In the previous chapter I suggested that the transgression of class boundaries is central to Cobbett's rhetorical authority, and that his early American writings precipitate this state of affairs as his conservative loyalties and literary success as Peter Porcupine briefly ally him with the English ruling class. How this happens will be the subject of this chapter.

Before we can begin to examine these writings, however, we need to address the problematic issue of Cobbett's ideological inconsistency in the period covered by Part I of this study. Turning from apparent Radical in The Soldier's Friend of 1792 to apparent conservative in his American writings from 1794, and then back to an increasingly democratic version of Radicalism by 1810, Cobbett was accused by critics and betrayed allies of being inconstant or even mercenary, changing his opinions merely to activate new publishing markets. He defended himself (and has been defended by sympathetic critics since) as fundamentally consistent. The most recent version of this defence has been made by Ian Dyck. He argues that Cobbett's consistently developing interest is in the welfare of the agricultural labourer. Realizing more and more his own self-identification with this rural class, only Cobbett's perception of how their interests are to be safeguarded changes. Between 1794 and 1804, the argument goes, Cobbett believed the Tory Country Party to be the natural guardians of the labourer's interests. In 1804, Dyck argues, empirical evidence to the contrary changes Cobbett's mind back to its previous Radicalism.