Ɛpsilon

To Annie Dowie   24 March 1871

Down, Beckenham, Kent.

March 24th, 1871.

Madam

I beg leave to thank you very sincerely for your extremely kind communication through Sir J. Lubbock.1 It has been highly gratifying to me to hear that so distinguished a man as Dr. Chambers felt an interest about my book during the last hours of his valuable life.2 I have always felt a most sincere respect for your father, and his society, the few times I enjoyed it, was most pleasant to me. Several years ago I perceived that I had not done full justice to a scientific work which I believed and still believe he was intimately connected with, and few things have struck me with more admiration than the perfect temper and liberality with which he treated my conduct.3

I have the honour to remain, Madam, | Your obliged and obedient servant, | Charles Darwin.

1
John Lubbock was CD’s neighbour and may have passed on Dowie’s communication verbally. No written communication has been found.
2
Robert Chambers (Dowie’s father) died on 17 March 1871 (ODNB). CD refers to Descent.
3
CD alludes to Vestiges of the natural history of creation ([Chambers] 1844). Chambers name appeared as author only in the twelfth edition of the book (Chambers 1884). In the historical sketch that was added to the third and later editions of Origin, CD criticised some aspects of Vestiges, but concluded, ‘In my opinion it has done excellent service in calling in this country attention to the subject, in removing prejudice, and in thus preparing the ground for the reception of analogous views’ (Origin 3d ed., p. xvi). In 1848, however, he thought the book exhibited ‘poverty of intellect’ (see Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Charles Lyell, [16 June 1848]).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7620,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7620