But if we admit that it is scientific, then we are precluded from admitting a "directive power."

This was von Baer's position, also that of Kant and of Weismann.

But von Baer remarks that the naturalist is not precluded from asking "whether the totality of details leads him to a general and final basis of intentional design." I have no objection to this, and offer it as an olive-branch which you can throw to your howling and sneering critics.

As to "structures organised to serve certain definite purposes," surely they offer no more difficulty as regards "scientific" explanation than the apparatus by which an orchid is fertilised.

We can work back to the amoeba to find ourselves face to face with a scarcely organised mass of protoplasm. And then we find ourselves face to face with a problem which will, perhaps, for ever remain insoluble scientifically. But as for that, so is the primeval material of which it (protoplasm) is composed. "Matter" itself is evaporating, for it is being resolved by physical research into something which is intangible.

We cannot form the slightest idea how protoplasm came into existence. It is impossible to regard it as a mere substance. It is a mechanism. Although the chemist may hope to make eventually all the substances which protoplasm fabricates, and will probably do so, he can only build them up by the most complicated processes. Protoplasm appears to be able to manufacture them straight off in a way of which the chemist cannot form the slightest conception. This is one aspect of the mystery of life. Herbert Spencer's definition tells one nothing.

Science can only explain nature as it reveals itself to the senses in terms of consciousness. The explanation may be all wrong in the eyes of omniscience. All one can say is that it is a practical working basis, and is good enough for mundane purposes. But if I am asked if I can solve the riddle of the Universe I can only answer, No. Brunetiere then retorts that science is bankrupt. But this is equivocal. It only means that it cannot meet demands beyond its power to satisfy.

I entirely sympathise with anyone who seeks an answer from some other non-scientific source. But I keep scientific explanations and spiritual craving wholly distinct.

The whole point of evolution, as formulated by Lyell and Darwin, is to explain phenomena by known causes. Now, directive power is not a known cause. Determinism compels me to believe that every event is inevitable. If we admit a directive power, the order of nature becomes capricious and unintelligible. Excuse my saying all this. But that is the dilemma as it presents itself to my mind. If it does not trouble other people, I can only say, so much the better for them. Briefly, I am afraid I must say that it is ultra-scientific. I think that would have been pretty much Darwin's view.

I do not think that it is quite fair to say that biologists shirk the problem. In my opinion they are not called upon to face it. Bastian, I suppose, believed that he had bridged the gulf between lifeless and living matter. And here is a man, of whom I know nothing, who has apparently got the whole thing cut and dried.—Yours sincerely,

W.T. THISELTON-DYER.

* * * * *

TO PROF. POULTON

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. May 28, 1912.

My dear Poulton,—Thanks for your paper on Darwin and Bergson.[39] I have read nothing of Bergson's, and although he evidently has much in common with my own views, yet all vague ideas—like "an internal development force"—seem to me of no real value as an explanation of Nature.

I claim to have shown the necessity of an ever-present Mind as the primal cause both of all physical and biological evolution. This Mind works by and through the primal forces of nature—by means of Natural Selection in the world of life; and I do not think I could read a book which rejects this method in favour of a vague "law of sympathy." He might as well reject gravitation, electrical repulsion, etc. etc., as explaining the motions of cosmical bodies....—Yours very truly, ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO MR. BEN R. MILLER

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset, January 18, 1913.

Dear Sir,—Thanks for your kind congratulations, and for the small pamphlet[40] you have sent me. I have read it with much interest, as the writer was evidently a man of thought and talent. The first lecture certainly gives an approach to Darwin's theory, perhaps nearer than any other, as he almost implies the "survival of the fittest" as the cause of progressive modification. But his language is imaginative and obscure. He uses "education" apparently in the sense of what we should term "effect of the environment."

The second lecture is even a more exact anticipation of the modern views as to microbes, including their transmission by flies and other insects and the probability that the blood of healthy persons contains a sufficiency of destroyers of the pathogenic germs—such as the white blood-corpuscles—to preserve us in health.

But he is so anti-clerical and anti-Biblical that it is no wonder he could not get a hearing in Boston in 1847.—Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO PROF. POULTON

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. April 2, 1913.

My dear Poulton,—About two months ago an American ... sent me the enclosed booklet,[41] which he had been told was very rare, and contained an anticipation of Darwinism.

This it certainly does, but the writer was highly imaginative, and, like all the other anticipators of Darwin, did not perceive the whole scope of his idea, being, as he himself says, not sufficiently acquainted with the facts of nature.

His anticipations, however, of diverging lines of descent from a common ancestor, and of the transmission of disease germs by means of insects, are perfectly clear and very striking.

As you yourself made known one of the anticipators of Darwin, whom he himself had overlooked, you are the right person to make this known in any way you think proper. As you have so recently been in America, you might perhaps ascertain from the librarian of the public library in Boston, or from some of your biological friends there, what is known of the writer and of his subsequent history.

If the house at Down is ever dedicated to Darwin's memory it would seem best to preserve this little book there; if not you can dispose of it as you think best.—Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

P.S.—Two of my books have been translated into Japanese: will you ascertain whether the Bodleian would like to have them?

* * * * *

TO PROF. POULTON[42]

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset, June 3, 1913.

My dear Poulton,—I am very glad you have changed your view about the "Sleeper" lectures being a "fake." The writer was too earnest, and too clear a thinker, to descend to any such trick. And for what? "Agnostic" is not in Shakespeare, but it may well have been used by someone before Huxley. The parts of your Address of which you send me slips are excellent, and I am sure will be of great interest to your audience. I quite agree with your proposal that the "Lectures" shall be given to the Linnean Society.—Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO MR. E. SMEDLEY

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. August 26, 1913.

Dear Mr. Smedley,—I am glad to see you looking so jolly. I return the photo to give to some other friend. Mr. Marchant, the lecturer you heard, is a great friend of mine, but is now less dogmatic. The Piltdown skull does not prove much, if anything!

The papers are wrong about me. I am not writing anything now; perhaps shall write no more. Too many letters and home business. Too much bothered with many slight ailments, which altogether keep me busy attending to them. I am like Job, who said "the grasshopper was a burthen" to him! I suppose its creaking song.—Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO MR. W.J. FARMER

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. 1913.

Dear Sir,— ... I presume your question "Why?" as to the varying colour of individual hairs and feathers, and the regular varying of adjacent hairs, etc., to form the surface pattern, applies to the ultimate cause which enables those patterns to be hereditary, and, in the case of birds, to be reproduced after moulting yearly.

The purpose, or end they serve, I have, I think, sufficiently dealt with in my "Darwinism"; the method by which such useful tints and markings are produced, because useful, is, I think, clearly explained by the law of Natural Selection or Survival of the Fittest, acting through the universal facts of heredity and variation.

But the "why"—which goes further back, to the directing agency which not only brings each special cell of the highly complex structure of a feather into its exactly right position, but, further, carries pigments or produces surface striae (in the case of the metallic or interference colours) also to their exactly right place, and nowhere else—is the mystery, which, if we knew, we should (as Tennyson said of the flower in the wall) "know what God and Man is."

The idea that "cells" are all conscious beings and go to their right places has been put forward by Butler in his wonderful book "Life and Habit," and now even Haeckel seems to adopt it. All theories of heredity, including Darwin's pangenesis, do not touch it, and it seems to me as fundamental as life and consciousness, and to be absolutely inconceivable by us till we know what life is, what spirit is, and what matter is; and it is probable that we must develop in the spirit world some few thousand million years before we get to this knowledge—if then!

My book, "Man's Place in the Universe," shows, I think, indications of the vast importance of that Universe as the producer of Man which so many scientific men to-day try to belittle, because of what may be, in the infinite!—Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.



PART IV

Home Life

(By W.G. WALLACE and VIOLET WALLACE)

In our father's youth and prime he was 6 ft. 1 in. in height, with square though not very broad shoulders. At the time to which our first clear recollections go back he had already acquired a slight stoop due to long hours spent at his desk, and this became more pronounced with advancing age; but he was always tall, spare and very active, and walked with a long easy swinging stride which he retained to the end of his life.

As a boy he does not appear to have been very athletic or muscularly strong, and his shortsightedness probably prevented him from taking part in many of the pastimes of his schoolfellows. He was never a good swimmer, and he used to say that his long legs pulled him down. He was, however, always a good walker and, until quite late in life, capable of taking long country walks, of which he was very fond.

