{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_16711/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_16711","id":"gutenberg_16711","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16711","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Kline, John, 1797-1864"],"text":"Produced by Mark C. Orton and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: RESIDENCE OF ELDER JOHN KLINE.]\n\n\n\nLIFE AND LABORS OF ELDER JOHN KLINE\n\nTHE MARTYR MISSIONARY\n\n\n\nCOLLATED FROM HIS DIARY\n\nBy\n\nBENJAMIN FUNK\n\n\n\nELGIN, ILL.:\nBRETHREN PUBLISHING HOUSE,\n1900.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nIn the burying ground of the Linville's Creek German Baptist church in\nRockingham County, Virginia, there is to be seen a marble slab engraved\nwith the name JOHN KLINE.\n\nIn walking through a cemetery and pensively viewing the memorials of\nthe departed, one question of deep interest often presses upon the\nmind and heart: Are these, whose names are here recorded on slab and\nobelisk, still alive and in the possession of conscious being, or are\nthey dead--\n\n  \"All to mouldering darkness gone;\n  All of conscious life bereft?\"\n\nWe turn to earth, and from her lips the ear of reason catches\ndeep-toned words of assurance that death is not the end of life. The\nhue of the butterfly's wing, \"the flower of the grass,\" the beauty of\nthe vernal year, these all, all teach the sublime truth that \"all\ngreat endings are but great beginnings.\" The voice of God from the\nunrolled page of plainer if not diviner truth, says: \"These are not\ndead, but sleeping--they shall wake again.\"\n\nSatisfied on this point, the next question turns to the lives and\ncharacters, works and words of those who lie buried here. Were they\ngood or bad? Are their spirits now in heaven, or somewhere else? There\nare two classes, however, concerning whom no such questions arise. The\nfirst class is made up of those who have died in their infancy; and\never and anon while looking at the \"little lamb,\" or \"rose bud,\" or\n\"young dove\" not yet fledged, the words flow into the mind as from the\nlips of Jesus: \"Of such is the kingdom of heaven.\" The other class is\ncomposed of such as have given clear evidence, by profession and life,\nthat they are the children of God. The words for them come as did the\nothers, from the page of Heavenly Truth, \"Therefore are they\ncontinually before the throne, and praise him day and night in his\ntemple.\"\n\nThe epitaph of John Kline is read without a doubt ever springing up in\nthe mind of any one who knew him. We saw him, not as Elisha saw Elijah\nin sight, ascend to heaven; but with the eye of faith we saw him\nclothed in a celestial body; and with the ear of faith we heard the\nwelcome: \"Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\n\nTHE ANNUAL MEETING OF 1878.\n\nIn the year 1878 the Brethren's Annual Meeting was held with the\nLinville's Creek church. Brethren and sisters from many sections of\nour Union were present. Many graves in the cemetery by the\nmeetinghouse were to be seen. Epitaphs were read by the throngs of\npeople who walked around to view them. Few of these bore anything\nbeyond the simple inscription of the name and the two facts that fall\nto the lot of all: The time of birth and the time of death.\n\nBut there was one grave from whose humble mound each visitor seemed\neager to pluck a flower, a leaf, or any other little thing that might\nbe carried back home and enshrined in a casket for a memento of one\nnever to be forgotten. That grave was the grave of John Kline.\n\nOne sister, with tears in her eyes, said: \"He preached my mother's\nfuneral.\" Another said: \"He used to visit us in Ohio; and we always\nloved so much to see him come.\" A brother said: \"I traveled with him\nover two thousand miles, and he was always one thing.\" Others said:\n\"The meeting is lonesome without him.\" \"He was at our love feast in\nPennsylvania the year he was killed,\" said another. It would be vain\nto attempt to follow up all the affectionate memories that were\nexpressed by the loving throngs of sanctified hearts that surrounded\nhis tomb.\n\nIn this book ELDER JOHN KLINE is set forth not as dead, but as alive;\nas living and moving amongst us again. His life work stands recorded\non earth as well as in heaven. With untiring perseverance Brother\nKline kept a record of his work every day for a period of TWENTY-NINE\nYEARS. These records contain two great facts common to the life of\nevery man, woman and child.\n\nFIRST FACT.--Where he spent the day and night.\n\nSECOND FACT.--How he spent the day and night.\n\nA truthful record of these for many, made public, would blast their\nreputation abroad and blight their peace at home. But not so with our\nbeloved brother. Whilst it is true that he had no expectation of his\nDiary ever being published, it is equally true that it does not\ncontain a single entry of which he has cause to be ashamed before man\nor God. That the entries are faithful and true needs no proof other\nthan the testimony that thousands still living are ready to bear to\nhis untarnished name as a man honest and honorable in all things.\n\nAs a Christian, the beloved ministering brethren who spoke at his\nfuneral are to-day not ashamed to apply to him the same words they\napplied to him then, and which were taken as the subject of discourse\non that occasion. In speaking of his appointment to the ministry they\ntook these words: \"And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of\nthe Holy Ghost.\" Acts 6:5. They also added the other words spoken of\nStephen in the eighth verse of the same chapter, a man \"full of grace\nand power.\" Can anything loftier be said of a man's qualification for\nthe work of the ministry?\n\nAs Stephen was the first Christian martyr, and Brother Kline the last\nthen known, they closed their discourses in heartfelt realization of\nthese words: \"_And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made\ngreat lamentation over him._\" We all took part in the lamentation--the\nwriter himself being present and speaking on the occasion--and felt\nthat the ruthless hand of violence had wickedly torn from our midst a\nfriend and counsellor whose place could not be filled by any other.\n\nAs a kind-hearted, loving mother puts her child's best new dress on it\nbefore taking it to church or in public, so have I endeavored to\nclothe the diary of Brother Kline in a suitable attire of Sunday\nclothes. I sincerely believe that the work in this form will be highly\nacceptable to the Brotherhood at large; and as Brother Daniel Hays\nsays in a letter to me, \"productive of much good.\"\n\n\nPART II OF INTRODUCTION.\n\nThis book, if carefully read, will instruct both young and old. In\nthis age of progress, when the forces of nature and art are being\napplied to practical ends; when \"men are running to and fro and\nknowledge is wonderfully increased,\" it becomes us as intelligent\nChristians to look around and see whether we are not living in\nperilous times.\n\nFar be it from me to discourage any one from seeking that knowledge\nwhich is good, or from availing himself of the benefits to be derived\nfrom the arts and sciences; but if this knowledge and these benefits\nare sought and gained only for worldly ends, only to add to worldly\naccomplishments or worldly treasure, they are dangerous for time and\nruinous for eternity. What support can the soul have in its deep\nconflict with temptation, or in the dark hour of affliction or\nbereavement, when stayed on this world only? In all the tenderness of\na father's heart I turn to the youth of our land and say to them in\nthe words of the best Friend that God himself could give: \"Seek FIRST\nthe kingdom of God and his righteousness,\" and all earthly blessings\nwill be added unto you.\n\nIn the following pages you may see what one man may do by \"patient\ncontinuance in well doing.\" Brother Kline was a man \"subject to like\npassions as we are.\" He was once an infant just as you were, and lay\nat his mother's breast. He very well remembered, when an old man, how\nhe felt when she made for him his first pair of \"_pants_.\" When that\nkind mother put them on him, pleased and smiling in the tenderness of\nher nature, \"the first use that I made of my hands,\" said he to me\nshortly before his death, \"was to feel for the pockets.\" \"We incline,\"\ncontinued he, \"to carry this feature of our boyhood into youth and\nage. The pocket never ceases to be a very important appendage to our\ndress, and the hand inclines to put into it every valuable thing it\ncan.\"\n\nBrother Kline never went to school very much. He learned to read and\nwrite both German and English; and he also studied arithmetic. Further\nthan this he never went in school. He did not have the advantages of\nfree schools as young people now have. But you may learn from this\nthat one may carry on his education after leaving school. In fact,\nschools only _open the way_ for acquiring an education.\n\nWhen a boy I was very fond of reading the lives of great men. I did\nnot then know very much about poetry, but I surely did feel something\nof the fire that Longfellow has made to glow with so much heat and\nlight in his \"Psalm of Life.\" I am glad to add, by means of this book,\none more name to the list of great men, so that in the lines which\nfollow he too may be included.\n\n  \"Lives of GREAT MEN all remind us\n    We can make our lives sublime;\n  And departing, leave behind us\n    Footprints on the sands of Time:\n  Footprints, that perhaps another\n    Sailing o'er life's troubled main--\n  A forlorn and shipwrecked brother--\n    Seeing, may take heart again.\"\n\nElder John Kline will be set forth in this work as one of the great\nPIONEER PREACHERS of the Cross. A brief but clear outline of many of\nhis sermons, together with the time and place of preaching them, will\nbe given. Many of the love feasts which he attended, and the substance\nof what he said at some of them will also be noted.\n\nHe has left a record of the name of every family he ever visited in\nall the States, together with the day and year when such visits were\nmade. Those brethren and sisters of the Lord who still remember him,\nwill, while reading this work, live over again the years that have\npassed away and been almost forgotten. You will again listen to the\nvoice of his holy, healing words at some love feast long ago gone by.\nYou will again sit with him by the \"old home hearthstone\" as it used\nto be when father and mother were living, and all the brothers and\nsisters together in the room, and hear him talk and sing, and read and\npray. And will not this exercise of the mind and heart be pleasant?\nWill it not be profitable? Will it not serve to refresh your love to\nChrist and the Brotherhood? May it not rekindle in your heart a flame\nof that first and tender love which shone so brightly when first you\nsaw the Lord? You then could sweetly sing:\n\n  \"Jesus, I my cross have taken,\n  All to leave and follow thee.\"\n\nSince that time many cares and toils and afflictions and bereavements,\nperhaps, have caused you to sigh in mournful memory:\n\n  \"What peaceful hours I then enjoyed!\"\n\nand the heart-sobs sadly echo:\n\n  \"But they have left an aching void\n  The world can never fill.\"\n\nIn such seasons of sadness and despondency it is helpful to the heart\nto hold communion with the great and the good through the medium of\ntheir writings. Men who leave such comforting testimony behind them\nare a blessing to all within the circle of their influence while\nliving, and when dead they continue to speak. Their words are felt and\nblessed on both banks of the \"River of Time\" as it flows down through\nthe ages.\n\nThere were a few points in the life and character of Elder John Kline\nwhich may very appropriately be referred to here. I sincerely hope\nthat all the youthful members of the Brotherhood, especially, may\nbecome acquainted with these points.\n\nTHE FIRST POINT.--_He was truthful._ He never spoke positively about\nanything without first examining the matter carefully; and even then\nhe said about it only what he knew to be true. How different this\nhabit from that of many who speak positively about things which they\ndo not well understand, or which they are for the most part ignorant\nof!\n\nTHE SECOND POINT.--_He never spoke evil of any one._ It is not to be\nunderstood from this that he spoke _good_ of every one. On the contrary,\nhe spoke freely of the sinner and to the sinner; warning him of his\ndanger and pointing him to his impenitent doom. But it is to be\nunderstood that he never spoke evil to _injure_ any one. Whatever he\nsaid in that way was to reform and to bless. His heart overflowed with\nlove to all.\n\nTHE THIRD POINT.--_He was temperate._ During a long personal acquaintance\nwith him, I never knew or heard of his taking a drink of ardent\nspirits or intoxicating liquor of any kind. If he ever did use any at\nall, it was only as a _medicine_. But as he was very temperate in his\neating, and judiciously careful of himself generally, he was rarely\never sick.\n\nTHE FOURTH POINT.--_He was abstemious._ This, in connection with strict\ntemperance and pure morality, made him a clean man. His mouth was not\npolluted with _chewing tobacco_. His nose was not defiled with _snuffing\ntobacco_. His breath was not vitiated with _smoking tobacco_. He\nconsequently never used tobacco in anyway. My dear young reader, in\nall the love of my heart, I urge you to \"go and do likewise, that it\nmay be well with thee.\"\n\n\n\n\nLIFE AND LABORS\n\nOF THE\n\nMARTYR MISSIONARY\n\nELDER JOHN KLINE.\n\n\nWe have no certain account of the time and place at which Brother Kline\nwas set forward to the ministry of the Word. On Sunday, Feb. 8, 1835,\nhe spoke for the first time after his appointment to the ministry of\nthe Word. This much, at least, is inferred from its being the first\nentry made in his Diary.\n\nHe, and Elder Daniel Miller, from near the head of Linville's Creek, in\nRockingham County, Virginia, were together at John Goughnour's, west\nof the town of Woodstock, in Shenandoah County, Virginia. The meeting\nwas at Goughnour's dwelling house. Brother Miller put John Kline\nforward to take the lead in speaking. Brother Kline had previously\nselected the subject, and thought upon it, to be ready, in the event\nof his being required to take the lead in speaking. Matthew 11 was\nread; and Brother Kline took his text. It was verses 4, 5 and 6 of the\nchapter read. These are the words: \"Go and show John again those\nthings which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and\nthe lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead\nare raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And\nblessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.\"\n\n\"It may be proper in the first place,\" said he, \"for us to inquire why\nJohn sent the message to Jesus which gave rise to the words of the\ntext. The message may appear strange to some, as John had, not long\nbefore, pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin\nof the world. He had seen the 'Heavenly Dove' descend from the open\nheavens and abide upon him as he came up from the baptismal wave, and\nhad heard the Father's voice from beneath the same uplifted veil:\n'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' It is my belief\nthat John had become doubtful. The iron gates of Herod's castle had\nshut out from him all bodily comfort, and with this his hope seemed to\nvanish. This experience has had many a repetition in the realizations\nof good men since John's day. He felt himself neglected. If Jesus is\nthe friend I took him to be, why does he not come to my rescue? I do\nnot understand him. How can he feel satisfied to know that I am lying\nhere in great bodily distress and perplexity of mind, and put forth no\neffort to release me, and thus restore me to useful activity in his\nservice? Many, many, not in Herod's castle, but in other castles, such\nas beds of affliction, castles of poverty, castles of persecution,\ncastles of bodily infirmity, castles of bereavement, castles of losses\nand crosses in one way and another, have had the same experiences, the\nsame doubts and misgivings.\n\n\"John resolved to try to find out about all this if possible. So he\nsent the messengers. Here note the love of Christ. He does not upbraid\nJohn for this half reproachful message. He calmly returns to him in\nthe shape of an answer a series of the most wonderful truths the world\nhas ever heard; truths which, in their spiritual sense, comprehend the\nwork of salvation on the part of Jesus from the alpha to the omega.\n'Go and show John again the things which ye do hear and see.' The use\nof the word '_again_' implies that a similar answer had been returned\nto John at least _once_ before. This testimony, with the love in which\nit was sent, may have refreshed John's love for Jesus, and reassured\nhis faith. The last words of the returned message contain something\nlike a gentle reproof to John, '_And blessed is he that is not\noffended in me_.'\n\n\"I think the Lord knew that John had been somewhat _offended in him_;\nthat he had doubted his love, or his wisdom, or his power, or all\nthese together; and that the Lord's apparent neglect of him was\ntraceable to a want of these perfections. Doubts of this kind, from\nweakness of the flesh and spirit, have often been known to invade the\nhearts of other good men, when the divine love has been partially\nveiled from sight in seasons of great distress. Even our Lord himself\nupon the cross cried out, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'\nI cannot think that the divine love ever did forsake him for one\ninstant. It was so only in appearance to him.\n\n\"The things connected with the life-work of Jesus, which John's\nmessengers had just seen and heard, bore a much stronger testimony to\nhis divinity and Messiahship than any declaration he could have made\nby mere affirmation. Here is verified the old proverb: 'Actions speak\nlouder than words.' All may see a valuable lesson here. We are\ncommanded to let our light shine. What an honor it would be to Christ\nand the church, if every member of it would be able to point to his\ngood works as proofs of the sincerity and genuineness of his religious\nprofession!\n\n\"Notwithstanding John's doubts and impatience, the Lord still loved\nhim tenderly; and after the messengers had departed, he said to the\nmultitude: 'Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a\ngreater than John the Baptist.' Our way would have been to include\nthis encomium in the message, and let John hear it. In our way of\nthinking this would have done him more good than the other. But as the\nheaven is high above the earth, so high are the Lord's thoughts above\nour thoughts, and his ways above our ways.\n\n\"Could our eyes catch a glimpse of the bliss that thrills John's heart\nin heaven to-day, we would no longer wonder why the Lord left him lie\nin Herod's castle.\"\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at Forrer's, in Page County, Virginia,\nSunday, February 15, 1835._\n\n    TEXT.--And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy\n    sandals: and so he did. And he saith unto him: Cast thy garment\n    about thee, and follow me.--Acts 12:8.\n\nPeter's hands were chained, and he was lying in a cold and gloomy\nprison in Jerusalem. Herod, who was at that time viceroy of Jerusalem\nand Judea, had imprisoned Peter just to please the Jews. These were\nthe bitter enemies of Christ.\n\nIt looks to us as if it would hardly be worth while to pray for the\nrecovery of a sheep already dragged into a den of wolves, and lying\nthere only waiting to be devoured. But the saints at Jerusalem did\npray for Peter, and they had to pray secretly too. You may be sure\nthey did not pray to be heard of men. They were only afraid that men\nmight hear. But there was one that did hear. For \"the angel of the\nLord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote\nPeter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And\nhis chains fell off from his hands.\"\n\nYou know something about Peter's disposition. He often spoke without\nthinking very well what it might be best to say; and sometimes he\nacted without thinking what it might be best to do. On this occasion I\ndo believe that he would have followed the angel through the streets\nof Jerusalem, bare-footed and in his night clothes, if he had not\nkindly ordered him to gird himself and bind on his sandals and cast\nhis garment about him.\n\nI, for one, do believe that all the miracles and providences wrought\nby the Lord and recorded in his Word are for the instruction and\nultimate good of all who read or hear them.\n\n\nTHE LESSONS OF INSTRUCTION.\n\nI. Sometimes men who have been subject to very bad habits are, by the\nGospel and the Holy Spirit, led to forsake them. They form new loves.\nThey find joy in a new life. Old things with them have passed away.\nThey come from the baptismal wave clad, as it were, in a new garment,\neven the beautiful garment of salvation; and the new song in their\nmouth is praise to our God. I can name some of this class in our\nchurch who have run well; some who have fought the good fight of faith\nwith unflinching courage and resolution to victory complete. But\nothers have been made to weep and lament from the fearful truth that\nthis same beloved Brother Peter tells us, that \"our adversary, the\ndevil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,\"\nfor they have been devoured by him.\n\nIn the garden of Eden the devil came to Eve in the form of a serpent.\nI imagine this to be his most natural form. We sometimes see him\ncaricatured as a man with horns and cloven feet. This is a mistake.\nA man in this form would make a frightful appearance. But the devil\nnever approaches any one in a way to frighten him. He is too cunning\nfor that. A fox takes care not to frighten away his prey. Even the\nlion, when he is seeking his prey, never roars at that time, but\ncrouches and hides in the tall grass or thicket until his prey comes\nnear enough, and then he springs upon it with a single bound. The\nreason why Peter calls him a _roaring_ lion is because he roars\nfuriously after his prey is in his power. His roaring then is but a\nnote of victory and defiance. The devil knew that he would not\nfrighten Eve by coming to her in the form he did, because she had\nnever then, as yet, known anything of evil. But when he comes to men\nnow in the serpent form, he comes as \"_a snake in the grass_.\"\n\nI sometimes think that age adds shrewdness to the devil's plans. He\ncomes to men in so many forms and ways, first to delude and then to\ndestroy, that they may be called _legion_. But, as Paul says, \"We\nare not ignorant of his devices, for Satan is transformed into an\nangel of light.\"\n\nHe learns to know every brother's and sister's weak point. To the\nbrother who has been fond of ardent spirits he comes behind the\ndeceitful, covetous smile of the rumseller. In this instance the order\nof the fable is reversed. There the ass put on the lion's skin; here\nthe lion puts on the skin of the ass. To the brother whose weakness is\nadultery he comes in the form of a harlot, \"jeweled and crowned.\" To\nthe brother whose special sin has been covetousness he comes as a\nfriend. He takes him by the hand, leads him to the top of some high\nmountain, there shows him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of\nthem, and pledges to him the enjoyment of all this glory and power if\nhe will but fall down and worship him.\n\nNow, Herod was a type of this devil, and the prison in which Peter was\nchained is a type of the \"horrible pit\" into which many a good-meaning\nChristian has been cast by him. But even for such there is quite as\nmuch hope as there was for Peter. The Lord is ever nigh to redeem and\nto save. But there must be a willing mind. If Peter had said in his\nhalf-asleep state, \"Just leave me alone--I'll come after awhile--I'm\ntoo sleepy to go now\"--what then? It would have been impossible for\nthe Lord to rescue him, if he had not been willing to be rescued by\nthe Lord.\n\nSome, who have \"been taken captive by the devil at his will,\" keep\nawake in a certain sense. The pall of darkness and deep sleep has not\nyet settled down upon them. They are conscious of their situation.\nThey know and feel that they are in the hands of the enemy, but how to\nescape is the trouble with them. If such would only have the mind and\nwill to do as Christian and Hopeful did in \"Doubting Castle,\" they\ncould readily find a key in their bosoms with which to unlock every\ngate, and thus make their escape.\n\nII. In this respect they differ from Peter, for \"_he was sleeping\nbetween two soldiers_.\" Besides this, there were men stationed at\nthe door to keep watch all night. But the Lord is prepared for every\nemergency. What storm can sink a ship when Omnipotence is at the helm?\nIf you or I, brethren, were to see a brother confined and guarded as\nPeter was, I greatly fear we would utterly despair of ever seeing him\nrescued; especially so if public sentiment were rife with malice and\nrage against him. I fear we would say, It is no use to _pray_ for\nthat man. Nothing short of a miracle can save that man; and miracles\nare not wrought by prayer nowadays. But the loving hearts gathered\ntogether in secret places in Jerusalem thought not so. They \"made\nunceasing prayer for him.\"\n\nNow let us note the order in which the Lord proceeded to answer these\nprayers. He came to Peter and smote him. Whether the stroke was light\nor heavy is a thing of little consequence. It succeeded in awaking the\nman. This was its object. I think the Lord gave Peter only a _slight_\ntap on the side, because he was not hard to wake up that night. But\nthere are some, and I have known such, whom the Lord had to smite very\nhard to stir them from their sleep. They open their eyes in amazement\nand wonder why they have been so smitten. Unfortunately for some of\nthis class, they open their eyes, but they see not; they hear, but\nthey heed not. I think I have known a few such; and I fear the Lord\nsaid of them what he said of Ephraim: \"He is joined to his idols, let\nhim alone.\"\n\nIII. There is a third class, and they compose a great multitude, who\nhave, so to speak, grown up in the devil's prison house, and have\ngrown so used to his ways that they are willing to stay there. These\nmay be said to be bound with _two chains_. Their love of the world is\none chain, and their love of self is the other. I may be addressing\nsome now who are thus bound. Let us see. Jesus says: \"Thou shalt love\nthe Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with\nall thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is\nlike to it which is this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.\"\nDoes every one who is now under the sound of my voice do this? Are you\nsure, my friend, that you love God more than the world, and that you\nlove your neighbor as yourself? What proof have you to give of this?\nJesus again says: \"If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that loveth\nme will keep my words.\" There can be nothing more perfectly in harmony\nwith human nature in all its phases than these declarations of our\nLord. Where is the subject that is unwilling to render obedience to\nthe prince or king that he loves? Where is the loving child that\nrefuses to obey its parents? I tell you that obedience is the test and\nproof of love. Do you obey our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you say \"No\"?\nThen, my dear friend, let me say to you, in all candor and love, you\ndo not love him. You may imagine that you do, but your imagination on\nthis point is a delusion. But perhaps you are ashamed to confess him.\nHear again what the Lord says: \"He that is ashamed of me and my words,\nof him will the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his\nglory.\"\n\nBut perhaps you ask: \"How am I to get rid of my chains?\" Get rid of\nthem, my dear unconverted friend, just as Peter got rid of his. The\nLord is just as willing and as able to rescue you from the chains of\nsin and the thraldom of bad habits as he was to rescue Peter from the\nchains with which the Roman guard had bound him. The Lord came to him,\nnot in darkness, but in light. He brought the light with him. He never\nworks in darkness. Even when he was about to fashion the world, the\nfirst thing he did was to throw a flood of light all over its wide,\nchaotic surface. But the light which he caused to shine in the prison\ndid not wake Peter up, although it must have shone in his eyes. So he\nsmote him on the side, and no doubt shook him gently.\n\nPeter opened his eyes and saw the light. The angel \"raised him up,\nsaying, Arise up quickly.\" At the very first move he made to stand on\nhis feet, his chains got loose, and when he rose to his feet they fell\nright off. This is the way you are to get rid of your chains. The Lord\ncomes to you as he is present now and says to you, \"Arise up quickly,\nand follow me.\" The very moment you firmly resolve to obey him in\nlove, that very moment will your chains begin to get loose; and when\nyou arise to follow him in the way his Word directs, they will fall\noff.\n\nYou may here see how the Lord works with man. It is said the angel\nraised Peter up; and at the same time, while he had hold of him, he\nordered Peter to arise up quickly. This is just the way we would do in\ntrying to get one awake and up, whom we dearly loved if he was in\ngreat danger. An infant we would pick up and carry out; but one in\nhealth and strength we would expect to act for himself; we, at the\nsame time, doing what might be necessary on our part. Just so the Lord\nacts with every poor sinner. He comes with light and he comes in love.\nSinner, I am sure he has come to you to-day. He is saying to you now,\nRise up quickly, and follow me.\n\nAnd where does the good Lord propose to lead the sinner? He offers to\nlead you out of your prison house of sin into \"the glorious liberty of\nthe children of God.\" He proposes to take you out of darkness into\n\"his marvelous light.\" He will, if you but rise up and follow him,\ngive you _eternal life_, and a home in heaven forever, free from\nsickness, sorrow, pain and death. Will you not go with him?\n\n\nVISIT TO A SICK WOMAN.\n\nAfter preaching the above sermon, Brother Kline, in company with\nBrother Kagey, visited a sick woman living on Forrer's land. He says:\n\"She seemed to be suffering a good deal in body; but more, I think, in\nspirit. We told her that Christ Jesus was the only substantial hope we\nhad to set before her; that faith in him would bring salvation and\npeace to her soul. I read to her from the Sermon on the Mount: 'Ask,\nand it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it\nshall be opened unto you: for if ye know how to give good gifts unto\nyour children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give\ngood things unto them that ask him.' The best thing that our heavenly\nFather can give us is a heart to love and obey him. God works in us\nboth to will and to do the things that please him; but we at the same\ntime must have a willing mind to do them. In this way we come to be\nco-workers with God.\n\n\"'Baptism,'\" I said to her, \"is the first public act of obedience\nrequired at our hands. Here our sins are _in figure_ washed away; for\nbaptism is called in the Word 'the washing of regeneration.' As a\nnewborn child is washed before it is clothed and set before the\nfamily, so the newborn child of God must be washed and made pure\nbefore he or she can come into the church as a full member. But the\nbaptism of the child of God denotes a spiritual cleansing; whilst the\nwashing or bathing of a newborn infant means only bodily cleansing.\nHence Peter says that 'baptism is not the putting away of the filth of\nthe flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.' This means\nthat it fills the heart with a sense or feeling of 'righteousness,\npeace and joy in the Holy Ghost.'\"\n\n\"After instructing her awhile in this way we ended our call with\nprayer.\"\n\nOn Sunday, March 15, there was meeting in\n\n\nDANIEL MILLER'S DWELLING HOUSE.\n\nThis is about five miles north of Harrisonburg, in Rockingham County,\nVirginia. It is at present occupied by Benjamin Miller, the youngest\nson of Daniel Miller. He stands high as overseer of the Greenmount\nchurch. He has a numerous family of intelligent and godly children,\nall now grown up, and members of the Brethren church.\n\nAt the time of this meeting, Brother Daniel Miller's family was young,\nand most of the children were at home, _eighteen in all_; and all\nchildren of one mother. Brother Kline says: \"I felt deeply impressed\nwith the weighty responsibility resting upon the father and mother of\nthis pleasant and orderly household; and not upon them only, but upon\nus also, who are preachers of the Word. In this feeling, I proposed\nthe reading of the fifteenth chapter of John's Gospel. I spoke briefly\nfrom these words: '_If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had\nnot had sin._' John 15:22.\"\n\n\n_Sermon._\n\n\"These words are a part of our Lord's farewell counsel to his little\nband of chosen disciples. This was just before his betrayal into the\nhands of his murderers. He spoke to them about this sinful world. He\ntold them how the people of the world would treat them, and what they\nwould think of the glorious Gospel which they were soon to proclaim.\n'In the world,' said he to them, 'ye shall have tribulation; but in\nme, ye shall have peace.' The text does not teach that men who are\nignorant of God's Word are sinless; neither does it teach that the\ndoctrine which our blessed Savior taught tends to make men sinners.\nOh, no! But this is what it means: That God is so merciful and\ngracious that until men are instructed and warned of their danger, he\ndoes not hold them severely accountable. But when the light of truth\nis shed around them, and the way of life and salvation pointed out to\nthem, and they then shut their eyes to the light and close their\nhearts to knowledge, he holds them accountable, and deals with them as\nsinners.\n\n\"I feel now to address a few words to the dear young people who are\nassembled here. The Lord bless you in the dew of your youth, while\nyour hearts are yet tender; before age and sin have made you hard,\ngive your hearts to God. This you can do by loving our Lord Jesus\nChrist, who laid down his life for you. When you love him with the\nheart, you believe on him with the heart; and when you believe on him\nwith the heart, you have a desire in your heart to obey him by doing\nhis commandments. You will purify your souls by obeying the truth.\n'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' 'Seek the Lord\nwhile he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near;' for, saith\nhe, 'they that seek me early shall find me.'\n\n\"But you may desire to know how you are to seek the Lord, and where\nyou are to look for him. I hope you are thinking of this now; so I\nwill tell you. The only place where the Lord can be found is in his\nHoly Word. There you find him in the form of the man Christ Jesus. And\nwhilst he is there set forth as the 'man of sorrows and acquainted\nwith grief,' he is also set forth as the 'true God and eternal life.'\nHe there says: 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.'\n'And he that drinketh of the water that I will give unto him shall\nnever thirst.' This water is the TRUTH of his Word. It so fills the\nsoul with love and light and joy and peace, as to become a fountain of\ndelight within us. Reading God's Word in the right spirit is drinking\nof the Water of Life. When this truth finds a place in the memory\nthrough the love of it, the memory keeps our thoughts perpetually\nsupplied with it, and thus it becomes, as our Lord says, 'a fountain\nwithin us unto everlasting life.'\"\n\nSATURDAY, March 21, Brother Kline, in company with Brother Daniel\nMiller, went to Brock's Gap, and spent the night at Brother\nSunafrank's.\n\n\nBROCK'S GAP.\n\nThis is a small area of country in Rockingham County, Virginia,\ncontaining about one hundred and fifty square miles. It is the head\nbasin of the north fork of the Shenandoah river. It is almost\ncompletely surrounded by high and rugged mountains; and where the\nriver has broken a gap for its outlet the scenery is not surpassed by\nthat of Harper's Ferry.\n\nA considerable number of people live in it, and there are some good\nfarms and thrifty farmers. In Brother Kline's day Brock's Gap was only\na mission field. At this time the German Baptist Brethren have two\nwell-built and commodious houses of worship in it. At the time Brother\nKline commenced preaching there they had no house of worship and the\nmembership was very small. The membership at this time includes some\nfrom nearly all the leading families in the section. The Fulks,\nFawleys, Richies, Hevners, Moyerses, Smiths, Doves, Lambs, Shoemakers,\nand many others are represented in the Brotherhood.\n\nSUNDAY, March 21.--The two brethren crossed the Shenandoah mountain\nand arrived in\n\n\nSWEEDLIN VALLEY.\n\nThis valley lies in Pendleton County, West Virginia. It extends\nnorthward along the west foot of the Shenandoah mountain for about\neight miles, and is separated from the South Fork valley west of it by\nSweedlin mountain. It is the habitation of a good many families, is\nexceedingly picturesque, and is in some respects beautiful.\n\nThe two brethren were called here to preach the funeral of old Brother\nNazlerode. His father had been a Hessian, and served under British\ncolors in the American Revolution. At the close of the war he, with\nmany others, declined returning to his native home in Hesse-Darmstadt\nin Germany, and decided to stay in America. But this class of citizens\nwas not very welcome among the patriots of American liberty. They were\nlooked upon with a degree of opprobrium; and hence they sought homes\nin the more remote and secluded valleys among the mountains. Brother\nNazlerode had died some time before. The preaching was at the house\nwhere the old brother had lived.\n\n\n_Sermon by Daniel Miller._\n\nBrother Daniel Miller spoke first in the German language. He took for\nhis subject 1 Pet. 1:24, 25. \"For all flesh is as grass, and all the\nglory of man as the flower of grass: ... but the word of the Lord\nendureth forever.\"\n\nHe spoke very beautifully and impressively on the short-lived\npleasures of earth. He said that the new birth and the new life, which\nlift man to God and fit him for heaven, are not begotten of the\ncorruptible seed of man, but of God through the Word of his Truth,\nwhich liveth and abideth forever. He pointed them to Jesus as the\n\"Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.\" He then, in a\nvery affectionate manner, exhorted all to accept the salvation offered\nand walk in the way that our Lord has made plain in his Word.\n\nBrother Kline followed and said: \"Brother Daniel and I both felt moved\nto pity when we considered the situation of these people. They have a\npoor chance to hear the Gospel, and but few of them can read the\nBible. We closed the services suitably, and then went to friend Jacob\nWansturf's and spent the night.\"\n\nMONDAY, April 13.--Brother Kline, in company with Brother Frederic\nKline, went to Brock's Gap on the yearly visit. He says: \"We found\nsome of the members in a very poor condition. One sister, in\nparticular, moved my feelings deeply. Her husband is somewhat\ndissipated and does not provide for his family as he should. She is\nthe mother of three small children; and, judging from their present\nappearance, they have undergone a good deal of suffering for want of\nfood and clothing. None of them have any shoes; and the thin coverings\nthey have on are so patched and darned that one can hardly tell the\nkind of goods they were originally made of.\n\n\"I inquired how they were off in the way of food. She replied that\nthey had about a peck of corn meal in the house and several bushels of\npotatoes buried in the garden; and she reckoned they could do right\nwell till she could get some more washing and other work to do. I gave\nthat patient, uncomplaining sister three dollars out of my own pocket\nmoney. 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' There is a day\ncoming when we shall more fully realize this truth than now.\"\n\n\nTHE YEARLY VISIT CONTINUED.\n\nTUESDAY, April 14.--\"We have found a quiet and peaceable state of\nfeeling in the Brotherhood generally. There is, however, among the\nyounger members, too great a tendency to conform to the world in dress\nand conversation.\"\n\n\nMEETING AT BENJAMIN BOWMAN'S.\n\nFRIDAY, April 17.--\"His son, Samuel Bowman, was baptized to-day, and\nthe subject of discourse was the baptism of Jesus as recorded in\nMark's Gospel. John seems to have been a sort of open link by which\nthe chain of prophecy in the Old Testament was united with the chain\nof its fulfillment in the New. As a prophet, he went forth in the\nspirit and power of Elijah. But Elijah of old uttered his prophecies\nsurrounded by midnight darkness. John utters his in the light of the\nrising Sun of Righteousness; and they all point to the future glory of\nthat Sun. The Sun rose publicly from the waters of Jordan in the\nperson of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, when the Spirit of God in\nthe form of a dove descended upon him, and a voice came out of heaven,\n'This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.'\n\n\"What a recognition! What a reception! And will not our heavenly\nFather meet every true-hearted believer in the same way, as he rises\nfrom the baptismal wave? Not visibly, to his natural eye; not audibly,\nto his natural ear; but by the Holy Spirit bearing witness with his\nspirit that he is a child of God. For 'baptism is the answer of a good\nconscience toward God.' This is its first blessed power.\"\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_A Funeral Sermon at Sunafrank's in Brock's Gap,\nSunday, April 26._\n\n    TEXT.--Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour cometh, and now is,\n    when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they\n    that hear shall live.--John 5:25.\n\nThe Lord spoke these words to the Jews. They would not believe that he\nwas the Son of God. They sought to kill him, not only because he had\nbroken the Sabbath by healing a man on that day, but also because he\nsaid that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. In his\nreply to them he uttered some of the most wonderful truths the world\nhas ever heard. He said: \"THE DEAD SHALL HEAR.\"\n\nIn the ear of a Jew these words had an ominous ring. They could not\ngainsay them in a direct way, because the Lord had, that very day, and\nbefore their eyes, wrought a miracle which was almost equal to that of\nmaking a dead man hear. It appears strange to us that any class of\npeople could harbor feelings of enmity toward one so kind and good as\nJesus was. But the Jews were a very proud people, and exceedingly\n_vain_ in their imaginations. And because the Lord would not flatter\nthem, and give them credit for great knowledge and wisdom in divine\nthings, they fell out with him and hated him.\n\nJesus does not say that _all the dead shall hear_. But he does mean\nthat all shall have a chance and the power to hear if they will. But\nwho are the DEAD of whom he speaks? They are all who are not spiritually\nalive; Jews and Gentiles. The Scriptures in many places speak of men\nas _dead_ who are bodily alive. They are dead in one way, and alive in\nanother. I will explain this. In respect to faith in the Lord and love\nto him, the Jews were dead. There was no spiritual life in them.\nJewish worship was all an outward, external thing. But God regards a\nman's spirit, his heart. \"For they that worship him must worship him\nin spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.\"\n\nThere stands a tree. It is just now in full bloom, and the sight is\nbeautiful. A few months ago that tree was dead in one sense and alive\nin another. It was winter-dead. There were neither leaves, blossoms\nnor fruit upon it. Had it continued in that state, it would be cut\ndown as a worthless thing. But it had a receptacle of life, and that\nlife is in the sun which imparts heat and light to everything. The sun\nmakes the earth warm; the watery vapors to ascend and form clouds\nwhich give rain; the sap to rise and form itself into leaves, blossoms\nand fruits. Every unconverted man and woman, just like that tree in\nwinter, is dead as to all divine or heavenly life in the soul. Let us\nsee: He is dead as to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He does not love\nhim. He lives just as if there were no God to love and obey; no hell\nto shun; no heaven to obtain. He does not love the people of God as\nsuch. But, notwithstanding all this, he has a capacity, such as God\nhas given to every man, to be made alive in Christ Jesus. Christ is\ncalled the Sun of Righteousness. He is so called because he, like the\nsun in our sky, rises and shines upon the evil and the good; and\nwhosoever opens his heart to the light of this Sun is filled with the\nlight of _truth_ and _love_, and made alive to walk in the way of\nrighteousness before him.\n\nThis light comes through his Word, the Gospel of our salvation, as it\nis proclaimed by his faithful ministers, and falls upon every sinner.\nIf the sinner will open his ears to the voice, and his eyes to the\nlight, the promise in the text is that he \"_shall live_.\" Jesus says:\n\"I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall have the\nlight of LIFE. In him is light, and the light is the LIFE of men.\" But\nif the sinner, like the owl, closes his eyes to the light of truth,\nand his ears to the voice of the Lord, he will abide in death, and,\nlike the owl, love darkness rather than light forever.\n\nSUNDAY, July 19, Magdalena Wampler and John Miller's wife baptized.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder Daniel Miller._\n\n_In the German Language, at the Linville's Creek Meetinghouse._\n\n    TEXT.--And there went out unto him all the country of Judaea, and\n    all they of Jerusalem; and they were baptized of him in the river\n    Jordan, confessing their sins.--Mark 1:5.\n\nJudging from the multitudes that went out to John's baptism, his\npreaching must have created a lively sensation in Jerusalem and Judaea.\nAll who went out were Jews. In justice to the text, we must notice the\nfact that the word ALL, as there used, applies only to the common\npeople. These came to John confessing their sins. He pointed them to\nthe \"Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.\" The scribes\nand Pharisees and lawyers, the chief men of Judaea and Jerusalem, went\nnot out to be baptized of John. These had no sins to confess; no\nignorance to deplore; no spiritual ailments or infirmities. \"They that\nbe whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick.\"\n\nIt was with the common people that John succeeded in preparing the\n\"way of the Lord.\" May we not also do the same? When we induce men to\nthink upon the subject of religion, when we persuade them to repent\nand believe the Gospel, we too are preparing the way of the Lord. The\nWord of Truth does not have free course all over the world yet. Many\namongst us oppose it. Millions far away are still in pagan darkness.\nBut every soul that truly believes in Jesus and is baptized has the\npromise of salvation; and every such soul is a fresh light in the\nworld's darkness. The more of such lights we can get to shine in the\nworld the lighter will it grow, and the more and more will the way of\nthe Lord be prepared.\n\nIn John's day the people were not ashamed to come and be immersed in\nthe Jordan. There does not seem to have been any doubt or uncertainty\nwith them as to the mode or form of baptism. Every one went to the\nriver Jordan. If a few drops of water, applied to some part of the\nbody, had answered the end of baptism as well as the immersion of the\nwhole body in water, I think most of them would have saved themselves\nthis long journey. They would have called John to Jerusalem, to that\nwealthy and populous city. He could have just passed through the\nstreets with a pail or pitcher of water in his hand, and with little\ntrouble could have applied a few drops to the head or face of each one\nthat asked it.\n\nFor want of room, we now pass over all the entries in the Diary from\nJuly 19 to September 11. This time was actively taken up by our\nbeloved brother in attending love feasts, council meetings and regular\nappointments. In body he was robust, vigorous and active: in spirit he\nhad long reaches of faith and hope and love. This incited him to great\nactivity; and I often heard him say: \"An hour misspent or trifled away\nis just so much time given to Satan.\"\n\n\nJOURNEY TO OHIO AND RETURN THROUGH KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE.\n\nThis journey occupied _two months_ to the day. Friday, September 11,\nhe passed up through Brock's Gap, and down the Lost River Valley.\n\n\nLOST RIVER.\n\nThis is a small but very clear and beautiful stream in Hardy County,\nWest Virginia. It flows through a rich and delightful valley between\nChurch mountain on its eastern side next to Shenandoah County,\nVirginia, and the South Branch mountain on its western side. After a\ncourse of about twenty miles in a northeasterly direction it suddenly\ndisappears at the base of a mountain extending like a huge dam across\nthe valley. After a subterranean passage of a few miles it reappears\non the opposite side \"clear as crystal.\" From this point to its mouth\nin the Potomac it bears the name of Ca-capon or Capon. Tradition says\nthis is an Indian name, and means FOUND. This stream, from its head to\nits mouth, may aptly represent the life, death and resurrection of the\nChristian.\n\n\nSTATE OF THE COUNTRY.\n\nFor the information of the young especially, many of whom it is hoped\nwill read this book, I will give a brief description of the state of\nthe country through which our beloved brother expected to travel,\npartly alone and on horseback. No doubt you have read the story of\nGeorge Washington, not quite twenty-one years of age, starting on\nhorseback with only a single companion, to carry a letter from\nDinwiddie, Governor of Virginia, to the commander of the French\nmilitary forces at Venango, in the extreme northwestern part of\nPennsylvania. Washington delivered the letter and returned the answer.\nMany books of American history give an account of this wonderful\nachievement, and praise the man who performed it.\n\nBrother Kline, in part, passed over very nearly the same ground on\nthis journey that Washington had passed over on his. Washington went\nwith a motive altogether worldly. He was complying with the wish of\nthe governor of his State. Brother Kline went with a motive as far\ntranscending in sublimity and importance anything appearing in that of\nWashington as heaven is high above the earth, and the thoughts and\nways of God are above those of men. He went to raise men from the\ndepths of sin into which they had so deeply fallen, and exalt them to\ncompanionship with angels in the skies. His mission was to turn men\nfrom darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. He laid no\nclaim to any power within himself to do this; but he went in the\nfellowship of the Holy Spirit, and in the power of him who is able and\nmighty to save.\n\nWe must bear in mind, too, that this journey was undertaken more than\nfifty-eight years ago. A very large part of the country through which\nhe had to pass was yet in a state of virgin forest. No railroads bore\nthe lightning trains on their bosoms. Very few houses in much of the\ncountry were to be seen; and many of these offered little besides\nshelter, and some barely that. There were hardly any bridges. Broad\nand deep rivers had to be forded on horseback, or crossed in what the\nIndians called a CANOE. This is a kind of long boat made from the body\nof a single tree, by cutting or burning out the inside, and leaving\nthe bottom, ends and sides like a trough. He reports having crossed\nsome streams in this kind of a boat. His life was several times\nendangered by crossing deep waters.\n\nSATURDAY, September 12, he arrived at Abbey Arnold's, in Hampshire\nCounty, West Virginia. On the thirteenth he attended a love feast at\nDaniel Arnold's nearby, and reports a very joyful meeting with the\nBrethren whom he had not seen for a time.\n\nMONDAY, September 14, he took leave of the Brethren in Hampshire\nCounty, and directed his course through Maryland into Pennsylvania;\nand on Friday, September 18, he crossed the Ohio river, two and\none-half miles below Acreton. He was ferried across in a flatboat.\n\nSUNDAY, September 20, he arrived at Brother George Hoke's. He says: \"I\nhave been exposed to some bad weather, and have passed over some bad\nroads; but to meet such a dear and kind brother as George Hoke, and be\nreceived in such a pleasant way as I have been by the dear brother and\nfamily, is more than a compensation for all the exposure and toil it\nhas cost.\"\n\nAs nearly as I can, I will now give the substance and manner of a\nconversation which took place the same evening between Brother Kline\nand Brother Hoke. The Diary is silent upon it, but Brother Kline\nrelated it to me himself in the year 1862. Brother Jacob Miller, of\nGreenmount, Virginia, told me afterwards that Brother Kline had\nrelated the same to him. The weather being a little cool and damp, the\ntwo brethren sat by the fire. I will name the parties in the order of\nthe conversation.\n\nKLINE.--Why do not we ordain deacons in the same way the\nseven were ordained at Jerusalem?\n\nHOKE.--Do you think the seven were deacons?\n\nK.--Yes, I have always thought so.\n\nH.--I do not think they were.\n\nK.--Well, here is a difference of opinion between brethren.\n\nH.--Let us try to get together on this point.\n\nK.--I desire, above all things, to know the truth, and to see eye to\neye with all the Brethren on every point of Holy Writ.\n\nH.--So do I. Now let us see. I do not think the seven were deacons,\nbecause they are nowhere _called_ deacons. Have we a just right to\ncall them deacons when the Word does not call them so? Again: I must\nthink the church at Jerusalem was fully organized before any demand\nwas found for the appointment of the seven. Did it not have deacons at\nthe start? Who attended to gathering up food and hunting shelter, and\nmaking general provisions for the comfortable entertainment of\nthousands of brethren and sisters, and their children besides? I\nrather think that the deacons already in office attended to these\nthings. But the number of the brethren increased so rapidly that the\ndeacons needed help in the way of general oversight, and the most\nnatural thing in the world would be for them to apply to the apostles\nfor advice in regard to the matter. But the apostles replied, \"It is\nnot reason that we should LEAVE the Word of God and serve tables.\"\nThis proves that they had not done so before, and that it would not be\nright for them to do so now. Hence the importance of getting men of\nreal executive ability to serve the present necessity. Such ability\nand fitness they found in the seven whom they set apart to that work.\nBut they must not only possess business tact; they must be \"men full\nof the Holy Ghost and wisdom, and men of _honest_ report,\" whose\nrecord in life proved their HONESTY. This, Brother John, is my opinion\nas to the reason why the apostles were so particular on this point.\nThese seven men would certainly have a great deal entrusted to their\ngeneral keeping; and unless they were _honest_, they might take\nadvantage and make personal gain out of it. They soon got things so\narranged in the hands of the deacons, that Stephen, one of the seven,\ncould leave and give all of his time, or most of it, to preaching; for\nwe are directly informed that the opposing Jews \"were not able to\nwithstand the wisdom and the spirit in which he spake.\" Right on the\nstrength of this began the terrific persecution which soon resulted in\nthe martyrdom of Stephen, and eventuated in the dispersion from\nJerusalem of all the leaders and most of the influential and\nwell-known members of the body. Philip only, of all the seven except\nStephen, is mentioned in the New Testament after this. It seems that\nafter he had preached for some time he married and settled down at\nCaesarea, where, years after, Paul found him, and spoke of him as one\nof the seven--not deacons--although it would have been very easy for\nPaul to call him such, had he been a deacon. Paul here calls him\nPhilip the evangelist. Acts 21:8.\n\nK.--I must admit, Brother George, that your argument is fair and\npointed, and I will reconsider the whole subject. I never before saw\nthe office and appointment of the seven in the light in which you have\npresented it to me this evening.\n\nH.--I believe there are points in addition to those already given, but\nyou may find them yourself.\n\nMONDAY, September 21, Brother Kline attended a love feast at Brother\nSnider's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 23, he attended another at Brother Samuel\nMishler's. He spoke beautifully on 1 John 3:2: \"Beloved, now are we\nthe sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we\nknow that when he shall appear, we shall be like him.\"\n\n\nA SHORT DISCOURSE.\n\nIn my view, there is no passage in the Bible which requires a stronger\nfaith to believe it fully than the one just quoted. No passage that I\nknow of sets forth in such lofty terms of description the exaltation\nand glory of the redeemed. Often have I heard persons express their\nwonder that Jesus did not tell us more about heaven and the future\nstate. This text itself tells us infinitely more about this than we\nare capable of comprehending. Let us think a little.\n\nI. It tells us that we are _now_ the SONS OF GOD. To be the son of a\n_rich man_ is esteemed a great boon; to be the son of a king is an\nhonor and fortune enjoyed by few. But what are favors like these\ncompared with being a son of God! No wonder John says in another\nplace: \"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,\nthat we should be called the sons of God!\" Take the words of my text\nall to yourself, my brother, my sister: believe it; love it; and ever\nrejoice in the light of it. You desire to know how you attained to\nthis high distinction. I will tell you. Jesus came to you in his\nblessed Word with the assurance that \"as many as receive him, to them\ngives he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on\nhis name; which are born, not of blood; nor of the will of the flesh;\nnor of the will of man; but of God.\"\n\n  \"This promise ever shall endure,\n  Till suns shall rise and set no more.\"\n\nYou received the Lord by believing on his name. This is faith. You\nbelieved with your heart; that is, your faith was full of love, and\nyour love was attended and followed by obedience, and this made your\nfaith complete. It is yours now to rejoice in hope of the glory of\nGod.\n\nII. But you can hardly believe that you are to be just like Christ. On\nthe mount you saw him glorified. \"His face did shine as the sun, and\nhis outward form was white as the light.\" Now Paul says: \"He shall\nchange our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto the body\nof his glory.\" \"Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the\nkingdom of their Father.\"\n\nO brethren, let us look at the _bright_ side of the Christian's life,\nfor it has a bright side, and that is the side next to heaven, on\nwhich the light of heaven forever falls. I am not unmindful of the\nfact that, figuratively speaking, one side is turned to earth, and the\nearth in many respects is a very dark place. On the earth-side \"clouds\nand darkness are the habitation of his throne;\" but on the heaven-side\n\"the city hath no need of the sun to shine in it, for the Lord God and\nthe Lamb are the light thereof; and there shall be no night there.