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
4_th_.--This morning we walked among the huts of the town, and found
an old man keeping school near the ruins of his own school-room, which had
been destroyed by the Turks. It happened to be his dinner-time, and he was
seated cross-legged on a stone, with a footstool before him, enjoying a
few olives and a morsel of bread. Around him stood his ragged pupils,
reading from leaves torn out of old books, some of which were so worn and
dirty that the poor boys could scarcely discover what they had once
contained. The weather was by no means warm, yet we could not wonder at
his choosing the open air for the place of instruction, when we saw his
dwelling, which was a mud hut not quite nine feet square, with no opening
for light but through the doorway. In this hovel he taught his forty
scholars when the inclemency of the weather did not permit their being out
of doors. The grey-headed father was surprised that his humble company had
attracted the notice of strangers; but, seeing the interest we manifested
in his calling, he inquired for a New Testament, which we gladly
furnished, with the addition of some tracts to such of the children as
could read them. This sight was gratifying to us as showing a disposition
to teach and to learn, even under the most disadvantageous circumstances.
Our quarters at the khan became more uncomfortable; the people were so
uncivil they would hardly give us cold water without grumbling. The second
night we witnessed one of the most dreadful storms we ever remember to
have seen. Violent gusts of wind shook our desolate abode, while the rain
poured down in torrents and found entrance in various parts of our
apartment.
They intended, as we have seen, to go to Athens by way of Corinth, and
when they were disappointed of sailing to that city, and thrown upon the
opposite shore of the gulf, they still seem to have supposed it impossible
to reach the capital by any other route.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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