Allen says, that "to the world at large Darwinism and evolution
became at once synonymous terms." Certainly it was no fault of Mr.
Darwin's if they did not, but I will add more on this head
presently; for the moment, returning to Mr. Darwin, it is hardly
credible, but it is nevertheless true, that Mr Darwin begins the
paragraph next following on the one on which I have just reflected
so severely, with the words, "It can hardly be supposed that a false
theory would explain in so satisfactory a manner as does the theory
of natural selection, the several large classes of facts above
specified." If Mr. Darwin found the large classes of facts
"satisfactorily" explained by the survival of the luckiest
irrespectively of the cunning which enabled them to turn their luck
to account, he must have been easily satisfied. Perhaps he was in
the same frame of mind as when he said {164a} that "even an
imperfect answer would be satisfactory," but surely this is being
thankful for small mercies.

On the following page Mr. Darwin says:- "Although I am fully" (why
"fully"?) "convinced of the truth of the views given in this volume
under the form of an abstract, I by no means expect to convince
experienced naturalists," &c. I have not quoted the whole of Mr.
Darwin's sentence, but it implies that any experienced naturalist
who remained unconvinced was an old-fashioned, prejudiced person. I
confess that this is what I rather feel about the experienced
naturalists who differ in only too great numbers from myself, but I
did not expect to find so much of the old Adam remaining in Mr.
Darwin; I did not expect to find him support me in the belief that
naturalists are made of much the same stuff as other people, and, if
they are wise, will look upon new theories with distrust until they
find them becoming generally accepted. I am not sure that Mr.