\"\n\"We are fellow-citizens with the saints [in glory], and of the\nhousehold of God.\" Oh, brethren, let us walk worthy of our high\ncalling. \"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give\nthanks: for this is the will of God concerning you.\"\n\nFRIDAY, September 25. Brother Kline passed through Jerome, Petersburg\nand Mansfield and got to Brother John Hoover's.\n\nMONDAY, September 28. \"This evening,\" says he, \"I am at Judge Watts's.\nHaving been unavoidably delayed by having to get my horse shod,\ndarkness overtook me five miles away from here, and nothing but a\ncontinuation of thick woods appeared in every direction. More than\nthis, the wolves set up a howling in a very threatening manner. Had I\nbeen compelled to pass the night in the woods, I would have been in\ndanger of being devoured by them. Whilst alone in the darkness I\nthought, How quickly would these ravenous creatures fall upon and\ndevour an unprotected sheep! And how surely would the wolves from\nSatan's den fall upon us and make a prey of our souls if Jesus, the\nGood Shepherd, did not guard and protect us through the spiritual\ndarkness of this world! Several verses of one of Watts' old 'cradle\nhymns' came to my mind whilst thinking over these things. They run\nthus:\n\n  \"'Once, as oppressed with sleep I lay,\n    With pining hunger bold,\n  A prowling enemy came by,\n    And robbed my little fold.\n  But Thou, Great Shepherd, dost not sleep\n    Nor slumber oft like me;\n  So that no foe can steal a sheep\n    Eternally from Thee.'\"\n\nTUESDAY, September 29. \"This evening I am at Brother Abraham Miller's\nin Allen County, Ohio. From Judge Watts's to this place is only five\nmiles. But how different my feelings this evening from what they were\nlast evening! Then I was alone in the woods, in hearing of wolves in\nseveral directions, with darkness on every side; now I am here with my\nbeloved brother and his pleasant family. Oh, what will it be, what the\nineffable joy to find ourselves, some day, in heaven, eternally safe\nfrom all danger and harm!\"\n\nBrother Kline spent the time between this and the next Sunday in\ntraveling and visiting.\n\nSUNDAY, October 4, he attended a love feast at which he made some very\nbeautiful and appropriate remarks on Luke 4. \"There is,\" said he,\n\"much of human nature set forth in this chapter. So long as Jesus\nspoke of the things that pleased the assembled Jews they 'all wondered\nat the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.' They applied\nthese gracious words to themselves, and flattered themselves into the\nbelief that they were 'God's favorites' on account of their inherent\nvirtues. But when the Lord indirectly spoke of them as starving widows\nin God's sight, and filthy lepers, 'all in the synagogue were filled\nwith wrath.' When flowers are thrown upon the surface of a calm\nlake--so the poets say--the lake is made to smile with dimples of\ndelight; but when heavy storms of truth are thrown in, the mud at the\nbottom is stirred up, and the lake boils with filth. Brethren, let us\ntry to 'cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,\nperfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord;' and then we will not get\nangry when the truth is presented.\"\n\nI would like very much to give the name of every family with which\nBrother Kline passed a night throughout this entire journey, and also\nthe name of every brother and sister and family called on, but want of\nspace absolutely forbids.\n\nOctober 5 and 6 were spent at a council meeting near Brother\nButterbaugh's. He does not say, but I guess this was in Montgomery\nCounty, Ohio. The names--Samuel Fouse, David Miller, Abraham Erbaugh,\nSamuel Kline, John Brower, Abraham Flory--all occur in close\nconnection as having been visited by him.\n\nSUNDAY, October 11. Brother Kline attended a meeting at which he\nreports Jacob Rife, John Garber, James Smith and George Miller, all\nfrom Virginia, as being present with their families. They have come to\nfind homes in Ohio. They had arrived there on Friday before, which was\nOctober 9. It may be very gratifying to the children and grandchildren\nof these parents to find out the exact day on which their fathers and\nmothers arrived in the county and State where they settled.\n\nMONDAY, October 12. Meeting at Brother Hoffert's. Brother Kline spoke\nto-day on Matthew 25. I can give only a slight touch of his discourse:\n\"This chapter,\" said he, \"is full of wonders. The parable of the\ntalents; the parable of the ten virgins; and a description of the\ngeneral judgment. Both parables are intimately connected with the\njudgment, and indicate the broad basis on which it will be conducted.\nI believe that the virgins in the parable represent professors of\nChristianity. They all had lamps. They all slumbered and slept. In\nthese two respects they were all alike.\n\n\"But the great difference between them at once appears, when the\nannouncement is suddenly made, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh! go ye\nout to meet him.' Then the folly of the foolish, and the wisdom of the\nwise is first disclosed. The foolish had provided no oil for the\nreplenishing of their lamps. I fear they were like too many now, who,\nin the heat of excitement, under the influence of misguided\ninstructors, blindly fall into the ranks of those who take the name of\nChrist in one hand and the fashions and pleasures of the world in the\nother, and thus move on through life. Alas! such have lamps that may\nanswer for this life, and oil enough and of a kind to keep their lamps\naglow while living in this world; but when the day of trial shall come\ntheir lamps will prove useless for want of the right kind of oil. The\nonly oil that will burn in the presence of Jesus, and whose light he\nwill own, is the oil of heavenly love proved by a life of self-denial\nand obedience to his Word. Lord, help us, that we all may love thee\nmore, and through obedient faith in thee find the door of heaven open\nto our ransomed spirits.\"\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 14. Our beloved brother now takes leave of the\nbrethren and sisters in Ohio and starts on his way to Tennessee. On\nthe fifteenth he is ferried across the river from Cincinnati to\nCovington in a flatboat, and from this point he pushes on to\nLexington, Ky., which he reaches on the seventeenth, having traveled\nfrom home to that point, 788 miles. Think of it! The toil of this\njourney, on horseback; over rough or bad roads; through thinly settled\nsections of country, and dark forests; in sight of Indians, and in\nhearing of wolves; more than sixty years ago; and all for Christ and\na burning love for his people. Well could he say what he publicly\nexpressed at a love feast at the Linville's Creek meetinghouse some\nyears after this: \"I have a house that will accommodate fifty: and a\nheart to accommodate a hundred if they could find room in my house.\"\n\nHe pushed on, scaled the Cumberland mountains; got across the\nCumberland and Clinch rivers as best he could, as both were high from\nthe recent rains, and arrived\n\nFRIDAY, October 23, at Christian Shank's, in East Tennessee. On the\nday before he stood by the tree that marks the spot where the States\nof Virginia and Kentucky corner on the line of Tennessee. He says: \"I\ncould not help thinking while there, What a glorious country we have\nin prospect, and what a goodly land it may come to be, if the people\ncan be induced to turn to the Lord and become faithful followers of\nthe meek and lowly Jesus. What a work we have to do! How much\nwickedness have I witnessed on my way since I left home! In our way of\nlooking at it, enough to sink a world. By turning once around I can\nlook over a part of three States; but how few of the followers of the\nLord are found in each, compared with the number who know him not, and\nwho ask not for him.\"\n\nHe reports delightful weather. After spending some days among the\nBowmans, Zimmermans, Crouses, Garbers, Basehores, and others,\nattending love feasts, councils and appointments for preaching, he\nreports a night meeting at Hase's schoolhouse. This was on the night\nof\n\nTHURSDAY, October 29. The people were somewhat Calvinistic in their\nviews, and his discourse was so pointed in that direction that I will\ngive a few thoughts presented in it.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at Hase's Schoolhouse, Tennessee._\n\n    TEXT.--Enter ye in at the strait gate.--Matt. 7:13.\n\nI tried to impress upon all present the danger of continuing in the\nbroad road of sin. This includes every lust of the flesh, everything\nthe heart desires through the eyes, and all the pride and vanity\nof life. I said to this audience: I learn that there is quite a\nCalvinistic or predestinarian sentiment in this community; and from\nthe expression of the countenances of some of you I fancy I hear some\nof you saying to yourselves: \"How can a dead man hear, except the Lord\nfirst give him life; or a blind man see, except the Lord first open\nhis eyes?\" I will answer your questions in order.\n\nLazarus had been dead four days. Jesus called to him with a loud voice\nto \"_come forth_.\" How could Jesus expect the dead Lazarus to hear?\nWhy did he call? Why did he not first make him alive; and then after\nhe found out that he _was alive_, and stirring round in the grave,\ncall to him and tell him to come out of that dark place? This is\nprecisely the way a Calvinist would think he ought to have done. But\nCalvinism was not known in the Lord's day, and so he took a very\ndifferent way. He threw his voice into that cave, and it went right\ninto the ear of the dead Lazarus, because his power went with the\nwords, and the very instant they struck the ear of Lazarus the life\nwas in his body and he heard. Thunder and lightning always go\ntogether; but Calvinists think the lightning must always be first.\n\nThe resurrection of Lazarus is a clear exemplification of our Lord's\nmeaning where he says: \"My words are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE.\" No\nsooner did the Lord call to Lazarus than his heart began to beat and\nhis lungs began to breathe. The Lord's words to him were _life_ and\n_breath_. _Spirit_ [in one sense] means breath; and _life_ means a\nbeating of the heart; for as long as man's heart beats there is life\nin him. Is any one here to-night willing to charge our Lord with the\nfolly, the _madness_ of commanding one of his creatures to do what he\nknows he cannot do?\n\nSinner, if the popular view of election be correct, I have a word of\ncomfort for you right here. In Jer. 13:21 we read this question: \"What\nwilt thou say when he shall punish thee?\" I will tell you what to say.\nWhen you stand before his judgment seat and hear from his lips,\n\"Depart, thou cursed into everlasting fire,\" just say to him: \"Why do\nyou condemn _me_? You told me to enter in at the straight gate, it is\ntrue; but you did not give me the power to move in that direction. I\nwas blind, too, and you did not open my eyes. I was all leprous with\nsin; I knew that all the time; but you did not cleanse me, although\nyou cleansed others. I am told that you say in your Word that you are\nno respecter of persons; how then can you make such a difference in\nyour treatment of men, when you have 'included all under sin?'\"\n\nNow I say to you, poor sinner, the Lord never will and he never can\nsend you to hell with such questions in your mouth and in your heart.\n\nThere is no need of one sinner under the sound of my voice going to\nhell, because Jesus is the STRAIT GATE and he is the NARROW WAY OF\nLIFE; and wherever his Gospel is preached his power goes with it, just\nas it went with his voice into the grave of Lazarus, or fell upon the\nbier of the widow's son. The blind man did not see until he went to\nthe pool of Siloam and washed; but did not the power of Christ go with\nhim?\n\nSay not then, O sinner, \"I have not the power to believe, repent and\nobey the Gospel.\" You have the power. God is giving you now, this very\nmoment, all the power you need to reach hither your hand and take the\ngift of his grace. He has already opened your eyes to see the light of\nhis truth; and were I to say to you this night that you are too dead\nto feel your duty; too blind to see the path; and too grossly ignorant\nto know your right hand from your left hand in spiritual things, you\nwould feel yourself grossly insulted by me. But I do not say so; I do\nnot believe so; and in this connection--and I beg you to think\nseriously upon it, to read the Bible and pray over it--I must repeat\nthe language of Jeremiah: \"What wilt thou SAY, when he shall punish\nthee?\"\n\nSUNDAY, November 1. Meeting and love feast at Bowman's meetinghouse.\nThis was Brother Kline's last meeting with the Tennessee Brethren on\nthis visit among them. I must extend the outlines of his discourse as\nit was his last among them for some years.\n\n\n_A Short Discourse by Elder John Kline._\n\n    TEXT.--He died for all, that they which live should no longer live\n    unto themselves, but unto him, who, for their sakes, died and rose\n    again.\n\nThis was Christ. Our natural feelings and desires are selfish. Jesus\nhas given us the clearest example of unselfish love the universe has\never witnessed. \"For God commendeth his love to us\"--that is, he shows\nthe exceeding greatness of it--\"in that, when we were enemies, Christ\ndied for us.\" I do not believe that we ever, in this world, can fully\nunderstand the merits of our Savior's life, death and resurrection.\nEnough for us to know that he has opened a \"new and living way\" by\nwhich we may come back to our heavenly Father and be his children\nagain.\n\nDo you know that Adam was a son of God? Luke calls him so. But he,\nlike Esau after him, sold his birthright, lost the divine image in\nwhich God had created him, and fell from his sonship. But now we read:\n\"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how\nshall he not, with him also, freely give us all things?\" The phrase,\n\"all things,\" as here used, includes a restoration to our former\nsonship with God. We, as the children of God, are exhorted to follow\nin the steps of our blessed Lord. This not only means that we are to\nshun evils and bear reproach, but it also means that we are not to\nlive unto ourselves and for ourselves alone, but unto him and his\npeople; for \"He went about doing good.\"\n\nJohn says: \"We love him because he first loved us.\" We, who are here\nassembled in his name, can truthfully repeat this language. But how do\nwe prove to ourselves and the world that we DO love him? It is by\nletting our light shine. Men do not light a candle and put it under a\nbushel. A city on a hill cannot be hid. Brethren, I hope we have all\nmade clean \"the INSIDE of the cup and the platter;\" for this is the\nonly way in which the outside can be kept clean. A pure life flows out\nof a _clean_ heart, and it can come from no other source. We show our\nlove to the Lord by observing his ordinances: by baptism, by washing\none another's feet, by partaking with each other of the Lord's Supper,\nby communing with him in his broken body and shed blood, symbolized by\nthe bread and wine: next, in \"denying ourselves of all ungodliness and\nworldly lusts, and living soberly, righteously, and godly in this\npresent world.\"\n\nThink on this last text a little bit. \"Soberly\" means _calmly sincere_;\nnot moved by fits of excitement. \"Righteously\" means _doing right_;\nright toward God by obedience, and right toward men in our dealings\nwith them and in our influence upon them. Many a brother has ruined\nhis power for good by not being _watchful_. He told \"jokes.\" He\ndelighted in frivolous, trifling things. He put on a square face at\nchurch, to be sure; but a little disappointment would lengthen it\nfearfully, and a little fun or glee would broaden it out of all\nChristian shape.\n\nFor the benefit of such and all, I will define the last but _not\nleast_ word in the apostle's category--\"godly.\" Brethren, this means\nLIKE God; and it includes all the rest, for \"God is love.\" To abide in\nGod is to live in holy, heavenly love. \"Abide in me, and I in you.\"\nWonderful, wonderful words! This is heaven on earth.\n\nThe apostle says: \"We have been made to sit together in heavenly\nplaces in Christ Jesus.\" A beautiful figure. We sit in the sun, or in\nsunny places, when the light of the sun falls upon us in that\nposition. We sit in heaven, or in heavenly places, when the light of\nheaven with its love falls full into our souls. I feel like giving\nutterance to the emotion of my heart in that sweet old love-song of\nours:\n\n  \"My willing soul would stay\n    In such a place as this;\n  And sit and sing herself away,\n    To everlasting bliss.\n\n  \"Here the Redeemer's voice\n    Sheds heavenly peace around;\n  And life and everlasting joys\n    Attend the blissful sound.\"\n\nAnd now I will close in the words of Paul's valedictory to the saints\nat Corinth: \"Finally, brethren, farewell: Be of good comfort; be of\none mind; live in peace. And the God of love and peace shall be with\nyou.\" Amen!\n\nTUESDAY, November 3. Our beloved brother started on his homeward way\ndown the Valley of Virginia. He passed through Abingdon, Salem,\nLexington and Staunton, and on\n\nTUESDAY, November 10, he reached home after an absence of two months\nto the day. He says: \"I have been absent from home just two months to\nthe day; and in this time I have traveled on horseback 1,317 miles.\nWith much thankfulness to our Father in heaven, do I recount my\nprotection and preservation through the dangers and toils of\ntraveling; the strength and support given me in preaching the Word;\nand the great joy I have had in meeting so many dear brethren and\nsisters in the Lord. Amen!\"\n\nThus closes one of the most remarkable missionary tours on record. One\nwould feel sad to think that no memorial should be reared in\ncommemoration of it. But the heart finds relief in the thought that\nthis book will perpetuate the memory of it to future generations, as a\ntale that will never grow old.\n\nBrother Kline spent the remainder of the year about home; in visiting\nthe sick; in attending to his domestic interests; and in preaching at\nthe different appointments in the district. The Brethren at this time\nhad but few houses of worship. They consequently held meetings in the\ndwelling houses of Brethren; some of which had been constructed with\nan eye to that end.\n\n\nBROTHER KLINE'S OPINIONS RELATIVE TO THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.\n\nThe Diary shows that in the course of this year, Brother Kline entered\na new field of useful activity. In his desire to do good; in his heart\nof general beneficence, we are reminded of the philanthropy of Howard\nand Wilberforce. They, it is true, wrought in a wider sphere, and\noperated on a grander scale; but it may be seriously questioned\nwhether they had any more of the love of God in their hearts, or any\ndeeper sympathy for suffering humanity in their souls, than was to be\nfound in our truly devoted pattern of genuine benevolence, Elder John\nKline. This new field was that of administering medical relief to the\nafflicted.\n\nFRIDAY, January 1, 1836. He says: \"I have long had doubts in\nregard to the curative efficacy and health-restoring virtue of the\nregularly established course of medical practice of the present day.\nActive depletion of the body, by copious blood-letting, blistering,\ndrastic cathartics and starving, is, to my mind, not the best way to\neradicate disease and restore the diseased human body to its normal\nstate. I am well aware that every age has had its own way of treating\ndiseases, and every age has thought its own way the best; but fashion\nand custom have, no doubt, had quite a controling power in this as in\nother things; and 'the fashion of the world passeth away,' because\nthere is little or nothing of substantial good in it.\"\n\n\nSAMUEL THOMPSON.\n\n\"Dr. Samuel Thompson, of Vermont, is introducing a new system of\nmedical practice which I believe to be more in accordance with the\nlaws of life and health than any I know of. His maxim, applied to\ndisease, is: 'REMOVE THE CAUSE, AND THE EFFECT WILL CEASE.'\n\n\"Every diseased condition of the body is the effect of some cause.\nThis cause being removed, the disease, either simple or complex, must\nyield to the restorative forces of nature. But to diminish the\nactivity of these forces, by copious depletion of the body, to be\nfollowed by a regimen so severe as to withhold, almost absolutely,\nthe nourishment and support nature demands, is, in my view, to say\nthe least, irrational.\"\n\nHad Brother Kline penned these words fifty years later in the century,\nthey could not be more in harmony with the popular theory of medical\nscience as it is taught in the schools of the present day. They are\nalmost prophetic. He goes on: \"I am therefore determined to try the\nnew way of treating disease, and see what I can do with it. I feel\nsure it will do no harm, even if it does but little or no good.\"\n\nHis subsequent success as a physician for many years proves that he\nwas not mistaken in the conclusions at which he arrived preparatory to\nhis entering the field of medical practice.\n\nHe procured his remedies in their virgin purity from the mountains,\nmeadows and woods, either in person, with hoe in hand, or through\nagents whom he employed for the work. Lobelia, Boneset, Pleurisy-Root,\nBlack-Cohosh, Blue-Cohosh, Lady's-slipper, Red Raspberry, Ginseng,\nSpignet, Black-Root, Seneca-Snake-Root, Gentian, May-Apple, Golden-Rod,\nand many other roots and herbs were quite familiar to him, not only as\nthey were seen growing in their native mountains, fields and forests,\nbut also as to their medical properties and uses.\n\nNo recreation could be more delightful to the true lover of nature\nthan to get on a good horse and go with him to see the Brethren, as he\ncalled it. This may sound a little odd; but the reader must know that\nBrother Kline rarely went on an errand with a single aim. His object\nseemed to be to crowd into his life all the service for both God and\nman that it was possible for him to do. In this desire to do good he\nwould sometimes humorously repeat the old saying: \"Kill as many birds\nwith one stone as you can.\"\n\nWhen the season approached for gathering \"_roots and herbs_\" he would\nsometimes write to the Brethren among the mountains of West Virginia,\nthat they might expect him to be with them at a given time. This\nannouncement always sent a thrill of joy through their hearts. The\nnews of his coming spread rapidly; and he was sure of large\ncongregations for that sparsely settled country.\n\nOne Sunday, toward the close of his life, he said to me: \"Brother\nB----, would it suit you to go with me over to Pendleton and Hardy? I\nhave a line of meetings in view; and if it would suit you to go with\nme I will be very glad of your company. I want to gather some\nmedicines by the way, and as you are fond of rambling among the\nmountains you may enjoy the trip and make yourself useful at the same\ntime.\"\n\nI agreed to go. So on Thursday morning about the latter part of July,\nvery early, we mounted our horses. \"Old Nell\"--as he called his\nfavorite riding mare, that had up to that time, as his Diary will\nshow, carried him on her back over _thirty thousand miles_--seemed to\nunderstand where we were starting for, and how fast she ought to go.\nIn the early part of the day she walked very moderately; but as the\nhours went by she quickened her gait, and really walked with a\nlivelier step in the evening than she had in the fore part of the day.\nSoon after our arrival the people began to come together for night\nmeeting at the house where we staid.\n\nAfter a most refreshing supper and a little rest we were ready to\nengage in the sacred duties of worship. Brother Kline very kindly took\nthe lead in the services, and in a very plain way delivered one of the\nbest discourses I have ever heard on Col. 1:12. This is the TEXT:\n\"_Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers\nof the inheritance of the saints in light._\"\n\nHe showed, in a very impressive way, that if an heir to an estate is\nnot qualified to appreciate that estate, to enjoy it by making a right\nuse of it, it can do him but little good. From this thought his mind\nascended heavenward; and he said that heaven, with all its glory and\nbliss, can never be a desirable inheritance to any but to those who\nare qualified or prepared for it. Those who are thus qualified are\ndescribed in the text as \"_the saints in light_.\" He then drew a most\nlively picture of the difference between a saint in light and a sinner\nin darkness. It almost chilled my blood to see how low in the scale of\nintelligent beings the one stands contrasted with the lofty elevation\nof the other.\n\nThe next day we repaired to the Shenandoah mountain to procure medical\nherbs. We went up into a very deep and rich hollow, where it looked as\nif the rays of the sun could hardly penetrate, and soon I saw his face\nlight up with something that evidently pleased him. \"Ah! here it is,\"\nsaid he. \"What is here?\" I asked. \"Don't you see this patch of\nGinseng?\" he replied. \"Is this Ginseng? It is my first sight of it.\"\n\nAs I was much younger than he I insisted upon using the hoe; but no!\nHe was so pleased that he seemed to want to do all the digging himself.\nWhen a supply of Ginseng was obtained we went to the top of the ridge,\nwhere we found a considerable quantity of Seneca-Snake-Root, an article\nvery much in demand at the present day.\n\nThe next thing sought for was the Red Raspberry. We hunted and hunted,\nand were on the point of giving up the quest, when, at the extreme\nhead of a very rough mountain hollow, we discovered a \"patch\" of the\nbushes. They were full of berries of a bright scarlet, resembling\nsomewhat in form the common raspberry, but in some other respects they\nwere quite different. They were very beautiful. If the plant would\nbear domestication it would be highly ornamental. Having filled a\n\"poke\" with the raspberry leaves, we set out to return to the place\nwhere we had left our horses. I doubt exceedingly whether I could have\nfound the spot; but his familiarity with the mountains generally, and\nhis acute perception of topographical relations in particular, enabled\nhim to find the place without difficulty.\n\nOn our way back to where we had left our horses, however, we came\nacross a \"patch\" of Golden Seal. This is a graceful plant, each one\nhaving a single calyx enclosing the seeds, somewhat in the shape of a\nbutton or seal of a bright yellow color; hence its name. \"The root of\nthis plant,\" said he, \"is an excellent alterative and tonic.\" We dug\nup the yellow roots with zest; but being by this time very hungry, I\nbegan to fear that we might come across a \"patch\" of something else\nthat might still longer delay our return. But he seemed satisfied with\nhis success, and we found our horses all right. \"Old Nell\" had,\nhowever, loosed the strap of her halter, and was quietly browsing\naround. When she heard us coming she threw up her head; and at the\ncall of his voice she came up to him.\n\nIt was past two o'clock when we got back to Brother Judy's. Dinner was\nsoon served; and to this day I do feel that if ever I have been truly\nthankful for the good things of this life it was then.\n\nWe followed up the line of appointments to the last one, and returned\nhome.\n\nAnd now, my dear reader, I can truly say, that if it is as pleasant to\nyou to _read_ these reminiscences as it is to me to _write_ them, you\nare well repaid.\n\n\n_Sermon by Peter Nead._\n\n_Preached at the Linville's Creek Meetinghouse,\nSunday, January 3, 1836._\n\n    TEXT.--Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.--I Pet. 2:7.\n\nDear Brethren, this chapter is full of instruction and encouragement.\nPeter knew by experience what it is to backslide. Now, that he is\nrestored again to full fellowship with the Lord and the church, Jesus\nseems nearer and more precious to him than ever before. In the seventh\nverse he says: \"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.\" I\nknow he must be so, because he is so precious to me. I shamefully\ndenied him when he most needed my loving support, and swore that I did\nnot know him in the darkest hour of his temptation. Who can comprehend\nhis grace? The meekness, the gentleness, the calmness of his forgiving\nheart under trials the deepest, under persecutions the greatest, even\nunto death, are surely worthy of God incarnate.\n\n\"'_I know not the man_' were the very last words he heard me utter on\nhis way through tribulations to the cross; and I added oaths to the\ndeclaration. I now fail to find words to express my surprise and joy\nat the message he sent me on the morning of his resurrection. When he\nwas placed in the tomb I had no hope of his ever coming out thence.\nBut what surprised and overcame me more than the direct news of his\nrising was the special message of love he sent me by the women who saw\nhim first. He said to them: 'Go and tell my disciples AND PETER, that\nI go into Galilee, and there they shall see me.' His forgiving love\nsingled me out as one of its special objects, because I was such a\nvile sinner, and had treated him so badly. Brother Paul calls _himself_\nthe 'chief of sinners,' because he persecuted the saints of God; but I\nfeel that _I_ must be, for I denied his Son. Truly did Paul say of all\nsuch great sinners as we are: 'Where sin abounded, grace did also much\nmore abound.' Thanks to my risen Lord, I can now with heart and voice\njoin the chorus of those that sing:\n\n  \"'O, the length and the breadth,\n  And the depth and the height\n    Of the love of Christ!\n  It passeth all understanding!\"\n\nI have here represented Peter as giving us some of his experiences;\nand I believe that my representations are correct; for in the chapter\nnext preceding the one just read, we find this joyful exclamation:\n\"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which\naccording to his ABUNDANT MERCY hath begotten us again unto a lively\nhope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.\" I must think\nthat the mercy was much more _abundant_ than Peter expected, for it\nwrought an effect upon him which he calls a _regeneration_, or a sort\nof new birth. At any rate, he says he was \"BEGOTTEN AGAIN.\" It looks\nas if it made a new man of him. It gave him new life. He never denied\nhis Lord again. When called to fulfill the prophecy of the Lord\nconcerning \"the death by which he was to glorify God,\" he faltered\nnot, but met it \"as seeing him who is invisible.\"\n\nBrethren, some of us may, at times, have a taste of Peter's experience.\nWe feel so vile in our own eyes, that, like him, we go out, and over\nour sins \"weep bitterly.\" Ah, but these are \"pearly tears\" in God's\nsight. Though we may not know it, though we may still feel too bad to\nrepair, on bended knees, to a \"throne of grace,\" yet God knows how to\nvalue them. They are precious in his sight; and it is your experience\nand mine that after seasons of this kind he sends us the brightest\ntokens of his love, and we are joyfully amazed that it is so.\n\nI once, when a boy, disobeyed my father. I have in mind a particular\ninstance of disobedience, and of a character very trying to his\npatience. When I came rightly to myself and realized my sin I was\nafraid to meet him. He discovered, without any confession on my part,\nwhat I had done. I expected severe punishment. To my surprise he met\nme with a smile. Taking me by the hand he said: \"Let us go out into\nthe orchard.\" We sat down upon the fallen trunk of an apple tree, and\ngently placing one arm around my neck, he said: \"Peter, do you know\nthat I love you?\" I instantly broke down under the weight of this arm\nof love, and answered as well as my sobs would let me, \"Yes, sir!\" \"Do\nyou love me?\" he next said. Again I answered, \"Yes, sir!\" \"Then never\nagain disobey me, my boy, and we will have a sweet and happy life\ntogether.\" And I can say from my heart, right here, I never did.\n\nI now think, dear Brethren, that you are prepared to understand what\nPeter meant by the words: \"Unto you therefore which believe he is\nprecious.\" You feel that he is precious to you, because he has taken\naway your sins by giving you a _new heart_ and filling you with his\nlove. You can now say with the Apostle John: \"We love him because he\nfirst loved us.\" Now then, inasmuch as ye love him, \"abide in his\nlove,\" and \"the God of love and peace shall be with you.\" May his\ngrace, mercy and peace be with us all forever. Amen!\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at Tobbins,\nSunday, January 10._\n\n    TEXT.--As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk\n    ye in him.--Col. 2:6.\n\nPaul addressed these words to the church at Colosse, a city of Asia\nMinor, in the Roman province called Phrygia. It may be of interest to\nyou for me to tell you something about the character of these people\nat the time Paul first visited them. Ancient history gives a very dark\npicture of this. What Paul said of Athens applied equally to Colosse:\n\"The city was wholly given to idolatry.\" The lower classes, especially,\nwere very ignorant, having no knowledge of God save that which the\nlight of nature gave them.\n\nBut when Paul went into their midst, preaching the Gospel of\nsalvation, the prophecy of Isaiah, concerning Zebulon and Naphtali,\nwas fulfilled unto them, as it had been before at Capernaum on the\nshore of the Galilean Sea: \"The people which sat in darkness saw a\ngreat light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death,\nto them did light spring up.\" They opened their eyes to the light and\nrejoiced to see it; and their hearts to the love it revealed, and they\ntook it in. They accepted Christ Jesus the Lord in all his fullness.\nFaith became to them a living principle. They felt its truth as surely\nas though with their natural eyes and ears they saw and heard all that\nit comprehended for time and eternity, for earth and heaven.\n\nBut you want to know how I find all this out. Turn with me to the\nfirst chapter of Paul's letter to them, and I will show you. Now\nnotice that right in the beginning he addresses them as \"SAINTS and\nFAITHFUL BRETHREN in Christ.\" By \"saints\" he means that they are\n_holy_; and by \"faithful brethren\" he means to tell how they got to be\nso. This, I think, is saying a good deal for them; but he goes on: \"We\ngive thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying\nalways for you; having heard of your FAITH in Christ Jesus; and of the\nLOVE which ye have toward ALL the saints, because of the HOPE which is\nlaid up for you in the heavens.\"\n\nYou now see that these Colossian brethren had the three essentials\nthat distinguish a Christian from a pagan, a saint from a sinner, and\nan angel of light from a demon of darkness. These three are _faith_,\n_hope_ and _love_; but of these Paul says that \"love is the greatest.\"\nThis they had in large measure, because it extended \"toward ALL the\nsaints.\" It is natural for every Christian to love SOME of the saints\nwhen he is free \"to pick and choose;\" but to love ALL is quite another\nthing.\n\nIf you will thoughtfully read this first chapter through, you will see\nthe high place these Colossian brethren held in Paul's confidence, not\nonly as to faith and love, but also as to the enlightenment of their\nunderstandings with heavenly wisdom. He sets forth our Lord Jesus\nChrist as the triune God--Creator, Redeemer and Savior--in loftier\nterms than are to be found anywhere else in his epistles. Had there\nbeen any doubt in his mind as to their ability to understand these\nrevelations, and thus profit by them, they would have been withheld.\nHe would have fed them with milk, as he did his Corinthian and Hebrew\nbrethren, and not with strong food.\n\nMy text says: \"As ye therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so\nwalk ye in him.\" They had received him in _faith_, and _hope_, and\n_love_. So were they instructed to walk in him. \"Ye have been buried\nwith him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through\nfaith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.\" \"Inasmuch\nthen, as ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that\nare above where Christ is seated on the right hand of God.\" \"Set your\naffections on the things above, not on the things that are upon the\nearth. For ye died; and the new life which ye now live, ye live by\nfaith in the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you.\"\n\"Avoid fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness\nwhich is idolatry; for the wrath of God is revealed against all these\nthings. And ye know that a little while ago YE LIVED AND WALKED IN ALL\nTHESE THINGS.\" This last quotation tells what these brethren _had\nbeen_, and the foregoing quotations show what they were when Paul\nwrote to them.\n\nAfter a careful study of these good instructions, these faithful\nbrethren could not mistake the way in which they were to walk. Paul\nnot only showed them how to get into the good way in the first place,\nbut he also told them how to _keep_ in the way. It is one thing _to\nget into_ the right road to any place, but it is quite another thing\nto keep it. In writing to his Galatian brethren, Paul says: \"Ye did\nrun well for awhile; who turned you out of the way?\" Ah, brethren,\nthere are many by-roads leading off from \"the king's highway.\" I have\nknown brethren and sisters to start well, to all appearance, and run\nwell for a time; but by and by the cares of the world and the\ndeceitfulness of riches, and other things, like the thorns in the\nparable, choked the Word in their hearts, so that they brought forth\nno fruit unto perfection.\n\n\nAN ILLUSTRATION.\n\nIn my travels among the mountains of our Virginia I have often seen\nthe laurel holding out its evergreen but poisonous leaves in sprays\nof most enticing beauty. Miles and miles of road, in one unbroken\nstretch, may there be seen densely hedged on either hand by this\nbeautiful emblem of sin and death. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep\nare every year driven over these roads. Every herdsman and shepherd\nknows the danger to be apprehended from the inclination of some of\neither kind to \"sidle\" off from the plain and beaten track and pluck\nthe green leaves of the laurel to their own destruction.\n\nMany a time have I overtaken flocks of sheep, some of which were lying\nalong the road \"_down with the staggers_.\" This last is the name of\nthe disease which is brought on by taking laurel. The old sheep avoid\nit. They will not taste it. The young sheep and lambs are the only\nones that incline first to taste and then eat it. It is hardly\nnecessary for me to point out to you the lesson of instruction to be\ngathered from what I have just said. The _staggers_, by veterinary\nsurgeons, is said to be a kind of drunkenness often fatal in its\neffects.\n\nThe Prophet Isaiah speaks of some who \"are drunken, but not with wine;\nwho stagger, but not with strong drink.\" I fancy I hear someone in the\ncongregation say: \"I guess they must have taken laurel.\" Precisely so,\nfriend! They took the very laurel that has been the ruin of thousands\nof the Lord's sheep and lambs. Let me tell you exactly what I mean.\n\nThe love of _worldly pleasure_ is laurel of _one kind_. It blooms\nforth in the desire for fine dress, gay company, night gatherings,\nsocial parties, and the like things.\n\n_Worldly treasure_ is laurel of _another kind_. It blooms forth in the\ndesire for worldly possessions, no matter how obtained, and only to\ngratify selfish ends. I have known some old sheep to take this kind.\n\n_Ambition to be great and highly honored_ is still _another kind_.\nThis is the \"deer-tongued\" laurel, the very tallest kind that grows,\nand has the richest looking flowers. But it is just as poisonous as\nany, and it blooms forth in the desire to be admired for beauty, to be\nlooked up to for superior power and wisdom, and to be held in high\nhonor for great deeds. I have known some _old sheep_ and even _leaders\nof the flock_ to eat of this kind until they staggered considerably.\nIt was plainly visible in their steps that their heads were not\nexactly level. I am glad, however, to be able to say, that in the\nflock to which we belong, I have met with very few who ever gave any\nsigns of being afflicted in the way last described.\n\nIn his letter to the Philippian brethren, Paul says: \"For many walk,\nof whom I told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are\nthe enemies of the cross of Christ.\"\n\nBut, brethren, there is a remedy for all these evils. God has provided\nthe remedy. Nor is it a bitter draught. It is the \"milk and wine\" of\nhis Word. Both mean TRUTH. I used to wonder why the Prophet Isaiah\nused both terms, when both mean the same thing. Now I will tell you.\nHe says: \"Come unto me, buy WINE and MILK, yea, buy WINE and MILK\nwithout money, and without price.\" _Milk_ is TRUTH in its simplest and\nplainest forms. Gospel truth presented in a way that very young and\nuninstructed minds may readily take it in, is what Paul calls \"_milk\nfor babes_.\" But wine is the very same TRUTH extended and expanded\ninto forms of instruction adapted to the understandings of \"men in\nChrist Jesus.\"\n\nAll are invited and even exhorted to come; to come to the \"fountain\nthat was opened in the house of David.\" It is the same that is meant\nby the \"river of the water of life which proceedeth from the throne of\nGod and of the Lamb.\" I exhort every one, both old and young, to study\nGod's Word for the truth it contains, represented by the beautiful\nsymbols set before you therein. Even the unconverted sinner is invited\nto come and take of the \"water of life freely.\"\n\n  \"Here pardon, love, and joy divine\n    In rich effusion flow,\n  For guilty sinners lost in sin\n    And doomed to endless woe.\"\n\nThe interval between the last given date and MONDAY, February 15, has\nnothing in it claiming special notice. But here he says: \"To-day I\nattended the funeral of little Susanna Brower, who died yesterday\nmorning. As it is our privilege to 'rejoice with those who do\nrejoice,' so it is our duty to 'weep with those that weep.\" I could\nbut weep to see the remains of this interesting little girl laid in\nthe cold and silent grave. I think it was the ancient Romans who\npersonified DEATH in the form of a walking skeleton, scythe in hand,\ncutting down whatever the whim of his fancy might suggest. This\nrepresentation may accord with the relentless strokes his scythe is\nsometimes seen to make; but the light of heaven reveals a Hand that\nholds his bony arm within its grasp; and that Hand is the hand of our\nGod. For,\n\n  \"'Not a sparrow to the ground may fall\n  But our Father's in it: Heart of Love that governs all.\n  Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.'\"\n\n\"Heaven is largely made up of children; and until every crown shall\nhave a head, and every white robe have a wearer, God will recall his\nown.\"\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 16. Brother Daniel Trump and Sister Polly Moyers were\nboth buried to-day. These make six funerals that I have attended in\nthe space of four weeks.\n\n  \"One by one, we cross the River;\n    One by one, we're ferried o'er;\n  One by one, the crowns are given\n    On the bright, celestial shore.\"\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at the Old Brick Meetinghouse, Augusta County, Virginia,\nSunday, April 24._\n\n    TEXT.--Lest there be any ... profane person, as Esau, who for one\n    morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward,\n    when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he\n    found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with\n    tears.--Heb. 12:16, 17.\n\nEsau and Jacob were twin sons of Isaac. But Esau was born first; and\nthis, according to the law of primogeniture in that day, gave him\nspecial privileges, among which was the right on his part to a double\nportion of the heritage to be received from the father.\n\nThis right Jacob treacherously bought of his brother Esau. Rebekah,\ntheir mother, was favorable to the contract, and laid the plan for its\nsuccessful completion. Esau had been unsuccessful in his pursuit of\ngame, and soon found himself in a famishing condition. Jacob took\nadvantage of this, and proposed to purchase the birthright. He said to\nEsau: \"Sell me this day thy birthright.\" And Esau said: \"Behold, I am\nat the point to die; and what profit shall this birthright do to me?\"\nAnd he sold his birthright to Jacob. \"Then Jacob gave Esau bread and a\nmess of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up and went his\nway: thus Esau despised his birthright.\"\n\nEsau is here regarded as a profane or wicked person, because he did\nnot more highly esteem the blessing to which he was born. Paul refers\nto this fact, to teach us that it is our duty, as the regenerated or\n\"firstborn\" children of God, to place a very high value upon our\nrelation to him conferred by this birth.\n\n\"Esau found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with\ntears.\" This means that all his sorrow or regret for the foolish\nbargain he had made would not and could not place him back where he\nwas before. The blessing of his father had been given to another past\nall possibility of calling it back. I do not, and can not, however, as\nsome do, apply this to the sin against the Holy Ghost. The blessing of\nJacob was all external. It comprehended only earthly things. I will\nread it, so that you may hear it: \"God give thee of the dew of heaven,\nand the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: let people\nserve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren,\nand let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that\ncurseth thee; and blessed be he that blesseth thee.\" There is nothing\nin all this giving Jacob any claim to special favor from God, beyond\nthat of mere earthly good. Neither does the sale of the birthright\nexclude Esau from any higher claim. He did not sell his right to serve\nthe Lord, and thus inherit a heavenly blessing.\n\nThe people of God sometimes do things in the way of sin that cause\nthem deep distress. At the same time they do not shut themselves\nirrevocably out of heaven, because repentance and reformation of life\nwill reinstate them into the divine favor, and place them back into\nthe good way again. But such may lose much, both in the church and the\nworld by the misstep. After the sin of adultery, for example, has been\nfairly proved against a brother or sister, he can hardly reinstate\nhimself fully into his former standing either in the church or in\nsociety at large. Thus is he like Esau. He has sold his birthright;\nyet still the Lord is ready, with outstretched arms, to receive him\nthe moment he resolves to return, just as the loving father received\nhis prodigal son. Thus it is with many other sins. They leave a sting\nin the heart which may rankle and fester a long time; and a stigma in\nthe character which may never, in this world, be entirely wiped out.\n\nIn regard to the relation of Esau and Jacob, one more thought presses\nupon my mind, and I will give it utterance. In Jehovah's prophecy to\nRebekah before the birth of the children, these words from his own\nlips were spoken: \"_The elder shall serve the younger_.\" And in the\nprophecy of Malachi, the Lord Jehovah is represented by the prophet as\nsaying: \"I loved Jacob; I hated Esau.\" Paul to the Romans quotes both\nthese passages.\n\nThe Bible reader justly enquires: \"Why this opposition to Esau and\nthis favor to Jacob, when the children, as yet unborn, had done\nneither good nor evil?\" Paul says it was: \"That the purpose of God\naccording to election might stand, not of works, but of him that\ncalleth.\" Brethren, I do sincerely believe that right here we find the\nkey to many obscure passages in Paul's writings on the subject of\nelection and predestination. God can do nothing without means. Ends as\nsurely imply means as effects imply causes. Esau and Jacob are the\nLord's chosen, elected, predestinated means of teaching his people\na lesson of instruction that covers the whole ground of every\nChristian's state and experience from the alpha to the omega.\n\nEvery true child of God possesses two distinct natures. A knowledge of\nthis wonderful truth lies within the range of every one's experience.\nBut it is equally confirmed by divine revelation. Paul calls the one\nnature or consciousness the OUTWARD MAN, and the other the INWARD MAN.\nThe one bears the image of the first Adam, and is of \"_the earth\nearthy_;\" the other bears the image of the last Adam who is the Lord,\n\"_and is heavenly_.\" Esau represents the first; and, as such, he can\nnot inherit the heavenly birthright, because he is carnal, and \"flesh\nand blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\nAs the antitype of this great truth which underlies the scheme of\nredemption, God could not but \"hate Esau,\" because \"the lust of the\nflesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of the\nFather, but are of the world.\" \"But Jacob he loved,\" because Jacob is\nthe child \"_born of God_\" in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, \"_the\ninner man_,\" which after God, is \"created in righteousness and true\nholiness.\" \"The elder shall serve the younger.\" This means that \"the\nnatural body\" must be brought under subjection and serve \"the\nspiritual body.\" For \"there is a natural body\" first born, and \"there\nis a spiritual body\" last born.\n\nIn another place Paul uses lofty terms to designate these two. He there\ncalls the one \"the earthly house of this tabernacle,\" which must perish;\nthe other \"a building of God, a house not made with hands\"--God's\nhands--\"eternal in the heavens.\" The reason why he says \"in the\nheavens\" is because it is in the light of heaven; just as he says in\nanother place, \"We have been made to sit together in heavenly places,\"\nby which he correlatively means just the same that we mean when we say\nwe sit in the sun, meaning that we sit where the light of the sun\nshines upon us.\n\nNow, Brethren beloved, I have been very brief on a subject that might\nbe profitably expanded into a volume. I hope that I have given you\npoints by which you may take the subject and think upon it for\nyourselves; and thus add faith to faith, and knowledge to knowledge.\nMay God add his blessing to what I have said, that it may prove to be\nstrength in much weakness.\n\nDuring the interval between the twenty-fourth and the twenty-eighth,\nBrother Kline visited many Brethren in Augusta County, Virginia.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 28, he attended a love feast at the brick meetinghouse.\nOf this he says: \"The afternoon meeting was well attended. The second\nchapter of Peter's first letter was read. Much good instruction for\nself-examination was given, both in German and English, from the\ngeneral scope of the chapter. I made a few remarks on the middle\nclause in the seventeenth verse: '_Love the brotherhood_.'\n\n\"I fear we do not speak and exhort one another as plainly and warmly\nas we should on this most essential part of every true believer's\nexperience and life. What keeps us a united and happy people? _Love of\nthe Brotherhood._ What keeps us from quarreling with one another, from\nslandering and defrauding one another? _Love of the Brotherhood._ What\nkeeps alive our sympathies for each other in times of distress and in\nseasons of sorrow? _Love of the Brotherhood._\n\n\"This is the golden chain that binds us together on earth, and will\nforever bind us together in heaven. As the rain first comes from the\nsea, and after refreshing and beautifying the land goes back to the\nsea again, so it is through us, Brethren, that the love we receive\nfrom Christ here will be made perfect and return to him there. Oh,\nBrethren, 'let us not love in word only, but in deed and in truth.'\"\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 4. Peter Nead and Daniel Garber started to the Annual\nMeeting.\n\nSUNDAY, May 22. Meeting at the Linville's Creek meetinghouse. Brother\nKline spoke briefly on Acts 2. He said: \"As this is the traditional\nday on which the Holy Spirit was poured out in a miraculous way, so\nthat the whole house wherein the apostles and brethren were sitting\nwas filled with his presence, so that they were all baptized in the\nHoly Spirit and in the heavenly fire, we think it good to meditate and\nspeak upon these things.\n\n\"It may be that we err by believing that each apostle was endowed with\nthe gift of all the tongues here enumerated. It would be natural, I\nthink, for those who spoke the same tongue to sit or stand together in\ncompanies. We may, even at the present day, see examples and instances\nof this in large cities and public places. Here we see a group of\nGermans. There, a company of Swedes, or Dutch, or Italians. People of\nthe same nationality as naturally seek for each other as birds seek\nfor their own kind.\n\n\"The order appears beautiful to our minds in the light of this\ninterpretation. Each apostle was gifted by the Spirit to speak in\n_one_ tongue at least. If we go to the pains to count, we will find\nthere were nearly as many apostles as nationalities represented. In\nthis way all could speak at the same time; each one to his own group\nor class of hearers, in gentle tones of voice; and all in the house\nhear at least _one_ speak in the tongue in which he was born. This\ninterpretation relieves the mind of the apparent confusion which seems\nto have pervaded that assembly, from a mere cursory reading of the\naccount given of it in the second chapter of the Acts.\n\n\"I pray God, that our dear Brethren in Yearly Meeting to-day and to\nits close may all, like the apostles, be of one mind and speak the\nsame thing.\"\n\nSUNDAY, June 5. Meeting at the Dry Fork. Brother Kline made a few\nremarks upon Eph. 5:14, \"_Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the\ndead, and Christ shall give thee light_.\"\n\n\"We called upon the drowsy, sleeping sinner to arise from his deadness\nand indifference, pointing him to the promise that Christ would shine\nupon him and give him the light of life. Whilst speaking on this\nsubject to-day, I related what was said to be a well authenticated\nfact which I lately read.\n\n\"An Indian, one evening, tied his canoe fast to a tree not far above\nthe falls of Niagara. Feeling that all was secure, he lay down in his\ncanoe and went to sleep. Just about the break of day the fastening\nfrom some cause got loose. Very probably the cord was untied by some\nmischievous person. The Indian continued to sleep. Noiselessly the\ncanoe glided down the stream, nearer and yet nearer the awful brink,\nsoftly rocking its sleeping victim to destruction. Just before the\nfrightful leap, roused by the thunder of the cataract, the poor Indian\nawoke, only in time to see himself hurled into eternity.\n\n\"O, how many unconverted men and women are borne down upon the stream\nof time, unconcerned, thoughtless, careless of the doom that so surely\nawaits them!\"\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder Daniel Miller (German)._\n\n_At Lost River Meetinghouse, West Virginia,\nSunday, July 3._\n\n    TEXT.--But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become\n    the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were\n    born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will\n    of man, but of God.--John 1:12, 13.\n\nThis Scripture has a very deep meaning; and it should be well\nunderstood, since the power in us to become children or sons of God\ndepends on the nature of our birth. If this be in any other nature\nthan that of God, it is like counterfeit money; it may look to be all\nright, and pass current for a while, but it will not bear the test of\na rigid scrutiny.\n\nSome are born of _blood_. Such may be those who adhere to a certain\nchurch, and hold certain articles of faith without examining the Word,\nbecause their father and mother and other _blood_ relatives held the\nsame, lived and died in that faith, and lie buried in the churchyard\nwhere they worshiped.\n\nSome are born of _the will of the flesh_. Such may be those who make a\nprofession of religion; but because they cannot have their own way in\neverything, and take the _lusts of the flesh_ with them under the\ncloak of a Christian profession, they either forsake the people of God\nentirely or else never come into their number.\n\nSome are born of the _will of man_. Such may be those who suffer\nthemselves to be influenced by others; coaxed, persuaded, nor even\ninduced by the promise of reward, to join a certain church and worship\nin a certain way, because it is fashionable and in good style.\n\nSome _are born of God_. Such are those who out of an honest heart\nbring forth the fruit of the Spirit unto perfection.\n\nPaul, in his letter to the Galatians, shows the striking contrast\nbetween the fruit of man's fleshly, sensual or animal nature and that\nof his spiritual or renewed nature. The first he calls THE FLESH; the\nlast, THE SPIRIT. Man's spirit is what is born again. In one place he\ndesignates the new birth as \"being renewed in the _spirit_ of the\nmind.\" In another place as \"dead to the world, but alive unto God.\"\nThe prayer of such is: \"Lord, what wouldst THOU have me to do?\"\nFinding a clear answer to this prayer in the Word of Truth, they are\nwilling to follow its leadings. They descend into the baptismal wave\n\"for the remission of sins.\" They go into the house of God and are not\nabove stooping to wash one another's feet. They eat the Lord's Supper.\nThey commune with him in the emblems of his broken body and shed\nblood. They continue to walk as nearly as they can in all the commands\nand ordinances of the Lord blameless.\n\nThe difference between the present and future state of the man who\nlives after the flesh and that of the man who lives after the spirit\nis very sharply marked in many places in Paul's writings, in words\nthat cannot be easily misunderstood. He uses such language as this:\n\"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the\nSpirit do mortify the deeds [lusts] of the body, ye shall live.\" \"To\nbe carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and\npeace.\" \"He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap\ncorruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap\nlife everlasting.\" \"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of\nGod,\"--which is the new birth,--\"is eternal life, through Jesus Christ\nour Lord.\"\n\nAll these quotations are in perfect accord with our Lord's closing\nwords to the Sermon on the Mount: \"Every one that heareth these\nsayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish\nman, which built his house upon the sand: ... and it fell: and great\nwas the fall of it.\"\n\nI do not think it is very hard for any one to tell the kind of birth\nhe is of. As an individual can tell by looking in a glass, if in no\nother way, whether he is black or white, so the professor of religion,\nby turning to the Gospel Mirror, can see what kind of a birth he is\nof.\n\nI sometimes feel sorry when I think that a child has no control over\nits own natural birth. If it is born black and into slavery, poor\nlittle thing, there it has to remain for life, and bear and suffer all\nthe evils incident to its color and condition. If one is born with\nnatural deformities which baffle all surgical skill; or with blindness\nor deafness past all remedy; we can but pity and weep. True, our\nsympathies are aroused, and but for such objects probably the very\npurest and noblest springs in our nature would remain forever sealed\nwith ice.\n\nBut, thanks to our God, no such unalterable conditions ever attend\nman's spiritual birth. He himself is a party to the covenant under\nwhich every spiritual birth is effected from conception to\nparturition. God is one party; and man, in whom the new spiritual\nbirth is to be effected, is the other party. This I speak in respect\nto the divine, heavenly birth. Men are the parties on both sides in\nall the other births spoken of in the text. God has nothing to do with\nthem.