Chapter 40

REMOVAL TO STAMFORD-HILL, AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE FIFTH CONTINENTAL JOURNEY.

1843-48.

The tour which John and Martha Yeardley made in and around Buckinghamshire, and which is mentioned at the conclusion of the last chapter, was undertaken in quest of a new place of abode. In a letter from Martha Yeardley to her sister, Mary Tylor, written on the 3rd of the Eleventh Month, she says:--

Thou art aware that we have thought, if way should open of going nearer to you, and of pitching our tent within the Quarterly Meeting of Buckinghamstead. We offered to purchase a cottage at Berkhamstead, but for the present that has quite fallen through: we therefore intend to rest quietly here for the winter, in hopes that in the spring or summer something may offer, either at B. or in that quarter, to which we feel attracted; yet desiring to commit this and all that concerns us into the all-directing hand of our great Lord and Master, who has a right to do with us what seemeth him good.

Not long afterwards they purchased a house at Berkhamstead, called Gossom Lodge, to which they removed in the Fourth Month, 1844.

Very soon after they had taken possession of their new dwelling, they made a circuit through the meetings of Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, holding a few public meetings by the way: and the next summer they undertook a more extensive religious visit--viz., to the six northern counties of England.

In the course of the same year we find them meditating a further removal, into the immediate vicinity of London. One of the few entries in his Diary which were made by John Yeardley during this period, speaks of the apprehension of duty under which they contemplated this change: it was written after their removal.

For some years past I have often thought the time might come when we might see it right to settle within Stoke Newington Meeting. This feeling now began (1845) to fasten more strongly on our minds than it had done before, and we thought it right to make an effort to let Gossom Lodge, and seek a residence at Stamford Hill; and we have reason to believe that in this important step our prayer has been answered, and that all our deliberations have been guided by that wisdom which is from above. Very strong is my conviction that our Heavenly Father is not unmindful of the outward circumstances of those who seek his counsel, and desire to act under the guidance of his Holy Spirit. We were favored to let our house at Berkhamstead without trouble; the very first person to whom we made it known took it off our hands: and with equal ease we found another dwelling at Stamford Hill, which I consider as a proof that our prayer was heard and answered in this serious step: the signs I had asked were granted.

They removed to Stamford Hill on the 2nd of the Twelfth Month, 1845. As soon as they had settled in, John Yeardley became seriously indisposed with his old complaint, which ended in the jaundice. In the course of the spring and summer of 1846 he repaired with M.Y. to Bath, and afterwards to Harrowgate, to seek a restoration of his health.

The waters of the last-named place proved, he says, very efficacious both to my beloved M.Y. and myself. My precious dear, he continues, suffered much in her health through the fatigue of nursing me during the winter. How my soul overflows with gratitude to my Heavenly Father that he has united me to such a partner, who takes more than a full share in all my sorrows; and, thanks be unto our God, we have often to rejoice also together in Him!

On their return from Harrowgate they visited many of the meetings in London and the vicinity,--a service which they had always had in view, in looking towards a residence at Stamford Hill; and from the Eleventh Month, 1846, to the First Month, 1847, they were occupied in a religious visit to the families of the members and attenders of Gracechurch-street Monthly Meeting, in which their service was very acceptable.

The friends appointed to arrange the visits, says J.Y., have done so with willingness and efficiency, and we have, I believe, the help of their spirits. In passing from house to house, we are made sensible of our inability to render aid to others unassisted by the Spirit of our Divine Master. Wherever we have gone we have been received with kindness and Christian cordiality; and in thus being permitted to mingle our feelings with those who are bound up with us in religious profession, we feel sweet peace and comfort, and our hearts are filled with thankfulness to the Lord, that he has enabled us to do that which we believe he put in our hearts.

They returned the minute which had been granted them for this service on the 6th of the First Month. Many who read this Memoir will remember how the tidings of the death of Joseph John Gurney, who suddenly expired on the 5th, spread through the Society, and produced wherever it came an impression of sorrowful but heavenly solemnity. The event is referred to in the notice of this meeting which is contained in the Diary.

