Conrnpoiulrnce irUli Charles Darwin 193 



I have one nice and curious lett«r to MisN Huwartl which I will puhliNh. AIho miiny lettoni 

 ti> JoHJiih \Vi-<I^W(kmI iiikI to till- fainiiUH UcinmruN, hut I douht whether any of thf>iie will lie 

 worth |)ii)ili.sliiii^'. l)iiyou know whcthor thero an- i»ny lettern in the [wisHciiKion of any uH'inlwpt 

 of the family whicii nii)j;ht b<! worth publishing; and could you laku the trouble to aaniNt ntc 

 l>y j{cttinj{ the loiin or copies of them? 



HeviTal yenrs ago \ roa<l the nieuioirM of your Aunt Mrs Schiinni' k an<l no far tui 



T am reuienilK'r ninny of the »f«rie.s al>out I)r Darwin s<H'ini><l very iijij Did you ever 



hear your mother .sp<uik of thiu IxKjk, and can you authorise me to contra<lict any which are 

 injuriouB to his f;ood naniel I am sure you will forgive me for troubling you on this head aa 

 wo have a common interest in our grandfather's fama Yours very sincerely, Ciiarlbh Darwin. 



Saturday, 6, Quekh Anne Htrbbt. 

 My dkau Oaltox. If it would not bore you, can you come tu luncheon hero on Monday 

 at 1 o'clock ; as it will be my l>e8t chance of seeing you. I have boon extremely sorry to hear 

 that you have not bx-en well of lat« and that you are soon going abroad. 



Yours very sincerely, Ch. Darwin. 



A]rrU 30 [1879]. Down, Beckenham. 

 Many lliaiiks. The extract will coino in capitally. You are vy. goo<l to Uike so much 

 trouble. Mrs Hch.' received all safe, and shall soon be returne<l. I much enjoytnl my talks 

 with you. C D. 



The followiiijr letter probably bas reference to Eliaibeth Collier's birth', 

 and may possibly aid in the final solution of the dilliculty as to her origin. 



Down, Beckenham, Kent. June 8 [1879]. 

 My dkau Oawon, Many thiinks for your note. I have lately been staying with my sister, 

 Caroline, ami she says my memory is in error about the mysterious visitor. She believes his 

 name was Brand, and that it was in the time of Colonel Pole; I cannot but doubt about the 

 latter point. My sister feels pretty positive that the gentleman stayed at the house of a 

 neighbour (name forgotten) antl never vi8ite<l Mrs Pole or Mrs Darwin, but sent her respectful 

 and very friendly nies.sage.s. Nevertheless she was never at ease till he had left the country. 

 Thanks for all your help. I have fixed our photograph of Dr D. Ever yours, C. Darwin. 



P.S. If you should come across Dr I^jiuiler Bruuton, see if he has anything more to com- 

 municate about Dr D. for I shall soon go to press. 



42, Rutland Gate, Nov. 12/79. 



Mr DKAit Darwin, It was with the greatest pleasure that I received and read your bio- 

 graphy of Dr Darwin. 



What a marvel of condensation it is, and how firndy you lay hold of facts that hod long 

 been distortefl and ram them home into their right places. 



The biography seems to me quite a new ortler of writing, so scientifically accurat« in its 

 treatment. The many passnijes you quote are curiously modern in their conception and — 

 (Excuse this horrid paper which folds the wrong way) simple in expression (considering 

 his average style). I still can't quite ai)preciate the flaw in his mind which miule it possible 

 for him to write so very hypothetically for the most part, while at the same time his strictly 

 scientific gifts were of so higli an order. There seems to Iw an unexplained residuum, even 

 after what you quote from him, alxjut the value of hypotheses. I see you have mentioned 

 me twice, very kindly— but too flatteringly for my deserts. How you are dmon upon 

 Mrs Schimmelpeuninck and Miss Seward''! 



' Mrs Schimmelpeuninck, Oalton's aunt: see Vol. I, p. 54. 



' See Vol. I, p. 21. 



' I think Oalton had a truer appri>ciation of Erasmus Darwin than possibly his cousin had, — 

 a better histoHcal jHirspective, — and with all their faults of exaggeration the ladies in question 

 did give something of the 'atmosphere,' which Charles Darwin's portrait lacks. That portrait 

 is wanting, in the full characterisation of a many-sidetl figure ; we can only give reality to it by 

 a study of Ei-asmus Darwin's own works, local gossip alx)Ut him and the public opinion of his day — 



r o II 2fi 



