Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel Part 39

The Bohemian translations were not made until J. and M. Y. went to Prague, which they did on the 22nd. Their feelings on entering this city, and the manner in which they were helped in their work of love, are described in the following diaries:--

6 _mo._ 23.--Last evening we arrived at Prague. Our heart sunk on approaching this great city. The twenty-eight statues of saints, &c. on the bridge, with the many lamps devoted to these images, the crucifixes, &c., all indicated that superst.i.tion rages rampant.

We lost no time in sending to the Protestant pastors, one of whom kindly came to us in the evening, and we conversed till late. I showed him my little _Spiritual Bread for Christian Workmen_, with which he was much pleased. I told him I wanted it translated into the Bohemian language. This afternoon he paid us another visit, and brought his wife to see my M.Y. He produced the translation of the introduction to the little tract. We are to have 2000 printed. Most of the poor people read only the Bohemian language. I have promised to place 1000 at the disposal of the pastor; he is delighted with the opportunity of having anything of the kind _printed in Prague_.

Much, adds J.Y. in a letter, as I have suffered in the long prospect of a visit to this place, I feel a peculiar satisfaction that it has been deferred until there is liberty to print and circulate gospel tracts.

Small as such a privilege may appear, until very recently such distribution of books would have been visited with a very inconvenient imprisonment on the individual transgressing the law.--(6 _mo_. 23.)

24_th_.--I gave Pastor Bennisch for perusal, and choice for translation, William. Allen's _Thoughts on the Importance of Religion_, and our tracts on the _Fall, Regeneration and Redemption, True Faith, and the Voice of Conscience_. There is a great movement among the Catholics; they have need to be instructed in the first principles of Christianity, and it is very important that the doctrine of faith in Christ should be combined with that of the practical working of the Spirit as set forth in many of our tracts. On this account, I am glad they are likely to take precedence of others in their circulation; for I do not hear that any tracts decidedly religious have yet been printed in Prague.

During their stay in the city, and after they left, there were printed 12,000 copies of the tracts in Bohemian, and 1000 in German.

At Toplitz, which they revisited before leaving Bohemia, occurred the interesting incident of the Bohemian soldier, which is related under that t.i.tle in John Yeardley's series of tracts, No. 4.

When they finally quitted the country, they took the nearest road to Kreuznach. On the way, they distributed tracts in the villages, at one of which, where they were detained for want of horses, the inhabitants flocked so eagerly to them to receive these little messengers, that they had difficulty in satisfying them. Notwithstanding this circ.u.mstance, the reflection with which John Yeardley concludes his account of their travels in Bohemia was, "It will require a power more than human to make the _dry bones of Bohemia_ live."

They spent three weeks at Kreuznach, confirming the faith of the brethren, and printing German translations of several tracts. In pa.s.sing through Neuwied, they intended only to spend the night there; but hearing that much inquiry after the way of salvation had recently manifested itself in the villages around, they decided, after the horses had been ordered for departure, to remain and visit one of these villages. A meeting was called, and so many attended that the room could not contain them all. It was a good season; De Freis, the friend who had made them acquainted with the religious condition of the place, accompanied them as guide, and was a true helper in the work. He had been twenty years missionary in Greenland and South Africa.

They returned home, both of them worn with travelling, and Martha Yeardley exhausted with disease, which was making sure progress in her debilitated frame; but they were supported by the peaceful consciousness of having accomplished all the service to which they had been called to labor in common.

CHAPTER XVIII.

DEATH OF MARTHA YEARDLEY, AND JOHN YEARDLEY'S JOURNEY TO NORWAY.

1851-2.

Martha Yeardley continued very unwell during the autumn, and by the end of the year her disorder a.s.sumed a more alarming form. It soon became evident that her dedicated life must at no distant period be brought to a close; and after many weeks of suffering, with confinement to the chamber during the latter part of the time, she expired, full of peace and hope in Christ Jesus, in the Fifth Month, 1851. The following memorandum, touchingly descriptive of her illness and death, was penned by her bereaved husband, probably soon after her decease.

After our return from the Continental journey my beloved M.Y. became more poorly. A severe influenza cold weakened her much; and a second attack she seemed never to recover. It was succeeded by a regular rheumatic fever.

From the commencement of 1851, with but little exception, she was confined to the house, and for a little while to her bed, until the 8th of the Fifth Month, when her sweet and purified spirit ascended to her Saviour, and commenced an eternity of bliss.

