Fabian Tract No. I74· 


CHARLES KINGSLEY & 
CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM 


By COLWYN E. VULLIAMY. 

Biographical Series No. 5· Price 2d. 
Published and sold by the Fabian Society, 
3 Clement's Inn, Strand, London, W .C. 
january 1914. 


CHARLES KINGSLEY AND CHRISTIAN 

SociALISM. 

The Christian Socialists. 

"ALL great poets," says Kingsley's Chartist hero, "are by .their 
office democrats." Perhaps it may be said with equal truth that all 
real Christians are by their profession Socialists. The vital religions 
never have fought shy, and never can fight shy, of the social 
problem. The existence of poverty and evil is contrary to the 
religious ideal, and is in continual opposition to the religious.
doctrines. The founders of the Christian Church were very clear on 
this point. The poor and oppressed were in a special sense God's 
children, and their presence in society indicated a state of affairs 
which the Church was foremost in denouncing and in seeking to 
correct. Maurice, the originator of modern Christian Socialismt 
ne\·er hesitated to affirm the necessity for the co-operation of 
Church and State in any sound scheme of social reform, and his. 
teaching lays stress on the "radical affinity" between the principles. 
of religion and the practice of Socialism. More, he believed in the 
direct action of the Church in politics and industrial regulation.
That the Christian Socialist Movement has exercised considerable 
influence in both directions is beyond dispute.

Before considering the position of Charles Kingsley in this movement 
and his special influence, it will be well to give, first, some idea 
of the movement itself, and then a short account of the man whose 
teaching and personality led to its formation-Frederick Denison 
Maurice. 

English Socialism and the Co-operative Idea may be regarded as. 
of twin birth. The work of Robert Owen has been already dealt 
with in this series ; it is not necessary here to describe his theories. 
and reforms in detail. The wonderful, almost quixotic, romance of 
the I\ew Lanark mills, raised wages, reduced hours, free education 
and amusements, cheap provisions, and habitable dwellings-all this 
is well known, and so are Owen's magnificent schemes for the 
general organization of industries and the free instruction of the 
whole community. Had the more reasonable of Owen's proposalsbeen peacefully and persistently urged, it is likely that democratic 
advance during the first half of the last century would have been 
much more rapid. Unfortunately, the democratic cause fell into 
the hands of O'Connor and his "phvsical force" Chartists, and with 
the fiasco of April 1oth, 1848, when-the Charter was trundled to its 
doom in a hackney cab and its heroes dispersed by the householder 
constables, it seemed as though the rights of the people had 
suffered a crushing defeat. But this was not so. Stimulated 
largely by the success of the Rochdale experiment: the co-operative 


3 

schemes again came to the fore, and plans for industrial and social 
reform were both voiced by the new movement, which, a year or 
two later, was known as Christian Socialism. Realizing the finer 
elements of Ghartism, and deeply conscious of the suffering of the 
people, a group of devoted workers gathered round their leader, 
Maurice, and by means of an extremely vigorous propaganda, untiring 
personal labor, and the launching and tinancing of cooperative 
concerns, sought to" assert God's order," and to establish 
a system of brotherhood and mutual help. 

The Christian Socialists were by no means revolutionary. They 
were in some respects conservative-Kingsley always asserted the 
value of an aristocracy-and believed rather in a restoration than in 
a reformation of society. They did not seek to reconstruct society,. 
but to avail themselves of the resources of the existing society, 
which they considered as a divine institution, soiled and corruptedby the evil practices of men, and aboYe all by the spirit of competition. 
Their strength lay in the noble ideals which they set 
before the working men. Their weakness lay in the obvious limitations 
of their dogma, and perhaps also in their conception of the 
natural goodness of men and in a false theory of society. By 1850 
they had already promoted twelve co-operative associations, all of 
them in trades which were then untransformed by the use of 
machinery-tailors, shoemakers, builders, piano-makers, printers,
smiths, and bakers. It should be pointed out that the Christian 
Socialist theory of co-operation differed from the Rochdale plan in 
its fundamental principle. The Rochdale co-operatives adopted the 
Owenite "elimination of profit" scheme, and formed an association 
of consumers, with benefits according to the amount purchased ; the 
Christian Socialists advocated the association of producers, with 
benefits according to labor. The commercial failure of their enterprises 
was mainly caused by the fact that in small co-operative concerns 
run on these lines it was impossible to destroy the competitive 
element. 

The idea of the movement was the application of the religiousprinciple to economic problems, with special emphasis on the 
supreme z"mportance of z"11at"v£dual character. The life of the movement 
was short. After some four years of admirable and heroic 
effort, and the sacrifice in some cases of health and fortune, they 
were compelled to abandon their schemes for the regeneration of 
industry. But although they had failed as a working organizationtthey had set an example which profoundly influenced the trend 
of English Socialism and has yielded a richer harvest than any of 
them could have foreseen_ And it may be questioned whether, continuing 
their individual efforts independently, they did not accomplish 
more than they could have done had they remained united~ 
and possibly restricted, in close association. 

Taken from the religious standpoint, they differed from the greatAnglican Revival-the Oxford Movement-in this respect : that 
instead of bringing the people to the Church, they were concerned 
rather with bringing the Church to the people. 


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The literature of the Christian Socialists will be dealt with in the 
course of this essay ; it is time now to give attention to their leader 
and prophet. 

F. D. Maurice. 
Frederick Denison Maurice has been described as " certainly the 
most typical theologian of the nineteenth century." In addition to 
his great theological and metaphysical learning, he possessed what 
was then a rather unusual thing in a clergyman-a sturdy democratic 
spirit. His literary career began early. When a Cambridge 
undergraduate in I 825 he edited a paper, called the 111etropol£tan 
Quarterly M agaz£ne, with his friend Whitmore. Most of the contributors 
were fellow undergraduates, and among them John Stuart 
Mill, who wrote an attack on B lackwood's M agaz£ne1 under the title 
of" The New School for Cockneyism." The 111etropohtan ceased 
publication after four issues. After having contributed to the 
Athenceum, he became editor, in 1828 (at the age of twenty-three), 
but resigned the following year. By r830 he had completed a 
novel, " Eustace Conway," which was published about four years 
later. It was at this period that he removed to Oxford and made 
the acquaintance of Gladstone, who was then an undergraduate. In 
r83-1-he took orders, and was soon drawn into the pamphleteer controversies 
which characterized the theological history of that period. 
"Subscription No Bondage" was written in 1835· From this period 
he broke away from the Oxford School. Pusey's writings contained 
"everything he did not think and did not believe," and Pusey, on 
his part, was "exceedingly angry" with Maurice's tract on Baptism, 
published in r837. This year he married Miss Anna Barton, the 
daughter of General Barton, of the znd Life Guards. 

In 1838 began a bitter warfare on the part of the religious newspapers, 
which continued, with little intermission, during his entire 
lifetime. Carlyle's influence was at this period affecting all ranks of 
intellectual society. Maurice attended his lectures, but his agreement 
with Carlyle was only partial, and he sometimes denounced hi 
words and manner as "wild pantheistic rant." The inefficiency of 
the Church saddened him. '' The Church is in a sad state ; we all 
know that-little light, little life." In 1840 he edited the Educational 
Magazi11e. He became Professor of Theology at King's 
College and Chaplain of Lincoln's Inn in 1845. The following year 
he was visited by Ludlow, who sought his aid in a scheme " to bear 
the leisure and good feeling of the Inn of Court upon the destitution 
and vice of the neighborhood," a phrase which leaves one in 
doubt as to its exact meaning. He was active in the establishment 
of Queen's College, and was assisted by Kingsley, at a later stage, on 
the committee. 

P olitics for tile R·ople, the first periodical issued by the new 
Socialists (the term Christian Socialist was not currently employed 
until two years later), was first published under l\1aurice's direction 
on May 6tt1, I8-tii. It ran through three months of publication, and 
came to an end in July, haYing reached a weekly circulation of two 


5 


thousand ·copies. Maurice now. held meetings of his friends once a 
week at his house in Queen Square; he also organized bible classes 
and night schools. Ludlow had persuaded the Chartist tailor, Walter 
Cooper1 to hear Maurice preaching at Lincoln's Inn, and this, in 
April, 1849, led to his first meeting with Chartist working men at 
the Cranbourne tavern. These meetings were continued and were 
attended by several clergymen. The period of ftill activity was about 
to commence. "The time had come in my father's life," writes his 
son, "when it was certain that a movement of which he would be 
the leader must begin." 

The little band of workers were formally organized as the Christian 
Socialists in 185o, and the first number of their organ, the 
Chrzstz"an Socialz"st, with Ludlow as editor, was published on 
November Ist. Maurice's contributions were not numerous. 

Both Maurice and his friends were subjected to a wild and 
bitterly unjust attack from the pen of one Croker in the Quarterly 
for September, IRS I. In spite of its manifest exaggeration and openmalignity, it did much to inflame public opinion against the 
Socialists. During the great Iron Trades Strike of 1852 the Christian 
Socialists were energetic on behalf of the men. The strike was 
a failure; the men were forced to return to work at the old terms 
and to abandon their union. 

