My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

PREDICTIONS FULFILLED 395between the publication of the first edition and thecompletion of the second, has to me been again along retrospection of what may be termed the bestand most active part of my life, in the lengthy preparationof Spruce's " Notes of a Botanist." Thisperiod extends from 1849, when I first met himat Para, to the date of his death in 1893. Whilestudying his Journals and letters I recalled, and tosome extent visualized, places and persons in SouthAmerica long forgotten, as well as the pleasanttalks and communications I had with him after hisreturn to England. Four years instead of one havethus been occupied in a long course of agreeableRetrospection.Far more important than this, however, is acircumstance that happened only last year. Early inthe spring of last year I was asked by ArchdeaconColley to help him by appearing as a witness in a civilaction between himself and Maskelyne, the celebratedconjuror, respecting phenomena occurring with amedium. Dr. Monck. The Archdeacon had challengedMaskelyne to reproduce the phenomena of materialization,as described by him in a lecture delivered atWeymouth during the Church Congress, in October,1905, and agreed to forfeit ;^iooo if he did so. Ithappened that I was the only person in England whohad witnessed similar phenomena with Monck, as describedin chapter XXL, and it was thought that if I sawMaskelyne's imitation I could say how far it was areproduction of what I had seen with Monck, and whatMr. Colley described. At first I positively refused togo up to London and expose myself to cross-examinationin Court, in order to save the Archdeacon fromthe consequences of his own too impulsive challenge.But repeated and most earnest letters from him, and