To J. D. Hooker 1 June [1856]1
Down Bromley Kent
June 1st.—
My dear Hooker
I read in your note as far as “unutterable mortification” & was in despair, for I came instantly to the conclusion that probably Government had determined to give up Kew Gardens!! & you may imagine how I laughed when I came to the real Cause of your mortification.2 It is the funniest thing in the world that you do not rejoice; for you have (& I never have) put in print that you do not believe in multiple creation, & therefore you surely shd. rejoice at every conceivable means of dispersal. Well, I & my wife have enjoyed a jolly laugh, & all the more from fully believing for a second that some great calamity had befallen you.— If you publish a note on the seed, please be sure state that the seeds “were procured by the kind intervention of H. M. Consul Mr T. Carew Hunt”. Unfortunately I have not been able to read the name of the man who actually sent them; I fancy he is acting consul & the name looks like Ives
The leaf from Old Red Sandstone is a grand fact.—3
Adios my dear Hooker | Yours hatefully triumphant | C. D.
The Handkerchief is Mrs. Hooker.
I am very sorry to hear about Sharpe.—4
I really cannot get up steam for London so soon again: I was horribly knocked up by the Fireworks.—5
I shall be particularly glad to see your Review of Decandolle whenever I can.6
Footnotes
Bibliography
Candolle, Alphonse de. 1855. Géographie botanique raisonnée ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle. 2 vols. Paris: Victor Mason. Geneva: J. Kessmann.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Griffith, Richard. 1857. On the remains of fossil plants discovered in the Yellow Sandstone strata, situate at the base of the Carboniferous limestone series of Ireland, in connexion with a communication on that subject from M. Adolphe Brongniart. Journal of the Royal Dublin Society 1 (1856–7): 313–25.
Summary
CD (and Emma) had a good laugh over JDH’s mortified response to a misinterpretation (in print) concerning his position on multiple creation.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-1885
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 114: 164
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1885,” accessed on 19 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1885.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 6