SIR GEORGE DARWIN 189 



my grief made him able to comfort me as 

 nobody else could. 



He took a transparent pleasure in the 

 honours that came to him, especially in his 

 membership of foreign Academies, in which 

 he and Sir David Gill had a friendly rivalry 

 or "race," as they called it. I think this 

 simplicity was one of his chief characteristics, 

 though most important of all was the great 

 warmth and width of his affections. He 

 would take endless trouble about his friends, 

 especially in going to see them if they were 

 lonely or ill ; and he was absolutely faithful 

 and generous in his love. 



After his mother came to live in Cambridge I 

 believe he hardly ever missed a day in going to see 

 her, even though he might only be able to stay a 

 few minutes. She lived at some distance off, and 

 he was often both busy and tired. This constancy 

 was very characteristic. It was shown once more 

 in his many visits to Jim Harradine, the marker at 

 the tennis court, on what proved to be his death-bed. 



His energy and his kindness of heart were shown 

 in many cases of distress. For instance, a guard 

 on the Great Northern Railway was robbed of his 

 savings by an absconding solicitor, and George 

 succeeded in collecting some £300 for him. In 

 later years, when his friend the guard became 

 bedridden, George often went to see him. Another 

 man whom he befriended was a one-legged man at 

 Balsham, whom he happened to notice in bicycling 

 past. He took the trouble to see the village 

 authorities, and succeeded in sending the man to 

 London to be fitted with an artificial leg. 



