306 RELIGION. 



and am much obliged for the draft. I fully, also, subscribe 

 to the proposition that it is the duty of every one to spread 

 what he believes to be the truth ; and I honour you for doing 

 so, with so much devotion and zeal. But I cannot comply 

 with your request for the following reasons ; and excuse me 

 for giving them in some detail, as I should be very sorry to 

 appear in your eyes ungracious. My health is very weak : 

 I never pass 24 hours without many hours of discomfort, 

 when I can do nothing whatever. I have thus, also, lost two- 

 whole consecutive months this season. Owing to this weak- 

 ness, and my head being often giddy, I am unable to master 

 new subjects requiring much thought, and can deal only with 

 old materials. At no time am I a quick thinker or writer : 

 whatever I have done in science has solely been by long 

 pondering, patience and industry. 



" Now I have never systematically thought much on religion 

 in relation to science, or on morals in relation to society ; and 

 without steadily keeping my mind on such subjects for a 

 long period, I am really incapable of writing anything worth 

 sending to the Index? 



He was more than once asked to give his views on religion, 

 and he had, as a rule, no objection to doing so in a private 

 letter. Thus in answer to a Dutch student, he wrote 

 (April 2, 1873):- 



" I am sure you will excuse my writing at length, when I 

 tell you that I have long been much out of health, and am 

 now staying away from my home for rest. 



" It is impossible to answer your question briefly ; and I am 

 not sure that I could do so, even if I wrote at some length. 

 But I may say that the impossibility of conceiving that this 

 grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose 

 through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the 

 existence of God ; but whether^ this is an argument of real 

 value, I have never been able to decide. I am aware that if 

 we admit a first cause, the mind still craves to know whence 