\n\nThe Jews were nearly all born after these ways. Most of them seem to\nhave been \"born of blood.\" \"We have Abraham to our father.\" Some were\nborn of the \"will of the flesh,\" for when the Lord told them the truth\n\"they took up stones to stone him.\" These were included among those to\nwhom he said: \"Ye are of your father the devil.\" The will of the flesh\nand the will of the devil in spiritual things is one and the same.\nSome among them seem to have been \"born of the will of man.\" There may\nhave been a good many of this class. When the Lord was teaching in\nJerusalem many asked the question; \"Have any of the rulers believed on\nhim?\" Such were the children of the rulers, born of their will.\n\nOne fact is true of all these births; no matter how black, or\ndeformed, or blind, or deaf, all these were spiritually, they were all\nborn just as they wished to be; and all chose, with comparatively few\nexceptions, to remain in the state in which they were born. On the day\nof the crucifixion spirits from all classes of births culminated in\nthe cry: \"His blood be on us and our children.\"\n\nI hope what I have said may awaken some thought in the mind of each\nhearer, as to the state of his own heart. Do I love the Lord my God\nwith all my heart, and my brother as I love myself? Do I show this\nlove in my dealings with him, and in my daily conduct towards him? Do\nI show my love to the Lord by walking continually in his ways? Enoch\nwalked with him thus for three hundred years. Am I careful to follow\nhis example during the _few_ years allotted me here? If I do not love\nmy brother and find delight in his company here, how can I be happy\nwith him in heaven? If I do not love the Lord here, in whose love\nalone there is bliss, what will heaven be to me?\n\nNo wonder the doom of the hypocrite is so fearful! When his cloak is\nremoved and the wolf appears in the presence of the angels, will they\nnot shrink from him as one of us would shrink from a viper coiled\nabout our feet?\n\nBrethren, let us be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work\nof the Lord; forasmuch as we know that our labor is not in vain in the\nLord.\n\nBrother Kline bore a hearty testimony to Brother Miller's discourse\nthroughout.\n\n\n_A Short Discourse by Elder Daniel Garber._\n\n_Sunday, August 7._\n\n    TEXT.--For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by\n    Jesus Christ.--John 1:17.\n\nBy the law spoken of in the text we are to understand the Decalogue,\nor Ten Commandments, as they are usually called. We are not to\nunderstand that this law is not truth. Far from it. It is truth so\nsacred and holy in God's sight that he directed Moses to construct an\nark or small chest out of pure gold and place therein the two stone\ntablets on which the law was engraved by the finger of God, and keep\nthem there forever.\n\nJesus the Lord honored it. He fulfilled it, not only in the letter,\nbut in the spirit. His outward life was so righteous that none could\nconvict him of sin. \"He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate\nfrom sinners:\" not _separate_ in the sense of not eating and drinking\nwith them, of not associating and conversing with them; but separate\nin the sense that he was not, like them, a transgressor of the law of\nGod.\n\nThe Lord's heart and hand were together in all he did. His thoughts\nand his words were one. His looks, and all the expressions of his\nface, were but images of the love within. His denunciations against\nPharisaical hypocrisy, cloaked under the guise of outward rectitude,\nwere like an avalanche of snow and ice, unlocked by the rays of the\nSun of Righteousness.\n\nJesus said: \"It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for\none tittle of the law to fail.\" A tittle is a very small point in a\nletter. Many Hebrew letters have dots or tittles. A change in the\ntittles of the letters that compose a word changes the meaning of the\nword. But Jesus says not a tittle shall pass from the law. It will to\neternity mean just what it means now, and will continue to be the bond\nof union with saints and angels forever in heaven. It is all love.\nLove is the alpha and the omega of the law; for the law is of God, and\n\"God is love.\"\n\nSome people call MERCY God's _darling_ attribute. They clothe her in a\nwhite robe down to the feet; they fill her eyes with the milk of human\nkindness and her mouth with the tender words of forgiveness. But\nJUSTICE is a very different personification in their eye. He is not\nonly masculine as to gender, but all his looks and ways have an air of\n_condemnation_ in them. He is a dark-faced, frowning judge, forever\nwatching with keenest eye not only the outward life of every man, but\nhis mind and heart within; and is always ready to pass judgment\nagainst every one guilty of the slightest transgression and\ndisobedience.\n\nSuch conceptions may not be sinful; but they are very far from\nagreeing with the revelations God has made of himself to men. In these\nhe discloses himself as \"a God merciful and gracious; abundant in\ngoodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands; slow to anger; ready\nto pardon; and of great kindness.\" (Nehemiah 9:17.) He is just, it is\ntrue. But what is justice? I answer that justice, in its highest and\ndivinest sense, _is equal good and equal right_ to all. And does not\nthis imply love? I do unhesitatingly declare that there is quite as\nmuch love in the administrations of justice as there is in the\nbestowments of mercy.\n\nIn _justice_, however, the love appears in one light; and in _mercy_\nor _grace_ the love appears in another. God's love for the holy angels\nand the spirits of just men made perfect is unmixed love, or the love\nof complacency. This manifestation of his love is JUSTICE in its\nhighest and purest sense. God's love for sinners who have transgressed\nhis law, and who, on this account, are \"miserable and wretched, and\npoor, and blind, and naked,\" is mixed love. It is mixed with pity, and\nis what is called the love of compassion. This manifestation of his\nlove is GRACE in its highest and purest sense. This is just what our\nLord Jesus Christ brought with him. If all the race of mankind had\ncontinued righteous, as man was when first brought into being, the\nword GRACE would never have had a place in heaven's vocabulary. But\nsince man has fallen, fallen into sin, into death both corporeal and\nspiritual, into sickness and sorrow, into labor for his bread, into\nhunger and thirst, and anxieties and cares, God has ever pitied him.\nInstead of our Lord's saying, \"God so loved the world,\" he might have\nsaid, \"God so PITIED the world.\"\n\nIn reading the New Testament now you need not wonder why the word\nGRACE is so often met with. It means just what Jesus has brought into\nthe world--_love for sinners_. \"He came not to condemn the world, but\nto save the world.\" But notice, he brought not only _love_ but _truth_\nwith it, and _truth_ is neither more nor less than the forms or\nmanifestations of true love. Let me illustrate this. You love your\nbrother. But he does not know it until you manifest your love by the\nthousand ways that are open for this in your associations and dealings\nwith him. Every manifestation of this love is a _truth_ by which you\nprove that you do love him.\n\nHow does our Lord prove that he loves sinners? By the TRUTH that\nmanifests or shows it. In the first place he went about doing good, in\nthe way of healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, cleansing the\nlepers, making the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the dead to\ncome to life. In the next place he showed his love by the meekness and\npatience with which he bore the scoffs and sneers, and persecutions of\nthe opposing Jews. In the next place, by the promises of eternal life\nand salvation which he gave to the very worst of sinners, on the easy\nterms that they repent of their sins, by turning to God and living a\nlife of faithful obedience to his Word. In the next place,--and all\nthe other proofs culminate in this,--by dying upon the cross, by which\nhe atoned for the sins of the whole world. In this, his last\ntemptation, he conquered sin, death and hell; and as a mighty\nConqueror he has become the Captain of our salvation and the Author of\neternal life to all them that obey him.\n\nBut light will not enter the eye that is closed; neither will the\nwords of grace and truth enter the heart unless there be a will to\ntake them in. Some here present, I feel sure, have taken the words in,\nand ye rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Yours is the joy that no\nman taketh from you. Yours is an unfailing treasure in the heavens.\nYours to sing:\n\n  \"Should earth against my soul engage,\n    And fiery darts be hurled;\n  Now I can smile at Satan's rage\n    And face a frowning world.\n\n  \"Let cares, like a wild deluge, come,\n    And storms of sorrow fall,\n  So I but safely reach my home,\n    My God, my heaven, my all.\n\n  \"There shall I bathe my weary soul\n    In seas of heavenly rest;\n  And not a wave of trouble roll\n    Across my peaceful breast.\"\n\nBut I am sad to think how many there are who have never yet \"tasted\nthat the Lord is gracious.\" May I not induce some to look to him\nto-day? There _is life in a look_ when it springs from love and\nis followed by obedience. \"Look unto me, saith the Lord, and be ye\nsaved, all ye ends of the earth.\" Sinner, thou art one of these ends.\nLook and live.\n\n\nBAPTISMAL SCENE AT BENJAMIN BOWMAN'S,\nSUNDAY, AUGUST 29.\n\nPeter Driver and wife, and Benjamin Byerly were baptized to-day.\n\nWhilst it is our delight and joy to see even the vilest and the lowest\ncome into the church through the divinely appointed way, still it is\nan additional pleasure, especially in the view of helpfulness to the\ncause, when such excellent and true-hearted people as those above\nnamed cast in their lot with us.\n\nThese dear people will draw their children into the church where they\nare, and many of the grandchildren will follow their steps. Thus will\nthey sow the seeds of a good life by the power of example, and others\nwill reap the harvest. These, in turn, will sow again for others,\nuntil, after awhile, all will realize the truth of our Lord's words:\n\"He that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.\"\n\n\nLOVE FEAST AT BEAVER CREEK MEETINGHOUSE,\nSATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24.\n\nPreparatory services began at two P.M. Second Corinthians 5 was read.\nThere was much good speaking. One brother's remarks on the ninth\nverse deeply interested me. They were in substance as follows:\nTEXT.--\"_Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent,\nto be well-pleasing unto him._\"\n\nNo better aim can ever have place in the breast of man or angel. But\nhow natural it is for us to aim to please ourselves and others! There\nis no wrong in trying to please others, when that aim does not\nconflict with what pleases God. But for any one, especially a minister\nof the Gospel, to make it his chief aim to please others, that he may\nbecome popular and be highly esteemed of men, is an abomination to\nGod.\n\nWhether we are as humble and self-denying in all things as we should\nbe, is a subject for self-examination, not only on the part of our lay\nbrethren, but as well on the part of us who are ministers of the Word.\nSelf-love is self-worship. \"_Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,\nand him only shalt thou serve_,\" is as true to-day as when it was\nhurled against the devil from the lips of Jesus Christ. Worship is\nlove; and love unites us to the Lord, as the branch is united with the\nvine which is its life. Man has no spiritual life in himself other\nthan what comes from the Lord.\n\nA man's home life is his _real_ life. In the presence of his\nfamily, when no stranger's eye or ear is nigh, he is out and out\nhimself, and he then and there appears in his real character. But when\nabsent, either among his brethren or strangers, he aims to put the\nbest foot foremost and leave a favorable impression. I do not say that\nthis is true of every one; but I _do_ say, and say it from the\ndepth of my soul's deepest affection, that the apostle's resolution\nshould be true in the heart of every brother and sister: \"We make it\nour aim, whether at home or abroad, _to be well-pleasing unto\nGod_.\"\n\n\nBAPTISMAL SCENE AT THE LINVILLE'S CREEK MEETINGHOUSE,\nSUNDAY, OCTOBER 9.\n\nJohn Zigler and wife, Celestine Whitmore and wife, and David Haller\nwere baptized to-day.\n\nI rejoice that these good people have cast in their lot with us; and\nhope that they will prove to be a blessing and an ornament in the\nchurch. Brother David Haller is a very sensible and active man, with a\nyoung family, and he can do much for the good cause. Brother Celestine\nWhitmore will exert a good influence on Lost River. And Brother John\nZigler will show to the world how an active business may be carried on\nin a godly way. \"For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, did\nput on Christ.\"\n\nHistory tells us that Xenophon, in his famous retreat from Cunaxa,\nwore a wolfskin about his shoulders and breast. This was becoming to\nhim as the general of an army of Greeks trained to slaughter, and bent\non cutting his way through all opposition with the sword. It might\nalso have been a suitable covering for each soldier in his army; since\nthe uniform of an army is thought to signify, in some measure, the\nspirit by which the soldiers are incited to action.\n\nThe uniform of the soldier in the army of the Lord should, therefore,\nsignify the spirit and mind that is in him. If the spirit is that of\nnonconformity to the world, so should the dress or uniform be. If the\nspirit is that of meekness, humility, kindness, goodness, purity,\npeace and love, the dress of both sexes, each in its appropriate form,\nshould correspond to these affections of the heart.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 20. Brother Kline and Daniel Garber started to\n\n\nTHE GLADES.\n\nThe Diary does not say where THE GLADES are, but, from the churches\nand Brethren visited, it is inferred that they lie in the southern\npart of western Pennsylvania.\n\nAmong the places named at which they attended meetings may be\nmentioned Abraham Beachley's; Myers's schoolhouse; William Miller's;\nBrother Blaugh's; Berben; Brother Moser's; Dr. Krone's; Jacob Myers's\nand Bearkles. At the last-named place a council meeting was held at\nwhich brethren Cover and Fahrney were established in the second degree\nof the ministry. \"They both,\" so the Diary says, \"have a good report\nfrom those that are without, as well as from those that are within.\"\n\nOn their homeward way our two brethren had night meeting at Abbey\nArnold's in Hampshire County, Virginia. The last chapter of Revelation\nwas read. Brother Kline says: \"Toward the close of my discourse I gave\na farewell invitation to sinners to come and take of the 'Water of\nLife freely.' After meeting one man came to me and said that he was\ntired of drinking of the bitter waters of sin and thirsted for the\nsweet 'Water of Life.' I told him that our Lord Jesus Christ, who is\nthe Way, the Truth and the Life as revealed in his Word, is the Water\nof Life, that _our loving acceptance of the truth of his Word as a\nmatter of faith, and our living a life of obedience to God in\nconformity with that truth_ is drinking the Water of Life. It then\nbecomes eternal life to our souls. I tried to encourage him to drink\nin this way; but I do not know what he may do.\"\n\n\nDEPARTED MINISTERS.\n\nSome things may appear in this book that are of little interest to the\ngeneral reader. In this respect, however, it may not differ from many\nother books. The reader should kindly bear in mind that nearly all of\nthe ministers and other Brethren whose names appear, in the fore part\nof the work especially, are known on earth no more, save as they live\nin the memory of those whom they have left behind.\n\nIn the list of deceased ministers are to be seen the names of Peter\nNead, Abraham Flory, Daniel Garber, Daniel Miller, Martain Miller,\nGeorge Hoke, Benjamin Bowman, Jacob Wyne, John Wyne, Daniel Thomas,\nJohn Harshberger, and a host of others. The records of these noble\nministers of the Word are on high. No earthly monuments have ever been\nreared in honor of their achievements; and they need none. The good\nthey have done by leaving the world and the church better off than\nthey found them has won for them a crown of glory in heaven as\nimperishable as the throne of the eternal. The reader should remember\nthat a sort of filial love for these men still lingers in the memory\nof many, who, in their younger days were personally acquainted with\nthem. They heard them preach; and they looked up to them as children\nto parents. A lock of hair from a loved one long since passed away, is\na little thing,--a _very_ little thing in the eye of a stranger,--but\nin the eye of a loving friend it is above price. So some things in\nthis work, apparently trivial to the general reader, may be highly\nprized by others. I will give, for an example, the following\nstatement:\n\nMONDAY, November 21. Peter Nead and Benjamin Bowman go with me to\nHarrisonburg, and obtain license of the County Court of Rockingham\nCounty, Virginia, to perform the ceremony of marriage.\n\nThis statement, taken from the Diary, may seem of no consequence to\nsome; they may feel, as their eyes glance over it, that it is of no\ninterest to them; when at the same time, to others it will be an\nincident they will never forget. Many can now say that one or the\nother of these ministers performed the ceremony when their father and\nmother were married. One or the other of these names stands upon the\n\"Marriage Record\" in many an old Family Bible. Even the grandchildren\nwill find interest in things like these; and to learn more about\nthese, and many other great and good men who have lived and died in\nthe church of the Brethren, will not only interest the mind, but\nimprove the heart.\n\n\nA MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY OF THE AURORA BOREALIS.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 26. This night, says the Diary, a very wonderful\ndisplay of the Aurora borealis was witnessed. The sky was all over a\nbright red, with white streaks streaming up from the north. The sight\nwas wonderfully grand. As to the cause of this sublimely beautiful\nphenomenon various opinions have been held, and various theories\nlaunched upon the waves of scientific thought; but none, as yet, to my\nknowledge, have covered the ground of a satisfactory solution. Let the\ncause be what it may, there seems to be no good reason for fearing any\nharm to the earth or its inhabitants from its occasional appearance.\n\nI have since learned, however, that many people were frightened at\nthe sight, and feared that the last day was at hand. One sister in\nparticular, not far from here, wrung her hands screaming almost\nspasmodically, fearing in her soul that the next thing would be the\nsound of \"the last trumpet.\"\n\nSome may smile at this; but suppose the trumpet had then sounded!\nWould those who now smile, or perhaps laugh, have been able to hear\nthe thunder of its voice with a steadier nerve than she? Her faith was\nstrong; nay, too strong for the weakness of her feeble body. She\nbelieved every word of Divine Truth. She believed in a final judgment,\nthan which nothing is more positively declared in the sacred\nScriptures. But because she had never seen such a sight before, and as\nno one could account for it, the conclusion was quickly reached that\nit was supernatural and sent as a herald of the coming Lord.\n\nBut he will come, and every eye shall see him. But \"who shall abide\nthe day of his coming?\" Only they who shelter under the almighty wings\nof Jesus. \"How often\"--said he to Jerusalem, and now to every one\nelse--\"would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen doth\ngather her chickens under her wings.\" To those who laugh at sacred\nthings now, it may _then_ be said what follows in the above\nconnection: \"Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.\"\n\n  \"Hide me, O my Savior, hide;\n  'Neath the shadow of thy wing.\"\n\nThe above phenomenon lasted till midnight.\n\nSUNDAY, February 12. \"Peter Nead was with me at the Plains to-day.\"\nWhether Brother Kline saw or heard something in Peter Nead to-day that\nespecially wrought upon his attention, he does not say; but this\nfollows in the entry: \"Brother Nead gives promise of becoming a very\nable speaker and a very useful man. May the Lord prosper him in all he\nsets his heart and hand to in his service.\" The church now knows the\nsingular correctness of Brother Kline's estimate of the man, written\nover sixty years ago.\n\nBrother Nead, like many other good and live men, may have had some\napparent eccentricities in the direction of practical conservatism and\nthe like; but, take him through and through, it is questionable if the\nchurch has ever been favored with a purer or sounder man.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 4. Preparations are being made to-day for the Annual\nMeeting. The brethren and sisters are all alive with desire to make\nall the visiting brethren and sisters as comfortable as possible\nduring the meeting.\n\nThe Diary reports the arrival, during the next week, of brethren from\nTennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among those named are John and\nJoseph Bowman, Henry Kurtz, George Hoke and Brother Yant.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 11. Brother Beachley arrived. Brother Kline reports\nsomething like a heavenly feeling permeating the heart at the sight of\nthe arrival of those beloved brethren. They all stopped with Brother\nKline, whose house and heart both were large enough for their\nreception and entertainment.\n\nAs editor of this book, what would I not give for an exact report of\nthe heart-refreshing conversations and sweet interchanges of thought\nand sentiment enjoyed by this group of heavenly-minded brethren,\nduring their sojourn here! As a relief, however, to this thought\nanother comes to mind, that this same group are again together, not\nfor a \"Yearly Meeting,\" but for an eternal meeting. The last one has\nbeen called to glory. The cross then; the crown now.\n\nThe interviews of brethren with each other fifty or sixty years ago\npresent a striking contrast when placed side by side with those of\nthe present day. The native simplicity, the artless manners, and the\nhonest motives of all betokened a purity of heart and life that was\ntruly charming. We mourn the absence of these marks of genuine piety,\nwhen at the present day, we see artistic display, formality, stiffness,\nand a \"putting on\" of studied courtesies and civilities on the part of\nmany. The exterior of the hive is more ornamental now than it was\nthen, and the swarm may have the appearance of better order in some of\nits workings, but it is a question whether there is as much pure honey\ninside. The _robe_ may be more showy, but there is less wool in the\n\"_nap_.\"\n\nFRIDAY, May 12, and SATURDAY, May 13, were spent at the meetinghouse\npreparing to have everything in order.\n\n\nYEARLY MEETING BEGINS.\n\n_Introductory Sermon by Elder George Hoke, of Ohio,\nSunday, May 14._\n\n    TEXT.--And it came to pass, that while they communed together and\n    reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.--Luke\n    24:15.\n\nTo the true child of God no conceptions of bliss are worthy of being\ncompared with those that flow from an ideal companionship and\nassociation with our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\n  \"To dwell with him; to feel his love,\n  Is heavenly bliss enjoyed above:\n  And the sweet expectation now\n  Is the same bliss begun below.\"\n\nThe text selected is suited to the occasion that has brought many of\nus together. We have met to commune in our thoughts with each other,\nand to reason together. Since the first hour of my arrival here I\ncould but notice the delight, and even joy, on the part of many at\nmeeting former acquaintances and renewing the ties of love, both\nsocial and Christian, that have bound us together in one common\nBrotherhood for years in the past, and which are still to bind us and\nour children's children together in the future on earth and the\neternity in glory.\n\nThe subject for to-day naturally divides itself into three propositions:\n\n    I. _They communed and reasoned together._\n   II. _Jesus himself drew near._\n  III. _Jesus himself went with them._\n\nWe readily enough, at the start, inquire who they were that communed\nand reasoned together. This we never can know with certainty, until\nthe scales of mortality drop from our eyes. One, we are told, was\nCleopas by name. It may have been the same Cleopas whose wife had\nstood by the cross. Some think the other was Luke, the writer of the\nEvangel, whom Paul calls the beloved physician.\n\nSlowly and sadly, with crushed hopes and broken hearts, these two\nloving disciples of our Lord were wending their way from the scenes of\nconfusion that had attended his crucifixion in Jerusalem to a quiet\nlittle village about eight miles distant, called Emmaus. Here, at\nleast, they hoped to find exemption from the taunts and sneers of the\ninfatuated mob in the city, whose mutterings were still to be heard in\nthe distance, like those of a cyclone that has done its work.\n\n\nI. \"THEY COMMUNED AND REASONED TOGETHER.\"\n\nThe particular point in their conversation is not stated, but it is\nincluded in the general topic which is given as \"the things which have\nhappened in Jerusalem concerning Jesus of Nazareth.\" The imagination\nhere finds scope to multiply themes without limit, on which they could\nreason, and over which they could be sad. At this very point of time,\njust when despair, like darkness at the close of an evening twilight,\nhad settled down upon the entire landscape of their mental sight,\n\n\nII. \"JESUS HIMSELF DREW NEAR.\"\n\n_\"But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.\"_ This\nsimple statement has more than once caused \"smiles in tears;\" _smiles_\nat the half playfulness of Jesus talking to these two beloved\ndisciples as a tender father sometimes talks to his little children;\nand _tears_ at the condescending love of Christ our God and Lord,\nwalking as a wayfaring man with two of his heartbroken creatures. Can\nyou take this in, and not fall at his feet and kiss them? Can you take\nthis in, and not look up into his face smiling through your tears?\n\nAnd then he said: \"Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things\nand to enter into his glory?\" This very sentence, by which he shed the\nfirst rays of light upon the dark waters of their storm-beaten bosoms,\ntells the whole tale of Christ's redeeming love. The cross and crown!\nJoy of earth and bliss of heaven! The cross of dishonor; the crown of\nglory! The cross of death; the crown of life!\n\n\"But their eyes were holden, that they should not know him.\" He came\nas the divine Word. He is the truth and the life of the Word; for \"the\nWord was made flesh, and dwelt among us.\" Though they knew not that it\nwas he, still their hearts did burn within them as he opened unto them\nthe scriptures. \"Beginning at Moses he interpreted to them in all the\nScriptures the things concerning himself.\" They do not tell us the\npassages he quoted and explained; but it is believed we have them all\nin our Bibles. I think it is evident we have all the Scriptures now\nthat were extant then; and it is our great privilege to hunt up for\nourselves and others these broken pieces of the Bread of Life.\n\nThe word \"HOLDEN\" means simply, _held back; restrained_. For wise\nreasons he _held back_ the sight of their eyes that they should not\nknow him. Had they known him at first sight, it would have interfered\nwith and prevented the accomplishment of his gracious purpose to make\nhimself known in the \"breaking of bread.\" In this very act he has\ntaught his people one of the most precious lessons in all the\nChristian's experiences. He is the Bread of eternal Life. His whole\nWord is but one great loaf, and he is that loaf. And how my soul\nquivers with the thought that if we invite him in as these loving\ndisciples did, and ask him to abide with us, he will take a seat with\nus at table, and break unto us the Bread of Life. Our spiritual eyes\nwill be opened, and we shall joyfully know him. Then will\n\n  \"Our hearts grow warm with heavenly fire;\n  And kindle with a pure desire;\n  While our blest Savior from above\n  Feeds all our souls with holy love.\"\n\nNone but those\n\n        \"that know the Lord,\n  And taste the sweetness of his Word,\"\n\ncan ever know the joys of his salvation.\n\n\nIII. \"JESUS HIMSELF WENT WITH THEM.\"\n\nWe are not informed how many of the sixty furloughs they had already\npassed over on their way when \"Jesus himself drew near, and went with\nthem;\" but from the loving kindness of our Lord we readily conclude\nthey had not gone very far. \"Can a mother forget her sucking child?\nYea, she may forget; yet will not I forget thee.\" He knew the depth of\ntheir disappointment and the grief that followed when they could say:\n\"We hoped that it was he which should redeem Israel.\" \"_We hoped_--;\"\nbut alas! all hope is now forever gone. It lies buried with him in his\ntomb.\n\nIf one born blind could unexpectedly open his eyes to see the light of\nthe morning sun in a cloudless sky, the surprise and joy could not be\ngreater than were these to the two sitting at the table. They forgot\nto eat. They were so filled with the sight of the Lord that their\nhunger for that which merely represented him was all gone. They not\nonly saw the proof of his resurrection; but in him they felt the\nresurrection of their own buried _faith_, and _hope_, and _love_.\n\n\"They rose up that very hour,--\" I do not believe they sat still one\nminute after he vanished out of their sight--\"and returned to\nJerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, ... saying, The\nLord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.\" This was to them\none of the wonders connected with his rising, as Simon had so\nshamefully denied him so shortly before. But such is the fullness of\nhis grace, that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound unto\nall such as are willing to receive it.\n\nSome people do not believe the story of the resurrection. But, strange\nto say, they can believe something a hundred times less reasonable,\nand absolutely false. They can believe that a LIE has done more to\nbetter the condition of mankind in this world than all the truth that\nhas ever been told. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the keystone\nto the great arch upon which rest all the truths of Divine Revelation.\nDestroy this, and the arch, with all upon it, falls a pile of ruins.\n\nThere is one special fact connected with the Lord's resurrection which\nwe must not forget. He never appeared to any but his own. They, only,\nhad eyes to see him. Some may wonder why he did not go out into the\nstreets of Jerusalem and there, to gaping crowds, show his risen form\nwith the nail prints and the spear mark still fresh in his hands and\nhis feet, and in his side. In answer to this I have but little to say,\nmore than that he was ever averse to casting pearls before swine or\ngiving that which is holy unto dogs. I will add this, however, that as\nnone but spiritual eyes can see him now, so none but spiritual eyes\ncould see him then. This is what he meant by saying: \"Yet a little\nwhile, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me: because I\nlive, ye shall live also.\"\n\nAnd now, my dear Brethren, what have we learned by our meditation\nto-day? If we have learned to know the Lord a little better, that we\nmay draw nearer to him, we are edified, and our preaching and hearing\nhave not been void. In all our communings with him, Brethren, let us\nbelieve and love with all our hearts. In our reasonings together let\nus know and _feel_ that \"_he is nigh, even at hand_.\" When we are in\nthe way of duty, we love to feel that Jesus is with us, that he knows\nall we think, and sees all we do; but when out of the way, when\nwalking in forbidden paths, how abashed and confused would we feel, if\n\"_Jesus himself_ were to draw near!\" O brethren and sisters, let us so\nlive, that every thought and word and act of our lives may be fit for\nhis eye. Lord, give us grace so to live. Amen!\n\n\nYEARLY MEETING OPENS\n\n_At the Linville's Creek Church,\nMonday, May 15._\n\nBrethren Henry Kurtz, John Garber, Umstead and Price spoke in\nexposition of the Word and doctrine in the forenoon meeting, which\nopened at 8 A.M.\n\nBrother Price took the lead, and spoke from 1 Peter 1:12. I will give\na faithful report of his discourse as nearly exact as it can be made\nfrom the very brief outlines left by Brother Kline. Had the thought\never entered Brother Kline's mind that his Diary might at some future\nday be published in a regularly prepared form, I feel sure he would\nhave left more extended entries on points of intense interest.\n\n    TEXT.--\"Which things the angels desire to look into.\"\n\nSalvation is infinitely the most momentous subject that can engage the\nthoughts of men. It embraces a knowledge of God on the one hand and a\nknowledge of man on the other. It is a pleasing thought that as the\nknowledge of God is unfolded to the mind, a knowledge of man's own\nsinful and lost condition flows in along with it; so that the very\nsame light which enables him to perceive the love and goodness and\ntruth and holiness of God imparts to him at the same time a view of\nhis own sinful state. He is led to see and feel in himself a spiritual\ncondition which is the very opposite of that which he discovers in God\nhis Creator, Preserver and bountiful Benefactor.\n\nThe Bible tells us that \"in the beginning God made man upright,\" that\nhe created him in his own image, after his own likeness, and pronounced\nhim, with all else that he had made, \"_very good_.\" But how is man\nnow? What is his moral and spiritual condition? I appeal to the heart\nexperience of every one in this house for an answer. Brother, there is\nno charge on the part of the church against you. The church has never\nat any time preferred a charge against you. You are loved and held in\nhigh esteem by all the brethren and sisters. The laws of your land\nhave never brought an accusation against you. You have, in the most\nminute particulars, been \"a law-abiding citizen.\" More than all this,\nyou labor to do all the good you can, by feeding and clothing the\npoor; by helping to keep up the church, and by aiding in the spread of\nthe Gospel. You also help your neighborhood, county and State by\npaying all your dues and by voluntary contributions of money or labor\nto public improvements, education and whatever else may be for the\ngeneral good, as necessity may demand.\n\nBut, with all these excellencies in your character and life in full\nview, I ask you, as in the presence of God: Do you feel in your\n_heart_ that you are a _good_ man? Would you be willing for the world\nand the church to know every thought and imagination and desire that\nenters your heart and passes through your mind in the short space of\none day of your life? Do you feel that all within is fit for the eye\nof God? I know, or _think_ I know, just what is in your mind, and your\nanswer is in words like these: \"I do not feel that I am good. It is\nonly by constant watchfulness, by looking to Jesus in his Word, and by\nreading his Word with prayer, in connection with my attendance upon\nthe ordinances of his house, that I am enabled to walk in the path I\ngo, and lead the life I do.\n\n  \"'He LEADETH me: HE leadeth me:\n  By his own hand he leadeth me.'\n\n\"His promise, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the\nworld,' sustains my hope and assures me that 'he will never leave me,\nnor forsake me.' Thus, God being my helper, I do all the good I can,\nand shun the evil. In this way 'I labor, whether at home or absent, to\nbe well-pleasing to him; and work out my own salvation with fear and\ntrembling;' feeling, however, at the same time, a blessed assurance\nthat it is God who worketh in me both to will and to do the things\nthat are pleasing in his sight.\"\n\nBrethren, this is salvation. It is the sum of \"the things which many\nprophets and wise men desired to see, and saw them not; and to hear,\nand heard them not.\" But let us look at the divine forces, brother,\nthat have wrought in you this wonderful change from a life of\n_self-love_, into which you were born by nature, to a life of divine\nlove, joyful, holy, heavenly love to God and your brother, into which\nyou have been born by the Spirit.\n\nPeter tells us something about this in the chapter read. He here says:\n\"Ye were REDEEMED, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold,\nfrom your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; but with\nthe precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,\neven the blood of Christ.... Ye have purified your souls in your\nobedience to the truth; ... having been begotten [or born] again, ...\nthrough the word of God, which liveth and abideth.\"\n\nHe now introduces the contrast between man's natural birth and his\nspiritual birth: \"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that\nwhich is born of the Spirit is spirit;\" and he says:\n\n  \"All flesh is as grass,\n  And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass.\n  The grass withereth, and the flower falleth.\"\n\n\"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,\" is the doom of flesh\nand blood sealed to every mortal as a consequence of sin. No wonder\nthe grave is sad and lonely to the contemplation of those who have no\nhope of aught of life or love beyond it. It is sad to think how many\nhave no higher claim to life and happiness than mere fleshly, bodily\nexistence. But our Lord hath \"brought life and immortality to light,\"\nand\n\n  \"The good Spirit of the Lord\n    Reveals a heaven to come;\n  The beams of glory in his Word\n    Allure and guide us home.\"\n\n\"Beloved, now are we the children of God, and it is not yet made\nmanifest what we shall be;\" but we know that we have the promise of\n\"an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not\naway.\"\n\nBrethren, this inheritance which Peter talks of--what do you think\nabout it? Is it something extraneous to the man, something outside of\nhim? Or is it something intrinsic to the man in his renewed state,\nsomething internal, something inside of him? I, for one, believe that\nman's eternal and blissful inheritance, which Peter and John and Paul\ndescribe in such glowing terms, is in the man himself, in his\nadaptation to the bliss-inspiring garniture of heaven. It is \"Christ\nin him the hope of glory.\"\n\nThis exalted and blissful state of man redeemed is what Peter calls\nhis \"_inheritance which is incorruptible_.\" Think of it, Brethren. No\nmore sin to bewail; no more sickness to suffer; no more death to\ndread! It is also \"_undefiled_.\" No more \"filthiness of the flesh;\"\n\"neither idolatry, nor adultery, nor whatsoever loveth and maketh a\nlie.\" And \"_that fadeth not away_.\" The luster of the eye; the bloom\nof the cheek; the facial expressions of beauty and love, purity and\ntruth, know nothing of decay in the amaranthine bowers of spotless\npurity.\n\nWe often wonder about heaven. But I will tell you, Brethren, what I\nbelieve about it. I do believe in my very soul that every Christian\nman, after the death of his body, finds himself in the very heaven he\ntakes with him from this world; and that every man's heaven is the\nLOVE and the TRUTH that abound in his mind and heart. If his heart is\nfilled with _love_ to God and to his brother, and his mind stored with\nthe _truth_ of God as revealed in his Son Jesus Christ, that man's\nheaven is _in_ him. Do you remember, Brethren, that when Jesus was on\nearth he said that he was also at the same time in heaven? Now let me\nshow you this. He says to Nicodemus: \"No man hath ascended to heaven,\nbut he that came down from heaven, _even the Son of man_ WHICH IS IN\nHEAVEN.\" John 3:13.\n\nAnd right here a difficulty confronts us which we must try to settle.\nDid not Elijah ascend to heaven? How about Moses? These two redeemed\nsaints were both of them in heaven at the very time our Lord said this\nto Nicodemus. Very shortly after this conversation they made their\nappearance, not only to Jesus, but to Peter and James and John on\nthe holy mount in glory. How had they gotten there? I will tell you\njust what I think our Lord meant. He meant to teach that stupid,\n_materialistic_ Nicodemus that people do not go to heaven by merely\nascending, like as one would ascend or go up from a lower room in a\nbuilding to a higher one. He meant to teach him that heaven must be in\nthe man, inwrought into his character and life. This follows in\nperfect harmony with what he had just before told him about the new\nbirth and a change of heart. \"That which is born of the flesh is\nflesh,\" and nothing more. But Paul says: \"Ye are not in the flesh, but\nin the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.\" Elijah\nhad not _really ascended_. The Lord just took him up as he had taken\nEnoch many years before. He was in heaven whilst on earth, just as\nJesus was. The only change he underwent in his departure from this\nworld was a change in the relations of his state. While here his\n_state_ was a _heavenly_ state, but surrounded by earthly things.\nAfter his departure from earth his _state_ was the same; but his\nsurroundings were heavenly, and he could feel at home.\n\n\nTHE ANGELS.\n\nNo wonder, Brethren, that the angels desire to look into these things.\nSome very good and wise men are of the opinion that all the angels of\nheaven are none other than saints redeemed from the earth. How this\nmay be I do not know; but some things that the Bible says about angels\nseem to favor this conclusion. The main thing in this direction is the\ndeep interest they have always felt, and the active part they have\nalways taken in the things of man's salvation. Paul covers this whole\nground by a single sweep of his pen. \"Are they not all,\" says he,\n\"ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be\nheirs of salvation?\" Of course he means by the _heirs of salvation_\nthose still tabernacling in the flesh, and still exposed to the ups\nand downs of the waves of life.\n\nI think, though, that one reason why the angels feel such a deep\ninterest in the things of man's salvation is because they are\nthere--in heaven, I mean--always beholding the face of our Father who\nis in heaven. They see and feel the glory; they know the bliss of that\ncelestial state. So full of love are they even for poor, fallen, lost,\nruined man that we are told by the Lord himself that \"there is joy in\nthe presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.\"\nTheir joy in this is commensurate with the exalted knowledge they have\nof the blessedness of true penitence. In it they see light shining in\nthe darkness of the poor sinner's heart. Peace to the waves of his\nstorm-beaten soul,--a new creature in the image of their and our Lord\nJesus Christ coming forth into the enjoyment of a new life in him;\ndeliverance from the bondage and power of sin, and restoration to the\nglorious liberty of the children of God! How much more than all this\nthey see in the return of one soul to God. I do not know; and we never\ncan know fully until we go up higher.\n\n  \"The blessedness of those above,\n    Why longs my panting soul to know?\n  For future bliss I know is LOVE,\n    And love is felt by saints below.\n\n  \"But love so pure, exalted high\n    Beyond compute, beyond compare--\n  No eagle wing that height may fly;\n    No mortal breathe that upper air.\n\n  \"There, love springs pure and unrepressed;\n    There, all are loved, and love again.\n  Love fills each burning cherub's breast;\n    Love fires each flaming seraph train.\n\n  \"Soon, soon shall I, this conflict o'er,\n    From sin be freed, with love be fired;\n  Soon, soon in heaven, my God adore,\n    With love, celestial love inspired.\"\n\nAnd right here this thought comes to mind: If angels are so much\ninterested in the salvation of men, should not men be quite as deeply\ninterested in the salvation of one another? If there are such exultant\nemotions of joy in the bosoms of _angels_ over one sinner that\nrepents, should there not be an equal measure of joy in the bosoms\nof _men_ from the same cause?\n\nBut the text says: \"The angels _desire_ to look into these things.\"\nWe should not infer from this that their knowledge of the way of\nsalvation is limited, or that they meet with difficulties in the way\nof understanding it. Oh, no! Their _desires_ are being constantly met\nand supplied with the means of acquiring knowledge upon this subject,\nfully up to the measure of each one's capacity to take it in. We may,\ntherefore, justly infer from the text that the subject is immensely\nvast in its proportions and range.\n\nAs salvation is infinite in respect to the TRUTHS contained in it and\nconnected with it, so is it also eternal in respect to the SCENES and\nexperiences through which the redeemed will be forever passing.\n\n  \"Could we, so rich in rapture, fear an end,\n  That ghastly thought would drink up all our joy;\n  And quite unparadise the realms of light.\"\n\nAnd here, dear brethren and sisters, another thought comes to mind\nsuggesting another question: If _angels_ desire to look into the\nthings of man's salvation, should not _men_ have an equal desire to\nlook into them? Should not those who still have the stream to cross,\nand to whom the ford looks somewhat dark and uncertain, be quite as\nmuch interested in it, and in all connected with it, as those who are\nsafely landed on the other shore? Think of this, will you? Let me\nimpress this thought: If the _angels_, who are out of the reach of all\nharm and danger, feel such a glow of interest to learn all they can\nabout the way in which all are saved; should not _men_, who are still\nexposed to danger, feel an equal or a still deeper interest?\n\nBut how is it with the bulk of professors? Who of you, my dear\nBrethren, make the Bible the man of your counsel? Who of you read and\nstudy it with that devotion of faith which makes you feel that your\neternal life is in that Word? With joy would I give you the touch of\nheaven's galvanism to quicken your souls to a livelier sense of the\ntranscendent importance of this matter. I feel sure that many of you\ndo read. You love your Bible because it tells you of your sin and your\nSavior, of your cross and your crown. But how is it with many? They\nread some, no doubt; partly from a sense of duty and to quiet their\nconsciences; but not, I fear, with a deep and inmost desire to learn\nthe things of salvation.\n\nBrethren, if the Bible be true, it is tremendously true. It is true\nwith a power that lifts the contrite, penitent, faithful follower of\nour Lord to the gates of the Holy City, and opens them to him; and it\nis true with a power that sinks the faithless, impenitent, careless,\nsin-loving sinner to hell. To which class do I belong? With which\nclass am I going to spend a long eternity? I am happy to see in the\nluster of many an eye here the evidence of your being in the class\nfirst named, and on the side of salvation. God grant that all may be\nin that number; and in a better world and a purer life, with angels on\nhigh, sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.\n\nBrother Price was followed by brethren John Garber, Henry Kurtz and\nUmstead, all bearing testimony more or less extended. The services\nwere brought to a close, and an intermission was given. In the\nafternoon queries were taken in.\n\nTUESDAY, May 16. The meeting was continued to-day. Seven queries were\ndisposed of. Love and harmony abound.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 17. The meeting was brought to a close to-day. The\nbusiness being all disposed of, it broke up in the afternoon by the\nsinging of the hymn:\n\n  \"Blest be the dear uniting love\n    That will not let us part;\n  Our bodies far apart may move,\n    We still are joined in heart.\"\n\nO my God, I pray that we, as thy dear people, may ever be thus joined\nin heart; that we may ever be of one mind and speak the same thing;\nthat thy Spirit may fill us and guide us into a clear understanding of\nthy revealed will that we may not err therein; that we may keep all\npride and emulation of the flesh out of our hearts; that each one may\nesteem another better than himself with all lowliness and meekness;\nwith long-suffering; forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to\nkeep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; till we all come in\nthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a\nperfect man; unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of\nChrist. Amen!\n\nTHURSDAY, May 18. Some of the Brethren from a distance start home\nto-day. Set things in order at the meetinghouse. While thus engaged\nour thoughts would turn to the pleasant season of brotherly communion\nwe had just passed through. I can but wish and pray that the same\nspirit of love and union may pervade every meeting yet to be held in\nthe Brotherhood, through all time, to the end of the world.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 10. Benjamin Bowman and Samuel Wampler were\nestablished in the ministry to-day, in a council at our meetinghouse.\n\nTUESDAY, August 29. Brother Kline and Brother Flory start to Maryland\nand Pennsylvania on horseback. Brother Abraham Flory, by the way, was\na suitable companion for Brother Kline. He loved home, it is true, and\nhe had a home worthy of being loved. But when he made up his mind to\ngo he left all his home cares behind; and, like Abraham of old, he\nsaid to these servants of life: \"Stay ye here while I go yonder to\nworship; and I will return again unto you.\" He consequently never\nfretted about home in his absence; but was habitually calm and\nself-possessed. Even a rainy day or high water did not interfere with\nthe equilibrium of his mild temper.\n\nThese two brethren were well mounted. Their horses were good travelers,\nnot only as to gait, but _bottom_ as well. This, in common _parlance_,\nmeans great power of endurance. We must not forget that this journey\nwas undertaken more than sixty years ago. The two travelers did not\nknow what weather they might have to contend with on a journey which\nwas to occupy more than _five weeks_. Umbrellas were rare in that day;\nbut even if they had been abundant they were too much \"after the\nfashion\" to have been used by these unfashionable brethren. Indeed\numbrellas were not used by the Brotherhood, at least in Virginia,\nuntil many years after this.\n\nA GREAT COAT, made of heavy and compact stuff, with long skirts\nreaching to the feet, and a large cape attached, covering completely\nthe shoulders, and buttoning over the breast, constituted a covering\ndefying both rain and storm. Superadded to this was a very\nbroad-brimmed hat of solid felt. Every saddle in that day was provided\nwith what was called a _coat-pad_. This was a flat leather pad fastened\nto the saddle just behind the seat, and furnished with straps and\nbuckles so as to hold an overcoat, when properly rolled up and\nfastened, in perfect order whilst traveling. Leather saddlebags well\nstocked with changes of clean underwear completed the outfit.\n\nThus equipped, these two brethren started on their journey. Their\nspirit in all this reminds one of what passed between two ministering\nbrethren of another persuasion who were traveling together, neither so\nwell equipped nor mounted, but on foot. Trudging along in the face of\nfoul weather to meet an engagement, Comer said to Proctor:\n\n  \"I don't mind the rain\n  If souls I may gain.\"\n\nTo which Proctor instantly replied to Comer:\n\n  \"I can face every storm of rain and foul weather,\n  When I and my Lord are walking together.\"\n\nWherever Brother Kline and his companion went they were recognized,\nwhether personally known or not, as DUNKARD PREACHERS. No doubt the\n_sneer_ was sometimes thrust at them, and the lip curled with contempt\nby those whose stolid ignorance and stupid brains had locked the door\nagainst the inflow of good breeding and truth. But in the eyes of all\nhonest, sincere-minded people their mission was one of mercy, truth\nand love; and they were loved and respected accordingly.\n\nNear the close of the third day of travel, they passed\n\n\nHARPER'S FERRY.\n\nBrother Kline's experienced eye took in the whole scene at one view.\nHe says: \"The scenery here is greatly surpassed by that of many places\nwithin the Allegheny ranges. It is not nearly equal to the South\nBranch Gap below Petersburg in Hardy County, Virginia; nor does it at\nall compare, in sublime grandeur, with the Rocks at the mouth of the\nSeneca, in Pendleton County, Virginia. It is tame in comparison with\neither of these places. But so goes the world. It is with places as\nwith people. When one gets a name by being lauded high by some\ndistinguished personage, as Thomas Jefferson, for example, he soon has\nthe eyes and the ears of the world; whilst others, more worthy,\nperhaps, in all the elements of true greatness, are left unnoticed and\nunknown. This thought awakens my recollection of a stanza in Gray's\n'Elegy.' It touches tenderly and beautifully upon the neglect and lack\nof appreciation often experienced by real beauty, virtue and goodness.\nHere is the verse:\n\n  \"'Full many a gem of purest ray serene,\n    The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;\n  Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,\n    And waste its sweetness on the desert air.'\n\n\"But we must tone our criticisms down to a just standard. The lack of\nfame with many justly meriting it is not their own fault, nor is it\nthe fault of the world; but the trouble lies greatly in the place of\ntheir birth and in the surroundings of their lives. If the South\nBranch Gap had had its birth at Harper's Ferry the summit of its fame\nwould reach the clouds; whilst Harper's Ferry, born among the rugged\nrecesses of the Alleghenies, would never be thought of. The world is\nnot so partial and full of favoritism as we think. It readily takes up\nwhat suits its uses and its tastes, without stopping to inquire\nwhether there might not be something better found.\"\n\nCrossing the Potomac at the Ferry, they go to Brother Letherman's and\nspend the night.\n\nFRIDAY, September 1. Love feast at Brother Herschman's in Middle\nValley. Luke 3 was read. Three persons were baptized. Next day the\nbrethren go to Beaver Dam, and pass the night at John Garber's.\n\nAt this time letter postage was very high, as much as twenty-five\ncents on some letters; and the transportation of mails very slow.\nRegardless of this, however, by means of letters, Brother Kline knew\njust where to go and what to expect before starting on a journey.\nAppointments for preaching, councils and love feasts fell in the line\nof his route from beginning to end. Have a little bit of patience,\nplease, and let me quote the entries just as I find them in the Diary\nfor this journey. If they do not interest you, they may interest\nothers deeply, especially the children and the grandchildren of the\ngood people named in them.\n\nSUNDAY, September 3. Love feast at Beaver Dam. Luke 14 was read. Three\npersons were baptized.\n\nMONDAY, 4. Visit Brother Deah's and Saylor's, and stay all night at\nJoseph Engle's.\n\nTUESDAY, 5. Meeting at Pipe Creek. Luke 16 was read. Stay all night at\nPeter Royer's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, 6. Meeting at Rupp's. John 1 was read. Stay all night at\nChristian Royer's.\n\nTHURSDAY, 7. Stay at Brother Keeney's.\n\nFRIDAY, 8. Love feast at Brother Keeney's. John 18 was read.\n\nSATURDAY, 9. Visit Jacob Myers's. Stay all night at David Brillhardt's.\n\nThe families visited in the order of Brother Kline and Brother Flory's\nroute were as follows: Christian Longenacker's, John Zug's, Abraham\nZug's, Daniel Zug's, Jacob Gipe's, John Gipe's, Abraham Harshey's,\nShoemaker's, Brother Myers's on the other side of the Susquehanna,\nAndrew Deardorf's, David Pfoutz, Fogelsanger's, John Stauffer's,\nBrother Royer's, Brother Holsinger's, Welty's, Fahrney's, Joseph\nEmert's, Eschleman's, David Kinsey's, Brother Martain's, James\nTabler's; Carter's, in Frederick County, Virginia, Jonas Goughnour's,\nin Shenandoah County, Virginia; and home Tuesday, October 3.\n\nBrother Flory and I did not separate for one day or night on this\njourney. He preached a good deal, and has, I think, left a very good\nimpression. He related a little incident about a local preacher with\nwhom he was personally acquainted, and which he stated for a fact,\nthat has several times amused me. It came in at a suitable place in\none of his discourses. The preacher had been regularly receiving one\nhundred dollars a year from his Conference, for stated preachings to\nseveral poor congregations not far from his home. The preacher owned a\nfarm and a mill, both at the same time; and with the two combined he\nbecame independent. His brethren saw this and concluded that he ought\n_no longer be paid_ the hundred dollars a year; so the pay was\nwithheld. But his preaching stopped as suddenly as his pay. When asked\nabout the cause of this he pointed to his _mill wheel_ and said: \"_Do\nyou suppose that that wheel will run if you keep the water off?_\"\n\nThe brethren and sisters generally appeared to be alive to their\nspiritual interests. The meetings were usually well attended, and good\nattention was paid to the preaching. In some places, however,\nworldliness in dress and manners is becoming too apparent.\n\nIn Maryland we happened to fall in company with a man traveling our\ncourse, who represented himself as a United Brethren preacher. He was\nvery plainly dressed himself, and as we were plain I guess he thought\nthat to give his conversation a turn upon the _fashions_ of the world\nwould not be unpleasant to us. At any rate he went on to tell how\npride was gradually creeping, inch by inch, into his own denomination;\nand, \"worst of all,\" said he, \"it looks like it is beginning to take\nhold of some of our preachers.\" He then stated that at their last\nyearly Conference, the bishop had scored some of them fearfully about\nit. He then repeated what the bishop had said on the occasion about\nthe\n\n\nORIGIN OF FASHIONS.\n\n\"Some of you may be curious to know from what place the American\npeople obtain their fashions. I will tell you. They get them from New\nYork City. And from what place does New York City get them? From\nLondon. And from what place does London get them? From Paris. And\nfrom what place does Paris get them? I answer,\" said the bishop, \"that\nParis gets them from hell through the devil and his agents.\"\n\nIn the journey from which I have just returned I preached _twenty_\ntimes; attended _eight_ love feasts; visited and conversed with many\nfamilies on religious topics. In all this service, if I know my own\nheart, I have been actuated by no selfish motives. As Paul said: I\ndesire that my service may be acceptable to the saints; but to make it\nso, I have used no deceit, no flattery, and have put forth no effort\nof any kind save that of trying, by the grace of God, to make myself a\nfaithful minister of Jesus Christ. As one called to preach the Gospel,\nthis is my duty at all times. Conscious of this, I aim to be \"instant\nin season, out of season.\" May God bless our labors, including those\nof the dear brother who was with me. \"Paul may plant, and Apollos\nwater; but God only can give the increase.\" We must, by his grace, use\nall means to keep the Brotherhood pure, by defending it against the\ninroads of worldliness and pride in every form. May God forgive all\nour sins. Amen!