Chapter XXIII (1)

Eminent Citizens of the Nineteenth Century.

_Professor Taylor_.

PROFESSOR TAYLOR claims the first place in our notices of the eminent citizens of this period, as a politician, a musician, and a public man. After his death a memoir of him appeared in the _Norfolk News_ of March 28th, and April 4th, 1863, and from it we derive the following details:—

“Mr. Edward Taylor was the great grandson of the celebrated Dr. John
Taylor, a man not less beloved for the kindliness of his disposition,
than he was venerated for his vast learning. Dr. Taylor was born at
Lancaster in the year 1694, and came to Norwich (according to Mr.
Edward Taylor’s account) in 1733. Here he remained till 1757, and
here it was that he produced many of his works, amongst others his
famous Hebrew Concordance, which was published in two large volumes,
folio, and was the labour of fourteen years. Many copies of the
frontispiece (a fine portrait engraved by Houbraken) are still extant
in this city. Dr. Taylor must have been fond of music, and must also
have made it a personal study. This we infer, less from his having
published ‘A Collection of Tunes in Various Airs’ for the use of his
Norwich congregation, than from his having been able to Prefix
thereto ‘Instructions in the Art of Psalmody.’ The airs themselves
have no other accompaniment added than an unfigured bass, but the
collection contains many of the finest melodies which are now in use.
The instructions were intended to enable a student to sing at sight.

“When Dr. Taylor quitted Norwich, his only surviving son, Richard,
remained, and carried on the business of a manufacturer in St. George
Colegate. Mr. John Taylor, father of the subject of this memoir, was
born the 30th July, 1750. In 1773, he entered into the business of a
yarn maker, in partnership with his brother, in the parish where
their father had lived. If not a musical composer, John had the
reputation of being at least a tolerable poet, and he was peculiarly
happy in writing words for music.

“In April, 1777, Mr. John Taylor married Susannah, the youngest
daughter of Mr. John Cook of Norwich. Mr. Edward Taylor was born on
the 22nd of January, 1784, in the parish of St. George Colegate.

“In his boyish days, Edward Taylor was made to imbibe the usual
quantity of Greek and Latin, and the cask ever after retained the
flavour of the wine. But music even then was his chief delight.
When arrived at manhood he was tall and well formed; he had a fair,
though by no means a pallid complexion, a penetrating eye, and a
majestic voice, which sounded in conversation like the roll of a bass
drum. In whatever part of the world he had been met, it would have
been said at a glance, ‘That’s an Englishman.’ He had that
unmistakeable stamp of bluntness and sturdy independence which seems
to be an Englishman’s birthright. He was proud, not altogether
without reason, of his ancestors, whose religious and political
opinions he inherited. Hence, he was a Dissenter of the Unitarian
School, and what was then called a Radical Reformer. Deeming himself
to be in the right, he of course considered all those who differed
from him to be in the wrong. But being himself consistent, he knew
how to respect consistency in others. His hostility was confined to
men’s doctrines and measures; it was never extended to their persons.
In a word, he was generous, manly, and sincere, and he therefore
enjoyed the friendship of good and true men, whatever might be their
party or creed. Mr. Taylor married, in 1808, Deborah, daughter of
Mr. William Newson, of Stump Cross, in this city, a man of upright
and honourable character, and a successful tradesman.”

The memoir contains a sketch of Mr. Taylor’s political doings, which we shall give in another part of this work, and it then proceeds:—

“On the 19th January, 1824, he had the honour of dining with the Duke
of Sussex, at Kensington Palace. The next year, 1825, terminated Mr.
Taylor’s residence in his native city, though to the end of his life
he continued to take a warm interest in whatever concerned its
welfare. On the 21st of May, having already made arrangements for
giving up his business in Norwich, he went up to London to prepare
for making it his future abode. On the 5th of August, he served on
the Norwich grand jury for the last time, and the next day took his
final departure. On the 15th, he joined his brother Philip and his
cousin John Martineau in their business, as civil engineers, having
hired a house for that purpose in York Place, City Road.

“On the 3rd of January, 1826, the year after Mr. Taylor finally left
the city for London, he came down to a dinner which was given at the
Rampant Horse Hotel in his honour. The original intention had been
to place his portrait in St. Andrew’s Hall, and Sir James Smith had
actually written some lines to be placed under it, beginning—

‘Avaunt, ye base, approach ye wise and good,
Thus in this hall once Edward Taylor stood.’

But that idea was abandoned, and a presentation of a service of plate
was determined upon by his fellow-citizens. The proposition
originated with the strongest of his political antagonists in the
Corporation. The plate was given at this dinner at the Rampant
Horse, the chairman being Henry Francis, Esq., against whom Mr.
Taylor had entered the lists in the severest contest ever known in
the Mancroft Ward. This rendered the compliment greater.

“Mr. Edward Taylor’s first music master was the Rev. Charles Smyth, a
man who was equally remarkable for his eccentricity and musical
learning. Mr. Taylor always spoke with great respect of Mr. Smyth’s
musical knowledge. How long the lessons continued we have no means
of ascertaining, but we afterwards find Taylor gaining instruction
with the Cathedral boys under Dr. Beckwith at the music room in the
Cathedral. He also had lessons in the vestry room of the Octagon
Chapel; and he acquired some skill upon the flute and oboe from Mr.
Fish. But we believe that his musical education was throughout
gratuitously bestowed, out of respect to himself and his family.
Doubtless he was greatly indebted for his extensive knowledge of the
art, as well as of the German and Italian languages, to his own
perseverance in solitary study.”

