(1) The late Lord Thurlow used to say that Cobbett was the only writer
that deserved the name of a political reasoner.
(2) Mr. Cobbett speaks almost as well as he writes. The only time l ever
saw him he seemed to me a very pleasant man--easy of access, affable,
clear-headed, simple and mild in his manner, deliberate and unruffled in
his speech, though some of his expressions were not very qualified. His
figure is tall and portly. He has a good, sensible face--rather full,
with little grey eyes, a hard, square forehead, a ruddy complexion, with
hair grey or powdered; and had on a scarlet broadcloth waistcoat
with the flaps of the pockets hanging down, as was the custom for
gentlemen-farmers in the last century, or as we see it in the pictures
of Members of Parliament in the reign of George I. I certainly did not
think less favourably of him for seeing him.