Ɛpsilon

To H. A. D. Seymour1   20 January 1881

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

Jan 20th 1881

My dear Sir

I beg leave to inform you that the required address, is

“A. R. Wallace Esq

Pen-y-Bryn

St. Peters Road

Croydon.”

Your letter with its unexpected news about the date of the pension has given me much pleasure, for Mr Wallace will be able at once to rest from his miscellaneous literary work, & devote all his strength to natural science.2

I have the pleasure to remain | Yours faithfully & obliged | Charles Darwin

P.S. The receipt of all letters has been delayed by snow-drifts

1
The name of the correspondent is established by the letter from A. R. Wallace, 29 January 1881.
2
Alfred Russel Wallace had been awarded a pension of £200 per year, backdated to July 1879 (see letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 January 1881 and n. 3, and letter to G. H. Darwin, 20 January [1881]). The letter from Seymour, who was Gladstone’s private secretary, has not been found.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13018,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13018