Darwinism stated by Darwin himself / Characteristic passages from the writings of Charles Darwin

by Charles Darwin

DARWINISM
STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF.

CHARACTERISTIC PASSAGES
FROM THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DARWIN.

SELECTED AND ARRANGED

BY
NATHAN SHEPPARD,

AUTHOR OF
“SHUT UP IN PARIS,” EDITOR OF “THE DICKENS READER,” “CHARACTER READINGS
FROM GEORGE ELIOT,” AND “GEORGE ELIOT’S ESSAYS.”

“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, while this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.”—The Origin of Species, page 429.

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET.
1884.

Copyright, 1884,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

PREFACE.

While these selections can not but be useful to those who are perfectly familiar with the writings of Darwin, they are designed especially for those who know little, or nothing, about his line of research and argument, and yet would like to obtain a general idea of it in a form which shall be at once authentic, brief, and inexpensive.