WCP4147

[1]

9. St. Mark’s Crescent

Regent’s Park Road

N.W.

May 9^th. [1869]¹

Dear Mr Galton²

When I saw you on Thursday I had only read a rather poor sample of the papers. I have now got through most of them, and find a considerable number of very high quality, and ^there are a large proportion that may fairly be called very good.

There are also a ^small batch of wretchedly bad papers, showing such an utter ignorance of the subject, that it is difficult to understand how [2] these boys were permitted to compete. While the best gets from 600 to 700 marks, these on the most liberal allowance can hardly muster 100.

There are many indications (as I suppose therefor always must be in such examinations) of candidates who evidently only fail for want of time; the questions they do answer being of a quality equal to those of the bvery best. Others write admirable essays where they are only asked for facts, & are thus unable to answer half the questions in the time allowed. Want of judgment will alone have [3] prevented some of these from being in the very first rank.

The better class of papers show an amount of reading and an intelligent apprehension of the subject that is highly creditable.

There is one point I should wish to submit to the consideration of the Council. Several candidates will evidently come very close to each other for the prizes. In case both prizes should be awarded by me to pupils in the same school, while the succeeding one or two show little inferiority, would it be their wish that the 2nd. prize should go [4] to another school, so as to give some recognition of merit to schools as well as to pupils. If it should be decided to do so it will be necessary to send me at once the names of the schools to which the several candidates belong.

I remain | Dear Mr. Galton | yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Please tell Mr. Bates³ I have now got all the papers complete.

ARW