164 CAMBRIDGE. ^ETAT. 19-22. 



Erasmus and himself I have no means of knowing. Erasmus 

 the elder, their grandfather, had been at St. John's, and this 

 college might have been reasonably selected for them, being 

 connected with Shrewsbury School. But the life of an under- 

 graduate at St. John's seems, in those days, to have been a 

 troubled one, if I may judge from the fact that a relative 

 of mine migrated thence to Christ's to escape the harassing 

 discipline of the place. A story told by Mr. Herbert * illus- 

 trates the same state of things : 



" In the beginning of the October Term of 1830, an incident 

 occurred which was attended with somewhat disagreeable, 

 though ludicrous consequences to myself. Darwin asked me 

 to take a long walk with him in the Fens, to search for some 

 natural objects he was desirous of having. After a very long, 

 fatiguing day's work, we dined together, late in the evening, 

 at his rooms in Christ's College ; and as soon as our dinner 

 was over we threw ourselves into easy chairs and fell sound 

 asleep. I was the first to awake, about three in the morning, 

 when, having looked at my watch, and knowing the strict 

 rule of St. John's, which required men in statu pupillari to 

 come into college before midnight, I rushed homeward at the 

 utmost speed, in fear of the consequences, but hoping that 

 the Dean would accept the excuse as sufficient when I told 

 him the real facts. He, however, was inexorable, and refused 

 to receive my explanations, or any evidence I could bring ; 

 and although during my undergraduateship I had never been 

 reported for coming late into College, now, when I was a hard- 

 working B.A., and had five or six pupils, he sentenced me to 

 confinement to the College walls for the rest of the term. 

 Darwin's indignation knew no bounds, and the stupid injustice 

 and tyranny of the Dean raised not only a perfect ferment 

 among my friends, but was the subject of expostulation from 

 some of the leading members of the University." 



My father seems to have found no difficulty in living at 

 * See footnote, p. 49. 





