A. C. Seward. 
196 
my great age and consequent failing powers of memory and 
expression, 1 ought to undertake so grave a responsibility or occupy 
so prominent a position in a work of such enduring value as the 
memorial volume will be.” 
In a later letter he spoke of “ more than one inchoate attempt ” 
to write an introductory note, and added “my great difficulty is to 
avoid bringing myself too prominently forward, which is, however, 
I fear inevitable.” On being asked to insert a paragraph of a more 
personal nature, Sir Joseph replied, “With regard to the passage 
which you desiderate I had one such in my original, but struck it 
out as merely personal if not vainglorious. I have amended and 
enlarged it a little.” The passage is as follows:—“ I may add that 
by no one can the perusal of the Essays be more widely appreciated 
than by the writer of these lines. It was my privilege for forty 
years to possess the intimate friendship of Charles Darwin and to 
be his companion during many of his working hours in Study, 
Laboratory, and Garden. I was the recipient of letters from him, 
relating mainly to the progress of his researches, the copies of 
which . . . cover upwards of a thousand pages of foolscap, each page 
containing, on an average, three hundred words.” 1 
Sir Joseph was present at the Cambridge celebration in June, 
1909. An American Biologist thus describes his first meeting with 
the Naturalist:—“ My heart stood still for a moment to realize that 
this was Sir Joseph Hooker, the great botanist who was Darwin’s 
friend and adviser more that fifty years ago. I had never expected 
to look upon his face, but there he was, ninety-two years old, yet 
quite able to enjoy the proceedings and converse with those who 
were presented to him.” 2 
Since the death of Sir Joseph Hooker in December last, in his 
ninety-fifth year, many obituary notices have been published in 
which his services to science are reviewed; his friendship with 
Darwin, though frequently referred to, has not been treated with 
any degree of fulness. In the following pages an attempt is made, 
by quoting freely from the “ Life and Letters ” and from “ More 
Letters of Charles Darwin,” to give an outline sketch of a friendship 
which not only played an important part in determining the trend 
of biological thought at that time, but is a perfect example of 
uninterrupted confidence and affection over a period of forty years. 
As a preliminary, attention is drawn to the dates of some of 
1 Darwin and Modern Science (Cambridge, 1909), p. 2. 
3 “ The Darwin Celebration at Cambridge.” By Professor T. D. A. 
Cockerell: Popular Science Monthly, Jauuary, 1910. 
