788 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



The close of the year 1790 

 brought a scTer« trial to the stoical 

 fortitude oi' Dr. Darwin. From tho 

 period of liis second niarricige all 

 had been sunshine in his fortune, 

 his fame, and domestic connections ; 

 but then a storm descended upon 

 his peace ; unforeseen, sudden, 

 dreadful ! His eldest son, Mr. 

 Darwin, so prosperously situated, 

 without one adequate cause for 

 even transient afllietion, became the 

 victim of secret and utter despair. 

 It had often been observed that any 

 more than ordinary recurrence to 

 professional business pi'rplexcd and 

 oppressed him. A demand was 

 made that he should arrange and 

 settle some complicated accompts, 

 which a disposition to procrastinate 

 had too long delayed. A disposi- 

 tion which is always, iu a greater or 

 lesser degree, punished by its conse- 

 quences. Though a remote, it is the 

 most frequent cause of suicide, ac- 

 cumulating debts till their entangle- 

 ment becomes inextricable, their 

 weight too heavy to be bortie. But 

 in this case it had produced or.ly an 

 accumulation of business. J'rom 

 the necessity of entering upon it, 

 Mr. Darwin had seemed to shrink 

 with so much dejection of spirit, as 

 to induce his parlm^r to entreat that 

 he would leave the inspection solely 

 to his management. Jle declined 

 the proposal, saying, in a faint 

 voice, that it was im|)ossiblc. 



This was on a December evening, 

 cold and stormy. The river Der- 

 \«ent, which ran at the bottom of 

 his garden, was partially frozen. 

 About seven o'clock he sent his 

 partner out of the May on business, 

 real or pretended. Mr. Darwin was 

 on tl»e couch, complaining of the 

 kead-ach- Soon after eight his part- 



* It must in candour be here remarked, 

 aHV^G ii»s silice been given. 



ncr returning, found the parlour va- 

 cant. He went to Mr. D's. up- 

 stair apartment ; vacant also — en- 

 quired of the servants; they had 

 not seen their master since this gen- 

 tleman v.ent out, an hour before. ■ 

 He waited a few minutes, expecting 

 his friend's return from the garden. 

 Not appearing, a degree of appre- 

 heiiMon seized his mind. He ran 

 thither, and in the walk which leads 

 to the river, he found Mr. Darwin's 

 hat and neckcloth. Alarm was im- 

 mediately given, and boats were 

 sent out. Dr. Darwin had been 

 summoned, He staid a long time 

 on the brink of the water, appa- 

 rently calm and collected, but 

 doubtless suliering the most tortur- 

 ing anxiety. The body could not 

 be found till the next day. When 

 tiie doctor received information that 

 it was found, he exclaimed, in alow 

 voice, " Poor insane coward!" and 

 it is said, never afterwards men- 

 tioned the subject. It excited, 

 however, universal surprise to see 

 him walking along 'J\c streets of 

 -Derby the day after the funeral of 

 his son, with a serene countenance, 

 and his usual cheerfulness of ad- 

 diess. This self-command enabled 

 him to tukeinmiediate possession of 

 the premises bequeathed to him ; to 

 lay plans for their improvement ; to 

 take pleasure in describing those 

 plans to his acquaintance; and to 

 determine to make it his future resi- 

 dence; and all this without seeming 

 to recoiled to how sad an event he 

 owed their possession ! 



The folly of suflering our imagi- 

 nation to dwell on past and irre- 

 trievable misfortunes, and of in- 

 dulging fruitless grief, he often 

 jjointed out, and always censured. 

 He relied much on self-discipline in 



that 

 that a difiercnt statement of this circunf 



