COBBETT COBDEN 769 force against himself. Returning in December, 1819, he added more to his notoriety than popularity by bringing with him the bones of Thomas Paine. He had formerly denounced Paine as a regicide and infidel, and now urged the English people to give him a grand funeral and a splendid monument. In 1820, during the prosecution of Queen Caroline for adultery, Cobbett is said to have been her secretary, writing her replies to addresses, as well as her celebrated letter to the king. He now took a farm at Kensington, where he cultivated Amer- ican trees and plants, Indian corn included, which he thought might be useful to England, and to which he tried to give the name of "Cobbett's corn." In the following ten years he wrote many books, each of which obtained a large sale. Most remarkable among these are his " History of the Protestant Reforma- tion in England arid Ireland," with such a Roman Catholic bias that it has been trans- lated into French and Italian; English and French grammars, written with great clear- ness; "Advice to Young Men and Women," containing many charming passages of auto- biography ; "Treatise on Cobbett's Corn;" "Emigrant's Guide;" "Cottage Economy;" "Village Sermons;" " A Year's Residence in America;" "History of England," &c. He also edited various other books. Early rising, temperate living, concentrated industry, and health preserved by much outdoor exercise, enabled him to get through a greater quantity of brain work than any other author of his day, Scott not excepted. Besides the weekly writing of his " Register," he compiled 20 vol- umes of parliamentary debates. He strongly condemned the currency views of Peel, and as strongly advocated Catholic emancipation, granted in 1829, and parliamentary reform, completed in 1832. In July, 1831, while the reform excitement was agitating England, the whig ministry brought Cobbett to trial for what the attorney general (Denman) described as a seditious libel, exciting agricultural la- borers to destroy corn, machinery, and other property. Cobbett, who conducted his own defence, made a very damaging attack on the whig government. After 15 hours' delibera- tion, the jury, equally divided in opinion, could not give a verdict, and were discharged, which ended the trial. At Coventry in 1820, and at Preston in 1826, Cobbett had unsuccessfully attempted to be returned to parliament. In December, 1832, chiefly through the influence of Mr. John Fielden, a resident wealthy man- ufacturer of that borough, he was elected for Oldham, when 70 years old. In the following session he moved resolutions on the currency, in which there was offensive mention of Sir Robert Peel. Not only was his motion neg- atived, but the commons ordered the resolu- tions to be discharged from their minutes. He made no impression in parliament, and had no influence. At the general election in Decem- ber, 1834, he was again returned to parliament for Oldham. Unaccustomed labor, performed i at late hours in a heated atmosphere, soon told upon a man far advanced in age, whose previ-
- ous boast had been that he rose at 4 and went
to bed at 9. He had a sudden attack of disease ! of the heart during a debate on the malt tax, I on May 25, 1835, was removed to his country residence near Farnham, and survived only
- three weeks. He was buried in the church-
yard of his native town, by the side of his fa- ther and mother. In 1856 a tomb was erected over the slab which had hitherto covered his grave. As a politician Cobbett was unstable and inconsistent, but always wrote with great power. As an author he stands very high. Southey declared that there- never was a bet- ter or more forcible English writer. In pub- lic his pen seemed almost against every one. In domestic life he was a faithful husband and most affectionate and indulgent parent. In 1842 his son published, in six volumes, with notes, a selection from Cobbett's political works. In 1848 this was extended to nine vol- umes. See " Biographies of John Wilkes and William Cobbett," by the Rev. John Watson (London, 1870). COBDEN, Richard, an English statesman, born at Dunford, near Midhurst, Sussex, June 3, 1804, died in London, April 2, 1865. On the death of his father, a small farmer, he was taken charge of by his uncle, a warehouseman in London. Before he entered business on his own account he saw much of England as a commercial traveller, visiting also Egypt, Tur- key, and Greece in 1834, and the United States in 1835. By this time he had become partner in a cotton-printing establishment near Man- chester, and built up a prosperous business. In 1835 he pronounced the leading address at the opening of the Athenaaum of Manchester, which he had helped to establish. He also published two pamphlets, "England, Ireland, and America, by a Manchester Manufactu- rer," and "Russia." In the latter he ques- tioned the extent of the vast resources gener- ally attributed to Russia. In 1837, after having unsuccessfully contested the representation of the borough of Stockport, Mr. Cobden visit- ed France, Belgium, and Switzerland. In 1838 he travelled through Germany, and on his return strongly declared in favor of free trade. In 1839, when the house of commons rejected a motion for the repeal of the bread tax, Mr. Cobden took a leading part in estab- lishing the well known and powerful anti-corn- law league. He was elected for Stockport in 1841, and immediately obtained a high place among the leading parliamentary speakers, from his oratorical ability and from the great extent and variety of his knowledge upon all I subjects connected with trade and commerce. i He spoke and voted in parliament for the re- peal of the corn laws, and spoke and lectured in most of the counties of England on the same subject. Meanwhile the anti-corn-law league grew into power and popularity, strengthened