The author of the memoir, after giving a sketch of the “Hall Concert”, notices Mr. Taylor’s labours on behalf of the Musical Festivals in this city, as already related in our brief account of those celebrations. Mr. Taylor was one of their chief promoters, and he worked hard to make them successful. In reference to Mr. Taylor’s career in London, the author of the memoir says,—

“It has been before stated that on the 15th August, 1825, Mr. Taylor
entered upon a new course of life, in London, in connection with his
brother Philip and Mr. John Martineau, who were civil engineers. Had
the business proved lucrative, there is no reason to suppose that Mr.
Taylor would have left it. It is certain that when he went to live
in London, nothing was further from his thoughts than that he would
ever embrace music as a profession.

“Mr. Taylor began anew the battle of life by taking private pupils.
From the first moment of his entering the musical profession, his
classical attainments, his skill as a translator, his superior mental
powers, and his extensive musical research, were honestly and fully
recognized. On the 29th March, 1827, Mr. Taylor made his first
appearance before a London audience as a public singer. His debût
was at Covent Garden, at the Oratorios under the management of Sir H.
R. Bishop. The song he chose was ‘The Battle of Hohenlinden,’
composed by C. Smith, and the reception he received from a very
crowded audience was exceedingly favourable.”

After quoting some very eulogistic notices of Mr. Taylor’s subsequent performances, the writer of the memoir continues:—

“In this year (1828) was published ‘Airs of the Rhine,’
accompaniments by William Horsley, Mus. Bac., Oxon, the poetry
translated by Edward Taylor. Of Mr. Taylor’s brief sketch of German
music prefixed to this collection, the _Quarterly Musical Review_
(conducted by Mr. R. M. Bacon) says, ‘It is so agreeably written, and
contains so many authentic and interesting particulars, that we must
do him the justice to give it a place at length. It will speak more
for the publication than anything we can say to interest the reader.’

“In 1837, Mr. Taylor was elected Gresham Professor of Music. The
place had been for 200 years a mere sinecure, generally held by
persons totally ignorant of music, but he did much to render it
useful to the art. In 1838 he published his ‘Three Inaugural
Lectures,’ which he dedicated to the Trustees of Gresham College. He
was not content with reading his lectures, however good. He
illustrated them by having some compositions of the master who might
be under discussion, well sung in parts by a competent choir.
Amateurs of distinction and professional men lent their aid, and this
attracted large audiences to the theatre.

“In 1843, Professor Taylor, who had been musical critic for the
_Spectator_ for fourteen years, retired from that department, and he
received a very complimentary letter from Mr. Rintoul the editor, who
said, ‘I can bear my willing testimony to the high aims, the great
ability, the persevering zeal, and undeviating punctuality with which
you have upheld the cause of good music in my journal for the long
period of fourteen years. I believe that a selection from your
writings in the _Spectator_ would comprise a body of the soundest and
best musical criticism in the language; and when you retire, I know
not that any second man in England is qualified to sustain the
elevated standard that you have raised, &c.’ High praise indeed, but
well deserved.

“In the year 1845, Professor Taylor published, in the _British and
Foreign Review_, an article headed ‘The English Cathedral Service;
its Glory, its Decline, and its Designed Extinction.’ This was
subsequently published by permission of the proprietor in the form of
a thin octavo volume. It was a masterly defence of the musical
services of our Cathedrals, and of the choirs, against the spoliation
of the deans and chapters, which had been silently and surely going
on ever since the time of Queen Elizabeth. It made a strong
sensation at the time, and even now, whoever would strike a blow for
the cause of Cathedral music, (which in Professor Taylor’s opinion is
the salt which can alone save the musical taste of the people from
corruption) will find the best weapons ready to his hand contained in
this little volume.

“Professor Taylor, who had been long a widower, died (March 12th,
1863,) with the utmost tranquillity, at his house at Brentwood. He
had three children, all of whom survive him; a son, Mr. John Edward
Taylor, who was with him in his last moments, and two daughters, one
of whom is married and lives in Germany, her sister living with her.

“We believe that Mr. Taylor left injunctions that his manuscripts
should not be published, which is surely to be regretted. If his
rare and valuable musical library, the acquisition of which was the
labour of a life, should be sold, we trust that it will not go
piecemeal to the hoards of individual collectors, but be bought for
the use of Gresham College and its future musical professors.”

The compiler of this history had some long interviews with Professor Taylor when he last visited Norwich in 1857, and he then stated that he had large collections of music, and a large number of lectures on the music of every period. He delivered a very splendid lecture on the music of the Elizabethan age, in aid of the funds of the Free Library, before a large audience, in the Lecture Hall, St. Andrew’s.

_The Rev. Mark Wilks_.