The meeting for worship was particularly solemn. The spirit of our dear departed friend J.J.G. seemed present with us. The event had impressed our minds with the awful uncertainty of time. My dear M.Y. ministered to our comfort, and so did dear ----. I was constrained, under a sense that the Lord had withdrawn many laborers from his vineyard, to lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left, to crave prosperity for the blessed work of grace in the hearts of all present, and to ask for more devotedness to the Lord's cause.

The next day they received intelligence of the decease of one of their Scarborough friends, whose dying words are worthy to be preserved in lasting remembrance.

1 _mo_. 7.--On returning from meeting we found a letter informing us of the sudden decease of Isaac Stickney of Scarborough. When the doctor attempted to give him brandy in his sinking state, he said, Doctor, don't cloud my intellect; if this be dying, I die in the arms of Jesus. These last words of my beloved and long-known friend are sweetly consoling to my spirit.

In the Second Month of 1848, John Yeardley again prepared to go forth and preach the Gospel in several countries on the Continent of Europe. He was accompanied by his beloved wife, partly in the character of a fellow-laborer, constrained by the force of Christian love to the same field of service, and partly as his companion and helper in countries where she did not otherwise feel herself called to labor. The course of their anticipated travel is described in the following extract from the Diary. They were unable, as it proved, to obtain admission into the Russian Empire; and this part of the mission was accomplished by John Yeardley alone, and at a later period.

1848. 2 _mo_. 8.--At our Monthly Meeting at Gracechurch street, I proposed my concern to visit some parts of South Russia, particularly the German colonies; also some places in the Prussian and Austrian dominions, parts of Switzerland and France, particularly Ardeche, and a few places in Belgium, and to revisit parts of Germany. My precious M.Y. also was constrained in gospel love to tell her friends that she had long thought of a visit to France and Belgium; and, if health permitted, should think it her religious duty to accompany me to South Russia. We had the full unity of our friends, who expressed much sympathy and encouragement, to our great comfort. It is about twenty years since I first thought seriously that I might have to visit the Crimea, and for thirty years I have had a prospect of some parts of Bohemia. Truly the vision has been for an appointed time; and if the period be now come, I trust it is the Lord's time, and that his presence may go with us. Many have been the conflicts and deep the baptisms through which I have passed, before coming to a willingness to offer to do what I believe to be the will of my Divine Master. Feeble as are my powers, I desire they may be devoted to his cause for the remainder of my days; and I do esteem it a great mercy to have arrived at a clear pointing in this important prospect. May the blessing of preservation rest upon the beloved partner of my sorrows and my joys, and on myself; and may He whom we desire to serve heal all our maladies of body and mind!

While their attention was thus turned to foreign lands, a storm was gathering in France which in the course of this month burst upon Europe with extraordinary violence, and overturned or endangered half the thrones on the Continent. This convulsed state of the European nations rendered it needful for them to wait a few months before they commenced their undertaking. In the Seventh Month, John Yeardley speaks of having obtained the further concurrence of the church, and of the feelings which the immediate prospect of the journey awakened in his mind.

7 _mo_. 1.--At the Quarterly Meeting, and also at the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders, our friends entered very fully into our proposed visit to the Continent. The expression of sympathy and full unity was abundant; there was a strong evidence of the good presence of the Lord being near during the deliberations, which proved a strength and comfort to myself and my beloved partner. The needful certificates are now all in our possession, and are expressed in terms the most appropriate and encouraging. My mind is deeply humbled at the near approach of our departure, in the present state of affairs on the continent of Europe: but I feel a confiding hope in the divine power for protection and safe guidance. May the Lord Almighty give us strength and resignation to commit our lives into his hand, and to say, Thy will be done. Amen!

