An earnest expression like Carlyle's came over his countenance as he reprobated the selfish, wild-cat competition which made life harder and more horrible to-day for a well-doing poor man in England than among the Malays or Burmese before they had any modern inventions. Co-operation was the upward road for humanity. Men grew out of beasthood by it, and by it civilisation began. Forgetting it, men retrograded, subsiding swiftly, so that there were many individuals among us to-day who were in body, mind, and character below the level of our barbarian ancestors or contemporary "savages," to say nothing of civilised Burmese or Malays. What he meant by Socialism can be seen from his books. Nothing in them surprised me after our talk. His appreciation of Confucius, when I quoted some things of the Chinese sage's which confirmed what he was saying, was emphatic, and that and many other things showed that Socialism to him implied the upward evolution of humanity. It was because of the degradation of men involved that he objected to letting individuals grab the public property--earth, air and water. Monopolies, he thought, should at once revert to the public, and we had an argument which showed that he had no objection to even artificial monopolies if they were public property. He defended the old Dutch Government monopolies of spices, and declared them better than to-day's free trade, when cultivation is exploited by men who always tended to be mere money-grabbers, selfish savages let loose. In answer I mentioned the abuses of officialdom, as seen by me from the inside in Burma, and he agreed that the mental and moral superiority of many kinds of Asiatics to the Europeans who want to boss them made detailed European administration an absurdity. We should leave these peoples to develop in their own way. Having conquered Burma and India, he proceeded, the English should take warning from history and restrict themselves to keeping the peace, and protecting the countries they had taken. They should give every province as much home rule as possible and as soon as possible, and study to avoid becoming parasites.--D.A.W. * * * * * We may fittingly conclude this brief summary of Wallace's social views and ideals by citing his own reply to the question: "Why am I a Socialist?" "I am a Socialist because I believe that the highest law for mankind is justice. I therefore take for my motto, 'Fiat Justitia, Ruat Coelum'; and my definition of Socialism is, 'The use, by everyone, of his faculties for the common good, and the voluntary organisation of labour for the equal benefit of all.' That is absolute social justice; that is ideal Socialism. It is, therefore, the guiding star for all true social reform." * * * * * He corresponded with Miss Buckley not only on scientific but also on public questions and social problems: TO MISS BUCKLEY _Rosehill, Dorking. Sunday, [? December, 1878]._