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
The way he brought us up is shown by a little story about my brother
Leonard, which my father was fond of telling. He came into the
drawing-room and found Leonard dancing about on the sofa, which was
forbidden, for the sake of the springs, and said, "Oh, Lenny, Lenny,
that's against all rules," and received for answer, "Then I think you'd
better go out of the room." I do not believe he ever spoke an angry
word to any of his children in his life; but I am certain that it never
entered our heads to disobey him. I well remember one occasion when my
father reproved me for a piece of carelessness; and I can still recall
the feeling of depression which came over me, and the care which he took
to disperse it by speaking to me soon afterwards with especial kindness.
He kept up his delightful, affectionate manner towards us all his life.
I sometimes wonder that he could do so, with such an undemonstrative
race as we are; but I hope he knew how much we delighted in his loving
words and manner. How often, when a man, I have wished when my father
was behind my chair, that he would pass his hand over my hair, as he
used to do when I was a boy. He allowed his grown-up children to laugh
with and at him, and was, generally speaking, on terms of perfect
equality with us.
He was always full of interest about each one's plans or successes. We
used to laugh at him, and say he would not believe in his sons, because,
for instance, he would be a little doubtful about their taking some bit
of work for which he did not feel sure that they had knowledge enough.
On the other hand, he was only too much inclined to take a favourable
view of our work. When I thought he had set too high a value on anything
that I had done, he used to be indignant and inclined to explode in mock
anger. His doubts were part of his humility concerning what was in any
way connected with himself; his too favourable view of our work was due
to his sympathetic nature, which made him lenient to every one.
He kept up towards his children his delightful manner of expressing his
thanks; and I never wrote a letter, or read a page aloud to him, without
receiving a few kind words of recognition. His love and goodness towards
his little grandson Bernard were great; and he often spoke of the
pleasure it was to him to see "his little face opposite to him" at
luncheon. He and Bernard used to compare their tastes; e.g., in liking
brown sugar better than white, etc.; the result being, "We always agree,
don't we?"
My sister writes:--
"My first remembrances of my father are of the delights of his playing
with us. He was passionately attached to his own children, although
he was not an indiscriminate child-lover. To all of us he was the most
delightful play-fellow, and the most perfect sympathiser. Indeed it is
impossible adequately to describe how delightful a relation his was to
his family, whether as children or in their later life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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