To Thomas Henry Huxley 1 January [1860]1
Down Bromley Kent
Jan 1st
My dear Huxley
I write one line merely to thank you for your pleasant note & to say that I will keep your secret.2 I will shake my head as mysteriously as Ld. Burleigh.—3 Several persons have asked me who wrote that “most remarkable article” in the Times. As a cat may look at a king, so I have said that I strongly suspected you.— Mrs Hooker (do not repeat this) was so sharp that the first sentence revealed to her the authorship.4 The Lubbocks Father & Son (God save the mark) thought it was Owen’s!!!5 You may rely on it that it has made deep impression, & I am heartily glad that the subject & I owe you this further obligation. But for God’s sake take care of your health: remember that the Brain takes years to rest whilst the muscles take only hours.— There is poor Dana to whom I used to preach by letter writes to me that my prophecies are come true:6 he is in Florence quite done up, can read nothing & write nothing & cannot talk for half-an-hour
I noticed the “naughty sentence about Owen, though my wife saw its bearing first.—7
Farewell you best & worst of men.— Most sincerely Yours | C. Darwin
That sentence about the Bird & the Fish dinners charmed us.—8
Lyell wrote me style like yours.—9
Have you seen the slashing article of Dec. 26th in Daily News against my stealing from my “Master”, the Author of Vestiges.—10
Footnotes
Bibliography
[Chambers, Robert.] 1844. Vestiges of the natural history of creation. London: John Churchill.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
LL: The life and letters of Charles Darwin, including an autobiographical chapter. Edited by Francis Darwin. 3 vols. London: John Murray. 1887–8.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Summary
Will keep THH’s secret [of authorship of Times review of Origin]. It has made deep impression.
J. D. Dana’s illness.
Daily News accuses him of plagiarising Vestiges.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-2633
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 94)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 2633,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-2633.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 8