Page:Carroll Lane Fenton - Darwin and the Theory of Evolution.djvu/52

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Throughout "Darwin as a Naturalist," No. 567 in this series, we considered Charles Darwin primarily as a man—a boy, a youth, a father, a friend, as well as a scientist. In the present book we considered him rather as a worker, a philosopher, a student, and have for the time ignored, or at least slighted, the human side of him. And now, having viewed the more material angles of the man—for even natural philosophy is, to a considerable extent material, we may well consider him as a personality, and a personality alone. Just what kind of a man was Charles Darwin? How did he respond to praise and react to opposition? What was there about him that made friends and, on the other hand, occasionally made bitter enemies? How might he have impressed us, had we been able to meet him?

Appearance—feature, action, and even dress—plays a considerable part in personality, even if it serves as little more than a handy index for the casual observer. Darwin's face, however, is too well known to need description, and so we may pass at once to his action. He was a large man, about six feet in height, but looked less because of a stoop which increased much with age. He walked with a loose, swinging step that often was maintained with a good deal of effort, and used a heavy, iron-tipped stick when outside. Indoors, however, his step was often slow and weak, with the feet planted