My dear Wallace,

As this note requires no sort of answer, you must allow me to express my lively admiration of your paper in the Nineteenth Cen^ty.¹ You certainly are a master in the difficult art of clear exposition. It is impossible to urge too often that the selection from a single varying individual or of a single varying organ will not suffice. You have worked in capitally Allen’s admirable researches.² As usual you delight to honour me more than I deserve. When I have written about the extreme slowness of natural selection (in which I hope I may be wrong) I have chiefly had in my mind the effects of intercrossing.³ I subscribe to almost everything you say excepting the last short sentence.⁴

And now let me add how grieved I was to hear that the City of London did not elect you for the Epping office;⁵ but I suppose it was too much to hope that such a body of men should make a good selection. I wish you could obtain some quiet post & thus have leisure for moderate scientific work. I have nothing to tell you about myself; I see few persons, for conversation fatigues me much; but I daily do some work in experiments on plants, & hope thus to continue to the end of my days.

With all good wishes. | Believe me yours very sincerely | Charles Darwin

P.S. | Have you seen M^r Farrer’s article in the last Fortnightly   it reminded me of an article on bequests by you some years ago which interested & almost converted me.⁶