Thus wrote Coleridge in The Courier of 1805, in an article entitled ‘A Political Harlequin: William Cobbett’. The article was introductory to a series of articles published over the winter of 1805 which aimed to refute his arguments. This undertaking is itself testimony to Cobbett's perceived influence in the period, which belies the epithets ‘dull’ and ‘stupid’ with which Coleridge attempts to brand him. The passage is interesting because it makes clear the mainstream nature of Cobbett's nascent opposition in this period, in that he is identified with Charles Fox rather than Thomas Paine; and it is useful as it reminds us of his open willingness to change his political stance. This chapter looks at Cobbett's period of ideological transition from 1804 to 1816, identifying changes from and continuities with his earlier conservative writings, examining his use of available discourses, and exploring the stylistic characteristics of his address to the poor in 1816.