He was very quick and active in his movements at times, and even when 90 years of age would get up on a chair or sofa to reach a book from a high shelf, and move about his study with rapid strides to find some paper to which he wished to refer.

When out of doors he usually carried an umbrella, and in the garden a stick, upon which he leaned rather heavily in his later years. His hair became white rather early in life, but it remained thick and fine to the last, a fact which he attributed to always wearing soft hats. He had full beard and whiskers, which were also white. His eyes were blue and his complexion rather pale. He habitually wore spectacles, and to us he never looked quite natural without them. Towards the end of his life his eyes were subject to inflammation, and the glasses were blue. His hands, though large, were not clumsy, and were capable of very delicate manipulation, as is shown by his skill in handling and preserving insects and bird-skins, and also in sketching, where delicacy of touch was essential. His handwriting is another example of this; it remained clear and even to the end, in spite of the fact that he wrote all his books, articles, and letters with his own hand until the last few years, when he occasionally had assistance with his correspondence; but his last two books, "Social Environment" and "The Revolt of Democracy," written when he was 90 years of age, were penned by himself, and the MSS. are perfectly legible and regular.

He was very domestic, and loved his home. His interest extended to the culinary art, and he was fond of telling us how certain things should be cooked. This became quite a joke among us. He was very independent, and it never seemed to occur to him to ask to have anything done for him if he could do it himself—and he could do many things, such as sewing on buttons and tapes and packing up parcels, with great neatness. When unpacking parcels he never cut the string if it could be untied, and he would fold it up before removing the paper, which in its turn was also neatly folded.

His clothes were always loose and easy-fitting, and generally of some quiet-coloured cloth or tweed. Out of doors he wore a soft black felt hat rather taller than the clerical pattern, and a black overcoat unless the weather was very warm. He wore no ornaments of any kind, and even the silver watch-chain was worn so as to be invisible. He wore low collars with turned-down points and a narrow black tie, which was, however, concealed by his beard. He was not very particular about his personal appearance, except that he always kept his hair and beard well brushed and trimmed.



In our early days at Grays we children were allowed to run in and out of his study; but if he was busy writing at the moment we would look at a book until he could give us his attention. His brother in California sent him a live specimen of the lizard called the "horned toad," and this creature was kept in the study, where it was allowed to roam about, its favourite place being on the hearth.

About this time he read "Alice through the Looking-glass," which pleased him greatly; he was never tired of quoting from it and using some of Lewis Carroll's quaint words till it became one of our classics.

Some of our earliest recollections are of the long and interesting walks we took with our father and mother. He never failed to point out anything of interest and tell us what he knew about it, and would answer our numerous questions if possible, or put us off with some joking reference to Boojums or Jabberwocks. We looked upon him as an infallible source of information, not only in our childhood, but to a large extent all his life. When exploring the country he scorned "trespass boards." He read them "Trespassers will be persecuted," and then ignored them, much to our childish trepidation. If he was met by indignant gamekeepers or owners, they were often too much awed by his dignified and commanding appearance to offer any objection to his going where he wished. He was fond of calling our attention to insects and to other objects of natural history, and giving us interesting lessons about them. He delighted in natural scenery, especially distant views, and our walks and excursions were generally taken with some object, such as finding a bee-orchis or a rare plant, or exploring a new part of the country, or finding a waterfall.

In 1876 we went to live at Dorking, but stayed there only a year or two. An instance of his love of mystifying us children may be given. It must have been shortly after our arrival at Dorking that one day, having been out to explore the neighbourhood, he returned about tea-time and said, "Where do you think I have been? To Glory!" Of course we were very properly excited, and plied him with questions, but we got nothing more out of him then. Later on we were taken to see the wonderful place called "Glory Wood"; and it had surely gained in glory by such preparation.

Sometimes it would happen that a scene or object would recall an incident in his tropical wanderings and he would tell us of the sights he had seen. At the time he was greatly interested in botany, in which he was encouraged by our mother, who was an ardent lover of flowers; and to the end of his life he exhibited almost boyish delight when he discovered a rare plant. Many walks and excursions were taken for the purpose of seeing some uncommon plant growing in its natural habitat. When he had found the object of his search we were all called to see it. During his walks and holidays he made constant use of the one-inch Ordnance Maps, which he obtained for each district he visited, planning out our excursions on the map before starting. He had a gift for finding the most beautiful walks by means of it.

In 1878 we moved to Croydon, where we lived about four years. It was at this time that he hoped to get the post of Superintendent of Epping Forest. We still remember all the delights we children were promised if we went to live there. We had a day's excursion to see the Forest, he with his map finding out the roads and stopping every now and then to admire a fresh view or to explain what he would do if the opportunity were given him. It was a very hot day, and we became so thirsty that when we reached a stream, to our great joy and delight he took out of his pocket, not the old leather drinking-cup he usually carried, but a long piece of black indiarubber tubing. We can see him now, quite as pleased as we were with this brilliant idea, letting it down into the stream and then offering us a drink! No water ever tasted so nice! Our mother used to be a little anxious as to the quality of the water, but he always put aside such objections by saying running water was quite safe, and somehow we never came to any harm through it. The same happy luck attended our cuts and scratches; he always put "stamp-paper" on them, calling it plaster, and we knew of no other till years later. He used the same thing for his own cuts, etc., to the end of his life, with no ill effects.

In 1881 we moved again, this time to Godalming, where he had built a small house which be called "Nutwood Cottage." After Croydon this was a very welcome change and we all enjoyed the lovely country round. The garden as usual was the chief hobby, and Mr. J.W. Sharpe, our old friend and neighbour in those days, has written his reminiscences of this time which give a very good picture of our father. They are as follows:

* * * * *

About thirty-five years ago Dr. Wallace built a house upon a plot of ground adjoining that upon which our house stood. I was at that time an assistant master at Charterhouse School; and Dr. Wallace became acquainted with a few of the masters besides myself. With two or three of them he had regular weekly games of chess; for he was then and for long afterwards very fond of that game; and, I understand, possessed considerable skill at it. A considerable portion of his spare time was spent in his garden, in the management of which Mrs. Wallace, who had much knowledge and experience of gardening, very cordially assisted him. Here his characteristic energy and restlessness were conspicuously displayed. He was always designing some new feature, some alteration in a flower-bed, some special environment for a new plant; and always he was confident that the new schemes would be found to have all the perfections which the old ones lacked. From all parts of the world botanists and collectors sent him, from time to time, rare or newly discovered plants, bulbs, roots or seeds, which he, with the help of Mrs. Wallace's practical skill, would try to acclimatise, and to persuade to grow somewhere or other in his garden or conservatory. Nothing disturbed his cheerful confidence in the future, and nothing made him happier than some plan for reforming the house, the garden, the kitchen-boiler, or the universe. And, truth to say, he displayed great ingenuity in all these enterprises of reformation. Although they were never in effect what they were expected to be by their ingenious author, they were often sufficiently successful; but, successful or not, he was always confident that the next would turn out to be all that he expected of it. With the same confidence he made up his mind upon many a disputable subject; but, be it said, never without a laborious examination of the necessary data, and the acquisition of much knowledge. In argument, of which intellectual exercise he was very fond, he was a formidable antagonist. His power of handling masses of details and facts, of showing their inner meanings and the principles underlying them, and of making them intelligible, was very great; and very few men of his time had it in equal measure.

But the most striking feature in his conversation was his masterly application of general principles: these he handled with extraordinary skill. In any subject with which he was familiar, he would solve, or suggest a plausible solution of, difficulty after difficulty by immediate reference to fundamental principles. This would give to his conclusions an appearance of inevitableness which usually overbore his adversary, and, even if it did not convince him, left him without any effective reply. This, too, had a good deal to do, I am disposed to conjecture, with another very noticeable characteristic of his which often came out in conversation, and that was his apparently unfailing confidence in the goodness of human nature. No man nor woman but he took to be in the main honest and truthful, and no amount of disappointment—not even losses of money and property incurred through this faith in others' virtues—had the effect of altering this mental habit of his.

