To Joseph Hooker   11 March 1884

Private ¹

11/3/84.

How sorrowful, dear Sir Joseph, that the great Bentham should not be able to enjoy the late evening of his life in genuine happiness, watching and directing the progress of others and living in daily interest and fruits of his labours. His case seems so much sadder still, as he has no descendents; and he must feel thus inexpressively lonely and forlorn; though it must be a real consolation and comfort for him, to have you so near to him. This very absense of family-ties I can understand, thus I deeply feel for him; and when in late years I became oft melancholic, it was largely because through endless persecutions and undeserved adversities I gradually became too aged and so poor, that I could not build up a domestic home!

When I realized, that his feebleness was not a transient one, I have tried to do a trifle to cheer him; and he became lately elected on my suggestion a hon. member of the L.S. of Sydney. - Did I know, what might give him some little pleasure, possible to be done by me, I would at once carry it out. Your letter is from the middle of Jan; so the worst part of the winter will then soon have passed there, and perhaps he will rally in the spring. Kindly express to him my deep sympathy, and assure him, that I should always treasure my litterary auxiliary connection with him, as among the greatest of the achievements of my poor life.

And now, while thanking you for your solicitude about my health, let me say, that it is somewhat improved. To prevent progress of pulmonary disease is already a great gain. I am fitted up for correspondence, routine-officework &c in a forestral region of Gippsland² for the sake of the pure air, antiseptic Eucalyptus-vapour and tranquillity, so that I need not speak almost every day from morn til eve as in my Office, and my lungs get some rest; still this summer season has been unusually wet and cool; warm days we had few; I am compelled to work here in a room without fireplace, and am very weak, and my cough is only to some extent subdued, while the cold season is approaching again. To go on a lengthened tour to the tropics is impossible since the intrusion on my Department and its disruption took place; and I could not well trust myself away, without giving up the rest of my position, [or] finding myself so impaired on my return, that my difficulties would be still more augmented. If a pension should be perhaps forced on me, it would be extremely small, and I should be obliged to give up also the Herbarium and Library. So I might just as well perish here, as linger on in a miserable existence. Of course I may have too gloomy anticipations; but in letters from the Government here I am only “the Gov Botanist”, and all seems so cold, not to speak of daily jealousies.

You speak of a scientific expedition to New Guinea from Australia! I do not think it likely that any means were forthcoming for that in these colonies except just for emissaries of newspapers unless the great Papuan Island in its eastern half was annexed to Australia. Personally, I could not share any more in rough exploration-work. I am beyond the age for that, if even my pulmonary sufferings could be subdued; and half my salary would during any absense of mine be required for my Office-place still in a small private cottage in Melbourne, where there is so little working space, that whatever I do is retarded and often beset with the greatest difficulty. If you were only here for an hour you would realize all this. My position is in such a way taxed, that I cannot add to the dwelling, unless I throw myself into debt. As however one of the most jealous and powerful adversaries of mine lately passed away,³ I shall make again an effort, to get back again half the ground and half the Garden vote; but while the man, who usurpates my place⁴ has an absolute sinecure by nepotism and has any amount of time to misguide people in reference to me and my wretched position I have no leisure to go out to plead my cause, polititians and indeed almost no one comes near me, unless a few of my medical friends in long intervalles, and they have quite enough to do in active practice, to give me that strenuous and continuous support needed for the resuscitation of my Department. Such can easily and quickly be destroyed, just like an exploring expedition may at any moment be disbandend; but it is very difficult and often impossible to reorganize it again. I trust, that when influential Australians come to Kew, that you and your Assistants will impress on them, that to be a Gov. Botanist without a Garden is an impossibility. Bentham[s] case is quite different; he is rich, had never had any official obligations to the state, and even he, what could he have done without Kew, and what would the Kew-herbarium have been without the Garden? As regards my using the garden, you must kindly remember, that when I ceded before rude power, I did so under protest; so far as a Gov. Officer can protest that I should break by going to my garden, though I am there in my thoughts in day-hours and in my dreams at night, - then with such a person as Curator, as the individual, who with the greatest audacity continues to style himself Director, is an impossibility; there aught to be also some “point d’honneur” to one’s professional brethern abroad. - And if I even live, and go yet through some years toil, to form a new garden, will it not be all altered into lawns, common flower-plots &c so soon as I am dead?

Field work alone, even if I abandoned my position, does not work up any flora.

