From James Torbitt   7 April 1876

Belfast

7th April, 1876.

Charles Darwin, Esq., | Down, Beckenham, Kent.

Dear Sir,—

With profound respect, I duly received your letter of 4th inst.,1 and liberty to publish it.2 The matter is so grave that I required a night’s rest before replying; and to-day I find no alteration in my opinion of yesterday, and I see no reason why I should not express that opinion to you, and to the world.

My opinion, then is, that that letter is the turning point in the game which I have been playing, and I believe it to be worth some Fifty Millions Sterling to England alone. And I believe so, because I believe it will enable me to suppress the Potato Disease several years sooner than would have been otherwise possible.3

I beg leave to return for your perusal (but please let me have it back) the answer you did me the honour to give to my question: What is an individual?4 If you can permit it, I think it would be of great importance to have it published, as it leaves every man free to form his own opinion.

I am, dear Sir, | With the most profound respect, | Faithfully yours, | J. Torbitt

Printed copy

2
Telegram to James Torbitt, 6 April 1876.
4
In his letter of 4 April 1876, CD had refused Torbitt permission to publish his letter to Torbitt of 26 January 1876, because he could not remember what he had said.
5
The text of this letter, the telegram from James Torbitt, 6 April 1876, and the telegram to James Torbitt, 6 April 1876, are from a printed sheet headed ‘Authorized copy’ formerly inserted into a copy of Torbitt 1876 at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland Library, Glasnevin. The text of the letter to Torbitt of 4 April 1876 is also on the sheet, although the text in this volume has been reproduced from the copy in DAR 148: 92.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10443,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10443