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Darwin Correspondence Project

To Thomas Meehan   5 July [1877]1

Down. | Beckenham. Kent (&c)

July 5th.

My dear Sir.

On my return home yesterday I found here your very kind & courteous letter, together with the Review2

I fear that our minds are so differently-constituted that we shall never take the same view of any subject; so that “we must agree to differ” but I feel sure that we shall not on this account have any mutual feeling of animosity

I shall soon publish another small book, consisting of republished papers with some new matter, & I will have the pleasure of sending you a copy as soon as it appears—3

I would with the greatest pleasure have asked you to come here, but my health is weak & conversation tires me more than anything else, so that I am always afraid of seeing anyone, & it really would not be worth your while to come to this inconvenient place for half an hour or an hours talk—

Wishing you all success in your future observations & that we may sometimes agree! I remain, my dear Sir | Yours faithfully. Ch. Darwin.

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Thomas Meehan, 1 July 1877.
Forms of flowers was published on 9 July (Freeman 1977).

Bibliography

Cross and self fertilisation: The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1876.

Forms of flowers: The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1877.

Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of Charles Darwin: an annotated bibliographical handlist. 2d edition. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.

Meehan, Thomas. 1877. Darwin on the fertilization of flowers. Penn Monthly, June 1877, pp. 463–71.

Summary

Thanks for review. Fears "we must agree to differ".

Health weak. Not worth TM’s time to visit.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-11036
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Thomas Meehan
Sent from
Down
Source of text
DAR 146: 355
Physical description
C 1p

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11036,” accessed on 16 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11036.xml

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