20 CHAKLES DARWIN. 



sketch without testifying, and I doubt not all his surviving 

 college friends would concur with me, that he was the most 

 genial, warm-hearted, generous and affectionate of friends; 

 that his sympathies were with all that was good and true; 

 and that he had a cordial hatred for everything false, or vile, 

 or cruel, or mean, or dishonourable. He was not only great, 

 but pre-eminently good, and just, and loveable." 



Two books greatly influenced Darwin — Hersdiel's 

 "Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy," 

 which, he said, " stirred up in me a burning zeal to 

 add even the most humble contribution to the 

 noble structure of Natural Science " ; and Humboldt's 

 " Personal Narrative," which roused in him the 

 longing to travel — a desire which was soon afterwards 

 gratified by his voyage in the Beagle. 



" Upon the whole," he says, " the three years 

 which I spent at Cambridge were the most joyful in 

 my happy life; for I was then in excellent health, 

 and almost always in high spirits." 



After passing his last examination, Darwin had 

 still two terms' residence to keep, and was advised by 

 Henslow to study geology. To this end Henslow 

 asked Sedgwick to allow Darwin to go with him on 

 a geological excursion in North Wales in August, 

 1831. He thus gained experience which was of the 

 utmost value during the voyage of the Beagle. 



