Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/711

Rh Sept., 1858, was educated at Wilmington, S. C, and at Franklin college, Athens, Ga. He removed in 1838 to Noxubee county. Miss., where he devoted himself to literary pursuits. He was elected to the state convention as a whig in 1851, was several times a member of the state senate, and in 1853 was an American candidate for congress. He pub- lished " The Creole, or the Siege of New Orleans," a novel (Philadelphia, 1850) ; " Mississippi Scenes, or Sketches of Southern and Western Life and Adventure " (1850) ; and " Leisure Labors " (New York, 1858). He was a frequent contributor of political essays to the " American Review."

COBBETT, Thomas, clergyman, b. in New- bury, England, in 1608; d. in Ipswich, Mass., 5 Nov., 1685. He studied at Oxford, but left on ac- count of the plague, and became a pupil of Dr. Twiss. To avoid further persecution for his non- conformity, he emigrated to Massachusetts in 1637 with Davenport, and was a colleague to his old friend, Mr. Whiting, of Lynn, until, in 1656, he became pastor of the first church in Ipswich, where he remained until his death. He was remarkable for the frequency of his prayers, and his assurance of their efficacy. In 1645 he published a work on infant baptism; in 1653, "The Civil Magistrate's Power in Matters of Religion, modestly debated," etc.; in 1654, "A Practical Discourse of Prayer"; in 1656, "On the Honor due from Children to their Parents"; and a "Narrative of New England's Deliverances" (in "New England Historical and Genealogical Register," vol. vii.).

COBBETT, William, British journalist, b. in Farnham, Surrey, 9 March, 1762 ; d. there, 18 June, 1835. His father was a fariner and innkeeper, and a man of some intelligence, who gave his son such rudimentary education as he could. At the age of twenty-one, having spent his boyhood work- ing in the fields, (jobbett went to London and got a place as clerk in an attorney's office. But, unable to endure the confinement of this place, which he called a " hell on earth," he enlisted in the 54th infantry regiment and was sent to Chatham. Here he devoted every spare moment to learning English grammar. He went to Canada with his regiment and served till 1791, when he obtained an honora- ble discharge, having reached the grade of sergeant- major. On 5 Feb., 1792, he married, at Woolwich, Anne, daughter of Thomas Reid, a sergeant-major of artillery. She was a woman of remarkable force of character. Cobbett's object in quitting the array was to bring certain officers to justice for having in various ways wronged both the public and the soldiers. With this purpose he visited London and laid his complaints before the govern- ment, but with little or no success. He then went to France and remained there six months, learning the language ; but the anarchy of 1792 made it so uncomfortable there that he crossed the ocean and settled in Philadelphia. Here he advocated the •cause of the federalist party, and under the name of " Peter Porcupine " wrote a series of powerful pam- phlets, in which the French revolutionists and their sympathizers were severely criticised. He also at- tacked Dr. Benjamin Rush, who advocated the cure of yellow fever and other dangerous maladies by wholesale bleeding. Cobbett compared him very effectively to Dr. Sangrado ; but the irascible Rush brought suit for libel, and obtained a verdict for f 5,000 damages. As the costs of suit amounted to f 3,000 more, this was a heavy blow. In 1800 Cob- bett returned to London, opened a book-shop, and published the " Works of Peter Porcupine " (12 vols.), which had an immense sale. He soon founded the "Weekly Political Register," which continued to be published during his lifetime. The success of this paper was so great that Cob- bett gre.v rich and was able to buy a large estate in the country. He wrote with great asperity, but usually with much justice and good sense. His command of English was extraordinary, and he was an inveterate toe to humbug and tyranny. Thus he made himself obnoxious to the govern- ment, and was often prosecuted for libel. One of these cases became celebrated. In July, 1810, for sharply denouncing the flogging of English militia- men by German officers, he was fined £1,000 and sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Newgate. His friends immediately raised the money as a testimonial of their sympathy, but he was kept in prison during the whole of the two years. In 1816 he established an occasional paper, called " Two- penny Trash," which had so great a sale and pro- duced such effect upon workingmen as to rouse the hostility of the government, so that Cobbett felt it necessary to retreat for two years to the United States, where he leased a farm on Long Island. In 1819 he returned to England, and devoted himself to authorship. In 1832, being then seventy years old, Mr. Cobbett was elected to parliament for the borough of Oldham. He had distinguished him- self as an advocate of Catholic emancipation and parliamentary reform, but, in spite of his personal celebrity, his influence in the house of commons was but slight. On 25 May, 1835, in the midst of a debate on the malt tax, he was struck down by heart disease, and died soon after being removed to his country house at Farnham. Asa writer of English prose, Mr. Cobbett ranks among the high- est. He was extremely industrious and temperate in his habits, and thus acquired a good deal of learning and accomplished a great amount of lit- erary work. Among his published books are a " History of the Protestant Reformation in Eng- land and Ireland," a " History of England," " A Year's Residence in America," " Advice to Young Men and Women." " Cottage Economy," and es- pecially his English and French grammars, which are of themselves very entertaining. He also com- piled twenty volumes of parliamentary debates. As a satirist he has had few if any superiors, after Swift and Junius, and he was so ready to wield his stinging pen that Sir Henry Bulwer calls him. in the title of an essay, " The Contentious Man," Yet he was very domestic in disposition, and devotedly loved by his family and friends. See " William Cobbett ; a Biography," by Edward Smith (2 vols., London, 1878), and "Historical Characters," by Sir Henrv L. Bulwer (London, 1868).

COBBS, Nicholas Hamner, P. E. bishop, b. in Bedford county, Va., 5 Feb., 1796; d. in Montgomery, Ala., il Jan., 1861. While studying for the ministry in the Episcopal church he was engaged in teaching for several years. He was ordained deacon in Staunton, Va., in May, 1824, by the Rt. Rev. R. C. Moore, D. D.. and priest the next year, in Richmond, Va., by the same bishop. He was occupied in pastoral work in his native county for fifteen years. In 1839 he became rector of St. Paul's church, Petersburg, Va., and in 1843 accepted a call to the rectorship of St. Paul's church, Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1844 he was elected bishop of Alabama, being the first to preside over that diocese, and was consecrated in Philadelphia, 20 Oct., 1844. Bishop Cobbs was a faithful overseer of the work couuaitted to his charge. A noble charity in Montgomery bears the name of " The Bishop Cobbs llouie for Orphans," See "A Saint of the Southern Church," a memoir, by the Rev. Greenough White, A. M. (New York, 1897).