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and, at the same time, his health was so broken and 

 precarious, that he felt his only chance of success lay 

 in utilizing, for the tasks before him, every moment 

 that he was free from acute suffering and retained 

 any power of working. Consequently, when the self- 

 imposed task of each day was completed, he found 

 himself in a state of mental collapse. Now to 

 appreciate the beauties of fine music or the work of 

 a great writer certainly demands that the mind 

 should be fresh and unjaded, whereas, at the only 

 times Darwin had for relaxation, he was quite unfitted 

 for these higher delights. We are not surprised then 

 to learn that he sought and found relief in listening to 

 his wife's reading of some pleasant novel or in the 

 nightly game of backgammon, as the only means of 

 resting his wearied brain. 



No one who had the privilege of conversing with 

 Darwin in his later years can doubt of his having 

 retained to the end the full possession of his refined 

 tastes as well as his great mental powers. His love 

 for and sympathy with every movement tending to 

 progress especially in the scientific and educational 

 world his devotion to his friends, with no little 

 indulgence of indignation for what he thought false 

 or mean in others, these were his conspicuous 

 characteristics, and they were combined with a 

 gentle playfulness and sense of humour, which made 

 him the most delightful and loveable of companions. 



