25/1/85
Private
Let me thank you, dear Sir Joseph, for your sympathetic letter of October,1 which remained unanswered for a few weeks, as the geographic Conference here took up much of my time last month.2 You can easily understand, that I am unwilling to give up my position so long as my eyesight and also otherwise my mental and physical strength will allow me to go on. I am hardly older than when your never to be forgotten father was called from Glasgow to Kew;3 but I cannot hope, to live beyond a few years at the utmost; — but during that little span of time I like to remain undisturbed. Could I have remained in my healthy and cheerful place in the garden with daily useful exercise, my life likely would have become very much more prolonged than now will be.
Were I to retire, I should have merely a small pension; and my library and herbarium would also be taken away from me. Besides I have now no property whatever, except a little cottage, not half large enough for my Office work;4 the sad and undeserved change in my official life having by this time made a financial difference of a very large sum to me. As the garden has become largely a lawn concern now, and no one in it can lay the slightest claim to scientific education, nothing is more likely than that after my death, the whole herbarium will be transferred to the University. Which indeed would be the best course I reckon that there are now about half a Million specimens.5
It would be not good, if what I said just now was anywhere discussed, as it would only add to my difficulties. The public service is now here under a board, which administrates even so far as pensioning off is concerned; still I hope, that the three Gentlemen will allow me to go on, though they can have only a limited insight into professional work like mine. With the Garden I lost almost all standing in Society and indeed in other respects, and thus the chance of building up a household, for which I strove so much, and for which Garden, House &c was so far prepared in 1873, was lost. Sometimes people here take queer views here on this subject, but when I ask them, whether they would wish Sir Joseph Hooker out of Kew Garden, they are tacit at once.
Regardfully your
Ferd. von Mueller
Please cite as “FVM-85-01-25,” 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