1 8 THE DARWIN FAMILY. 



nary number of curious stories, which he liked to tell, as he was 

 a great talker. He was generally in high spirits, and laughed 

 and joked with every one — often with his servants — with the 

 utmost freedom ; yet he had the art of making every one obey 

 him to the letter. Many persons were much afraid of him. 

 I remember my father telling us one day, with a laugh, that 



several persons had asked him whether Miss , a grand 



old lady in Shropshire, had called on him, so that at last he 



enquired why they asked him ; and he was told that Miss , 



whom my father had somehow mortally offended, was telling 

 everybody that she would call and tell ' that fat old doctor 

 very plainly what she thought of him.' She had already 

 called, but her courage had failed, and no one could have 

 been more courteous and friendly. As a boy, I went to stay 



at the house of , whose wife was insane ; and the poor 



creature, as soon as she saw me, was in the most abject state 

 of terror that I ever saw, weeping bitterly and asking me over 

 and over again, ' Is your father coming ? ' but was soon paci- 

 fied. On my return home, I asked my father why she was so 

 frightened, and he ansv/ered he was very glad to hear it, as 

 he had frightened her on purpose, feeling sure that she would 

 be kept in safety and much happier without any restraint, 

 if her husband could influence her, whenever she became 

 at all violent, by proposing to send for Dr. Darwin ; and 

 these v/ords succeeded perfectly during the rest of her long 

 life. 



" My father was very sensitive, so that many small events 

 annoyed him or pained him much. I once asked him, when 

 he was old and could not walk, why he did not drive out for 

 exercise ; and he answered, ' Every road out of Shrewsbury 

 is associated in my mind with some painful event.' Yet he 

 was generally in high spirits. He was easily made very 

 angry, but his kindness was unbounded. He was widely and 

 deeply loved. 



" He was a cautious and govA man of business, so that he 

 hardly ever lost money by an investment, and left to his 

 children a very large property. I remember a story showing 



