FROM HIS RETURN FROM RUSSIA TO HIS LAST JOURNEY.
1853-1858.
John Yeardley had scarcely returned to England before war was declared
with Russia. The confirmation he received from this lamentable event, that
his journey had been made at the opportune time, filled his heart with
gratitude. The work he had been able to do had been small, but he had the
satisfaction of knowing that it had been accomplished at the only juncture
in which it would have been practicable.
The year 1853, he writes, closed with many mercies to a poor unworthy
servant. I consider it a great blessing to have accomplished the visit
through Russia and to Constantinople before the horrible war broke out.
What a frightful state are things in at the present moment!--no access
could be had to those countries.
In the Spring of 1854 he spent some time at Bath. He attended, whilst
there, a public meeting appointed by Sarah Squire, in which he had a
testimony to offer in the gospel. Hearing afterwards that a military man
who was present had been brought to conviction by the doctrine which had
been declared, J.Y. noted in his Diary the subject on which he had
preached.
4 _mo_. 2.--I recollect, he says, alluding to the awful state of the
times in which we live, and the need of a refuge in God, and the
blessedness of the consolations of the Holy Spirit in a time of trouble.
That the Spirit of God was the first agent in the work of man's salvation,
bringing to the Saviour who died for sinners: the Father drawing to the
Son, the Son perfecting the work, and presenting each member of the living
church without spot or wrinkle to the Father. Blessed unity of Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit! The Father creating, the Son redeeming, the Holy
Spirit sanctifying.
In making a brief note of the Yearly Meeting this year, John Yeardley
takes occasion to record his sentiments on a subject which then, as now,
strongly engaged the attention of the Society.
The Yearly Meeting has been a precious time; it has strengthened the bond
of love and unity. There is, under all discouragements, a love to the
Society manifested in the young people of both sexes. It is true there is
a great want of bearing of the cross, and many are seeking for excuses to
persuade themselves that many of those things that have long distinguished
our Society are now no longer of use. But I still think there is more
religion in many of our young members than their outward appearance would
authorize us to believe. I love to cleave to the good, and to hold out a
helping hand to encourage the tender budding of grace, and for the good to
overcome the evil. I want them to be brought to conviction, and to be told
that they are not required to wear plain clothes, and to use plain speech,
because our Friends have done so, but because Christianity leads into
simplicity, and the language of Scripture is that of truthfulness, and to
follow the changing fashions of the world is too low for the notice of the
Christian whose heart is placed on heavenly things, and whose time is too
precious to be spent on trifles. There is no peace to the regenerated
heart equal to a devotedness of life in promoting the extension of the
Saviour's kingdom upon earth.
He soon after alludes to the Memoir of Joseph John Gurney, then just
published, and to the sharp stimulus which he received from its perusal--a
stimulus which minds fixed upon improvement always receive from the vivid
representation of time and talents diligently employed.
6 _mo_. 16.--Many of my solitary moments are cheered, and I am
greatly edified, in reading J.J. Gurney's Memoirs. It is a real privilege
to be introduced into the daily walk of the life of a Christian man with
such an enlightened and enlarged mind, whose expansive heart is filled
with love for the whole human race. Strengthened by faith, and filled with
the unction of the Spirit, his life was devoted to doing good to the
family of man, laboring for the conversion of sinners, and comforting
believers.
The diligence of J.J. Gurney in study, &c., has stimulated me to renew the
reading of the Greek New Testament, but I sink into the dust when I see
what he accomplished in comparison of my own insignificance. It is,
however, a comfort to know that I have a merciful Lord, who will not
require of me the exercise of gifts that I have not received. O that I may
he more faithful in the employment of the capacity which has been
entrusted to me, for the good of souls and the honor of my Lord!
The reflections which follow add another to the numberless testimonies of
the saints' experience, that the Christian life is a continual warfare.
I am sensible of having lost ground for some time past for want of more
diligence in watchfulness and prayer. I have been deeply sorry for it, and
I do hope my compassionate Lord has forgiven me. As a proof of his
forgiveness, I am permitted to enjoy once more the smiles of his
countenance, which cheer my lonely walk. How greatly do I long for more
intimate communion with the Beloved of my soul, the precious Saviour! Lord
_preserve_ me in _every moment_ of _temptation_, and make
me more entirely thine! Grant me more confidence in the immediate action
of thy Spirit in the ministry of the word, that my communications of this
nature may be deep and clear, and under the unction of thy Holy Spirit.
