Of the varied subjects upon which Wallace wrote, none, perhaps, came with greater freshness to the general reader than his books written when he was nearly eighty upon the ancient science of astronomy.
Perhaps he would have said that the "directive Mind and Purpose" kept these subjects back until the closing years of his life in order that he might bring to bear upon them his wider knowledge of nature, enlightened by that spiritual perception which led him to link the heavens and the earth in one common bond of evolution, culminating in the development of moral and spiritual intelligences.
"Man's Place in the Universe" (1903) was in effect a prelude to "The World of Life" (1910). Wallace saw afterwards that one grew out of the other, as we find him frequently saying with regard to his other books and essays.
As with Spiritualism, so with Astronomy, the seed-interest practically lay dormant in his mind for many years; with this difference, however, that temperament and training caused a speedy unfolding of his mind when once a scientific subject gripped him, whereas with Spiritualism he felt the need of moving slowly and cautiously before fully accepting the phenomena as verifiable facts.
It was during the later period of his land-surveying, when he was somewhere between the ages of 18 and 20, that he became distinctly interested in the stars. Being [pg 168] left much alone at this period, he began to vary his pursuits by studying a book on Nautical Astronomy, and constructing a rude telescope.56 This primitive appliance increased his interest in other astronomical instruments, and especially in the grand onward march of astronomical discovery, which he looked upon as one of the wonders of the nineteenth century.
It was the inclusion of astronomy in lectures he delivered at Davos which led him to extend his original brief notes into the four chapters which form an important part of his "Wonderful Century." He freely confessed that in order to write these chapters he was obliged to read widely, and to make much use of friends to whom astronomy was a more familiar study. And it was whilst he was engaged upon these chapters that his attention became riveted upon the unique position of our planet in relation to the solar system.
He had noticed that certain definite conditions appeared to be absolutely essential to the origin and development of the higher types of terrestrial life, and that most of these must have been certainly dependent on a very delicate balance of the forces concerned in the evolution of our planet. Our position in the solar system appeared to him to be peculiar and unique because, he thought, we may be almost sure that these conditions do not coexist on any other planet, and that we have no good reason to believe that other planets could have maintained over a period of millions of years the complex and equable conditions absolutely necessary to the existence of the higher forms of terrestrial life. Therefore it appeared to him to be proved that our earth does really stand alone in the solar system by reason of its special adaptation for the development of human life.
Granting this, however, the question might still be asked, [pg 169] Why should not any one of the suns in other parts of space possess planets as well adapted as our own to develop the higher forms of organic life? These questions cannot be answered definitely; but there are reasons, he considered, why the central position which we occupy may alone be suitable. It is almost certain that electricity and other mysterious radiant forces (of which we have so recently discovered the existence) have played an important part in the origin and development of organised life, and it does not appear to be extravagant to assume that the extraordinary way in which these cosmic forces have remained hidden from us may be due to that central position which we are found to occupy in the whole universe of matter discoverable by us. Indeed, it may well be that these wonderful forces of the ether are more irregular—and perhaps more violent—in their effect upon matter in what may be termed the outer chambers of that universe, and that they are only so nicely balanced, so uniform in their action, and so concealed from us, as to be fit to aid in the development of organic life in that central portion of the stellar system which our globe occupies. Should these views as to the unique central position of our earth be supported by the results of further research, it will certainly rank as the most extraordinary and perhaps the most important of the many discoveries of the past century.
While still working on this section of his "Wonderful Century," he was asked to write a scientific article, upon any subject of his own choice, for the New York Independent. And as the idea of the unique position of the earth to be the abode of human life was fresh in his mind, he thought it would prove interesting to the general public. However, before his article appeared simultaneously in the American papers and in the Fortnightly Review, a friend [pg 170] who read it was so impressed with its originality and treatment that he persuaded Wallace to enlarge it into book form; and it appeared in the autumn of 1903 as "Man's Place in the Universe."
This fascinating treatise upon the position occupied by the earth, and man, in the universe, had the same effect as some of his former writings, of drawing forth unstinted commendation from many religious and secular papers; whilst the severely scientific and materialistic reviewers doubted how far his imagination had superseded unbiased reason.
