To Leslie Stephen 13 January 1881

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

Jan 13^th 1881

My dear Leslie Stephen

Your note is one of the kindest which I have ever received, & your advice shall be strictly followed.¹ It was very good of you, busy as you are, to take so much trouble for me; but your trouble will not be thrown away, in so far as when in the dead of the night the thought comes across me how I have been treated, I will resolutely try to banish the thoughts, & say to myself that so good a judge, as Leslie Stephen thinks nothing of the false accusation The Litchfields & some of my other children are intensely anxious to read your judgment² | Believe me | yours ever gratefully | Charles Darwin

I have written on opposite page my name if you think fit to paste it into the Life of E. D.;³ but I much wish that you w^d. name one or more of the books, written wholly by myself, which I could treat in the same manner for you.—

See letter from Leslie Stephen, 12 January [1881].

CD had asked for advice on how to respond to Samuel Butler from Henrietta Emma and Richard Buckley Litchfield (see letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January 1881, and letter from R. B. and H. E. Litchfield, 5 January [1881]). Henrietta and Leonard Darwin had written to Stephen about the matter (letter from H. E. Litchfield to Leslie Stephen, 10 January 1881, and letter from Leonard Darwin to Leslie Stephen, [10 January 1881]).

Stephen had asked CD to sign a copy of Erasmus Darwin (letter from Leslie Stephen, 12 January [1881]). A piece of paper stuck into Stephen’s copy of Erasmus Darwin reads, ‘From Charles Darwin | with kindest regards. | Jan 13th. 1881.—’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13012,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13012

Summary

Thanks LS for his advice and his kind note. When CD thinks how he has been treated he will say to himself "so good a judge as Leslie Stephen thinks nothing of the accusation".

Letter details

Record number: DCP-LETT-13012
From: Charles Robert Darwin
To: Leslie Stephen
Date: 13 Jan 1881
Sent from: Down
Source of text: Stockholms Auktionsverk (dealers) (15 December 2015)
Physical description: ALS 2pp

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Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 29.

To Leslie Stephen 13 January 1881

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