Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 11.djvu/149

 the depót at Chatham he developed an extra-ordinary capacity for literary cultivation. All his leisure was devoted to acquiring English grammar and to the study of the best English classics. He soon obtained promotion, and joined the regiment in Nova Scotia, a promising non-commissioned officer. During eight years of service he uniformly commanded respect from his superior officers, and was employed by them in keeping accounts, registers, &c. At the end of 1791 his regiment returned to England, and Cobbett obtained his discharge with honourable notice. He married a soldier's daughter, and stayed in London during the spring of 1792, making some endeavour to bring certain officers to account for peculation, which, however, proved abortive. It was suggested by his enemies that he had made some corrupt compromise with the persons accused. His defence is given in the 'Political Register' for 14 June 1809 (Political Works, iii. 249-64). In support of the agitation then afloat for an increase of soldiers' pay, he wrote (or assisted to write) 'The Soldier's Friend.' His action in these cases endangered his personal liberty, and he went to St. Omer in France, and there applied himself to the study of the French language and literature. Thence he emigrated to Philadelphia in October 1792. Cobbett endeavoured to obtain an office under government, but soon settled down as a teacher of English to the French refugees. He presently published 'Le Tuteur Anglais' (1795). He also occupied himself in translating for the booksellers Martens's ' Law of Nations ' and other works. He was soon drawn into politics. ' Hearing my country attacked,' he says, ' I became her defender through thick and thin.' Challenged to do so on the occasion of Dr. Priestley's public reception in Philadelphia, he produced 'Observations on Priestley's Emigration.' The pamphlet enjoyed immense success, and was forthwith reprinted by the anti-jacobin party in England. This made Cobbett's career. He took the federal side in American politics. In January 1796 he began a monthly tract under the title of ' The Censor ; ' this was discontinued after eight numbers, and its place occupied by 'Porcupine's Gazette,' a daily newspaper, which ran from March 1797 till the end of 1799. Cobbett opened a bookstore in July 1796. He reprinted and published much of the violent loyalist literature then current, including Chalmers's scurrilous 'Life of Thomas Paine,' garnished with his own unreserved comments. He had now become a factor in American politics as a pamphleteer, and began to reap the consequences. He narrowly escaped conviction for libel in an action brought by the Spanish envoy. During the yellow fever of 1797 he so ridiculed the purging and bleeding adopted by Dr. Rush that he incurred another prosecution, which ended in a verdict against him for $5,000. After this affair was over Cobbett transferred his business to New York, and started a new federal monthly, 'The Rushlight.' But this change unsettled him, and he sailed for England in June 1800.

The fame which Cobbett had already acquired at home insured him a hearty reception from the government party on his arrival in London. Windham and others patronised him and assisted him to start a daily paper. ' The Porcupine ' appeared on 30 Oct., and lasted till November 1801, when its strong anti-gallican principles proved too much for its continued success, and the paper was relinquished. In March 1801 Cobbett started a bookshop in Pall Mall, but transferred it to Mr. Harding in 1803. In January 1802 he began 'Cobbett's Weekly Political Register,' which, with very trifling interruptions, was continued till his death, more than thirty-three years after. In 1801-2 he reprinted all his American writings in twelve volumes, under the title 'Porcupine's Works.' In 1803 he began the 'Parliamentary Debates,' which subsequently (1812) passed into the hands of Mr. Hansard. ' Cobbett's Spirit of the London Journals ' was published for one year only (1804). In 1806 'The Parliamentary History of England from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803' was projected, and ultimately completed in thirty-six volumes. ' Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials ' (afterwards known as Howell's, from the name of the original editor) was commenced in 1809. With all this business activity Cobbett found time to pursue planting and agriculture on a large scale at Botley in Hampshire, where he usually resided after 1804.

About 1804 Cobbett began to take the popular side in politics. He had already incurred a charge of libel, occasioned by some plain-spoken articles on Ireland, contributed by Judge Johnson of the Irish bench. He was convicted, but escaped further action upon the discovery of the true authorship. This helped to convince him that he was on the wrong side, and he thenceforward devoted himself to the cause of reform. His journal was the best authority of the day, the news portion being marked by extreme accuracy and intelligence. The action of Wardle in obtaining inquiry into the misdoings of Mrs. Clarke owed much to Cobbett's support (1809). A severe article on military flogging at length brought him into trouble, and he was prose-