On one point, however, most outsiders were in agreement—that he had invested an ancient subject with freshest interest through approaching it by an entirely new way. The plan followed was that of bringing together all the positive conclusions of the astronomer, the geologist, the physicist, and the biologist, and by weighing these carefully in the balance he arrived at what appeared to him to be the only reasonable conclusion. He therefore set out to solve the problem whether or not the logical inferences to be drawn from the various results of modern science lent support to the view that our earth is the only inhabited planet, not only in our own solar system, but in the whole stellar universe. In the course of his close and careful exposition he takes the reader through the whole trend of modern scientific research, concluding with a summing-up of his deductions in the following six propositions, in the first three of which he sets out the conclusions reached by modern astronomers:
(1) That the stellar universe forms one connected whole; and, though of enormous extent, is yet finite, and its extent determinable.
(2) That the solar system is situated in the plane of the Milky Way, and not far removed from the centre of that [pg 171] plane. The earth is, therefore, nearly in the centre of the stellar universe.
(3) That this universe consists throughout of the same kinds of matter, and is subjected to the same physical and chemical laws.
The conclusions which I claim to have shown to have enormous probabilities in their favour are:
(4) That no other planet in the solar system than our earth is inhabited or habitable.
(5) That the probabilities are almost as great against any other sun possessing inhabited planets.
(6) That the nearly central position of our sun is probably a permanent one, and has been specially favourable, perhaps absolutely essential, to life-development on the earth.
Wallace never maintained that this earth alone in the whole universe is the abode of life. What he maintained was, first, that our solar system appears to be in or near the centre of the visible universe, and, secondly, that all the available evidence supports the idea of the extreme unlikelihood of there being on any star or planet revealed by the telescope any intelligent life either identical with or analogous to man. To suppose that this one particular type of universe extends over all space was, he considered, to have a low idea of the Creator and His power. Such a scheme would mean monotony instead of infinite variety, the keynote of things as they are known to us. There might be a million universes, but all different.
To his mind there was no difficulty in believing in the existence of consciousness apart from material organism; though he could not readily conceive of pure mind, or pure spirit, apart from some kind of substantial envelope or substratum. Many of the views suggested in "Man's Place in the Universe" as to man's spiritual progress hereafter, the reason or ultimate purpose for which he [pg 172] was brought into existence, were enlarged upon, later, in "The World of Life." As early, however, as 1903, Wallace did not hesitate to express his own firm conviction that Science and Spiritualism were in many ways closely akin.
He believed that the near future would show the strong tendency of scientists to become more religious or spiritual. The process, he thought, would be slow, as the general attitude has never been more materialistic than now. A few have been bold enough to assert their belief in some outside power, but the leading scientific men are, as a rule, dead against them. "They seem," he once remarked, "to think, and to like to think, that the whole phenomena of life will one day be reduced to terms of matter and motion, and that every vegetable, animal, and human product will be explained, and may some day be artificially produced, by chemical action. But even if this were so, behind it all there would still remain an unexplained mystery."
Closely associated with "Man's Place in the Universe" is a small volume, "Is Mars Habitable?" This was first commenced as a review of Professor Percival Lowell's book, "Mars and its Canals," with the object of showing that the large amount of new and interesting facts contained in this work did not invalidate the conclusion that he (Wallace) had reached in 1903—that Mars is not habitable. The conclusions to which his argument led him were these:
(1) All physicists are agreed that ... Mars would have a mean temperature of about 35° F. owing to its distance from the sun.
(2) But the very low temperatures on the earth under the equator at a height where the barometer stands at about three times as high as on Mars, proves that from scantiness of atmosphere alone Mars cannot possibly have a temperature as high as the freezing-point of water. [pg 173] The combination of these two results must bring down the temperature of Mars to a degree wholly incompatible with the existence of animal life.
(3) The quite independent proof that water-vapour cannot exist on Mars, and that, therefore, the first essential of organic life—water—is non-existent.
