Ɛpsilon

To Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing   3 March 1869

Down. | Bromley. | Kent.

March. 3rd. 1869

Dear Sir,

I am very much obliged to you for your kindness in sending me your spirited & interesting lecture.1 If a layman had delivered the same address, he would have done good service in spreading what, as I hope and believe, is to a large extent the truth; but a clergyman in delivering such an address does, as it appears to me, much more good by his power to shake ignorant prejudices, & by setting, if I may be permitted to say so, an admirable example of liberality.

With sincere respect I beg leave to remain— | Dear Sir, | Yours faithfully & obliged | Charles Darwin

LS(A)

1
The lecture was probably one on ‘Darwinism’ given in February 1869 before the Torquay Natural History Society and published in Stebbing’s book Essays on Darwinism (Stebbing 1871). CD’s copy is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 Kent.] before del ‘S.E.’ in CD’s hand
1.3 spreading] altered from ‘spread’ in CD’s hand

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6640,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6640