The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-01-30
DR.. RAYMONB'S LECTURE.
On Charles Kingsley and Christian
Socialism," Interested M Intelligent
Audience Snf,,rfpr E.ynn;,u


Once the fact that he might be stern
and harsh. perhaps cruel, did not de-
tract from the worship given him. To-
day new faith IS lighting with KS ten
der rays OF thought our humanity. A
new motive impels society. Our mod
ern heroes are tender human helpful.
The world loves the champion of the
weak, the distressed. the unfortunate.
No better exponent Of this new social
motive. this nlnetesath century faith of
humanity, can DC found than Charles
Kingsley. Christian socialist. he stands
before us: Christian socialist and Chris
tan soldier. covered with the Scars Of q
long and valiant warfare, q warfare not
for place or power, but for the allevia-
ton OF the miserles OF the wo"lilngmen.
his fellowmcn. His highest aim was TO
lift, II he might, the burdens from their
shoulders. burdens placed there bv I'M
just and cruel employers. The blows
which he struck so manfully for the
worliinSmen in their time OF need have
made him one OF the foremost figures
OF our century.
The victim OF the old English penal
system In his roisome rocking cell. had
his John Howard; the negro, delivered
from his birthrigft of humanity. had
his Wilberforce. his Earriet Beecher
Stowe, his John Brown, his William
Lloyd Garrison. the English woriting-
man, E:o!lins in the choking atmosphere
OF the sweaters den. the farm laborer
In his barren downs. 4 land sla"c 10 his
INSCRIPTIONS landlord, who wruns the
last farthing from his helpless tenant.
had his Charles Kingsley.
The speaker then told, In veTS'
graphic style, the story of kingslcy's
early life, showing that the child was
when child, preaching little sermons
In the nursery with the chairs FOR an
audience.
When Kingsley was lad OF thirteen
In school he Witnessed the Bristol riots.
The terrible scenes of bloodshed and
pillage wersf indellblg stamped upon The
boys mind, and brought him face 20
face With facts which save him, he as
serted in after years, his first lesson
In social science. The direct cause of
the riots WaS the visit of Sir Charles
Wetherall TO the city as recorder. Sir
Charles was cordially hated ny the
wOrkinqmen OF England as an opponent
OF the reform bill. and his coming 10
Bristol to attend the courts was Sig
nal Cor open revolt. Wetherall had 10
escape in disguise, hut the fury of the
mob increased; puot;c buildings we're
burned. the bishops palace was de-
siroyel and the cathedral nearly de-
molished. Kingsley had slipped away
from school in the very midst OF the
tumu!t. The CHASTITY corrses, the flatn-
ing prison walls. the maddcned mob OF
wretches, plunderinS, destroying, burn
ing, revealed TO his sensitive mind at
u flash tho terrible truth that the evil
wrought By the so-catied dangerous
class Is born Of the neglect Of the high
er classes to meet their duty face to
face to face; that greed and scorn in
the upper ranks Of society engeIder de-
Gpairtng vengeance in the lover and
kindle the flames of revolt. That
sight" Kingsley said, many years after.
made Il radical Of me"
Events ripencl fast in England be-
tween 1880 and 1870 The reform bill
of 1872 had rot satisfied the people 1t
had, 1t Is true. done away with the most
fragrant abuses Of the parliamentary
system. 1t had abolished the pocket
boroughs.' which had permitted the
land owners 10 appoint members of
parliament al their pleasure, without
even the, pretensc OF an election. 1t had
extended the suffrage to the shopkeeper
and the middle classes generally. but
the working classes, they who toilCd
carly and late, whose wages were
scarcely sufficient 20 keep soul and body
together - the reform bill had not
helped these.
The speaker tken s.Ietched the efforts
made by the wo:iInGtncn to have their
condition bettercd. asking for universal
suffrage. voting by ballot, the abolition
OF property qualifications for members
Of parliament. payment OF members OF
parliament and equal electoral districts.
These six Points the people said they
must have. and for ten years the de-
mard was iterated and reiterated. We
of The present day think these demands
very indicate. bu; they were looked
ufon rs revolutionary then. and those
who advocated item were looked upon
as we look upon anarchists to- day.
Kingsley was Z leader in all this worl.
OF reform, ard his two grcat novels,
"Yeasi" and Alton Locke" are written
with q viGor and vehemercc scarcely
euualed in fiction. same perhaps by
Pomona" Or Uncle Toms Cabin"
They are novels written with purpose
and reflect from their pages the social
evils existing during this period OF aSI-
taton.
Has Kingsley suggested any remedy
for all these evils? Yes, he mas. First
of all he suggested sanitary reform,
draining the fcns. building wholesome.
well-ventlatcd cottages, forcing the
landlords 10 regard ths'ilreE OF theiS ten
ants as of more value than those OF
their pigs. more human beings"
said Kingsley. are killed In England
every year by unnecessary and prevent
able diseases &han wsTe Killed at wat
crloo or Sadowa." Kingsley. and his
associates advocated education and
emigration and land colonization. Bu,
greatest OF all remedies advocated by
them Was association or Cooperation,
protit-shariHG OF the workers in all In
dustries.
Around Kingsicg's grave stood Ro-
man Catholic and Protestant church-
men and disserters. the master OF fox,
9lounds. the huatsman. humble labor
o"s md peers of the realm, kinSsleY's
inilucncc viii be lasting. The words OF
rcproof and warning for the opprsssor.
of hope and encouragement for the on
pressed, struck out from his soul by the
need of tho time. were written for. the
time Eat the lessons Of his lie are for
onr time. and Tor all tine. Purity OF
life, sincerity, courage. intensity OF pur-
rose are needed to-day as they were
.
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