her had done good service at Acre, as a follower of Richard of the
Lion Heart. When the main line came to an end, one branch settled in
Norfolk. Gurney's Bank at Norwich was one of the institutions of the
city, and was as famous in my day as at a later time was the great house
of Overend and Gurney, which, when it fell, created a panic in financial
circles all the world over.

At Earlham, the home of the Gurneys, we learn how much may be done by a
family, and how widespread its influence for good or evil may become.
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton certainly stands foremost, not alone amongst the
East Anglians, but the philanthropists of later years. At the age of
sixteen young Buxton went to Earlham as a guest. His biographer writes:
'They received him as one of themselves, early appreciating his masterly,
though still uncultivated mind; while, on his side, their cordial and
encouraging welcome seemed to draw out all his latent powers. He at once
joined with them in reading and study, and from this visit may be dated a
remarkable change in the whole tone of his character; he received a
stimulus not merely in the acquisition of knowledge, but in the formation
of studious habits and intellectual tastes. Nor could the same influence
fail of extending to the refinement of his disposition and manners.' At
that time Norwich--the Buxtons being witnesses--was distinguished for
good society, and Earlham was celebrated for its hospitality. Mr.
Gurney, the father, belonged to the Society of Friends, but his family
was not brought up with any strict regard to its peculiarities. He put
little restraint on their domestic amusements, and music and dancing were
among their favourite recreations. The third daughter, Mrs. Fry, had,
indeed, united herself more closely with the Society of Friends; but her
example had not then been followed by any of her brothers and sisters.
'I know,' wrote Sir Thomas, in later years, 'no blessing of a temporal
nature--and it is not only temporal--for which I ought to render so many
thanks as my connection with the Earlham family. It has given a colour
to my life. Its influence was most positive, and pregnant with good at
that critical period between school and manhood. They were eager to
improve; I caught the infection. I was resolved to please them, and in
the college at Dublin, at a distance from all my friends and all control,
their influence and the desire to please them kept me hard at my books,