To J. D. Hooker   30 November [1874]1

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

Nov. 30th

My dear Hooker.

I declare I wonder that you are alive, considering the work which you have to do— It is enough to kill anyone. I have this day despatched a letter to Farrer, with the enclosures, urging him, if he can, to do what you suggested, ie to persuade Sir S. Northcote to consider the case of Kew himself & not throw it over to a subordinate.2 I am sure he will wish to aid in any way, but I do not know on what terms he may be with his brother-in-law—3 I hope with all my heart & soul you may succeed.

Ever yours | C. Darwin

I see Huxley will go, & I hope it may answer, but it is a great risk.—4

I said that you were thinking of resigning if Government would not give required aid. of an Assistant Secretary to the Institution.—5

The Russian cigarettes are excellent.—

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. D. Hooker, 28 November 1874.
2
See letter to T. H. Farrer, 29 November [1874]. CD had asked Hooker to outline his workload as part of his appeal for government funds to employ an assistant (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1874]). Stafford Northcote was chancellor of the Exchequer.
3
Thomas Henry Farrer was Northcote’s brother-in-law.
4
Thomas Henry Huxley had agreed to give a course of lectures at the University of Edinburgh in the summer of 1875 (see enclosure to letter from J. D. Hooker, 25 November 1874).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9738,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9738