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From Herbert Spencer   22 September 1881

38 Queen’s Gardens | Bayswater, W.

Sep. 22/ 81

Dear Mr. Darwin,

I inclose you a circular which tells its own story.1 I have long been wanting to make a move of the kind indicated, and have at length taken this step. Remembering the direction of your sympathies in the Jamaica business, I am inclined to hope you will join us.2 At present, as you see, the action taken is altogether private and but a few names have been obtained. When more public action is taken we shall, I have no doubt, present an imposing front.

Truly yours | Herbert Spencer

1
The circular has not been found. Spencer hoped to set up an Anti-Aggression League to curb the aggressive tendencies of colonial powers; he had drawn up the circular outlining his plans on 16 June 1881 (see Duncan 1908, p. 221).
2
In 1866, Spencer had asked CD to support the Jamaica Committee, which had called for the criminal prosecution of the colonial governor Edward John Eyre for his actions in suppressing an uprising by the ex-slave population of Jamaica (see Correspondence vol. 14, letter from Herbert Spencer, 2 November 1866). CD subscribed £10 to the committee (see ibid., letter to J. D. Hooker, 20 November [1866] and n. 8).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13351,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13351