The Rev. Mark Wilks, who lived in the last, and in the early part of the present century, was a very remarkable character as a politician and a preacher. From his biography, written by his daughter and published in 1821, we derive the following particulars. He was the son of a subordinate officer in the army, and was born at Gibraltar on February 5th, 1748. When his father and family returned to England they lived at Birmingham, where young Mark was brought up to a trade, and where he became an itinerant Baptist preacher, without any chapel. The Countess of Huntingdon heard of his exertions, and invited him to her college at Trevecca, to which he removed in 1775, and studied there for a year. In 1776 the Countess appointed him to be minister of the Tabernacle in Norwich, which became the scene of his most continued and concentrated exertions. The first sermon he preached here was on a Sunday evening to a crowded congregation, and he made a great impression. He preached in the same pulpit that Whitfield once occupied, and the simplicity of the new minister’s appearance, and the negligence of his exterior, surpassed that of the apostle of Calvinism. His long hair fell carelessly over his shoulders; his meagre person and ruddy countenance gave him at mature age the aspect of youth. The whole of his demeanour was illuminated by the fire of affectionate zeal, and by an earnestness of manner, evincing that he was honest in the sacred cause of truth. From this time he continued his ministry till 1778, when in the spring of that year he married Susannah Jackson of Norwich. This was an event which he ever justly estimated as the happiest of his life, but it severed his connexion with the patroness of the Tabernacle. Her rule was to dismiss the students of her college on their marriage. The Countess of Huntingdon regretted the separation and recommended him to several destitute congregations, none of which, however, were then suited to his views.

After travelling about for some time in Wiltshire, where he preached in several chapels, he returned to Norwich, and on January 1st, 1780, his new meeting place was opened, and he became a pastor under the denomination of Calvinistic Methodist, without the customary form of ordination. During the interval which elapsed between his return to Norwich and his establishment as a Baptist minister, his congregation rapidly increased, and continued to increase from 1780 till 1788. He lived in retirement, and performed with satisfaction and marked punctuality the duties of his ministry. His congregation was formed into a regular Baptist church in May, 1788, and it remained so all his life. On this change many of his former supporters left him, so that his income was reduced. He therefore took a farm in the neighbourhood of Norwich, and commenced farming on an extensive scale. Employment or poverty was his only alternative, and he followed the example of the apostle Paul by supporting himself.

We now approach a period in his life in which he distinguished himself not only as a pastor, but also as a citizen and patriot; for in the year 1790 commenced those great events in France which laid the foundation of the long war between this country and that unfortunate empire, a war disastrous to both. On July 14th, 1791, Mr. Wilks preached two eloquent discourses to commemorate the leading features of the first French Revolution, before crowded congregations, composed of the most influential persons in the city and its neighbourhood. The propriety of such discourses from the pulpit may be doubted, but they caused great excitement, as the preacher defended the revolution, which was then viewed with terror by many people. We shall notice this, however, more at length in the political part of our narrative, in which we shall have to speak of the very active part which Mr. Wilks took in political affairs both in the city and county. That Mr. Wilks was a rather violent partisan, and more of a Radical than a Whig, will appear by an extract from his biography, respecting a county election.

“When the Honourable William Wyndham first offered himself as a
candidate for the county of Norfolk, he came in the character of a
Whig, and a professed friend of civil and religious liberty. Mr.
Wilks then warmly supported him, and to his exertions Mr. Wyndham
attributed his success. But the revolution in France effected a
strange change in the principles of Mr. Wyndham; and on his second
appearance as candidate for Norfolk, he presented himself in the
character of a ‘war minister,’ and the enthusiastic abettor of the
most disgraceful and perilous measures ever pursued by weak and
wicked men. Instead, therefore, of receiving support, he met with
the most determined opposition from those who had been before his
active friends. As Mr. Wilks on his former election had supported
him by the most vigorous exertions, he now appeared foremost in the
ranks of his opponents; and Mr. Wyndham regarded him with fear and
jealousy. The following anecdote will show with what gratitude he
returned the former services of him whom he had called his friend.
One morning, as a very intimate friend of Mr. Wilks was passing by
the house of a poor man, he was unexpectedly invited in, and was
informed by the man that his wife had just found an open letter, the
contents of which were of the greatest importance to Mr. Wilks. It
indeed proved so. It was a letter from Mr. Wyndham to one of his
friends at Norwich, desiring him to be most vigilant in watching the
movements and expressions of Mr. Wilks; and if at any time he uttered
anything which might be made to appear treasonable, to make him
acquainted with it, assuring him that he would take the most prompt
and severe means for his conviction. No sooner had Mr. Wilks read
this letter than he hastened with it to the printer’s, and in a few
hours the perfidy of Mr. Wyndham was publicly known in every part of
the city, and the original letter returned to its proprietor, to his
inexpressible dismay and confusion. The family and friends of Mr.
Wilks regarded this circumstance as an interposition of a watchful
Providence. But for this circumstance a few days might have seen him
the inmate of a dungeon, and his life devoted, through the
incautiousness of a sentence, to the treachery of an enemy. This
supposition may appear less improbable when it is known, that at that
time some who had been less active and less violent than himself, had
been snatched from their families during the stillness of the
midnight hour, and had been conveyed to prison without any form or
reason assigned to them. This attempt upon the liberty, and perhaps
the life, of Mr. Wilks had the beneficial effect of making him more
vigilant over his words, and more cautious, although not less bold
and decisive in all his proceedings. Yet his wife and friends
entertained so great an anxiety for his safety, that they strongly
importuned him to seek an asylum under the calmer skies of America,
but he resisted their importunities.

“It must be mentioned, as an instance of the generosity of Mr. Wilks’
disposition, as well as a proof that his political conduct originated
in genuine principles of patriotism, that when Mr. Wyndham again
returned as a candidate for Norfolk as conjoint supporter of the Whig
interest in union with Mr. Coke, Mr. Wilks never suffered the
recollection of his private wrongs to interfere with the principles
that Mr. Wyndham had come forward to maintain, but supported him with
the same firmness and ardour as he had ever done.

