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CHARLES DARWIN:
HIS LIFE TOLD IN AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL CHAPTER, AND
IN A SELECTED SERIES OF HIS PUBLISHED LETTERS.
Edited by His Son, FRANCIS DARWIN, F.R.S.
With a Portrait.
London:
John Murray, Albemarle Street.
1908.
[Illustration: _Elliot & Fry, Photo._ _Walker & Cockerell, ph. sc._
Ch. Darwin]
Printed by
William Clowes and Sons, Limited,
London and Beccles.
TO DR. HOLLAND, ST. MORITZ.
_13th July, 1892._
DEAR HOLLAND,
This book is associated in my mind with St. Moritz (where I worked at
it), and therefore with you.
I inscribe your name on it, not only in token of my remembrance of your
many acts of friendship, but also as a sign of my respect for one who
lives a difficult life well.
Yours gratefully,
FRANCIS DARWIN.
"For myself I found that I was fitted for nothing so well as for the
study of Truth; ... as being gifted by nature with desire to seek,
patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness
to reconsider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and as being a
man that neither affects what is new nor admires what is old, and that
hates every kind of imposture. So I thought my nature had a kind of
familiarity and relationship with Truth."--BACON. (Proem to the
_Interpretatio Naturae_.)
PREFACE
TO THE FIRST EDITION (1892).
In preparing this volume, which is practically an abbreviation of the
_Life and Letters_ (1887), my aim has been to retain as far as possible
the personal parts of those volumes. To render this feasible, large
numbers of the more purely scientific letters are omitted, or
represented by the citation of a few sentences.[1] In certain periods of
my father's life the scientific and the personal elements run a parallel
course, rising and falling together in their degree of interest. Thus
the writing of the _Origin of Species_, and its publication, appeal
equally to the reader who follows my father's career from interest in
the man, and to the naturalist who desires to know something of this
turning point in the history of Biology. This part of the story has
therefore been told with nearly the full amount of available detail.
In arranging my material I have followed a roughly chronological
sequence, but the character and variety of my father's researches make a
strictly chronological order an impossibility. It was his habit to work
more or less simultaneously at several subjects. Experimental work was
often carried on as a refreshment or variety, while books entailing
reasoning and the marshalling of large bodies of facts were being
written. Moreover many of his researches were dropped only to be resumed
after years had elapsed. Thus a chronological record of his work would
be a patchwork, from which it would be difficult to disentangle the
history of any given subject. The Table of Contents will show how I have
tried to avoid this result. It will be seen, for instance, that after
Chapter VIII. a break occurs; the story turns back from 1854 to 1831 in
order that the Evolutionary chapters which follow may tell a continuous
story. In the same way the Botanical Work which occupied so much of my
father's time during the latter part of his life is treated separately
in Chapters XVI. and XVII.
With regard to Chapter IV., in which I have attempted to give an account
of my father's manner of working, I may be allowed to say that I acted
as his assistant during the last eight years of his life, and had
therefore an opportunity of knowing something of his habits and methods.
My acknowledgments are gladly made to the publishers of the _Century
Magazine_, who have courteously given me the use of one of their
illustrations for the heading of Chapter IV.
FRANCIS DARWIN.
WYCHFIELD, CAMBRIDGE,
_August, 1892_.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] I have not thought it necessary to indicate all the omissions in the
abbreviated letters.
NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
It is pleasure to me to acknowledge the kindness of Messrs. Elliott &
Fry in allowing me to reproduce the fine photograph which appears as the
frontispiece to the present issue.
FRANCIS DARWIN.
