barrister at Lincoln's Inn, and finally married the daughter of Erasmus Earle, from whom Erasmus Darwin the poet received his name. In the course of time he was made Recorder of the city of Lincoln. In 1655 a son was born to him, also named William, who married a Miss Waring, a lady of good family and heritage, who ultimately inherited from the Lassells the manor and hall of Elston, near Newark-property which is still in the family.

The sons of this William were William and Robert; the latter a lawyer, who finally became heir to the property at Cleatham, there being no male child in his brother's family.

Robert, on the death of his mother, retired from the practice of his profession, and resided at Elston Hall.

In this member of the Darwin family the first evidence of a taste for science is observed. Robert was a member of the Spalding Club, and Dr. Stukeley, a well-known antiquary of the time, in “An Account of the Almost Entire Sceleton of a Large Animal," etc., published in the "Philosophical Transactions," April and May, 1719, says: "Hearing an account from my friend Robert Darwin, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, a person of curiosity, of a human sceleton impressed in stone, found lately by the rector of Elston," etc.

The eldest son of this Darwin was Robert Waring, who came into the estate of Elston and died a bachelor at the advanced age of ninety-two. He developed a decided taste for poetry, and acquired a local reputation as a rhyme-maker.

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He had a strong liking for botany, and when advanced in years published the results of his studies and observations in a work entitled "Principia Botanica." He was the second of the Darwins to show an inclination for natural history pursuits, and the first to write a scientific work. The book, like those of his illustrious descendant, was a success, passing through several editions.

A brother of Robert Waring, William Alvey Darwin, inherited the Elston homestead, and from him it passed to his granddaughter. His brother John was rector of Elston, while a fourth son was Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of the subject of this sketch.

Erasmus was a tall, striking man, and his stature and love for nature are among the many characteristics he appears to have bequeathed to his grandson. Both had a charm of manner that was irresistible, strong feelings of sympathy, and a love for theorising. Erasmus possessed an inventive faculty, was fond of mechanics, and also had a decided literary and philosophical tendency.

We have seen that Charles Darwin was remarkable for his modesty the absence of over-appreciation of his own talents,—and it is interesting to see how he resembled his grandfather in this respect. In his "Life of Erasmus Darwin," Charles writes: "Throughout his letters I have been struck with his indifference to fame, and the complete absence of all signs of any over-estimation of his own abilities, or of the success of his works."

The principal works of Erasmus Darwin were:

"Zoönomia" (1794-6) and "Botanic Garden," while others were "The Temple of Nature; or, The Origin of Society, a Poem, with Philosophical Notes," and "The Shrine of Nature," a posthumous publication; "The Loves of the Plants," the second part of "The Botanic Garden," was published anonymously in 1789, the entire poem appearing in 1791. This production showed more scientific than poetic genius, being especially remarkable for the grandiloquent phraseology and high-sounding words and sentences employed. It was caricatured by Canning in his "Loves of the Triangles." The poem to-day is well deserving a place among the curiosities of literature, and while its decasyllabic rhymed couplets may not be admired, they evidently emanated from no ordinary mind.

An interesting feature in his life is the fact that, to quote his grandson, he undoubtedly "anticipated the views and erroneous grounds of opinions of Lamarck," the fundamental principle of the theory of evolution being traced in his writings. Thus he says "that one and the same kind of living filaments is and has been the cause of all organic life":

"Would it be too bold to imagine that, in the great length of time since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind,-would it be too bold to imagine that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament, which the great First Cause endued with animality, with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions, and associations,

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and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down these improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end?”

Erasmus Darwin also published a paper on "Female Education in Boarding-Schools." His work, Zoönomia," was reviewed in 1799 by Thomas Brown, the psychologist, and in 1804 Anna Seward published an account of his life.

The sons of Erasmus inherited their father's intellectual ability-Charles, who was born in 1758 and died when just of age, giving promise of high scientific attainments. He was engaged in dissecting the brain of a child when he received the wound which caused his death. He was a writer of verse, and the possessor of a rich collection of natural objects, which he made during extensive travels on the continent. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and received the first gold medal of the Esculapian Society for a paper on a medical subject.

Erasmus, a second son, was also a poet. He was especially interested in coins and statistics, and, when a boy, made a complete and accurate census of the city of Lichfield. Robert Waring Darwin, born May 30, 1766, inherited his father's taste for the medical profession, and went to the University of Leyden, taking his degree of M.D. in February, 1785. He proved a very successful physician, securing a large practice even in the very beginning of his

career.

In 1796 he married Susannah Wedgwood, of Etruria, a woman of rare intelligence and great force

of character. They lived at the "Crescent," and later at the "Mount," in Shrewsbury, where all but one of their children were born. The old house, a large red-brick building, is now owned by Mr. Spencer Phillips. It stands on the banks of the Severn, commanding a fine view, and supplied with all the acceptable features of an English country home.

Dr. Darwin was something of a botanist, though not in a scientific sense. He was tall, like his son Charles, standing six feet two inches, and very large and fleshy. His mental characteristics were similar to those of his son, having a broad, tender nature, with great sympathy for others. He was a man of remarkable memory, and could recall the names of so many persons and the date of their birth, marriage, and death, that it was absolutely painful to him. He was extremely skilful in prognosticating disease, and was so prophetic in many of his sayings that he was considered a wonder by the ignorant. Dr. Darwin became the father of six childrenMarianne, Caroline, Erasmus Alvey, Susan, Charles, and Catherine, of whom Charles and Erasmus are the best known. The latter studied medicine, taking a degree at Cambridge, but never practised, living a retired and single life in London. Carlyle thus refers to him in his "Reminiscences":

"Erasmus Darwin, a most diverse kind of mortal, came to seek us out very soon ('had heard of Carlyle in Germany, etc.'), and continues ever since to be a quiet house-friend, honestly attached, though his visits latterly have been rarer and rarer, health