xxxix] HAMPDEN AND THE FLAT EARTH 371 



Hence, if a loser immediately claims his money from the 

 stake-holder, the law will enforce the former's claim on the 

 ground that it is his money, and the fact that he has lost it 

 in a quite fair wager is beyond the cognizance of the law. 

 Neither I nor Mr. Walsh knew of this, although he had 

 decided and paid many wagers ; but this resulted in my 

 having to pay the money back five years later, as will be 

 presently described. 



I will now briefly state what were Hampden's proceed- 

 ings for the next fifteen or sixteen years. He first began 

 abusing Mr. Walsh in letters, post-cards, leaflets, and pam- 

 phlets, as a liar, thief, and swindler. Then he began upon 

 me with even more virulence, writing to the presidents and 

 secretaries of all the societies to which I belonged, and to 

 any of my friends whose addresses he could obtain. One of 

 his favourite statements in these letters was, " Do you know 

 that Mr. A. R. Wallace is allowing himself to be posted all 

 over England as a cheat and a swindler ? " But he soon 

 took more violent measures, and sent the following letter to 

 my wife : — 



"Mrs. Wallace, 



"Madam — If your infernal thief of a husband is 

 brought home some day on a hurdle, with every bone in his 

 head smashed to pulp, you will know the reason. Do you 

 tell him from me he is a lying infernal thief, and as sure as 

 his name is Wallace he never dies in his bed. 



"You must be a miserable wretch to be obliged to live 

 with a convicted felon. Do not think or let him think I 

 have done with him. 



"John Hampden." 



For this I brought him up before a police magistrate, and 

 he was bound over to keep the peace for three months, suf- 

 fering a week's imprisonment before he could find the neces- 

 sary sureties. But as soon as the three months were up, he 

 began again with more abuse than ever, distributing tracts 

 and writing to small local papers all over England. I now 



