To Emma Darwin [3–4 February 1845]1
[Down]
Monday night
My dear Wife
Now for my day’s annals— In the morning I was baddish, & did hardly any work & was as much overcome by my children, as ever Bishop Coplestone2 was with Duck.3 But the children have been very good all day, & I have grown a good deal better this afternoon, & had a good romp with Baby—4 I see, however, very little of the Blesseds— The day was so thick & wet a fog, that none of them went out, though a thaw & not very cold; I had a long pace in the Kitchen Garden: Lewis5 came up to mend the pipe & paper the W.C. in which apartment there was a considerable crowd for about an hour, when Mr Lewis & his son William, Willy Annie, Baby & Bessy6 were there. Baby insisted on going in, I daresay, greatly to the disturbance of Bessy’s delecacy— Lewis from first dinner to second dinner was a first-rate dispensary, as they never left him— They, also, dined in the Kitchen, and I believe have had a particularly pleasant day.—
I was playing with Baby in the window of the drawing-room this morning, & she was blowing a feeble fly (fry) & blew it on its back, when it kicked so hard, that to my great amusement Baby grew red in the face, looked frightened & pushed away from the window.— The children are growing so quite out of all rule in the drawing-room, jumping on everything & butting like young bulls at every chair & sofa, that I am going to have the dining-room fire lighted tomorrow & keep them out of the drawing-room. I declare a months such wear, wd spoil every thing in the whole drawing-room.—
I read Whately’s Shakspeare7 & very ingenious & interesting it is—and what do you think Mitford’s Greece8 has made me begin, the Iliad by Cowper,9 which we were talking of; & have read 3 books with much more pleasure, than I anticipated.— I have given up acids & gone to puddings again.—
Tuesday morning— I am impatient for your letter this morning to hear how you got on.— I asked Willy how Baby has slept & he answered “she did not cry not one mouthful”. My stomach is baddish again this morning & I almost doubt, whether I will go to London, tomorrow; if I do you won’t hear. Poor Annie has had a baddish knock by Willie’s ball in her eye.—it is swelled a bit, but not otherwise bad.
C. D.
Your cap cannot ⟨be⟩ found anywhere: Jane says you took one. of the snow is gone & the children are going out. Very many thanks for your letter10
Footnotes
Bibliography
Cowper, William, trans. 1791. The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer translated into English blank verse. 2 vols. London.
Emma Darwin (1915): Emma Darwin: a century of family letters, 1792–1896. Edited by Henrietta Litchfield. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1915.
Mitford, William. 1784–1818. History of Greece. 5 vols. London: J. Murray and J. Robson.
Whately, Thomas. 1785. Remarks on some of the characters of Shakespeare. London.
Summary
News of the children and books he is reading.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-821
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Emma Wedgwood/Emma Darwin
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Sotheby’s (dealers) (28 March 1983)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 821,” accessed on 1 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-821.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 3