DARWINISM 121 



Order of the Garter. Read in the last number of that 

 classical journal the original of the speech spoken to the 

 British Asses " locutus bos," not this time sapo- 

 naceous * but downright " savage and tartar ly." I am 

 quite converted. I was (I confess it) in a " state of transi- 

 tion," but Darwino^ I might have remained for a whole 

 geological aeon. The Bishop's speech and article have 

 caused me by a process of " natural selection " to become 

 something better. I am developed into pure and un- 

 mitigated Darwinism. 



It is a delightful reflexion, the amount of charity 

 with which one can regard all one's fellow creatures. I 

 am no better than the rest of the human race. It is true 

 I do not kill and eat animals quite so nearly allied to 

 oneself as do or did the Maoris, Caribs, or Ancient 

 Britons. But the difference is only in degree. Oysters 

 I swallow by the dozen, button mushrooms and straw- 

 berries by the score, and green peas in countless numbers. 

 It is amazing how digestion is soothed by the placid 

 thought that one might have easily sprung from another, 

 and perhaps the elder, branch of the family, been hatched 

 a turkey and stuffed with truffles by the hand of a chef, 

 or even been the truffles oneself, instead of devouring the 

 same in persona. 



Serious as I am in all this, I am still more serious 

 when I say that I wish you would come with me to 

 Germany. It is never my way to travel expensively, and 

 I am sure we should have lots to say to one another. I 

 will start in ten days if you like. 



Yours very truly, 



ALFRED NEWTON. 



To this Tristram replied 



July 31, 1860. ... I quite agree with you that you 

 are not fit to be trusted to go to Germany without a 

 keeper. In fact, Hanwell is the only fit place for a 

 Darwinian. How they can answer the Quarterly I 

 cannot tell except by the argument of noise and sneers 



* The reverend Prelate was irreverently nicknamed " Soapy Sam." 



