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VISIT TO DARWIN - On Friday, June 9, I went out to Down, Beckenham, Kent to see Mr. Charles Darwin, having previously written to him to see if it would be convenient and received an invitation to come down by the morning train and lunch with him. The South Eastern Railway took me down in half an hour to Orpington Station, which is four miles from Down, his place of residence. From the station I took a cab and reached his house in 40 minutes. He received me very politely and cordially. His house is pleasantly situated just beyond the village in an extremely rural position; in other words it is a charming country home. Mr. Darwin is about 65, and rather infirm, but a man of strong frame, and very intelligent features. He is extremely sociable and agreeable. Instead of a stiff time which I rather expected I had a most delightful visit. His wife is very pleasant and so is his daughter Emma, who acts as his amanuensis. He has also five sons, two of whom are about to visit the United States. The house is commodious and handsomely furnished, and the grounds around it very beautiful. The trees are luxuriant and unusually numerous even for England in the region around Down. It is one of the prettiest sections of England, which abounds in fine

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localities. Mr. Darwin referred to my Beaver Book in very cordial terms. He said he thought it had been badly managed as he had found very few persons who had heard of it. I told him 29 copies had supplied the English demand the last I had heard of the sales. He also referred to my work on Consanguinity of which I sent him the last chapter last fall. After commenting upon the originality of the investigation, and the interesting character of the results, he remarked that it would stand to the end of time, although some of the conclusions might be modified. He further said he had read every word of it, but found it difficult to follow the relationships. That Sir John Lubbock proposed to give a lecture upon the subject last winter and asked his advice, whereupon he cautioned him against it for the reason that his audience would not be able to follow him. I told him it argued unfavorably for the reception of the work if it was to be understood with so much difficulty, but that I thought with the diagrams and tables which he had not seen, and with the general explanations there would be no difficulty. We conversed upon a good many subjects during the brief two hours or a little less the visit lasted, and I left him very much impressed with the excellence of his character and his geniality. I learned from him that Maclennan was now a resident of London, and received from Mr. Darwin his address today. When I return from Paris I intend to find him. Mrs. Darwin and their daughter Emma are both very agreeable. His home in every sense seems to be a happy one. He wears a long beard which is now quite gray. After an excellent dinner he sent me down to the station in his carriage. He keeps two men servants as house servants and a coachman besides, and from what I saw I am glad to know that he is in prosperous circumstances. He said Mr. Appleton occasionally made him a remittance on account of sales of his books in the United States. I told him my experience had been uniformly out of pocket. He kept the conversation more upon my own subjects that upon his own which was fortunate for me as I should soon have been stranded in the discussion of his great themes. (v:91-92)