The conclusion from these three independent proofs ... is therefore irresistible—that animal life, especially in its highest forms, cannot exist. Mars, therefore, is not only uninhabited by intelligent beings ... but is absolutely uninhabitable.
In contrast to his purely scientific interest in astronomy, Wallace was moved by the romance of the "stars," akin to his enthusiastic love of beautiful butterflies. Had it not been for this touch of romance and idealism in his writings on astronomy, they would have lost much of their charm for the general reader. His breadth of vision transforms him from a mere student of astronomy into a seer who became ever more deeply conscious of the mystery both "before and behind."
"Rain, sun, and rain! and the free blossom blows;
Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows?
From the great deep to the great deep he goes."
And whilst facing with brave and steady mind the great mysteries of earth and sky, of life and what lies beyond it, he himself loved to quote:
"Fear not thou the hidden purpose
Of that Power which alone is great,
Nor the myriad world His shadow,
Nor the silent Opener of the Gate."
Among the scientific friends to whom he appealed for help when writing his astronomical books was Prof. (now Sir) W.F. Barrett.
[pg 174]Parkstone, Dorset. February 12, 1901.
My dear Barrett,—I shall be much obliged if you will give me your opinion on a problem in physics that I cannot find answered in any book. It relates to the old Nebular Hypothesis, and is this:
It is assumed that the matter of the solar system was once wholly gaseous, and extended as a roughly globular or lenticular mass beyond the orbit of Neptune. Sir Robert Ball stated in a lecture here that even when the solar nebula had shrunk to the size of the earth's orbit it must have been (I think he said) hundreds of times rarer than the residual gas in one of Crookes's high vacuum tubes. Yet, by hypothesis, it was hot enough, even in its outer portions, to retain all the solid elements in the gaseous state.
Now, admitting this to be possible at any given epoch, my difficulty is this: how long could the outer parts of this nebula exist, exposed to the zero temperature of surrounding space, without losing the gaseous state and aggregating into minute solid particles—into meteoric dust, in fact?
Could it exist an hour? a day? a year? a century? Yet the process of condensation from the Neptunian era to that of Saturn or Jupiter must surely have occupied millions of centuries. What kept the almost infinitely rare metallic gases in the gaseous state all this time? Is such a condition of things physically possible?
I cannot myself imagine any such condition of things as the supposed primitive solar nebula as possibly coming into existence under any conceivably antecedent conditions, but, granted that it did come into existence, it seems to me that the gaseous state must almost instantly begin changing [pg 175] into the solid state. Hence I adopt the meteoric theory instead of the nebular; since all the evidence is in favour of solid matter being abundant all through known space, while there is no evidence of metallic gases existing in space, except as the result of collisions of huge masses of matter. Is my difficulty a mare's nest?—Yours very truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Broadstone, Wimborne. February 28, 1905.
Dear Mrs. Fisher,—Thanks for your letter. Am sorry I have not converted you, but perhaps it will come yet! I will only make one remark as to your conclusion.
I have not attempted to prove a negative! That is not necessary. What I claim to have done is, to have shown that all the evidence we have, be it much or little, is decidedly against not only other solar planets having inhabitants, but also, as far as probabilities are concerned, equally against it in any supposed stellar planets—for not one has been proved to exist. There is absolutely no evidence which shows even a probability of there being other inhabited worlds. It is all pure speculation, depending upon our ideas as to what the universe is for, as to what we think (some of us!) ought to be! That is not evidence, even of the flimsiest. All I maintain is that mine is evidence, founded on physical probabilities, and that, as against no evidence at all—no proved physical probability—mine holds the field!—Yours very truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Broadstone, Dorset. July 24, 1907.
Dear Mr. Smedley,— ... I write chiefly to tell you that I have read Mr. Lowell's last book, "Mars and its [pg 176] Canals," and am now writing an article, or perhaps a small book, about it. I am sure his theories are all wrong, and I am showing why, so that anyone can see his fallacies. His observations, drawings, photographs, etc., are all quite right, and I believe true to nature, but his interpretation of what he sees is wrong—often even to absurdity. He began by thinking the straight lines are works of art, and as he finds more and more of these straight lines, he thinks that proves more completely that they are works of art, and then he twists all other evidence to suit that. The book is not very well written, but no doubt the newspaper men think that as he is such a great astronomer he must know what it all means!
