COBBETT. 



393 



late regiment, and obtained a trial by court-martial; 

 but on the day of trial no accuser appeared : every 

 inquiry was set on foot for Cobbett, but he was 

 missing. Such an investigation as could be made 

 without the presence of an accuser was made ; and 

 the court judged, " that the said several charges 

 against these officers respectively are and every 

 part thereof is totally unfounded." Whatever 

 might have been Mr Cobbett 's motives for so ex- 

 traordinary a proceeding, certain it is that in the 

 month of March he arrived in France. In his au- 

 tobiography he says, " I went to France in March, 

 1792, and continued there till the beginning of 

 September following, the six happiest months of 

 my life. I met every where with civility, and 

 even hospitality, in a degree that I had never been 

 accustomed to. I did intend to stay in France till 

 the spring of 1793, as well to perfect myself in the 

 language, as to pass the winter at Paris. I had 

 actually hired a coach to go thither, and was even 

 on the way, when I heard at Abbeville that the 

 king was dethroned, and his guards murdered. 

 This intelligence made me turn off towards 

 Havre-de-Grace, whence I embarked for America." 

 He landed at New York in October, 1792, and 

 commenced his career as an author by an attack 

 on Dr Priestley, who emigrated to America in 

 1794. The title of this attack was originally in- 

 tended to be, " The Tartuffe detected; or, Obser- 

 vations on the Emigration of a Martyr to the 

 Cause of Liberty," but on the remonstrance of the 

 publisher, the first four words were omitted. The 

 " Observations " formed the first of that celebrated 

 series of papers to which Cobbett affixed the 

 signature of Peter Porcupine; and which he after- 

 wards continued under different heads, to an ex- 

 tent which enabled him to gather them into twelve 

 volumes, in which form they were republished in 

 England, in May, 1801. The publications which 

 immediately followed the " Observations " were 

 entitled, " A Bone to gnaw for the Democrats :" 

 " A Kick for a Bite :" " A Bone to gnaw for the 

 Democrats ; second Part ;" " Plain English address- 

 ed to the people of the United States:" "The 

 New Year's Gift ;" and " The Prospect from the 

 Congress Gallery." Having quarrelled with his 

 publisher, Mr Cobbett, in the spring of the year 

 1796, took a hotose in Second Street, Philadelphia, 

 for the purpose of carrying on the bookselling busi- 

 ness himself. The bold anti-republican sentiments 

 which he had already avowed bad rendered the 

 name of Peter Porcupine sufficiently odious in 

 America ; and before he opened his shop, he him- 

 self states, " I put up in my windows, which were 

 very large, all the portraits that I had in my pos- 

 session of kings, queens, princes, and nobles. I 

 had all the English ministry; several of the bishops 

 and judges; the most famous admirals; and, in 

 short, every picture that I thought likely to excite 

 rage in the enemies of Great Britain." Here he 

 continued writing boldly and virulently. His 

 works were all attacks, and most of them were 

 personalities; but their strong bias was always 

 against democracy, and in favour of moral and poli- 

 tical order. He now changed and divided according 

 to whim the subject of the Porcupine papers, al- 

 though he still retained the signature of Peter 

 Porcupine, as his nom de guerre. The second series 

 of pamphlets which he penned under this sobri- 

 quet he published weekly, with the title of the 

 " Political Censor." He then dropped that, and 

 brought out a daily paper, called " Porcupine's 



Gazette." The sale of " Porcupine's Gazette " 

 was very considerable : at one time the number of 

 subscribers amounted to between two and three 

 thousand. Owing to an article which appeared in 

 it relative to the king of Spain and his ambassador, 

 a prosecution was commenced against Cobbett 

 for a libel, in the supreme court of Pennsylvania. 

 In 1797, he was again charged with libel, on which 

 occasion he gave surety, himself and two others, in 

 the sum of 4000 dollars, to keep the peace, and be 

 of good behaviour. Having shortly after forfeited 

 his recognisances, a civil process was issued for the 

 recovery of the 4000 dollars, but the execution was 

 suspended. A more overwhelming blow remained, 

 and one which, in its ultimate effects, drove 

 Cobbett from America. Dr Rush, a physician of 

 Philadelphia, brought an action against him for 

 slander. Finding that he had made Philadelphia 

 too hot to hold him, Cobbett removed to New 

 York. He was found guilty : damages, 5000 dol- 

 lars. Two days after the trial he was arrested at 

 New York for that sum ; the whole amount of 

 which was, however, paid by a subscription raised 

 among English gentlemen. The " Rushlight " was 

 the last work from Mr Cobbett's pen which ap- 

 peared in America. On the 1st of June, 1800, he 

 sailed from New York for England. 



Mr Cobbett's writings had attracted the favour- 

 able notice of the Anti-jacobins in England, with 

 some of whom he had been in correspondence ; and 

 on his arrival in England he started the " Porcu- 

 pine," a daily paper, in which he warmly supported 

 Mr Pitt. It had very indifferent success, however ; 

 chiefly, it is said, from mismanagement. Nor was 

 Cobbett more successful in the bookselling busi- 

 ness, which he also attempted in Pall Mall, under 

 the^sign of " The Bible and Crown." On the dis- 

 continuance of the Porcupine he commenced his 

 " Weekly Register ;" which for upwards of thirty 

 years was the vehicle of his opinions and feelings. 

 In the course of its long progress, the character of 

 the work underwent great changes, as did its plan 

 and arrangement. It originally comprised a report 

 of the parliamentary debates ; but that was dropped 

 at the end of the fourth volume. One main ob- 

 ject of the work was to collect all public papers, 

 and other official documents, to whatever nation 

 relating. This for some time was carefully ad- 

 hered to ; but latterly state-papers formed a very 

 subordinate part of the Register. From the first, 

 it was the power of the editor's pen which imparted 

 to the Register its principal value, and gained for 

 it its great popularity. 



Cobbett commenced his career as a public writer 

 in England under very favourable circumstances. 

 He was an Ultra-tory, was powerfully patronised 

 by the ministry, and enjoyed the confidence of some 

 of the most eminent men of the day. Mr Wind- 

 ham declared in his place in the House of Com- 

 mons that a statue of gold ought to be erected to 

 him. His letters on the subject of the treaty of 

 Amiens produced a great sensation both here and 

 on the Continent. It has been said (we know not 

 with what truth), that Mr Pitt refused to meet 

 Mr Cobbett at Mr Windham's table, and that the 

 resentment which he felt at that circumstance 

 was the cause of the great change -.vhich subse- 

 quently took place in Mr Cobbett's political views. 

 However that may be, it is certain that some arti- 

 cles which appeared in the Register during the 

 year 1803 drew upon the editor the unwished-for 

 attention of the Attorney-General. The alleged 



