To G. J. Romanes 15 April [1878]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
April 15th
My dear Romanes
I can assure you that I was astonished when I read the list & read it over again as I could not believe my eyes that you were omitted.— I was truly grieved.—2 Long before you were proposed I have had many talks with the President3 & others on their principles of selection, & I could clearly see that age & general position in scientific society (such as being a Professor &c) had great weight.; also, (& this perhaps is quite fair) having been proposed during several years; youth in itself appears to be a disqualification however much & good work may have been done.— I am thoroughily convinced that the Council endeavour to the utmost to act honestly without any personal feeling, according to such principles as they think ought to guide them.— I can solemnly declare that though I have spoken about your Medusa work to many persons, no one has ever doubted about its high value.4 I wish that I had cut the list of the 15 names out of the Times, for I cannot remember them. I saw that age, & patronage of Science & position had done much.—
Finally let me most earnestly beg you not to withdraw your name, whether or not you care about being elected; for all would say that you had withdrawn through ill-temper & would otherwise sneer at you.— According to my judgment the Council has made a gigantic mistake.
Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
P.S. | If you agree (& for Heaven sake do so) to have your name resuspended, I believe that as your proposer I must write to the Assistant Secretary.5 I wish that you could sometime find out whether this is the case.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Record of the Royal Society of London: The record of the Royal Society of London for the promotion of natural knowledge. 4th edition. London: Royal Society. 1940.
Summary
Regrets that GJR was passed over for membership in Royal Society. Discusses criteria applied by Council.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10929
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- George John Romanes
- Sent from
- London, Bryanston St, 2 Down letterhead
- Source of text
- American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.509)
- Physical description
- ALS 5pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10929,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10929.xml