by Janet Browne
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 168
In all civilised countries man accumulates property and bequeaths it to his children. So that the children in the same country do not by any means start fair in the race for success. But this is far from an unmixed evil; for without the accumulation of capital the arts could not progress; and it is chiefly through their power that the civilised races have extended, and are now everywhere extending, their range, so as to take the place of the lower races.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 169
The presence of a body of well-instructed men, who have not to labour for their daily bread, is important to a degree which cannot be over-estimated; as all high intellectual work is carried on by them, and on such work material progress of all kinds mainly depends, not to mention other and higher advantages. No doubt wealth when very great tends to convert men into useless drones, but their number is never large; and some degree of elimination here occurs, as we daily see rich men, who happen to be fools or profligate, squandering away all their wealth.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 169–70
The men who are rich through primogeniture are able to select generation after generation the more beautiful and charming women; and these must generally be healthy in body and active in mind. The evil consequences, such as they may be, of the continued preservation of the same line of descent, without any selection, are checked by men of rank always wishing to increase their wealth and power; and this they effect by marrying heiresses.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 170
There is apparently much truth in the belief that the wonderful progress of the United States, as well as the character of the people, are the results of natural selection; the more energetic, restless, and courageous men from all parts of Europe having emigrated during the last ten or twelve generations to that great country, and having there succeeded best.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 179
To believe that man was aboriginally civilised and then suffered utter degradation in so many regions, is to take a pitiably low view of human nature. It is apparently a truer and more cheerful view that progress has been much more general than retrogression; that man has risen, though by slow and interrupted steps, from a lowly condition to the highest standard as yet attained by him in knowledge, morals, and religion.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 183–84
The advancement of the welfare of mankind is a most intricate problem: all ought to refrain from marriage who cannot avoid abject poverty for their children; for poverty is not only a great evil, but tends to its own increase by leading to recklessness in marriage. On the other hand, as Mr. Galton has remarked, if the prudent avoid marriage, whilst the reckless marry, the inferior members will tend to supplant the better members of society.
Descent 1871, vol. 2, 403
With highly civilised nations continued progress depends in a subordinate degree on natural selection; for such nations do not supplant and exterminate one another as do savage tribes. Nevertheless the more intelligent members within the same community will succeed better in the long run than the inferior, and leave a more numerous progeny, and this is a form of natural selection. The more efficient causes of progress seem to consist of a good education during youth whilst the brain is impressible, and of a high standard of excellence, inculcated by the ablest and best men, embodied in the laws, customs and traditions of the nation, and enforced by public opinion.
Descent 1874, 143
PART 5
On Himself
Darwin, photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868. Reproduced with permission from Wellcome Library, London.
Religious Belief
Whilst on board the Beagle I was quite orthodox, and I remember being heartily laughed at by several of the officers (though themselves orthodox) for quoting the Bible as an unanswerable authority on some point of morality. I suppose it was the novelty of the argument that amused them.
Autobiography, 85
Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind, none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by the hand of man; whether those of Brazil, where the powers of Life are predominant, or those of Tierra del Fuego, where death and Decay prevail. Both are temples filled with the varied productions of the God of Nature: no one can stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is more in man than the mere breath of his body.
Journal of Researches 1839, 604–5
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.
Autobiography, 91
I gradually came to disbelieve in Christianity as a divine revelation…. But I was very unwilling to give up my belief;—I feel sure of this for I can well remember often and often inventing day-dreams of old letters between distinguished Romans and manuscripts being discovered at Pompeii or elsewhere which confirmed in the most striking manner all that was written in the Gospels. But I found it more and more difficult, with free scope given to my imagination, to invent evidence which would suffice to convince me. Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct.
Autobiography, 86–87
I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine.
Autobiography, 87
That there is much suffering in the world no one disputes. Some have attempted to explain this in 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 these often suffer greatly without any moral improvement. A being so powerful and so full of knowledge as a God who could create the universe, is to our finite minds omnipotent and omniscient, and it revolts our understanding to suppose that his benevolence is not unbounded, for what advantage can there be in the sufferings of millions of the lower animals throughout almost endless time? 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.
