HARD WICKERS S CIE NCR- G O SSI P. 



51 



DARWIN AT HOME. 



A WRITER in the "American Naturalist," for 

 January, gives the following interesting account 

 of some incidents in the life of our celebrated 

 naturalist which he managed to pick up : — 



In a recent visit to England, the writer strolled 

 into the village of Down in Kent, and talked with 

 some of the villagers in regard to ]\Ir. Darwin, whose 

 beautiful home is just outside the town. 



Some of this talk, although in itself idle and value- 

 less, may have an interest to readers, as showing how 

 a great man looks towards his smaller neighbours. 

 The landlord of the " George Inn " said that "All 

 the people wished to have Mr. Darwin buried in 

 Down, but the Government would not let them. It 

 would have helped the place so much. It would 

 have brought hosts of people down to see his grave. 

 Especially it would have helped the hotel business, 

 which is pretty dull in winter time." " Mr. Darwin 

 was a very fine-looking man. He had a high fore- 

 head, and wore a long beard. Still, if you had met 

 him on the street, perhaps you would not have taken 

 much notice of him, unless you knew that he was a 

 clever man," "Sir John Lubbock (Darwin's friend 

 and near neighbour) is a very clever man, too, but not 

 so clever nor so remarkable-looking as Mr. Darwin. 

 He is very fond of hants (ants) and plants and things." 

 At Keston, three miles from Down, the landlady of 

 the " Gr-eyhound " had never heard of Mr. Darwin 

 until after his death. There was then considerable 

 talk about his being buried in Westminster, but 

 nothing was said of him before. Several persons had 

 considerable to say of Mr. Darwin's extensive and 

 judicious charity to the poor. To Mr. Parslow, for 

 many years his personal servant, Mr. Darwin gave a 

 life pension of £,^0, and the rent of the handsome 

 "Home Cottage" in Down. During the time of a 

 water famine in that region, he used to ride about on 

 horseback to see who needed water, and had it 

 brought to them at his ov/n expense from the stream 

 at St. Mary's Cray. " He was," said Mr. Parslow, 

 " a very social, nice sort of a gentleman, very joking 

 and jolly indeed ; a good husband and a good father, 

 and a most excellent master. Even his footmen used 

 to stay with him as long as five years. They would 

 rather stay with him than take a higher salary some- 

 where else. The cook came there while young, and 

 stayed there till his death, nearly thirty years later." 

 Mrs. Darwin is a pleasant lady, a year older than her 

 husband. Their boys are all jolly, nice young fellows. 

 All have turned out so well, not one of them 

 rackety, you know. Seven children out of the ten 

 are now living. George Darwin is now a professor 

 in Oxford. He was a barrister at first ; had his wig 

 and gown and all, but had to give it up on account 

 of bad health. He would have made a hornament 

 to the profession. Francis Darwin is a doctor, and 



used to work with his father in the greenhouse. He 

 IS soon to marry a lady who lectures on Botany in 

 Oxford. For the first twenty years after Mr. Darwin's 

 return from South America, his health was very bad 

 —much more than later. He had a stomach disease 

 which resulted from sea-sickness while on the voyage 

 around the world. Mr. Parslow learned the water- 

 cure treatment, and treated Mr. Darwin in that 

 system, for a long time, giving much relief. Mr. 

 Darwin used to do his own writing, but had copyists 

 to get his work ready for the printer. He was always 

 an early man. He used to get up at half-past six. He 

 used to bathe, and then go out for a walk all around 

 the place. Then Parslow used to get breakfast for 

 him before the rest of the family came down. He 

 used to eat rapidly, then went to his study and wrote 

 till after the rest had breakfasted. Then Mrs. 

 Darwin came in, and he used to lie half an hour en 

 the sofa while she or some one else read to him. 

 Then he wrote till noon, then went out for an hour 

 to walk. He used to walk all around the place. 

 Later in life he had a cab, and used to ride on horse- 

 back. Then after lunch at one, he used to write 

 awhile. Afterwards he and Mrs. Darwin used to go 

 to the bedroom, where he lay on a sofa and often 

 smoked a cigarette while she read to him. After 

 this he used to walk till dinner-time at five. Before 

 the family grew up, they used to dine early, at half- 

 past one, and had a meat tea at half-past ^ix. Some- 

 times there were eighteen or twenty young Darwins 

 of different families in the house. Four-in-hand 

 coaches of young Darwins used sometimes to come 

 down from London. Mr. Darwin liked children. 

 They didn't disturb him in the least. There were 

 sometimes twenty or thirty pairs of little shoes to be 

 cleaned of a morning, but there were always plenty 

 of servants to do this. The gardener used to bring , 

 plants into his room often of a morning, and he used 

 to tie bits of cotton on them, and try to make them 

 do things. He used to try all sorts of seeds. He 

 would sow them in pots in his study. 



There were a quantity of people in Westminster 

 Abbey when he was buried. Mr. Parslow and the 

 cook were among the chief mourners, and sat in the 

 Jerusalem Chamber, The whole church was as full 

 of people as they could stand. There was a great 

 disappointment in Down that he was not buried 

 there. He loved the place, and we think that he would 

 rather have rested there had he been consulted. 



Storm Glass.— In reply to J. H. Milne's query in 

 January number, I find on reference to " Gardening 

 Illustrated," vol. i. p. 104, that the bottle, 01 

 chemical barometer "should be corked very loosely, 

 or better tie over the orifice a piece of linen or cotton 

 cloth, and place the storm-glass in a good liglit out 

 of the sunshine, where it can be observed without 

 handling."— 6". y^.^. 



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