Volume II Part 48 (1/2)
John Collier, for the portrait now in the possession of the Society.
Of the artist, he wrote, ”Collier was the most considerate, kind and pleasant painter a sitter could desire.” The portrait represents him standing facing the observer in the loose cloak so familiar to those who knew him, and with his slouch hat in his hand. Many of those who knew his face most intimately, think that Mr. Collier's picture is the best of the portraits, and in this judgment the sitter himself was inclined to agree. According to my feeling it is not so simple or strong a representation of him as that given by Mr. Ouless. There is a certain expression in Mr. Collier's portrait which I am inclined to consider an exaggeration of the almost painful expression which Professor Cohn has described in my father's face, and which he had previously noticed in Humboldt. Professor Cohn's remarks occur in a pleasantly written account of a visit to Down in 1876, published in the ”Breslauer Zeitung”, April 23, 1882. (In this connection may be mentioned a visit (1881) from another distinguished German, Hans Richter. The occurrence is otherwise worthy of mention, inasmuch as it led to the publication, after my father's death, of Herr Richter's recollections of the visit. The sketch is simply and sympathetically written, and the author has succeeded in giving a true picture of my father as he lived at Down. It appeared in the ”Neue Tagblatt” of Vienna, and was republished by Dr. O. Zacharias in his 'Charles R. Darwin,' Berlin, 1882.)
Besides the Cambridge degree, he received about the same time honours of an academic kind from some foreign societies.
On August 5, 1878, he was elected a Corresponding Member of the French Inst.i.tute (”Lyell always spoke of it as a great scandal that Darwin was so long kept out of the French Inst.i.tute. As he said, even if the development hypothesis were objected to, Darwin's original works on Coral Reefs, the Cirripedia, and other subjects, const.i.tuted a more than sufficient claim”--From Professor Judd's notes.), in the Botanical Section, and wrote to Dr. Asa Gray:--
”I see that we are both elected Corresponding Members of the Inst.i.tute.
It is rather a good joke that I should be elected in the Botanical Section, as the extent of my knowledge is little more than that a daisy is a Compositous plant and a pea a Leguminous one.”
(The statement has been more than once published that he was elected to the Zoological Section, but this was not the case.
He received twenty-six votes out of a possible 39, five blank papers were sent in, and eight votes were recorded for the other candidates.
In 1872 an attempt had been made to elect him to the Section of Zoology, when, however, he only received 15 out of 48 votes, and Loven was chosen for the vacant place. It appears ('Nature,' August 1, 1872) that an eminent member of the Academy wrote to ”Les Mondes” to the following effect:--
”What has closed the doors of the Academy to Mr. Darwin is that the science of those of his books which have made his chief t.i.tle to fame-the 'Origin of Species,' and still more the 'Descent of Man,'
is not science, but a ma.s.s of a.s.sertions and absolutely gratuitous hypotheses, often evidently fallacious. This kind of publication and these theories are a bad example, which a body that respects itself cannot encourage.”)
In the early part of the same year he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, and he wrote (March 12) to Professor Du Bois Reymond, who had proposed him for election:--
”I thank you sincerely for your most kind letter, in which you announce the great honour conferred on me. The knowledge of the names of the ill.u.s.trious men, who seconded the proposal is even a greater pleasure to me than the honour itself.”
The seconders were Helmholtz, Peters, Ewald, Pringsheim and Virchow.
In 1879 he received the Baly Medal of the Royal College of Physicians.
(The visit to London, necessitated by the presentation of the Baly Medal, was combined with a visit to Miss Forster's house at Abinger, in Surrey, and this was the occasion of the following characteristic letter:--”I must write a few words to thank you cordially for lending us your house. It was a most kind thought, and has pleased me greatly; but I know well that I do not deserve such kindness from any one. On the other hand, no one can be too kind to my dear wife, who is worth her weight in gold many times over, and she was anxious that I should get some complete rest, and here I cannot rest. Your house will be a delightful haven and again I thank you truly.”)
Again in 1879 he received from the Royal Academy of Turin the ”Bressa”
prize for the years 1875-78, amounting to the sum of 12,000 francs.
In the following year he received on his birthday, as on previous occasions, a kind letter of congratulation from Dr. Dohrn of Naples. In writing (February 15th) to thank him and the other naturalists at the Zoological Station, my father added:--
”Perhaps you saw in the papers that the Turin Society honoured me to an extraordinary degree by awarding me the ”Bressa” Prize. Now it occurred to me that if your station wanted some pieces of apparatus, of about the value of 100 pounds, I should very much like to be allowed to pay for it. Will you be so kind as to keep this in mind, and if any want should occur to you, I would send you a cheque at any time.”
I find from my father's accounts that 100 pounds was presented to the Naples Station.
He received also several tokens of respect and sympathy of a more private character from various sources. With regard to such incidents and to the estimation of the public generally, his att.i.tude may be ill.u.s.trated by a pa.s.sage from a letter to Mr. Romanes:--(The lecture referred to was given at the Dublin meeting of the British a.s.sociation.)
”You have indeed pa.s.sed a most magnificent eulogium upon me, and I wonder that you were not afraid of hearing 'oh! oh!' or some other sign of disapprobation. Many persons think that what I have done in science has been much overrated, and I very often think so myself; but my comfort is that I have never consciously done anything to gain applause.
Enough and too much about my dear self.”
Among such expressions of regard he valued very highly the two photographic alb.u.ms received from Germany and Holland on his birthday, 1877. Herr Emil Rade of Munster, originated the idea of the German birthday gift, and undertook the necessary arrangements. To him my father wrote (February 16, 1877):--
”I hope that you will inform the one hundred and fifty-four men of science, including some of the most highly honoured names in the world, how grateful I am for their kindness and generous sympathy in having sent me their photographs on my birthday.”
To Professor Haeckel he wrote (February 16, 1877):--
The alb.u.m has just arrived quite safe. It is most superb. (The alb.u.m is magnificently bound and decorated with a beautifully illuminated t.i.tle page, the work of an artist, Herr A. Fitger of Bremen, who also contributed the dedicatory poem.) It is by far the greatest honour which I have ever received, and my satisfaction has been greatly enhanced by your most kind letter of February 9... I thank you all from my heart.