\n\nSUNDAY, October 15. Brethren Martain Myers and Samuel Lehman were with\nus at our meeting to-day. They spoke beautifully on John 5:24.\n\n\n_Resolutions Made by Elder John Kline,_\n\n_Monday, January 1, 1838._\n\nHe says: I now resolve\n\n  To do all the good I can this year.\n\n  To shun all evil in thought, word, and deed as far as I can.\n\n  To learn all I can of wholesome truth.\n\n  To make the best use I can of what I learn and know. To do all this\n  with an eye single to the glory of God and the good of mankind.\n\nCould any one resolve better? Could an angel from heaven, if sent down\nto live with men on earth, resolve to a better purpose? But it is\neasier to resolve than to carry into effect; easier to think wisely\nthan to _act_ wisely; easier to plan well than to execute. But of this\none thing I am sure: If Brother Kline failed in any of the above\nresolutions, his failure was not chargeable to his _will_, but to his\nweakness. Even Paul could say: \"To will is present with me, but how to\nperform that which is good I find not. When I would do good, evil is\npresent with me.\" The cause of this conflict in the course of every\nChristian's experience is what has been very appropriately called\n\"_indwelling sin_.\" The serpent's head may be bruised to death, but\nthe tail will not die until the sun goes down. It is true, the tail is\nnot at the dangerous end of a snake; but while the tail rattles and\nwriggles it gives evidence that there is still some life left; and\nbefore one turns away from it in the satisfied assurance that it needs\nno further attention it might be well for him to look again and make\n_sure_, beyond all doubt, that the _head end_ has been crushed to\ndeath.\n\n\n_A Funeral Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_At the Burial of Mrs. Lauck,\nFeb. 7._\n\n    TEXT.--Man that is born of woman, is of few days, and full of\n    trouble He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth\n    also as a shadow, and continueth not.--Job 14:1, 2.\n\nThe bulk of Divine Truth is addressed to our faith. We are not\nexpected to receive it as we receive knowledge that is based upon our\nown experience, or upon the experience of others. God expects us to\ntake his Word for the truth of what he says, whether we fully\nunderstand it or not. He addresses our faith, as a father does his\nchild when he seeks to inculcate some truth or principle which the\nchild cannot fully comprehend. But the text selected for this occasion\nis not of this character. It is addressed to our knowledge and every\nday's observation and experience. We have only to look at ourselves\nand at others to see and feel the truth that it tells. It is not,\ntherefore, given to teach, so much as to remind us of what, in the\nbusy whirl of life, we may for a time partially forget. The benefit of\nbeing reminded of our mortality comes to us in the way of leading us\nto seek for something better than this world can give.\n\nThe phraseology of the text is exquisitely beautiful. Notice the\nsmoothness of its rhythm, the simplicity of its style, the harmony of\nits cadences: \"_Man that is born of woman, is of few days, and full of\ntrouble._\" This is the direct opposite of what all naturally desire.\nAll living human beings would rejoice in a life of many days, exempt\nfrom trouble. \"_He cometh forth like a flower._\"\n\n  \"They bloom in beauty, side by side;\n    They fill one home with glee.\"\n\nThis is pleasant to contemplate; and if the beauty could but last,\nforever free from all decay, few would wish for aught of life or love\nbeyond the things of time and sense. But, alas! \"_he is cut down_--\"\nand soon\n\n  \"Their graves are severed far and wide,\n    By mount, and stream, and sea;\"\n\nand these graves all tell a tale of buried hopes, buried love, buried\npeace.\n\n  \"The same fond mother bent at night\n    O'er each fair sleeping brow;\n  She had each folded flower in sight:\n    Where are those dreamers now!\"\n\nWe can but sigh our sadness in the closing lines of this beautiful\npoem--\n\n  \"Alas, for love! if thou wert all;\n    And naught beyond, O earth!\"\n\nThus do Inspiration and Poetry alike paint the sombre realities of\nlife and death; and point to death as the doom of life.\n\nBut I do not love to dwell upon these sad scenes, and will turn your\nattention at once to a birth that knows no death, to a flower that\nnever fades, to a beauty that knows no decay. And can this be true?\nCan it be that there is a deathless life, a fadeless flower, a\nshadowless beauty? It may be that some of you are skeptical about\nthings like these. You may have the unbelief that held the heart of\nAaron Burr's daughter against all comfort, when she saw her son die.\nIn her agony of despair she cried out: \"Omnipotence itself can never\nrestore to me what I have lost in my only boy.\"\n\nYour faces may be turned the wrong way. You may be like Lot's wife,\n_looking back_. And one might just as well talk to a pillar of salt\nabout the glory, and the beauty, and the bliss of the eternal state\nof the righteous after death, as to talk to men whose backs are\nheavenward and their faces earthward. You have no eyes in the back\npart of your heads. Your ears are set to hear what is said to your\nface, and to catch the sounds that meet you in front. You must turn\nyourselves round. And more than all this, you must open the eyes of\nyour understandings that the light may shine in, and take the wads of\nearthly wax out of your ears that you may hear the Savior's words of\n\"_spirit_ and _life_,\" and loose the strings of your hearts that the\n_good_ and _truth_ of God's Word may enter. If you will do this I will\nshow you wonderful things. I will show you a fountain from which, if\nyou drink, you will never thirst again. Not like the fabled \"Fountain\nof Youth,\" which many sought, but never found. The fountain I mean has\nbeen found by millions of the human race. It has quenched their thirst\nforever.\n\nDo not, I beseech you, understand me to mean that _one_ drink of its\nwater is sufficient to do this. No! no! But I do mean that after you\nhave come to the spring and taken _one_ drink it is your privilege to\nstay by it forever: nay, more; the spring, like the Rock in the\nwilderness, will follow you wherever you go; and by and by a spring\nwill be opened up in your own heart, flowing with the same sweet water\nof everlasting Life, and then you can sing:\n\n  \"I heard the voice of Jesus say,\n    Behold, I freely give\n  The Living Water: thirsty one,\n    Stoop down and drink, and live.\n\n  \"I came to Jesus, and I drank\n    Of that life-giving stream:\n  My thirst was quenched; my soul revived:\n    And now I live in Him.\"\n\nBut I will show you bread also. It is wonderful bread. The Israelites,\nmany centuries ago, kept a representation of this bread upon the table\nconnected with their altar of worship; and they called it \"showbread,\"\nbecause it showed something to come. A kind of bread also fell upon\nthe face of the ground all around them, when they were encamped in the\nwilderness; and they called it \"MANNA.\" They gathered this in the\nmorning, and the supply never failed. But it did not keep them from\ndying. They died all the same as if they had lived on wheat bread, as\nwe do. It is of this that Jesus says: \"Your fathers did eat of the\nmanna in the wilderness, and they died.\" But our Lord, in speaking of\nthe Bread of Life, which is none other than the great love of God in\nChrist Jesus, says: \"This is the bread which cometh down out of\nheaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread\nwhich came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread he shall\nLIVE FOREVER.\"\n\n_Live forever!_ Does not that sound pleasant in your ears? Does it not\nhave the note of solid comfort? If you believe it, it does. It is on\nthis account that our Lord says so much about FAITH. Faith makes a man\nthirsty for the water of eternal life, and faith makes a man hungry\nfor the bread of eternal life. Millions in heaven to-day, each one out\nof his own heart, can sing:\n\n  \"I heard the voice of Jesus say:\n    I am the Bread of Life:\n  Eat of this Bread, O hungry one,\n    And have eternal life.\n\n  \"I took the Bread he gave me then:\n    My hungry soul it fed;\n  For this, he said, I gave my life,\n    And on the cross I bled.\"\n\nWhen our Lord was on earth he spoke to the people and to his disciples\nmostly in parables. In fact we are told that \"without a parable spake\nhe not unto them.\" It is from this that so many similitudes, and\nmetaphors, and figures of speech are found in the New Testament. Thus,\n_water_ and _wine_, in many places, mean divine truth; and _bread_\nmeans divine love. And now I will venture to make a statement for the\nconsideration of every thinking mind in this house--a statement which,\nif it be true, is of infinite and eternal importance--and it is this:\n_Love and truth support and keep life in man's spirit, just as bread\nand water support and keep life in man's body_.\n\nJesus said to the tempter: \"Man does not live by bread alone.\" Do any\nof you suppose that Jesus meant to inform the devil that man needs\nother kinds of food in addition, such as meats, and fruits, and\nvegetables? He had no such thought. He did not mean to inform or\ninstruct the devil by anything he said to him. But he did mean to\nteach his tried and tempted followers to the end of time that _love_\nand _truth_ are the very life and support of man's spirit. \"My words,\"\nsays he, \"are spirit, and they are life.\" Man may love, and ardently\nlove, what is evil. But divine truth tells him what to love. Hence our\nLord's answer is about equivalent to this: \"Man does not live by bread\n[_love_] alone; but by [water also, which is the _truth_ of] every\nword which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.\"\n\nAnd now, in conclusion, I will ask you, friends, do any of you desire\neverlasting life? If you do, I say unto you, Come to Jesus. Accept his\nlove. He loved _you_ \"_and gave himself for you_.\" Accept him by\nfaith. He is the Bread of eternal Life. \"Believe on the Lord Jesus\nChrist, and thou shalt be saved.\" He invites you to come and take of\nthe water of life freely. This water is none other than the _truth_ of\nhis Word. Be filled with it. Be immersed in it. As a most impressive\nemblem of your willingness to be thus, submit to the ordinance of\nbaptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy\nGhost.\n\nBy your immersion in the name of the Father you declare to the world,\nand say to the church that you believe that God the Father loves you,\nand wills your salvation; that you accept his love in faith, and prove\nyour faith by this act. By your immersion in the name of the Son you\nprofess your faith in the efficacy and sufficiency of what Jesus\nChrist did to save you, that he is the Word made flesh, and that men\nshould honor him, even as they honor the Father. By your immersion in\nthe name of the Holy Ghost you profess your faith in the power and\neverlasting presence of the Holy Spirit in your heart, to lead you\ninto all truth, to make you more and more holy by means of this truth,\nuntil you are filled with it, thoroughly leavened with \"the leaven of\ntruth and sincerity.\" The Holy Spirit is called \"The Spirit of Truth,\"\nand \"if the truth make you free, ye shall be free indeed;\" free from\nfalsities in your faith. What benefit can there be in believing what\nis not true? Whoever yet found any substantial good in believing a\ndelusion, a falsehood, an error? But we do read of some who \"believe a\nlie that they may be damned.\" This sounds rough I know; but it is\ntheir own fault, because they _love_ a lie; and \"whosoever loveth a\nlie\" is excluded, shut out of the Holy City, because nothing but truth\nand love can enter there. I again call upon every one here present to\nbelieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and, believing, he shall have life\nin his name.\n\n\nAN ENCOURAGING THOUGHT.\n\nThe following encouraging thought comes into Brother Kline's mind in\nconnection with a review of his work on Lost river. It is dated:\n\nSUNDAY, February 18. One man may sometimes strike a hard stone a good\nmany times without breaking it; when another may take the same hammer,\nstrike it in a slightly different place, or in a different way, and it\nfalls to pieces. It may be that the first man's strokes accomplished\nmore than he knew of. The force of his blows may have diminished the\nsolidity of the stone, and thus made it easier for the second man to\nbreak. If I cannot see much fruit of my labor here now, perhaps some,\nwho will come after me, may.\n\n\nTHE COVE.\n\nSUNDAY, April 22. Brother Kline and Daniel Miller had meeting in a\nplace among the mountains in Hardy County, Virginia, called the Cove.\nThis consists of an area of country so nearly enclosed by mountains\nof a somewhat circular form that it has but one outlet both for its\nstreams and its inhabitants. Viewed from the summit of some\nneighboring peak it has the appearance of a vast amphitheatre whose\ndome is the sky, whose floor is a variegation of corn and wheat fields\ninterspersed with beautiful green meadows, and whose walls are the\nsubstantial mountain masonry of nature's own sublime art. Here these\ntwo beloved brethren broke the Bread of Life to a small gathering of\npeople, mostly residents of the place we have described.\n\nActs 3 was read. After many instructive remarks by Brother Kline\nconcerning the great Prophet spoken of in the latter part of the\nchapter, Brother Daniel Miller followed with a brief discourse, so\nclear, so pointed, so forcible, that I will give his remarks as nearly\nas I can in the order and manner in which he presented them.\n\nHe first endeavored to draw the attention of the unconverted part of\nthe audience specifically to these words: \"_Every soul, which will not\nhearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed._\" \"I know of no\nexpression in the Bible,\" said he, \"more sharply pointed than this.\nThe word '_destroyed_,' as here used, does not mean blotted out of\nexistence. But it does mean _cast out as evil_, unfit for the\ncompanionship of God's people in heaven. In much the same sense of the\nword it is said that intemperance _destroys_ men. It unfits them for\nthe duties of life, and for the society of the pure and the good.\n\n\"A ship may be said to be destroyed even though its dismantled hulk\nstill floats upon the sea, borne by the waves and driven by the winds.\nA fruit tree is destroyed when a worm, secretly gnawing at its root,\ngirdles it with a belt of deadness. It may still stand, but fruitless\nand lifeless. An eye is destroyed when it becomes so far injured by\ndisease or accident as to be forever out of the reach of power to\nrestore its sight.\n\n\"And is this the sense in which every soul will be destroyed who\nrefuses to hear this Prophet? Most assuredly it is. O, friends, how\nshall I tell you the difference between a soul saved and a soul\ndestroyed? The one is forever happy, the other forever miserable. The\none is an eye that sees and enjoys all the beauties of earth and sky,\nthe other is an eye forever blind. The one is an ear that will forever\nhear the melodies of heaven, the other is an ear forever deaf to all\nbut the wailings of hell. The one is a ship completely rigged and\nfitted to bear herself nobly and safely over the surging surface of a\nstormy sea, the other, a floating hulk; mastless, sailorless, only\nwaiting to be cast upon some desert shore to rot.\n\n\"But no one can ever have a just excuse for being thus destroyed; for\nit is plain that whosoever hears this Prophet shall be saved. Jesus\nChrist is a wonderful Savior. 'He is able to save to the uttermost all\nwho come unto God through him.' Will not you come? 'God so loved the\nworld, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on\nhim should not perish, but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son\ninto the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.' The text\ndoes not say that GOD will destroy every soul that will not hearken to\nthat Prophet. I do not believe that this is meant. Our Lord says in\none place: 'Fear him, who, after he hath killed the body, is able to\ndestroy both soul and body in hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him.'\nWho is this that is thus to be feared? I tell you that it is SIN,\nimpersonated in the devil. _Sin_, SIN is what is able to destroy both\nsoul and body in hell. Sin, disobedience to God, transgression of\nGod's law, has placed the seal of _death_ upon every living human body\nin the world; and sin has stamped the _seal of death_ upon every\nunsaved soul in hell.\n\n\"O friends, I am _afraid_ of sin. I am afraid to disobey my God and\nSavior. I am more afraid of sin than I would be of smallpox in an\ninfected district. I am more afraid of sin than I would be of leprosy\non the plains of Syria. That or this could only kill my body; but SIN\nis able to destroy both my soul and body in hell.\n\n\"It is plain that to hear the voice of that Prophet, who is none other\nthan our Lord Jesus Christ, to hear his voice with an ear to find out\nwhat he says and what he wants us to do, and then in love and faith to\ndo it, is the only way any soul has by which to escape the threatened\ndestruction. I wish that I could implant in the heart of every sinner\nhere to-day such a fear of sin and its awful consequences as would\nlead him to flee for refuge, to lay hold of the hope set before us in\nthe Gospel. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is this house of refuge.\nSinner, come to him. No, no! You need not do that, for he comes to\nyou, and you only need rise up and open the door and let him in.\"\n\n\nA SINGULAR PHENOMENON.\n\nFRIDAY, June 1. This day, says the Diary, I witnessed a very wonderful\nappearance about the sun. About eleven o'clock I saw a bright circle\naround the sun like a rainbow, with the sun in the center. At the same\ntime there was another circle somewhat larger than this, on the west\nside of the sun; and the east side of this ring rested upon the face\nof the sun. At the points where the rings crossed each other there was\na peculiar brightness and blending of colors. The whole was a sublime\nand beautiful sight.\n\n\n_Sermon by Benjamin Bowman._\n\n_Preached in Brock's Gap, Virginia,\nJune 17._\n\n    TEXT.--There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of\n    God.--Heb. 4:9.\n\n\nFROM NOTES IN THE DIARY.\n\nWe are informed by the Apostle of the Gentiles that the sojourn of the\nchildren of Israel in the wilderness and the subsequent dealings of\nJehovah with them were examples to us who live under the gospel\ndispensation. These examples comprise two great facts:\n\n   I. Their obedience was always attended with blessings.\n\n  II. Their disobedience was always attended with sufferings.\n\nThese two great facts comprehend the _all_ of man's life and\nexperience in both worlds, from the alpha to the omega. I am well\naware that many in this assembly are not Bible readers. I will\ntherefore give you a brief sketch of the children of Jacob or Israel\nas I find it in the books of Moses and the book of Joshua, which\ncomprise the first six books of the Bible.\n\nJacob, who is also called Israel, was the grandson of Abraham. He had\ntwelve sons, of whom Joseph was the next to the youngest. These twelve\nsons, with their descendants through all time, are called the children\nof Israel. Later on they are also called Jews. The Jews of the present\nday claim to be the descendants of these twelve sons of Jacob or\nIsrael. Joseph's older brothers became envious of him and sold him to\na company of merchants who carried him into Egypt. Here he was\nelevated by the Lord to a position of great power, to a place and\npower next to the king on his throne.\n\nSoon after this a very grievous famine came upon the land of Canaan,\nthe country in which Israel, with his other sons, still lived. They\nheard that there was plenty of food in Egypt, and so Jacob sent his\nsons there to buy grain for bread. When they arrived in Egypt, to\ntheir great surprise, they found their brother Joseph there, whom they\nhad sold to the merchants for thirty pieces of silver. He received\nthem kindly, supplied their immediate wants, and very soon made\narrangements for them and their father Jacob to come down to Egypt and\nlive with him. And Jacob went down into Egypt and lived with his son\nJoseph till he died.\n\nThese Israelites grew and multiplied in Egypt until they became a\ngreat people. But the time came when the Egyptians oppressed them,\nlaying heavy burdens upon them; and treated them as slaves. At this\ntime the Lord said to Moses: I have seen the affliction of my people\nin Egypt; and I now send thee thither to bring them out of that land,\nand into a land that I will tell thee of. Under the leadership of\nMoses, the most interesting and instructive part of their history is\nfound.\n\nAfter a succession of miracles, wrought by Jehovah through Moses,\nPharaoh, the king of Egypt, agreed to let them go. But they had to\npass through a desert and uninhabited country, which lay between Egypt\nand the land of Canaan. Pharaoh knew this, and to get revenge for the\nway the Lord had compelled him to let them go he gathered a very large\narmy and pursued after them. Just at the time Pharaoh thought he had\nthem in his power, and when the whole camp of Israel trembled with\nfear of being suddenly destroyed by the hosts of the Egyptians, the\nLord opened a passage for the children of Israel through the\n\n\nRED SEA.\n\nThe Red Sea, at this place, had a very smooth bottom of sand, as has\nbeen discovered since, although it is very deep, and perhaps twenty\nmiles across. The water stood like a wall on both sides of this\npassage. Some of you may think this could not be. I will here relate\nthe substance of a conversation, which is said to have really taken\nplace between the first English minister to Siam, and the king of that\ncountry. Siam is a very hot country in the south part of Asia. There\nis never any winter, or even cool weather, in that country. So the\npeople there know nothing of ice, and even the king himself had never\nheard of any such thing. The English minister told him many things\nabout England and other countries, and among other things referred to\nthe effect of cold upon water, that it makes it hard.\n\n\"You do not say,\" said the king, \"that water gets _hard_ in your\ncountry!\" \"Indeed I do,\" said the minister. \"It sometimes gets so hard\nall over the surface of broad rivers and lakes that men, and even\nheavy beasts, may walk upon it with dry feet; and if your heavy\nelephants were there, even _they_ could walk upon the hard water too.\"\n\"I have, thus far,\" replied the king, \"been willing to listen to you,\nand believe what you say; but now I _know you lie_.\"\n\nSo it may be with some who read or hear the story of the children of\nIsrael. They may think it all reasonable and fair enough, until they\ncome to the passage through the Red Sea: there faith stumbles and\nfalls. But we must never forget that all things, not self-contradictory,\nare possible with God. It is just as possible and easy for him to\ncrystallize the billows of an ocean as to freeze a drop of dew on a\nblade of grass. At the command of Moses they enter this avenue through\nthe deep, walled by the waves, and roofed by the sky. Surely no eyes\nbut theirs ever witnessed so sublime a sight.\n\n  \"Water to right of them;\n  Water to left of them;\n  Water in front of them;\"\n\nwhile over their heads passed the cloud of Jehovah's presence and\nglory to follow in their rear; at once to hide them from the sight,\nand to shield them from the attack of the enemy that was pursuing\nthem. I can hardly ever read this simple statement without a tear. The\nkindness, the _love_ of the Lord in thus placing himself between\nhis children and their enemies, like as a tender father would shield\nhis offsprings from danger, always melts my heart. But this is just\nthe way the Lord always does. If his own dear people will but shelter\nunder his wings, the devil will never be able to get one of them.\n\nSome of you may wonder why the Lord did not close up the way behind\nthem, after they were all in, so that Pharaoh and his hosts would be\ncompelled to stay back. But God knew best. He is wiser than men. He\nallowed the Egyptian army to enter. They followed just as close behind\nthe Israelites as the Lord would let them come. The way was still\nopen, and Pharaoh, no doubt, thought the way as free for him, and\nquite as safe too, as for Moses. His intention was to slaughter the\nwhole camp of Israel as soon as his army got through. But see how he\nfailed! The salvation of Moses was the destruction of Pharaoh. When\nthe children of Israel had all reached the land in safety they\nascended the hills on the shore to look back at the long train of\nPharaoh's host. But what did their eyes behold! All at once the walls\nof water broke down; and the sea closed over them.\n\nIt seems strange to us now that Pharaoh would venture to follow the\nIsraelites. We now think he might have known it would prove his own\ndestruction. But this is one example of the folly of which Satan is\nalways guilty. At the very time he thinks victory is within his grasp\ndisappointment and defeat overtake him. Let me show you another\ninstance of this.\n\nFor some time he had been plotting the destruction of our Lord Jesus\nChrist. One time he tried to have him cast down a very steep place on\nthe side of a hill. But he failed. At another time he tried to have\nhim stoned to death. But the Lord escaped out of his hands. At last,\nhowever, he succeeded in having him put to death. He entered into the\nheart of a man by the name of Judas, and made arrangements with him to\nbetray our Lord into the hands of his enemies. The plot was successful,\nand when Satan saw our Lord expiring on the cross he felt jubilant\nover the victory he had gained, in the belief that he had now rid the\nworld of its most dangerous foe to his kingdom. But you see how it\nturned out. The resurrection and glorification of our Lord have given\nsuch a deathblow to Satan's power that, after awhile, the eyes of all\nheaven will see that old Serpent, the devil, and Satan cast into the\nlake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.\n\nAfter the children of Israel all got through the Red Sea they formed a\ncamp on its eastern shore, and each family prepared the food they had\nbrought with them to eat. But the supply soon gave out, and as there\nwas none to be had in the desert where they were encamped they began\nto fear that they must all starve. They complained to Moses, and he\ncarried their complaints to the Lord. Very soon the manna began to\nfall in abundance.\n\n\nTHE MANNA.\n\nThis was a kind of bread which fell all over the ground at night, and\nlooked like hoar-frost. They gathered it every morning, except the\nmorning of the Sabbath day. It was just what they needed to satisfy\ntheir hunger and impart health and strength to their bodies.\n\nThe Lord also caused a great spring of fresh water to burst out of a\nsolid rock near the camp; and thus they were supplied with water.\n\nWe can hardly see how these people could ever turn against the Lord\nand become unthankful and disobedient toward him after he had been so\nkind and done so much for them. But they became so. They even went so\nfar as to make a golden calf to worship instead of Jehovah, who had\nbrought them through the Red Sea. For this they were sorely punished.\n\nAfter awhile Moses died, and Joshua led them into the land of Canaan,\nafter they had wandered about in the wilderness under Moses for the\nspace of forty years. The land of Canaan was a good land, flowing with\nmilk and honey, and if they had been willing to serve the Lord by\nobeying his commands they would have found rest and peace. But they\nnever found either rest or peace, because they were never able to\ndrive their enemies from the land. They found many enemies in the land\nwhen they entered it, and on account of their disobedience to the Lord\nthey were unable to rid the land of Canaan of them. This is what is\nmeant by the verse that next precedes my text: \"_For if Joshua had\ngiven them rest, the Lord would not have spoken of another day_.\"\n\nBut as Joshua failed to do this, on account of their disobedience, we\nhave the words of the text: \"_There remaineth therefore a rest unto\nthe people of God_.\" But where is that rest? In the beautiful lines\nof Montgomery we ask:\n\n  \"Oh, where shall rest be found?\n    Rest for the weary soul:\n  'Twere vain the ocean's depth to sound;\n    Or pierce to either pole.\n  This world can never give\n    The rest for which we sigh.\"\n\nWhere may be found that favored spot in whose delightful shade the\nsoul may fold her wings and be at rest? I imagine that some of you are\nnow saying to yourselves, \"_This rest is in heaven_.\" In this you are\nright, in one sense. Heaven is a place of rest to those who are\nprepared for it. But let me say to you in all candor and love that\n_heaven_ is rest only to those who first find rest here in our Lord\nJesus Christ. He is now calling to every sin-burdened sinner: \"Come\nunto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and _I will give you\nrest_.\" The hardened unbeliever could no more be happy in heaven, even\nif allowed to enter there, than a fish could be happy out of water.\nHeaven is not the sinner's element. Besides, an unconverted sinner can\nnever get there.\n\n  \"Those holy gates forever bar\n    Pollution, sin, and shame;\n  For none can find admittance there,\n    But followers of the Lamb.\"\n\nRest must first be found in Jesus by coming to him, accepting his\nyoke, and working in his service. And to encourage all to do this he\nhimself says: \"_My yoke is easy, and my burden is light_.\" If you want\nto find out how easy his yoke is, and how light his burden, take it\nupon you, and see if it does not give your soul rest.\n\nI sincerely believe that Charles Wesley, long ago, gave expression to\nfeelings similar to those of some in this house, in the lines of a\nbeautiful hymn, a part of which I will repeat. See if it does not find\nan echo in your soul:\n\n  \"O, that my load of sin were gone!\n    O, that I could at last submit,\n  At Jesus' feet to lay it down!\n    To lay my soul at Jesus' feet!\n\n  \"Rest for my soul, I long to find:\n    Savior of all, if mine thou art,\n  Give me thy meek and lowly mind;\n    And stamp thine image on my heart.\n\n  \"Break off the yoke of inbred sin:\n    And fully set my spirit free:\n  _I cannot rest till pure within:_\n    Till I am wholly lost in thee.\"\n\nYou will realize the truthfulness of every one of these lines by\ncoming to Jesus and fully consecrating your life to him. But rest does\nnot necessarily imply _inactivity_. It means a heart and mind at\npeace. It means a heart filled with love to God and his people. It\nmeans a life of good works, wrought in righteousness, peace and joy in\nthe Holy Ghost. This is the rest that remaineth unto the people of\nGod. It begins here; it goes on eternally in the heavens.\n\n\nTHE YELLOW SPRINGS (at present Orkney Springs).\n\nThis health and pleasure resort is near the head of Stony Creek, in\nShenandoah County, Virginia. It is now universally known by the name\nof \"Orkney Springs.\" It is beautifully situated near the eastern base\nof the Church mountain. From the yellow color of the sediment, left by\nits chalybeate waters, it first got the name of Yellow Springs.\n\nIt was, for many years, a favorite health resort for the German\npopulation of Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties in Virginia. Almost\nevery Sunday during the \"spring season,\" there would be preaching\nthere by the ever earnest German Baptist Brethren. Attentive audiences\nwould assemble under the shade trees, and on rustic seats listen to\nthe plain but earnest sermons of such men as John Kline, Peter Nead,\nSamuel Wampler and others. All was quiet and order. But the goddess of\nfashion soon found her way to this lovely spot, and a long train of\nworshipers at her shrine, robed in rustling silks and sparkling with\njewels, followed her leadings. In a few years not only the character,\nbut the very name of the place was changed. It is at this time a very\npopular pleasure resort for the rich and fashionable.\n\nOn SUNDAY, August 19, Brother Kline delivered a very interesting and\ninstructive discourse at the above-named place. It is with profound\nemotions of gratitude that I report this sermon. I was there myself\nand heard it. Whilst I do not retain in memory much of the substance\nof it, being at the time very young, I do well remember the feelings\nof veneration and regard for the preacher with which his earnest\nmanner and kind looks impressed me. Little did I then think that\nfifty-five years from that date I would be expanding that discourse,\nand thus preparing it for the eyes of the world, from the leaflets of\nthe Diary that was then being faithfully kept by that good man.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at Orkney Springs,\nSunday, August 19._\n\n    TEXT.--Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life\n    freely.--Rev. 22:17.\n\nIn view of our surroundings and the attractions that have drawn so\nmany of us to this quiet and beautiful mountain retreat, I feel that\nthe subject selected for to-day suits the occasion.\n\nWhen I look at a mountain spring and see the wavelets playing on their\npebbly beds, or chasing one another down their steep descent, I am\never led to think how free from all the taints of sin these innocent\ndrops of water are! Not one of them has ever transgressed the divine\nlaw of its being. Not one has ever failed in a single point to fulfill\nits mission. Are you thirsty? They never refuse to quench your thirst.\nDoes your field need rain? They never refuse to wet the ground. Always\nready, they cheerfully serve the behests of God and man.\n\nThe diversity of the applications and uses of water, the variety of\nits forms--its frozen state in that of ice, its fluid state in that of\na liquid, its aeriform state in that of clouds and other modes of\natmospheric suspension--all these, together with its transparency and\ncleansing power make it a most appropriate emblem of DIVINE TRUTH. As\nsuch, water is much spoken of by the prophets in the Old Testament,\nand by our Lord in the New. I will here quote some passages from each:\n\n\"_Then with gladness shall ye draw waters out of the wells of\nsalvation._\" Isaiah 12:3. What can be meant by the \"wells of\nsalvation,\" but the _fountains of truth_ in God's Word?\n\nBy way of describing the _abundance_ of the supply of truths from this\nsource I will here quote from the forty-first chapter of Isaiah, as\nfollows: \"_I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the\nmidst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and\nthe dry land springs of water: ... that they may see, and know, and\nconsider, and understand_.\" One man is a _hillside_; another is a\n_valley_. One man is a _desert_; you think he never can be made to\nproduce anything. But he shall be supplied, and thus be made to\nblossom as the rose. Others are _dry land_ of a general character; but\nthere is water enough to make all fruitful: so that instead of the\nthorn, the myrtle; and instead of the thistle, the fig; and instead of\nthe deadly upas, the olive shall grow.\n\nIn Jeremiah's description of the departure of the Jews from the TRUTHS\nof God's Word we find the following complaint against them from the\nmouth of the Lord himself, recorded in Jer. 2:13, \"_My people have\ncommitted two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living\nwaters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no\nwater_.\" This can mean nothing, spiritually, but a departure from the\nTRUTH of God as revealed, and substituting in its place some false\ndoctrine of man's own invention.\n\nJesus said: \"_If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink_.\" For,\nsaid he: \"_My words are spirit, and they are life_.\" His words are the\nwater of life. This explains my text.\n\nIt might surprise some of you if I were to point to that spring yonder\nand say, \"There flows the water of life.\" But would I not tell the\ntruth? Can man or beast live one moment without it? Let us think a\nlittle. What is your blood? It is water, holding in solution the\nvarious elements with which your bones, and sinews, and muscles, and\nnerves, and other tissues of your body are to be supplied and\nnourished. Can man or beast live a moment without blood? Then they\ncannot live a moment without water. Can trees and plants live a moment\nwithout sap? They cannot, because their sap is their blood. But the\nwater of that spring, indispensable as it is to your bodily life,\nceases as to its uses in this respect when this end is met; and if man\nhad no life other than that of mere corporeal or animal existence, no\nother water would ever be demanded by him. In that case there would be\nno need of the invitation given in the text.\n\nBut every human being has a twofold nature. He has a _spiritual_ body\nas well as a _natural_ body. Paul says: \"If there is a natural body,\nthere is also a spiritual body.\" Man's natural or physical\norganization consists of _flesh and blood_. Paul calls this the\n\"_outer man_.\" This is man's animal or sensuous nature. Man's\nspiritual body consists of _will_ and _understanding_. Paul calls this\nthe _inner man_; because it is the interior, \"hidden man of the\nheart.\" This is capable of becoming the higher, nobler, better part of\nman, because it is the \"house\" of his affections and thoughts, of his\nloves and enjoyments.\n\nThere is a wonderful difference between the two natures; and yet the\none corresponds to the other so perfectly that in all of man's\nexperiences, in all that pertains to his life in this world, the two\nnatures make _one man_. Whilst this is so, we must not forget that our\nnatural bodies are _mortal_; they will soon die. But our spiritual\nbodies are _immortal_; they will never die. This is quite as true of\nthe evil as of the good. The spiritual bodies or souls of men will\nlive on, after the death of their natural bodies, through the\ncountless ages of eternity,--the good, in the enjoyments of ineffable\nbliss; the evil, in the sufferings of deepest woe.\n\nAnd is this true? Can it be that one or the other of these experiences\nis sure to be realized by every one present here to-day? Can it be so?\nOr am I here just beating the air to make you and me hear myself talk?\nI solemnly protest that I am not here for that purpose. I have a\nhigher aim, a nobler end. But let me point you to my authority for\nwhat I say, and show you the Rock on which my faith is built. All the\nauthority which any man dare claim on this subject is found in God's\nrevealed Word. I will here quote a few passages:\n\n\"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels\nwith him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before him\nshall be gathered all the nations; and he shall separate them one from\nanother, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.... Then\nshall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my\nFather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.... Then shall he say\nalso unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into\neverlasting fire.... And these shall go away into everlasting\npunishment; but the righteous into life eternal.\"\n\nThese words are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ; he here portrays,\nin one grand view, the good state of the righteous in the next world\nand the evil state of the unrighteous. In the very inmost of my heart\nI believe what our Lord here says, and out of the abundance of my\nheart my mouth now speaks. I also sincerely believe, friends, that\nevery one here to-day can most surely determine for himself, even\nwhile living in this world, whether he will be happy in heaven\nforever, or miserable in an everlasting hell. You may justly ask,\n\"How can this be determined?\"\n\nI answer that a man's life in this world determines this for every\nindividual, as surely as the fruit of a tree makes the quality of the\ntree known. Notice these passages from Paul's writings: \"He that\nsoweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that\nsoweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.\" \"To\nbe carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and\npeace.\" \"God will reward every man according to his works.\"\n\nEvery intelligent man can know with certainty what kind of seed he is\nsowing. Is he sowing the seeds of love and good will to his neighbor,\nthe seeds of peace, and order, and comfort, the seeds of faith, and\nhope, and love? He surely can know what his _will_ is, at least; and\nif there be first a willing mind, it is accepted of a man according to\nwhat he hath; and if he does his all it is the widow's mite in God's\neye. Every intelligent man can know with certainty whether he loves\nGod or loves him not. His readiness to keep his commandments is the\nproof of this both ways. I tell you, friends, there is no getting\naround this. Your obedience to our Lord is the unquestionable and\nundeviating test of your love. \"He that loveth me, keepeth my words.\nHe that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.\" \"A good man, out of\nthe good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good things: but an\nevil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil\nthings.\" Is not this plain?\n\nIt may now be asked, \"How is an evil man to become good?\" No question\nof deeper interest can ever be asked. No answer of deeper importance\ncan ever be given. The Lord direct me in this. Relying on his Word, I\nanswer, that the very first step in the direction of this change is to\nrespond to the invitation given in my text: \"_Whosoever will, let him\ntake of the water of life freely_.\" Jesus says to Nicodemus: \"Except a\nman be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the\nkingdom of God.\" _To be born of water_ is to _drink_ of the water of\n_life_--the TRUTH of God's Word--by _hearing it_, by _loving it_, by\n_believing it_, by _obeying it_, until it makes a new man out of\nhim,--a new man in the image of Christ our Lord.\n\nAs a most impressive and appropriate emblem of this change water\nbaptism has been ordained by the Lord; and every convert to Jesus\nChrist is commanded to submit, cheerfully in love, to this ordinance.\nBaptism, say what you please, is one of the first fruits of this\nchange. To the church it is the external act of the internal birth. To\nbe _born of the Spirit_ is to live the life and enjoy the blessedness\nof the kingdom of God, which is a life of righteousness, a life of\npeace, a life of joy in the Holy Ghost.\n\nAll this is effected by taking the water of life freely, by drinking\nin the TRUTH of God's Word because one loves it, because one desires\nin the heart to be saved, because one desires in the heart to glorify\nGod and enjoy him forever.\n\n\"If any man thirst,\" says Jesus, \"let him come unto me, and drink.\"\nThe water of this mineral spring here can do no one any good except he\ndrink it. But not one of us can go to that spring yonder and take a\ndrink of water from it without the power of God in us. \"In him we\nlive, and move, and have our being.\" But he gives us the power so\nfreely that in the use of it we are unconscious of any power within us\nbut our own. So with drinking of the _water of life_. The power of\nevery one to drink is all of the Lord, but is so freely given by him,\nand so freely used by us, that it is to all intents and purposes the\nvery same as if it were all of ourselves: and this makes us\naccountable.\n\nJesus wants every man's will to drink the water of life. A sick man\nmay come here to regain his health. But upon tasting it he may say, \"I\ndo not like this water; I have no thirst for it; let me have some of\nanother kind.\" But his physician says: \"You must drink it or you will\ndie.\" He obeys his physician and drinks the water. After awhile he\nbegins to feel better, and as his health improves the water tastes\nmore natural to him; and by and by, as he regains his health, he loves\nit and feels loath to leave the spring. But no one ever need leave the\nfountain of divine love and truth: for if a man drink of it freely to\nthe healing of his soul, it will be in him \"a well of water, springing\nup into everlasting life\" and he will love it more and more.\n\nIn a large spring you will hardly ever see all the water come from one\norifice or opening. It boils up through the sand and pebbles in many\nplaces; and one observer will think this the main stream, and another\nthat. So with the water of eternal life. It is not all found in one\nverse; nor in one chapter: nor in one book even. Jesus said to the\ndevil: \"Man liveth _by every word_ that proceedeth out of the mouth of\nGod.\"\n\nAh, friends, time would fail me, were I to attempt to bring to your\nminds the many precious promises we have in Jesus Christ. His Word is\nfull of them; and I most affectionately exhort every one here to-day\nto go to that Word and find the water of eternal life.\n\n  You may sit by the spring;\n  And in your soul you may sing:\n\n  \"I heard the voice of Jesus say:\n    Behold, I freely give\n  The Living Water; thirsty one,\n    Stoop down, and drink, and live.\n\n  \"I came to Jesus, and I drank\n    Of that life-giving stream:\n  My thirst was quenched; my soul revived;\n    And now I live in him.\"\n\n\nDIRECT FROM THE DIARY.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 4, 1838. Attended the funeral of one of Brother\nChristian Niswander's sons. His age was thirteen years and one month.\n\nMONDAY, October 8. Attended the funeral of another one of Christian\nNiswander's children to-day. Age, nine years, nine months and\ntwenty-one days.\n\nSUNDAY, October 14. I attended the funeral of Susanna, daughter of\nBrother Christian Niswander, to-day. She was fifteen years and nearly\nseven months old. This is the third child that this deeply bereaved\nfamily have been called to part with in the brief space of ten days.\nGladly would we pour into their bleeding bosoms the oil of consolation.\nWe weep with them that weep. Our tears mingle with theirs. We lead the\nway with them to the throne of grace. Our Father on high, pity them,\nand do for them exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.\nHelp them to feel that their dear children are not dead; that their\ndeathless spirits have soared above all sickness, sorrow, pain and\ndeath. Thus we pray, and thus we try to comfort. But our feeble,\ntender, sympathizing natures sink under the load of grief; and the eye\nof faith but feebly catches the rays of hope that beam from the pages\nof Heavenly Truth. Verily, here we see through a glass darkly.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder Daniel Garber._\n\n_Preached at Arnold's Meetinghouse,\nSunday, October 28._\n\nThis sermon was delivered in the course of a visit brethren Kline and\nGarber were making among the churches and Brethren in Hampshire\nCounty, West Virginia. They left home October 25, and returned October\n31, by way of Moorefield and the South Fork in Pendleton County, West\nVirginia.\n\n    TEXT.--Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and\n    walk in love.--Eph. 5:1, 2.\n\nSome one has said of this letter to the Ephesians that it is the whole\nGospel in a nutshell. This may be true; but I must confess for myself\nthat in some parts the shell is so very hard, that in my efforts to\ncrack it the broken fragments, under the hammer of investigation, fly\nout of sight, with the kernel still sticking in them. It may be that\nPeter had some of these hard shells in mind when he said: \"Our beloved\nbrother Paul hath written many things hard to be understood; which\nthey that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they also do the other\nscriptures, unto their own destruction.\" The Lord forbid that I should\nthus do with any of the Scriptures.\n\nI am delighted to say, in full view of all this, that there is not\nmuch danger of the honest seeker for truth being misled by anything\nBrother Paul has left on record. If there is any danger at all of this\nkind, I think it is to be found in giving what he says on election and\npredestination a wrong interpretation. I have been frequently asked\nhow I interpret his strikingly bold utterances on this subject, and\nhow I reconcile them with my belief in the absolute freedom of the\nhuman will.\n\nIn the first place, I unhesitatingly profess my belief in the absolute\nfreedom of man's will. How else could man comply with the injunction\ngiven in the text: \"Walk in love?\" If he has no will of his own, why\ngive him a command? This freedom of man's will is a logical necessity.\nReason demands it. Now, let us look at this a little. If man is not\nfree to choose between good and evil; between right and wrong; between\ntruth and falsity; wherein lies the reasonableness of instructing him?\nof exhorting him to do what is right, and to shun what is wrong? of\ncommanding him to do good, with promises of reward for his obedience,\nand threatenings of judgment and fiery indignation as the sure\npenalties of his disobedience and sin?\n\nSome admit the freedom of man's will to do evil, but not to do good.\nBut do you not see that if this be true man's will is only half\nfree--free to act in one direction, but not in another? On this\nassumption, where is the reasonableness of giving him admonitions,\ninvitations and entreaties to do good, when he has not the power\nwithin him to comply?\n\nYou may answer by quoting the Lord's words: \"_Without me ye can do\nnothing_.\" I fully believe these words of our Lord. But if you apply\nthem specifically to the will, they prove that men can do neither good\nnor evil without the Lord. This you may not admit; but I believe it is\njust what our Lord meant. All life is from him as God. All beings, the\nevil as well as the good, \"live and move in him.\" I believe that our\nLord is, every hour and every moment of every man's life, seeking to\nturn the heart, the WILL of the man from evil to good, from darkness\nto light, and from the power of Satan to himself. \"He causeth his sun\nto rise on the evil and the good; and sendeth his rain on the just and\non the unjust.\"\n\nThe light and heat of the sun, as well as the falling of the rain, are\nbeautiful emblems of the life-giving love of our heavenly Father. He\nfreely imparts the power to every one who hears the words of gospel\ngrace, to love and obey him if he will; to turn from his sins, and\nwalk in newness of life. It is the goodness of God that leads men to\nrepentance; and repentance is neither more nor less, and nothing else\nthan a change of one's love or _will_ from evil to good; from the\nlove of self and the world to God supremely.\n\nThus briefly have I sought to prepare your minds for a few remarks I\npropose making on the doctrine of election.\n\nElection simply means _a choosing_. It is an undeniable fact that our\nLord Jesus Christ elects, chooses, accepts every one that truly\nrepents or turns his heart from evil to good. \"_Him that cometh unto\nme_,\" says he, \"_I will in no wise cast out_.\" \"_He that believeth and\nis baptized_, SHALL BE SAVED.\" \"WHOSOEVER WILL, _let him take of the\nwater of life freely_.\" TRUTH is the broad platform on which the\n_elect_ of God forever stand; and LOVE is the golden chain that first\ndrew and forever binds them there.\n\n\nPREDESTINATION.\n\nThere is not a living thing upon the face of the earth but is\npredestinated to a certain end. The horse, in his very _creation_, is\npredestinated to be the horse in kind, and to serve the end of his\ncreation; and his nature and characteristics as such admit of no\nchange. Predestination is one of the essentials of God's eternal\norder. If the horse, or the ox, or anything else which God has\ncreated, could be changed from the nature and order of its creation,\nconfusion would be the inevitable result.\n\nI do not wonder that Paul wrote what he did upon predestination,\nbecause it implies the immutable, eternal order of God's love and\nwisdom. Heaven and earth may pass away, but Christ's love shall never\npass away from the lowliest and poorest soul that loves and obeys him.\nHis love to Christ is the seal of his predestination to eternal life.\n\n\"He that believeth the Son hath life; but he that believeth not the\nSon shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.\" This is\nthe sum of election and predestination. God's eternal love has given\nto man the way of man's salvation. All who choose that way are on that\nvery account elected and predestinated to eternal life in heaven.\n_Elected_, because this fits them for heaven: _predestinated_, because\nit is God's eternal purpose to save all such. Predestination applies\nequally to the impenitent; because, according to the same plan and the\nprinciples involved in it, they must be forever lost.\n\nNothing can be more reasonable than that God's elect, the people of\nhis choice, should be holy and without blame before him in love; that\nthey should be followers of God as dear children, and walk in love.\nThis is both the cause and the proof of their election to eternal\nlife.\n\nIf you will take the pains to look into a dictionary for the word\nWALK, you will find that it means: _To conduct one's self; to order\none's life_. Every man feels in himself the power to order his own\nlife according to what is just and right in the sight of God and men.\nTo regard man in any other light would be to place him on a level with\nthe brute. It would be taking away from him his moral feelings, and\ndepriving him of the just exercise of his will through the\nunderstanding. Whilst man feels in himself this power, still he must\nnot forget that all life is from God, and that without God man is\nnothing. \"_Herein is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved\nus._\" And every true child of his can say: \"_I love him because he\nfirst loved me_.\"\n\nSinner, let me say to you that God loves you and wills your salvation.\nBut he cannot save you without your will to be saved by him. You must\nreciprocate his love. You must answer his call. You must obey his\nvoice. His Holy Spirit is now saying to you: \"Be thou reconciled to\nGod. Turn thou, turn thou, for why wilt thou die?\" You need not pause\nand wonder whether or not you are one of his elect. I can answer this\nmyself. I say to you that in your present state you most assuredly are\n_not_ one of his elect. But if you truly repent of your sins by giving\nyour heart to him in love and obedient faith, just as surely as his\nWord is true, you will become to be one of his elect; for election is\nsalvation. But if you stay away, who is to blame? \"_He that will not\nplough by reason of the cold, shall beg in harvest._\" If you fail to\nsow, where will your ingathering be? But note this: \"He that soweth to\nhis flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to\nthe Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.\" To sow to the\nSpirit is to do the will of God from love to God; and to all who do\nthis, the promise is sure.\n\nBrethren and sisters, I must exhort you to remember the text. Don't\nforget it as you go home after meeting closes. When you get home look\nfor it. Some of you, I fear, have already forgotten the place where it\nis found; so I will tell you again. It is the first, and part of the\nsecond verse of the fifth chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesians.\nThese are the words: \"_Be ye therefore followers of God as dear\nchildren; and walk in love_.\"\n\nYou know that good children imitate good parents. They follow their\nexamples. Now ye are called to follow the leadings of God, to imitate\nthe examples of love he has set before you. Let me present to you some\nof these: \"_If any of you have a quarrel against any, even as Christ\nforgave you, so also do ye_.\" This is the best way to settle a quarrel\nI have ever found.\n\nHere is another: \"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do\nunto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the\nprophets.\" This means that all that God has ever spoken to man is to\nthe end that each one love his neighbor as he loves himself. No one\ncan be a true neighbor who does not love God. The neighbor, then, that\nis to be loved in this way must be a brother or sister in the Lord;\nand none but a brother or sister in the Lord is capable of loving in\nthis way, and to this degree. So you see that love to the neighbor,\nsuch as the law of Christ sets forth, implies supreme love to God.\nThis love makes heaven here, and there, and everywhere.\n\nHere is one more: \"Love not in _word_ only, but in deed and in truth.\nHe that hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and\nshutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love\nof God in him?\"\n\nBrethren, the devil does not like the odor of CHARITY and FAITH in the\nchurch. It is worse in his nose than the smoke of burning brimstone.\nIf you want to keep him out of the church, all you have to do is to\nkeep brightly burning the fire of love on the altar of every heart;\nand from these altars, all together, there will ascend the odor of an\nincense that will put the devil to flight and keep him away forever.\n\nFRIDAY, December 7. Brother Kline, in company with brethren Brower and\nRodecap, started to\n\n\nTHE PASTURES.\n\nThe Pastures comprise a considerable scope of rich grazing country in\nthe western part of Augusta County and the eastern part of Highland\nCounty, Virginia. This section is watered by two principal rivers of\nsmall size, respectively called the Calf Pasture and the Cow Pasture.\nThey are tributaries of the James river in Virginia. Here these\nbrethren preached day and night for some time.\n\nWe rarely find anything amusing in the Diary. Brother Kline's mind and\nheart were too deeply imbued with sincerity in religion and the life\nflowing out of it, to give place to things of a light or trivial\ncharacter. But for once, on this journey, we find one entry that\nbrings a smile to the face: One evening, when they were all seated\naround the fire at Brother Henry Snell's the conversation turned upon\na company of Indians that had, shortly before, passed along that way.\nThey asked permission to spend the night in one of Brother Snell's\noutbuildings, which was cheerfully granted.\n\nThese Indians, Brother Snell went on to relate, had killed a wild\nturkey on their way that day, and in the evening asked the family for\na suitable vessel in which to cook it. This being furnished, they went\non to prepare the turkey for the pot. This they did in true Indian\nstyle. Two squaws went through the performance. One took hold of one\nwing, and the other took hold of the other wing; and thus between the\ntwo most of the feathers were removed. They then opened the bird,\nremoving such of the internal viscera as were thought not fit for\nfood, washed it in a vessel of water, and then put it on to cook _in\nthe very same water they had washed it in_.\n\nBrother Kline could not help applying the last point in the above\nincident to some features in the lives of men. He says: \"That minister\nwho gets up and in a beautiful and glowing discourse sets forth the\nChristian 'cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit;' and\nthen comes down to mix with the world, and follow its fashions and\nvanities, _is cooking his turkey in the same water he washed it in_.\nThat professor of religion who, to appearance, makes a very humble\nconfession of his sins, with seeming repentance and deep contrition of\nheart, only to go away and thrust himself again into the filthiness of\nhis former life, is cooking _his_ turkey in the same water he washed\nit in.\"\n\n\nREFLECTIONS ON THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.\nFROM THE ENTRY OF DECEMBER 31.