# William Cobbett — Table-Talk character guide

> William Cobbett in Table-Talk by William Hazlitt.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Cobbett People, Cobbett, Mr. Cobbett, himself

**First appearance:** 0005-volume-i-character-of-cobbett

## Snapshot

A political writer of such force that Hazlitt compares his prose to a feast and his polemics to a club swung without discrimination.

## Who they are

Cobbett is the writer Hazlitt cannot help admiring even as he diagnoses the flaw: a man whose descriptions of America and Botley turnips are so vivid they 'look green in prose,' yet who lays about him with his pen like Giant Despair, knocking down friends and enemies alike. Hazlitt sees in him a noble writer undone by a bad propensity—the flail that levels his antagonists also lays his own party low. He matters because he embodies the book's recurring question: what is the cost of a genius that refuses to stand its ground?

## Relationships

### [William Hazlitt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/characters/william_hazlitt)

_friendship_

Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and a combative style in their writings.

### [Thomas Paine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/characters/thomas_paine)

_rivalry_

Cobbett initially attacked Paine's radicalism but later became a defender of his legacy, reflecting a complex ideological rivalry.

### [William Hazlitt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/characters/william_hazlitt)

_friendship_

Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and a combative style in their writings.

### [William Hazlitt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/characters/william_hazlitt)

_friendship_

Cobbett and Hazlitt were political allies and mutual admirers, sharing radical views and a combative style in their writings.

## In the story

### [Character of Cobbett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-character-of-cobbett)

The subject of the chapter; described as a self-taught man with striking excellences and faults, a powerful political writer with an inconsistent, fickle nature, and a bullying yet cowardly disposition in controversy.

### [On Paradox and Commonplace](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-on-paradox-and-commonplace)

Referenced in passing regarding his work 'Gold Against Paper' as an example of a fixed system.

### [On Vulgarity and Affectation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-i-on-vulgarity-and-affectation)

Cited as an example of a coarse but not vulgar character, because he is original and not an imitator.

### [On Going a Journey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-on-going-a-journey)

Quoted approvingly on the English custom of doing one thing at a time.

### [On Coffeehouse Politicians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-on-coffeehouse-politicians)

Referenced in the context of coffeehouse politicians' interest in his Letter to John Cropper of Liverpool.

### [On Familiar Style](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/chapters/volume-ii-on-familiar-style)

Mentioned for his view that the first word that occurs is always the best, which Hazlitt questions.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/characters/william_cobbett
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/table_talk_se/characters