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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
THE SOUL-WINNER 
 
 A SKETCH OF 
 
 FACTS AND INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE 
 AND LABORS OF 
 
 EDMUND J. YARD, 
 
 For Sixty-three Years a "Class-Leader" and Hospital- 
 Visitor in Philadelphia. 
 
 BY HIS SISTER, 
 
 MRS. MARY D. JAMES. 
 
 He that winneth souls is wise." Prov. xi, 30. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY D. P. KIDDER, D.D. 
 
 NEW YORKS.^ 
 PHILLIPS & HUNT. 
 
 CINCINNATI : 
 
 WALDEN & STOWE 
 
 1S83. 
 
[I THE LIBRARY 
 I Or CONGRESS 
 
 [iWASHl 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 
 Copyright 1883, by 
 PHILLIPS & HUNT, 
 
 New York. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 MANY friends of Edmund J. Yard have 
 expressed a desire for the publication 
 of a record of his life. 
 
 It has seemed to me that the work of pre- 
 paring such a record should be performed by 
 some one more competent than myself, but 
 those whom I deem judicious advisers insist 
 that the task — pleasing in itself, yet beset with 
 many difficulties — should be undertaken by his 
 only sister. 
 
 As a feeble tribute to one of the best of 
 brothers, it is sent forth with the fervent 
 prayer that He who made Edmund J. Yard 
 what he was, may use it for the encourage- 
 ment and profit of many of His dear children, 
 
4 Preface. 
 
 and especially that by it some may be incited 
 to earnest effort on the lines of Christian use- 
 fulness in which he moved. 
 
 The fields for such usefulness are ever'open, 
 
 and the wants of perishing humanity within 
 them are ever pleading for sympathizing work- 
 ers. Those who are disposed to respond to 
 the calls of the Master for laborers to work in 
 his vineyard, but feel their lack of the skill and 
 perseverance necessary to large success will do 
 well to study the examples of Christian work 
 narrated in the following pages. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TV If Y personal acquaintance with the sub- 
 ject of the following memoir com- 
 menced in 1843, when I was pastor of the 
 Greene-street Church, Trenton, N. J., in which 
 his mother, brother, sister, and other relatives 
 were members. From that time forward to 
 the close of his earthly pilgrimage, I counted 
 him among my dearest Christian friends. 
 I was accustomed to call upon him when- 
 ever I could, and always found my inter- 
 views with him instructive and refreshing in a 
 religious point of view. He was thoroughly 
 in sympathy with all the duties and enter- 
 prises in which, from time- to time, I was en- 
 
6 Introduction. 
 
 gaged, whether pastoral, editorial, secretarial, 
 or educational. His experiences, in fact, 
 though in a local sphere, touched upon all 
 these lines of Christian effort, and became to 
 me in my official work an added inspiration. 
 I can therefore testify from personal knowl- 
 edge to his large-hearted hospitality, his Chris- 
 tian generosity, and his intelligent apprecia- 
 tion of every branch of Church work, as well 
 as to his tireless zeal to win souls for Christ 
 and build them up in Christian character by 
 every means in his power. 
 
 For many years I was accustomed to speak 
 of him as the MODEL CLASS-LEADER, and to 
 say that for this characteristic, if for no other, 
 his life ought to be handed down to posterity 
 in a well-written biography. But when to this 
 characteristic were added those of the hospital 
 visitor, the revival worker, the Bible giver, the 
 Christian letter-writer, and the man who had 
 the capacity, the tact, and the faith to win 
 
Introduction. 7 
 
 souls for Christ in all varieties of circumstances, 
 I deemed it of no small importance that me- 
 morials of his life and labors should be pre- 
 pared for publication. I was, therefore, great- 
 ly pleased when his sister, Mrs. James, although 
 in feeble health and pressed with other en- 
 gagements, undertook the task of writing the 
 present volume. How favorable was the result 
 anticipated by others also may be seen from 
 the following resolutions passed respectively 
 by the Philadelphia and New Jersey Confer- 
 ences at their sessions of 1880. 
 
 The session of the Philadelphia Conference 
 for that year was held in the Union Church, 
 of which Mr. Yard had been so long an hon- 
 ored member. It was therefore with exceed- 
 ing appropriateness that the Rev. Joseph Cas- 
 tle, D.D., who had once been his pastor, and 
 who has since departed this life, offered the 
 following preamble and resolutions, which were 
 unanimously adopted : 
 
8 Introduction. 
 
 Whereas, The late Edmund J. Yard was extensively 
 known and greatly beloved in his capacity of class-leader 
 and hospital visitor in the city of Philadelphia ; and 
 
 Whereas, We have learned with pleasure that a me- 
 moir of his life r.nd labors has been nearly completed by 
 his esteemed sister, Mrs. James ; and 
 
 Whereas, We believe a record of his worthy example 
 as a Christian worker will be greatly calculated to do 
 good, both in the present and in coming generations; 
 therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That this Conference heartily commends to 
 our Book Editors and Agents in the New York publica- 
 tion of the proposed memoir in such style and form as 
 will conduce to its wide circulation. 
 
 The New Jersey Conference met the same 
 year in the city of Camden. In that body a 
 similar paper was offered by Revs. Charles 
 H. Whitecar and John S. Heisler. It was 
 passed with cordial unanimity in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 
 Whereas, The late Edmund J. Yard, who was for the 
 long period of sixty-three years, a successful class-leader 
 and hospital visitor in Philadelphia, was well and favor- 
 
Introduction. 9 
 
 ably known to many ministers of this Conference, and to 
 many members of our churches ; and 
 
 Whereas, We have learned that Mrs. Mary D. James, 
 also well known to us as an able writer, has nearly com- 
 pleted a memoir of the life and labors cf her lamented 
 brother, under a most appropriate title, "The Soul Win- 
 ner;" and 
 
 Whereas, We cannot doubt that such a work will be 
 extensively popular and useful ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That we respectfully recommend to the 
 Book Agents at New York the prompt publication of 
 the said memoir, pledging ourselves hereby to promote 
 its circulation as extensively as practicable among our 
 people. 
 
 Now that the book, as prepared by Mrs. 
 James, is accessible to the public, it may be 
 commended as adapted to general and wide- 
 spread circulation. Although brief and unpre- 
 tentious, it will be found worthy to take rank 
 with the best religious biographies, and as 
 such to serve as a means of instruction and 
 edification to all who may peruse its pages. 
 
 To many surviving friends it will come as a 
 
io Introduction. 
 
 joyous and profitable reminiscence of a person 
 only known to be loved and venerated. To 
 those who are inquiring how they may become 
 useful as Christians, it will give the plainest and 
 most satisfactory answers possible in the form 
 of a practical example. 
 
 The following characteristics of the book 
 entitle it to a deserved popularity: 
 
 1. It is American. Much of the religious 
 biography circulated in this country is of for- 
 eign origin, and although excellent in charac- 
 ter and influence, is less relevant to the cir- 
 cumstances of American readers than the 
 matter of the present volume. 
 
 2. It presents a beautiful example of Chris- 
 tian character and influence from common and 
 secular life. A large proportion of religious 
 biography, both English and American, is cler- 
 ical and, therefore, limited in the range of its 
 special instructiveness. Here is an example 
 taken from every-day business life, and yet 
 
Introduction. i i 
 
 abounding in admirable traits of character and 
 incidents of extraordinary usefulness. On 
 every page it illustrates the principle so well 
 embodied in a couplet of the hymn entitled, 
 44 Your Mission:" 
 
 "If you want a field of labor, 
 You can find it anywhere." 
 
 3. In size, style, and subject it is adapted to 
 interest and instruct the young. Hence it 
 should have a place in every Sunday-school 
 library and in many families, and should be 
 commended to children and youth who desire 
 to make their lives beautiful if not sublime. 
 
 4. It is specially adapted to be placed in 
 the hands of Christian converts as a means of 
 teaching them by example how to develop 
 Christian character through acts and habits of 
 usefulness. Hence it should be widely circu- 
 lated as a tract volume. 
 
 5. Added to all this, the book has special 
 
12 Introduction. 
 
 charms for persons advancing in years. It ex- 
 hibits a rare instance of an old age green and 
 beautiful, notwithstanding the ills and adversi- 
 ties to which humanity is subject. It shows 
 how the palm-tree, planted by the river of 
 God, bears fruit in old age, while its leaf does 
 not wither till transplanted to the paradise 
 above. D. P. K. 
 
 New York, Sept., 1881. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BOYHOOD. 
 
 Birth and parentage — Early traits — Helpfulness to his moth- 
 er — Religious convictions Page 21 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 WON BY THE WORD. 
 
 Bible-reading — A great change — Love for God, his word, 
 his worship, and his people — Methodist meetings — A decisive 
 act — Opposition — Joining the Church — A rebuke to triflers — 
 Persecutions and triumphs 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIRST TROPHIES. 
 
 Opposers conquered by love — Personal effort — A young man 
 forsakes the ball-room for the prayer-meeting — Young men 
 
14 Contents. 
 
 converted and their subsequent career — First Methodist 
 church in Trenton, N. J. — " Bethesda" — The "boy preacher" 
 and the effect of his message Page 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LIGHT ON THE PATHWAY. 
 
 Helpers — "Living grace" and "dying grace" — Made a 
 class-leader — Camp-meeting — Learns of the "higher Chris- 
 tian life " — Meeting for the promotion of holiness 44 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 NEW POWER. 
 
 Conference in Philadelphia — Devoted women — Rev. Joseph 
 Lybrand — Experience of perfect love — Divine anointing for 
 work — Views of the Christian life 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NEW OPPORTUNITIES. 
 
 Removal to Philadelphia — Helpful associations — Mrs. Page 
 and her work in prisons and hospitals — Influence of her ex- 
 ample — Signal answer to prayer — His mother— Her happy 
 death , 62 
 
Contents. 15 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOL OF ADVERSITY. 
 
 Marriage — Domestic felicity — Entrance into business — Re- 
 verses — Months of darkness — A message from God — The way 
 providentially opened — An honest insolvent — Bereavement — 
 Refining influence of trial Page 69 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 SELF-SACRIFICING LABOR. 
 
 Christian effort among sick colored people — Trophies — A 
 hard heart melted by love — A consumptive healed, body and 
 soul — Joy in work for Jesus - 77 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 IN THE CLASS-ROOM. 
 
 Class-leaders sub-pastors — Mr. Yard's work and pop- 
 ularity in this sphere — Recollections of one of his class- 
 members — Use of the sword of the Spirit — Skill in enlist- 
 ing sympathy and prayer in behalf of the afflicted and im- 
 penitent — Happy results — Leading four classes each week 
 — Habits of promptness — Visits to the sick — Bedford Street 
 mission-class 86 
 
1 6 Contents, 
 
 chapter x. 
 
 AT THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 Sabbath afternoons among sufferers — Characters reached — 
 The benediction of his presence and words — The young 
 Dane — The wounded coal-heaver — The dying consump- 
 tive — "The sailor-boy" — "Nobody cares for sailors" — 
 An orphan — Converted — Discouraged — Reclaimed — Bravery 
 in naval engagement — Subsequent illness and triumphant 
 death — Honored at his funeral Page 99 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 AT CAMP-MEETINGS. 
 
 Too busy for summer vacations — The patriarch in his cher- 
 ished work amid the spiritual influences of the tented grove — 
 A hardened young man awakened — Terrific conflict — For- 
 gives and is forgiven 1 19 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON THE WING. 
 
 Conversations on steam-boats and railway trains — A summer 
 excursion and its results — An invalid — Indifference melted 
 away by kindness — The sick man and his kindred saved — A 
 skeptical soldier conquered for Christ 120 
 
Contexts. 17 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WRITING LETTERS FOR JESUS. 
 
 The value of religious correspondence — The large circle of 
 Mr. Yard's correspondents — A Christian friend counseled 
 and encouraged — Appeals to a young man to decide for 
 God Page 138 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 LABOR VARIED AND ABUNDANT. 
 
 Public addresses — Not a preacher, yet popular and effective 
 as a speaker — Secret of his power — Among firemen — A mem- 
 ber of " Hope Hose Company " — Influence with this class of 
 young men — A sick fireman saved — Work among prisoners — 
 A wanderer reclaimed— Visiting the almshouse — Distributing 
 Bibles — Thousands of copies of the sacred word given to fire 
 men, soldiers, and young converts 148 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 INDIRECT INFLUENCE. 
 
 The ever-widening influence of efforts for souls — Many such 
 waves set in motion by this " soul-winner" — The young book- 
 keeper's conversion — The Sabbath-keeping firm in a Western 
 9 
 
1 8 Contents. 
 
 town — Religious worship — The town transformed — Regard 
 for God's day rewarded Page 166 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOME LIFE. 
 
 The protracted suffering of Mrs. Yard — Her husband's de- 
 votion — Her death — The removal of his son's family to his 
 house — A Thanksgiving Day reunion — The death of his 
 first-born — Hospitality — Wounded soldiers at his table — 
 Guests during the Centennial Exhibition — A granddaughter's 
 tribute 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF ADVANCING YEARS. 
 
 Reverses — Losses not permitted to interrupt his joy — Be- 
 reavements — A letter full of Christian hope — Graces tested — 
 Patience having its perfect work 188 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TRANSLATED. 
 
 Failing faculties — A memorable Sabbath — The last prayer 
 at the hospital — "One more day's work for Jesus" — "He 
 was not, for God took him." 108 
 
Contents. 19 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 TRIBUTES AND REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Letters from Bishop Scott, Rev. J. M. Freeman, D.D., 
 Rev. R. J. Carson— Tribute from Rev. E. H. Stokes, D.D.— 
 He enters Union Church a stranger — Kneels at the altar — Is 
 greeted by Mr. Yard — Describes his ways of working for souls 
 — His sympathetic nature— Scene at a camp-meeting — The 
 angel's visit Page 205 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 CLOSING WORDS. 
 
 The affectionate, helpful brother— The inspiration of his 
 example and success in soul-winning— Sympathy and counsel 
 in later years— The last visit— Poem, "Transferred to the 
 Brighter World" — The Source of his power accessible 
 to all 
 
THE 
 
 S O UL-WIN NEK 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BOYHOOD. 
 
 T^DMUND JONES YARD was born in 
 -*-— ' Trenton, New Jersey, January 19, 1792. 
 His parents were Benjamin and Priscilla Yard. 
 He was the second of ten children. His fa- 
 ther, though not known to be an experimental 
 Christian, was esteemed as an upright and con- 
 scientious man, and was by birthright a mem- 
 ber of the " Society of Friends," or " Quak- 
 ers," his parents having been connected with 
 them. 
 
 Edmund's mother had become an earnest 
 Christian previous to his birth, and careful- 
 ly trained her children in the knowledge 
 of God. 
 
22 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 Edmund was, from early childhood, serious 
 and thoughtful. He daily repeated the Lord's 
 Prayer, with solemnity and reverence, and 
 often thought deeply of eternal things. His 
 outward life, according to his mother's account, 
 was most remarkable. His affectionate treat- 
 ment of the members of his own family, and 
 his kind and amiable manner toward all, were 
 such as to attract attention and call forth re- 
 mark. 
 
 To his mother, especially, he was a treas- 
 ure — gladly relieving her of care and help- 
 ing her in all her household labors. Often 
 when finding her weary from a day's toil, he 
 would insist upon her retiring early, saying, 
 " I will take care of the baby." Then, with 
 his foot upon the cradle-rocker and his hands 
 busily sewing, he would keep the little one 
 from its tired mother, thus affording her hours 
 of refreshing sleep. Sometimes it would be 
 midnight before the baby's waking would be 
 the signal for him to commit it to its mother's 
 arms. Then, retiring to his bed, he felt su- 
 
Boyhood. 23 
 
 premely happy in the thought that he could 
 thus share the burdens of one to whom he 
 owed so much. The eight children, younger 
 than himself, afforded him many " privileges," 
 as he called them, of helping his dear mother, 
 and of smoothing her rough pathway. 
 
 His mother's own statement was, " Edmund 
 was always good, from his birth, and never 
 needed correction, nor even reproof." 
 
 Notwithstanding his pure and admirable 
 life, he had keen convictions of inward deprav* 
 ity. By the illumination of the divine Spirit 
 the native corruption of his heart was revealed, 
 and he knew it must be changed by the power 
 of God or he could not be saved. His inabil- 
 ity to live up to his own .standard of right 
 deeply pained him, and he would say, " Ah, it 
 is sinning and repenting, sinning and repent- 
 ing over and over." While others were prais- 
 ing him, his own deep consciousness of guilt 
 in God's sight made him dissatisfied, and often 
 unhappy. The language of Paul, Rom. vii, 24, 
 was scarcely too strong to be applied to him- 
 
24 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 self by this young man whose life was so ex- 
 ceptionally beautiful in the eyes of those 
 around him : " O wretched man that I am ! 
 who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death?" 
 
 , 
 
Won by the Word. 25 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WON BY THE WORD. 
 
 TN the year 1808 Edmund J. Yard com- 
 ■*■ menced reading the word of God with ref- 
 ence to the salvation of his soul. He had read 
 the Bible as a school book, and was familiar 
 with its sacred truths, but at that time his 
 mind was drawn by the Holy Spirit, without 
 any other influence, to read it, that he might 
 learn the way of salvation. By this reading he 
 was made increasingly sensible of his sinful- 
 ness before God, and was enabled to see clear- 
 ly the way of salvation in Christ. 
 
 With sincere repentance and great earnest- 
 ness, he sought pardon and peace, and it was 
 not long before he felt the power of saving 
 grace and was consciously born of God. t 
 
 The work was very gradual. There was no 
 distinct period to which he could subsequent- 
 ly refer as the hour or the day when the great 
 
26 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 work was effected, for it was as the dawning of 
 the day, so gently breaking upon the darkness 
 of his soul, that he could not tell just when the 
 night had departed. But he knew that the 
 darkness was gone, and felt that his soul was 
 now " light in the Lord ;" for " the Sun of 
 righteousness" had arisen upon him " with 
 healing in his wings." 
 
 Then began his delight in the worship and 
 service of the Lord. He attended different 
 churches as often as opportunity offered, and 
 became greatly interested in every thing per- 
 taining to the cause of Him whom he now de- 
 lighted to serve; 'Moving" all Christians of 
 whatever evangelical sect "with a pure heart 
 fervently." 
 
 The most enlarged charity was a distin- 
 guishing trait that marked not only his early 
 Christian life, but his whole character. Some 
 of his most cherished friends and associations 
 were among those not of his own denomina- 
 tion. From the hour of his espousals to God 
 communion with saints, next to that with 
 
Won by the Word. 27 
 
 Him who is ''chief among ten thousand and 
 altogether lovely," was the joy of his life. 
 
 During the early part of his religious life 
 the society of many devout Christians — minis- 
 ters and others, who visited the home of his 
 parents — afforded him great spiritual aid, as 
 well as unspeakable delight. From their lips 
 he would catch with eagerness the precious 
 words of gospel experience and teaching. 
 
 His mother's heart rejoiced as she found her 
 son evincing so deep an interest in spiritual 
 things, and thinking it would be conducive to 
 his religious advancement, she gave him a room 
 to himself, where he spent much time alone in 
 reading, meditation, and prayer. 
 
 The first time he attended a Methodist 
 meeting he felt it his duty to kneel during 
 prayer, but had a seve-re conflict in his mind, 
 thinking that such a step would at once sever 
 his connection with all his associates. At that 
 time there was not, so far as he knew, one 
 young person in the city of his residence who 
 made a profession of religion, and Methodists 
 
28 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 were looked upon with contempt and treated 
 with derision. To kneel in one of their meet- 
 ings would be to commit himself fully on the 
 Lord's side, and would indicate his coming out 
 from the world. Besides, it would subject him 
 to great scorn and persecution. But after 
 having counted the cost, he resolved to do 
 what God required, though it might involve 
 the loss of every human friend. Kneeling, at 
 once he began to reckon himself among the 
 followers of Jesus. 
 
 Anticipating speedy assaults of persecution, 
 he sought to be equipped for the onset, and 
 became " strengthened with might by the 
 Spirit in the inner man." 
 
 The first attack occurred on the following 
 day. One of his friends said : 
 
 " So, Edmund, the Methodists have got you, 
 have they?" 
 
 He replied, " No, the Methodists haven't 
 got me, but I have resolved to serve God." 
 
 The young man ridiculed him, and tried to 
 persuade him to give up his religion. He re- 
 
Won by the Word. 29 
 
 plied, " You may say and do what you please, 
 but you can't move me. I am determined to 
 be a Christian and go to heaven." 
 
 At that time Edmund had commenced 
 learning a trade, and his shopmates tried every 
 possible means and device to allure or drive 
 him from the path of piety. One day a young 
 man said to him, 
 
 11 I heard a good Methodist lady say that 
 4 Edmund Yard's fiery edge would soon wear 
 off.' " 
 
 This affected him seriously, coming from one 
 whom he had regarded as a Christian, and he 
 felt sad. 
 
 The young man added, " You wont hold out 
 long, you'll soon give it up." 
 
 Edmund, lifting his heart to God, felt 
 strengthened, and replied, " Well, they that 
 live longest will know most," and turned away 
 from his comrade with a smile. 
 
 Soon after Edmund had committed himself 
 by kneeling in church, he again attended a 
 Methodist meeting, and heard Rev. Jacob 
 
30 The Soul Winner. 
 
 Hevener, then on Trenton Circuit, preach. 
 After the close of the sermon an invitation was 
 given to join the Church. Edmund at once 
 resolved to unite himself with that people, and, 
 never having seen any one join a Church, he 
 asked an old member who sat beside him what 
 he should do to connect himself with the 
 Church. " Father Kotts" replied, " Why, just 
 go forward and stand at the altar." He did 
 so, and the minister took his name and as- 
 signed him to a class. 
 
 Although in the ardor of his first love all 
 Christian Churches seemed alike to him, and 
 he continued to love all, yet, when he came to 
 understand the usages and privileges of the 
 Church of his choice, he saw that God's hand 
 had led him there; for the peculiar helps of 
 the Methodist Church, as he frequently said, 
 were just what he specially needed. The 
 class-meetings, the band-meetings, the love- 
 feasts, and prayer-meetings proved so strength- 
 ening to his Christian graces that he believed 
 Methodism was just adapted to him and he to 
 
Won by the Word. 31 
 
 it; so he was always glad he had found a 
 home in a Church that was warm in religious 
 fervor, and which set forth a high standard 
 of experience as the Christian's duty and priv- 
 ilege. 
 
 The low estimation in which the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church was at that period held, and 
 the contumely and persecution then endured 
 by its adherents every-where, furnished a se- 
 vere test to a young man of elevated ideas, 
 great ambition, and native pride of character. 
 Yet, so clear were his convictions that God 
 was pleased with his decision, that he soon 
 rose superior to the frowns and smiles of the 
 world, and exulted in a consciousness that he 
 was among the children of the great King, and 
 an heir to the kingdom which shall endure 
 when earthly distinctions shall be forgotten. 
 
 In the midst of his ecstatic joy, at a meet- 
 ing one evening he observed some young men 
 laughing and making sport of the exer- 
 cises and the devout worshipers. When an 
 opportunity offered he stepped upon a seat 
 
32 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 and repeated this stanza of one of our Wes- 
 leyan hymns : 
 
 " On all the mighty kings of earth, 
 
 With pity I look down, 
 And claim, in virtue of my birth, 
 
 A never-fading crown ! " 
 
 He then spoke to them in words so exult- 
 ant and so impressive, that the game-makers 
 were awed into seriousness, and there was no 
 more trifling that evening. Indeed, some were 
 so moved upon by the Spirit of God that they 
 were soon found among the humble seekers of 
 salvation. 
 
 Not long after Edmund had identified him- 
 self with "the sect every-where spoken against," 
 he was told that a lady friend of his mother 
 had made the remark that she pitied Mrs. 
 Yard because her son Edmund had disgraced 
 her and her family by becoming connected 
 with the Methodists. The same lady was in- 
 formed by one of his shopmates that they had 
 tried their best to make the young Methodist 
 angry, but could not succeed ; nothing they 
 
Won by the Word. 33 
 
 could say or do would move him. The lady 
 said, "There is a way to make him angry, and 
 if you will try that you will be sure to gain 
 your point." Alluding to a woman called "a 
 sanctified Methodist," she said it was consid- 
 ered by some impossible to make her angry, 
 but a man said he knew how to make her 
 mad. So, one day, when she came to the 
 house where he lived, as she stepped upon the 
 porch he threw the contents of the basin 
 in which he had washed his hands into 
 her face, and she was very angry. " Now," 
 said the lady, "you try that. Wash your 
 hands or feet and then throw the dirty water 
 into Edmund's face, and see if that don't do 
 it." One of the boys concluded to try it, but 
 first told Edmund the story, as related by the 
 lady, adding, " I am going to try it with you ;" 
 but, finding him unmoved by the threat, con- 
 cluded it was not worth while to make the ex- 
 periment. The boys, however, did try another 
 plan to tease and disturb him. They under- 
 took to compel him to drink rum, designing 
 3 
 
34 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 to make him drunk. Two of them held him, 
 and the third attempted to pour it into his 
 mouth, but, raising his foot, he pushed his 
 tormentor away. 
 
 "Who shall contend with God? or who can 
 hurt whom God delights to save ? " 
 
 After many experiments Edmund's asso- 
 ciates came to the conclusion that he was be- 
 yond their power to move, and they might as 
 well let him alone. They were convinced, 
 also, of his unwavering fidelity and consistency 
 of conduct, and of the reality of the religion 
 he professed. Consequently their confidence 
 in him increased daily, while growing respect 
 caused them to treat him with kindness. 
 
First Trophies. 35 
 
 T 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FIRST TROPHIES. 
 HE young soldier was not content with 
 
 having conquered a truce with his asso- 
 ciates. He longed to have them enlisted with 
 him in the service of his new Captain. Some 
 of them were made the subjects of special 
 prayer. Influenced by his evident interest in 
 the evening meetings, one and another would 
 attend those gatherings of humble worshipers. 
 Usually a new-comer would take the back seat. 
 But interest was sure to be awakened, and 
 each evening would find the young man one 
 seat in advance of that previously occupied. 
 Edmund's prayers were unceasing, and he 
 eagerly watched for tokens of answer. About 
 midway up the aisle was a seat which, in his 
 eye, marked the line between ordinary interest 
 and the state of mind which rendered it ad- 
 visable for a personal appeal to be made. One 
 
36 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 who had occupied that seat, as he passed out 
 the door, would find an arm kindly thrown 
 around him, with an invitation to take a walk 
 in a retired street near by. 
 
 Then Edmund would take the opportunity 
 to earnestly press his friend to yield to God's 
 claims. Not in a single case was such an 
 effort unsuccessful. 
 
 Sometimes the walk and the conversation 
 would be continued till a late hour of the 
 night ; but before they would separate the 
 young man would promise to give his heart to 
 Christ. In this way a large number were won 
 for Jesus. It was said, " When Edmund Yard 
 gets his arm around a young man he is sure 
 to come." 
 