I am more than ever convinced that Mars is totally uninhabitable....—Yours very truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Broadstone, Wimborne. August 10, 1907.
My dear Barrett,—Thanks for your letter, and your friend Prof. Stroud's. I have come to the sad conclusion that it is hopeless to get any mathematician to trouble himself to track out Lowell's obscurities and fallacies.... So, being driven on to my own resources, I have worked out a mode of estimating (within limits) the temperature of Mars, without any mathematical formulæ—and only a little arithmetic. I want to know if there is any fallacy in it, and therefore take the liberty of sending it to you, as you are taking your holiday, just to read it over and tell me if you see any flaw in it. I also send my short summary of Lowell's Philosophical Magazine paper, so that you can see if my criticism at the end is fair, and whether his words really mean what to me they seem to....—Yours very sincerely,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
[pg 177]Sept. 12, 1907.
Dear Fred,— ... For the last two or three months I have had a hard struggle with Mars—not the god of war, but the planet—writing a small book, chiefly criticising Lowell's last book, called "Mars and its Canals," published less than a year back by Macmillan, who will also publish my reply. I think it is crushing, but it has cost me a deal of trouble, as Lowell has also printed a long and complex mathematical article trying to prove that though Mars receives less than half the sun-heat we do, yet it is very nearly as warm and quite habitable! But his figures and arguments are alike so shaky and involved that I cannot get any of my mathematical friends to tackle it or point out his errors. However, I think I have done it myself by the rules of common sense....—Your sincere friend,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. December 2, 1910.
Dear Sir,—Your "monistic" system is to me a system of mere contradictory words. You begin with three things—then you say they are correlated with one substance—coextensive with the universe. This you cannot possibly know, and it is about as intelligible and as likely to be true as the Athanasian Creed!—Yours truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 1, 1913.
Dear Mr. Knight,—I have written hardly anything on the direct proofs of "immortality" except in my book on "Miracles and Modern Spiritualism," and also in "My Life," Vol. II. But my two works, "Man's Place in the [pg 178] Universe" (now published at 1s.), and my later volume, "The World of Life," form together a very elaborate, and I think conclusive, scientific argument in favour of the view that the whole material universe exists and is designed for the production of immortal spirits, in the greatest possible diversity of nature, and character, corresponding with ... the almost infinite diversity of that universe, in all its parts and in every detail....—Yours very truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
P.S.—I am fairly well, but almost past work.—A.R.W.
Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 9, 1913.
Dear Sir Oliver Lodge,—Owing to ill-health and other causes I have only now been able to finish the perusal of your intensely interesting and instructive Address to the British Association. I cannot, however, refrain from writing to you to express my admiration of it, and especially of the first half of it, in which you discuss the almost infinite variety and complexity of the physical problems involved in the great principle of "continuity" in so clear a manner that outsiders like myself are able to some extent to apprehend them. I am especially pleased to find that you uphold the actual existence and continuity of the ether as scientifically established, and reject the doubts of some mathematicians as to the reality and perfect continuity of space and time as unthinkable.
The latter part of the Address is even more important, and is especially notable for your clear and positive statements as to the evidence in all life-process of a "guiding" Mind. I can hardly suppose that you can have found time to read my rather discursive and laboured volume on "The [pg 179] World of Life," written mainly for the purpose of enforcing not only the proofs of a "guiding" but also of a "foreseeing" and "designing" Mind by evidence which will be thought by most men of science to be unduly strained. It is, therefore, the more interesting to me to find that you have yourself (on pp. 33-34 of your Address) used the very same form of analogical illustration as I have done (at p. 296 of "The World of Life") under the heading of "A Physiological Allegory," as being a very close representation of what really occurs in nature.
To conclude: your last paragraph rises to a height of grandeur and eloquence to which I cannot attain, but which excites my highest admiration.
