Enters College. 13 



beliefs and disbeliefs. He confesses to having some 

 scruples about accepting all the dogmas of the 

 Church, but as he believed in the Bible implicitly 

 and literally, he soon satisfied himself that he could 

 accept the creed without any reservation. In refer- 

 ring to this interesting period in his life, Darwin 

 in his Autobiography says that years after a German 

 psychological society sent for his photograph, and 

 after much discussion reported that he had the bump 

 of reverence developed enough for ten priests ; so 

 that it might be assumed that he was well equipped 

 by nature for order taking. 



Darwin, however, was not destined for the Church, 

 though he entered Cambridge with this purpose in 

 view, and took up a course of studies which would 

 give him the desired degree. He found that he had 

 forgotten his Latin and Greek, which necessitated 

 work with a private tutor, so that he did not enter 

 college until Christmas of the year 1828. 



As far as academical studies were concerned we 

 learn that his three years' work here was almost a 

 perfect blank. Mathematics was never mastered 

 without extreme difficulty a fact which he empha- 

 sised in a letter written to Dr. J. B. Holder, father 

 of the author, some years ago, when the two were 

 discussing the flight of birds. So difficult was it for 

 Darwin to master this study that he was almost dis- 

 couraged, and in referring to it he says : " I do not 

 believe that I should ever have succeeded beyond a 

 very low grade." Though the young student may 

 have lacked application it is evident that he acquired 

 information very readily, as, while confessing what 