 One evening he fixed his eyes upon one of 
 the proudest and gayest young men in the 
 city, who was not accustomed to attend Meth- 
 odist meetings, but had been drawn there by 
 curiosity on that occasion. All the time dur- 
 ing service Edmund was praying, " Lord, help 
 me to win that soul for thee ! " He observed 
 
First Trophies. 37 
 
 a seriousness in the young man's face, and 
 thought the good Spirit was working in his 
 heart. In this case he did not wait for further 
 indications, but, as soon as the meeting had 
 closed, hastened to his young friend, overtook 
 him, and drawing him around to the favorite 
 walk in which so many had found the way of 
 life, began to recommend the service of Christ 
 to him. The young man was fond of the 
 world's pleasures and vanities, and having been 
 previously invited to attend a ball on an even- 
 ing of the ensuing week, did not feel quite 
 ready to start for heaven. Edmund pleaded 
 with him till his heart yielded, and he promised 
 to attend the prayer-meeting instead of the ball, 
 both being on the same evening. When the 
 time arrived the temptation to participate in 
 the gay entertainment was so strong that he 
 was about to yield, when Edmund entered his 
 room, and renewed his request for him to ac- 
 company him to the place of prayer. Had he 
 not gone again in pursuit of him that precious 
 soul, instead of being within reach of saving 
 
38 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 power on that evening, would have been on 
 Satan's premises, and might have been led 
 back into captivity. But the faithful Chris- 
 tian victor bore away the trophy won for 
 Jesus, and there was "joy that night in the 
 presence of the angels of God over that sinner 
 who repented " and was born into the king- 
 dom before the meeting had closed. 
 
 What a conquest for Christ ! That young 
 man — dressed for a scene of worldly amuse- 
 ment and revelry — found in a prayer-meeting, 
 a humble penitent, seeking salvation ! In the 
 house of a colored family the proud votary of 
 fashion bowed in contrition at the mercy-seat 
 and found pardoning grace ! The young man 
 thus won was James Rogers, who afterward 
 resided in Burlington County, N. J., and filled 
 various positions of honor and trust. He be- 
 came and remained a pillar in the Church of 
 God during his long and useful life, which he 
 closed in gospel triumph in Trenton, the city of 
 his natural and spiritual birth. Many times 
 has it been the writer's privilege to listen to 
 
First Trophies. 39 
 
 his joyous utterances as a class-leader and con- 
 ductor of social religious meetings. He was a 
 man of sterling piety and true nobility of soul, 
 remarkable for his large benevolence, and great- 
 ly respected and beloved in the Church and 
 community where he resided. He was the 
 father of Rev. William R. Rogers, deceased, 
 of the New Jersey Conference, and the excel- 
 lent Mrs. Dr. Harlow, of Philadelphia, and 
 grandfather of Rev. James Rogers and Rev. 
 William Rogers, both now in the ministry of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 In a few months after Edmund's conversion 
 the band of young men in that Church num- 
 bered thirty, all won for Jesus by that young 
 Christian, who had himself started alone in the 
 way of life. As stated before, when he went 
 forward to give his name to the Church, he 
 did not know that there was a young person 
 of like mind in the city, but he had the glad 
 surprise to find two young men standing by 
 his side at the altar, whose hearts had been 
 touched by his example, having been previous- 
 
40 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 \y awakened. They followed him as he went 
 forward to be enrolled among the followers of 
 the Lamb. Those young men were John Lan- 
 sing and Charles Beatty. Another, who was 
 an associate of Edmund, and was moved by 
 his example to become a Christian, and who 
 not long after joined the Church, was Samuel 
 J. Cox, who afterward became a minister and 
 spent his life in doing good. For a number 
 of years he was an acceptable minister of the 
 Philadelphia Conference, and later of the New 
 Jersey Conference. Subsequently he removed 
 to Zanesville, Ohio, and died there a beloved 
 veteran in the service of God. In Mr. Cox 
 Edmund found a congenial friend and helper 
 in the cause of Christ, and as brothers they 
 walked together in the paths of usefulness, 
 sweetly united in strongest bonds. 
 
 Richard J. Bond, John C. Bellerjeau, and 
 Charles Sutterly, were all of the number led to 
 Christ by Edmund, and all those young men 
 named became official members of the Church 
 in Trenton. One after another they have all 
 
First Trophies. 41 
 
 passed to their heavenly home. One of the 
 last two surviving their spiritual father was 
 Charles Sutterly, who departed to his rest sev- 
 eral years ago at eighty-five years of age. 
 
 The other, John Downey, lived to be the 
 oldest member of all the seven Methodist 
 Churches which during his life had arisen in 
 the city of Trenton. 
 
 When Edmund J. Yard joined the Church, 
 in 1 8 19, one little wooden building, built in 
 Bishop Asbury's early ministry, with boards 
 for seats, was the only Methodist edifice in 
 Trenton. Many years after this was succeed- 
 ed by a brick house — small in dimensions but 
 neat in structure. The second was named 
 a Bethesda," and though the glory of the lat- 
 ter house was greater than that of the former, 
 the recollections of the first were always cher- 
 ished by the subject of this sketch with emo- 
 tions of joy, as a hallowed place, where the 
 divine presence and power were gloriously 
 revealed. 
 
 Several months after his conversion Edmund 
 
42 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 was invited by a local preacher to attend a 
 meeting at Lamberton, a small village adja- 
 cent to Trenton. He had not thought of 
 speaking at the meeting, but after the sermon 
 the Holy Spirit so strongly prompted him that 
 he felt, as he afterward said, that he " must 
 do it or die." The cross was so great that it 
 seemed to him impossible to utter a word, but 
 impelled by the mighty influence resting upon 
 him, he tremblingly arose, just as the preacher 
 had taken the hymn book to give out the 
 closing hymn. He spake as the Spirit gave 
 him utterance, addressing the unconverted. 
 He felt that the message came from God, and 
 that he was only the organ through which it 
 was spoken. He believed that the word had 
 gone to some hearts, yet he saw no results at 
 the time. Many years after, when visiting 
 Lamberton to attend a meeting, a lady asked 
 him, " Do you remember speaking at a meet- 
 ing in this neighborhood thirty-three years 
 ago ? " 
 
 He replied, " Yes, I recollect it distinctly." 
 
First Trophies. 43 
 
 She said, " My brother and two other young 
 men went to that meeting, resolved that they 
 would break it up, and that there should be no 
 more meetings of that kind in Lamberton. 
 After their return home they were asked, 
 'Did you break up the meeting?' One of 
 them replied, ' No, there was a boy preaching 
 and we couldn't do any thing.' ' The arrows 
 of the Almighty did execution that evening, 
 and souls were afterward saved, as the result 
 of the boy's preaching! 
 
44 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LIGHT ON THE PATHWAY. 
 
 A MONG the little persecuted flock who 
 ■**• formed the first " Society " of Method- 
 ists in Trenton there were many precious ones, 
 of whom Edmund often spoke as his friends, 
 faithful and beloved. They counseled and 
 encouraged him in his youth, and, leading him 
 into paths of usefulness, greatly helped him in 
 the Christian life. Among those nursing fa- 
 thers and mothers were Rev. Gideon Mosely 
 and wife, Daniel M'Curdy and wife, Mrs. Grace 
 Dorey, and Rev. Mr. Dunn and wife. Mrs. 
 Mosely and Mrs. Dorey took special interest 
 in his spiritual welfare. 
 
 A severe attack of sickness once brought 
 him very near death, and as he found himself 
 unwilling to die just then, he prayed for "dy- 
 ing grace." Not receiving consciously an an- 
 swer to his prayer, he felt distressed, and be- 
 
Light on the Pathway. 45 
 
 gan to question the safety of his spiritual con- 
 dition, and so continued to do till after his 
 restoration to health. In this depressed state 
 of mind he visited his good friend, Mrs. Mose- 
 ly, and stated to her his trouble, saying, " I 
 fear I am not right, for when I was ill and 
 thought myself near death I had not dying 
 grace." 
 
 11 Well," said his friend, " Edmund, you 
 didn't die, did you ? " 
 
 He answered, " No, I didn't die." 
 
 " Well, then, you didn't need dying grace, 
 because the Lord didn't want you to die at 
 that time. While you live you need living 
 grace, and when your time shall come to die 
 then he will give you dying grace. So don't 
 trouble yourself any more about that; only 
 serve God faithfully, and he will be sure to 
 give you the grace you need for the hour of 
 death when it comes." 
 
 These suggestions removed the difficulty, 
 and the young Christian went on his way re- 
 joicing. Often during his long life he alluded 
 
46 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 to the quaint remarks and good counsel of 
 Mrs. Mosely and the victory they helped him 
 to gain. 
 
 At the age of eighteen, having been a mem- 
 ber of the Church one year, he was appointed 
 leader of a class by Rev. Mr. Dunn, who was 
 then a local preacher, in charge of a small so- 
 ciety at Morrisville, Pa., across the Delaware 
 River from Trenton. Soon afterward his pas- 
 tor made him leader of a class in his own 
 Church. This office he held until his removal 
 to Philadelphia, some years later. 
 
 In the summer of 1811 he attended a camp- 
 meeting near Allentown, N. J., which had an 
 important influence upon his subsequent life 
 and experience. He went with a company of 
 twenty young men. They were provided with 
 every thing necessary in the way of eatables 
 already cooked, intending, as they said, to 
 "keep bachelor's hall." Edmund was to pre- 
 pare the meals, etc. He accordingly provided 
 breakfast and supper every day, but in regard 
 to dinner, he told them that each one must go 
 
Light on the Pathway. 47 
 
 to the provision chest and help himself, for he 
 could not be interrupted in the middle of the 
 day in his religious engagements. Camp- 
 meetings in those days kept up continuous ef- 
 forts in the work of salvation, not suspending 
 service at the close of the morning preaching 
 service, as is the present custom, but entering 
 into earnest " altar work," and continuing it 
 till the hour of afternoon public worship. 
 Nearly all the laborers in the noon meetings 
 would take a brief respite for refreshment, each 
 in his turn, but Edmund seldom allowed him- 
 self this indulgence. In the intensity of his 
 zeal he would labor on till the afternoon 
 preaching service, and at its close resume his 
 work in the prayer-meeting till evening, for- 
 getting the demands of the body, so absorbed 
 was he in the glorious work of SOUL-WINNING. 
 Such earnest and incessant labors at camp- 
 meetings he continued for many years, until 
 the infirmities of age deprived him of the phys- 
 ical strength needed to support them. 
 
 During the camp-meeting alluded to, there 
 
48 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 came two young men — Rev. Samuel Snead 
 and Mr. Whitehead — having been directed to 
 the Trenton " young men's tent." They were 
 received and made welcome. These visitors 
 proved greatly helpful to the youthful band, 
 for they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Ed- 
 mund said they seemed like angels, sent to 
 minister to them. Soon after their arrival 
 Mr. Snead asked the young men if they had 
 received the blessing of entire sanctification 
 or perfect love? They replied that they 
 did not know what that meant. They had 
 never heard it preached or set forth distinctly 
 as the believer's privilege. He then explained 
 it to them and told them it was not only 
 their privilege, but it was a divine requirement 
 explicitly set forth and enforced in the word 
 of God. Several of them became exceed- 
 ingly interested, and commenced at once an 
 earnest seeking of " the great blessing," as it 
 was called. Among the most fervent seekers 
 was young Edmund. His heart became all 
 engrossed with the glorious object set before 
 
Light on the Pathway. 49 
 
 him in the Gospel of Christ, and all the pow- 
 ers of his being were on full stretch for its pos- 
 session. The increasing cry of his soul was 
 that the apostle's prayer might be answered in 
 his experience : " And the very God of peace 
 sanctify you wholly ; and I pray God your 
 whole spirit and soul and body be preserved 
 blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." He could not doubt that this great 
 work might be accomplished in his case, be- 
 cause the apostle had added, " Faithful is he 
 that calleth you, who also will do it." 1 Thess. 
 v, 24. It became the theme of his conversation 
 and the burden of all his prayers, as the grand 
 prize to which all the aspirations of his soul 
 and all the energies of his being were directed. 
 
 He went home, however, without the full 
 realization of his desire, but continued to seek 
 with unwearying earnestness for the full ac- 
 complishment of the divine work in his heart. 
 
 On his return to Trenton he hastened to his 
 
 faithful friends, Mr. and Mrs. Mosely and Mrs. 
 
 Dorey, to tell them of the new doctrine, and 
 4 
 
50 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 to inquire what they knew about it, for surely, 
 he thought, they must have experienced it. 
 Greatly to his surprise, they said that they had 
 never experimentally known, though they un- 
 derstood and believed, the doctrine of full sal- 
 vation, as taught by Mr. Wesley and by the 
 inspired word. They were much interested 
 and moved by Edmund's earnest expressions 
 of desire to be made pure in heart and sancti- 
 fied wholly, and acknowledged the great im- 
 portance of entire consecration to God and the 
 full baptism of the Holy Ghost, so that Jesus 
 might be represented in his followers by a life 
 entirely conformed to his will. Mr. Mosely 
 spoke of it as essential to the full success of 
 the Gospel ministry that the Church should 
 be " holy and unblamable," and proposed 
 at once having a meeting for this specific ob- 
 ject. An invitation was given to all who be- 
 lieved in the doctrine of full salvation in Christ, 
 and all who would seek for it, to meet for that 
 purpose at his house on " Mill Hill," now 
 Broad Street, Trenton. Half a dozen young 
 
Light on the Pathway. 51 
 
 men and a few of the old members attended, 
 and God owned the first meeting by the reve- 
 lation of his presence in their midst. It was a 
 time of great power and wondrous blessing to 
 the little company assembled, and they were 
 encouraged to continue the meetings. 
 
 But soon opposition arose. The faithful 
 band who had set themselves apart for God 
 were regarded by many in the Church as 
 fanatics. In speaking of them some would 
 call them " the holy ones," by way of derision, 
 and say, " We don't belong to the sanctified 
 band, and so we are not wanted at their meet- 
 ings." But the devoted ones kept on their 
 way, treating with great kindness those who 
 opposed them, and the Lord prospered them 
 greatly ; the meetings increased in divine 
 power as well as in numbers. Some who had 
 stood aloof and found fault were overcome by 
 the spirit of meekness and love which was 
 shown them in return, and won over to the 
 little flock that met weekly to help each other 
 in " the way of holiness." In many cases the 
 
52 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 inspired words were fulfilled, "When a man's 
 ways please the Lord, he maketh even his 
 enemies to be at peace with him." 
 
 At each succeeding meeting, as Edmund 
 continued seeking in agonizing prayer the 
 fuller baptism of the Holy Spirit, it seemed to 
 him to be coming upon him, and yet, strange 
 to say, meeting after meeting would come and 
 close without the fulfillment of his longing de- 
 sire ! W T as it not that he sought it more by 
 wrestling and struggling than by faith? by 
 works, which never can succeed, instead of just 
 simply taking Jesus at his word, and accepting 
 the proffered gift ? All this time he was so 
 sincere, so devout and earnest, willing to make 
 any sacrifice, fasting and praying, doing, do- 
 ing all the time, but not believing. 
 
New Power. 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 NEW POWER. 
 
 T N the following spring Edmund visited 
 Philadelphia, where the Annual Conference 
 was then in session. Having an exalted idea 
 of the spirituality of ministers, he thought 
 that was the place, of . all others, to look for 
 the divine presence, and there, among those 
 men of God, he should surely receive the 
 sanctifying power. He was invited to the 
 house of a dear friend, where several ministers 
 and other Christian people were being enter- 
 tained, and he well might expect that there 
 his hungry soul would be richly fed. But he 
 was sadly disappointed ; he received no spir- 
 itual benefit or aid there ; nor did he find any 
 special advantage from attending the religious 
 services of the Conference. But there was in 
 reserve for him a hallowed feast, for which he 
 was not looking, in the house of one of Christ's 
 
54 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 humble followers. A devoted Christian lady, 
 Mrs. Dickinson, kindly invited the young 
 stranger-brother to take tea at her house with 
 Rev. Joseph Lybrand, then a local preacher, 
 only eighteen years of age, but eminently spir- 
 itual ; also his aunt, Mrs. Carson, Mrs. Price, 
 and Miss Patience Littell — a choice com- 
 pany of precious saints — all " filled with the 
 Spirit." 
 
 After tea the table was set aside, and the 
 group of kindred spirits immediately entered 
 into a prayer-meeting. Joseph Lybrand of- 
 fered the opening prayer. Such a prayer Ed- 
 mund had never listened to — a prayer so full 
 of holy unction and divine power. The bless- 
 ing, rich and full, came down upon the waiting 
 company. The room seemed filled with the 
 glory of God, and every heart with celestial 
 love. The devout soul which for months had 
 been panting after God, ;< as the hart panteth 
 after the water brooks," now received a full- 
 ness of love and peace never known before ; 
 yet he had not the clear witness that the work 
 
New Power. 55 
 
 of cleansing was fully wrought, and while he 
 exulted in the consciousness that he was all 
 the Lord's, yet he believed there was still a 
 deeper work to be effected, and still he con- 
 tinued looking and praying for 
 
 " The clear indubitable seal 
 
 That ascertains the kingdom mine." 
 
 The saintly Lybrand, full of the sweetness 
 of '• perfect love," explained to him the simple 
 way of faith, and greatly strengthened and 
 helped him. His heart — already in the mold 
 of love — received the divine impress, and he 
 rejoiced in God with exceeding joy, yet went 
 home expecting a brighter evidence and a 
 fuller baptism of power. 
 
 From that hour his heart was bound to Jo- 
 seph Lybrand, and they were bosom friends. 
 Their communion was frequent and delightful 
 to both. The ministerial career of Lybrand 
 fully equalled its bright promise so early given, 
 and was marked by wonderful spirituality and 
 success through his entire life. 
 
56 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 From the interview above alluded to Ed- 
 mund went to his own room, and while kneel- 
 ing at his bedside received the bright, incon- 
 testable evidence of heart purity. Now the 
 glorious words of inspiration were fulfilled, 
 " He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the 
 hungry soul with goodness." His peace was 
 truly " as a river," and often did his heart so 
 overflow with holy joy that he spoke exult- 
 antly of the wonderful manifestations of divine 
 love and his triumph in Christ as far exceed- 
 ing all his former experience. That experi- 
 ence from the time of his conversion had been 
 clear, decided, and steady, with the brief in- 
 terruption occasioned by the temptation al- 
 luded to in reference to a readiness to die 
 during his illness. So unwavering had been 
 his Christian course, so consistent his life, and 
 so devout his spirit that he certainly evinced 
 a thorough conversion to God, and there was 
 no backsliding in his case. Therefore "the 
 great blessing," as he termed it, was, in his 
 estimation, a distinct work from that of justi- 
 
New Power. 57 
 
 fication : that which is designated by Wesley, 
 Fletcher, Clarke, Watson, Benson, and other 
 Methodist standard writers as " entire sancti- 
 fication," or "perfect love;" and by President 
 Edwards, Dr. Mahan, Dr. Finney, Rev. James 
 Brainerd Taylor, Dr. W. E. Boardman, and 
 others of different denominations, as " full as- 
 surance of faith," or "the higher Christian 
 life." 
 
 In after life, though he seldom spoke pub- 
 licly of it with definiteness as his own experi- 
 ence, he always regarded it as clearly distinct 
 from regeneration or the new birth. His tes- 
 timonies were marked by great modesty and 
 humility. While he exalted Jesus and the 
 power of his grace to " save unto the utter- 
 most," and spoke of his rest in Christ, his daily 
 communion with him, and the abounding com- 
 forts of his love, it was not his habit to speak 
 in terms sometimes used to designate the state 
 of grace alluded to. He did not say, "At such 
 a time I was wholly sanctified," or " made 
 holy," or " For so many years I have lived 
 
58 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 without sin." Such expressions he did not 
 use ; but when questioned as to his own ex- 
 perience on that subject he answered definite- 
 ly, and in specific meetings for the promotion 
 of holiness he spoke more explicitly. But on 
 all occasions his testimonies and prayers were 
 full of the sacred unction and hallowed influ- 
 ence which could only come from the closest 
 union with Christ, and an induement of divine 
 power. 
 
 " It was not necessary," a minister re- 
 marked, " for Edmund Yard to say he w r as 
 sanctified, for his words, his spirit, and his life 
 attested the fact of his entire consecration to 
 God, that his eye was single, and he was one 
 in whom there was no guile." But it should 
 be understood that, although he believed in a 
 definite experience on this subject, he did not 
 think a special baptism, called " the second 
 blessing," was all that was necessary, as plac- 
 ing its recipient in a position of perfect safety, 
 beyond the power of temptation and sin. He 
 always believed, and carefully taught his class 
 
New Power. 59 
 
 members, that daily growth in grace was their 
 duty and privilege ; that frequent self-exam- 
 ination, constant watchfulness and prayer, 
 with a diligent study of God's word, were es- 
 sential to the Christian life, and that without 
 strict attention to these duties backsliding 
 would be inevitable ; that whatever heights 
 or depths of experience in the divine life had 
 been attained, a continuous application of 
 the all-cleansing blood was needed, and con- 
 stant communion with the Source of strength 
 divine. 
 
 Of his own personal sense of this need he 
 veiy often spoke, and that he daily lived in 
 communication with the Source of power was 
 very evident. He often repeated the follow- 
 ing stanza as experience : 
 
 " Him to know is life and peaec, 
 
 And pleasure without end ; 
 This is all my happiness, 
 
 On Jesus to depend." 
 
 No one could possess a deeper feeling of 
 entire dependence on God, and this, doubtless, 
 
60 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 was the secret of his success in his great life 
 work of soul saving. 
 
 The term life-work seems appropriate in 
 reference to his unceasing efforts to bring souls 
 to Christ, for although his work in the Church 
 as a leader of several classes, an exhorter, etc., 
 was important as it was faithfully and suc- 
 cessfully performed, yet the predominant pas- 
 sion of his soul and his continual efforts — 
 as will be seen in future pages — were to save 
 sinners. 
 
 To this work he devoted himself with un- 
 tiring effort. For this the " divine anoint- 
 ing " which he had received was his best 
 preparation ; not on account of " the bless- 
 ing" bestowed, so much as because it taught 
 him the secret of power, to abide in Christ, 
 and through faith to receive moment by mo- 
 ment new supplies of life-giving energy from 
 God himself. This secret was the key to 
 the usefulness of the threescore years that 
 followed. 
 
 Reader, have you learned this secret ? 
 
New Power. 6i 
 
 Mrs. Dickinson, the excellent woman at 
 whose house Edmund had met Rev. Joseph 
 Lybrand, became a warm friend, whose coun- 
 sels and prayers proved of great value to him 
 in after years. 
 
62 The Soul- Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND EXPERIENCES. 
 
 TT DM UND having found a business posi- 
 — ' tion with a gentleman in Philadelphia, 
 removed there to reside in the spring of 1813. 
 Very soon he sought the abode of his de- 
 voted Christian friend where he had received 
 the gracious baptism before alluded to. That 
 house seemed a sacred place to him. The 
 hallowed associations of the hour when he 
 was brought into closer union with Jesus had 
 been cherished most fondly in grateful remem- 
 brance. Frequent gatherings of choice spirits 
 made it a place of delightful resort, and there 
 the young disciple found the sweetest Chris- 
 tian communion. Renewed strength and 
 cheer in his heavenward course were always 
 the results of his visits to that house, where 
 Jesus met and blessed his devoted followers. 
 There were four who might be termed " elect 
 
New Opportunities. 63 
 
 ladies," whose names should be preserved in 
 the Church. Of them it might have been 
 truly said, " They follow the Lamb whitherso- 
 ever he goeth." They were Mrs. Dickinson, 
 Mrs. Page, Mrs. Martindale, and Miss Patience 
 Littell. Edmund often spoke of them as 
 women " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," 
 and of the great spiritual help he had received 
 from them in the early period of his religious 
 life. 
 
 He was one evening sent on an errand by 
 his employer, and passing that loved abode, 
 which he called " Bethel," stopped to see his 
 good friend, Mrs. Dickinson. She strongly 
 urged him to stay and attend a meeting to be 
 held there at that time. It was not impera- 
 tive for him to hasten his return, so he con- 
 sented to remain, and enjoy at least a portion 
 of the services. He took his seat near the 
 door, so that he might slip out unobserved be- 
 fore the close of the meeting. During the 
 first prayer the divine power fell upon him and 
 prostrated him upon the floor. For several 
 
64 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 hours he was unconscious of all below. He 
 said he had a vision of his Redeemer. He 
 felt it to be a glorious reality that he had seen 
 Jesus and had received a new baptism of love 
 and power. Thus he was still more fully 
 prepared for the work that was before him. 
 He sought diligently for opportunities to 
 do good, both to the bodies and the souls 
 of men. 
 
 It was during his first visit to Philadelphia, 
 in 1812, that he was introduced into those 
 fields of labor in which he was so successful 
 in subsequent years. One of those devoted 
 women whose names have been mentioned — ■ 
 Mrs. Page — led him into paths of usefulness 
 which he pursued during the whole of his fol- 
 lowing life of sixty-three years. 
 
 Mrs. Page's entire life was devoted to the 
 poor and suffering outcasts, who by others 
 were uncared for. As a ministering angel she 
 visited almshouses, prisons, hospitals, and the 
 slums of iniquity, ever seeking to save poor 
 victims of sorrow and sin. Gladly did Edmund 
 
New Opportunities. 65 
 
 accept her invitation to accompany her in her 
 walks of usefulness, and although to him this 
 was a new field of labor, it was one that 
 strongly commended itself to his heart, and 
 enlisted all the sympathies of his nature. 
 Here, he thought, is work for a life-time, and 
 he longed for the privilege of engaging in it as 
 a permanent worker. Thus, when two years 
 later, in the providence of God, he became a 
 resident of the city, he said, " Surely God's 
 hand is in this." " He hath set my feet in a 
 large place." Greatly he rejoiced that he had 
 found so wide a field of labor, and devoutly 
 he thanked God for multiplied privileges of 
 working for his blessed cause. 
 
 A SIGNAL ANSWER TO PRAYER. 
 
 Some time after Edmund had removed to 
 Philadelphia, he received the sad tidings that 
 his mother was at the point of death from a 
 malignant disease, and was then in a state of 
 unconsciousness. For many hours, remaining 
 life could only be discerned by a slight moist- 
 
66 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 ure upon a mirror placed near the lips of the 
 sufferer. 
 
 When the intelligence reached Edmund it 
 was too late for him to procure a conveyance 
 to his home in Trenton that day, and he was 
 compelled to wait till the next morning. 
 Knowing that a prayer-meeting was to be held 
 at Mrs. Dickinson's house on that evening 
 by some devout women, he went there and 
 stated the condition of his mother, saying, 
 " She can't be spared from her family of nine 
 children ; wont you help me pray that her life 
 may be saved ? " The good women said, " We 
 will," and with great fervor and faith they 
 pleaded that the dear mother might live. 
 After several prayers had been offered, one of 
 the sisters said to Edmund, " Your mother will 
 not die ; the assurance is given me that she 
 will recover." Looking at his watch he made 
 a note of the moment when the remark was 
 made. 
 
 Early on the following day he went to his 
 sick mother, full of hope that he should find 
 
New Opportunities. 6? 
 
 her better. The joyful announcement met 
 him at the door, "There is a decided improve- 
 ment." 
 
