Ɛpsilon

To A. B. Buckley   7 January [1881]1

Down Beckenham

Jan. 7th.

My dear Miss Buckley

Here is good news— read the enclosed, copied from note just received in Mr. Gladstone’s own hand-writing.—2 I had intended to ask you to inform Mr. Wallace, but all my family thought that as Mr. Gladstone’s note was addressed to me, I ought myself to inform Mr. Wallace. This I have done telling him a little about the Memorial, but not who signed it.—3 It is evident that the D. of Argyll’s private note greatly influenced Mr. Gladstone.—4 I will write to the Duke.—5 How extraordinaryly kind of Mr. Gladstone to find time to write under present circumstances.6

Good Heavens how pleased I am.— In haste | Yours very truly Ch. Darwin

I suppose that Mr. Gladstone’s note ought to be considered to a certain extent private

Copy

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from W. E. Gladstone, 6 January 1881.
4
CD had asked George Douglas Campbell, eighth duke of Argyll, to write a separate letter of support to Gladstone (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter to G. D. Campbell, [before 27 December 1880] and n. 4). Campbell’s letter to Gladstone has not been found.
6
Parliament convened on 6 January 1881 (Journals of the House of Commons. Session 1881).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12988,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12988