James.] 340 [February. 



During the last few years of his life he was engageJ in preparing 

 the " Notoe Cestrienses," a series of iiiemoirs of the men of Chester, 

 published in a periodical of the county. He left in the hands of his 

 friend J. Futhey Smith, voluminous MS. materials for the history of 

 Chester County, which it is to be hoped will be speedily published. 



His last work, completed a few months before his death, was a 

 paper on "The Weeds Injurious to Agriculture in the United 

 States," for the Agricultural Bureau, and will appear in the next 

 volume of reports. 



At the organization of the Chester County Medical Society in 1828, 

 although he had relinquished the practice of medicine for nearly twenty 

 years, yet such was the estimation he was held among the profession, 

 that he was elected president, which po.sition he held at his death. 



In 1848, the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on him by 

 Yale College; and he was a member of more than forty literary and 

 scientific societies. 



To exhibit Dr. Darlington's comprehensive talent, it would be 

 proper to state that he took an active part in establishing the Bank 

 of Chester County, and was continued a director from its origin until 

 his death, and president for more than tliirty years. He held various 

 appointments from the Governor, Prothonotary of the County, Canal 

 Commissioner, and for a term Pre>sident of the Board. He was the 

 prime mover in establishing the Agricultural and Horticultural So- 

 cieties of the county, and the West Chester Railroad, and for a time 

 a Director and President of the Company. In fact, every public 

 improvement projected within his native county or town, appears 

 to have originated with him, or found in him an active coadjutor. 

 He took great pains in securing beauty of design and symmetry of 

 form in the public buildings of West Chester, and a prominent part 

 in the improvement of the public park, selecting the trees with care, 

 and planning this small arboretum, which in time will be the resort 

 of those who wish to study the form and growth of our native trees. 



Dr. Darlington held during his life many important political oflBces, 

 and the following remark in his biography, merits the attention of 

 office-seekers of the present day. " I have been some ten years in 

 public service, by election and executive appointment, and can truly 

 say that I never asked for an office; nor as much as insinuated to any 

 one that I would like to have his vote and interest for one. I always 

 took it for granted that every man who wished to vote for me would 

 do so without solicitation ; and if he did not wish it, I was too proud 

 to solicit it." 



