own neighbourhood afforded; when he remarks, "As I was now separated from my old acquaintances, serious thoughtfulness began much to increase; and in those days I loved solitude and retirement. It was a time of the Lord's merciful visitation to my soul-yea, the day of my es

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A Testimony of Woodbury Monthly Meeting of Friends, concerning JOSEPH WHITALL, deceased.

nant with him." On his return, falling into what he calls wicked company, its leavening influence had an injurious effect, although he was preserved from gross evil.

About this time he yielded to a proposal of his father, to enter as a student of law, and in his nineteenth year left his parents' house for This our beloved friend, being removed from that purpose. Possessing a strong and cultivatthe church militant, as we believe, to the churched mind, he entered into the study with energy triumphant, we feel engaged to bear our testi- and perseverance, which were evidences not mony to the power and efficacy of that grace, only of his delight in the profession, but of dewhich enabled him from youth to advanced age, termination to secure some of the applause to advocate the cause of truth and righteousness which the world often bestows on those who are in the earth, and preserved him, even unto the successful therein. "And that cunning, subtle end, a zealous supporter of the doctrines and serpent, our adversary, the devil," he says, "bediscipline of our religious Society, in their an-gan to tempt me more and more, with the honcient simplicity and purity.

He was the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Whitall, of Woodbury, New Jersey, and was born the 17th of Third month, 1770.

our and glory of the present world, which the Lord, our gracious helper, through his marvellous interposition, afterwards stained in my view, and clearly manifested to my understanding, that he that persists to keep and enjoy a life in these things, is thereby disqualified for his holy kingdom, which consisteth not in meats and in drinks, but in peace and joy in the Holy Ghost."

From some memoranda which he made of the 'merciful dealings of divine kindness [with him]' it appears he was visited by the day-spring from on high, in the seventh or eighth year of his age. He says, "It pleased the Lord to place a measure of his fear in my heart, that I became clearly Notwithstanding at this eventful period of his convinced of the evil of telling an untruth, and life, he was beset with the temptations peculiarof using naughty, idle words; and I have had, ly incident to the prosecution of his studies at the from a degree of experience, to unite with the capital of the State, yet he was a sincere seeker Scripture testimony, the fear of the Lord is the after truth, and in the habit of attending the pubbeginning of wisdom, and to depart from evil, a lic worship of different religious denominations, good understanding. But from a want of keep-hoping to discover a light for his path, yet from ing here, I sustained great loss; yet the Lord his own acknowledgement, with very little sucwas often near me in those my young and tender cess. Hearing that there was to be a stranger years, but I knew it not; and frequently between eight and twelve, I had to reflect on the awfulness of death, and to consider that even those of less age than myself were summoned to the grave. And I may acknowledge, in commemoration of divine kindness, I was preserved in a good degree of innocency."

About the fourteenth year of his age, he was sent by his parents some distance from home, in order to obtain a more liberal education than his

at Friends' meeting, he thought he would also go there, though not expecting much; but on taking his seat, his mind was gradually introduced into such a feeling of solemnity, as he had scarcely before witnessed, and finding what was said corresponded with the evidence of Truth in his own mind, he was almost persuaded that among this people might be found that which his soul sought after. Procuring George Fox's Journal, with similar works, he soon became so

much interested in their perusal, and in the, Holy Scriptures, that his preceptor wrote to his father, advising him of the change in his son, commending his industry and good conduct, but suggesting the improbability, with present seriousness, that he could make a successful lawyer.

It was while on a visit to his native place, about this time, that on going to bed at night, his mind was plunged into great distress, under a belief that it was required of him to give up the study of the law. So sore was the conflict, that he has been heard to say, "I thought it would have been impossible to have borne it many hours; but by three o'clock in the morning my will became resigned, and falling asleep, when I awoke in the morning, the sun was shining full in my face, and never before had I enjoyed three hours of such delightful slumber, or witnessed such a bright and glorious morning. When I entered my chamber I so loved my profession, that, for the best farm in the county I would not have resigned it; when I left it next morning, it was abandoned forever."

kept in an humble, watchful state of mind, in dependence on the Lord Jesus, the giver of every good and perfect gift, he was enlarged in knowledge and utterance; being sound in doctrine, showing forth the excellency and sufficiency of that divine principle of light and grace which qualified him for this service and kept him remarkably careful not to minister without the heavenly life and power which made his ministry acceptable and edifying.

