[page] 56

Gentlemen,—Your paragraph in the The Zetetic of this month about my prosecution of Mr. Hampden is a gross and wilful mis-statement of the facts. The case is not yet disposed of. I did not press for an apology to be made; on the contrary I refused to accept one till most strong pressed by Mr. Hampden's friends.

     You may correct this mis-statement; or leave it uncorrected, as it is most congenial to the character of your paper.

ALFRED R. WALLACE.
Dec. 11th, 1872.

[In one respect, we admit, Mr. Wallace is correct. Until he submits his proceedings to a proper tribunal "the case," assuredly, shall not be disposed of. As regards his accepting an apology "under pressure," we do not believe such "pressure" would have been borne, if in any way unpalatable. The concluding sentence of his letter unmistakeably proves that, among Mr. Wallace's many good qualities, that of the grossest impertinence is by no means the least prominent. —Eds. Zetetic.]