LIFE OF THE AUTHOR 



It has been thought that those who knew my 

 dear father, Martin Cobbett, either personally or 

 as his readers, would like this selection from his 

 later work to be prefaced by a brief sketch of his 

 life. No one can feel more keenly than myself 

 how inadequate this memoir must be to give a 

 real impression of my father's personality and 

 character. What those were can best be indicated 

 by the tenor of the many, many letters of regret 

 and mourning evoked by the news of his death. 

 From all classes, all callings, all parts of the 

 world, with significant unanimity they struck 

 the same two notes : " He was so kind," and, 

 '' I have lost such a friend." 



Martin Richard Cobbett was born on 29th 

 March 1846. His forbears were yeomen of 

 Surrey. The Farnborough district is the home 

 of the Cobbetts, and thence came the famous 

 William. Cobbett, from whom the subject of 

 this memoir was collaterally descended. Martin 

 Cobbett was born and bred at Brighton, between 

 the sea and the Downs — an environment which 



