critically read the Old and New Testaments in the original languages, in the Syriac Peschito, and in the Latin vulgate, before he was twenty-two years of age, and he was well acquainted with Rabbinical and Patristic writings; but, what is best of all, his early studies were not only pursued and perfected in after life, but all the intellectual wealth and power which they afforded, were consecrated to the advancement of truth and piety in himself and others. He was an object of great admiration and attachment to all his juvenile acquaintance; and when we consider the sweetness of his disposition, his social sympathies, and his bright worldly prospects, we may gratefully acknowledge that his preservation from the power of temptation, was an early and impressive evidence that he was a favoured object of Divine care and mercy. annual examination of the British School, in Palace-street; and it is now a peculiarly affecting remembrance that, at the close of the engagement, a map of England and Wales, which some of the boys had drawn out, was presented to him in the name of the school, as a testimony of the respect and gratitude of the children. His affectionate heart was evidently delighted with the gift. He thanked them all most heartily; and, alas! for human plans and foresight, he kindly promised that all the boys should visit Earlham, some fine day in summer, when they might play in the plantation, and walk through the beautiful garden. "In that garden there is now a sepulchre!" Having, in early life, been brought under the influence of religion, he became desirous to be the means of imparting its instructions and blessings to others; and, therefore, after the usual preliminary proceedings, he became an acknowledged minister in the Society of Friends in the year 1818. By taking this step, he entered upon a more important course of labour and usefulness. His ministry, notwithstanding its accordance with the principles and peculiarities of the Friends, was evangelical and influential in a high degree. As the Friends distinguish between teaching and preach It will be peculiarly gratifying to the great and useful body of Sunday-school teachers, to be informed that some of his juvenile years were consecrated to that important work, chiefly for the purpose of instructing a class of young persons in scriptural religion; and that some men of reputation and usefulness, now in Norwich, were once children in his "first day" school. From that time forward he was an enlightened and zealous advo-ing, he could consistently make previous cate and labourer in the cause of popular education. The public school, at Ackworth, as well as other schools, belonging to the Society of Friends, received his attention and support; and he composed, for the use of its pupils, "a plan of scriptural instruction," which embraces a compendious system of Scripture history, doctrines, and duties. He was also a warm admirer and liberal supporter of the British School System, not only on account of its religious and unsectarian basis, but also on account of its efficient mode of communicating instruction. Many parts of the country, as well as of our own city, can bear witness to the liberality with which he assisted in the erection and maintenance of public schools. One of his latest acts was, to attend the preparation for the former, and such discourses especially were exceedingly clear, well arranged, and peculiarly adapted to the occasion and the auditory. The simplicity of his style, the appropriateness of his illustrations, the telling words which he occasionally introduced, the ease and gracefulness of his manner, and the deep and honest interest which he always manifested in the subject of his address, rendered him a most attractive and persuasive speaker; and whenever he rose on the platform, at our public meetings, every heart throbbed, and every eye sparkled, in anticipation of his speech. One of his earliest journeys, in discharge of his ministry,-undertaken in 1818 in company with his sister, Mrs. Fry,-was also devoted to an investiga tion of the state of the prisons in Scotland and the north of England; the results of which were given to the public, in a volume of well-selected facts, accompanied with wise and benevolent suggestions on the subject of prison discipline. A similar journey to Ireland was taken by the same parties in the spring of 1827, and an account of it was published by Mr. Gurney in "A Report addressed to the Marquis Wellesley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland;" in which he recommends a course of prison discipline, the great objects of which are, "first, to prevent the criminal from growing worse; and, secondly, if possible, to effect in his character a real improvement." Upwards of forty prisons were visited by them, besides the principal lunatic asylums, infirmaries, houses of industry, and other establishments, for the relief of the most wretched part of that ever afflicted population. This visit was very interesting to him; and, on his return, he related, in his own playful and humorous