DARWIN r.EFORE AND AFTKR 163 



review of the chief events in the life of CHARLKS 

 DARWIN. 



He was born at Shrewsbury, February I2th, 1809. Tii 

 1825 he was sent to Edinburj^h University for two years. 

 In 1828, he commenced residence at T^irist's College, 

 Cambridge, and soon came under the influence of the 

 famous botanist Professor Henslow, and later under 

 the influence of the geologist, Prof. Sedgwick. He passed 

 the examination for the B.A. degree in January, 1831. On 

 December 27th of that year he began his voyage in H.M.S. 

 Beagle, a barque of 235 tons carrying guns, under 

 Captain FitzRoy, sent by the British Government to 

 survey the southern parts of South America. He was: 

 away five years and returned to Shrewsbury for a short 

 time and to Cambridge in 1830. In 1837 he began to 

 prepare his journal for publication, and then saw how 

 many facts indicated the common descent of species. He 

 writes :>' In July, 1837, I opened my first note-book for 

 facts in relation to the origin of species, about which I 

 had long reflected, and never ceased working for the next 

 twenty years." He had been greatly impressed by the 

 character of South American fossils, and species on the 

 Galapagos Inlands. About this time he went to live in 

 London, and in 1838 he " happened to read for amusement 

 Malthus on Population, and being well prepared to appre- 

 ciate the struggle for existence which everywhere goes 

 on from long-continued observation of the habits of 

 animals and plants, it at once struck me that under 

 these circumstances favourable variations would tend to 

 be preserved, and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The 

 result of this would be the formation of new species. 

 Here then I had at last got a theory by which to work ; 

 but I was so anxious to avoid prejudice, that I deter- 

 mined not for some time to write even the briefest sketch 

 of it." In 1830 he married his first cousin Miss Emma 

 Wedgwood, daughter of Josiah Wedgwood. In 1842 he 

 settled in the village of Down in Kent, and published 



