To John Scott 1 November 1871
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
November 1st 1871
My dear Sir
Dr Hooker has forwarded to me your letter as the best & simplest plan of explaining affairs.1 I am sincerely grieved to hear of the pecuniary troubles which you have undergone, but now fortunately passed. I assure you that I have never entertained any feelings in regard to you, which you suppose.— Please to remember that I distinctly stated that I did not consider the sum which I advanced as a loan, but as a gift, & surely there is nothing discreditable to you under the circumstances in receiving a gift from a rich man as I am.2
Therefore I earnestly beg you to banish the whole subject from your mind, & begin laying up something for yourself in the future. I really cannot break my word & accept payment.— Pray do not rob me of my small share in the credit of aiding to put the right man in the right place. You have done good work & and I am sure will do more.3 So let us never mention the subject again.—
I am after many interruptions at work again on my Essay on Expression, which was written out once many months ago.— I have found your remarks the best of all which have been sent me & so I state.—4
With every good wish believe me | My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Ch Darwin
Has Leersia oryzoides ever produced with you perfect flowers? I have failed entirely.—5
Can you send me seed of any Melastomata, either annual or biennial, which I could cultivate in Hot-House or Green house.— I wish to experiment with the pollen of the differently constructed & differently coloured anthers.6 It must be a species with not very small flowers.— An early flowering bush wd. do.—
To see if any differences in function in the 2 sets of stamens
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Expression: The expression of the emotions in man and animals. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.
Forms of flowers: The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1877.
Summary
JS should not consider repaying CD; the money was a gift, not a loan.
JS’s information on expression is the best he has received.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8045
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- John Scott
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 185: 111
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8045,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8045.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19