Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by William Cobbett

Quote by William Cobbett

“The ancient nobility and gentry of the kingdom... have been thrust out of all public employment... a race of merchants, and manufacturers and bankers and loan-jobbers and contractors have usurped their place.”

Quote by William Cobbett

Create image

Author

William Cobbett
William Cobbett

William Cobbett (March 9, 1763 - June 18, 1835) was an influential English pamphleteer, writer, and radical. Known for his critical analysis of the political and social issues of his time, Cobbett's work had a profound impact on the social and political landscape of 18th and 19th century Britain. more

You May Also Like

“I cannot... perceive any ground for hoping that any practical good would, while the funding system exists in its present extent, result from the adoption of any of those projects, which have professed to have in view what is called Parliamentary Reform... when the funding system, from whatever cause, shall cease to operate upon civil and political liberty, there will be no need of projects for parliamentary reform. The parliament will, as far as shall be necessary, then reform itself.”

NeedsPoliticalCausesResultsViewsLibertyProjectsPracticalsCeaseReformPerceiveAdoptionParliamentFundingParliamentary
Author:William Cobbett
Create image

“Having still in my recollection so many excellent men, to whose grandfathers, upon the same spots, my grandfather had yielded cheerful obedience and reverence, it is not without sincere sorrow that I have beheld many of the sons of these men driven from their fathers' mansions, or holding them as little better than tenants or stewards, while the swarms of Placemen, Pensioners, Contractors, and Nabobs... have usurped a large part of the soil.”

MenLittlesStillsFatherSonSorrowDrivenSpotsObedienceExcellentSoilSincereReverenceGrandfatherCheerfulMy GrandfatherRecollectionMansionsStewardsSwarmsContractorTenants
Author:William Cobbett
Create image

“All my plans in private life; all my pursuits; all my designs, wishes, and thoughts, have this one great object in view: the overthrow of the ruffian Boroughmongers. If I write grammars; if I write on agriculture; if I sow, plant, or deal in seeds; whatever I do has first in view the destruction of those infamous tyrants.”

IfsWritingFirstsWishViewsDealsPlansDesignObjectsDestructionPlantSeedsPursuitTyrantsAgricultureGrammarPrivate LifeInfamousRuffian
Author:William Cobbett
Create image

“Good government is known from bad government by this infallible test: that under the former the labouring people are well fed and well clothed, and under the latter, they are badly fed and badly clothed.”

PeopleWellsGovernmentKnownTestsFormerLatterFedsInfallibleBad Government
Book:The Progress of a Plough-boy to a Seat in Parliament: As Exemplified in the History of the Life of William Cobbett, Member for Oldham
Create image

“Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada are the horns, the head, the neck, the shins, and the hoof of the ox, and the United States are the ribs, the sirloin, the kidneys, and the rest of the body.”

StatesBodyUnitedUnited StatesNecksCanadaHornsRibsKidneysNova ScotiaNovas
Book:The Progress of a Plough-boy to a Seat in Parliament: As Exemplified in the History of the Life of William Cobbett, Member for Oldham
Create image

“If the people of Sheffield could only receive a tenth part of what their knives sell for by retail in America, Sheffield might pave its streets with silver.”

PeopleIfsMightAmericaStreetsSellsSilverKnivesRetailSheffield
Book:Rural Rides: In the Counties of Surrey ... [etc.] in the Years 1821, 1822, 1823, 1825, 1826, 1829, 1830 and 1832, with Economical and Political Observations Relative to Matters Applicable To, and Illustrated By, the State of Those Counties Respectively
Create image