Characteristics 



In due course he received the degree. *' On that occa- 

 sion," says Professor Poulton, ^' Wallace stayed with us, 

 and I was anxious to show him sometMng of Oxford; but, 

 with all that there is to be seen, one subject alone absorbed 

 the whole of his interest — he was intensely anxious to find 

 the rooms where Grant Allen had lived. He had received 

 from Grant Allen's father a manuscript poem giving a 

 picture of the ancient city dimly seen by midnight from an 

 undergraduate's rooms. With the help of Grant Allen's 

 college friends we were able to visit every house in which 

 he had lived, but were forced to conclude that the poem 

 was written in the rooms of a friend or from an imaginary 

 point of view." 



His friend Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, with others, was 

 promoting his election to the Royal Society, and wrote to 

 him : 



Sm W. T. Thiselton-Dyeb to A. R. Wallace 



Kerc. 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 

 BO 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 indiscre- 

 tion 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. 



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