Ɛpsilon

To Ernst Haeckel   29 April 1879

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

April 29th. 1879

My dear Häckel

I have just finished reading the English Translation (for from want of time I had deferred reading the French Translation) of your “Freedom in Science &c”, & you must let me have the pleasure of saying how much I admire the whole of it.1 It is a most interesting essay, & I agree with all of it. Virchow’s conduct is shameful & I hope he will someday feel shame.2 What an amazing Preface that by Huxley is.3

With all good wishes | Yours ever sincerely | Charles Darwin

1
Both English and French translations of Haeckel’s Freedom in science and teaching were published in 1879 (Haeckel 1879b and Haeckel 1879c). Copies of the English translation and the original German edition (Haeckel 1878) are in the Darwin Library–Down. Thomas Henry Huxley had sent CD the English translation (see letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 April 1879).
2
Rudolf Carl Virchow held that evolution should not be taught in schools and that speculation should be curbed in science (see letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 April 1879 and n. 2).
3
Huxley had written the preface to Haeckel 1879c (see letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 April 1879 and n. 2).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12017,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12017