William Cobbett foi um gramático, jornalista, político e naturalista britânico. Durante a adolescência, seguiu a carreira militar e por isso passou um tempo em Halifax, licenciando no exército em 1791. Entre 1792 e 1800, viveu nos Estados Unidos, quando se casou em Woolwich com Anne Reid.Escreveu El amigo del soldado como uma crítica e protesto contra os baixos salários e maus tratos aos soldados alistados no exército britânico, e fugiu para França em março do mesmo ano de publicação desta obra para evitar represálias e aprender a língua francesa; no entanto, voltou aos Estados Unidos e se estabeleceu em Wilmington, onde seguiu publicando outras obras com o pseudônimo de Peter Porcupine enquanto sobrevivia como professor de inglês e francês.Foi um precursor dos cartistas ao defender o sufrágio universal e a melhoria das condições de vida dos trabalhadores. Foi um crítico do imperialismo no livro "Pereça o Comércio" . Influenciou Karl Marx que se referiu à Cobbett como o "maior escritos político da Inglaterra no Século XIX". Wikipedia
“However roguish a man may be, he always loves to deal with an honest man.”
Letter, Philadelphia, to Rachel Smithers (6 July 1794), published in The Autobiography of William Cobbett: The Progress of a Plough-boy to a Seat in Parliament, ch. 5, p. 57 (1933).
Political Register, XLVI, pp. 513-514 (31 May 1823).
Cobbett's Weekly Political Register (5 January 1822).
Fonte: Life and Adventures of Peter Porcupine (1796), P. 21.
Page 14.
A Grammar of the English Language (1818)
‘To the Labourers of England, on their duties and their rights’, Political Register (29 January 1831), p. 288
1830s
“We want great alteration, but we want nothing new.”
Political Register (2 November 1816), pp. 454–55
1810s
“It is not true, that the granting of the independence of America was “an advantage to England.””
It was, on the contrary, the greatest evil that and ever befell her. It was the primary cause of the present war, and of all the calamities which it has brought upon England and upon Europe. If England and the American States had continued united, they would have prevented France from disturbing the peace of the world. That fatal measure, though it has not curtailed our commerce, has created a power who will be capable of assisting France in any of her future projects against us, and whose neutrality, when France recovers her marine, must be purchased by us at the expense, first of commercial concessions, and, finally, by much more important sacrifices. In short, it laid the foundation of the ruin of the British empire, which can be prevented by nothing but a wisdom, and an energy, which have never yet marked the councils of our Government, in its transactions with the American States.
‘A Summary View of the Politics of the United States from the close of the War to the year 1794’, Porcupine's Works; containing various writings and selections, exhibiting a faithful picture of the United States of America, Volume I (1801), pp. 47–8
1790s
“All that I can boast of in my birth, is, that I was born in Old England.”
Fonte: 1790s, Life and Adventures of Peter Porcupine (1796), P. 1
Letter to John Oldfield (6 June 1835), quoted in Ian Dyck, William Cobbett and Rural Popular Culture (1992), p. 208
1830s
Political Register (27 October 1832), p. 225
1830s
“The profession of arms is always the most honourable.”
‘Boxing’, Political Register (10 August 1805), p. 199
1800s
‘Observations on Priestley's Emigration’ (August 1794), Porcupine's Works; containing various writings and selections, exhibiting a faithful picture of the United States of America, Volume I (1801), p. 169
1790s
Political Register (17 August 1833), p. 386
1830s
‘To the Labourers of England’, Political Register (2 April 1831), p. 8
1830s
‘To Mr. Attwood’, Political Register (5 May 1821), p. 343
1820s
“After this, who will say that an Englishman ought not to despise “all the nations of Europe?””
For my part I do, and that most “heartily.”
Porcupine's Gazette (December 1797), Porcupine's Works; containing various writings and selections, exhibiting a faithful picture of the United States of America, Volume VII (1801), p. 428
1790s
Political Register (2 June 1832), p. 545
1830s
‘Belgium and Poland’, Political Register (20 August 1831), p. 496
1830s
Political Register (5 June 1830), p. 730
1830s
He was running his hand into his breeches pocket, apparently to take out his knife, but I...drew up my right leg, armed with a new and sharp-edged gallashe over my boot, dealt Mr. Ellice's ripping Savage so delightful a blow, just between his two eyes, that he fell back upon his followers.
‘History of the Coventry Election’, Political Register (25 March 1820), pp. 102–3
1820s
‘To the Merchants of England’, Political Register (29 April 1815), pp. 518–19
1810s
‘Boxing’, Political Register (10 August 1805), p. 200
1800s
‘Boxing’, Political Register (10 August 1805), p. 197
1800s
‘Boxing’, Political Register (10 August 1805), p. 195
1800s
Political Register (5 June 1802), p. 702
1800s
‘To the Freemen of Coventry’, Political Register (4 April 1818), p. 404
1810s