\n\nThis evening closes the work of another year. The record of this year\nis now nearly complete. Have I any idea of that record? I think I\nhave. Of one thing I feel sure. It has not been kept with paper, pen\nand ink. Neither has it been written in the skies. Each one's yearly\nrecord is written by no hand but his own, and upon no tablet but that\nof his own heart. Each one's LIFE, therefore, is his record. This,\nbefore God and the angels, is a faithful transcript of his mind and\nheart within. \"A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart,\nbringeth forth good things; likewise an evil man, out of the evil\ntreasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things.\" The good things of\nthe one and the evil things of the other constitute the life record of\nevery man. This makes character, and character is the basis on which\nmen make up their opinions of one another; but the HEART, out of which\nthe character grows, is the BOOK that will be opened before the\nthrone, out of which every one will be judged. A _good heart_ is each\nredeemed saint's BOOK OF LIFE: and an evil heart is each lost soul's\nbook of condemnation.\n\nHence we are told by our Lord \"that every idle word that men shall\nspeak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment;\" and\nthat \"whatsoever is spoken in the ear in the closet shall be\nproclaimed upon the housetop.\" Good words leave the lines of their\nlight upon the heart's love-tablet; but evil words leave their shadows\nin the chambers of the soul, and deepen the darkness there.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached on Lost River, West Virginia,\nMarch 3._\n\n    TEXT.--Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and\n    broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many be they\n    that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the\n    way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.--Matt.\n    7:13, 14.\n\nIt is declared that our Lord spake to his disciples in parables; \"and\nwithout a parable spake he not unto them.\" A parable is a brief\nstatement of such _facts_ as men are well acquainted with; which\nfacts are designed to correspond to or represent things they are\n_not_ well acquainted with. Every parable, then, carries with it\ntwo lines of thought. The one line is natural, and is based upon the\nnatural things given in the parable. The other line is spiritual, and\nfollows the natural line, as a shadow follows its substance. My text\nis not properly a parable, but it is in the parabolic form, and must\nbe treated as such.\n\nWe notice at once the two gates and the two ways. We also notice that\nthese two ways or roads lead in opposite directions and to opposite\ndestinies. These statements the simplest mind can lay hold of. Even\nyoung children know what gates are, and what roads are. They can also\nlook in thought toward the ends of roads, and comprehend, in some\nmeasure at least, what is meant when they are told that one road ends\nin a great fire that will burn forever, and that the other ends in a\ndelightful garden where flowers of beauty and fragrance, with fruits\nof exquisite taste and healthfulness, hang upon trees and vines of\nunfading loveliness.\n\nIt is never necessary to speak to the simple-minded man or child about\nthe freedom of the human will. Their lessons in this are learned from\nobservation and experience. By experience every one knows that he has\nthe power to choose what he likes and to reject what he does not like.\nEven beasts, and birds, and reptiles do the same. They choose and\nappropriate the foods they like. They mate together according to the\nsame free will, which is their love. Birds select their roosting\nplaces, and construct their nests where and how they will. \"Foxes have\nholes;\" but this is so because God first made the caverns in the\nrocks, and the foxes afterward chose them for their habitations. Every\nunit in the whole animate world, not only chooses the place of its\nabode, but also the modes and means of its subsistence. Even plants in\na state of nature conform to this general law. Shall man, born to\nglorify God and enjoy him forever, be cut short in the free exercise\nof his will? I cannot believe it. But I do believe that the brightest\nsaint in heaven is where he is because it was first his will to go\nthere; and being there, it is forever his will to stay.\n\nI am not ignorant of the arguments advanced by the other side. Many\ngood, but, I believe misguided men, hold the opinion that man is so\ndepraved as to his will, so lost to all sense and understanding of\nwhat is good, that he is wholly incapable of choosing the right and\nshunning the wrong. But I believe the Lord knows just what man can do\nand what man cannot do. And it is a thing self-evident to my mind that\nGoodness and Wisdom has never yet commanded man to do anything that is\nout of man's power to do.\n\nLet us grant that man is dead in trespasses and sins, as Paul\nrepresents him. But does not Jesus say: \"My words are spirit and they\nare life\"? The Lord's words have LIFE in them; and if man will but\nhear them with his natural ear, as you now hear me speak, and then be\nnot a forgetful hearer, but be a doer of the Word; this man shall be\nblessed in his deed; and soon be filled with the new life of God.\n\nThe text opens in these words: \"Enter ye in at the narrow gate.\" This\nis impossible for any one to do without his knowing what the narrow\ngate is, and where it is. Whilst we have no direct and positive\ninformation upon this point in connection with the text, we still may\nlearn something by noticing into what it opens. The narrow gate opens\ninto the narrow way, and this leads to LIFE. The narrow gate and the\nnarrow way are one. I mean by this that entering the narrow gate means\nmaking a start in the direction of a good life, and walking in the\nnarrow way is progress in a good life. But where is the gate, and\nwhere is the way? I answer:\n\n  \"The Gate is before you, and so is the Way;\n  The Gate is wide open, and no toll to pay.\"\n\nand this gate is our Lord Jesus Christ as set forth in his Word.\n\n  \"Where'er we seek Him, He is found;\n  And every place is holy ground!\"\n\nBut, my dear hearers, do not for a moment imagine that it is a small\nthing to make the change here implied. First, it means a change of the\nheart or will. Of course no one ever leaves a road that leads in one\ndirection, to turn right around and enter upon another that leads in\nthe very opposite direction, without a great change of mind. Second,\nit implies that there has been new light imparted, new truth received\ninto the mind. This new truth teaches the understanding that it is\nneither wise nor _safe_ to keep the broad road, because it leads to\ndestruction. Fear of destruction, then, on the one hand, and the love\nof life on the other are involved in this change.\n\nI am just now reminded of what we are told in history that a great\nman, many years ago, left his home in Europe and came across the\nAtlantic ocean in his own ship to hunt for the fountain of youth that\nwas confidently believed to exist somewhere in the wilds of America.\nThis fountain, it was said, possessed the virtue of imparting youth to\nthe aged, and life and health to the sick and dying. To the dying it\nwas, _Drink and live_; to the aged it was, _Bathe in its waters_ and\nreturn to the _vigor_ and _beauty_ of _youth_. As this great man was\nfar advanced in age he thought it would be WISE to make an effort to\nfind this fountain, which never has existed but in the imaginations of\nsilly men; and never will exist in any other way in this world. Of\ncourse he failed to find it; and, worst of all, he died in the vain\neffort.\n\nBut not so with any that have ever entered into the narrow way through\nthe narrow gate. It surely leads to life, as thousands now living in\nthis world can testify. It does appear to me that this change is quite\nas rational, quite as harmonious with man's common sense, as anything\nthat he does in the daily course of his life's experiences and\noperations. The intelligent, rational man acts from reason in all the\naffairs of life. What he loves he calls good, and what he fears or\nhates he calls evil. This he shuns and that he covets, and puts forth\nevery effort of mind and body to gain it.\n\nIn this fact we find the truth of our Lord's words verified: \"The\nchildren of this world are wiser in their generation than the children\nof light.\" The word GENERATION in this place means _state_ or\n_condition_ from which proceeds a given manner of life, and daily\nattention to business. The men of the world are active as to their\nworks, and watchful as to their interests. This watchfulness and\nactivity is what our Lord calls their _wisdom_, and in its degree it\nexceeds that of the children of light. Our minds and wills act as\nfreely in choosing the things of religion, and doing the duties\nconnected therewith, as they do in the things that belong to this life\nonly.\n\nBut we must not forget that every one who enters in by the narrow gate\nis but a child in experience when he first enters. He is but a lamb.\nBut the Good Shepherd and Father go with him, leading him and feeding\nhim. Like Enoch, he walks with God.\n\nThe text does not say that the narrow way _is_ life; but that it\n_leads_ unto life. To my mind it is clear that whenever the \"sinner\nforsakes his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,\" he then and\nthere enters in by the narrow gate. This is repentance. He returns to\nthe Lord by the narrow way: and the Lord is life.\n\nIt may well be asked why the gate and the way are narrow. The narrow\ngate is the TRUTH of God's Word as it is first found and loved: and\nthe narrow way is the same TRUTH as it is followed and obeyed. Truth\nis always a straight or narrow track, because any departure therefrom,\neither to the right or left, is error and falsity.\n\nJesus says: \"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be\nsaved.\" This door is just as narrow as the gate. He also says: \"I am\nthe way.\" As such, he is so narrow that, as the prophet represents, it\nis as if a fire of destruction were on the one hand and a flood of\nwrath on the other. Ah, Brethren, the truth can never be made to bend.\nIt is as the builder's line to the foundation; and as the plumb line\nto the column.\n\nTo such as walk in the narrow way our Lord says: \"I give unto them\neternal life; and they shall never perish.\" Is not this encouraging?\nIt is to be in the Lord, and the Lord in us. It is to be a live and\nfruitful branch of the true Vine. It is to be a son of God, an heir of\nGod, and a joint heir with Christ. It is, when the coil of mortality\nis laid aside, to shine as the sun in the kingdom of our Father in\nheaven.\n\nIt would afford me much joy to find some here to-day ready to enter in\nby the narrow gate. Do I hear some one say: \"I feel that I ought to\nleave the broad road that ends in destruction, but I cannot\"? It is\ntrue, you can of yourself do nothing. If left to yourself you would\nnever draw another breath; you would never again move your hand or\nfoot. But for the life-supporting power of the good Lord you would\ninstantly be a dead man or woman in every sense. Do not forget that in\nGod you live, and move, and have your being. This is as certainly and\nas literally true of every man's natural life as of his spiritual\nlife. God is constantly present with you; for without him you can do\nnothing.\n\nNow, since he is ever present with you, sustaining a life which you\nacknowledge is not being spent in his service and to his glory, will\nhe not much more give you at the same time power and love and faith to\ndo his will? O, try him. Try my Lord in one sincere, humble, honest,\nfervent prayer. Say, Lord, open my eyes. Take away my heart of stone,\nand give me a heart of flesh. \"Create in me a clean heart; and renew a\nright spirit within me.\" My friend, the moment you sincerely wish to\ndo his will by loving and obeying him he will enable you to do so, as\nsurely as he now enables you to rise to your feet and walk home, or go\nwherever you will and do what you choose.\n\nIt is not a small thing the Lord means when he says: \"Consider the\nlilies of the field, ... they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet\nI say unto you, That Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one\nof these. If God so clothe the grass of the field, ... shall he not\nmuch more clothe you?\"\n\nMy friend, let me here impress your mind with the sublime truth that\nit is quite as much in accordance with the Lord's way, and quite as\nharmonious with his love, to clothe you with power to do his will as\nto clothe the grass of the field with beauty. He gives life and beauty\nto every sparrow. Are you not more in his eye than many sparrows? Even\nthe very hairs of your head are all numbered. O friend, think of it.\nHe even hears the young ravens when they cry. And will he let your\nsoul perish? Will he suffer your naked soul to sink into hell when you\ncry to him for help? Perish the thought! For it \"is a faithful saying,\nand worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world\nto save sinners\"; not to condemn them.\n\nWHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED? Let the Lord answer: \"_He that heareth my\nword, and believeth him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall\nnot come into condemnation; but is passed out of death unto life_.\"\nThis is salvation.\n\n\nTHE FOREST.\n\nThis is a section of country in the southwestern part of Shenandoah\nCounty, Virginia. In early days it was very densely timbered, and its\nfew scattered inhabitants were said to live in the forest or woods. In\nthis way they were locally distinguished from those living in the\neastern part of the county, along the North Fork of the Shenandoah\nriver. At present it is one of the wealthiest and most highly\ncultivated sections of the county. The population is largely composed\nof German Baptist Brethren. Many of these are now distinguished for\npiety and usefulness. In this number we find the names of Peter Myers,\nBenjamin Wine, Daniel Wine, Christian Haller, Samuel Garber, Martain\nGarber and others, with their descendants, many of whom are church\nmembers. Brother Daniel Hays married in this section, and formerly\nresided there; but he now lives near Broadway, in Rockingham County,\nVirginia.\n\nAmong the deceased from this section, posterity will long remember\nthe name of Jacob Wine, who was, for many years, so noted for his\nliberality and activity in the ministry. His uncle, Michael Wine, was,\nperhaps, no less distinguished for his outspoken opposition against\neverything he did not like, as well as for his earnest defense of what\nhe believed to be good and true. Such men, by force of character in\nthe direction of right, secretly carve their names upon the rock of\nmemory, where they defy the surges of time.\n\nHere may be seen the old Flat Rock meetinghouse, a substantial brick\nstructure, so-called from the rock on which it stands. This is\nlimestone, and presents a comparatively smooth and level surface,\nprobably two hundred and fifty feet in length, by two hundred feet in\nbreadth. The formation is wonderful, and affords a striking emblem of\nthe Rock of Truth on which are founded the doctrines and practices of\nthe Brethren.\n\nMay 10, 11 and 12 were spent by Brother Kline in visiting, mostly with\na view to religious conversations and instructions. In these three\ndays he visited Martain Good's, Abraham Glick's, Christian Garber's,\nDavid Wampler's, Peter Nead's, George Kline's and Daniel Glick's.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 13, there was council meeting at Christian Garber's.\nJohn Wine, John Harshberger and Joseph Miller were elected for\nspeakers. Martain Miller and Solomon Garber were elected for deacons.\n\nSUNDAY, June 6. Meeting at the Flat Rock. I baptized Emanuel Grabil\nand Christian Funkhouser. John 3 was read.\n\nSUNDAY, June 13. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Matthew 3 was read. I\nbaptized James Mauck and Susanna Shull.\n\nSUNDAY, July 18. Meeting at Jesse Whetzel's on Lost River. Acts 3 was\nread. Brother Daniel Miller is with me. In the afternoon we had\nmeeting again, and Brother Jacob Motz was baptized.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at William Fitzwater's,\nAugust 8._\n\n    TEXT.--We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to\n    God.--2 Cor. 5:20.\n\nEvery chapter and every verse of Gospel Truth discloses the love of\nGod in one way or another. Our Lord came into the world, not to\ncondemn the world, but to save the world; and all the words that make\nthat salvation known to men are words of love. I am sure we think too\nlittle upon\n\n\nTHE LOVE OF GOD.\n\nIn my talks with sinners I very often discover in them a sort of\nimpression that God is their enemy. I would not, on any account,\nintentionally misrepresent a single individual; either as to the\nopinions he may hold or the secret sentiments he may entertain; but I\nam impressed with the belief that if the hearts of many, if not all,\nunconverted persons could be laid open to view, they would in their\ninmost recesses disclose the belief or impression that God is not\ntheir friend; that he does not wish them well; that he is only bearing\nwith them until it suits his time to cut them off and send them to\nhell. This sentiment springs from a consciousness of sins indulged and\nduties neglected. Hence, when such fall into deep affliction, when\ndanger threatens or destruction impends, they call on God to have\nmercy upon them; and beg him to turn away his wrath.\n\nA wrong interpretation of many passages in the Bible tends to foster\nthis impression. I will here quote a few passages of this kind, and\nthen interpret them according to what I believe to be the truth. When\nthe children of Israel were about ready to cross the Jordan over into\nthe land of Canaan, Moses said to them: \"Remember, and forget not, how\nthou provokedst the Lord thy God TO WRATH in the wilderness.... Also\nin Horeb ye provoked the Lord TO WRATH, so that the Lord WAS ANGRY\nwith you, to have destroyed you.\" Deut. 9:7, 8.\n\nThe Old Testament abounds with passages of similar import, and many\nare found in the New Testament. But let us examine carefully the\n_kind_ of _wrath_ and _anger_ to which the Lord may be provoked. It\ncannot be such wrath as men and devils feel. In Rev. 12:12 we read\nthese words: \"The devil is come down unto you, having great WRATH,\nbecause he knoweth that he hath but a short time.\"\n\nWe can not, we dare not, think for a moment that the word _wrath_,\nwhen spoken of God, means the same as when spoken of the devil. The\ndevil's wrath implies a feeling in him to do all the evil and mischief\nhe can. But the wrath of God cannot mean anything like this; because,\nwhen his wrath burns the fiercest, he is still ever ready to forgive\nall who repent and turn from evil. Nay, he even _entreats_ and\nbeseeches men to be reconciled to him, that his anger may be turned\naway. I might quote many passages in proof of this. I have time to\ngive but one from the Old Testament. When the Lord made an end of\nlaying before the children of Israel the blessings and the curses, he\nwound up all by saying: \"And there shall cleave naught of the cursed\nthing to thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his\nanger, and show thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and\nmultiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; when thou shalt\nhearken to the voice of the Lord thy God.\"\n\nAn appeal to the light of reason must convince any unprejudiced mind\nthat our heavenly Father is angry and wrathful toward no one, in the\nsense of willing evil to him, or of seeking an opportunity to do him\nmischief. _Men_ may, and no doubt often do, have this feeling; but it\nis a wicked feeling. Perish the thought of such wrath ever having a\nplace in the heart of our heavenly Father. The Apostle Peter says:\n\"The Lord is long-suffering toward us, NOT WILLING that ANY SHOULD\nPERISH, but that all should come to repentance.\"\n\nBut let us crown all this argument with the Lord's sunrise upon the\nnight of Nicodemus. Here it is: \"God so loved the world,\"--the very\nworst, and wickedest, and most depraved and abandoned part of it; he\nmade no exceptions--\"that he gave his only begotten Son, that\nWHOSOEVER believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting\nlife. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world;\nbut that the world through him might be saved.\"\n\nDo not imagine that God, our Creator, took a spell of love and good\nwill when he sent his Son into the world. God does not take spells,\neither of love or wrath. He is the same yesterday, to-day and\nforevermore. The same God who brought destruction upon the\ndisobedient, wayward, unthankful tribes of Israel, is the God who so\nloved the world. He loved it then, just as he loves it now. He loves\nit now, just as he did when he sent his Son to die for its sins. But\nlet us inquire a little further into the nature of the\n\n\nDIVINE WRATH.\n\nWhen I am crossing deep water I always find it best to be calm, go\nslowly and steadily, and look well to the point where I expect to\nland. The wrath of God is such only in _appearance_. The _real_ wrath\nis in man, and upon man. Let me explain this. Our blessed Savior says:\n\"Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is\nperfect:\" \"for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good,\nand sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.\"\n\nThere lies a man who gave himself up to intemperance. Alcohol had\npermeated his body, carrying its deadly poison into every nerve, and\nfibre, and tissue of his entire organism. He exposed himself to the\nsun's rays on a very hot day, and he fell dead from _sunstroke_. The\nWRATH of the sun destroyed his life. God made the sun to rise on the\nmorning of that day; and God filled the sun with its heat; but it was\nwrathful to the man who was not prepared for it, and to no one else.\nNature everywhere rejoiced in its light and heat; the corn grew; the\nhay was cured; and devout hearts thanked the Lord for that lovely day.\n\nRight there, on that sand, is where a man once built his house. He was\ntold by many that it was not a safe place to build a dwelling house,\nthat it would certainly be in danger of being swept away by high\nwater. He would not hear, but went on building; and finally he moved\nin. But great WRATH came upon him; for in one night his house, with\nall in it, including himself, was washed away. Wise people all over\nthe land rejoiced to see the rain. It had been a dry time, and\neverybody said: \"What a fine rain! It has replenished our wells and\nflushed up our springs. The mills can now start up again. When the\nground dries off a little people can go to plowing again.\" But this\nvery same rain was destruction and WRATH to the foolish man who had\nbuilt his house in the way of its flood.\n\nYou may now better understand what I mean by saying that the wrath of\nGod is not wrath as we usually understand the word to mean; but wrath\nonly in _appearance_. The Lord did not send the flood to destroy that\nman's house; the flood was just as necessary as the rain, and its end\nquite as benevolent. The destruction of the man's house was purely the\nresult of his own folly.\n\nAll just laws are founded upon love, because their highest end and aim\nis to protect the good. But the law, \"which is holy, just, and good,\"\nis full of WRATH to the evil doer when it overtakes and punishes him\nfor his crimes. But does the good law, which essentially is nothing\nbut love, change? Is it to-day in a good humor, and to-morrow angry?\nSuch is our heavenly Father. To the wise and good he is love, both in\nappearance and essence; but to the foolish and evil, the very same\nunchangeable love assumes the _appearance_ of anger and wrath. You are\nnow prepared for\n\n\nTHE TEXT.\n\n\"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you\nby us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.\" The\nlife of Jesus on earth was a life of love. A part of the angelic\nchorus as it floated down from the skies, announcing the birth of the\nSon of God, was: \"GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN.\" Good will toward men was\neverywhere manifested by our Lord in the life he lived and in the\ndeath he died. In his life \"he went about doing good;\" and no part of\nthat good gave him deeper joy than to see sinners repent of their\nsins.\n\nThe burden of John's ministry, by which the way of the Lord was\nprepared, had for its keynote: \"Repent, and bring forth fruits meet\nfor [corresponding to] repentance.\" When our Lord sent out the twelve\nto preach, he charged them to say: \"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven\nis at hand.\" Right here I wish to impress your minds deeply with this\nthought that repentance and reconciliation mean one and the same\nthing; at least, there can be no reconciliation without repentance.\nReconciliation is repentance made perfect.\n\nWhat keeps men in a state of enmity toward each other? It is pride,\nself-will, and self-love.\n\nPride says: \"I will not bow to _him_. He has got to come to _me_.\"\n\nSelf-Will says: \"If he will not accede to my terms, there will be no\nreconciliation.\"\n\nSelf-Love says: \"What would others think of _me_, were _I_ to humble\nmyself to him?\"\n\nIt is self-evident that just so long as this state of feeling exists\nwith the parties, the enmity will remain. Where deep enmity exists,\nboth parties may be in fault, as is often the case; but this is not\nnecessarily so. There are cases where the fault and enmity are all on\none side, and nothing but love and a desire for reconciliation on the\nother. I just now call to mind a case of this kind. An avowed infidel\nhad been at considerable expense to have his daughter educated in the\nrefinements of learning and art. She excelled in these, and became her\nfather's pride.\n\nBut a day came when her heart was stirred within her. Accidentally\nmeeting with these words of Paul, \"She that liveth in pleasure is dead\nwhile she liveth,\" her mind was led to think and wonder what they\ncould mean. Her father had taught her to look upon religion as a thing\nof mere superstition, and to treat the Bible as a book of fables and\ndelusions. But these words clung to her thoughts, and with them some\nothers which fell from the lips of the minister who preached where she\nsometimes went to church.\n\nFinally she opened her heart to a minister who took great care to\ninstruct her in the way of salvation, and gave her a Bible. This she\nread to the illumination of her mind and heart, made an open\nprofession of her faith, was baptized, and would have gone on her way\nrejoicing every day but for one thing. That one thing was her father's\ndispleasure. His daughter's conduct in the things of religion had\nwounded his pride. He became wrathful, and for a time lost his\nself-control. In this outburst of passion he ejected her from her\nhome, and threatened her minister with violence. In this case you\nreadily see that the fault and enmity are all on one side, and if a\nreconciliation is ever effected it must be based upon the repentance\nof the guilty party.\n\nI see you are interested to know how all this turned out. I will tell\nyou very briefly. About two years after the above occurrence the\nlady's father met with a very serious accident, in which his leg was\nbroken and his body otherwise injured. His recovery was slow. When he\ncould begin to sit up a little he thought what a comfort it would be\nto have his daughter's company, if she still were as she once had\nbeen.\n\nWaiving all this, he resolved to ask her to come back home. She had\nbeen with her uncle all this while. Having returned home in compliance\nwith her father's request, she showed him all the kindness and\nattention in her power. One day, when the two were alone together in\nthe room, he asked her what had induced her to treat him as she had\ndone. Her tearful eyes and gentle words, as she told him of the love\nof Christ which had constrained her to do as she had done, of the joy\nand consolation she felt in his service, of her bright hope of bliss\nwith angels and glorified saints in heaven so impressed him that he\nlistened with rapt attention. He had never been so talked to before.\nFrom this time on, up to his complete recovery, conversations on the\nsubject of religion were of daily occurrence; and I am happy to say\nthat they resulted in deep and godly repentance on his part, which\neffected a reconciliation to his daughter and her minister forever.\n\nMy dear, unconverted friends, the enmity between you and your God,\nlike the enmity of this father towards his daughter, is all on one\nside, and that is _your_ side. No steps are needed to reconcile God to\nman. No such steps ever have been needed, because God holds no enmity\nin his heart towards men. His words of invitation, \"Come unto me, and\nI will give you rest,\" mean love, love to the guilty. \"If any man\nthirst, let him come unto me and drink,\" means love. His bleeding\nheart on the cross, and his bleeding hands, and his bleeding feet and\nhis side, all, all mean love. He ever loves you, and asks you to be\nreconciled to him. He is not visibly here now, but he has committed to\nhis faithful ministers this word of reconciliation; and as a very\nhumble one of their number I take up the refrain, and in the words of\nmy text I say to you and to all: \"Now then, I am an ambassador for\nChrist, as though God did beseech you by me: I pray you in Christ's\nstead, be ye reconciled to God.\"\n\n\nELDER JOHN KLINE AND ISAAC LONG VISIT PENNSYLVANIA.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 12, the two brethren started on their journey. They\nattended council meeting at the Flat Rock. Here they took leave of the\nBrethren, and started on a journey that was to occupy about five\nweeks. Brother Kline, as was his custom when his spirit stirred him to\ngo on a journey of this kind, had sent many appointments ahead; and\nmany were eagerly expecting and hopefully awaiting his arrival.\n\nThe imagination can find much pleasure in accompanying these two\nbrethren on this protracted visit to the churches. Both on horseback,\nthey had every opportunity to view the country as they passed along;\nand many must have been the remarks and observations suggested by\nthings along the way. Brother Kline's mind was peculiarly active, and\nhis temper and social disposition genial in an eminent degree. It was\nnever my privilege to be with him on one of these protracted\nexcursions, but from the short ones I occasionally took with him in\nlater years, I feel sure that each day, all else favorable, was a sort\nof heavenly delight.\n\nSeeing a fine looking tree in the forest, whose leaves and branches\nand general appearance showed that it was solid to the core, straight\ngrained, and deeply and firmly rooted in the soil, he would say: \"That\ntree is a fair representation of a good church member. He stands\nupright. You see he does not lean to one side or the other. He holds\nhis head high in the perpendicular line of justice and truth. The\nsquirrels that run up and down on his trunk and over his Branches do\nnot annoy him: these are his little charities. They feed on his fruit,\nto be sure; but a pleasant smile is all the account he takes of them.\nYou tap him with a mallet, and his trunk gives out a dull but certain\nsound of solidity to the core. There is no wind-shake about him. His\nthrifty appearance proves this. The storms, in the church and out of\nthe church, have never disturbed the solid texture of his faith and\nChristian integrity. He is not twisty. The fibers that compose his\nhuge trunk are just like his principles; they all run straight up and\ndown. You always know how to take him, and what to depend on when you\nhave him.\n\n\"But there stands another tree of a very different character. Tap that\ntree, and the drum-like sound tells you at once that it is hollow. You\ncan see, too, by the furrows in the bark not running up and down in\nperpendicular lines, that it is twisty. It can hardly be said to be\nwind-shaken, for there is not enough solid timber in it to be affected\nin that way. The few nuts or acorns which it bears are worthless; for\nthere is not sufficient vitality about it to mature its fruit. It\nwould have been to the ground long ago but for the support given it by\nthat other tree on which it leans. I leave you to form your own\nopinion of the church member represented by this tree. I hope there\nare not many such, for if there were I fear we would not be able to\nfind enough solid material to build a house that would stand.\"\n\nBrother Kline was gifted with that fortunate cast of mind which\nenabled him to draw from nature themes for thought and conversation,\nwhich added much to his happiness when alone, and to his geniality in\ncompany; and not only so, but even in his preaching he drew largely\nfrom the magazines of God's creation. I have not a doubt that if all\nthe items of interest that passed between himself and Brother Long, in\nthe way of conversations on this journey, could be collected and\npresented in proper form they would make a most instructive and\nentertaining volume. I sometimes fear that the world's best thought\nescapes its hands. It may, however, so turn out that after awhile\nstenography will set her delicate nets and catch these wild birds\nwhich now flit by us on such active wing that we catch but a glimpse\nof their forms and beauty.\n\nFRIDAY, August 13, the two brethren got to Jonas Goughnour's, below\nWoodstock, in Shenandoah County, Virginia. They had meeting in a\nschoolhouse near by. Brother Isaac Long, at this early day, gave clear\nindications of the ability and usefulness which have characterized his\nministry to the present time. Trained to correct business habits from\nearly youth, he carried them over into his church work; and judging by\nhis success, to plan and to perform, to design and to execute, with\nhim mean one and the same thing.\n\nBetween the fourteenth and twentieth of August the two brethren\nvisited John Rowland's, Emanuel Long's, Joseph Long's, Daniel\nReichert's, Daniel Long's, David Kinsey's and John Brandt's.\n\nFRIDAY, August 20. The two brethren, in company with David Kinsey and\nJohn Brandt, go to Brother Nussbaum's. They went through London, Path\nValley and Fennelsburg. They must have had a long ride this day; but\nwho could think the road long with such company? The next day they\nwent towards Huntingdon. Brother Kline says they crossed a tolerably\nhigh mountain this day, and dined at Brother Jacob Berket's.\n\nI wonder how they kept him from wandering off and hunting for\nmedicinal roots and herbs while crossing that mountain. You may be\nsure that no patch of Lady's Slipper, Golden-Seal or Golden-Rod\nescaped his eye. The absence of a hoe is all that saved them from a\ndeal of trouble with him. They went on through Shirleysburg, and got\nto Brother Andrew Spanogle's about sunset.\n\nFollowing Brother Kline on this and similar journeys, by means of the\nDiary, enthuses my soul with an undefinable longing to have been with\nhim. The excitement, and danger, and hurry and bustle constantly\nincident to travel at the present day were all unfelt and unfeared by\nthis company.\n\nBrother Kline's habit was ever to rise early; and, especially on\nexcursions like the present, would he often rise before the family and\nwalk out to take the air, as he said, and see the sun rise. This he\ndid even when the days were at their longest. To get up with him and\ntake a walk before breakfast to some elevation not distant from his\nlodging place, and hear him discourse upon the rising sun, the\nbalminess of the air, the clearness of the water, the songs of the\nbirds, the delicate tints and wonderful mechanism of the flowers of\nfields and woods, was a treat of rare enjoyment.\n\nSUNDAY, August 15. They all attended a meeting and love feast. John 15\nwas read. Five persons were baptized. The four brethren stayed all\nnight at Brother Umbenhaver's. On the twenty-third they dined at\nBrother Seacrist's; then crossed the Juniata to Waynesboro and stayed\nall night at Brother Kensel's. On the twenty-fourth they attended a\nlove feast near Brother Samuel Myers's. Hebrews 2 was read. One person\nbaptized. On the twenty-fifth they went to Brother Dolyman's. On the\ntwenty-sixth they went through Lewistown; then down the canal to\nMifflinburg, and on to Michael Basehore's, where they had meeting.\nActs 10 was read. From this place they went to David Myers's, where\nthey had night meeting. Mark 11 was read.\n\nFrom some unknown cause, here is the first sermon outlined by Brother\nKline in all this journey. He may have been too busy, at times, to\ngive the outlines; and at other times may not have felt like doing it.\nThere is so much originality of thought in the outlines that I here\nreproduce his discourse as nearly as possible.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at David Myers's, in Pennsylvania,\nAugust 26._\n\n    TEXT.--\"By what authority doest thou these things?\"\n\nIt was an exceedingly bold act on the part of our Lord to cleanse the\ntemple at Jerusalem in the way he did it. In justification of his\nright to do this he appealed to what was written: \"My house shall be\ncalled of all nations the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den\nof thieves.\" But reference to this authority involved other questions\nof grave import in the minds of the scribes and Pharisees. They wished\nto doubt his right to appeal to this Scripture, because they were\nunwilling to concede his claim to the divine sonship. To raise as\nstrong a breast of opposition against him as possible, there \"come to\nhim in the temple the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders,\nand say to him, By what authority doest thou these things?\"\n\nMost unexpectedly to them, they were confronted by another question\nquite as direct, from whose point and power they quailed: \"The baptism\nof John, was it from heaven, or of men?\" Whilst many of the scribes\nand Pharisees and elders had never condescended to show John enough\nrespect even to be present at any time when he was baptizing in the\nJordan, still they knew, and felt most keenly, the power of his\nteachings and work upon the common people; for \"all held John to be a\nprophet;\" \"but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God\nagainst themselves, being not baptized of him,\" John.\n\nTo all human appearance, the influence of the baptism and teachings of\nJohn, upon the common people, saved our Lord's life upon this and\nprobably other occasions, for the scribes and chief priests sought\nopportunity to destroy him; but they feared the _common people_. In\nthis we discover traces of the good accomplished by John's mission,\nwhich was \"to make ready a people prepared for the Lord;\" and this\npeople was the _common people_.\n\nOur Lord, however, had a much higher thought and loftier end in the\nquestion he put to these men than that of merely saving his life by\nthe facts involved in the question.\n\nWhen a minister, either diplomatic or religious, on foreign soil, is\nasked for his authority, it is absolutely necessary for him to produce\nsatisfactory credentials of his investment with the office and the\nhonor he may claim. Our Lord's credentials must be clear and\nsatisfactory, beyond those of any other minister, because no others\never have been or can be subjected to such a rigid scrutiny and to\nsuch scathing tests as those were which he bore. They must present a\nmore imposing front than that of the power to work miracles. Others\nhad wrought miracles before. Moses had made the bottom of the Red Sea\ndry ground; and with a single stroke of his rod had cleft a mighty\nrock to the gushing forth of a flood of water from it. Elijah had\nraised the widow's dead son, and had kept her cruse of oil and her\nbarrel of meal replenished; so that the famine came not nigh her door.\nThe walls of Jericho had fallen under the sound of Joshua's band of\nrams'-horn trumpeters; and, in fact, miracles had, in one way or\nanother, been connected with almost all the events recorded in the\nJewish Scriptures. On the evidence of these facts the scribes and\nPharisees said to him in scorn: \"Art thou greater than our fathers,\nwhich are dead? and Moses, and the prophets, which are dead?\"\n\nYou may now perceive how necessary it was for our Lord to have some\nhigher claim to authority, in the eyes of these unbelieving Jews, than\nthey were willing to see in his power to work miracles. This higher\ntestimony to his authority was given by his Father, signed and sealed\nby the Holy Spirit, in the presence of witnesses, as Jesus came up out\nof the water when he was baptized. It was on the bank of the Jordan\nthat \"the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God\ndescending as a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice out of the\nheavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\"\nTo this fact all four of the evangelists bear testimony, in nearly the\nsame words.\n\nPeter, in an address recorded in the first chapter of the Acts,\nindirectly affirms that many witnessed our Lord's baptism and the\nattendant manifestations from heaven. To his mind it was an essential\npart of the qualifications of a candidate for the apostleship, that\nhe had been a witness of our Lord's baptism, as well as of his\nresurrection. And why not? The proofs of his Sonship, of his\nMessiahship, of his union or oneness with the Father, of the Father's\nlove for him, and of the acceptableness of the Son's work and\nobedience, were as clear and undeniable in the first as in the last.\n\nAfter a brief consultation among themselves over the question\npropounded unto them by our Lord, these deceitful Jews decided that\nthe most expedient answer they could frame would be to confess that\nthey \"could not tell.\" No wonder, now, that he told them that \"the\npublicans and harlots would enter the kingdom of heaven before they\nwould.\" We may here see a verification of the fact that LOVE must\nprecede FAITH. The truth may be _forced_ upon one, and he be\n_compelled_ to acknowledge it; yet, unless he falls in love with that\ntruth, he will not believe it as a thing of FAITH, and will not think\nand act correspondingly thereto.\n\n  \"Convince a man against his will--\n  He's of the same opinion still.\"\n\nWe may here, very properly, inquire why the heavenly testimony was\ngiven at our Lord's baptism. Why were the Father's acknowledgment and\napproval of his beloved Son not given in the temple of Jerusalem, in\nthe presence of his enemies, that they might be _convinced_; or in\none of its populous streets on a public day, that the world, in a\nrepresentative sense, might know of him? It is impossible for men or\nangels to know the mind of the Lord where he has not revealed it. He\nhas withheld from us any direct information on this point; but we may\ndraw some inferential conclusions, which may serve to satisfy the mind\nand rest the heart.\n\nIt is a matter of fact that the Father never put his Son on exhibition;\nneither did the Son ever seek any place of honor or distinction before\nmen. \"He was meek and lowly in heart.\" The Word made flesh, the Way\nand the Truth and the Life did not appear on earth to be gazed at as a\nthing of mere curiosity, nor examined and handled as an article of\nmerchandise.\n\nMen have their opinions; and especially at this day is there a decided\ntendency with many to make a show of their denominational strength and\nnumerical importance; but, really, it appears to me that the Son of\nGod shunned observation, and apparently shrank from the echo of his\nfame. More than once did he kindly request those with him to say\nnothing about some sublime manifestation of divine power and love\nwhich he had just given.\n\nWhatever else baptism may signify, to my mind it is plain that it is\nthe visible door to the visible kingdom of heaven on earth. Christ the\nLord is King of that kingdom; and as such it behooved him to enter it\nby the same door through which he has commanded that all his future\nsubjects shall enter; and that door is water baptism. \"He that\nentereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the\nporter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice.\" The fold is the\nkingdom; the shepherd is the Lord; and the porter is John the Baptist.\n\nHow fitting that the divine recognition be given at the _door_ of the\nkingdom in which the Lord is to be crowned \"King of kings.\" A few\nhonest-hearted witnesses were all the Father wished, before whom to\nmake known this glorious disclosure of love for his Son.\n\nBaptism is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh. This is not\nits legitimate result. Its effect is the answer of a good conscience\ntoward God. When one submits to this ordinance in the right spirit,\nand it is properly administered, it never fails of being followed by\nthis happy experience. It gives the heart peace and rest in Christ.\n\"The eunuch went on his way rejoicing.\" \"The jailer rejoiced,\nbelieving in God with all his house.\" These rejoicings followed\nbaptism in each case. The Psalmist says: \"The testimony of the Lord\nis sure, enlightening the eyes: the statutes of the Lord are pure,\nrejoicing the heart. More are they to be desired than gold; yea, than\nmuch fine gold; for in the keeping of them there is great reward.\"\n\nBaptism is both a testimony and a statute. It is a testimony because\nit bears witness to the truth by the joy it imparts; and it is a\nstatute because it is a written command of God which it is the duty of\nevery believer to obey; and in the keeping of it there is great\nreward.\n\nFRIDAY, August 27. They had meeting at Henry Hart's. Acts 3 was read.\nTwo brethren were advanced from the deaconship to the ministry of the\nWord, and two were elected to the deaconship. The twenty-eighth they\nspent mostly with Brother John Royer. The twenty-ninth they attended\ntwo meetings: one at Brother Joel Royer's, and the other near the same\nplace. At Joel Royer's, Brother Isaac Long took the lead in speaking;\nand from the outlines of his discourse, given in the Diary, I am\nassured it is worthy of being expanded into a sermon, and of holding a\nprominent place in this work.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder Isaac Long, of Virginia._\n\n_Preached at Joel Royer's, in Pennsylvania,\nAugust 29._\n\n    TEXT.--\"A sower went out to sow his seed.\"\n\nThere is one feature about my text for to-day that is likely to draw\nat least momentary attention. That feature is its simplicity. I am\nglad to hope that this may give rise to a query in the mind of each\nhearer in substance something like this: \"What can he have to say on\nsuch a simple text as that? I am going to listen and see what he will\nmake of it.\" I see your eyes have turned to me now; but, beloved\nbrethren and sisters, whilst the eyes of your bodies are turned to me\nfrom feelings of curiosity, I beg that the eyes of your understandings\nand hearts may be turned to the Lord, for grace, on my part to speak,\nand on your part to hear.\n\nThe text, in its simplicity of phraseology and external sense, looks\nlike a nut without a kernel. It comes to the ear like the uncertain\nsound of a trumpet: \"_A sower went out to sow his seed_.\" No part of\nthe farmer's work, however, is more common in its seasons than this;\nand I may add with emphasis, that no part of the farmer's work in its\nseasons is more _important_ than this. The life of the world depends\nupon two great facts--_seeding_ and _harvesting_; and when the Lord\nestablished his covenant with Noah after the flood, two of the\nessential provisions of that covenant were couched in these words:\n\"While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest shall not cease.\" I\nnever read that covenant but with delight, because I love farming, and\nwhen at home farming is my business. Here is my covenant with the\nLord, and my assurance that my seedings will be blessed.\n\nThere is one thing in the provisions of that covenant to which I wish\nto call special attention. It is all found in one compound word, and\nthat word is\n\n\nSEED-TIME.\n\nIt does not read _seeding_ and harvest. _Seeding_ means the act of\nsowing seed. The Lord in his covenant does not say that this shall not\ncease; because the act of sowing seed or _seeding_ depends upon man:\nhe only assures man that seedtime, or the time for sowing seed, shall\nnot cease. But notice the other part. He does not say harvest-time;\nbut he says that _harvest_ shall not cease, because _he makes the\nharvest_. He speaks positively here of results, as being able and\nforever willing to fulfill what he covenants to do. In this covenant,\nman's work is implied as well as God's work. Man's part of the work is\nto sow the seed when the time is given. God's part is to bless the\nseed sown, by giving the harvest. In all of man's labor pertaining to\nproviding for the support and comfort of his body, \"we are coworkers\nwith God.\"\n\nOur heavenly Father deals with us as children. By natural things he\ninstructs us in spiritual things. Paul says; \"First that which is\nnatural; afterward that which is spiritual.\" This is God's order.\n\n\nREASON AND FAITH.\n\nSome think that reason must yield to faith. Others think that faith\nmust yield to reason. The opinions on both sides are wrong, because\nboth imply a conflict between reason and faith, when in TRUTH no such\nconflict ever has existed, nor can it exist. Reason is neither more\nnor less than the intelligent operations of the mind in seeking\nto know the truth; and faith is but a willing acceptance and\nacknowledgment of that truth when it is known. In one way of looking\nat it, faith and knowledge are one; only faith is a loving acceptance,\nby the WILL, of what the UNDERSTANDING is assured of being true. What\nthe understanding doubts can never be received by the will as a thing\nof faith.\n\nWISDOM is the union of faith and knowledge in man, and becomes more\nand more his guiding light in all intelligent action. If man's wisdom\nbe merely that of earth, it is not genuine; but if it be heavenly,\nit is true wisdom, and leads more and more to God, and eternal life\nin him. Wisdom says that there must be a sort of reciprocal\ncorrespondence between the seed and the ground on which it is sown.\nThis fact involves several principles based upon experience. The sower\nmust know what kind of seed he is sowing. \"_It may be of wheat or some\nother grain._\" He should know what preparation the ground requires to\nmake the hoped-for harvest. He should know what fertilizers and\nstimulants are likely to do most good. He should also know the right\n_time_ for sowing his seed.\n\nA mere knowledge of these principles, however, is not sufficient.\nThere must be a practical application of them, in the way of complying\nwith the necessary conditions, or the sowing will prove a failure. The\nseed that fell by the wayside was picked up by the birds. That which\nfell on the rock perished. That which fell among the thorns was soon\novercome by their superior rankness of growth, and it made nothing.\nOnly that which fell into good ground made a remunerative return.\n\n\nMAN'S WILL IS THE FIELD.\n\nI may say to you now that man's _will_ is the field which our Lord\nmeant in the parable here recorded; \"and the seed is the Word of God.\"\n\nNotwithstanding the practical explanation given of this parable by our\nLord, a degree of obscurity still broods over it in the minds of many\nBible interpreters. What made the bad ground bad; and what made the\ngood ground good, and how the bad ground is to be made good and\nproductive, are questions that puzzle the minds of many. Some may not\nagree with me; but I do believe that the diversities in human nature,\nset forth and described by our Lord in this parable, all relate to the\nWILL. What makes the difference between a good man, and a bad man?\nBrethren, it is the WILL. A good man does good from a good will, and a\nbad man does bad from a bad will.\n\nLet us take the wayside hearer. There is no defect about his\n_understanding_. His head is as clear in matters of business as any\nman's. He understands what the preacher says when he is sowing the\nseeds of gospel truth as readily as any one in the congregation. Why\nthen does the devil take away the Word out of his heart? I answer,\nbecause the devil is very fond of doing that sort of work; and the man\ndoes not object. In other words, the wayside hearer has no WILL to\nkeep the Word in his heart. If he had a _will_ to keep the Word in his\nheart, and live conformably to it, the gates of hell could not prevail\nagainst it. He would then be _good ground_ according to the measure of\nhis capacity, and the life of love and obedience growing out of it.\n\nTake the rock-hearer next. He has a very thin skin of soil over the\nsurface of the rock that lies underneath. From the way he goes to\nmeeting and talks about religion, you might readily conclude that\nall he needs to become a bright light in the church is a little\nencouragement. He says: \"That was a splendid sermon we heard to-day.\nIt did me good to hear that man talk. I could listen to him for a\nweek;\" and he tells the truth; for if the man stays a week, and works\nup something of an _excitement_, this rock-hearer will go every night\nand praise every sermon. I am sorry to say, however, that the devil\ndoes not try very hard to get the Word out of that man's heart,\nbecause he knows that if he leaves it alone just a little while it\nwill _die_ out of itself. The real trouble with this man is a want of\nWILL to reduce to practice the _truth_ received into the\n_understanding_. The rock, underneath the skin of soil that hides it,\nis a WILL which is wholly averse to the life of self-denial and godly\nobedience set forth in the Word which he hears. He loves the world and\nhimself more than God; and the delight or joy with which he hears the\nWord is all in the _understanding_. The words of life and salvation\nfade from his memory, because there is no desire in his heart or WILL\nto retain them, as the things that belong to his everlasting peace.\n\nNext in order comes the thorny-ground hearer. He may be a man of\ntalent, perhaps a genius. Naturally thoughtful and ambitious, he\ncovets both wealth and honors. He is not entirely forgetful of the\nclaims of religion upon him. He goes to church with his family;\nbehaves genteelly; invites the ministers to his house, and entertains\nthem very hospitably. He thinks religion a very good thing in society,\nand one that ought to be encouraged. You often hear people say of him:\n\"What a pity he is not a member of the church: how much good he could\ndo!\" In all matters of public interest he takes an active part. During\nan electoral canvass he is all astir, and wonders how any one can be\nindifferent at such a time, or even show a moderate degree of\ncoolness. He is a useful man in society, and his loss would be keenly\nfelt by the community. The real trouble with this man is akin to that\nof all the rest. It has its seat right in the WILL. He loves the\nworld, and the world loves him; and to hold his place in society he\nmust comply with its demands. He must not be scrupulous about small\nmatters. He must take a drink with a friend. If invited to take part\nin some pastime or popular amusement, even if it be of doubtful moral\ncharacter, he dare not decline the invitation. If memory should even\nblow the ashes from some live coals of truth, and conscience\nremonstrate, he must ignore all weakness of that kind. Such and\nsuch-like are the thorns that choke the Word, and it brings no fruit\nto perfection.\n\nLast, but not least, comes the good-ground hearer. I have reason to\nbelieve that most of you know him from your own experience; therefore\nI will not describe him here. But before I conclude I desire to direct\nyour attention to a few points more in the line of my thought.\n\nWho is to blame or to incur the responsibility for the failures of\nfruit in the three classes of hearers given in the parable? Some say\nthe devil is to blame, because he throws every obstacle and impediment\nthat lies in his power in the way of the growth of the seed. Others\nsay the Lord is to blame for not having made the ground better by\nnature. Others again say--and these say what is true--that the hearers\nare to blame. The Word came with just as much power to these\nunfruitful classes as it did to the good-ground hearer. \"But it was\nnot mixed with faith in them that heard.\" Whose fault was it that they\ndid not believe? Manifestly their own.\n\nI fully believe that man's will is free. And I do also believe in my\nvery soul that it would be the pleasure of the Lord _to save_ every\nhuman being born into existence. \"As I live, saith the Lord God, I\nhave no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn\nfrom his way and live. Make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why\nwill ye die, O house of Israel?\" Ezekiel 33:11 and 18:31.\n\nBut man's will cannot be forced. The Lord cannot compel any one to\nlove him, any more than one of us can force a man to be our friend who\ninwardly hates us. The Lord is every day seeking to turn the hearts of\nmen to himself through the life-giving, holy, healing power of the\nWord of gospel grace. He does this through the faithful ministers who\npreach it. In this way he causes the sun of truth and love to rise and\nshine upon even the very worst of sinners, and sends the rain of his\ngrace to fall upon them. Without the sun and the rain the seed would\nforever lie dead in the ground; but what is very wonderful in the\ngospel seed is the fact that it carries along with itself, as it falls\nupon the ground, all the light, and heat, and moisture it needs. Our\nblessed Lord says: \"My words are spirit, and they are life.\"\n\nIn illustration of this let us notice the power of his words in\nseveral instances recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. Let me\nrefer to Jairus's daughter. _She was dead._ Every one could know this\nthat saw her. Jesus said to this dead girl: \"Maiden, arise.\" Her\nspirit came back into her. The heart, that before was pulseless and\nstill, began to beat; and the breast, over which the pall of death had\nfallen, began to heave. In obedience to his word she rose up and\nlived. Were not his words _spirit_ and _life_ to this girl? The very\nsame thing took place with the dead boy, the only son of the widow of\nNain. Things no less wonderful were of daily occurrence in the life of\nJesus. The cleansing of the lepers, the healing of the sick, the\ncasting out of devils, all, all proved the spirit and life that are in\nhis words.\n\nHis words, however, have not only natural life and breath in them; but\nthey have spiritual life and breath; and this means eternal life. My\nbrother, my sister, if the Word of Christ is in your heart you have a\nholy, heavenly beating there of love to God and love to all his dear\npeople; and you have a holy, heavenly breathing after more knowledge\nof his words, and for larger and clearer views of the revelations of\nhis grace. These are proofs of the inward, heavenly life in the soul.\n\n\nDO NOT FORGET THE TEXT.\n\nEvery intelligent human being is a sower of some kind of seed. Every\none is either sowing the Word of God or the word and spirit of some\none else; but let the seed be of whatever kind it may, this thing is\nsure: \"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that\nsoweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that\nsoweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.\"\nSowing to the flesh is living after the flesh with its affections and\nlusts; but sowing to the Spirit is crucifying and mortifying the\nflesh, and living the new life of faith, and hope, and love.\n\nBrethren and sisters, there is a mighty, _mighty_ difference between\nthe two. What has the mere fleshly, carnal mind to hope for in the\nworld to come? It can feel no delight, no enjoyment in heavenly\nthings, such as love to God and love to man. It knows nothing of that\nlove which is the bond of perfectness.