My dear M^r Bentham

If you would not object to sign the enclosed Certificate for my son Francis, it would greatly please him & me.¹ Though he has done no systematic work, some of his Botanical papers appear to me to possess some value.—² If, however, you doubt whether my son ought to be proposed, I trust that you will merely return the certificate without your signature in the enclosed envelope.—

Believe me, my dear M^r Bentham | Yours sincerely | Charles Darwin