After a prolonged discussion, Maurice was expelled from King'sCollege in 1833 (November), owing to certain opinions expressed in 
his ''Theological Essays ''-a publication which could not fail, at 
such a juncture, to provoke controversy. The whole affair gained a 
wide publicity. The opinions of the press wavered: Maurice was 
condemned on the one hand and applauded on the other; to the 
Broad Churchmen he was a victim, to the High Churchmen a 
heretic. From conscientious motives he resigned his position at 
Queen's College the following month-a position to which he 
returned, in reply to the solicitation of the entire Council, three 
years later. The survey of his last years must be condensed. He 
was particularly interested in the instruction of women of the 
working classes and in the Working Men's College. A series of 
"Tracts for Priests and People " was written by Maurice and his 
friends during 1861 ·2, and published in the latter year. At the 
same time, after many years of labor, his great work on "Moral and 
Metaphysical Philosophy" was printed. Towards the close of his 
life he became more and more absorbed in polemical and theological 
discussions and in every kind of doctrinal controversy. He died in 
1872, at the age of sixty-six. 

Maurice possessed a vast personal influence over the men 
with whom he was brought into contact. and especially over the 
leaders of the Christian Socialist Movement, who were in turn led byhis unanswerable resolution, his loyalty, and his calm endurance. 
For example, he was able to suppress Lord Ripon's pamphlet on 
Democracy (''The Duty of the Age") by the mere weight of his 
objection, even after the pamphlet had been printed and was ready 
to be distributed. He was the intellect and the scholar of the move



6 

ment; his disciple, Kingsley, humanized his ideas and set them in a 
form " understanded of the people."* 

Charles Kingsley-Early Years. 

Descended from men who had fought at Naseby and Minden, 
'the son of a country gentleman whose mismanaged fortune was the 
cause of his entering the Church, Charles Kingsley was born at 
Holne Vicarage, in Devonshire, on" June 12th, 1819. His father was 
a man of many talents and a keen sportsman, and it was from him, 
doubtless, that Kingsley inherit~d that open-air temperament which 
was always so characteristic. Kingsley's child-play seems to have 
been divided between the Army and the Church. He was either 
·engaged upon fortification work or he was preaching in his pinafore 
to an imaginary congregation. His first poem, a very solemn reflection 
on human mortality, was written at the age of four years and 
eight months. It is not possible to give his boyhood in detail, but 
one episode must certainly be dwelt upon.

When a lad of twelve he was sent to school at Clifton, and it was 
here that, to use his own words, he '' received his first lesson in social 
science." The Bristol riots had begun in the autumn of J831, and it 
was in the following year that Kingsley, fascinated, as schoolboys are 
wont to be, by the horror and excitement of a "row," evaded supervision 
and went forth to see for himself. It was a nauseating affair. 
Demos, in true Caliban mood, had broached casks of spirit upon the 
paving-stones, had defied the soldiers, who sat motionless, orderless 
on their horses, the blood streaming from their faces; had plundered, 
burned and violated in full sight of trembling and hesitatingauthority. The flames from a burning house ignited the spirit in a 
gutter ; in one instant a blazing torrent of fire rushed down upon 
the drunken wretches and left behind it a line of blackened corpses-
Demos, to the accompaniment of outrage and suicide, continuing his 
frenzied debauch. The scene produced the one possible effect on a 
questioning and intelligent mind : "That sight," he said, "made me 
a Radical." 

College Days and Curacy. 

After a two-year's course as a day student at King's College (his 
father at that time having the living of Chelsea), he gained a scholar-
ship-much to his own surprise-at Magdalene, Cambridge. He was 
·extremely popular with his fellow-undergraduates of every description. 
Like all imaginative men, he found enjoyment in all kinds 
of society. His life was one of extraordinary mental and physicalactivity, though, in the academic sense, he never distinguishedhimself. In Kingsley, a young man possessed of a vehement and 
challenging spirit, the restlessness of his age became at times a veritable 
fever. The Tractarian Movement was in full force. It was a 
period of fierce and disquieting controversies. His sense of religion 

* Unlike Kingsley, Maurice was never at his ease when talking to individuals 
of the manual 'working class. His manner on such occasions was timid and conventional. 

7 

was overclouded. To escape from the strain of his own searchingand wearing thoughts he .t went in for excitement of every kind"horses, 
duck-shooting, fencing, boxing, boating, and so forth. His 
acquaintance, through his writings, with Carlyle and his philosophy 
helped to ballast his unsteady and wavering opinions. It is probable, 
too, that friendship with another undergraduate, Charles Mansfield, 
proved a good influence. 

The story of Mansfield's shor-t life is particularly touching. He 
possessed an unusual brilliance of conversation, the most intense 
faith that right was might, and that there was indeed a God in the 
heavens. He was a student of chemistry, and became so distinguished 
in this science that men saw in him the successor of Faraday. 
In due time he became one of the Christian Socialists. and his death, 
which occurred as the result of an accident in the laboratory, was a 
grievous loss to the movement, and especially to Kingsley. From 
Mansfield Kingsley acquired that zeal for sanitary reform and for 
the institution of a sound national hygiene which became pronouncedlin his later activities. 

Kingsley had at one time considered the law as a profession, but 
in 1841 he decided upon entering the Church. In striking and very 
·significant words he announces his devotion to "the religion which I 
have scorned," begins a course of desperately hard reading for his 
degree, cramming three years' work into six months of unceasinglabor, emerges from the trial with a first in classics and senior optime 
iin mathematics, reads for Holy Orders, and is ordained in the Julyof I 842. During this period of preparation, and, indeed, ever since 
the summer of 1839, when he first met her, Miss Pascoe Grenfell, 
the lady who was to be his wife (a summum bonum which he then 
despaired of), was the confidant of his thoughts, hopes and perplexities, 
and the kind admonitress of his troubled spirit. It was 
she who introduced him to the writings of Carlyle, Coleridge, and 
Maurice; it was she who consoled and strengthened him in the 
midst of doubt ; and we may be pretty certain that it was for her 
sake that he worked so hard and so manfully when once the clear 
road lay before him. During the interval between leaving Cambridge 
and entering upon his curate life, he began his "Life of St. 
Elizabeth of Hungary," illustrated with his own drawings. "It was 
not intended for publication, but as a gift to his wife on his marriage 
day, if that day should ever come." On July 17th he first ministered 
in Eversley Church-the church which was destined to be his for 
more than thirty years.

He seems to have found the parish of Eversley in a lamentable 
condition. The population were traditional smugglers and poachers.
The squire had been a Prince Regent's man-a hard-riding, hard-
drinking person, and "a strict game preserver." Of Kingsley's 
rector I can learn little. Available records are silent. Perhaps we 
may form a sufficient judgment of his character from the fact that he 
.absconded in 1844. Kingsley's manliness, his plain speaking and 
preaching, and his skill at fisticuffs rapidly gained him .the friendship.and respect }lf the villagers. The poacher and the poet, two 


8 

democratic products, have always fraternized in spmt. Here wa& 
a parson who was some good at last: the empty church began to 
fill. 

At the end of r843 Kingsley took leave of his bachelor quarters-
at the corner of Eversley Green, having been offered the curacy of 
Pimperne. In january, 1844, he married Miss Grenfell, and, the 
living of Eversley becoming unexpectedly vacant, he received the 
appointment, and the newly married pair took up ;their abode in 
Eversley Rectory. 

The Working Classes in 1844. 
1t is by no means unimportant that we should try to form some 
idea of the industrial and rural conditions of this period. Chartism 
was rampant. The strikes of r842, when wheat stood at sixty-fiveshillings a quarter, and sabotage and violence were general, had 
ended, but now (r 844) a fierce dispute was in progress between the 
masters and men of the northern collieries. The men were beatenr 
but their defeat led to the enlistment of 3o,ooo as physical-force 
Chartists. The misery of the industrial workers was almost beyondbelief. The treatment they received from their employers was so 
barbarous and so overbearingly despotic that the facts read like some 
black and impossible fantasy of the imagination. A very remarkable 
young man of twenty-three was collecting material for his book on 
the working classes of England. He was a German, and his name 
was Frederick Engels. From his book-the saddest and most terrible 
record of that period-I must give one or two typical illustrations. 
Of the London slums he says : "The streets are generally 
unpaved, rough, dirty, filled with vegetable and animal refuse, without 
sewers or gutters, but supplied with foul, stagnant pools instead. 
Scarcely a whole window-pane can be found, the walls are 
crumbling, doorposts and window-frames loose and broken, doors of 
old boards nailed together. . . . . Heaps of garbage and ashes lie 
in all directions, and the foul liquids emptied before the doors gatherin stinking pools. Here live the poore t of the poor; the worst paidworkers with thieves and the victims of prostitution indiscriminately 
huddled together. . . . ." But this is nothing compared with the 
state of the factory hands. The facts with regard to the employmentof women are too horrible to be detailed ; vice and disease, the 
criminal tyranny of overseers, the violation of every right of womanhood 
and motherhood-it is as well to pass by these things in silence. 
Let me quote from his indictory paragraph : "Women made unfit 
for child-bearing, children deformed, men enfeebled, limbs crushed, 
whole generations wrecked, afflicted with disease and infirmity .... 
children seized naked in bed by the overlookers and driven with 
kicks and blows to the factory, their clothing over their arms .. . . 
their sleepiness is driven off with blows....." Turn to the countrydistricts : " The laborer lays snares or shoots here and there a pieceof game. It does not injure the landlord . . . . for he has a vast 
superfluity. . . . But if he is caught he goes to jail, and for a 
second offence receives at tlze least seven )'ears' transportatzon. From 


9 

the severity of these laws arise the frequent bloody conflicts with 
gamekeepers, which lead to a mtmber of murders every year."
The general misery was greatly increased by the influx of Irish 
laborers, especially to the towns, and the consequent lowering of 
wages. It is not to be wondered at that even the Times spoke with 
a democratic accent! 

