Dear Sir James Ross
I fear you will think me very ungrateful & capricious, but such is not the case, when I say that I fear I must decline your kind invitation for tomorrow. The temptation made me break through my rule of dining by myself, but since you asked me, I have not been well, & I am in truth afraid of being knocked up if I dine out anywhere out of my own rooms.—
I let you know today that you may fill up my place more worthily.— With much regret & my sincere thanks.
Pray believe me | Yours truly obliged | Charles Darwin
Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1100,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on