“But it is necessary to return to those incidents of his life, the
order of which has been neglected in pursuing the chain of his
political character, and which he considered of far greater
importance than any other. In the year 1792, the Baptist Missionary
Society was established by Carey, Fuller, Pearce, and Ryland. Those
incomparable men, in a small room at Kettering, planted the germ of
that tree which has since spread its branches into the remotest
corners of the earth. The Indian Banyan is famed for its fertility;
it is planted, it grows, and its branches descending, strike root,
and reproduce another tree; its branches again descend, and produce
another tree; trees succeed in endless multiplication, till a far and
wide-spreading beauteous forest is formed from the vast trunk of what
was once a single plant. In India flourishes a moral Banyan; it has
been planted by the hand of a Carey, a Fuller, a Pearce, a Ryland,
and a Wilks; watered and cultivated by their labours and their
prayers, its roots have taken a deeper and deeper root, and the day
is approaching when the sultry clime of India shall be covered by its
shadows, cheered by its verdant foliage, and refreshed by its
heavenly fruits.

“It is well known that Mr. Wilks’ devotion to the missionary cause
was early and invincible. Whether he was present at its
establishment is rather doubtful; but from its commencement he
regarded it as the dawn of happiness to the world, and put into
action all his powers and his influence in promoting so benevolent an
end. But it was not in the mission alone that he evinced his
benevolence and his disinterestedness. Nine years had elapsed since
he first commenced farming, and during that time and the succeeding
year he preached regularly, and fulfilled all the duties incumbent on
his station, without receiving for his services the smallest
remuneration. Whether in this instance he acted in all respects with
prudence has frequently been doubted by himself as well as his
friends. His conduct originated in feelings of the purest
benevolence, although perhaps it lost its excellence in losing its
justice.”

In the year 1797 Mr. Wilks was obliged to quit his farm, the lease of which had expired. He immediately engaged another at Aldborough, a village near Harleston in Suffolk, and went there to reside with his family in March, 1797. The distance of that place was seventeen miles from Norwich; yet although he was necessarily obliged to omit the week-day preaching, he never once neglected the regular performance of his pastoral duties on Sunday. In every kind of weather he constantly travelled thirty-four miles every Sunday to preach to a congregation from whom he received no remuneration. This course of exertion, however, could not be long continued. With the engagements of his farm, which were at this time very considerable, and the care attendant on a large family of twelve children, he found it was necessary either to give up his church or to leave his farm. Though his farm was a very profitable one, he did not hesitate which course to pursue; and he took another farm at Cossey, near Norwich, where he continued for some time, and where he often preached to the people in the village.

In March, 1802, he purchased a farm at the village of Sprowston, only two miles from Norwich. Here he enjoyed the society of his friends in the city, and in every respect his own comfort and that of his family were improved by this removal. His congregation increased, and the chapel in which he preached became too small for all who wished to attend his ministry. His friends were therefore desirous of erecting a more commodious one, and purchased a piece of ground for its erection. In September, 1812, he laid the first stone, and Mr. Andrew Fuller preached on the occasion.

In 1814, he went on a begging tour for his meeting house, and travelled through the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire, and thence to London. In six weeks he collected about £400, but his exertions brought on a serious illness. After his return his family scarcely hoped for his recovery. On May 4th, 1814, the new meeting house, in St. Clement’s, Norwich, was opened by Mr. M. Wilks of London, and Mr. A. Fuller. The pastor was present, but in a very feeble state of health. He recovered slowly in a few weeks, and when his health was sufficiently restored, he made another effort to diminish the debt on the new chapel. Though he frequently considered himself to be in a dying state, yet at every interval of ease he pursued his work with unremitting ardour. It is unnecessary to relate all the details of the few latter years of his life; the long journeys he took in the years 1815 and 1816, were a proof of the generosity of his heart. His last two years he spent in retirement, yet in the performance of his ministerial duties; and ever ready to advance the interests of his church, of his family, and of mankind.

He was ill only four days previous to his death, which took place on February 5th, 1819. When it was publicly known in the city that he was no more, hundreds of people went to his house to take a last look of him whom living they had so much loved and respected. And the bitter tears of his surviving relatives, the deep affliction of his friends, and the sorrow of mourning multitudes, bore a sad testimony to his worth as a husband, a father, a friend, a minister, a neighbour, and a christian.

He died on his birthday, when he had attained the age of seventy-one. His much valued friend, the Rev. W. Hull of Norwich, spoke at his interment to a large assembly of sincere mourners, and to a great concourse of spectators. The Rev. Mark Wilks of London, his nephew, preached a funeral sermon on Sunday, February 14th, before a large congregation. The deceased was buried under the pulpit where he had preached the gospel for forty years. Of his family of twelve children, including his four sons, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, none of them and none of their descendants now live in Norwich.

_The Rev. John Alexander_.