\n\nYou can always tell what a man's love is by the company he keeps. If\nhis love is of worldly things only, you will see him in worldly\ncompany, and hear him talk only of worldly things. Notice the books\nand papers he reads. They are of the same character. He enjoys no\nother readings. He delights in no other company and conversations.\nThis man is sowing to the flesh, and he will be sure to reap\ncorruption. His treasure is all on the earth; his harvest is here; and\nhe is sowing no seed for a harvest of glory and bliss in the world to\ncome.\n\nThe good ground hearer is a very different man, and he sows far\ndifferent seed. HIS SEED IS DIVINE TRUTH, AND HIS FIELD IS HIS OWN\nSPIRIT. He digs up the thorns and the thistles by the roots; destroys\nthe serpents, and drives out the wolves and the foxes. In this way he\nmortifies the body of sin and crucifies the flesh with its affections\nand lusts. In a well prepared soil he plants the fig and the olive,\nthe vine and the pomegranate. In the place where the lion lay, the\ncalf shall lie down in peace; and instead of the wolf and the fox, the\nsheep and her lamb shall feed in safety. Where the serpent hissed and\nthe basilisk was waiting to sting, the myrtle and the rose shall\nbloom. Thus is the desert made to rejoice and the wilderness to bloom.\nThe man who thus subdues and cultivates his own spirit that is within\nhim, all by the help of God, is sure to be everlastingly blessed in\nhis deed. He will reap a rich harvest of righteousness, peace and joy\nin the Holy Ghost, here and eternally in the heavens.\n\nFRIDAY, September 17. The two brethren reached home. Of this Brother\nKline says: \"Brother Isaac Long and I have been together nearly all\nthe time on this journey, which has occupied just five weeks. It makes\nme feel somewhat lonely to part hands with such an agreeable companion\nin labor; so cheerful; so full of the Spirit; so wise in counsel; so\nclear in judgment. I feel that we have been together in heavenly\nplaces in Christ Jesus. Ah, well! not long till we shall no more take\nthe parting hand! The Brethren everywhere showed us much love. May the\nLord continue to bless them, both temporally and spiritually.\"\n\nBetween the twenty-ninth of August and the above date they attended\nquite a number of love feasts and other meetings. The Diary reports\nmany families visited in Huntingdon and Bedford Counties. Probably\nmany of the older brethren and sisters, then belonging to the families\nnamed, may still remember this visit. Among the names reported are to\nbe found the Spanogles, Altebergers, Becks or Bocks, Allebaughs,\nBrowns, Bicheys, Sniders, and others.\n\nWant of space absolutely forbids any further notice of the Diary for\nthis year.\n\nSUNDAY, January 23. Peter Nead is with us to-day at our meetinghouse.\nHe spoke at some length from Acts 13. To those who could follow him\nhis discourse was very instructive. He traced Paul in his journeys\nwith Barnabas and John, from the first place named in the chapter to\nthe last.\n\nSUNDAY, April 3. Meeting at Samuel Wine's in the Brush. Luke 14 was\nread.\n\nTUESDAY, May 10. Brother Kline, in company with Abraham Stoner and\nDavid Kline, started to the Annual Meeting. On the evening of the\ntwelfth they got to William Deahl's, near the place of meeting.\n\nFRIDAY, May 13. Council meeting opened. Many Brethren present. He\nsays: \"The acquaintance, brethren and sisters form with each other at\nthese meetings, is not the least good accomplished by them. We stay\nto-night at Solon Garber's.\"\n\nSUNDAY, May 15. Public meeting to-day. Matthew 11 was read. Love feast\nto-night. We stay all night at William Deahl's.\n\nMONDAY, May 16. Started homeward, and got as far as to Brother B.\nBear's.\n\nFRIDAY, May 20. Got home this evening. Often will my thoughts return\nto the churches attended and the homes visited. I could not help\ncautioning the Brethren in some of the congregations against the\ninroads of pride and fashion. The younger members, particularly, need\nto be instructed in regard to these things, that they may avoid\nconformity to the world in dress and other things; not because the\nchurch, as such, opposes them in it; but because the Word and Spirit\nof the Lord opposes them in it. The love of Christ, that is, our love\nfor him and his people, and the way of holiness, lead to a life of\nself-denial for his sake. The new nature in Christ does not crave the\nvain and often hurtful fashions of the world. It is best, for both\nbody and soul, to dress plainly, but comfortably; and to live, in\nevery respect, according to the same rule. The godliness that is\nprofitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and\nalso of that which is to come, is not conformed to this world.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 2. Council meeting at the old Garber meetinghouse. The\nsubject of marrying was under consideration. It was laid to continue\nas the church has heretofore held it. The enemy of souls was ready to\ninterfere with the holiness and innocence of our first parents in the\ngarden of Eden. Time has not changed his nature. Nothing but the\nflaming sword of God's Word and Spirit can keep him out of the church.\nThe flaming sword! It gives light and heat to the children of God; but\nthreatens destruction to their enemies. All should bear this sword;\nnot sheathed in a scabbard, but forever held high in the right hand,\nready to be used whenever the enemy approaches.\n\nSATURDAY, August 13. Daniel Miller and I go to Brother Nasselrodt's in\nBrock's Gap and take dinner with him. In the afternoon we go on to\nLost River, and stay all night at Jacob Motz's.\n\nSUNDAY, August 14. Meeting at Brother Motz's. John 15 was read. After\nmeeting we went to the Yellow Spring, where we stayed all night.\n\nSUNDAY, August 21. Meeting at Neff's schoolhouse. Matthew 25 was read.\nAlso meeting at Samuel Wine's in the Brush. Matthew 25 was read there.\nAlso meeting at Pleasant Valley. Brother Koontz was baptized.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 24. Went to Benjamin Bowman's and back home. We have\nhad a wonderful rain to-day. Waters higher than they have been for\ntwenty-eight years.\n\nSUNDAY, September 4. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Romans 6 was read.\nJohn Miller and Abraham Deitrich's wife were baptized by Benjamin\nBowman.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 8. Anna [Brother Kline's wife] and I go to Lost\nRiver to attend a love feast. We stay all night at Celestine\nWhitmore's.\n\nSUNDAY, September 11. Meeting and love feast at Mathias's. Hebrews 8\nis read. We have a delightful day and night, and many people are\nassembled. I speak on the chapter read, and also upon the general\nscope and design of the epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews, and Jews, and\nIsraelites are all one; each being only a different name for the same\nrace of people. The name Hebrew and Hebrews appears to have been\nderived from Eber or Heber, the grandson of Shem. The name Jew and\nJews is supposed to have been derived from Judah, one of the sons of\nJacob. The name Israelite and Israelites was derived from Jacob, whom\nthe angel of the Lord called Israel.\n\nThis epistle was written to the Hebrews, or Jewish Christians, to\nremove from their minds some difficulties and obscurities in their way\nof rightly understanding the way of salvation provided by our Lord\nJesus Christ. On account of their former connection with the\nceremonial law and the Mosaic ritual, it was hard for them to see and\nappreciate the simplicity that is in Christ. Like Naaman the Syrian,\nthey thought the ceremonial part should possess more parade and show,\nto have in it the required virtue. He thought that bathing his body\nseven times in the river Jordan was a ceremony too simple to remove\nhis leprosy: so these Hebrew Christians thought the simple ordinances\nof the house of God were too insignificant to take away their sins.\nThey had been instructed in the ordinances of a worldly sanctuary and\na worldly priesthood. As Christ had abolished all these, by giving to\nthe church the spiritual substance of which these were the shadow, it\nwas necessary that they be very particularly and plainly taught how\nthis was done. The writer of this epistle has shown this in very clear\nlight.\n\nThe chapter read speaks of the True Tabernacle, which the Lord\npitched, and not man. It presents Jesus as the Mediator of a better\ncovenant, which has been established upon better promises. This is the\ncovenant: \"I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also\nwill I write them: I will be to them a God; and they shall be to me a\npeople. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their\nsins and their iniquities will I remember no more.\" These are cheering\nwords: \"Their sins will I remember no more.\" Beloved brethren and\nsisters, this is precisely the way God deals with every one of his\ntruly penitent and obedient children. He remembers their sins no more.\nNo matter how great sinners they have been, no matter how they have\nabused and dishonored him, he holds nothing against them. In this we\nmay see the spirit we should all possess. We are all commanded to be\nfollowers of God, as dear children, and walk in love.\n\nI have sometimes heard a brother or a sister say: \"I can forgive, but\nI cannot forget.\" Brethren, we would not feel very well if the Lord\nwere to say this to us and of us. How would we be made to feel if our\nblessed Lord were to say to each of us: \"I am willing to forgive your\ntrespasses against me; I am willing to save you, because I have\npromised to save all who repent and believe my Gospel; but I can never\nforget the way you have treated me, and will never be willing to trust\nyou as I could have trusted you; and can never again have the same\nconfidence in you that I would have had, had you treated me in a\ndifferent way\"? Such forgiveness as this on the part of our Lord\ntoward us would rob salvation of all its joy. It would turn the sun\ninto darkness and the moon into blood. It would change the harmony of\nheaven into notes of discord in our ears. But this would be the very\nsort of forgiveness that is implied in the saying: \"I can forgive, but\nI cannot forget.\"\n\nNotice, however, the care and the order apparent in the insertion of\nthat loving clause, \"and your sins will I remember no more.\" Notice\nthe introduction: \"I will be to you a God; and ye shall be to me a\npeople.\" In what follows the Divine Love is strongly marked: \"For I\nwill be merciful to your iniquities, and your sins will I remember no\nmore.\" This last crowns it all. The same thing is meant by the prophet\nin another place where the Lord says: \"As far as the east is from the\nwest, so far have I removed your sins from you;\" and again: \"He hath\ncast our sins into the bottom of the sea;\" so deep down are they that\nthey will never rise up against us any more.\n\nSuch must our forgiveness of one another be, brethren and sisters, if\nwe would imitate the Lord. We should never forget that genuine\nforgiveness implies a complete forgetfulness of all trespasses in the\npast. Our Lord says: \"If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither\nwill your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.\" To forgive from\nthe heart is to forgive in love; and love thinketh no ill of one's\nbrother or sister.\n\nLet each one examine himself. If you feel in your heart that you love\nthe Lord your God with all your heart, and your brother and your\nsister in the Lord as you love yourself, I feel authorized in behalf\nof Christ and the church to say to you that Jesus will remember your\nsins no more. You have a right to sing the song:\n\n  \"Savior, more than life to me,\n  I am clinging close to thee;\n  Let thy blood, by faith applied,\n  Keep me ever near thy side.\n  Every day and every hour,\n  Let me feel thy cleansing power,\n  Till my soul is lost in love,\n  In a brighter world above.\"\n\nTUESDAY, September 20. Love feast at our meetinghouse. John 3 was\nread. David Correll and Abraham Miller and his wife were baptized.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 21. Benjamin Bowman and I start very early to\nHampshire County, Virginia. We get dinner at Rorabaugh's, and reach\nMoorefield by night, after a ride on horseback of forty-seven miles.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 22. Go to David Vanmeter's for breakfast; reach\nAbbey Arnold's for dinner, and get to the love feast at David Arnold's\njust after the first meeting. We have delightful weather, good order\nin the house, and a pleasant meeting.\n\nFRIDAY, September 23. Meeting again. Revelation 3 is read. Stay at\nDavid Arnold's all night.\n\nSATURDAY, September 24. Go to Joseph Arnold's, and in the afternoon to\nJoseph Leatherman's, where we have night meeting. I speak on Luke\n24:48.\n\nSUNDAY, September 25. Attend a love feast at Solomon Michael's.\nRevelation 3 is read.\n\nMONDAY, September 26. Homeward through Petersburg; dine at Isaac\nShobe's; then to night meeting at Sister Chlora Judy's. We speak on\nMatthew 11. Stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, September 27. Cross the South Fork mountain over to Jacob\nWarnstaff's, where we have an afternoon meeting. Speak on Luke 28. We\nalso have night meeting at the same place. Brother Benjamin speaks on\nLuke 16. His talks are not lengthy, but they are very pointed, and\nprove that they come from a thoughtful and studious mind.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 28. We both get home.\n\nSUNDAY, October 2. Meeting at Henry Huffman's in Page County, Virginia.\nMark 1 is read. Isaac Spitler is baptized.\n\nSATURDAY, December 3. Samuel Wampler and I go to Lost River. We stay\nall night at Silas Randall's.\n\nSUNDAY, December 4. Meeting at Brother Celestine Whitmore's. Matthew 7\nis read. Silas Randall and his wife are baptized. We stay all night at\nCelestine Whitmore's.\n\nSUNDAY, January 1, 1843. I and Frederic Kline go to George Fulk's\nschoolhouse in the Gap. We have meeting, and I speak on John 15. We\ndine at George Fulk's, and in the evening return home.\n\nSUNDAY, February 19. Meeting at our meetinghouse. John 3 is read. In\nafternoon Peter Nead and I go up to Benjamin Bowman's, at the head of\nLinville's Creek, where we have night meeting. Brother Nead speaks\nvery beautifully on John 15:14, \"Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever\nI command you.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, March 30. Visit Dr. Newham, and take him through \"_a course\nof medicine_.\" This last expression frequently appears in Brother\nKline's Diary. The phrase, \"_course of medicine_,\" was first\nintroduced by Dr. Samuel Thompson, the founder and propagator of what\nafterwards assumed the name of \"The Thompsonian System of Medical\nPractice.\" To the minds of many very worthy and sensible people in\nVirginia and other States, Dr. Thompson's definitions of disease, and\nhis corresponding views of their treatment, appeared quite reasonable.\nThey met with great favor in some communities, and by many were\nenthusiastically received. Among the latter Brother John Kline stood\nin the foremost rank. He espoused the \"Theory and Practice of Dr.\nSamuel Thompson\" with unreserved confidence. In his zeal to do good\nwith it he furnished the medicines and administered them to hundreds\nof the afflicted; and to many free of charge.\n\nThe phrase, \"_course of medicine_,\" was meant to comprehend in its\nsignification the whole routine of treatment demanded by nature to rid\nitself of disease. This usually consisted of a Lobelia emetic or\nvomit, more or less thorough as the symptoms of the impending disease\nappeared to require. Preparatory to this vomit, and in connection with\nit, warm and stimulating infusions or teas were administered to induce\nvery active sweating, or \"free perspiration,\" as it was called. As an\naid to this, steaming the patient was sometimes resorted to. The\n\"_course_\" usually took up several hours. After all was gone through\nwith, the patient was allowed to rest, excepting, however, the\nadministration of a few mild sedatives or soothing nervines, to induce\nsleep. The reader may conclude that the patient very likely needed\nrest after all this treatment.\n\nPrejudice against the system has grown old, and nearly died out; and,\nat this point of distance in time, it may be calmly said that \"_the\ncourse of medicine_\" very often seemed to do much good. Many were\nready, at any time, to bear testimony in behalf of its efficacy in\ntheir own individual cases, and in those in their families; and it is\nhard to conclude that mere confidence in the treatment, and in the\nhands by which it was administered, could effect so much good.\n\nBrother Kline went into it with a sort of zest and zeal that looked\na little as if he might have hitched it to his train of religious\nduties. Be this as it may, one truth is sure, a truth which Wordsworth\nhas beautifully woven into the poetic lines which follow:\n\n  \"The sick he soothed; the hungry fed;\n    Bade pain and anguish flee:\n  He loved to raise the downcast head\n    Of friendless poverty.\"\n\nSUNDAY, May 28. To-day we held our first regular meeting in our new\nhouse. It has been decided to name it \"The Brush Meetinghouse.\" This\nis a frame building, constructed by Christian and John Wine, sons of\nSamuel Wine.\n\n\"The Brush\" is a small section of country in Rockingham County,\nVirginia. It lies between the North mountain on the west side and\nLinville's Creek on the east; and between the North Fork of the\nShenandoah river on the north and the head waters of Muddy Creek on\nthe south. It comprises, probably, sixteen square miles.\n\nSamuel Wine, one of the pioneers of the German Baptist Brethren,\nraised a very useful and respectable family in the very heart of the\nBrush. Of his sons, Christian, and John, and Samuel, and George were\nset to the ministry of the Word in the church of their father's\nchoice. Michael, the only other son, is a deacon.\n\nJacob Mitchell, who spent his last years in the same Brotherhood,\nraised a very respectable and intelligent family in the Brush, at the\nplace now occupied by his son Joseph A. Mitchell, and officially known\nas Cherry Grove; that name having been given to the post office kept\nat the place, from the great abundance of sweet cherries which for\nmany years have grown there and in the vicinity to great perfection.\n\nAnthony Showalter, father of John A. Showalter, and grandfather of\nAnthony J. Showalter, both favorably known as composers and teachers\nof music,--raised a numerous family of noble boys and girls in the\nsame section, nearly, if not quite all of them, members of the\nBrethren church.\n\nAll of the above-named brethren were personal friends of Brother\nKline, who often visited them at their homes.\n\nDavid Haller, whose name is often seen in the Diary, was another\nintimate friend of Brother Kline. He held membership in the church\nmany years, and assisted in building the Brush meetinghouse. From what\nhas been said of the Brush, it appears to have been favorable to the\nreproduction of the race, both numerically and substantially. Brother\nDavid Haller had born unto him from a first and second marriage\ntwenty-two children, nearly all of whom grew up to manhood or\nwomanhood. The question was once asked: \"Can any good thing come out\nof Nazareth?\" History forever answers, yes! Truth echoes the same\nanswer to the same question, applied to the Brush.\n\nSUNDAY, June 4. Meeting at the Flat Rock. Mary Pope is baptized.\n\nSUNDAY, June 25. Meeting at the Powder Spring. Peter Beacher is\nbaptized. We dine at Abraham Funkhouser's and stay all night at\nAbraham Swartz's.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 29. Attend a very sad funeral to-day. Brother John\nZigler's child was drowned, and quite dead when discovered. It was one\nyear, seven months and twenty-eight days old. The death of a child is\nalways distressing; but when death comes by accident, it is much more\nso. Brother John Zigler lives in Timberville, Rockingham County,\nVirginia.\n\nMONDAY, July 10. Dine at Sister Judy Deitrick's. Call on Dr. Biggs,\nwhose headquarters are at John Higgins's. He is a straight up and down\nThompsonian doctor. He seems to fear no opposition. He says that such\nplain, common-sense principles as underlie Thompson's System of\nmedical practice must stand the test of time, and eventually win the\nday. He says that Dr. Thompson was the first to formulate the Axiom:\n\"Remove the cause, and the effect will cease.\" Disease is removed from\nthe body by expelling the cause. Nature, when the cause of disease is\nremoved, will of herself, restore health to the body. Reduce the\nstrength of the patient, and you reduce the patient's power to get\nwell. Do bleeding, blistering, starving and drastic purges strengthen\nthe vital forces, or add power to the recuperative system? No! All\nthese tend to reduce the restorative forces by weakening the\nalimentary, respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems of the body;\nthe only powers upon which the physician may rely, and to which he\ndare look for the restoration of the sick to health. Such are the\nconvictions which the doctor expressed to me in the brief interview I\nhad with him to-day. Stay all night at Joseph Miller's.\n\nSATURDAY, July 15. Brother Daniel Miller and I go to Brock's Gap, dine\nat George Moyers's, and stay all night at Celestine Whitmore's.\n\nSUNDAY, July 16. I baptize Magdalena Moyers and Barbara Tusing. We\nstay all night at Charles Snider's.\n\nFRIDAY, August 11. Attend harvest meeting at the Flat Rock. It\nbehooves us, at these meetings, to be on our guard, lest we fall into\na feeling of self-satisfaction. I mean by this that it is possible for\nus to become so well satisfied with ourselves now that we have\nreturned thanks to the Lord for the rich gifts of his love, in the\nbountiful harvest we have just gathered, that we have no need of being\nwatchful as to the use we make of it. Brethren, if our thankfulness be\nfrom the heart, this very feeling will lead us into a desire to make a\nright use of what the Lord has given. Perhaps it would be better for\nus to take up more time at our harvest meeting in talking about the\nways and means of using the gifts of God, and how best to apply them\nto the end that will do most good to one another and the poor, and\nthus most honor and glorify him. I made remarks similar to these, and\nthink that I will speak more on the same line of thought to-morrow.\n\nSATURDAY, August 12. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse. After\nmeeting, go up to Isaac Ritchey's in Brock's Gap, and stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, August 13. Jacob Stirewalt, a Lutheran minister, preaches and\nadministers the sacrament at Sowders's church to-day. I happen to be\npresent, and am reminded of my boyhood experience in Pennsylvania,\nwhen I used to be in the Lutheran church on such occasions, and when\nit often fell to my lot to pump wind for the organ. In the afternoon\nwe have meeting at Jacob Whetzel's. I stay all night at James\nFitzwaters's.\n\nSUNDAY, August 27. Meeting at Daniel Garber's. Matthew 13 is read.\nBrother Daniel Miller baptized three persons to-day. This day also\nSamuel and Joseph Good and their wives are baptized.\n\nFRIDAY, September 15. Creek and river very high. A great freshet. A\nvery wonderful washout occurred in the side of the North mountain,\nabove Turleytown, back of Elijah Baker's. It is supposed to have been\ncaused by a waterspout or cloud-burst, as it is sometimes called. A\ngreat flood of water seemed to fall on the side of the mountain on a\nsmall patch of ground, uprooting trees, overturning rocks, and\ncarrying all in one huge mass into the hollow below, where they\nlodged. The flood, rolling on, carried off Moses Pumphrey's\nmilk-house, and did some other damage.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 4. Meeting and love feast at Beaver Creek. Hebrews\n12 is read. The brethren and sisters were exhorted to \"follow after\npeace, and the holiness without which no one shall see the Lord; to\ntake heed lest any fall short of the grace of God by living unholy\nlives.\" Whilst it is the duty of the housekeepers to look after the\npurity and order of the church at all times, still it does appear that\na special eye should be had on the body at the times of our love\nfeasts. \"All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we\nhave to do.\" There should be no spots in our feasts of love. All\nshould be unspotted love and purity in Christ Jesus. Otherwise our\nservices may not be acceptable to him. If there be anyone amongst us\nto-day who feels and knows in his own heart that he is a fornicator or\nprofane person as Esau was, any one that is conscious of having in\nhimself any feeling of bitterness towards the body or any member of\nit; I hereby, according to authority from the Lord, admonish such not\nto approach the table of the Lord. Such sins should be publicly\nconfessed before the church; and according to the words of the Lord,\nthe church has authority to loose the brother or sister from such\nsins, when deeply and duly repented of. \"Whatsoever ye shall loose on\nearth, shall be loosed in heaven.\"\n\nBut I here entreat all to think soberly. Let none stay away from the\ntable of the Lord on account of a feeling of unworthiness before God.\n\"For the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a\ncontrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.\" When we are meek and\nlowly in heart under a deep sense of unworthiness and shortcomings,\nthen it is that the spirit is bearing witness with our spirits. Though\nfree from sin, still our Lord confessed that he himself was \"meek and\nlowly in heart.\" Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand\nof God, that he may exalt you in due time. He that humbleth himself\nshall be exalted.\n\nAfter such exhortations and instructions the brethren and sisters\njoined in singing that heart-cheering old hymn:\n\n  \"Arise, my soul, arise;\n    Shake off thy guilty fears:\n  The Bleeding Sacrifice\n    In my behalf appears.\n  Before the Throne my surety stands;\n  My name is written on his hands.\"\n\nWe have had good weather all this day and night, and a fine meeting.\n\nMONDAY, October 16. Between this date and the twenty-third Brother\nKline, in company with Anna, his wife, visited the following named\nfamilies: Daniel Glick's, David Wampler's, Widow George Kline's,\nSamuel Miller's, Jonas Wampler's, Daniel Wampler's, Jacob Hoover's\nabove Staunton, Joel Garber's, Jacob Zigler's, Christian Kline's,\nJacob Wine's, Martain Good's, Joseph Miller's, Daniel Garber's,\nFrederic Kline's, Jacob Earley's and Flory's. He attended a number of\nmeetings in connection with the foregoing visits, and reports the\nBrethren and relatives generally well.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 25. Brother Kline started to Hampshire County, West\nVirginia. He went by way of the South Fork and Moorefield in Hardy\nCounty, West Virginia; and got to Brother Nicolas Leatherman's by\nThursday night, after two very hard days' ride on horseback. On this\njourney he visited John Leatherman's, Daniel Arnold's, Joseph\nArnold's, David Good's, Solomon Michael's and others. He attended a\nlove feast and one other meeting at Arnold's meetinghouse, and had\nnight meeting at Solomon Michael's. Here his subject was the baptism\nof John. From Solomon Michael's he went to Brother Stingley's in the\nwest part of Hardy County, West Virginia, where he met and filled an\nappointment for preaching. From this place he went to Parks's; and on\n\nWEDNESDAY, November 1, he took dinner at Saul Hyre's, above Petersburg,\nand stayed all night at Isaac Shobe's.\n\nTHURSDAY, November 2. He had meeting at the widow Chlora Judy's on\nMill Creek, where he spoke from John 1:29. \"Behold the Lamb of God,\nwhich taketh away the sin of the world.\" The next day he had meeting\nat Rorabaugh's on the South Fork; and in the afternoon went across the\nShenandoah mountain to Brother Nesselrodt's. He says: \"I crossed two\nvery high mountains to-day. It is cloudy and cold, threatening snow.\"\n\nSATURDAY, November 4. Snowing fast this morning. Go on to Mathias's on\nLost River, where I meet a small gathering of people at night. Snows\nfast all day, and meeting small; but I nevertheless speak as best I\ncan on the last two verses of the ninth chapter of John. These are the\nwords, and what follows is an outline in substance of what I said:\n\"And many came unto him; and they said, John indeed did no sign: but\nall things whatsoever John spake of this man were true. And many\nbelieved on him there.\" Our Lord's work on earth in the flesh, was now\nfast drawing to a close. Honest hearts were accepting him as the\nSavior of the world. His enemies, on the other hand, were becoming\nmore violent in their opposition to him, on the ground that if they\nwould let him go all men would believe on him. One striking feature of\nour Lord's spirit and doctrine was that of \"_nonresistance_\" of\npersonal or bodily enemies. \"My kingdom,\" said he, \"is not of this\nworld; else would my servants fight.\" Ignorant of the power of love,\nthese Jewish enemies of our Lord could foresee nothing in the\ntendencies of his doctrines but the destruction of their city\nJerusalem, and the same also of their nationality as a people.\n\nAlthough John did no sign or miracle, still he told the truth about\nJesus; and inasmuch as he did this in the beginning of our Lord's\nministry, and was beheaded soon after, it was in itself strong\nevidence in favor of our Lord's Messiahship. The people could plainly\nsee the agreement between the life and teachings of Christ and what\nJohn had said they would be. The agreement was too exact and uniform\nto be accidental. This led many to believe on him. They alleged that\nall things whatsoever John spake of this man were true; and they came\nunto him. In this they showed their wisdom. How they hung upon his\nwords! How their hearts did burn as he opened unto them the\nScriptures! Like Mary, many sat at his feet and heard his words.\n\nAt the present day, when any begin to inquire the way of salvation,\ninstead of going to the Word wherein the way is plainly revealed, and\nthe Lord may be found, they go to their preacher, or to others whom\nthey regard as safe guides, or to books that purport to lead inquirers\ninto the right way; and very often they are wrongly taught and misled.\nIf there be one here to-night who is anxiously inquiring the way to\nJesus, I say to him: \"Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin\nof the world!\" \"Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I\nconfess before my Father and the holy angels.\" \"Whosoever shall call\non the name of the Lord shall be saved: for with the heart man\nbelieveth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made\nunto salvation.\" A good many tongues are found in the mouth with which\nmen make \"confession unto salvation.\" But they all speak the same\nthing, and the thing which they all speak is humble obedience to the\nWord of the Lord. Baptism is one tongue. Feet-washing is another\ntongue. The Lord's Supper is another tongue. The Communion is another\ntongue. A quiet, honest and peaceable life is another tongue, and one\nthat speaks very loud for Christ. Temperance in eating and drinking,\nand abstemiousness in the way of rejecting the use of all unnecessary\nor injurious things is another tongue of power on the Lord's side.\nCome to Jesus. Confess him in these ways, and thou shall live.\n\nSUNDAY, December 31. Meeting on Lost River. Matthew 2 is read. Stay\nall night at Christian Halterman's.\n\nIt is said that the centipede has a hundred feet. It may have; and it\ndoes seem that superstition, or the belief in supernatural things of a\ntrivial nature has quite as many; and, like the fabled animal of\nancient times, has also a hundred heads.\n\nThis evening I overheard a conversation among some young people where\nI stayed, in which one said that every New Year's night, that is, the\nnight in which the New Year comes in, the cattle and sheep all get on\ntheir knees, as if they might be in a devotional posture of body. They\ntalked as if they really believed that this might be so. I do not know\nhow this impression has come about; but I have heard this before, and\nguess that some mischievous or sportive person tried to make some one\nelse believe that cattle and sheep kneel _only_ on New Year's night,\nwhen the truth is that they kneel whenever they lie down to rest. I\nhave often thought it a pity that people are so ready to believe in\nmarvelous and supernatural things which can do them no good, and so\nbackward to believe the most marvelous truth the world has ever known;\nthe truth that God has provided eternal life and salvation for all who\nare willing to accept it on the easy terms upon which it is offered.\n\nIn this year I have traveled, mostly on horseback, three thousand, two\nhundred and sixty miles.\n\nMONDAY, January 1, 1844. I feel sure that the work of the year cannot\nbe entered upon more suitably than by making arrangements for building\na house of worship unto the Lord. The need of a house of this kind has\nlong been felt among the Brethren on Lost River. We have here, as\nelsewhere, \"not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God\" publicly,\nas Paul says he did among the Ephesian brethren, \"and that from house\nto house.\" But it is best to have a stated place of worship, and with\nthis in view we have this day made arrangements to build a\nmeetinghouse, to be known as the Lost River meetinghouse. Celestine\nWhitmore, Jacob Mathias and Silas Randall have been elected trustees;\nand Celestine Whitmore, one of the number, has been elected master\nbuilder.\n\nSATURDAY, February 24. Raise the new meetinghouse on Lost River. Stay\nall night at Silas Randall's.\n\nTUESDAY, March 26. My dear old father dies this night, at forty\nminutes past three o'clock in the morning. He has lived to a great\nage, has seen all of his children settled in life and doing well, has\nserved his day and generation to good purpose by a faithful discharge\nof duty as a husband and father in his own family; as a kind and\never-obliging neighbor in his community; and far, very far outweighing\nall these, he has honored his God by embracing the faith set forth in\nthe Gospel of the Son of God, the faith that works by love, that\npurifies the heart, and that overcomes the world. All great endings\nare but great beginnings. The end of our Savior's life on earth was\nbut the beginning of his life of ineffable glory and exaltation in\nheaven. As the Head is, so shall the members be. In his own measure,\nas it hath pleased the Lord to give my father grace, so shall his\nreward in glory be. Death is the door through which we enter life.\n\n  \"Farewell! we meet no more\n    On this side heaven:\n  The parting scene is o'er,\n    The last sad look is given,\n\n  \"Farewell! O may we meet\n    In heaven above:\n  And there, in union sweet,\n    Sing of a Savior's love.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, March 28. Daniel Miller and Benjamin Bowman preach father's\nfuneral. The earth that covers the body and hides it from sight does\nnot bury our hopes. The anchor of the soul is sure and steadfast. It\nhas its hold upon the things within the veil, which are eternal and\nimmovable. I will not sorrow as those who have no hope. Father's age\nwas eighty years, eight months and twenty-two days.\n\n\n_Sermon by Elder John Kline._\n\n_Preached at Old Father Kagey's,\nSunday, March 31._\n\n    TEXT.--For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man\n    perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.--2 Cor. 4:16.\n\nOur heavenly Father makes known to his children the things necessary\nfor their instruction in the way of a holy life, that they may do his\nwill in all things and live well-pleasing to him at all times. To this\nend many precious promises are held up to our spiritual vision, and\nmany encouragements set forth to animate us to love and duty. Hence\nPaul says: \"For this cause we faint not. Even though our outward man\nperish,\" that is, show signs of decay and approaching death, \"yet the\ninward man is renewed day by day.\" This natural body in which we live\nand move, in which we serve and suffer, is what Paul calls \"the\noutward man.\" Elsewhere it is called \"a natural body.\" It is the\noffspring of the natural act of generation between the father and\nmother, and is in its nature bone of their bone and flesh of their\nflesh. This is why it is called a natural body. In the text it is\ncalled \"the outward man,\" because it is the external part of the man;\nis visible; has weight; may be handled and felt; and is the medium of\ndirect sensation. It is also the seat of suffering and sin, and is\nsubject to death and decomposition as its end. Of this body it is\nwritten: \"Dust thou art; and unto dust shalt thou return.\" Paul says:\n\"In me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.\" He is\nvery particular to tell us in which part of him it is where no good\nthing dwelleth. He says: \"In my flesh.\"\n\nBut there is \"an inward man\" about which none of these things can be\nsaid. This is elsewhere called \"a spiritual body.\" It is so called\nbecause it is born \"not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of\nthe will of man, but of God.\" It is also called \"a new creature in\nChrist Jesus.\" Generation, in a natural sense, implies the begetting\nand bringing forth of the \"natural body\" the \"outward man,\" \"the old\nman;\" but regeneration implies the begetting and bringing forth of\n\"the spiritual body,\" \"the inward man,\" \"the new man,\" which after God\nis created in righteousness and true holiness. Peter says: \"Born\nagain, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of\nGod, which liveth and abideth forever.\"\n\nBut it matters not how good a thing may be, if it is out of our reach\nor beyond our power to get, it can do us no good. But the new life in\nthe soul, the eternal life of the spirit, is not out of the reach of\nany, is in reach of all. Even the dead shall hear his voice, and they\nthat hear shall live. \"He that heareth my word, and believeth him that\nsent me, hath everlasting life.\" \"Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in\nno wise cast out.\" \"He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit\nreap life everlasting.\" \"This is life eternal that they might know\nthee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.\" \"If\nany man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed\naway; behold, all things have become new.\"\n\nObedience to the ordinances of God's house has its place here in\nconnection with faith. By works is faith made perfect. The first\ncommand that Paul received in connection with his conversion was:\n\"Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name\nof the Lord.\" The instruction of Peter to the convicts on the day of\nPentecost was: \"Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name\nof Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the\ngift of the Holy Ghost.\" In preaching Jesus to the eunuch Philip\nevidently preached our Lord's baptism, else what would the eunuch have\nknown about baptism? How else can we account for his remark to Philip\nand implied request: \"See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be\nbaptized?\" \"If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest,\" was\nPhilip's answer. Sinner, you are invited to come and take of the water\nof life freely. Come, believe, obey, and live forever.\n\nFRIDAY, April 12. Plant corn in the lower field.\n\nSATURDAY, April 13. Finish planting the lower field. I never plant\ncorn or commit any seed to the earth, but I am filled with wonder in\nthe contemplation of God's power. In my thoughts over things of this\nkind my mind and heart find pleasant relief, by recalling in memory\nthe beautiful similitude which Mark, alone of all the evangelists, has\nleft on record for us. These are his words: \"And he [the Lord] said,\nSo is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth,\nand should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up\nand grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth fruit of herself;\nfirst the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.\" These\nwords greatly encourage me to labor more faithfully in the ministry of\nthe Word: for as we know the Lord has power to make the dry seed in\nthe dry ground grow unto a rich harvest, we know not how, so has he\npower to make the seeds of his truth spring up and grow in the hearts\nof men unto a harvest of eternal blessedness in heaven. But as the\ncorn must be tended, the field kept clean, and the ground kept in\norder during the growing season, so must the Word in the heart be\nguarded from the inroads of evils, such as are clearly described in\nthe Lord's own words.\n\nSATURDAY, April 20. Council meeting to-day on Lost River. Celestine\nWhitmore elected speaker, and Silas Randall elected deacon. Stay all\nnight at John Miller's.\n\nSUNDAY, April 21. Meeting at Whitmore's. Luke 14 is read. _Humility_\nwas my subject to-day, founded on the words of the eleventh verse.\nPride is the opposite of humility. The proud man exalts himself and\nrefuses to follow in the footsteps of the meek and lowly Jesus.\n\n\"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.\" So says the\nApostle James. And why is this so? Because the proud man, in his sense\nof self-sufficiency, feels no want at the present which he thinks he\nis not able to supply, and dreads no want in the future, either\nbecause he does not think of any future life, or because he has\npersuaded himself to believe there is no future state of existence.\nGod can never give grace to such a man, in such a state, because he\nwill not receive it. A thing may be offered, but it can never be said\nto be given unless it is received. Wherefore the Apostle Peter says:\n\"Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he\nmay exalt you in due time.\" When God exalts a man, when God lifts a\nman up, he then is lifted up, he then is exalted, sure enough. This is\nthe exaltation to which we may truthfully apply Paul's exultation:\n\"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the\nheart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love\nhim.\"\n\nSUNDAY, May 12. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Ephesians 4 is read.\nSamuel Myers and his wife are baptized.\n\nTUESDAY, May 14. Council meeting to-day at our meetinghouse. John\nBowman, of Franklin County, Virginia, and Brother Barnhardt, of\nRoanoke County, Virginia, were with us to-day; and they are with me\nthis evening to stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 16. Raise the mill, and in the afternoon go to the Gap\nand marry George Fawley and Catharine Fulk.\n\nSATURDAY, June 1. Love feast to-day at our meetinghouse. Brother\nDaniel Barnhardt, of Roanoke County, Virginia, and Brother John\nBowman, of Franklin County, Virginia, and Brother Peter Nead were with\nus. We had much good speaking by the visiting brethren on the 10th\nchapter of John and other passages of Scripture.\n\nSUNDAY, June 2. Go to Daniel Miller's to meeting. Luke 14 is read. I\nthen go to Joseph Miller's where I stay all night.\n\nMONDAY, June 10. This morning the intelligence comes of the sudden\ndeath of Reuben Yount. He was found lying dead in the road. It is\nsupposed that he was killed by being thrown from his horse on his way\nhome last evening.\n\nTUESDAY, June 11. Reuben Yount was buried to-day. Age, twenty-five\nyears and thirteen days. Verily the sons of men sink into the grave\nlike raindrops into the sea, and are seen no more. As unexpectedly as\nthe pitcher is broken at the fountain, even before it is filled with\nwater, so unexpectedly does death come to many.\n\nMONDAY, June 24. Finish making hay. We have about twenty-two tons in\nall.\n\nSUNDAY, June 30. Meeting at Frederic Kline's, near Dayton, Virginia.\nSix persons baptized.\n\nSUNDAY, July 7. Meeting at our meetinghouse. John Kave and wife, Katy\nKeysayer, Betsy Holsinger, Polly Knopp, Katy Fry and Betsy Andes were\nbaptized to-day. Daniel Miller baptized them.\n\nSATURDAY, July 27. Harvest meeting at Copp's schoolhouse in Shenandoah\nCounty, Virginia.\n\nWEDNESDAY, July 31. Harvest meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 1. Go to harvest meeting at Daniel Garber's\nmeetinghouse. Stay all night at John Myers's in Augusta County,\nVirginia.\n\nFRIDAY, August 2. Love feast at the Brick meetinghouse. Luke 14 was\nread. One brother spoke impressively on the last three words in the\nfirst verse: \"THEY WATCHED HIM.\" Said he, \"The enemies of the Lord\nmost likely did this. They were ever eager to find some ground of\naccusation against him. But the Lord was not alone in this. 'A servant\nis not greater than his lord.' We, Brethren, are liable to be watched.\nAnd I think I may say truthfully that we are watched not only by our\nenemies, but by our friends too. But there is a great difference\nbetween the eye of an enemy and the eye of a friend. The eye of an\nenemy seeks for faults with which to accuse and persecute; and when no\nreal fault can be found the evil eye seeks to make faults by looking\nat our actions and motives in a false light, and if possible getting\nothers to regard them in the same false light. But not so the eye of a\nfriend. A wise father watches his children, not to find faults with\nwhich to accuse, but in love to correct by pointing out their evil\ntendencies and the end to which they lead.\n\n\"So, dear brethren and sisters, should we watch one another in the\nhouse of God. We should never be quick to take offense when some\nbrother or sister out of pure love for us kindly warns us of some\nfault that we may not be fully conscious of.\"\n\nIn words as nearly like the above as I can give them, and in many\nothers, did the brother exhort the church.\n\nSUNDAY, August 25. Attend meeting at the Flat Rock. First Corinthians\n1 is read. Louis Nasselrodt and wife and Henry Strawdeman and wife\nwere baptized. I baptized them.\n\nSUNDAY, September 1. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Colossians 2 was\nread. Philip Bible and wife, Adam Hevner and wife, William Andes,\nSamuel Zigler, Christian Krider and old Mother Minick were baptized\nto-day.\n\nSUNDAY, September 8. Meeting at Stoner's to-day. Romans 6 was read. I\nbaptized Christian Krider's wife to-day.\n\n[With Elder John Kline to plan was to do; to propose in mind was to\nperform in act; ever though, let it be remembered, by the help of the\nLord. \"His will, and not mine, be done,\" was Brother Kline's motto.\nThe following notes are word for word from the fly leaves of his Diary\nfor the present year. They are inserted here for two reasons. First,\nto show that he formed a purpose and laid down a plan before acting.\nIn the following pages it will be seen how faithfully the plan laid\nout in the Diary was executed. Second, to show something of the\nconfidence reposed in his genuine honesty, and his business capacity\nas a man.--EDITOR.]\n\nI have in contemplation to take the following route to Ohio: Start on\nthe seventeenth of September, and on the eighteenth have an afternoon\nmeeting at Parks's, in Hardy County, Virginia [now West Virginia]; on\nthe twenty-first to stop at Jacob Thomas's in Preston County, Virginia;\non the twenty-second to be at George's Creek; on the twenty-sixth to\nbe at Bull Creek, Columbiana County, Ohio; on the eighth and ninth of\nOctober to be at Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio; on the twelfth to be\nat Sugar Creek, in Allen County, Ohio; on the sixteenth, seventeenth,\neighteenth and nineteenth in Henry County, Indiana; on the evening of\nthe twenty-third to be at Bear Creek, Montgomery County, Ohio. Things\nwhich I have to attend to on my trip to Ohio and Indiana:\n\nTo inquire of George Weaver about a legacy of William Toppin, orphan\nof Thomas Toppin.\n\nReceived of Jacob Hoover $73.42 to be paid over as follows:\n\n    To George Hoover,      $17.57\n    To Peter Fesler,        17.57\n    To Elizabeth Fesler,    38.28\n                           ------\n                           $73.42\n\nTo get some rents of Joseph Garber for Susanna Garber.\n\n    To pay over to Betsy Fesler,      $200.00\n    To pay over to George Hoover,       50.00\n\nThis money I received of Aunt Katy Hoover.\n\nTo collect some money of Mahoney and of John Kline for Ziglers. I hold\npapers for the same.\n\nTo collect money of Jacob Leedy in Columbiana County, Ohio, for Peter\nNead.\n\nTo collect money of John Garber, of Montgomery County, Ohio, for\nSolomon Garber, of Rockingham County, Virginia. I am to let John\nGarber have the note if he pays $150.00.\n\nTUESDAY, September 17. Brother George R. Hedrick and I start from my\nhome this morning, on horseback, for Ohio. We dine at William\nFitzwater's, in Brock's Gap, and arrive in the evening at Isaac\nDasher's on the South Fork, Hardy County, Virginia, where we stay over\nnight.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 18. Come to Isaac Shobe's for breakfast, and on\nto Parks's for dinner. Meeting in the afternoon at Parks's. John 3\nis read. On the way to-day Brother Hedrick and I talked over the\ninterpretation we are to give the Lord's words in the thirteenth verse\nof the chapter read this afternoon. These are the words: \"And no man\nhath ascended up to heaven.\" I asked Brother Hedrick if Elijah had not\nascended to heaven? I quoted to him the very words recorded in the\neleventh verse of the second chapter of Second Kings: \"And Elijah went\nup by a whirlwind into heaven.\" Brother Hedrick confessed that a first\nthought on our Lord's words might lead the mind to conclude that there\nis a want of harmony between what he says to Nicodemus and what is\nplainly said of Elijah. But he removed the difficulty from my mind at\nonce by explaining the Lord's words to mean that no one in his own\nstrength or by virtue of his own power had ascended to heaven. \"Elijah\nwent up to heaven, it is true,\" said he, \"but the horses of fire and\nthe chariot of fire by which he went up, beautifully and impressively\nsymbolize the Lord's hand by which he was taken up. And besides this,\nwe read in 2 Kings 2:1, 'And it came to pass when the Lord would take\nup Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha\nfrom Gilgal.' Here it is plainly implied that the Lord took up Elijah\ninto heaven. And this falls in as a part of the great lesson the Lord\nwas seeking to impress upon the mind of Nicodemus, the great truth\nthat the Lord alone has power to lift men, through the regeneration,\nup to heaven.\" Stay all night at Parks's.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 19. We go to Stingley's for breakfast; to Eliza\nHays's for dinner (still in Hardy County, Virginia), and stay all\nnight at Gilpin's. We are now within sixteen miles of the Maryland\nline.\n\nFRIDAY, September 20. To-day we passed through what is called the\nGlades and Wilderness, to the Briery mountain. A very lonely road; but\nthe companionship of a man and a brother like George Hedrick makes\nsolitude enjoyable. Only those who have experienced the agreeableness\nof a bright, serene, calm and contented mind and heart, such as I find\nin Brother Hedrick, can ever realize the pleasure of such company.\nIt does seem to me that we can almost adopt toward each other the\nbeautiful sentiment of love which Ruth expressed for Naomi: \"Whither\nthou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people\nshall be my people. Where thou diest I will die, and there will I be\nburied.\" We fed our horses and took breakfast at Smith's tavern, in\nPreston County, Virginia; took dinner at Bransonville, and find\nourselves here at Brother Jacob Thomas's, where we are spending the\nnight.\n\nSATURDAY, September 21. Meeting in the schoolhouse near Brother\nThomas's. Deuteronomy, eighteenth chapter is read. I spoke on the\nlatter portion of the chapter read, from the fifteenth verse to the\nend. I spoke particularly on the following words: \"The Lord thy God\nwill raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy\nbrethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.\" This was spoken to\nthe children of Israel. What follows was spoken directly to Moses: \"I\nwill raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto\nthee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto\nthem all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that\nwhosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my\nname, I will require it of him.\" I tried to show these people the\ngreat danger there is in a life of sin. The great Prophet spoken of\nand promised in the words of my text is none other than the Lord Jesus\nChrist. In the fullness of time he appeared. The prophecy just read\nwas recorded by Moses very nearly fifteen hundred years before it was\nfulfilled by the appearing of our Savior. This single consideration\nmay serve to remind us of the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his\nWord. And our blessed Lord while in the flesh more than once turned\nthe eyes of his disciples to the prophecies that foretold his coming.\nIn one place he said to the people: \"Think not that I am come to\ndestroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to\nfulfill.\" After his resurrection, on his way to Emmaus, in company\nwith two of his sorrowing disciples who had not yet fully learned the\ntruth of his having risen, he said in reference to his sufferings and\ndeath: \"These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet\nwith you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the\nlaw of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.\"\n\nI am now prepared to tell you, and I trust you are prepared to hear\nsome of the particulars in which Christ Jesus was like unto Moses. You\nknow the text says: \"A Prophet like unto me.\" This is the language of\nMoses. The Lord God had just before told him this. We will now turn\nto some of the points in the comparison of Moses with Christ. Moses\ntold the people to believe what he told them and obey the commands he\ngave them. He taught them that if they would obey the commands and\nordinances which God gave and established through him they would\nreceive the favor of the Lord, and that as a reward for their\nobedience he would bless them exceedingly. But if they would turn away\nfrom him, he would turn away from them, and multiply their troubles\ngreatly. Christ Jesus does the same. Just at the close of the most\nwonderful sermon the world has ever heard preached, a sermon in which\nall the moral and spiritual relations of men to each other and to God,\ntogether with the duties growing out of these relations, are set forth\nthe Lord says: \"Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth\nthem, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a\nrock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,\nand beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a\nrock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them\nnot, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon\nthe sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds\nblew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of\nit.\"\n\nFriends, let me say to you that each and every one of you is building\na house for himself on one or the other of these foundations. Your\nlife, your every-day life, from beginning to end, is the house you are\nbuilding. If your life, from love to the Lord, is based upon the solid\nrock of his Revealed Truth, it will stand the temptations and trials\nsymbolized by the floods and winds; but if not, it will never be able\nto stand, and great will be its fall. Some may think that because God\nis long-suffering, and does not punish sin in this world so manifestly\nas he sometimes did in former times, he is becoming more merciful and\ntakes less account of sin than formerly. But this is a very great\nmistake. God has always been quite as merciful as he could be\nconsistently with his justice and holiness; and the warning given\nin Hebrews 2:2 should be heeded. This is the warning: \"If every\ntransgression and disobedience\" under Moses, \"received a just\nrecompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great\nsalvation?\" Notice this also from the same book: \"He that despised\nMoses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how\nmuch sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who\nhath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of\nthe covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath\ndone despite unto the Spirit of grace?\"\n\nAgain: The children of Israel were baptized unto Moses, that is, into\na visible covenant with him, in the cloud and in the Red Sea, as they\npassed through. In this act of baptism, by which they declared their\nwillingness to follow him as their leader, but the one action was\nrequired, and that action was their passing between the walls of water\non the right hand and on the left hand, with the cloud overhead\ncompletely shutting them in from the world. But the Christian, to be\na true follower of the great Prophet of whom we are particularly\nspeaking, is required to submit to a threefold baptism, which is an\nimmersion of the body in water in the name of the Father who loved us\nand gave his Son; another immersion in the name of the Son who redeems\nand saves us; and lastly an immersion in the name of the Holy Ghost\nwho convinces of sin, who comforts us, enlightens us as to our duties,\nsanctifies and makes us meet for heaven.\n\nAgain: Moses gave the people water from the Rock. Christ Jesus gives\nhis people the water of life. He says: \"If any man thirst, let him\ncome unto me, and drink.\"\n\nAgain: Moses fed the people with manna, which they gathered every\nmorning from the ground. Christ feeds his people with the heavenly\nmanna, which I take to be the great and eternal love of the Father\ncontained in the blessed words of truth which his Son has declared to\nthe world.\n\nIn such and many other words did I speak unto these people, seeking\nto instruct them in the things of salvation, and induce some of them,\nat least, to turn to the Lord. After meeting we dined at Brother\nThomas's, and started for George's Creek; crossed Laurel mountain to\nHagtonsville, then to Brother Joseph Leatherman's, in Fayette County,\nPennsylvania, where we stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, September 22. Go to George's Creek meetinghouse. We have\nforenoon and afternoon meeting. Second Corinthians 6 is read in the\nforenoon meeting. In the 3 o'clock meeting Luke 14 is read. I speak on\nthe great supper, from the sixteenth to the twenty-fourth verse.\n\nWhilst I am a stranger to most of you, I nevertheless feel assured by\nthe signs I witness that I can confidingly and affectionately address\nsome of you, and I trust a goodly number too, as beloved brethren and\nsisters. This is, so far, as it should be. But what would be the joy\nof my heart, and what would be the joy of heart with each one of you,\ncould it be said that this entire congregation is of one mind and all\nspeak the same thing! But the words of my text, harmonizing with the\nclosing words of another parable, recorded by Matthew, which declare\nthat \"many are called, but few chosen,\" may continue to be true, for\na long time yet to come. Whilst the advocates of election and\npredestination claim this as one of their proof texts, to my mind it\nproves the exact reverse. \"Many are called.\" Here, if I mistake not,\nthe German has it: \"The many are called.\" I take this to mean that all\nare called. Now compare this with what is said here in my text: \"Then\nthe master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out\nquickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither\nthe poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant\nsaid, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.