Most of us have experienced regrets about something we have
said or done that led to negative events.
While misgivings are inevitable in our lives, they usually remain
private and unknown to others. When
certain regrets belong to a more public figure, however, they may reveal
something remarkable. In the course of
the past month I came across two such stories, and I will share the first one
here.
Admiral FitzRoy
was the captain of several navy ships, including the HMS Beagle famous for its
five-year journey that included the young Charles Darwin. Admiral FitzRoy was a dependable sea
captain, who never lost any of his crew.
He was also interested in science, including taking precise weather
measurements and observing plants and wild creatures. He invited Charles Darwin to join the expedition that went
to the Galapagos Islands among other tropical places.
Although Darwin’s
previous education had been in theology, he was a keen naturalist as well. However, as both FitzRoy and Darwin observed
the natural world they came to “vastly different conclusions”[1]. Where FitzRoy marveled at God’s design for
each creature that enabled it to thrive in a particular environment, Darwin
reasoned that small changes within a species could be extrapolated to explain
the origin of life through purely natural processes.
After Darwin
published his famous book On the Origin of Species, Admiral FitzRoy was
distressed and took various opportunities to write and speak out against
it. On one auspicious occasion at Oxford
(UK), a debate was taking place between Darwin’s disciple Thomas Huxley and
Reverend Samuel Wilberforce (son of the William Wilberforce who spearheaded the
campaign to end the slave trade). From
the back of the room Admiral FitzRoy walked up to the front holding a large Bible. He explained how he had known
Charles Darwin and proclaimed, “Believe God rather than man.”
In a letter to a
friend, Fitzroy expressed regret at having invited Darwin to join him on their
shared expedition. I found this worthy
of pondering.
[1] As quoted
from the documentary film entitled The Mysterious Islands: A Surprising Journey
to Darwin’s Eden.
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