He has been frequently heard to allude to the awful state of feeling produced in the years 1797 and 1798, by the prevalence of the yellow fever; a number of his connexions, beside his father and a younger brother, to whom he was tenderly attached, being taken away [by death] in a very short time. He thought it his duty to wait upon the sick, notwithstanding the supposed contagious nature of the disease. But in his memoranda he says, "my dependence and hope were fixed on the Lord alone, and I may thankfully acknowledge, that his holy sustaining help was near." On being in the chamber with his brother, who was very ill, he says, "I felt remarkaAfter this act of resignation he again became bly tendered and contrited: truly, it was a hearta member of his father's family, engaging wil-melting time. I felt the spirit of supplication lingly in employments which a false estimate of things had recently made him consider as mean. While useful in disposing of the produce of the farm, he was keenly alive to the danger of having "his spirit leavened somewhat to that of the multitude," with which he had to mix, and after returning home one evening, he says, "I walked alone in the woods and was favoured to feel that mighty power, which is alone able to quicken and make alive, and to raise out of death and darkness. My mind was brought into a solid calm; the presence of the Most High was wonderfully manifest, and I entered into solemn covenant to be more attentive in future to the reproofs of instruction, which are the way of life."

He was a diligent attender of the meetings for worship of our religious Society, to which he was shortly after united as a member, and in the twenty-third year of his age was married to Hannah, daughter of John and Elizabeth Mickle. Being favoured in this important step with the pointings of that wisdom which is ever profitable to direct, he was often led, in the course of his after life, to acknowledge the goodness and mercy of his gracious Lord, in giving and preserving to him a companion, who was so truly a help-meet for him. Settling in the neighborhood of his birth-place, he became a useful member of religious society; punctual at meetings, and as a parent manifesting a pious care in the education of his children, he was warranted in advising others of their duty in these respects.

Having passed through the needful baptisms, about the twenty-fifth year of his age, he appeared as a minister of the gospel; and being

poured forth on his and my own behalf, and it was a season gratefully to be commemorated, for the precious sense at this time afforded. I thought I clearly saw a glorious mansion prepared for him, and I then gave up all hope of his recovery."

At a later period, being ill with the fever himself, a female relative who lived near called to see him, and while at his bedside knelt in fervent supplication for one whose end was nigh at hand. As he was convinced, of her near access to the footstool of divine mercy, and supposing her allusion to be to his own departure, he could not reconcile it with a previous evidence that he should recover, given [to him] in that light which he believed was an emanation from the Spirit of Truth itself. Hence his mind was unable to comprehend what had been manifested, until a few days after, he was informed of the death of this beloved friend; when he was more than ever confirmed in the efficacy of that Anointing which teacheth all things, and is truth and no lio.

Feeling a religious obligation to engage in the important service of superintendent of West Town Boarding School, he, with his wife, removed thither in the year 1811, where they laboured usefully and acceptably for several years, and were greatly endeared to both the teachers and pupils, to some of whom he was as a nursing father in their spiritual progress.

As a minister, he travelled but little, compared with many, though he was several times from home in the exercise of his gift, sometimes as a companion to others. A few years before his close, he was engaged in holding meetings for those of other societies, in different places

in his own county, with satisfaction to himself, a glorious mansion of everlasting rest, having and to those who were the objects of his con- been a minister about fifty-one years.

cern.

Those who have partaken of his hospitality, can acknowledge that he attended to the apostolic injunction, "to entertain strangers." Being well versed in the Holy Scriptures and the writings of Friends, and possessing much general information on other subjects, his company and conversation were very instructive and attractive, not only to those of mature years but also to the young; and he treated all, even when their sentiments differed from his own, with Christian tenderness and respect.

KEW GARDENS.

