My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

230 MY LIFENothing ever was better done than your argumentabout the term Origin of Species, and about muchbeing gained if we know nothing about precise causeof each variation."At the end of the letter he says something aboutthe progress of his great work, " The Descent ofMan."" I have finished ist vol. and am half-way throughproofs of 2nd vol. of my confounded book, which halfkills me by fatigue, and which I fear will quite killme in your good estimation." If you have leisure, I should much like a littlenews of you and your doings and your family," Ever yours very sincerely,"Ch. Darwin."The above remark, " kill me inyour good estimation,"refers to his views on the mental and moralnature of man being very different from mine, thisbeing the first important question as to which ourviews had diverged. But I never had the slightestfeeling of the kind he supposed, looking upon thedifference as one which did not at all affect ourgeneral agreement, and also as being one on whichno one could dogmatize, there being much to be saidon both sides. The last paragraph shows the extremeinterest he took in the personal affairs of all hisfriends.Soon after the " Descent of Man " appeared, Iwrote to Darwin, giving my impressions of the firstvolume, to which he replied (January 30, 1871). Thisletter is given in the "Life and Letters" (iii. p. 134),but I will quote two short passages expressing hiskind feelings towards myself. He begins, "Yournote has given me very great pleasure, chiefly because