Pastor in Parochia. 

Kingsley was an ideal parish priest. He came to a sorelyneglected village, and won first of all the good will, and finally the 
deep affection, of his parishioners. This was due less to the admirable 
series of village institutions which he founded than to his real 
sympathy with the people. He could talk to them, with understanding 
and interest, on subjects that are seldom within the scope 
of the ecclesiastical mind-the crops, the weather, the hunting field, 
pike fishing, the ways of birds and animals, nature lore, and shrewd 
maxims of sport. His sermons were manly and direct. His care for 
the suffering was less the performance of a duty than a free act of 
devotion. There was little incident outside the home circle duringthe first years of EYersley life. His first child, a daughter, was born 
in 1846, and his eldest son in 1847. With tbe crash of 1848Kingsley 
began his Socialist work, and the disastrous April 1oth 
found the Rector of Eversley in London. 

Chartism. 

Kingsley was already known to Maurice. He had attended the 
meetings of bible scholars at Maurice's house in 1847, and they had 
corresponded extensively. To Maurice he went therefore to see 
what could be done to prevent a colli ion between troops and 
Chartists. Maurice was confined to the house with a severe cold, 
but he sent Kingsley to Ludlow with a letter of introduction. The 
two men set out for Kennington Common, where the Chartists were 
to assemble, but at Waterloo Bridge they heard of the ignominiousdispersal of the demonstrators and returned to Maurice with the 
news. From this moment we may trace the inception of the Christian 
Socialist Movement. The band of men who were to lead the 
movement had already met-Maurice, Hare, Ludlow, Mansfield, 
Scott, Parker, Hughes, Kingsley, and, later on, E. Vansittart Neale. 

The day following the Chartist fiasco Kingsley wrote to his wife : 
" All as quiet as a mouse as yet. The storm is blown over till tomorrow, 
but all are under arms-specials, police, and military. Mr. 
Maurice is in great excitement, and we are getting out placards for 
the walls, to speak a \Vord for God with. You must let me stay upto-night, for I am helping in a glorious work.. . . " Kingsley'splacard, which may be considered as an attempt to dissuade the 
workers from direct political action and from the belief that a 
political remedy would suffice for the evils of the times, was postedall over London on the 11th. ''Friends, you want more than Acts 
of Parliament can give.... Workers of England, be wise, and then 
you must be free, for you will be fit to be free." 


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However little Maurice and his friends sympathized with physical 
force Chartism, they recognized that Chartism in general, as an act 
of insurgency against the fearful social iniquities of that period,
did actually represent the claims of an oppressed and degraded 
people. Kingsley, addressing a meeting of workmen some time 
later began : "I am a Church of England parson "-a long pause ; 
then, defiantly-" and a Chartist." Accordingly the pages of their 
first periodical (or, rather, their first series of tracts) made a special 
appeal to Chartists, whilst seeking to convince them of the folly and 
wrong of open violence, and glorying in the .success of the householder 
constables. The first number of this publication (consisting 
of sixteen quarto pages, and issued weekly at one penny) came out 
on May 6th, and was called Politz"cs for the People. The paper was 
jointly edited by Maurice and Ludlow, and, in addition to their contributions, 
papers were written by Archbishop Whately, Archbishop 
Trench, Bishop Thirlwall, Dean Stanley, Professor Connington, Dr. 
Guy, Charles Mansfield, A. ]. Scott, Lord Sydney GodolphinOsborne, Sir Edward Stracl1ey, and Charles Kingsley. Maurice's 
chief contributions were: "Dialogues in the Penny Boats"; 
"Liberty : a Dialogue between a French Propagandist, an English 
Laborer, and the Editor"; "Equality," another dialogue ; papers 
on historical subjects and education ; and a Chartist story.
Kingsley, besides '' Parson Lot's Letters to Chartists," wrote articles 
on the National Gallery and the British Museum. All the articles were 
un igned or signed by a nom de plume. Although short-lived, as we 
haYe seen, Rolz"tz"cs for the People had considerable influence, and did 
good work in consolidating the new movement, iu spreading its ideas, 
and in gaining enthusiastic recruits. 

Socialist Activities. 

Their activities were now chiefly directed to the work of education 
; classes were formed, and the friends met each week for tudyand discussion. Kingsley's first novel," Yeast," came out during the 
autumn in Fraser's 1.Ylagazine. This book, which at once established 
his reputation as a novelist, attracted a great deal of notice, partlyhostile and partly appreciative, and was the means of arousing an 
interest in the sporting parson of Eversley which continued and 
increased during his whole lifetime. This is not the place for literary 
comment. The book is still widely read, and, in spite of a rather 
outworn sentimentalism and the tiresome character of its heroine, 
remains a very vital piece of work, endeared for ever to sportsmenby its wonderfully observant and broadly paillted descriptions. vVorn 
out by the mental and emotional strain of the·past months, Kingsley 
:.;pent the early part of I 849 recO\·ering his health in Devonshire, and 
did not resume work at Eversley until the summer. Before returning 
to his parish he visited London, attended several meetings of working 
men, and joined in the activities of the Christian workers. Maurice 
was now addressing the Chartist leaders and other working men at 
the Cranbourne Coffee Tavern. "I was abashed," he wrote,·' by the 
good opinion they had formed of me on no eYidence'' And later, 


II 

writing to Kingsley, "They seem to think it a very wonderful thing 
that a clergyman should be willing to come among them-a sad 
proof how far we have gone from our proper position.'' It must be 
remembered that at this time there was a lamentable want of 
sympathy between the Church and laboring men, and that the 
very fact of a man being a "parson" was enough to drive him off 
the platform at a public meeting. Sometimes there were stirring 
scenes at the Cranbourne Tavern. On one occasion the National 
Anthem was hissed. Hughes, like an evangelical Desmoulins, 
sprang on a chair, vowed that any man who insulted the Queen 
would have an accoun"t to settle with him personally (he was a proficient 
pugilist), ordered the pianist to play on loudly, and himself 
led the singing of the Anthem, which was continued so vociferously 
that interruption was either quelled or was drowned by the mere 
tumult. 

The idea of CO·operation, which was oddly associated in the minds 
of the workmen wdh anti-Clwzstzcm views, began to make progress,
and the Socialists were occupied with schemes for the launching of 
the small co-operative concerns to which I have referred. Ludlow 
had \"isited Paris, and had been greatly interested in the success of the 
Assocz"atz"ons Ouvrieres. He was convinced that a similar scheme of 
associatiou would go far towards solving the industrial ?roblem in 
England, even if it did not offer the complete solution. The workmen 
were equally anxious for an effectiYe form of co-operation : the 
Tailors' Association had been launched, and other organizations were 
speedily planned. . 

Towards the autumn of 1849 cholera broke out in London and in 
other parts of the country. What is remarkable is that, with sanitary 
affairs in such a deplorably neglected condition, the outbreak was not. 
more disastrous than was actually the case. Eversley seems to have 
escaped, but a formidable low fever to which h1any of his parishionersfell victims kept Kingsley hard at work during the summer, until, 
worn out by the anxiety of bed-side vigils-for the rector himself 
often undertook the duties of a sick nurse-he was obliged to seek 
health once more on the DeYonshire coast. He returned to his 
parish in September, and set to work with magnificent ene.rgy. The 
cholera was now causing great uneasiness in London. An inquiryinto the state of the metropolitan water supply revealed the most 
scandalous things. In the poorer quarters of London conditions 
still remained as Engels had described them five years previously. 
The people had no water fit for drinking. The common sewers 
were filled with stagnant horrors, in which floated the putrefyingbodies of cats and dogs, dead fish, and filth unspeakable. With the 
cholera at its height the poor wretches dipped cans into the sewer-
water-and drank it. In Bermondsey (which Kingsley visited) the 
distress was terrible. Such a man as Kingsley could not witness 
these scenes without being stung to the heart, and his efforts for 
sanitary reform were redoubled. Much of the subsequent improvement 
in these matters was due to his persistent-one might well say 
impassioned-labor. 


12 

He was at this time writing reviews for Fraser's Magazine, and 
was shaping "Alton Locke "-a book written in a white-heat of 
excitement and zeal. "Yeast" had made a deep appeal to the 
younger minds and the universities, and Eversley Rectory was already 
sought out by scholars and young men with problems. 

In the Fulness of Power. 

The year I 8so marks the flood-tide of the Christian Socialist 
Movement. Individualist co-operation was risking its decisive experiment. 
Mainly under the guidance of E. Vansittart Neale, and 
the general supervision of the Society for Promoting Working Men's 
Associations, the twelve co-operative enterprises were organized and 
financed.':' Neale was the hero and the practical director. Until his 
death, in 1893, he devoted life and fortune to the cause of industrial 
unity. 

