ROYAL GARDENS KEW Royal Society
April 27/[18]77
Copy
Dear Capt[ain] Feilden*1 Your letters of April 21 & 22 have surprised & concerned me. You cannot I am sure have considered, when you wrote them, the position in which you place yourself, by repudiating duties and responsibilities, for which you volunteered, & with which you were entrusted by the Government on the recommendation of the Royal Society.

I have received the two Reports which you addressed to me at Burlington House, but as I cannot without authority retain documents which belong to the Government, & which you were instructed to send with others when completed to the Treasury; I return them herewith. I can only again, as a friend, urge you for your [1 word crossed out, illeg.] own sake & for that of the service in which you were Employed, to reconsider your hasty

determination, which, if persisted in, will be calamitous to yourself, distressing to your friends & injurious to the Public Service. Very [1 word illeg.] y[our]s | Jos. D. Hooker[signature] Endnotes
1. Henry Wemyss Feilden was a naturalist and imperial soldier who fought in several conflicts for the British army. He focused his scientific work largely on the Arctic and areas north of Europe, joining several explorations.