The Life of Edward Burrough

by: Edward Burrough

Edward Burrough (1634–1663) was one of the most well-known and influential ministers in the early Society of Friends. Though he kept no journal of his life, the multitude of his published writings and printed epistles to Friends, and the many well-known anecdotes of his powerful ministry, have made him one of the most familiar names among early Quakers. Bold, ardent, and devoted in pursuing the path of Christian duty, he was clothed with a dignity and divine authority that made him a terror to evil-doers, while the meekness and gentleness of Christ softened and adorned his whole character, and qualified him to administer divine consolation to the afflicted and weary. Burrough devoted the prime and strength of his short twenty-nine years to the service of his Lord, laboring night and day for the good of souls and the spread of Truth, crowding into the narrow compass of a few years, a greater amount of gospel labor than is often accomplished in a protracted life. (Original title: A Memoir of the Life and Religious Labours of That Eminent Servant of Christ and Minister of the Gospel, Edward Burrough)