The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-07-06

ROBERT DALE OWEG- -lSSAEE.-A QtSpatch
announces that Robert Dale Owen has been
taken to his home in Indiana In condition
of insanity. Although lhe has been i'll fol
some time past, and It, has been occasionally
rumered that bis mind was giving way, the
news that be has. become entirely shattered
mentally will be. received with surprise.
Probably the exposure of ,the Katie Kipg
imposture shocked Mr.. Owen immensely.
He had accepted the pretended manifesto
tons with good faith, and to him they were
conclusive proof Of the trnth;uof spirit
uaiism. He went to Philadelphia to witness
the materializations, aud published an article
in the Atlaatic Monthly upon them. Unfor-
tunately for the good but mistaken old gen.
tleman, the fraud was exposed the day be-
fore his article was to be published. He
telegraphed to Boston 10 stop the publica.
ton, but 1t was too late. The magazine was
already printed, and Mr.. Owens trouble
was increased by the prefxing Of notice to
the article, that the writer alone was respon-
sible for its statements. His belief in
spiritualism was the one thing that
prevented Robert Dale Owen from
being a great and successful man. His
father was the famous Robert Owen, who in
the beginning of the century established an
industrial settlement at New Lanark, near
Glasgow, Scotland. He had communistic
notions. aud endeavored to carry them into
practice in Scotland, and also 10 this coun-
try. He started the New Harmony colony
in Indians, and his son aided him ia that ieX-
returned to Scotland, but the younger man
remained here. He took to politics and be-
came member of the Indiana Legislature,
where be succeeded in emancipating women
from the slavery of the common law,
then in Congress, and finally In the
diplomatic service of the country. President
Pierce, who sent Hawthorne to Liverpool,
and so indirectly endowed the world with
1.-The Marble Fam" and our 'f fOur Old
Home" made Owen Minister at Naples.
Since he retired from that position in 1853,
he has been student, writer, amateur poll
tician, and professional philanthropist. His
published works gil nearly dozen vol
umes, but they are little read except by the
curious searcher into the yagaries Of spirit
ualism. ..., r.. .,....... ..,.s -..-. -
Robert Dale Owen has recently been at a
sanitary establishment near DansYille, New
York, undergoing treatment for disease.
How bis insanity became developed there is
told by letter to the Rochester Express:
"For some time past Dansyile has been
the stopping-place Of distinguished Wis.
itor, Robert Dale Owen, the well-known
writer and spirituslist. He came here hop
ing by freedom from care and trouble to re.
cuperate and repair his shattered energies,
and to enable him to continue his literary
labors. Occupying his time mainly with re-
creation, for time nothing unusual was OBJ.
served in his conduct, and be was
pointed out as rather eccentric
old gentleman. An upholder OF spirit
ualism auti writer Of acknowledged merit,
his society was sought after and his converse
tions were coherent and instructive. 1nvi-
tations to lecture were occasionally accepted,
aud some of your readers will no doubt re.
member the lecture on 'Spiritualsm' de-
lvered by him not long since in your city.
If any one at that time considered him in
sane they failed to give others the benefit
of their judgment. During the past week,
however, his eccentricities increased to such
an alarming extent that it became painfully
evident TO those that knew him that the great
mind of Robert Dale Owen had lost its
reason. His wild, excited actions on Friday
last at the grounds of the Dansville Driving
Park Association were nearly those of an
Insane person. Driving furiously among
crowd of carriages, accosting strangers, and
gesticulating violently, he was source OF
ANNOYANCE to his friends and of surprise to
strangers. His son was telegraphed for in-
mediately. He reached here Sunday night,
and on Tuesday morning started for his
home in Indiana with Mr.. Owen"