[1]

[1882. Mr. Darwin and revelation. Pall Mall Gazette (23 September): 2.]

MR. DARWIN AND REVELATION.

To the Editor of the Pall Mall Gazette:—

SIR,—The enclosed is the translation of a letter written by Mr Darwin in answer to an inquiry from a young student at Jena, in whom the study of Darwin's books had raised religious doubts. It is, perhaps, not altogether irrelevant, at a time when priests of various creeds are claiming Darwin for their own, to publish an authentic statement of what his views really were, particularly as this statement will be widely read in Germany, and Darwin's own countrymen ought to be at least as well informed on the subject as foreigners.—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

KATHARINE MACMILLAN.

Frankfort-on-Main, Sept. 20.

[Letter from Mr. Darwin to a young student at Jena quoted in a lecture by Professor Haeckel at the Natural Science Congress at Eisenach.]

Sir,—I am very busy, and am an old man in delicate health, and have not time to answer your, questions fully, even assuming that they are capable of being answered at all.³ Science and Christ have nothing to do with each other, except in as far as the habit of scientific investigation makes a man cautious about accepting any proofs. As far as I am concerned, I do not believe that any revelation has ever been made. With regard to a future life, every one must draw his own conclusions from vague and contradictory probabilities. Wishing you well, I remain, your obedient servant,

CHARLES DARWIN.

Down, June 5, 1879.

[The Index (16 November 1882): 234.]

THE following has been given to the public as a letter written by Charles Darwin in 1873 to a Dutch gentleman, in reply to an inquiry as to his belief in regard to the existence of a God:—

It is impossible to answer your question briefly: I am not sure that I could do so even if I wrote at some length. But I may say that the impossibility conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me our chief argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of real value I have never been able to decide. I am aware that, if we admit a first cause, the mind still craves to know whence it came and how it arose. Nor can I overlook the difficulty from the immense amount of suffering through the world. I am also induced to defer to a certain extent to the judgment of the many able men who have fully believed in God; but here again I see how poor an argument this is. The safest conclusion seems to be that the whole subject is beyond the scope of man's intellect; but man can do his duty.

This letter, it is stated, first appeared in a Dutch free-thought journal. Its genuineness has not, to our knowledge, been called in question; and it is certainly in the style and spirit of the great naturalist, who was reserved and modest where many who are intellectual pygmies compared with him, are assertive, dogmatic, and intolerant

[2]

[The Index (8 February 1883): 379.]

THE following is a translation of a letter written to Dr. E. B. Aveling, of London, by Prof. Haeckel, in regard to the suppression of Charles Darwin's letter to a student at Jena:—

JENA Oct. 8 1882.

My dear Sir,—In the first place let me ask you to receive my heartiest thanks for your kindly communication on the memorable letter of Charles Darwin (June 5 1879) that I made public on September 18th of this year at the Eisenach meeting of German naturalists and physicians. It is self-evident that I communicated this letter with the express permission of Nicholai, Baron Mengden, who received it, and who, according to German law, is sole owner of the letter. The information that I owe to you, that the English press has, almost without exception, suppressed this letter, has filled my German friends and myself with sincere pity and regret; for we recognize in that fact a rigid system of the deepest hypocrisy, social and religious, is still in free England strong enough to prevent even the simple publication of a document pregnant with meaning. We in Germany are happy in daring to speak out the truth freely, happy in that we have liberated ourselves from the bonds of mediæval prejudice. Many letters are telling me that, in the publication of that letter I have rendered service both to the truth and to the great English philosopher whose whole life was devoted to the furthering of truth. Leaving it to you to make what use you of these lines, I remain, with the deepest esteem, Yours very truly,

PROF. ERNST HAECKEL.

[published widely in UK newspapers in late October 1883]

MR. DARWIN ON THEISM AND EVOLUTION.

The following letter from Charles Darwin appears in a work just issued:—

Down, Beckenham, Kent. Dear Sir,—It seems to me absurd to doubt that a man can be an ardent Theist and an Evolutionist. You are right about Kingsley. Asa Gray, the eminent botanist, is another case in point. What my own views may be is a question of no consequence to any one but myself. But, as you ask, I may state that my judgment often fluctuates. Moreover, whether a man deserves to be called a Theist depends upon the definition of the term, which is much too large a subject for a note. In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. I think that generally (and more and more as I grow older), but not always, that an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind.─ Dear Sir, yours faithfully, CH. DARWIN.

[Francis Darwin wrote in response to this, The Evening Standard (14 September 1883): 3:  "SIR,─ The following letter of the late Charles Darwin was quoted in The Evening Standard of October 22, 1883, as from "a work just issued." It would be of service to me if you or any of your readers can give me the title of the book referred to. [...] I am, your obedient servant, FRANCIS DARWIN. Huntingdon-road, Cambridge, September 2." A reply to this was published on 15 September, p. 3: "SIR,─ The letter quoted by Mr. Francis Darwin in your issue of to-day occurs in a work entitled 'Aspects of Scepticism,' by the Rev. J. Fordyce, and purports to be an answer received by the author to a communication addressed by him to the late Charles Darwin.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant, H. RITCHIE. September 14."]