The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-09-02
I H E DISPATrII
THURSDAY MORNING srprrxnrp /. -.
Death Of George Comhe. the phr..
mOlowfae

mOIogtst.
The death Of George Connie, the autbor ~ N,
constitution Of Man, in Edinburgh. on The 1a,,
nit, has been noticed. lie died at "a wear. Of az,
e' an affection of the chest. The New York Ex
press has the fNliewins biography Of him:
Comee's book on the Constitution OF Man rant,
% aens IN circulation 10 England to the Bible, pii
kum frogress and Robinson CrusoA He mn,
one OF family Of IT, Of whom George and Andraa :
were slene conspicuous. The deceased vas de-
scenoed on both sides from respectable ten.nt.
,srmers' Their father was Q tall, robust, stsuneb
M MaIesey.et,an, OF whom his chronological sons re-
port that he could never aud hat that he conid
get his head into. and was obliged to have block
to himself Their mother was energetic and con
scsnslous, as indeed the mother of seventeen chill
aren Dad need be. Neither parent had much ed
ucatton: and both secm to have been excessivel
sir,ct in the religious discipline Of their family
george Combe luiee years older than Andrew
was bern IN laSs, was bred to the law, became !
writer 70 the signet in 1872. In no house In Ed
inanrgh or elsewhere could DugaId Stevart bsvs
fonnd more devoted disciples. The matter.of fac,
9eorge seems TO have been lifted nearer to poetrv
oy Ills attendance on Dugait Swewarts lectures
than at any subsequent period of bis iifs
one osy, brother lawyer met George in the
stfeef, ana invited him to see Spurxheim dissect q
numan brain Wsat he saw there satisfied him
tnst the human brain 10 something very ualike
what seemed to dssectors, who sliced il through
and looked no further
In 1925, the Society for the Disnsion of r,at,
hnowlecxe was instituted-chieny for the purpose
ofsuppying good aud cheap books to Mecbanjcs'
iasihntes where the want of books, as supplement
tsty 10 lectures, was severely felt. Political trou-
pies caused delay; bat the scheme was resumed in
1875 aud in March, 1871 the issue of the societvs
tracts began. Lord Brougham and his coadjutors
mad promised means Of political, social and what
may be called personal knowledge.
SIX weeks before the appearance of the frat of
the societys tracts, George Combe had read to the
chronological Society of Edinburgh the frst part
of work on The Harmony between tho Metal
aud Moral Constitution of Man and the Laws of
fn3 sicai Nature" This was the first form of his
celebrated "Constitution of Man in Relation TO Ex
terpai Objects" which was published in 1898 aad
read with unexampied eagerness by almost the
entire reading Classes Of the nation. Its circula
tion had some time ago amounted to l0O.00s in
oreat Britain and Ireland: and il is In almost
every home in the United States. besides having
been translated into various continental uas e.
There can be no doubt that the effects of the work
on the health morality and intellectual cultivation
OF the people has been memorable 1t is the great
event of the life OF George Combe. He wrote other
worSs, but be Is known by his Constitution of
Man" In 1919 he published his Essays on
phrenology," and afterwards his elements, p
Ua..ines, .uS and System" of the same subject;
lures on Popular Education Notes of his travel.
IN America and a life Of his brother Andrew, and,
We regret to add. his views Art. after his visits
70 eietmany and Italy in pursuit of health.
Perhaps the most useful thug he did was trans
iating part OF Calls writings. In his great works
the Consultation Of Man," he was preceded by
Spurzheim whose "Natural Laws" effected for it's
readers what Combe's work did for the working
classes. II he had given the masters themselves
We should have been In a better position than BY
seeing them represented in the person of special
pieader who assumes to be their comrade.
The merit of Combe WAS great in pertinaciously
and effectively sustaining the rights of opinion
His remarkable self-esteem his sefconseiousness,
rendering him very family impressonable; his
gced nature and real beneyoience; his shrewdness
and caution; the absence of all keen seusibility.
and the presence of a constant sense Of JUSTICE all
fitted him to hold any given ground we'll against
unscrupulous and passionate adversa'ies.
In 1888, he married Misc Cecilia Siddone. Four
or five years after he quilted the practice of his
profession, and IN 1888, accompanied by Mrs.
Combe, went to the United States, where he re-
mained. lecturipg aud preparing his journal. till
ls4o DIR. Spurzheim had visited the U. S. in 1882,
and died there in q few months; and the disciples
he had obtained, wishing for another master, invi-
ted Combe to lecture to them. Three years after
his return varied by continental journeys, too
often rendered necessary by failing health. The
latter perioI Of his life one Of very iBfrm
health-tbe result he believed, IF the early ad-
influence which turned his OWL and his broth
er's attention to sanitary subjects After more
and more shutting up for the winters, and less
and less ability to enjoy The business aud pleasures
of life and society within his own home, he died on
the l4th inst, his friend Dr. Lanes hydropsthic
establishment, at hooT-park.