for a future life, every man must judge for himself between conflicting
vague probabilities." It will be seen that science, according to Darwin,
has nothing to do with Christ (except to discredit _revelation_ which
makes Christ's mission known to men). Darwin himself does not believe
that there has ever been _any revelation_, which, of course, excludes
Christ. It will be seen also that he has no definite views on the
_future life_--"every man," he says, "must judge for himself between
_conflicting vague probabilities_."

It is fair to conclude that it was _his own doctrine_ that led him
astray, for in the same connection (in "Life and Letters") he says
that when aboard the _Beagle_ he was called "orthodox and was heartily
laughed at by several of the officers for quoting the Bible as an
unanswerable authority on some point of morality." In the same
connection he thus describes his change and his final attitude: "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. 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."

A careful reading of the above discloses the gradual transition wrought