Victorian Beliefs

Victorian Beliefs

If I am asked whether I would choose to be descended from the poor animal of low intelligence and stooping gait who grins and chatters as we pass, or from a man endowed with great ability and a splendid position who should use these gifts to discredit and crush humble seekers after truth, I hesitate what answer to make.

Thomas Henry Huxley, 1860

(Cruse 94)

As related by Amy Cruse in The Victorians and Their Reading, these words by Thomas Henry Huxley served as a witty retort to the degrading comments of Darwin's foes. When examined closely, however, Huxley's statement can be recognized as a question of paramount importance-- a question that defines the core of the Victorian world. Neatly engraved between the lines of Huxley's reply lies the issue of belief. Huxley's belief in the pursuit of "truth" is evident, as is his belief regarding those who would hinder such a "humble" pursuit. Less evident, but nonetheless present, are the echoes of other important Victorian principles. As exemplified by Huxley's mention of apes, Darwin's belief in The Origin of Species was a vitally important aspect of Victorian thought. Traditional concerns, most notably religious conservatism, were inextricably linked to the revolutionary ideals of Victorian science. Interestingly, the dueling beliefs in science and religion were not necessarily diametrically opposed. Instead, both the pursuits of science and religion challenged Victorians to examine their beliefs regarding the natural world, God, and the meaning of their own humanity.

“I see no good reason why the views given in this volume should shock the religious feelings of [anyone],” claimed Charles Darwin in reference to The Origin of Species(Hart 1). Despite Darwin’s protestations of theological benignity, however, many Victorians were indeed shocked by the idea of evolution. Cardinal Manning, speaking for the Roman Catholic populous of England, for instance, “denounced…[Darwin’s theory of evolution as] a brutal philosophy—to wit, there is no God, and the ape is our Adam”(Cruse 95). Similarly, Bishop Wilberforce, at an 1860 meeting of the British Association, ridiculed T. H. Huxley about his ancestry (94). In open contempt of The Origin of Species, Wilberforce asked Huxley, “whether it [was] through his grandfather or his grandmother that he claimed descent from ‘a venerable ape’?”(94).

The ideas contained within the covers of The Origin of Species clearly challenged the beliefs of many Victorian Christians. Contrary to the protestations of Cardinal Manning and Bishop Wilberforce, however, Darwin viewed the theory of evolution as theologically sound.