Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel Part 41

On their way back to Stavanger, among the pa.s.sengers were two Finland convicts, for whose peculiar case they felt much sympathy.

On board our steamer were two prisoners on the deck, in heavy irons. They were natives of Finland, and had been sentenced to some months'

confinement in irons at Christiania, for having, it is said, committed some outrage on the priest in disturbing the national worship. There has for some time past been a great awakening about religion in Finland and other parts of the North, and the most active among this number, in their zeal not tempered with right knowledge, have transgressed the law. I heartily pitied the two poor creatures, inasmuch as I feared justice had not been done them; the prejudices of the priests and judges are so great in all matters connected with any separation from the national worship.

They were chained together, and were clothed in their native reindeer skins, and on their ironed feet were snow-sandals turned up with a long toe. We offered them money, but they turned from it; and when acceptance of it was pressed, their change of countenance indicated anger. They understood nothing but the Finnish language.

On their return to Stavanger, Peter Bedford felt that his share in the work was accomplished, and that it was not his part to accompany John Yeardley in the service which remained for the latter to do in Norway.

After being present at another public meeting in Stavanger, and in a parting interview with the Friends of the town, he went with William Robinson direct to Kiel. John Yeardley had two or three more meetings in the neighborhood of Stavanger, where the desire of the people to attend was more remarkable than ever.

On the 11th of the Eighth Month he bade farewell to this interesting place, and, accompanied by Endre Dahl, again crossed the mountains to Christiansand, holding meetings at several places on the sea-coast, where none had ever been held before. His notices of some of these meetings are well worth transcription.

14_th_--Journeyed about fourteen miles up the fiord, into the mountains, to Aamut in Qvindesdalen. This meeting was the most solemn of any we have had. Many said, in tears, at the conclusion, This is a doctrine that we cannot resist; it goes to our heart, and meets the conviction of our own experience. What shall we do?--our heart burns within us!

15_th_.--We returned to Foedde to a meeting this afternoon, which was, I think, the largest we have had. There were two large rooms filled, and a number seated on planks on the gra.s.s; not less than about 700 persons were present. Many followed us to the lodging, to converse on subjects that lay near their hearts, and to ask for tracts and books.

Among them was a man who goes about to exhort the people to amendment of life. He appeared to be a simple, sincere character, and was much satisfied with our meeting, saying, as if from the bottom of his heart, How remarkably, how wonderfully, have the truths of the gospel been opened and explained to us this day!

16_th_.--At Fahrsund we had some difficulty to procure a place for a meeting. It is a brandy-drinking place. No one would bear anything of our business. A rich old lady has a large room which she lets for all kinds of purposes except for anything connected with _religion_; she gave an abrupt refusal to the application. E. Dahl and I went to the English vice-consul, showed him my certificate, and explained to him the object of my visit to Fahrsund. He kindly accompanied us to the old lady, and told her that we belonged to a respectable religious society in England and were not the persons she supposed, come to preach wild doctrines. She consented to let us occupy the entrance-hall, which was good and s.p.a.cious.

The consul then went with me to call on the sheriff; he said he and his lady would attend the meeting, which they did, with a good many of the respectable inhabitants, but the common people would not come near us. One man to whom a notice was offered, when he saw the word _worship_, immediately tore it to pieces. The lady to whom the room belonged sat near me all the meeting, and looked serious before the close; and she took leave of us with very different feeling from that in which she first met us. The sheriff came to me after the meeting and offered his hand, saying, I thank you for the present occasion--I shall never forget it.

Before the meeting at Foedde John Yeardley had an opportunity of refreshing his mind with the charms of Norwegian nature.

My friend E. Dahl and I went out for a quiet walk. It was a lovely Sabbath morning; the sky cloudless, and the sun shining brightly on the water as it rapidly foamed down the cliffs. After gathering a few cranberries we seated ourselves on a shady rock to meditate. All was silent around--nothing heard but the shepherd-boy playing his horn; the sound coming from the distant mountains into the wooded valley where we sat, first shrill, then softening into a simple irregular note. My friend asked me what I thought the instrument was. It is made, said he, of a goat's horn, and is blown to keep the fox from taking the young lambs, and as a means of communication with other shepherds when widely separated on the mountains; the sound of this horn also keeps the sheep from straying.

