From Alfred Wrigley 9 March 1868
Grammar School, | Clapham. S.
March 9 | 1868
My dear Sir
The last letter received from you respecting Horace, I beg to enclose—1 After its date, came the signal successes of Leonard and George.2 As I received no further intimation respecting Horace, and could discover no ground of dissatisfaction, I assumed, not unreasonably I submit, that your fourth son would continue at the school where his three elder brothers had succeeded so well.3 On receiving Mr Rouse’s letter4 I replied in nearly the following terms—
“Mr Darwin has not informed me that he will remove his son Horace from this School next Easter; or I should with pleasure reply to your enquiries.” By this I intimated that I had not received your decision on a matter which I supposed to be under consideration.
It is from no idle curiosity that I desire to learn the cause of Horace’s removal. On the one hand I have personally—both as Tutor and Master—rendered him all assistance practicable— on the other hand—he is removed at a season when his brothers have acquired high distinction; and when such removal, without cause assigned, neutralises any advantage that might accrue, and unexplained is a censure. I cannot for a moment suppose that this result is intended—but the prejudicial effect is far beyond the loss of one pupil.
I shall be much obliged by your returning the enclosed letter, which I send for the purpose of shewing that the question was, so far as I knew, under consideration—and that it was my duty to write to Mr Rouse in the terms I did until I had received your decision
Believe me My dear Sir | Yours very sincerely | Alfred Wrigley
Cha⟨r⟩les Darwin Esqre.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Summary
Wants to know why Horace has been removed from school without any notification.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5999
- From
- Alfred Wrigley
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Clapham Grammar School
- Source of text
- DAR 181: 181
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5999,” accessed on 17 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5999.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16