_Amen_!
6 _mo_. 23.--This morning I have been favored, more than usual, in my
endeavor to pour out my soul before God in prayer, in desiring more purity
of heart, more faith; and that it might please my compassionate Lord to
sustain and console me in my solitary lot, and preserve me faithful to the
end of the race. Many relatives and near friends were brought to my
remembrance, whom I endeavored to present to the mercy of a merciful God.
In the same diary is an appropriate notice of Dr. Steinkopf, and a tender
tribute to the memory of Martha Yeardley.
The other evening was spent at J. and M.C.S.'s with Dr. Steinkopf. "The
hoary head" of this aged and experienced Christian is as "a crown of
glory," for "it is found in the way of righteousness." He is full of love,
speaking constantly out of a grateful heart of the mercies of his God.
Before parting he read a few verses, exhorted us and supplicated for us.
A little more than three years have fled away since my precious and
dearly-beloved M.Y. entered on a blissful eternity. How do I feel the loss
of her sweet, cheerful, and edifying society! Ever since her blessed
spirit fled from earth to heaven, she has never by night or day been long
absent from my thoughts. How often does my soul pant and pray for a
preparation of heart for that blissful state where she now is, near to her
precious Saviour, who redeemed her with his own blood. He enabled her to
serve him when on earth, and now she sings his praises in heaven. What a
charm did she impart to my daily life! Our pursuits were always one and
the same; and now what a desert I still have before me,--but it may be
very short.
In the Eighth Month, John Yeardley went to Minden on a visit to Ernst
Peitsmeyer, whose daughter Sophie had been for some time his kind and
cheerful companion, and who now, with her parents and other friends,
welcomed him again to Germany. Whilst at Minden he derived benefit from
the sulphur baths of the Klause, not far from the town.
The bath, he says, is one hour's gentle exercise on the saddle. The farm
where the spring is stands quite alone in the midst of a wood, and the way
to it is delightful,--much suited to my taste. Sophie rides sometimes with
me: it cheers me to have her trotting by my side.
The handful of inquiring persons at Obernkirchen, whom J.Y. visited on
his return from Norway, continued to claim his sympathy, and one First-day
he joined them at their usual place of worship.
It was, he writes, a refreshing time in this little meeting. When the
little company first met together they were dragged into the street by the
police; but they persevered, and, on making an appeal to the magistrate at
Rinteln, stated their case with so much simplicity that the government has
granted them liberty to meet together undisturbed. How marvellous, the
Friends are protected; and the Baptists, under the same government, are
persecuted with increasing rigor! No interference on their behalf has been
of the least use.--(_Dairy and Letter_.)
In the Fourth Month of 1855 John Yeardley received a certificate "to visit
his friends in Yorkshire, and to hold meetings with persons not in
church-fellowship" with Friends.
I arrived at Halifax, he says, in a letter of the 28th of the Fourth
Month, on Fifth-day evening, and attended the Monthly Meeting of Brighouse
on the 20th. It looked formidable to me in prospect on the first entering
into harness; but I hope the meeting proved a good introduction, and I saw
a good specimen of a large, harmonious, and well-conducted Monthly
Meeting. There might be near 250 members present.
When he had completed the service, he took a week of repose at Harrowgate,
where he briefly reviews his journey.
5 _mo_. 29.--In passing along through my native county, I found many
countenances missing which were very familiar to me years ago, and who are
now gone to their rest. But I was comforted to find in many places a race
of young people springing up who bore the marks of being plants of my
Heavenly Father's right-hand planting, and who gave hopes of becoming
useful in his Church. It is with a grateful heart that I record the mercy
of my Lord, in that he has granted me strength in a remarkable manner to
do what he put in my heart to do, from place to place. Blessed be his
name!
After having finished the service in Yorkshire, I have had a week's
tarriance at Harrowgate. The rest and quiet have proved beneficial to my
health, and very precious have been the seasons of sweet communion I have
been permitted to hold with my God in this retirement.
This summer he repeated his visit to Minden, and hired a lodging at the
Klause. A reflection in one of the letters which he wrote from this
retreat affords a pleasing glimpse of his mind:--
I sometimes think that a large portion of comfort and joy are allowed to
those who really love the Lord; and how chastened are the pleasures of the
humble Christian! They abide with us long after the causes of them are
passed away; and the more our permitted pleasures are enjoyed under a
grateful sense of the goodness of the bountiful Giver, the longer they may
be permitted to us.
