SOURCE: "Rural Rides and Advice to Young Men: 1830," in William Cobbett, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973, pp. 143-64.

In the following chapter from his critical biography of Cobbett, Sambrook examines Rural Rides and Advice to Young Men, quoting at length from each to illustrate the characteristics of Cobbett's thought.

Towards the end of 1829 Cobbett announced the forthcoming publication of a collection of the 'Rural Rides' which had first appeared in the Political Register, but the book did not appear until October 1830. Though the confused pagination and unaccountable omission of parts of certain 'Rides' indicate some carelessness on the part of the compiler, the principle of selection for Rural Rides appears to have been to include only the tours made on horseback between September 1822 and October 1826 in the area south and east of a line from Norwich to Hereford—Cobbett's 'home-ground'. By omitting tours undertaken partly by coach in 1821-2 and...