This series of travels was the last in which John and Martha Yeardley were to be engaged as joint-laborers in their Lord's work. The health of the latter had been for several years seriously affected; and although she continued to take a deep interest in the spiritual condition of the countries they had visited before, and was enabled to the end to afford her husband the assistance of her strong sympathy and of her religious exercise of mind, the fatigue of constant travelling told more and more upon her enfeebled frame, and she did not long survive the accomplishment of this journey. John Yeardley, less advanced in years, and possessing a hardy constitution, had not yet lost the fire of his earlier days. The same spring and impulse was still strong within him which had animated him in former journeys, and which those who knew him in middle life will not fail to remember. Some of these will have before them the mental image of his person and manner--the fixed resolution, the concentrated mind, the ardent and devoted spirit, which shone through his impressive countenance and his whole figure, when he was engaged in his Lord's work; and perhaps also they may call to mind the very words of faithful counsel, or of encouragement, drawn from the well-spring of gospel sympathy, which fell from his lips.

John and Martha Yeardley did not accomplish the extensive mission which now lay before them at one stroke, but in three stages, returning to England between each. The most prominent object in the first journey was Belgium; in the second, the Rhine country; in the third, they were called to sow seeds of Christian doctrine in lands lying beyond the limit of any former travel--viz., in Silesia and Bohemia.

This was the first time that the Roman Catholic country of Belgium had called forth the exercise of their Christian charity. They left London in the Seventh Month, and spent about three weeks in travelling through the country, resting chiefly at Ghent, Brussels, Charleroi and Spa. They were accompanied as far as Brussels by Robert and Christine Alsop, and through the whole journey, by an ingenuous young man whom they had engaged to assist them, named Adolphe Rochedieu. The religious opening which awaited them at Brussels was very encouraging; few incidents which arose in the course of their numerous journeys were of a more animating character than the acquaintance which they made with the pastor Van Maasdyk and some of his flock. We give the narrative from J.Y.'s Diary and letters.

7 _mo_. 19.--H. Van Maasdyk paid us a long visit this morning. He was educated in a convent in Belgium, and becoming a priest, he exercised the functions which devolved upon him with much credit to himself, and to the satisfaction of his superiors, until the year 1836. He possessed a Bible in Latin, which he never read. He had the cure of a large parish, in which, down to the year above mentioned, there was not a single copy of the Scriptures in the Flemish tongue. About that time the colporteurs introduced the New Testament in Flemish, and some copies of the Bible, which greatly excited the priests, and in particular the bishop, who said the translation was mutilated and falsified, and commanded that the members of the Catholic Church who had received copies, should either burn them themselves, or bring them to the cures for that purpose. Van Maasdyk's parishioners accordingly brought their Bibles and Testaments (five copies) to him to be burned. He was zealous in the Romish faith, and had preached violently against the distributors of the wicked books, as they were called; and he was about to fulfil the command to burn them, when suddenly he felt something in his heart which restrained him, and he thought, I will at least first examine the foundation of the bishop's charges. He took up his Latin Bible, and placing beside it the copy in Flemish, began with the charge of mutilation. He found it not at all abridged. He then went to the charge of falsification, and found the two copies to agree with slight variations here and there; in fact, the modern translation proved to have been made from the Vulgate, which was the one in his possession. He read the denunciation of our Saviour, "Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites," and it struck him forcibly; he felt that he must say, "Woe is me, I am one of those who deceive the people." He read again, "There is one Mediator between God and man;" and here again his conscience smote him: "Woe is me, I teach the people in their confessions that the saints make intercession." His sorrow was so deep, that he thought he could die a thousand deaths rather than continue a Romish priest.

Now his persecution began. He was beloved by his flock, who entreated him not to leave them. After much conflict of mind, he wrote a decided letter to his bishop, who in the end gave him his dismissal. Still feeling himself called to proclaim the Gospel, he began to assemble the people in little companies, and to instruct them in the Scriptures. At the entreaty of his friends he settled at Brussels, where there was a wide field for labor amongst the poorest of the Roman Catholics, who speak only Flemish. His congregation consisted at first of some fifteen or twenty persons; but such was the success he met with, that they have been obliged four or five times in succession to seek a larger building, and his congregation now consists of 500. He is said to be one of the most powerful preachers in the Flemish language. It is delightful to be in his company; his heart is filled with gratitude, and his eyes sparkle with joy, when he is with those who love the Saviour. Nothing is paid him by his congregation; he has a little property of his own, and sometimes receives a little help from the Adolphus Society.