WYCHFIELD, CAMBRIDGE,
_April, 1902_.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I.--The Darwins 1
II.--Autobiography 5
III.--Religion 55
IV.--Reminiscences 66
V.--Cambridge Life--The Appointment to the _Beagle_: 1828-1831 104
VI.--The Voyage: 1831-1836 124
VII.--London and Cambridge: 1836-1842 140
VIII.--Life at Down: 1842-1854 150
IX.--The Foundations of the _Origin of Species_: 1831-1844 165
X.--The Growth of the _Origin of Species_: 1843-1858 173
XI.--The Writing of the _Origin of Species_, June 1858, to
November 1859 185
XII.--The Publication of the _Origin of Species_, October to
December 1859 206
XIII.--The _Origin of Species_--Reviews and Criticisms--Adhesions
and Attacks: 1860 223
XIV.--The Spread of Evolution: 1861-1871 245
XV.--Miscellanea--Revival of Geological Work--The Vivisection
Question--Honours 281
XVI.--The Fertilisation of Flowers 297
XVII.--Climbing Plants--Power of Movement in Plants--Insectivorous
Plants--Kew Index of Plant Names 313
XVIII.--Conclusion 325
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX
I.--The Funeral in Westminster Abbey 329
II.--Portraits 331
INDEX 333
[Illustration: --led to comprehend two affinities. [illeg] My theory
would give zest to recent & fossil Comparative Anatomy, it would lead to
study of instincts, heredity & mind heredity, whole metaphysics - it
would lead to closest examination of hybridity & generation, causes of
change in order to know what we have come from & to what we tend - to
what circumstances favour crossing & what prevents it; this & direct
examination of direct passages of [species (crossed out)] structures in
species, might lead to laws of change, which would then be main object
of study, to guide our [past (crossed out)] speculations]
CHARLES DARWIN.
CHAPTER I.
THE DARWINS.
Charles Robert Darwin was the second son of Dr. Robert Waring Darwin, of
Shrewsbury, where he was born on February 12, 1809. Dr. Darwin was a son
of Erasmus Darwin, sometimes described as a poet, but more deservedly
known as physician and naturalist. Charles Darwin's mother was Susannah,
daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, the well-known potter of Etruria, in
Staffordshire.
If such speculations are permissible, we may hazard the guess that
Charles Darwin inherited his sweetness of disposition from the Wedgwood
side, while the character of his genius came rather from the Darwin
grandfather.[2]
Robert Waring Darwin was a man of well-marked character. He had no
pretensions to being a man of science, no tendency to generalise his
knowledge, and though a successful physician he was guided more by
intuition and everyday observation than by a deep knowledge of his
subject. His chief mental characteristics were his keen powers of
observation, and his knowledge of men, qualities which led him to "read
the characters and even the thoughts of those whom he saw even for a
short time." It is not therefore surprising that his help should have
been sought, not merely in illness, but in cases of family trouble and
sorrow. This was largely the case, and his wise sympathy, no less than
his medical skill, obtained for him a strong influence over the lives of
a large number of people. He was a man of a quick, vivid temperament,
with a lively interest in even the smaller details in the lives of those
with whom he came in contact. He was fond of society, and entertained a
good deal, and with his large practice and many friends, the life at
Shrewsbury must have been a stirring and varied one--very different in
this respect to the later home of his son at Down.[3]
We have a miniature of his wife, Susannah, with a remarkably sweet and
happy face, bearing some resemblance to the portrait of her father
painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds; a countenance expressive of the gentle
and sympathetic nature which Miss Meteyard ascribes to her.[4] She died
July 15, 1817, thirty-two years before her husband, whose death occurred
on November 13, 1848. Dr. Darwin lived before his marriage for two or
three years on St. John's Hill, afterwards at the Crescent, where his
eldest daughter Marianne was born, lastly at the "Mount," in the part of
Shrewsbury known as Frankwell, where the other children were born. This
house was built by Dr. Darwin about 1800, it is now in the possession of
Mr. Spencer Phillips, and has undergone but little alteration. It is a
large, plain, square, red-brick house, of which the most attractive
feature is the pretty green-house, opening out of the morning-room.
The house is charmingly placed, on the top of a steep bank leading down
to the Severn. The terraced bank is traversed by a long walk, leading
from end to end, still called "the Doctor's Walk." At one point in this
walk grows a Spanish chestnut, the branches of which bend back parallel
to themselves in a curious manner, and this was Charles Darwin's
favourite tree as a boy, where he and his sister Catharine had each
their special seat.
