1869.] FIFTH EDITION OF THE 'ORIGIN.' 28^ 



[It was in November of this year that he sat for the bust 

 by Mr. Woolner : he wrote : 



"I should have written long ago, but I have been pestered 

 with stupid letters, and am undergoing the purgatory of sit- 

 ting for hours to Woolner, who, however, is wonderfully pleas- 

 ant, and lightens as much as man can, the penance ; as far as 

 I can judge, it will make a fine bust." 



If I may criticise the work of so eminent a sculptor as 

 Mr. Woolner, I should say that the point in which the bust 

 fails somewhat as a portrait, is that it has a certain air, 

 almost of pomposity, which seems to me foreign to my fa- 

 ther's expression.] 



1869. 



[At the beginning of the year he was at work in preparing 

 the fifth edition of the 'Origin.' This work was begun on 

 the day after Christmas, 1868, and was continued for "forty- 

 six days," as he notes in his diary, i.e. until February loth, 

 1869. He then, February nth, returned to Sexual Selection, 

 and continued at this subject (excepting for ten days given 

 up to Orchids, and a week in London), until June loth, when 

 he went with his family to North Wales, where he remained 

 about seven weeks, returning to Down on July 3ist. 



Caerdeon, the house where he stayed, is built on the north 

 shore of the beautiful Barmouth estuary, and is pleasantly 

 placed, in being close to wild hill country behind, as well as 

 to the picturesque wooded " hummocks," between the steeper 

 hills and the river. My father was ill and somewhat de- 

 pressed throughout this visit, and I think felt saddened at 

 being imprisoned by his want of strength, and unable even to 

 reach the hills over which he had once wandered for days 

 together. 



He wrote from Caerdeon to Sir J. D. Hooker (June 

 22nd) : 



" We have been here for ten days, how I wish it was pos- 

 sible for you to pay us a visit here ; we have a beautiful 

 house with a terraced garden, and a really magnificent view 