They arrived at Christiansand on the 19th; and Endre Dahl, finding a vessel sailing for Stavanger, engaged a pa.s.sage in it for himself. After parting with him, John Yeardley writes:--

E. Dahl and I have been closely united in the gospel bond; he has been a truly affectionate sympathizer and efficient helper. I am thus, he continues, left alone in a strange land; but I do feel a peaceful and a thankful heart to my Heavenly Father that he has in mercy blessed me with light, strength, and faith to go through this service in Norway.

Imperfectly has it been performed, I know; but I have done what I could, and a song of thanksgiving is due to my Lord.

John Yeardley returned by Germany to England. At Obernkirchen, near Minden, where some persons had not long before been convinced of Friends'

principles, he had a meeting, in which he was joined by a number of Friends from Minden. A few years before, Thomas Arnett, from America, desired to hold a meeting for worship in this place, but was prevented by the police. The object was now accomplished by engaging a room without the limits of the state of Buckeburg, in which the town is situated, and within the Hessian frontier, which includes, in fact, a part of Obernkirchen.

A public meeting for worship in that place (says John Yeardley, in a letter written after his return home,) was such a new thing, that on our arrival we found a press of persons whom the room could by no means contain. The landlord readily granted us his barn, which was commodious, and we threw open the large doors into the yard, which was seated; besides which, the people stood in numbers. We had a solemn meeting. There is a little company who hold a meeting at Obernkirchen; several of these have suffered on account of their religions scruples in refusing baptism to their children, &c. These we invited after meeting to take coffee with us, about thirty persons, all serious. It was a delightful occasion. After the coffee we had a sweet parting meeting with this truly interesting company.

We had been given to expect that, although we had taken the precaution to _pitch our tent_ without the limits of the intolerant place, the police would be present, and would most probably disperse our a.s.sembly.

But no such thing;--all was quiet.

I was thankful (he adds in his Diary) that the meeting was held in quiet, for there is a bitter feeling of persecution in the neighborhood. I was previously much cast down, but "thanks be unto G.o.d who always causeth us to triumph in Christ."

CHAPTER XIX

HIS JOURNEY TO SOUTH RUSSIA.

1853.

The call which John Yeardley had received to visit the German colonies in South Russia, and which had lain for a long time dormant, now revived. A friend who had watched with regret his unsuccessful attempts on former journeys to enter that jealous country, and who augured from the political changes which had taken place that permission might probably now be obtained, brought the subject again under his notice. The admonition was timely and effectual. After carefully pondering the matter--with, we doubt not, as on former occasions, a childlike dependence on his Omniscient Guide for direction,--he came to the conclusion that it was his duty once more to address himself to this undertaking: and when it was accomplished, and he had returned in safety and peace to England, he alluded more than once to the manner in which the concern had been revived, saying he had been, before he was thus aroused, like _the prophet asleep_.

He re-opened the prospect of this service before his Monthly Meeting, on the 3rd of the Fifth Month, 1853. In a letter written the same day, he says:--

I am just returned from our Monthly Meeting in London, where I mentioned to my friends my concern to visit the German colonies in the South of Russia, which, thou wilt probably recollect, was included in my certificate for religious service on the Continent of Europe, five years ago. I received the expression of much sympathy and unity from my friends, and the certificate was ordered, including on my return, if permitted, any service that may present in Constantinople, the island of Malta, and some places in the South of France. Weak as I am, I cast myself once more into the hand of our Lord and Blessed Protector, in holy confidence that he will do all things well.

On receiving a pa.s.sport from the Secretary of State, with the requisite counter-signature of the Russian Amba.s.sador, he wrote to John Kitching, the 25th of the Fourth Month:--

I want thee to know that, through the kind and efficient aid of our mutually dear friend Samuel Gurney, I have at length been enabled to procure a Russian pa.s.sport, and also a letter of recommendation to one of the first houses in Petersburg. Thou knowest, my dear friend, for a long time this matter has been heavy on my mind. It is a great comfort to have the ground cleared in this respect.

John Yeardley left London at the end of the Sixth Month, and went to Hull to take the steam-packet direct to Petersburg. In the narrative which follows, we have interwoven with the Diary extracts from his letters to his sisters; and we have been allowed the use of William Rasche's Journal, in relating and describing many circ.u.mstances of which J.Y. himself made no record.

