356 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN. 



long walks together daily, Darwin being known as 

 "the man who walks with Henslow." 



Darwin said of this model teacher, years after- 

 ward, " He had a remarkable power of making the 

 young feel completely at ease with him ; though 

 we were all awe-struck with the amount of his 

 knowledge. Before I saw him, I heard one young 

 man sum up his attainments by simply saying that 

 he knew everything. When I reflect how immedi- 

 ately we felt at ease with a man older, and in 

 every way immensely our superior, I think it was 

 as much owing to the transparent sincerity of his 

 character as to his kindness of heart, and, perhaps, 

 even still more to a highly remarkable absence in 

 him of all self-consciousness. One perceived at 

 once that he never thought of his own varied 

 knowledge or clear intellect, but solely on the sub- 

 ject in hand. 



" Another charm which must have struck every 

 one was that his manner to old and distinguished 

 persons and to the youngest student was exactly 

 the same ; and to all he showed the same winning 

 courtesy. He would receive with interest the 

 most trifling observation in any branch of natural 

 history, and, however absurd a blunder one might 

 make, he pointed it out so clearly and kindly that 

 one left him no way disheartened, but only deter- 

 mined to be more accurate the next time. 



''His lectures on botany were universally popu- 

 lar, and as clear as daylight. So popular were 

 they that several of the older members of the 



