ABSTRACT
Cottage Economy allows William Cobbett to pit himself against the idea of happy poverty, something he finds so much the fashion of the present day Cobbett's ideal pauper family unit, then, is self-contained and self-sustaining; it is not reliant on what lies beyond its own independent means. The author writes that 'except in cases of accidental calamity', the labourer should not 'throw upon others the burden of supporting [the family]'. Cobbett's promotion of 'ample repayment' between generations also suggests the need for a conscious acceptance of what is bestowed. This chapter extends and complicates Edwards' insights into George Crabbe's ambivalent representation of the poor, considering particularly the relevance of the couplet to this theme. Gavin Edwards brings out usefully the ambiguity of one of the pivotal couplets of 'The Parish Register'. The couplet, as always, is well suited to suggesting a world that is closing in from all sides.
