Sends first part of MS of Erasmus Darwin.
Has found useful criticism of Anna Seward in J. G. Lockhart’s Life of Sir Walter Scott.
CD should regard MS as a draft and correct anything that seems incorrect or questionable. Asks biographical questions about Dr Darwin. Can CD give information about origin of family name?
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Has received the enlarged MS for Erasmus Darwin from E. Krause.
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A big book arrived for GHD before CD left Down. Hopes it is Thomson and Tait [Treatise on natural philosophy, 2 vols., 2d ed. (1869)]. It shows what they think of GHD.
Thinks it grand if GHD has made a correction about "such an old sinner as the Sun" and hopes his arithmetic on his old subject will turn out right.
Has been trying unsuccessfully to weigh something for CD.
Believes it absurd to doubt that a man may be an ardent theist and evolutionist; gives the examples of Kingsley and Asa Gray. As regards CD’s own views, his judgement often fluctuates but "I have never been an Atheist in the sense of denying the existence of God". Thinks that "generally (and more and more as I grow older) … an Agnostic would be the most correct description of my state of mind".
Has difficulty with E. Krause’s orthography and quotations.
Asks CD to lend him Anna Seward’s biography [Memoirs of the life of Dr Darwin (1804)].
Compatibility of evolution and theism.
Will wait for CD’s preliminary essay before proceeding with German edition [of Erasmus Darwin]. Regards CD’s essay as the principal attraction. Would like to finish German edition by end of July.
Has CD seen Samuel Butler’s Evolution, old and new [1879], which contains a biography of Erasmus Darwin and exposition of his philosophy? "Does not this rather take the wind out of our sails?"
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Sends a collection of wheat varieties from Turkestan in response to a newspaper notice of CD’s interest.
Answers EK’s queries about Erasmus Darwin’s friends and relations. Will rectify Anna Seward’s false account of Dr Darwin’s conduct. Advises EK to leave to him the account of the Darwin family. Declines EK’s offer to allow CD to alter his MS. Fears repetition in the two essays. They can judge how best to present the material when they have seen each other’s manuscripts.
CD awarded the Baly Medal of the Royal College of Physicians.
Are modifications in human form and intellect due solely to natural selection or do altered external conditions also play a role?
With thanks for and criticism of Butler's books Life and Habit (1878) and Evolution Old and New (1879).
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