HAMPDEN AND THE FLAT EARTH 391 



About this time he printed one thousand copies of a two- 

 page leaflet, and sent them to almost every one in my neigh- 

 bourhood whose address he could obtain, including most of 

 the masters of Charterhouse School, and the residents as 

 well as the tradesmen of Godalming. It was full of — " scien- 

 tific villainy and roguery," — " cheat, swindler, and impostor." 

 — " My specific charge against Mr. A. R. Wallace is that 

 he obtained possession of a cheque for £1000 by fraud and 

 falsehood of a party who had no authority to dispose of it." — 

 " As Mr. Wallace seems wholly devoid of any sense of honour 

 of his own, I shall most readily submit the whole matter 

 to any two or more disinterested parties, and adhere most 

 absolutely and finally to their decision." — " I will compel 

 him to acknowledge that the curvature of water which he 

 and his dupes pretend was proved on the Bedford Level, 

 does not exist! And this Mr. Wallace saw with his own 

 eyes." And so on in various forms of repetition and abuse. 

 To save trouble, I drew up a short circular stating the main 

 facts already given here for the information of those who 

 had received Hampden's absurdly false libels, and thereafter 

 took no further notice of him. 



One day about this time we happened to have several 

 friends with us, and as we were at luncheon, I was called to 

 see a gentleman at the door. I went, and there was Hamp- 

 den ! I was so taken aback that my only idea was to get rid 

 of him as soon as possible, but I afterwards much regretted 

 that I did not ask him in, give him luncheon, and introduce 

 him as the man who devoted his life to converting the world 

 into the belief that the earth was flat. We should at least 

 have had some amusement ; and to let him sav what he had 

 to say to a lot of intelligent people might have done him 

 good. But such " happy thoughts " come too late. He had 

 come really to see where I lived, and as our cottage and 

 garden at Godalming, though quite small, were very pretty, 

 he was able to say afterwards that I (the thief, etc.) was 

 living in luxury, while he, the martyr to true science, was in 

 poverty. 



He continued to circulate his postcards and tracts, and 



