From F. E. Abbot   15 May 1880

Dear Sir,

Permit me to thank you very gratefully for your generous letter of April 15, with its enclosed bank-cheque of £5, for the Index.¹ To know that the paper possesses any value in the eyes of one of whom the whole world is proud is a great honor, which I am keenly sensible of. As the issue of this week will inform you, I am to leave the editorial chair in a few weeks; but it is one of the precious memories of my long service to know that it has secured me the sympathy of one for whom my reverence is so great.

The article in the Literary World, which I took the liberty of mailing to you was not written by me, nor do I know the writer; but I imagined it might amuse you to see one of the fools so handsomely exposed.² But your reputation in America cannot be eclipsed by any Philadelphia lawyer. Every rising man of science is a Darwinian here. Indeed, I know nothing in the history of opinion more remarkable than the revolution you have made in so short a time. For myself, I am not a competent judge of the scientific aspect of the argument; what has excited my boundless sympathy and admiration is the splendid example of the love of truth for its own sake which you have set to mankind. The intellectual and moral quality of your work I can and do appreciate; and my soul’s deepest desire is to do what I can to make that quality universal in the world.

I am, dear sir, | Yours gratefully, F. E. Abbot.