-CO13BETT. 



mutated, and having fortunately purchased, in 1811, 

 the genealogical collections for Hertfordshire made 

 by the late Thomas Blore, Esq., F.S.A.. he formed 

 the resolution of publishing a completely new his- 

 tory of his native county ; making such use only of 

 Chauncy's materials as was to his purpose. In 

 this object he steadily persevered for eighteen 

 years; and the result was an elegant and com- 

 plete history, in three folio volumes, which will 

 always preserve his name in honourable connec- 

 tion with his native county. The first volume 

 was published in 1816; the second appeared in 

 1821 ; and the third was published in 1827. The 

 plates in this work have scarcely been surpassed 

 in any similar publication, whether we consider 

 the appropriateness of the embellishments, or the 

 beauty and fidelity of their execution. Mr Clut- 

 tcrbuck himself possessed, as a draughtsman, the 

 hand of a master ; several of the plates were from 

 sketches of his own : but his knowledge of art also 

 enabled him to employ with great judgment the very 

 first artists in their particular lines. Mr Clutterbuck 

 died suddenly at Watford, May 25, 1831. 



COAL, (a.) Soon after the Revolution, in 1688, 

 a duty was imposed on coal brought coastwise into 

 the port of London, in addition to the municipal 

 charges with which it was burdened. During the 

 last war, it was as high as 9s. 4d. per chaldron; 

 but was reduced to 6s. in 1824. There was a 

 drawback allowed on coal sent coastwise to Corn- 

 wall for the use of the mines. This drawback 

 amounted, in 1829, to 16,148. There was no 

 duty on coal sent coastwise from one part of Scot- 

 land to another ; and the duty on that exported to 

 Ireland was only Is. 7^d. per ton. After having, 

 in the interval, undergone some modifications, the 

 whole of these duties were totally abolished in 

 1831. The total sum received for the duty on 

 coals amounted, in 1829, to 1,021,862; of which 

 London contributed 464,599 ; Norfolk, 83,564 ; 

 Kent, 52,549; Devonshire, 42,784; Hampshire, 

 37,813 ; Sussex, 36,295 ; Essex, 30,881 ; mak- 

 ing, with other maritime counties, 847,266. In 

 the same year, the duty on coal exported to Ireland 

 amounted to 74,050. The chief ports of ship- 

 ment were Whitehaven, Liverpool, Newport, 

 Swansea, Irvine, Ayr, and Glasgow. Dp to 

 August, 1831, the duty on coal exported to British 

 possessions was Is. 6d. per chaldron, and to foreign 

 countries 17s. per chaldron, Newcastle measure. 

 (53 cwts.) Since that year, the duty on coal sent 

 to foreign countries has been reduced to 3s. 4d. 

 per ton ; and on small coals 2s. A large increase in 

 the exportation of coal has followed this measure. 

 Ships that formerly used to leave this country with 

 ballast, now take coal as a profitable cargo. Nor 

 can this measure be considered injurious as hasten- 

 ing the exhaustion of the mines ; for it is calculated, 

 that in South Wales alone, there is a supply of coal 

 sufficient to meet the present demand of the empire 

 for 2000 years. In 1836 upwards of two and a 

 quarter millions of tons of coals were shipped coast- 

 wise from Newcastle; and in 1837, the number of 

 tons was 2,385,192, being an increase of 110,424 

 tons on the former year. There were also ex- 

 ported to foreign countries and British settlements 

 In 1836, 411,697 tons, and in 1837, 471,150 tons, 

 being an increase of 59,453 tons, and making the 

 total quantity in 1836, 2,686,465 tons, and in 1837, 

 2,856,342, approaching in round numbers to nearly 

 three millions of tons of coals per annum shipped 

 from the river Tyne. 



COBBETT, WILLIAM, a celebrated political 

 writer, who, in the course of his career, distin- 

 guished himself as a powerful advocate of the ex- 

 treme principles, first of Toryism, and afterwards 

 of Radicalism, was the son of a farmer and publi- 

 can at Farnham, in Surrey, who occupied a house, 

 still standing, beside the river Wey, which has 

 been known for eighty years past as " The Jolly 

 Farmer." It is believed that his grandfather also 

 occupied the same house. As he never appealed 

 to be certain of his own age, his sons procured an 

 extract from the register of Farnham, by which it 

 appeared that the four sons of his father, George. 

 Thomas, William, and Anthony, were christened 

 on the 1st of April, 1763 ; and as Anthony was the 

 youngest son, and Wilb'am was the third, it is in- 

 ferred that he was born one year before he was chris- 

 tened. The eldest brother was a shopkeeper, the 

 second, a farmer, and the youngest, a soldier in the 

 East India Company's service, and afterwards cele- 

 brated for his pugilistic prowess. In his early life, 

 William was occupied upon his father's farm, and 

 in the intervals of his labour was taught the or- 

 dinary accomplishments of reading, writing, and 

 arithmetic. " Towards the autumn of 1782, (he 

 says) I went to visit a relation who lived in the 

 neighbourhood of Portsmouth. From the top of 

 Portsdown I, for the first time, beheld the sea; 

 and no sooner did I behold it than I wished to be 

 a sailor." The next day he went on board the 

 Pegasus man-of-war ; but both the captain and 

 port-admiral, suspecting him to be a runaway, de- 

 clined his services, and persuaded him to return 

 home, where he remained till the following spring, 

 when he took a more effectual flight. 



It was on the 6th of May, 1783, that, being pre- 

 pared to go to Guildford fair, he was suddenly 

 tempted to mount a London coach, and arrived at 

 Ludgate Hill, with about half-a-crown in his 

 pocket. During the journey, he fortunately made 

 acquaintance with a hop-merchant, who, he found, 

 had dealt with his father. This gentleman kindly 

 took him to his house ; and, after having in vain 

 endeavoured to persuade him to return home, pro- 

 cured him a situation as copying clerk to Mr Hol- 

 land, of Gray's Inn, where he remained for nine 

 months closely confined to the desk. This dull 

 and incessant labour to a mind which must have 

 ever been active and comprehensive, became at 

 last irksome to him, and he quitted London for 

 Chatham, where he enlisted. In doing so he pro- 

 posed to join the Marines, still retaining his par- 

 tiality for the sea ; but by some misunderstanding 

 he found himself entered into a regiment, the ser- 

 vice companies of which were in Nova Scotia. 

 During the year he remained at Chatham he im- 

 proved his education in all its branches. He was 

 soon raised to the rank of corporal ; and at length 

 sailed from Gravesend for Nova Scotia ; where, 

 however, he staid but a few weeks, the regiment 

 being ordered to New Brunswick. Here his con- 

 duct appears to have been most exemplary ; and 

 he, no doubt justly, ascribes his farther promotion 

 to the rank of sergeant-major,. to his regularity, his 

 early rising, and to the grand secret of husbanding 

 time. In September, 1791, his regiment was re- 

 lieved, and sent home. Shortly after his landing 

 at Portsmouth, he obtained bis discharge ; receiv- 

 ing at the same time an honourable testimonial 

 from his commanding officer. On obtaining his 

 discharge from the army, Mr Cobbett brought 

 charges of embezzlement against four officers of his 



