To Henry Michael Jenkins   [after 1 October 1868]1

Dear Sir

Your L. of Oct 1 for having been addressed to Q. Anne St. reached me only this morning.—2 You have from all that I have heard of you my sincere good wishes for your success in your present application;3 but on a little reflection you will see thatI could only say from my personal knowledge, (& I am bound) to keep to this) that you have in my opinion edited with care skill & success the Journal of the Geological Society. So bald a testimonial could do no good, & might very falsely appear as if I wished to do harm.— If you think fit I could send a few lines like to the above effect, but I cannot think that this wd be advisable.—

Dear Sir | &c &c

Draft

1
The date is established by the reference to Jenkins’s letter of 1 October, and by the reference to Jenkins’s seeking a new post (see n. 3, below).
2
Jenkins’s letter has not been found. CD often stayed at 6 Queen Anne Street, the home of Erasmus Alvey Darwin, when he visited London.
3
Jenkins was applying for the position of secretary to the Royal Agricultural Society of England (see letter from W. S. Dallas, 12 October 1868). Jenkins had been assistant secretary, librarian, and curator of the Geological Society of London since 1862. He resigned from the Geological Society at the end of 1868 (Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 25 (1869): ii).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 of Oct 1] interl
1.2 from … you] interl
1.3 on a … see that] interl
1.4 only] above del ‘only’
1.4 my] interl
1.4 (& I] ‘I’ after del ‘to this’
1.4 (& … bound)] interl
1.4 to keep to this)] added
1.4 that you have 1.5] after interl & del ‘only’
1.5 in my opinion] above del ‘very successfully’
1.5 skill] interl
1.5 with care … success] interl
1.6 So] after del ‘& really’
1.7 do harm] ‘do’ above del ‘say’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6402,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6402