In the Ninth Month, he attended the Two-months' Meeting at Pyrmont. It was
not without emotion that he visited once more the place which had been so
familiar to him in earlier days. The hopes he had then conceived, and
which, as we have seen, he had so fondly cherished, with regard to the
Society of Friends in that part, had been disappointed; the little company
had dwindled in numbers and declined in religious influence; and when he
took leave of Pyrmont for the last time, it was with a sorrowful heart.
From Minden, accompanied by Sophie Peitsmeyer, he went southwards, and
took up his abode at the little town of Neuveville, on the Lake of Bienne,
in Switzerland.
I spent, he says, two or three days at Neufchatel, and visited many of my
old friends in the place and neighborhood; but it was affecting to find
how many of those I had known years ago were no longer on this earth.
Madame Pétavel was as warm-hearted as ever; the professor, her husband,
is ripening for heaven.
John Yeardley had gone to Neuveville with the intention of passing the
winter in Switzerland. After remaining a month, however, he returned to
England; and this change of mind was the result of a remarkable
circumstance. He became silent and reserved, with the air and manners of
one who is not at peace with himself; until one night, when he was heard
to cry out in a loud tone, as though speaking to some one. The next
morning at breakfast he appeared subdued and full of tenderness; and on
his young friend inquiring what had made him cry out in the night, he told
her that he must return home, for there was more work for him to do. He
said that a prospect of service in the gospel had latterly opened before
him, and that as he had greatly desired to remain in Switzerland, he had
striven against the sense of duty and refused to yield; but that during
the night he had had a vision, in which he heard the command repeated to
return home and enter again upon his labor, and that he felt, as he
thought, the touch of the heavenly messenger's hand. This caused him to
call out; and when he awoke, he found that willingness of spirit had taken
the place of his former obstinacy. Thus turned from his own purpose, he
set about to accomplish the will of his gracious Master with his usual
resolution, and they made the best of their way back to England. The
nature of the service which he saw before him is touched upon in the
following passage from a letter, dated Neuveville, the 14th of the Tenth
Month.
My home duties press heavily upon me.... Very long have I thought about
the young men, and the younger part of our Society; and I have a hope the
way will be made for my finding access to them, in a religious and social
point of view. Should it be permitted, the Lord grant that it may tend to
mutual comfort.
John Yeardley returned through Paris. He spent a day or two in that great
city, which he never saw "so quiet and free from soldiers." We extract
from his Diary a short note of a conversation which took place at the
_table d'hôte_ of the hotel where he lodged, and which appears to us
to be of an instructive character.
Two men contended respecting the motive by which mankind are influenced to
good actions. One attributed it to _reason_; the other held that it
was _virtue_ which restrains from evil and impels to good, and
maintained that we must do good actions from the love of justice and
virtue, and not from the fear of punishment or the hope of reward. The
latter had the advantage over his antagonist in the argument:--
I had not, says J.Y., taken part in the conversation; but at the close I
felt constrained to tell the _Christian_ that I confessed myself on
his side, because he had defended the truth; only that what he called
_virtue_, I called _the action of the spirit of God in the heart of
man_. With much animation, he clasped my hand in his, and cried,
"That is the very thing,--that is just what I mean!"
In the year 1856, he engaged in two religious visits at home, both of them
in accordance with the kind of service which had been unfolded to him in
the retirement of Neuveville, viz., mingled religious and social
intercourse with his younger fellow-members.
In reading the expression of his feelings in the prospect of the former of
these engagements, it is instructive to remark, that the same sense of
entire dependence which had bowed his spirit when required in early life
to make the first offering of this kind, was present with him when now
called upon to go forth in his Master's name for the twentieth time, and
when age and experience had given him reverence among men.
1 _mo_. 8.--To-morrow is our Monthly Meeting, when I expect to
propose to my Friends a visit to the meetings composing the Quarterly
Meetings of Bristol and Somerset, and Gloucester and Wilts. Every time any
fresh exercise turns up for me, it always feels as if it was the
_first_ time of entering into the holy harness. If my friends permit
me to proceed, I hope I shall be helped through it; but it looks
formidable.
21_st_.--Bristol is like a great mountain looking me in the face, and
weighing heavily upon my heart.
