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DOWN,

BECKENHAM, KENT

RAILWAY STATION

ORPINGTON. S.E.R.

Jan 25 1881

My dear George

We recd your Friday's letter & card from Dartm. on Sunday & yesterday, your 2nd letter. (what a snow storm it must have been in that part) It has been perfectly calm with no snow here since the great storm, & we were rejoicing to think what a good beginning you wd have & were m. disappointed to find you were still on Cand. The Therm. rose much on Sun & there was a sort of thaw in London ─ It has been 16˚ several nights & was 22˚ last night. The Lyells brought us word of 3˚ below zero at Bury ─ but F. thinks it cd not have been fairly placed.

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[We] had neither Crawley nor young [illeg] ─ but we did very well─

Rosamond is sensible & very nice but has a little of the family want of humour ─ Arthur nice too but dull & a little tedious. They both play well on the P. F. & with the blessed word game, (in w. Fr. weighted or handicapped himself so as to give them a chance) we did v. well ─

They had just come from Barton where the style of fun for the young people seems of a very rollicking nature. The young party had a separate table & on discovering a hole in one of the dinner napkins they proceeded to tear them all up, & one Arthur M'murds put his head thro' one & showed himself off &c the old party ─ to Lady B's great horror

[Rosamund and Arthur Lyell, grandchildren of Charles Lyell (I).]

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& no wonder ─ It was a most ill-bred proceeding ─ The house keeper was hard pressed for napkins & sent in a set of beautifully five very olden ones ─ Another trick was doing up the menus like darts & shooting the servants or the old table, also having a battle on the stairs at night w. slippers & candlesticks (as I understood) ─ I think Lady B. must be good nature to put up with such doings.

Leo. is going on well & had numbers of visitors & is positively so move to Chatham on Friday ─ Alfred is alas! on the tapis again ─ He wrote to say that he was v. uncomf. & the food bad, & U. Hens [Uncle Hensleigh] ─ at once wired to him (without even telling At F.) to come straight away ─ it seemed

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[such] an insulting way to the host & hostess to take him away in such a manner ─ Huxley's appt to fishery's Inspectorship is 700£ a yr

He says "I had never so much as thought of the appt; but Harcourt wrote me a v. considerate letter, to the effect that he had made up his mind if ever he had the chance power, to do something to improve the position of men of science ─ & as the post involved light work, he thought I mt take it & be all the easier." - - -

"The difference to me will be this ─ that whereas for the last 20 yrs I have been obliged to make as much again as my official income - - - the new appt £700 a yr) will about do that business & relieve me from the necessity of bread-making - - So 3 cheers for Harcourt, of whom I know v. little ─ & who I believe has acted wholly out of a regard for Science."

[concluded on p. 1:] London is detestable w no water & the horses falling. Your first letter from Madeira w be most interesting. How I hope you are at this moment as good many degrees S. F's eczema still makes him uncomf

yours my dear old ma[n]

E[.D.]