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To [William Newton]   17 April 1880

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

Ap. 17th 1880

Private

Dear Sir

I can only repeat that I have never been able to follow easily abstract reasoning & of late years the labour is intolerable to me.1 Therefore I cannot judge of the value of Mr Lloyds work.— I do not remember distinctly what Mr L. says against Mr Galton’s book on Hereditary Genius, which I have always esteemed highly.—2

I am extremely sorry that you cannot give a better account of Mr Lloyd’s health: your friendship must be a great support to him in his suffering state.3

I have received the ‘Brigands Home’, but have not yet had time to read it.4

Thanking you for your courteous expressions in regard to myself, I remain | Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin

I know that I am hated & abused by many; but I do not care much about this or about fame. It is the one advantage of advanced age.—

Footnotes

1
The letter to which this is a reply has not been found. The correspondent was probably William Newton, who had worked with Francis Lloyd (see n. 2, below).
2
Lloyd had evidently sent CD a copy of his critique of Francis Galton’s book on hereditary genius (Galton 1869, Lloyd 1876a); a copy is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL (see also Correspondence vol. 25, letter to [Francis Lloyd], 1 May [1877]). Newton had written an introduction to Lloyd 1876a.
3
In the event, Lloyd died in Smyrna, Turkey, on 17 April 1880 (Standard, 22 April 1880, p. 1). CD had sent Lloyd £10 on 1 May 1877 (CD’s Classed account books (Down House MS)).
4
No copy of The Brigands’ Cave on Salamis; tales and legends (Lloyd 1876b) has been found in the Darwin Libraries at CUL or Down.

Bibliography

Galton, Francis. 1869. Hereditary genius: an inquiry into its laws and consequences. London: Macmillan.

Lloyd, Francis. 1876a. Modern ‘science,’ no. 1: a scientific view of Mr. Francis Galton’s theories of heredity. London: Trübner & Co.

Lloyd, Francis. 1876b. The Brigands’ Cave on Salamis; tales and legends. London: [n.p.]

Summary

Unable to comment on F. Lloyd’s criticism of Francis Galton’s Hereditary genius [?A scientific view of Mr Galton’s theories of heredity (1876)].

Sorry about Lloyd’s health.

Does not care much about abuse or fame, an advantage of age.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-12580
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
William Newton
Sent from
Down
Source of text
Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection)
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12580,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12580.xml

letter

Darwin Correspondence Project
darwin@lib.cam.ac.uk

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