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From On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin: "To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the world should be due to secondary causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual."  This suggests that Darwin did believe that a Creator, or divine being, created the underpinnings upon which his theory of natural selection rested.

I also noticed an apparent inconsistency: "And as natural selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporate and mental endowments will tend to progress towards perfection." I wondered if Darwin took this position because he lived in an era when species loss may have been less apparent. Reading on however, on page 221, I found: " Natural selection will not produce absolute perfection, nor do we always meet, as far as we can judge, with this high standard under nature."