Kew. October 23, 1892.
Dear Mr. Wallace,— ... When you were at Kew this summer I took the liberty of saying that it would give great pleasure to the Fellows of the Royal Society if you would be willing to join their body. I understood you to say that it would be agreeable to you. I now propose to comply with the necessary formalities. But before doing so it will be proper to ask for your formal consent. You will then, as a matter of course, be included in the next annual election.
Will you forgive 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.