To T. H. Huxley 22 February [1861]1
Down Bromley Kent
Feb. 22d
My dear Huxley
On my journey home, a scheme occurred to me, which I think is worth your thinking about.—2 Do you not think a little change would be the best thing for Mrs. Huxley, if she could be induced to try it?3 I have been talking with my wife & she joins heartily in asking whether Mrs. Huxley would not come here for a fortnight & bring all the children & nurse. But I must make it clear that this House is dreadfully dull & melancholy. My wife lives upstairs with my girl & she would see little of Mrs. Huxley, except at meal times, & my stomach is so habitually bad that I never spend the whole evening even with our nearest relations. If Mrs Huxley could be induced to come, she must look at this house, just as if it were a country inn, to which she went for a change of air. There is this one advantage, that she would have no trouble, such as she would have if she were to go to an Inn. Also we are near; so that she cd. start from the Victoria station for Beckenham, whither we could send our carriage. And Lastly you could probably come down & spend the Sunday here. Now do think of this scheme. I know well that this house in its present state presents heavy disadvantages; but perhaps a little visit here might do Mrs. Huxley good & give her strength.—4
My dear Huxley | Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin
P.S.5 I have heard from Trübner that the Box from U. States did not contain any M.S. Review from Wright of Boston.6 It seems to have been forgotten by some accident.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bonney, T. G. 1919. Annals of the Philosophical Club of the Royal Society written from its minute books. London: Macmillan.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Emma Darwin (1915): Emma Darwin: a century of family letters, 1792–1896. Edited by Henrietta Litchfield. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1915.
Summary
Invites Mrs Huxley and the children to spend a fortnight at Down.
MS of Chauncey Wright’s review has not yet arrived.
[P.S. missing from original.]
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3066
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Thomas Henry Huxley
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 157); DAR 145
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp inc & C 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3066,” accessed on 10 June 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3066.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 9