 "When did she begin to revive?" he asked. 
 
 " Last evening at half-past eight," was the 
 reply, which exactly corresponded with the 
 time the assurance was given to the sister al- 
 luded to. " Just at that minute," continued 
 his informant, " your mother opened her eyes, 
 and soon after spoke and received food. Now 
 she is able to converse, and the disease has 
 evidently left her entirely. It seems miracu- 
 lous, for her physicians had given her up, say- 
 ing she could not possibly live, and she was 
 apparently dying all day yesterday." 
 
 The mystery was explained by the devoted 
 son. " The prayer of faith " had saved " the 
 sick," and for over thirty years she lived to 
 bless her family and the world. Then, at the 
 age of eighty-one years, in the glorious tri- 
 umphs of gospel faith, she departed to her 
 heavenly home. 
 
 Edmund was one of her greatest comforts 
 
68 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 in her declining life. Often visiting and cheer- 
 ing her amid the infirmities of age, and min- 
 istering to her comfort in every way that the 
 warmest affection could suggest. He was at 
 her bedside when sickness was hurrying her to 
 the grave, watching her in the last struggle, 
 and witnessing her wonderful exultation when 
 to her spirit-eyes the redeemed host became 
 visible, and angels came to be her convoy to 
 the home of the glorified. '• What a great com- 
 pany ! " she exclaimed. "The company that 
 John — " Her daughter, observing that she 
 could not finish the sentence, said, " That great 
 company that John saw, who have washed 
 their robes and made them white in the blood 
 of the Lamb ; do you see them, mother?" 
 
 "Yes ! " she replied. Then, still looking up- 
 ward, she said, " Mother, Sister Rebecca, I'm 
 coming ! yes, I'm coming ! " and quickly joined 
 those kindred spirits who had years before de- 
 parted to the land of the blest. 
 
In the School of Adversity. 69 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOL OF ADVERSITY. 
 
 \T OT many months after his removal to 
 -** ^ Philadelphia, Edmund J. Yard was unit- 
 ed in marriage to Miss Jane M'Curdy, an 
 estimable young lady, of good family, and a 
 member of his own Church. Happy in their 
 new relation, there seemed every promise of a 
 life of more than ordinary brightness and joy. 
 Indeed, so far as mutual affection could make 
 an earthly paradise, such was his home. Sure- 
 ly there was never a more devoted husband. 
 Yet even over this delightful Christian home 
 clouds and storms ere long began to gather. 
 
 A few years after his marriage he was 
 offered an interest in a mercantile establish- 
 ment which was apparently doing a successful 
 business. 
 
 He had been desiring a change of employ- 
 ment, and as it had been his habit to seek 
 
jo The Soul-Winner. 
 
 divine direction in regard to all temporal as 
 well as spiritual matters, he had prayed for 
 such an opening as this seemed to be, and 
 believing the arrangement providential, en- 
 tered into the partnership. Soon he discov- 
 ered that many of the goods had been pur- 
 chased during the war of 1812, at high prices. 
 A great reaction followed, the stock rapidly 
 depreciated in value, and the firm became 
 bankrupt, making an assignment for the bene- 
 fit of the creditors. To one whose conscience 
 was so sensitive as that of the subject of this 
 memoir this was a severe trial, for the stock 
 fell far short of meeting the demands upon 
 the firm, and they could not pay the balances 
 justly, if not legally, due. Though filled with 
 anxiety and grief, Mr. Yard well knew where 
 to look for succor and comfort, and repaired 
 at once to Him who is " our refuge and 
 strength, a very present help in trouble." 
 He was comforted by the assurance that 
 "All things work together for good to them 
 that love God," and trusting that in some 
 
In the School of Adversity. 71 
 
 way the Lord would provide, he was enabled 
 to bear up under the heavy pressure, " casting 
 all his care upon Him." 
 
 In the time of his extremity, when he found 
 himself without means to get bread for his 
 family, he received a letter from his kind 
 father inviting him to bring his wife and 
 babe to his house in Trenton, offering them a 
 home until he should find business that would 
 offer a support for them. The proffer was 
 gratefully accepted, and thus they were tem- 
 porarily provided for. 
 
 As the weeks passed by the young man 
 made every effort in his power to find employ- 
 ment, but without success. Months elapsed, 
 , and to human view the prospect did not 
 brighten in the least. Was it strange that 
 " hope deferred " made " sick " even this brave 
 young heart ? When he had been separated 
 from his wife and child six months, and his 
 way still seemed completely hedged up, he 
 went one Sabbath evening to his accustomed 
 place of worship, strongly tempted to discour- 
 
72 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 agement and despair. After the opening ex- 
 ercises the pastor spoke of an experience 
 which he never had known before. Having 
 made his usual preparation to preach, but 
 having no manuscript, the text, the subject, 
 and all that he had intended to say had gone 
 from his mind. " But," said he, " another text 
 has come to me, and upon these words I 
 will speak. ' Who is among you that feareth 
 the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his serv- 
 ant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no 
 light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, 
 and stay upon his God. " Isa. 1, 10. 
 
 At the announcement of the text the dis- 
 consolate spirit was instantly lifted up. He 
 said in his heart, " This is a message from God 
 to me. ' I will trust and not be afraid.' " The 
 sermon, inspired by the Spirit divine, was full 
 of holy encouragement to the bowed down 
 and afflicted, and was truly a feast of fat 
 things to the faithful one, who left the sacred 
 place full of gladness, in the assurance that 
 the God whose " eyes run to and fro through- 
 
In the School of Adversity. 73 
 
 out the whole earth, to show himself strong in 
 the behalf of them whose heart is perfect to- 
 ward him," would interpose for his speedy 
 deliverance. 
 
 The next day, passing along the street, so 
 jubilant in mighty faith that he scarcely real- 
 ized he was walking among mortals, he was 
 startled by the salutation of a friend : 
 
 11 Edmund, I have been looking for you. 
 I have found a good position in a business 
 that will just suit you — collector of taxes. I 
 will be your surety, and the position is se- 
 cured for you." 
 
 With unbounded joy and thankfulness he 
 received it as from his loving Father's hand, 
 and in a short time had the comfort of bring- 
 ing back his family and providing for their 
 sustenance. From that time he prospered in 
 business, soon having properties placed in his 
 care, as real estate agent, in addition to tax 
 collecting. 
 
 Although his creditors had no legal claim 
 upon him, he had determined that every dol- 
 
74 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 lar due them according to the highest rule of 
 equity should be paid. As soon, therefore, as 
 he could by strictest economy do so, he be- 
 gan to lay aside something every month 
 toward the payment of these claims. Busi- 
 ness was increasingly prosperous, and it was 
 not very long before he invited his creditors 
 to dine with him, and as each guest took up 
 his plate he found under it a check for the 
 amount due him on the old account. At first 
 all but one positively refused to accept the 
 money, saying that the failure was through no 
 fault of the debtor, and they had considered 
 the matter settled. He, however, insisted, and 
 they reluctantly accepted his offer, saying, " If 
 you should ever be in need come to us and 
 we will help you." 
 
 That trial and the ultimate victory were 
 among the incidents of his life which he al- 
 ways recalled with deepest gratitude to God. 
 Many times he related these circumstances, 
 and the recital was in a number of cases made 
 a special blessing to others in adversity. So, 
 
In the School of Adversity. 75 
 
 that storm, though severe, was not of very 
 long duration, and only tended to purify the 
 atmosphere of this Christian home. 
 
 For some time in that home all was again 
 bright and joyous. But one day the death- 
 angel came, and bore away a lovely bud of 
 promise, the second child with whom God had 
 blessed them, and whom they cherished as a 
 very precious gift. Never was there a more 
 loving father, and in this bereavement he suf- 
 fered keenly, but with perfect acquiescence in 
 the divine will, saying, " The Lord gave, and 
 the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the 
 name of the Lord." Smiling through his tears, 
 he closed the beautiful eyes of his darling boy, 
 and said, " He is a cherub now among the glo- 
 rified, and we must thank our God that we 
 have a child in heaven." 
 
 With tenderest and most loving ministra- 
 tions he soothed and comforted the sor- 
 rowing mother of the ascended babe, ex- 
 horting her to join him in devout thanks- 
 giving, that their little Robert was safe for- 
 
y6 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 ever in the fold of the Good Shepherd 
 above. 
 
 Severe as were these trials of his early man- 
 hood, it cannot be doubted that their influence 
 was salutary in preparing him for his life-work. 
 It was " in that he," our adorable Lord, " suf- 
 fered, being tempted," that " he is able to 
 succor them that are tempted," (tried,) and 
 he rarely employs in active service those who 
 have not been taught in the school of adversi- 
 ty. The lessons thus learned were not only 
 refining in their effect upon the subject of 
 this memoir, but rendered him greatly useful 
 to the afflicted, enabling him to " comfort 
 them which " were " in any trouble, by the 
 comfort wherewith " he himself was " com- 
 forted of God." 
 
 As we shall see, further on in this beautiful 
 life, it was nearly all spent amidst chastening 
 influences, and this doubtless had much to do 
 with its attractiveness and its power over oth- 
 ers for good. 
 
Self-sacrificing Labor. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SELF-SACRIFICING LABOR. 
 
 QOON after Edmund J. Yard went to reside 
 in Philadelphia he found that there was 
 demand for special labor in a settlement of 
 colored people in the north-western part of 
 the city. The typhus fever had broken out 
 among them in the most terribly contagious 
 form, sweeping them away into eternity in 
 large numbers. In attempting to minister to 
 those poor creatures he would imperil his 
 own life; but he felt that God had called him 
 to that field, and he must go. The filth and 
 stench was so intolerable that he was near 
 fainting away every time he entered the in- 
 fected district. Nevertheless he w r ent day 
 after day, and talked and prayed with the 
 sick and dying, pointing them to the atoning 
 Lamb, and many a redeemed spirit took its 
 upward flight from those hovels of wretched- 
 
78 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 ness to the Paradise above. On Sabbath 
 mornings he would go and labor among those 
 poor sufferers, instead of enjoying the privi- 
 leges of the sanctuary, and in the afternoons 
 he would visit the almshouse, hospital, and 
 prisons, as time would allow. During the 
 week he visited the sick in all parts of the 
 city as he had opportunity. 
 
 About the same time he became interested 
 in the case of a man on the West Chester 
 road five miles from the city, dying of con- 
 sumption, whose sister had requested Mr. 
 Yard to visit him. He went on the next Sab- 
 bath, after his arduous labors among the col- 
 ored people. When he had reached the place 
 he almost fainted from exhaustion. The sick 
 man and his mother both treated him coldly, 
 and he felt that he was an unwelcome visitor. 
 When he introduced the subject of religion 
 the man was offended, and would not listen to 
 affectionate entreaties to give his heart to 
 Christ, and seek a fitness for heaven. He said 
 he was not going to die, he should get well. 
 
Self-sacrificing Labor. 79 
 
 In this his mother joined him. At length the 
 weary visitor left the sick man without receiv- 
 ing an invitation to come again. But on the 
 following Sabbath he repeated his visit, per- 
 sisting in his efforts to open the blinded eyes 
 of the poor invalid to his perilous condition, 
 but only to receive similar treatment. With 
 a sad heart he again left him without any ap- 
 parent results from his labors. His next 
 walk to that house, a week later, was through 
 a severe snow-storm : breasting the cold north- 
 east wind and snow, he plodded his way, weary 
 from previous labors. When he reached the 
 house he was quite overcome with excessive 
 fatigue. Still no kind word was spoken to 
 cheer his heart, but, as before, only forbidding 
 looks and hateful treatment. To the question, 
 " May I pray for you ? " the reply was, in a 
 gruff voice, " You may pray, if you choose." 
 Prayer was offered, and the visitor took his 
 leave, as on former visits, without one word of 
 encouragement. On the fourth Sabbath he 
 wended his way there again, still hoping to 
 
8o The Soul-Winner. 
 
 win that soul for Jesus. As he entered the 
 room the sick man's eyes filled with tears, and 
 with extended hand he said, " O, Mr. Yard, 
 how glad I am to see you ! I feel very differ- 
 ent now from what I did when you were 
 here before. After your last visit I thought 
 a great deal about you and what you said to 
 me, and said to myself, 'What can it be that 
 makes that man walk five miles out here every 
 Sunday to see me ? Leaving his own com- 
 fortable fireside to breast the cold bleak winds 
 and even storms, to visit one who treats him 
 with scorn and contempt whenever he comes ! 
 What can it mean ? It must be that he knows 
 there is a reality in the teachings of the Bible, 
 and that my soul is at stake ! It is to save my 
 poor soul from eternal ruin that he makes these 
 efforts and sacrifices.' Then my hard heart 
 began to melt, and I began to love you for 
 your great kindness to me ; and O how I have 
 longed to see you, that I might ask your par- 
 don, and beg you still to pray for me and not 
 give me up." A melting time it was that day. 
 
Self-sacrificing Labor. 8i 
 
 The mother, too, was subdued. In unison they 
 prayed that the penitent sinner might be for- 
 given and saved. The power of the Holy 
 Spirit came down, faith was exercised, the 
 cleansing blood was applied, and the contrite 
 seeker was enabled to say, 
 
 " My sins are washed away 
 In the blood of the Lamb." 
 
 " Was not that a glorious recompense for 
 the toil, the ill treatment, and the sacrifice ? " 
 asked the faithful one, turning to his sister 
 with a smile, as he finished the recital of this 
 incident. She replied, " Yes, indeed ! a grand 
 recompense!" and thought of the blessed 
 promise, " He that goeth forth and weepeth, 
 bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come 
 again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves 
 with him." " Doubtless ! " Let no faithful 
 worker for Christ forget that word. No mat- 
 ter how great may be the discouragements, 
 the good seed cannot be sown in vain. Imag- 
 ine the gladness of heart with which the soul- 
 winner left the happy saved one, as he turned 
 6 
 
82 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 his feet homeward that day ! How lightly did 
 he move as his buoyant spirit mounted up 
 in grateful praise to God for the trophy he had 
 won for Him who " came to seek and to save 
 that which was lost ! " Those five miles, 
 which had seemed so long after his former 
 visits, must have seemed as less than one 
 short mile on his return that happy day. 
 " Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due 
 season we shall reap, if we faint not." Gal. vi, 9. 
 Among many signal answers to prayer in con- 
 nection with the Christian work of this faithful 
 laborer was the case of a young man supposed 
 to be near death from consumption, in whom 
 he became deeply interested. He found him 
 very low, and without hope in Christ. His 
 lungs had been sounded by skillful physicians, 
 and his case pronounced by them utterly hope- 
 less. They said that one lung was entirely 
 gone, and the other nearly gone. He realized 
 his condition, and became deeply concerned for 
 his eternal safety. The instructions and the 
 prayers of his devoted friend, whose visits 
 
Self-sacrificing Labor. 83 
 
 were very frequent, were blessed of God to his 
 conversion. One day when supplication was 
 being offered, in which the penitent joined, 
 salvation came, and shouts of " Glory to God, 
 he has saved me ! " came from the lips of the 
 newly liberated one. He had many times said 
 that if his life were spared he would devote it 
 all to God, but he did not expect to live, and 
 said, "Now I am ready to live or die." His 
 friend said, " I don't know but God will cure 
 your body as well as your soul. He is able 
 to do it, and if. he sees that you will live for 
 him, I think he will heal you." Then an ear- 
 nest prayer was offered that it might be so, if 
 God would be glorified by his protracted life. 
 The sick man joined in this prayer, although 
 he felt perfectly willing to die if it were God's 
 will. Immediate improvement was manifest in 
 his physical condition ; he rapidly recovered, 
 and was soon entirely well. He became a 
 very active worker for Christ, and a most val- 
 uable man in the Church and community. 
 Mr. Yard's daily visits to the sick in all parts 
 
84 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 of the city, from the Delaware to the Schuyl- 
 kill, and from Kensington to the Navy Yard, 
 might well be termed " self-sacrificing labors," 
 for his health — always frail — was often over- 
 taxed by his long and fatiguing walks * and 
 the great excitement to which he was subject- 
 ed. After hours of business, requiring all his 
 physical strength, often on his way home or 
 on his arrival there, a summons would meet 
 him to go to some sick-room, and instead of 
 taking his much-needed rest, he would hasten 
 away on the errand of mercy. Even at night, 
 when the hour for retiring had come, he would 
 sometimes go to minister to the sick. But so 
 rich was his compensation when he would see 
 a soul brought from darkness to light that he 
 said it paid him a thousand times over. Such 
 cases were so frequent that he was kept in a 
 state of joyous excitement nearly all the time. 
 It is marvelous that he lived so many years 
 under such a pressure. It would have seemed 
 
 * At that time there were no street cars to relieve the weary 
 pedestrian. 
 
Self-sacrificing Labor. 85 
 
 impossible that an organization so fragile could 
 endure such a perpetual strain for so many 
 years. 
 
 When visiting at my brother's house I have 
 seen his face irradiated day after day with new 
 cases of prayer answered in the salvation of 
 souls. And when giving me the cheering re- 
 cital he would often seem overcome with joy- 
 ous emotion, and would say, " O, sister, it is 
 such a glorious work to bring souls to Jesus, 
 and to see them saved ! " While I appreciat- 
 ed the estimate which he placed upon immortal 
 souls, and greatly rejoiced with him in the 
 success of his labors, I sometimes felt that he 
 was doing much more than his physical 
 strength was equal to, and sometimes ex- 
 pressed solicitude in reference to his over- 
 working. But he would smile and say, "Why, 
 you know ' man is immortal till his work is 
 done.' " 
 
86 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IN THE CLASS-ROOM. 
 
 r I "HE position of class-leader in the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church is one of great 
 importance. As a subpastor the leader is 
 supposed to understand the spiritual condition 
 and needs of those committed to his care, as 
 the pastor of a large Church could not ; espe- 
 cially in the limited time of service which is 
 part of the Methodist system. To so minister 
 to the varied wants of his little flock as to 
 build them up in the faith is no small task. 
 To be a successful class-leader requires special 
 gifts and graces. 
 
 It is not strange that while yet a boy Ed- 
 mund J. Yard was called by the Church to this 
 office. His deep Christian experience and 
 good judgment might well have attracted the 
 attention of those seeking one to fill such a 
 position ; and then his warm, sympathetic nat- 
 
In the Class-room. 87 
 
 ure, in addition to other qualifications, gave 
 him a peculiar adaptation to the work. 
 
 He had scarcely become settled in Philadel- 
 phia before he was again called to be the leader 
 of a class. As years passed a large number — ■ 
 many of whom were his spiritual children — 
 were by their own choice enrolled in his class. 
 In this way the class became too large for the 
 room and the hour. But none were willing to 
 have another leader, and a part agreed to meet 
 on another evening. So he became, by two 
 such divisions, leader of three large classes in 
 Union Church. 
 
 When Bedford Street Mission became suc- 
 cessful in saving many of the outcast popula- 
 tion of that section of the city, and the rescued 
 ones needed a leader, " Father Yard," as they 
 called him, was prevailed upon to take the 
 mission-class in addition ; after which he led 
 four classes till nearly the close of his life. 
 
 The testimony of one for many years a mem- 
 ber of his class — Mr. David Loudenslager, will 
 be in place here: 
 
88 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 I shall never forget my first meeting in Father Yard's 
 class. There were some fifty present, every one of whom 
 testified for God, and he replied to each. The kind and 
 genial manner in which he spoke — his words so well 
 adapted to the varied experiences, rejoicing with the vic- 
 torious, encouraging the despondent, strengthening the 
 weak, and advising the young convert — gave such a zest 
 to the exercises as made one feel that he was indeed in 
 a heavenly place. 
 
 On no subject was this class-leader so ear- 
 nest and enthusiastic as in speaking of the 
 word of God, and the duty of studying it with 
 diligence. Upon the members of his classes he 
 enforced this duty as a means of growth in 
 grace and efficiency in working for Christ. 
 Passages of Scripture were always upon his 
 tongue, suited to every case, and weary ones 
 were thus cheered each week by " a word in 
 season " from their leader. 
 
 How he became so. mighty in wielding the 
 sword of the Spirit we may gather from a hint 
 given us by his son, who writes : " Often I have 
 found my father in his room, where he loved 
 to be alone with God, with his Bible, sitting in 
 
In the Class-room. 89 
 
 his favorite rocking-chair, in hallowed com- 
 munion, his countenance beaming with heav- 
 enly brightness." 
 
 It was his daily habit to spend hours in 
 meditation, reading, and prayer; and so ab- 
 sorbed would he become in heavenly contem- 
 plations as to be forgetful of worldly cares, 
 until called to see some one desiring his pres- 
 ence. Is it any wonder that he came from 
 such consultations of the " oracles of truth," 
 in the immediate presence of their divine 
 Author, with impressive messages to those in- 
 trusted to his care? " The Lord God hath 
 given me the tongue of the learned, that I 
 should know how to speak a word in season to 
 him that is weary." Isa. 1, 4. 
 
 To this habit of looking constantly to the 
 Source of divine truth may chiefly be attribut- 
 ed his success as a " nursing father," or class- 
 leader in the Church. It was a rare thing for 
 one of his class-members to backslide, and no 
 wonder, for it was his constant effort to inspire 
 them with love for the holy word, and he was 
 
90 The Soul- Winner. 
 
 ever urging them to what he called the " all- 
 important duty of searching the Scriptures." 
 And who ever knew one who loved and studied 
 the Bible to become cold-hearted and worldly- 
 minded? 
 
 Another feature of his class-leading was 
 unique, and so important as to be worthy of 
 particular mention. With a heart always bur- 
 dened for individuals, he had a happy faculty 
 of so reporting cases on his mind as to enlist 
 the sympathy and awaken the prayerful inter- 
 est of the members of the class. It was not a 
 rare thing for him to call upon them to unite 
 with him in prayer for a case of special inter- 
 est. In other chapters allusions to answered 
 prayer in such cases will be found. On one 
 occasion in visiting a town in New Jersey he 
 found a young man in feeble health, and al- 
 most in despair about his soul. He said to the 
 invalid, " To-night my class will meet, and we 
 will pray for you. Get some of your friends to 
 meet you here at the same hour, and we will 
 unite our petitions in your behalf." While the 
 
In the Class-room. 91 
 
 two praying bands thus sent up in unison their 
 supplications, the cloud was lifted, and the lib- 
 erated soul rejoiced in the favor of a sin-par- 
 doning God. Soon after his conversion the 
 young man died in peace. 
 
 The following case is related by Rev. R. J. 
 Carson as having occurred while he was pastor 
 of Union Church : 
 
 A member of one of Father Yard's classes spoke to me 
 about visiting her brother, who was sick, a victim of con- 
 sumption, and would probably die soon. I expressed my 
 willingness to do so, when the sister told me of a diffi- 
 culty in the way — the sick man was skeptical, and, she 
 feared, would refuse to see me. I told her I would 
 speak to Father Yard of the case, and we would see what 
 could be done. On doing so he entered heartily into the 
 matter, arranged the time when we should go together, 
 and also agreed to take the case to God in believing 
 prayer. This was done, not only by ourselves, but also 
 at the young men's meeting, when the facts were made 
 known. 
 
 When we entered the house on the day appointed, in- 
 stead of the sick man being in his bed-room, where he 
 could have refused to see us, we found him in the first 
 room we entered. I shall never forget the tact and love 
 manifested by Father Yard in this case. After religious 
 
92 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 conversation and prayer, the invalid himself invited us 
 earnestly to come again. Showing also considerable 
 feeling in relation to his spiritual outlook. Our visit was 
 repeated, and I am happy to say that the man was con- 
 verted and died in the Lord. 
 
 Mr. Loudenslager says of this kind of work : 
 
 With what joy the leader would report such an answer 
 to prayer ! Then he would almost always have another 
 case to present, saying, "Now I want you to help me 
 pray for such a one," naming some one whose soul's in- 
 terests were pressing upon his heart. So we were influ- 
 enced to feel that the class-room was not only a rallying 
 place for a few who might find profit, but a center of 
 spiritual power affecting many who were not present. 
 Each member was made to feel a personal interest in the 
 work of God, wherever the leader might have any thing 
 to do with it, and thus become a helper to him in saving 
 souls. 
 
 A case of more than ordinary interest re- 
 lated by Mr. Yard in detail, and recorded by 
 his nephew, may serve to encourage some soul 
 burdened for unsaved friends. 
 
 A mother expressed in class-meeting her 
 intense desire for the salvation of her three 
 sons and two daughters. In replying, the 
 
In the Class-room. 93 
 
 leader quoted a remark from Rev. J. Lybrand, 
 and the scriptural expression which he applied 
 to his own family : " There shall not a hoof 
 be left behind," and said to the weeping 
 mother : 
 
 " I believe that every one of your family 
 will be saved." The daughters were soon 
 brought to Christ. The sons for a time be- 
 came very careless, but one after another was 
 smitten with consumption, and each one at 
 length gave evidence of converting grace. The 
 mother's class-leader was permitted to see and 
 pray with each one in turn, and rejoice in his 
 joyful acceptance of Christ as their Saviour. 
 " So," said the venerable man, in speaking of 
 this case, "not a hoof is left behind;" the 
 three sons are in heaven and the two daugh- 
 ters are on the way. 
 
 To form an estimate of this faithful leader, 
 it must be borne in mind that, while he led four 
 classes every week during all those years, he 
 watched over all the members of these class- 
 es with tender solicitude, sharing their joys 
 
94 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 and sorrows, carrying all their burdens on his 
 heart. 
 
 For many years, during the greatest pros- 
 perity of Union Church, fully one third of its 
 members were enrolled on his class books. It 
 is estimated that during the sixty-three years 
 of his leadership, at least one thousand per- 
 sons were members of his classes. This can- 
 not be too high an estimate. In this work he 
 was always faithful, always prompt. Nothing 
 would keep him from the class-room but severe 
 illness. He would go in all kinds of weather, 
 and when his family would say, " Surely there 
 will be none of your members out this stormy 
 night," he would reply, " There may be some, 
 and what if only one or two should come 
 and not find their leader there ? I must go, 
 and then I shall have done my duty." 
 
 His unvarying habits in regard to punctu- 
 ality became so well known among his friends, 
 that when he was invited to visit them on a 
 class or prayer-meeting evening they were 
 very particular to have tea early, for Father 
 
In the Class-room. 95 
 
 Yard would not be late at meeting on any 
 account. 
 
 When he had company at home he would 
 always ask to be excused if it were class or 
 prayer-meeting evening, many a time rising 
 from the table before tea was over, lest he 
 should be late. When aw r ay from the city he 
 must be sure to return in time to meet his 
 class. 
 
 In visiting the homes of his mother and 
 sister his stay was usually so brief that they 
 would sometimes feel grieved, and would 
 urge him to " stay another day ; " but he 
 would say, " I must be at my class." " But 
 could not some one take charge to-night in 
 your stead, just for once?" ' 4 No, not unless 
 duty called me to stay here. I must be at my 
 post." 
 
