RELIGION. 307 



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 judg- 

 ment 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 me that the whole subject 

 is beyond the scope of man's intellect; but man can do 

 his duty." 



Again in 1879 he was applied to by a German student, in 

 a similar manner. The letter was answered by a member of 

 my father's family, who wrote : 



"Mr. Darwin begs me to say that he receives so many 

 letters, that he cannot answer them all. 



" He considers that the theory of Evolution is quite 

 compatible with the belief in a God ; but that you must 

 remember that different persons have different definitions of 

 what they mean by God." 



This, however, did not satisfy the German youth, who 

 again wrote to my father, and received from him the following 

 reply : 



" I am much engaged, an old man, and out of health, and \ 

 I cannot spare time to answer your questions fully, nor 

 indeed can they be answered. Science has nothing to do 

 with Christ, except in so far as the habit of scientific research 

 makes a man cautious in admitting evidence. For myself, 

 I do not believe that there ever has been any revelation. As 

 for a future life, every man must judge for himself between 

 conflicting vague probabilities." 



The passages which here follow are extracts, somewhat 

 abbreviated, from a part of the Autobiography, written in 

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

 views : 



" During these two years * I was led to think much about 

 religion. Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, 

 * Oct. 1836 to Jan. 1839. 



VOL. I. Y 



