[Held_to_Ransom]

One other observation:

The premise of that link that Asa Gray would have been the only American to see the manuscript of Darwin's, to the extent that he did, is erroneous also. Harvard's scientific committee shared on a regular basis in the reports and literature of the Royal Academy of Science, so the materials would have been available to anyone on that committee, and dispensed through them into Boston's intellectual society.

As a divinity student, Fiske might not at that time have been a member. But in any case, as for the black republicans, their views in race were based on the ideas Massachusetts brought to the US constitution, and not on scientific analysis, but rather on commom sense and religious belief.

[Stultis]

The premise of that link that Asa Gray would have been the only American to see the manuscript of Darwin's, to the extent that he did, is erroneous also. Harvard's scientific committee shared on a regular basis in the reports and literature of the Royal Academy of Science

Gray later published some of his correspondence with Darwin, but he certainly did not share his private correspondence with colleagues prior to the publication of The Origin. The idea is absurd. Because Darwin's theory was unpublished, it would have been unethical and treacherous for Gray to have violated Darwin's confidence. Gray was indeed the only American to know of Darwin's views prior to their formal publication.