Ɛpsilon

To G. S. Astley   [after 3 February 1882]1

[Down.]

Legacy

(I have seen a good deal of Surman & I know that my brother thought very highly of his character in all ways, viz honesty, sobriety &c &c. So that he left him a Legacy to which to which I added, as I felt so much obliged for his attention to my brother—2 He is in every way a good servant— (He brought moreover a first rate character to my brother) from his former place, which he had held for some years.

ADraft

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from F. W. Surman, 3 February [1882].
2
Frederic William Surman had been butler to Erasmus Alvey Darwin until Erasmus’s death on 26 August 1881. On CD’s addition to the legacy, see Correspondence vol. 29, letter to Albert Günther, 19 December 1881 and n. 1.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 Legacy … years. 2.6] pencil
2.1 (I … Legacy to which 2.3] transposed from after ‘years.’; square bracket in ms, red crayon
2.1 thought] interl
2.4 He … servant] above del ‘He is in every way a good servant’
2.4 (He brought] square bracket in ms
2.4 moreover … rate 2.5] above del ‘an excellent’
2.5 brother)] square bracket in ms

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13657,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13657