Should you have a separate copy to spare of your Romanes Lecture at Oxford, I should be glad to have it to refer to.—Believe me yours very truly,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
The last of Wallace's letters on astronomical subjects was written to Sir Oliver Lodge about a week before his death:
Old Orchard, Broadstone, Dorset. October 27, 1913.
Dear Sir Oliver Lodge,—Many thanks for your Romanes Lecture, which, owing to my ignorance of modern electrical theory and experiments, is more difficult for me than was your British Association Address.
I have been very much interested the last month by reading a book sent me from America by Mr. W.L. Webb, being "An Account of the Unparalleled Discoveries of Mr. T.J.J. See."
Several of Mr. See's own lectures are given, with references to his "Researches on the Evolution of the Stellar Systems," in two large volumes.
His theory of "capture" of suns, planets, and satellites [pg 180] seems to me very beautifully worked out under the influence of gravitation and a resisting medium of cosmical dust—which explains the origin and motions of the moon as well as that of all the planets and satellites far better than Sir G. Darwin's expulsion theory.
I note however that he is quite ignorant that Proctor, forty years ago, gave full reasons for this "capture" theory in his "Expanse of Heaven," and also that the same writer showed that the Milky Way could not have the enormous lateral extension he gives to it, but that it cannot really be much flattened. He does not even mention the proofs given of this both by Proctor and, I think, by Herbert Spencer, while in Mr. Webb's volume (opposite p. 212) is a diagram showing the "Coal Sack" as a "vacant lane" running quite through and across the successive spiral extensions laterally of the galaxy, without any reference or a word of explanation that such features, of which there are many, really demonstrate the untenability of such extension.
An even more original and extremely interesting part of Mr. See's work is his very satisfactory solution of the hitherto unsolved geological problem of the origin of all the great mountain ranges of the world, in Chapters X., XI., and XII. of Mr. Webb's volume. It seems quite complete except for the beginnings, but I suppose it is a result of the formation of the earth by accretion and not by expulsion, by heating and not by cooling....—Yours very truly,
D R. WALLACE.
"The completely materialistic mind of my youth and early manhood has been slowly moulded into the socialistic, spiritualistic, and theistic mind I now exhibit—a mind which is, as my scientific friends think, so weak and credulous in its declining years, as to believe that fruit and flowers, domestic animals, glorious birds and insects, wool, cotton, sugar and rubber, metals and gems, were all foreseen and foreordained for the education and enjoyment of man. The whole cumulative argument of my 'World of Life' is that in its every detail it calls for the agency of a mind ... enormously above and beyond any human mind ... Whether this Unknown Reality is a single Being and acts everywhere in the universe as direct creator, organiser, and director of every minutest motion ... or through 'infinite grades of beings,' as I suggest, comes to much the same thing. Mine seems a more clear and intelligible supposition ... and it is the teaching of the Bible, of Swedenborg, and of Milton."—Letter from A.R. Wallace to JAMES MARCHANT, written in 1913.
The letters on Spiritualism which Wallace wrote cast further light on the personal attitude of mind which he maintained towards that subject. He was an unbiased scientific investigator, commencing on the "lower level" of spirit phenomena, such as raps and similar physical manifestations of "force by unseen intelligences," and passing on to a clearer understanding of the phenomena of mesmerism and telepathy; to the materialisation of, and conversation with, the spirits of those who had been known in the body, until the conviction of life after death, as the inevitable crowning conclusion to the long process of evolution, was reached in the remarkable chapter with which he concludes "The World of Life"—an impressive prose poem.
Like that of many other children, Wallace's early childhood was spent in an orthodox religious atmosphere, which, whilst awakening within him vague emotions of religious [pg 182] fervour, derived chiefly from the more picturesque and impassioned of the hymns which he occasionally heard sung at a Nonconformist chapel, left no enduring impression. Moreover, at the age of 14 he was brought suddenly into close contact with Socialism as expounded by Robert Owen, which dispelled whatever glimmerings of the Christian faith there may have been latent in his mind, leaving him for many years a confirmed materialist.