The Rev. John Alexander was the pastor of the Independent Congregation in Prince’s Street for a period of fifty years. He was much beloved by all who knew him for his kindly disposition and genuine piety. Bishop Stanley often spoke of him in terms of the highest commendation as a christian minister. He took an active interest in all the philanthropic and educational movements of the district, and was for some time the Chairman of the Board of Management of the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. After his death, on July 31st, 1868, a short memoir of him appeared in the _Norfolk News_; and this memoir contained nearly the whole history of Prince’s Street Chapel in this city. We give the following extracts:—

“Mr. Alexander was born at Lancaster in 1792. Of his father, the
Rev. William Alexander, our deceased friend published an interesting
_Memoir_; and, as showing his own appreciation of the excellencies of
his parents, he placed on the title page these lines of Cowper’s:—

‘My boast is, not that I deduce my birth
From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth;
But higher far my proud pretensions rise,
The son of parents passed into the skies.’

In the same volume we find him thus writing in reference to his early
days:—‘The reader will, I trust, perceive that our domestic
discipline, union, and affection, together with the sweet influences
of religion, rendered us a happy family. The recollections and the
love of home, too, and our reverence for holy parents, became a
shield of protection to us, and “a way of escape” in the day of
evil.’ With an atmosphere like this surrounding his childhood, we
wonder not that he became in early life the subject of deep religious
convictions. In 1807 he entered a large commercial establishment
connected with a household in which ‘the most beautiful domestic
order was combined with everything that was pure and lovely in
religion.’ This privilege was greatly prized by him, and he ever
cherished a grateful sense of the goodness of God in placing him
there. During this period he attended the ministry of the Rev. P. S.
Charrier of Liverpool, and joined the church under his care. For
some time he had cherished a desire, and entertained a hope, in
reference to the christian ministry, which was now soon to be
realised.

“The celebrated Dr. Edward Williams, one of the tutors at Rotherham
College, happened just then to visit Liverpool, and unexpectedly
spoke to him on the subject, offering him the advantages of the
institution over which he presided. This incident naturally made a
deep impression on his mind, and led him very seriously and
prayerfully to consider the matter. Of course, he lost no time in
communicating his thoughts to his father, who urged on him the
greatest caution, saying, ‘God forbid you should take it up, except
in compliance with the will of God.’ Nothing daunted, however, by
the somewhat discouraging aspect of the ministry set before him in
his father’s letters, he intimated to him, in reply to his inquiries,
that he retained an unalterable ‘determination to give himself to the
work, believing he had been called of God to it;’ and in 1814 he was
admitted as a student into Hoxton College. Here the amiable
qualities which distinguished him all through life soon endeared him
to every fellow-student, and one still surviving speaks of hours
spent with him as ‘the happiest, holiest, and most profitable spent
under the college roof.’

“In his _Thirty Years’ History of the Church and Congregation in
Prince’s Street Chapel_, he gives us an account of his first visit to
and subsequent residence in this city. From that source we learn
that early in the year 1817 he received an invitation to preach for a
few Sabbaths in the Tabernacle, and that on Friday, April 4th, 1817,
(the day on which a fatal steam-packet catastrophe occurred by which
many lives were lost), he entered Norwich. On the following Sunday
evening he preached from the text, ‘Therefore be ye also ready; for
in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh.’ The place
was crowded; and, says he, ‘The Lord stood by me and strengthened
me.’ At the expiration of three Sabbaths he returned to London,
promising to visit Norwich again and preach during the whole of the
Midsummer vacation. He resumed his labours with very great
encouragement at the Tabernacle on July 6th; and some legal
difficulty occurring as to the power of appointing the minister, he
consented, with the approbation of his tutors, to continue them till
the disputed point was settled, which was not till the following
December. The legal decision was such as necessitated him to give
notice the very day it arrived, that in the evening he should preach
his last sermon in the Tabernacle. On that occasion he chose as his
text, words which the people believed to have been divinely suggested
to his mind, ‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the
morning.’ That text, it was often afterwards remarked, built the new
chapel. The prospect, however, of the toil connected with the
establishment of a new church and congregation, and the building of a
chapel, was such that he shrank from it, and took his place in the
coach to return to London on his way to Kidderminster, where he had
been requested to supply, with a view to settlement.

“But so deep was the impression his services had produced, and so
warm the interest and affection created, that the people would not
part from him. On the day of his departure, a deputation waited on
him and pressed on him an invitation to become their minister with
such affectionate earnestness, that, says he ‘I felt the appeal to be
irresistible, and I promised to lay the whole matter before my tutor
and friends, and to make it the subject of serious and prayerful
re-consideration.’ The result was that he returned, and for some
time preached in the Lancasterian School-room. At length the site on
which Prince’s Street Chapel now stands was purchased, and the
foundation stone laid on the 16th of March, 1819. It was opened on
December 1st in the same year, and thenceforward, for the space of
about five and forty years, it continued to be the scene of the
living and life-quickening ministry of one whose ‘praise is in all
the churches.’ Of the characteristics of Mr. Alexander’s preaching
this is not the place to speak beyond saying it was truly evangelical
and eminently successful. But he was not the preacher only. He was
the faithful pastor, the unswerving friend, and the cheerful
companion as well. Hence in times of sorrow or of joy he was a
welcome guest, either in the family meeting or at more social
gatherings. He carried summer and sunshine with him into every
circle, and never left any without leaving a longing in every heart,
young and old, for the next visit. When he crossed the threshold,
the young loved to caress and to be caressed by him, whilst to the
others the cares of life seemed lessened, and the burden lightened,
as he spoke to them a few words of loving sympathy or wise counsel,
and left them with his soft tones of benediction treasured in their
hearts and vibrating on their ears.

