WCP3268

Letter (WCP3268.3236)

[1]1

Roseneath,

Withdean Road,

Dyke Road,

Brighton.

Feb[ruar]y 6. 1909 —

To Dr A. R. Wallace.

Dear Sir

I have read with intense interest your letter2 in to-day’s issue ("Daily News") and so rejoice that you have made this public appeal with courage & fidelity to Righteousness, even instancing the iniquitous S[outh]. African War3 — (which English people should be reminded of continually, that they may think & learn lessons therefrom[)] [2] & I rejoice too that you call upon all "True Womanhood" to unite with true Men to work & protest against the threatened abomination — the striding of the Military Apollyon4 over the field of Earth[.] What are & have been the supine churches doing all these years in not educating the peoples in the root principles of the practical ramif[ications].[?] [3]5 I have (for as one individual) long mourned the advancement of Science on the destructive plane, & the marked encouragement our professedly Christian government gives to Scientists in this direction.

Oh! that a very loud voice may be raised throughout the length & breadth of the land in response to your timely appeal.

With much esteem | Faithfully y[ou]rs | Mrs. E. M. Southey6.

[4]7

1
Page numbered 69 in pencil in top RH corner and "Answ[ere]d" written in ink across top LH corner of page.
2
Wallace, A. R. (1909) Flying Machines in War. Dr. A. R. Wallace Calls to Action. (Letter to the Editor) The Daily News (London) no. 19626: 6 Feb. 1909. ARW protests against the assumption, gaining traction in the press, "that the first and most important use of aeroplanes and other flying machines or dirigible balloons will be to drop explosives or use other implements of destruction, in case of war or as the first act of war".
3
The Boer Wars, fought 1880-1881 and 1899-1902 between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the South African Republic (Transvaal Republic) and the Orange Free State. The 2nd war ended in victory for the British and the annexation of both republics, both of which were later incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910.
4
Apollyon (Gk.) is the destroyer, the angel of the bottomless pit, a name given to the Devil (Revelation 9:11).
5
Page numbered 70 in pencil in top RH corner
6
Southey, E. M., Mrs. (No dates available). Pacifist feminist. She founded the Ladies Peace Association, affiliated to the Peace Society, which advocated a gradual and simultaneous disarmament of all nations and the principle of arbitration. In 1882 she persuaded her group to disaffiliate from the Peace Society and join the International Arbitration and Peace Association (IAPA), which accepted defensive war and claimed to be international. It also allowed women on the executive committee.
7
Page is blank. "E M Southey" is written in pencil at the top of the page and there is a British Museum stamp at bottom.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Letter (WCP3268.3236)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by O'Dell, Sandra [2015-06-04] Transcription checked by Benny, Ruth [2015-06-04] Transcription checked by Sherwood, Danni [2020-08-10]

Please cite as “WCP3268,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP3268