This fact, together with his early-aroused sense of the social injustice and privations imposed upon the poorer classes both in town and country, which he carefully observed during his experience as a land-surveyor, might easily have had an undesirable effect upon his general character had not his intense love and reverence for nature provided a stimulus to his moral and spiritual development. But the "directive Mind and Purpose" was preparing him silently and unconsciously until his "fabric of thought" was ready to receive spiritual impressions. For, according to his own theory, as "the laws of nature bring about continuous development, on the whole progressive, one of the subsidiary results of this mode of development is that no organ, no sensation, no faculty arises before it is needed, or in greater degree than it is needed."57 From this point of view we may make a brief outline of the manner in which this particular "faculty" arose and was developed in him.
When at Leicester, in 1844, his curiosity was greatly excited by some lectures on mesmerism given by Mr. Spencer Hall, and he soon discovered that he himself had considerable power in this direction, which he exercised on some of his pupils.
Later, when his brother Herbert joined him in South America, he found that he also possessed this gift, and on [pg 183] several occasions they mesmerised some of the natives for mere amusement. But the subject was put aside, and Wallace paid no further attention to such phenomena until after his return to England in 1862.
It was not until the summer of 1865 that he witnessed any phenomena of a spiritualistic nature; of these a full account is given in "Miracles and Modern Spiritualism" (p. 132). "I came," he says, "to the inquiry utterly unbiased by hopes or fears, because I knew that my belief could not affect the reality, and with an ingrained prejudice even against such a word as 'spirit,' which I have hardly yet overcome."
From that time until 1895, when the second edition of that book appeared, he did much, together with other scientists, to establish these facts, as he believed them to be, on a rational and scientific foundation. It will also be noticed, both before and after this period, that in addition to the notable book which he published dealing exclusively with these matters, the gradual trend of his convictions, advancing steadily towards the end which he ultimately reached, had become so thoroughly woven into his "fabric of thought" that it appears under many phases in his writings, and occupies a considerable part of his correspondence, of which we have only room for some specimens.
The first definite statement of his belief in "this something" other than material in the evolution of Man appeared in his essay on "The Development of Human Faces under the Law of Natural Selection" (1864). In this he suggested that, Man having reached a state of physical perfection through the progressive law of Natural Selection, thenceforth Mind became the dominating factor, endowing Man with an ever-increasing power of intelligence which, whilst the physical had remained stationary, had [pg 184] continued to develop according to his needs. This "in-breathing" of a divine Spirit, or the controlling force of a supreme directive Mind and Purpose, which was one of the points of divergence between his theory and that held by Darwin, is too well known to need repetition.
This disagreement has a twofold interest from the fact that Darwin, in his youth, studied theology with the full intention of taking holy orders, and for some years retained his faith in the more or less orthodox beliefs arising out of the Bible. But as time went by, an ever-extending knowledge of the mystery of the natural laws governing the development of man and nature led him to make the characteristically frank avowal that he "found it more and more difficult ... to invent evidence which would suffice to convince"; adding, "This disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress."58 With Wallace, however, his early disbelief ended in a deep conviction that "as nothing in nature actually 'dies,' but renews its life in another and higher form, so Man, the highest product of natural laws here, must by the power of mind and intellect continue to develop hereafter."
The varied reasons leading up to this final conviction, as related by himself in "Miracles and Modern Spiritualism" and "My Life," are, however, too numerous and detailed to be retold in a brief summary in this place.
The correspondence that follows deals entirely with investigations on this side of the Atlantic, but a good deal of evidence which to him was conclusive was obtained during his stay in America, where Spiritualism has been more widely recognised, and for a much longer period than in England.
Some of the letters addressed to Miss Buckley (afterwards [pg 185] Mrs. Fisher) reveal the extreme caution which he both practised himself and advocated in others when following up any experimental phase of spiritual phenomena. The same correspondence also gives a fairly clear outline of his faith in the ascending scale from the physical evidence of spirit-existence to the communication of some actual knowledge of life as it exists beyond the veil.
