To G. J. Romanes 25 April 1881
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)
April 25. 1881
My dear Romanes
I was very glad to read your last note with much news interesting to me.1 But I write now to say how I, & indeed all of us in this house, have admired your letter in the Times. It was so simple & direct.— I was particularly glad about Burdon Sanderson, of whom I have been for several years a great admirer.—2 I was, also, especially glad to read the last sentences.3 I have been bothered with several letters, but none abusive.— Under a selfish point of view I am very glad of the publication of your letter, as I was at first inclined to think that I had done mischief by stirring up the mud. Now I feel sure that I have done good.4 Mr Jesse has written to me very politely: he says his Soc. has had nothing to do with the placards & diagrams against physiology & I suppose, therefore, that these all originate with the sweet Miss Cobbe.— Good Heavens what a liar she is: did you notice how in her second letter she altered what she quoted from her first letter, trusting to no one comparing the two?—5 Mr Jesse complains bitterly that the Times will “burk” all his letters to this newspaper; nor am I surprised judging from the laughable tirades advertised in Nature.—6
Ever yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Report of the Royal Commission on vivisection: Report of the Royal Commission on the practice of subjecting live animals to experiments for scientific purposes; with minutes of evidence and appendix; 1876 (C.1397, C.1397-1) XLI.277, 689. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers.
Summary
Comments on GJR’s letter in the Times [25 Apr 1881] concerning vivisection. Mentions activity of anti-vivisectionists, G. R. Jesse and F. P. Cobbe.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13138
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- George John Romanes
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.589)
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13138,” accessed on 31 August 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13138.xml