THE " ORIGIN " PUBLISHED. 97 



in which he begs Lyell not to commit himself " to go 

 a certain length and no further ; for," he says, " I am 

 deeply convinced that it is absolutely necessary to 

 go the whole vast length, or stick to the creation of 

 each separate species." He asks Lyell to remember 

 that his verdict will probably be of more importance 

 than the book itself in influencing the present accept- 

 ance or rejection of the views. "In the future," he 

 continues, "I cannot doubt about their admittance, 

 and our posterity will marvel as much about the cur- 

 rent belief as we do about fossil shells having been 

 thought to have been created as we now see them." 

 And again writing to Lyell a few days later (Septem- 

 ber 20th), he says, " I cannot too strongly express my 

 conviction of the general truth of my doctrines, and 

 God knows I have never shirked a difficulty." 



I have thought it well to bring strong evidence of 

 Darwin's entire confidence in his conclusions, because 

 his writings were so extraordinarily balanced and 

 judicial, and the weight he gives to opposing con- 

 siderations so great, that a superficial student might 

 imagine that he wrote and argued without any very 

 strong convictions. 



The letters to Mr. John Murray, the publisher, are 

 eminently characteristic, in the expressions of regret 

 for trouble given, and of pleasure at the work done, in 

 the scrupulous care to prevent the publisher from feel- 

 ing committed, if on further acquaintance with the 

 manuscript he did not wish to accept it, and in the 

 offer to contribute towards the cost of corrections. 



G 



