LIFE AT EARLHAM, A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

A hundred years ago, Norwich was a remarkable centre of religious,rnsocial and intellectual life. The presence of officers, quartered withrntheir troops in the city, and the balls and festivities which attendedrnthe occasional sojourn of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester,rncombined to make the quaint old city very gay; while the pronouncedrnelement of Quakerism and the refining influences of literary societyrnpermeated the generation of that day, and its ordinary life, to anrnextent not easily conceived in these days of busy locomotion andrnnew-world travel. Around the institutions of the established Church hadrngrown up a people loyal to it, for, as an old cathedral city, the charmrnof antiquity attached itself to Norwich; while Mrs. Opie and othersrnknown to literature, exercised an attraction and stimulus in theirrncircles, consequent upon the possession of high intellectual powers andrngood social position. It was in the midst of such surroundings, and withrna mind formed by such influences, that Elizabeth Fry, the prisonrnphilanthropist and Quaker, grew up to young womanhood.rnrnShe was descended from Friends by both parents: her father's family hadrnbeen followers of the tenets of George Fox for more than a hundredrnyears; while her mother was granddaughter of Robert Barclay, the authorrnof the _Apology for the People called Quakers_. It might be supposedrnthat a daughter of Quaker families would have been trained in thernstrictest adherence to their tenets; but it seems that Mr. and Mrs. JohnrnGurney, Elizabeth's parents, were not "plain Quakers." In other words,rnthey were calm, intellectual, benevolent, courteous and popular people;rnnot so very unlike others, save that they attended "First-day meeting,"rnbut differing from their co-religionists in that they abjured the strictrngarb and the "thee" and "thou" of those who followed George Fox tornunfashionable lengths, whilst their children studied music and dancing.rnMore zealous brethren called the Gurneys "worldly," and shook theirrnheads over their degenerate conduct; but, all unseen, Mrs. Gurney wasrntraining up her family in ways of usefulness and true wisdom; whilern"the fear of the Lord," as the great principle of life and action, wasrnconstantly set before them. With such a mother to mould their infantrnminds and direct their childish understandings, there was not much fearrnof the younger Gurneys turning out otherwise than well. Those who shookrntheir heads at the "worldliness" of the Gurneys, little dreamt of thernremarkable lives which were being moulded under the Gurney roof.rnrnOne or two extracts from Mrs. Gurney's diary will afford a fair insightrninto her character:--rnrn If our piety does not appear adequate to supporting us in thern exigencies of life, and I may add, death, surely our hearts cannotrn be sufficiently devoted to it. Books of controversy on religion arern seldom read with profit, not even those in favor of our ownrn particular tenets. The mind stands less in need of conviction thanrn conversion. These reflections have led me to decide on what I mostrn covet for my daughters, as the result of our daily pursuits. Asrn piety is undoubtedly the shortest and securest way to all moralrn rectitude, young women should be virtuous and good on the broad, firm basis of Christianity; therefore it is not the tenets of anyrn man or sect whatever that are to be inculcated in preference torn those rigid but divine truths contained in the New Testament. As itrn appears to be our reasonable duty to improve our faculties, and byrn that means to render ourselves useful, it is necessary and veryrn agreeable to be well-informed of our own language, and the Latin asrn being most permanent, and the French as being the most in generalrn request. The simple beauties of mathematics appear to be sorn excellent an exercise to the understanding, that they ought on norn account to be omitted, and are, perhaps, scarcely less essentialrn than a competent knowledge of ancient and modern history, geographyrn and chronology. To which may be added a knowledge of the mostrn approved branches of natural history, and a capacity of drawingrn from nature, in order to promote that knowledge and facilitate thern pursuit of it. As a great portion of a woman's life ought to bern passed in at least regulating the subordinate affairs of a family, she should work plain work herself, neatly; understand thern cutting-out of linen; also she should not be ignorant of the commonrn proprieties of a table, or deficient in the economy of any of thern most minute affairs of a family. It should be here observed thatrn gentleness of manner is indispensably necessary in women, to sayrn nothing of that polished behavior which adds