My dear Erasmus

I think that you will be pleased to hear of a curious event & piece of good fortune wh. has just happened. A M^r. Anthony Rich of Worthing wrote to me a few days ago that he & his sister were the sole survivors of their family & that he had long entertained the sentiment that under such circumstances as his, “the first to be remembered should be those who had devoted … for the benefit of mankind &^c. &^c.” with more to the same effect & therefore that he had bequeathed his property after his sister’s death to me.¹ The property is not of a nice kind, namely a share in houses in Cornhill, which will bring in rather above £1100 annually.² This will be a fine addition for our children. He tells me that he is 74 years old & his sister a year younger. The whole affair has astonished me greatly & has pleased me much.

Let Horace read this & then ask him to forward it to George.³

I will write to William.⁴ As I am sure that Caroline will sympathise with me & w^d like to hear this piece of news I ask George to forward this to Leith Hill Place as I have several letters to write⁵

My dear Erasmus | Yours affectionately | Ch. Darwin