Note 12 — Chapter XXV · “I HAVE PLEADED THE CAUSE OF THE WORKING-PEOPLE, AND I SHALL NOW SEE THAT CAUSE TRIUMPH.”

An intimate friend of Mr. Cobbett’s, still living, has furnished the writer of these pages with some reminiscences of this affair. Mr. Seeley, the well-known bookseller, a bitter opponent of Cobbett’s, was on the jury; but the foreman, a Mr. Wilkinson, was a vigorous Cobbettite; and these two led the parties in the struggle. Cobbett begged his friend to attend him in court, for then “he should have confidence.” As a matter of fact, Denman’s insinuation about a mob was utterly baseless, for Cobbett only had two or three friends with him. The people waited in court all night, and the cheering and uproar were tremendous when the result was announced.