CHARLES DARWIN. 427 



Mr. Darwin lived a very quiet and uneventful life. In 

 1839 he married his eousin, Emma Wedgwood, who with five 

 sons and two daughters survives him ; he made his home on 

 the border of the little hamlet of Down, in Kent, — u a plain 

 but comfortable brick house in a few acres of pleasure-ground, 

 a pleasantly old-fashioned air about it, with a sense of peace 

 and silence;" and here, attended by every blessing except 

 that of vigorous health, he lived the secluded but busy life 

 which best suited his chosen pursuits and the simplicity of 

 his character. He was seldom seen even at scientific meet- 

 ings, and never in general society ; but he could welcome his 

 friends and fellow-workers to his own house, where he was the 

 most charming of hosts. 



At his home, without distraction and as continuously as his 

 bodily powers would permit, Mr. Darwin gave himself to his 

 work. At least ten of his scientific papers, of greater or less 

 extent, had appeared in the three years between his return to 

 England and his marriage ; and in the latter year (1S39) he 

 published the book by which he became popularly known, 

 namely, the " Journal of Researches into the Natural History 

 and Geology of the Countries visited during the Voyage of 

 the Beagle," which has been pronounced ik the most entertain- 

 ing book of genuine travels ever written," and it certainly is 

 one of the most instructive. His work on "Coral Reefs" 

 appeared in 1842, but the substance had been communicated 

 to the Geological Society soon after his return to England ; 

 his papers on "Volcanic Islands," on the "Distribution of 

 Erratic Boulders and Contemporaneous Unstratified Deposits 

 in South America," on the "Fine Dust which falls on Ves- 

 sels in the Atlantic Ocean," and some other geological as well 

 as zoological researches, were published previously t<» L851. 

 Between that year and 185') he brought out his most con- 

 siderable contributions to systematic zoology, his monographs 

 on the Cirripedia and the fossil Lepadids. 



We come to the first publication of what is now known as 

 Darwinism. It consists of a sketch of the doctrine of Nat- 

 ural Selection, which was drawn up in the year 1839, and 



copied and communicated to Messrs. Lyell and Hooker in 