Here even this very day I shall do lots of things for the Melbourne-Exhibition soon to be opened. But where is the laboratory now? Where the apparatus? Where the raw material, where the manual working power. Last mail brought me letters from two University-Professors, who after years of efforts and solicitation did succeed to get a garden, because even as mere teachers they found, that they could not do without a garden, Prof Just in Carlsruhe and Prof. Grubler in Rostock.⁵

Had I remained in my garden, and had continued in a fairly roomy and at all events healthy dwelling, I should not have become so susceptible to colds, as I have been in later years, when I relapsed to my early phthisic disposition.

I have instructed my assistant in Melbourne, to send you by this post a copy of an article, I wrote from here, prior to the receipt of your letter, for the Melbourne Chemist⁶ in reference to priority-claims; these remarks originating through Asa Gray’s discussion of Alphonse de Candolle’s last publication.⁷ When D.C. sent me his,⁸ I at once stood up for the right of the genera plantarum,⁹ and wrote an appeal to the Bot. Centralblatt, which must since have appeared.¹⁰ I have now followed it up; and as I am doubtless regarded in my far and disconnected position in the field of Botany as a sort of “free-lance”, I can speak with perfect independence and under no influence whatever.

What I said on both occasion may perhaps have some little weight with the Committee, which will deal with this priority-question in England. For my own part, I adhere to views, emanating from the purest feeling of justice, which should overrule all considerations of form and usage. No doubt Darwin’s endowment for a new bot nomenclator (is that really the best name? it savoures too much of former works)¹¹ is most munificent; but we should count it according to fortune; so I suppose, if Dr Fr Darwin sent¹² £3000 to the widow and daughters of poor Hermann Mueller,¹³ it would be proportionately not so much as the poor £3 - - forwarded to day by me.

What glorious prospects for new material at Kew! Some years ago I had some correspondence with Sir John Kirk about a journey of mine contemplated to the alpine mountains west of Zanzibar.¹⁴ Sir John acted most kindly; the Sultan promised protection; but finally I had not in or out of the Department the requisite money! Then there was Perak; my friend and to some extent disciple (so far as correspondence is concerned) the Rev. B. Scortechini is gone there. He is still young, and as a Catholic priest without domestic ties; he has a keen eye for observation, and his coreligionist Governor Weld is sure¹⁵ to give him every possible aid and protection. Weld however has also shown some friendly feelings to me formerly.¹⁶

The region here is the most unproductive for plants; I am too early for fungs and mosses; and as regards the general vegetation, I explored it at the risk of my life 31 years ago, being on the occasion once 5 days without food, had just about here a ride from 5 a.m. til 11 p.m without a settlement, and was nearly drowned in crossing one of the swollen water courses,¹⁷ and subsequently narrowly escaped falling into the hands of cannibal-natives! Now there are railroads, vast wealth is accumulating from the territory, and - of course - the early explorers are forgotten, and men come to the front now, then either unborn, or in their boyhood or in obscurity!

One of the Senecios here puzzles me; but I can deal with it only after my return to Melbourne. I will then also reexamine Wittsteinia, as I have some idea, that it belongs to Gesneriaceae, though anomalous in that order also.

I hardly ever get now a new plant to work out; Australia unless some of the forest-mountains of the far N.E. is almost exhausted as regards actual novelties of decided characteristics.

Pray, thank Mr Dyer for sending me the print on Sand-binding plants of India.¹⁸ I will use the information for the “select plants”, so far as that is possible, as only some of the plants would be hardy beyond the tropics. I am sure, to pick up some notes from the new Kew-Report¹⁹ and Mr Dyers Guide²⁰ also.

Very regardfully your

Ferd. von Mueller

I have written a few notes for the Sydney Medical Gazette, reviewing Zopfs new work on Bacterian organisms (Spalt-Pilze);²¹ the connection of them with numerous diseases, into which we now get more and more insight, is marvellous!

How grateful you must be to providence, to grant you unimpaired health and strength, without which you could not carry on your glorious labors! I suppose you see Sir Henry Barkly sometimes; give him my kind regards

A new Civil service bill comes here in force now. Our Chief Rulers are now three permanent Commissioners; still much will yet depend on the individual Minister of the Department also henceforth.²² - What not happens perhaps to many mortals occurred to me lately; I declined three Presidencies within a few weeks, just before my illness; that of the new-formed Geographic Society of Sydney, that of the large Melbourne Turn-Verein and that of the Melbourne or rather Victorian Field Naturalists Club. The latter was offered me for several years in succession. You see, that most of my fellow-colonists wish me well! I shall also relinquish the Vice-Presidency of the Liedertafel; as I work under so much official disadvantage, and have therefore so little leisure now, besides all these positions involve extra expenses.

You speak, my dear Sir Joseph, of your florishing family; investments in bringing them up are the best in life, and you will live through them into futurity.

Gesneriaceae

Senecio

Wittsteinia