To T. H. Huxley 28 June 1881
Down, Beckenham, Kent [Glenridding House, Patterdale.]
June 28th 1881
(Home on July 4th)
My dear Huxley
I write one line to thank you for your note.1 I felt so strongly convinced that Häckel could not get aid from the two channels suggested by him, that I offered and pressed him to accept £100 from me in aid of his undertaking.2 But this will do nothing for him without some further aid, and I do not know any millionaire to whom I could apply, and indeed the case is not urgent emough to justify application to hardly any stranger.
I am very sorry to hear about Du Bois Reymond, as I liked much what I saw of him on one occasion, and he has always been most civil towards me as an evolutionist.—3 I am not in the least surprised about Virchow.4
I am glad to hear you have got a house at Grassmere. We thought it two years ago most beautiful, as is this place, and Borrowdale even more beautiful.5 I had no idea there was such lovely scenery in England. The inhabitants of this country might say, what a Yankee said to an English lord, who was admiring the Hudson river, “Yes, lord, we take a deal of pains with our scenery.”6
Ever, my dear Huxley | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Finkelstein, Gabriel. 2019. Haeckel and du Bois-Reymond: rival German Darwinists. Theory in Biosciences 138: 105–12.
Summary
CD has offered Ernst Haeckel £100 but does not know where to get further aid. Sorry to hear about Du Bois-Reymond, but is not in the least surprised about R. Virchow.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13226
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- Sent from
- Patterdale Down letterhead
- Source of text
- DAR 145: 302
- Physical description
- C 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13226,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13226.xml