicians—Great Britain—Biography. 4. Journalists—Great
Britain—Biography. 5. English newspapers—History—18th century. 6. English
newspapers—History—19th century. 7. England—Social life and customs—18th
century. 8. England—Social life and customs—19th century.—I. Title.
DA522.C5G725 2014
942.07’3092—dc23
[B] 2014019306
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
For my family
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Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgements xi
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: Digging up the 1790s 1
1 From the Soldier’s Friend to Peter Porcupine 18
The Soldier’s Friend and the Revolution debate 19
Peter Porcupine in Philadelphia 26
2 William Windham and the Hampshire Hog 38
Burke’s ghost 39
The Botley farmer 51
3 Prison, Paper Money and Cobbett’s ‘Two-Penny Trash’ 60
The history of the debt 61
Between Burke and Paine 70
Newgate farming 80
4 Long Island Pastoral 92
From Adam to Crusoe 93
Grammar and emigration 99
Bones and seeds 110
5 Cobbett and Queen Caroline 114
Writing to the Queen 115
The Queen’s letter to the King 124
Addresses to the Queen 135
After the trial 141
6 Rural Rides and the 1820s 148
Writing on the road 150
Landscape, politics, aesthetics 156
Roadside meetings and Reformation history 162
7 ‘Rural War’ and the July Revolution 168
Letters from Paris 169
Swing letters 178
Reprisals 184
vii
viii Contents
Postscript: Cobbett’s Legacies 198
Notes 204
Bibliography 230
Index 244
List of Figures
Cover Trans-Atlantic Luxury, engraving by Isaac Robert
Cruikshank, from The Book of Wonders (London, 1821);
reproduced by permission of Nuffield College, Oxford
1.1 View from Portsdown Hill, aquatint engraving by William
Daniell, for A Voyage Round Great Britain (London,
1814–25); © Trustees of the British Museum 35
1.2 The Birth Place of William Cobbett, Farnham, Surrey,
drawn and engraved for Dugdale’s England and Wales
Delineated (c.1840) 36
2.1 Political-dreamings!-visions of peace!-perspective horrors!;
James Gillray (1801); © Trustees of the British Museum 44
2.2 Site of Botley House (since demolished), on the River
Hamble, Botley; author’s photograph 53
2.3 The Loyal Address!-or-the Procession of the Hampshire Hogs
from Botley to St. James’s, James Gillray (1808); © Trustees of
the British Museum 57
3.1 William Cobbett, mezzotint by William Ward, after the
portrait by John Raphael Smith (1812); © Trustees of the
British Museum 63
3.2 Midas, Transmuting all into Gold Paper; James Gillray (1797);
© Trustees of the British Museum 71
3.3 The Blessings of Paper Money; George Cruikshank (1811);
© Trustees of the British Museum 72
3.4 Plan of Hill Farm, Botley; Nuffield, XXIX/63/1; reproduced
with permission 82
3.5 Sketch of a gate; Nuffield, XXX/26/9; reproduced with
permission 83
3.6 Drawing of rural sports by William Cobbett jr; Nuffield,
XXX/29/1; reproduced with permission 88
3.7 Cobbett’s gridiron on the masthead of the Political Register;
reproduced by permission of Nuffield College 90
ix