Autobiography, 90
There is no evidence that man was aboriginally endowed with the ennobling belief in the existence of an Omnipotent God. On the contrary there is ample evidence, derived not from hasty travellers, but from men who have long resided with savages, that numerous races have existed and still exist, who have no idea of one or more gods, and who have no words in their languages to express such an idea. The question is of course wholly distinct from that higher one, whether there exists a Creator and Ruler of the universe; and this has been answered in the affirmative by the highest intellects that have ever lived.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 65
As soon as the important faculties of the imagination, wonder, and curiosity, together with some power of reasoning, had become partially developed, man would naturally have craved to understand what was passing around him, and have vaguely speculated on his own existence.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 65
The feeling of religious devotion is a highly complex one, consisting of love, complete submission to an exalted and mysterious superior, a strong sense of dependence, fear, reverence, gratitude, hope for the future, and perhaps other elements. No being could experience so complex an emotion until advanced in his intellectual and moral faculties to at least a mod
erately high level. Nevertheless we see some distant approach to this state of mind, in the deep love of a dog for his master, associated with complete submission, some fear, and perhaps other feelings.
Descent 1871, vol. 1, 68
With respect to immortality, nothing shows me how strong and almost instinctive a belief it is, as the consideration of the view now held by most physicists, namely that the sun with all the planets will in time grow too cold for life, unless indeed some great body dashes into the sun and thus gives it fresh life.—Believing as I do that man in the distant future will be a far more perfect creature than he now is, it is an intolerable thought that he and all other sentient beings are doomed to complete annihilation after such long-continued slow progress. To those who fully admit the immortality of the human soul, the destruction of our world will not appear so dreadful.
Autobiography, 92
When thus reflecting I feel compelled to look to a First Cause having an intelligent mind in 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 Origin of Species; and it is since that time that it has very gradually with many fluctuations become weaker.
Autobiography, 92–93
The state of mind which grand scenes formerly excited in me, and which was intimately connected with a belief in God, did not essentially differ from that which is often called the sense of sublimity; and however difficult it may be to explain the genesis of this sense, it can hardly be advanced as an argument for the existence of God, any more than the powerful though vague and similar feelings excited by music.
Autobiography, 91–92
Mr Darwin begs me to say that he receives so many letters that he cannot answer them all. He considers that the theory of evolution is quite compatible with the belief in a God; but that you must remember that different persons have different definitions of what they mean by God.
Darwin to N. A. von Mengden,
8 April 1879, in the hand of Emma Darwin, DCP 11981
What my own views may be is a question of no consequence to any one but myself. But as you ask, I may state that my judgment often fluctuates…. In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God.—I think that generally (& more and more so as I grow older), but not always, that an agnostic would be the most correct description of my state of mind.
Darwin to John Fordyce,
7 May 1879, DCP 12041
Though I am a strong advocate for free thought on all subjects, yet it appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity & theism produce hardly any effect on the public; & freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men’s minds, which follows from the advance of science. It has, therefore, been always my object to avoid writing on religion, & I have confined myself to science. I may, however, have been unduly biassed by the pain which it would give some members of my family, if I aided in any way direct attacks on religion.
Darwin to E. B. Aveling,
13 October 1880, DCP 12757
Dear Sir, I am sorry to have to inform you that I do not believe in the Bible as a divine revelation & therefore not in Jesus Christ as the son of God.
Darwin to Frederick McDermott,
24 November 1880, Bonhams sale catalogue, New York, September 2015
Then the talk fell upon Christianity, and these remarkable words were uttered: “I never gave up Christianity until I was forty years of age.” … On further inquiry, he told us that he had, when of mature years, investigated the claims of Christianity. Asked why he had abandoned it, the reply, simple and all-sufficient, was: “It is not supported by evidence.”
Aveling 1883, 5–6, 7
There is one sentence in the Autobiography which I very much wish to omit, no doubt partly because your father’s opinion that all morality has grown up by evolution is painful to me; but also because where this sentence comes in, it gives one a sort of shock—and would give an opening to say, however unjustly, that he considered all spiritual beliefs no higher than hereditary aversions or likings, such as the fear of monkeys towards snakes…. I should wish if possible to avoid giving pain to your father’s religious friends who are deeply attached to him, and I picture to myself the way that sentence would strike them, even those so liberal as Ellen Tollett and Laura, much more Admiral Sullivan, Aunt Caroline, &c., and even the old servants.
Emma Darwin to Francis Darwin, quoted in Barlow 1958, 93, note
Health
On Oct. 24th [1831], I took up my residence at Plymouth, and remained there until December 27th when the Beagle finally left the shores of England for her circumnavigation of the world. We made two earlier attempts to sail, but were driven back each time by heavy gales. These two months at Plymouth were the most miserable which I ever spent, though I exerted myself in various ways. I was out of spirits at the thought of leaving all my family and friends for so long a time, and the weather seemed to me inexpressibly gloomy. I was also troubled with palpitations and pain about the heart, and like many a young ignorant man, especially one with a smattering of medical knowledge, was convinced that I had heart-disease. I did not consult any doctor, as I fully expected to hear the verdict that I was not fit for the voyage, and I was resolved to go at all hazards.