 But his work for his classes was far from 
 being confined to the class-room. In calling 
 the names of his members each week he would 
 inquire about the absent ones. If there was 
 reason to fear that one was losing interest 
 
g6 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 in spiritual things he would hasten to see 
 that one, and earnestly and tenderly labor to 
 fan into a flame the dying embers of his 
 Christian love, and bring him back to his class- 
 room. 
 
 It was in his visits to the sick that he spec- 
 ially excelled. Though far from being effemi- 
 nate, there was a gentleness in his voice and 
 manner that won all hearts. So quietly would 
 he enter the sick room, so thoroughly under- 
 stand, at a glance, the situation, so aptly give 
 the needed word, and with such tenderness 
 and fervor commit the case to the good Physi- 
 cian, that his visits to the afflicted were al- 
 ways signal blessings ; and to none more so 
 than to those whose relation to his classes 
 gave them a place in his heart by the side of 
 his own children. 
 
 The class in Bedford Street Mission was far 
 from being least in importance. The degra- 
 dation and misery from which its members had 
 been rescued made them objects of peculiar 
 interest to him. Their glowing testimonies of 
 
In the Class-room. 97 
 
 the power of grace would thrill his soul ! 
 He often came home from those meetings with 
 his heart overflowing ; and his recitals of the 
 testimonies of those who were as "brands 
 plucked from the burning " would melt the 
 hearts of those who heard them ! 
 
 Some of them preceded him in their ar- 
 rival in the heavenly world, and he had the 
 privilege to witness their triumphant depart- 
 ure from hovels of poverty, to join the com- 
 pany of the redeemed, having " washed their 
 robes and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb." 
 
 The writer had hoped for fuller accounts 
 of her brother's work as a class-leader from 
 others who were thoroughly conversant with 
 it. In this she has been disappointed. In- 
 deed, not until the records on high shall be 
 unfolded can any just estimate be made of the 
 good accomplished in this one sphere of 
 Christian work. If there have been class- 
 leaders more gifted, or more successful in 
 building up those committed to their care, 
 
98 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 it may well be doubted if any one ever at- 
 tended more class-meetings, enrolled more 
 members in his classes, or toiled more faith- 
 fully and zealously for the spiritual welfare of 
 those in his charge. 
 
At the Hospital. 99 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 AT THE HOSPITAL. 
 
 TT 7HEN, in 1812, that devoted woman, 
 * " Mrs. Page, introduced her young friend 
 from Trenton, Edmund J. Yard, to the scenes 
 of her labor for the sick and the poor, she 
 little thought of the wave of good influence 
 she was putting in motion. Soon after his 
 settlement in Philadelphia it became his habit 
 to spend Sabbath afternoons at the Pennsyl- 
 vania Hospital, where his labors were crowned 
 with marked success. He kept no record of 
 the number of souls which he had reason to 
 believe were saved through his instrumentality, 
 but in his sixty-three years of faithful work 
 there it must have been a very large number. 
 In speaking of those saved in that institution, 
 he said, " The majority of cases were those who 
 had previously received no religious instruc- 
 tion or training. Coming there wounded or 
 
ioo The Soul-Winner. 
 
 sick, their hearts were tender, and their minds 
 susceptible to good impressions, and when 
 1 the Friend above all others ' was presented 
 to them as the lover of their souls, and the one 
 i mighty to save,' they were more ready to 
 believe and receive him as their Saviour than 
 were those differently situated in life, and who 
 had received much religious teaching." The 
 uncultured, the poor, the friendless, and the 
 forlorn, he found were in most cases willing to 
 listen to the gospel truth, and ready recipients 
 of proffered salvation. 
 
 From the excellent matron, and some of 
 his fellow-workers in the hospital, have come 
 many such remarks as these : " How the poor 
 sufferers loved to see Mr. Yard's face as he 
 walked up and down the wards! and how 
 eager many of them were to hear from his lips 
 the message of salvation !" Having once heard 
 his kind and loving words, they were anxious 
 for his repeated visits. His manner was so 
 tender and kind that it seemed like soothing 
 balm to them, as he talked so sweetly of the 
 
At the Hospital. ioi 
 
 compassionate Saviour who had loved them 
 and given himself for them. Their faces 
 would light up as they saw him approaching 
 them ; and they would say, after he had gone, 
 " How I love to hear him talk and pray ; it 
 does me so much good." 
 
 Many of the thousands of inmates of the 
 hospital during those threescore years, recov- 
 ered from their injuries and maladies, and 
 returned to their homes ; while a large propor- 
 tion died on their sick-beds in the triumphs of 
 Christian faith. From a number of those who 
 lived to exemplify the power of gospel grace 
 he received visits, at his own home, and let- 
 ters, after their removal from the city, afford- 
 ing rich testimonials of the genuineness of the 
 work wrought. 
 
 One of the many trophies which he won for 
 Jesus, in that interesting field of labor, was a 
 young man from Denmark, who could not 
 speak a word of English. He was extremely 
 ill, and seeing his condition, the thought that 
 he might not be prepared to die, prompted a 
 
102 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 fervent prayer, which was offered in silence at 
 his bedside. Had words been spoken he 
 could not have understood, and the servant 
 of the Lord left him with a sad heart. The 
 thought afterward occurred to him that possi- 
 bly the young man might be able to read, and 
 if so he might be saved by having a Bible. 
 Immediately he purchased one and brought 
 it to him. As he took it from the hand of 
 the visitor a gleam of joy passed over his 
 face, which in a moment gave place to sad- 
 ness as he opened the volume, and discovered 
 that it was not in his own language. He 
 shook his head, signifying that he could not 
 read it. 
 
 A mistake having been made in the selec- 
 tion of a Swedish Bible, instead of a Danish, 
 it was at once exchanged for another in his 
 own tongue. On opening it he made great 
 demonstrations of joy. Portions of the New 
 Testament were designated for him to read 
 first, and as he became convalescent he was 
 able to read much of the time ; so that when 
 
At the Hospital. 103 
 
 his friend came again to see him, he found 
 that he had read a large part of the book. 
 
 The invalid was looking eagerly for the kind 
 donor of the precious book to come, and on his 
 arrival seized his hand, warmly pressed it, and 
 pointed to some of the chapters he had been 
 reading; he then pointed to his heart, and 
 looked upward smiling, almost laughing aloud, 
 striving to impart the glad tidings that he had 
 found Jesus, and that the load of sin and sor- 
 row had been removed from his heart. 
 
 He remained, for several weeks in the hos- 
 pital, and the frequent visits of his good friend 
 gave him great comfort. When about to leave 
 and embark for his distant home, he manifested 
 deep feeling in parting with him who had so 
 lovingly ministered to his spiritual wants. He 
 had learned a few words of our language, and 
 with the use of these, and by signs made with 
 his hands, he tried to convey expressions of 
 gratitude and love, and promised to write to 
 him after his arrival in Denmark. That prom- 
 ise was fulfilled. He wrote a letter in his own 
 
104 TnE Soul-Winner. 
 
 language, and had it translated and rewritten 
 by an Englishman in Denmark, and sent it to 
 his friend in Philadelphia. It was full of 
 expressions of grateful joy for having found 
 such a friend in a land of strangers, and that 
 by giving him a Bible, he had introduced him 
 to One who was better than all earthly friends, 
 and now he had a glorious hope of living in 
 heaven forever! He had never read a word 
 in the Bible till he received one from the 
 hand of the hospital visitor, and that gift was 
 of more value to him than millions of gold or 
 silver. He was glad he had gone to Philadel- 
 phia, and glad he was sick in that city because 
 it had brought him to that beautiful place 
 where he had met his friend and found Jesus. 
 He would serve him as long as he should 
 live, and expected to meet his dear friend in 
 heaven. 
 
 A Christian worker, who was associated with 
 him in hospital labors, gives the following: 
 
 " One Sabbath as Father Yard was going 
 the round of his usual labors, in the north 
 
At the Hospital. 
 
 105 
 
 ward he found a young man who had been 
 injured on one of the coal wharves, and was 
 in an unconscious condition. His parents 
 were with him, and in great anxiety about 
 his soul, knowing that he was not prepared to 
 die. They were pleading with God to give 
 their son time for repentance and salvation. 
 According to what the doctor said, there was 
 no ground for hope. We all felt that this 
 case lay entirely in the hands of the almighty 
 Physician, and he alone could heal the poor 
 sufferer. Father Yard offered prayer with 
 great earnestness, and afterward went through 
 the other wards and to the chapel service, 
 where he again brought the wounded man to 
 the throne of grace, beseeching God to answer 
 the prayers which had been offered for him. 
 In company with several of his friends he 
 returned after the chapel service to the object 
 of his great solicitude, and again prayed for 
 him with much fervor, pleading for the return 
 of consciousness, the protraction of his life, 
 and, above all, the salvation of his soul. The 
 
106 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 assurance was given that the prayer would be 
 answered. The parents and all the praying 
 ones felt confident that the sufferer would live. 
 Such, indeed, proved to be the result. The 
 next day he revived, and consciousness re- 
 turned, to the great joy of his friends, and the 
 surprise of his physicians. Soon after he was 
 able to return to his home, healed and renewed 
 in both body and soul, a new man indeed, and 
 delighting in the service of his new Master ! 
 
 " This was spoken of by our dear Father 
 Yard as a special answer to prayer; and such 
 cases were not unfrequent. There seemed to 
 be a wonderful power in his prayers. He did 
 prevail with God in behalf of those cases which 
 he presented with such ardor and importunity 
 as in the above instance, and the answer was 
 sure to come." 
 
 When a prayer is inspired by the Holy 
 Spirit, is it not certain to prevail with God ? 
 Thousands of cases attest this truth. 
 
 The following is from the pen of Mrs. W. 
 H. Heisler, grand-daughter of Mr. Yard ; 
 
At the Hospital. 107 
 
 One Sabbath afternoon my sister Emeline (who has 
 since passed to her heavenly home) and myself accom- 
 panied grandpa to the hospital. After the chapel exer- 
 cises — consisting of singing, prayer, and a short sermon 
 — grandpa asked us to go with him into one of the wards, 
 where lay a man who had but a short time to live, and 
 who had made no preparation for death. For days pre- 
 vious prayers had been offered at his bedside, and the 
 promises of God's mercy had been read to him from the 
 blessed Bible ; but the poor man, who had been an infidel, 
 could not seem to grasp the promises, and he was in a 
 most distressed state of mind. We passed into the ward, 
 and approached his bedside, and O, what an emaciated 
 form met our view ! It was clear to our minds that his 
 hours were numbered. By request we sang the hymn, 
 *' Arise, my soul, arise," with the chorus 
 
 " Jesus paid it all, 
 All the debt I owe." 
 
 During the singing the dying man's countenance 
 brightened ; he seemed to drink in every word ; and be- 
 fore we had finished the hymn he repeated with rapture, 
 "Yes, Jesus paid it all !" and that sin-bound soul threw 
 off its shackles, and entered into the glorious liberty of 
 the children of God. 
 
 It was an hour of great rejoicing. I turned and looked 
 at grandpa ; his face had a serene and heavenly expres- 
 sion, as if his soul's desire had been granted, and like 
 
108 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 Simeon he had "seen the salvation of God." That one 
 for whom he had prayed and labored so earnestly was 
 now prepared for the heavenly kingdom, and soon after 
 fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 THE SAILOR BOY. 
 
 As the hospital visitor was making his week- 
 ly round among the sick one Sabbath-day, the 
 matron said, " Mr. Yard, there is a sailor over 
 there who is very ill, he has just been brought 
 in." Hastening to his side he said, " I'm sor- 
 ry to see you so sick," and began to ask him 
 some questions, when the poor invalid turned 
 from him with a despairing look, saying, " O, 
 I'm only a poor sailor boy, and nobody cares for 
 sailors." Said the man of God, " I care for 
 sailors, and many a sailor have I met in this 
 hospital and pointed to Jesus, who is the Friend 
 of sinners, and cares for sailors as much as for 
 any others in the world." After a few more kind 
 words, which seemed to excite little interest in 
 the listener, the visitor left him, promising 
 to visit him again. Frequent visits, with gifts 
 of fruit and delicacies suited to his needs, after 
 

 At the Hospital. 
 
 09 
 
 a time softened his feelings, and won his re- 
 gard, and the gloom and reckless despair 
 evinced at first, disappeared, and the greetings 
 of the young sailor became more and more 
 
 cordial. 
 
 AN INCIDENT 
 
 in the life of Willie Degrosse, the sailor-boy, 
 will help the reader to understand why he was 
 so unwilling to open his mind to a stranger. 
 Left an orphan at an early age, most of his 
 life had been spent upon the sea, without the 
 kindly influences of home and friends, and in 
 circumstances most unfavorable to right living. 
 Years before his coming to the hospital, while 
 yet quite young, during a brief stay in port, he 
 went to a Methodist class-meeting, invited by 
 a youth who was a Christian. His young 
 heart was touched by the testimonies to which 
 he listened of the power of Christ to save, and 
 to give peace and gladness to the soul, and a 
 glorious hope of heaven, and Willie felt that 
 was just what he needed in this world of 
 sin and sorrow. Poor boy ! he had never 
 
no The Soul-Winner. 
 
 known what peace was. Tossed about on the 
 billows of adversity, his sea-life was but an em- 
 blem of what he had passed through. He felt 
 his need of just such a Friend as Jesus, and 
 readily he yielded his young heart to the lov- 
 ing Saviour, and was happily converted that 
 evening before the meeting had closed. 
 
 Happy beyond expression in his new-found 
 treasure, he spoke of it the next day to a ship- 
 mate, expressing his overflowing joy, and 
 urged him to seek religion, assuring him that 
 he would be a thousand times happier than 
 ever he had been, emphasizing the statement 
 with a profane expression. 
 
 " You are a pretty Christian," said his ship- 
 mate. "You needn't talk to me about your 
 religion ! " 
 
 Instantly poor Willie realized the inconsist- 
 ency. The enemy of souls came in like a flood, 
 suggesting that he had been deceived, and it was 
 impossible for him to live a Christian life. Alas 
 for the poor boy ! He had no Christian friend 
 at hand to teach him that the profane word was 
 

 
 At the Hospital. 
 
 in 
 
 only the result of bad habits, not of any pur- 
 pose to do wrong, and to encourage him to go 
 to Jesus for pardon and strength. So he yield- 
 ed to the tempter, " cast away his confidence," 
 lost his hold on Christ, and afterward became 
 more reckless and wicked than ever. Years 
 had passed, and no one had ever given him a 
 kind or helpful word. 
 
 No wonder that he repelled the approach of 
 his new friend, with the words, " I'm only a 
 poor sailor-boy, and nobody cares for sailors." 
 But no heart could long be barred against such 
 kind words and acts as those of the " soul-win- 
 ner." When Willie left the hospital it was 
 with a firm purpose to serve God, and a hum- 
 ble trust in Jesus. He went to the soldier's 
 home to remain during convalescence — before 
 embarking on another voyage — but was soon 
 brought back by a sudden relapse to the hos- 
 pital. He longed to *see his kind friend, and 
 sent for him to come, but he was absent from 
 the city. On his return, receiving the message, 
 he hastened to the bedside of the sufferer. 
 
ii2 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 Willie said, " I watched all the afternoon last 
 Sabbath, and listened to every footstep, hoping 
 to see you, but you didn't come, and I felt so 
 lonely and so sad! But I opened the little 
 Bible you gave me, and read about Jesus and 
 his love, and I haven't felt lonely since." He 
 had found rest to his poor, weary soul in the 
 arms of Him who is "the helper of the help- 
 less, and a refuge unto them that trust in him." 
 As soon as he had recovered Willie returned 
 to his ship and served his country so well that, 
 though in a subordinate position in the United 
 States navy, he received honorable mention 
 by name in the report of his commander for 
 conspicuous bravery in a terrible engagement. 
 Better still, his manly piety led the officers and 
 men of his vessel to invite him to perform the 
 service of chaplain on board the ship, as that 
 office was not filled. His conduct of religious 
 exercises was highly acceptable, and the great 
 Captain owned his efforts for the good of his 
 shipmates, some of whom were brought to 
 Christ through his labors. 
 
At the Hospital. 113 
 
 When, some months later, it became neces- 
 sary on account of failing health to retire from 
 the exposures of the sea, he was assigned to 
 pleasant duty at the Boston Navy Yard, -where 
 he remained some years, and married an ex- 
 cellent Christian lady, whose companionship 
 contributed greatly to his religious advance- 
 ment and his comfort in every way. 
 
 His health continuing to fail, he found it 
 necessary to resign his position and seek a 
 climate less rigorous. He chose Trenton, N. J., 
 as his home. Here his good friend, Father 
 Yard, as he always called him, often visited 
 him, to the very great joy of the invalid ; and 
 the sister of his friend — the writer of this — 
 found it a privilege very frequently to visit 
 Willie and converse with and read to him. 
 One day, when seated by his bed, he asked me 
 for a mirror. Taking it in his hand he looked 
 with evident composure at his pale and death- 
 like visage. I asked him, " Don't it make you 
 feel sad to see your emaciated face, and realize 
 that death is so near?" 
 
ii4 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 " Why, no," he said emphatically. " There 
 is nothing sad in that ! This is the way I 
 view it : yonder is the heavenly city, and 
 death is the gate to let me into that glorious 
 abode ; I can't feel sad to think I am approach- 
 ing the gate to endless joys." 
 
 So through all his sickness grace triumphed. 
 On one occasion when I was reading the One 
 Hundred and Seventh Psalm, "O that men 
 would praise the Lord for his goodness, and 
 for his wonderful works to the children of 
 men," he exclaimed, "Why don't they praise 
 him more ! Why don't Christians praise him 
 all the time ! " 
 
 He often requested me to sing for him, 
 
 " Fade, fade each earthly joy, 
 Jesus is mine !" 
 
 This hymn was his special favorite. It 
 seemed to thrill his whole being. One day, 
 when I had been singing those sweet words, 
 he said, " O how sweet ! Jesus is mine ! Yes, 
 Jesus is mine ! I want you to sing that for 
 
■ 
 
 
 At the Hospital. 
 
 ii5 
 
 me when I am dying. Will you, Mrs. James? 
 I want you to sing me into heaven ! " 
 
 I replied, " I will if it is in my power to be 
 with you at that time." 
 
 The day previous to his death I was with 
 him all day. It was a scene of wonderful tri- 
 umph as the heavenly city was now full in 
 view, and he seemed to hear the music of the 
 celestial choir. It was a rich privilege to 
 listen to his expressions of holy joy as now he 
 stood on the river's brink ready to cross over 
 and join the blood-washed company. Over 
 and over he had me singing, " Jesus is mine," 
 and I thought he would pass over while I was 
 singing, but he lingered till the next morn- 
 
 At the early dawn the summons came for 
 me to go and see Willie die. I found him 
 with his eyes set and apparently unconscious. 
 1 said to his wife, 
 
 " You know he requested me to sing him 
 into heaven, and I promised him I would if I 
 could be with him." 
 
n6 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 She replied, " He don't know any thing 
 now ; he is almost over." 
 
 I said, " I must fulfill my promise," and 
 began to sing, " Jesus is mine." The instant 
 I began the dying man opened his eyes 
 wider, and a gleam of light passed over his 
 face. I sang the whole hymn, and while 
 singing the last stanza — 
 
 " Farewell, mortality ; 
 
 Jesus is mine. 
 Welcome, eternity; 
 
 Jesus is mine. 
 Welcome, O loved and blest, 
 Welcome, sweet scenes of rest. 
 Welcome, my Saviour's breast ; 
 
 Jesus is mine " — 
 
 with the last words Willie's happy spirit 
 departed to that bright world of bliss. Its 
 radiance was reflected upon his countenance 
 as the lifeless form lay beautiful in death, and 
 the spirit of the sailor-boy was with Jesus. 
 
 The beautiful life and triumphant death of 
 William H. Dc Grosse, rescued by the faithful 
 
At the Hospital. 117 
 
 hospital visitor, impressed many in intimate 
 relations with him. 
 
 A secular paper of Trenton, contained the 
 following notice : 
 
 William H. De Grosse, whose funeral was so largely 
 attended on Sunday last, was an acting ensign in the 
 United States Navy during the war, and in the second 
 attack on Fort Fisher honorable mention is made of 
 the part he took, in the report of the Secretary of the 
 Navy for 1865, (page 170.) He was a member of Gen- 
 eral Harrison Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Philadelphia, and of 
 Post No. 11, G. A, R. Dept. Mass., the members of 
 which organizations, here gave him most honorable 
 burial. The services in the State Street Methodist 
 Episcopal Church were very impressive, commencing 
 with the chant "Cast thy burden on the Lord," with a 
 recital of the Christian life of deceased, by Mr. Yard, of 
 Philadelphia — the comrades of Post No. 8 paying the 
 last honors to his remains at the grave, with their 
 impressive burial ceremonies. 
 
 It was a privilege to visit week after week 
 those scenes of suffering in the hospital, and a 
 joy unutterable to hear the praises of new- 
 born souls, and witness the triumphs of re- 
 deemed spirits departing. Who can conceive 
 
n8 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 the bliss of that now sainted one, surrounded 
 by the throng of the glorified spirits whom he 
 had been instrumental in bringing to that 
 glorious world where " there shall be no sor- 
 row, pain, nor death ? " 
 
 And such bliss awaits every faithful soul- 
 winner. 
 
At Camp- meetings. 
 
 119 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 AT CAMP- MEETINGS. 
 
 I ^OR pleasure-seeking this earnest worker 
 had neither time nor inclination. In all 
 his long life he never left his home merely 
 to enjoy a vacation. Yet, every summer he 
 would leave the city for a week or ten days, 
 to find the refreshing shade of some delightful 
 grove. He loved to commune with nature in 
 her own temple, and it was refreshing to the 
 weary worker to get away from the heat and 
 dust and tumult of the crowded city ; but 
 such privileges were not the prime object of 
 his summer trips. He sought association with 
 kindred spirits in the higher fellowship with 
 M Nature's God." This was his joy every- 
 where, but the privilege of spending a week 
 in constant devotional exercises was to him 
 a feast indeed ! and specially where he could 
 have larger opportunities for winning souls. 
 
120 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 It was his habit to rally a company of 
 choice spirits, mostly from Union Church, 
 with the pastor, who would go prepared for 
 the good work, and entering into it with full 
 purpose of heart, were always rewarded with 
 rich " showers of blessings." 
 
 In former years there was usually a Prayer- 
 meeting tent, and a " Young Men's tent," and 
 near them a number of small tents for the 
 accommodation of families and individuals. 
 Of the circle thus formed Father Yard was 
 the patriarch. One who was privileged to 
 share the enjoyments of the Union company, 
 numbering from a hundred to a hundred 
 and fifty, year after year, writes the follow- 
 
 With what zest did the venerated father of our com- 
 pany enter into all the exercises of the hallowed place ! 
 The early morning prayer-meeting-, the preaching, with 
 prayer-meetings following, were never neglected ; but it 
 was in the tent work that he was most completely in his 
 element. The quiet, solemn, melting influence of those 
 seasons of exhortation, conversation, and prayer ! Was 
 ever any thing more heavenly ? His counsels and ap- 
 
At Camp-meetings. 121 
 
 peals, and above all his prayers, can never be forgotten. 
 His vocal pleadings at a throne of grace were always 
 inspiring, but there .was an influence attending his camp- 
 meeting prayers that was marvelous ! 
 
 But here, as every-where, his best work was 
 with individuals. The young people of his 
 classes, some of them the objects of solicitude 
 because of heart wanderings detected by their 
 vigilant leader, were sought out by him and 
 helped nearer to God. Often there was some 
 unsaved one in the company, whom he had 
 brought with many prayers, on purpose to be 
 converted. Almost always his keen spiritual 
 discernment discovered some backslidden one, 
 or some dear young man unsaved. 
 
 Some of these were strangers to him when 
 the meeting commenced, but he had found 
 them out of the fold ; they belonged to the good 
 Shepherd, and must be brought back to him. 
 Hundreds of souls have been saved through his 
 personal efforts at camp-meetings. Vincent 
 Town, Crosswicks, Swedesborough, Titusville, 
 Penn's Grove, Ocean Grove and Danville, in 
 
122 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 New Jersey, and Red Lion and" Camden, in 
 Delaware, were the places he most frequented 
 as the sites of camp-meetings. How these 
 names, and others, call up scenes where the won- 
 derful power of God was displayed ! On many 
 of those occasions the almost transfigured form 
 of the venerable Edmund J. Yard was promi- 
 nent. How he exulted ! Now it seemed as if 
 the frail body must break under the pressure 
 of the overwhelming glory! Often he was 
 heard to say, " There is no place quite so 
 near heaven as the camp-ground. I should 
 like to go up from camp-meeting to my home 
 on high." This wish was not granted him ; 
 but at the reunion in some grove " on the 
 banks beyond the river " in the paradise above, 
 thousands will greet him, and thank God that 
 they ever met that man of God in the tented 
 groves of earth. 
 
 One of the many interesting cases in which 
 he was instrumental in the salvation of pre- 
 cious souls at camp-meeting is distinctly re- 
 membered by the writer of this volume. It 
 
#* 
 
 At Camp-meetings. 123 
 
 engaged the hearts and prayers of the entire 
 Union company, of which she was favored to 
 be one. 
 
 A number of us, including my brother, went 
 down to the camp at Penn's Grove, N. J., on 
 the Saturday previous to the camp-meeting. 
 Many of the tents were being erected on the 
 ground, and among the workmen employed 
 was a young carpenter, who was quite prepos- 
 sessing in appearance, and very bright and in- 
 telligent. His services being secured to assist 
 in putting up the tents for our company, my 
 brother was in frequent conversation with him, 
 and became deeply interested for his salvation. 
 Soon the subject of religion was introduced, 
 but to the words of earnest exhortation and 
 Christian counsel there was no response from a 
 heart evidently hardened by a long course of 
 sinful rebellion. The son of a minister, relig- 
 iously trained, " gospel-hardened," he seemed 
 incorrigible. Often presenting the cases of 
 inconsistent professors as a plea for his contin- 
 uance in sin, he resisted every appeal. But 
 
124 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 the " soul-winner " was not to be repulsed or 
 wearied. Day after day he followed the young 
 man, and at night he gave him lodging in his 
 tent, for the purpose of more private conversa- 
 tion and prayer with him, persistently trying 
 to influence him to see and yield to the claims 
 of Christ. He treated his faithful friend with 
 marked respect and kindness, but seemed un- 
 moved. As day after day we would meet for 
 prayer, this case would be presented for sup- 
 plication — "he must be saved!" — and it was 
 touching to see the tears and deep concern of 
 his friend for " that precious soul." Indeed, 
 such anxiety pressed upon his heart that he 
 could not rest till the young man was rescued 
 from the dreadful peril of exposure to eternal 
 ruin. 
 
