WCP4875

Letter (WCP4875.5276)

[1]

Hurstpierpoint

20th. Feb[ruary]. 1868

Dear Sir Charles

I think all has been managed so far very well,1 and I suppose we may understand that the Duke of Marlborough2 has yet made no promise to any other party. I can hardly think Mr. Coles’3 influence so great as to override everybody elses'. Does it not seem however as if there would be some difficulty in Parliament, about getting an annual grant for an establishment.

[2] No one seems to reply to the absurd remarks, about Bethnal Green having a museum,4 & Islington or Lambeth claiming one next, — with the obvious explanation that it is an "East London" not a "Bethnal Green" Museum, and that now all the Museums & exhibitions are in the West of London, the India House Museum5 having been removed at a comparatively recent date.

[3] I am reading Darwin[']s book6, and have read the "Pangenesis" chapter first, for I could not wait. The hypothesis is sublime in its simplicity, and the wonderful manner in which it explains the most mysterious of the phenomena of life. To me it is satisfying in the extreme. I feel I can never give it up, unless it be positively disproved, which is impossible, or replaced by one which better explains the facts, — which is highly improbably. Darwin has here decidedly gone [4] ahead of Spencer7 in generalization. I consider it the most wonderful thing he has given us, but it will not be generally appreciated.

Do you know who wrote that mean, ignorant, & impudent article in the Athenaeum?8

I am glad to hear your 2nd vol[ume].9 is to be out so soon. I shall look for it anxiously to see how far you support Darwin, as well as for the other most interesting matter it will contain.

Thanking you for your kind interest with the Duke of Marlborough[.]

Believe me | Yours very faithfully | Alfred R Wallace [signature]

Sir Charles Lyell.10

1
ARW refers to Lyell's support for his campaign to obtain the directorship of the Bethnal Green Museum. Lyell previously reported to ARW that he had received a letter from the Duke of Malborough on ARW's fitness for the office of the director. (See WCP2106.1996).
2
Churchill, John Winston Spencer (1822-1883). Seventh Duke of Marlborough. British Conservative cabinet minister. Earl of Sunderland 1822-40 and Marquess of Blandford 1840-57.
3
Cole, Henry (1808-1882). British civil servant and inventor. Director of the South Kensington Museum 1857-73.
4
On the 24th of June 1872 a branch of the South Kensington museum opened in East London as the Bethnal Green Museum. The museum attempted to compete with the public house by offering specially arranged exhibits that provided "an excellent antidote" to the "peculiar temptations" of the bank holiday. In 1974 the museum was re-launched as the Museum of Childhood, and it was reopened after extensive renovations in 2006. (Black, B. J. 2000. On Exhibit: Victorians and Their Museums. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. p.33).
5
The India Museum of London was established in 1801 as the Oriental Repository of East India House, Leadenhall Street, London and was maintained by the East India Company until 1858. In 1861 the India Museum temporarily relocated to Fife House at Whitehall until 1868 when the India Office terminated its occupancy. The museum subsequently reopened at the India Office in 1869 and was relocated again in 1875 at rooms rented from the South Kesington Museum. In 1879 the India Museum was dissolved and its collection was dispersed. (Desmond R. 1982. The India Musuem 1801-1879. London: HMSO.)
6
Darwin, C. R. 1868. The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication. 2 vols. London: John Murray.
7
Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903). British philosopher, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist.
8
[Roberston, J.] 1868. Variation of Plants and Animals Under Domestication. Athenaeum. 15 February 1868, 243-244.
9
ARW refers to the second volume of the tenth edition of Lyell's Principles of Geology which was published in March 1868. (Lyell, C. 1868. Principles of Geology, 10th edition. 2 vols. London: John Murray.)
10
"Sir Charles Lyell." is written in ARW's hand at the bottom of page 1.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP4875.5276)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Sloyan, Victoria [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2021-01-08]

Published letter (WCP4875.6925)

[1] [p. 221]

(February 20, 1868): "I am reading Darwin's1 book ('Animals and Plants under Domestication'), and have read the 'Pangenesis' chapter first, for I could [2] [p. 222] not wait. The hypothesis is sublime in its simplicity and the wonderful manner in which it explains the most mysterious of the phenomena of life. To me it is satisfying in the extreme. I feel I can never give it up, unless it be positively disproved, which is impossible, or replaced by one which better explains the facts, which is highly improbable. Darwin has here decidedly gone ahead of Spencer in generalization. I consider it the most wonderful thing he has given us, but it will not be generally appreciated."

1
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882). British naturalist, geologist and author, notably of On the Origin of Species (1859).

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP4875.6925)]

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

Revision history

Transcribed by Sherwood, Danni [2020-06-09] Transcription checked by Siewert, Betsy [2020-10-30]

Please cite as “WCP4875,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 8 May 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP4875