At Frankfort they formed acquaintance with J.H. von Meyer, ex-burgomaster of the city, a learned and pious man, who had made a new translation of the Bible into German, and had stood firm for the cause of real Christianity in the midst of much declension. In the afternoon they drove to Offenbach to see J.D. Marc, a Christian Jew, who had earned experience in the school of suffering. He said, amongst other things, that he could never preach but when he believed it to be his duty, and then he could declare only what was given him at the time; this he considered to be the only preaching that could profit the hearers. His views on the inutility of water baptism were so decided, that when converted Jews asked him to administer to them this rite, he told them he could not recommend it, for it would do them no good. He gave them many names of awakened persons in the Palatinate:-- Where, says John Yeardley, there is still a lively-spirited people who hold meetings for religious improvement; perhaps the descendants of those who were visited by W. Penn in former days. The next day they returned to Frankfort, and made the acquaintance of Pastor Appia, a Piedmontese, who, with his wife, was very friendly; and when he heard that they had left their own land to visit his native country, marked out a route for them, and gave them letters of introduction. "When I am with such good people," observes J.Y., in relating their interview with Appia, "I am always uneasy in my mind that I am not more worthy. May the Lord strengthen me!" On the 10th, they went to Darmstadt, where they met with several enlightened Christians. One of these, Leander van Ess, had been a Roman Catholic priest; and although a zealous promoter of Christianity in the face of persecution, and favored with a more than ordinary degree of spiritual light, he had thought it right not altogether to forsake that communion, but remained amongst the Romanists to do them good. He had translated the New Testament for their use. At parting with his new friends he embraced them, gave them his blessing, and wished them a prosperous journey. "I felt myself," says J.Y., "comforted and strengthened by this visit." On the way to Heppenheim, he continues, (to which place they next directed their course), I felt quiet, in mind, and was once more assured that we were in the way of our duty. As I thought of the difficulties which might await us, these words were brought to my remembrance, "Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." Crossing the Rhine, at Mannheim, they stopped, on the 12th, at Duerkheim, where they became acquainted with Ludwig Fitz, a man of a frank and inquiring disposition.