98 DARWINIANISM. 



soul, the accursed fact ! " " it riles me dreadfully ! " 

 " God knows, it is odious and damnable ! " " my ever- 

 lasting abstract, my confounded book has half - killed 

 me ; " " God help him if he tries to read it ! " " God only 

 knows what I shall make of it ! " " he floored me from 

 my ignorance, by Jove ! " " it rejoices the cockles of 

 my heart ! " " thank you for the dose of soft solder ! " 

 " it will be all nuts to me ! " " am I not a poor devil ? " 

 " I shall get more kicks than ha'pennies ! " " my most 

 frequent source of doubt was whether others would not 

 think this or that a God-created barnacle, and surely 

 deserved a name ; " " the devil take the whole book ; " 

 " it is a devil of a job ; " " after what these have said, 



I do not care a d n ;" "I am shut up, and can only 



d 11 the whole case ; " as " not going to show the white 



feather ; " "I can now afford to d n niy critics with 



ineffable complacency of mind." These, surely, are the 

 tones, not of the savant, but of the man of the world ; 

 and his manners, as described, are those to suit. " His 

 greeting was sailor-like," says Sir Joseph Hooker, " that 

 is, delightfully frank and cordial." " Total absence of 

 pretence or affectation," " absence of pose," " natural 

 and simple way " : of his father, Mr. Francis Darwin 

 has these expressions. From these experiences of the 

 world, the sweet blood of Mr. Darwin quite naturally 

 took in, so to speak, the gentleman as gentleman. The 

 whole intercourse and ways of him, even at home, were 

 instinct with the same principles and feeling. His own 

 daughter, Mrs. Litchfield, speaks so charmingly of " the 

 singular modesty and graciousness of his nature." As 

 she worked for him in correcting his proofs, she says, 

 " he was always so full of gratitude for the trouble 

 taken, and he used almost to excuse himself if he did 

 not agree with any correction." Referring to his long- 

 suffering on the raids of his children into the study 



