THE KINGSLEY CENTENARY.
[To era EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") Sta,—A centenary tribute to the memory of Charles Kingsley has been paid in the Magazine and in the Methodist Becorder —two journals of the Wesleyan Church. Probably other denominational acknowledgments have been published. Not that Kingsley ever came very much into association with Nonconformity. Each of the four pinnacles on the tower of Eversley Church held a weather-vane. One of them never worked. It was a Nenconformistsfrom its birth, Kingsley said. That playful allusion indicates, however, his life-long love of laughter. There are at least two references to Wesley in the Letters and Memories. "John Wesley's Methodist attempt, as a means of regenerating the world," in the first example, is declared to be "a disastrous failure." That was written in 1854. Eleven years later he wrote to Dr. Rigg, a notable student of Wesley: "I shall be very glad to see Wesley's Journals or anything which explains him to me. He has long seemed to me a true eon of Oxford; possibly the precursor of the late great Oxford movement."
Quite recently it was my privilege to talk with the widow of Henry Kingsley, Charles Kingsley's youngest brother. She lives in this town. It was very inter- esting to examine one's Kingsley enthusiasms in the sympathetic presence of a relative who knew him so well. I have always felt that Charles Kingsley's love-story must have been one of the most beautiful romances of the day. It was a case of love at first sight; its course ran anything but smooth, and it lasted till death parted the lovers—even if it ended then. Mrs. Henry Kingsley left my dream complete. She confirmed and strengthened my delight in her distinguished brother-in-law's machine-gun fire whenever he saw inhumanity or injustice. It may have been a trifle reckless now and again, but it was nobler than the calamitous prudence of too many contemporary clergy and ministers of all denominations. So late as to-day "the ladies' breeze" is thought to be "the wind of God," rather than the wild, black, brave "north-easter." I found Mrs. Henry—Mrs. Charles Kingsley, by the way, was her godmother—uncertain whether Charles was wise in leaving, even for a season, the sport and open-air life of the country- side. He felt the strain of high but exacting social and society
If Kingsley were living now, would not the Church be proud of him ? In his conception spiritual religion and social regeneration were twin-sisters. His very chivalrous character, his merry home life, and the absolute disinter- estedness of his public work are the common heritage—I
am, Sir, Ac., J. EDWARD HAILLOW. 90 Cheriton Road, Folkestone.
Previous page
