Editing William Cobbett (section)

==Return to England and ''The Political Register'' (1800–1810)==
Cobbett's American writings were reprinted in Britain, with [[John Wright (bookseller died 1844)|John Wright]] acting as his agent.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 154 and 183.</ref><ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', pp. 58 and 70.</ref> In August 1800, Windham invited Cobbett to dinner with the Prime Minister, [[William Pitt the Younger|William Pitt]], and contributors to the ''[[Anti-Jacobin]]'', including [[George Canning]].<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', p. 183.</ref><ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', p. 70.</ref> Pitt's government offered Cobbett the editorship of a government newspaper, but he chose to remain independent.<ref name="ODNB"/><ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 184–185.</ref><ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', pp. 70–72.</ref> His own paper, ''The Porcupine'', bearing the motto "Fear God, Honour the King", started on 30 October 1800, but without success, and he sold his interest in it in 1801.<ref name="ODNB"/> Less than a month later, he started the ''[[Political Register]]'', a newspaper that appeared almost every week from January 1802 until 1835, the year of Cobbett's death.<ref name="ODNB"/> Windham and [[French Laurence]] had suggested the idea of a weekly newspaper to Cobbett and Windham raised the money to fund it by private subscription.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', p. 207.</ref>

When the British government signed a preliminary peace agreement with France in October 1801, Cobbett emerged as one of its foremost opponents, and in the pages of ''The Porcupine'' and in his ''Letters to Lord Hawkesbury'', he denounced the agreement as humiliating to Britain and advantageous to France.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', p. 192.</ref><ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', pp. 75–77.</ref> When news of the ratification arrived on 10 October, Cobbett refused to illuminate the windows of his house in celebration and it was attacked by a mob, which smashed all the windows.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', p. 197.</ref><ref name="Cole76">Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', p. 76.</ref> When the [[Treaty of Amiens|Peace of Amiens]] was signed in March 1802, Cobbett again refused to illuminate his windows and the [[Royal Horse Guards]] had to protect his house from the mob.<ref name="Cole76"/><ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 197–198.</ref>

War broke out again between Britain and France in May 1803 and [[Napoleon]] [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom|planned to invade]] England, assembling the ''[[Grande Armée]]'' at [[Boulogne]]. In June, ''[[The Morning Post]]'' appealed to all newspapers to print articles for "the purpose of arousing the people to the defence of the country".<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', p. 231.</ref> Cobbett immediately began a pamphlet, ''Important Considerations for the People of the Kingdom'', warning the country of the consequences of a French invasion. Cobbett declined an offer of payment from the government and his pamphlet was published anonymously in July.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 231–232.</ref><ref name="Cole, p. 81">Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', p. 81.</ref> The Prime Minister, [[Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth|Henry Addington]], ordered copies to be sent to every parish in England and it had an immediate effect on public opinion.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 232–235.</ref>

Cobbett formed a close friendship with Windham, who became his patron and shared his anti-Jacobinism and his love of rural and athletic sports.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 209–210.</ref><ref>Cole, ''Life of William Cobbett'', p. 71.</ref> The Evangelical movement was campaigning to reform the sports and recreations of the common people, intending to replace [[bull-baiting]], [[boxing]], [[singlestick]], [[wrestling]] and [[racing]] with Sunday Schools and psalm singing.<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', pp. 218–219.</ref><ref>Ian Dyck, ''William Cobbett and Rural Popular Culture'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), pp. 20–22.</ref> Cobbett in the ''Register'' criticised the Evangelicals' hostility to rural and athletic sports, "which string the nerves and strengthen the frame, which excite an emulation in deeds of hardihood and valour, and which imperceptibly instill honour, generosity, and a love of glory. Men thus formed are pupils unfit for the puritanical school; therefore it was, that the sect were incessantly labouring to eradicate, fibre by fibre, the last poor remains of English manners."<ref>Green, ''Great Cobbett'', p. 219.</ref> Cobbett supported Windham in opposing attempts in the House of Commons to introduce bills against boxing and bull-baiting; he wrote to Windham that the bill "goes to the rearing of puritanism into a system."<ref>[[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery|The Earl of Rosebery]] (ed.), ''The Windham Papers. Volume Two'' (London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd, 1913), p. 234.</ref><ref>Lewis Melville, ''The Life and Letters of William Cobbett in England and America: Volume I'' (London: J. Lane, 1913), pp. 205–206.</ref>

Although initially staunchly anti-[[Jacobin]], by 1804 Cobbett was questioning the policies of the Pitt government, especially the immense [[national debt]] and profligate use of [[sinecure]]s, which Cobbett believed were ruining the country and increasing class antagonism.<ref name="ODNB"/>

Cobbett lived in [[Botley, Hampshire]] from 1805,<ref name=BBC>{{cite news |last1=Almroth-Wright |first1=Indy |title=William Cobbett |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2009/03/02/history_william_cobbett_feature.shtml |access-date=15 July 2024 |work=BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight |publisher=BBC |date=2 March 2009}}</ref> farming and raising his family, initially at Botley House near Botley Mills, and then, from 1812, in a smaller house at Botley Hill.<ref name=BBC/><ref>{{cite web |title=Botley House |url=http://research.hgt.org.uk/item/botley-house/ |website=Hampshire Gardens Trust |access-date=15 July 2024}}</ref>

By 1807, he was endorsing reformers such as Francis Burdett and [[John Cartwright (political reformer)|John Cartwright]].<ref name="ODNB"/>

Cobbett published the ''Complete Collection of State Trials'' between 1804 and 1812 and amassed accounts of parliamentary debates from 1066 onwards, but financial difficulties obliged him to sell his shares in it to [[Thomas Curson Hansard|T. C. Hansard]] in 1812.<ref name="ODNB"/> This unofficial record of parliamentary proceedings later became known officially as [[Hansard]].

Cobbett intended to campaign for Parliament in [[Honiton (UK Parliament constituency)|Honiton]] in 1806, but was persuaded by [[Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald]] to let him campaign in his stead. Both men campaigned together but failed, having refused to bribe voters by "buying" votes. This situation encouraged his opposition to [[rotten borough]]s and belief in parliamentary reform.<ref>[[David Cordingly]], ''Cochrane the Dauntless: The Life and Adventures of Thomas Cochrane'', Bloomsbury Publishing, London, 2008 ({{ISBN|978-0-7475-8545-9}}), pp. 105–113.</ref>

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