124 HAECKEL 



In England Darwin's repute as a traveller and 

 geologist, and the personal respect felt for him, had 

 some effect. Then came a small circle of friends, 

 Hooker, Huxley, even, to some extent, the aged 

 Lyell, who had seen the manuscript before pub- 

 lication, and had at once started a more or less 

 brisk propaganda. In the first six months three 

 editions of the work were sold, so that it was read 

 by a few thousand men. As a rule there was at 

 that time less dread of ^'natural philosophy" in 

 England than elsewhere. But pious minds were 

 alarmed at the '^ struggle against God " that was 

 based on the exact data of zoology, botany, and 

 geology. 



Darwin had made that the salient point, as a 

 glance at the work shows, since he closes with 

 a reference to the Deity. He said it was a 

 ^^ grand " view of the Creator to suppose that 

 he had created only the first forms of life on the 

 earth, and then left it to natural laws to develop 

 these germs into the various species of animals 

 and plants. It was prudent to restrict the theistic 

 conflict. God was merely excluded from the origin 

 of species. Natural selection did not apply to the 

 further problem of the origin of the primitive 

 life-forms and of life itself. Theism could retain 

 them. There was something soothing psycho- 

 logically in the phrase, which was often attacked 

 subsequently, and did not represent Darwin's 

 later views. It was characteristic of Darwin's 

 gentle disposition. 



He did not start out from the position that God 