Thus was I deprived of my only earthly treasure. She was the Lord's precious loan, granted me for nearly a quarter of a century, for which I can never be sufficiently [thankful]. She was his own, bought with the blood of his dear Son, and he saw meet to take her from me. Ours was a blessed union, and a happy life, spent, I hope, unitedly in the service of our Lord. In all our imperfections we did desire, above all earthly things, to do the work of our Divine Master, and to labor for the promotion of his kingdom, and for the spread of his knowledge in the earth.

I was her only nurse till within ten days of her happy close. Long had a covenant been made between us, in the time of health, that whichever of us was taken ill the first, should be nursed by the surviving one, if permitted and strength afforded; which it mercifully was to me, and a happy season was the sick-room. We seemed to live together in heaven; never, I think, could two mortals be more favored with the answer to prayer.

In the early part of her illness she spoke much of the satisfaction she had felt in our three last journeys to the Continent, and that she was thankful in having been enabled to go through the whole of the service which her Lord had put into her heart. I have since thought it was a mercy that I did not proceed into South Russia, as, in all probability, my precious one would have fallen on the journey, and never seen her peaceful home again.

During the whole of the illness her delight was to speak of the joy of heaven. My sins of omission and of commission, she said, are all pa.s.sed by; my iniquities are all forgiven, and washed away in the blood of the Lamb; and now I rejoice in G.o.d my Saviour. His love and mercy to me are beyond all bounds; and so strong is my faith in my precious Saviour, that I have scarcely known, the whole of the illness, what it has been to be troubled with an evil thought.

When she expressed a desire to go to Heaven, I reminded her of my loneliness when she should be taken from me. The Lord will care for thee, was her constant reply. He has promised me over and over again that he will care for thee; the answer to my prayer has always been, I will care for him.

Nearly the last conversation she had with any of her beloved relatives was with ----, to whom she observed: My affection for thee is strong; I believe thou lovest thy Saviour: I desire that thou mayest keep nothing back that the Lord may require of thee, but serve him with greater devotedness of heart; and if ever thou art called to bear public testimony to his truth, be sure to preach the whole gospel, faith in Christ, and the necessity of the practical work of the Holy Spirit to produce holiness of life. To [another of her near relatives] she observed: Thou hast often been sweetly visited by the love of thy Saviour, and be a.s.sured thou wilt never find any joy equal to that of yielding thy heart in prompt obedience to the will of thy Lord. Her last words to her affectionate sisters were, The Lord bless you all: Farewell.

Towards the end of the year John Yeardley again communed with himself in the language of sorrow, but also of humble resignation. At the same time he speaks of an engagement of gospel labor from which he had then recently returned, the first which he had undertaken alone since his marriage with Martha Savory. Having seen his faithful and well-tried comrade fall by his side, he had now to learn again to gird himself and enter, as in the days of his youth, alone into the combat.

1851. 12 _mo._ 13.--How often have I prayed that the portion of her Lord's spirit which animated her devoted life may rest on me! Her heart, her tongue, and her pen were all employed in promoting the cause of her Divine Master, whom she delighted to serve. All my earthly joy was now gone to heaven, and I felt alone in the world; but my spirit seemed never to be separated from her: she seemed to be hovering over me constantly. My heart does sorrow for the loss of her sweet society; to me she was a wise and sound counsellor, and a never-failing consoler in all my troubles. I do mourn, but I dare not murmur. I hope my merciful Heavenly Father will keep me in the hour of temptation, and be with me in the last trying hour, and prepare me to join this precious one and all by whom she is surrounded with her G.o.d and Saviour in the centre of bliss.

I had often mentioned to my precious one a prospect of religious service in Ireland, and once since our return home from our last Continental journey; when she replied, "I have no concern to go to Ireland--thou must do that when I am taken from thee." It cost me many tears and prayers before I could be resigned to request a certificate, alone, for the first time since our union; but, looking seriously at the subject, the language was constantly in my heart, The hour cometh when no man can work. Life is uncertain, and I can only expect sustaining grace by faithfully following my Lord: and, blessed be his name, he has kept and sustained me in every trial.

This day would have been the twenty-fifth anniversary of our union. How near it has brought my precious one to me in spirit, and how strong are my prayers that my Lord may preserve me faithful to the end of the race! I can say my desire is, when he cometh, he may not find me idle.

