lO THE DARWIN FAMILY. 



as having a philosophical mind ; his was a mind especially 

 given to detail, and not to generalising. Again, those who 

 knew him intimately describe him as eating remarkably little, 

 so that he was not " a great feeder, eating a goose for his din- 

 ner, as easily as other men do a partridge."* In the matter 

 of dress he was conservative, and wore to the end of his life 

 knee-breeches and drab gaiters, which, however, certainly did 

 not, as Miss Meteyard says, button above the knee — a form 

 of costume chiefly known to us in grenadiers of Queen Anne's 

 day, and in modern wood-cutters and ploughboys. 



Charles Darwin had the strongest feeling of love and re- 

 spect for his father's memory. His recollection of everything 

 that was connected with him was peculiarly distinct, and he 

 spoke of him frequently; generally prefacing an anecdote 

 with some such phrase as, " My father, who was the wisest 

 man I ever knew, &c. . . ." It was astonishing how clearly 

 he remembered his father's opinions, so that he was able to 

 quote some maxims or hint of his in most cases of illness. 

 As a rule, he put small faith in doctors, and thus his unlim- 

 ited belief in Dr. Darwin's medical instinct and methods of 

 treatment was all the more striking. 



His reverence for him was boundless and most touching. 

 He would have wished to judge everything else in the world 

 dispassionately, but anything his father had said was received 

 with almost implicit faith. His daughter Mrs. Litchfield re- 

 members him saying that he hoped none of his sons would 

 ever believe anything because he said it, unless they were 

 themselves convinced of its truth, — a feeling in striking con- 

 trast with his own manner of faith. 



A visit which Charles Darwin made to Shrewsbury in 1869 

 left on the mind of his daughter who accompanied him a 

 strong impression of his love for his old home. The then 

 tenant of the Mount showed them over the house, &c., and 

 with mistaken hospitality remained with the party during the 

 whole visit. As they were leaving, Charles Darwin said, with 



«< 



A Group of Englishmen,' p. 263. 



