388 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OS 



his friend Emerson, ' Monsters.' To both of them ' the 

 blowing clover and the falling rain ' were the true 

 miracles. Napoleon gazing at the stars, and gravelling 

 his savants with the question : ' Gentlemen, who made 

 all that ? ' commended itself to their common sympathy, 

 It was the illegitimate science which, in its claims, 

 overstepped its warrant professing to explain every- 

 thing, and to sweep the universe clear of mystery that 

 was really repugnant to Carlyle. 



Here a personal recollection comes into view which, 

 as it throws a pleasant light on the relations of Carlyle 

 and Darwin, may be worth recording. Like many 

 other noble ladies, Lady Derby was a warm friend of 

 Carlyle ; and once, during an entire summer, Keston 

 Lodge was placed by Lord Derby at Carlyle's disposal. 

 From the seat of our common friend, Sir John Lubbock, 

 where we had been staying, the much-mourned William 

 Spottiswoode and myself once walked over to the Lodge 

 to see Carlyle. He was absent; but as we returned 

 we met him and his niece, the present Mrs. Alexander 

 Carlyle, 1 driving home in a pony carriage. I had 

 often expressed to him the wish that he and Darwin 

 might meet ; for it could not be doubted that the nobly 

 candid character of the great naturalist would make 

 its due impression. The wish was fulfilled. He 

 met us with the exclamation : 'Well, I have been to 

 gee Darwin.' He paused, and I expressed my delight. 

 * Yes,' he added, ' I have been to see him, and a moro 

 charming man I have never met in my life.' 



The sad years rolled on, and I began at length to 

 notice a lowering of his power of conversation, and a 



1 To whom he was indebted not only for her affectionate care 

 of his health, but occasionally, in later years, for wise counsel where 

 his own faltering judgment might have led him wrong. 



