CHAPTER XVII. 



THE DARWIN FAMILY. 



The First Known Darwin — The Head of the Family — Natural-His- 

 tory Tastes — Poets, Doctors, and Military Men — Erasmus Dar- 

 win — Carlyle's Description of Erasmus — Evidences of Genius. 



E have seen that Darwin 

 possessed all the elements 

 of greatness ; that he was 

 not merely a hero of sci- 

 ence in name, but by vir- 

 tue of his attainments rose 

 to the highest eminence 

 among scientific men, and 

 in the broad field of natu- 

 ral history was the recog- 

 nised head and leader. 

 The ancestry of such a man has a peculiar interest, 

 especially after a review of the salient features of his 

 life. 



The name has been traced back to the year 1500, 

 when in Lincolnshire and some other counties it was 

 spelled Derwent, Darwen, and Darwynne. 



156 



