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To James Torbitt   19 December 1880

Down,

Dec. 19, 1880.

My dear Sir

I am extremely sorry to trouble you again but I have not made my meaning clear to you.1 I hold in my hands £90 (as by annexed slip of paper) subscribed in aid of your experiments. Now I do not understand whether you now require part or the whole of this sum. If you do not, I would propose to the subscribers that I should retain part or the whole, as they may decide, in aid of your experiments next year. As soon as I hear again from you, I will draw up a statement and send it to Mr. Farrer and Caird with respect to money advanced by me and my brother to you and of what I still hold in hand.2 I will then state your wishes for next year and just suggest to them to allow me to retain a part or all the money for next year. I will then also send copies (already made) of your letter and Report of Dec. 11th, calling their attention to your offer of sending them varieties and telling them no result from your letter to Mr. Forster.3 You speak in your letter of repaying me my advance of £150 and that by my brother of £25.4 Your conduct has always been most handsome and straight-forward, but unless you should make good profit from sale of the varieties I want no repayment, nor, as I believe, would my brother. With respect to the other subscribers I certainly should like to return a part of the £90 to the subscribers, or get their permission to retain it for next year.

A single line in answer will suffice, and I will then write at once to Mr. Farrer and Caird.

Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

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1
CD’s most recent extant letter to Torbitt was that of 13 December 1880, in which he asked about Torbitt’s plan for the funds that had been subscribed for his experiments aimed at producing blight-resistant potatoes. Torbitt’s reply of 15 December 1880 made no mention of the subscribed money. There is a missing letter from Torbitt, dated 17 December 1880 (see letter to T. H. Farrer, 30 December 1880).
2
Thomas Henry Farrer and James Caird had helped raise funds for Torbitt. The slip of paper mentioned has not been found; for the subscribers, see the letter from T. H. Farrer, 8 March 1880.
3
The letter and report from Torbitt have not been found. William Edward Forster was chief secretary for Ireland. Torbitt had reported that Forster told him he could not help with the matter (see letter from James Torbitt, 15 December 1880).
4
See letter to James Torbitt, 4 March 1880, and letter from James Torbitt, 12 March 1880; Erasmus Alvey Darwin had sent a cheque for £25 to Torbitt. CD pledged £50 in addition to the £100 he sent in 1878 (see Correspondence vol. 26, letter from James Torbitt, 6 March 1878).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12925,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12925