The Real Mr. Darwin Speaks on the Topic of Original Memory

For context, it is recommended to begin with the first blog posting (Letter I), though this is certainly not required.

December 2008
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Dear Mr. Darwin,

It is with great and glorious excitement that I report my finding of a letter penned by you whilst you lived on this grave earth. The missive reports upon your imagining a mind craving to remember itself.

Your correspondence was located on the University of Cambridge Darwin Correspondence Project website, a veritable treasure trove of information, since it includes both your correspondence and some of those of your correspondents.

For our associates benefit, I must report that the project's URL follows at the end of this posting. Permission by the university has already been granted to reprint your letter here. Please note that the bolded text has been made so by me to call attention to the lines that most exquisitely convey my own exploration of the topic at hand.

Without further adieu, I hope you enjoy memory of your penmanship.

Letter 8837 — Darwin, C. R. to Doedes, N. D., 2 Apr 1873

Dear Sir

I am much obliged for the photograph of yourself and friend. I am sure that you will excuse my writing at length, when I tell you that I have long been much out of health, and am now staying away from my home for rest. It is impossible to answer your question briefly; and I am not sure that I could do so, even if I wrote at some length. But I may say that the impossibility of conceiving that this grand and wondrous universe, with our conscious selves, arose through chance, seems to me the chief argument for the existence of God; but whether this is an argument of real value, I have never been able to decide. I am aware that if we admit a first cause, the mind still craves to know whence it came and how it arose. Nor can I overlook the difficulty from the immense amount of suffering through the world. I am, also, induced to defer to a certain extent to the judgment of the many able men who have fully believed in God; but here again I see how poor an argument this is. The safest conclusion seems to be that the whole subject is beyond the scope of man's intellect; but man can do his duty.

With my best wishes for your success in life, I remain, dear Sir,
| Yours faithfully | Ch. Darwin.

Source of the above letter: The Darwin Correspondence Project, University of Cambridge

Signing off for now to celebrate this glorious occasion!

Yours faithfully and forever,

Laura Bedford