1835-1837] "C. D. on Marriage" 277 



Godfrey's dislike to reading continues quite alarming, 

 and I am obliged to coax down his lesson with a French 

 plum or something of that nature. I shall be very curious 

 to know whether Susan and Catherine [Darwin] really like 

 Miss Martineau I expect they will. They seem to take 

 very kindly to their other sister. 



We find Pickwick not at all too low for our taste, and 

 it reads aloud much better than to oneself. 



My mother had always a good opinion of a little bribery 

 for getting over small childish difficulties. Even when there 

 was no difficulty she sometimes resorted to it. I remember 

 her using gingerbread as a bribe to her little grandson 

 Bernard, then about four years old, to induce him to stop 

 drawing the house from the lawn at Down. He had sat 

 there all the morning and she was wearied at his pertinacity. 



Charles Darwin was now settled in London. Some rough 

 notes of his which were kept by my mother and endorsed by 

 her ' C.D. on marriage," show that ideas on this subject 

 were floating through his mind. They are undated but were 

 probably written in 1837. They were roughly, almost 

 illegibly, jotted down on scraps of paper and perhaps hardly 

 written in earnest. Among the advantages are: " Children 

 (if it please God) constant companion (& friend in old 

 age) charms of music & female chit-chat." Among the 

 disadvantages: "Terrible loss of time, if many children 

 forced to gain one's bread; fighting about no society." But 

 he continues, " What is the use of working without sym- 

 pathy from near and dear friends ? Who are near and dear 

 friends to the old, except relatives ?" And his conclusion 

 is : * My God, it is intolerable to think of spending one's 

 whole life like a neuter bee, working, working, and nothing 

 after all. No, no won't do. Imagine living all one's days 

 solitarily in smoky, dirty London house Only picture to 

 yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa, with good fire and books 

 and music perhaps compare this vision with the dingy 

 reality of Gt Marlboro' St. 



Marry, marry, marry. Q. E. D." 



