Excerpt from Memoirs of Joseph John Gurney: With Selections From His Journal and Correspondence; Two Volumes Complete in One When, towards the close of the year 1849, I was requested by the widow and family of Joseph John Gurney to undertake the editing of a Memoir of his Life, I naturally shrank from so responsible a task. Little as I felt myself qualified successfully'to pourtray the varied features of such a character, I could not but recollect that nearly three years had already elapsed srnce his decease; and that, with the very limited leisure which I could command, amidst the pressure of professional and other duties, my engaging in the work would necessarily postpone its appearance several years longer. Find ing, however, that, notwithstanding these difficulties, it was still the decided wish of those most nearly connected with the subject of this Memoir that I should undertake the work, I finally concluded to eh gage in it, though under a deep sense of my own want of qualification. Since that time, (the beginning of the year I have endeavoured' to pursue this interesting object with as much assiduity as my limited' intervals of leisure would admit; and I wish to take this opportunity of acknowledging my grateful sense of the large measure of warm and cordial encouragement and assistance, which I have, from time to time, received during the progress of the work from the various mem bers of his family, and from other valued friends. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.