Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the GospelYeardley, John
Religion
Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel
Yeardley, John
Clergy -- United States -- Biography; Quakers -- Biography; Yeardley, John, 1786-1858
This visit has afforded an opportunity of our becoming acquainted with
many serious characters out of the neighborhood who were come to the
interment; many of them felt near to me in spirit. Hoffman's wife is a
precious, still character; there is much sweetness in her countenance. All
received us heartily in Christian love; it felt to me as if it were the
night before one of our Monthly Meetings, and I was at a Friend's house,
so much freedom was to be felt. The inn is kept by Hoffman; they would
make us no charge, saying love must pay all. We were most easy to make a
present to the box for the institution, but they would have refused it,
saying feelingly, Travellers like you have many expenses.
The cause for J.Y.'s peculiar discouragement in the prospect of this
meeting was the want of an interpreter. Any one who knows the difficulty
of public speaking or continuous discourse in a foreign language, will
comprehend the anxiety which he felt when he saw no alternative but that
of committing himself to preach in German. Though very familiar with the
language, he never completely overcame the want of early and of thoroughly
grammatical instruction in that difficult and intricate tongue. It was
with feelings of this kind that he penned the following memorandum before
going to Kornthal:--
18_th_.--Extremely low in mind and in want of faith. No creature can
conceive what I suffer in the prospect of having to speak in a foreign
tongue in a religious meeting.
At Stuttgardt they took leave of their endeared friend, Henry Kienlin.
It is, says J.Y., hard to part; but every one must follow his calling,
and mind only the direction of the Lord.
On quitting Stuttgardt, John Yeardley makes a few remarks regarding the
religious state of Wuertemberg.
22_nd_.--Wuertemberg is a favored land. In Feldbach, three hours from
Stuttgardt, there are about 800 Christian people who hold meetings in each
other's houses: some of them belong to the Kornthal Society. Years ago,
many emigrated to America and Russia, to gain religious liberty; now it is
granted them by their own Government.
On the 22nd, they journeyed to Tuebingen, where they visited the worthy
Professor Streundel.
He was surprised and shy when we entered, as if he wanted to say, The
sooner you take leave the better. But as soon as he knew where we came
from, his countenance changed, and he received us heartily. He had his
wife called--a very polite person. He asked many questions as to our
church discipline, &c.; the order of our Society pleased him much. He had
undertaken the study of divinity from an apprehension of duty, and said
that it was only by the assistance of the Holy Spirit we could be made
instrumental in the ministry.
On the 25th they came to Wilhelmsdorf, on the Lake of Constance, where is
a branch of the Kornthal Association. They found the director "a man of
great simplicity, but of inward worth."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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