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
22_nd_.--In the afternoon the Count and Countess paid us a visit. He
is a man of strong mind, weary of the disappointing pleasures of the
world, and happily turned to seek comfort in the substantial truths of
religion. The Countess was delighted to find that we were of the same
Society as William Penn, whose name her father much revered. They desired
permission to attend our meeting; and a little before the hour we called
on them, and they accompanied us to Professor Petavel's, where we had a
room quite filled and a good meeting. At the conclusion M.Y. made some
apology to the Countess for the imperfect manner in which the
communication was made; but she replied, "It comes from the heart, and it
goes to the heart." After the meeting none seemed disposed to move, and
the Countess commenced asking questions directing to passages of the
Scriptures, apparently desirous to confirm the practices of the Romish
Church, but sincerely seeking to have the conviction of her own heart
confirmed that they were errors. It is not easy to describe the interest
which this scene presented. An accomplished Roman Catholic lady proposing
questions of the deepest moment, and the learned but pious and humble
Professor Petavel answering them with the Bible in his hand, while a
roomful of attentive hearers were, we trust, reaping deep instruction.
Argyri joined them on the 27th at Neufchatel,[7] and they left that city
the same day for Geneva.
Here they tarried nearly a fortnight, were received with much affection by
their old friends, and had a few religious meetings. Martha Yeardley
says:--
We met with several very interesting persons at Geneva, and had three
religious opportunities with them; at the last meeting the number was much
increased, but the place is not like Neufchatel. The different societies
make bonds for themselves and for one another, so that love and harmony do
not sufficiently prevail amongst them.
Our stay in this place, writes John Yeardley, has been a time of distress
of mind and perplexity of thought, arising probably from the great weight
and importance of the journey before us, and the anxiety of providing a
conveyance through a strange and dark country. After much difficulty, we
have concluded a written contract with an Italian _voiturier_ to take
us to Ancona. May our Divine Keeper, in his infinite mercy, grant us
protection and safety, even in the hands of ungodly men!
The journey to Ancona took them seventeen days; they crossed the Alps by
the Simplon, and traversed Italy through Milan and Bologna. Martha
Yeardley touches upon a few points of the journey in a letter to Elizabeth
Dudley.
Ancona, 11 mo. 4.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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