Ɛpsilon

From James Grant   16 March 1878

Grantown,

16th. March 187⁠⟨⁠8⁠⟩⁠

Dr. Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S. | Down, | Beckenham, | Kent.

Sir,

I received your letter of 11th. inst.1

I am much obliged to you for your having written me, for the kindly spirit in which you have done so, and for your mind upon the question the solution of which interested me. I do not feel that I can place any reliance upon instinct or intuition in relation to the existence of God; but is there no analogy betwixt the organisation of some plants and animals on the one hand, and mechanical constructions put together by the mind and hand of man on the other, which, whatever be the method of the creation of the former, would justify the inference that they have had an intelligent first Cause?2 This I will still give thought to.

I do not presume to ask for another reply.

If your doctrine is wrong and dangerous, may I say that I wish you cleared of it and all error, and that I also wish your best welfare—that other-than frail life which God in Revelation offers.

I am, Sir, | Yours sincerely, | James Grant.

2
The analogy between organic structures, such as the eye, and human productions was used as evidence for a divine creator by William Paley (Paley 1802). For a discussion of CD’s work in relation to Paley and the tradition of natural theology in Britain, see Brooke 1991, pp. 219–25, 275–317.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11428,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11428