To-day’s Duty

Do to-day’s duty, fight to-day’s temptations, and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.

Charles Kingsley[1]

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[1] Charles Kingsley was born in 1819 in Holne, Devon, England the second son of the Rev. Charles Kingsley and his wife Mary. His brother Henry also became a novelist. He spent his childhood in Clovelly, Devon and Barnack, Northamptonshire and was educated at Helston Grammar School before studying at King’s College London and the University of Cambridge. In 1839 at Braziers Park he met Frances ‘Fanny’ Grenfell, with whom he fell almost immediately in love. In 1842 Charles left for Cambridge to read for Holy Orders at Magdalene College. He was originally intended for the legal profession, but changed his mind and chose to pursue a ministry in the church. In 1844 he married Fanny and became rector of Eversley in Hampshire. In 1860, he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge.

In 1869 Kingsley resigned his professorship and from 1870 to 1873 he was a canon of Chester Cathedral. While in Chester he founded the Chester Society for Natural Science, Literature and Art which played an important part in the establishment of the Grosvenor Museum.  In 1872 he accepted the Presidency of the Birmingham and Midland Institute and became its 19th president. Kingsley died in 1875 and was buried in St Mary’s Churchyard in Eversley.  (Source: Wikipedia)