From H. E. Litchfield to G. H. Darwin May 1882

My dear G.

I have been making a scheme that some or all of us shd give Mother a nice bath chair with good springs & india rubber tires—price about £30. I think it wd be a good thing for her & I think she w^d like a little present from us. Sh^d you like to join?

"" Horace has made enquires about bath chairs & has decided where we are to go & I have also had the same place recommended from another quarter. I am sure it is good for her spirits not to be kept to quite her walking limits. I think F. Galtons suggestions about getting reminiscences from any early friends of Father are very good & sh^d. be acted on. Herbert & Sullivan are the only two I can think of & Aunt Caroline if she would. Herbert especially I think. I wonder if there is any picture of the Beagle extant. I sh^d. doubt it.

I suppose Louie w^d. have no impressions to give of their walking tour in Wales? I don't know what F. Galton means by collecting memorials for the R.S. as was done in the case of Priestly—

I am glad to think I have one of the original sheets of the Origin, the bit about the bear swimming like a whale. I have also found more letters than I fancied I had ever had—about a dozen or 15 in all.

I feel now that the great blank is beginning to make itself felt.

I shall be here for the next fortnight or three weeks with occasional nights in London when R. has evening engagements.

I suppose you are gng to try & do some work if you can get a little better. Leo comes today for 4 or 5 days & Leonora on Sat. There are the family movements.

What do you think of Arthur Balfour's speech? I quite agree but I think Gibson's way of putting it was more severe & less compromising. Won't it make the relations between Balfours & Gladstones rather strained?

Goodbye dear G.

Your affect | H.E.L.