From Edward Cresy   29 July 1864

Spring Gardens

29 July ’64.

My dear Sir,

A body of English mortgagees have requested me to examine and report on a line of railway in New Brunswick1 and I avail myself of the chance of profitably occupying my vacation— It is possible that in pushing my enquiries I may have to go to Boston & if so I should feel very much obliged if you would give me a note to Asa Gray whom I should like to know—2

I am afraid you are not likely to have any scientific correspondents at Halifax, Windsor, St John’s or St Andrews—which is my line of route— If I can spare the time & money I shall return via Niagara & New York, but that depends on the result of my enquiries in New Brunswick—& how far I have to travel right & left of my line— I am told the Boston men have projected a line to join ours which would make it a valuable property— at present it is a damnosa hereditas3 to my clients—

I went to the Linnæan to hear your paper & was sorry to learn you were still confined to your room—4 If I had felt sure of having the pleasure of seeing you I should have called in lieu of writing— I hope you are now able to give a better account of yourself.

Pray make our kindest remembrances to Mrs Darwin & yr daughter who is I hope quite florishing—5 I should tell you I leave town on Friday night & sail from Liverpool on Saturday morning—

Yours very truly | E Cresy

C Darwin Esq.

1
New Brunswick is a province in eastern Canada.
2
Cresy had evidently been impressed by an article of Gray’s on Origin ([Gray] 1860) that CD had recommended (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December [1860]). CD wrote in his letter to Cresy of 28 May [1861], ‘I am very glad to hear that you like Asa Gray’ (Correspondence vol. 9).
3
Damnosa hereditas: a ruinous inheritance (Oxford Latin dictionary).
4
CD’s paper, ‘Three forms of Lythrum salicaria’, was read at the Linnean Society on 16 June 1864. CD did not travel to London to deliver the paper. Although his long illness had subsided in mid-April (see ‘Journal’ (Correspondence vol. 12, Appendix II)), he continued to suffer intermittently from sickness and weakness in May and June (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). See also letter to J. D. Hooker, [15 May 1864].

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-4579,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-4579