The failure, in a few years time, of the Christian Socialist experiment 
was due to a misconception of the real economic conditions of 
the time, an exaggerated belief in the spirit of brotherhood, and the 
absence of a thorough knowledge of the market. It was found 
impossible to eliminate competition. Each association was perfectly 
autonomous with regard to its own management. The result was 
that the men quarrelled with their managers, were slow to admit 
new members, and, finally, sought to compete with the other groups. 
I may as well anticipate matters by stating that the Society of Promoters 
dissolved in I 8 54, having completely drained their financial 
resources. 

I 850 was a hard year for Kingsley and for all classes. Feelingdeeply for the local farmer", who found it difficult enough to struggle 
against high rates and poor prices, Kingsley, by an impulse of 
generosity which was never forgotten (for he was himself a poorman), gave them back IO per cent. of the tithe money. At the 
same time he decided upon that unfailing resource of the country 
rector-a private pupil. The stress of money matters induced him 
to proceed apace with "Alton Locke "-whether the last chapters of 
this book bear evidence of having been written in a hurry I leave for 
others to decide. He rose at five every morning and slaved at the 
MS. until breakfast time. The printer's copy was prepared by his 
wife, and he supervised her work in the evening. The difficulty was 
to find the printer. Kingsley was attracting too much attention for 
the more timorous and conservatiYe publishing houses, and the publishers 
of "Yeast" fought shy of the offer. To his rescue in this 
predicament came Thomas Carlyle with an introduction to Messrs. 
Chapman and Hall. 

"Alton Locke." 

'' Alton Locke," the commemorative novel of the Chartist period,
and a burning comment on trade conditions, gave rise to so much 
discussion, and is of such importance to the subjects dealt with in 

• The zeal of the Promoters is well illustrated by the fact that they were accustomed 
to hold their meetings at six o'clock in the morning. 

I3 


this essay, that we must give it rather more attention than was 
accorded to " Yeast." In incident and style it conforms to the earlyVictorian heavy weight model. Few of the standard essentials are 
lacking. We are even treated to the classic drawing-room-piano 
scene, and the touches of sentiment are laid on in liberal brushfuls. 
None the less it is a production of great force and eloquent appeal. 
Professing to have been written by a working man, the crudeness 
mentioned by Carlyle is not out of place, and it certainly contains 
one splendidly drawn character-that of the old Scotch democrat, 
Mackaye. It was a very clear and disquieting exposure of the "sloptrade," and directed the public mind to unsuspected evils. It appealed 
for greater efficiency in the Church, greater respect for the workman, 
and a more qualified regard for the "scented Belgravian" and the 
aristocrat. Above all, it enlisted the sympathies of a sentimental 
but potent brmrgeozsie. It was mocked by the elegant reviewers, 
made light of by the High Churchmen, but was bought and read bythousands. Carlyle has summed up the book admirably when he 

·describes it as "· .. a fervid creation still left half chaotic." 

Publication of the "Christian Socialist." 

Maurice's worker·s had now officially aimounced themselves as 
the Christian Socialists, and had renewed their literary activities. 
They were publishing a series of "Tracts on Christian Sociali~m" as 
a means of circulating their teaching, and on November rsth theyissued the first number of their new periodical, the Clzrist£an Socialzst. 
Kingsley had written "Cheap Clothes and Nasty" for the tract series 
under the pseudonym of Parson Lot, and became a contributor to the 
magazine.

The Clzrzshan Socialzst was edited by Ludlow, and was beset 

with difficulties from the very start. The newspapers had attacked 

the movement in the most violent and apparently scandalized man


ner. It was no easy business to obtain a circulation for the new 

Yenture. The booksellers took up a prudish and circumspect atti


tude, and refused to stock copies. Writing to a friend in December, 

Kingsley stated that the circulation had risen to 1 ,soo, and was 

increasing. It is doubtful whether these figures were greatly ex


ceeded. So little interest was at first eYinced by the public that the 

press was almost silent with regard to the magazine, and its influ


ence was imperceptible. Maurice, it would seem, had neyer looked 

upon its publication with much favor. He had attempted to dis


suade Ludlow from the undertaking-possibly because he feared 

its political character would become too pronounced-though he 

realized the importance of possessing some medium through which 

the whole movement might be linked together and its scattered 

workers kept in touch with the central idea. 

Maurice himself wrote Yery little for it. Beyond some letters on 

educatiOn, written in the form of a correspondence between himself 

and an M.P., and the story of" Thomas Bradfoot, Schoolmaster," 

his contributions were of no great significance. He was anxious 

that other opinions besides his own should find expression in the 


paper, although when the difference was too decided, he always 
interfered, and his objection was sufficient to ensure the withdrawal 
of the offending article. 

There were :.~t this time monthly conference betweeu the 
leaders of the movement and the workmen associates for the discussion 
of all vital points. 

The Act of Parliament. 

In Parliament, Slaney was using every endeavor to procure a111 
Act legalizing the new co-operative and investment schemes, and 
securing them the protection, if not the encouragement, of the 
State. He obtained a Special Committee to enquire into the 
"investments for the savings of the middle and working classes.'• 
It was natural that this Committee should turn to the Christian 
Socialists for information on a subject to which they were known to 
have given a very close attention, and on which they had ascertained 
the exact views of the working men. Ludlow was accordingly 
the first witness examined. Hughes, Neale, and other members 
of the Society of Promoters followed, amongst them Walter 
Cooper, the Chartist. Some of the most weighty and conclusive 
evidence was given by John Stuart Mill. who spoke in vehement 
terms in favor of the scheme, i.e., the investment of working men's 

avings in co-operative concerns. The report of this Committee 
had been published in July, and, along with its promoters, had' 
drawn upon itself the fire of both great and little guns in the journalistic 
batteries. The history of this Parliamentary agitation i 
interesting. 

The Home Secretary, Labouchere, requested Ludlow to draft a 
Bill for legalizing co-operative associations. Nothing could have 
given him greater pleasure, but the draft demanded such an alarming 
legal reformation that Labouchere grew timid, expre sed his 
admiration both for ~udlow and the Bill, but did not proceed anyfurther with the matter. 

In 1851 Mr. Slaney obtained a new Committee" to consider the 
Law of Partnership and the expediency of facilitating the limitations 
of liability, with a view to encourage useful enterprise and the additional 
employment of labor." All this sonority seems to have had 
little effect, for it wa not until a year afterwards that Slaney finallysucceeded in getting the Bill once again to the fore, and it was 
safely passed by both Houses (under a Consen·ative Ministry) on 
June nth, 1852. Such, in brief, is the story of the first" Industrial 
and Provident Partnerships Bill," a private measure introduced bySlaney and Tufnell, Liberals. and Sotheron, a Conservati\·e. 

Eversley in 18so. 
It was in the autumn or early winter of 1850 that the celebrated 
attack on Eversley Rectory took place. A neighboring clergymanhad been murderer! by a gang of housebreakers, who were at that 
time terrorizing the countryside, and the Rectory had scarcely been 
barricaded and its weapons of defence made ready before it was 


I j 

attacked by the same gang. In the middle of the night the 
marauders were heard trying to force the back door. Down the 
stairs rushed the male inmates, with pistols, guns, and a gaping 
blunderbuss ; the "coolest man among them," and the only one 
unarmed, being F. D. Maurice, who was then paying a visit to 
Kingsley. Maurice strode out into the darkness in pursuit. He was 
recalled by Kingsley, and the two men spent the remainder of the 
night over the study fire, their discourse continuing until the dawn. 

Already Kingsley had to deal with a vast correspondence. 
Young men who could not make up their minds with regard to 
eternal punishment and other stumbling-blocks of dogma ; good 
fellows in the services who wished for a word of advice or prayers 
for camp and shipboard ; men whose hearts had been stirred by his 
books. Never, I suppose, was a country rector the recipient of so 
much appreciation and questioning. No genuine letter was left unanswered. 
Kingsley had the tenderest sympathy for these corresponding 
disciples, and his replies show the thoroughness with which 
he answered their doubts or satisfied their requirements. All the 
time he was working hard for the welfare of his parish and was 
much occupied with his pupil, Martineau. 

A letter written from Dr. ]elf, the Principal of King's College, to 
Maurice, in r8sr, shows the attitude of the orthodox and outraged 
mind with regard to Kingsley's books and essays. Archdeacon 
Hare had accused him of conceit and irreverence a few years before, 
but Dr. ]elf is even more outspoken. H e cannot express too much 
horror and indignation. Kingsley is a dangerous and reckless 
writer. He is indescribably irreverent. His arguments are in a 
high degree inflammatory. ''In fact," says Dr. ] elf, rising to the 
height of his denunciatiou, " his language is almost insurrectionar;'." .; 
And, moreover, he is associated with ''several notorious infidels,'' 
and has actually mentioned Tom Paine. It was largely on account 
of his friendship with Kingsley that Maurice was expelled from the 
College. 

Towards the end of I 8 30 Kingsley resigned his post as Lecturer 
at Queen's College, in consequence of an attack in the R ecord. 

