To William Graham 5 August 1881
Down, Beckenham, Kent | (Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.)
Aug. 5, 1881.
Dear Sir
I thank you for your long and interesting letter.1 I am not a quick thinker or a good talker, and you would learn nothing from me on the many important subjects which you have discussed. Moreover I labour under a great disadvantage (the effects of many years ill-health.) that I am not able to talk long with any one. It would therefore by no means be worth your while to come all this distance to see me for an hour. I should, however, much regret not to make your personal acquaintance, and as I am sure to be in London in the autumn, I will then ask you to lunch with me, should this plan prove convenient to you.2
I hope that your book may be largely read, but it is very difficult to get a hearing, so tremendous is the rush of new ideas and of new work of all sorts.3
I remain Dear Sir | Yours faithfully | Charles Darwin.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Graham, William. 1881. The creed of science: religious, moral, and social. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co.
Summary
Thanks him for his letter. "I am not a quick thinker or a good talker and you would learn nothing from me on the many important subjects you have discussed."
Suggests meeting in London in lieu of a visit to Down.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13276
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Graham
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 139.12: 8
- Physical description
- C 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13276,” accessed on 1 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13276.xml