Part 2 (1/2)

During these two years I also went a little into society, and acted as one of the honorary secretaries of the Geological Society I saw a great deal of Lyell One of his chief characteristics was his sympathy with the work of others, and I was as hted at the interest which he shohen, on land, I explained to hireatly, and his advice and exaood deal of Robert Brown; I used often to call and sit with his, and he poured forth a rich treasure of curious observations and acute remarks, but they almost always related to eneral questions in science

During these two years I took several short excursions as a relaxation, and one longer one to the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, an account of which was published in the 'Philosophical Transactions' (1839, pages 39-82) This paper was a great failure, and I a been deeply impressed hat I had seen of the elevation of the land of South America, I attributed the parallel lines to the action of the sea; but I had to give up this viehen Agassiz propounded his glacier-lake theory Because no other explanation was possible under our then state of knowledge, I argued in favour of sea-action; and ood lesson to me never to trust in science to the principle of exclusion

As I was not able to work all day at science, I read a good deal during these two years on various subjects, including some metaphysical books; but I was not well fitted for such studies About this tie's poetry; and can boast that I read the 'Excursion' twice through Formerly Milton's 'Paradise Lost'

had been e of the ”Beagle”, when I could take only a single volume, I always chose Milton

FROM MY MARRIAGE, JANUARY 29, 1839, AND RESIDENCE IN UPPER GOWER STREET, TO OUR LEAVING LONDON AND SETTLING AT DOWN, SEPTEMBER 14, 1842

(After speaking of his happy married life, and of his children, he continues:--)

During the three years and eight months whilst we resided in London, I did less scientific work, though I worked as hard as I possibly could, than during any other equal length of ti unwellness, and to one long and serious illness

The greater part of , was devoted to e, and of which the last proof-sheet was corrected on May 6th, 1842 This book, though a small one, cost me twenty months of hard work, as I had to read every work on the islands of the Pacific and to consult hly of by scientific iven is, I think, noell established

No other work of un in so deductive a spirit as this, for the whole theory was thought out on the west coast of South America, before I had seen a true coral reef I had therefore only to verify and extendreefs But it should be observed that I had during the two previous years been incessantly attending to the effects on the shores of South Aether with denudation and the deposition of sediment This necessarily led me to reflect much on the effects of subsidence, and it was easy to replace in iination the continued deposition of sedirowth of corals To do this was to form my theory of the formation of barrier-reefs and atolls

Besidesical Society papers on the Erratic Boulders of South A Soc Proc' iii 1842), on Earthquakes ('Geolog

Trans v 1840), and on the For Soc Proc ii 1838) I also continued to superintend the publication of the 'Zoology of the Voyage of the ”Beagle”' Nor did I ever interin of species; and I could so else froer than I had been for some time, and took a little tour bythe effects of the old glaciers which forer valleys I published a short account of what I saw in the 'Philosophical Magazine' ('Philosophical Magazine,' 1842) This excursion interested h to clieological work

During the early part of our life in London, I was strong enough to go into general society, and saw a good deal of several scientific ive h I have little to say worth saying

I saw more of Lyell than of any other e His mind was characterised, as it appeared to ood deal of originality When I y, he never rested until he saw the whole case clearly, and often made me see it more clearly than I had done before He would advance all possible objections toremain dubious A second characteristic was his hearty syht repetition here observable is accounted for by the notes on Lyell, etc, having been added in April, 1881, a few years after the rest of the 'Recollections' ritten)

On le”, I explained to him reatly surprised and encouraged by the vivid interest which he showed His delight in science was ardent, and he felt the keenest interest in the future progress of hly liberal in his religious beliefs, or rather disbeliefs; but he was a strong theist His candour was highly re a convert to the Descent theory, though he had gained rown old He remindedthe opposition of the old school of geologists to his nes, ”What a good thing it would be if every scientific man was to die when sixty years old, as afterwards he would be sure to oppose all new doctrines”

But he hoped that now he y is enormously indebted to Lyell--more so, as I believe, than to any other e of the ”Beagle”, the sagacious Hensloho, like all other geologists, believed at that tiet and study the first volume of the 'Principles,' which had then just been published, but on no account to accept the views therein advocated How differently would anyone now speak of the 'Principles'! I ao, in the Cape de Verde archipelago, in which I geologised, convinced me of the infinite superiority of Lyell's views over those advocated in any other work known to me

The powerful effects of Lyell's works could forress of the science in France and England The present total oblivion of Elie de Beaumont's wild hypotheses, such as his 'Craters of Elevation' and 'Lines of Elevation' (which latter hypothesis I heard Sedgwick at the Geological Society lauding to the skies), ood deal of Robert Brown, ”facile Princeps Botanicorum,” as he was called by Humboldt He seemed to me to be chiefly remarkable for the minuteness of his observations, and their perfect accuracy His knowledge was extraordinarily great, anda e to ely jealous on soe of the ”Beagle”, and on one occasion he asked h a microscope and describe what I saw This I did, and believe now that it was the etable cell I then asked him what I had seen; but he answered me, ”That is enerous actions When old, much out of health, and quite unfit for any exertion, he daily visited (as Hooker told me) an old man-servant, who lived at a distance (and whoh to ree of scientific penuriousness or jealousy

I may here mention a few other eminent men, whom I have occasionally seen, but I have little to say about theh reverence for Sir J Herschel, and was delighted to dine with hi house at the Cape of Good Hope, and afterwards at his London house I saw him, also, on a few other occasions He never talkedto

I once met at breakfast at Sir R Murchison's house the illustrious Hu a wish to see reat h I can re distinctly about our interview, except that Humboldt was very cheerful and talked h Wedgwood's I was very glad to learn froht all the books which he read, and ht prove serviceable to him, and that he could always re, for his e what facts would be serviceable, and he answered that he did not know, but that a sort of instinct guided hiive the astonishi+ng number of references on all sorts of subjects, which may be found in his 'History of Civilisation' This book I thought eneralisations are worth anything Buckle was a great talker, and I listened to hi hardly a word, nor indeed could I have done so for he left no gaps When Mrs Farrer began to sing, I jumped up and said that I must listen to her; after I had moved away he turned around to a friend and said (as was overheard by my brother), ”Well, Mr

Darwin's books are reat literary men, I onceinexplicably a in every hich he uttered Perhaps this was partly due to the expectation of being a about Lady Cork, as then extremely old This was the lady who, as he said, was once so much affected by one of his charity seruinea froenerally believed that my dear old friend Lady Cork has been overlooked,” and he said this in such a manner that no one could for a moment doubt that he meant that his dear old friend had been overlooked by the devil How he ed to express this I know not

I likewise once met Macaulay at Lord Stanhope's (the historian's) house, and as there was only one otherhireeable He did not talk at all tooas he allowed others to turn the stream of his conversation, and this he did allow

Lord Stanhope once gave me a curious little proof of the accuracy and fulness of Macaulay's memory: many historians used often tovarious subjects they would sometimes differ from Macaulay, and forht; but latterly, as Lord Stanhope noticed, no historian ever took this trouble, and whatever Macaulay said was final