" Hypatia" was begun as a serial in Fraser's il!agazzizc in J8S I. 
H e contributed largely to the Christ£an Socialzst-fifteen articles-
besides a story and some ballads and sonnets. He would have 
written more for this paper were it not for the fact that he was 
obliged to earn as much as possible with his pen, and the Chnstz'a1l 
Sociahst did not pay its contributors. He reprinted "Yeast," which 
was published anonymously. The Christian Socialist Movement was 
hotly attacked by the press, and notably by the Edinburglz and 
Quarterly R eviews. Kingsley would not trust himself to read the 
more personal of these attacks. He was a man whose quick temper 
and great sensitiveness were sure to lead him into the temptation of 
violent retort. The Guardz.rm , however, had fallen foul of" Yeast" 
in no measured terms, and had brought uch preposterous charges 
against the author that he wrote a furious denial. In May he 
delivered a lecture for the Society of Promoters on " The A pplica



tion of Associative Principles and Methods to Agriculture," and m 
the summer was invited to preach one of the special sermons to 
working men who had come to London for the Great Exhibition. 

"The Message of the Church." 

This sermon-" The Message of the Church to Laboring Men''led 
to the most extraordinary results. It was preached to a large 
congregation, mainly of the working classe , and produced a powerful 
effect. Kingsley had concluded his sermon and was about to give the 
blessing, when the incumbent of the church, whose name, I believe, 
was Drew, approached the reading-desk and denounced the preacherbefore the entire congregation. He agreed with much that had 
been said, but it was his "painful duty" to characterize portions of 
the sermon as 'dangerous and untrue." This unheard·of scene 
caused a great sensation. Murmurs were heard ; the workmen 
pressed forward to the pulpit steps and grasped Kingsley by the 
hand. As the sermon itself was judged to be the best defence, it was 
decided in the vestry that it should be printed at once without the 
alteration of a single word. T he affair was taken up by the press ; 
Kingsley was forbidden by the Bishop of London (Blomfield) to 
preach in the metropolis; large numbers of the clergy and of his 
admirers sent messages of sympathy to Ever_ley ; and a meeting of 
workmen, held at Kennington Common, expressed their allegiance 
to the parson who spoke so manfully on their behalf, and invited 
him "to start a free chw-ch independent rif episcopal rule, with the 
promise of a large following." The sermon was now printed, and 
Blomfield, when he saw the truth of the matter, not only sent for 
Kingsley (and apologized, we may hope), telling him that he actuallyapproved of the discourse, but immediately withdrew his prohibition. 

Trade Unionism.-" Hypatia." 

The Christian Socialists were naturally well known to the leaders 
of Trade Unionism, and it followed that, when the great strike of 
engineers and iron-workers took place in 1852, impetuous men like 
Hughes and Ludlow felt their fingers tingling for the conflict. The 
views of the promoters were varied : some urged one thing and some 
another. Maurice wa fearful lest they should commit themselves to 
a desperate and ill-judged action. At the beginning of the year the 
Christian Socz(Jlist had boldly cast off its disguise and changed its 
title to the Journal of Assodahrm, under the editorship of Hughes.
The J o1ernal lost no time in appealing to the "self-sacrifice, pluckand character" of the men of the amalgamated trades. Ludlow and 
Hughes sought to agitate public opinion by all possible means: theylectured, wrote to a great number of newspapers, and supported the 
strike by subscriptions. Although the strike ended in disaster, the 
hand of friendship had not been extended to the trade unionists in 
vain, and the sympathy thus established between the more importanttrade associations and the Christian Sociali ts led to extremely 
practical results when, in 18 34, the VVorking Men's College was 
founded. 


Fraser's Magazine for January had contained a criticism of the 
Socialists, which Kingsley decided to answer. He was, perhaps,
somewhat annoyed that his enemies should find a means of expression 
in the very magazine which was publishing "Hypatia" as a serial-
it was a new aspect of journalistic etiquette. After conference with 
Maurice, who cooled the first transports of his resentment, Kingsley 
finally evolved "Who are the Friends of Order? A reply to certain 
observations in a late number of Fraser's Magazine." It was printed 
by E. Lumley and]. ]. Bezer, the latter" a man who had been set 
up as a publisher by the promoters, no living publisher venturing to 
commit himself to the risk of publishing . . . either the Christ£an 
Sociahst or the Tracts." Bezer was described by Hughes as Movo..f, 
or "the one-eyed Chartist costermonger." 

TheJournal ofAssociatz"on came to an end this year, and Kingsley, 
in a final letter by "Parson Lot," urged his fellow-workers to "saylittle and work the more." Eversley and its democratic parson were 
now gaining notoriety. Kingsley seems to have been a popular man 
with soldiers, and officers from Sandhurst would frequently walk over 
to see him. His sermons were so vigorous and so powerfully delivered 
that he always preached to a full church, and, although a man of 
great rhetorical ability, his discourses were as keenly followed by the 
farm hand or the stableman as by the scholar. "Hypatia" was published 
in book form in 1853· As a literary attainment it raust rank 
before any of his other works. To a modern reader, fascinated bythe color and graphic detail of the story, it seems remarkable that, 
when published first, the book caused angry excitement among the 
High Churchmen, by whom it was regarded as a kind of masked 
attack, which, indeed, it was. Ten years later, when Kingsley's 
name had been suggested for the D.C.L. of Oxford, the High Church 
party raised the voice of protest. Dr. Pusey was scandalized to a 
degree. Why, good gracious! This was the fellow who had written 
"Hypatia," a most vile and profligate book inciting the youth to 
heterodoxy, and worse, if worse were possible, an immoral book. 
Under threat of a 110n-placet the name was withdrawn. Maurice's 
"Theological Essays" were published the same year (1853), and outraged 
the doctrines of the Puseyites even more than Kingsley had 
outraged their self-respect. His expulsion from King's College followed, 
and Kingsley was vehement in defending his "dear master " 
and in scourging his enemies. 

Disbanded. 

With the collapse of the Society for Promoting Working Men' 
Associations and the failure of the co-operative businesses, the first 
Christian Socialist movement came to an end in 1854· The Sociali ts 
had failed in their experiment, but they had accomplished a greatwork. They had given an intellectual expression to the new democratic 
tendencies. They had triven to popularize and humanize 
what was then a rather unpopular and inhuman thing-the teachingof the Engli h Church. They had hown (Kingsley in particular had 
shown it) that a clergyman mu t think more of the actual needs and 


r8 

nature of the people than of his embroideries and rituals. They had 
i~augurated a new phase of national thought. Neither were immedl~
te practical results wanting. They had collected a vast amount of 
ev1dence on industrial questions; they had exercised an unmistak~
ble influence on political subjects, and had been largely instrumental 
m gaining sanitary and other improvements. Their writings-moreespecially Kingsley's novels-had made an appeal to all classes of 
readers and had stirred the national conscience. And if further 
proof of their power is wanting, let it be given in the furious attentions 
paid them by their opponents-never has a popular movement 
been more violently assailed by a foe made aware of his moral 
insecurity. 

The spirit of the movement was not in reality checked by its 
disorganization, and, although there was no formal association of 
Church Socialists until twenty-three years later, the force of the 
present social movement in the churches is certainly a consequenceof the early Christian Socialist labors. The very year which saw the 
disbanding of the Christian Socialists saw the founding of theWorking 
Men's College, with Maurice as president. It is only necessary 
to glance at a few names on the teachers' list (taking a period of 
several years) to see in what direction the finest intellect of that age 
was tending. Here are some of the names: Ruskin, D. G. Rossetti, 
Huxley, Tyndall, Madox Brown, Frederick Harrison, Professor 
Seeley, Arthur Hughes, Val Prinsep, the Lushingtons, and C. H. 
Pearson. 

The winter and spring of 1854 was spent by Kingsley and his 
family at Torquay. The clergy of this place were thrown into panic 
at his approach, and he was denied the courtesy of the pulpit in all 
their churches. It is doubtful whether this caused him much disappointment. 
He spent the greater part of his time on the shore, 
indulging his naturalist and poetic passions and greatly benefiting in 
health. Kingsley is so well known as a nature student and as a 
writer of charming and thoughtful essays in natural research that 
there is no need to speak in detail of these wanderings on the seashore, 
when each withdrawing tide left a store of things wonderful, 
many-coloured and new. It was here that visions of old sea romance 
gave him the first ideas of" Westward Ho!" 

He was busy this year agitating on behalf of sanitary reforms, and 
was a member of the deputation to Lord Palmerston on this subject.
The condition of Eversley as regarded drainage, etc., weighed heavily 
upon him. He did all that was possible to secure improvements, but 
the parish was poor and landlords (as landlords are) indifferent. He 
himself, and all England with him, was at this time profoundly stirred 
by the Crimean ·war. 

The Midway of Life. 

Jt is not possible for me to give more than a very condensed 
account of Kingsley's later activities. The purpose of this essay is 
the study of Kingsley as a democratic Christian and a reformer. 
Those who wish to read of his family life, and to form a closer 


acquaintance with a most lovable and virile character, must read the 
standard biography, "Letters and Memories of His Life," edited byhis wife, from which I have drawn much of the information set forth 
in this paper. Some brief survey of character I must necessarily givebefore the conclusion of the present study, but only a few facts and 
only those which most nearly concern my subject can be selected 
from the years of crowded activity following 1854· 

We do not find Kingsley writing much on the Crimea. The war 
was to him " a dreadful nightmare," though it awoke the soldier-
spirit in him, and his enthusiasm for the heroes of Sebastopol was 
intense. In a few hours' time he wrote a tract,(, BraYe Words to 
Brave Soldiers and Sailors," many thousands of which were distributed 
in the Crimea, and must have proved a wholesome alternative 
to the usual ((goody-goody" pamphlets which the soldiers treated as 
so much waste paper. Cholera was still making an appearance here 
and there in 1855, and in the winter an outbreak occurred at Bide-
ford, where Kingsley had taken a house. During this visitation he 
took charge of a district. The outbreak does not appear to have 
been very serious, and we find him, the same winter, instituting an 
evening drawing-class for the young men of Bideford, of which he 
was himself the instructor. The sureness and rapidity with which he 
drew flowers or symmetrical figures on the blackboard won the 
admiration of his pupils. The classes became popular, and many a 
young loafer was enticed from the street corner to become more and 
more fascinated by the kindly manner and (to him, at any rate) 
almost unearthly accomplishments of the strange a parson." 

