<span>A letter to John Brodie Innes about Charles Darwin's death. Transcription: "April 1882 Dear Mr Innes You will have heard before this of my dear father's death. We all know the strong + affectionate regard you had for him + we feel that you should be written to among the first of those beyond our relatives. We have been uneasy about his heart for some time fast but we did not think there was immediate danger. On Tuesday night at 12 o'clock he was attacked with pain in the chest and fainted away. He soon recovered from this faint + the pain left him after some time but he remained terribly weak + faint and suffered from terribly distressing nausea, + occasional exhausting retching. he became gradually very cold + pulseless but remained conscious up to within a quarter of an hour of his death which took </span><span>place at 4 in the afternoon of 19th He seemed to know he was dying for the first and was not afraid to die, + indeed in his suffering he wished to die. My mother bears it bravely + is very calm, I think the feeling that he does not survive her is a comfort, for she feels that he could not have born the loss as she can. I think he will be buried here, probably on Tuesday- I know it is not for me to speak of the friendship that existed so long between my father + you, but I may at least say how often I have heard him speak of you in warmhearted + kindly words Yours dear Mr Innes sincerely Francis Darwin I have only just seen your kind letter to my mother" Letter, signed by sender. Sent from Down House, near Beckenham, Kent, England.The Robert M. Stecher Collection of Charles Darwin Books and Manuscripts</span>