His intellectual interests were very widely extended, and he once confessed to me that they were agreeably stimulated by novelty and opposition. An uphill fight in an unpopular cause, for preference a thoroughly unpopular one, or any argument in favour of a generally despised thesis, had charms for him that he could not resist. In his later years, especially, the prospect of writing a new book, great or small, upon any one of his favourite subjects always acted upon him like a tonic, as much so as did the project of building a new house and laying out a new garden. And in all this his sunny optimism and his unfailing confidence in his own powers went far towards securing him success.—J.W.S.

* * * * *

"Land Nationalisation" (1882), "Bad Times" (1885), and "Darwinism" (1889) were written at Godalming, also the series of lectures which he gave in America in 1886-7 and at various towns in the British Isles. He also continued to have examination papers[43] to correct each year—and a very strenuous time that was. Our mother used to assist him in this work, and also with the indexes of his books.

We now began to make nature collections, in which he took the keenest interest, many holidays and excursions being arranged to further these engrossing pursuits. One or two incidents occurred at "Nutwood" which have left clear impressions upon our minds. One day one of us brought home a beetle, to the great horror of the servant. Passing at the moment, he picked it up, saying, "Why, it is quite a harmless little creature!" and to demonstrate its inoffensiveness he placed it on the tip of his nose, whereupon it immediately bit him and even drew blood, much to our amusment and his own astonishment. On another occasion he was sitting with a book on the lawn under the oak tree when suddenly a large creature alighted upon his shoulder. Looking round, he saw a fine specimen of the ring-tailed lemur, of whose existence in the neighbourhood he had no knowledge, though it belonged to some neighbours about a quarter of a mile away. It seemed appropriate that the animal should have selected for its attentions the one person in the district who would not be alarmed at the sudden appearance of a strange animal upon his shoulder. Needless to say, it was quite friendly.

A year or so before we left Godalming he enlarged the house and altered the garden. But his health not having been very good, causing him a good deal of trouble with his eyes, and having more or less exhausted the possibilities of the garden, he decided to leave Godalming and find a new house in a milder climate. So in 1889 he finally fixed upon a small house at Parkstone in Dorset.

Planning and constructing houses, gardens, walls, paths, rockeries, etc., were great hobbies of his, and he often spent hours making scale drawings of some new house or of alterations to an existing one, and scheming out the details of construction. At other times he would devise schemes for new rockeries or waterworks, and he would always talk them over with us and tell us of some splendid new idea he had hit upon. As Mr. Sharpe has noted, he was always very optimistic, and if a scheme did not come up to his expectations he was not discouraged but always declared he could do it much better next time and overcome the defects. He was generally in better health and happier when some constructional work was in hand. He built three houses, "The Dell" at Grays, "Nutwood Cottage" at Godalming, and the "Old Orchard" at Broadstone. The last he actually built himself, employing the men and buying all the materials, with the assistance of a young clerk of works; but though the enterprise was a source of great pleasure, it was a constant worry. He also designed and built a concrete garden wall, with which he was very pleased, though it cost considerably more than he anticipated. He had not been at Parkstone long before he set about the planning of "alterations" with his usual enthusiasm. We were both away from home at this time, and consequently had many letters from him, of which one is given as a specimen. His various interests are nearly always referred to in these letters, and in not a few of them his high spirits show themselves in bursts of exuberance which were very characteristic whenever a new scheme was afoot. The springs of eternal youth were for ever bubbling up afresh, so that to us he never grew old. One of us remembers how, when he must have been about 80, someone said, "What a wonderful old man your father is!" This was quite a shock, for to us he was not old. The letter referred to above is the following:

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset, February 1, 1891.

My dear Will,—Another week has passed away into eternity, another month has opened its eyes on the world, and still the illustrious Charles [bricklayer] potters about, still the carpenter plies the creaking saw and the stunning hammer, still the plumber plumbs and the bellhanger rattles, still the cisterns overflow and the unfinished drains send forth odorous fumes, still the rains descend and all around the house is a muddle of muck and mire, and still there is so much to do that we look forward to some far distant futurity, when all that we are now suffering will be over, and we may look back upon it as upon some strange yet not altogether uninteresting nightmare!

Briefly to report progress. The new pipe-man has finished the bathroom and nearly done the bells, and we have had gas alight the last three days. The balcony is finished, the bath and lavatory are closed up and waiting for the varnishers. Charles has finished the roof, and the scaffolding is removed. But though two plumbers have tried all their skill, the ball-cock in the cistern won't work, and when the water has been turned on an hour it overflows. The gutters and pipes to roof are not up, and the night before last a heavy flood of rain washed a quantity of muddy water into the back entrance, which flowed right across the kitchen into the back passage and larder, leaving a deposit of alluvial mud that would have charmed a geologist. However, we have stopped that for the future by a drain under the doorstep. The new breakfast-room is being papered and will look tidy soon. A man has been to measure for the stairs. The front porch door is promised for to-morrow, and the stairs, I suppose, in another week. A lot of fresh pointing is to be done, and all the rain-water pipes and the rain-water cistern with its overflow pipes, and then the greenhouse, and then all the outside painting—after which we shall rest for a month and then do the inside papering; but whether that can be done before Easter seems very doubtful....

Our alterations still go on. The stairs just up—Friday night we had to go outside to get to bed, and Saturday and Sunday we could get up, but over a chasm, and with alarming creaks. Now it is all firm, but no handrail yet. Painters still at work, and whitewashers. Porch door up, with two birds in stained glass—looks fine—proposed new name, "Dicky-bird Lodge." Bath fixed, but waiting to be varnished—luxurious!...

* * * * *

Dr. Wallace had already received four medals from various scientific societies, and at our suggestion he had a case made to hold them all, which is referred to in the following letter. The two new medals mentioned were those of the Royal Geographical and Linnean Societies. He attached very little importance to honours conferred upon himself, except in so far as they showed acceptance of "the truth," as he called it.

* * * * *

TO MISS VIOLET WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. April 3, 1892.

My dear Violet,— ... I have got J.G. Wood's book on the horse. It is very good; I think the best book he has written, as his heart was evidently in it....

A dreadful thing has happened! Just as I have had my medal-case made, "regardless of expense," they are going to give me another medal! Hadn't I better decline it, with thanks? "No room for more medals"!!—Your affectionate papa,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

P.S.—A poor man came here last night (Saturday) with a basket of primrose roots—had carried them eight miles, couldn't sell one in Poole or Parkstone—was 64 years old—couldn't get any work to do—had no home, etc. So, though I do not approve of digging up primrose roots as a trade, I gave him 1s. 6d. for them, pitying him as one of the countless victims of landlordism.—A.R.W.

A poor man was sentenced to fourteen days' hard labour last week for picking snowdrops in Charborough Park. Shame!—A.R.W., Pres. L.N. Society.

* * * * *

TO Miss VIOLET WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. May 5, 1892.

My dear Violet,—I have finished reading "Freeland." It is very good—as good a story as "Looking Backward," but not quite so pleasantly written—rather heavy and Germanic in places. The results are much the same as in "Looking Backward" but brought about in a different and very ingenious manner. It may be called "Individualistic Socialism." I shall be up in London soon, I expect, to the first Meetings of the Examiners in the great science of "omnium gatherum."[44]—Your affec. papa,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

While he lived at Parkstone our father built a small orchid house in which he cultivated a number of orchids for a few years, but the constant attention which they demanded, together with the heated atmosphere, were too much for him, and he was obliged to give them up. He was never tired of admiring their varied forms and colours, or explaining to friends the wonderful apparatus by which many of them were fertilised. The following letter shows his enthusiasm for orchids:

TO Miss VIOLET WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. November 25, 1894.

My dear Violet,— ... I have found a doctor at Poole (Mr. Turner) who has two nice orchid houses which he attends to entirely himself, and as I can thus get advice and sympathy from a fellow maniac (though he is a public vaccinator!) my love of orchids is again aroused to fever-heat, and I have made some alterations in the greenhouse which will better adapt it for orchid growing, and have bought a few handsome kinds very cheap, and these give me a lot of extra work and amusement....

* * * * *

TO HIS WIFE

Hotel du Glacier du Rhone. Wednesday evening, [July, 1895].

