To Lawson Tait   25 March 1875

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

March 25th

Dear Sir

I am much obliged by your kind note.1 I should be very glad to make your personal acquaintance & no introduction was in the least necessary. I fear however that we cannot meet just at present. I have long been much out of health, & lately I have been working very hard & am quite knocked up; at the best of times I cannot converse with any one for more than half an hour or so; & at present I should be incapable even of this much exertion. Therefore I beg you to propose some future Sunday. But I am going on the 31st or 1st for a week to my brother’s house 6 Queen Anne St Cavendish Square, for complete rest,2 & expect that two or three days will set me up. Down is rather an awkward place to reach, & if it would suit you better to come to London on the 4th or on one of the few succeeding days, I should have great pleasure in seeing you. I would suggest your coming to luncheon, & then we could have some talk afterwards   But in this case please to inform me that I may keep myself fresh

My dear Sir | Yours very faithfully | Ch. Darwin

Tait’s letter has not been found but was probably a reply to the letter to Lawson Tait, 20 March [1875].
CD stayed at the home of Erasmus Alvey Darwin from 31 March to 6 April 1875, and then at the home of Henrietta Litchfield; he returned to Down on 12 April 1875 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR242)).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9902,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9902