22 



THE DARWIN FAMILY. 



was a consideration, and his sparse utterances, sardonic often, 

 were a great amusement to her. *A perfect gentleman,' she 

 at once discerned him to be, and of sound worth and kindli- 

 ness in the most unaffected form." * 



Charles Darwin did not appreciate this sketch of his 

 brother ; he thought Carlyle had missed the essence of his 

 most lovable nature. 



I am tempted by the wish of illustrating further the 

 character of one so sincerely beloved by all Charles Darwin's 

 children, to reproduce a letter to the Spectator (Sept. 3, 1881) 

 by his cousin Miss Julia Wedgwood. 



" A portrait from Mr. Carlyle's portfolio not regretted by 

 any who loved the original, surely confers sufficient distinc- 

 tion to warrant a few words of notice, when the character 

 it depicts is withdrawn from mortal gaze. Erasmus, the only 

 brother of Charles Darwin, and the faithful and affectionate 

 old friend of both the Carlyles, has left a circle of mourners 

 who need no tribute from illustrious pen to embalm the 

 memory so dear to their hearts ; but a wider circle must 

 have felt some interest excited by that tribute, and may 

 receive with a certain attention the record of a unique and 

 indelible impression, even though it be made only on the 

 hearts of those who cannot bequeath it, and with whom, there- 

 fore, it must speedily pass away. They remember it with the 

 same distinctness as they remember a creation of genius ; it 

 has in like manner enriched and sweetened life, formed a 

 common meeting-point for those who had no other ; and, in 

 its strong fragrance of individuality, enforced that respect for 

 the idiosyncracies of human character without which moral 

 judgment is always hard and shallow, and often unjust. 

 Carlyle was one to find a peculiar enjoyment in the combina- 

 tion of liveliness and repose which gave his friend's society an 

 influence at once stimulating and soothing, and the warmth 



* Carlyle's ' Reminiscences,' vol. ii. p. 208. 



