Editing William Cobbett (section)

==Legacy==
[[File:William Cobbett Grave 2016.jpg|thumb|right|The tomb of William Cobbett in the churchyard of St Andrew's church in Farnham.]]
Cobbett is considered to have begun as an inherently conservative journalist. He was angered by the corrupt British political establishment, and became increasingly radical and sympathetic to antigovernment and democratic ideals. He provided a panegyric extolling rural England during the [[Industrial Revolution]], which he was not in sympathy with. Cobbett wished England would return to the rural England of the 1760s, in which he had been born.

Unlike fellow radical Thomas Paine, Cobbett was not an internationalist cosmopolitan and did not endorse a republican Britain. He boasted that he was not a "citizen of world.... It is quite enough for me to think about what is best for England, Scotland and Ireland."<ref name="ODNB"/> Possessing a national identity, he often criticised rival countries and warned them that they should not "swagger about and be saucy to England."<ref name="ODNB"/> He said his identification with the Church of England was due in part because it "bears the name of my country."<ref name="ODNB" /> Among historical biographers, [[Ian Dyck]] claimed that Cobbett endorsed "the eighteenth-century [[Country Party (Britain)|Country Party]] platform";<ref>[[Ian Dyck]], 'Introduction' in William Cobbett, ''Rural Rides'' (Penguin Classics, 2005), p. xxiii.</ref> [[Edward Tangye Lean]] described him as "an archaic English Tory".<ref>[[Edward Tangye Lean]], ''The Napoleonists. A Study in Political Disaffection. 1760–1960'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1970), p. 206.</ref><ref name="herring">{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/herring.htm |title=The Lure of the Red Herring |last=Quinion |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Quinion |date= 25 October 2008 |work=World Wide Words |access-date=28 May 2019}}</ref>
[[File:William Cobbett (1763-1835) bust.jpg|thumb|Bust of William Cobbett, Farnham Museum garden]]
His writing style was parodied by Horace and James Smith in their collection, [[Rejected Addresses]] (1812).{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Cobbett has been praised by thinkers of various political persuasions, such as [[Matthew Arnold]], [[Karl Marx]], [[G. K. Chesterton]], [[A. J. P. Taylor]], [[Raymond Williams]], [[E. P. Thompson]] and [[Michael Foot]].<ref name="ODNB"/>

A story by Cobbett issued in 1807 popularized the term "[[red herring]]", to mean a distraction from an important issue.<ref name="herring" /><ref>Martin Chilton, [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9917758/William-Cobbett-forgotten-chronicler-of-England.html William Cobbett: forgotten chronicler of England], The Telegraph, 9 March 2015.</ref>

Cobbett's sons were trained as barristers and founded a partnership in Manchester named [[Cobbetts LLP|Cobbetts]] in his honour. The firm dissolved in 2013. His second son [[John Morgan Cobbett]] (1800–1877) followed him into politics and like his father became MP for [[Oldham (UK Parliament constituency)|Oldham]].<ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', p. 436.</ref>

Cobbett's birthplace, a public house in Farnham once named ''The Jolly Farmer'', has been renamed ''The William Cobbett''. The Brooklyn-based history band [[Piñataland]] performed a song about William Cobbett's quest to rebury [[Thomas Paine]] entitled "An American Man". An equestrian statue of Cobbett was being planned for a site in Farnham in 2009,<ref>BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/surrey/7842303.stm Home town plans statue of Cobbett] 21 January 2009</ref><ref>Waverley Borough Council Committee Document [http://waverweb.waverley.gov.uk/live/wbc/NewComDB.nsf/163fb885c18530cb802575ae003875fd/e953dfbc1b202107802575ae00364b94?OpenDocument William Cobbett Statue] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721001803/http://waverweb.waverley.gov.uk/live/wbc/NewComDB.nsf/163fb885c18530cb802575ae003875fd/e953dfbc1b202107802575ae00364b94?OpenDocument |date=21 July 2011 }}</ref> which already has the William Cobbett Primary School named in his honour.

After Cobbett's death, Benjamin Tilly, who had served Cobbett as companion, secretary and factotum, initiated the Cobbett Club. Members sent petitions to Parliament demanding radical reform and produced radical pamphlets and leaflets to keep Cobbett's politics alive. Some of these are still available in libraries. The William Cobbett Society, based in Farnham, produces a yearly edition of 'Cobbett's New Register', and celebrates Cobbett's life, works and spirit in various activities, including an annual Rural Ride and lecture.

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