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Darwin Correspondence Project

To John Tyndall   8 April [1873]1

16 Montague St | Montague Sq | W

Ap 8

Private

My dear Tyndall

After you left I thought of the extreme interest & kindness which Spottiswoode showed on our subject, & it appeared to me proper that I should write to him which I have done, and I mention it to you to save your taking the trouble.2 As he would have known if present what was done I gave him an outline of our decision & thought it fair to tell him what had been subscribed. I presume he will communicate directly with Lubbock.3 As you will naturally desire to know how the subscription stands I may mention that my brother4 will give £100 and that I have changed mine to £300   These will be despatched tomorrow.

I really think we have done a good days work and I remain, yours most cordially | Ch. Darwin

Our meeting this morning will give me a higher opinion of human nature for the rest of my life than I ever had before, though I am not one of those who think lowly of mankind.

Footnotes

The year is established by the reference to a meeting that took place on 8 April 1873 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), letter to William Spottiswoode, [8 April 1873]).
See letter to William Spottiswoode, [8 April 1873]. CD had evidently met Spottiswoode on 7 April and discussed the plan of a subscription to raise money for Thomas Henry Huxley.
The money raised for the subscription was handled by John Lubbock’s bank, Robarts, Lubbock & Co. (see letter to T. H. Huxley, 23 April 1873).

Summary

CD will write to William Spottiswoode about the fund for Huxley. CD is raising his subscription to £300. "We have done a good day’s work … [it] gives me a higher opinion of human nature than I had before, though I am not one of those who think lowly of mankind."

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-8850
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
John Tyndall
Sent from
London, Montague St, 16
Source of text
DAR 261.8: 13 (EH 88205951)
Physical description
LS(A) 4pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8850,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8850.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21

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