What did Darwin mean when he referred to himself as the “devil’s chaplain” and said that his work was like confessing to murder?
Darwin was writing his book at the time, when the clergy and many scholars were totally against the idea of evolution. The clergy class viewed the study of evolution to be immoral. They could not digest that, animals could come to look so similar to humans.
Darwin called himself a chaplain of the devil because he was working on such a book that would make the clergy and many distinguished scholars against him. He called his attempt a confession to a murder, as he knew his book would land him in trouble.
He was so anxious before his book was published that he suffered from palpitations, boils, vomiting, and stomachache. He waited for 22 years before publishing his work. He waited for a period, when he knew that enough research has been done to accept his theory.
Darwin wrote a 35 page essay defining his evolutionary theory. He was unsatisfied with his work, so he published a 200 page essay elaborating his theory. He rechecked all his data, recording and, measurements for over 15 years more.