CHARLES DARWIN. 427 
Mr. Darwin lived a very quiet and uneventful life. In 
1839 he married his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, who with five 
sons and two daughters survives him; he made his home on 
the border of the little hamlet of Down, in Kent, — “ a. plain 
but comfortable brick house in a few acres of pleasure-ground, 
a pleasantly old-fashioned air about it, with a sense of peace 
and silence;” and here, attended by every blessing except: 
that of vigorous health, he lived the secluded but busy life 
which best suited his chosen pursuits and the simplicity of 
his character. He was seldom seen even at scientific meet- 
ings, and never in general society ; but he could welcome his 
friends and fellow-workers to his own house, where he was the 
most charming of hosts. 
At his home, without distraction and as continuously as his 
bodily powers would permit, Mr. Darwin gave himself to his 
work. At least ten of his scientific papers, of greater or less 
extent, had appeared in the three years between his return to 
England and his marriage ; and in the latter year (1889) he 
published the book by which he became popularly known, 
namely, the “ Journal of Researches into the Natural History 
and Geology of the Countries visited during the Voyage of 
the Beagle,” which has been pronounced “ the most entertain- 
ing book of genuine travels ever written,” and it certainly is 
one of the most instructive. His work on “ Coral Reefs ” 
appeared in 1842, but the substance had been communicated 
to the Geological Society soon after his return to England ; 
his papers on “ Volcanic Islands,” on the “ Distribution of 
Erratic Boulders and Contemporaneous Unstratified Deposits 
in South America,” on the “ Fine Dust which falls on Ves- 
sels in the Atlantic Ocean,” and some other geological as well 
as zodlogical researches, were published previously to 1851. 
Between that year and 1855 he brought out his most con- 
siderable contributions to systematic zoology, his monographs 
on the Cirripedia and the fossil Lepadide. 
We come to the first publication of what is now known as 
Darwinism. It consists of a sketch of the doctrine of Nat- 
ural Selection, which was drawn up in the year 1839, and 
copied and communicated to Messrs. Lyell and Hooker in 
