William Cobbett: A Biography in Two Volumes, Vol. 2Smith, Edward
History
William Cobbett: A Biography in Two Volumes, Vol. 2
Smith, Edward
Cobbett, William 1763-1835
“Hares and post-offices do not congregate together, I find.
There is none of the latter nearer to Everley than this place
[Andover, November, 1807].… I am now starting for Everley with
Nancy, Mrs. Cobbett having declined the trip. She will go to
Dr. Mitford’s. I saw William at Winchester, who is grown very
much, and who behaved just as a son of mine ought to behave. So
cleanly, so orderly, so attentive, so punctual, and so manly,
just as I was at his age; I hope the qualities will be more
durable with him.”
“… Almost all the money I draw is expended in preparations for
planting, and in making a new footpath along the side of my
farm, in order to stop up the one that passes through it, and
which is an injury to the estate. These pecuniary pinches give
me great uneasiness, at times; but they will cease before it
be long; and if it please God to preserve my life, they will
cease much about the time that my grand planting scheme will
be actually completed. There is here a little coppice, which I
think will be to be sold; and which I intend you shall have.…
I am very desirous that you should have an inch of land that
you might set your foot upon, and say, ‘this is mine.’ But pray
never talk to any one about these matters.”
Mr. Wright is particularly requested not to lend the little mare, but
to make use of it himself:--
“I hope you ride a good deal. I wish to God you would rise
early. It is the finest thing in the world for health. I am in
my coppice by six o’clock in the morning; but then, I am in bed
by ten at latest.”
The following occurs, as a postscript, on the back of a letter to
Wright:--
“My dear little James,--your little dog is very well, and the
rabbits are in their new house. God bless you.--Wm. C.”
An old acquaintance turns up, one day in the spring of 1808:--
“This day the most wonderful thing, which I have met with in
my whole wonderful life, has happened to me. A gentleman came
to me this morning from London, to show me, and to consult
me upon, the publication of a work upon _Metaphysicks_. He
appeared to be a very learned and very accomplished man, and
so I find him, upon some hours of conversation; and, would
you believe it, he then discovered himself to me; and I found
him to be the same whom I left in England, twenty-three years
ago, a fifer, in the recruiting party that I belonged to! This
has occupied me the whole day. He was about two years younger
than myself, and I have thought and talked of him ten thousand
times, having had a most affectionate regard for him.… You
shall see my old acquaintance when I get to town.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account