Our Portrait Gallery 



351 



Cobbett. His skull is long, while that of Cobbett is round, 

 and whilst it rises higher it does not suggest the same capacity 

 of forehead. Cobbett's is probably the larger head, and it 

 is certainly the one most symmetrically moulded. Burdett's 

 long neck and lanky figure contrast strongly with the muscular 

 and burly frame of his companion. Cobbett probably had the 

 better appetite and the better digestion, and his short neck gave 

 him a decided advantage as regards the supply of blood to the 

 brain. Burdett's long Roman nose may be allowed to imply 

 a descent which carried with it obstinacy and self-assertion. 

 The two men were in turn sentenced to fine and imprison- 

 ment. Cobbett submitted and made himself as comfortable 

 as he could in jail (see our last month's frontispiece) ; the 

 constables had to carry Sir Francis out of his house. Both 

 changed their political opinions as life advanced — Burdett 

 with the self-confident enthusiasm of youth began as a 

 Radical and demagogue but ripened into a Tory. Cobbett's 

 caution made him a Tory in the first half of his life, whilst his 

 larger brain enabled him to accumulate experience which 

 landed him as a zealous reformer in mature age. In this 

 instance it cannot be said that physiognomy is deceptive. 



Cobbett's Personal Appearance. 



Miss Mitford, who visited at his house, says, " He was a 

 tall, stout man, fair and sunburnt ; with a bright smile and 

 an air compounded of the soldier and the farmer, to which the 

 habit of wearing an eternal red waistcoat contributed not a 

 little. He was, I think, the most athletic and vigorous person 

 that I have ever known ; nothing could tire him." 



There are caricatures by Gilray and others in which Cobbett 

 figures ; some of these are well reproduced in Mr. Carlyle's 

 interesting book. In all, he is represented as a tall, stout, 

 almost burly man, with full cheeks, a double chin, large head 

 and an intelligent, but nowise characteristic general expression 

 of face. It will be observed that Miss Mitford says nothing 

 as to his features, his small nose contrasts strongly with that 



