Ɛpsilon

To H. N. Moseley   7 April 1882

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

April 7th 1882

My dear Moseley

I am much obliged to you for writing to me, for I shd. have been vexed not to have subscribed as a memorial of my respect for the man.—1 My memory told me vaguely that I had had some correspondence on the subject, & I have now found the cheque, which was paid by my Bankers on the August 17th 1881.— Mr. Chapman must have overlooked it, unless his signature be a forgery, (& I have enclosed old cheque on this accnt) which is not likely.2 When I sent it, I supposed that some memorial stone was to be erected & so sent only £2. s2. 0, but I now beg permission to add £8–s8–0—making my subscription £10.s10.0.—

I most heartily hope that you find your position & employment satisfactory in Oxford & that you will raise many students in Natural Science, worthy of their master.—3

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

P.S. I have been ill & am far from well, so will you hand over cheque & communicate with Mr Chapman on subject, & forgive me asking you to take this trouble.—

1
In his letter of 5 April 1882, Moseley had asked CD to contribute to the memorial fund for George Rolleston.
2
Edward Chapman was the treasurer of the fund. Banks returned cheques to the payer as a record that the recipient (who also signed the cheque) had paid them in and received the money. CD’s earlier cheque was dated 13 August 1881; it was paid in by Chapman on 17 August 1881.
3
Moseley had been appointed Rolleston’s successor as Linacre Professor of human and comparative anatomy at Oxford University. CD had written a testimonial in support of Moseley’s candidacy (see Correspondence vol. 29, letter from H. N. Moseley, 27 November 1881).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
1.2 as] over ‘to’
1.4 August] interl
1.4 1881.] interl above em-dash
1.5 (& … accnt) 1.6] interl
1.8 £8–s8–0—] ‘8’ over ‘3’ twice
1.8 £10.10s.0.] ‘10’ over ‘5’ twice
4.1 hand] above del ‘had’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13763,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13763