These things were “much against him,” as Lord Brougham would say. The press got into the way of saying that Cobbett had lost all character, and all respect, and so on. New pamphlets came out: the patriot was really down, this time; and his fate squared so neatly with all that had been predicted of him, and of every subverter of the constitution. But, there are reputations, and reputations: “Pygmies are pygmies still, though perch’d on alps, And pyramids are pyramids in vales!” And, whilst a good name is not to be thought lightly of, it is not every one’s esteem that can be considered man’s best and highest reward. The hollow, specious, moral judgments of mankind, when under the dominion of prejudice, are not the standards by which to judge the men of life and earnestness: the men whose convictions, and not whose personal interests, mark their path. And, in the case in point: the moral judgment of all the toad-eaters and the place-hunters of the day could hardly be a desirable standard, wherewith to gauge the character of a man whose faults lay just upon the surface; whose faults could, by no possible twist or distortion of idea, be shown to proceed from bad impulses.[16] What “interests” Mr. Cobbett had, were now unmistakably identified with those of the labouring classes of England; and, at last, he had got a good hearing from those classes. The distinction of classes, wantonly and unnecessarily proclaimed for twenty years past, was now confirmed; and the ten years of George the Fourth’s reign mark the period of conflict which was partly the result of this forced distinction. The end of this conflict, and the ultimate triumph of the popular cause, is matter of history: the bloodless reformation of 1832 has saved the British Constitution, instead of destroying it. That triumph of principles was the work of neither Whig nor Tory. It came from the provoked and suffering people themselves. The greater the provocation, the deeper the suffering,--the more certain was to be the end: and from them, alone, it came. And, as more light is thrown, from time to time, upon these stirring days, the better can we see who were the real leaders and guiders in Reform; and who was the greatest of them all. For, until this SAMSON arose, the progress of the cause had been little better than a series of ridiculous evasions and desertions. FOOTNOTES [1] _Niles’s Register_, published at Baltimore, a weekly journal of extended influence, had begun by abusing Cobbett, but speedily found it was better worth while to reprint his writings concerning America. Some of the independent republications were,--