dren seems to have been distinguished by great kindliness, and
by a good deal of healthy wisdom, mingled with the prejudices due to the
peculiarities of his temper and circumstances. Cobbett's ruling
characteristic was a sturdy egoism, which had in it something of the
nobler element of self-respect. A firm will, a strong brain, feelings
not over-sensitive, an intense love of fighting, a resolve to get on, in
the sense of making himself a power in the world--these are the
principal qualities which account for the success of his career. His
opinions were the fruits of his emotions. It was enough for him to get a
thorough grasp of one side of a question, about the other side he did
not trouble himself; but he always firmly seizes the facts which make
for his view, and expresses them with unfailing clearness. His argument,
which is never subtle, has always the appearance of weight, however
flimsy it may be in fact. His sarcasm is seldom polished or delicate,
but usually rough, and often abusive, while coarse nicknames were his
special delight. His style is admirably correct and always extremely
forcible.

Cobbett's contributions to periodical literature occupy 100 volumes,
twelve of which consist of the papers published at Philadelphia
between 1794 and 1800, and the rest of the _Weekly Political
Register_, which ended only with Cobbett's death (June 1835). An
abridgment of these works, with notes, was published by his sons, John
M. Cobbett and James P. Cobbett. Besides this he published _An Account
of the Horrors of the French Revolution_, and a work tracing all these
horrors to "the licentious politics and infidel philosophy of the
present age" (both 1798); _A Year's Residence in the United States_;
_Parliamentary History of England from the Norman Conquest to 1800_
(1806); _Cottage Economy_; _Roman History_; _French Grammar_ and
_English Grammar_, both in the form of letters; _Geographical
Dictionary of England and Wales_; _History of the Regency and Reign of
George IV._, containing a defence of Queen Caroline, whose cause he
warmly advocated (1830-1834); _Life of Andrew Jackson, President of
the United States_ (1834); _Legacy to Labourers_; _Legacy to Peel_;
_Legacy to Parsons_ (1835), an attack on the secular claims of the
Established Church; _Doom of Tithes_; _Rural Rides_ (1830; new ed.
1885), an account of his tours on horse-back through England, full of
admirable descriptive w