My dear Annie,—I send you now a box of plants I got on both sides of the Furka Pass yesterday, and about here to-day. The Furka Pass on both sides is a perfect flower-garden, and the two sides have mostly different species. The violets and anemones were lovely, and I have got two species of glorious gentians.... All the flowers in the box are very choice species, and have been carefully dug up, and having seen how they grow, I have been thinking of a plan of making a little bed for them on the top of the new rockery where there is now nothing particular. Will you please plant them out carefully in the zinc tray of peat and sphagnum that stands outside near the little greenhouse door? Just lift up the sphagnum and see if the earth beneath is moist, if not give it a soaking. Then put them all in, the short-rooted ones in the sphagnum only, the others through into the peat. Then give them a good syringing and put the tray under the shelf outside the greenhouse, and cover with newspaper for a day or two. After that I think they will do, keeping them moist if the weather is dry. I am getting hosts of curiosities. To-day we found four or five species of willows from 1/4 in. to 2 in. high, and other rarities.... In haste for post and dinner.—Your ever affectionate

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO MISS VIOLET WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. October 22, 1897.

My dear Violet,—In your previous letter you asked me the conundrum, Why does a wagtail wag its tail? That's quite easy, on Darwinian principles. Many birds wag their tails. Some Eastern flycatchers—also black and white—wag their long tails up and down when they alight on the ground or on a branch. Other birds with long tails jerk them up in the air when they alight on a branch. Now these varied motions, like the motions of many butterflies, caterpillars, and many other animals, must have a use to the animal, and the most common, or rather the most probable, use is, either to frighten or to distract an enemy. If a hawk was very hungry and darted down on a wagtail from up in the air, the wagging tail would be seen most distinctly and be aimed at, and thus the bird would be missed or at most a feather torn out of the tail. The bird hunts for food in the open, on the edges of ponds and streams, and would be especially easy to capture, hence the wagging tail has been developed to baffle the enemy....

* * * * *

TO MISS VIOLET WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. March 8, 1899.

My dear Violet,— ... I have now finished reading the "Maha Bharata," which is on the whole very fine—finer, I think, than the "Iliad." I have read a good deal of it twice, and it will bear reading many times. It corresponds pretty nearly in date with the "Iliad," the scenes it describes being supposed to be about B.C. 1500. Many of the ideas and moral teachings are beautiful; equal to the best teaching and superior to the general practice of to-day. I have made a lot of emendations and suggestions, which I am going to send to the translator, as the proofs have evidently not been carefully read by any English literary man.

About the year 1899 Dr. Wallace began to think of leaving Parkstone, partly for reasons of health and partly to get a larger garden, if possible. He spent three years in looking for a suitable spot in many of the southern counties, and we were all pressed to join in the search. Finally he found just the spot he wanted at Broadstone; only three miles away. The following letters describe his final success—all written with his usual optimism and high spirits:

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. October 26, 1901.

My dear Will,—At length the long quest has come to an end, and I have agreed to buy three acres of land at Broadstone. Ma and I have just been over again this morning to consider its capabilities, and the exact boundaries that will be the most advantageous, as I have here the great advantage of choosing exactly what I will have. I only wish I could afford five acres instead of three, or even ten; but the three will contain the very eye of the whole. I enclose you a bit of the 6-inch ordnance on which I have marked the piece I have finally fixed upon in red chalk. The attractive bit is the small enclosure of one acre, left rather paler, which is an old orchard in a little valley sloping downward to the S.S.E. There are, perhaps, a score of trees in it—apples, pears, plums and cherries, I believe, and under them a beautiful green short turf like a lawn—kept so, I believe, by rabbits. From the top of this orchard is a fine view over moor and heather, then over the great northern bay of Poole Harbour, and beyond to the Purbeck Hills and out to the sea and the Old Harry headland. It is not very high—about 140 feet, I think, but being on the edge of one of the plateaus the view is very effective. On the top to the left of the road track is a slightly undulating grass field, of which I have a little less than an acre. To the right of the fence, and coming down to the wood, is very rough ground densely covered with heather and dwarf gorse, a great contrast to the field. The wood on the right is mixed but chiefly oak, I think, with some large firs, one quite grand; while the wood on the left is quite different, having some very tall Spanish chestnuts loaded with fruit, some beeches, some firs—but I have not had time yet to investigate thoroughly. Thus this little bit of three acres has five subdivisions, each with a quite distinct character of its own, and I never remember seeing such variety in such a small area. The red wavy line is about where I shall have to make my road, for the place has now no road, and I think I am very lucky in discovering it and in getting it. Another advantage is in the land, which is varied to suit all crops. I fancy ... I shall find places to grow most of my choice shrubs, etc., better than here. I expect bulbs of all kinds will grow well, and I mean to plant a thousand or so of snowdrops, crocuses, squills, daffodils, etc., in the orchard, where they will look lovely.

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. November 6, 1901.

My dear Will,— ... I have taken advantage of a foggy cold day to trace you a copy of the ground plan of the proposed house.... Of course the house will be much larger than we want, but I look to future value, and rather than build it smaller, to be enlarged afterwards, I would prefer to leave the drawing-room and bedroom adjoining with bare walls inside till they can be properly finished. The house-keeper's room would be a nice dining-room, and the hall a parlour and drawing-room combined. But the outside must be finished, on account of the garden, creepers, etc. The S.E. side (really about S.S.E.) has the fine views. If you can arrange to come at Christmas we will have a picnic on the ground the first sunny day. I was all last week surveying—a very difficult job, to mark out exactly three acres so as to take in exactly as much of each kind of ground as I wanted, and with no uninterrupted view over any one of the boundary lines! I found the sextant, and it was very useful setting out the two right angles of the northern boundary. I have not got possession yet, but hope to do so by next week. The house, we reckon, can be built for L1,000 at the outside....

* * * * *

TO MRS. FISHER

Parkstone, Dorset. February 4, 1902.

Dear Mrs. Fisher,— ... You will be surprised to hear that I have been so rash as to buy land and to (propose to) build a house! Every other effort to get a pleasant country cottage with a little land having failed, we discovered, accidentally, a charming spot only four miles from this house and half a mile from Broadstone Station, and have succeeded in buying three acres, chosen by myself, from Lord Wimborne at what is really a reasonable price. In its contour, views, wood, and general aspect of wild nature it is almost perfection; and Annie, Violet, and Will are all pleased and satisfied with it. It is on the slope of the Broadstone middle plateau, looking south over Poole Harbour with the Purbeck Hills beyond, and a little eastward out to the sea.... The ground is good loam in the orchard, with some sand and clay in the field, but this is so open to the sun and air that we are not afraid of it, as the house-site will be entirely concreted over, and I have arranged for a heating stove in a cellar, which will warm and dry the whole basement. In a week or two we hope to begin building, so you may fancy how busy I am, especially as we are building it without a contractor, with the help of a friend.... I go over two or three times a week, as I have two gardeners at work. In the summer (should I be still in the land of the living) I hope you will be able to come and see our little estate, which is to be called by the descriptive name of "Old Orchard." I have got a good architect to make the working drawings and he has designed a very picturesque yet unpretentious house.—Yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Parkstone, Dorset. March 2, 1902.

My dear Will,—This week's progress has been fairly good although the wet after the frost has caused two falls in the cellar excavations, and we have had to put drain pipes to carry water out, though not much accumulated.... During the week some horses in the field have not only eaten off the tops of the privet hedge, but have torn up some dozens of the plants by the roots, by putting their heads over the 4-foot wire fence. I am therefore obliged in self-defence to raise the post a foot higher and put barbed wire along the top of it. Some cows also got in our ground one day and ate off the tops of the newly planted laurels, which I am told they are very fond of, so I have got a chain and padlock for our gate....

* * * * *

We moved into the new house at Broadstone at the end of November, 1902, before it was quite finished, and here Dr. Wallace lived till the end of his life. The garden was an endless source of interest and occupation, being much larger than any he had had since leaving Grays.

When writing he was not easily disturbed and never showed any impatience or annoyance at any interruption. If interrupted by a question he would pause, pen in hand, and reply or discuss the matter and then resume his unfinished sentence.



He seemed to have the substance of his writing in his mind before he commenced, and did not often refer to books or to notes, though he usually had one or two books or papers on the table at hand, and sometimes he would jump up to get a book from the shelves to verify some fact or figure. When preparing for a new book or article he read a great many works and papers bearing on the subject. These were marked with notes and references on the flyleaves; and often by pencil marks to indicate important passages, but he did not often make separate notes. He had a wonderful memory, and stored in his mind the facts and arguments he wished to use, or the places where they were to be found. He borrowed many books from libraries, and from these he sometimes made a few notes. He was not a sound sleeper, and frequently lay awake during the night, and then it was that he thought out and planned his work. He often told us with keen delight of some new idea or fresh argument which had occurred to him during these waking hours.

