at Bishop's Tachbrook, near Leamington, on Saturday, 12 Dec. 1891, aged 77. Kingsley's four children, all born at Eversley, were: 1. Rose Georgina (b. 1845); 2. Maurice (b. 1847), now of New Rochelle in the state of New York; 3. Mary St. Leger (b. 1852), widow of William Harrison, formerly rector of Clovelly; and 4. Grenville Arthur (b. 1857), now resident in Queensland. Mrs. Harrison has written some well-known novels under the pseudonym ‘Lucas Malet.’
Kingsley was above middle height, of spare but muscular and vigorous frame, with a strongly marked face, to which the deep lines between the brows gave an expression of sternness. He was troubled by a stammer. He prescribed and practised rules for its cure, but never overcame it in conversation, although in public speaking he could avoid it. The name of ‘muscular Christianity,’ first given in the ‘Saturday Review,’ and some of his verses suggested the tough athlete; but he had a highly nervous temperament, and his characteristic restlessness made it difficult for him to sit still through a meal (Martineau in Kingsley, i. 300). He had taken to smoking at college to soothe his nerves, and, finding the practice beneficial, acquired the love of tobacco which he expresses in ‘Westward Ho!’ His impetuous and excitable temper led him to overwork himself from the first, and his early writings gave promise of still higher achievements than he ever produced. The excessive fervour of his emotions caused early exhaustion, and was connected with his obvious weaknesses. He neither thought nor studied systematically, and his beliefs were more matters of instinct than of reason. He was distracted by the wide range and quickness of his sympathy. He had great powers of enjoyment. He had a passion for the beautiful in art and nature. No one surpassed him in first-hand descriptions of the scenery that he loved. He was enthusiastic in natural history, recognised every country sight and sound, and studied birds, beasts, fishes, and geology with the keenest interest. In theology he was a disciple of Maurice, attracted by the generous feeling and catholic spirit of his master. He called himself a ‘Platonist’ in philosophy, and had a taste for the mystics, liking to recognise a divine symbolism in nature. At the same time his scientific enthusiasm led him to admire Darwin, Professor Huxley, and Lyell without reserve. He corresponded with J. S. Mill, expressed the strongest admiration of his books, and shared in his desire for the emancipation of women. Certain tendencies of the advocates of women's rights caused him to draw back; but he was always anxious to see women admitted to medical studies. His domestic character was admirable, and he was a most energetic country parson. He loved and respected the poor, and did his utmost to raise their standard of life. ‘He was,’ said Matthew Arnold in a letter of condolence to his family, ‘the most generous man I have ever known; the most forward to praise what he thought good, the most willing to admire, the most free from all thought of himself, in praising and in admiring, and the most incapable of being made ill-natured or even indifferent by having to support ill-natured attacks himself.’ This quality made him attractive to all who met him personally, however averse to some of his views. It went along with a distaste for creeds embodying a narrow and distorted ideal of life—a distaste which biassed his judgment of ecclesiastical matters, and gives the impression that the ancient Greeks or Teutons had more of his real sympathies than the early Christians. He was a genuine poet, if not of the very highest kind. Some of his stirring lyrics are likely to last long, and his beautiful poem, ‘Andromeda,’ is perhaps the best example of the English hexameter.
Kingsley's works are:
- ‘The Saint's Tragedy,’ 1848.
- ‘Twenty-five Village Sermons,’ 1849.
- ‘Alton Locke,’ 1850.
- ‘Yeast, a Problem,’ 1851 (published in ‘Fraser's Magazine’ in 1848, and cut short to please the proprietors; for intended conclusion see Kingsley, i. 219).
- ‘Phaethon, or Loose Thoughts for Loose Thinkers,’ 1852.
- ‘Sermons on National Subjects,’ 1st ser. 1852, 2nd ser. 1854.
- ‘Hypatia,’ 1853 (from ‘Fraser's Magazine’).
- ‘Alexandria and her Schools’ (lectures at Edinburgh), 1854.
- ‘Who causes Pestilence?’ (four sermons), 1854.
- ‘Sermons for the Times,’ 1855.
- ‘Westward Ho!’ 1855.
- ‘Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore,’ 1855.
- ‘The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales,’ 1856.
- ‘Two Years Ago,’ 1857.
- ‘Andromeda, and other Poems,’ 1858; ‘Poems’ (1875) includes these and ‘The Saint's Tragedy.’
- ‘The Good News of God,’ a volume of sermons, 1859.
- ‘Miscellanies,’ 1859.
- ‘Limits of Exact Science, as applied to History’ (inaugural lecture at Cambridge), 1860.
- ‘Town and Country Sermons,’ 1861.
- ‘Sermons on the Pentateuch,’ 1863.
- ‘The Water Babies,’ 1863.
- ‘David’ (four sermons before the university), 1865.
- ‘Hereward the Wake,’ 1866.
- ‘The Ancien Régime’ (three lectures at the Royal Institution), 1867.
- ‘The Water of Life, and other Sermons,’ 1867.
- ‘The Hermits’ (Sunday Library,