 One day, when the company had assembled 
 in the large tent for prayer-meeting, we saw 
 the young man approaching, encircled with 
 the kind arm which had led so many young 
 men to the mercy-seat. The callous heart at 
 last had yielded to the melting power of the 
 
m 
 ■ 
 
 At Camp-meetings. 125 
 
 Holy Spirit and the entreaties of his devoted 
 friend, and he bowed at the penitents' bench, 
 weeping and pleading for the pardon of his 
 sins. Never was there a more contrite and 
 earnest seeker. Day and night he was found 
 at the place of prayer, and all hearts sympa- 
 thized and offered up devout supplications in 
 his behalf. At each successive meeting every 
 one looked for and expected his conversion. 
 Scores of seekers had found Jesus in those 
 meetings, and all wondered that one who 
 seemed so sincere and so earnest was not 
 blessed. The camp-meeting was drawing to 
 its close, and the solicitude for the sorrowing 
 seeker, in whose behalf so many prayers had 
 been offered, became more and more intense. 
 We could not, must not, let him go away from 
 that sacred place unsaved. Renewed efforts — 
 a special season of prayer — and increased ardor 
 on the part of the penitent, gave a new impetus 
 to our faith ; surely he would be blessed that 
 night ! Such fervent pleading had seldom been 
 heard. We were all in an agony of supplica- 
 
126 The Soul- Winner. 
 
 tion, and the humble mourner was almost con- 
 vulsed in the dreadful struggle. Must the 
 powers of darkness triumph ? No, it must 
 not, could not be that the arch fiend would 
 conquer! The conflict was tremendous. 
 
 At length his faithful friend by his side said 
 to him, " I fear you are cherishing something 
 in your heart that is keeping Jesus out. David 
 said, ' If 1 regard iniquity in my heart the Lord 
 will not hear me.' Now, nothing else could 
 prevent you from being accepted of God when 
 you are so contrite, sincere, and earnest. Look 
 into your heart and see if you are indulging 
 any wrong feeling, principle, or desire." A 
 still deeper struggle ensued ; then, in the 
 midst of the terrible conflict, the young man 
 suddenly started to his feet and ran out of the 
 tent, causing the wondering company still 
 greater solicitude. But they lingered at the 
 mercy-seat pleading for the object of their deep 
 concern. In about twenty minutes he came 
 running back to the tent and fell upon his 
 knees screaming, " O God, now forgive me as I 
 
■ 
 mm 
 
 m 
 
 -<V> 
 
 At Camp- meetings. 127 
 
 forgive ! " Instantly salvation came, and the 
 new-born soul exulted in the pardon of his 
 sins, and his adoption into the kingdom of 
 God! 
 
 The secret of that protracted struggle he 
 afterward told us. He had been at enmity 
 with a relative, and had entertained feelings of 
 bitterness and hatred. This was the barrier in 
 his way ; he was conscious that he had done 
 wrong to that individual, but had been un- 
 willing to humble himself and ask her forgive- 
 ness, until that moment when he so suddenly 
 left the tent. She was on the ground, and 
 hastening to her he said with tears, " I have 
 wronged you, and I am very sorry. Will you 
 forgive me ? " She replied, " Yes, I freely for- 
 give you." He then kissed her and hastened 
 back to the prayer-meeting, where he was 
 quickly saved. 
 
 The joy of that praying band was unbound- 
 ed as they saw the captive set free and rejoic- 
 ing in " the glorious liberty of the children of 
 God." As the aged saint and the newly saved 
 
128 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 youth embraced each other in the exuberance 
 of their bliss, that exulting company sent up a 
 shout of glad halleluias to the " Mighty to 
 save" for this glorious triumph of his grace. 
 It was a scene never to be forgotten. 
 
On the Wing. 129 
 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON THE WING. 
 
 "|\ If ANY souls were won by the personal 
 appeals of Mr. Yard when traveling in 
 cars and steamboats. Ever watching for op- 
 portunities to do good, the indefatigable 
 worker would in every journey find some one 
 to whom his heart went out with prayerful so- 
 licitude, and he would contrive to obtain ac- 
 cess to the ear of such a one in a way that 
 would almost in every case insure access to the 
 heart. 
 
 And this is not strange. The Christian 
 worker had his mind set upon winning souls, 
 and his heart was thus in perfect sympathy 
 with Him who "came to seek and to save the 
 lost." Would not the Holy Spirit prompt 
 such a willing instrument to speak to the right 
 one, that is, one who would receive the mes- 
 sage ? Surely this is a reasonable conclusion, 
 9 
 
130 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 and one sustained by God's word. This ac- 
 counts for his success. 
 
 Frequent visits to Trenton, prompted by his 
 attachment to his mother, and other relatives 
 there, afforded him many opportunities of this 
 kind. On his arrival he would usually have 
 some interesting story to tell about meeting 
 " a dear young man " to whom he spoke on the 
 subject of religion, and how " he seemed to be 
 impressed, and promised to read the little 
 Bible or Testament which he gave him," etc. 
 Acquaintances thus formed in many cases rip- 
 ened into strong mutual attachments. Of 
 these came some of the most pleasing asso- 
 ciations of his life, with the promise that their 
 subjects would become bright stars in his 
 crown of rejoicing. An account of one trip 
 with some of its results may serve as a 
 specimen of hundreds which were of equal 
 interest. 
 
 One pleasant summer day, as he passed up 
 the Delaware River on the steamer " Edwin 
 Forrest," the pale visage, emaciated form, 
 
On the Wing. 131 
 
 and tottering steps of a fellow passenger at- 
 tracted his attention. He approached the 
 sick man, tenderly saying, " Good morning, 
 my friend, I am sorry to see you looking so 
 feeble." 
 
 The invalid thanked him for his kind ex- 
 pression of interest, and said, " I don't feel 
 very well, but hope a trip to the country will 
 bring me up to my usual health." 
 
 He was on his way to visit a friend in the 
 suburbs of Trenton, where he designed to 
 spend several weeks. It was but too evident 
 that the poor man was a victim of consump- 
 tion, and that his days were numbered. But 
 nothing was said to discourage him, though 
 an affectionate appeal in reference to his spir- 
 itual interests brought tears to his eyes, as 
 he acknowledged his past forgetfulness of 
 God and carelessness of his eternal concerns. 
 Yet he said, " I try to do right, and hope 
 all will be well with me even if I should 
 die, but I have no thought that my case is 
 serious.' 
 
132 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 The mother of the sick man sat listening to 
 their conversation with tearful eyes ; she un- 
 derstood the critical condition of her son and 
 felt very anxious in regard to him. 
 
 As the boat touched the wharf the feeble 
 man leaned on the proffered arm of his new 
 friend and walked up into the city to meet a 
 conveyance to his destination. On parting he 
 expressed much gratitude for the interest 
 shown in his behalf, and promised to read at- 
 tentively the little Bible presented to him. He 
 took the name and address of the donor, giv- 
 ing his own in return. 
 
 Several weeks had passed when a note was 
 received saying, " The sick man, Mr. O., whom 
 you met on the steamboat, is failing very fast, 
 and desires to see you. Please come as soon 
 as you can." The invalid had returned to his 
 home, several miles from Philadelphia, and 
 soon his friend was by his side pointing the 
 penitent to the sinner's Friend. He said, " Mr. 
 Yard, I have been praying ever since I saw 
 you that day, but it has seemed so dark to me. 
 
On the Wing. 133 
 
 I am such a sinner ! O how I have wished 
 for you to talk and pray with me, but I stayed 
 in the country so long, and knowing you had 
 returned to the city, I did not wish to give you 
 the trouble of coming so far to see me, and so 
 I waited to get home before I would send for 
 you. I only returned yesterday, and felt in 
 haste to get you here." 
 
 While commending the humble seeker to 
 the compassionate Saviour, the word of peace 
 was spoken, the precious blood that cleanseth 
 from sin was by faith applied, and the man 
 cried out, " I am saved ! I am saved ! " 
 
 His mother and wife, who were neither of 
 them experimental Christians, were awakened 
 and soon after converted. The next time their 
 friend came he found the three rejoicing in 
 Christ. In a few weeks the happy spirit of the 
 sick man passed away to join the redeemed 
 host above. 
 
 Thus were three souls won for Jesus. And 
 these were not the only results of that trip 
 to Trenton. Returning to his home on the 
 
134 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 same boat the next day after his interview 
 with the consumptive above mentioned, the 
 faithful worker found more to do for his divine 
 Master. 
 
 Another sick man, a young soldier, was seat- 
 ed on the deck of the steamer, looking sad and 
 lonely. Some conversation revealed the fact 
 that he was a skeptic, and a hard case to reach. 
 But knowing that there is nothing too hard 
 for Omnipotence, the devout Christian, look- 
 ing up to God for aid, commenced a siege 
 upon the apparently impregnable heart. He 
 began his task in the most gentle and loving 
 manner, setting forth the wonderful Saviour 
 and his infinite love and mercy and power. 
 To this there was returned a broadside of infi- 
 del arguments. But the " sword of the Spirit " 
 was wielded, which, being always " mighty," 
 caused the enemy to fall back a little, though 
 still trying to maintain his ground. The con- 
 test lasted till they reached the city, then, tak- 
 ing the hand of the soldier, his friend said, " I 
 commend you to God. I shall pray for you 
 
On the Wing. 135 
 
 every day, and shall hope to see you soon." 
 Then he handed him a copy of the New Test- 
 ament and Psalms, and asked for his address, 
 which was given. 
 
 Not many days passed before the soldier was 
 visited by his new friend, who found him ill 
 from hemorrhage of the lungs. He received 
 his visitor with gentlemanly politeness, thanked 
 him for his interest, and listened respectfully 
 to his entreaties to seek refuge in the Saviour 
 of sinners. The icebound heart began to yield 
 as the " hot shot " from a heart full of Chris- 
 tian love were showered upon it, yet it was 
 not quite ready to capitulate and bid Christ 
 welcome. Consent, however, was given that 
 prayer should be offered in his room, and at 
 parting the soldier said, " Come again." The 
 visit was soon repeated, and with more encour- 
 aging results. The rapid waning of the inva- 
 lid's strength, from frequent loss of blood, 
 betokened the near approach of death. At 
 this stage his heart was fully surrendered to 
 God, and when called to die he said, " I am 
 
136 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 going to heaven ! " He kissed the dear friend 
 who had led him to Jesus, and said, " I shall 
 meet you, Mr. Yard, at the heavenly portals, 
 and hail you with joy as the instrument of my 
 salvation." 
 
 Several of the young soldier's friends, some 
 who had watched with him and frequently vis- 
 ited him during his illness, were influenced by 
 him to give their hearts to God, and at that 
 time commenced a religious life. 
 
 Thus through the efforts of that Christian 
 worker on those two trips — going to Trenton 
 and returning the next day to Philadelphia — 
 at least five or six souls were converted. What 
 encouragement to sow the good seed " beside 
 all waters ! " 
 
 One of our excellent ministers remarked, 
 " Edmund J. Yard has accomplished more 
 good in the world than any ten ministers I 
 have ever known. The souls saved through his 
 faithful labors, the building up of Churches, the 
 training of Christians in his classes, the distri- 
 bution of Bibles, the relief of the poor, the aid 
 
On the Wing. 137 
 
 given to missionary enterprises, both at home 
 and abroad, the vast amount of substantial 
 good that he has, by God's help, brought to 
 the world, is beyond computation— beyond 
 conception." 
 
138 The Soul- Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 WRITING LETTERS FOR JESUS. 
 
 T} ELIGIOUS correspondence has ever been 
 a mighty agency for the accomplishment 
 of good, and few knew how to use it so well 
 as the one of whom we now write. By far the 
 largest portion of those for whose edification 
 he labored were not residents of Philadelphia. 
 To the " boys," as he called the young men 
 who from time to time went forth from Union 
 Church to literary institutions, to enter the 
 Christian ministry, or to engage in business in 
 distant places, he wrote innumerable letters of 
 Christian counsel and instruction. Many cf 
 those whom he had met in the hospital, those 
 over whom he had wept and prayed at camp- 
 meetings, and those with whom he became 
 acquainted in many short journeys or visits, 
 were followed with letters. All had a place in 
 his heart, and these and all others in whom he 
 
Writing Letters for Jesus. 139 
 
 had become interested, seemed ever after to 
 be objects of his tender solicitude. To all such, 
 at parting, he would give his address, with the 
 earnest request, " Let me hear from you soon." 
 Many of them complied with his request, and 
 never did a letter from one of them remain 
 long unanswered. 
 
 To many who shrank from beginning a cor- 
 respondence he wrote first. And such letters! 
 Not only did they breathe the most ardent af- 
 fection, but they were filled with just such 
 suggestions and counsels as young men in such 
 circumstances would need. In some cases the 
 correspondence thus commenced was continued 
 through many years. Rarely did the pen 
 of the good man rest till his young friend had 
 become so established that his aid did not seem 
 longer to be specially needed. Then the con- 
 stant and increasing demands upon his time 
 for this and other kinds of labor mjght compel 
 him to lengthen the intervals until at last the 
 correspondence would cease. Even then the 
 mention of a name would call forth such words 
 
140 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 as proved that his friend had not been for- 
 gotten. 
 
 Not many months before his death he stated 
 to his sister that he had been compelled for 
 want of room to destroy two thousand letters, 
 but had preserved one thousand. Nearly all 
 these were from such correspondents as have 
 here been alluded to. Was ever pen more 
 busy in this kind of labor? Of the results of 
 his correspondence but little comparatively 
 can be known in this world, but there is most 
 abundant evidence that his letter-writing was 
 a special instrumentality for good. 
 
 Of the many letters of his ever-busy pen 
 but few are now accessible to her whose pleas- 
 ant duty it is to gather up these fragments. 
 The limits of this volume will not allow the 
 insertion of even those at hand in full, but the 
 picture of this warm-hearted Christian worker 
 would not be complete without a few extracts 
 from his epistles to indicate the general style 
 and tenor in which they were written. 
 
 The first two which follow were written to 
 
Writing Letters for Jesus. 141 
 
 Mr. E. D., of Windsor, formerly Centreville, 
 N. J., who writes, "It was my happy fortune 
 in early manhood, when young in Christian 
 experience, to make the acquaintance of him 
 whom I delighted to call Father Yard, whose 
 affable attentions and wise and godly counsels 
 richly entitled him to that endearing ap- 
 pellation." 
 
 LETTERS TO MR. D. 
 
 Philadelphia, January 18, 1855. 
 
 My Dear E. : — I reached home in time for my class 
 on Monday evening, and we had a very precious meeting, 
 as we had also on Tuesday evening at my house, and 
 last evening at class. But those dear young men at Cen- 
 treville are continually before me. I long for them. My 
 visit to your dear home, and the kind attentions there — 
 the privileges of the Sabbath in that beautiful church, 
 and the interesting congregation, the school, the parents, 
 the young people, and especially the young men — will 
 never leave my recollection ; and I could find it in my 
 heart to spend many Sabbaths with them if it would do 
 them good. Dear son, try every means to gain them for 
 the Saviour. O may you have many of them as bright 
 stars in your crown ! They seemed to me to be almost 
 persuaded to become Christians. Please give my kind- 
 est love to them, and say that my heart goes out in 
 
142 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 ardent prayer for them, and I should be very happy to 
 see them again. 
 
 The second is dated 
 
 Philadelphia, March 24, 1856. 
 
 My Dear E. : — I long so much to see you. that I 
 must talk a little to you on paper once more. I some- 
 times think I have a special message for those dear 
 young men. If I could be with you a week when the 
 walking is good and the weather settled, and we could 
 have meeting every evening, I think we might win some 
 for the Saviour. I long for their salvation ! Would to 
 God they might reflect and "turn to the Stronghold," 
 and "receive double." 
 
 I have much to tell you of precious ones who have 
 turned to the Lord on sick-beds, and died in triumph 
 and gone to heaven. 
 
 With this cherished friend he continued to 
 correspond for a number of years. 
 
 His love for young men and the tact and 
 persevering energy with which he labored for 
 one whom he had long borne upon his heart 
 may be seen in the following letters 
 
 TO A YOUNG MAN. 
 
 June 25, 1858. 
 
 My Very Dear G. :— I must write a little to you ; not 
 that I love you little, for I love you more than pen or 
 
Writing Letters for Jesus. 143 
 
 tongue can describe. O, G., have you begun the great 
 work of your salvation ? 
 
 Let me tell you about a dear young man I have re- 
 cently visited. He was from Lancaster, Pa., boarding 
 with a friend of mine. He is a painter and was thought 
 to be dying with painter's colic. He had made no prep- 
 aration for death, although he had been awakened a 
 short time previous. On Sunday his mother was tele- 
 graphed to come and see him die. On that afternoon his 
 friend asked me if it would be right to speak to him 
 about religion. I said, "Yes, by all means, and if you 
 wish I will go and see him." This friend of the sick man 
 went to see him — a long distance from his home — and 
 asked him about his soul. He seemed concerned, and 
 asked him to pray for him, and said he would like to see 
 me. His friend came for me, and finding I had gone to 
 the young men's prayer-meeting of our Church, came 
 there for me. I asked the prayers of the meeting for him, 
 and after we had offered two prayers I felt a sweet as- 
 surance that the Lord would bless him. I asked the 
 friends to continue in prayer for him while I would go and 
 pray with him. I hastened to take the long walk, and 
 found the dear youth. I had never seen him before. I 
 talked with him and then prayed. The Lord answered 
 the united prayers ot those in the church and those in 
 the sick-room, and the Lord blessed him so powerfully 
 that his body as well as his soul partook of the benefit. 
 On the following Tuesday he went home with his mother 
 
144 T HE Soul-Winner. 
 
 to Lancaster happy in the Lord. I expect him to return 
 very soon to spend some time with me. 
 
 So, you see, my dear G., the list of my dear friends 
 constantly increases. But 
 
 11 When all the ship's company meet 
 Who've sailed with their Saviour beneath," 
 
 what a meeting it will be ! O, my dear friend, don't be 
 missing then ! Put the armor on now, and battle for the 
 Lord against every foe, and he will keep you by his 
 mighty power. My dear G., I have never ceased to pray 
 for you and your dear family since we parted. When 
 shall I get a precious letter informing me that you have 
 become an heir of the heavenly kingdom ? How I long 
 for that happy intelligence ! 
 
 May God bless you ! I hope to meet you where part- 
 ing will not be known. Don't let the world rob you 
 longer of the precious treasure. The Lord is willing and 
 ready to adopt you as soon as you will come to him. 
 God bless you and save you forever his is the prayer of 
 your friend, Edmund J. Yard. 
 
 Nearly two years later, in a brief note, evi- 
 dently written in haste, he alludes to the sud- 
 den death of a Christian pastor a few days 
 before, and adds, " So we are passing away, 
 dear G. Let your heart be fixed on the Lord, 
 and all will be well." 
 
Writing Letters for Jesus. 145 
 
 Seven years passed, and his friend G. had 
 not yet publicly espoused the cause of Christ. 
 After having visited the place of his residence 
 Mr. Yard writes : 
 
 Philadelphia, July n, 1867. 
 
 My Very Dear G. : — I feel as if I must write you 
 some advice, although I have seen you so recently. I 
 never had a more interesting visit to C. than my last. I 
 have loved you dearly ever since I first saw you, but 
 never so much as now. Your kind attentions to me al- 
 most overcame my feelings, and your tender affection 
 manifested toward your dear wife, all seemed to show 
 you to be just the man I should wish to love, and whose 
 friendship I would cultivate. 
 
 And now, my dear friend, the Lord has given you a 
 
 Christian companion to walk with you through life, and she 
 
 is all that you could wish on earth ; will you let her enjoy 
 
 the love of God and you live without it ? Much as you 
 
 prize her, you cannot know her true value until, like her, 
 
 you enjoy the real life of God in your soul. Then you 
 
 will be able fully to appreciate her worth. Then your 
 
 spirits will so entirely blend together that you will be one 
 
 in Christ Jesus as well as one in the conjugal relation. 
 
 Your union in this life must have an end, but if united in 
 
 Christ you will be one forever. That is your desire, my 
 
 dear friend, I am sure, to dwell forever with your loved 
 
 ones and with the Lord. Now don't let the enemy cheat 
 10 
 
146 The Soul- Winner. 
 
 you any more by procrastination. There is so small a 
 matter remaining for you to do — you really love the Lord, 
 why will you not acknowledge him ? and then the work 
 will be done. It is your imperative duty to go with your 
 wile to the Church and both give in your names to live 
 and die in the Lord. Then you will have all the sympa- 
 thies and helps of the Church. How sweet it would be 
 to sit down together and read the word of life, and then 
 ask the blessing of the Lord upon you morning and even- 
 ing of each day. O how I long for you to be per- 
 fectly happy ! and the Lord will make you so if you will 
 do his will. And then your example will tell upon so 
 many around you. I believe all the young men will fol- 
 low you if you will come. Think, then, you may save a 
 score or more of souls, that may be lost if you neglect 
 your duty. O come, dear G. ; do not refuse, and God 
 will bless you and yours all the clays of your life here and 
 forever. Write very soon and say it is done. 
 
 Yours, as ever, EDMUND J. YARD. 
 
 After three years more of praying and wait- 
 ing this indefatigable soul-winner writes to a 
 mutual friend of his continued solicitude for 
 his friend G. : 
 
 Will you give my love to dear G., and ask him if he 
 will be one of the company whom I love at C. that will 
 meet me in my Father's house in heaven. O how I long 
 
Writing Letters for Jesus. 147 
 
 for his salvation ! I intended to have written to him be- 
 fore now, but my many engagements and many infirmi- 
 ties have prevented. Tell him I look right at him every 
 day, while I plead with the Lord to break his heart that 
 he may love the Saviour, and if I die in pleading I will 
 hold on to him. 
 
 That consecrated pen is no longer busy with 
 appeals, counsels, and consolations, but there 
 are eyes that fill with tears as they follow its 
 tracings of long ago, and many a heart will be 
 richer forever for its faithful work. 
 
148 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 LABOR VARIED AND ABUNDANT. 
 
 T N the work of soul-winning the subject of 
 this history had such a hallowed ingenuity 
 that his methods cannot be fully described. 
 While, therefore,. it would not seem proper to 
 devote a chapter to each of his many spheres 
 of labor, yet it may be well to give a view of 
 him as " sowing beside all waters ; " grouping 
 together a few facts, throwing light upon sev- 
 eral of his modes of Christian effort. 
 
 PUBLIC ADDRESSES. 
 
 Edmund J. Yard never received license to 
 preach. It is in harmony with the usages of 
 the Church in which for sixty-five years he 
 was an honored member for laymen to re- 
 ceive license as local preachers. Such au- 
 thority his brethren would gladly have con- 
 ferred upon him, but he never was willing to 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 149 
 
 accept it. His position as class-leader gave 
 him the right to hold religious meetings, and, 
 as will be concluded, from the facts already 
 given, his right and gifts were often used. 
 
 For many years, to avoid conflict with 
 Romanists, the officers of the Pennsylvania 
 Hospital did not allow clergymen to officiate 
 within its walls. During all those years the 
 chief and almost only speaker at the Sabbath 
 afternoon services in that institution was Ed- 
 mund J. Yard. In later years, when he had 
 more helpers, occasionally asking a minister 
 to address the company, it was always his 
 custom to offer prayer and sometimes to make 
 remarks, and he did this even after the ap- 
 pointment of a regular chaplain. Whoever 
 had spoken or was to speak, no words received 
 more attention, or awakened greater interest 
 than those uttered by his familiar voice. 
 
 In the six o'clock Sabbath evening meetings 
 at Union Church the report of the hospital 
 work of the day, with incidents of his visits to 
 invalids there or elsewhere during the week, 
 
150 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 were a part of the service almost as regularly 
 as the opening prayer or the doxology at the 
 close. These accounts would occupy from 
 ten to twenty minutes, and were always list- 
 ened to with interest. 
 
 He received many invitations from ministers 
 to assist them in revival meetings. His ad- 
 dresses, though never in the form of sermons, 
 were always heard with close attention, and 
 were often effective in winning souls, espe- 
 cially young men. 
 
 His nephew, Rev. J. H. James, now a 
 pastor in the New England Southern Confer- 
 ence, thus writes : 
 
 " Several times, during my early ministry in 
 New Jersey, my uncle visited me and ad- 
 dressed the people. I recollect especially two 
 watch-night occasions, on each of which he 
 occupied more than an hour in giving a his- 
 tory of his life, holding the closest attention 
 of his audience, and making a deep impression 
 in favor of the religion which had done so 
 much for him. At other times he addressed 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 151 
 
 Sunday evening congregations, evidently doing 
 great good. We were always delighted when 
 he could visit us. His labors gave a new 
 impulse to the good work." 
 
 Occasionally he made similarly acceptable 
 and helpful visits to other ministers. In Tren- 
 ton, during his frequent visits to his relatives, 
 his labors were specially acceptable. He often 
 spoke of his early struggles and victories in 
 that city. With such interest were his ad- 
 dresses listened to that scarcely any announce- 
 ment would call out a larger congregation 
 than that Father. Yard would speak. 
 
 Now what gave this modest layman such 
 power as a public speaker? His voice was 
 never strong. It was with difficulty that he 
 spoke loud enough to be heard, hence, in large 
 rooms especially, it was not easy for the people 
 to catch all his words. No brilliant flashes of 
 genius, no carefully rounded periods won the 
 admiration of those who hung upon his lips ; 
 yet his hearers were often moved to tears, 
 ajid always to renewed interest in the work 
 
152 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 of salvation. What was the secret of his 
 power. 
 
 Three facts may help us to discover it. 
 
 First, He always had something to say. 
 Keenly alive to the events occurring around 
 him, they fixed themselves upon his memory, 
 and he had only to open his mouth and his 
 hearers would see the scenes through which 
 he had been passing. If he had a special 
 talent it was this, a rare power in relating in- 
 cidents of his own work. 
 
 Second. His heart was full of the work in 
 which he was engaged. If it was over true of 
 any one besides the Divine man, it was true 
 of Edmund J. Yard that it was his " meat 
 and drink to do the will of his Father in 
 heaven." 
 
 Third. He spoke not for self, but for Christ. 
 Every one felt this. If in any sense he was 
 the hero of his own narrations it was only as 
 the humble agent whom the Master had been 
 pleased to own and bless. Speaking for Jesus, 
 with a heart all interested and with fresh facts 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 153 
 
 to give, it is little wonder that people listened 
 with interest. No social meeting would be 
 dry, no public service long neglected, if those 
 who speak on these great themes of religious 
 truth and duty had always a like prepara- 
 tion. 
 
 AMONG FIREMEN. 
 
 No class of men gained a stronger hold upon 
 the ardent nature of this Christian worker than 
 the volunteer firemen of his adopted city. 
 The very fact that they were mostly young 
 men would have been enough to enlist his 
 efforts in their behalf, for with him, as with 
 his Master, to look upon a young man was to 
 " love him," (Mark x, 21,) and, if possible, to do 
 him good. But these young men were hero- 
 ically devoting themselves to an arduous and 
 dangerous service for their fellow-citizens ; 
 and he could but admire their manly courage, 
 and noble self-sacrifice. Besides, they were 
 exposed to peculiar temptations, and with 
 fatherly solicitude he longed to draw them 
 into the only safe shelter for the tempted and 
 
154 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 imperiled. This interest in firemen led him 
 to become a member of the Hope Hose Com- 
 pany, of Philadelphia. Of course, he did not 
 engage with the company in active duty at 
 fires, he had not physical vigor for that ; but 
 in every enterprise for the good of the com- 
 pany he loved to be active with effort and 
 with purse. He sought to become personally 
 acquainted with each one of the members. 
 Then, as opportunity occurred, he would 
 interest his pastor in the company, and a 
 number of times they were invited to attend 
 Union Church in a body and listen to a ser- 
 mon prepared with special reference to their 
 needs. 
 
