Ɛpsilon

To Edward Cresy   [24 June 1849]1

The Lodge, | Malvern.

My dear Sir,

Your letter of the 22nd has been forwarded to me here (from Down) where I have been staying since the 10th of March, under the cold water cure, which has benefitted my health to a very considerable extent.

Dr. King2 from all that you say, from his testimonials and his writings, has, I am sure, my best good wishes, but it is really impossible that I can canvass for a man not personally known to me.3 I fully appreciate the kindness of your feelings and your gratitude to Dr. King for his attentions to you, but, I think, a moment’s reflexion will show you how a strange it would appear to any third person for me to canvass with only second hand information. I return the documents to save the trouble of copies. I return home by beginning of next month, and shd. I see Owen,4 I will mention what you say of Dr. King, but his name must be pretty well known to everyone. I can only repeat with sincerity that he has my good wishes.

I hope that your Father is well. In Haste, | Yours sincerely, C. Darwin. Sunday morning.

1
The Sunday after Edward Cresy’s letter, as mentioned by CD, and the last Sunday that CD spent at Malvern before his return to Down on 30 June (‘Journal’; Correspondence vol. 4, Appendix I).
2
Cresy had solicited CD’s opinion of Richard King’s views on Arctic expeditions earlier. See second letter to Edward Cresy, [before May 1848?].
3
The canvassing may have been in support of King’s proposal to lead a search for John Franklin. In 1850 he was appointed assistant surgeon with the H.M.S. Resolute expedition.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1238,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1238