river, upon which so
very much depended in our service. In this again we experienced most
evidently the Lord's willingness to answer prayer; for in the same inn
at which our Stuttgart driver had put up, it happened, by the ordering
of the Lord, that there was a driver from Cassel, the place where I am
now writing, who had taken a family to Frankfort, and who was looking
out for a job. With this coachman I agreed, to take us to Eisleben, to
stop there a day and a half, while I saw brethren in that neighbourhood,
and then to take us to Cassel. This engagement was for eight days. It
was the more kind of the Lord to allow me to find this person, as I went
from place to place in Frankfort to obtain a conveyance, but could not
succeed in that large city; and the only one I could have had, would
have been nearly twice as expensive as the one which I hired. On Monday
morning, then, Sept. 22nd, we left Frankfort, determined by the help of
God to pursue our service, and, if need be, to suffer and to endure
hardship in it. Many tracts and books also were given away this day, and
in the evening we reached Schluechtern, a small town before Fulda. The
next day at Fulda I took up a large bale of tracts and books which I had
sent before, and on Tuesday evening we reached Vacha. Up to that time we
had had fine weather; but we reached Vacha in a heavy storm, it having
rained heavily for 2 hours, and lightened and thundered exceedingly. All
night the rain continued, and in rain we left Vacha for Eisenach. Our
service now seemed over; but yet I managed now and then to put a copy
of my book out of the carriage, when I saw an opportunity
that it could be kept pretty dry. By the time
we reached Eisenach, which stands on the foot of the hill on which is
the old castle called the Wartburg, where Luther translated the Bible,
the rain ceased and we had a fine afternoon, and in a few hours were
able to give away more than 50 books and many tracts. In the evening we
reached Gotha, capital of the small dukedom of Saxe Gotha. On Thursday,
Sept. 28th, we came as far as a small town called Arthern, and on
Friday, about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, we reached Eisleben. All
these five days and a half we went on quietly in our service, none
hindering us, giving away many books and tracts. Here now we stopped two
days, had some intercourse with brethren, and then left for Cassel,
which we reached in two days and a half, arriving here last evening.
This morni