[13] Vide page 65.
[14] Brougham was Cleary’s counsel. Cobbett very ably defended himself, and produced one of his best jokes on this occasion. Referring to the plaintiff’s diminished prospects at the bar, alleged to be in consequence of these events, he added, “It was held to be a crime, even by poachers, to destroy young birds; and how criminal, then, must he (the defendant) be, if he really had crushed a lawyer in the egg!”
[15] Cobbett’s action with reference to Queen Caroline is another of those matters which caused unmitigable hatred on the part of the “first gent” and his ministers. He had contributed, during the year 1811, to the republication of the notorious “Book,” the entire impression of which was supposed, till then, to have been destroyed. On the Queen’s return to England, in 1820, the Reformers took up her cause with great zeal, under some impression that their own was identified therewith. Whilst Brougham, and Denman, and the leading Whigs patronized her in public; Dr. Parr, Alderman Wood, and Mr. Cobbett were at her elbow behind the scenes. The celebrated letter from the Queen to the King (which was returned unopened, but read with eager delight by all the nation) was from Cobbett’s pen.
The whole story is graphically told by Cobbett, in the “History of the Regency and Reign of George IV.,” and his cotemporary articles will be found in the Registers of 1820.
[16] Among the anti-Cobbett literature of this period which has not utterly perished, may be named,—
“The Political Death of Mr. William Cobbett” (Edinburgh, 1820), a short collection of slanders, intermingled with just sufficient truth to float it.
“The Book of Wonders” (London, 1821), an occasional publication. The second number was a verbatim report of the trial in Wright v. Cobbett, illustrated with notes.
“Cobbett’s Gridiron: written to warn Farmers of their Danger, and to put Landowners, Mortgagees, Lenders, Borrowers, the Labouring, and indeed all Classes of the Community on their Guard” (London, 1822).
“The True Patriot,” No. 1, May 15, 1824,—should have been entitled “The Truthful Hypocrite.”
“Cobbett’s Reflections on Religion,” and “Cobbett’s Reflections on Politics” (Sunderland, circa 1820-1), were “loyal” selections from his early writings.