manner, several anecdotes respecting the salutations with which he was greeted by the warm-hearted Irish in some of the towns, when he was seen walking armin-arm with the priests in making his visits of mercy; and also respecting the influence produced by the inspiring chant of Mrs. Fry's voice, in those religious meetings, at which both priests and people attended-an influence which was felt indeed not in Ireland only, nor in England only; for when she was addressing a large company of orphans on the Continent, one of the German princes in attendance was so wrought upon, that he cried aloud, "C'est le don de Dieu" "This is the gift of God." The following sentence, which occurs towards the close of his report, though written twenty years ago, is a word in season even now. "Were the poor of Ireland, instead of being reduced by high rents, miserably low wages, uncertain tenure, and want of employment, to a condition of misery and disaffection-and, then, in the end, driven off the land in a state of despair were they, instead of suffering all this oppression, kindly treated, properly employed and remunerated, and encouraged to cultivate small portions of land, at a moderate rent, on their own account, there can be little question, that they would gradually become valuable members of the community, and would be as much bound to their superiors by the tie of gratitude, as they are now severed from them by ill-will and revenge." The friend of the prisoner could not be expected to become the enemy of the slave; and the name of Joseph John Gurney will ever be associated with Clarkson, Wilberforce, Buxton, and others, in the noble roll of abolitionists. The termination of the abominable slave trade by the British Parliament in 1807, still left slavery existing in our colonies, while the slave trade itself was still practised by foreign nations. The extension of the cause of abolition, and the emancipation of our own slaves in the West Indies, were, therefore, objects still inviting the wisdom, courage, and selfdenial of the friends of freedom and humanity; and the subject of this memoir most cheerfully gave up heart, and soul, and purse, to the effort. Many persons in Norwich well recollect the ardent and laborious exertions which he made in the city and county, to enlist all classes in the glorious contest. Nor was he unsuccessful. In January, 1824, only a short time after his brother-in-law, Fowell Buxton, had brought the subject of colonial slavery before the House of Commons, Mr. Gurney was mainly instrumental in collecting a meeting in the Guildhall, where he delivered a speech which he afterwards published, replete with sound argument, and warm-hearted philanthropy. The public mind in the city had been prepared for that meeting, by a visit paid by Thomas Clarkson a few days before it was held, whose conversation and addresses most thoroughly established and animated Mr. Gurney's mind on the subject. At a county meeting, held in the Shire hall, in the October of the following year, at which the High Sheriff presided, the eloquence of Lord Suffield, Buxton, and others, united with | labouring in the cause of emancipation, his own, not only in silencing the objections advanced by Lord Wodehouse, but in obtaining a petition for "the immediate mitigation, and, with as little delay as possible, the final and entire abolition of British Colonial Slavery." And at another meeting of the inhabitants of Norwich, held in St. Andrew's Hall, a month afterwards, a society for the abolition of slavery was instituted, of which the Revs. Edward Day and John Alexander were associated with himself as secretaries. Before that year closed he was found advocating the same cause at a general meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society in Freemason's Hall, London, at which Wilberforce, Brougham, Buxton, Mackintosh, Denman, and Lushington, were his associates. His speeches on these exciting topics were a fine manifestation of gentlemanly courtesy and Christian forbearance. They admirably combined the "suaviter in modo," with the "fortiter in re;" and while his indignation burned against the atrocious system itself, he called no fire from heaven upon either the mistaken or the guilty men by whom it was upheld. It was this "speaking the truth in love," as well as his commanding talents and influential circumstances, that qualified him so completely for a leader in every worthy cause, in whose judgment and temper all parties could repose with entire confidence. "While it is undoubtedly our Christian duty," says he, in his letters on the West Indies, "to avoid the least concession of principle upon the - subject of slavery, the use of harsh epithets and violent language towards the slaveholder is not only objectionable in itself, but has often an injurious effect in arming them against our arguments, and of thus injuring the progress of our cause. I have, therefore, thought it best to observe towards them the terms and usages of Christian courtesy; and I believe there are many of these persons in the United States, who are