Few places accessible to the inhabitants of the metropolis are more worthy of a visit than the Royal Gardens at Kew. Although these Gardens have been celebrated as containing a vast number of botanical treasures for upwards of a century, it is only within the last ten years that they have attracted general attention or been in a condition to challenge, as they now may, any similar establishment in Europe. We have from time to time noticed in our columns the improvements that have been made here since the appointment of the present director, Sir W. Jackson Hooker,

The decline of his health was very gradual; and for some years he was prevented from much active exertion. Yet his love for the cause, and the life and authority usually attend-in 1841; and we now propose to make a few reing his ministry, did not abate, and in his last public testimony at our meeting, he was highly favoured, the power of Truth rising into dominion. He imparted much salutary counsel and fatherly admonition, and appeared to take a final farewell of the meeting; remarking, although our Society, seemed, as it were, stripped and peeled, yet he was firm in the persuasion that a brighter day was advancing, and believed there were those now born, who would live to see it. Some of his friends being with him a few weeks previous to his dissolution, after a sorrowful allusion to the existing war [with Mexico]; in a very solemn and impressive manner he said, "notwithstanding this sad state of things, my faith is strong that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it; and that the knowledge of the Lord shall yet cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea; although none of us may live to see it, yet I believe it will be." Being sensible of his approaching end, he was preserved in much quietness and resignation to the divine will; frequently speaking of himself as a poor unworthy creature, having nothing of his own to depend on yet he was was favoured at seasons to experience that soul-sustaining faith in the merits and mercies of his Redeemer, by which he was enabled to look forward with unclouded hope. He was confined to his bed but a few days. During this solemn season he was often heard to utter short petitions in a melodious voice, several times expressing an earnest desire that the work of sanctification might be thoroughly accomplished; and on one occasion ejaculated, with peculiar feeling, the language of the psalmist, "Oh that I might see thy power, and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary, because thy loving kindness is better than life.'

marks on the present condition of the gardens and on their more conspicuous attractions.

The most remarkable feature, to those who have not visited the gardens for three or four years past, will be the new Palm house or Palm stove. This is an elegant building, formed entirely of glass in an iron framework, consisting of a centre and two wings. The centre is 100 feet wide and 66 feet in height, and the wings are 60 feet wide and 30 feet high. This large building, occupying an area of 362 feet in length, is heated by means of hot-water pipes and tanks,— the water in which is heated in furnaces upwards of 400 feet from the house. This distance has been given for the purpose of preventing the erection of unsightly chimneys near so handsome a structure. The shaft employed for conducting the smoke from the furnaces is so constructed as to form an ornamental object in the gardens. This grand Conservatory, far exceeding in size any other of the kind now existing, was completed in 1848. Up to this time its success has greatly exceeded the most sanguine hopes of its projectors; and a finer collection of plants, or a collection in a better state of preservation, was probably never got together than may now be seen within its walls of glass. The most conspicuous of the plants in this house are, as the name implies, several species of palms. Such a display of palms could not be met with in any one district of the tropics themselves; and we have heard it remarked by a traveller, that no opportunity is afforded in a tropical forest of viewing those plants in so perfect a condition as they are found in the stove-house at Kew.

On the evening of the 12th of Second month, 1847, he peacefully passed away from the trials attending this life, we humbly believe, to

To those who look for rarities, the next most attractive group of plants in this large house will be the Tree Ferns. Of these very rare plants there are several specimens now in full leaf in the collection. Amongst the foliar forms of the vegetable kingdom there are none which exceed in variety and elegance the fronds of these plants. Independently of their intrinsic beauty, these tree ferns have great interest as the representatives of the gigantic plants which were the most

conspicuous feature of the forests out of which, to say, though of all people of the world the our coal deposits were formed.

We can do no more in addition to the above particulars than state generally, that in this house almost all the plants yielding the fruits, juices, oils, or other secretions which we obtain from tropical climates, are to be found. Here are the plants bearing cinnamon, cloves, camphor, pepper, tapioca, coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, arrow-root, tamarinds, mangoes, and breadfruit. Here, also, are the Indian-rubber, cotton, gutta-percha, and indigo plants. Pitcher-plants convolvuluses, passion-flowers, and aristolochias climb up the sides of the building and ornament the balustrades and railings.