a charm to everyrn qualification; to both which, it appears pretty certain, childrenrn may be led without vanity or affectation by amiable and judiciousrn instruction.rnrnThese observations furnish the key-note to Mrs. Gurney's system ofrntraining, as well as indicate the strong common-sense and highrnprinciples which actuated her. It was small wonder that of her family ofrntwelve children so many of them should rise up to "call her blessed."rnNeither was it any wonder that Elizabeth, "the dove-like Betsy" of herrnmother's journal, should idolize that mother with almost passionaterndevotion.rnrnElizabeth was born on May 21st, 1780, at Norwich; but when she was arnchild of six years old, the Gurneys removed to Earlham Hall, a pleasantrnancestral home, about two miles from the city. The family was an oldrnone, descended from the Norman lords of Gourney-en-brai, in Normandy.rnThese Norman lords held lands in Norfolk, in the time of William Rufus,rnand have had, in one line or another, representatives down to thernpresent day. Some of them, it is recorded, resided in Somersetshire;rnothers, the ancestors of Mrs. Fry, dwelt in Norfolk, generation afterrngeneration, perpetuating the family name and renown. One of thesernancestors, John Gurney, embraced the principles of George Fox, andrnbecame one of the first members of the Society of Friends. Thus it camernto pass that Quakerism became familiar to her from earlyrnchildhood--indeed, was hereditary in the family.rnrnElizabeth tells us that her mother was most dear to her; that she seldomrnleft her mother's side if she could help it, while she would watch herrnslumbers with breathless anxiety, fearing she would never awaken. Shernalso speaks of suffering much from fear, so that she could not bear tornbe left alone in the dark. This nervous susceptibility followed her forrnyears, although, with a shyness of disposition and reserve which was butrnlittle understood she refrained from telling her fears. She wasrnconsidered rather stupid and dull, and, from being continuallyrndescribed as such, grew neglectful of her studies; while, at the samerntime, delicacy of health combined with this natural stupidity to preventrnanything like precocious intelligence. Still, Elizabeth was by no meansrndeficient in penetration, tact, or common-sense; she possessedrnremarkable insight into character, and exercised her privilege ofrnthinking for herself on most questions. She is described as being a shy,rnfair child, possessing a poor opinion of herself, and somewhat given torncontradiction. She says in her early recollections: "I believe I had notrna name only for being obstinate, for my nature had a strong tendencyrnthat way, and I was disposed to a spirit of contradiction, always readyrnto see things a little differently from others, and not willing to yieldrnmy sentiments to them."rnrnThese traits developed, in all probability, into those which made her sornfamous in after years. Her faculty for independent investigation, herrnunswerving loyalty to duty, and her fearless perseverance in works ofrnbenevolence, were all foreshadowed in these early days. Add to theserncharacteristics, the religious training which Mrs. Gurney gave herrnchildren, the daily reading of the Scriptures, and the quiet ponderingsrnupon the passages read, and we cannot be surprised that such a characterrnwas built up in that Quaker home.rnrnAt twelve years of age Elizabeth lost her mother, and in consequencernsuffered much from lack of wise womanly training. The talents shernpossessed ripened and developed, however, until she became remarkablernfor originality of thought and action; while the spirit of benevolentrnenterprise which distinguished her, led her to seek out modes ofrnusefulness not usually practiced by girls. Her obstinacy and spirit ofrncontradiction became in later years gradually merged or transformed intornthat decision of character, and lady-like firmness, which were sornneedful to her work, so that obstacles became only incentives tornprogress, and persecution furnished courage for renewed zeal. Yet allrnthis was tempered with tender, conscientious heart-searching into bothrnmotives and actions.rnrnDuring her "teens" she is described as being tall and slender,rnpeculiarly graceful in the saddle, and fond of dancing. She possessed arnpleasing countenance and manner, and grew up to enjoy the occasionalrnparties which she attended with her sisters. Still, from the records ofrnher journal, we find that at this time neither the grave worship ofrnQuakerism nor the gayeties of Norwich satisfied her eager spirit. Wernfind too, how early she kept this journal, and from it we obtain therntruest and most interesting glimpses into her character and feelings.rnThus at seventeen years of age she wrote:--rnrn I am seventeen to-day. Am I a happier or a