1858.] MR. WALLACE'S MANUSCRIPT. 4^3 



perused in 1844, and the contents of which we had both of 

 us been privy to for many years. On representing this to 

 Mr. Darwin, he gave us permission to make what use we 

 thought proper of his memoir, &c. ; and in adopting our 

 present course, of presenting it to the Linnean Society, we 

 have explained to him that we are not solely considering the 

 relative claims to priority of himself and his friend, but the 

 interests cf science generally."] 



LETTERS. 



C. Darwin to C. Lyell. 



Down, 18th [June 1858]. 



My dear Lyell, — Some year or so ago you recommended 

 me to read a paper by Wallace in the ' Annals,' * which had 

 interested you, and, as I was writing to him, I knew this 

 would please him much, so I told him. He has to-day sent 

 me the enclosed, and asked me to forward it to you. It seems 

 to me well worth reading. Your words have come true with 

 a vengeance — that I should be forestalled. You said this, 

 when I explained to you here very briefly my views of ' Nat- 

 ural Selection ' depending on the struggle for existence. I 

 never saw a more striking coincidence ; if Wallace had my 

 MS. sketch written out in 1842, he could not have made a 

 better short abstract ! Even his terms now stand as heads of 

 my chapters. Please return me the MS., which he does not 

 say he wishes me to publish, but I shall of course, at once 

 write and offer to send to any journal. So all my originality, 

 whatever it may amount to, will be smashed, though my book, 

 if it will ever have any value, will not be deteriorated ; as all 

 the labour consists in the application of the theory. 



I hope you will approve of Wallace's sketch, that I may 

 tell him what you say. 



My dear Lyell, yours most truly, 



C. Darwin. 



* Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist., 1855. 