After a long conversation with him on the spiritual nature of worship, he took us to see some of his flock, with whom we had family sittings from house to house. This is exactly the class our hearts longed to visit; thanks be to our Heavenly Father who has thus opened our way.

20_th_.--The meeting at Pastor Marzial's last evening was much larger than we had expected. Van Maasdyk came in unexpectedly after the service which had been held at his dwelling, and with him a part of his flock. Many of the company were those who had renounced Romanism; some of the young men interested us exceedingly. I had a deal of conversation with them as to their religious experience. There were several young Germans among them, who are residing in Brussels; with these I conversed in their own language, which was highly gratifying to them. As Pastor Marzial speaks English well, I clung to him in the hope of having him for an interpreter; but he encouraged me to speak as well as I could in French, as the natives like it much better, and consider it a compliment to their language. This made me very low, it being a company of well-educated persons, and I asked Van Maasdyk what I should do. I would rather, he replied, hear ten words from your own mouth, than ten thousand through the mouth of another; we shall understand you, and what comes from the heart goes to the heart. This settled the question; I gave myself up to the language, and was helped through. My M.Y. was favored in her communication. After a short address from M., I concluded the meeting with supplication, also in French. I do believe the Spirit was poured upon us from on high; many hearts were touched, and tears flowed freely from many eyes.

The Lord has indeed opened a wide door for us in this place; the dear people follow us from meeting to meeting, entreating us for an opportunity of the like kind in their own houses; but we must be watchful to see our own way. However, if the oil is staid, it is not for want of vessels, for what we have to communicate seems like seed cast into the prepared ground. May the Lord himself be their teacher, and carry on his own work; for it is most assuredly his. To those who are spiritually minded, to hear of a society holding spiritual views, is like marrow to their bones. It is not so much what we are able to say to them, but our being as living witnesses to the truth which these awakened people feel in their own hearts.

21_st_.--Attended a meeting of Van Maasdyk's in the poorer district of Brussels; about seventy to eighty persons present, consisting of converted Romanists, seeking Protestants, and two awakened Jews. Two of the company were blind men, very pious, who gain their living by selling matches. Our friend read, explained, and applied the tenth chapter of John, in Flemish; he also interpreted for me a few words, which I spoke in German.

On their way to Charleroi, after passing through Mons, they traversed the great Belgium iron and coal country, where the people speak a patois but understand French. Here they made a free distribution of the religious tracts they had taken with them, and found an able co-adjutor in their postillion. When he understood what their object was, he allowed few opportunities to pass by without putting these little messengers into the hands of his fellow-countrymen.

At Charleroi, where they arrived on the 22d, they enjoyed Christian association of the most interesting kind, especially with Pastors Poinsot and Jaccard, and with Marzial, who followed them from Brussels. They seem to have found much more of the life of religion among the newly-awakened in Belgium than they had expected.

We have, says J.Y., good reason to believe that the burden we have so long felt for the inhabitants in some parts of Belgium was laid upon us by our Divine Master, who is now pleased to make way for us to throw it off; thanks be to his great name.

From Charleroi they went by Liege to Spa, where they procured a lodging in order to enjoy a period of needful rest. The tracts they gave away on the road were received with eagerness. Adolphe handed them out freely right and left, and when any one hesitated to take them, a significant nod from the postillion never failed to secure a ready reception.

The country from Namur to Liege, writes John Yeardley, and particularly from Liege to Spa, is beautiful, the road running along the banks of the Meuse, amid wooded rocks. These are the works of my Heavenly Father, but I sigh after the workmanship of his hands, created after his own image.

Passing over several incidents of religious intercourse and labor, we select a circumstance which illustrates the state of the country, and of their own feelings in relation to it.

Under date of Spa, the 2nd of the Eighth Month, John Yeardley says:--

My M.Y. made acquaintance with an interesting young woman in a shop, and gave her some of the _Scripture Extracts_. She came to us last evening, and remained some time conversing on the Romish religion. She had never seen the Bible. When we asked her what was the nature of the mass, she said she did not understand it, but she attended it because others