From G. H. Darwin [14 May 1871]1
14 Arlington St | or rather 6 New [Square]2
Sun. Morn
My dear Father,
I have just come back from a Sunday at Cambridge where I have pretty nearly settled with Pryor3 about our American trip— he had unfortunately half engaged to go with an undergraduate called Everard4 & so we shall have to go 3— Everard is a very nice fellow only quite a boy & it wd have been perhaps rather better without him.— I write now just to say how much jollier we shd be if Frank could go too—but then you know he has got no money;5 he has no idea of going himself & of course I have not stirred him up to wish to go. There was some talk of his coaching a man called Maudsley & he will settle about it very soon.6 Of course if you think it wd be too extravagant & that he wd have plenty of other opportunity of going then there is nothing more to be said. Even if he went Frank might very possibly coach Maudsley till the end of July. Would you answer me pretty soon—please as the Maudlsey scheme must come to a crisis soon.
Balfour & Strutt are both coming down on Saturday & I hope they’ll make themselves pleasant—but Balfour sometimes seems shy & Strutt sometimes silent. How wd it be to ask Sackv. Cecil over to dinner on Sat or Sund, he might possibly come to see two men he knows.—7
I met G. O Trevelyan on Sunday at Jackson’s at breakfast & found him very pleasant.8 Last night there was a great gathering at Pryors at wh. I think that nearly every one I know at the University was present. I hope you are getting on well at Bassett—9
Your affectionate son | G H Darwin
P.S The “Malthus”10 you gave me was 2 old vols. of Brit. Assoc. Trans. but I found a copy in our Club library & so it did’nt make any diffce & I spouted at the debating club all the same11
Footnotes
Bibliography
Alum. Cantab.: Alumni Cantabrigienses. A biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, from the earliest times to 1900. Compiled by John Venn and J. A. Venn. 10 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1922–54.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Malthus, Thomas Robert. 1826. An essay on the principle of population; or, a view of its past and present effects on human happiness; with an inquiry into our prospects respecting the future removal or mitigation of the evils which it occasions. 6th edition. 2 vols. London: John Murray.
Marginalia: Charles Darwin’s marginalia. Edited by Mario A. Di Gregorio with the assistance of Nicholas W. Gill. Vol. 1. New York and London: Garland Publishing. 1990.
Parkinson, Stephen. 2009. Arena of ambition: a history of the Cambridge Union. London: Icon.
Summary
Has arranged a trip to the U. S. with Cambridge friends; believes it would be much jollier if Frank could go too.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7757
- From
- George Howard Darwin
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, New Square, 6
- Source of text
- DAR 210.2: 18
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7757,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7757.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19