294 LIFE OF SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ch. 



The details about Laura Bridgman and your experi- 

 ments on " Van " have given me peculiar interest. 

 They seem to prove that there exists some essential 

 difference between the mental faculties of man and 

 superior brutes ; the poor girl could get with one sense 

 to a notable degree of human intellectuality, but " Van " 

 could improve by the use of his five excellent senses 

 only so far as to combine sensitive images, according 

 to the combinations given by your own intelligence. 

 This seems to me very remarkable. But I fear we do 

 not agree about the definition of " instinct " and " intel- 

 lect." — I am, yours very sincerely, E. Wasmann. 



Mr. Andrew Reid asked him to write an article 

 (I believe for the Westminster Review) on the 

 Home Rule question, but he did not feel able to 

 treat of it in the manner which would meet Mr. 

 Reid's views, and replied to him to that effect. 

 Mr. Reid, however, would at first take no refusal 

 and renewed his request, to which Sir John 

 replied : 



High Elms, Farnborough, R.S.O., 

 Kent. 



Dear Mr. Reid — I am afraid I could write nothing 

 which you as a Home Ruler would care to insert. 



Political agitators have I believe inflicted a gigantic 

 loss on Ireland, which I see has been recently estimated 

 by Mr. Giffen at no less than £150,000,000. 



My objection to Home Rule is, however, in great 

 measure from an English point of view. 



If Irish Members are to have a Parliament of their 

 own and then to sit at Westminster, I agree with Sir G. 

 Trevelyan that they will not only be " masters of their 

 own parliament in Dublin, but they will be our masters 

 at Westminster as well." 



One of the most important provisions in Mr. Glad- 

 stone's Home Rule Bill was that Ireland should con- 

 tribute a fixed sum to Imperial Expenditure. That being 

 so, we should I think be mad to allow them to vote on 

 Imperial policy, as they might involve us in an immense 

 expenditure, the whole burden of which would fall 

 on us. 



