To G. E. Paget   1 August 1874

Bassett Southampton

Aug 1. 1874

My dear Sir

I answered your letter by telegraph this morning, & am sorry for the delay caused by my absence from home.1 My son is just married & has gone abroad; & on his return will be fully employed, so that he cannot accept the excellent offer which you have so kindly made him, & which would afford so fine a start in life for any young medical man.2 We have forwarded your letter to him, & copies of Lady Russell’s3 letters, & I am sure he will be as deeply gratified as I am.

Pray believe me | yours very faithfully & obliged | Charles Darwin

LS

1
Neither Paget’s letter nor CD’s telegraph has been found. CD stayed at Abinger in Surrey from 25 July 1874 and with his son William Erasmus Darwin in Southampton from 30 July to 24 August 1874 (Correspondence vol. 22, Appendix II).
2
The nature of the offer made to Francis Darwin is not known. He had trained in medicine but was employed as CD’s secretary. He married Amy Ruck on 23 July 1874 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).
3
Probably Laura Russell (Lady Arthur Russell), the wife of Lord Arthur Russell, or possibly Fanny Russell (Lady Russell), the wife of Lord John Russell.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9580F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9580F