62 RELIGION. [ch. in. 



1876, in which my father gives the history of his religious 

 views : 



" During these two years * I was leal to think much 

 about religion. "Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite 

 orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by 

 several of the officers (though themselves orthodox) for 

 quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some 

 point of morality. I supposed it was the novelty of the 

 argument that amused them. But I had gradually come 

 by this time, i.e. 1836 to 1839, to see that the Old Testament 

 was no more to be trusted than the sacred books of the 

 Hindoos. The question then continually rose before my 

 mind and would not be banished, is it credible that if God 

 were now to make a revelation to the Hindoos, he would 

 permit it to be connected with the belief in Vishnu, Siva, 

 &c, as Christianity is connected with the Old Testament? 

 This appeared to me utterly incredible. 



" By further reflecting that the clearest evidence would 

 be requisite to make any sane man believe in the miracles 

 by which Christianity is supported, and that the more we 

 know of the fixed laws of nature the more incredible do 

 miracles become, that the men at that time were ignorant 

 and credulous to a degree almost incomprehensible by us, 

 that the Gospels cannot be proved to have been written 

 simultaneously with the events, that they differ in many 

 important details, far too important, as it seemed to me, to 

 be admitted as the usual inaccuracies of eye-witnesses ; by 

 such reflections as these, which I give not as having the 

 least novelty or value, but as they influenced me, I gradually 

 came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation. 

 The fact that many false religions have spread over large 

 portions of the earth like wildfire had some weight with me. 



" But I was very unwilling to give up my belief ; I feel 

 sure of this, for I can well remember often and often in- 

 venting day-dreams of old letters between distinguished 

 Romans, and manuscripts being discovered at Pompeii or 

 elsewhere, which confirmed in the most striking manner all 

 that was written in the Gospels. But I found it more and 

 more difficult, with free scope given to my imagination, to 

 invent evidence which would suffice to convince me. Thus 

 disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last 

 complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress. 



* October 1836 to January 1839. 