In spiritual matters, as in natural science, though at times his head may have appeared to be "in the clouds," his feet were planted firmly on the earth. This is seen, to note another curious instance, in his correspondence with Sir Wm. Barrett, where he maintains a delicate balance between natural science and "spirit impression" when discussing the much controverted reality of "dowsing" for water.
It was this breadth of vision, unhampered by mere intellectualism, but always kept within reasonable bounds by scientific deduction and analysis, which constituted Alfred Russel Wallace a seer of the first rank.
Wallace lived to see the theory of evolution applied to the life-history of the earth and the starry firmament, to the development of nations and races, to the progress of mind, morals and religion, even to the origin of consciousness and life—a conception which has completely revolutionised man's attitude towards himself and the world and God. Evolution became intelligible in the light of that idea which came to him in his hut at Ternate and changed the face of the universe. Surely it was enough for any one man to be one of the two chief originators of such a far-reaching thought and to witness its impact upon the ancient story of special creations which it finally laid in the dust. But Wallace was privileged beyond all the men of his generation. He lived to see many of the results of the theory of evolution tested by time and to foresee that [pg 186] there were definite limits to its range, that, indeed, there were two lines of development—one affecting the visible world of form and colour and the other the invisible world of life and spirit—two worlds springing from two opposite poles of being and developing pari passu, or, rather, the spiritual dominating the material, life originating and controlling organisation. It was, in short, his peculiar task to reveal something of the Why as well as the How of the evolutionary process, and in doing so verily to bring immortality to light.
The immediate exciting cause of this discovery of the inadequacy of evolution from the material side alone to account for the world of life may seem to many to have been trivial and unworthy of the serious attention of a great scientist. How, it might be asked, could the crude and doubtful phenomena of Spiritualism afford reasonably adequate grounds for challenging its supremacy and for setting a limit to its range? But spiritualistic phenomena were only the accidental modes in which the other side of evolution struck in upon his vision. They set him upon the other track and opened up to him the vaster kingdom of life which is without beginning, limit or end; in which perchance the sequence of life from the simple to the complex, from living germ to living God, may also be the law of growth. It is in the light of this ultimate end that we must judge the stumbling steps guided by raps and visions which led him to the ladder set up to the stars by which connection was established with the inner reality of being. That was the distinctive contribution which he made to human beliefs over and above his advocacy of pure Darwinism.
Reading almost everything he could obtain upon occult phenomena, Wallace found that there was such a mass of testimony by men of the highest character and ability in [pg 187] every department of human learning that he thought it would be useful to bring this together in a connected sketch of the whole subject. This he did, and sent it to a secularist magazine, in which it appeared in 1866, under the title of "The Scientific Aspect of the Supernatural." He sent a copy to Huxley.
9 St. Mark's Crescent, Regent's Park, N.W. November 22, 1866.
Dear Huxley,—I have been writing a little on a new branch of Anthropology, and as I have taken your name in vain on the title-page I send you a copy. I fear you will be much shocked, but I can't help it; and before finally deciding that we are all mad I hope you will come and see some very curious phenomena which we can show you, among friends only. We meet every Friday evening, and hope you will come sometimes, as we wish for the fullest investigation, and shall be only too grateful to you or anyone else who will show us how and where we are deceived.
[? November, 1886.]
Dear Wallace,—I am neither shocked nor disposed to issue a Commission of Lunacy against you. It may be all true, for anything I know to the contrary, but really I cannot get up any interest in the subject. I never cared for gossip in my life, and disembodied gossip, such as these worthy ghosts supply their friends with, is not more interesting to me than any other. As for investigating the matter, I have half-a-dozen investigations of infinitely greater interest to me to which any spare time I may have will be devoted. I give it up for the same reason I abstain [pg 188] from chess—it's too amusing to be fair work, and too hard work to be amusing.—Yours faithfully,
T.H. HUXLEY.
9 St. Mark's Crescent, Regent's Park, N.W. December 1, 1866.
Dear Huxley,—Thanks for your note. Of course, I have no wish to press on you an inquiry for which you have neither time nor inclination. As for the "gossip" you speak of, I care for it as little as you can do, but what I do feel an intense interest in is the exhibition of force where force has been declared impossible, and of intelligence from a source the very mention of which has been deemed an absurdity.
