CHARLESDARWINTOJ。D。HOOKER。
Down，Sunday，August23[1868]。
MydearoldFriend，Ihavereceivedyournote。IcanhardlysayhowpleasedIhavebeenatthesuccessofyouraddress（SirJosephHookerwasPresidentoftheBritishAssociationattheNorwichMeetingin1868。），andofthewholemeeting。I
haveseenthe\"Times\"，\"Telegraph\"，\"Spectator\"，and\"Athenaeum\"，andhaveheardofotherfavourablenewspapers，andhaveorderedabundle。Thereisa\"chorusofpraise。\"The\"Times\"reportedmiserably，i。e。asfaraserratawasconcerned;butIwasverygladattheleader，forIthoughtthewayyoubroughtinthemegalithicmonumentsmosthappy。（TheBritishAssociationwasdesirousofinterestingtheGovernmentincertainmoderncromlechbuilders，theKhasiaraceofEastBengal，inorderthattheirmegalithicmonumentsmightbeefficientlydescribed。）IparticularlyadmiredTyndall’slittlespeech（ProfessorTyndallwasPresidentofSectionA。）……The\"Spectator\"pitchesalittleintoyouaboutTheology，inaccordancewithitsusualspirit……
Yourgreatsuccesshasrejoicedmyheart。Ihavejustcarefullyreadthewholeaddressinthe\"Athenaeum\";andthough，asyouknow，Ilikeditverymuchwhenyoureadittome，yet，asIwastryingallthetimetofindfault，Imissedtoacertainextenttheeffectasawhole;andthisnowappearstomemoststrikingandexcellent。Howyoumustrejoiceatallyourbotheringlabourandanxietyhavinghadsograndanend。Imustsayawordaboutmyself;neverhassuchaeulogiumbeenpassedonme，anditmakesmeveryproud。IcannotgetovermyAMAZEMENTatwhatyousayaboutmybotanicalwork。ByJove，asfarasmymemorygoes，youhavestrengthenedinsteadofweakenedsomeoftheexpressions。Whatisfarmoreimportantthananythingpersonal，istheconvictionwhichIfeelthatyouwillhaveimmenselyadvancedthebeliefintheevolutionofspecies。Thiswillfollowfromthepublicityoftheoccasion，yourposition，soresponsible，asPresident，andyourownhighreputation。Itwillmakeagreatstepinpublicopinion，Ifeelsure，andIhadnotthoughtofthisbefore。The\"Athenaeum\"takesyoursnubbing（SirJosephHookermadesomereferencetothereviewof’AnimalsandPlants’inthe\"Athenaeum\"ofFebruary15，1868。）withtheutmostmildness。Icertainlydorejoiceoverthesnubbing，andhope[thereviewer]willfeelitalittle。WheneveryouhaveSPAREtimetowriteagain，tellmewhetheranyastronomers（Indiscussingtheastronomer’sobjectiontoEvolution，namelythatourglobehasnotexistedforalongenoughperiodtogivetimefortheassumedtransmutationoflivingbeings，HookerchallengedWhewell’sdictumthat，astronomyisthequeenofsciences——theonlyperfectscience。）tookyourremarksinillpart;astheynowstandtheydonotseematalltooharshandpresumptuous。Manyofyoursentencesstrikemeasextremelyfelicitousandeloquent。ThatofLyell’s\"under—pinning\"（AfteraeulogiumonSirCharlesLyell’sheroicrenunciationofhisoldviewsinacceptingEvolution，SirJ。D。Hookercontinued，\"Wellmayhebeproudofasuperstructure，raisedonthefoundationsofaninsecuredoctrine，whenhefindsthathecanunderpinitandsubstituteanewfoundation;andafterallisfinished，surveyhisedifice，notonlymoresecurebutmoreharmoniousinitsproportionthanitwasbefore。\"），iscapital。Tellme，wasLyellpleased？Iamsogladthatyourememberedmyolddedication。