WCP6956

Letter (WCP6956.8064)

[1]

99 Woodstock Rd,

Oxford

19.10.[19]34

Dear Professor Poulton,

Herewith the translation of the two pages of Dr. Hornung's MS. I am sure he would be grateful for any further recollections of your meetings with Wallace.

On p.1 of the type-written MS I have added date & place of your birth. It is so long ago that you had possibly forgotten it!!

Yours sincerely | R. Hanitsch [signature]

Enclosure (WCP6956.8065)

[1]

As the last distinguished savant who had personal intercourse with Wallace & was more than superficially acquainted with him, must be mentioned Poulton, Wallace's youngest friend who is still living to-day & who has been of such great merit, as regards the theory of descent. Their first meeting, made possible through their mutual friend Professor Raphael Meldola, took place between 1881 & 1889, when Wallace lived at Nutwood Cottage, Godalming. Many common interests caused their friendship to become more & more intimate which did not suffer by their different views as regards the theory of descent. Wallace when he had written his "Darwinism", asked his friend to read & criticise the last chapter of his book. Wallace's answer is of special interest as it reflects the contrast between him & Darwin, showing the essential differences between these two men.

22. Feb. 1889.

"Many thanks for so kindly having looked through my proof-sheets. I will not trouble you with the last sheets which would terrify you still more. I know well enough that my views as regards man will be criticised. [2]

I have mentioned Weismann's views, though I doubt whether his views or yours really correspond to the facts. If course, we look at it from different standpoints. I know — so I think — that there are non-human intelligences, that there is a will which has nothing to do with the bodily brain, that there must be a spiritual world. This is for me not merely a belief, but a conviction based upon facts for long observed & such a conviction must, in my opinion, modify my views as to the origin & the nature of human faculties."

A lively correspondence arose between Wallace & Poulton in the years 1888 & 1889, when Weismann's work on the Germ Plasm Theory appeared. We are surprised to find that Wallace had the same idea twenty years before that date, though only in a very incomplete form & in short outlines. About the same time the Neo-Lamarckism, then newly arisen in America, was much discussed. The chief representative did not hesitate to praise it as a new discovery, conclusive enough to give Darwinism it's death-blow. Poulton opposed the new theory in word & writing, & Wallace was very grateful to his [3] friend for his courageous defence. Especially Poulton's "Theories of Evolution", written against Neo-Lamarckism, found Wallace's applause, a further proof of how they valued each other's work.

Poulton had often occasion of meeting Wallace during the long years of their friendship. He too, like every one else without exception who came acquainted with the "wonderful old man", praises his youthful freshness of body & mind even in great age. His youthfulness surprised all who saw Wallace for the first time. So said once Poulton's daughter when leaving "Old Orchard", Wallace's last house near Broadstone: "I enjoyed every minute of the time; well, he has the temperament of a youth of 18."

These words of a young lady say more than a description of the aged Wallace, were it ever so long. They speak of his kindness & friendliness — & of an understanding for the young, so rare at such an age, bringing into contact two so different stages of life with their absolutely opposed views of like, & yet bridging over decades.

Please cite as “WCP6956,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP6956