--Believe
me yours very faithfully,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
* * * * *
SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE
_Kew. September 27, 1897._
Dear Mr. Wallace,--I am afraid I have been rather guilty of an
impertinence which I hope you will forgive.
Romanes is an old acquaintance of mine of many years' standing.
Personally, I like him very much; but for his writings I confess I have
no great admiration.
Pray believe me I had no mission of any sort on his part to write to
you. But I feel so sorry for him that when he told me how much he
regretted that he did not stand well with you, I could not resist
writing to tell you of the calamities that have befallen him.
I must confess I was in total ignorance of what you tell me. I don't
see how, under the circumstances, you can do anything. I was never more
surprised in my life, in fact, than when I read your letter. The whole
thing is too childishly preposterous.
Romanes laments over _me_ because he says I wilfully misunderstand his
theory. The fact is, poor fellow, that I do not think he understands it
himself. If his life had been destined to be prolonged I should have
done all in my power to have induced him to occupy himself more with
observation and less with mere logomachy.
I cannot get him to face the fact that natural hybrids are being found
to be more and more common amongst plants.
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