Life and Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1Darwin, Charles
History
Life and Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1
Darwin, Charles
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882; Naturalists -- Great Britain -- Biography; Naturalists -- Great Britain -- Correspondence
A visit which Charles Darwin made to Shrewsbury in 1869 left on the mind
of his daughter who accompanied him a strong impression of his love for
his old home. The then tenant of the Mount showed them over the house,
etc., and with mistaken hospitality remained with the party during the
whole visit. As they were leaving, Charles Darwin said, with a pathetic
look of regret, "If I could have been left alone in that green-house
for five minutes, I know I should have been able to see my father in his
wheel-chair as vividly as if he had been there before me."
Perhaps this incident shows what I think is the truth, that the memory
of his father he loved the best, was that of him as an old man. Mrs.
Litchfield has noted down a few words which illustrate well his feeling
towards his father. She describes him as saying with the most tender
respect, "I think my father was a little unjust to me when I was young,
but afterwards I am thankful to think I became a prime favourite with
him." She has a vivid recollection of the expression of happy reverie
that accompanied these words, as if he were reviewing the whole
relation, and the remembrance left a deep sense of peace and gratitude.
What follows was added by Charles Darwin to his autobiographical
'Recollections,' and was written about 1877 or 1878.
"I may here add a few pages about my father, who was in many ways a
remarkable man.
"He was about 6 feet 2 inches in height, with broad shoulders, and very
corpulent, so that he was the largest man whom I ever saw. When he
last weighed himself, he was 24 stone, but afterwards increased much in
weight. His chief mental characteristics were his powers of observation
and his sympathy, neither of which have I ever seen exceeded or even
equalled. His sympathy was not only with the distresses of others, but
in a greater degree with the pleasures of all around him. This led him
to be always scheming to give pleasure to others, and, though hating
extravagance, to perform many generous actions. For instance, Mr. B--,
a small manufacturer in Shrewsbury, came to him one day, and said he
should be bankrupt unless he could at once borrow 10,000 pounds, but
that he was unable to give any legal security. My father heard his
reasons for believing that he could ultimately repay the money, and
from [his] intuitive perception of character felt sure that he was to
be trusted. So he advanced this sum, which was a very large one for him
while young, and was after a time repaid.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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