The visit which John Yeardley made in Ireland was general, comprehending all, or nearly all, the meetings of Friends in the island, and including a few public meetings in Leinster province. He has left very few notes of this journey, except an itinerary of the places at which he stopped, but makes frequent mention of the hospitality and kindness of Friends. From Cork he writes:--

I am in the midst of a family visit to the Friends of Cork, and shall have, I expect, from ninety to a hundred sittings. I am lodged a few miles in the country, in a mansion surrounded by beautiful grounds, and all the beloved inmates most affectionate and helpful to me. They send me to my work in or about the city mostly to breakfast; and I return, in the evening, and enjoy the refreshing breezes and the quiet: but then I have the family visits to resume next morning. In riding to town to-day, I tried to raise my heart to G.o.d; when the language sweetly occurred to me, Bread shall be given thee, thy water shall be sure.--(_Letter of 8 mo.

5, 1851._)

A few days after his return from Ireland, he left home again to visit the Isle of Man, in company with Barnard d.i.c.kenson. On his return, he was refreshed by a visit to Dover, where he spent three weeks in the company of his kind and sympathising friend Margaret Pope.

The interval which elapsed before the recommencement of his missionary labors was to be short. In the First Month of 1852, we find him again under exercise of mind for foreign travel; having, this time, to direct his course towards the interesting community of religious persons in Norway, whose principles and practices are the same as those of Friends.

The Diary which follows is the utterance of his heart in the prospect of this work.

1852. 1 _mo._ 24.--This has been a precious morning unto my soul; such a season of spiritual comfort I have not been permitted to experience for a long time. I think it is vouchsafed me through the efficacy of earnest prayer, which has brought me to resignation to my Lord's will. I have now no more doubt as to Norway. Light springs on my path. How powerful is the love of G.o.d when it fills the heart; there is not a place on the Lord's earth where I think I could not go, if favored with the strength, and blessed with the presence of my G.o.d and Saviour.

Unto thee, Lord, do I commit all my concerns, spiritual and temporal; do thou give to thy unworthy servant an answer of peace. Keep me faithful and patient to the end of the race. Lord, grant that my ministry, which thou hast entrusted to me, may proceed purely and entirely from thy love, and be exercised in thy fear and under the unction of thy Holy Spirit. Lord, keep my heart fixed, on the last, last awful moment that I may have to breathe; grant that it may be breathed out in the bosom of my adorable Saviour; all sting of death taken away, my robes washed in his blood, and my spirit purified and ready to be united to those beloved ones who are already enjoying a blissful eternity with thee!

The next entry in the Diary was made at Christiania, where he thus speaks of the unity and concurrence which his friends had testified with his mission.

Since I last wrote any notes in this journal, I have pa.s.sed through many conflicts respecting my long-thought-of visit to Norway. When the subject was proposed to my friends in London, it met with the warm encouragement and sympathy of all, in every stage, to the receiving the full unity of the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders.

I am accompanied by my dear friend, Peter Bedford, whose sweet and constantly cheerful spirits comfort and cheer me. We have already had many proofs that our being joined together in this laborious journey is of the Lord. Our friend William Robinson proves an efficient helper.

John Yeardley and his companions left London on the 9th of the Sixth Month, and went first to Homburg, as he wished to place a young person in whom he was interested, at the school kept by the sisters Muller at Friedrichsdorf, near that town. Whilst at Homburg he was suddenly attacked with a severe and painful disorder, and was reduced to great extremity.

After about two weeks of suffering, he was restored to convalescence, when he thus breaks forth:--

How can I sufficiently record the mercy of my G.o.d in sustaining me in a time of great extremity, even when there was but little prospect of my ever seeing Norway. He blessed me with resignation and sustaining grace, so that I could rest as on the Saviour's bosom, for life or death. I knew my Lord and Master could do without my poor unworthy service in Norway; but if he had work for me to do in that land he would raise me up in his own time; and so he has done.

As soon as he had sufficiently recovered his strength, they set forth for Kiel; but not before John Yeardley had had a religious meeting with the pupils in the school.

I was, he says, enabled to address them in German; a precious feeling was over us, and many spirits were tendered before the Lord. F. Muller expressed her great satisfaction with this parting visit.