To J. D. Hooker 25 January [1872]1
Down Beckenham
Jan 25.
My dear Hooker
I am heartily glad to hear about your Willie.—2 I know what a sharp test the matriculation exam: is; for a few years ago I made special enquiries, & came to the conclusion that Horace cd. not have passed it, even with a year’s hard work.—3 As Willie’s intellectual powers have come to maturity rather late in life, I shd. fully expect that they would go on maturing to an equally later period of life than usual.—4 It is really a great thing for him to have got into the first division, with all the disturbance of regular work from his voyage.—5
I never had Zizania; but I still have Leersia, & you can take away my plant, or all if you like, for I cannot make the beast produce perfect flowers—6 We shall truly rejoice to see you here on the 3d. & let us hear the train that we may send to meet you.7
Henrietta is here, but has had a disastrous visit, for she caught a cold or had a relapse into her former state, & has been in bed the whole week.8
What slow coaches the Ministers are about your affairs.—9
Yours affectly.— | C. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Summary
Heartily glad about Willy.
Has never had Zizania.
Still has Leersia. He cannot make the beast produce.
What slow coaches the Ministers are about the Ayrton affair.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8181
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 94: 218–19
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8181,” accessed on 1 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8181.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 20