"Modulous" writes:
It is a minor point, but for accuracy it should be be pointed out that the quote you gave is not from 1859, but from 1860 (ie., the second edition). The 1859 quote is
quote:
There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.
You are correct in the sequence of editions of
The Origin of Species, wherein "the Creator" was left out of the first edition but included in the second. The question is: Why?
I think the answer is revealing: In the beginning there was no Creator, but he had to be retro-fitted to the job to sell more books.
I can see Lower Slobovia from my house.