\nAnd the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and\nhedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.\" This\nsurely proves that all are called or invited to the great supper.\nFirst, the Jews were invited. When Jesus sent forth the twelve he\ncommanded them saying; \"Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into\nany city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost\nsheep of the house of Israel.\" Here it is plain that the Jews were\nthe first to be invited. \"But they all with one mind began to make\nexcuse.\" Next then the poor of the city were invited. Still there was\nroom. Next the off-casts and beggars were invited. These included the\nvery lowest of the Gentile nations, and comprehend all that live,\nevery creature.\n\nNow I ask, in the name of all that is reasonable, can we, dare we,\naccuse the Lord of dealing deceitfully? Perish the thought forever.\nNo! He invites all because it is his blessed will to see all come\nand sit at his table spread with the great love feast which he has\nprepared for all who are willing and desire to come. This very thought\nis the joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue. And it is a joy\nwhich no man taketh from me, because it rests on the rock of Divine\nTruth. But a preparation is necessary. We can hardly separate the\nparable under consideration from the one recorded in Matthew\ntwenty-second chapter. There we read of a wedding dinner made by a\nking, to celebrate the marriage of his son. And when the king came in\nhe saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And the king\nsaid: \"Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?\nAnd he was speechless.\" And why was he speechless? If he would have\nhad any reasonable excuse to offer for the unprepared appearance which\nhe made, would he have been speechless? Reason says at once. He would\nhave urged his inability to procure a suitable dress for the occasion,\nas the cause for his appearing in the way he did, if any such cause\nhad existed. And the king knew this full well; otherwise he would not\nhave required all to have on the wedding garment.\n\nI now call your attention to the closing words of the parable: \"I say\nunto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my\nsupper.\" The reason for this is found in the fact that they would not\ncome. They were the first to be invited. Had they come, they would\nhave received the right hand of welcome. But notice the unreasonable\nexcuses they made. One had bought a piece of ground, and he must go\nand see it, as if night were the time to look at land. Another must\ntry the five yoke of oxen he had that day bought, as if night were the\nbest time to do this. Another had married a wife and could not come,\nas if night were not a suitable time to enjoy a rich supper with his\nbride. We wonder at these vain and almost unnatural excuses; but do we\nfind the excuses of men any more reasonable to-day? Men hazard their\nsouls in a life of sin, not for want of invitations, entreaties and\nwarnings from the Lord to come unto him, but because they will not.\nThe Lord pleads with men to-day, just as he pleaded with Israel\ncenturies ago. Hear what he says to Israel by the mouth of the Prophet\nEzekiel: \"Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions;\nso iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your\ntransgressions, ... and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why\nwill ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of\nhim that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves and live\nye.\"\n\nAnd now, Brethren and friends, to make a brief application of some of\nthe great principles laid down, I will say that the Lord's Supper is\nthe great love feast which he has prepared for you, for me, for all.\nThis great love feast, of which our own ordinance by his appointment,\nand bearing the same name, is a beautiful and fitting emblem, is\nneither more nor less than the bountiful provisions Christ has made\nfor the salvation of all. These provisions are the great truths of his\nWord, filled with his love. The Lord Jesus says: \"I am the bread of\nlife.\" To the Jews he said: \"Your fathers did eat the manna in the\nwilderness, and they died.\" \"If any man eat of the bread which I shall\ngive him, he shall live forever.\" When we are faithfully obeying the\nLord from love in our hearts, we are eating this life-giving bread.\nEvery truth which the Lord has revealed, and by which the spiritual\nman is fed as to his soul, may be regarded as a component part of this\ngreat feast.\n\nJesus said to the tempter: \"Man doth not live by bread alone, but by\nevery word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.\" The tempter here\nmeant material bread for the body, and the Lord answered him according\nto that meaning. This is the kind of bread, material bread, with which\nthe devil seeks to satisfy every demand of our being. It embraces\neverything the natural appetite of man craves. The devil is ever\nseeking to lead men to feed on the husks which the swine do eat, and\nto be satisfied with that kind of food. But the blessed Lord Jesus\nresists the tempter, and continually seeks to lead men into a higher,\nnobler and heavenly life. He says to every sinner: \"Arise, and go to\nthy Father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned before heaven, and\nin thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.\" This is\nrepentance. This is the first move man makes in the way of approach\nto the feast the Lord has prepared. \"Man liveth by every word that\nproceedeth out of the mouth of God.\" This embraces all of Revealed\nTruth. Every law, every precept, every prophecy, every parable has\nsome outflowing, healing virtue, some life-imparting power. We touch\nthe hem of its garment when we read or hear in sincerity of heart. O\nsinner, come and partake of this feast, and thy soul shall live.\n\nWe stay all night with David Longenacre.\n\nMONDAY, September 23. On towards Ohio. Dine and feed our horses at\nBrother David Wise's. This evening we are at Hays's tavern in\nWashington, Washington County, Pennsylvania, where we[1] stay all\nnight.\n\nTUESDAY, September 24. Go to Hickorytown where we feed our horses and\nget breakfast. Then on through Burgitsville and Florencetown to\nFrankford, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where we feed and dine at\nDuncan's tavern. Then on to Georgetown, where we cross the Ohio river\nin a horse-boat, and stay all night at Smith's tavern. A lonesome ride\nto-day, because we have seen no Brethren.\n\n    [1] Brother Kline in the Diary almost invariably puts it \"_Stay\n    all night_.\" I am not willing to depart from his usage in\n    this.--ED.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 25. Breakfast and feed in Darlington at Dunlap's\ntavern. Then on to New Middletown to Daniel Summers's; and this evening\n reach Brother Henry Kurtz's in Columbiana County, where we stay all\nnight.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 26. Meeting at Brother Haas's. Hebrews 8 is read.\nLove feast this evening. Come back to Brother Kurtz's and stay all\nnight. Paul has told us more than once of the joy he felt, and how his\nheart was refreshed on meeting dear brethren and sisters whom he had\nnot seen for a time. In meeting the brethren and sisters here and\nelsewhere we experience much of the same feeling. They everywhere make\nus feel at home, and show us more love and give us more attention than\nwe deserve. What a blessed thing it is to be filled with the love of\nChrist! This implants love in the heart for the Brethren. John says:\n\"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love\nthe brethren.\" This is the first-fruits of the tree of life in our\nhearts.\n\nFRIDAY, September 27. Go westward through Greene, Salem, Damascus,\nWestville, and on to Brother Joseph Bollinger's, where we stay all\nnight.\n\nSATURDAY, September 28. Meeting. John 3 is read. Evening meeting at\nBrother Metse's, where we stay all night. Hebrews 12 is read. Begins\nto snow this evening, and continues all night.\n\nSUNDAY, September 29. Meeting in the Franklin Lutheran church. Matthew\n7 is read. After meeting we come to Brother David Sommers's. Evening\nmeeting. John 10 is read. Stay all night with Brother Sommers. The\nweather has cleared up.\n\nMONDAY, September 30. Visit Michael Dickey who is very sick. We then\nattend a meeting at Eli Dickey's, in Starke County. Galatians 3 is\nread. Stay all night with Brother Dickey.\n\nTUESDAY, October 1. On westward, through Canton, Massilon, Brooklin,\nDover, Wayne County, to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where we have night\nmeeting. Matthew 9 is read. Fine weather.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 2. Pass through Jefferson, Pittsburg, and on to\nBrother Lucas's, where we have meeting. Second Corinthians 2 is read.\nI spoke awhile on the last verse, particularly on these words:\n\"Corrupting the word of God.\" In the margin the translation of this\npart of the verse is somewhat different, and, if I mistake not, is\nsustained by the German of Luther. It is this: \"Making merchandise of\nthe word of God.\" I regard this as the more literal of the two\nrenderings. But they both mean very nearly the same, with this slight\ndifference, that the one strikes more at the cause, while the other\nregards particularly the effect of \"handling the word of God\ndeceitfully.\" Men who make merchandise of the Word of God are exactly\nin line with the Pharisees as the Lord described them: \"Verily, they\nhave their reward.\" Jesus says: \"Provide yourselves purses which wax\nnot old; a treasure in the heavens which faileth not.\" But those who\nmake merchandise of the Word of God provide purses for themselves, for\nthis life, which do wax old; and they lay up their treasures here. Sad\nto say, such corrupt the Word by handling it deceitfully, that they\nmay make the things of religion pleasing to the natural man, and\nthereby draw numbers to their side. But, brethren and sisters, I\nhardly need tell you that this world is no friend to grace--no friend\nto God--no friend to your souls. \"Except a man deny himself, and take\nup his cross daily, he cannot be my disciple.\" How different these\nwords of Jesus are from some remarks I heard one of those gospel\nmerchants make from his stand not long since. I give them as nearly as\nI can. Said he: \"Religion is natural to man. And that religion is the\nbest which enables a man or a woman, in the easiest and most\nrespectable way, to lead a good moral and civil life in this world.\nChrist is your righteousness, and he gives you your necessary fitness\nfor heaven without any effort on your part, any more than to just\nbelieve on him; so all you have to do is to sustain a respectable\nstanding in the church, by attending to its ordinances, and you are\nand forever will be all right.\"\n\nNow I would ask if such talk as this is not corrupting the Word? How\nany man, in the face of the sermon on the Mount, in which the deepest\nhumility of heart--in the way of self-denial, forgiveness of enemies,\nlove of the truth, obedience to every commandment, from supreme love\nto God--and the lowest self-abasement is laid down and set forth in\nthe clearest light and plainest injunctions--how, I say, in the face\nof all this, can a man speak in this way? And more. Hear the awful,\nterrific denunciation at the close of this sermon: \"He that heareth\nthese sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a\nfoolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain\ndescended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that\nhouse, and it fell: and great was the fall of it.\" Ah! Brethren,\nsomething more than a desire to appear respectable in the eyes of the\nworld, and hold an honorable place in the church, so called, is\nnecessary to withstand the floods and storms of temptations that are\nsure to try us in this world. This is why so many make shipwreck. They\ndo not count the cost; and this is why they desire to make peace, when\nthey see and feel the army of twenty thousand temptations coming\nagainst them, and they have only ten thousand, very poorly equipped,\nto resist their attack.\n\nThe temptations to conform to the vain fashions of the world, especially\nwith the young, may be called legion. The temptations to commit\nadultery are a host. I speak plainly, Brethren, but I must not corrupt\nthe Word. The temptation to acquire property from the avaricious love\nof wealth, more than we can use ourselves or handle to good ends,\ncomes as the prince of darkness with clouds that shut out the light of\nheaven from our sight. Brethren and sisters, as I love you all dearly,\nlet me say to you at the close of my remarks that the Lord says: \"The\nscriptures cannot be broken.\" No man can intentionally break the\nScriptures and be saved. We dare not corrupt the Word of God.\n\nAfter meeting we go to Brother John Shoemaker's, where we have night\nmeeting, and stay all night. Ephesians 6 is read.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 3. Take the Ashland road to Brother Joseph Rupp's,\nnear Ashland, Ashland County, where we have meeting. Luke 14 is read.\nStay this afternoon and night with Brother Rupp.\n\nFRIDAY, October 4. Go to Brother Jacob Whisler's, six miles north of\nMansfield. Meeting at 3 o'clock. John 14 is read. To-day we crossed\nthe Black Fork of the Mohican. Stay all night with Brother Whisler.\n\nSATURDAY, October 5. On westward through Shelby, to Brother Samuel\nCover's in Crawford County, where we have night meeting. Last part of\nActs 3 is read. Stay all night with Brother Cover.\n\nSUNDAY, October 6. Meeting. Matthew 7 is read. Stay all night with\nBrother Martain Hestand.\n\nMONDAY, October 7. Visit William Lupton, but not finding him at home,\nmake settlement with his son of business connected with Hoover's\nestate. Look over Hoover's land, and stay all night at Bender's. Fine\nday.\n\nTUESDAY, October 9. Meeting at Brother Hestand's in afternoon. Matthew\n10 is read. Night meeting at Brother Clark's. Part of John 3 is read.\nStay all night at Brother Clark's. Fine day.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 9. Start for Allen County. Dine and feed at Upper\nSandusky; then on to Huston's, in Hardin County. Bad road from the\nBellefontaine road for twelve miles. Stay all night at Huston's.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 10. By Williamsburg, breakfast and feed at Michael\nBaserman's, and on to Abraham Miller's in Allen County, where we stay\nall night. Brother Hedrick and I have slept together in the same bed\nevery night since we left home.\n\nFRIDAY, October 11. Stay at Brother Miller's till after dinner, then\ngo to Brother Samuel Miller's, where we stay all night.\n\nSATURDAY, October 12. Pass through Lima, dine and feed in Wapokaneta,\nand stay all night at Shannon's tavern.\n\nSUNDAY, October 13. Go to Brother Joseph Risser's, dine and feed, then\nto Brother Jacob Basehore's, where we leave our horses and walk two\nand one-half miles to meeting and back to Brother Basehore's. Night\nmeeting at Brother Cabell's. First John 3 is read. Stay all night at\nBrother Basehore's, in Miami County. Fine day.\n\nMONDAY, October 14. Westward through Greenville to Brother Emanuel\nFlory's in Darke County, where we dine and feed; then on to Winchester\nin Indiana, and stay all night at Acker's tavern. We are now in\nRandolph County, Indiana. If we were among false brethren in this new\ncountry, as Paul says he once was in the land in which he traveled,\nsituated as we are in respect to bad roads, a long way from our homes,\nwith no means of conveyance except the backs of our horses to carry us\nto Virginia, the prospect of our stay here, and our hopes of safe\nreturn, might be gloomy indeed. But, thanks to the good Lord, we are\nnot among false brethren. Our Brethren are true Brethren wherever we\nfind them. There may be some hypocrites, God knows; but I know of\nnone. Brother Hedrick and I have repeatedly discoursed on this subject\nin our travels together, and neither he nor I have in a single\ninstance met with a brother or sister that has not, in our presence at\nleast, shown something of the gentleness and meekness of Christ. We\nare made to feel at home wherever we go among them, and these\nconsiderations strengthen our faith and encourage the assurance that\nthe Gospel which we as a band of Christians preach and practice, and\nwhich works mightily in the hearts of the dear Brethren everywhere, is\nof God. \"By their fruits ye shall know them.\"\n\nFRIDAY, October 11. Still westward through Cameron, to Brother\nFullhearts, where we feed our horses and get dinner. We then cross the\nWhite river to Muncie in Delaware County, and stay all night with\nDavid Bowers. Rough, windy and rainy day.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 16. Visit the following named families, in nearly\nall of which we find members of our Brotherhood. We first visit\nSowerwine's, then Joseph Coffman's, Sheets's, Jacob Good's, Absalom\nPainter's and George Hoover's. At the last-named place we have night\nmeeting and stay all night. We are now in Henry County, Indiana.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 17. Meeting at Jacob Brunk's. Mark 1 is read. Then\nto Peter Fesler's, where we have night meeting. Acts 3 is read. Stay\nall night with Brother Fesler.\n\nFRIDAY, October 18. Come to Middletown and get a letter from home.\nGlad to hear that all are well, but sorry to learn of some deaths.\nLeaving Middletown, we go eastward to Brother David Hartman's, in\nWayne County, where we stay all night. Raining all day, and in\nafternoon it falls in torrents.\n\nSATURDAY, October 19. Love feast at Brother Abraham Hoover's. John 1\nis read. Stay all night at Brother David Hartman's. Clear and cold.\n\nSUNDAY, October 20. Forenoon meeting. Acts 3 was read. I spoke on\nverse twenty-second: Subject, \"The Great Prophet.\" Meeting again at\none o'clock. I speak on Mark 1:27. Text: \"And they were all amazed,\ninsomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is\nthis? What new doctrine is this?\"\n\nThe Jews could well ask the question set forth in the text: \"What new\ndoctrine is this?\" To them the teachings of Christ were all new.\nWhilst he came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill,\nnevertheless his fulfillment of them was so spiritual, so essentially\nholy, so pure in motive, so beneficent in act, that the Jews were\nentire strangers to it: or probably better, it was strange and new to\nthem. Even Nicodemus, a ruler among the Jews, failed to perceive what\nJesus meant when he told him about the nature and necessity of the new\nbirth. Our Lord manifests something of surprise at the ignorance and\nstupidity of Nicodemus. Such ignorance as Nicodemus exposes in the\npresence of Christ appears to us as wholly inexcusable, when we look\nat what had already been taught on the subject of a change of heart,\nor regeneration, in the law of Moses and the prophets.\n\nEnoch, the seventh from Adam, walked with God three hundred years, and\nnever saw death, for God took him. Did he walk with God in a fleshly\nmind, or in a spiritual mind? Hear what Jesus and Paul say: \"That\nwhich is born of the flesh, is flesh,\" and Paul says: \"Therein\ndwelleth no good thing.\" \"But that which is born of the Spirit is\nspirit,\" and therein serve we the Lord acceptably. Abraham, Isaac and\nJacob, Moses and Elijah are to-day in the heavens. Are they there in\nthe flesh? Nay, verily, but in the spirit; in the new nature which God\nhad implanted in them. \"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of\nheaven.\"\n\n\"And what shall I say more? for the time would fail me to tell of\nGideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephtha; of David also,\nand Samuel,\" who prayed: \"Create in me a clean heart, and renew a\nright spirit within me.\" But the Jews had become carnal, fleshly\nminded, and, like Nicodemus, were unable to see the spirituality of\ntheir own Word. How, then, could they apprehend the grace or see the\ntruth which came by Jesus Christ! Let us, Brethren, search the\nScriptures and acquaint ourselves much with the Gospel of our\nsalvation, so that when we read or hear, it may not be to us as it\nwas to the Jews, a new doctrine, but the\n\n  \"Old, old story,\n  Of Jesus and his love.\"\n\nThis is nearly the substance of what I said.\n\nNight meeting at Samuel Cave's. I speak from John 1:29. Fine day. We\nstay all night with Brother Cave. We are now in Wayne County.\n\nMONDAY, October 21. Start eastward to William Minnick's, and on\nthrough Richmond, by Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, to Samuel Showalter's,\nwhere we stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, October 22. Get dinner at Jacob Trout's: visit John Brower's,\nand stay all night at Solomon Stoner's. Fine day.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 23. Visit Joseph Kline's, Samuel Kline's, David\nDristle's, and have night meeting at David Bowman's. Matthew 25 is\nread. Stay all night at Brother Dristle's. Our gatherings for worship\nand attendance upon the Word, as a rule, have not been large; but\npeople generally appear to pay heed to what is spoken, and we trust\nthe good seed may find a lodgment in many an honest and sincere heart.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 24. Meeting at Bowman's meetinghouse. Luke 14 is\nread. Stay all night at Brother Abraham Aerbaugh's.\n\nFRIDAY, October 25. Visit George Miller's, Sally Aerbaugh's, Daniel\nGarber's, John Garber's, David Miller's, and Joseph Garber's, where we\nstay all night. Fine weather.\n\nSATURDAY, October 26. Visit Felix Landes's, and go to night meeting at\nPhilip Wampler's. Matthew 11 is read. Stay all night at Philip\nWampler's.\n\nSUNDAY, October 27. Meeting at the Bowman meetinghouse. Acts 3 is\nread. I then visit Brother Brumbaugh, who is very low in sickness; and\nalso visit Henry Harshbarger, and stay all night at John Kline's.\n\nMONDAY, October 28. Go to Dayton, and after spending some time in\nvisiting the factories and other points of interest in the city, we\nstart towards Cincinnati, and stay all night in Miamisburg, at\nZimmers's tavern.\n\nTUESDAY, October 29. Pass through Butler County into Hamilton, and\nstay all night in Cincinnati, at the Franklin House, kept by Ross.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 30. Visit Dr. Curtis and settle with him. [Dr.\nCurtis was at this time a very noted Thompsonian doctor located in\nCincinnati. He was editor of the _Botanic Medical Recorder_, a journal\nwhich was very popular with the advocates of the Thompsonian practice\nof medicine in its day; and also author of a series of lectures in the\nsame line.--ED.] Dr. Curtis appears to me as a very kind, open-hearted,\nwell-informed man. He seems to be very confident as to the future\nsuccess and final triumph of his favorite system of medical theory and\npractice. \"Why should we not,\" said he, \"feel as sure that the might\nof truth will prevail in this as in other things? It may be that\nfurther experience will shear off some things that we now hold; and\nadd on to our system some others which we as yet lack; but the great\nprinciples of truth which underlie our medical creed must remain\nunshaken, while the laws of health and the inroads of disease remain\nas they are to-day.\" We then visited the city markets, and about 10\no'clock started for Clermont County, and got to John Dickey's tavern,\nwhere we stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 31. On to Hillsborough in Highland County; dine and\nfeed at Jacob Runyon's, and stay all night at Elijah Thurman's.\n\nFRIDAY, November 1. On into Ross County, and stay all night at David\nKline's.\n\nSATURDAY, November 2. Cross Deer Creek and push on across the Scioto\nriver at Boggs's Mills, and get to Sampson Zimmerman's, in Hocking\nCounty, where we stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, November 3. On through Logan on the Hocking river; then down\nthe same river to Warren's tavern, near Athens, in Athens County,\nwhere we stay all night. The Hocking Valley is a fine, rich country,\nand I feel to encourage some of our younger people to come here and\nget good cheap homes. In this way they might establish the church\nhere, and thus prepare the way of the Lord as John did in the\nwilderness of Judea. What an opening there is here for good,\nindustrious people!\n\nMONDAY, November 4. Down the Hocking river to where the road takes off\ntowards Parkersburg in Virginia, near which place we cross the Ohio\nriver in a horse boat, and stay all night at Henry Dill's\nentertainment, in Wood County, Virginia.\n\nTUESDAY, November 5. To-day we travel thirty-nine and one-half miles\non the Parkersburg turnpike, and stay all night at Isaac Martain's, in\nRitchie County, Virginia.\n\nWEDNESDAY, November 6. Keep the turnpike all day. Dine and feed our\nhorses at Neeley's tavern, and stay all night at Clinch's, three miles\nwest of Clarksburg, in Harrison County.\n\nTHURSDAY, November 7. Through Clarksburg, Prunty Town, Evansville and\non to J. Stone's tavern, in Preston County, where we stay all night.\n\nFRIDAY, November 8. Cross Laurel mountain, Cheat river, and on to top\nof Cheat mountain, where we dine and feed at Stemple's tavern near\nWest Union; then to North Branch to Hays's where we stay all night.\nFine day.\n\nSATURDAY, November 9. Go to Stingley's, dine and feed; stop awhile\nwith old Sister Parks; then on to Enoch Hyre's, on the South Branch,\nnear Petersburg, Hardy County, Virginia, where we stay all night. Fine\nweather.\n\nSUNDAY, November 10. I do not like to travel far on this day, but\nthere being no meeting in reach of us, and both eager to get as near\nhome as possible, we leave Sister Hyre's, stop a little with Isaac\nShobe's on Mill Creek, dine and feed at Isaac Dasher's, on the South\nFork, and stay all night at Jacob Whetzel's, in Brock's Gap, Rockingham\nCounty, Virginia. Fine weather continues.\n\nMONDAY, November 11. Home to-day. Find all well, but some sickness in\nthe neighborhood around. On the journey from which I have just\nreturned, I traveled 1,271 miles on horse-back, one beast carrying me\nsafely all of that distance. The roads we traveled were in many places\njust as nature formed them, the hand of man having done but little\nmore than cut the timber out and remove impassable obstructions. We\ncrossed high and rugged mountains, and forded dangerous streams. But\nin the West the people are waking up to the importance of improving\nthe public roads. The abundant natural wealth of that country, when\nproperly developed by wise industry, will respond in such lavish\nabundance that there will be no lack of means to build the best of\nroads, and in every respect to raise the country generally to that\nstate of beauty by high culture, which ministers to the comfort and\nusefulness of its people.\n\nThe Baltimore & Ohio railroad will soon be completed to Wheeling, and\nthis road, in connection with other roads likely to be built and\nconnect with it, will open a very active traffic between that city and\nthe East. I feel like saying to the Brethren everywhere that now is\nthe time to sow the pure seeds of Gospel Truth in the West. If this be\nnot done, tares will be sure to grow and multiply where the wheat of\nholy love should abound. Such fields of humanity, so full of life and\nvigor, will never remain unproductive. Education and civil law may\nhelp to control and keep in bounds the flood of moral and intellectual\npower flowing from them; but if the hand of sanctified religion be not\nput forth to give it proper direction, they will turn out to be a\nmoral wilderness of sin, filled with all the wild beasts of human\npassion, \"and every hateful bird.\"\n\nIn the time of my absence Eli Spitzer and wife, Polly Hindgardner,\nand another woman were baptized. This was done September 18. On the\ntwenty-second there was a love feast at the Lost River meetinghouse;\nand about that time Samuel Toppan and wife, and three other persons,\nall on Stony Creek, were baptized. Thomas Lampkin and Polly Fridley,\nand another sister were also baptized in my absence.\n\nMONDAY, December 16. To-day I preach the funeral of old Brother John\nWine in the Forest. Text, Rev. 14:13, \"Blessed are the dead which die\nin the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest\nfrom their labors; and their works do follow them.\"\n\nI aimed to set forth, in the practical part of my discourse, a few\nthoughts based on the last part of the verse: \"Their works do follow\nthem.\" Our works are as sure to follow us from this world to the next\nas they are when we remove from one place to another in this. Let any\none come among us, no matter from where, and he brings his character\nwith him. If that is good, good works will follow him. They follow not\nonly in the way of reports we may receive from those among whom he\nlived before he came among us, but they follow all he does while here.\nIn this consists the blessedness of those who die in the Lord. In\nheaven the same good works follow them in all they do, only in much\ngreater perfection, that accorded with the good will in their hearts\nthat characterized their lives while here. The lives of good men are\nso conjoined with the Lord, because from the Lord, that whatever good\nthey do in the way of helping others he accounts it as done to him.\nIndeed, this blessed following is the ground of proof that they are of\nhis sheep. \"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my\nbrethren, ye have done it unto me.\" Will not that be a glorious and\nhappy following? Is it not something worth sacrificing our life and\nour all in this world for? And that day will surely come. Just as sure\nas we live it will come, for the Scripture cannot be broken. This\nblessed following of good works will be sure to receive on that day\nthe welcome plaudit: \"Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou\ninto the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 25. Christmas day. Meeting in Keagey's schoolhouse.\nMatthew 2 was read. Brother Daniel Miller spoke beautifully in the\nGerman language on the advent of the Lord Jesus. His main subject was\nthe love of the Father, the good will toward men that gave the only\nbegotten Son to redeem and save them.\n\nHe said: \"The day is unimportant. We may have Christ's birthday\ncorrect, or we may not. I am not historian enough to speak positively\non this point. But one thing there is upon which I can speak\npositively; and all the enemies of Jesus are unable to wrest the\nconviction of that truth from my heart; and that thing is this, that\n'God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that\nwhosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting\nlife. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world,\nbut that the world through him might be saved.' It has pleased our\nheavenly Father to tell us about our Savior's birth; how lowly it was,\nin a stable; and that he was laid in a manger, which means a kind of\nbox from which horses take their food; and that a star in the east,\nsometimes called the Star of Bethlehem, guided the wise men who came\nfrom the east to see the infant, Jesus, to the place where he lay.\nThose good men hardly knew that this beautiful star was but an emblem\nof the leadings of God's revealed Truth. But it is so; for all the\nlight of prophecy centered in that star which showed the time and\nplace of the birth of the Son of God. Some seem to think the star was\nonly a natural light, such as natural eyes could see, but I do not\nthink so. I rather think it was a heavenly light, and that it could be\nseen only by such as loved the hope of our Lord's coming and were\nready to rejoice at his birth.\n\n\"We have the brighter light of his more clearly revealed Word, by\nwhich we are enabled to find, not an infant Savior, but a Savior grown\nup to perfect manhood made perfect through sufferings ending in his\ndeath upon the cross. We find him as the risen and glorified Lord with\npower to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. His\nheavenly truth is to us now and to all who are willing to open their\neyes and see, as the Sun of Righteousness; 'for we are not of the\nnight, nor of darkness, but we are all the children of light, and the\nchildren of the day.' Paul here means such as are true Christians. I\nlove to preach the Gospel; but I love still more to see men and women\nopen their eyes to the light of its truth, and their hearts to the\nwarmth of its love. In this way they are led to seek the Lord; and the\npromise is: 'Every one that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh,\nit shall be opened.'\n\n\"One more thing I must notice. These wise men brought gifts to the\ninfant Jesus. I suppose these were the first Christmas gifts ever\nmade; and the custom of making presents at this time has probably been\nkept up ever since. If presents are made on this day with an eye to\nthe gift of God's love, they will be acceptable in his eye; but if\nmade lightly, simply to comply with custom or fashion, they have no\npromise.\"\n\nI must yet add this from the brother's beautiful discourse. He said:\n\"The greatest of all the Christmas gifts that man ever has received,\nor that even God himself can bestow, was made on that first Christmas\nday. Some of you may not think as I do about it, but on that day God\ngave to the world his own and only beloved Son, and to my eyes, and I\nhope to the eyes of many of you, he is the fairest of all the fair,\nand the one altogether lovely. I lay all the gold, and the\nfrankincense, and the myrrh of my heart's best affections as thank\nofferings at his feet on this Christmas day. Brethren, God has made\nhis most costly gift to us in the person of his Son; should we not be\nwilling to reciprocate this gift with the most precious gift we are\nable to offer? And what is the most precious thing in his sight that\nwe can give? It is our love in return for his love to us. If we do\nmake this return in fullness, we place ourselves in a state of highest\nblessedness, described by John in few words: 'We love him, because he\nfirst loved us.' This is a heavenly state, and it must be the basis of\nall the bliss of saints and angels.\"\n\nI wish I had time to give more than this mere outline of the brother's\nexcellent discourse in the German language, but I must leave off. We\nhave night meeting at Koontz's, where Brother Daniel Miller and I stay\nall night.\n\nTUESDAY, December 31. I have traveled since last New Year's day,\nnearly all on horseback, 3,827 miles. The year's work is done. The\nrecord on high is made. Does it stand favorably in my behalf for the\nlife to come, or have I received my reward here? I can only pray my\nFather in heaven to forgive the wrong and bless the right. This is my\nevening prayer at all times, but especially do I offer it now at the\nclosing hour of the year.\n\nSATURDAY, January 4. Go to Isaac Myer's on Stony Creek, and stay at\nLouis Naselrodt's all night.\n\nSUNDAY, January 5. Meeting in the Sulphur Spring schoolhouse. Acts 3\nis read. Stay at Brother William Andes's all night.\n\nMONDAY, January 6. Return home. Snows all day.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 23. Solemnize the marriage of David Hoover, near\nPlain's Mill, and Mary Zigler, of Timberville.\n\nSUNDAY, January 26. Attend the funeral of Mrs. Kootz, mother of our\nState Senator, Samuel Kootz. Her age was seventy-three years, five\nmonths and twenty-eight days.\n\nWEDNESDAY, February 12. Attend the funeral of old mother Shultz. Her\nage was seventy-five years. I speak from Isaiah 3:10, 11. Text: \"Say\nye to the righteous, that it shall be well with them: for they shall\neat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill\nwith them: for the reward of their hands shall be given them.\"\n\nI regard these words of the prophet as being true, not only as\napplying to the world to come, but as applying with equal power to\nthe life of man in this world. A life of honesty, integrity,\nrighteousness, in all we do, is not only policy or wisdom in respect\nto the world to come, but it is the best policy or highest wisdom in\nall the affairs of this life. It secures the best results because it\nmakes use of the best means to promote our own happiness here, and\nthe happiness of all within the sphere of our influence. Says the\nPsalmist: \"The leaf of the righteous shall not wither, and whatsoever\nhe doeth shall prosper. He shall flourish like the palm tree.\" We are\ntold that the palm tree, to which the righteous are here compared, is\nnot only a very beautiful tree, but a very useful tree. It casts a\nvery delightful shade in the hot climates where it grows; from the\nabundance of its sap it affords water to the thirsty; and its\nexcellent fruit supplies food to the hungry.\n\nWhilst godliness, as Paul says, \"is profitable unto all things, having\npromise of the life that now is, and also of that which is to come;\"\nstill, the life to come is what should chiefly concern us here. Our\ntime in this world is so short, so brief, that it makes but little\ndifference whether we are poor or rich, whether we weep or rejoice,\nwhether we be sick or well, provided we have a clear title to a\nheavenly home, a clear title to an \"inheritance that is incorruptible,\nundefiled, and that fadeth not away.\" We may just as certainly get a\ntrue title to this heavenly possession by a proper course of life here\nas we can to a farm or any other property we may buy and pay for. The\ndifference, however, between the title to earthly possessions and that\nto a heavenly estate is that the first is visible to our natural eyes,\nand the last is not. How justly the old adage, that \"a bird in the\nhand is worth two in the bush,\" applies to the views and decisions of\ngreat numbers of people! They talk of not risking a certainty for an\nuncertainty,--the very thing they are doing. Such make no preparation\nfor death and eternity which are certainties; but all for life in this\nworld, which is an uncertainty.\n\nBut to be faithful to my calling, friends, I must repeat the last part\nof my text, if nothing more. Hear it, take the warning of its terrific\nwords, for it is God's warning and not mine. Here it is: \"Woe unto the\nwicked! it shall be ill with them, for the reward of their hands shall\nbe given them.\" These words should strike terror into the hearts of\nthe ungodly. The word reward means recompense, and recompense means\npayment for work done or services performed. But, according to all\njust laws, the one in whose service we labor is the one to whom we\nhave a just right to look for our pay. Now I ask you to tell me whom\nyou serve. Can you say in your heart, \"I am serving the Lord\"? If not\nthe Lord, whom do you serve? Satan, the Devil, the old Serpent, the\nworld and the flesh. These are what you serve, and these are the\none--for all together make but one--to whom you are to look for your\nreward. And let me tell you from love in my heart for your soul, that\nyour life in the service of the devil is a life of sin, and the reward\nor wages of sin is death; not extinction, but a state of deadness to\nall blessedness and happiness forever. But you say, \"I cannot bear\nsuch a thought.\" Neither can I. Come then with us, as the prophet\nsays, and we will do you good. Turn from sin and seek the Lord. Serve\nhim, and your reward will be glory, honor, immortality and eternal\nlife.\n\nFRIDAY, February 28. Father Wampler died at eleven o'clock to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, March 2. Father Wampler was buried to-day. His age was\nseventy-six years, five months and seventeen days. He was the father\nof Anna Kline, my beloved wife, and of Samuel Wampler, one of our\nministers. He was the grandfather of a very numerous line of\ngrandchildren, among whom are many excellent members of the Brethren\nchurch.\n\nSATURDAY, March 8. Samuel Wampler and I go to Page County. We have\nnight meeting at Isaac Spitler's. I speak from John 1:16. Text: \"And\nof his fulness have all we received.\"\n\nThe Apostle John made his record of the Gospel sometime after the\nother evangelists had written theirs. This fact accounts for the many\nthings given by John which are omitted by the others. He wrote it\nlong after the day of Pentecost, and after he had seen the church\nestablished in Judea, and in the regions of Asia under the ministries\nof Paul, and Silas, and Barnabas, and Peter, and others. He saw a\ntendency in the churches even in his day to depart from God's\nordinances; and led by the Divine Spirit he felt it his duty to set\nthese forth in their simplicity and plainness, as he had seen them\ninstituted and exemplified in his own personal presence by the Lord\nhimself.\n\nI think it is clear that the corruption in the Corinthian church had\nbroken out before John wrote. Paul tried to check this disorder by a\nletter, and instruct them in that way as far as he could at the time;\nbut at the close he adds: \"The rest will I set in order when I come.\"\nI am free to express the belief here, that Paul wanted to see John and\nlearn from him all about feet-washing and the Lord's Supper. Up to\nthis time Paul had not taught the Corinthian brethren anything about\nthese ordinances. He had only taught them baptism and the Communion,\nas he had received them from the Lord by reading the accounts given of\nthem in the records made by the other evangelists. Hence John finds\nit necessary to give a particular account of the institution of\nfeet-washing and the Lord's Supper, from beginning to end, with the\nsame exact care that characterizes everything else which he has\nwritten. John can well record the words of my text: \"And of his\nfulness have all we received.\" Jesus has left nothing incomplete.\nThere is fullness and completeness in his life and examples, in his\ndoctrines and practices, and in his objects and their accomplishment.\n\nNear the close of Paul's life he wrote a kind of love letter to his\nson Timothy, as he calls him, in which he says: \"All scripture is\ngiven by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for\nreproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the\nman of God,\" meaning the church, \"may be perfect, thoroughly furnished\nunto all good works.\" There is no place for a doubt in my mind that\nPaul wrote this letter to Timothy after John had made his gospel\nrecord. He therefore includes the Gospel recorded by John in his\ncomprehensive expression that \"all scripture is given by divine\ninspiration.\" In this view of the case, Paul could well insert the\nwords, \"and is profitable for CORRECTION, for INSTRUCTION in\nrighteousness,\" because he himself had been corrected and instructed\nby it.\n\nAnd now, brethren and sisters, and as many as hear me to-day, let us\ngo to the fullness of his love as it is tied up in his Word. Let us\nopen these bundles of grace with penitent hearts and tearful eyes, and\nthe peace of pardon, like the odor of the ointment from Mary's broken\nbox, will flow over our souls. Then with joyful heart each one may\nsay: \"Of his fulness have all we received.\" But we constantly need\nfresh supplies. We naturally run dry. The anaconda, it is said, can\nlive three months on one meal. But he can do this only in a state of\nabsolute inactivity. God does not expect us to live in a state of\nconstant inactivity as this serpent does; he expects us to work for\nhim, and the workingman has need of daily food and drink. Let us so\nlive that we may all joyfully approach some one of the pearly portals\nof the Golden City, and receive the angel keeper's welcome there: \"Of\nhis fulness hast thou received: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\nSUNDAY, March 9. Meeting at Lionberger's schoolhouse. Romans 10 is\nread. Dine at Lionberger's, and come to Abraham Rothgeb's (Rodecap's)\non Mill Run, where we have night meeting, and stay all night. I speak\nfrom the latter part of Acts 3. Subject, \"The Great Prophet.\"\n\nSATURDAY, March 15. This day I mail a letter to Henry Kurtz; one to\nDaniel Arnold; one to Jacob Basehore, and one to Philip Wampler.\n\nTUESDAY, April 1. Council meeting in the Garber's meetinghouse. Two of\nBrother Daniel Miller's sons, viz, Joseph and Jacob, are elected to\nthe deaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, April 5. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Brother\nAbraham Knopp is elected speaker, and two sons of Brother Samuel Wine\nin the Brush, viz, Christian and Samuel, are elected to the\ndeaconship.\n\nTUESDAY, April 8. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Isaac Myers is\nelected speaker; and John Neff, Jacob Wine, and John Hindgartner are\nelected to the deaconship. Daniel Miller and I go to the widow\nWilkins's and stay all night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 9. We attend council meeting in Shaffer's meetinghouse\nto-day. John Copp and Thomas Baker are elected to the deaconship. We\nstay all night with Brother George Shaffer in Shenandoah County,\nVirginia.\n\nTUESDAY, April 29. Prepare for love feast at our meetinghouse. Brother\nHenry Kurtz and Brother Shively come to my house to-day and are with\nus to-night. To say the least, it is exceedingly pleasant to have such\ncompany. We heard some good speaking done by them at our love feast\nthis evening and night.\n\nSATURDAY, May 3. Start, in company with brethren Kurtz and Shively,\nfor Botetourt County, Virginia. Get as far as Brother Jacob Humbert's\nin Augusta County, where we stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, May 4. Love feast at the Brick meetinghouse to-day.\n\nMONDAY, May 5. Dine at Brother Coffman's and stay all night at Brother\nJacob Forrer's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 6. Through Greenville, and on to Layman's tavern, in\nFairfield, for dinner. Stop a little in Lexington, then on to Siler's\ntavern, where we stay all night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 7. Get breakfast and feed our horses at Luster's tavern\nat the Natural Bridge. This is one of nature's wonderful curiosities.\nBut it does not strike me with that degree of astonishment which many\nseem to feel on a first sight of it. I am so familiar with God's\nsublime works among the mountains of Virginia and those of other\nstates that the view does not impress me with that sense of sublimity\nand awful grandeur that one might expect from reading the descriptions\ngiven of it. The Natural Bridge appears to me to be nothing more than\nthe remains of a cave, nearly all of the roof of which has long since\nfallen in and been washed away. There are many natural bridges in\nVirginia and Kentucky, but they are mostly underground. From the\nBridge we go on to Brother Peter Ninsinger's, where we stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 8. Get to Brother Benjamin Moomaw's for dinner. Brother\nMoomaw gives promise of great usefulness. We then go to Brother\nBarnhardt's, where we stay all night.\n\nFRIDAY, May 9. The Yearly Meeting opens to-day. Many Brethren are\npresent. We stay all night at Brother Haut's.\n\nSATURDAY, May 10. Back to meeting at Brother Barnhardt's. Council\ncontinues till noon to-day, then public meeting begins. We have a love\nfeast out in the orchard this evening and night. I stay all night at\nBrother Eller's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 11. Meeting to-day. John 7 is read. Brother Henry Kurtz\nspoke from the eighteenth verse. Text: \"He that speaketh of himself\nseeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him,\nthe same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.\" The brother spoke\nin substance what I here give in small space. He said:\n\n\"These are the words of Jesus Christ, who knew what was in man. It\nbecomes every minister who preaches the Word, to examine himself\nprayerfully, in the light of Holy Truth, to know certainly what impels\nhim to the work. If, by such examination, he becomes assured that the\nlove of Christ and for Christ lures him on, and that the salvation of\nsouls and the consequent glory of the Lord is the beginning and the\nend of his motives, he can go on with heart and tongue, under the\nLord's banner, defying the very gates of hell. But if the love of self\nand the love of the world enter as the chief elements of his power and\nwill in the work, it would be better for him, better for the cause,\nand less dishonorable to the Lord if he would stop off short. I will\nhere repeat the text. You may now be better prepared to perceive the\nwarmth of its power and the light of its truth. 'He that speaketh of\nhimself'--or as the Greek more nearly and fully puts it, FROM himself,\nfrom love to himself the meaning is--'seeketh his own glory.' This is\nself-evidently true, for such a one can have the glory of no one else\nto seek. Self, the love of self, fills his eye and heart. And, like\nthe Pharisee, verily, he has his reward.\n\n\"But, my beloved Brethren, especially you who have been set to the\nwork of the ministry, I can say from my heart that I have but little\napprehension that you are led on in your work by any other than a\nright motive. I do believe, from all that I know of you personally, as\nwell as by reputation, that each one of you, with perhaps a somewhat\nvaried perception of their exalted meaning and power, can adopt Paul's\nwords: 'The love of Christ constrains me.' 'Woe unto me if I preach\nnot the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation.'\n\n\"There is one feature particularly in the order of our ministry that I\nhave always advocated, and expect by the grace of God to advocate to\nthe last, and that is an _unsalaried_ ministry. The world will say to\nme right here: 'You are working against your own interest. You are\ndestroying the race that would bring water to your mill. You are\nbreaking the wagon that would carry grain to your storehouse.' In\nanswer to this I have to say that God never meant for the Gospel to be\nused as a means for getting water to the preacher's mill, or grain\ninto his garner. When the Gospel is converted into merchandise, the\npreacher becomes a merchant, and like all other merchants it becomes\nhis interest to handle his goods in a way that will please his\ncustomers, and put them in such shape and procure for them such kinds,\nwhether good, bad, or indifferent, as will suit their fancies and\nplease their tastes. 'The love of money is a root of all evil,' no\nless in the ministry than anywhere else.\n\n\"'But he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is\ntrue, and no unrighteousness is in him.' How wonderfully did our Lord\nfulfill his mission! Even on the banks of the Jordan, when John had\nalready expressed his unworthiness to untie the latchet of his shoe,\nstill more so to baptize him, he said: 'Thus it becometh us to fulfill\nall righteousness.' And the Father answered, and the Holy Spirit bare\nwitness. 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Brethren,\n our Lord's maxim, expressed in these words, 'I came not to do mine\n own will, but the will of him that sent me,' should be the watchword\n with every one of us. And if the truth leads us through the waters of\n the Jordan, or into the fire of persecution, let us still deny\n ourselves, bear the cross, and say: 'Thus it becometh us to fulfill\n all righteousness;' and we, in heart, in a conscience void of offense\n toward God, will be sure to receive the heavenly recognition: 'This\n is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'\n\n\"But it is not to be inferred from anything I may have said that a\nminister should not have a decent regard for the manner and the style\nof language in which he proclaims the Gospel of Christ. The most\nfaithful and skilled workmen in any craft are, as a rule, the most\ncareful in regard to the quality and fitness of the tools they employ,\nas well as about the manner in which they handle them. Paul instructs\nTimothy to 'study to show himself approved unto God, a workman that\nneedeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.' When a\nman seeks the honor, the wealth and general interest and success of\nhis employer he gives proof of his honesty in the service, and also of\nlove in his heart for him. These two principles underlie all right\nwork for the Lord,--honesty and love; childlike simplicity and\nsincerity. Brethren, let us not aspire to the high things of the\nworld, but to the meekness and gentleness of Christ.\"\n\nI wish many more could have heard the brother's edifying discourse.\n\nAfter the forenoon meeting was dismissed, brethren Henry Kurtz,\nShively, Christian Kline and myself start homeward, and come to\nBrother Daniel Kinsey's, where we stay all night.\n\nMONDAY, May 12. We all get to Siler's tavern, where we stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, May 13. We pass through Lexington, Fairfield, Greenville, and\non to Jacob Forrer's, where we all stay over night. We have fine\nweather.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 14. We all come to Brother Abraham Garber's, and after\ndinner go to meeting at the meetinghouse. Hebrews 12 is read. Stay all\nnight at Brother John Myers's.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 15. All go to Brother Frederic Kline's, near Dayton,\nVirginia, for dinner. Call at Brother Daniel Garber's, and in evening\nget back to my house.\n\nFRIDAY, May 16. In afternoon we have meeting in Brother Samuel Kline's\ndwelling house. Brother Shively speaks from John 4:14, 15. Text: \"But\nwhosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never\nthirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of\nwater springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him,\nSir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to\ndraw.\"\n\nI here give, as nearly as I can, a brief outline of Brother Shively's\ninteresting discourse. He spoke of water: its purity, its beauty, its\nutility, its abundance.\n\n\"Water,\" said he, \"when it is free from all extraneous substances, is\nthe purest thing in the world. The curse that fell upon the ground,\nwhereby it would no longer yield its spontaneous increase to support\nand comfort man, doomed it to bring forth thorns and thistles instead.\n'In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.' 'Dust thou art,\nand unto dust shalt thou return.' These fearful words are still true\nof the ground to-day. Wherever man inhabits the earth, labor, sweat\nand constant attention are the price which has to be paid for\ncomfortable subsistence in this world. But water is not included in\nall this. It really is not a constituent of the ground. It may be in\nthe ground, but it is not of it; and its tendency is to leave the\nground as quickly as possible, under favoring conditions, as though it\nfelt that ground is not its place. The ground gives rise to poisonous\nvapors which produce disease; but pure water never does. The only\nimpurities that ever enter water come from the ground as their\noriginal source.\n\n\"It is probable that on this account our Lord used water to represent\nthe divine truth of his Word. Let us turn to the testimony we may\ngather on this subject. First to my text, 'He that drinketh of the\nwater that I shall give him shall never thirst.' I believe that this\nmeans the truth of his Word. What else could it mean? Now again:\n'Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for\nthey shall be filled.' Filled with what? I believe that such will be\nfilled with the love of God and man, through a knowledge of the truth,\nto such a degree that they will seek to live righteous lives. 'He that\nDOETH truth is righteous.' 1 John 3:7.\n\n\"Again: Our Lord says: 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and\ndrink.' And what is the drink the Lord will give? Not elementary\nwater, I am sure; but if you will allow the expression, I will call it\nspiritual water. Let us return to the text again. If you will trace\nthe chapter throughout, you will see how gently and tenderly the Lord\napproached the dark mind of this woman. He told her of things in her\nlife that no stranger would be likely to know. In this way he gained\nher confidence. She said: 'I perceive thou art a prophet.' This was\none point gained. Next he told her that 'ye' (including the class of\nSamaritans to whom she belonged) 'worship ye know not what. We know\nwhat we worship.' This was another step with the cup of living water\nin his hand to apply to her lips. His next step was to tell her that\nGod is a Spirit, and that all true worship must be from the heart, 'in\nspirit and in truth,' and that the Father seeketh such to worship him.\nI do suppose this is the first time she ever heard God called Father.\nIt was new to her, so new that she confessed her belief in a coming\nMessias, who would be able to tell her all things; but that he would\ncome in the spirit and love of a kind Father exceeded all her hopes.\n\n\"And say, Brethren, did not this poor woman take the cup from the\nLord's hand and drink of the Water of Life? I think she did, for she\nturned missionary right away, and if you will read the thirty-ninth\nverse you will see something of her success, for 'many of the\nSamaritans ... believed on him for the saying of the woman, which\ntestified, He told me all that ever I did.'\n\n\"I will now quote one more text to show that this living water, or\nlife-giving water, also represents the Holy Ghost in his enlightening\npower and love. 'He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said,\nout of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he\nof the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.' Here,\nit does seem to me, the believer in Christ is compared to a spring of\npure water. What makes a spring flow, and keep on flowing even in dry\nweather? It must be that deep down in the veins of the rocks, away out\nof sight, it is being constantly fed by an influx of pure water. What\na lesson we have here! Brethren, the Spirit, or what is the same thing\nagain, the truth of God's holy Word, must not lie dormant in us. We\nmust, as the passage quoted puts it, we must give out rivers of living\nwater. These rivers flow out of our hearts into everything of our\nlives in a way to make others know that we are full of the water of\nlife.\n\n\"I very lately read about the Dead Sea. And how did it get its name? I\nwill tell you. It got the name 'Dead Sea' from its resemblance to a\nhuman being who is constantly taking in God's gifts, and giving\nnothing out in any visible way. If you will look at a map of Palestine\nyou will there see that the river Jordan is constantly pouring its\nflood of fresh water into this sea; but with all this influx of fresh\nwater this sea is so full of all manner of impurities that even fish\ncannot live in it, and no waterfowls, I am told, are ever seen on its\nshores. Truly it deserves to be called 'Dead Sea.' It has no outlet;\nno refreshing stream ever flows from its bosom.\n\n\"But, Brethren, if we are truly alive in the Lord we will be like the\ngarden of Eden that sent out a river to water the garden, whence it\nwas parted and became four heads, and each head was a river. Does not\nall this throw some light on what our Lord meant in what he said to\nthe woman, 'It shalt be in him a well of water, springing up into\neverlasting life;' and this: 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of\nliving water?' There is nothing like a dead sea here. All, all is life\nfrom the Lord. But water is beautiful. Who does not admire a clear,\nflowing spring or river! In this respect water is an emblem of the\nLord's Word. Can any one read the Scriptures, and not be struck with\ntheir beauty? Take, for an example, the story of creation. Even\nchildren see its beauty and love it. Take the last two chapters of\nRevelation. Who can read them without perceiving in them a beauty that\nis all divine? The Bible opens in beauty and closes in beauty.\n\n\"And now, dear Brethren, whilst my subject has only been touched a\nlittle, I will close by briefly directing your minds and hearts to the\nriver that John saw in vision, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the\nthrone of God and of the Lamb. I believe this river to be a symbol of\nGod's love and truth. It proceeded from the throne of God. Now,\n'heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool.'