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To T. H. Huxley   9 October 1851

Down Farnborough Kent

Oct. 9. 1851

Dear Sir

I have much pleasure in expressing my opinion, from the high character of your published contributions to Science, and from the course of your studies during your long Voyage,1 that you are excellently qualified for a Professorship in Natural History.—

You have my best wishes for success in your present application,2 & I beg to remain | Dear Sir | Your’s faithfully | Charles Darwin T. H. Huxley Esqe

1
Huxley had been assistant-surgeon on board H.M.S. Rattlesnake, surveying the seas between Australia and the Great Barrier Reef, 1846–50, and had worked extensively on marine organisms.
2
This letter, together with testimonials from Edward Forbes, Richard Owen, William Benjamin Carpenter, and twelve other scientists, was printed for Huxley’s unsuccessful application for the chair of natural history at the University of Toronto (see L. Huxley ed. 1900, 1: 77–83). Huxley reported that he had ‘put together … twelve or fourteen testimonials from the first men. I will have no other.’ (ibid., p. 78).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 from the high] ‘from’ over illeg

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1457,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1457