I859-] PROGRESS OF OPINION. 33 



mingled. I expected Murchison to be outrageous. How 

 little he could ever have grappled with the subject of denu- 

 dation ! How singular so great a geologist should have so 

 unphilosophical a mind ! I have had several notes from 



, very civil and less decided. Says he shall not pronounce 



against me without much reflection, perhaps will say nothing 



on the subject. X. says will go to that part of hell, 



which Dante tells us is appointed for those who are neither 

 on God's side nor on that of the devil. 



I fully believe that I owe the comfort of the next few 

 years of my life to your generous support, and that of a very 

 few others. I do not think I am brave enough to have 

 stood being odious without support ; now I feel as bold as a 

 lion. But there is one thing I can see I must learn, viz., to 

 think less of myself and my book. Farewell, with cordial 

 thanks. Yours most truly, 



C. Darwin. 



I return home on the 7th, and shall sleep at Erasmus's. 

 I will call on you about ten o'clock, on Thursday, the 8th, 

 and sit with you, as I have so often sat, during your break- 

 fast. 



I wish there was any chance of Prestwich being shaken ; 

 but I fear he is too much of a catastrophist. 



[In December there appeared in ' Macmillan's Magazine ' 

 an article, " Time and Life," by Professor Huxley. It is 

 mainly occupied by an analysis of the argument of the 

 ' Origin,' but it also gives the substance of a lecture deliv- 

 ered at the Royal Institution before that book was published. 

 Professor Huxley spoke strongly in favor of evolution in his 

 Lecture, and explains that in so doing he was to a great 

 extent resting on a knowledge of " the general tenor of the 

 researches in which Mr. Darwin had been so long engaged," 

 and was supported in so doing by his perfect confidence in 

 his knowledge, perseverance, and " high-minded love of 



