20 LIFE OF 



ever, the boy entered Shrewsbury Grammar School, then 

 under Samuel Butler, afterwards Bishop of Lichfield. 

 Classics, as ever, formed the staple of the instruction there 

 afforded, and proved but little to the future naturalist's 

 taste. Unfortunately for the repute of English schools, 

 Charles Darwin was little benefited by his schooling; 

 and Euclid, then an extra subject, constituted, to his 

 mind, the only bit of real education Shrewsbury school 

 gave him. Seventy years later, the study of mother 

 earth and her teeming productions, which Darwin made 

 so attractive, is still but scantily represented in the in- 

 struction afforded by our great schools. 



Thus out of sympathy with the prevalent studies, the 

 youth showed no fondness for his schoolfellows' sports. 

 He was reserved, frequently lost in thought, and fond of 

 long solitary rambles, according to one schoolfellow, the 

 Rev. W. A. Leighton ; another, the Rev. John Yardley, 

 Vicar of St. Chad's, Shrewsbury, remembers him as 

 cheerful, good-tempered, and communicative. One of 

 the recorded incidents of his boyish days is a fall from 

 the old Shrewsbury wall, while walking in a " brown 

 study." Even at this early period he was fond of col- 

 lecting objects which many schoolboys delight in, such 

 as shells and minerals, seals, franks, and coins ; and the 

 mechanical aptitude derived from both the Danvins and 

 the Wedgwoods was manifested by keen interest in 

 mechanism. One especially remembered youthful treat 

 was when his uncle Josiah Wedgwood explained to 

 him the principle of the vernier. No doubt the pigeons, 

 the exotics, the shrubs and flowers of his father's grounds 

 impressed themselves indelibly on the boy's mind and 