The following short memoranda of the way in which he was engaged at
Bristol are taken from his letters; the Diary, during his later years,
supplies few notes, either of his labors or his experience:--
3 _mo_.--I met at Richard Fry's house a large number of young men and
women teachers of the First-day School; forty-eight were present. An
opportunity was offered for my receiving and also communicating
information respecting schools and education. What makes the subject more
interesting in Bristol, is the attendance of more than one hundred of the
school children at meeting on First-day mornings, which, I think, has been
the practice for about ten years, and their behavior is orderly and good.
31_st_.--I am somewhat busily employed in this busy city in visiting
the young men. I find very ready access to them, and my engagement has the
hearty concurrence of all my friends. I am abundantly convinced that it
would have been a great mistake to have ran away from the place without
making the attempt at the performance of the present service. The usual
meetings for worship have been seasons of divine favor, some of them, I
think, extraordinarily so, which I consider a great mercy in my Heavenly
Father, when I consider the weakness of the poor instrument. It has been
announced for me to give a lecture this evening in the large
meeting-house, on my travels in Europe, a _sound_ which almost
frightens me. Friends really do not know what a poor thing I am.
By the kindness of a friend, we have been supplied with a pleasing
personal reminiscence of John Yeardley's visit to Bristol, which will help
to represent him as he was in later years.
Bristol, 6 mo. 8, 1859.
Since thou informed me of thy intention to compile a memoir of our late
dear friend John Yeardley, I have endeavored to recall the circumstances
of his visit to this city in the spring of the year 1856.
My impression is, that the most striking feature in his character was his
childlike simplicity, both in word and conduct. This very characteristic,
whilst it really increased his influence for good, especially with the
young, rendered it perhaps more difficult to trace, and now to describe,
the precise manner in which it was exercised. I believe that his Christian
labors here were very seasonable and very important, and that he was
enabled to perform a service which scarcely any one else would have been
equally qualified to render.
There was in him, so far as my observation went, no approach towards an
assumption of spiritual dignity; nor was there, on the other hand, that
which is perhaps a more frequent defect, anything of _feigned_
humility. His whole character seemed to me perfectly unaffected. To
whatever extent, therefore, his natural disposition may have fitted him
for profitable intercourse with the young, I think that the qualities
which I have attempted to describe rendered him peculiarly acceptable to
them. Many times, whilst he was amongst us, he alluded--I believe even in
his public ministry--to his delight in their society, somewhat in this
manner: "I love the company of those who tread the earth with an elastic
step." This prominent trait in his character was a striking illustration
of what may be termed _the corrective tendency_ of true religion, by
which in advanced life he was enabled to place himself, under the precious
influence of the love of Christ, in thorough sympathy with those whose
circumstances, in many respects, were so different from, his own.
But my object was to describe John Yeardley's meetings in Bristol. The
truth is, however, that in describing the man, one seems most truly to
describe his service. In addition to his family visits, he met a large
company of our members in our meeting-house, and gave an interesting
narrative of his journeys in Southern Russia and Greece. He afterwards
invited many of our young friends, especially those who were engaged as
teachers in our First-day Schools, to spend an evening with him. Meeting
at the house of a kind friend, we had an opportunity of hearing from his
own lips some interesting details of his labors, chiefly, I think, in
reference to the schools in Greece. With characteristic simplicity, he
made various inquiries respecting our own First-day Schools, in which he
felt a deep interest. The occasion was of a very sociable and easy
character, and well calculated to promote in his young friends the
_healthy tone_ of religious feeling which seemed so peculiarly to
belong to himself.
After Martha Yeardley's decease, and as years rolled on, his mind dwelt
still more habitually and more confidingly than ever on the approaching
end of the race.
4 _mo._ 24.--I cannot say my spirits are always high. There is an
individuality in the allotment of each of us which we must seek for grace
and aid to endure to the end. The road may be now and then a little rough,
but it cannot be very long, at least to some of us; and when the eye
closes under the last gleam of earthly light, and then opens in the full
brightness of eternal glory, to enjoy the fulness of a Saviour's love, it
will be bliss indeed.
Thinking his state of health unequal to the attendance of the Yearly
Meeting, he left London and again, resorted for a while to the baths near
Minden, where he passed two months in tranquil retirement. He had in
former visits been deeply interested in the sufferings of a Prussian
soldier who refused conscientiously to bear arms. The late Samuel Gurney
wrote to the King of Prussia, on behalf of the young man, who was in
consequence liberated from military service, but was sentenced to two
years' imprisonment. The term was not nearly expired; but John Yeardley,
whilst at Minden, heard that he had been released from prison by immediate
command of the King. J.Y. had "spent a First-day with him within the
gloomy walls in Duisburg," and was consequently the more ready to rejoice
in his liberation.