 At one time he gave a pocket Bible to each 
 member of the organization, with the name of 
 its owner and that of the giver written on the 
 fly-leaf. Subsequently, for a number of years, 
 he gave one to every member who joined the 
 company. 
 
 But the direction in which his inspired inge- 
 nuity was most signally manifested was in his 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 155 
 
 labors among sick firemen. The following is 
 one of many cases of this kind : 
 
 He heard of a young fireman, Mr. J. G., 
 who was dangerously ill, and unprepared to 
 die. He had no personal acquaintance with 
 him, but the friends of the young man had 
 appealed to this fireman's friend in his behalf, 
 knowing that he would gladly do all in his pow- 
 er to save the imperiled soul. He first laid the 
 case before the members of one of his classes, 
 and the band of believers joined their leader 
 in prayer that he might find access to the room 
 and heart of the sick man. Next day he 
 called at the place of business of the young 
 man's father, saying, " I understand you have 
 a son, a fireman, who is sick. I am a fireman, 
 and am in the habit of visiting sick members 
 of fire companies." 
 
 An apprentice, who stood by, volunteered to 
 accompany the stranger to the sick room. 
 Entering, the visitor said, " I am a member of 
 the Hope Hose Company. I understand you 
 are a fireman, and I have called to see you." 
 
156 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 He was kindly received. His conversation 
 and prayer evidently impressed the mind of 
 the invalid, though previous to that time he 
 had manifested no interest in the subject of 
 religion. The visit was repeated by invitation 
 of the young man. The next Thursday the 
 visitor said, " This evening my class meets, 
 the very class who prayed that I might have 
 access to you. We shall again be engaged in 
 prayer for you. Will you meet us at a throne 
 of grace? " 
 
 He replied, " Yes, I will." 
 
 The meeting was one of special interest and 
 spiritual power, and faith in behalf of the 
 young man grew stronger. A few days aft- 
 erward the mother of the young man, when 
 busy with her household duties, was called 
 by her son, exclaiming, " O, mother, help me 
 to praise the Lord for what he has done for 
 me ! I feel so happy ! so happy ! " 
 
 From that time he gave evidence of a work 
 of grace in his heart. Among his latest utter- 
 ances was a message of love and thanks to 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 157 
 
 those dear people of Union Church for pray- 
 ing for such a sinner. 
 
 While the body of the young man lay a 
 corpse, his associates gathered in the room 
 and a prayer-meeting was held, conducted 
 by Mr. Yard. 
 
 In such work as this he found his great 
 delight, and in the fruits of such labors he was 
 permitted to rejoice. 
 
 His " labor was not in vain in the Lord." 
 Trophies were won for Jesus even among the 
 firemen. During a number of years but few 
 months passed in which he had not one or 
 more cases of this kind of which he would 
 speak in his classes, and the members would 
 join with him in prayer and then in exultation 
 over repentant and converted souls. 
 
 IN PRISON. 
 
 Prisons would seem the most unpromising 
 fields for effort to win souls, yet there he found 
 precious ones for whom Christ died, and won 
 many a gem for his Redeemer's crown. In 
 
158 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 dreary cells his visits were welcomed, and his 
 kind words and godly instructions were re- 
 ceived with marked attention and respect. 
 The most depraved could not listen to the 
 message of salvation from his lips without 
 feeling that it was love for their souls which 
 prompted his visits. 
 
 While presenting the compassion and love 
 of Him " who forgiveth iniquity, transgression, 
 and sin," some of the poor desponding victims 
 of the destroyer laid hold of the hope set be- 
 fore them, trusted in him " whose blood can 
 make the foulest clean," were cleansed from 
 their pollution and numbered with the chil- 
 dren of God. One case found in prison, of 
 which my brother spoke with deep feeling, I 
 specially remember. 
 
 A young man upon whom he had bestowed 
 great care — watching over him as a member 
 of his class whom he had brought to Jesus — 
 after having removed from the city and his 
 Church privileges, became negligent of relig- 
 ious duties, and consequently lost the divine 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 159 
 
 favor and returned to the world. Associating 
 with the wicked, he was led into an affray 
 which took him to Moyamensing prison. After 
 his incarceration he sent for his^ good friend, 
 who was painfully surprised to find him in a 
 prison cell. With tears of contrition the poor 
 wanderer confessed his backslidings, and as 
 they together knelt in supplication the peni- 
 tent found pardon and peace through faith in 
 Christ. 
 
 Palliating circumstances in his case, which 
 removed from his conduct the alleged crimi- 
 nality, procured an early release from prison, 
 and through the efforts of his friend he ob- 
 tained employment, and by his consistent life 
 was reinstated in the Church and in the confi- 
 dence of the community, and continued a faith- 
 ful Christian. 
 
 His humiliating fall, though divested of the 
 intention of wrong-doing, he could never cease 
 to deprecate, because it was the result of de- 
 parture from God, and brought reproach upon 
 his cause. 
 
160 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 As in many other cases it was thus the joy 
 of the soul-winner to restore an erring one, and 
 that " he which converteth the sinner from the 
 error of his way shall save a soul from death, 
 and shall hide a multitude of sins." Jas. v, 20. 
 
 IN THE ALMSHOUSE. 
 
 Often were the steps of this good man, 
 who, like his divine Master, " went about do- 
 ing good," directed to the institutions afford- 
 ing shelter to the poor ; and a special privi- 
 lege he felt it to be permitted to verify the 
 words of Jesus, " To the poor the gospel is 
 preached." Such persons he usually found 
 more receptive of the glad tidings of salvation 
 than those in different circumstances. And 
 while the warm sympathies of his nature went 
 out to them, it was his special delight to cheer 
 their sad hearts with the blessed invitations 
 and consolations of the glorious gospel of the 
 Son of God. With what avidity would those 
 sad ones listen to the story of His love who 
 gave his life for sinners, and how their hearts 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 161 
 
 were thrilled by the precious message from him 
 " who, though he was rich, yet for your sakes 
 he became poor, that ye through his poverty 
 might be rich." And as he presented the 
 glorious privileges of the children of God, in be- 
 ing made the recipients of the exceeding riches 
 of his grace, many disconsolate ones came to 
 Jesus and were made heirs of God and joint 
 heirs with Jesus Christ to an inheritance that 
 is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away. 
 
 Never did a more welcome visitor cross the 
 threshold of the abodes of the poor. His ap- 
 pearance among them brought sunshine and 
 gladness to many a sorrowful heart. 
 
 Some of the most interesting accounts of his 
 
 success in winning souls were in connection 
 
 with his labors among the poor, and it was one 
 
 of the grandest objects of his life to lift the 
 
 fallen, to comfort the distressed, to bind up 
 
 the broken-hearted, and to help the helpless. 
 11 
 
1 62 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 distributing bibles. 
 
 His love for the Bible and his realization of 
 its hallowing influence upon his own heart and 
 life prompted him to make extraordinary ef- 
 forts to place it in the hands of others. He 
 was in the constant practice of giving Bibles 
 and Testaments to young men, not only in his 
 own city, but in other places. Rarely if ever 
 did he go from home without copies of the 
 holy word for this use. Indeed, he gave them 
 by hundreds — to firemen, to students in sem- 
 inaries, to young converts in revivals, to in- 
 mates of almshouses, prisons, hospitals, to sol- 
 diers and sailors, and, indeed, to all classes. 
 Thousands of copies were presented by him to 
 as many persons, mostly by his own hand. 
 
 The happy results of those precious gifts 
 often cheered his heart. Among the hun- 
 dreds of letters which he received from the re- 
 cipients of Bibles there were many such expres- 
 sions as the following: "The Bible you gave 
 me was the means of bringing me to Jesus." 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 163 
 
 Late in life he said, " Nothing gives me so 
 much pleasure to look back upon as the dis- 
 tribution of Bibles. It has been the best invest- 
 ment I ever made, or could possibly have made, 
 of the same amount of money. It has accom- 
 plished good beyond all computation." 
 
 In presenting the sacred book he would re- 
 1 
 
 quest a careful and attentive perusal of it, and 
 the promise of compliance would generally be 
 given. We cannot suppose that such prom- 
 ises were fulfilled in every case, but that they 
 were in a large number he had the best of 
 evidence. 
 
 A gentleman who received a Bible as a mem- 
 ber of the Hope Hose Company and afterward 
 became a member of Congress, declared that 
 wherever he went he carried that Bible. 
 
 A young man, one of the family of five, con- 
 verted in answer to the prayers of the class, 
 elsewhere referred to, was about leaving home 
 to spend a winter in Florida. Mr. Yard went to 
 the steamer to see him off. In parting he took 
 from his pocket a Bible, and as he handed it 
 
164 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 to the young man he said, " I want you to read 
 this at your leisure on the voyage." He prom- 
 ised, but with improving health the promise 
 was forgotten, and the book was brought back 
 to Philadelphia unopened. Subsequently his 
 friend, while engaged in prayer for him, was 
 impressed that before two weeks Samuel would 
 be converted and would send for him. At or 
 about the time thus indicated the mother of 
 the young man called to ask him to visit her 
 invalid son, who was very anxious to see 
 him. He went and found him sitting with 
 the Bible in his hand. He exclaimed, " O, Mr. 
 Yard, I am so glad to see to you ! Here is the 
 Bible you gave me. I promised to read it, 
 but never opened it until recently. Now I 
 want to read it all the time." And it was 
 not long before Samuel was in possession of the 
 " pearl of great price." Some weeks after he 
 passed away in triumph to the celestial world. 
 Whole companies of soldiers went forth to 
 the war armed with pocket copies of the New 
 Testament and Psalms from his hand. How 
 
Labor Varied and Abundant. 165 
 
 many of them found those weapons helpful in 
 the contest with spiritual foes we cannot know, 
 but hundreds of copies of the book received 
 from him are to-day cherished, not only as re- 
 minders of the kind friend of long ago, but 
 still more highly as " a lamp to the feet and a 
 light to the path " of their possessor. Of none 
 is this more true than of his many spiritual 
 children in Philadelphia and elsewhere, for it 
 was his uniform habit to give to every such 
 one a copy of the sacred word with the name 
 of the receiver and the donor. 
 
 A detailed account of the labors of my broth- 
 er in these and other fields would fill volumes. 
 These particulars are given simply as suggest- 
 ive of ways of working. The fact is, his 
 whole life was devoted to such labors. He 
 sought first the kingdom of God. Business, 
 pleasure, every thing was subordinate. Is it 
 any wonder that he was successful in soul- 
 winning? Can any one fail who is thus 
 "always abounding in the work of the Lord?" 
 1 Cor. xv, 58. 
 
1 66 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 INDIRECT INFLUENCE. 
 
 TI 7HO can measure the results of an effort 
 to save a soul? To be used by Christ 
 in plucking one brand from the burning, in 
 opening to a human spirit the gate to endless 
 life, must be cause of everlasting joy and grati- 
 tude. How exalted, then, the privilege of win- 
 ning those who in their turn become soul-win- 
 ners, and of saving those who consecrate their 
 energies to the blessed work of soul-saving. 
 This was pre-eminently the gift of the worker 
 for God whose history we are tracing. Many 
 of those whom he led to Christ seemed to 
 catch his spirit and went forth to put in mo- 
 tion waves of holy influence which shall move 
 on, in circles widening to all eternity. Such 
 are to be found in all the walks of life ; not 
 a few in the ministry, who are sending forth 
 their own spiritual children to win successive 
 
Indirect Influence. 167 
 
 generations for Jesus. A single case narrated 
 by Mr. Edmund S. Yard, gives a glimpse of 
 the fruits following the efforts of his father to 
 save one soul. 
 
 During a series of meetings held in Union Church in 
 the winter of 1840-41, a young man, in delicate health, 
 was observed in one of the evening meetings. There 
 was something very prepossessing in his appearance. 
 His cheeks were ruddy and fair, but the hectic flush of 
 disease was there, and Death seemed to have marked 
 him as his victim. My father gently approached him, 
 and extending his hand, kindly inquired about the inter- 
 ests of his soul. 
 
 The young man seemed pleased with his attentions, and 
 informed him that he was from the town of E., in New 
 Jersey, and of Presbyterian parentage. He occupied the 
 position of book-keeper in one of the large importing 
 houses, on Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, and was suffer- 
 ing from a supposed pulmonary affection. He was closely 
 confined to business during the week, and on the Sab- 
 bath was accustomed to seek recreation and fresh air by 
 making trips on the steamboats and other conveyances 
 to the neighboring towns and country. 
 
 He could not be prevailed upon to approach the altar 
 of prayer, as a penitent, that evening, but promised to 
 consider the great matter of salvation, and be present on 
 the following evening. 
 
1 68 The Soul- Winner. 
 
 He came, and when the invitation was given to all who 
 felt the need of a change of heart to approach the mercy- 
 seat, my father went to him, and he immediately arose 
 and bowed at the altar of prayer as a seeker of salvation. 
 Subsequently, he was liberated from the burden of sin, 
 and rejoiced in the glorious liberty of the gospel. 
 
 Instead of his usual Sunday trips, from that time he 
 went into the Sabbath-school and taught a class of boys. 
 He became one of the most faithful workers in the 
 school, and his class became noted for the attention and 
 good behavior of its members. 
 
 The health of the new convert rapidly improved so 
 that he was enabled to attend to his duties in the count- 
 ing-room with greater satisfaction. 
 
 About a year after his conversion, in company with 
 his younger brother, who had also been brought to 
 Christ, he removed to a town in the north-western 
 part of Illinois, for the purpose of engaging in the grain 
 and mercantile business. 
 
 On their first Sabbath in the town they were distressed 
 on beholding the stores all open, as on other days. 
 Farming was prosecuted as usual. Farmers carried 
 their grain to the merchants, and there seemed to be 
 no thought of God or remembrance of his command 
 to keep the Sabbath-day holy. Steamboats made regu- 
 lar trips on the Sabbath for the purpose of loading with 
 grain, purchased by merchants, to deliver at the Saint 
 Louis market. 
 
Indirect Influence. 169 
 
 The two brothers secured a store in an advantageous 
 location, and opened it with a superior stock of goods, 
 purchased in Philadelphia. Their trade was good, and 
 attracted the attention of the inhabitants of the town 
 and surrounding country. But on the Sabbath their 
 store was closed, much to the disappointment of farmers 
 and others who had decided upon that day to examine 
 their goods, and also to trade off the grain they had 
 brought into town. 
 
 They tried every inducement to persuade the young 
 men to open their place of business, but their plea did 
 not avail ; and the citizens and farmers gave them to 
 understand that unless their store was open on the Sab- 
 bath, as on other days, they could not succeed. Their 
 answer was always ready, that they could not and would 
 not violate God's holy day by engaging in secular busi- 
 ness. 
 
 During the week following they determined upon 
 having divine service in a hall used for public meetings, 
 as there was no church or minister of God in the town. 
 
 Handbills were circulated through the place, inviting 
 the people to meet in the hall on Sabbath morning, at 
 eleven o'clock. A number attended from curiosity. 
 The younger brother opened the meeting with prayer, 
 after which the elder brother made a few remarks, 
 expressive of their intentions, and then read one of the 
 sermons of Rev. John Wesley. 
 
 The people were taken by surprise, but were deeply 
 
170 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 interested. On each succeeding Sabbath the congrega- 
 tion increased in numbers until the hall became too 
 small for those who desired to hear the words of divine 
 truth. 
 
 In a short time a meeting of prominent citizens was 
 held, and a request made to the young merchants to 
 secure the services of a minister, that worship might be 
 held in the hall until better accommodations could be 
 procured. 
 
 The brothers attended the next session of the nearest 
 Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
 brought home with them an embassador of Christ full of 
 zeal and of the Holy Ghost, who labored faithfully, 
 visiting the people from house to house ; and soon the 
 power of God was manifest in the awakening and con- 
 version of the people, and large numbers were brought 
 from darkness to light. 
 
 From that time the stores of the place were closed on 
 the Sabbath. Public traffic of every kind was discon- 
 tinued, and many of the people became not only moral, 
 but truly religious. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of the minister, by the liberality 
 of the inhabitants, a neat and commodious church was 
 erected, and since that time several fine church edifices 
 have been built and occupied by worshipers. God 
 prospered those young men, and wealth flowed into their 
 possession. 
 
 An incident is worth recording which occurred in con- 
 
Indirect Influence. 171 
 
 nection with their business. As before mentioned, 
 steamboats had previously make regular trips to the 
 town on Sabbath-days to load with the grain that had 
 accumulated during the week. Hence the Sabbath was 
 always the most busy day of the week. The young 
 merchants had purchased a large quanity of grain, but 
 refused to ship it on the Lord's day. The people 
 laughed at them for their conscientious scruples, but they 
 were decided and firm, choosing rather to lose it all than 
 to violate the divine command. They continued to 
 purchase all the grain that was offered until their 
 storehouse was overflowing. A steamboat then came 
 up the river during the week — a circumstance that had 
 not before occurred. The Christian young men shipped 
 their grain by that steamer, and on its arrival at Saint 
 Louis the cargo brought a considerable advance over 
 that which had been shipped by their neighbors on the 
 Lord's holy day, a rise having taken place in the market 
 between the times of shipping. Thus was the hand of 
 God seen in favoring his faithful servants." 
 
 Verily, " in keeping his commandments 
 there is great reward." What an exemplifi- 
 cation here is of the truth of the divine word, 
 " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
 righteousness, and all these things shall be 
 added unto you." And how vast the good 
 
172 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 resulting from the conversion of those two 
 young men, their unswerving obedience to 
 God, and their efforts in that ungodly place 
 for the salvation of the people. No labor 
 yields results to be compared with those for 
 the salvation of souls. 
 
Home Life. 173 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HOME LIFE. 
 
 TT must not be supposed that the multiplied, 
 varied, and exacting labors which have been 
 described were allowed by this Christian work- 
 er to interfere with the duties which every one 
 owes to those beneath his own roof. It was 
 at home that the luster of his saintly character 
 was most brilliant. 
 
 Intimations have already been given of af 
 fliction in that home. This was the illness, 
 serious and prolonged, of his beloved wife. 
 Nearly all their married life Mrs. Yard was a 
 great sufferer. The training of his boyhood, 
 mentioned in the first chapter, had prepared 
 her husband for the work of caring for her in 
 this protracted affliction. The best medical 
 skill was procured, and every remedy that 
 promised a cure, or even relief, was used with 
 loving and persistent assiduity. No pains nor 
 
 I^HH 
 
174 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 expense was spared that could minister to her 
 comfort. 
 
 Indeed, to this constant care and effort was 
 due the lengthening of a life held for about 
 thirty years by a most slender thread. Cheer- 
 fully did he bear this burden, receiving from 
 his wife the strongest expressions of gratitude 
 for his unremitting attentions and unvarying 
 kindness. None ever knew what he suffered 
 in her affliction from the strong sympathies of 
 his nature, and from the loss of sleep and con- 
 tinuous watching instead of resting at night. 
 Yet never a murmur was heard from his lips ; 
 nor did he ever lose sight of the " silver lining" 
 of the dark cloud in the grace bestowed upon 
 both in this trial. But the devotion of this 
 model husband could do no more than keep 
 alive the feeble flame of existence, and palliate 
 sufferings always severe. 
 
 At length the mortal strife ceased, and a 
 peaceful death terminated the wife's sufferings 
 in the latter part of the year 185 1. 
 
 His eldest son, Benjamin F., was now mar- 
 
Home Life. i?5 
 
 ried and living in Trenton, N. J. The young- 
 er son, Edmund S., had a pleasant home in 
 Philadelphia. After his mother's death he re- 
 moved his family to his father's house, on 
 Spruce Street, above Second, which for many 
 years had been the homestead. 
 
 The kind ministrations of his children and 
 grandchildren brightened the remaining years 
 of the widowed father, and he returned their 
 kindness with the warmest affection. 
 
 Mrs. Emeline Carrigan Yard, the amiable 
 and lovely wife of his son, Edmund S. Yard, 
 was most devoted in her attentions to the be- 
 reaved father, whose presence in their home 
 was regarded by every member of the family 
 as a benediction. 
 
 The following account from the pen of his 
 son Edmund, now the only surviving one, will 
 be read with interest. In allusion to their 
 union with his father in the paternal home he 
 writes : 
 
 I shall never forget my father's gratitude for this ar- 
 rangement. Surrounded by his children and grandchil- 
 
176 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 dren, the keenness of his sorrow was mitigated, and his 
 loneliness cheered. He seemed so happy to have the 
 little ones of the household always with him. Even in 
 his hours of business they were welcome visitors in his 
 office. I never knew him to speak a quick or unkind 
 word to either of them ; but on all occasions he showed 
 his interest in their welfare. At times he was as playful 
 with them as if he were of their own age. 
 
 From my earliest recollection of my father until the 
 close of his life he always exhibited the same sweet, lov- 
 ing, and gentle spirit. In his home relations he was 
 kindness itself, always entering with interest into any 
 plan for the happiness of those around him. Easy, 
 though dignified, in manner, devoted to his family and 
 friends, every one that approached him felt his warm 
 sympathetic nature. 
 
 On Thanksgiving Day, 1862, he went to meet the fam- 
 ily at our summer home near the village of Pennington, 
 N. J. When the hour for dinner arrived my only broth- 
 er and his family, who lived near us, came over and joined 
 us at the table, the first time we had ever all met in such 
 a family reunion. There sat the aged patriarch at the 
 head of the table, his elder grandson of each family on his 
 right and left, the other grandchildren arranged with ref- 
 erence to age. His face gleamed with pleasure, and the 
 kind words which fell from his lips were like pearls. 
 
 After dinner was over we knelt in solemn prayer, and 
 those of us who remain can never forget that loving and 
 
Home Life. 177 
 
 fervent appeal to the King of kings for the welfare of 
 each member of the two households. That clay was to 
 my father one of the most precious of his earthly pil- 
 grimage. 
 
 In the spring of 1864. we were deeply afflicted in the 
 loss of my beloved companion. Her devoted attentions 
 to my dear father, added to her charming disposition, 
 caused him to love her with all the tenderness of a par- 
 ent. I can never forget the depth of his grief at her 
 death. Yet in the midst of his own heartfelt sorrow he 
 tried to console the mourning ones around him, and 
 pointed them to the haven of rest whither the loved and 
 lovely one had gone. But when we stood around the 
 coffin of our dear departed to take the last fond look of 
 all that remained, the venerable one who had been our 
 comforter seemed overcome, and it was with difficulty 
 that we could remove him from the place. 
 
 A younger sister of my deceased wife was left in 
 charge of the family, who in time became the maternal 
 head of the household. It was her pleasure to minister 
 to the comfort of my aged father in every way, as her 
 predecessor had done, and her kindness was fully appre- 
 ciated and reciprocated with warm affection. His loving 
 manner toward each member of the family greatly en- 
 deared him to us all. Whenever he left the house on 
 business, or on missions of mercy and usefulness, he al- 
 ways bade each one a kind good-bye with a kiss. His 
 
 expressions of fond regard were like those of a most 
 12 
 
178 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 tender mother, and were noticed by all who visited our 
 home. 
 
 As a father, Mr. Yard was most tender and 
 affectionate ; ever solicitous for the welfare of 
 his children, affording them every advantage 
 in his power in regard to education, home com- 
 forts, and pecuniary means. At the period of 
 fheir maturity he established them in business, 
 and in every possible way sought to advance 
 their interests both temporal and spiritual, 
 delighting in any sacrifice of his own ease 
 and comfort to promote that of his beloved 
 children. 
 
 The death of his eldest son, Benjamin, while 
 yet in the prime of life and the father of a fam- 
 ily, was a source of great sorrow. He had 
 parted with him when he entered the army in 
 the war of the Rebellion with serious appre- 
 hensions that his health would suffer from toil 
 and exposure, and although his position was 
 not as hazardous as that of some of his fellow* 
 soldiers, yet the onerous duties of hospital 
 steward, involving a heavy draught upon his 
 
Home Life. 179 
 
 sympathies and physical energies, proved too 
 much for his enfeebled health, and after his 
 return home it was evident that the heart af- 
 fection, of which he had had symptoms for 
 years, had become more serious. After some 
 weeks of gradually failing health, his life was 
 very suddenly terminated — most unexpectedly 
 to his family and friends. 
 
 The shock to the devoted father was very 
 severe ; but, as in former bereavements, he was 
 graciously sustained and comforted by the as- 
 surance that through the atoning merits of the 
 Saviour, whom his son had loved, he was num- 
 bered with those who " have washed their 
 robes and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb." Though no words were spoken at 
 the last assuring them of his preparation for 
 heaven, the hearts of the bereaved ones were 
 cheered by the evidence of a satisfactory Chris- 
 tian experience, especially in the later months 
 of his life. In the diary of the soldier, mem- 
 oranda were found after his death recording 
 seasons of blessed communion with God, ex- 
 
i8o The Soul-Winner. 
 
 pressing great interest in the spiritual condi- 
 tion of the men under his care in the hospital, 
 and in other ways evincing devotion to God. 
 
 So, while the loss of his firstborn deprived 
 the aged father of an arm on which he had 
 hoped to lean in his declining years, the tears 
 he shed were illumined with the joy of faith 
 and hope. His prayers and counsels had not 
 been in vain. 
 
 His little Robert " was not,'* and now the 
 beloved Benjamin was gone, and with the pa- 
 triarch Jacob he must feel that he was " be- 
 reaved of his children," yet he knew, as Jacob 
 in his griefs did not, that their " elder Brother" 
 had removed them, not to earthly, but to heav- 
 enly joys. Now one more earth-tie was sev- 
 ered, and one more attraction added to the 
 home where his treasures were awaiting him. 
 With a chastened yet trustful, even exultant, 
 spirit the heaven-bound pilgrim urged his on- 
 ward steps in the path of Christian activity, 
 saying, " Our Jesus hath done all things 
 well." 
 
Home Life. i8t 
 
 HOSPITALITY. 
 
 A beautiful trait of his home-life was his 
 generous hospitality. His extensive acquaint- 
 ance, both in the ministry and laity of his own 
 and other Churches, brought to his house many 
 who prized his friendship and delighted in his 
 society. A cordial welcome and assiduous at- 
 tention were always extended to the guests of 
 his pleasant abode. To many a stranger, in- 
 troduced to Father Yard, has his house proved 
 a delightful home. Of his guests many were 
 young men who had found a warm place in 
 his heart, and whom he always greeted with a 
 kiss of love. A number who had been suffer- 
 ers in the hospital, and were far from home and 
 friends, received in his residence the kindest 
 attentions during weeks of convalescence, until 
 returning health warranted a journey too fa- 
 tiguing for persons enfeebled by sickness. His 
 "boys," as he called all young men in whom 
 he was specially interested, could not have 
 found more cordial and hospitable entertain^ 
 ment at a father's table, than they received in 
 
182 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 the Spruce Street home at the hands of their 
 warm-hearted host. 
 
