26th.--On arriving at Grenoble, we inquired the name of the Protestant minister, and called on him without loss of time. So soon as he understood the object of our journey, he offered us his chapel for a meeting; or, if it would be more agreeable to us, he would convoke a meeting in the schoolroom for to-morrow evening with a number of persons who usually meet there. We accepted the latter proposal. It is comforting to find such a brother in the gospel; but O for the morrow! how my heart fails me for fear! Lord, help us, and give us to trust in thee!
27th.--This day is a day of suffering. The soldiers, the drums, the trumpets, with the shouting and dancing of the people, is enough to sink the heart of the reflecting Christian beyond hope, had he not a refuge in retirement before the Lord. The whole course of the military system tends to evil, and the corruption of manners.
The meeting was well attended, and they were thankful in being enabled to mingle in spirit with a company of sincere and pious Christians. The pastor called on them the next day. He had succeeded their good friend Bonifas, spoken of in the journey of 1843. Conversing with him on points on which Christians may differ, he observed, "The Church of Christ is like a great house built on a rock. There are different apartments for the various classes of Christians; but they are in the same house, and on the same rock, Christ."
After attending to some other gospel-service at Grenoble, they resumed their journey, held meetings in Valence and the neighborhood, and crossing the Rhone, entered Ardêche. A meeting which they held at Privas was an occasion of remarkable stillness and solemnity.
31st.--There was a room filled with serious persons, who immediately settled into silence like a Friends' meeting: indeed, I wish our meetings in England were always times of as much good feeling. A chapter, the second of the Acts, was read; after which I supplicated, and my M.Y. spoke in testimony, as well as myself. M.Y. closed the opportunity in supplication.
They held another meeting at Vals, a village in the Cevennes mountains, near the town of Aubenas. Lindley Murray Hoag, from America, had had a meeting there not long before. There was no resident pastor, and the schoolmaster called on John and Martha Yeardley, and informed them that when no one was present to preach, the congregation were accustomed to read a sermon, the liturgy, and prayers. They explained to him their objection to written sermons, and he appeared to be sensible of the inconsistency of them with true gospel ministry, but alleged that the people would not be satisfied without having the greater part of the time occupied with "service." As they could not undertake that this should be the case, it was agreed that they should be informed when the usual engagements were concluded, and that the schoolmaster should give notice of their intention to hold a religious meeting. In the morning (First-day), unexpectedly, a young man arrived, who came to see if he could be established in the place as pastor, and the schoolmaster introduced him to J. and M.Y. He raised no objection to their speaking after the service, but the sermon which he preached, as they afterwards found, was on the politics of the day, and when it was concluded, they were still kept waiting during a conference which the consistory had with him. This delay, and their persuasion that the members of the consistory were not the men to sympathise with them in their religious exercise, was exceedingly proving to faith, and they entered the chapel under a pressure of mind almost beyond utterance. After a pause John Yeardley rose and spoke in French, in which he felt himself to be much helped; an influence superior to words was spread abroad, lifting up the messengers above the fear of man. Martha Yeardley followed, inviting the people to come under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, through faith in Christ Jesus, and especially addressing herself to the mothers.
They remained at Vals a week.
Our lodging, says J.Y., is situated amid scenery the most romantic: high-planted rocks, deep glens, and purling streams. For reading and writing we spend much time on a spacious open gallery, protected from the penetrating rays of the sun by a roof; and in the interstices are creepers, vines, and flowers, delightful and airy.
11th.--This has been a trying week. I have been low in mind and suffered much in body, but, thanks to a merciful God, I am restored to comparative health, and my beloved one is better. The peasants who inhabit the mountains can only come to the town on First-days; and as they live dispersed in places almost inaccessible, we concluded to wait over another First-day to see some of them at Vals. We had them invited to the schoolroom. A small number only assembled, but it was a feeling time: I hope a few were instructed, and we were satisfied in having done what we could.
From Vals John and Martha Yeardley proceeded to Nismes, where they had some interesting service, both within and beyond the little Society of their fellow-professors. The account given by J.Y. of the way in which one of their evenings was spent may be transcribed.