SIR JOHN LUBBOCK. 37 



yet most accessible of our public men. He comes 

 from a very good stock. The connection of the family 

 with the bank in Lombard Street dates back to 1750, 

 and in monetary matters Sir John has taken a most 

 active interest. 



His seat at High Elms, near Farnborough, Kent, 

 is beautifully situated in the midst of an estate of 

 some fifteen hundred acres. Here most of those 

 experiments with, and observations of, insects, Crus- 

 tacea, &c, have been carried on, and in these natural 

 history pursuits he has been greatly aided by 

 his daughters and nieces. The late Mr. Charles 

 Darwin, whose memory will be the more honoured 

 the more he is understood, was for a long time 

 a near neighbour of Sir John Lubbock, and 

 their frequent intercourse gave, no doubt, depth 

 and definiteness to the studies of Sir John, and in 

 the papers read before the various learned societies, 

 and in the books he has published, it is very 

 evident how greatly his mind was impregnated 

 with Darwin's theories and principles. 



In the very first speech made by him in 

 Parliament the subject under discussion was 

 education, and in the course of his speech he 

 said : " Every one who loves children must know 

 that they are eager for information — that they long 

 to understand the facts of nature, and how every 

 bird and beast and flower is a w r onder and a 

 delight to them." In 1S79 he made a motion in 

 the House of Commons for the introduction of 

 science-teaching into elementary schools. 