 During many years the family rarely sat 
 down to the table without some guest, and 
 never was one entertained there who was not 
 made to feel at home. Two incidents from 
 the pen of his son, Edmund S. Yard, will fur- 
 nish admirable illustrations of his father's 
 hospitality: 
 
 During the late war of the Rebellion my venerated 
 father manifested a deep interest in the temporal and 
 spiritual welfare of the "brave boys in blue." As he 
 passed along the streets of our city and met with soldiers, 
 he always stopped and talked with them, and tried to 
 sow some good seed in their hearts. Always having 
 with him copies of the New Testament and Psalms, or 
 small Bibles, he would present to them the sacred book, 
 accompanied with some good advice. In his collection 
 of photographs there were many sent to him by persons 
 to whom he had presented the precious word with a fa- 
 ther's blessing. For months we seldom set down to a 
 meal without the company of one or more of this class 
 that he had fallen in with during his walks. God 
 only knows how many of those brave men whom we 
 entertained, and who received from his hands the 
 
Home Life. 183 
 
 "bread of life," are now safely housed in the mansions 
 above. 
 
 During the fall of 1863, after the battle of Gettysburg, 
 there were many sick and wounded soldiers in the wards 
 of the Pennsylvania Hospital. These were regularly vis- 
 ited by my father in his weekly rounds at that institution, 
 and occasionally during each week also. As soon as 
 they became convalescent he obtained the consent of the 
 surgeon to have them take tea with him at our home. A 
 car was secured on a street running near to the hospital, 
 and within a few steps of our house, so that the infirm 
 and wounded would not be much exposed. As I stood 
 with my wife at the door to receive them, a most touch- 
 ing scene met our eyes. 
 
 First came my father escorting an officer from one of 
 the Western States who had lost an arm at the shoulder, 
 and had suffered severely from an attack of fever. His 
 wife also was with them, she having attended her hus- 
 band through his illness. After them came sixteen oth- 
 ers ; some having lost an arm, others a leg, the latter 
 walking by the aid of crutches, while a portion of them 
 were scarcely more than skeletons from long courses of 
 typhoid fever. It was one of the most afflictive sights I 
 ever beheld. 
 
 We soon made them comfortable, and could any one 
 have seen the expression of pleasure in their counte- 
 nances, and listened to their words of gratitude for the 
 kindness shown them, he would have felt that we were 
 
1 84 The Soul- Winner. 
 
 amply repaid for any amount of trouble and expense the 
 occasion had caused. Tea was prepared, and we all 
 sat down with hearts full of love one to the other, and to 
 the Giver of all our mercies. At the table every one 
 seemed entirely at ease and engaged in pleasant con- 
 versation. 
 
 After tea some of our kind neighbors came in, and one 
 of them being a superior performer on the piano, we had 
 some beautiful pieces of music played for the entertain- 
 ment of the company. Afterward some of the army songs 
 — so popular at that time — were sung, the soldiers joining 
 heartily in the choruses. Before the company left my 
 father offered one of his most fervent prayers in behalf 
 of those present and of those of their comrades who were 
 facing death on the battle-fields. 
 
 It was one of the most pleasant evenings I ever spent, 
 and one which time can never efface from my memory. 
 At nine o'clock, the car being in wa'ting, all were re- 
 turned in safety to the hospital. 
 
 During the fall of 1876, near the close of the centen- 
 nial exposition, a number of visitors, several of them min- 
 isters of various denominations, came to our home. The 
 deep interest taken in each one by my father was remark- 
 able. Every thing that a generous heart could suggest 
 was clone for their comfort. How anxious he seemed 
 that they should all reach the exhibition grounds com- 
 fortably, meeting them on their return so cordially, in- 
 quiring if the time had passed pleasantly, and showing 
 
Home Life. 185 
 
 them the utmost Christian courtesy and polite attentions, 
 striving by every means to make them all feel at home. 
 
 A party of twelve ladies and gentlemen from north- 
 eastern New York, all of them members of Christian 
 Churches, came to our house in October of that year. 
 The second evening after their arrival, while sitting to- 
 gether with my family in the parlor, it was requested 
 that we should have prayer. After singing some of the 
 sweet songs of Zion, by special request my father led in 
 prayer, and if man was ever inspired I think he was at. 
 that time. I had heard his prayers all my life, and had 
 enjoyed them, and, I trust, profited by them, but the 
 prayer offered on that occasion exceeded all I had ever 
 listened to. All eyes were suffused with tears, and every 
 heart felt deeply those petitions, so full of divine unction 
 and power. 
 
 As the company were about to start on their homeward 
 journey they requested that their aged friend would again 
 offer prayer, feeling that it would probably be their last 
 interview with him on earth. With deepest fervor he 
 pleaded for their protection during their journey and their 
 safe return to their homes. In their letters to us they 
 still allude to " the prayers of the venerable saint " who 
 seemed so ripe for heaven — prayers which so moved their 
 hearts, and seemed to bring down upon them the blessing 
 of the Most High — and expressed the earnest desire and 
 hope that they should meet him where parting is un- 
 known, who had so won their hearts by his kind atten- 
 
1 86 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 tions and his exemplification of the beauty of holiness. 
 Friendships were thus formed that will be lasting as 
 eternity. Many of those estimable friends on hearing of 
 the sudden exit of the venerable servant of God have 
 written us letters of true Christian sympathy. 
 
 Whatever the circumstances that brought to 
 his dwelling the friend of many years, or the 
 acquaintance of an hour, this servant of God 
 obeyed the injunction, " Use hospitality . . . 
 without grudging." I Pet. iv, 9. Hundreds of 
 hearts have been made lighter and better for a 
 sojourn beneath his roof. How glorious the 
 thought of a reunion above ! The deepest and 
 most abiding impressions made by this beauti- 
 ful life, however, was that upon the circle of 
 his immediate kindred. I cannot better close 
 this chapter than with 
 
 A granddaughter's tribute. 
 
 BY MRS. W. H. HEISLER. 
 
 How sweetly grandpa exemplified the true Christian 
 life of gospel holiness ! His home life was beautiful. He 
 spent hours of each day in communion with his God. 
 At family devotion his petitions were offered with child- 
 like trust and confidence. One expression I specially 
 
Home Life. 187 
 
 remember as often used by him, " Choose our changes 
 for us." Thus when changes and reverses came he saw 
 the hand of Him who loved him, and said, " He knows 
 what is best for us." 
 
 Amid peculiar business trials and perplexities his faith 
 took hold of One « strong to deliver." It was a rare priv- 
 ilege to live with grandpa, he was so gentle and unvary- 
 ing in his tenderness, sympathy, and love. He entered 
 into all our plans with interest, and we felt that in him 
 we had a wise counselor, one who had " wisdom from 
 above," end who, like Enoch, "walked with God." 
 
 The Sabbath was a blessed day to him. The day was 
 completely filled up with attendance on religious services 
 and his labors at the hospital and in sick rooms. Some- 
 times he seemed so feeble we would try to persuade him 
 to rest, but he would only smile— such a rare, sweet 
 srri Ue— as if saying, " Dear children, ' I must be about my 
 Father's business.' ' Resting time will come by and by." 
 A life so fully consecrated to God could not fail to " bring 
 forth much fruit." 
 
 Thou art resting now, dear grandpa, but thy memory 
 is like sweet incense, precious and hallowed ! Thy chil- 
 dren rise up and call thee blessed. 
 
1 88 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF ADVANCING YEARS. 
 
 rAURING the later years of his life unex- 
 pected reverses brought to Edmund J. 
 Yard severe tests of his Christian graces. He 
 said to one of his relatives, " I had expected to 
 have enough to live on in ease and comfort all 
 my days on earth, and to enable me to give 
 many more copies of God's word to the dear 
 young people, as well as in other ways to do 
 good by the use of money; but it is all gone, 
 and in my old age I am to be poor. At first, 
 when this dreadful blow came upon me, it al- 
 most overwhelmed me ; but I looked up and 
 said, ' The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, 
 and let the God ,of my salvation be exalted.' 
 1 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' 
 And then a sweet, heavenly calm came over 
 my spirit, and I have felt unspeakably happy 
 ever since." This perfect trust and the perfect 
 
Trials and Triumphs. 189 
 
 peace resulting therefrom remained unbroken 
 till his happy spirit winged its upward flight. 
 Through the last ten years of his life — the 
 period of his straitened circumstances — his face 
 u as aforetime " was ever bright with heavenly 
 peace, and never was a murmur heard from his 
 lips. On the contrary, he cherished a perfect 
 acquiescence in God's will. " He has permit- 
 ted it," he would say, " and certainly he must 
 have done so for some wise purpose." " What 
 we know not now we shall know hereafter." 
 
 About a year prior to his death he spoke in 
 an experience-meeting of the wonderful good- 
 ness of God to him. How he had crowned his 
 life with loving-kindness and tender mercies, 
 and said, " My heart is full of praise all the 
 time." A brother in the Church asked him 
 one day, " How is it that you never speak of 
 trials? I thought you had passed through 
 some pretty severe ordeals, but I have never 
 once heard you allude to them." His reply 
 was, " My afflictions are made so light by the 
 presence of Jesus, and the abounding comforts 
 
190 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 of the Holy Spirit, I have scarcely realized that 
 I had any thing like trouble." Thus he obeyed 
 the inspired counsel of the Apostle James, 
 " Count it all joy when ye fall into divers 
 temptations." James i, 2. 
 
 To be deprived of the privilege of making 
 generous contributions for the promotion of 
 Christ's kingdom, as he had been accustomed 
 to do, was indeed a trial of no common magni- 
 tude. From the time alluded to in an earlier 
 chapter, when he had recovered from his finan- 
 cial embarrassment, he had not only lived in 
 comfort, but had found great delight in giving 
 liberally to the cause of God in its various de- 
 partments. No call for aid to the needy or 
 any other worthy object had failed to meet a 
 response from him, and no one ever enjoyed 
 more " the luxury of doing good." Especially 
 was it his joy to help young men in securing 
 educational advantages. Many of these have 
 done good service in the Christian ministry. 
 To be denied such privileges was indeed a 
 painful privation, which was the greatest trial 
 
Trials and Triumphs. 191 
 
 of his last years, and the only one of which he 
 was accustomed to speak with expressions of 
 regret. Yet even in this his chastened spirit 
 bowed with submission, rejoicing when he saw 
 others favored with means to make up his lack 
 in giving. 
 
 BEREAVEMENTS. 
 
 A heart so tender and so affectionate 
 always suffers keenly in the loss of those 
 who are near and dear. While divine grace 
 sustains, and even causes us to triumph in 
 the severing of human ties, it does not make 
 us Stoics, nor render us insensible to the pain 
 of parting with those whom we fondly love. 
 Nor are we forbidden to weep over our dead, 
 for our own adorable Jesus wept at the grave 
 of Lazarus. 
 
 Many times had this tender heart been 
 stricken by the sundering of fond ties, and 
 now in his advanced years, in September, 1866, 
 a heavy blow fell upon him and his brothers 
 and sister in the death of their valued brother, 
 Charles C. Yard, of Trenton, N. J. The 
 
192 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 latter was a brother whose qualities of mind 
 and heart rendered him exceedingly precious 
 to his kindred, to the Church of which he 
 had long been a useful official member, (Green 
 Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Trenton,) 
 and to the community in which his life had 
 been spent. No one of his relatives more 
 highly appreciated him than did his brother 
 Edmund, and no one could more deeply feel 
 the loss of such a brother. Their congeniality 
 of mind and of heart made the bond uniting 
 them of twofold strength. 
 
 When called to part with Charles the trial 
 fell heavily upon him, and he felt that he had 
 sustained a loss irreparable in this world. Yet 
 looking forward to the world where we shall 
 find our loved and lost again, he thought of 
 the glorious reunion, and was calm and re- 
 signed. How sweetly he talked of the loved 
 ones in heaven, and said, <; It will not be long 
 before we shall join them on the other shore." 
 
 The wound made by our brother Charles' 
 death was scarcely healed when, in less than 
 
Trials and Triumphs. 193 
 
 four years, another beloved brother was tak- 
 en away — John Yard, Jun., of Philadelphia, 
 long an elder in Dr. Chambers' Presbyterian 
 Church, and an active and excellent Christian. 
 
 The eldest daughter of this brother, Mrs. 
 Robert M'Curdy, of Philadelphia, who was a 
 favorite niece, died just before her father. 
 Indeed, her decease seemed to be the imme- 
 diate cause of his sudden death, which occurred 
 within one week of her own. This double be- 
 reavement made the sorrow of the family al- 
 most insupportable, and deeply did the loving 
 brother Edmund share in that sorrow. 
 
 The lovely daughter, in the prime of her 
 beautiful life cut down, and the devoted 
 father following her so soon to the grave, was 
 a bereavement indeed. 
 
 To a dear friend he writes of these afflictive 
 events, as follows : 
 
 Philadelphia, April 5, 1870. 
 
 I feel this morning" that I must write to you of a 
 
 dispensation of my heavenly Father. In one week a 
 
 beloved niece, forty-eight years old, and her father, my 
 
 own dear brother, in his seventy-third year, have both 
 13 
 
194 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 been taken from earth to heaven. My niece lay in great 
 suffering for seventeen weeks, and then death came to 
 release her. When told that she had come down to 
 Jordan's brink, she smiled and said, " It's all right," and 
 passed over with a sweet assurance of joining the blood- 
 washed company on the other side. 
 
 Her father's system being in a feeble condition, the 
 shock was too great, and within twenty-four hours he 
 became seriously ill, and died in six days. He had 
 expressed a wish to go to heaven with his much-loved 
 daughter, and they were thus quickly reunited in the 
 world above, to join in the everlasting song of glory to 
 the Lamb. 
 
 Here I am, almost left alone of my relatives and old 
 friends. But " the Lord liveth," Blessed be his holy 
 name, and " because he lives I shall live also," and be in 
 glory with him forever. " O, what a company I shall 
 meet there ; and after a while you will come, and we 
 shall meet to part no more." 
 
 In the summer of 1874 he was once more 
 called to mourn. His cherished nephew, Rev. 
 Robert B. Yard, for some twenty years an 
 earnest and highly esteemed minister of the 
 Newark Conference, was stricken down, in the 
 midst of his years and usefulness. From the 
 time of his conversion, his uncle had felt a 
 
Trials and Triumphs. 195 
 
 father's interest in him, giving him invaluable 
 counsels, and aiding him in securing an educa- 
 tion. His entrance upon the gospel ministry 
 thrilled his uncle's heart with joy. For years, 
 few weeks passed without letters between 
 them. Again and again visits from Uncle 
 Edmund cheered the heart of the young 
 pastor, and gave a new impulse to God's work 
 in his parishes. When he became chaplain of 
 the First Regiment of the New Jersey volun- 
 teers, the interest of his uncle in the grand and 
 most efficient work of the soldier preacher 
 was as great as he could have felt had he been 
 his own son. In the subsequent years of his 
 manly service as the pastor of large and im- 
 portant Churches, though they could not often 
 meet, the mutual attachment of these hearts, 
 knit together in love and congeniality, was not 
 weakened in the least. 
 
 The sad tidings of the beloved nephew's 
 death, after a few days of great suffering, 
 reached his uncle, at Ocean Grove, and though 
 feeble the venerable man went with another 
 
 ■ 
 
196 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 nephew, Rev. Joseph H. James, to Elizabeth, 
 N. J., to attend the funeral. Here was a severe 
 blow to the aged servant of God; but like all 
 that had preceded, it fell upon one bowed 
 in complete submission to the divine will. 
 
 CHRISTIAN GRACES TESTED. 
 
 For many years of his life he had tests of his 
 patience and weakness that were even more 
 severe than the loss of his property in after 
 years, yet never was he known to show 
 anger, impatience, or fretfulness. Those who 
 knew him most intimately, and knew his 
 peculiar trials, said, " He had the patience 
 of Job." The injunction, " Let patience have 
 her perfect work, that ye may be perfect 
 entire, wanting nothing," came nearer to its 
 fulfillment in him than in any one they had 
 ever known. It was said truly of him that 
 " the hallowed luster of full salvation was 
 never dimmed or obscured by any manifesta- 
 tion of feeling contrary to perfect love." 
 
 Let it not be inferred from the facts stated 
 
Trials and Triumphs. 197 
 
 that he whose history we are now tracing was 
 lacking in strength of character. Though in 
 manner and spirit gentle as any woman, yet 
 he was keenly alive to wrong, and very strong 
 in his convictions. When necessary, he could 
 administer sharp rebuke. In fact he could use 
 the most vigorous language in expressing his 
 views in regard to any matter affecting the 
 country, the Church, or those he loved, where 
 truth, principle, or duty were involved. 
 
 While he was ever ready to manifest inter- 
 est even toward a stranger whom he sought to 
 benefit, and in a way wonderfully winning, he 
 was also the last man to play the coward 
 when truth was attacked, or the interests of 
 righteousness were at stake. 
 
 ■■■■^■HBCIIiHaB^^HiHHIHflB 
 
198 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TRANSLATED. 
 
 r J ^HE Sabbath preceding his last one on 
 earth, it was observed, as the aged servant 
 of God was passing through the hospital wards, 
 that he seemed more feeble than usual. Aft- 
 erward he attended the chapel service, and at 
 its close offered prayer, as was his custom. For 
 the first time his friends noticed repetition and 
 incoherency in his language, and the thought 
 was expressed by some of them, " Father Yard 
 is beginning to fail ; we shall not have him long 
 with us." But he came once more. On the 
 following Sabbath he visited but one ward. 
 As his friends said to him, " You are not able 
 to do so much as you have heretofore," he 
 yielded and sat down in the chapel. When it 
 was time to offer the closing prayer, the chap- 
 lain did not call on him, as usual, thinking he 
 was not able to offer prayer, but he prayed 
 
Translated. 199 
 
 without being asked. Some persons present 
 said it seemed to them the best prayer they 
 had ever heard from his lips. It was most re- 
 markable for its divine unction and power. It 
 was perfectly correct in expression, without any 
 repetition— a most blessed parting prayer, not 
 to be forgotten by his co-workers, who with un- 
 wonted interest listened to the inspired utter- 
 ances of their venerated and beloved friend 
 then standing upon the borders of the heavenly 
 
 land. 
 
 When about to part with them he said, 
 " Dear friends, I think it very likely this is my 
 last Sabbath with you here. I may go to my 
 home in heaven before I see you again." 
 Then, with reference to that glorious abode of 
 the pure and the blessed, he spoke of a happy 
 reunion with those who had been his fellow- 
 workers in the hospital, with whom he had 
 been so pleasantly associated in Christian labor 
 and fellowship, and bade them farewell in his 
 usual sweet, affectionate manner. 
 
 He seemed to have a premonition of his ap- 
 
 ■MHB^^HBBBHBMnai 
 
200 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 proaching death, yet, as he had spoken in a 
 similar manner before, they were not impressed 
 that it would be his last Sabbath on earth. 
 But he came no more. The next Sabbath he 
 spent in the " upper temple." His son relates 
 the following particulars : 
 
 On the Sabbath immediately preceding his decease 
 father seemed in a remarkable happy state. It was our 
 sacramental day, and he partook of the emblems of the 
 broken body and shed blood of his divine Redeemer. 
 
 His pastor, Rev. W. J. Paxson, asked him, " How is it 
 with you ? " He replied, " I am waiting, only waiting^ 
 I felt like taking my upward flight while listening to 
 your sermon." 
 
 To go and be "forever with the Lord" seemed infi- 
 nitely desirable, and he loved to speak of his anticipations 
 of heavenly joys, yet he so loved to work for Jesus that 
 he was not impatient to reach his eternal rest. 
 
 On the day before his decease — Monday— when going 
 out to attend to some business, he kissed each one of us, 
 and on his return seemed so glad to be again safely 
 housed with the family. He sat with us all the evening, 
 and seemed to take his usual interest in all that occurred. 
 He retired about ten o'clock, and the next morning re- 
 marked how comfortably he had slept during the night. 
 
 At twelve o'clock of Tuesday, Dec. 5, 1876, he again 
 
Translated. 201 
 
 went out, bidding us an affectionate farewell, no one sup- 
 posing it to be the last adieu. He attended the funeral 
 of a son of one of his dearest friends, and afterward vis- 
 ited a member of one of his classes. He then went to 
 the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. W. H. Heisler, 
 where he took tea and spent a short time. Early in the 
 evening, as he returned home he stopped at the corner, 
 near our house, and spoke a few kind words to a police 
 officer of our neighborhood who had often assisted him 
 to alight from the street cars, and to the door of our 
 dwelling. He entered the hall and went up stairs. In 
 the act of reaching for his dressing-gown came the stroke 
 which took his life. We heard him fall, and were with 
 him in a moment. We saw at once that life was rapidly- 
 passing away. Medical aid was summoned immediately 
 and restoratives used, but in less than five minutes— with- 
 out speaking one word — his happy spirit had taken its 
 flight beyond the river. 
 
 Thus suddenly he left us, with stricken hearts, to 
 mourn the loss of one of the best of fathers and grand- 
 parents that this world has ever known. 
 
 The evening of his decease the policeman before re- 
 ferred to as so kindly attentive was called in, and stood 
 looking at the face and form as he lay resting from his 
 labors. Only a few minutes had elapsed since their part- 
 ing at the door, and now the spirit had gone, and he saw 
 but the casket, without the jeweled soul. He seemed 
 greatly affected at the sudden transition. 
 
202 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 When the undertaker arrived he proved to be the one 
 who had conducted the funeral of the afternoon. He 
 had always been particularly attentive to my father at 
 funerals, procuring a seat for him where he could hear 
 the remarks made by the officiating ministers. When he 
 came into the room and beheld the calm, sweet face be- 
 fore him, his first expression was, *' Not dead — trans- 
 lated ! Like one of old, • he walked with God, and was 
 not, for God took him.' " 
 
 Indeed, it did not seem like the work of the King of 
 Terrors, but rather as a happy release from the infirmities 
 of age. His prayer was answered, " Let me 
 
 " ' My labors with my life lay down, 
 And cease at once to work and live.' " 
 
 Often had he expressed this desire, for he thought to be 
 sick any length of time would give trouble to his family ; 
 and living ever in a state of readiness for heaven, it mat- 
 tered not to him how sudden the removal might be. 
 
 This tender solicitude for the beloved ones around him 
 was evinced through his entire life. He could not bear 
 to give trouble or to be waited upon, though assured by 
 every member of his household that it was a pleasure to 
 minister to his comfort and to serve him in any way. 
 
 The wife of his son spoke of his death as 
 bringing to them .a loss beyond estimate. She 
 said, " Father was the light of our house. Al- 
 
Translated. 203 
 
 ways bright and cheerful ; so kind and loving, 
 so self-sacrificing, so good ! It will not seem 
 like home without dear father." 
 
 His grandchildren loved him with devoted 
 affection. One of them said, " Dear, sweet 
 grandpa, how can we live without him ? He 
 made our home so bright and happy. He 
 always had a smile and kind and loving words 
 for us, and was so interested in every thing 
 that concerned us. O how we shall miss him ! " 
 
 And surely they do miss his ministries of 
 love, for never was there a father or grandfa- 
 ther more fondly attached to his kindred, or 
 more diligent in promoting the comfort of his 
 family. 
 
 The following incident was related by Ed- 
 mund S. Yard : 
 
 A short time before his departure an old and cherished 
 friend, who was brother-in-law of the sainted Lybrand, 
 mentioned in another chapter, called to see my father. 
 It was my privilege to be present and listen to the old 
 pilgrims as they talked of the sorrows and joys, trials 
 and triumphs of their long pilgrimage, and of their cheer- 
 ing prospect of reaching the goodly land ahead. It was 
 
204 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 truly one of the "heavenly places in Christ Jesus." To 
 witness the rich communion of those two aged saints 
 was indeed a luxury that I shall always think of with 
 pleasure. 
 
 The night previous to my father's death the friend 
 alluded to dreamed that they had started together on a 
 journey to a distant city, and my father reached it first. 
 He saw him enter the gate. The reality, how soon ! 
 In less than twenty-four hours the beloved friend with 
 whom he had taken sweet counsel had indeed " entered 
 through the gates into the city," the glorious city of God. 
 
Tributes and Reminiscences. 205 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 TRIBUTES AND REMINISCENCES. 
 
 QINCE the death of Edmund J. Yard a 
 ^ number of friends have written to the 
 writer expressing their high appreciation of 
 him and his work. Extracts from some of 
 these letters have been introduced in the 
 different chapters. It seems fitting that oth- 
 ers should be inserted here. 
 
 Extract from a letter of Bishop Levi 
 Scott, D.D., dated Odessa, Del., Dec. 18, 1877: 
 
 I have known your brother since the spring of 1828. 
 I have known him long and intimately, and I regard 
 him as having maintained one of the brightest and 
 most beautiful Christian characters I have ever known. 
 He was of a warm temperament, sensitive, susceptible 
 of high and strong excitement. Yet so fully and con- 
 stantly did he live under the inspiration and control of 
 the abiding Comforter, that I never detected in him, 
 under the most trying circumstances, the violation of (I 
 do not say Christian morals, that was out of the ques- 
 
206 he Soul-Winner. 
 
 tion) the nicest, the finest, and most delicate Christian 
 courtesy. 
 
 Thoroughly consecrated, like his divine Master, he 
 literally " went about doing good." The members of his 
 large classes, the aged, the poor, the sick, the dying, all 
 shared his sympathies and kindly attentions. He was 
 particularly drawn out toward the young, and especially 
 toward young men, many of whom will be stars in his 
 crown of rejoicing. 
 
 Rev. J. M. Freeman, D.D., of the Newark 
 Conference, and Assistant Secretary of the 
 Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, who was one in whom Mr. Yard 
 was specially interested, thus writes in a letter 
 to the biographer: 
 
 I never met him without deriving benefit from his 
 conversation. Indeed, his very presence was a benedic- 
 tion. He gave me much encouragement and sympathy 
 in the early years of my ministry, and was always one of 
 my best friends. He had at all times a warm side 
 toward ministers, and especially the young preachers. 
 His love and counsels were to me a great help. His 
 memory is treasured by me as of great price, and I 
 doubt not that thousands will rise up in the great day 
 to call him blessed. 
 
Tributes and Reminiscences. 207 
 From Rev. R. J. Carson, of the Philadelphia 
 
 Conference : 
 
 I shall never forget the kind and loving greeting he 
 gave me when I entered on my work as pastor of Union 
 Church. Not only the warm grasp of the hand and the 
 fervent benediction of the lips and heart, but the holy 
 kiss upon the cheek. All these seem now, as I write, of 
 recent occurrence, so deep and lasting was the impres- 
 sion made upon me. 
 
 Time would fail me to write of the many trained by him 
 in his classes to live useful Christian lives. They are to 
 be found to-day in the home circle, the marts of busi- 
 ness, and in the pulpit ;■ while many whose closing hours 
 were soothed and comforted by his loving counsels and 
 fervent prayers were ready to greet him as he entered 
 the city of the great King. 
 
 When it seemed that, in the providence of God and by 
 the call of the Church, I might be appointed to a second 
 pastorate in the Union Church, I fondly hoped that 
 
 Father Yard would be spared to welcome me again, but 
 
 this was not to be. 
 
