194 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 



power of God. That the beginning of all things 

 was a little while ago, is another phase of the same 

 idea, as is the idea of a Special Creation for every 

 form of animals and plants. A Chinese sage, 

 whose words remain, but whose name has been lost 

 in the ages between him and us, has said : '* He 

 cannot be concealed ; he will appear without show- 

 ing himself, effect renovation without moving, and 

 create perfection without acting. It is the law of 

 heaven and earth, whose way is solid, substantial, 

 vast, and unchanging." 



Not long ago I walked across the Kentish 

 pastures to the little village of Down. I visited 

 Darwin's home, a stately old-fashioned country 

 mansion surrounded by trees and shut in by an 

 ivy-covered wall. I talked with the villagers, who 

 had been his neighbors all their lives, and to 

 whom he was not the world-renowned naturalist, 

 but the good gray man whom everybody knew and 

 loved. I learned some things which the books do 

 not tell us of his simple, kindly ways, his warm 

 friendships, and his quiet but wide-reaching chari- 

 ties. I have from this a clearer picture of Darwin 

 as he really was. His love for his wife and chil- 

 dren, his love for birds and flowers and trees, his 

 love for simplicity and truth, — all these stand as 

 the clear background before which rises the noblest 

 work in science. 



Twenty-five years ago, obloquy, ridicule, and 

 abuse were heaped on the name of Darwin from all 

 sides, sometimes even from his scientific associates. 

 He has outlived it all, and two years ago his mother 

 country paid him the highest tribute in her power. 