increasingly disposed to enter upon a fair consideration of the subject." When he was thus he was in the fulness and maturity of his physical and intellectual powers; and those who were associated with him in the spirit stirring work, now look back with gratitude on the successful termination of that glorious struggle for human right and liberty, by which eight hundred thousands of our fellow creatures were delivered from the chain, and the scourge, and the sting of slavery. For It is scarcely possible for a man of intelligence and generous sympathies to be wholly indifferent to politics. Joseph John Gurney, at all events, was not so. By education and conviction, he early became a stanch advocate of civil and religious freedom, and, on many occasions, fearlessly asserted the inalienable right of man to think for himself. several years after he attained to manhood, he took some part in the electoral struggles of Norwich. Electioneering, however, connected, as it then too much was, with party spirit and corrupt practices, soon became unpalatable to him, and he gradually withdrew from the political arena; not, however, until he had made a bold but unsuccessful attempt to abolish, by mutual agreement between the antagonist party leaders, the system of bribery, so long and so shamefully prevalent in Norwich. That he continued to the last firm in his allegiance to the political principles of his youth, no one will be disposed to question who remembers his distinct avowal of them at the great Anti-Maynooth meeting, held in St. Andrew's Hall, in 1844; or his manly adhesion to the doctrines of the League, on the occasion of Mr. Cobden's first visit to Norwich; when "free trade" was less fashionable than it has since become. In politics, however, as well as in everything else, he was swayed exclusively by the pure motives of love to his neighbour, and of fidelity to the law of God. As he was opposed to capital punishments, both on principle as a Quaker, and on feeling as a philanthropist, he took a decided and active part in every effort for their abolition, and anxiously and laboriously interested himself in the case of several criminals in the city, who had been condemned to death. Institutions of a more entirely religious character were, however, the objects in which he took the deepest interest; and of these the British and Foreign Bible Society was perhaps his greatest favourite. Its sublime and simple object—the circulation of the Scriptures, without note or comment, throughout the world; its wide embrace of all denominations of Christians as its members; and its blessed influence in saving the souls of men, all fell in with his most fondly cherished sentiments and feelings; and the day of its anniversary meeting in Norwich was with him always "a high day." Formerly its evening, and, for some years past, its morning, was spent at Earlham by the committee, in social and religious intercourse. How delightful it was, on such occasions, to form one in the varied circle of which he was the ever bright and hallowed centre. How delightful to meet there eminent and honoured Christians of all ranks and denominations, uniting with his own lovely family in friendly fellowship and in domestic worship. How delightful to hear his Scripture readings and expositions, recommending to us that truth and charity, which he so fully and closely combined, and to sympathise with him in those supplications for the church and the world, which he so fervently offered up. "Surely, it was none other than the house of God and the gate of heaven." Wilberforce, Buxton, Kinghorn, Simeon, Innes, and many others, who once met in fellowship there, are now gone to that world where he is gone, to unite with them in the song of Moses and the Lamb; but there are others who continue unto this day to carry on for awhile that blessed cause, in which they were faithful even unto death. It was on one of these occasions that he commenced and cemented his personal intimacy with Wilberforce. In the sketch which he has given of that admirable man, he says, "I was introduced to Wilberforce in the autumn of 1816. He was staying with his family by the seaside, at Lowestoft, in Suffolk. I well remember going over from the place of my own residence, in the neighbourhood of Norwich, partly for the purpose of seeing so great a man, and partly for that of persuading him to join our party, at the time of the approaching anniversaries of the Norfolk Bible and Church Missionary Societies. I was then young; but he bore my intrusion with the utmost kindness and good humour, and I was much delighted with the affability of his manners, as well as with the fluency and brightness of his conversation. Happily he acceded to my solicitations; nor could I hesitate in accepting his only condition—that I should take into my house, not only himself, but his whole family group-consisting of his amiable lady, and several of their children, two clergymen, who acted in the capacity of tutors, his private secretary, servants, &c. We were indeed to be quite full of guests, independently of