Faraday has declared (apropos of this subject) that he who can prove the existence or exertion of force, if but the lifting of a single ounce, by a power not yet recognised by science, will deserve and assuredly receive applause and gratitude. (I quote from memory the sense of his expressions in his Lecture on Education.)
I believe I can now show such a force, and I trust some of the physicists may be found to admit its importance and examine into it.—Believe me yours very sincerely,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Holly House, Barking, E. December 25, 1870.
Dear Miss Buckley,— ... You did not hear Mrs. Hardinge59 on very favourable topics, and I hope you will hear her often again, and especially hear one of her regular discourses. I think, however, from what you heard, that, setting aside all idea of her being more than a mere spiritualist lecturer setting forth the ideas and [pg 189] opinions of the sect, you will admit that spiritualists, as represented by her, are neither prejudiced nor unreasonable, and that they are truly imbued with the scientific spirit of subordinating all theory to fact. You will also admit, I think, that the moral teachings of Spiritualism, as far as she touched upon them, are elevated and beautiful and calculated to do good; and if so, that is the use of Spiritualism—the getting such doctrines of future progress founded on actual phenomena which we can observe and examine now, not on phenomena which are said to have occurred thousands of years ago and of which we have confessedly but imperfect records.
I think, too, that the becoming acquainted with two such phases of Spiritualism as are exhibited by Mrs. Hardinge and Miss Houghton must show you that the whole thing is not to be judged by the common phenomena of public stances alone, and I can assure you that there are dozens of other phases of the subject as remarkable as these two....—Yours very faithfully,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Holly House. Barking, E. June 1, 1871.
Dear Miss Buckley,— ... I have lately had a stance with the celebrated Mr. Home, and saw that most wonderful phenomenon an accordion playing beautiful music by itself, the bottom only being held in Mr. Home's hand. I was invited to watch it as closely as I pleased under the table in a well-lighted room. I am sure nothing touched it but Mr. Home's one hand, yet at one time I saw a shadowy yet defined hand on the keys. This is too vast a phenomenon for any sceptic to assimilate, and I can well understand the impossibility of their accepting the evidence of their own senses. Mr. Crookes, F.R.S., the chemist, was present and suspended the table with a spring balance, when [pg 190] it was at request made heavy or light, the indicator moving accordingly, and to prevent any mistake it was made light when the hands of all present were resting on the table and heavy when our hands were all underneath it. The difference, if I remember, was about 40 lb. I was also asked to place a candle on the floor and look under the table while it was lifted completely off the floor, Mr. Home's feet being 2 ft. distant from any part of it. This was in a lady's house in the West End. Mr. Home courts examination if people come to him in a fair and candid spirit of inquiry....—Yours very faithfully,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.
The Dell, Grays, Essex. January 11, 1874.
My dear Miss Buckley,—I am delighted to hear of your success so far, and hope you are progressing satisfactorily. Pray keep accurate notes of all that takes place.... Allow me ... to warn you not to take it for granted till you get proof upon proof that it is really your sister that is communicating with you. I hope and think it is, but still, the conditions that render communication possible are so subtle and complex that she may not be able; and some other being, reading your mind, may be acting through you and making you think it is your sister, to induce you to go on. Be therefore on the look out for characteristic traits of your sister's mind and manner which are different from your own. These will be tests, especially if they come when and how you are not expecting them. Even if it is your sister, she may be obliged to use the intermediation of some other being, and in that case her peculiar idiosyncrasy may be at first disguised, but it will soon make itself distinctly visible. Of course you will preserve every scrap you write, and date them, and they will, I have no doubt, explain each other as you go on. [pg 191]
If you can get to see the last number of the Quarterly Journal of Science, you will find a most important article by Mr. Crookes, giving an outline of the results of his investigations, which he is going to give in full in a volume. His facts are most marvellous and convincing, and appear to me to answer every one of the objections that have usually been made to the evidence adduced....—Yours very faithfully,
ALFRED R. WALLACE.