My dear Hooker,

Your approval of my book, for many reasons, gives me intense satisfaction;
but I must make some allowance for your kindness and sympathy. Any one
with ordinary faculties, if he had PATIENCE enough and plenty of time,
could have written my book. You do not know how I admire your and Lyell's
generous and unselfish sympathy, I do not believe either of you would have
cared so much about your own work. My book, as yet, has been far more
successful than I ever even formerly ventured in the wildest day-dreams to
anticipate. We shall soon be a good body of working men, and shall have, I
am convinced, all young and rising naturalists on our side. I shall be
intensely interested to hear whether my book produces any effect on A.
Gray; from what I heard at Lyell's, I fancy your correspondence has brought
him some way already. I fear that there is no chance of Bentham being
staggered. Will he read my book? Has he a copy? I would send him one of
the reprints if he has not. Old J.E. Gray (John Edward Gray (1800-1875),
was the son of S.F. Gray, author of the 'Supplement to the Pharmacopoeia.'
In 1821 he published in his father's name 'The Natural Arrangement of
British Plants,' one of the earliest works in English on the natural
method. In 1824 he became connected with the Natural History Department of
the British Museum, and was appointed Keeper of the Zoological collections
in 1840. He was the author of 'Illustrations of Indian Zoology,' 'The
Knowsley Menagerie,' etc., and of innumerable descriptive Zoological
papers.), at the British Museum, attacked me in fine style: "You have just
reproduced Lamarck's doctrine and nothing else, and here Lyell and others
have been attacking him for twenty years, and because YOU (with a sneer and
laugh) say the very same thing, they are all coming round; it is the most
ridiculous inconsistency, etc., etc."