On his return to England, John Yeardley proceeded to Birmingham. His
service in this and the neighboring towns was similar to that which he had
had to perform at Bristol. He says:
By day I called on the sick and such as were confined at home. In the
evenings I met companies of young men and women. They were invited to the
Friends' houses where tea was first served, and then a religious occasion
of silence and exhortation, with supplication when felt to be under right
pointing. The remainder of the evening was spent in social converse. I am
very favorable to the mixing of social intercourse with gospel labor. All
seemed pleased, and I trust we were mutually edified. I was often
requested to give some account of my late journey and the state of
religion in the various countries where I had travelled; and the
conversation often, turned on points connected with our religious
principles.
Joseph Sturge, he continues, was from home. At the request of his wife I
dined at their house with twenty-five young culprits, whom J.S. has in his
Reformatory at Stoke, near Bromsgrove. They came in a van with horses to
spend the day. They are all such as have been once or twice in prison,
mostly for theft. I addressed them after dinner, and at tea-time I
questioned them as to Jesus Christ our Redeemer, on God, Heaven and Hell,
how to gain Heaven and avoid misery. I left them with a more favorable
impression than I otherwise should have had. Severe measures had failed to
improve them, but they seemed susceptible of kind treatment, and some of
them gave hopes of amendment.
9 _mo_. 21.--Visited the Boys' and Girls' First-day Schools.
Breakfasted with thirty teachers (young men) at the schools. About 370
boys present in two rooms. None are taken under fourteen years of age.
Also a large class of adults. I addressed the two companies: then went to
the girls; heard them read, and addressed them. There are about twenty
young women teachers, and perhaps 270 to 300 girls.
The morning meeting was large. I was much pressed in spirit to speak on
the nature of the fall of man, and on the necessity of having clear views
of gospel truth. I was told afterwards that there was a Unitarian present.
He attended the Quarterly Meeting at Leicester on the 24th, and the two
following days met companies of young persons, who were, he says, "much
tendered in spirit." After some similar service at Stourbridge and
Coventry, he returned on the 27th to Stamford Hill. He remarks in his
Diary: "I believe the service of the young Friends in the First-day
Schools has been a blessing to themselves as well as to their pupils."
The next month John Yeardley made a religious visit to Hertfordshire, and
had two social-religious meetings with the younger Friends at Hitchin;
after which he remained at home until the beginning of the Twelfth Month,
when he left England for Nismes.
One object in this journey was to revisit the school which had been
established by himself and Martha Yeardley in 1842: another was the
renewal of his declining health. Susan Howland and Lydia Congdon, from the
United States, who were then on a visit to Europe, were bound for the same
destination, and John Yeardley gave them his company.
12 _mo_. 6.--On entering France, he says, we found a sprinkling of
snow and frost, but on leaving Lyons we left all the wintry weather
behind, and travelled on under a hot sun, and bright, cloudless sky, which
seemed to impart to us all fresh vigor and spirits. S. Howland remarked,
In such an atmosphere she felt another being.
At Nismes, the party found Eliza P. Gurney, and Robert and Christine
Alsop, on their way home from the valleys of Piedmont. John Yeardley
lodged at the school, spent much of his time with the children, and with
the other English and the American Friends gave his aid in some plans for
their recreation.
12 _mo_. 25.--The evening of this day was a lively and pleasant
scene. The girls' countenances were brightened and their hearts cheered by
the presents made to them by the English Friends present. The "tree" was
new to them; it was beautifully lighted with tapers, and bore a variety of
fruit both for mind and body.
1857. 3 _mo_. 2.--My dear friend ----- proposed my giving the school
girls a treat before I left Nismes. We contrived a visit to the sea,
distant from Nismes about twenty miles. We procured two omnibuses with six
horses, and started at 5 o'clock in the morning. Long before the time
appointed, the little maidens were in the entrance-hall with their
satchels in their hand, containing each her dinner; twenty-seven in all.
The pleasure on the road was novel and great; but when they arrived at the
sea-shore their delight was complete; with light hearts and quick heels,
running and picking up shells, meeting the waves as they advanced and
receded. On our return we visited the ancient town of Aigues-Mortes, near
the sea, famous for having been the place where the Protestant women were
confined and punished even to death. We entered most of the strong and
gloomy cells, and saw the instrument of torture. The tower and fortress
are a perfect model of a feudal castle.