“Time rolled on, ever finding him at his work, till thirty years had
gone, when his friends gathered round him in St. Andrew’s Hall to
testify their high appreciation of his excellencies, and their deep
and strong affection for him as their pastor and their friend. On
that occasion it was the desire of the people to present a purse to
him as a substantial token of their esteem, but there being at that
time a debt of £400 remaining on the chapel, he, with that
characteristic unselfishness which ever marked him, urgently
requested that they would abandon the purse, but remove the debt.
But it must not be supposed that Mr. Alexander’s energies were
confined to the cause of Christ at Prince’s Street Chapel, or that
the members of his church and congregation were allowed to claim him
as exclusively belonging to them. This was seen when ten years more
of active service had passed, and troops of admirers, from far and
near, flocked again to St. Andrew’s Hall to do him honour. On that
occasion the Mayor (J. G. Johnson, Esq.,) represented the city, and
the Rev. S. Titlow the Church of England, in most eulogistic
speeches. The Baptist Churches of the county presented him with an
address, whilst brethren of his own denomination, and others, lay and
ministerial, seemed to vie with one another in magnifying ‘the grace
of God’ in him. The desire entertained ten years before was now
carried into effect, and a purse, with an elegant skeleton timepiece,
and a memorial engrossed on vellum and framed, were presented to him,
and a gold watch and chain to Mrs. Alexander. The timepiece bore the
following inscription:—

Presented to the Rev. John Alexander, together with a purse of 500
sovereigns, on his commencing the fortieth year of his ministry in
Norwich, by the members of his congregation and numerous other
friends, as a memorial of Christian esteem and love.—Norwich, June
3rd, 1856.

From that time the infirmities of age, and the claims of a large
congregation, led him to desire help, which was secured for him in
the person of an assistant minister. With that help he happily and
zealously worked on in his Master’s service through another decade of
years, when once more the old Gothic hall resounded with his praises
and witnessed another outburst of affectionate congratulation.
Having lived to see the jubilee of his ministry, he now resigned the
pastoral office, and was presented with an annuity of £200 and a
magnificent epergne, on which a suitable inscription was engraved.
With trembling emotion the venerable man read his reply and
acknowledgment, in which, after recording the goodness of God and the
kindness of his friends through the long period of fifty years, he
stated that during his pastorate more than a thousand members had
been added to the church, two chapels had been added to the one in
Prince’s Street, four Sunday Schools had been raised and supplied
with a hundred teachers and with nearly a thousand children, and
eight members of the church had become ministers of the Gospel.

“Seldom is it the lot of the most favoured ministers thus to be
blessed and made a blessing. We shall not attempt to describe what
Mr. Alexander was in the pulpit, on the platform, in the committee
room, or from the press, nor how he discharged his duties as chairman
of ‘The Congregational Union of England and Wales,’ and secretary of
‘The Association for the Spread of the Gospel in the County.’ Much
less shall we venture a word on his private or domestic life. We
hope another and abler pen will pourtray his character more fully,
and hence we content ourselves by adding words written by a friend,
‘His life is his eulogy.’ It was a holy life, a useful life, an
honourable life, a happy life.

“The last sermon Mr. Alexander preached was delivered in Prince’s
Street Chapel on April 22nd, 1866, from 2 _Cor._ ii. 14–17. The last
time that he spoke in St. Andrew’s Hall was a few months before his
death, on the occasion of the mayor’s invitation to the Sunday school
teachers, and the last public religious service he attended was in
the Old Meeting House on Sunday evening, July 19th, 1868, where his
presence was ever as welcome as in his own chapel.

“Of his history since his retirement into private life, little only
can be said. At first the ease and seeming uselessness imposed on
him by the infirmities of age had a depressing influence on his mind,
but latterly this gave place to his wonted calm confidence in God,
and his usual joyousness of heart. Occasionally, to the grief of his
friends, the decline of his mental powers was painfully visible, but
this was often relieved by his still sparkling and felicitous
utterances, and his fervent devotional exercises.

“Some lines written in our album so recently as last November will,
perhaps, best indicate the state of his mind, and the theme on which
it delighted to dwell:—

Amidst the fragrance richly shed,
And beauty blooming in the bowers,
The willow bends its mournful head,
And seems to weep among the flowers.

And so in human life we find,
How bright soever it appears,
That grief is rooted in the mind,
And smiles are mingled with its tears.

But there’s a garden in the sky
Where mourning willows cannot grow,
Where tears are wiped from every eye,
And streams of joy unmingled flow.

“And now the time drew nigh that he must die. For only a few days he
was withdrawn from the outer world. During that time it was very
evident that constant intercourse was being carried on with heaven.
On asking him, two days prior to his death, if the Saviour he had so
long and faithfully preached to others was now near and precious to
himself, he replied, ‘Oh, what should I do without Him!’ The day
before his departure he was much in prayer. His family were all
remembered before God, as were also the servants of the household.
And very touching were the words in which he sought a blessing on the
ministers of the city, and on their work, with whom he had lived in
closest and loving fellowship. And so he passed away, spending his
last hours, as he had spent his life, in blessing others.

“On Tuesday, the 4th of August, he was carried to his grave amid the
lamentations of a vast concourse of his fellow-citizens, and friends
from the country, who had known him and esteemed him very highly in
love for his works’ sake. The funeral service at the grave was
conducted by the Revs. G. Gould, J. Hallett, P. Colborne, and G. S.
Barrett, B.A.; but gathered there were clergymen and ministers of
every denomination, as well as laymen of all classes, from the mayor
to the humblest artisan.

