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3 - Oppositional styles 1804–1816
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2009
Summary
To represent him with fidelity, it is necessary to premise, that we must consider him, like every other Harlequin, under a multitude of dissimilar shapes; sometimes as an impassioned Royalist; at others, as a fanatical Citizen; then successively as a maniac, a prophet, and a recorder of lies; one moment the admirer, the next the reviler of the greatest enemy of our country; to-day, the strenuous advocate, tomorrow the libellist of Mr Pitt; and in the same style of ludicrous versatility, the defamer and panegyrist of Charles Fox. In short, he surpasses all men in barefaced impudence, and is equalled by none in dullness and stupidity.
Thus wrote Coleridge in The Courier of 1805, in an article entitled ‘A Political Harlequin: William Cobbett’. The article was introductory to a series of articles published over the winter of 1805 which aimed to refute his arguments. This undertaking is itself testimony to Cobbett's perceived influence in the period, which belies the epithets ‘dull’ and ‘stupid’ with which Coleridge attempts to brand him. The passage is interesting because it makes clear the mainstream nature of Cobbett's nascent opposition in this period, in that he is identified with Charles Fox rather than Thomas Paine; and it is useful as it reminds us of his open willingness to change his political stance. This chapter looks at Cobbett's period of ideological transition from 1804 to 1816, identifying changes from and continuities with his earlier conservative writings, examining his use of available discourses, and exploring the stylistic characteristics of his address to the poor in 1816.
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- William CobbettThe Politics of Style, pp. 89 - 118Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995