this accession. But what house would not prove elastic in order to receive the abolisher of the slave trade?" The advocacy of these religious and benevolent institutions was, however, not confined to this country, or to Great Britain. He remembered them, and pleaded for them in the religious visits which, as a ministering Friend, he paid to America, and to various parts of Europe. His visit to America was in 1837, and occupied three years; during which time, he travelled through most of the northern states of the Union, and in Upper and Lower Canada. The various incidents of his journeys; the objects, natural, civil, and moral, which attracted his attention by the way; and the impressions made on his mind by America and the Americans are all narrated in good tourist style, in a series of letters to Amelia Opie, with whose delightful prose and poetry all our readers are familiar. This volume of Letters, though printed and circulated among his private friends, has not been published; but it seems very desirable, that not only it but some deeply interesting manuscripts, should be published for the use of society, which is already so much indebted to his works. But we must glance at his visits to the Continent. The first was in 1841, when he went to Paris with Samuel Gurney, his brother in sympathy, as well as in relationship. The principal object of this visit was to direct the attention of influential and official persons to the subject of slavery, for the purpose of obtaining its extinction. During their stay they had an interview with Louis Philippe, the king of the French, as well as much communication with M. Guizot, his minister, and with other persons of distinction. His next visit was in the same year, when he was accompanied by Mrs. Fry. As both of them were ministers, their visit, in that capacity, was sanctioned by the Society; but they endeavoured to combine with it, as was usual, different, yet accordant, objects of pursuit. They visited Holland, Belgium, Hanover, some of the smaller German states, Denmark, and Prussia. They held, in various places, religious meetings, not only for worship with the Friends, but also for the instruction and improvement of all classes; and they paid many visits of mercy to administer the consolations of the gospel to those who were suffering affliction and persecution. They inspected prisons, hospitals, and other public institutions, and then presented their reports to the several governments; always recommending to them, when necessary, the abolition of slavery, and the granting of religious toleration. Thus, after the example of their Divine Master, they "went about doing good." Their reception everywhere was cordial and joyous. "The common people heard them gladly." He was "a cheerful giver, such as the Lord loveth." He knew well, from his own experience, that "it is more blessed to give than to receive;" and probably there was not, in all the world, a man more really happy than he was in the exercise of his personal faculties, and in the use of his various possessions. The last public meeting he ever attended, had been summoned by the District Visiting Society, in accordance with his own suggestion, to make some additional provision for the poor, during the severities of winter. The venerable Bishop, who loved to honour his Christian character, and who cordially sympathised with his liberal spirit, moved the resolutions which Mr. Gurney seconded; and a handsome subscription was the result. It was in going home from that meeting that his horse fell, and he received his mortal injury. But he had finished the work which his Master had given him to do, and then the Master said, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Though it will not be expected that in this brief sketch any extensive analysis of his writings should be given, yet we must not entirely omit to notice him as an author. Some of his publications have already been referred to. His "Observations on the Distinguishing Views and Practices of the Society of Friends," first published in 1824, has passed through seven editions; and while it is "intended not so much for the information of the public in general, as for the use of the junior members of the Society," it is a source of authentic information relative to the religious views of his denomination, and a work of great thought, research, and learning. His "Essays on the Evidences, Doctrines, and Practical Operation of Christianity," is a body of sound divinity, written for the use of the church at large, and from which Christians of every denomination may derive instruction and improvement. While it contains a perspicuous statement of the doctrines of Christianity, it presents its internal and external evidences of truth in a clear and forcible manner; and points out the practical influence which it is intended and adapted to produce. The arrangement of the whole is exceedingly lucid and logical, and no one can thoughtfully peruse it, without great advantage to his head and his heart. The work has been well appreciated by the public. It has |