From A. R. Wallace 8 January 1881
Pen-y-bryn, St. Peter’s Road, | Croydon.
Jany. 8th. 1881
My dear Darwin
I need not say how very grateful I am to you for your constant kindness, and especially for the trouble you have taken in recommending me to Mr. Gladstone.1 It is also of course very gratifying to hear that so many eminent men have so good an opinion of the little scientific work I have done,—for I myself feel it to be very little in comparison with that of many others.2
The amount you say Mr. Gladstone proposes to recommend is considerably more than I expected would be given, and it will relieve me from a great deal of the anxiety under which I have laboured for several years.3
Today is my 58th. birthday and it is a happy omen that your letter shd. have arrived this morning.
I presume after I receive the official communication will be the proper time to thank the persons who have signed the Memorial in my favour.
I do not know whether it is the proper etiquette to write a private letter of thanks to Mr. Gladstone, or only a general official one.
Whenever I hear anything from the Government I will let you know.
Again thanking you for your kindness | Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R. Wallace
Charles Darwin Esq.
Footnotes
Summary
Appreciation of CD’s efforts in recommending him for pension. Asks about proprieties of thanking Gladstone and the signers of the memorial.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12994
- From
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Croydon
- Source of text
- DAR 106: B150–1
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12994,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12994.xml