1882.J 
Correspondence . 
75i 
The snbjoined letter originally sent to a contemporary having 
been ignored, it has been forwarded to us by the writer : — 
MR. DARWIN AND PROFESSOR HAECKEL. 
To the Editor of . 
Sir, — May I hope that you will not object to insert in an early 
No. of the following respectful remonstrance and expla- 
nation with reference to your remarks of November 10th, on the 
letter of June 5th, 1879, written by the late Mr. Charles Darwin, 
in answer to Baron Mengden, as recently published by Professor 
Haeckel, of Jena ? 
Your remarks, to which I beg to direct your attention and that 
of your readers, are the following : — “ One scarcely knows which 
most to wonder at, the impertinent curiosity which elicited the 
letter or the bad taste which led to its publication. If we were 
not assured that every reader of has already seen the 
letter, we should not now publish the correct form ; for a man’s 
views on such matters are no concern of others unless he himself 
chooses to publish them.” 
Surely, Sir, on mature reflection you will be inclined to modify 
this harsh judgment, and to ascribe the letter of the Baron to 
far other motives than those of impertinent curiosity. The 
feelings which dictated his appeal to Mr. Darwin were self- 
evidently those of an “ anxious inquirer ” seeking an authoritative 
solution of perplexity and doubt. Natural Science — in its very 
inception sceptical — has necessarily the most unsettling effect on 
minds educated in the vulgar “ Creed of Christendom ” and in a 
belief of Supernatural Revelation. And in this Age of Unfaith 
or Scepticism it seems as natural and becoming to consult scien- 
tific hierophants like Mr. Darwin on matters which now consti- 
tute the burning problem, both in speculation and politics, of our 
epoch, as it was in the pre -scientific “Ages of Faith ” to sit at 
the feet of approved Confessors of Theology. “ Nullius in verba,” 
&c., is no doubt the perfect canon in scientific research, but this 
perfection cannot with justice be expected from an immature 
scientific tyro in his Lehrjahre, being a hard-won privilege of the 
matured Meisterwuvde. 
I feel quite satisfied that neither Baron Mengden nor Professor 
Haeckel were at all actuated by the unworthy motives with which 
you credit them, and such I feel convinced will be the all but 
general verdict of impartial public opinion in their favour. 
Before concluding I may, without violation of any confidence, 
mention that, both viva voce and in writing, Mr. Darwin was 
