orgive me if I am committing any indiscretion in saying that I
have good authority for adding (though I suppose it can hardly be stated
officially at this stage) that no demand will ever be made upon you for
a subscription?--Believe me yours sincerely,

W.T. THISELTON-DYER.

* * * * *

SIR W.T. THISELTON-DYER TO A.R. WALLACE

_Kew. January 12, 1893._

Dear Mr. Wallace,-- ... I was very vexed to hear that I had
misunderstood your wishes about the Royal Society. Of course, the matter
must often have presented itself to your mind, and I confess that it
argued a little presumption on the part of a person like myself, so far
inferior to you in age and standing, to think that you would yield to my
solicitation.

I was obliged for my health to go to Eastbourne, and there I had the
pleasure of seeing Mr. Huxley, who, you will be glad to hear, is
wonderfully well, and an ardent gardener! His present ambition is to
grow every possible saxifrage.

I told him that I had had the audacity to approach you on the subject of
the Royal Society. He heartily approved, and expressed the strongest
opinion that unless you had some insuperable objection you ought to
yield. All of us who belong to the R.S. have but one wish, which is that
it should stand before the public as containing all that is best and
worthiest in British Science. As long as men like you stand aloof, that
cannot be said. Lately we have been exposed to some very ill-natured
attacks: we have been told that we are professional, and not
discoverers. Well, this is all the more reason for your not holding
aloof from us. I wish you would think it over again. Huxley went the
length of saying that to him it seemed a plain duty. But this is
language I do not like to use.

As to attending the meetings or taking part in the work of the Society,
that is immaterial. Darwin never did either, though he did once come to
one of the evening receptions, and enjoyed it immensely.

In writing as I do I am not merely expressing my own opinions, but those
of many others of my own standing who are keenly interested in the
matter.

It is not a great matter to ask. I have the certificate ready. You have
but to say the word. You will be put to no trouble or pecuniary
responsibility. That my father-in-law arranged, long ago.

To dissociate yourself from the R.S. really amounts nowadays to doing it
an injury. And I am sure you do not wish that.

With al