English are most dependent on the produce of the vegetable kingdom for the materials of their manufacture, they have thought less perhaps than any other nation of improving and developing their industry by the study of plants and the knowledge of what other nations are doing with the same materials. Such a collection of the produce of plants used in the arts, manufactures and medicine as is now forming at Kew, ought long since to have found existence in our national Museum in Great Russel Street;-and now, this collection at Kew should, as we have before suggested, be removed to London. There is no necessary connection between the dried specimens of a museum and the living plants of a garden. Removed or not, however, this collection reflects great credit on the Director and Curator of the Gardens at Kew. In an incredibly short space of time they have brought to

The Palm house, though the largest, is only one of twenty similar buildings here devoted to the rearing and culture of plants. One of these houses, formerly employed for the cultivation of Orchises, is now under the name of the Tropical Aquarium, or Victoria House-devoted together a vast number of specimens consisting of the growth of the Victoria Water-Lilly. This queen of the waters, it will be recollected, was discovered by Sir Robert Schomburgk, in 1837, in Guiana; and although many attempts have been made to grow it in this country, they have failed till within these last few months. Plants of it are now to be seen in flower at Syon, Chatsworth, and Kew. In the Kew Gardens the plants are not yet so healthy as in the two former; but every day is improving the appearance of the Kew plants, and their present condition is quite enough to suggest what must be the size and beauty of this elegant aquatic in its native waters. The cause of the failures in the attempt to cultivate this plant appears to have been the use of hard water. Even the water of the Thameswhich is that now used at Kew-seems to contain too much saline matter; and the better success of the culture at Syon and at Chatsworth appears to have depended on the employment of soft water, for the use of which there is no provision at Kew.

All the other houses in these gardens contain plants more or less worthy of inspection; but at this time of the year the Australian house is particularly worth a visit,-containing as it does, a unique collection of the flowering plants of that new world.

the raw materials and the manufactured produce of the vegetable kingdom. Amongst the substances obtained from plants used in the arts, there is here a very complete series of the stages of manufacture, and the various applications of caoutchouc and gutta percha. Here at one view is gained a knowledge not only of these substances in their raw and manufactured condition, but of the various stages of the process,as also a history of their various applications. A like series of specimens illustrates the manufac ture of flax; and steps are in progress for the same thing in respect to hemp and cotton. A recent arrival of interest is, a complete set of implements, with a series of illustrative drawings, for the growth and preparation of opium, in Patna, in the East Indies,-sent over by Dr. J. Hooker. There are here also specimens of opium from Turkey, the East Indies, and other parts of the world. This department of the museum is likely to be of great interest, as throwing light on the preparation of important medicines, and directing attention to the best kinds and the best modes of preparing them.

The specimens illustrative of vegetable substances used as food are numerous and instructive. Thus, there are-a series illustrative of the varieties of, and the modes of preparing tea, In the open grounds are some very fine trees-specimens of the various kinds of coffee,-of demanding attention amongst others, a mag- the Paraguay tea,—of chocolate and cocoa,—of nificent specimen of the Araucaria imbricata, various kinds of sugar,-of shea butter-and and very fine specimens of the Turkey oak (Quer- many other things. cus cerris,) the common elm, lime, chesnut, and various species of coniferous trees. The beds of British plants, arranged according to the natural orders cannot fail to interest those who cultivate our native Botany.

Of the many objects worth notice which these Gardens contain, none perhaps is more deserving of encouragement than the Museum. The establishment of this Museum is a novelty not only in the Gardens, but also in this country. Strange

Another useful department here is the collections of woods used in cabinet-making and other arts. By the side of these is a series of specimens exhibiting the diseases to which wood is subjected, and the injuries from bad pruning, from the attacks of insects, &c. The fruits of plants are often their most characteristic organs. These are not unfrequently badly preserved, or not preserved at all in our herbaria,-and a museum is a fitting place for their collection and