After spending months, or sometimes years, in reading and digesting all the literary matter he could obtain on a subject,—and forming a plan for the treatment of it, he would commence writing, and keep on steadily for five or six hours a day if his health permitted. He also wrote to people all over the world to obtain the latest facts bearing on the subject.

In 1903 he began writing "Man's Place in the Universe."

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Old Orchard. July 8, 1903.

My dear Will,—I have just finished going over your notes and corrections of the last four chapters. I can't think how I was so stupid to make the mistake in figures which you corrected. In almost all cases I have made some modification in accordance with your suggestions, and the book will be much improved thereby. I have put in a new paragraph about the stars in other parts than the Milky Way and Solar Cluster, but there is really nothing known about them. I have also cut out the first reference to Jupiter altogether. Of course a great deal is speculative, but any reply to it is equally speculative. The question is, which speculation is most in accordance with the known facts, and not with prepossessions only?

Considering that the book has all been read up and written in less than three months, it cannot be expected to be as complete and careful as if three years had been expended on it, but then it is fresher perhaps. The bit about the pure air came to me while writing, and I let myself go. Why should I not try and do a little good and make people think a little on such matters, when I have the chance of perhaps more readers than all my other books?

As to my making too much of Man, of course that is the whole subject of the book! And I look at it differently from you, because I know facts about him you neither know nor believe yet. If you are once convinced of the facts and teachings of Spiritualism, you will think more as I do.

* * * * *

The following letter refers to his little book on Mars.

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Broadstone, Wimborne. September 26, 1907.

My dear Will,— ... After elaborate revision and correction I have sent my MS. of the little "Mars" book to Macmillans yesterday.... Will you read the whole proofs carefully, in the character of the "intelligent reader"? Your fresh eye will detect little slips, bad logic, too positive statements, etc., which I may have overlooked. It will only be about 100 or 150 pages large type—and I want it to be really good, and free from blunders that any fool can see....

* * * * *

For some years now he had suffered from repeated attacks of asthma and bronchitis. He had tried the usual remedies for these complaints without any good results, and, though still able to write, had then no thought of beginning any large work; in fact, he considered he had but a few more years to live. When Mr. Bruce-Joy came to see him in order to model the portrait medallion, he mentioned in the course of conversation that he had tried the Salisbury treatment with wonderful results. Our father was at first incredulous, but decided to try it in a modified form. He gave up all starchy foods and ate beef only, cooked in a special manner to render it more digestible. He found such relief from this change of diet that from this time onwards he followed a very strict daily routine, which he continued to the end of his life with slight variations.

He made himself a cup of tea on a gas stove in his bedroom at 6 a.m. (the exact quantity of tea and water having been measured the previous evening), and boiled it in a small double saucepan for a definite time by the watch. He always said this cup of tea tasted better than at any other time of the day. He then returned to bed and slept till 8 a.m. During his last two or three years he suffered from rheumatism in his shoulder and it took him a long time to dress, and he called in the aid of his gardener in the last year, who acted as his valet. While dressing he prepared a cup of cocoa on the gas stove, which he carried into the study (next door) at 9 a.m. This was all he had for breakfast, and he took it while reading the paper or his letters.

Dinner at one o'clock was taken with his family, and he usually related any interesting or striking news he had read in the paper, or in his correspondence, and commented upon it, or perhaps he would tell us of some new flower in the garden.

He drank hot water with a little Canary sack and a dash of soda-water, to which he added a spoonful of plum jam. He was very fond of sweet things, such as puddings, but he had to partake sparingly of them, and it was a great temptation when some dish of which he was particularly fond was placed upon the table.

After dinner he usually took a nap in the study before resuming work or going into the garden.

Tea was at four o'clock, and consisted only of a cup of tea, which he made himself in the study, unless there were visitors whom he wished to see, when he would sometimes take it into the drawing-room and make it there.

After tea he again wrote, or took a turn in the garden if the weather and season permitted. Latterly he spent a good part of the afternoon and evening reading and dozing on the sofa, and only worked at short intervals when he felt equal to it.

Supper, at seven, was a repetition of dinner, and he took it with us in the dining-room. After supper he generally read a novel before the fire except in the very hottest weather, and he frequently dozed on and off till he retired at eleven. He made himself a cup of cocoa while preparing for bed, and drank it just before lying down.

For the last year or two it was a constant difficulty with him to secure enough nourishment without aggravating his ailments by indigestion. During this time he suffered continuous discomfort, though he seldom gave utterance to complaint or allowed it to affect the uniform equability of his temper.

* * * * *

In 1903 his daughter came to live with her parents, who generously allowed her to take three or four children as pupils. At first we feared they might bother our father, but he really enjoyed seeing them about and talking to them. He was always interested in any new child, and if for a short time none were forthcoming, always lamented the fact. At dinner the children would ask him all sorts of questions, very amusing ones sometimes. They were also intensely interested in what he ate, and watched with speechless wonder when they saw him eating orange, banana, and sugar with his meat.

One of these early pupils, Reginald B. Rathbone, has sent reminiscences which are so characteristic that we give them as they stand:

* * * * *

"I have stayed at Dr. Wallace's house on three occasions; the first two were when I was only about eight or nine years old, and my recollections of him at that time are therefore necessarily somewhat dim. Certain things, however, have stuck in my memory. I went there quite prepared to see a very venerable and imposing-looking old gentleman, and filled in advance with much awe and respect for him. As regards his personal appearance I was by no mean disappointed, as his tall, slightly-stooping figure, long white hair and beard, and his spectacles fulfilled my highest expectations, I remember being struck with the kindly look of his eyes, and indeed they did not belie his nature, for he always treated me with great kindness, patience and indulgence, which is somewhat remarkable considering my age, and how exasperating I must have been sometimes. I soon began to regard him as a never-failing fount of wisdom, and as one who could answer any question one liked to put to him. Of this latter fact I was not slow to take advantage. I plied him with every kind of question my imaginative young brain could conceive, usually beginning with 'why.'

"He nearly always gave me an answer, and what is more, a satisfactory one, and well within the scope of my limited understanding. These definite, satisfactory answers of his used to afford me great pleasure, it being quite a new experience for me to have all my questions answered for me in this way. These answers, as I have said, were nearly always forthcoming, though indeed, on one or two occasions, in answer to an especially ridiculous query of mine he would answer, 'That is a very foolish question, Reggie.' But this was very rare.

"I remember taking a great interest in what Dr. Wallace ate. He had a hearty appetite, and was no believer in vegetarianism, for at lunch his diet consisted chiefly of cold beef, liberally seasoned with various sauces and relishes, also vinegar. I used to gaze at these bottles with great admiration. Whenever there were peas he used to take large quantities of sugar with them. This greatly aroused my curiosity, and I questioned him about it. 'Why,' said he, 'peas themselves contain sugar; it is, therefore, much more sensible to take sugar with them than salt.' And he recounted an anecdote of how an eminent personage he had once dined with had been waited on with great respect and attention by all present, but salt was offered to him with the peas. 'If you want to make me quite happy,' said the great man, 'you will give me some sugar with my peas.' His favourite drink, I remember, was Canary sack.

"He had a strongly humorous side, and always enjoyed a good laugh. As an instance of this, I will recount the following incident: When I had returned home after my first visit to 'The Old Orchard,' my sister, three years older than myself, and I had a heated argument on the subject of the number of stomachs in a cow. I insisted it was three; she, on the other hand, held that it was seven. After a long and fierce dispute, I exclaimed: 'Well, let us write to Dr. Wallace, and he will settle it for us and tell us the real number.' This we did, the brazen audacity of the proceeding not striking us at the time. By return of post we received a letter which, alas! I have unfortunately not preserved, but the substance of which I well remember. 'Dear Irene and Reggie,' it ran, 'Your dispute as to the number of stomachs which a cow possesses can be settled and rectified by a simple mathematical process usually called subtraction, thus:

Irene's Cow 7 stomachs Reggie's Cow 3 stomachs ————— The Farmer's cow 4 stomachs.

"Dr. Wallace then went on to explain the names and uses of the four stomachs.

