To T. H. Huxley   2 February 1880

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

Feb 2. 1880

My dear Huxley,

I am going to ask you to me a great kindness. Mr Butler has attacked me bitterly, in fact accusing me of lying, duplicity, & God knows what, because I unintentionally omitted to state that Krause had enlarged his Kosmos article before sending it for translation.1 I have written the enclosed letter to the Athenæum in reply; but Litchfield is strongly opposed to my making any answer, and I enclose his letter if you can find time to read it.2 Of the other members of my family some are for & some against answering. I should rather like to show that I had intended to state that Krause had enlarged his article. On the other hand a clever & unscrupulous man like Mr Butler would be sure to twist whatever I may say against me; & the longer the controversy lasts the more degrading it is to me. If my letter is printed both the Litchfields want me to omit the two sentences now marked by pencil brackets; but I see no reason for their omission.3

Now will you do me the lasting kindness to read carefully the attack & my answer; & as I have unbounded confidence in your judgement, whatever you advise that I will do: whether you advise me to make no answer, or to send the enclosed letter as it stands or to strike out the sentences between brackets

Ever yours sincerely | Charles Darwin

P.S. Since writing the above I have received another letter from Litchfield, with a splendid imaginary letter from Butler, showing how he would probably travestie my answer. He tells me that he took the Athenæum to Mr Pollock, & asked him, (without giving any hint of his own opinion) whether Butler’s attack ought to be answered & he said “no”.4 But I wait in anxiety for your answer as this will decide me.

LS(A)

1
For Samuel Butler’s letter to the Athenæum, see the letter to H. E. Litchfield, 1 February [1880], enclosure 1. Ernst Krause had revised his essay on Erasmus Darwin (Krause 1879a) for publication in Erasmus Darwin. Although Krause had read Butler’s Evolution, old and new (Butler 1879), he did not cite it in his own essay. In his letter to the Athenæum, Butler accused CD and Krause of responding to Butler 1879 while maintaining that they had written their book before Butler 1879 was published.
2
CD evidently enclosed a copy of the Athenæum containing Butler’s letter, his second draft letter to the Athenæum, and the first enclosure to the first letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] (see letter to H. E. Litchfield, 1 February [1880], enclosures 1 and 3; see also letter to R. B. Litchfield, 2 February 1880). His son-in-law, Richard Buckley Litchfield, had advised against responding to Butler, arguing that no reply was necessary (letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880]).
3
For the positions of CD’s family members on whether or not to respond to Butler’s attack, see the letter to R. B. Litchfield, 2 February 1880. The sentence beginning ‘I could explain …’ and the final sentence of CD’s second draft letter to the Athenæum are enclosed in pencil brackets (see letter to H. E. Litchfield, 1 February [1880], enclosure 3).
4
See second letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February 1880 and enclosure. Litchfield had consulted his neighbour Frederick Pollock, who had written reviews of both Butler 1879 and Erasmus Darwin ([Pollock] 1879a and [Pollock] 1879b).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

4.1 P.S. … me. 4.5] in CD’s hand.
4.1 another] above del ‘answer’
4.1 with] after del illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12451,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12451