CHAPTER VII. 



LONDON AND CAMBRIDGE. 



1836-1842. 



The period illustrated in the present chapter includes 

 the years between Darwin's return from the voyage of the 

 Beagle and his settling at Down. It is marked by the 

 gradual appearance of that weakness of health which ulti- 

 mately forced him to leave London and take up his abode 

 for the rest of his life in a quiet country house. 



There is no evidence of any intention of entering a pro- 

 fession after his return from the voyage, and early in 1840 

 he wrote to Fitz-Roy : " I have nothing to wish for ex- 

 cepting stronger health to go on with the subjects to which 

 I have joyfully determined to devote my life." 



These two conditions permanent ill-health and a pas- 

 sionate love of scientific work for its own sake determined 

 thus early in his career, the character of his whole future 

 life. They impelled him to lead a retired life of constant 

 labour, carried on to the utmost limits of his physical 

 power, a life which signally falsified his melancholy proph- 

 ecy : " It has been a bitter mortification for me to digest 

 the conclusion that the ' race is for the strong,' and that I 

 shall probably do little more, but be content to admire 

 the strides others make in science." 



The end of the last chapter saw my father safely arrived 

 at Shrewsbury on October 4, 1836, " after an absence of 

 five years and two days." He wrote to Fox : " You can- 

 not imagine how gloriously delightful my first visit was at 

 home ; it was worth the banishment." But it was a pleas- 

 ure that he could not long enjoy, for in the last days of 

 October he was at Greenwich unpacking specimens from 

 the Beagle. As to the destination of the collections he 

 writes, somewhat despondingly, to Henslow : 



(148) 



