The San Francisco call., 1904-03-24
NeaS Of The Book World.


themselves-the name Of character
or a bonmot from book Of theirs,
perhaps William Combe. the creator
Of DR.. Syntax," is one Of these. Some
enterprising bookworm on the Lon
don Spectator has dug down into the
past and presented to present day
readers a lively sketch Of this quonGam
friend Of Laurence Sterne:
William Combe was born IN London
in the year I74l. His parents were
wealthy people. of dubious character
according TO one account), who took
little interest in their boy. but sent
him in due course 10 be thrashed at
EtOn. and thence, with some rudi-
ments OF Greek ana Latin. to the Uni
versity Of oxford. At college he dis
tinguished himself by his vicious
habits. al a time when vice was too
common at oxford 10 draw much
obloQuy upon its followers. With wine
and cards and rousing the night owl in
catches he seems TO have passed some
eighteen months at oxford with sstis-
faction TO himself though his sudden
leaving Of the college, in 1851, points
at some unrecorded prompting from
those in authority. He left England
for some years at this juncture to
travel in France and Italy, where he
made Water-color sketches Gall brown
paint and bitumen. according to the
fashion Of the time). and met Laur-
ence Sterne, then upon his "Senti-
mental Journey"
on his return he set up as a man of
fashion. for he had a certain sum of
money in his purse. and. NE read Of
him. in Bath as one of the most ex-
QUisite Of the bloods there going ele-
gantly in flowered silk. He was tall
and Of extreme beauty, a dark. hard
some fellow OF commanding pres
ence He was a brilliant taIker and
at all points the fine gentleman He
kept always two carriages and a host
Of footmen. His sword, no doubt, was
a dainty thing in steel and silver. His
manner was the Rape OF the Lock in
human terms
Dice and the giving of bouquets wine
and the paying Of the reckoning, at last
sent his laces 10 pawn and the gilt es-
adjustment 10 auction. There was
nothing else TO be done. The money
was gone. And the fine friends. no
doubt. with the scented perukes drop
ping powder upon the silken coats,
crept away upon tiptOe, with thin lips
curved in sneer, glad that the golden
guineas had come 10 them from one so
spendthrift, so wasteful. as William
COrnbe had been. Evidence shows that
the smash was like the breaking of
porcelain, complete and final, and
Combe's conduct appears TO have beer
branded with several ugly terms
fraudulent" 'dishonorabIe," ," bastard
ly,' etc We see a very frightened and
froWsy William Combe lodging down
the hedgerOws toward the sea, toward
some Calais packet, out of reach
a clutching catchpolls, out Of reach OF
The grim haunts known as the Fleet
The Kings Bench. the Marshalsea.
There was to be no more scent and silk
ard delicacy for many years. Nothing
but a grim and bitter drilling in the
ranks, in a red coat, with fioured hair
stuck down with candle grease, carry
ing a frelock in a line regiment of the
King Of France.
Whether he tired Of glory. as glory
showed TO a private soldier shortly be-
fore the Revolution, we do not know:
but he found means TO lay aside his
share Of il and TO become a waiter in
tavern. This proved 10 be a step to-
ward promotion as a cook, and as a
cook he worked for several months
finally returning to London, to spend
various years in prison for debt. We do
not know when he began to write as a
journalist. though no doubt it was be-
fore the end of the century 1t was in
1872 that his writing began to be
known, for in that year Ackermann,
the print and book seller. bought se-
ries Of plates from Rowlandson repre-
senting the travels of quaint clergy
man through various parts of the
country. Ackermann cast about for
some one TO write a tale in verse TO fit
these plates and hit upon Combe. who
wrote DIR. Syntax in Search of the
Picturesque" a poem of many thou
sand lines, without seeing the artist
who had created the character. Combe
0ss al that time living in the rules"
Of The Kings Bench.
The success of the book was imme-
diete end great and was followed up
by the production Of similar books.
THE Dance Of Life" The English
Dance ef Death" in two volumes. The
History Of Johnny Quae Genus DIR.
syntax in Search of Wife, and ".Dr.
Syntax IN Search Of Consolation" All
~ these were illustrated by the coarse,
living pictures Of Rowlandson. and all
sold well, though none so well as the
first book Of the series
The series came to an end in 1921,
when COmbe was in his eightieth year,
almost worn out by the adventures Of
his manhood. His verse grew more
moral as he grew older, and as his
carly books were Of a deadly ortho-
doxy. his later books tend TO the dull.
They are in the four-footed couplet,
Ike the jogtrOt anbling of a nag, a
meter and manner no longer popular.
William Combe died in 1923. an old.
tired Denitcnt. I'm the rules OF the
Kings Bench. His. verse is still read
by hunting parsons. old fiery squires.
port wine ard gout men, It is easy, 1t
is not thoughtful, 1t is the versified