_Petersburg. 7 mo._ 10.--On the 30th of the Sixth Month I left my peaceful home at Stamford Hill for my Russian journey. At our kind friend Isabel Ca.s.son's at Hull I met my young companion William Rasche. We were affectionately cared for by dear I. C. and her daughter, and she and several other friends saw us on board the steamer. It is a fine ship, well ventilated, with good sleeping accommodation and provisions: the captain is a kind, religious man.

On First-day evening, the captain invited us to the ship's service--an invitation which we gladly embraced. When he had finished, I addressed the company, much to my own comfort: great seriousness prevailed. After I had relieved my mind, the captain closed with a few sweet and feeling words.

When the occasion was over, he came to me and expressed his thankfulness that I had been enabled to strengthen his hands by throwing in a word of exhortation. He said that sometimes, when he had felt indisposed and unprepared for his religious duty, he had given himself to a quiet dependence on the Lord, and had been mercifully helped, to the benefit of his own soul, in endeavoring to do his duty to others.

There is great uncertainty (he says in a letter written during the voyage), how we shall find things at Petersburg, and whether they will permit us to proceed to the South; but this I must leave. Whatever way it may please Providence to turn the matter, as it regards myself I believe I shall be relieved from Russia in having made this last attempt.

They arrived at Petersburg on the 9th of the Seventh Month, after a safe and agreeable pa.s.sage of seven days.

Before we reached Cronstadt, to quote from J.Y.'s Diary, we encountered a strong gale, so that the officers from the guardship, who came to see that all was in order, had hard work to get on board. There were eighteen Russian sailors with oars, yet they could not draw the boat, and our steamer was obliged to throw ropes and haul her in. The sight of Cronstadt was formidable; for more than two miles in and near the harbor there was a line of ships of war. At Cronstadt we had to be put on board a smaller steamer, which caused us much detention. At the custom-house all pa.s.sed off well; they were more civil and less strict in their examination than in England. The Russian sailors look very unbright; they are not active in managing a boat. They not unfrequently received a few strokes from the fist of the helmsman, or a rope's-end, either of which they took with that unconcerned composure which showed they were accustomed to it. We are located at the hotel of H. Spink, an intelligent Yorkshireman; his wife is very kind and attentive.

13_th_.--Spent this day at Peterhoff, with W.C. Gillibrand and wife, with two of their friends. It is the first opportunity we have had for serious conversation in this place, and I hope it was to mutual comfort.

They took us a drive after dinner to see several of the Emperor's pavilions, mostly surrounded by beautiful pieces of water. There was an intelligent man present, who had spent some time in India, ---- Watson; he now has charge of the British school in Petersburg. We find the Scripture Lessons are no more in use in the school; nor is the New Testament in the Russian language allowed to be circulated in the country. The Bible Society is just alive, but can hardly breathe; other inst.i.tutions languish for want of support; party spirit has crept in to their great injury. The law is still very stringent in not allowing a member of one religious body to join another; but the different sects are allowed their own worship and schools.

20_th_.--Left Petersburg by the train at 11 o'clock yesterday, and arrived at Moscow about nine this morning. The road, with but little exception, is flat and uninteresting. The forests are immense, mostly of firs and birch, which being thickly set grow small. Many of the stations are superb. The line of railway did not conduct us near any towns or villages that I could observe, but by some of the poorest scattered huts I ever saw in any country.

At Moscow, John Yeardley and his companion called on Pastor Dietrich, a German, residing a little out of the city:--

He is, says J.Y., in one of his letters, a worthy pastor of the Old Lutheran Church, a sweet venerable-looking man with long white locks. He was at dinner with his family when we called, but he would not allow us to go away, but took us up to the attic story to his study; primitive indeed, but clean, and to him I have no doubt a room of prayer, as well as of study. He seemed delighted to find our mission was to the Colonies. "But what will you do about the language?" said he; "they speak nothing but German." I wish the dear girls could have seen his countenance lighted up with cheerful brightness, when he found we could speak German: "Ah, I need not trouble you any longer with my poor English!" He knows a great many of the pastors, and will give us letters of introduction to the little flocks in the Colonies and the Crimea.

As might be expected, it was with a sinking heart that John Yeardley contemplated the formidable journey before him; but, as in other times of extremity, he cast himself wholly upon the Lord, and found his soul to be sustained, and his courage renewed to undergo the hardships that awaited him.