From Asa Gray 3 October 1864
Cambridge, Mass.
Oct. 3, 1864
My Dear Darwin
Great was my delight at the perusal of yours of the 13th Sept.1 I had lately written to you, by Mr. Cresy2—a lugubrious letter,3 I suppose, as I had somehow got the impression from him that you were unable to work and quite poorly. To hear that you are actually setting again at Variation-book is capital news,4 and I hope we shall continue to hear more of the s⟨ame⟩ sort. Pray take it easy thou⟨gh so as⟩ not to break down again.
The notice of Dana’s Geology ⟨ ⟩ was from me,5—a little thing, of ⟨little⟩ ⟨sig⟩nificance. The Review of H. ⟨Spencer⟩ dabbling in metaphysics, and su⟨pplying⟩ a dynamic-aerolitic for m⟨etamor⟩phosis, was, of course not from ⟨me.⟩ It was by Chauncey Wright, ⟨a⟩ mathematician here—given ⟨to philoso⟩phizing—a thorough believer ⟨in your⟩ theory, &c &c—6 I sent it, be⟨cause he⟩ wished you to see it, and beca⟨use⟩ ⟨ ⟩ you to see how the N. Amer. ⟨ ⟩ by Bowen [down] upon your bo⟨ok⟩7 ⟨and per⟩ceives your notions as a ⟨two or three words missing⟩ and goes on further. ⟨half a line missing⟩ time to write, or think, and am still in the agony of moving library & herbm.—8 So receive a most hasty note.
Your abstract of the material points of Scott’s interesting paper will be a great convenience, as I can now—that I have no time to ponder it—get off a notice to Sill. Jour.9 What I have to send there should have been written before this.
We have for weeks been filled with mingled amazement and amusement at the views and expectations of the English—not only the Times,10 but ⟨ ⟩ ⟨r⟩est, expecting peace here by the ⟨one or two words missing⟩ of the North, and expecting the ⟨one or two words missing⟩ of the weak and irresolute Mc⟨Clellan⟩ on a Chicago platform.11 All ⟨ ⟩ ⟨ ⟩ghts and expectations run in a ⟨differ⟩ent channel. If we can ⟨one or two words missing⟩ the rebels in arms as thoroughly ⟨ ⟩ all their Democratic allies in ⟨one or two words missing⟩ a month hence, we shall ⟨one or two words missing⟩ see the end. I told you from ⟨one or two words missing⟩ ⟨th⟩ere would be no give up, and ⟨one or two words missing⟩ South obstinately persevered, ⟨one or two words missing⟩ of slavery would be sealed, ⟨two or three words missing⟩ make a great noise:—the ⟨two or three words missing⟩ more quiet.— perhaps they ⟨ line missing⟩ But I shall be much ⟨ line missing⟩ ⟨McCle⟩llan carries any other States than New Jersey, Indiana?, Maryland,. possibly little Delaware, and Kentucky.12
In patience possess your soul, and take these things easy, as we do. I like to know what you think, and so of one or two more. But beyond that, like the Country generally, have ceased to take any interest in British opinions of us and our doings. In time it will all be seen aright, and we can wait.
The Reader comes to me regularly, and I am much interested in its scientific articles.13
Adieu— I hope to get settled in a month or so— Pray continue to report favorably of yourself to | Your very cordial friend | A. Gray
CD annotations14
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bowen, Francis. 1864. A treatise on logic, or, the laws of pure thought; comprising both the Aristotelic and Hamiltonian analyses of logical forms, and some chapters of applied logic. Cambridge, Mass.: Sever & Francis.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Dupree, Anderson Hunter. 1959. Asa Gray, 1810–1888. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University.
[Gray, Asa.] 1864. [Review of A text-book of geology, by J. D. Dana.] American Journal of Science and Arts 2d ser. 37: 147–8.
McPherson, James M. 1988. Battle cry of freedom: the Civil War era. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Russett, Cynthia Eagle. 1976. Darwin in America. The intellectual response 1865–1912. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company.
Summary
Review of Spencer was by Chauncey Wright.
Will get a note on John Scott’s paper off to Sillimans Journal [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 39 (1865): 101–10].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4625
- From
- Asa Gray
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Cambridge, Mass.
- Source of text
- DAR 165: 144
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp damaged †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4625,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4625.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 12
