From J. Bonham Carter to Horace Darwin 8 December [1884]

Dear Horace

I knew long before I got your letter that I had your sympathy, for surely no two men had better reason than you & I to love, respect & admire their fathers each in his own sphere. I remember how in an argument one day with Parsons you said you thought a man's highest aim was so to live & so to work that the world might be the better for his having lived; that was my Father's aim, pursued so modestly that the full amount of his work was scarcely appreciated except by those nearest to him⁠⟨⁠⁠⟨⁠self⁠⟩⁠⁠⟩⁠, but so successfully that it will be a long long time before anyone will be found able to fill his place. I do wish you had known him better; you would have been so quick to appreciate the true beauty of his character.

I have lost my best help in ⁠⟨⁠⁠⟨⁠the⁠⟩⁠⁠⟩⁠ difficult duty of making myself useful, and at present the void in the future looks terribly big.

Good-bye, old friend, | Yours affect^ly | J Bonham Carter