WCP2561

Letter (WCP2561.2451)

[1]1

56 Regent's Park R[oa]d

London N.W.

June 5/[18]772

Dear Sir

You will find the whole story of Mr Hewes and his 'Jack' in the British & Foreign Medical Review for April, 1845, p. 4593. The Article was written by Dr Noble4 of [2] Manchester, who was perfectly cognizant of the whole affair, and who had forwarded to me the numbers of the Manchester Guardian5, 6 containing the several stages of it, so that my own recollection also is clear in the matter.

[3]7 I hope that in reviewing my book8, you will not think it necessary to charge me with the moral obliquity which you imputed to me in your letters9to the Daily News10. I have fully explained the doctrine in regard to the value of testimony, which [4] I hold in common with the world at large. Because you hold a different one, and believe a great many things which we think ourselves justified in disbelieving, I do not see that there is this affords any ground for accusing us of dishonesty, and treating us with personal hostility. Why cannot we agree to [5]11 differ on this as on other questions?

Yours sincerely | Will[ia]m B Carpenter12 [signature]

A. R. Wallace Esq[uire]

1
Text in another hand in the top right corner reads "141".
2
There is a British Museum stamp in red ink below the date.
3
Mr. Hewes was 'a gentleman of property residing in Greenwich, educated for, though not practising, the medical profession'. Jack was a young man of about 18 years of age, supposedly a clairvoyant, whom Carpenter suggested was a fake. British and Foreign Medical Review, 1845, pp. 458-460. <://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/British_and_Foreign_Medical_Review_1845_v19_1000275830/469> [accessed 23 August 2015].
4
Noble, Daniel (1810-1885). English physician and specialist in mental illness. President of the Manchester phrenological Society and a friend of Carpenter. Wikipedia.
5
The Manchester Guardian was a newspaper founded by John Edward Taylor in 1821 and was first published on 5 May of that year. <http://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/2002/jun/06/1> [accessed 23 August 2015].
6
The text "Manchester Guardian" is underlined in another hand and vertical parallel line inserted in the left margin adjacent to this text.
7
Text in another hand in the top right corner reads "142".
8
Wallace reviewed Carpenter's book, Mesmerism, Spiritualism, etc., Historically & Scientifically Considered in the Quarterly Journal of Science 7, n.s.; 14, o.s., July 1877, pp. 391-416. S270. The Alfred Russel Wallace Page.
9
Wallace wrote several letters to the Daily News in connection with Carpenter, on 11 December, 19 December and 28 December 1876. S263, S264 and S 266aa, The Alfred Russel Wallace Page.
10
The Daily News was the Liberal Party's chief newspaper, founded in 1846 by Charles Dickens. Wikipedia and Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
11
The text from this point onwards is written on page 1 of the letter, vertically on the left side, next to the address and date and above the body of the letter text.
12
Carpenter, William Benjamin (1813-1885). English biologist and university administrator. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP2561.2451)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Ghosh, Susan [2018-08-15]

Please cite as “WCP2561,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP2561