So I shall be
in duty bound to wear it on the only public occasion I shall be seen
again (in all probability), when I give (or attempt to give) my
lecture.[65] Then, I had a letter from Windsor telling me that chalk
portraits of all the members of the Order were to be taken for the
collections in the Library, and a Mr. Strang came and stayed the night,
and in four hours completed a very good life-size head, in coloured
chalk, and so far, so good!--Yours very sincerely, ALFRED R. WALLACE.
* * * * *
Wallace regarded "Sunlight's" prophecy about "retrospection" as being
fulfilled in 1904, when he received the invitation of Messrs. Chapman
and Hall to begin collecting material for his autobiography which was
subsequently published in two large volumes, under the title of "My
Life."
Referring to this work he wrote to Mrs. Fisher:
_Broadstone, Dorset. April_ 17, 1904.
Dear Mrs. Fisher,--Thanks for your remarks on what an autobiography
ought to be. But I am afraid I shall fall dreadfully short. I seem to
remember nothing but ordinary facts and incidents of no interest to
anyone but my own family. I do not feel myself that anything has much
influenced my character or abilities, such as they are. Lots of things
have given me opportunities, and those I can state. Also other things
have directed me into certain lines, but I can't dilate on these; and
really, with the exception of Darwin and Sir Charles Lyell, I have come
into close relations with hardly any eminent men.
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