396 MISCELLANEA. [1879. 



folio common-place book, of which he wrote : " I have been 

 deeply interested by the great book, .... reading and look- 

 ing at it is like having communion with the dead .... [it] 

 has taught me a good d al about the occupations and tastes 

 of our grandfather." A subsequent letter (April 8) to the 

 same correspondent describes the source of a further supply 

 of material : — 



'* Since my last letter I have made a strange discovery ; 

 for an old box from my father marked " Old Deeds," and 

 which consequently I had never opened, I found full of let- 

 ters — hundreds from Dr. Erasmus — and others from old mem- 

 bers of the Family : some few very curious. Also a drawing 

 of Elston before it was altered, about 1750, of which I think 

 I will give a copy." 



Dr. Krause's contribution formed the second part of the 

 * Life of Erasmus Darwin,' my father supplying a '^ prelimi- 

 nary notice." This expression on the title-page is somewhat 

 misleading ; my father's contribution is more than half the 

 book, and should have been described as a biography. Work 

 of this kind was new to him, and he wrote doubtfully to Mr. 

 Thiselton Dyer, June i8th : " God only knows what I shall 

 make of his life, it is such a new kind of work to me." The 

 strong interest he felt about his forebears helped to give zest 

 to the work, which became a decided enjoyment to him. 

 With the general public the book was not markedly success- 

 ful, but many of his friends recognised its merits. Sir J. D. 

 Hooker was one of these, and to him my father wrote, " Your 

 praise of the Life of Dr. D. has pleased me exceedingly, for I 

 despised my work, and thought myself a perfect fool to have 

 undertaken such a job." 



To Mr. Galton, too, he wrote, November 14 : — 



^' I am extremely glad that you approve of the little * Life ' 

 of our grandfather, for I have been repenting that I ever un- 

 dertook it, as the work was quite beyond my tether." 



The publication of the * Life of Erasmus Darwin ' led to 

 an attack by Mr. Samuel Butler, which amounted to a charge 

 of falsehood against my father. After consulting his friends, 



