WCP1812

[1]

Old Orchard,

Broadstone,

Wimborne.

Nov[embe]r. 18th. 1908

My dear Dresser¹

I was glad to hear from you again, and to receive, by next post, the very much sealed parcel from Siberia, with 7 roots of the fine Peony, apparently in very good condition. Please give my best thanks to your friend Mr. Buturlin² for so kindly obtaining them for me.

As it happened, in July, I did not stay a night in London, but went up by a fast train, had lunch on board, & reached London by 2.30 in time to have a wash at the station and go [2] to the meeting just in good time, left it early, after the chief speeches, had tea there, & got back home by 7.30, quite comfortable.

But now, I am booked for January 22nd. to give the final Evening lecture at the Royal Institution! — and I shall gladly accept your kind offer of a bed & such other accommodation as I require. About 3 weeks back I was very poorly, could hardly eat anything & was almost a skeleton, when I got an invitation (very pressing) from [3] Crookes, as Secretary of the "Royal Institution", to give the opening lecture which they are going to make their anniversary of Darwinism. I determined at once to decline, as I had nothing fresh to say, & had just said it at the Linnean! when, lying on the sofa by my Study fire, all of a sudden an idea came into my head for of something that had never been properly said yet, just suitable for such a lecture; and I saw such possibilities in it and it pleased me so much that I wanted to say it, and so the ^very next day wrote to Crookes accepting, provisionally, if my [4] health permitted. From that time, I began to get better. Then, a week later, came the totally unexpected award of the Copley Medal of the R[oyal]. Society, and a week after that of the Order of Merit — the O.M. doing very well for Odd Man, on account of my excentricities[sic]! Can you find out who, in the Government, suggested giving it to me — a red hot Socialist, Land Nationaliser, and Anti-Vaccinationist.

As I have many of the disabilities of old age, I take the liberty of asking you to put me in a bedroom on the ground floor, if you have one — or if not, any one as close to a W.C. as possible — as my bowels are very uncertain. I believe your new house is very near Kensington High St[reet]. Station. The one thing I want to do in London is to go to the Nat[ural]. Hist[ory]. museum to see the new B[irds]. of Paradise and Butterflies from N[ew]. Guinea —

Kind regards to Mrs. Dresser | Yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]