at man looks to his smaller
neighbors.
The landlord of the "George Inn" said that "all the people wished to
have Mr. Darwin buried in Down, but the government would not let them.
It would have helped the place so much. It would have brought hosts of
people down to see his grave. Especially it would have helped the hotel
business which is pretty dull in winter time.
"Mr. Darwin was a very fine-looking man. He had a high forehead and wore
a long beard. Still, if you had met him on the street, perhaps, you
would not have taken much notice of him unless you knew that he was a
clever man."
"Sir John Lubbock (Darwin's friend and near neighbor) is a very clever
man, too, but not so clever nor so remarkable-looking as Mr. Darwin. He
is very fond of hants (ants), and plants, and things."
At Keston, three miles from Down, the landlady of the Grayhound had
never heard of Mr. Darwin until after his death. There was then
considerable talk about his being buried in Westminster, but nothing was
said of him before.
Several persons had considerable to say of Mr. Darwin's extensive and
judicious charity to the poor. To Mr. Parslow, for many years his
personal servant, Mr. Darwin gave a life pension of L50, and the rent of
the handsome "Home Cottage" in Down. During the time of a water famine
in that region, he used to ride about on horseback to see who needed
water, and had it brought to them at his own expense from the stream at
St. Mary's Cray.
"He was," said Mr. Parslow, "a very social, nice sort of a gentleman,
very joking and jolly indeed; a good husband and a good father and a
most excellent master. Even his footmen used to stay with him as long as
five years. They would rather stay with him than take a higher salary
somewhere else. The cook came there while young and stayed there till
his death, nearly thirty years later.
"Mrs Darwin is a pleasant lady, a year older than her husband. Their
boys are all jolly, nice young fellows. All have turned out so well, not
one of them rackety, you know. Seven children out of the ten are now
living.
"George Darwin is now a professor in Oxford. He was a barrister at
first; had his wig and gown and all, but had to give it up on account of
bad health. He would have made a hornament to the profession.
"Francis Darwin is a doctor, and used to work with his father in the
greenhouse. He is soon to marry a lady who lectures on Botany in Oxford.
"For the first twenty years after
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