"Two instances of his fun come to my mind as I write. 'Why,' I asked, 'do you sometimes take off your spectacles to read the paper?' 'Because I can see better without 'em,' he said. 'Then why,' I asked again, 'do you ever wear them?' 'Because I can see better with 'em,' was the reply. The other instance relates to chloroform. He was describing the agonies suffered by those who had to undergo amputation before the discovery of anaesthetics, whereas nowadays, he said, 'you are put under chloroform, then wake up and find your arm cut off, having felt nothing. Or you wake up and find your leg cut off. Or you wake up and find your head cut off!' He then laughed heartily at his own joke.

"These are just a few miscellaneous reminiscences, many of them no doubt trivial, but they may perhaps be not entirely devoid of interest, when it is remembered that they are the impressions and recollections of one who was then a boy of eight years old."—B.B.K.

* * * * *

The year 1908 was very auspicious to Dr. Wallace. To begin with, it was the fiftieth anniversary of the reading of the Darwin and Wallace joint papers on the Origin of Species before the Linnean Society, an event which was commemorated in the way described elsewhere.

In the autumn, and just as he was beginning to recover from a spell of bad health, he was invited to give a lecture at the Royal Institution, the prospect of which seemed to have upon him a most stimulating effect; he at once began to think about a suitable subject.

Following closely on this came the news that the Order of Merit was to be conferred upon him. His letters to his son give the details of this eventful period:[45]

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. October 28, 1908.

My dear Will,— ... I have a rather surprising bit of news for you. When I was almost at my worst, feeling very bad, I had a letter inviting me to give an evening lecture at the Royal Institution, for their Jubilee of the "Origin of Species"! Of course I decided at once to decline as impossible, etc., having nothing new to say, etc. But a few hours afterwards an idea suddenly came to me for a very fine lecture, if I can work it out as I hope—and the more I thought over it the better it seemed. So, two days back, I wrote to Sir W. Crookes—the Honorary Secretary, who had written to me—accepting provisionally!... Here is another "crowning honour"—the most unexpected of all!...

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. December 2, 1908.

My dear Will,— ... This morning the Copley Medals came, gold and silver, smaller than any of the others, but very beautifully designed; the face has the Royal Society's arms, with Copley's name, and "Dignissimo," and my name below. The reverse is the Royal Arms. By the same post came a letter from the Lord Chancellor's Office informing me, to my great relief, that the King had been graciously pleased to dispense with my personal attendance at the investiture of the Order of Merit, ...

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. December 17, 1908.

My dear Will,—The ceremony is over, very comfortably. I am duly "invested," and have got two engrossed documents, both signed by the King, one appointing me a member of the "Order of Merit" with all sorts of official and legal phrases, the other a dispensation from being personally "invested" by the King—as Col. Legge explained, to safeguard me as having a right to the Order in case anybody says I was not "invested." ... Colonel Legge was a very pleasant, jolly kind of man, and he told us he was in attendance on the German Emperor when he was staying near Christchurch last summer, and went for many drives with the Emperor only, all about the country.... Col. Legge got here at 2.40, and had to leave at 3.20 (at station), so we got a carriage from Wimborne to meet the train and take him back, and Ma gave him some tea, and he said he had got a nice little place at Stoke Poges but with no view like ours, and he showed me how to wear the Order and was very pleasant: and we were all pleased....

The next letter refers to the discovery of a rare moth and some beetles in the root of an orchid. It was certainly a strange yet pleasant coincidence that these creatures should find themselves in Dr. Wallace's greenhouse, where alone they would be noticed and appreciated as something uncommon.

* * * * *

TO MR. W.G. WALLACE

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. February 23, 1909.

My dear Will,— ... In my last letter I did not say anything about my morning at the Nat. Hist. Museum.... What I enjoyed most was seeing some splendid New Guinea butterflies which Mr. Rothschild[46] and his curator, Mr. Jordan, brought up from Tring on purpose to show me. I could hardly have imagined anything so splendid as some of these. I also saw some of the new paradise birds in the British Museum. But Mr. Rothschild says they have five times as many at Tring, and much finer specimens, and he invited me to spend a week-end at Tring and see the Museum. So I may go, perhaps—in the summer.

But I have a curious thing to tell you about insect collecting at "Old Orchard." About five months back I was examining one of the clumps of an orchid in the glass case—which had been sent me from Buenos Ayres by Mr. John Hall—when three pretty little beetles dropped out of it, on the edge of the tank, and I only managed to catch two of them. They were pretty little Longicornes, about an inch long, but very slender and graceful, though only of a yellowish-brown colour. I sent them up to the British Museum asking the name, and telling them they could keep them if of any use. They told me they were a species of the large South American genus Ibidion, but they had not got it in the collection!

On the Sunday before Christmas Day I was taking my evening inspection of the orchids, etc., in the glass case when a largish insect flew by my face, and when it settled it looked like a handsome moth or butterfly. It was brilliant orange on the lower wings, the upper being shaded orange brown, very moth-like, but the antennae were clubbed like a butterfly's. At first I thought it was a butterfly that mimicked a moth, but I had never seen anything like it before.

Next morning I got a glass jar half filled with bruised laurel leaves, and Ma got it in, and after a day or two I set it, clumsily, and meant to take it to London, but had no small box to put it in. I told Mr. Rothschild about it, and he said it sounded like a Castnia—curious South American moths very near to butterflies. So he got out the drawer with them, but mine was not there; then he got another drawer half-empty, and there it was—only a coloured drawing, but exactly like. It had been described, but neither the Museum nor Mr. Rothschild had got it! I had had the orchids nearly a year and a half, so it must have been, in the chrysalis all that time and longer, which Mr. Rothschild said was the case with the Castnias. On going home I searched, and found the brown chrysalis-case it had come out of among the roots of the same orchid the little Longicornes had dropped from. It is, I am pretty sure, a Brazilian species, and I have written to ask Mr. Hall if he knows where it came from. I have sent the moth and chrysalis to Prof. Poulton (I had promised it to him at the lecture) for the Oxford collection, and he is greatly pleased with it; and especially with its history—one quite small bit of an orchid, after more than a year in a greenhouse, producing a rare or new beetle and an equally rare moth!...

I am glad to say I feel really better than any time the last ten years.—A.R.W.

* * * * *

The Rev. O. Pickard-Cambridge has kindly written his reminiscence of another very curious coincidence connected with a natural history object.

"Some years ago, on looking over some insect drawers in my collection, Mr. A.R. Wallace exclaimed, 'Why, there is my old Sarawak spider!' 'Well! that is curious,' I replied, 'because that spider has caused me much trouble and thought as to who might have caught it, and where; I had only lately decided to describe and figure it, even though I could give the name of neither locality nor finder, being, as it seemed to me, of a genus and species not as yet recorded; also I had, as you see, provisionally conferred your name upon it, although I had not the remotest idea that it had anything else to do with you.' 'Well,' said Mr. Wallace, 'if it is my old spider it ought to have my own private ticket on the pin underneath.' 'It has a ticket,' I replied, 'but it is unintelligible to me; the spider came to me among some other items by purchase at the sale of Mr. Wilson Saunders' collections.' 'If it is mine,' said Wallace (examining it), 'the ticket should be so-and-so. And it is! I caught this spider at Sarawak, and specially noted its remarkable form. I remember it as if it were yesterday, and now I find it here, and you about to publish it as a new genus and species to which, in total ignorance of whence it came or who caught it, you have given my name!' Thus it stands, and 'Friula Wallacii, Camb. (family Gasteracanthidae), taken by Alfred Russel Wallace at Sarawak,' is the (unique as I believe) type specimen, in my collection."—O.P.C.

* * * * *

Dr. Wallace was very fond of reading good novels, and usually spent an hour or two, before retiring to bed, with what he called a "good domestic story." One of his favourite authors was Marion Crawford. Poetry appealed to him very strongly, and he had a good memory for his favourite verses, especially for those he had learned in his youth. Amongst his books were over fifty volumes of poetry.

He liked to see friends or interesting visitors, but he was rather nervous with strangers until he became interested in what they had to say. He enjoyed witty conversation, and especially a good story well told. No one laughed more heartily than he when he was much amused, and he would slap his hands upon his knees with delight.

