i868.] THE 'ATHEN^UM.' 283 



part ; as they now stand they do not seem at all too harsh 

 and presumptuous. Many of your sentences strike me as 

 extremely felicitous and eloquent. That of Lyell's " under- 

 pinning," * is capital. Tell me, was Lyell pleased ? I am so 

 glad that you remembered my old dedication.! Was Wallace 

 pleased ? 



How about photographs ? Can you spare time for a line 

 to our dear Mrs. Cameron ? I She came to see us off, and 

 loaded us with presents of photographs, and Erasmus called 

 after her, " Mrs. Cameron, there are six people in this house 

 all in love with you." When 1 paid her, she cried out, " Oh 

 what a lot of money ! " and ran to boast to her husband. 



I must not write any more, though I am in tremendous 

 spirits at your brilliant success. 



Yours ever affectionately, 



C. Darwin. 



[In the AthencEum of November 29, 1868, appeared an 

 article which was in fact a reply to Sir Joseph Hooker's re- 

 marks at Norwich. He seems to have consulted my father 

 as to the wisdom of answering the article. My father wrote 

 on September i : 



" In my opinion Dr. Joseph Dalton Hooker need take no 

 notice of the attack in the Athenmim in reference to Mr. 

 Charles Darwin. What an ass the man is to think he cuts 

 one to the quick by giving one's Christian name in full. How 

 transparently false is the statement that my sole groundwork 



our globe has not existed for a long enough period to give time for the 

 assumed transmutation of living beings, Hooker challenged \Vhevveirs 

 dictum that, astronomy is the queen of sciences — the only perfect science. 



* After a eulogium on Sir Charles Lyell's heroic renunciation of his 

 old views in accepting Evolution, Sir J. D. Hooker continued, " Well may 

 he be proud of a superstructure, raised on the foundations of an insecure 

 doctrine, when he finds that he can underpin it and substitute a new 

 foundation ; and after all is finished, sui-vey his edifice, not only more 

 secure but more harmonious in its proportion than it was before." 



f The * Naturalist's Voyage ' was dedicated to Lyell, 



\ See p. 274. 



