THE DARWIN CENTENARY 467 



n the annus mirabilis 1809, Darwin, least in the public eye, 

 jame to have the profoundest influence in the world, trans- 

 3ending, beyond all others, the limits of his own country and 

 bis own lifetime. It was fitting that this honour should be 

 paid to his memory and his enduring inspiration by Cambridge, 

 his old University, where, if Darwin himself had profited 

 little save by Henslow's direction of his bent towards science, 

 science had since sprung up lustily under the Darwinian im- 

 pulse, and a strong personal link with his name was kept up 

 by the active work in the University of his distinguished sons. 



The proceedings extended over three days, the 22nd, 23rd, 

 and 24th of June ; 1500 invitations were sent out. The first 

 evening there was a reception by the Chancellor, Lord Rayleigh, 

 in the Fitzwilliam Museum. Next morning, a presentation 

 of addresses by delegates of Universities, Colleges, Academies, 

 and Learned Societies, in the Senate House ; in the afternoon, 

 a garden party at Christ's College ; in the evening, a banquet 

 in the New Examination Hall, followed by a reception at 

 Pembroke. On the Thursday, honorary degrees were conferred 

 in the Senate House ; the Rede Lecture delivered by Sir 

 Archibald Geikie, P.R.S., and in the afternoon a garden party 

 given by the members of the Darwin family in Trinity College. 

 There was an exhibition also of portraits, books, and other 

 objects of interest in connexion with Darwin, in the Old 

 Library of Christ's, his own College. 



It was a brilliant function, resplendent with the bright 

 and many coloured academic robes of various distinctions from 

 a hundred seats of learning in every quarter of the civilised 

 world. Of the guests who represented science at large or 

 some personal link with the Darwin tradition, over five hundred 

 sat down to the great banquet, a polyglot assembly keyed to 

 the highest appreciation, where the admirable interest of 

 Mr. Balfour's historic speech was only eclipsed by the sense 

 of personal charm in Mr. W. E. Darwin's reminiscences of his 

 father. Simple, direct, instinct with the same rich, unassuming 

 humanity that they affectionately depicted, his words seemed 

 to reveal from a still living source the very qualities of his 

 father. ' Now,' one who had met Darwin whispered to his 



