He was
not without faults of temper and impatience, increased probably by a
feeling of physical weakness which denied him activities of mind and
body to the extent his ambition for life's utility would have preferred.
His tall, well-developed form and commanding presence, backed by his
ample means, placed him easily in a leading position. Now he would be
pacing Hayes Place grounds with the frank and genial Archbishop Tait,
who, on a visit to the parish, had dropped in with the Vicar, Mr. Reid.
Again he would be a well-known and welcome figure at dinners, "at
homes," picnics, and what not, with the Darwins, Lubbocks, Farrs, and
the rest of the neighbourhood, scientific and otherwise, but the former
by preference. His chief trouble was a weak action of the heart, which
for the last year or two kept him constantly in view of death. He calmly
regarded the prospect of the great change, put his affairs in order as
he wished, and awaited "the call of God." He passed away with but slight
suffering in the beginning of 1878, before completing his 64th year. His
remains were, by his own request, returned to the colony which, as he
always insisted, he had served so long and so faithfully.
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