He was very accessible to anyone who might have something to say worth hearing, and he had a great many visitors, especially during the last ten years of his life. Many people distinguished in science, literature, or politics called upon him, and he always enjoyed these visits, and the excitement of them seemed to have no bad effect upon him, even in the last year, when we sometimes feared he might be fatigued by them. In consequence of his sympathy with many heterodox ideas he frequently had visits from "cranks" who wished to secure his support for some new theory or "discovery." He would listen patiently, perhaps ask a few questions, and then endeavour to point out their fallacies. He would amuse us afterwards by describing their "preposterous ideas," and if much bored, he would speak of them as "muffs." He was loath to hurt their feelings, but he generally ended by expressing his opinion quite clearly, occasionally to their discomfiture.

* * * * *

Dr. Littledale has contributed some reminiscences which may be introduced here.

"When I first met Dr. Wallace the conversation turned on the types of visitors that came to see him, and he gave us an amusing account of two young women who called on him to read through a most ponderous treatise relating to the Universe (I think it was). At all events the treatise proved, amongst other things, that Kepler's laws were all wrong. Dr. Wallace was very busy at the time, and politely declined to undertake the task. I remember him well describing with his hands the size of this enormous manuscript and laughing heartily as he detailed how the writer of the manuscript, the elder of the two sisters, persistently tried to persuade him that her theories were all absolutely proved in the work, while the younger sister acted as a sort of echo to her sister. The climax came in a fit of weeping, and, as Dr. Wallace described it, the whole fabric of the universe was washed away in a flood of tears.

"On one occasion, when I was asked by Mrs. Wallace to see Dr. Wallace professionally, he was lying on the sofa in his study by the fire wrapped up in rugs, having just got over a bad shivering attack or rigor. His temperature was 104 deg. Fahr., and all the other usual signs of acute fever were present, but nothing to enable one to form a positive opinion as to the cause. It must have been forty years since he had been in the tropics, but I think he felt that it was an attack of malarial fever. Knowing my patient, my treatment consisted in asking what he was going to do for himself. 'Well,' he said, 'I am going to have a hot bath and then go to bed, and to-morrow I shall get up and go into the garden as usual.' And he was out in the garden next day when I went to see him. This was an instance, doubtless one of many, of the 'will to live,' which carried him through a long life.

"Once, when he was talking about the gaps in the evolution of life, viz. between the inorganic and organic, between vegetable and animal, and between animal and man, I asked, 'Why postulate a beginning at all? We are satisfied with illimitability at one end, why not at the other?' 'For the simple reason,' he said, 'that the mind cannot comprehend anything that has never had a beginning.'

"What attracted me to him most, I think, was his remarkable simplicity of language, whatever the topic of conversation might be, and this not the simplicity of the great mind bringing itself down to the level of the ordinary individual, but his customary mode of expression. I have heard him say that he felt the need of the fluency of speech which Huxley possessed, as he had to cast about for the expression that he wanted. This may have been the case when he was lecturing, but I certainly never noticed it in conversation."—H.E.L.

* * * * *

Dr. Wallace was always interested in young men and others who were going abroad with the intention of studying Natural History, and gave them what advice and help he could. He much enjoyed listening to the accounts given by travellers of the scenes, animals and plants and native life they had seen, and deplored the so-called civilising of the natives, which, in his opinion, generally meant their exploitation by Europeans, leading to their deterioration and extermination.

His nervousness with strangers sometimes led them to form quite erroneous impressions. It occasionally found expression in a nervous laugh which had nothing to do with amusement or humour, but was often heard when he was most serious and felt most deeply. One or two interviewers described it as a "chuckle," an expression which suggested feelings most opposite to those which he really experienced.

Although he could draw and sketch well, he did not take much pleasure in it, and only exercised his skill when there was a definite object in view. His sketches show a very delicate touch, and denote painstaking accuracy, while some are quite artistic. He much preferred drawing with compasses and squares, there being a practical object in his mind for which the plans or drawings were only the first steps. Even in his ninety-first year he found much enjoyment in drawing plans, and spent many hours in designing alterations to a small cottage which his daughter had bought.

He was interested in literary puzzles and humorous stories, and he preserved in an old scrap-book any that appealed to him. He would sometimes read some of them on festive occasions, or when we had children's parties, and sometimes he laughed so heartily himself that he could not go on reading.

In reviewing the years during which Dr. Wallace lived at Broadstone, the last decade, when he was between eighty and ninety years of age, this period seems to have been one of the most eventful, and as full of work and mental activity as any previous period. He never tired of his garden, in which he succeeded in growing a number of rare and curious shrubs and plants. Our mother shared his delight and interest in the garden, and knew a great deal about flowers. She had an excellent memory for their botanical names, and he often asked her the name of some plant which he was pointing out to a friend and which for the moment he had forgotten. She was very fond of roses and of primroses, and there was a fine display of these flowers at "Old Orchard." She was successful in "budding" and in hybridising roses, and produced several beautiful varieties. She was proficient in raising seeds, and he sometimes placed some which he received from abroad in her charge.

When he first came to live at Broadstone he frequently took short walks to the post or to the bank, and sometimes went by train to Poole on business, but he gradually went out less and less, till in the last few years he seldom went outside the garden, but strolled about looking at the flowers or supervising the construction of a new bed or rockery. During his last years his gardener wheeled him about the garden in a bath-chair when he did not feel strong enough to walk all the time.

In 1913, after his last two small books were written, he did no more writing except correspondence. This he attended to himself, except on one or two occasions when he was not very well or felt tired, when he asked one of us to answer a few letters for him. He took great interest in a small cottage which had recently been acquired on the Purbeck Hills near the sea, and in September, much against our wishes, he went there for two nights, taking the gardener to look after him. Luckily the weather was fine, and the change and excitement seemed to do him good, and during the next month he was very bright and cheerful, though, as some of his letters to his old friend Dr. Richard Norris and to Dr. Littledale show, he had been becoming increasingly weak.

* * * * *

TO MISS NORRIS

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. December 10, 1912.

My dear Miss Norris,—I am very sorry to hear that your father is so poorly. The weather is terribly gloomy, and I have not been outside my rooms and greenhouse for more than an hour a week perhaps, for the last two months, and feel the better for it. Just now I feel better than I have done for a year past, having at last, I think, hit upon a proper diet, though I find it very difficult to avoid eating or drinking too much of what I like best.... It is one of my fads that I hate to waste anything, and it is that partly which makes it so difficult for me to avoid overeating. From a boy I was taught to leave no scraps on my plate, and from this excellent general rule of conduct I now suffer in my old age!...—Yours very sincerely,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO DR. LITTLEDALE

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. January 11, 1913.

Dear Dr. Littledale,—Many thanks for your kind congratulations and good wishes.[47] I am glad to say I feel still able to jog on a few years longer in this very good world—for those who can make the best of it.

I am now suffering most from "eczema," which has settled in my legs, so that I cannot stand or walk for any length of time. Perhaps that is an outlet for something worse, as I still enjoy my meals, and usually feel as well as ever, though I have to be very careful as to what I eat.—With best wishes for your prosperity, yours very truly,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

TO DR. NORRIS

Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 4, 1913.

My dear Dr. Norris,—Except for a continuous weakness I seem improving a little in general health, and the chronic rheumatic pain in my right shoulder has almost passed away in the last month (after about three years), and I can impute it to nothing but about a quarter of a pint a day of Bulmer's Cider! A most agreeable medicine! The irritability of the skin, however, continues, though the inflammation of the legs has somewhat diminished....

My increasing weakness is now my most serious trouble, as it prevents me really from doing any more work, and causes a large want of balance, and liability to fall down. Even moving about the room after books, etc., dressing and undressing, make me want to lie down and rest....

With kind remembrances to your daughter, believe me yours very sincerely,

ALFRED R. WALLACE.

* * * * *

In disposition Dr. Wallace was cheerful, and very optimistic, and remarkably even-tempered. If irritated he quickly recovered, and soon forgot all about the annoyance, but he was always strongly indignant at any injustice to the weak or helpless. When worried by business difficulties or losses he very soon recovered his optimism, and seemed quite confident that all would come right (as indeed it generally did), and latterly he became convinced that all his past troubles were really blessings in disguise, without which as a stimulant he would have done no useful work.

His life was a happy one, and even the discomforts caused by his ailments, which were at times very acute for days together, never prevented him from enjoying the contemplation of his flowers, nor disturbed the serenity of his temper, nor caused him to complain.

