And pyramids are pyramids in vales!”
And, whilst a good name is not to be thought lightly of, it is not every one’s esteem that can be considered man’s best and highest reward. The hollow, specious, moral judgments of mankind, when under the dominion of prejudice, are not the standards by which to judge the men of life and earnestness: the men whose convictions, and not whose personal interests, mark their path. And, in the case in point: the moral judgment of all the toad-eaters and the place-hunters of the day could hardly be a desirable standard, wherewith to gauge the character of a man whose faults lay just upon the surface; whose faults could, by no possible twist or distortion of idea, be shown to proceed from bad impulses.[16]
What “interests” Mr. Cobbett had, were now unmistakably identified with those of the labouring classes of England; and, at last, he had got a good hearing from those classes. The distinction of classes, wantonly and unnecessarily proclaimed for twenty years past, was now confirmed; and the ten years of George the Fourth’s reign mark the period of conflict which was partly the result of this forced distinction. The end of this conflict, and the ultimate triumph of the popular cause, is matter of history: the bloodless reformation of 1832 has saved the British Constitution, instead of destroying it. That triumph of principles was the work of neither Whig nor Tory. It came from the provoked and suffering people themselves. The greater the provocation, the deeper the suffering,—the more certain was to be the end: and from them, alone, it came. And, as more light is thrown, from time to time, upon these stirring days, the better can we see who were the real leaders and guiders in Reform; and who was the greatest of them all. For, until this Samson arose, the progress of the cause had been little better than a series of ridiculous evasions and desertions.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Niles’s Register, published at Baltimore, a weekly journal of extended influence, had begun by abusing Cobbett, but speedily found it was better worth while to reprint his writings concerning America. Some of the independent republications were,—
“Porcupine Revived; or, An Old Thing Made New. Being (1) An Argument against the Expediency of a War with England; (2) An Exposition of the Absurdity of sending Albert Gallatin to treat with the British. By William Cobbett, Esq.” (New York, 1813.) The editor is a Federalist, and thinks it surprising that Cobbett should have described so accurately seventeen years ago the present condition of the States.
“Letters on the Late War between the United States and Great Britain, &c., &c., by William Cobbett, Esq.” (New York, 1815). The preface is highly eulogistic, and forgives all Cobbett’s former wickedness.
“The Pride of Britannia Humbled; or, The Queen of the Ocean Unqueen’d by the American Cock-boats, &c., &c. Illustrated and demonstrated by four Letters to Lord Liverpool, by William Cobbett, Esq.” (Philadelphia, 1815). This editor is also very magnanimous.
It was a marked characteristic of the estimates formed by Cobbett’s cotemporaries that the party, or the set, which he for the time being appeared to support, readily overlooked his former opinions and so-called “inconsistencies.” This applies to London, as well as to Philadelphia. Never was a man so readily forgiven. Envy alone was his enduring enemy, as it always is to great abilities and to superior personal character.