Peter's Road, Croydon. January 8, 1881._
My dear Darwin,--I need not say how very grateful I am to you for your
constant kindness, and especially for the trouble you have taken in
recommending me to Mr. Gladstone. It is also, of course, very gratifying
to hear that so many eminent men have so good an opinion of the little
scientific work I have done, for I myself feel it to be very little in
comparison with that of many others.
The amount you say Mr. Gladstone proposes to recommend is considerably
more than I expected would be given, and it will relieve me from a great
deal of the anxieties under which I have laboured for several years.
To-day is my fifty-eighth birthday, and it is a happy omen that your
letter should have arrived this morning.
I presume after I receive the official communication will be the proper
time to thank the persons who have signed the memorial in my favour. I
do not know whether it is the proper etiquette to write a private letter
of thanks to Mr. Gladstone, or only a general official one. Whenever I
hear anything from the Government I will let you know.
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