“And so has passed away from our midst, full of days and honours,
one, whom it was a privilege to have known, and an impossibility not
to have loved. His Christian catholicity, his large-hearted charity,
his generous liberality, his untarnished reputation, and his fidelity
to Christian truth, together with other virtues that adorned his long
life, constrain us to thank God for having given him to Norwich, and,
now that He has taken him to Himself, constrain us to say ‘Let me die
the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!’”

The funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. John Stoughton, of London, before a large congregation in St. Andrew’s Hall.

_The Gurney Family_.

The members of the Gurney family, from an early period, have been distinguished by their station, wealth, and intelligence, both in Norfolk and Norwich. Memoirs of Joseph John Gurney, with selections from his journal and correspondence, were edited by Joseph Bevan Braithwaite, and published by Mr. Fletcher of this city. From these memoirs we derive the following interesting details respecting the family, and the Society of Friends in Norwich.

“The family of Gurney or Gournay is said to have sprung from a house
of Norman barons, who followed William the Conqueror into England and
obtained a large estate in this country, chiefly in the county of
Norfolk. From them descended a long line of country gentlemen, who
maintained themselves at Harpley, and West Barsham, in this county,
for many generations, and from a very early period had one of their
residences in this city. The last of these dying without male issue,
about the commencement of the reign of Charles II., the old family
estates at that period became dispersed amongst females. The name of
Gurney was, however, honourably continued through a descendant of one
of the younger sons of an earlier generation, John Gurney, the
ancestor of the present family. He was born in the year 1655, and
notwithstanding his family connections, commenced life in Norwich in
somewhat straitened circumstances. Devoting himself in his youth to
the cause of religion, we find him in the year 1678, at the age of
twenty-three, already connected with the oppressed, persecuted
Quakers.

“The family of John Gurney appear previously to have had some
connexion with the Puritans. Henry Gurney, indeed, of West Barsham,
the representative of the family in the early part of the 17th
century, had a distaste for Puritanism, if, at least, we are to judge
from the insertion in his will (proved in 1623) of a special charge
to his younger son, ‘That none hould any fantisticall or erroneous
opinions, so adjudged by our bishop or civill lawes.’ But Edmund
Gurney, rector of Harpley, one of these younger sons, who was a
person of influence, became known as a zealous Puritan; he declined
wearing the surplice, and was probably among those who took the
covenant in 1643. After him John Gurney successively named two of
his children. Others of his connexions were also inclined to
Puritanism, and some of them, like himself, joined the Society of
Friends. In the case of the early Friends generally, their ultimate
settlement in those gospel principles by which they became
distinguished from others, was preceded by a state of much religious
awakening and earnest seeking after God, in which they ‘searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were so.’

“Through what course of experience John Gurney arrived at his
conviction, the scanty materials of his history do not inform us.
Let it suffice us to know that what he became convinced of, was
precious to him as the truth, and that for it he was prepared to
suffer. On the 29th of the ninth month (O. S.), 1682, (so the
records of the Friends in Norwich inform us,) ‘Friends being kept out
of their meeting house, met together in the street to wait upon the
Lord,’ and, being there, John Gurney and another Friend, were
violently pulled out from among the rest, as if they had been
malefactors, and carried before a justice of the peace, by whom, as
they declined giving, on such an account, the required bail, they
were committed until the next quarter sessions. In the following
year, 1683, he was again imprisoned, for refusing to take an oath,
and continued in prison, under successive recommitments, nearly three
years. He died in the year 1721, having greatly prospered in his
temporal concerns; and, what is far more important, having, according
to the testimony of those who knew him, taken particular care in the
religious education of all his children, and continued faithful to
the end.

“His two elder sons, John and Joseph, were both men of marked
character. John was gifted with much natural eloquence, and obtained
considerable reputation by the spirit and ability with which he
successfully defended the Norwich trade, before a committee of the
House of Lords, against some apprehended encroachments. He
subsequently received from Sir Robert Walpole the offer of a seat in
parliament, which, however, he declined as inconsistent with his
religious principles in the then state of the law. Religion had
early taken possession of his heart, and about the 22nd year of his
age, in obedience to the call of apprehended duty, he had yielded
himself to the work of the public ministry of the gospel, in which
service he laboured diligently for many years; neither the temptation
of prosperity nor the kindness and esteem of great men of this world,
being, in the simple and forcible language of the memorial respecting
him, ‘permitted to separate him from that truth which the Lord had
eminently convinced him of.’

“Besides numerous other descendants, he was the grandfather of Martha
Birkbeck, whose daughter Jane became the first wife of Joseph John
Gurney. Joseph Gurney, his younger brother, who, towards the close
of his life, fixed his residence at Keswick, near Norwich, also
became a valued minister of the gospel among Friends. His christian
profession was eminently adorned by a life of humility, benevolence,
and moderation. He died in the year 1750, after a suffering illness
which he bore with exemplary resignation, giving a final evidence of
the truth of what he then expressed that it had been ‘the business of
his whole life to be prepared for such a time!’