.-\s years went by the Rector of Eversley gained a popularitywhich was at times almost embarrassing. He disliked the paradeof carriages and the (( talking after church " on Sundays. But for 
those who came to him privately to discuss his books or confide in 
him their perplexities and sorrows he had a warm affection. After 
the founding of the camp at Aldershot, the ;(dear fellows "-officers 
of all grades besides rank and file-paid frequent visits to the church 
and the rectory. One of these became a familiar friend of the 
Kingsleys. He had been out in the Crimea, and had read ((Yeast" 
when lying grievously stricken in the hospital at Scutari. The 
hunting scene had made an especiJl appeal-one can imagine the 
effect of such a vivid home-picture on a wounded man in Scutariand 
he resolved that if ever he got back to England he would go and 
hear the parson who could write such fine sporting descriptions. He 
came, still on crutches. Such episodes show very clearly one aspectof Kingsley's appeal to his contemporaries-the appeal of a strong 
man to strong men. ((He loved men and manly pursuits," to quotethe words of an officer who used to walk over from Aldershot, and 
who shall say that he was not himself a tried and battle-wo_rn fighter? 
Kingsley was a welcome guest at mess ; he entered into the studies 
and organization of the Staff College with the deepest interest, and 
his advice to sportsmen-•( He told us the best meets of the hounds, 
the nearest cut to the covers, the best trout streams, and the home 
of the largest pike "-must have made him extremely popular. 


20 

But the real significance of all this soldier intercourse was this : 
Charles Kingsley was the very man to present religion in a form 
acceptable to the soldier temperament. To a soldier, manhood is the 
greatest thing in the world, and the greatest qualities of manhood 
are courage, physical prowess, endurance, kindness without weakness 
or wordiness, loyalty, honesty, and a sane patriotism. All these 
qualities were to be found in Kingsley, with the spirit and mind of a 
Christian teacher superadded. We can picture such a man casting 
a net with the first apostles, and proving himself as hard-working a 
fisherman as any of them, not afraid of soiling his hands with the 
common labors of common men. Kingsley, in fact, preached the 
manhuess of his creed, a sin unpardonable to the High Church 
exquisites of that time. He spoke, never as a superior person to 
inferior sinners, but as a man who respected and loved all men. He 
was thus loved and respected by all who came within the circle of his 
influence. The soldier loved him for his vigor and sincerity (thesoldier cannot analyse, but he can appreciate character, and knows 
the true from the false) and listened to him because he was no humbug, 
and always dealt boldly with the truth. His inti uence among all 
grades of the service at Aldershot and Sandhurst was therefore 
strongly marked. He taught the men what is none too much in 
evidence in the Church of to-day-that manliness and Christianity 
are not merely reconcilable, but are po itively essential to each 
other. 

Soldi rs were by no means his only visitors. One i glad to 
notice that clergymen figure in the visitors' list-of various denominations 
and opinions. All sorts of men came. Beneath the fir 
trees on that little sloping lawn they discussed all manner of things. 
Kingsley was fitted for conversation with every type of man and for 

ympatby with every kind of nature. He loved and understood 
them all. 

His scientific repute gained him the membership of the Linnrean 
Society. Literary folk were delighted with the " Prose Idylls" and 
other essays. 

Meanwhile the Christian Socialists, working independently or in 
other organizations, were a si ting in the advance of democracy_ 
Trade depression was severe in 1857, and a committee of enquiry 
wa formed, known as the " Association for the Promotion of Social 
Science." Maurice, Hughes, and Ludlow all took part in this work. 
Maurice was a memb r of the committee, and the report, which was 
published in 186o, contained contributions from the Christian 
Socialists. lt must be understood that, although I still employ the 
original term as a matter of convenience, there was not at this time 
any organized group of Church Sociali t , and the public no longer 
recognized. the existence of any special doctrine or activity known as 
Christian Socialism. 

King ley became more and more devoted to the cause of sanitaryreform. In his opinion, physics and theology should go hand in 
hand, and he regarded a certain amount of scientific knowledge as a 
thing indispensable in a clergyman. l am conYincecl that this. 


21 

opinion foreshadows the future development of the Church, and 
points the way to a new meaning and efficiency.

In I 86o Kingsley was appointed to the Regius Professorship of 
Modern History at Cambridge. In the autumn of the same year he 
and his family entered into residence. It was natural that the same 
qualities in Kingsley which had appealed to the soldiers should 
appeal to the undergraduates. He became the hero of the young 
men. Never has Cambridge known a more popular lecturer or one 
more sincerely worshipped by his disciples. He began in the 
smaller rooms of the Schools. They were not big enough. He had 
to lecture in the biggest room of all, and that was not big enough.
Strange scene at professorial lectures, enthusiasm would run high. 
The lectures were interrupted by irrepressible cheering. Kingsleywould stammer, with emotion, "Gentlemen, you must not do it." 
It was no good, they would cheer. The men were not merely interested 
in the great personality of their lecturer ; they were interested 
in his subjects. The University Librarian was asked for books 
which seldom left the shelves. Kingsley made them think, and he 
made them work, too. There was never yet, I suppose, a really 
great man who failed to gain the younger sympathies of the age. It 
is very clear that Kingsley had gained them, for all the groans and 
sneers of the Puseyites. 

The Last Ten Years. 

Newman's attack on the English Church could not pass unnoticed 
by such a loyal Churchman as Kingsley. Newman was, no 
doubt, his superior in sheer intellect, in theological subtlety, and in 
the ponderous resources of academic style. In the controversial 
sense Kingsley was beaten, though we are assured that it was out of 
a courteous regard for Newman's health, his disinclination for argument, 
and other personal reasons, that he forbore to attack with 
vehemence. This may be partly true. It is certain, however, that 
he had found his match. Probably no living theologian could have 
gained a victory over one whose craft and scholarship were unequalled, 
and who was as certain to maintain his defence with vigilance 
and caution as he was to attack with resistless weight and infallible 
sagacity. Maurice, who respected the learning and character of 
Newman, however widely he dissented from his views. "would have 
given much" to have withheld Kingsley from the dispute.

Hughes, Neale, Ludlow, and others of the Christian Socialist 
band were active in industrial affairs in 1866. The Cobden Mills 
were founded by Neale, Greening, Ludlow, Hughes, and Morrison. 
After some twenty-four years of a rather disastrous existence, the 
business was di~posed of, and thus ended the largest, and in some 
ways most celebrated, experiment of Christian Socialism. Kingsleydoes not appear to have taken an active interest in these affairs (his 
former comrades were zealously fighting on behalf of trade unionism 
for many years), though he was always in favor of associative principles 
in trade. It is probable that three causes were responsible for 
this apparent withdrawal : first, the cooling (though only to a cer



22 

tain extent) of his early democratic ardor ; second, the nece sarily 
changed and enlarged sphere of work, the result of public recognition 
and celebrity; and third, a gradual decline in health which 
marks these last years of his life. 

Science absorbed his attention to a greater and greater degree. 
He was a member both of the Linmean and Geological Societie , had 
evolved a theory of raised beaches, and was a keen Darwinian. The 
Knightsbridge Professorship falling vacant in 1866, he wrote to 
Maurice, urging him to accept this appointment. It was only with 
difficulty that Maurice could be per uaded. "At sixty-one," he 
said, ''I am perhaps past such work." The question of election 
depended on the voles of the seven electors. Four of them voted 
for Maurice, one for a man of his own college, and the two others 
abstained, but expressed satisfaction with the result. It must have 
been with huge personal delight that King ley (himself an elector) 
sent him a telegram announcing his triumph. He wrote later: 
"Your triumph could not have been more complete. My heart is 
as full as a boy's. I thought I should have been ' upset' when I saw 
the result." The two friends (or the master and the disciple, as 
Kingsley would have said) were thus associated in professorial work, 
both honored by the arne university, and both happy in this latter-
day closening of their friendship.

King ley had won recognition among all classes as a man of 
honest purpose, gifts approximating to genius, a sound theology. and 
the talents of a skilled author and graceful poet. He was none the 
le s, perhaps for this very reason, ferociou ly as ailed by the press. 
In con equence of these attacks he was on the point of re igning the 
professorship, but he was advised to retain it for at least another 
year. Accordingly, after nine years' experience as a Cambridge professor-
years which had seen hi greatest intellectual attainments 
and the mo t fruitful expression of his teaching-he resigned the post 
in 1869. His la t series of lectures made a great impression.

The clo e of this year is marked by the fulfilment of one of hi 

great ambitions, a voyage to the We t Indies. It was the great

holiday of his life. This world could not have upplied uch a man 

as King ley-a poet-naturali t-with anything more perfectly enjoy


able. He saw "enough to la t him his life." He was mad with 

delight. He was actually moYing in the land of romance he had 

dreamed and written of. He wa a boy, full of wonder and surprise. 

