From J. M. Herbert 13 January [1839]
Hertford
Sunday 13 Jary.
My dear Darwin,
In sending you the accompanying species of the Genus Forficula,1 (Do I betray my ignorance of Natural History by the Expression?), I hope I have hit upon a useful domestic article, & at the same time one that will not clash with the Forget-me-nots of other Friends.
When under ordinary circumstances a man marries, it imposes upon his friends the serious burden of saying all the civil things they can think of— In obedience to to this custom I must say something on the occasion of yr. signing & sealing the surrender of your independence; but, thank God, it is unnecessary for me to measure either my esteem for you, or my wishes for yr. future happiness, by the set forms of compliment, or I might find them untranslateable into the language of the Polite Letter Writer—
I shall content myself therefore with praying God’s blessing on you & yours, & with wishing you all the happiness, that I think you deserve— a cup of joy full to overflowing—
Yrs. ever | J. M. Herbert
Footnotes
Summary
Sends congratulations on CD’s engagement, with a gift.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-487
- From
- John Maurice Herbert
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Nutford
- Source of text
- DAR 204: 168
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 487,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-487.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 2