RELIGION. 311 



which arc habitual or frequently recurrent, give, as I can 

 hardly doubt, to most sentient beings an excess of happiness 

 over misery, although many occasionally suffer much. Such 

 suffering is quite compatible with the belief in Natural Selec- 

 tion, which is not perfect in its action, but tends only to render 

 each species as successful as possible in the battle for life 

 with other species, in wonderfully complex and changing 

 circumstances. 



" That there is much suffering in the world no one disputes. 

 Some have attempted to explain this with reference to man 

 by imagining that it serves for his moral improvement. But 

 the number of men in the world is as nothing compared with 

 that of all other sentient beings, and they often suffer greatly 

 without any moral improvement. This very old argument 

 from the existence of suffering against the existence of an 

 intelligent First Cause seems to me a strong one ; whereas, 

 as just remarked, the presence of much suffering agrees well 

 with the view that all organic beings have been developed 

 through variation and natural selection. 



"At the present day the most usual argument for the exist- 

 ence of an intelligent God is drawn from the deep inward 

 conviction and feelings which are experienced by most 

 persons. 



" Formerly I was led by feelings such as those just referred 

 to (although I do not think that the religious sentiment was 

 ever strongly developed in me), to the firm conviction of the 

 existence of God, and of the immortality of the soul. In 

 my Journal I wrote that whilst standing in the midst 

 of the grandeur of a Brazilian forest, "it is not possible 

 to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings of wonder, 

 admiration, and devotion, which fill and elevate the mind. " 

 I well remember my conviction that there is more in man 

 than the mere breath of his body. But now the grandest 

 scenes would not cause any such convictions and feelings to 

 rise in my mind. It may be truly said that I am like a man 



