440 THE BIOCOSMOS HISTORICAL. 



manner." The uncle lias distinctly glimpsed 

 the bent and possibly the genius of his 

 nephew, and moreover shows strong sympa- 

 thy with it, being eager to see it unfold ac- 

 cording to its own law. Eemove the lad from 

 his father who does not understand him; get 

 him out of England with its oppressive for- 

 mality and traditionalism; send him off to sea 

 where he will be turned loose upon the vast 

 realm of Nature in which he can revel to the 

 full of his spirit's debauchery: so must have 

 felt and thought Uncle Josh, who thus makes 

 himself the turning-point in the career of the 

 greatest modern Englishman. Henslow, the 

 warm friend, did much, very much for that 

 budding talent, and finally secured the offer 

 of just the right position for its further devel- 

 opment ; still all this had been in vain but for 

 the mediation of the uncle, or in the words of 

 Darwin: "It all depended on so small a cir- 

 cumstance as my uncle offering to drive me 

 thirty miles to Shrewsbury," in order to win 

 to the scheme the old doctor. A very brief 

 and mild memorandum has been preserved of 

 Wedgwood's opinion in the case which is 

 worth citing: "If I saw Charles now ab- 

 sorbed in professional duties (as clergyman), 

 I should probably think it would not be ad- 

 visable to interrupt them ; but this is not, and 

 I think, will not be, the case with him. His 



