Dear old Darwin

I have absolutely nothing whatever to say to you, & so feel quite justified in inflicting a letter on you— If George be still with you please tell him that I hunted up & down the train for him at Willesden, but in vain, & that I therefore sent on his Pall Mall by post:¹

The Brit. Assoc. meeting was a good one.— very good I suppose, though there was I think a terrible deficiency of good sectional matter—² Huxley’s address was admirable, but a few such would do up the popularity of President’s addresses; for the general public could not follow the subject, & were profoundly ignorant of what he was driving at—³ After the “Lay Sermons”, all the Liverpudlians expected brilliant sallies, & spiced heresy—& were woefully disappointed.⁴ In a scientific point of view I thought it quite excellent & the proper sort of thing for the occasion. Tyndall’s was a wonderful outburst of cracking & sparkling eloquence as delivered, but I was woefully disappointed in the reading of it:⁵ it reads ornate, frothy & all but flashy, with a soupcon of bosh here & there— I cannot bear to think this of any thing dear old Tyndall has said or sung, & if you think better of it so will I, & to any amount— I will sell my soul for him in such a matter.

Rolleston’s opening address was a wonderful affair— full of science, classics, metaphysics, logic, the Fathers, mathematical phraseology (if not method), & what not— delivered in a somewhat jerky & sententious style.⁶ A local paper stigmatized it as “Rococo”— a capital hit, if I remember what Rococo is as applied to art—(a jumble of periods & styles each pronounced unmistakeably; & not over well matched)— I see that in an after-dinner speech he professed not to have understood the meaning of the term, from which I guess that he feels what he can’t understand & pretty sharply too— He made a capital President.— Old Murchison surrounded himself with fireworks: he will never die— he will go up like Elijah/Elisha? in a fiery chariot; & heaven will open to receive him;—whence he will bless the earth & especially the nobles thereof—and we will canonize him.⁷ I did not wait over Saturday & so I missed Lubbock’s Lecture—which read well.⁸ I saw many old faces, & no new ones, but Van Beneden’s, a very pleasant one.⁹ Lyell¹⁰ looked wondrous grim in a nascent beard, which did not suit him; in fact he looked rather disreputable in it— because of it’s shortness & raggedness, & his feebleness & failing sight; which I see with real sorrow— for I never can bear to think of losing Lyell. I do so intensely love & esteem him.— how few men have been so always the same for so many years to us!

I was delighted with the Liverpool Museum, it is a lesson for our Brit. Mus.—¹¹ the typical series of articulate & lower orders with appended popular descriptions of the tribes were admirable in all respects.

I have polished off an immense lot of small work within the last 3 months, & am now at “Genera plantarum”,¹² & hope to be thinking of some general works soon on distribution or Classification— I feel marvellously lightened, more so than since I took the Direction here.¹³ God knows how short such feelings of relief usually are, & I do not dare to think how soon they may end. Willy is doing nicely at Mr La Touches,—¹⁴ My wife¹⁵ is at S^t. Albans, where she has a nice House. I am alone here, this house being under repair, I wish your William or George¹⁶ would come & see me here, & take a run to S^t. Albans with me any day.

I suppose you have nearly finished your book, I am sorry that you dropped the simple title of “Origin of Man”—¹⁷ I forbear to talk of the war or the loss of the Captain— what harrowing episodes in a life-time, not to talk of a month’s time.¹⁸

Now I shall shut up— when I survey the calligraphy of this epistle I am lost in wonder & admiration—& am tempted to ask you to return it—& to enclose 1^d. to make sure you do!

Ever Yrs affect | J D Hooker