His reading over the summer of 1827, and his trouble with
medical school, seem to have convinced Darwin that the life of
a country parson was the life for him. He decided to go to the
University of Cambridge to study for the clergy. There, unlike
at Edinburgh, he was required to sign the "Thirty-Nine Articles,"
a statement of faith in the Anglican creed, which he did willingly
albeit not without some doubts. Although his grandfather Erasmus
had been a staunch dissenter and agnostic, a couple of generations
of success had weakened the Darwin resolve against religion. Later
in life Darwin's doubts would lead him to a fiercely atheistic
position, but for now he was willing to make peace along with the
prevailing faith.
At the beginning of 1828 Charles headed to Cambridge.
He found a place to live on Sidney Street above a tobacconist's
store. The summer of 1828 was spent in Barmouth, Wales, with classmates
from Cambridge. Their goal was to study with private tutors for
three months to allow Charles to focus on mathematics. But he soon
found himself taking solitary walks and leading group expeditions
out into the countryside and along the coast, showing his new friends
at Cambridge all he know about insects and wildlife. Meanwhile,
the math languished. He continued to correspond on the subject
of beetles with his cousin William Darwin Fox, whom he visited towards
the end of the summer. As usual, he also made stops at Woodhouse,
Maer, and the Mount. His doubts about his willingness to commit
himself to a religious life were increasing, but were not yet powerful
to prevent him from returning the Cambridge in the fall of 1828
and devoting himself, with some success, to his studies. The year
went uneventfully: he continued to study, to collect beetles, and
to take the occasional holiday trip home to The Mount.
Darwin spent the summer of 1829 in Shrewsbury, but took
a brief break to study insects in Wales. Unfortunately his lips
became painfully inflamed, for some unknown reason, so his trip
was cut short and he returned to The Mount to recuperate. He took
brief trips to socialize and hunt at Woodhouse and Maer. At Woodhouse he
was particularly happy to see Fanny Owen, with whom he'd had a long
flirtation, but it was starting to become clear that what little fire
there had been between them was slowing going out of their relationship.
A year later, she would be happily engaged to someone else.
While Charles was at Cambridge, Erasmus, who had been
working in London as a doctor, retired at the age of 25. He and
his father agreed that his "delicate frame" was not suited to the
hard work of medicine. Erasmus retired with a pension to a flat
in London, where he established a wide circle of friends in the
literary, scientific and medical communities.
At Cambridge in the fall of 1829, Charles enjoyed an increasingly
close relationship with a professor of botany, John Henslow. He
took Henslow's courses, went on long walks with him, and faithfully
attended the Friday night soirees at Henslow's house where scientists
and students gathered to chat about school and science. Under Henslow's
direction, he began a microscopic study of pollen.
As at Edinburgh, Charles was happier collecting and exploring than
studying. The first step towards a Bachelor of Arts degree was the
"Little Go," a test of classical and theological knowledge. Charles
had a poor background in both fields, but he studied Greek and
Latin, and read texts such as Paley's Evidences of Christianity, which
argued that the wonders of nature were clear evidence of an intelligent
and benign Creator. On March 25, 1830, he was ecstatic to learn
that he had passed the "Little Go." The summer of 1830 went much
as the previous summers had. He spent time at The Mount hunting
and collecting, visited his cousin William Darwin Fox, and fished
and collected beetles.
At Cambridge in the fall, Charles dedicated himself to
his work. He was intent on graduating in the spring and was slightly
worried that he might not. His time spent outside of class with
Henslow was educating and rewarding, but he would not be tested
on botany or beetles; instead, he would have to write on Homer,
Virgil, Locke, Paley, mathetmatics, and physics. He studied assiduously
until the three-day test in January 1831, and passed with flying
colors. He was ranked 10th out of 178 students. The major hurdle
had been crossed, but he lingered in Cambridge until June in order
to fulfill his residence requirement.
That spring and summer, he started dreaming about a trip
to the tropics to study local geology and botany. He planned to
visit Tenerife in the Canary Islands, and recruited Henslow and
several students to accompany him. He even managed to convince
his father to contribute 200 pounds towards the journey. But after
an August spent doing geological research with Professor Adam Sedgwick
in North Wales, he was shocked to learn that one of his would-be
traveling companions had died unexpectedly, and his plans for the Canary
Islands along with him. He returned to The Mount with no clear
plans for the future, except for a vague desire to become a parson-naturalist
in some country parish, where he could live quietly and continue
his newfound passion for collecting and observing. Instead, he
found upon his return a letter that changed his life. He had been
invited to serve as the resident naturalist on board the HMS Beagle for
a two-year journey to South America and around the world. His dream
of seeing the tropics was coming true after all.
