Ɛpsilon

From J. D. Hooker   13 March 1879

Royal Gardens Kew

March 13/79.

My dear Darwin

Dyer has kept me informed of the steps he took regarding Frank’s appointment to the Examinership at Cambridge; from the conversation he had with Horace onwards: & I must plead guilty of having given him every encouragement, in the belief that Horace’s wishes were Frank’s & your’s too.1

I now write to back his suggestion, that Frank should reconsider the matter of his non-acceptance; & at the risk of appearing intrusive I would urge it for his own sake, primarily—for I cannot but think that a little public duty is an excellent thing for any man who has health energy & acquirements enough to perform it—& I think I am not wrong in surmising that in Frank’s case such a duty would be eminently beneficial. I well remember my own extreme aversion to undertake public duties, & your affectionate encouragement on very many occasions, when I would fain have held back.2 I now know how good it has been for me—& how grateful I am to you for your encouragement I only know.

Then again Frank’s holding back will be a great disappointment to Cambridge; not only on account of his being the best man, & a Cambridge man,3 & your son; but because I do not know where they are to get another fit man at all!

I need not add that of Frank’s entire competency there cannot be a question— were it to conduct a hack examination of medical students in the shape of system, morphology, pharmacy, & physiology, that they had picked up in the course of the so called “Botany class”—it would be a different matter, but the functions of the Cambridge Examiners are of another order altogether—& the amount of Morphology & system required from the Examiner & candidate are what the ordinary text books supply.4

No doubt there may be cogent reasons for Frank’s reluctance—& of which I know nothing— if there are such pray forgive me for going so far as I have; & believe my dear old friend that I think only (& as much) of Frank as of Cambridge in this matter; & nothing at all of the disappointment to Dyer & myself.

We are all well—&, as usual, it seems an age since we have had any communication.

Shall you be coming to Town soon? Smith’s illness keeps me pretty close here.5

Ever affy Yrs | Jos. D. Hooker.

1
See letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 13 March 1879. William Turner Thiselton-Dyer had evidently written in a now missing letter to encourage Francis Darwin to reconsider his decision not to accept nomination as one of the examiners in the natural sciences tripos at the University of Cambridge. Horace Darwin also wanted Francis to reconsider and wrote to Francis Maitland Balfour, who was himself a candidate for examinership, to see whether this would be possible (letter from Horace Darwin to Francis Maitland Balfour, 14 March 1879; National Archives of Scotland (GD433/2/103B/95–6)). Balfour was an examiner from 1879 to 1881 (Cambridge University Reporter, 25 March 1879, p. 475; Alum. Cantab.).
2
CD had encouraged Hooker to accept the presidency of the Royal Society of London (see Correspondence vol. 21, letter from J. D. Hooker, 7 January 1873, and letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 January 1873).
3
Francis had received his BA from Cambridge in 1870 (Alum. Cantab.).
4
On changes in the teaching of botany at Cambridge during this period, particularly on the reduction of systematics and greater emphasis on physiological botany in the curriculum, see Walters 1981, pp. 70–2.
5
CD had visited the home of his brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin, in London from 27 February to 5 March 1879; aside from a brief visit in June to receive the Baly medal, his next visit was from 2 to 11 December 1879 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). John Smith was the curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11938,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11938