Jamaica. The object of this address was to show the absolute identity of interest which now subsists among the planters, the labourers, and the abolitionists; and to call upon them all to unite, heart and hand, on just and salutary principles, in promoting the prosperity of this noble colony. We have since had the satisfaction of learning that it was well received by all parties.*

"Our last day in Jamaica was the first of the week, 3rd mo., 29th. Great is the privilege of one day in seven, expressly set apart for the purpose of rest and worship. For ourselves, we felt it to be salutary to cease from the investigation of secular points, however interesting, and again to unite with our fellow men, in drawing near in spirit to the Fountain of every blessing. We held our morning meeting in one of the Baptist chapels; the congregation, chiefly black, was deeply serious, and when the subject of the afflictions of Africa arose before us, the feeling of the people became intense. Many of them are awakened to a lively interest in the religious welfare of the people from whom they spring. The rising of this spirit of love and zeal on behalf of the land of their forefathers, has been one of the blessed accompaniments of their freedom. In the afternoon we again met, in the Wesleyan meeting-house, a vast assembly of persons of all ranks and classes; and, after once more pressing upon their attention those fundamental principles, in the maintenance of which the true church of Christ, of every name, country, and colour, is one body, we took a last solemn leave of Jamaica and her inhabitants. The next morning we parted from our English friends, who continued for the present on the island, went on board the ship Whitmore, and, as soon as wind and tide permitted, set sail for Havana."

The voyage to Havana occupied upwards of a week.

Baffling winds and calms detained us," writes Joseph John Gurney, "for two or three days; our last pig and fowl

See Appendix C, at the end of the Winter in the West Indies, pp. 236-252.

had been eaten; we were beginning somewhat seriously to long for the land, when, one delightful evening, a favourable breeze sprang up, and brought us, in full sail, past the Moro Castle and Lighthouse, into the port of Havana. It was the 9th of the 4th month. The scene was very animating and beautiful. The Moro is built on a dark rock, on the left of the entrance; on a hill above it stand the Cabanas, a fort of prodigious dimensions, in which is stationed a large body of Spanish soldiers. Before us lay the wide-spreading old city, said to contain one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants; a few green hills were seen in the distance, and when we had passed the Moro, the land-locked port full of shipping, including three British men of war, and surmounted by some handsome public buildings, was suddenly opened to our view. It is a port of great resort and traffic, far exceeding, in this respect, any other in the dominions of Spain. With the exception of the Governor of Madrid, we continued on board for the night; and early the next morning received a notice, that we were all permitted to land without undergoing any of the usual formalities. The British Consul, Charles Tolmé, came on board to pay his respects to some of our passengers. I found that he was an old friend of mine, whom I had not seen for thirty years. He gave me a hearty welcome, and accompanied me, on our landing, to the Government House, as I wished to pay my respects to the Prince of Anglona, the Captain General of Cuba. Our friend Cabrera had already conveyed to him a letter of introduction which I had brought with me from the Governor of Jamaica; and I considered that an early call was due to him from a friend to the slaves and a Christian minister, whom he had so kindly permitted to land, at all hazards. The Prince, who is one of the old nobility of Spain, is a person of small stature, and by no means imposing in his appearance, but of good talents and liberal politics. He received us with great politeness, and even apologized to our consul for my having been refused a passport in Jamaica. He spoke French fluently, and talked to us for a few minutes in a friendly manner. No oppor

tunity offered for conversation on important topics, and we soon retired."

The Journal thus continues the narrative :

4th mo., 16th. I was much with my old friend Charles Tolmé, the British consul, and his wife and family; visited Captain Hawkins, of the Romney, and James Kennedy, judge of the joint commission court; saw the slavers now in the harbour; visited the baracoons, as well as the prison and other public institutions; obtained a great deal of valuable information, and am thankful that I have been permitted to visit Havana. We returned to our vessel on first day evening, and sailed on second day morning. A quiet little meeting at Watts' boarding house, on first day morning; and a Scripture reading, in the evening on board ship, were agreeable and refreshing. Each morning since, we have been favoured with comfortable readings, &c.; and although not insensible of much deep infirmity, I have been on the whole tranquil and happy.

At Savannah, Georgia, 4th mo., 22nd. We arrived here in safety on second day the 20th, after experiencing great danger at sea from a violent thunder storm on the night of the 18th, in which our ship was struck with lightning, and for some time was supposed to be on fire; but we were mercifully protected, and, after some trial of our faith, delivered from our danger. The next morning, (first day,) we held a meeting on deck; both passengers and crew were gathered together in much solemnity, and I hope a serious impression was made on all our minds. In the evening, there was again every prospect of a tempest, but the weather cleared. It was very pleasant to arrive on the American shores in safety, and we are permitted to reap the reward of peace. I find myself happy in my quiet bed chamber, opposite to a grove of trees in the square; and certainly feel much more fit for this seclusion, than for a third time attending the Yearly Meeting in Philadelphia.

CHAPTER XXXV.

1840. ÆT. 52-53.

SAVANNAH; CHARLESTON; SECOND VISIT TO WASHINGTON; INTERVIEWS WITH THE PRESIDENT, J. C. CALHOUN, HENRY CLAY, &c.; NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND YEARLY MEETINGS; LETTER TO HIS CHILDREN; VOYAGE HOME; EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL.

JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY'S labours in America were now drawing to a close. He had looked forward with much interest to being once more present at the Yearly Meeting of Friends at Philadelphia; but circumstances, over which he had no control, prevented him from reaching that city in time to accomplish that object. Whilst at sea, on his voyage to Havana, in allusion to this subject, he wrote in his Journal:

4th mo., 9th. I have passed through some hours of conflict, in times of calm, in the view of Philadelphia; but during the past night, some relief has been experienced from this prospect. I have compared the peculiar fetters of mind which I have long felt respecting that Yearly Meeting, to those which I once endured in reference to the parliamentary prospect. Oh! the inexpressible relief which I felt when, in one midnight hour, those fetters were unexpectedly broken, and I was left free from the concern, ready for work in the depth of Spitalfields. Certainly I feel more happiness in the view of not being present at Philadelphia, than I have hitherto

VOL. II.

P

done. I can look back on my exercises and labours there with satisfaction; not having, so far as I know, withheld any part of the message committed to me. Thus I hope I may feel that my work in America is pretty much done; and that, after having accomplished what remains of service in the cause of Africa and her descendants, and attended the Yearly Meetings of New York and New England, I may return to my home and family in peace.

"We were [detained] a whole week at Savannah,” he writes in one of his letters, "before the steamboat was ready to convey us to Charleston; and certainly it was a week of no small interest to ourselves. In the course of a few days, we formed an acquaintance with several of the gentry of the place, who treated us with great civility; and some of the evenings which we spent in their houses, were, I trust, occupied in a manner calculated to leave a profitable impression. We received some very kind attentions from a gentleman of the name of Schmitz, a timber merchant, whom I had formerly met in Virginia. He is in possession of a collection of costly books and valuable manuscripts, such as would do credit to the Dibdins and Hebers of our own country. It is one of the few good private libraries that I saw in America.

"Savannah contains upwards of 7500 inhabitants, of whom more than one half are slaves. We had made our arrangements for a public meeting, to be held at eight o'clock one evening, and were about to insert our notice in the newspaper; but our purpose was, at that time, frustrated by the sudden diffusion of a report, that I had come thither from the West Indies, as an "anti-slavery spy." It produced no small excitement; and we were assured, that the meeting could not be held without endangering the peace of the town, and probably our own lives. We had been previously warned by a missionary from Jamaica, who came from these parts, that we could not visit Savannah with any degree of safety, a warning