INTRODUCTION 



IN the following pages I have tried to express a sense 

 of the greatness of ray subject by simplicity and 

 directness of statement. The limits of the work 

 necessarily prevented any detailed treatment, the 

 subject of the work prevented originality. We have 

 had the great " Life and Letters " with us for nine 

 years, and this I have used as a mine, extracting 

 what I believed to be the statements of chief im- 

 portance for the work in hand, and grouping them 

 so as to present what I hope is a connected account 

 of Darwin's life, when considered in relation to his 

 marvellous work; and especially to the great central 

 discovery of Natural Selection and its exposition in 

 the " Origin of Species." 



In addition to the invaluable volumes which we 

 owe to the industry, taste, and skill of Francis 

 Darwin, an immense number of other works have 

 been consulted. We live in an age of writing, and 

 of speeches and addresses ; and the many sides of 

 Darwin's life and work have again and again inspired 

 the ablest men of our time to write and speak their 

 best a justification for the freedom with which 

 quotations are spread over the following pages. 