“His eldest son, John Gurney, was a man of great activity and energy,
and notwithstanding his extensive engagements in business, devoted
much of his time to the interests of his own religious society, to
the principles of which he was warmly attached. In the midst of a
course of remarkable temporal prosperity, it is instructive to
observe the fears which he expresses in one of his private memoranda,
lest his increasing opulence should lead away his children from those
religious habits and associations in which they had been educated.
He left three sons, all of whom married and settled near Norwich.
Richard Gurney the eldest, on his father’s decease, in 1770, became
the occupant of the family residence at Keswick. John Gurney, the
father of J. J. Gurney, had previously to the birth of the latter
settled at Earlham. Joseph Gurney, the youngest, resided at Lakenham
Grove. The three families were naturally much associated, and
exercised an important influence upon each other. At a later period
especially, the consistency with which Joseph Gurney, of The Grove,
was enabled to maintain his position as a Friend, and as a christian
minister, rendered his influence peculiarly valuable.”

John Gurney, of Earlham, is eulogised highly by the editor of these memoirs as generous, ardent, and warm-hearted, abounding in kindness to all, uniting very remarkable activity, both in public and private business, with an acute intellect and extensive information. His wife was Catherine Bell, a daughter of Daniel Bell of Stamford Hill, near London, her mother being a granddaughter of Robert Barclay, the well-known author of the “Apology.” She is described as a woman of very superior mind as well as personal charms, and as a serious christian and decided Friend. She died in the autumn of 1792, leaving her sorrowing husband the widowed parent of eleven children. The following list of the names may be found useful:—

Catherine died unmarried, 1850.

Rachel died unmarried, 1827.

Elizabeth, married in 1800 to Joseph Fry, of London, became the celebrated Mrs. Fry, who died in 1845.

John died in 1814.

Richenda married in 1816 to Francis Cunningham, who died in 1855.

Hannah married in 1807 to Thomas Fowell Buxton.

Louisa, married in 1806 to Samuel Hoare, died in 1836.

Priscilla died unmarried, 1821.

Samuel, who died in 1856.

Joseph John, who died in 1847.

Daniel, still living.

_Joseph John Gurney_, _Esq._

Among the eminent citizens of this century, none will take a higher place than the late J. J. Gurney, Esq., the well-known philanthropist. He was born at Earlham Hall on August 8th, 1788. That hall was one of the happiest homes in England. It was also the birth-place of Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, sister of J. J. Gurney, and almost as celebrated as her brother. Here they were both trained with religious care, and passed their days of childhood and youth in happiness and peace. In after life they were associated together in works of benevolence, and the brother often aided his sister in many of her schemes for improving prison discipline.

In 1803, soon after he had completed his 15th year, Joseph John was sent to Oxford with his cousin Gurney Barclay to pursue his studies under the care of John Rogers, a private tutor. Young J. J. Gurney continued at Oxford two years, with the exception of the vacations, which he spent mostly at home. His tutor, though resident at Oxford, was not in that character connected with the university or with any of the colleges. The student became an excellent classical and oriental scholar, and ultimately the author of several valuable religious works, such as “Essays on Christianity,” “Thoughts on Habit and Discipline.” He was scarcely seventeen when, in August, 1805, he was removed from the care of John Rogers. He had become attached to his tutor and to his studies, and he quitted the place with regret, but there was brightness in the thought of settling at home. The bank in which his father was a partner had been established in Norwich in the year 1770. After that time the concern was considerably extended with branch banks at Lynn, Fakenham, Yarmouth, and other places. His elder brother, John, had been placed in the establishment at Lynn, and his brother Samuel had been sent up to London, where he had become the head of a district concern; so that circumstances had prepared the way for that which J. J. Gurney himself had desired—a place in the bank at Norwich. Here in the enjoyment of daily communication with his father, and a home at Earlham with his sisters, the ensuing three years of his life passed in peace and joy. In the year 1806, he accompanied his father and a large family party in a tour to the English lakes and through Scotland. On their return, J. J. Gurney was regular in his attendance at the bank, but he found time for study at home, and he carefully read ancient historians in the original languages. Gradually, however, his attention became unceasingly directed to biblical literature, which continued for some years to absorb much of his leisure. His habits of study were eminently methodical, exemplifying his favourite maxim, which he was afterwards accustomed strongly to inculcate upon his young friends, “Be a whole man to one thing at a time.” His position and tastes introduced him to the highly-cultivated society, for which Norwich was at the time remarkable, at the house of his cousin Hudson Gurney, where he was accustomed to meet many persons who were eminent for their parts and learning. He had early become a favourite with Dr. Bathurst, then Bishop of Norwich, and their intercourse gradually ripened into a warm friendship, which was maintained unbroken till that prelate’s decease, in 1837, at the very advanced age of ninety-three. Young J. J. Gurney was but just twenty-one when, as one of his father’s executors and representative at Earlham, and as a partner in the bank, very grave responsibilities devolved upon him. However, he continued to pursue his studies with ardour, and he made his first essay as an author in an article published in the _Classical Journal_ on September 9th, 1810, under the title of “A Critical Notice of Sir William Drummond’s Dissertations on the Herculanesia.” After this effort his mind became increasingly drawn towards the principles of the Society of Friends, and many of his allusions to his feelings, in his autobiography, are peculiarly interesting and instructive, indicating the spiritual phase of his mind. The example of his sister, Elizabeth Fry, as well as of his sister Priscilla, who like her, had become a decided Friend and a preacher of the gospel, strengthened his convictions; but the influence of other members of the family who resided at Earlham, as well as of many other estimable persons, tended in an opposite direction. The editor of the Memoirs, already referred to, says:—