Charles and Emma Read Online Free Page B

“the man who walks with Henslow.”
    Although Charles graduated from Cambridge with no great academic distinction, because of his connection to Henslow he was offered the position of naturalist on the
Beagle.
He really wanted to go. He would spend two years as a companion to the captain, a man named Robert FitzRoy. And he would be able to see the world—collecting specimens along the way. It was a dream come true. But since it was not a paid position (in fact, he would have to pay his own way), he needed not only his father’s permission, he needed his money.
    Dr. Darwin thought the trip was a bad idea. He told Charles it was “a wild scheme,” one that would be disreputable to his future career as a clergyman. The doctor did not think the trip would be useful in any way for his son’s future. Furthermore, his father said, settling down after such an adventure would be too difficult. Dr. Darwin told Charles to say no to the voyage. But he also said that if Charles could find a respectable person who disagreed, he would reconsider.
    After that conversation, Charles had gone to visit his mother’s brother, Josiah Wedgwood, at his house, Maer Hall.Maer was only a day’s carriage ride from the Mount, and when he was a child, Charles and his Wedgwood cousins visited back and forth often. Charles was especially close to his uncle Josiah, whom he found to be a good contrast to his father. Although Uncle Jos was quiet and reserved, not animated and talkative like Dr. Darwin, he was much more open-minded. On this visit Charles told Uncle Jos, Aunt Bessy, and his cousins about the possibility of the voyage and about his father’s objections. They all thought he should definitely go. Uncle Jos agreed to try to convince Dr. Darwin that Charles should be able to take advantage of this opportunity. Charles wrote to his father, “I have given Uncle Jos what I fervently trust is an accurate and full list of your objections, and he is kind enough to give his opinions on all.” Charles asked his father to look at the list and Uncle Josiah’s answers and then to please give him a yes or a no. If it were to remain a no, Charles assured him, “I will never mention the subject again.”
    Uncle Jos found he could answer most of Dr. Darwin’s objections easily. He wrote, “I should not think it would be in any degree disreputable to his character as a Clergyman. I should on the contrary think the offer honourable to him; and the pursuit of Natural History, though certainly not professional, is very suitable to a clergyman.” He did not think it would be a wild scheme, as Charles “would have definite objects upon which to employ himself, and might acquire and strengthen habits of application, and I should think would be as likely to do so as in any way in which he is likely to pass the next two years at home.”
    Uncle Jos agreed that the voyage would probably not directly prepare him for a career as a clergyman, but argued that it would help him grow as a man, affording him “such an opportunity of seeing men and things as happens to few.”
    Uncle Jos and Charles sent the letter to Dr. Darwin early in the morning, and then Charles went out shooting in the woods near Maer Hall. After a few hours, Uncle Jos sent Charles a message saying that he was going to the Mount to talk to the doctor directly. Charles put down his gun and went with him. When they arrived at Shrewsbury, Dr. Darwin told them that he had been convinced. He gave Charles his consent. He also gave him a generous purse and the assurance that he could always write home and ask for more money. Charles needed to, and did. Often. The voyage that was meant to be two years lasted almost five.
    As Dr. Darwin had predicted, the voyage did not prepare him for a life as a vicar. While he traveled, however, Charles did go to church quite regularly, both to the services that his captain led and on shore whenever