. Self-made men. o it. His storesof miscellaneous knowledge were immense, and yet less astonish-ing than the command he had at all times over them. It seemedas if every subject that was casually started in conversation hadbeen that which he had been last occupied in studying and ex-hausting, such was the copiousness, the precision, and the admi-rable clearness of the information which he poured out upon itwithout effort or hesitation. Nor was this promptitude and com-pass of knowledge confined in any degree to the studies connectedwith his ordinary pursuits. That he should have been minutelyan
. Self-made men. o it. His storesof miscellaneous knowledge were immense, and yet less astonish-ing than the command he had at all times over them. It seemedas if every subject that was casually started in conversation hadbeen that which he had been last occupied in studying and ex-hausting, such was the copiousness, the precision, and the admi-rable clearness of the information which he poured out upon itwithout effort or hesitation. Nor was this promptitude and com-pass of knowledge confined in any degree to the studies connectedwith his ordinary pursuits. That he should have been minutelyand extensively skilled in chemistry and the arts, and in most ofthe branches of physical science, might, perhaps, have been con-jectured ; but it could not have been inferred from his usual oc-cupations, and probably is not generally known, that he was cu-riously learned in many branches of antiquity, metaphysics, med-icine, and etymology, and perfectly at home in all the details ofarchitecture, music, and law. Z2. WILLIAM One of the most remarkable self-made men that England canboast is William Cobbett, the subject of the present sketch. Fromthe authors own voluminous writings we are able to gather mostof the materials of his eventful life, especially from that entertain-ing work, the Life of Peter Porcupine. It is unfortunate, however,that Mr. Cobbett never thought it worth while to dwell minutelyon the early incidents of his life, and our information on that in-teresting era is necessarily imperfect and broken. We will en-deavor to string together what we can in the authors own words. William Cobbett was born in the town of Farnham, Surrey,England, in the spring of the year 1762. His father was a smalltenant farmer, of very limited education and humble means, buthe was considered learned for a man in his rank of life. He un-derstood land-surveying well, and was often chosen to draw theplans of disputed territory, and, being honest, industrious, andfrugal, was a man
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