To Charles Kingsley 13 December [1867]1
Down. | Bromley. | Kent. S.E.
Dec 13th.
My dear Mr. Kingsley
Although you are so kind as to tell me not to write, I must send a few lines to thank you for your letter.2 It is very interesting & surprising to me that you find at Cambridge after so short an interval a greater willingness to accept the views which we both admit. I do not doubt that this is largely owing to a man so eminent as yourself venturing to speak out. The mass of educated men will always sooner or later follow those, whose knowledge they recognize on any especial study; & this being the case I feel no doubt that views closely akin to those which I have advocated will ultimately be universally admitted. The younger working naturalists are almost all coming round: recently one of the paleontologists in Jermyn St3 told me that he did not know a single rising man who did not largely adopt my views and I hear that this is the case likewise in Germany.4
I literally did not find, nor did Sir C. Lyell,5 one single new idea in the Graduates’ of Cambridge book.6 My work on Variation Under Domestication is delayed by the index but will appear about the close of the year; and I have told Murray to send a copy to Eversley.7 You will find the greater part quite unreadable—a mere encyclopedia of facts—but certain portions may, & I heartily hope will, interest you.
With hearty thanks for all your kindness | My dear Mr. Kingsley, yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
[Beverley, Robert Mackenzie.] 1867. The Darwinian theory of the transmutation of species examined by a graduate of the University of Cambridge. London: James Nisbet & Co.
Reeks, Margaret. 1920. Register of the associates and old students of the Royal School of Mines and history of the Royal School of Mines. 2 vols. London: Royal School of Mines (Old Students’) Association.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Discusses the reception of CD’s views at Cambridge and elsewhere.
Variation delayed by the index, but will appear at the end of the year.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5728F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Charles Kingsley
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Quaritch (dealers) (2007)
- Physical description
- LS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5728F,” accessed on 13 September 2023, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5728F.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15