Returning, he
fell eagerly to reading an early copy of Darwin's Origin of Species,
the crown of his own early speculations on the theory of evolution.
"Your theory does not make against Christianity?" he asked Darwin
later (1868), who replied, "No, certainly not." But Darwin has
stated the waverings of his own mind in contact with a topic too high
for a priori reasoning, and only to be approached, if at all, on the
strength of the scientific method applied to facts which science, so
far, neglects, or denies, or "explains away," rather than explains.
The Idylls, unlike Maud, were well received by the press, better by
the public, and best of all by friends like Thackeray, the Duke of
Argyll, the Master of Balliol, and Clough, while Ruskin showed some
reserve. The letter from Thackeray I cannot deny myself the pleasure
of citing from the Biography: it was written "in an ardour of claret
and gratitude," but posted some six weeks later:-
FOLKESTONE, September.
36 ONSLOW SQUARE, October.
My Dear Old Alfred,--I owe you a letter of happiness and thanks.
Sir, about three weeks ago, when I was ill in bed, I read the Idylls
of the King, and I thought, "Oh, I must write to him now, for this
pleasure, this delight, this splendour of happiness which I have been
enjoying." But I should have blotted the sheets, 'tis ill writing on
one's back. The letter full of gratitude never went as far as the
post-office, and how comes it now?
D'abord, a bottle of claret.
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