The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-19 00:00:00

WILLIAM COBBET T.

This powerful and original writer died yesterday at ten
Minutes past one P. M., at his farm, in Surrey, aged 73. He
retained his faculties till the very last moment, and died with
Perfect composure.
In an account of himself, to be found in the collection of the
Works of Peter Porcupine, Cobbett states that he was horn in
1766. As, however, we have derived the above particulars
from his family, there can be no doubt of their accuracy ; and
It would appear, therefore, that he was inaccurately informed
113 to the particulars of his early life, on his return from Ame-
rica to England in 1801.
Nis
was a self-taught man in the true sense of the word.
es father possessed a small piece of ground at Farnham, in
Surrey, and Cobbett himself was brought up as a common
4Pricultural labourer. In 1783 he quitted his father's roof,
and repaired to London, where he succeeded in finding em_
Plqment in the office of an attorney. Having enlisted as a
common soldier, he was sent to Nova Scotia, and attained the
rank of Sergeant-major. On the return of the regiment
to England, he became involved as prosecutor in a
,ourt-rnartial, but did not await the issue. He left England
I,(„>r France, and sailed from a French port to the United
states, where he maintained himself for some time by teach-
In English to Frenchmen. At that time the French, or
democratic party in America, were loud in their abuse of
tngland and Cobbett was induced to espouse the cause
Of his mother country. He published a succession of
Pamphlets, under the assumed name of Peter Porcupine,
Written with great force and vivacity, some of which were
reprinted_ at the time in England. He was convicted of a
libel against Dr. Rush, and subjected to heavy damages.
• 1801 he returned to England and established a morn-
ing paper under the title of the Porcupine, in which he
warmly supported Mr. Pitt.
That paper, however, soon
and
he soon afterwards set up the Register, which
has been continued to the present time. Cobbett co rn
t -
enced his career as a public writer in England under
very favourable circumstances. He was powerfully patronised
i!Y the Ministry. Mr. Wyndham went even so far in the
House of Commons as to declare that a statue of gold ought to
be erected to him. His health was drunk at Tory dinners
throughout the island. His letters on the subject of the Treaty
of Amiens produced a great sensation both here and on the Con-
tinent. Of this production it was said by the celebrated Swiss
tistorian, Muller, that it was more eloquent than any thing
tNtt had appeared since the days of Demosthenes. It is
erterally understood that Mr. Pitt gave offence in some way
to Cobbett; for on his return to power, Cobbett lost no oppor-
tunity of attacking his Ministry with great bitterness. Of
Mr. Wyndham he long continued to speak favourably, but to
him he became also hostile. From a Church and King man,
Cobbett became, in 1805, a Radical. In 1810 he was sen-
tenced to two years' imprisonment in Newgate, and a fine of
1.0001. From an idea that he would be deprived of his
liberty, under an anticipated suspension of the Habeas Corpus
Act, he left England for America in 1817, whence he returned
When the suspension terminated. It had long been a great
object of his ambition to sit in the House of Commons, and
after the passing of the Reform Bill he was returned for
Oldham, through the influence of Mr. Fuller, an extensive
manufacturer at Todmorden. By his death a vacancy takes
Place for Oldham.
, We have merely noticed a few of the incidents in Mr. Cob-
bett's life. In fact he has been so continually before the
Public during the last 40 years, and his Register is so complete
a record of all that lie ha.s said and done—felt and thought,
that there is no man, perhaps, of whom so little can be told
that would be new to any class of readers.
Cobbett was perhaps the greatest egotist that ever lived :
and as every thing that he did, and every sentence that he ut-
ered, was important in his own estimation, ho is the constant
theme of his voluminous writings.
it would be vain to deny that William Cobbett was one of
the
1, most powerful writers that England has ever produced.
He felt keenly and observed accurately, and he never failed to
)7aalLe a strong impression on his readers. His last Register,
Published on the 13th inst., is as animated as his first American
pamphlet, published in the full tide of youthful vigour. The
t°ander is, how a man writing every day for upwards of forty
Pars should never exhibit any symptons of coldness or indif-
ference, but communicate to his pages a constant interest.
As an advocate he was without an equal. In that first of re-
aoisites--the statement of a case—he particularly excelled. He
ll?ltinctively seized on the circumstances which favoured the
;tell's he wished to support, and he seldom failed to produce the
impression at which he aimed. What he could not effect by direct
Itatement, he attained by inuendo. He was shrewd beyond
roost men, and he could detect and expose a subterfuge more
Successfully than most men. But, after all, Cobbett was not
Wise man. We question if, in the whole course of his life,
e ever set himself seriously down to discover the truth. He
Was a man of impulses. William Cobbett was the object to-
Wards which the thoughts of William Cobbett were constantly
directed. Hence the constant changes of opinion, with re-
lPect to all subjects and all men. There is not, perhaps, a
pestion which he has not by turns advocated and opposed—
ere is not a man whom he has not by turns praised and
abused. Hazlitt supposed this change of opinion was the re-
lilt of a fickleness of disposition, and that without this fickle-
ness we should also have been without his freshness. It is
Certain that it was always sufficient to be in the way of Wil-
lato Cobbett to incur his enmity and become the object of his
abuse.
As a reasoner, in the proper sense of the word, Cobbett (lid
not rank high. He never saw the whole of a subject, and his
Mews were, therefore, always partial. But give him a special
"Me, and he could make more of it than any man. His ilhis-
rations were peculiarly forcible, and whatever he had to describe
he described well. His ccßural Rides" contains, perhaps,
the very best descriptions of English scenery that ever were
Written. His descriptions of rural life in Pensylvania, when
e left England in 1817, are also admirable. Being an gac-
curatew observer, his language was always graphic. His style
:1 always racy and idiomatic. In his earlier productions he
Was somewhat declamatory, and indicated a familiarity with
French writers. As he advanced in years his language and
at Yle became more Saxon.
Though Cobbett upon the whole was a good speaker, he was
at a good debater, and therefore was not in his element in the
pi
%se of Cont-iOnq lie could (Yet on well enough in a lec-
ture, when he" had. all the talk to himself ; but he could
not bear opposition with temper, and he had not a cote-
i"jod of resources sufficient for the exigencies of a discussion.
"hat he might have been, had he entered Parliament at an
earlier period of his life, we know not ; but he was evidently
% old at seventy years of age to cut a figure as a ready
speaker. He made one or two good speeches • ' but be re-
nted himself, and always made the same speech. To a e,,r-
-`4411 extent, indeed, his Register was liable to the same charge
earueness ; but his hi:l3l)y ation• and d,..seriptio;:s ni :de
9tr forget that you had heard the same opinions repeated by
Ito a hundred times before.
Ne has left a widow and a large family. Two of his seas
One
• at the Bar, and are, we believe, exceedingly well iikk-d.
of them wrote the well-known description of the turning
1111) of the Rats, quoted by the Quarterly Review as one of
the happiest of Cohbett's effusions.
,
1,1; man could have occupied the public so constantly with
Inself as Cobbett has done, without possessing great talenis.
Take him with all Lis faults as a writer, and he will still be
• extraordinary man.

It is said that Captain Hindmarsh, R.N., had been
appointed to the Government of South Australia.