Although rather delicate all his life, he rarely stayed in bed; in fact, only once in our memory, during an illness at Parkstone, did he do so, and then only for one day.

On Saturday, November 1st (1913), he walked round the garden, and on the following day seemed very bright, and enjoyed his dinner and supper, but about nine o'clock he felt faint and shivered violently. We called in Dr. Norman, who came in about an hour, and we heard them having a long talk and even laughing, in the study. As the doctor left he said, "Wonderful man! he knows so much. I can do nothing for him."

The next day he did not get up at the usual time, but we felt no anxiety until noon, when he still showed no inclination to rise. He appeared to be dozing, and said he wanted nothing. From that time he gradually sank into semi-consciousness, and at half-past nine in the morning of Friday, November 7th, quietly passed on to that other life in which he was such a firm believer.



PART V

Social and Political Views

"When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are things to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honour are things to be ashamed of."—CONFUCIUS.

In the above sentences, written long before the dawn of Christian civilisation, we have an apt summary of the social and political views of Alfred Russel Wallace.

As we have stated in a previous chapter, it was during his short stay in London as a boy, when he was led to study the writings and methods of Robert Owen, of New Lanark, that his mind first opened to the consideration of the inequalities of our social life.

During the six years which he spent in land-surveying he obtained a more practical knowledge of the laws pertaining to public and private property as they affected the lives and habits of both squire and peasant.

The village inn, or public-house, was then the only place where men could meet to discuss topics of mutual interest, and it was there that young Wallace and his brother spent some of their own leisure hours listening to and conversing with the village rustics. The conversation was not ordinarily of an educational character, but occasionally experienced farmers would discuss agricultural and land problems which were beginning to interest Wallace.

In reading his books and essays written more than seventy years later, we are struck with the exceptional opportunities which he had of comparing social conditions, and commercial and individual prosperity during that long period, and of witnessing the introduction of many inventions. He used to enjoy recalling many of the discussions between intelligent mechanics which he heard of in his early days regarding the introduction of the steam-engine. One and another declared that the grip of the engine on the rails would not be sufficient to draw heavy trucks or carriages; that the wheels, in fact, would whiz round instead of going on, and that it would be necessary to sprinkle sand in front of the wheels, or make the tyres rough like files. About this time, too, there arose a keen debate upon the relative merits of the new railroads and the old canals. Many thought that the former could never compete with the latter in carrying heavy goods; but facts soon proved otherwise, for in one district alone the traffic of the canal, within two years of the coming of the railway, decreased by 1,000,000 tons.

It was during these years, and when he and his brother were making a survey for the enclosure of some common lands near Llandrindod Wells, that Wallace finally became aware of the injustice towards the labouring classes of the General Enclosure Act.

In this particular locality the land to be enclosed consisted of a large extent of moor, and mountain which, with other common rights, had for many years enabled the occupants of the scattered cottages around to keep a horse, cow, or a few sheep, and thus make a fairly comfortable living. Under the Act, the whole of this open land was divided among the adjacent landowners of the parish or manor, in proportion to the size or value of their estates. Thus, to those who actually possessed much, much was given; whilst to those who only nominally owned a little land, even that was taken away in return for a small compensation which was by no means as valuable to them as the right to graze their cattle. In spite of the statement set forth in the General Enclosure Act—"Whereas it is expedient to facilitate the enclosure and improvement of common and other lands now subject to the rights of property which obstruct cultivation and the productive employment of labour," Wallace ascertained many years later that no single part of the land so enclosed had been cultivated by those to whom it was given, though certain portions had been let or sold at fabulous prices for building purposes, to accommodate summer visitors to the neighbourhood. Thus the unfortunate people who had formerly enjoyed home, health, and comparative prosperity in the cottages scattered over this common land had been obliged to migrate to the large towns, seeking for fresh employment and means of subsistence, or had become "law-created paupers"; whilst to crown all, the piece of common originally "reserved" for the benefit of the inhabitants had been turned into golf-links!

Again and again Wallace drew attention to the fundamental duties of landownership, maintaining that the public, as a whole, had become so blinded by custom that no effectual social reform would ever be established unless some strenuous and unremitting effort was made to recover the land by law from those who had made the land laws and who had niched the common heritage of humanity for their own private aggrandisement.

With regard to the actual value of land, Wallace pointed out that the last valuation was made in the year 1692, and therefore, with the increase of value through minerals and other products since then, the arrears of land tax due up to 1905 would amount to more than the value of all the agricultural land of our country at the present time; therefore existing landlords, in clamouring for their alleged rights of property, might find out that those "rights" no longer exist.

Yet another point on which he insisted was the right of way through fields or woodlands, and especially beside the sea. With the advent of the motor-car and other swift means of locomotion, the public roads are no longer safe and pleasurable for pedestrians; besides the iniquitous fact that hundreds are kept from enjoying the beauties of nature by the utterly selfish and useless reservations of such by-paths by the landowner.

"This all-embracing system of land-robbery," again he writes, "for which nothing is too great or too small; which has absorbed meadow and forest, moor and mountain, which has appropriated most of our rivers and lakes and the fish that live in them; making the agriculturist pay for his seaweed manure and the fisherman for his bait of shell-fish; which has desolated whole counties to replace men by sheep or cattle, and has destroyed fields and cottages to make a wilderness for deer and grouse; which has stolen the commons and filched the roadside wastes; which has driven the labouring poor into the cities, and thus been the chief cause of the misery, disease, and early death of thousands ... it is the advocates of this inhuman system who, when a partial restitution of their unholy gains is proposed, are the loudest in their cries of 'robbery'!

"But all the robbery, all the spoliation, all the legal and illegal filching, has been on their side.... They made the laws to legalise their actions, and, some day, we, the people, will make laws which will not only legalise but justify our process of restitution. It will justify it, because, unlike their laws, which always took from the poor to give to the rich—to the very class which made the laws—ours will only take from the superfluity of the rich, not to give to the poor or to any individuals, but to so administer as to enable every man to live by honest work, to restore to the whole people their birthright in their native soil, and to relieve all alike from a heavy burden of unnecessary and unjust taxation. This will be the true statesmanship of the future, and it will be justified alike by equity, by ethics, and by religion."

These, then, are the facts and reasons upon which Dr. Wallace based his strenuous advocacy of Land Nationalisation.[48] It was only by slow degrees that he arrived at some of the conclusions propounded in his later years, but once having grasped their full importance to the social and moral well-being of the community, he held them to the last.

The first book which tended to fasten his attention upon these matters was "Social Statics," by Herbert Spencer, but in 1870 the publication of his "Malay Archipelago" brought him into personal contact with John Stuart Mill, through whose invitation he became a member of the General Committee of the Land Tenure Reform Association. On the formation of the Land Nationalisation Society in 1880 he retired from the Association, and devoted himself to the larger issues which the new Society embraced.

Soon after the latter Society was started, Henry George, the American author of "Progress and Poverty," came to England, and Wallace had many opportunities of hearing him speak in public and of discussing matters of common interest in private. In spite of the ridicule poured upon Henry George's book by many eminent social reformers, Wallace consistently upheld its general principles.

His second work on these various subjects was a small book entitled "Bad Times," issued in 1885, in which he went deeply into the root causes of the depression in trade which had lasted since 1874. The facts there given were enlarged upon and continually brought up to date in his later writings. Articles which had appeared in various magazines were gathered together and included, with those on other subjects, in "Studies, Scientific and Social." His last three books, which include his ideas on social diseases and the best method of preventing them, were "The Wonderful Century," "Social Environment and Moral Progress," and "The Revolt of Democracy"; the two last being issued, as we have seen, in 1913, the year of his death.

In "Social Environment and Moral Progress" the conclusion of his vehement survey of our moral and social conditions was startling: "It is not too much to say that our whole system of Society is rotten from top to bottom, and that the social environment as a whole in relation to our possibilities and our claims is the worst that the world has ever seen."

That terrible indictment was doubly underscored in his MS.

What, in his mature judgment, were the causes and remedies? He set them out in this order:

1. The evils are due, broadly and generally, to our living under a system of universal competition for the means of existence, the remedy for which is equally universal co-operation.

2. It may also be defined as a system of economic antagonism, as of enemies, the remedy being a system of economic brotherhood, as of a great family, or of friends.