Ɛpsilon

To E. P. Wright   28 February [1879]1

6. Queen Anne St | Cavendish Sqe | London

Feb. 28th

My dear Sir

I thank you for your very kind expressions about my son, who would not presume at present to look to so high a post. Nevertheless what you are so good as to say has pleased me much.

It would me a real pleasure to give you a useful testimonial, but I labour under several difficulties.2 Firstly I have already given one to Mr Mc.Nab, & it seems almost absurd to give 2 testimonials for the same office.3 Secondly I know nothing of systematic botany, & this clearly forms a highly important part of the duties of a Professor on Botany. Nor can I judge except on some few points of physiological Botany & on general Biology. I am writing this away from home (nor do I know when I shall return there) & cannot call to mind what I have read of yours relating to Botany.4 All that I could say wd. be that I had a general impression that you have shown much ability & zeal in Science.— Considering that I have already given a testimonial, I really think such remarks wd be of no use.—

I trust therefore that you will excuse me & believe me | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

P.S. On reflection it will perhaps save you trouble, if I enclose what I can say, but I strongly advise you to throw it into fire.—5

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from E. P. Wright, 26 February 1879.
2
In his letter of 26 February 1879, Wright had asked CD for a testimonial for his application for the chair of botany at the University of Edinburgh and had wondered whether Francis Darwin was applying for the post.
3
No correspondence between William Ramsay McNab and CD regarding the position has been found. In the event the appointment went to Alexander Dickson.
4
CD was at his brother Erasmus Alvey Darwin’s house in London from 27 February to 5 March 1879 on account of ‘Elizabeth’s illness’ (Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood, Emma’s sister, who lived in Down; CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). Although Wright’s research was mainly in marine zoology, CD was aware of his work on the flora of the Seychelles (E. P. Wright 1868a); see Correspondence vol. 15, letter from J. D. Hooker, 19 November 1867. Wright’s articles on the double coconut, a species of red algae, and the flora of the islands of Arran (E. P. Wright 1866b, 1868b, and 1878) are in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 London] above del ‘Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.’
2.1 a] interl
2.9 in Science.] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11908,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11908