Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1905-01-27
A Genial Philosopher.

VIII ALr tilullAls-ANfA aA1 a-N NNN+
Of the modern theory ~ evolution were
born. strange TO say. on the same day.
Feb. II. 1873. The beauty and sim
plIcity Of parwin's character were al
most a. unique as his slteilectual
achievements. lie was man or
means. with leisure at his command,
who was more absorbed In constant
and exhausting labors than are most
men who must earn their bread. He
detested cowardice and evasion. He
wrote with perfect eiearness and SIN
certify. furnishing "the most remark
able example Of persuasive style in the
English language" lie had keen
sense Of humor and enjoyed joke
with bOyish heartiness. l.ankester re-
calls him in his later years sitting at
his home in Down in his high seated
armchair and while laughing at some
JOKE or story slapping his thigh with
his right hand and eXclaiming hearth
ly: 'Oh, by Jove. that's very good.
That's capital" His success he greet
cd with omen delight He had none Of
the solemnity of the inflated reformer.
lie ehuckled gayly." says Lancaster,
over the spread of his views, almost
as sportsman may rejoice in the tri-
umphs OF his racer. His delight in his
work and its success was of the perfect
and natural kind, which he could COM
municate to his wife and daughters
and might have been shared by
child" The key TO his character was
genuineness. He made no pretensions.
| lie declared that he had no taste for
| literature but liked story, especially
about a pretty girl, and he would only
read those In which all ended well.
Authors of stories ending In death or
failure ought. he declared, TO be hung!
| He attributed his success as scientific
man to 1.-The love of science, unbounded
patience In long rejecting over any
subject. industry In observing and col
lecting facts and a fair share Of in
venton as we'll as common sense"
OF his tenderness let this private
memorandum of his own, written few
days after the death OF his little daugh-
ter Annie. speak:
Our poor child Annie was born in Cover
| street on March 2. 1871. and expired at
Malvern Mt midday on the 23d OF April
| 1851.
! write these few pages. as ! think in
after years, II we live. the Impressions
now put down will recall more wildly
her chief characteristics. From whatever
point look back at her, the main feature
in her disposition which at once rises be-
fore me is her buoyant joyousness tenn
pered by two other characteristics-name
ly, her constituencies. which might easily
have been overlooked by stranger. and
her strong affection. Her toyousness and
animal spirits radiated from her whole
countenance and rendered every move
ment elastic and full of life and vigor
1t was delightful and cheerful TO behold
her. Her dear face now rises before me
as she used sometimes to come running
| downstairs with a stolen pinch of SNUFF
for me. her whole form radiant with the
pleasure of giving pleasure. Even when
playing with her cousins, when her Joy
business almost passed into boisterousness.
single glance of my eye. not of displeas-
ure-for l thank God I hardly ever cast
one on her-but of want OF sympathy.
would for some minutes alter her whole
countenGHce.
The other point In her character which
made her joyousness and spirits SO de-
lightful was her strong affection. which
was of a most clinging, fondling nature.
When quite baby this showed itself In
never being easy without touching her
mother when in bed with her. and quite
lately she would when poorly, fondle for
any length of time one OF her mothers
arms When very unwell, her mother
lying down beside her seemed to soothe
her in a manner quite different from what
1t would have done to any Of our other
children. So again she would at almost
any time spend half an hour in arrang-
ing my hair. making IT," as she called II,
beautiful" or in smoothing (the poor.
dear darlingO my collar or cuffs-in short,
in fondling me.
Besides her joyousness thus tempered,
she was In her manners remarkably cor
dial, frank. open. straightforward. nat
ural and without any shade of reserve.
Her whole mind was pure and transpar-
ent. One felt one knew her thoroughly
and could trust her I always thought
that, come what might. we should have
nau IN our Ola age al least one loving
soul which nothing could have changed.
All her movements were vigorous active
and usually graceful. When going round
| the sand walk with me. although walk
ed fast yet she often used to go before,
pirouetting in the most elegant way, her
dear face bright all the time with the
sweetest smiles. Occasionally she had
pretty, coquettish manner toward me, the
memory of which Ia charming. She often
tad lapu nd w 7
Quizzed her by exaggerating what she
had said, how clearly can / now see the
little toss of the head and exclamation Of
oh. papa, what q shame of your In
the last short illness her conduct. in sim
pie truth was angelic. She never once
complained never became fretful, was
ever considerate Of others and was thank
full in the most gentle. pathetic manner
for everything done for her When so
exhausted that she could hardly speak,
she praised everything that was given
her and said some tea was beautifully
good" When l gave her some water she
said, Il quite thank you" and these,
: believe. were the last precious words ever
addressed by her dear lips TO me.
We have lost the joy of the household
and the solace Of our old age. She must
have known how we loved her. Oh. that
she could now know how deeply. how ten
derby. we do still and shall ever love her
dear. joyous facet Blessings on her!
April 80 1sR1