 I miss him greatly ; he would be a great assistance to 
 
 me in my work. But our loss is his gain. The holy 
 
 influence of his devoted spirit lives after him, and 
 
 •' though dead he yet speaketh." 
 
 The venerable Rev. Anthony Atwood, once 
 
 his pastor, writes in a like strain of high 
 
2o8 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 appreciation. Indeed, similar testimony would 
 be borne, no doubt, by all his pastors, for so 
 great was his devotion to the cause of Christ, 
 and so real his attachment to the Methodistic 
 arrangement by which the pastor is changed, 
 but the pastorate continued, that as one after 
 another these men of God entered upon this 
 relation to him, he gave to each a place in his 
 heart of hearts, esteeming " them very highly 
 in love for their work's sake," and became to 
 every one " a true yoke-fellow." 
 
 No apology is needed for the insertion of 
 the following without abridgment : 
 
 EDMUND J. YARD, THE SYMPATHIZING 
 FRIEND. 
 
 BY REV. E. H. STOKES, D.D. 
 
 Long years ago, under peculiarly impressive circum- 
 stances, I came to know the man whose history is 
 traced in these pages, and whose memory is embalmed 
 in the hearts of thousands. 
 
 I was a lad in the great city of Philadelphia, and so 
 far as the Methodist Episcopal Church was concerned, a 
 stranger and alone. On a Sabbath evening early in 
 
Tributes and Reminiscences. 209 
 
 March, I had followed the crowd that surged down 
 Arch Street to Fourth, and then down Fourth Street to 
 the new and beautiful Union Church. It was in the 
 palmy days of the renowned Charles Pitman, and the 
 large building was crowded in every part. Pitman then 
 just thirty-eight years old, tall, portly, with raven hair, 
 dark eyes, ruddy cheeks, and noble brow, was magiste- 
 rial in appearance, and as he occupied the pulpit was a 
 power even before a word was uttered. But when his lips 
 were opened, and tides of living truth flowed forth, he 
 was like a mountain torrent, sublime and resistless. 
 The crowds that listened to his eloquence were often 
 oblivious to all around them, and while saints rejoiced, 
 sinners were bowed in penitence at the Master's feet. I 
 was in the north gallery, on a seat running to the western 
 wall, trembling under the power of the truth. The 
 invitation was given. for persons who felt their need of 
 salvation to approach the altar. Then the congregation 
 arose and sung, " Come, ye sinners, poor and needy.'' 
 " Surely," I said, " that means me, for I am very -poor,' 
 and very ' needy.' " 
 
 I looked around me ; I knew no one, and no one knew 
 me. O, how I longed for mercy and for God. Then I 
 looked again ; first at my own situation, then at the 
 altar below, then at the long-seemingly infinite dis- 
 tance between myself and that place where I longed to 
 kneel. 
 
 "I must start," I said. "I can but perish if I go." 
 14 
 
 ■H^H 
 
210 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 And then, almost before aware of it, I was on my feet, 
 passing along the great gallery aisles, down the long 
 stairs, through the cold vestibule, then along the north 
 aisle to the front of the church, and so across to the 
 south side of the middle aisle. I reached the altar, and 
 fell on my knees, sad, sorrowful, broken, almost in 
 despair ! Away from friends, away from God ! Want 
 and distress were personified in my condition. Scarcely 
 had. my trembling limbs touched the kneeling-cushion, 
 when I felt upon my head the pressure of soft hands ; 
 then a warm cheek throbbing against my own ; while a 
 voice, gentle and loving as a mother's, whispered in my 
 ear, "Welcome, my dear young brother ; welcome to the 
 Church, to the cross, and to the arms and heart of our 
 dear Redeemer ! " 
 
 O, how my tempestuous heart was soothed ! The 
 effect, in some sense, was like that of the voice of Jesus 
 on the stormy Sea of Galilee. For an hour I wept and 
 prayed, and tried to look to God for help, and for an 
 hour that warm cheek and gentle voice were with me in 
 the deepest and tenderest love. The meeting closed, 
 and though I was not saved, the same kind voice said, 
 "Courage, my young brother; God will surely bless 
 you." 
 
 Who was this new and deeply interested friend ? I 
 did not know, and was too timid to ask. It was not 
 long, however, before I learned that it was the sweet- 
 spirited, gentle, and saintly Edmund J. Yard. 
 
Tributes and Reminiscences. 211 
 
 This little personal narrative reveals the profound 
 depths of his sympathetic nature, which was the leading 
 and absorbing element of his protracted life. 
 
 Years before, when himself a young man at the foot 
 of the cross, he had come into contact with the heart of 
 Jesus, and so imbibed the spirit of the divine Man that 
 his soul ever after felt its influence, and, " beholding as in 
 a glass the glory of the Lord, was changed into the same 
 image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the 
 Lord." The Church and the world failed to fully under- 
 stand him, and sometimes wondered at the gracious 
 things they saw. 
 
 His devotion to the cause of God ran through a long 
 term of years, and so fully absorbed his thoughts and at- 
 tention, that the entire time of every Sabbath and almost 
 if not quite every evening of the week were taken up with 
 some kind of religious. service — his interest in his fellow- 
 men taking hold of every class and condition of society, 
 from the cultivated and refined to the low and aban- 
 doned. Such was his solicitude for the welfare of all, 
 and such his self-abnegation, that men said, " This 
 is not usual ; this kind of life is above the ordinary 
 plane." And so it was. The high and holy principles 
 contained in the teachings of Jesus were constantly ex- 
 hibited by him, and their practical development from 
 day to day and from year to year was in the form of 
 human sympathy. 
 
 Where and under what circumstances, within his 
 
212 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 reach, did ever a sinner bow at the footstool of mercy 
 and not find in him an earnest, intelligent, and sympa- 
 thizing friend? How he would linger and weep and 
 wait for the promised blessing to come ! How he would 
 counsel, exhort, explain, and then, as if in the very act 
 of believing for the doubting ones, would take them by 
 the hand and lead them into the holy presence of God, 
 where, if he could, he would say with his own lips what 
 he knew the divine Father was saying all the while, " Thy 
 sins which are many are all forgiven thee." " My dear 
 young brother," he would say over and over again, " sal- 
 vation is of faith ; you must believe and be saved, not be 
 saved and then believe. First believe that as a penitent 
 and sincere seeker you are pardoned according to the 
 divine promise, and the joys that flow from pardon will 
 soon follow." 
 
 Thus he would go hour after hour, week after week, 
 year after year, teaching, with more than a mother's pa- 
 tience, the blessed way of life ; seemingly never weary, 
 though the spiritual perceptions of men were dull, and 
 though they were very slow to accept the blessed Jesus 
 as their refuge and their rest. With him a soul was of 
 more value than all other things ; and no time was too 
 long, nor labor too great, to secure its salvation. But 
 when the blessing came, as soon or later under his in- 
 structions it was sure to come, it was often difficult to 
 determine which had the greater joy, the newly saved, 
 or he who, under God, was the instrument through whom 
 
Tributes and Reminiscences. 213 
 
 the great salvation came. Never, perhaps, did a soul 
 emerge from darkness to light under his instructions 
 that did not feel in that moment a strong attachment 
 springing up for him, which lasted through life, and 
 grew stronger with each succeeding year. With all such 
 he communicated in every possible way, striving in the 
 Lord for their religious improvement with as much 
 interest as he had manifested in their deliverance and 
 pardon. 
 
 In young men, perhaps, his interest was greatest. 
 Knowing their peculiar temptations, and the dangers 
 which beset them in a great city, his sympathies for them 
 were deepest, and his solicitude unceasing. In their con- 
 version, for which his labors knew no weariness, he felt 
 that only the initial part of the .work of salvation was 
 accomplished. After a soul had been at the foot of the 
 cross, and baptized of the divine Spirit, it was to go forth 
 against a current of worldliness and sin sufficient to bear 
 the strongest down to ruin, and unless helped in every 
 possible way would, after all, be lost. Not that the prin- 
 ciples of our holy religion are insufficient, if left to work 
 out their legitimate results, to secure eternal salvation. 
 They are and always will be sufficient ; but the opposi- 
 tions to godliness are so numerous and strong, and the 
 newly saved, all unconscious of their character and influ- 
 ence, are liable in unsuspecting moments to be attacked 
 at some unguarded point, and, before they are aware, led 
 on to dangerous ground, if not to the commission of 
 
2i4- The Soul- Winner. 
 
 some act which brings darkness to the soul. To guard 
 against this was his constant solicitude. He went to 
 their homes and places of business, following them with 
 his counsels and prayers, and watching over them with 
 more than a father's love. He wrote to them, admon- 
 ished them, wept with them when in trouble, counseled, 
 entreated, and prayed with and for them at all times, and 
 in all places possible. " My dear," he would say as he 
 impressed upon the cheek the tender kiss of love, " I 
 have been so concerned about you ! Tell me how you 
 are getting along." And however remiss in duty the 
 young man had been, or however far he had wandered 
 away, the tender solicitude of his faithful friend and his 
 gentle and loving words of entreaty rarely, if ever, failed 
 to bring back the wanderer to rectitude and to God. He 
 sometimes joined institutions and organizations, in which 
 he had no special interest, in order to be brought into 
 closer communion with those whom he wished to reach 
 and benefit. 
 
 As has been stated, he was the leader of four classes. 
 In the three classes connected with Union Church it was 
 said he had fully one third ot the members of that Church 
 under his teachings, besides the class in Bedford Street 
 Mission. In those classes his sympathies, so largely 
 developed, w T ere taxed and drawn out to the last degree. 
 To the trials, temptations, and afflictions of all the ever- 
 varying phases of Christian life of all those hundreds he 
 listened, week after week, for more than half a century 
 
Tributes and Reminiscences. 215 
 
 with such patient interest as nothing but the infinite 
 grace of God could possibly supply; and for every one 
 he had a tender, appropriate, and affectionate word. 
 How those people were blessed under his instructions ! 
 Some of them would come to class weak, cast down, dis- 
 couraged, and yet his gentle words so entered into the 
 deep, dark, and sore places of the soul, that they went 
 out cheered, encouraged, strengthened, and enabled to 
 overcome their spiritual foes, and to triumph over their 
 afflictions. Over and over and over again he led them 
 away from the sand deserts of earth and time into the 
 green pastures of gospel truth, and by the still, sweet, 
 refreshing waters of salvation. Often were they con- 
 ducted by their faithful leader away from the scorching 
 sun of some heavy trial to the grateful shade of the lofty 
 cedars of Lebanon on the hill-sides, where the fierce rays 
 were broken, and the breezes were soft and sweet. 
 From year to year they sat listening to his words, which 
 fell as refreshing dew or summer rain upon the tender 
 flowers — their open petals drinking in the reviving influ- 
 ence. So those souls, opening to receive the life-giving 
 words, grew strong and bright and valiant for God. 
 Never did their devoted leader become wearied of trav- 
 eling with them the rough paths or climbing the danger- 
 ous passes. 
 
 "Away on the mountains, wild and bare," would he 
 go, if thereby he could bring forth some fleece-torn lamb, 
 foot-sore and weary, to the fold of the Good Shepherd. 
 
216 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 Over and over through his patient and self-denying 
 toils, 
 
 "All through the mountains, thunder riven, 
 
 And up from the rocky steep, 
 There rose a cry to the gate of heaven, 
 1 Rejoice ! I have found my sheep ! ' 
 And the angels echoed around the throne, 
 1 Rejoice, for the Lord brings back his own ! ' " 
 
 And the lost one found had no higher joy "in the shel- 
 ter of the fold " than he, the faithful under-shepherd, who 
 had been the agent in bringing it back to God. 
 
 If any of his flock were sick, he seemed to know it by a 
 kind of divine intuition. He knew that something was 
 wrong, and his attention was needed. Immediately, 
 without consulting personal ease or gratification, through 
 summer's heat and winter's cold, he was on his way to 
 administer the needed aid. Up rickety stair-ways, lead- 
 ing to cheerless attics, down into cellars dark and damp, 
 or into the abodes of wealth and comfort, he went, with- 
 out distinction or choice, as an angel of mercy, bearing 
 the glad news of pardon to the guilty, or pouring into the 
 hearts of God's dear saints the blessed balm of gospel 
 consolation. 
 
 These visits were not the result of spasmodic uprisings 
 of the soul, growing out of an appeal to the conscience 
 to be diligent in duty, but the long-established and set- 
 tled habit of his life. There is now before me a letter 
 written by him, bearing date October 13, 1863, in which 
 
Tributes and Reminiscenxes. 217 
 
 he writes, " On Sunday afternoon I went to the Pennsyl- 
 vania Hospital, and had a very precious time. I have 
 visited that house for fifty years, and although we have 
 had many Christian physicians practicing there, we never 
 have had one of them in our meetings to take part until 
 now. Perhaps you will be surprised, too, when I tell you 
 we have had two young Quakers among our doctors 
 happily brought to God. One has joined the Church ; I 
 cannot say as to the other, but he took the hymn-book, 
 raised the tune of a hymn, and sang the chorus. Is not 
 the Lord good to us ? The matron, who is a Quakeress, 
 meets with us regularly, kneels in prayer, and helps along 
 finely. A Catholic girl has also professed conversion 
 lately. So the Lord is favoring us in our labors. Pray 
 for us, that the work may spread and be glorious." 
 
 Those blessed visits he continued up to the last Sab- 
 bath of his life. There, among the wounded, suffering, 
 and dying, he moved like the presence of God, soft as 
 night dews fall, cheerful as the fresh light of the morn- 
 ing, smoothing the pillow, bathing the brow, and whis- 
 pering blessed words of immortal hope to the soul. 
 Often he closed the eyes of the dying, comforted their 
 weeping friends, and accompanied them to the grave, 
 bearing words of inspiration upon his lips as from Him 
 who said, " I am the resurrection and the life," and gave 
 the last tribute of affection in silent tears. 
 
 But as in the sky are many wonderful changes, so 
 there were in his paths of duty. They were not all sad. 
 
218 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 He had learned more effectually than any man I ever 
 knew how to " rejoice with them that rejoice, and to 
 weep with them that weep." To-day he would sorrow 
 over the afflicted or the erring, and to-morrow rejoice 
 with high exultation over one who had just entered upon 
 the Christian life, or one who in full view of eternal glory 
 was about to step out of time to be " forever with the 
 Lord." His soul, exceedingly sensitive to these extremes, 
 felt the touch of either, and vibrated to both. He was at 
 home in either sphere. Joy and sorrow with him were 
 twin brothers, and so much alike that at times we hardly 
 knew which was present — his joy was so tender and his 
 sorrow so hopeful that both were blessed. Which was 
 best we scarcely knew where both were only good. 
 
 The writer remembers a scene of unusual interest. It 
 was in the large Union Church tent at a camp-meeting 
 held at Swedesborough, N. J., in 1842. The services 
 were led by Edmund J. Yard. It had been a protracted 
 struggle, which had run far into the night, for the con- 
 version of sinners and the sanctification of believers. 
 The conflict with the powers of darkness was prolonged 
 and painful. Suddenly one of the company, who had 
 been the subject of a great affliction in the death of his 
 nearest friend, seemed to have a vision of the departed, 
 surrounded by the glory of the blessed world. The joy 
 of his own heart was like a stormy sky, lit up by the daz- 
 zling splendors of the noonday sun. That joy was con- 
 tagious, and flew like lightning. The leader caught the 
 
Tributes and Reminiscences. 219 
 
 spirit ; the tent was ablaze with the awful glory, and 
 all were overwhelmed with the bliss of heaven ! And so 
 his heart was always quick to respond to joy or sorrow 
 in all their appropriate manifestations. 
 
 But let us step softly ! There is a holy hush in the air ! 
 The angels have been down among men, and as they 
 have passed here and there in obedience to divine com- 
 mand, beckoning to this one and that, they to whom the 
 signal was given have followed the angelic lead. Just 
 now they came and fixed their tender and loving gaze 
 upon one so like themselves, and with a gentle wave of 
 the hand whispered, " Come ! " and the angelic convoy, 
 with the spirit of the just man made perfect, disappeared 
 from view, and entered through the gates into the eternal 
 city. From that moment Edmund J. Yard was seen 
 no more among men, but his example and memory as a 
 winner of precious souls will long live among men to 
 guide and encourage faithful workers for Jesus. 
 
 Ocean Grove, N. J., January \ 1880. 
 
220 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 CLOSING WORDS. 
 
 A ND now having traced the steps of my 
 ascended brother through his long pil- 
 grimage, having sought to portray him in his 
 varied spheres of joyous service for the Mas- 
 ter whom he loved and so actively served, 
 and having listened to the remembrances of 
 those who knew and loved him, I will only 
 add a few words of appreciation and of grat- 
 itude for what he was to me. 
 
 As my brother Edmund was nearly twenty 
 years older than myself, and left home during 
 my childhood, I was unacquainted with his 
 early life, except as I had learned of it from 
 my parents and brothers and himself. 
 
 Of his beautiful example of filial devotion, 
 his affectionate disposition, and blameless 
 deportment, I had heard so much during my 
 whole life, that I regarded him with a kind of 
 
Closing Words. 221 
 
 veneration. And, moreover, as my father died 
 when I was yet young, I always looked up to 
 my eldest brother as a father. His counsel I 
 regarded as one of my greatest blessings, and 
 his society as a most precious privilege. 
 Through all my life his visits to my home 
 were anticipated with exceeding joy, and his 
 presence valued as a choice benediction. 
 
 It was because he bore the image of the 
 heavenly, the gentle, tender, loving spirit of 
 Jesus, that he was so revered and prized by 
 me. His words were so " seasoned with grace," 
 and he shed around an influence so hallowed, 
 that it always drew me nearer to the " Friend 
 that sticketh closer than a brother." 
 
 To his Christ-like example, excellent advice, 
 and faithful prayers, I am greatly indebted for 
 my own religious life and advancement in 
 Christian experience. 
 
 In my early life his earnest labors for Christ 
 furnished an incentive to me to be "diligent 
 in all good works." When I listened to the 
 recitals of his visits to the sick, and saw his 
 
222 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 countenance light up as he would tell of the 
 conversion of precious souls and of the tri- 
 umphant death of many whom he had led to 
 Jesus, how my heart was thrilled ! and how I 
 wished and prayed that I might be as success- 
 ful as my brother in winning souls ! 
 
 Nor was this blessed influence confined to 
 my early life. All through the years which 
 followed, the intercourse I was permitted to 
 enjoy with his pure spirit was truly delightful, 
 and had a most cheering and elevating effect 
 upon me. In sickness and sorrow his tender 
 sympathy and kind ministrations afforded me 
 comfort unspeakable, and were valued among 
 my chief earthly blessings. 
 
 Never was that influence more marked or 
 more highly prized and enjoyed than in the 
 later years of his life. Our interviews were 
 not unfrequent, though not residing near to 
 each other, and of those sweet seasons of com- 
 munion I cherish the most vivid remem- 
 brance. 
 
 The last was when I was an invalid, spend- 
 
Closing Words. 223 
 
 ing a few months in Philadelphia, a short time 
 previous to his departure to the heavenly- 
 land. 
 
 With some difficulty he had ascended the 
 stairs, and as he entered my room seemed 
 nearly out of breath. I had observed in him 
 for some time increasing weakness of the 
 limbs and difficulty of breathing upon any 
 extra exertion he would make, and as he 
 approached me I said to him, " I fear this 
 is too much for you ; coming up the stairs has 
 quite overcome you." 
 
 Smiling, he replied, " Yes, the old tabernacle 
 is giving way, and soon will be taken down. 
 I realize, sister, that I am an old man, but I 
 shall renew my strength and my youth after 
 awhile." 
 
 Then, talking of some of the visits he had 
 just been making to the sick and the bereaved, 
 in which " the dear Saviour was very near," he 
 seemed to exult with exceeding joy, and spoke 
 sweetly of the goodness of God in giving him 
 strength at his advanced age to do a little 
 
224 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 work for Him, and then to give him such 
 blessings, such manifestations of his pres- 
 ence, and abounding comforts in serving 
 him. " O, what reason I have for thankful- 
 ness," he said ; " surely every breath should 
 be praise." 
 
 His visit was brief, and I felt unusually sad 
 at parting with him, for I felt that it might 
 be his last visit to me, which indeed it 
 proved. As he rose from his seat to leave he 
 said, " I must go now, sister, for I want to do 
 some more visiting to-day. There are several 
 other sick people I must see before I go 
 home." 
 
 How precious were his last words of ten- 
 der solicitude and affectionate interest as he 
 took my hand and spoke of my sickness, 
 and the trials through which I was pass- 
 ing, closing with the words, " Never mind, 
 sister, it will all be over in a little while, 
 and heaven will recompense for all we suffer 
 here." 
 
 I saw him no more, not even in death, for 
 
Closing Words. 225 
 
 sickness kept me prostrate, and I was not 
 permitted to attend his funeral. 
 
 Our next meeting will be where " the 
 inhabitants shall not say, I am sick." 
 
 Those who looked upon his face, beautiful 
 in death, remarked that no trace of death's 
 work was visible. Serene, placid, heavenly, he 
 seemed as if in a sweet slumber ; not as in the 
 embrace of the King of Terrors, an enemy ; 
 but in delightful repose, " asleep in Jesus," 
 awaiting his call at the dawning of the eternal 
 day, when "them also which sleep in Jesus 
 will God bring with him." 
 
 The following lines, a sister's tribute, were 
 written soon after his transit to the land of 
 the blest : 
 
 TRANSFERRED TO THE BRIGHTER WORLD — 
 EDMUND J. YARD. 
 
 BY HIS SISTER, MRS. MARY D. JAMES. 
 
 As sets the bright sun in the cloudless west, 
 
 Undimmed by a shadow — so calm, so blest, 
 
 The sainted one passed away to his rest, 
 
 In the paradise above. 
 15 
 
226 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 And leaving behind him a radiance bright, 
 Like the glorious sun when it hides from sight 
 'Neath the amber sky, in the sweet twilight 
 Of the closing autumn day. 
 
 The golden grain waving, so ripe and fair, 
 Was standing but yesterday grandly there ; 
 The reaper came quickly ! The field is bare ! 
 The wheat is garnered to-day ! 
 
 So richly ripe in the fullness of grace, 
 So saintly, so meet for the holy place 
 Where the pure ones dwell, and behold his face, 
 The infinite God of love ! 
 
 As a river flowed his beautiful life, 
 Serenely grand, amid conflict and strife ! 
 "With labors and trials each hour so rife ; 
 Yet ever peaceful his soul ! 
 
 Thus fourscore years had his life flowed on, 
 And rich were the treasures his labors had won, 
 Securely " laid up " till his work was done : 
 How vast his possessions there ! 
 
 He lived for the sick, for the poor, and distressed ; 
 He lived that the dying might find heaven's rest ; 
 He lived that the suff'ring, in Christ might be blest 
 His life was a mission of love. 
 
Closing Words. 227 
 
 As shuts a beautiful flower at night, 
 Inclosing its charms till the morning light, 
 Then opening again to regale the sight 
 With its smiling loveliness : 
 
 So, closing at evening his heaven-lit eyes, 
 Till the morning's bright dawn beyond the skies, 
 Then opening his vision, with glad surprise, 
 In the realms of endless day ! 
 
 O, heaven ! sweet heaven ! earth's purest and best 
 Are gathered there, in the home of the blest ! 
 What hallowed communion ! what rapture ! what rest ! 
 In the glorious city of God ! 
 
 In taking leave of my readers I must add a 
 word in regard to the responsibility resting 
 upon those who profess to be followers of Him 
 who hath " left us this example, that we should 
 walk in his steps." 
 
 In the life of the one whose Christlike course 
 we have been tracing we have found the secret 
 of power for winning souls to be, not in ex- 
 traordinary gifts, nor in remarkable natural 
 talents, nor in special culture, but in the divine 
 inspiration and sacred influence resulting from 
 
228 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 union with the Source of power, of wisdom, 
 and of love. 
 
 Nature, it is true, had endowed him with an 
 affectionate and kind disposition, a bland and 
 gentle manner, a soft and pleasant voice, and 
 an unusual degree of unselfishness which had 
 been always evinced from his early childhood ; 
 but it was the indwelling of the Holy Spirit — 
 the living principle of divine love permeating 
 his whole being — actuating his entire life which 
 made him what he was for God and humanity. 
 And what he was, and what he did, others may 
 be and do if in communication with the same 
 Source of grace and power. For to all God's 
 children, without distinction or exception, is 
 the blessed assurance given, that " God is able 
 to make all grace abound toward you ; that ye, 
 always having all sufficiency in all things, may 
 abound to every good work." 2 Cor. ix, 8. It 
 is a momentous truth that God holds every one 
 responsible, not only for what he is and what he 
 does, but for what he might be and do if filled 
 with the Holy Spirit. This priceless gift is as 
 
Closing Words. 229 
 
 free as the air we breathe. Under its influence 
 the humblest believer may do work that will 
 astonish the world. Without it life must be 
 a failure. Dear reader, are you living in the 
 fullness of this blessing? 
 
 A failure on the part of a child of God to 
 avail himself of all the glorious possibilities of 
 grace, whereby he could be instrumental in 
 bringing souls to Jesus, is an awful failure, in- 
 volving the eternal interests of immortal souls, 
 and through endless ages must be a loss un- 
 speakable to the delinquent Christian. If, 
 through the infinite merits of the atonement, 
 he should be numbered with the redeemed in 
 heaven, he will be "saved, yet so as by fire;" 
 and the consciousness that golden opportuni- 
 ties for soul-winning had been lost by his 
 own failure to " apprehend that for which 
 he was apprehended of Christ Jesus," must, 
 in the great day of reckoning, cause regrets 
 and self-reproach. And who can doubt 
 that many souls will, from such failure, find 
 a lower position in the kingdom above 
 
230 The Soul-Winner. 
 
 than they would have had if they had been 
 faithful in the improvement of their oppor- 
 tunities? 
 
 It is a most solemn truth, that upon every 
 child of God is laid the tremendous responsi- 
 bility of bringing souls to Jesus. There- 
 fore every child of God ought in all circum- 
 stances of life to be a Soul- Winner. 
 
 " He that winneth souls is wise." 
 
 I heard a voice speak from the skies, 
 " The one that winneth souls is wise," 
 
 And " as the stars shall shine." 
 Who from the dreadful ways of sin 
 A soul shall turn, that soul shall win : 
 
 This joy may now be thine. 
 
 Go, search for jewels day by day ; 
 Go, take them from the miry clay 
 
 To Calvary's open fount — 
 ' The blood that cleanseth sin-stained souls, 
 And, ever flowing, onward rolls 
 
 Down from the sacred mount. 
 
Closing Words. 231 
 
 There, in that purifying stream, 
 How gloriously those gems will gleam, 
 
 Such precious gems of God ! 
 Souls, deathless souls, that once were los 
 But ransomed at the priceless cost 
 
 Of our Redeemer's blood. 
 
 Great Saviour, let thy tender love 
 Our hearts to earnest effort move 
 
 To rescue sinners lost ; 
 Let this most blessed work be mine : 
 To gather gems for Christ to shine — 
 
 Souls his own life have cost. 
 
 THE END. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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