7/10/84
It was the saddest of tidings, dear Sir Joseph, that of the demise of the great Bentham!1 The telegraphic news reached me at the borders of South Australia, from whence I have just returned.2 It was with some misgivings, when I learnt from your letter of the 22 July,3 that Mr Bentham had gone to his brother’s in law country-seat;4 though this would break his loneliness, it would also entail greater exertions, than he could readily bear in his frail bodily state, and it would take him from the special comforts, to which in his uniform quiet life he had so long been accustomed, though the cheerfulness of relatives and the pureness of rural air may have held out hopes of invigorating our venerable friend. However he must have been grateful to providence, to have allowed him to retain his mental faculties unimpaired and to spare him the suffering of bodily pain, which as a rule accompanies the causes of death. With the glorious help of Kew he stands in reality foremost among plain phytographers of this age, a grand position which he could not have attained without your establishment, and by which he has impressed his name for all times on all countries of the globe!
Ever with regardful remembrance your
Ferd. von Mueller
Please cite as “FVM-84-10-07,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on 8 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/vonmueller/letters/84-10-07