The Doctor took great pleasure in his garden, planting it with
ornamental trees and shrubs, and being especially successful with fruit
trees; and this love of plants was, I think, the only taste kindred to
natural history which he possessed.
Charles Darwin had the strongest feeling of love and respect for his
father's memory. His recollection of everything that was connected with
him was peculiarly distinct, and he spoke of him frequently, generally
prefacing an anecdote with some such phrase as, "My father, who was the
wisest man I ever knew," &c. It was astonishing how clearly he
remembered his father's opinions, so that he was able to quote some
maxim or hint of his in many cases of illness. As a rule he put small
faith in doctors, and thus his unlimited belief in Dr. Darwin's medical
instinct and methods of treatment was all the more striking.
His reverence for him was boundless, and most touching. He would have
wished to judge everything else in the world dispassionately, but
anything his father had said was received with almost implicit faith.
His daughter, Mrs. Litchfield, remembers him saying that he hoped none
of his sons would ever believe anything because he said it, unless they
were themselves convinced of its truth--a feeling in striking contrast
with his own manner of faith.
A visit which Charles Darwin made to Shrewsbury in 1869 left on the mind
of the daughter who accompanied him a strong impression of his love for
his old home. The tenant of the Mount at the time, showed them over the
house, and with mistaken hospitality remained with the party during the
whole visit. As they were leaving, Charles Darwin said, with a pathetic
look of regret, "If I could have been left alone in that green-house for
five minutes, I know I should have been able to see my father in his
wheel-chair as vividly as if he had been there before me."
Perhaps this incident shows what I think is the truth, that the memory
of his father he loved the best, was that of him as an old man. Mrs.
Litchfield has noted down a few words which illustrate well his feeling
towards his father. She describes him as saying with the most tender
respect, "I think my father was a little unjust to me when I was young;
but afterwards, I am thankful to think I became a prime favourite with
him." She has a vivid recollection of the expression of happy reverie
that accompanied these words, as if he were reviewing the whole
relation, and the remembrance left a deep sense of peace and gratitude.
Dr. Darwin had six children, of whom none are now living: Marianne,
married Dr. Henry Parker; Caroline, married Josiah Wedgwood; Erasmus
Alvey; Susan, died unmarried; Charles Robert; Catharine, married Rev.
Charles Langton.
The elder son, Erasmus, was born in 1804, and died unmarried at the age
of seventy-seven.
His name, not known to the general public, may be remembered from a few
words of description occurring in Carlyle's _Reminiscences_ (vol. ii. p.
208). A truer and more sympathetic sketch of his character, by his
cousin, Miss Julia Wedgwood, was published in the _Spectator_, September
3, 1881.
There was something pathetic in Charles Darwin's affection for his
brother Erasmus, as if he always recollected his solitary life, and the
touching patience and sweetness of his nature. He often spoke of him as
"Poor old Ras," or "Poor dear old Philos." I imagine Philos
(Philosopher) was a relic of the days when they worked at chemistry in
the tool-house at Shrewsbury--a time of which he always preserved a
pleasant memory. Erasmus was rather more than four years older than
Charles Darwin, so that they were not long together at Cambridge, but
previously at Edinburgh they shared the same lodgings, and after the
Voyage they lived for a time together in Erasmus' house in Great
Marlborough Street. In later years Erasmus Darwin came to Down
occasionally, or joined his brother's family in a summer holiday. But
gradually it came about that he could not, through ill health, make up
his mind to leave London, and thus they only saw each other when Charles
Darwin went for a week at a time to his brother's house in Queen Anne
Street.
This brief sketch of the family to which Charles Darwin belonged may
perhaps suffice to introduce the reader to the autobiographical chapter
which follows.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] See Charles Darwin's biographical sketch of his grandfather,
prefixed to Ernst Krause's _Erasmus Darwin_. (Translated from the German
by W. S. Dallas, 1878.) Also Miss Meteyard's _Life of Josiah Wedgwood_.
[3] The above passage is, by permission of Messrs. Smith & Elder, taken
from my article _Charles Darwin_, in the _Dictionary of National
Biography_.
[4] _A Group of Englishmen_, by Miss Meteyard, 1871.