Ɛpsilon

To ?   7 August [1843–68?]1

Down

Aug 7.

My dear Lord

I am extremely much obliged for your note. Few things would have given me more pleasure than the ride which you propose, but I am so very subject to headaches, that I am really afraid of any exertion:2

& with very sincere thanks to your Lordship, I beg to remain | your's truly obliged | Charles Darwin

1
The beginning of the date range is established from the fact that CD moved to Down House, Kent, in September 1842 (Correspondence vol. 2, Appendix II); he may have given up riding after a fall in April 1869 (Correspondence vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 and n. 12).
2
The letter may have been written to Robert Monsey Rolfe (Lord Cranworth) or Philip Henry Stanhope (Lord Stanhope), both of whom had country seats near Down. For CD’s relationship with Stanhope, see ‘Recollections’, p. 361. CD’s doctor ordered him to ride daily in 1866 (Correspondence vol. 14, letter to George Bentham, 1 October 1866).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13867,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13867