Ɛpsilon

To B. J. Sulivan   6 January [1874]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Jan. 6th

My dear Sulivan

I was glad to see your hand-writing. I heard of your dreadful loss & sincerely sympathised with you, as I know what it is to lose a child, though not one in the prime of life.2 Pray give our joint very kind remembrances to Lady Sulivan.—3

I am very glad to hear so good an account of the Fuegians, & it is wonderful; but your little missionary pamphlet does not tell much.—4 I hope that your health is somewhat improved & you ought to have told me something about it.—5 I cannot say much for myself & I feel the more disappointed, as I have lately been under Dr Clarke’s care & thought that his diet was going to do wonders for me, but it was an illusory hope.—6 I feel very old & helpless, but am able to work a few hours daily at science. Oh those were fine days in the old Beagle.7

Farewell | my old friend | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from B. J. Sulivan, 5 January 1874.
2
Sulivan’s son, Thomas Edward Sulivan, died in January 1873 (see letter from B. J. Sulivan, 5 January 1874 and n. 1). Two of CD’s children died in infancy (Mary Eleanor and Charles Waring), and his daughter Annie died at the age of ten.
4
See letter from B. J. Sulivan, 5 January 1874 and n. 2. CD refers to the mission in Tierra del Fuego; the pamphlet from the South American Mission Society has not been found in the Darwin Archive–CUL.
5
Sulivan had last mentioned his health in a letter of 20 June 1872 (Correspondence vol. 20). At the time he noted that his head was constantly improving.
6
CD probably began consulting Andrew Clark around August 1873 (Correspondence vol. 21, letter from Andrew Clark, 3 September 1873); he had recommended Clark to his son George Howard Darwin in April 1873 (Correspondence vol. 21, letter to G. H. Darwin, [3 April 1873]). Clark was known for his belief in the connection between illness and diet and for his diet-based treatments (ODNB).
7
Sulivan had served as lieutenant during the Beagle voyage from 1831 to 1836.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.2 one] interl
2.5 that] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9229,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9229