He wa an adventurer in tropical forests. He was a sea rover. The 

Regius Profe or wa buried! 

Pari h work, scientific work, three months' residence as Canon of 

Che ter, a di cu ion with John Stuart Mill on Woman Suffrage, and 

a huge corre pondence with variou men on various subject give a 

ummary of 1870. He wa a Teuton in ympathy during the war of 

1870-71. He condemned the French policy and the French leader-

hip : it wa a righteou and even nece ary war for Germany. In 

187 I we find him again a erting the need to include physical learning

in the general theological cour e. He realized that the older chool 

of natural theology would be compelled to abandon many of its 


23 

positions, or, rather, to develop in accordance with the great scientific 
revolutions of the nineteenth century. He saw that the religion of 
the future would lay stress on the scientific basis of modern thought,
.and that the priest of the future would deal less with fable and more 
with fact. Whether he was right in seeking to unite the functions 
of preacher and sanitary inspector quite as definitely as he proposed 
we need not stop to consider. He was certainly right in supposingthat religion must pass from a superstitious to a scientific phase. 
His lectures at this period, particularly those on geological and 
natural history subjects, were very remarkable. The death of 
Maurice, in 1872, was a sad loss to Kingsley, and a certain despon.
dency-partly the result of an over-worked and continuously active 
brain-seems more or less evident in his letters and conversation. But 
in the autumn of this year he achieved a great practical triumph for 
the cause which was so dear to him. A President of the Midland 
Institute he delivered the inaugural address (on the "Science of 
Health ") at Birmingham. One of his listeners immediately placedthe sum of two and a half thousand pounds at the disposal ofa scheme 
for classes and lectures on this subject, with a low rate of paymentfor artizans. The project was successful, and the impetus was thus 
given to a very noble and necessary work. In 1873 he accepted the 
Canonry of Westminster, where he preached the well-known series 
of sermons. 187 4 was largely taken up by a tour in America, 

·Crammed full of all manner of activities, and ending with a severe 
illness and a slow recovery in Colorado. He returned to Eversley in 
August. It was a hot, dry month. there was much sickness in the 
village, and he was busy attending to the people at all hours, and 
apparently with all his energy restored. But his health was rapidly 
failing. After his return to Westminster in the autumn he was 
again ill; he was now able only to preach once a week, and, althoughhis sermons were still powerful and forcibly delivered, men were 
shocked to see the change in him, the worn cheeks and the bent 
figure. His wife's dangerous illness caused him the greatest suffering.
On Advent Sunday he preached his last Abbey sermon ((with intense 
fervor." The next day he caught a chill after dining at the Deanery,
probably the direct cause of his death. The return journey to 
Eversley proved too much for his wife, and the happiness of a 
Christmas home·coming, so dearly longed for, was turned to a sad 
ministering in what seemed then to be the chamber of death. 
Kingsley himself grew rapidly worse. Eventually he was unable to 
bear the terrible strain of carrying on a pencilled intercom e with his 
wife, who was supposed by all to be dying. His illness (pneumonia) 
was fast gaining the mastery, yet his fortitude and superb courageremained unshaken. He died on the morning of January 23rd, at 
the age of fifty-five. His wife recovered. 

His Character and Teaching. 

In discussing the Socialism of Charles Kingsley, which is identical 
with that of the Christian Socialist group, we must bear in mind two 
very important facts: First, that he was remarkably constitutional in 


principle and method, and by no means revolutionary ; and, secondt 
that his conception of Democracy was one that accepted the existingorder of society with all its grades and traditions, and believed that 
the healthy functioning of that society was all that was needed to 
ensure the communal welfare. If anything was wrong-and a great 
deal was wrong-then the fault lay, not with the class, but with the 
individual. And even if the majority of individuals composing a class 
were at fault, that was no argument against the class itself, or, rather, 
against the necessity for the existence of the class. With a majority 
at fault, the class was not performing its true functions ; it was not, 
therefore, to be abolished, but called back to its duty ; the diseased 
organ was to be cured, by surgical steel at the worst, but not removed. 
There was, as I have mentioned, a divine purpose and order in the 
system of classes. A landed aristocracy was not only a necessary 
thing, it was'' a blessing to the country." The House of Lords represented 
all that was noble and permanent in the national character· 
(observe, permanent!) ; it represented the hereditary instinct, which 
bound together men of the past, present, and future ages. Royalty 
was a thing to be revered, because it was royalty. In short, the 
organization of the unproductive classes was very beautiful, usefulr 
and necessary; many individuals who belonged to these classes mightfail to observe their duties, 10r, worse still, undertake duties which 
were not their own, but the class itself was a needful prop of the 
social fabric; and, if the tendencies of its components had to be corrected, 
the thing itself must be preserved at all costs. 

The Socialism of Kingsley. 

Where then, you may say, is the Socialism in all this? Of 
modern Socialism there is little trace, and yet it was in this urgingof the duty of classes, especially as regarded the treatment of the 
poor, provision for the health and security of the laboring classes, and 
the effective ministering of the Church, that Kingsley proved himself 
a powerful democratic force. His accusation was so vehement 
that his conservative principles were frequently drowned beneath a 
full tide of revolt. The organization of trade (which in his mind 
was a thing apart from the organization of classes) seemed to him to 
need immediate reform. If, therefore, he was a Conservative as regarded 
the blessing of an aristocracy, he was an extreme Radical 
where the working classes were concerned. It is impossible for a 
man of strong and observant character not to possess democratic 
tendencies. ln Kingsley those tendencies were invigorated by the 
scenes and events of a revolutionary period, and became the dominant 
force of his career. He was deeply aware, too, of the fact that 
the Church was in danger of losing the sympathy of the people ; 
that she was becoming an exclusive and mystic organization, undulygiven to the study of rituals, and not noticing the bad drains and 
worse morality of the "lower orders"; for the Christian Socialist 
ideal for the Church was that it should work wzih, and not apartfrom, the secular workers. When he signed his Chartist placard as 
"A Working Parson,'' he knew that he implied a pretty obvious. 


distinction. Kingsley was a Conservative by birth and tradition, a 

Chartist through force of circumstances, and a Socialist through

sheer manliness and force of character. He belonged to a period 

when the English gentleman, though growing rare, was not obso


lete, and when the middle classes did really advocate what they

understood to be progressive measures. H e aimed, not at a reform 

of society in general (which would have struck him as a blas


phemous subversion of" God's order"), but at the reform of indus


trial life and of the Church, the fir t to be made wholesome and the 

latter efficient. 

The views and methods of Kingsley and his friends have now 
been sufficiently commented on by the actual passing of time and 
the development of modern thought. We see the clearer for their 
mistakes, and are the richer for their noble examples and the fine 
courage of their teaching. It would be entering upon a fruitless 
controversy to discuss here the ethics of association, the question of 
the self-governing workshop, or the future position of the Church. 
Kingsley's power is to be found, not in the startling or original 
nature of his views, but in his manly and uncompromising advocacy 
of those views, and in the example of a most Jiying and vigorous 
personality. . .

H1s Personality. 

Like all poets, he was immensely receptive. His emotions were 
frequently and profoundly stirred by a suggestive fact or a touching 
scene. He was in love with Nature-every leaf, every cloud, the 
storm song of winter, rain, sun, the moorland, and the seashore, 
everything was wonderful and loveable. He possessed the most 
astounding vitality. It is not recorded of any man that he was 
more alzve. His life was one continual excitement. In speech his 
vehemence was extraordinary. He would begin with a slight stammer 
and hesitation, but when fairly started, his oratory was fluent 
and impressive. His sense of the dramatic was unusually keP-n. He 
was one of the most influential and celebrated preachers of the time, 
and as a lecturer his repute was equally great.

He was a man of rare humor, and dearly loved anything that was 
laughable or even " broad." He could enjoy a page of Rabelais or a 
sly anecdote of Sterne's as much as anyone. His letters are full of 
pleasantry, and serve well to illustrate his versatile nature. For 
instance, he is writing to Tom ·Hughes, and is giving him some 
fishing experiences, with all sorts of expert comments on brass 
minnows, March browns, and so forth, when all at once, and ll'ithout 
the least pause for breath, we find him talking of a poor parishionerwho is lying on his deathbed. Cant or falseness of any kind were 
abominable to his sincere nature. A tramp who saw fit to assume 
the attitude and contortions of a religious zealot was seized by the 
collar, soundly shaken, and hurried outside £versley gates with no 
little wrath. 

Two answers of his, written in one of those horrible albums so 
typical of the Victorian drawing l'OOm, are interesting. " The 
character you most dislike ?-VIyself. Your ambition -?-To die.'' 


26 

He was not a man who cared for distinction or notoriety. He 
acknowledged a "hankering after" the D.C.L. of Oxford, which was 
denied him; but he realized his two "great ambitions," membershipof the Linnrean and Geological Societies. 

Kingsley did much to popularize the study of physics and 
natural science, and presented the facts of advanced scientific 
thought in a way calculated not to hurt religious sensitiveness. 
have mentioned that he foresaw the alliance which must some day 
openly take place between science and religion, and that he was. 
anxious for ·the education of clergymen in other matters besides 
those which relate solely to theology. His own religion cannot be 
said to come under any of the recognized categories. No party of 
the Church could claim him. He was opposed to the extreme mysticism 
of the High Church, but had little sympathy with the severe 
ritual of the Moderates. He was no friend to dogmatism of any 
sort. He was described by his curate, Harrison, as "a free lance in 
the ecclesiastical field." 

