'I have begun Draper's "Physiology", too but rarely have spirit and clearness of brain for it'.
Century: 1850-1899 Reader/Listener/Group: George Eliot (pseud) Print: Book
'I had to confess [to his recently returned elder
brother] that I had not read a line of his
[Darwin's] work, that with the exception of
Draper's "History of Civilisation" which had come
by chance in my way, I had, during all those five
years, read nothing but the old books which had
always been on our shelves. He said he knew
Draper's "History" and that it was not the sort of
book for me to read at present. I wanted a
different history, with animals as well as men in
it. He had a store of books with him, and would
lend me "The Origin of Species" to begin with.
When I read and returned the book, and he was
eager to hear my opinion, I said it had not hurt
me in the least, since Darwin had, to my mind,
only succeeded in disproving his own theory with
his argument from artificial selection [...] He
advised me to read it again, to read and consider
it carefully with the sole purpose of getting at
the truth.[...]"as a naturalist". I read it again
in the way he had counselled and then refused to
think any more on the subject.'
Century: 1850-1899 Reader/Listener/Group: William Henry Hudson Print: Book