better creature than Irn was this day twelvemonths? I know I am happier--I think I amrn better. I hope I shall be happier this day year than I am now. Irn hope to be quite an altered person; to have more knowledge; to havern my mind in greater order, and my heart too, that wants to be put inrn order quite as much.... I have seen several things in myself andrn others I never before remarked, but I have not tried to improvern myself--I have given way to my passions, and let them have commandrn over me, I have known my faults and not corrected them--and now Irn am determined I will once more try with redoubled ardor to overcomern my wicked inclinations. I must not flirt; I must not be out ofrn temper with the children; I must not contradict without a cause; Irn must not allow myself to be angry; I must not exaggerate, which Irn am inclined to do; I must not give way to luxury; I must not bern idle in mind. I must try to give way to every good feeling, andrn overcome every bad. I have lately been too satirical, so as to hurtrn sometimes: remember it is always a fault to hurt others.rnrn I have a cross to-night. I had very much set my mind on going torn the Oratorio. The Prince is to be there, and by all accounts itrn will be quite a grand sight, and there will be the finest music; but if my father does not wish me to go, much as I wish it, I willrn give it up with pleasure, if it be in my power, without arn murmur.... I went to the Oratorio. I enjoyed it, but I spoke sadlyrn at random--what a bad habit!rnrn There is much difference between being obstinate and steady. If Irn am bid to do a thing my spirit revolts; if I am asked to do arn thing, I am willing.... A thought passed my mind that if I had somern religion I should be superior to what I am; it would be a bias torn better actions. I think I am by degrees losing many excellentrn qualities. I am more cross, more proud, more vain, morern extravagant. I lay it to my great love of gayety and the world. Irn feel, I know I am falling. I do believe if I had a little truern religion I should have a greater support than I have now; but Irn have the greatest fear of religion, because I never saw a personrn religious who was not enthusiastic.rnrnIt will be seen that Elizabeth at this period enjoyed the musical andrnsocial pleasures of Norwich, while at the same time she had decidedrnleanings towards the plain, religious customs of the Friends. It is notrnwonderful that her heart was in a state of unrest and agitation, that atrntimes she scarcely knew what she longed for, nor what she desired tornforsake. The society with which she was accustomed to mingle containedrnsome known in Quaker parlance as "unbelievers"; perhaps in our day theyrnwould be regarded as holding "advanced opinions." One of the mostrnintimate visitors at Earlham was a gentleman belonging to the RomanrnCatholic communion, but his acquaintance seemed rather to be a benefitrnthan otherwise, for he referred the young Gurneys in all matters ofrnfaith to the "written word" rather than to the opinions of men or booksrngenerally. Another visitor, a lady afterwards known to literature asrnMrs. Schimmelpenninck, was instrumental in leading them to form soundrnopinions upon the religious questions of the day. They were thusrnpreserved from the wave of scepticism which was then sweeping over thernsociety of that day.rnrnJudging from her journal of this date, it is not easy to detect much, ifrnany, promise of the future self-denying philanthropy. She seemedrnnervously afraid of "enthusiasm in religion"; even sought to shunrnanything which appeared different from the usual modes of action amongrnthe people with whom she mingled. A young girl who confessed that shernhad "the greatest fear of religion," because in her judgment andrnexperience enthusiasm was always allied with religion, was not, onernwould suppose, in much danger of becoming remarkable for philanthropy.rnTrue, she was accustomed to doing good among the poor and sick,rnaccording to her opportunities and station; but this was nothingrnstrange--all the traditions of Quaker life inculcate benevolence andrnkindly dealing--what she needed was "_the expulsive power of a newrnaffection_." This "new affection"--the love of Christ--in its turnrnexpelled the worldliness and unrest which existed, and gave a tone tornher mental and spiritual nature, which, by steady degrees, lifted herrnup, and caused her to forget the syren song of earth. Not all atrnonce,--in the story of her newborn earnestness we shall find that thernhabits and associations of her daily life sometimes acted as drawbacksrnto her progress in faith. But the seed having once taken root in thatrnyouthful heart, germinated, developed, and sprang up, to bear a gloriousrnharvest in the work of reclaiming and uplifting sunken and debasedrnhumanity.