RELIGION. 313 



some degree analogous to that of man ; and I deserve to be 

 called a Theist. This conclusion was strong in my mind 

 about the time, as far as I can remember, when I wrote the 

 4 Origin of Species ; ' and it is since that time that it has very 

 gradually, with many fluctuations, become weaker. But then 

 arises the doubt, can the mind of man, which has, as I fully 

 believe, been developed from a mind as low as that possessed 

 .by the lowest animals, be trusted when it draws such grand 

 conclusions ? 



" I cannot pretend to throw the least light on such abstruse 

 problems. The mystery of the beginning of all things is 

 insoluble by us ; and I for one must be content to remain an 

 Agnostic." 



[The following letters repeat to some extent what has 

 been given from the Autobiography. The first one refers 

 to 'The Boundaries of Science, a Dialogue/ published in 

 * Macmillan's Magazine,' for July 1861.] 



C. Danvin to Miss Julia Wedgwood. 



July ii [1861]. 



Some one has sent us ' Macmillan ' ; and I must tell you 

 how much I admire your Article ; though at the same time 

 I must confess that I could not clearly follow you in some 

 parts, which probably is in main part due to my not being at 

 all accustomed to metaphysical trains of thought. I think- 

 that you understand my book * perfectly, and that I find a 

 very rare event with my critics. The ideas in the last page 

 have several times vaguely crossed my mind. Owing to 

 several correspondents I have been led lately to think, or 

 rather to try to think over some of the chief points discussed 

 by you. But the result has been with me a maze some- 

 thing like thinking on the origin of evil, to which you allude. 

 The mind refuses to look at this universe, being what it is, 

 * The ' Origin of Species.' 