The most immediate and most practical results of his activity 
are unquestionably to be found in the improvements in sanitaryaffairs and in the general education of working men. The latter is 
less directly due to his influence than the former (in which he was 
said by a great London doctor to have "led the way"), but it was. 
certainly greatly advanced by his teaching and lectures. 

The charge of inconsistency has been brought. against him with 
regard to his democratic faith. ''In later years," says Martineau, 
"his convictions became more in accord with the natural tendency of 
hzs mind'' (whatever that means), "and he gradually modified or 
abandoned his democratic opinions." I can see no trace of all this. 
The burning enthusiasm of youth may have left him; his opinions 
never did. From first to last Charles Kingsley was a democrat-and 
that, I take it, was the "natural tendency of his mind"-and he 
never proved false to his social creed. The multiplicity of affairs and 
a life overcrowded with interests and duties prevented him from 
devoting himself to a special and continuous work on behalf of 
Socialism. None the less, the author of" Alton Locke" and" The 
Message of the Church" was no changed man when, in 1866, he 
welcomed Maurice to Cambridge. 

It is not the place here to speak of his home life, of his chivalrous 
devotion, his intimate sympathies, pictures of the lawn or the 
fireside, scenes typical of the English rectory. His love for animals, 
for all living things, with the exception of spiders, is well known. 
Like Agassiz, he believed in their post mortem existence. Those 
who wish to read a detailed, though necessarily partial, account of 
his life must turn to the "Letters and Memories." 

The Present and the Future. 

We cannot doubt that Socialism in the Churches represents a 
very powerful and very necessary expression of social democracy-
Religious Socialism is gaining rapidly in numbers and efficiency, and 
may quite possibly modify the whole course of religious thought in 


27 


the future. Whatever significance the movement may have to-daytwhatever power it may have in the future, the names of its two 
great founders, Frederick Denison Maurice and Charles Kingsley, 
their noble examples of courage, manliness, and faith, will always 
figure large on the first pages of its history. 

For the above summary of Kingsley's life and his relations with 
the Christian Socialist Movement I am indebted very largely to the 
standard biography referred to, and also, in addition to his own 
writings, to the "Life of F. D. Maurice," edited and partly written 
by his son, Woodworth's "Christian Socialism in England,"
Stubbs's " Charles Kingsley and the Christian Socialist Movement," 
Rose's "Rise of Democracy," and Engels' "Condition of the EnglishWorking Classes." 

THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF CHARLES KINGSLEY. 

Various papers contributed to the Christian Socialist, Politics for the People, and the 
Jou•·nal of Association. I 848-54· 

The Saint"s Tragedy. 1848. 

Yeast. Published as a serial in Fraser's Magazin~, 1848. Published i:1 volume. 
form (anonymously), 1851. 
Alton Locke. 1850. 
Cheap Clothes and Nasty. 1850. 
Hypatia. Published in Fraser's Magazine, 1851. In volume form, 1853. 
Westward Ho! 1855. 
The Heroes. 1855. 
Two Years Ago. 1857. 
Poems. 1858. 
The Waterbabies. 1862. 
Hereward the Wake. 1866. 
Collected Essays, Sermons, and Lectures. 
Prose Idylls. 
Letters; contained in Letters and Memories of his Life. Edited by his Wife. Two 

vols. Also abridged form in one vol. 

The principal works are all published by Macmillan. 

WESTCOTT, Right Rev. B. F. (Bishop of Durham).-Social Aspects of Christianity. 

OTHER BOOKS. 
KAUFMANN, Rev. M.-Charles Kingsley, Christian Socialist. 
---Christian Socialism. 1888. Paul. 2s. 6d. 
1892. Methuen. ss. 
MAURICE, Rev. F. D.-Social Morality. 186g. Macmillan. 
NOEL, H.ev. CONRAD.-Socialism in Church History. 1910. 
O.p.
Palmer. ss. net. 

1887. Macmillan. 6s. 
POTTER, BEATRICE (Mrs. Sidney Webb).--Co-operative Movement in Great Britain. 
18gg. Sonnenschein. 2s. 6d. 
McCAl<THY. ]USTIN.-Short History of our own Times [1837-1901l 190+. Chatto. 
2s. 6d. and 6d. 
ROGERS, ]. E. THOROLD.-Industrial and Commercial History of England. 1894. 
Unwin. 2s. 6d. net. 

GAMMAGE, R. G.-Chartist Movement. 1894· Truslove. 15S. net. 

CARLYLE, THOMAS.-Chartism. (See complete works.) 


ment of Its Rules and a complete list of publications can be obh,lne• from 
t} e Secretary, at the Fabian Office, 3 Olemen~'s Inn, London, W.O. 

FABIAN ESSAYS IN SOCIALISM. Paper 6d.; cloth I/6; post. 2~d. and 4d. 

WHAT TO READ on Social and Economic Subjects. IS. n. and 2s, n. 
THE RURAL PROBLEM. By H. D. HABBEN. 2s. 6d. n. 
THIS MISERY OF BOOTS. By H. G. WELLS. 3d., post free 4d. 
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The Set of 77, 3s.; post free 3/5· Bound in Buckram, 4/6 n.; post free sa. 

I.-General Socialism in its various aspects.
TRACTS.-169. The Socialist Movement in Germany. By W. S. SANDERS. 
In cover, with portrait of Bebel, 2d. IS9· The Necessary Basis of Society.

By SIDNEY WEBB. ISI. The Point of Honour. By RUTH C. BENTINCK. 

147. Capital and Compensation. By E. R. PEASE. 146. Socialism and 
Superior Brains. By BERNARD SHAW. 142. Rent and Value. 138. Municipal 
Trading. 121. Public Service versus Private Expenditure. By Sir 
OLIVER LODGE. 107. Socialism for Millionaires. By BEBNABD SHAW. 
139. Socialism and the Churches. By Rev. JoHN CLIFFORD, D.D. 133· 
Socialism and Christianity. By Rev. PERCY DEARMER. 78. Socialism 
and the Teaching of Christ. By Dr. J. CLIFFORD. 42. Christian Socialism. 
By Rev. 8. D. HEADLAM. 79· A Word of Remembrance and Caution 
to the Rich. By JoHN WooLMAN. 72. The Moral Aspects of Socialism. 
By SIDNEY BALr., 69. Difficulties of Individualism. By S. WEBB. 51. 
Socialism: True and False. By 8. WEBB. 45· The Impossibilities of 
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the Many Poor? WELSH TRACTS-143· Sosialaetb yng N goleuni'r Beibl. 
141. Translation of 13!). 87. Translation of 78. 38. Translation of 1. 
H.-Applications of Socialism to Particular Problems. 
TBACTS.-I73· Public versus Private Electricity Supply. By C. A. 
BAKER. 171. The Nationalization of Mines and Minerals Bill. By H. H. 
SCHLOESSER. 170. Profit-Sharing & Co-Partnership: a Fraud and Failure? 

By E. R. PEASE. In cover. I64. Gold and State Banking. By E. R. PEASE. 
I63. Women and Prisons. By HELEN BLAGG and CHARLOTTE WILSON. 2d. 

162. Family Life on a Pound a Week. By Mrs. REEVES. In cover, 2d. I6r. 
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Women . By Miss B. L. HuTCHINS. ISS· The Case against the Referendum. 
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In cover, 2d. 1so. State Purchase of Ratlways. By EMIL DAVIES. In cover, 
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131. The Decline of the Birth-Rate. By SIDNEY WEBB. 145· The Case 
for School Nurseries. By Mr3. TowNSHEND. 140. Child Labor under 
Capitalism. By Mrs. HYLTON DALE. 136. The Village and the Landlord. 
By Eow. CARPENTER. 130. Home Work and Sweating. By Miss B. L. 
HUTCHINS. 128. The Case for a Legal Minimum Wage. 122. MunicipalMilk and Public Health. By Dr. F. LAWSON Dono. 12s. Municipalization 
by Provinces. 123. The Revival of Agriculture. 115. State Aid to 
Agriculture: an Example. 124. State Control of Trusts. 83. State 
Arbitration and the Livmg Wage. LEAFLET.-104. How Trade Unions 
benefit Workmen. 
111.-Local Government Powers : How to use them. 
TBACTS.-172. What about the Rates? or, Municpal Finance and Municipal 
Autonomy. By SIDNEY WEBB. 1S6. What an Education Committee 
can do (Elementary Schools), 3d. 62. Parish and District Councils. 
(Revised 1913). 137· Parish Councils and Village Life. 109. CottagePlans and Common Sense. 76. Houses for the People. 82. Workmen's 
Compensation Act. LEAFLETS.-134· Small Holdings: ·and how to getthem. 68. The Tenant's Sanitary Catechism. 71. Ditto for London. 

IV.-General 
Politics and Fabian Policy.
TRACTS.-158. The Case against the C.O.S. By ;11rs. TOWNSHEND. 108. 
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41. The Fabian Society: its Early History. By BERNARD SHAW. 
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Ideal. By Mrs. TowNSHEND. 168.john Stuart Mill. ByJuLrusWEsT.