To W. W. Gull   12 July 1881

Dear Sir William Gull

Your very kind invitation to dinner on Aug^t 3^d is a great honour to me, & I should have very much liked to have accepted it.¹ But I have not dined out for many years, & I really have not strength in the evening to withstand the excitement and fatigue of a party. This has often been a great loss of pleasure to me, & on no occasion a greater loss than in the present instance.—

I beg leave to remain | Yours faithfully & obliged | Charles Darwin