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 the chief event of Combe's literary career. The ' Schoolmaster's Tour' made the fortune of the magazine, and was reprinted by Ackermann in 1812 as the ' Tour of Doctor Syntax in Search of the Picturesque,' a royal octavo volume, price one guinea. In the preface to the second edition the author states : 'An etching or a drawing was sent to me every month, and I composed a certain proportion of pages in verse, in which of course the subject of the design was included ; the rest depended upon what would be the subject of the second, and in this manner in a great measure the artist continued designing and I continued writing till a work containing near ten thousand lines was produced, the artist and the writer having no personal communication with or knowledge of each other.' A writer in the 'London Cyclopaedia' (1829, vi. 427) who had known Combe states that he used ' regularly to pin up the sketch against a screen of his apartment in the King's Bench and write off his verses as the printer wanted them.' The title took the public fancy. Many imitations appeared, among them : 'Tour of Dr. Syntax through London,' 1820, 8vo ; 'Dr. Syntax in Paris,' 1820, 8vo ; and ' The Adventures of Dr. Comicus' [1825?], a parody, with burlesques of Rowlandson's engravings. It is doubtful whether Syntax would ever have attained much popularity without Rowlandson's plates, from which we best remember the doctor and his horse Grizzle. Much of Combe's verse is sad doggerel, and Syntax, in spite of considerable humour and kindliness, is apt to tire with his endless moralisings. Combe also wrote the text for three of Ackermann's finest and best known publications, the histories of Westminster Abbey, of Oxford, and of Cambridge. The success of Dr. Syntax led to further collaboration between Combe and Rowlandson in the 'Dance of Death' (1814-16) and 'Dance of Life.' The 'Dance of Death' contains some of Combe's best verse. Mrs. Syntax having been duly put to death at the end of the first 'Tour,' a 'Second Tour in Search of Consolation,' in similar style to the first, was brought out in the 'Poetical Magazine ' and completed in 1820. A 'Third Tour in Search of a Wife' was completed in 1821. Both of these passed through several editions, but never became so popular as the first 'Tour,' to which they are distinctly inferior both in point and interest. 'Johnny Quse Genus,' the history of the foundling left at the doctor's door (see 37th canto), is the last and poorest of the series. The ' Life of Napoleon ' (1815) and ' All the Talents ' have been wrongfully ascribed to Combe.

Combe's first wife is said to have died in January 1814, when he is said to have married Charlotte Hadfield, the sister of Mrs. Cosway. The second wife lived apart from her husband (, Life of Combe, pp. xxix-xxxi). The 'Letters to Marianne ' suggest that Combe was only once married. He appears to have had no legitimate children, and an adopted son offended him by marrying Olivia Serres, the so-called 'Princess Olive of Cumberland.' For over forty years Combe lived 'within the rules of the bench,' and does not seem to have greatly cared to change his situation. He died at Lambeth 19 June 1823, in his eighty-second year. A few weeks after his death a small volume entitled 'Letters to Marianne' (1823) appeared, consisting of letters and sonnets addressed to a Miss Brooke. They are dull billets-doux, written by a platonic lover of seventy to a young girl. The incidental circumstances of this attachment are described in 'Notes and Queries' (4th ser. iii. 570, &c.) In his prime Combe was remarkable for a graceful person, elegant manners, and a wide circle of acquaintances. Poverty lost him the latter, and increasing age deprived him of something of his former distinguished appearance, but to the end of his life he retained the charms of an engaging address and attractive conversation. He was a water-drinker in days when such eccentricity was rare. His honesty has been questioned, he was sparing of the truth, he had a fine gentleman's indifference to debt, and his ideas of the rights of man in dealing with women were not severe. It may be said in his favour that his pen was free from vice. The following list shows how very extensive were his literary productions, but it is remarkable that during his life nothing appeared under his name. His numerous compilations include much good literary journeyman-work. Besides many contributions to the periodical press, he wrote over two hundred biographical sketches, seventy-three sermons, some of which were printed, and the following papers to Ackermann's 'Repository of Arts,' &c. ; the 'Modern Spectator,' 1811-1815; the 'Cogitations of Joannes Scriblerus,' 1814-16 ; the ' Female Tatler,' 1816-21 ; and the ' Adviser,' 1817-22. ' Amelia's Letters ' appeared in the same periodical between 1809 and 1811,and were republished after his death as ' Letters between Amelia in London and her Mother in the Country,' 1824, as a kind of set-off against the ' Letters of Marianne,' which gave much offence to all his friends.

Combe's works are : 1. 'A Description of Patagonia and the adjoining parts of South America, by T. Falkner,' Hereford, 1774, 4to (compiled from Father Falkner's appendix). 2. 'The Diaboliad, a poem, dedicated to the