From G. H. Darwin [20 November 1881]¹

6 Q. A. S^t

Sunday evening

Dear Father,

The last I heard of poor old Challis was that he had rallied a little.² It is possible of course that my informant was wrong & that he may live some time longer. It is unpleasant waiting for a man’s death, but in this case I sh^d. have preferred his living on as you know altho’ it is no kindness to wish him to live as he is now.

The house looks terribly desolate There two or three little odds & ends which I shall remove³ M^rs. Pearce tells me you were amazed at the quantity of glass.⁴ If you really wish to get rid of some I c^d. take a little as I often have to borrow a few glasses. But glass leaks away by breakages & I daresay it will all come in useful I don’t think I shall have to return from Glasgow before Saturday or Sunday as I’m sure nothing can be done until the beginning of the week after even if he is dead now.⁵

Glaisher⁶ & a few friends know I sh^d. be a candidate & will talk which is really all that is necessary

I send two things which are waiting Fr^k.⁷ & you here Will write to Wesley as agent of Smithsonian Inst⁸

I leave at 9.15 tonight & breakfast at Glasgow

Yours | G H Darwin

Footnotes

1

The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to G. H. Darwin, 19 November [1881]. In 1881, the Sunday following 19 November was 20 November.

2

George intended to apply for the position of Plumian Professor of astronomy and experimental philosophy at Cambridge University, in the event of James Challis’s death (see letter from G. H. Darwin, 17 November 1881).

3

George was one of the executors of Erasmus Alvey Darwin’s will; the estate included the house and property at 6 Queen Anne Street, London (see letter from G. H. Darwin, [29 August 1881]).

4

Elizabeth Pearce had been Erasmus’s housekeeper and had also been employed at Down House.

5

George was going to Glasgow to meet with William Thomson (see letter to G. H. Darwin, 19 November [1881]).

6

James Whitbread Lee Glaisher.

7

Francis Darwin.

8

William Wesley was the London agent of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC (see Correspondence vol. 19, letter from L. H. Morgan, 1 August 1871).