130 GEORGE JOHN ROMANES I881- 



One evening Mr. Eomanes personally ' conducted ' 

 Mr. Darwin to the Eoyal Institution to hear a lec- 

 ture by Dr. Sanderson on 'Dionsea.' A burst of 

 applause greeted Mr. Darwin's entrance, much to that 

 great man's surprise. Earlier in the day he had half 

 timidly asked Mr. Eomanes if there would be room 

 at the Eoyal Institution for him. 



In 1882 came the great sorrow of Mr. Darwin's 

 death. The following letters show something of 

 what the loss was to the ardent disciple, the loyal- 

 hearted friend. 



To Francis Darwin, Esq. 



18 Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W. : April 22, 1882. 



My dear Darwin, — I did not write because I 

 thought it might trouble you, but I sent some flowers 

 yesterday which did not require acknowledgment. 



Even you, I do not think, can know all that this 

 death means to me. I have long dreaded the time, 

 and now that it has come it is worse than I could 

 anticipate. Even the death of my own father — 

 though I loved him deeply, and though it was more 

 sudden, did not leave a desolation so terrible. Half 

 the interest of my hfe seems to have gone when I 

 cannot look forward any more to his dear voice of 

 welcome, or to the letters that were my greatest hap- 

 piness. For now there is no one to venerate, no one 

 to work for, or to think about while working. I 

 always knew that I was leaning on these feehngs too 

 much, but I could not try to prevent them, and so at 

 last I am left with a loneliness that never can be 

 filled. And when I think how grand and generous 

 his kindness was to me, grief is no word for my loss. 