Autobiography, 79–80
All last autumn and winter my health grew worse and worse; incessant sickness, tremulous hands and swimming head; I thought I was going the way of all flesh. Having heard of much success in some cases from the Cold Water Cure, I determined to give up all attempts to do anything and come here [Malvern] and put myself under Dr. [William] Gully. It has answered to a considerable extent: my sickness much checked and considerable strength gained. Dr. G., moreover, (and I hear he rarely speaks confidently) tells me he has little doubt but that he can cure me, in the course of time. Time however it will take.
Darwin to J. S. Henslow,
6 May 1849, DCP 1241
I am very doubtful whether I shall be up for [the Philosophical] Club; owing to Boys holidays drawing to a close, & sickness in our house. My wife often ails, & Lenny has very frequent bad days with badly intermittent pulse.—We escaped a considerable anxiety in George having apparently a regular low fever, but it died away & has spoiled only a fortnight of his holidays. Oh health, health, you are my daily & nightly bug-bear & stop all enjoyment in life. Etty keeps very weak.—But I really beg pardon, it is very foolish & weak to howl this way. Everyone has got his heavy burthen in this world.
Darwin to J. D. Hooker,
15 January [1858], DCP 2203
I have lately spent a very pleasant week at Moor Park, & Hydropathy & idleness did me wonderful good & I walked one day 4 ½ miles,—a quite Herculean feat for me!
Darwin to W. D. Fox,
13 November [1858], DCP 2360
My health has been very bad; & I am becoming as weak as a child, & incapable of doing anything whatever except my 3 hours daily work at Proof-sheets.—God knows whether I shall ever be good for anything again—perhaps a long rest & hydropathy may do something.
Darwin to J. D. Hooker,
1 September [1859], DCP 2485
I have been talking with my wife & she joins heartily in asking whether Mrs. Huxley would not come here for a fortnight & bring all the children & nurse. But I must make it clear that this House is dreadfully dull & melancholy. My wife lives upstairs with my girl & she would see little of Mrs. Huxley, except at meal times, & my stomach is so habitually bad that I never spend the whole evening even with our nearest relations. If Mrs Huxley could be induced to come, she must look at this house, just as if it were a country inn, to which she went for a change of air.
Darwin to T. H. Huxley,
22 February [1861], DCP 3066
If [J. S.] Henslow, you thought, would really like to see me, I would of course start at once. The thought had [at] once occurred to me to offer,
& the sole reason why I did not was that the journey with the agitation would cause me probably to arrive utterly prostrated. I shd. be certain to have severe vomiting afterwards, but that would not much signify, but I doubt whether I could stand the agitation at the time. I never felt my weakness a greater evil…. I suppose there is some Inn at which I could stay, for I shd not like to be in the House (even if you could hold me) as my retching is apt to be extremely loud.
Darwin to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861], DCP 3125
I by no means thought that I produced a “tremendous effect” on Linn. Soc [the Linnean Society of London]; but by Jove the Linn. Soc. produced a tremendous effect on me for I vomited all night & could not get out of bed till late next evening, so that I just crawled home.—I fear I must give up trying to read any paper or speak. It is a horrid bore I can do nothing like other people.
Darwin to J. D. Hooker,
9 [April 1862], DCP 3500
Hurrah! I have been 52 hours without vomiting!!
Darwin to J. D. Hooker,
26[–27] March [1864], DCP 4436
My sickness is not from mere irritability of stomach but is always caused by acid & morbid secretions…. For 25 years extreme spasmodic daily & nightly flatulence: occasional vomiting; on two occasions prolonged during months. Extreme secretion of saliva with flatulence. Vomiting preceded by shivering, hysterical crying dying sensations or half-faint. & copious very pallid urine. Now vomiting & every paroxysm of flatulence preceded by singing of ears, rocking, treading on air & vision. focus & black dots All fatigues, specially reading, brings on these Head symptoms…. (What I vomit intensely acid, slimy (sometimes bitter) corrodes teeth.) Doctors puzzled, say suppressed gout Family gouty…. Feet coldish.–Pulse 58 to 62–or slower & like thread. Appetite good—not thin. Evacuation regular & good. Urine scanty (because do not drink) often much pinkish sediment when cold—seldom headach or nausea.—Cannot walk above ½ mile—always tired—conversation or excitement tires me most…. Eczema–(now constant) lumbago–fundament–rash.