Affection for his Children. 135 



patience and example of loving-kindness to all, in its 

 exhibition of gentleness. His married life was perfect 

 in its tender realisation of all that can come from the 

 mingling of well-adapted natures. To his children 

 Darwin was indulgent and kind, tender and sympa- 

 thetic ; he early gained their full love and confidence, 

 and always retained it. That he made them the 

 objects of his scientific investigations is shown by 

 his great work, "The Expression of the Emotions"; 

 yet that he had all the love and affection of the un- 

 scientific parent is seen in the following extract 

 from a letter written to a friend : " He (i.e., the baby) 

 is so charming that I cannot pretend to any mod- 

 esty. I defy anybody to flatter us on our baby, 

 for I defy anyone to say anything in its praise of 

 which we are not fully conscious. ... I had not 

 the smallest conception there was so much in a 

 five-months baby. You will perceive by this that 

 I have a fine degree of paternal fervour." His son 

 Francis states that he does not remember ever hear- 

 ing his father speak an angry word, yet the children 

 never thought of disobeying him. " I well remem- 

 ber," says his son, " one occasion when my father 

 reproved me for a piece of carelessness ; and I can 

 still recall the feeling of depression which came over 

 me, and the care which he took to disperse it by 

 speaking to me soon afterwards with especial kind- 

 ness. He kept up his delightful, affectionate man- 

 ner towards us all his life. I sometimes wonder 

 that he could do so, with such an undemonstrative 

 race as we are ; but I hope he knew how much we 

 delighted in his loving words and manner. How 