On his return to England, John Yeardley was taken ill with bronchitis,
which produced great bodily weakness, and caused him "many wearisome"
nights and days; but, he says, "my Saviour was near to console and sustain
me." He went for change to Bath, and afterwards to Brighton with Margaret
Pope:--
We made, he says, speaking of this visit many calls, and my hospitable
hostess had many of the Friends to tea and dinner visits. Our social
readings in the evening were often instructive in the conversation upon
what we read, particularly over Hippolytus, who lived and wrote in the
first half of the second century. The Chevalier Bunsen did good service to
the Christian Church in bringing the life and some of the writings of this
good man to light.
On his return home we find him still solicitous, as he had been in former
years, for the intellectual improvement of his young friends.
11 _mo_.--During my stay at home I have renewed my German class for a
few of my young friends. We have also commenced a soiree for German and
French conversation. I love the society of my young friends, and am
always, anxious to promote their learning to speak German and French.
The Diary for 1858, the last year of his life, commences with, a New
Year's dedication of himself afresh to the service of his faithful
Creator, and a prayer for a fresh anointing in the exercise of his
ministry.
1858. 1 _mo_. 4.--How many and various are the thoughts which crowd
on the mind on the commencement of a new year; perhaps none more important
than to think I am one year nearer to eternity. A desire does live in my
heart (cherish it, O, my God) to live more to thy glory on earth. How I
long to be favored with strength to do something for the cause of truth
and righteousness, so long as I may be permitted to remain on the Lord's
earth. I think with gratitude that he has blessed me with a little more
faith of late in my ministry, and my very soul prays that in these
requirings he may be pleased to put the unction of his Spirit into my
heart, and his words into my mouth, and that under a right pointing, they
may go forth with power. Grant me, Lord, more devotedness of life, and a
right and sure preparation for a peaceful death and a blissful eternity.
For some years before his decease, John Yeardley's thoughts were
frequently occupied with the subject of the Millennium. Like some other
good men, he thought he saw in the events which were taking place, the
impending accomplishment of those predictions, whose fulfilment was to
precede the "great and terrible day of the Lord." On one occasion, after
mentioning a number of these "signs of the times," he winds up the
enumeration and the thoughts to which it gave rise, with the following
reflection:--
Happy is the Christian who, in this time of conflict, can look beyond the
passing events of time to the Great First Cause, and behold, as with the
eye of faith, the providence of his God watching over all things, waiting
to bring good out of evil, and causing all things to work to the one great
point, when he will cause the wrath of man to praise him, and the
remainder of wrath will he restrain. "Come, my people, enter thou into thy
chambers and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself, as it were for a
little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold the Lord
cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their
iniquity." (Isaiah xxvi. 20, 21)
In the Second Month he spent a week at Chelmsford with Susanna Corder. His
visit was prefaced by the following letter:--
Stamford Hill, 1 mo. 13, 1858.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
It would seem to me as if there were only left here and there a link of
the chain of my original connexion on this earth. The best end of this
chain is attached to those loved ones in heaven who are drawing me every
day nearer to their happy and blissful abode, through the love of our
glorified Redeemer. It is now many years since thou received her once so
dear to me as a bosom friend, to partake of thy wise counsels, and in her
troubles especially to enjoy the sympathy of thy warm and affectionate
heart.
I am now left alone for a short time; my young companion is at Norwich. If
thou wert at home, pretty well in health, and withal not so much occupied
as sometimes, it would be a great pleasure and gratification to me to pay
thee a short visit; but, as an absolute condition, I must request thee to
say, in perfect freedom, if it would be quite convenient. I want to ask
thee _many, many_ things.
Thy friend, affectionately and very sincerely,
JOHN YEARDLEY.
After his return home, having also visited Saffron Walden, he writes:--
1 _mo_. 25.--Just returned from a visit to Essex. I lodged a week at
my dear friend S.C.'s, and was edified and comforted in her company. It
has been a promised pleasure of some years' standing. The morning meeting
on First-day, as well as the one on Fourth-day, was a season of spiritual
refreshment, for which I was truly thankful. The Friends testified their
unity and comfort: I called on most of them.
On the Seventh-day, C.M. conveyed me across the country to Saffron Walden.
On the way we paid a sweet visit to the afflicted family of ----. At
Walden I was affectionately cared for, and was much interested in the
Friends there, whom I had not seen for eighteen years.