\n\n\"You know the Lord said to the Pharisees: 'The baptism of John, was it\nfrom heaven, or of men?' They would not answer. But we can answer. It\nwas from heaven. It was performed in the beauty and clearness of the\ntruth that the Lord Jesus brought from heaven. It proceeded from the\nthrone of God. What a high origin our baptism has! It is from heaven.\nAnd the immersion of our bodies three times in water symbolizes, in a\nway more impressive than anything else ever could, that we have\nimplicit faith in the love, wisdom and power of the divine Trinity of\nFather, Son and Holy Ghost. There is a trinity in every good thing we\ndo. There must be the love to prompt or make the start, the wisdom to\ndirect this love intelligently, and the power to execute what is in\nthe will and understanding to be done. Our trine immersion of the body\nin water, the beautiful emblem of truth, shows our acceptance of it\ninternally and externally, in life, in death, in heaven.\n\n\"One more thought, and I will close. Once within the city, we shall\nthirst no more: 'For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne\nshall lead us to fountains of living water.' All darkness will be\nremoved. What is obscure here will be light there. For now we know in\npart. There we shall know even as we are known. Amen!\"\n\nSATURDAY, May 17. Brethren Kurtz and Shively go to Lost River. Dine at\nJames Fitzwater's, and stay all night at Celestine Whitmore's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 18. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. Matthew 7 is\nread. The brethren both take part in the speaking to-day. Dine at\nJacob Motz's, then take leave of the dear brethren, Kurtz and Shively,\nand come home. Those two brethren and I were together three weeks,\nlacking only two days. The pleasant conversations we had, the unity of\nour faith, and the oneness of our aims in life have wrought in us an\nattachment for each other that made separation painful. But we parted\nnot without hope of meeting again.\n\nFRIDAY, July 25. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse to-day. Luke 16\nwas read. The singing of devotional hymns, the offering of\nthanksgiving prayers, with instructions as to the way in which the\nworldly gifts of our heavenly Father to us may be most wisely used,\noccupied the time we spent together.\n\nHow best to help the poor has been a matter of much thought with me.\nIf we give to such as are able to work and support themselves, but do\nnot, we rather encourage them in their habits of idleness. If we do\nnot give to them, they complain that we care but little for them, and\ndo not feel toward them as we should. I think the best way to help\nsuch is to encourage them to honest labor by aiding them to procure\nsituations in which they can support themselves. If they then fail to\nprovide for their families, I think they should be visited by a\ncommittee and instructed in regard to what Paul says: \"He that\nprovideth not for his own, especially those of his own house, hath\ndenied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.\" Paul never aimed\nthis stroke of condemnation at any who are not able to provide for\nthemselves. I am glad to think that we have but very few poor members\nwho are not able to help themselves. These are the ones of whom the\nLord said: \"The poor ye have always with you, and whenever ye will ye\nmay do them good.\" In respect to such he also said: \"It is more\nblessed to give than to receive.\"\n\nSUNDAY, August 3. Meeting in our meetinghouse. First Peter 3 is read.\nDaniel Glick, Hildebrandt, Sister Trump, Mary and Susanna Miller were\nbaptized to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, September 7. Meeting at Motz's. John 3 is read. Nimrod Judy\nand wife, Susan Randall, Mrs. Shireman, the widow Toppan and Mrs.\nRidenour were baptized by me to-day. We have a love feast this\nevening.\n\nMONDAY, September 8. Return home. In my absence, on the thirtieth day\nof August, the following named persons were baptized in the Linville's\nCreek near my house: John Wine and wife, Elizabeth Glick, Mrs. Funk,\nMrs. Rodecap, Mrs. Miller, and a young Sister Niswander.\n\nFRIDAY, September 12. Attend our two days' council meeting above\nHarrisonburg. Stop on my way there, and assist in anointing Brother\nDaniel Garber with oil in the name of the Lord.\n\nFRIDAY, September 26. Start to Albemarle County, Virginia. Benjamin\nBowman is with me. Stay all night at John Leedy's.\n\nSATURDAY, September 27. Cross the Shenandoah river in a horse boat;\ndine and feed at Sipe's; cross the Blue Ridge mountain and on to\nNesterville. Stay all night at Henry Coverston's.\n\nSUNDAY, September 28. We have meeting in the Methodist church. The\nlatter part of Luke 24 is read. Henry Coverston and wife were baptized\nby Benjamin Bowman. I think this is the first administration of the\nordinance of baptism ever performed by the Brethren on the east side\nof the Blue Ridge in Virginia.\n\nMONDAY, September 29. Get home after a ride on horseback to-day of\nforty-three miles. We got dinner and fed our horses at Donovan's.\n\nSATURDAY, October 11. Meeting and love feast at the Flat Rock. Luke 13\nis read. Benjamin Bowman baptized John Rorabaugh and wife.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 16. Daniel Miller and Daniel Yount, in company with\nmyself, start to Hampshire County, Virginia. We get to Jacob\nWarnstaff's, in Pendleton County, Virginia, where we stay all night.\n\nFRIDAY, October 17. We have meeting at Bethel church. Matthew 11 is\nread. Cross the South Fork mountain and stay all night at Chlora\nJudy's. I am not surprised that these people are fond of hunting.\nSeveral deer crossed our path in front of us to-day.\n\nSATURDAY, October 18. Meeting at Chlora Judy's. Romans 6 is read.\nMagdalena Rorabaugh is baptized. Brother Daniel Miller spoke in the\nGerman on the twelfth verse of the chapter read; and I interpreted to\nsuch as could not well understand German, following him. Text: \"Let\nnot sin therefore reign in your mortal body.\"\n\nHe said: \"Man, as he first came from the hand of his Creator, was not\na sinner. He was included in the creation which God had just finished,\nand upon which he looked down and said that it was 'good, yea, very\ngood.' With this agree the words of Solomon, greatly gifted in wisdom.\nAfter going over and investigating the whole human family, as far as\nhis knowledge and wisdom enabled him to go, he returned to his own\nreflections and expressed the sad conclusion of his mind in these\nwords: 'Lo, this only have I found, that God made man upright: but\nthey have sought out many inventions.' The Word of God from beginning\nto end shows us that man is no longer upright. The inventions which\nSolomon speaks of are inventions of evil. They are not good\ninventions. In the opening chapters of the Bible we learn how man fell\nfrom the high and holy state in which he was created. It is there\ndeclared that 'God made man in his own image, in the image of God made\nhe him.'\n\n\"The Apostle John says that 'God is light.' By this I understand him\nto mean that God is infinitely wise, knowing all truth. The same\napostle says that 'God is love.' By this I understand that the Lord\nGod has a will for good to every creature that he has made. That he\nhas no other feeling than that of love for the human race and for\nevery individual of the human family. Now, it was in the image and\nlikeness of God that man was made at his first creation. Is it not\nplain from this, then, that he must have been wise in regard to the\nthings of his understanding, and filled with love in his heart for all\nthat is truly good? In this state he could love the Lord his God with\nall his heart, and with all his strength, and love his neighbor as he\nloved himself. But what does the Bible, and what does the history of\nthe world tell us about man ever since he fell from this heavenly\nstate in which he was first created? The Bible declares that the\n'heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.'\nThe Lord said to the Pharisees, a class of people who even claimed to\nbe religious: 'Ye are of your father the devil; and the works of your\nfather ye do.' From the Bible we turn to the history of man's career\nthrough all the ages down to the present time, and we find its lines\nall written in characters of blood. Revenge, murder, cruelty, deceit,\nmalice and ill-will of one toward another are manifest on almost every\npage of history.\n\n\"But in the very face of all this evil God still loved the world; and\nhe so loved it that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever\nbelieveth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And I\ndeclare him to you to-day as my Savior and your Savior; able to save\nto the uttermost all who come unto God through him. And what does he\nsave us from? He saves us from hell. And what is hell? I say to you\nthat it is the place where the devil, and all his angels and evil\nspirits of men live after they leave this world. It is the fire\nprepared for the devil and his angels. It is the everlasting fire into\nwhich the accursed depart. It is the place from which the rich man\nlifted up his eyes, tormented, as he himself confessed, sorely\ntormented in this flame. But, dear friends, God does not will that any\nof us should go to hell; for he says: 'As I live, I have no pleasure\nin the death of a sinner, but would that all should turn and live.'\n\n\"And he tells us how we are to turn and live. He says to all: 'Repent,\nfor the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Repent, that your sins may be\nblotted out. And what is it to repent? It is to turn away the heart\nfrom the love of sin. It is to die unto sin and live unto God. The\nmeaning of my text is not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to\nfulfill the lusts thereof. And what does true repentance lead to? It\nleads to a life of obedience to all the commands of our Lord Jesus\nChrist. 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name,' that\nmeans in obedience to the command 'of Jesus Christ, ... and ye shall\nreceive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and\nto your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the\nLord our God shall call.' This takes in all. It may be that some who\nhear me to-day are very far off. Still, friend, the promise is to you.\nAnd more: I am sure you are hearing the Gospel to-day, so God is\ncalling you now, and the promise is to as many as the Lord our God\nshall call, and this means every one who hears the Gospel sound.\n\n\"When I was young I was afraid I had sinned against the Holy Ghost.\nBut I found some precious words from the lips of our blessed Lord\nhimself that took away all my fear and gave me a hope which has never,\nup to this time, left my heart. You begin to wonder what precious\nwords these were. I will tell you where they are and you can find them\nyourself. John's Gospel, sixth chapter, and the thirty-seventh verse\nis where they are, and these are the words: 'And whosoever cometh unto\nme I will in no wise cast out.' The word whosoever takes in every one,\nwithout exception. I tell you joyfully, it took me in, and it has kept\nme in, and by the grace of God it will keep me in forever.\n\n\"As I have told you some things the Bible says about death and hell, I\nmust tell you a few things it says about life and heaven. Jesus says:\n'I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though\nhe were dead' (as to his body), 'yet shall he live: and whosoever\nliveth and believeth in me shall never die.' O, can this be true? Yes,\nit is true, because Jesus never said what is not true. He is life and\ntruth, and when we have him in our hearts we have the witness in\nourselves that what he says is true. We then 'know of the doctrine\nthat it is of God.' Our bodies will all die, but the real man is more\nthan the natural body. Paul tells us about a spiritual body that will\nnever see death. This is what Jesus says 'shall never die.' This is\nthe body that will rise and live forever.\n\n\"Our Lord said to his disciples: 'I go to prepare a place for you.'\nThe place which the Lord prepares is heaven. In his prayer he said:\n'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me\nwhere I am; that they may behold my glory.' Where is the Lord's glory,\nand where is he in his glory? We read that he ascended to heaven. He\nis in heaven, the heaven of glory and bliss to which he ascended. He\nis there preparing a place for you and for me, if we live faithful to\nhim by our obedience to his commands. Let us be faithful to him, that\nwe may be accounted worthy to enter in through the gates into the\ncity.\"\n\nAfter dinner we all go to Isaac Shobe's, where we have night meeting\nand stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, October 19. We have meeting at Brother Jacob High's. Acts 3 is\nread. Also night meeting at Parks's where we stay.\n\nMONDAY, October 20. Meeting at Solomon Michael's, where we stay all\nnight.\n\nTUESDAY, October 21. Meeting at Joseph Arnold's, on Patterson's Creek,\nin Hampshire County, Virginia. I spoke to-day on 2 Timothy 1:13. Text:\n\"Hold fast the form of sound words.\"\n\nThis passage of Scripture is a part of the fatherly instruction Paul\ngave his spiritual son Timothy. God's works and man's works in the\nconversion and regeneration of man are so blended, so connected and\nidentified one with the other that Paul sometimes speaks of doing what\nnone but God himself can do. Thus to the Corinthians he said: \"For I\nhave begotten you through the gospel.\" And to Philemon he said: \"I\nbeseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.\"\nThese passages show how clearly the true child of God stands connected\nwith the Holy Spirit, in his blessed work of regenerating man and\nqualifying him for heaven. The conjunction of effort may be compared\nwith what we see and know to exist in husband and wife. When the twain\nare really one flesh, one heart, one mind, what is done by the one is\nregarded as done by the other. It must be in a sense somewhat like\nthis that Paul calls Timothy his son. The aged John also says: \"I have\nno greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.\" He here\nmeans spiritual children. He calls them his children from the love he\nhas for them, and the fatherly care he has over them, and the fatherly\ninstruction he gives them. They are near to him, as children are to\ntheir own parents, and when he sees or hears that they receive the\ntruth and walk in it, it gives him joy.\n\nWhen Paul addressed the words of my text to Timothy, most of the New\nTestament had been written. It is to the New Testament Scriptures that\nhe calls Timothy's special attention, where he says: \"It is profitable\nfor doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in\nrighteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly\nfurnished unto all good works.\" Here, in these Scriptures, is to be\nfound the FORM of sound words which Timothy is admonished to hold\nfast. This instruction harmonizes with what was said to the angel of\nthe church in Thyatira: \"But that which ye have, hold fast till I\ncome.\" And in the last of the book of Revelation there are awful\nwarnings given against adding to or taking from what God has spoken.\nThe temptation to skip over, misquote, and misinterpret the Scriptures\nmust be very great, as it is to these three sources that nearly or\nquite all the denominational differences among professing Christians\ncan be traced.\n\nBrethren, it becomes us to be very careful here, \"lest Satan should\nget an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.\" I\nbelieve a departure from the form of sound words mainly accounts for\nthe many errors in doctrine and practice which exist among professing\nChristians to-day. A departure from the form of our Lord's great\ncommission has not only perverted the ordinance of baptism by applying\nit to infants; but it has destroyed the ordinance itself by setting\naside trine immersion, which it so plainly teaches.\n\nAnd what shall we say of the ordinance of feet-washing! When a parent\nor teacher wishes to impart to his child or pupil a clear\nunderstanding of some duty or obligation, he usually feels relieved of\nall further responsibility when he has given the necessary instruction\nto his child or pupil in words which he knows can be understood. But\nin the institution of the ordinance of feet-washing our Lord did not\ndepend upon oral instruction to impart a clear knowledge of his will;\nbut he went through the performance himself, and at the close he said:\n\"I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to\nyou.\" Are not these sound words? What are sound words, and what is\ntheir form? I answer that sound words are words which have no doubtful\nmeaning; and the form of sound words is such a use of them as clearly\nexpresses and conveys to the mind of the reader or hearer just what\nthe writer or speaker wants him to know. But do the so-called churches\nhold fast these words? No, they do not. They let them go as things out\nof date, or unnecessary at the present advanced stage of enlightened\nthought. But \"if the light that is in them be darkness, how great is\nthat darkness!\"\n\nI can say of the Lord's Supper, which Jude calls a feast of charity,\nor love feast, which is the same, and which the Lord instituted in\nconnection with feet-washing, just what I have said of this ordinance.\nIt is let go. These, with many other omissions and errors, have crept\ninto the so-called Christian faith and practice, by letting go the\nform of sound words. Still more. The injunctions to nonconformity to\nthe world in dress and other things are all let go instead of being\nheld fast, and loose reins are given to all manner of worldly forms\nand fashions. Professing Christians even defraud one another through\ncovetousness, which is idolatry, going to law one with another. They\nalso do not hesitate to bear arms in war, which is the greatest of all\nearthly evils.\n\nBrethren and friends, I do not speak in this way from any feeling of\nill-will toward any, but from the depth of love in my heart; for there\nis no joy that could be compared with the joy that I would feel could\nI see the whole Christian world bowing, meekly bowing under the weight\nand power of God's revealed Truth. Our way, Brethren, is to hold fast\n\"the form of sound words.\" As we expect to have a love feast here on\nto-morrow evening, let each one examine himself to see whether in his\nfaith or in his works he may have departed from the form of sound\nwords of warning, of encouragement, of instruction, of exhortation, of\ndoctrine. And it most assuredly becomes us to inquire whether we have\ndone our duty in the way of searching the Scriptures, giving ourselves\nto reading, to meditation, to prayer. We are too apt to seek for what\npleases the taste of the natural mind, to the neglect of what is\nnecessary to refresh the spiritual mind and keep that healthy and\nstrong.\n\nAs there was but one rock in the wilderness from which all the tribes\nof Israel were supplied with natural water, so to us, God's spiritual\nIsrael, there is but one Rock from which flows to us the water of\nlife, and that Rock is Christ Jesus in his Word. On this Rock the\nchurch is founded, and I rejoice to know that the gates of hell shall\nnot prevail against it.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 22. Love feast to-day. Matthew 23 is read.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 23. Meeting. Matthew 13 is read. Brother Daniel\nMiller goes to the Greenland Gap. I stay all night at old Brother\nArnold's.\n\nFRIDAY, October 24. I and Daniel Yount start for home. We dine at\nSister High's, and stay all night at Vanmeter's.\n\nSATURDAY, October 25. Dine at Elijah Judy's, and stay all night at\nIsaac Dasher's on the South Fork, Hardy County.\n\nSUNDAY, October 26. Meeting at Rorabaugh's. John 10 is read. I\nbaptized Lydia Shireman. Stay all night at Rorabaugh's.\n\nMONDAY, October 27. Preach funeral of Joseph Reel's daughter. Age,\nseven years and nine months. Stay all night at James Fitzwater's in\nthe Gap.\n\nTUESDAY, October 28. Reached home.\n\nSATURDAY, November 8. Brother Benjamin Moomaw and family, from Roanoke\nCounty, come to my house this evening.\n\nSUNDAY, November 9. Brother George Kline's little Daniel died\nto-night. I was with him when he died. Just three years and four days\nold. How deep the grief with which this kind family is stricken! On\nTuesday, October 21, while I was in Hampshire County, Virginia, Anna,\naged seven years, two months and nineteen days, was laid in the cold\ngrave. On the thirty-first, only nine days later, little Mary passed\naway, aged four years, seven months and eleven days. And now, only\nnine days later still, another, little Daniel, passes away. All three\nbright, promising, happy children. We can only lift up our voices and\nweep. The only light that breaks in upon the darkness of this\nprovidence comes from heaven. There is light beyond the cloud that now\nhangs so darkly and heavily in the sky above our heads. God is our\nrefuge. His promise is: \"When thou passest through the deep waters, I\nwill be with thee.\" Thou wilt not leave nor forsake us now. The little\nlambs have been gathered into his arms. He took them into his arms and\nblessed them here; how much more can he bless them there, for \"of such\nis the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, November 27. Have night meeting in Winchester, Virginia, in\nthe Methodist church. I speak from Luke 13. Subject: \"The Strait\nGate.\" Stay all night at Henry Krumm's.\n\nFRIDAY, November 28. Breakfast at Brother Fahnestock's; dine at\nBrother Mummert's, and have night meeting in the Quaker meetinghouse.\nSpeak on John 4:24. Text: \"God is a Spirit; and they that worship him\nmust worship in spirit and in truth.\" As the house in which we have\nmet for worship this evening has been erected by the Friends, or\nQuakers, and called after their name, I feel that it will not be out\nof place for me to speak from a passage of Scripture upon which they\nvery much rely, as a strong support to their faith and ways of\nworship. I must, at the same time, confess that I love these people\ndearly, as far as my acquaintance with them goes. Their views and\nconvictions in regard to simplicity in manners, and plainness in\ndress, and general nonconformity to the world; in regard to bearing\narms, and using human laws in the adjustment of difficulties between\nbrethren, are so very much like our own that I cannot avoid a strong\nattachment to them in my religious sympathies. And I would not desire\nto eradicate this sympathy from my heart if I could. These\nconsiderations, in connection with my early knowledge of them in\nPennsylvania as being an honest and virtuous people, have always kept\nme in friendly love with the Quakers.\n\nThe language of my text is part of the instruction given by our Lord\nto the Samaritan woman at the well. She said to him: \"Our fathers\nworshiped in this mountain; but ye [meaning the Jews] say that\nJerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.\" She alluded to the\ntemple, I suppose. But our Lord at one stroke levels every support on\nwhich these false conceptions of him rested in her mind, by assuring\nher that God is a universal Spirit, and not confined to any one place;\nand that the worship which he delights in is not that of form and\nceremony, but that of the heart, in the inner man, in spirit and in\ntruth. The meaning of my text also lays the axe at the root of all\nhypocrisy and spurious professions of religion.\n\nIn addition to all this it sets up the only true sanctuary for his\nworship on earth, the sanctuary which is found in the heart of every\nsincere and obedient believer in him. Paul says to the Corinthian\nbrethren: \"Know ye not that ye are the sanctuary of God? If any man\ndefile the sanctuary of God, him will God destroy; for the sanctuary\nof God is holy, which sanctuary ye are.\"\n\nEvery step the sinner takes in his return to God, and every step the\nChristian takes in his walk with God, must be in spirit and truth.\nRepentance is heartfelt hatred of sin. Faith is a loving acceptance of\nJesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life. For with the heart man\nbelieveth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made\nunto salvation. This confession includes all the ordinances of God's\nhouse, which is the church of the living God. How men can think, as\nmany seem to think, that they can confess Christ in spirit and truth,\nand at the same time reject the chief means by which Christ intends\nthis confession to be made public, I can not see. Baptism, or the\nimmersion of the body in water by a proper administrator, in the name\nof the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is either laid\naside entirely, or argued out of form, or very lightly regarded. The\nordinance of feet-washing, the salutation of the kiss, and the Lord's\nSupper are entirely cast away. In love I say all this, because I burn\nwith desire to see the Truth accepted in the love of it and obeyed\nfrom the heart. When man does this, like little Samuel of old, he\nresponds to the call of the Father who seeketh such to worship him.\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 31. In the year that is just closing, I have\ntraveled 3,578 miles. This I have done mostly on horseback. I have\ndone what I could for God and humanity. I hope that when I come to die\nI may not have cause for deep regrets, or to mourn over a misspent\nlife. I hope to lay my body down in peace, in the bright hope of a\nglorious waking up at the call of my Lord.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 8, 1846. Go to Christian Shoemaker's in the Gap and\nperform the marriage ceremony of John C. Miller and Deborah Shoemaker.\nStay all night at Ely Spitzer's.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 15. Write a letter to Henry Kurtz, and one to George\nHoke.\n\nTUESDAY, February 17. Make an amicable adjustment of complicated\nbusiness matters between the widow Judith Detrick and Abraham Detrick.\nIt is pleasant to straighten between members of our body business\nmatters which present a somewhat crooked and tangled appearance, when\nall the parties are willing to have things adjusted through the\nmediation of disinterested Brethren. How much better this than to go\nto law! The tendency of private adjustments by arbitration is to heal\nover breaches of friendship and love between members; but going to law\nbefore the world is almost sure to widen them. I am glad to be able to\nadd, here, that I say this, not from any experience with law that I\nhave ever had in my own case, or in that of any of the Brethren; but I\nspeak it from what I have observed in others who have gone to law.\n\nTHURSDAY, February 26. Go to David Kline's and perform the marriage\nceremony of Abraham Neff and Elizabeth Kline.\n\nTUESDAY, March 3. Perform the marriage ceremony of Josiah Sowder and\nElizabeth Dove.\n\nSATURDAY, March 21. Abraham Knopp and I go to Lost River. Stay all\nnight at Jacob Motz's.\n\nSUNDAY, March 22. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. Luke 24 is\nread. Come to Abel Dove's and perform two marriage ceremonies; one for\nIsaac Whetzel and Catharine Dove; the other for Michael Myers and\nJulia Ann Dove. Stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, April 5. Meeting at the Flat Rock. John 6 is read. Brethren\nsent out on the yearly visit. I and Jacob Wine go together. We stay\nall night at the widow Cherryholms's in Brock's Gap.\n\nTUESDAY, April 7. We get through with the visit. The members generally\nexpressed themselves as being in sympathy and full fellowship with the\nchurch. We hope they told the truth.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 8. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jacob Wine is\nelected speaker. He gives promise of becoming an able and active\nworker in the vineyard of the Lord.\n\nFRIDAY, April 10. Council meeting in the Brush meetinghouse. Joseph\nMiller, son of Daniel Miller, is elected speaker. John Wine, son of\nSamuel Wine in the Brush, and John Miller, are elected to the\ndeaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, April 11. Council meeting in the old Garber meetinghouse.\nSolomon Garber is elected speaker. He likewise gives promise of\nbecoming a very useful man in his calling. Surely the Lord has\nestablished a beautiful order in his house. \"Whatsoever ye shall bind\non earth, shall be bound in heaven.\" When the church fairly chooses a\nbrother to any office or service, to the ministry of the Word or to\nattend to the temporal duties connected with keeping the Lord's house\naccording to order, he need no longer question as to whether the Lord\nhas called him or not. The Lord uses the church to show his will in\nthese things. \"Lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the\nworld.\" I was once very much impressed with the answer a beloved\nbrother gave in the presence of some three or four others, just\noutside the meetinghouse, after an election had been held just about\nan hour before. The church had voted for two, only one of whom was\nneeded. The vote had been so nearly a tie that the brother elected had\na majority of but one. Some one asked: \"Are we to infer from this that\nthe Lord wanted both of these brethren elected?\" The brother above\nreferred to answered promptly, \"No, he only wanted to show that both\nwere fit for the place.\"\n\nMichael Flory and Samuel Long are elected to the deaconship.\n\nFRIDAY, April 17. Go on the visit in the Cove, in company of Jacob\nMathias.\n\nSATURDAY, April 18. Finish the visit in time to have council meeting\nin the Lost River meetinghouse. In all my visiting this spring but\nvery little complaint or dissatisfaction has been laid. Our council\nmeetings, too, have been harmonious. The members generally show a\nheartfelt will to live in the church, to be built up in the church,\nand to help to build up the church so long as the church keeps house\naccording to God's order.\n\nMONDAY, April 20. Get home in the night. Go right on to John Zigler's.\nCatharine is very sick. She dies at 4 o'clock in the morning.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 22. Catharine Zigler is buried to-day.\n\nFRIDAY, April 24. Jacob Wine, Joseph Miller and I go to Forrer's\nfurnace in Page County, Virginia, and have night meeting. Jacob Wine\nspeaks from John 1:29. He prefers the German language. He makes a\nright good stagger even in English for a beginner, but he will need\nmuch practice before he can use this language with much freedom. But\nit is not by the might nor the power of man that souls are saved, but\nby the might and power of the Lord working with man.\n\nSATURDAY, April 25. Dine at Isaac Spitler's, and stay all night at\nJohn Huffman's, both in Page County.\n\nFRIDAY, May 8. Go to Brother John Harshbarger's on my way to\nAlbemarle.\n\nSATURDAY, May 9. He and I go to the Ferry on the Shenandoah river, but\nfinding the river too high to ferry in a horse boat, we go around by\nthe bridge, and get to Brother Coverston's in the night.\n\nSUNDAY, May 10. Meeting at Brother Coverston's. Matthew 7 is read.\n\"The Strait Gate\" is the subject.\n\nMONDAY, May 11. Dine at John Conrad's, and come across the mountains\nby a _desperate path_, home; thirty-eight miles. The path by which we\ncame to-day is almost or quite as steep in places as stairsteps, and\nvery rough from large stones in its bed, with others projecting into\nit on either side. Brother John was in front of me slowly leading his\nhorse down one of the very steep places, when his saddlebags slid out\nof the saddle down over the horse's neck and fell on his arm. He\npleasantly looked back at me saying in a very cheerful way, \"It looks\nas if my baggage wants to go ahead of the horse that carries it.\"\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 13. Love feast at our meetinghouse. Five persons\nbaptized. Brethren John Bowman, from Franklin County, and John\nBarnhardt are with us. They are this far on their way to the Annual\nMeeting.\n\nFRIDAY, May 15. Start to Pennsylvania.\n\nSATURDAY, May 16. Through Winchester, Virginia; Opequon past fording,\ngo round by the bridge, and stay all night at Smithfield.\n\nSUNDAY, May 17. Through Charlestown, by Harper's Ferry and\nFredericktown, on to Daniel Bowers's, where we stay all night.\n\nMONDAY, May 18. Get to Uncle John Garber's, where we stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, May 19. Spend day in visiting Henry Beecher's, Widow Deahl's,\nWilliam Deahl's, and get back to Uncle John Garber's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 20. Visit John Pfoutz's, Jacob Saylor's and Solomon\nGarber's, where we stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 21. Get to Brother George Deardorf's, where we stay all\nnight.\n\nFRIDAY, May 22. Get to Brother Balsbaugh's, beyond Harrisburg.\n\nSATURDAY, May 23. Meeting and love feast at Brother Balsbaugh's. Seven\npersons baptized to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, May 24. Visit George Copp's, Joseph Long's, Christian Gipe's,\nand stay all night at Abraham Gipe's. In all my visits I make it a\npoint not to leave a house without making an effort to speak on the\nsubject of religion, and say something that may leave an impression\nfor good.\n\nMONDAY, May 25. Meeting. Acts 10 is read. Visit Brother Shank's, and\nstay all night at David Zug's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 26. Meeting. Romans 6 is read. Visit George Fesler's,\nMichael Fesler's, and stay all night at Benjamin Landis's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 27. Visit Daniel Zug's and several other families; and\nat 11 o'clock meeting begins preparatory to love feast this evening.\nFirst Peter 1 is read. Stay all night at Brother Minick's.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 28. Meeting at 11 o'clock. John 5 is read. In afternoon\nvisit John Royer's, and stay all night at George Keller's.\n\nFRIDAY, May 29. Yearly Meeting begins. Many brethren and sisters\npresent.\n\nSATURDAY, May 30. The Yearly Council closes at noon. Much love and\nunion exists in the Brotherhood. Public meeting this afternoon, and\nlove feast to-night. Much spiritual joy is manifested by the singing\nof hymns and the offering of prayers. May our heavenly Father grant\nthat the same love and union may continue with us to the end of the\nworld. Our Yearly Meetings will continue to do much good so long as\nthey show to the world our love for one another. \"Hereby shall all men\nknow that ye are my disciples, if ye have love for one another.\"\n\nFrom this meeting Brother Kline set his face homeward, but on the way\nhe managed to attend six appointments for preaching, and two love\nfeasts besides. In tracing his course on his journeys, and noting the\namount of active service he performed in the way of preaching and\nvisiting, one is forcibly impressed with the proofs he gives of the\norder and system that must have characterized and attended his labors.\nNot unfrequently he has one or two appointments ahead for every day in\nthe week; and with only a very few exceptions in the whole course of\nhis life, and they were on account of sickness, he never failed to\nmeet the congregations that were looking for him. Soon after getting\nhome from this journey he attended to gathering the grass and grain\nharvests on his own farm. He reports twenty-eight tons of hay made\nthis year. He likewise had a tolerably large wheat harvest. About the\neighteenth of June heavy rains set in, and they continued to fall at\nintervals of only a day or two apart for the next six or seven weeks.\nThe Diary reports a very heavy rain on Sunday, June 28. From this time\non for the next six days it reports a flooding rain every day, and\nvery high waters. The grain suffered very much on account of continued\nwet weather for many days following. This has ever since been known as\n\"the wet harvest.\" Much of the wheat sprouted in the head before it\ncould be cut; and much of what stood in shocks suffered in the same\nway. The Diary for July 15 says: \"We finished hauling in our grain\nto-day, some of which had stood in shocks over three weeks. Such\nextraordinary seasons come along once in a while; but I do imagine it\nwill be a good while in the future before people can generally say, 'I\nnever saw such a wet harvest as this,' alluding to the one they may\nthen be passing through.\"\n\nBetween this time and the first day of August, Brother Kline went on\nanother tour to the county of Hardy, in which he attended several\nmeetings; baptized Rebecca, wife of Elijah Judy, on Saturday, July 11;\nand performed the marriage ceremony of George Runion and Susan Aubrey,\non the thirteenth.\n\nSUNDAY, July 26. Meeting at Jacob Whetzel's. Matthew 24 is read. I\nbaptized Jacob Pope and his wife.\n\nSUNDAY, August 2. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Samuel Kline and Samuel\nRoller and his wife are baptized.\n\nMONDAY, August 10. This day Brother Kline started on a journey to\nOhio, in company with George Hoover, Joseph Miller, Katy Hoover and\nBenjamin Wampler. They went in two carriages across the western part\nof the State of Virginia (now West Virginia) into Pennsylvania, and\nthrough the western part of that State into Ohio. As this trip was\nmade specially memorable by a very severe spell of sickness which\nBrother Kline passed through while making it, as well as by the sad\neffect it had upon his beloved wife, Anna, at home, the editor will be\nvery particular in giving, from the Diary, all the points of interest\nconnected with it.\n\nThe second day they crossed the South Branch mountain by what is\ncalled the Howard's Lick road. The view from the top of this is\nperhaps unsurpassed by any point in the entire range. A very large\npart of Hardy County, with its magnificent streams and rich bottoms,\nis visible to the eye. The town of Moorefield from this view reminds\none of a child sleeping in its cradle.\n\nBrother Kline, as usual, had a line of appointments for meetings by\nthe way, and he met them as regularly and timely as a train of cars\ngets to its destined stations. He must have had the name and address\nof almost every prominent member in the denomination, and they must\nhave had implicit confidence in his word; for the Diary nowhere\nintimates that he was ever disappointed by not finding the expected\ncongregation when the weather permitted. Nothing of any special\ninterest occurred until the night of Saturday, August 15, at which\ntime we find the company at Colley's tavern in Fayette County,\nPennsylvania. At this place Brother Kline complains of being sick. He\ntakes some medicine and is able again to travel on through the next\nthree days, and fill one appointment. But on\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 19, there is an appointment in waiting for him which\nhe cannot attend. He says: \"I am sick. Cannot go.\" Bowling Green was\nthe place. He is now at John Shelly's. Notwithstanding his illness,\nhe, with the company, traveled thirty-one miles the next day; and the\nday after attended a love feast at Brother Daniel Wise's.\n\nHis next appointment was at Brother Shively's. He requests George\nHoover and Joseph Miller to go on to that place, while he remains at\nBrother Wise's with Benjamin Wampler and Katy Hoover. He says again:\n\"I am sick.\" On the evening of\n\nSUNDAY, August 23, we find him at Brother Hershey's, near Lewistown.\nHe says in the entry for that evening: \"I am still sick. Take more\nmedicine to-night.\" On\n\nMONDAY, August 24, he sent for Dr. Jacob Myers, who gave him a course\nof medical treatment. The doctor came again the next day, and gave him\nanother course of treatment. He says: \"I took another emetic of\nlobelia to-day, and perspired freely.\" If lobelia is the poisonous\ndrug that some seem to think it is, we can hardly account for the\nimprovement which Brother Kline reports to have experienced in his\nfeelings, following every administration of it. For on the next day,\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 26, he says: \"I feel some better to-day; so much so\nthat I write my will.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, August 27. His own words: \"Start again, and pass through\nCanton, Massillon, Brookfield, Greeneville, Dover, and on to Brother\nJacob Kurtz's, where we stay all night.\" We have to wonder how a man\nlaboring under a well-defined attack of typhoid fever could keep on\ngoing for twelve consecutive days before the final breakdown came. It\nmakes one think of Paul, who could even be stoned until he was thought\nto be dead, and next day be found preaching again. But the crisis with\nBrother Kline came at last. The entry in the Diary for\n\nFRIDAY, August 28, says: \"To-day Brother Hoover and Brother Miller, at\nmy request, leave me; Brother Wampler and Sister Katy remain with me.\nWhat a precious thing love is! My dear Brethren have not only staid\nwith me day and night, but they have constantly watched for\nopportunities to minister to my comfort or necessities. The Lord\nreward them abundantly in this life and the next: and bless them at\nthe meetings which I now feel I cannot attend. Dr. Overholtz comes at\nmy request and gives me medicine.\"\n\nSATURDAY, August 29. Suffer extremely, but not quite so much as last\nnight. I now feel as if I were just on a balance between life and\ndeath: almost gone.\n\nSUNDAY, August 30. Dr. Overholtz comes again and gives me another\ncourse of medicines. I am slightly relieved, but still suffer very\nmuch. The Doctor reports fever not as high as yesterday.\n\nMONDAY, August 31. Rest to-day, but am very weak.\n\nTUESDAY, September 1. Doctor does not come to-day.\n\nFor some days past the Diary has been kept in a strange hand. Some\nkind but intelligent friend has made the daily records in perfect\nimitation of Brother Kline's unaffected style and manner.\n\nSATURDAY, September 5. The Doctor is here, but does not give me\nmedicine. I write a letter home.\n\nThis letter created overwhelming distress in the mind of Anna, Brother\nKline's wife. She had heard about his illness prior to this time; but\nwhen she read this letter her mind seemed to give way, and when\nBrother Kline got back home he found her very ill, both in body and\nmind. They told him at home that when she read the letter all hope\nof ever seeing him again vanished, and the shock was more than her\nsensitive nature could bear. It is very sad to relate, but true, that\nshe never again seemed fairly to realize his being in her presence.\nHis kindness to her was shown in unremitting attentions, to the day of\nhis death; and I am persuaded that few men could be found to bear such\na dire calamity with so much patience and resignation.\n\nThere were no entries made in the Diary from September 1, to the\nfifth. He must have been very sick indeed, during the three days that\nare omitted.\n\nSATURDAY, September 6. He says: Brother Samuel Buck gives me a course\nof medicine; it works well. Fever entirely broken. Have some appetite.\nBegin to mend.\n\nMONDAY, 7. To-day I have rest. Eat some toast bread.\n\nTUESDAY, 8. Still continue to mend, but somewhat slowly.\n\nWEDNESDAY, 9. Take another course of medicines.\n\nTHURSDAY, 10. Feel very much better. Can be up some.\n\nFRIDAY, 11. Still mending.\n\nSATURDAY, 12. Doing well. Write a letter home, and one to William\nLupton.\n\nSUNDAY, 13. Still continue to do well.\n\nMONDAY, 14. Still well, but sit out in the cool air too long, and take\na slight backset.\n\nTUESDAY, 15. Do not feel so well, but appetite good.\n\nWEDNESDAY, 16. Still not very well, but appetite good.\n\nTHURSDAY, 17. Do not feel very well. Dr. Overholtz comes again, and\ngives me another course of medicines.\n\nFRIDAY, 18. Feel a little better again.\n\nSATURDAY, 19. Not much change from yesterday.\n\nSUNDAY, 20. Dr. Overholtz gives me another course of medicines.\n\nMONDAY, 21. Do not feel entirely relieved yet.\n\nTUESDAY, 22. Take another course of medicines, and am much relieved.\n\nWEDNESDAY, 23. Brother Benjamin Wampler takes me in the carriage to\nBrother Buck's, two miles off, and back home.\n\nTHURSDAY, 24. Much rain to-day. Cannot ride out.\n\nFRIDAY, 25. Brother Benjamin takes me to Brother Samuel Myers's\nto-day, and back home. Rain in the afternoon.\n\nSATURDAY, 26. Paint the top of carriage, and do some other work to it.\n\nSUNDAY, 27. Visit Brother Reuben Pinkerton and return home. How very\nkind all of these dear people have been to me! They will accept\nnothing in return for all their kindness to me, but my gratitude and\nlove, and, heaven knows, my heart is full of that.\n\nTUESDAY, 29. Go to Brother Jonathan Gaines's for dinner; then to\nWooster, and stay all night with Dr. Overholtz.\n\nWEDNESDAY, 30. Go to the bank in Wooster and attend to some other\nbusiness. Dine with Dr. Overholtz, and in evening get back home to\nBrother Jacob Kurtz's.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 1. Fix to start towards home.\n\nFRIDAY, October 2. Take leave of my very dear Brother Jacob Kurtz and\nfamily, who have nursed and cared for me through all of my sickness.\nSuch kindness as he and his family have shown me relieves affliction\nof half its distress. It is almost a luxury to be sick where so much\nlove is shown. I can never forget Brother Benjamin Wampler. He is so\ncalm and gentle in the sick room that his very presence is a comfort\nto the sick.\n\nThe Diary does not contain anything of special interest on their way\nhome. Brother Kline noted the distance traveled over each day, from\nthe time they left Brother Jacob Kurtz's till he arrived at his own\nhome. According to his report the whole distance was 264 miles. This\nthey made in eleven days. Their average daily rate of travel was just\ntwenty-four miles. They arrived at his house on the evening of the\ntwelfth, having left Brother Kurtz's the morning of the second day of\nOctober. Brother Kline often notes some reference to the satisfaction\nof getting back home after a long absence; and it is painful to find a\nrecord the exact reverse in this instance. But no murmur at the Divine\nWill, or word of impatience or complaint against any one is to be\nfound on the page of the Diary.\n\nFrom this time to the close of the year Brother Kline never went far\nfrom home. A few marriages solemnized, funerals preached, neighborhood\nmedical visits, and near-by meetings attended make the sum of his work\nfrom home. His afflicted wife required his daily attentions.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 21. Perform the marriage ceremony of Josiah Wampler\nand Mary Kline.\n\nTUESDAY, February 23. Go to Michael Wine's and perform the marriage\nceremony of Isaac Harpine and Barbara Wine.\n\nTHURSDAY, March 4. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Andes and\nCatharine Miller, at the widow Miller's in the Forest.\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 31. Dr. Newham is at my house to-day. We start my new\nelectro-magnetic machine, and give Anna an electric shock, in the hope\nof its vitalizing her enfeebled nerves. Dr. Newham regards her case as\nnot being out of the reach of relief by a course of protracted and\njudiciously applied medical treatment.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 1. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. Perform\nthe marriage ceremony of Seth Alger and Rosina Fifer.\n\nSATURDAY, April 3. Abraham Knopp and I go to Page County. Call to see\nold Sister Gibbons who has reached a very high age. We read and prayed\nwith her, and her heart seemed to overflow with joy. She said: \"I love\nall the friends of Jesus. Brethren, I will soon be gone; but I hope\nthe Lord may leave you here many years yet to do his blessed will, by\ncalling many sinners from darkness to light, and by comforting his\nsaints as you have comforted me this day.\" When we took leave of her\nshe said: \"Farewell: and may the God of love and peace be with you.\"\nSister Gibbons is the mother of Samuel Gibbons, and is now living with\nhim on the Hawksbill Creek, not far from the town of Luray, in Page\nCounty, Virginia.\n\nSUNDAY, April 4. The brethren and sisters meet us very early this\nmorning for prayer and exhortation on the visit; after which the\nregular public meeting opens. John 5 is read. Dine at Isaac Spitler's,\nand stay all night at Henry Gander's.\n\nFRIDAY, April 16. Abraham Knopp and I go to Lost River. Attend the\nburial of Celestine Whitmore's child. Age, seven years, four months,\nand one day. In afternoon Jacob Pope and I go on to the visit. Stay\nall night at Henry Moyers's.\n\nSATURDAY, April 17. After getting through with the visit we have\ncouncil meeting. The reports brought in by the visiting brethren are\nmostly encouraging, and show a good spirit existing in the\nBrotherhood.\n\nSUNDAY, April 18. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Luke 12 is read. After\nmeeting perform the marriage ceremony of Washington Cook and Anna Jane\nParker at Brother Whitmore's; then come to William Fitzwar's and\nperform the marriage ceremony of Frederick Nasselrodt and Catherine\nWeatherholtz. Get home at nine o'clock in the night.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 29. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Halterman\nand Elizabeth May, at Samuel May's, in the Gap.\n\nSUNDAY, May 2. Meeting at Nasselrodt's in the Gap. I baptized Lotty\nKoon.\n\nTUESDAY, May 18. On this day Brother Kline starts to the Annual\nMeeting. He takes Anna and Sister Betty Knopp with him. They get to\nthe widow Nipe's in the evening of the nineteenth. He left Anna and\nSister Betty at this place, whilst he went on to the Annual Meeting at\nBrother Jacob Deardorff's, which opened Friday, May 21. The business\nfeatures of the meeting closed on Saturday, May 22; and on Sunday, May\n23, he started back after the eleven o'clock service. He found Anna\nsomewhat more cheerful than usual. She stood the trip remarkably well.\nFrom some cause, I know not what, he gives not a word of comment on\nthe state of feeling, matters considered, or anything else pertaining\nto it.\n\nFRIDAY, May 28. We have a love feast at our meetinghouse. _Union in\nthe evening._ A fine day and good behavior. Some of the older Brethren\nwill no doubt know what Brother Kline means by the word _union_, here\nand elsewhere used in the Diary in a specific sense.\n\nTUESDAY, June 8. To-day I attended two buryings in one graveyard.\nChristian Eversole, age, sixty-nine years; and Samuel Bowers, age,\ntwenty years; both buried at the Brush meetinghouse.\n\nSATURDAY, July 3. Cross the Blue Ridge mountain to-day, and get to\nHenry Coverston's late this evening.\n\nSUNDAY, July 4. Meeting in the Methodist meetinghouse. John 4 is read.\nI spoke as best I could on the Water of Life and kindred topics, but\nin this country we feel sadly the want of encouragement and sympathy\nwhich we are used to in our own houses and congregations. Our\ndoctrinal views and practices as a denomination are not well\nunderstood in Albemarle County, Virginia. The prevailing denominations\nhere are Baptists and Methodists. We have one consolation, however,\neven here. We can preach the Gospel to the poor, and they are ready to\nhear it. But there is one barrier between us and the wealthy classes\nwhich will continue, God only knows how long; and that barrier is\nAfrican slavery. Many, seemingly good and reasonable people, in this\ncountry justify themselves in their own eyes, even on scripture\ngrounds, for taking part in and encouraging the holding of slaves. I\nfear, however, that the god of this world has blinded their eyes, so\nthat seeing they see not, and hearing they understand not.\n\nA gentleman whom I met here and who said that he had traveled a great\ndeal in the slave-holding States, told me that he witnessed the sale\nof some slaves in a town in North Carolina. A mother and her three\nchildren, two boys and a girl, were put up for sale separately. It\nhappened that the mother was bought by one man, the two boys by\nanother, and the daughter by a third. The daughter was twelve years\nold; and the boys respectively eight and ten. They were now to be\nparted, never to see each other more. There was no hope left them of\never hearing from each other again. The gentleman said the little boys\ndid not seem to mind it so very much; but, said he, the agony of the\nmother, and the distress of the daughter were past description. It\nis to be hoped that such heart-rending scenes are not often to be\nwitnessed; and I do believe that the time is not far distant when\nthe sun will rise and set upon our land cleansed of this foul stain,\nthough it may be cleansed with blood. I would rejoice to think that my\neyes might see that bright morning; but I can have no hope of that.\n\nTUESDAY, July 6. On this day Brother Kline made arrangements to move\nto Orkney Springs with Anna. Some account of this place is given\nelsewhere in this work, and need not be repeated here. He and Anna\nstaid here about five weeks, and he reports her general health as\nbeing much improved by the use of the different waters, as well as by\nthe cheerful society she enjoyed. Whilst staying at this place Brother\nKline reports some interesting acquaintances made with several noted\npersons whom he had only casually seen before. Among these was the\nRev. Henry Brown, a Presbyterian minister of Harrisonburg.\n\nSATURDAY, July 17, he says: Take a walk over some of the surrounding\neminences with preacher Henry Brown of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Mr.\nBrown is a very sociable and pleasant man to be with. Whilst we differ\non a good many points of Christian doctrine, we can still walk and\ntalk together sociably; and I enjoy his company very much. It would be\npleasant to believe, did the Scriptures warrant the conclusion, that\nall the differences which mark the divisions of Christians here will\nmelt away in love and be forgotten there. Of one thing I am sure: No\none will ever have a just right to boast of his own goodness, or lay\nclaim to preferment on the score of his own obedience. \"When ye,\" says\nour Savior, \"have done all these things that were commanded you, say,\nWe are unprofitable servants: we have done that which it was our duty\nto do.\" Whilst it is true that the Presbyterians are zealous advocates\nof education and moral improvement, and as a people exhibit in their\ndaily lives many Christian virtues and graces, still I fear they are\noccupying dangerous ground by rejecting some of the plain commands of\nour Lord Jesus. \"If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the\ndisobedient appear?\" I know of no righteousness but that of obedient\nfaith, or, as Paul puts it, the righteousness of faith that works or\nobeys from love, and in this way purifies the heart. A hungering and\nthirsting after this righteousness\n\n  \"Gives exercise to faith and love;\n  Brings every blessing from above.\"\n\nIf this dear Christian friend is in darkness as to the nature of\nobedience and its blessed fruits, himself misled and misleading\nothers, I pray that the scales may drop from his eyes, that he may see\nclearly the whole truth which God has placed in the line of our duty\nto do and teach.\n\nSUNDAY, July 18. Friend Henry Brown preached to-day. He is a very\nclear and pleasant talker. In his discourse, however, he made me think\nof some beautiful birds that hop over what they do not wish to touch,\nand take hold gracefully of what they are pleased to alight upon.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 12. This day Brother Kline moved back home. He says:\nAnna much improved in health. The season at the Springs has been quite\npleasant, with the exception of atmospheric dampness from the\nabundance of rain we had while there.\n\nMONDAY, August 23. This day Brother Kline started on another journey\nto Pennsylvania. It may be irksome to the general reader to follow his\ndaily steps from this date to the thirteenth of September, the day on\nwhich he returned home, so I will only name the families he visited or\nstayed with all night, in the order given in the Diary. His habit on\nthis was the same as on other journeys of like motive; he preached as\nhe went, and never failed holding family worship where he stayed all\nnight, when well enough to do so. Few of those that were fathers and\nmothers then are living now; but their children and grandchildren may\nbe living, to whom these reminiscences will, doubtless, be pleasant.\nReflections like these instinctively impress us with a consciousness\nof time's rapid flight; and make us, who were young then, realize,\nwith more or less acuteness of perception, the impressive truth that\nwe, too, are growing old. To such of my readers as find no pleasure or\nprofit in things of this kind I gently say: Pass over it as you would\nan advertisement in which you feel no interest, in a newspaper you may\nbe perusing: Daniel Fahrney's; John Shank's, near Greencastle; William\nEtter's; Allen Mohler's; John Sollenberger's; George Copp's; Dr.\nFahnestock's, in Middletown, Pennsylvania; Abraham Gipe's, near\nLebanon; Jacob Gipe's; Abraham Balsbaugh's; Peter Miller's, this side\nHarrisburg; George Deardorf's; Daniel Longenacre's; Widow Bowman's,\nnear Middletown, Maryland; John Garber's, Jr.; John Garber's, Sr.;\nJacob Rupp's; Nathaniel Bondsack's; Jacob Saylor's; William Deahl's;\nDavid Reinhardt's; Sherk's, near Sharpsburg; Fahnestock's, near\nWinchester, Virginia; George Shaver's, in Shenandoah County, Virginia.\n\nSome may say: This reads like a bill of goods with the prices omitted.\nBut think a little, my friend. Let us suppose that business would\ncompel you to mount the back of a horse away off in Rockingham County,\nVirginia, and travel day after day, until you had completed the round\nof visiting every family above named; and in addition to this attend a\nmeeting of some kind every day or two, and yet be compelled to do all\nthis in the short space of twenty-one days; would you not think it a\ntask worthy of mention? Now Brother Kline did all this, but not on the\nscore of any business interest whatever. Instead of seeking any\nworldly gain by it, the direct opposite was the truth, for he came\nhome with less money in his pocket than he started with. It was just\nwhat he expected and felt assured would be the case. But he went. And\nwhat induced him to go? The love of Christ constrained him. The love\nof doing good to others by pointing out the way of salvation to them.\nHave I, have you, such love?\n\nBetween the last date given and the twenty-first of October Brother\nKline attended a love feast at Beaver Creek, Virginia; one on Lost\nRiver; and one at Flat Rock. Besides these, he attended the regular\nSunday meetings, council meetings, and visited, medically, a\nconsiderable number of patients. He reports much rain in October, and\nseveral times his life was endangered crossing high waters.\n\nFRIDAY, October 22. On this day he started on a journey across the\nmountains of western Virginia. He followed a line of love feasts and\nother meetings through the counties of Hampshire, Virginia; Garret,\nMaryland; Preston and Monongalia, Virginia, to Dunkard Creek in\nPennsylvania, not far this side of Wheeling. He returned over nearly\nthe same route by which he went, filling appointments he left on his\nway out. He reports, on this journey, 371 miles traveled on horseback,\nover some rugged mountains and bad roads much of the way. He arrived\nhome November 4, after an absence of two weeks.\n\nTUESDAY, November 30. Attend the burial of old Mother Horn. Age,\nninety years, two months and two days.\n\nSUNDAY, December 5. Attend the burial of old Mother Conrad. Age,\neighty-five years and nine months.\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 15. Louis and Samuel Kline, of Pennsylvania, visit\nus. I take them around to see their and my kindred.\n\nTUESDAY, December 21. Perform the marriage ceremony of Samuel\nHinegartner and Catharine Ralls, at Christian Crider's.\n\nFRIDAY, December 31. Meeting of general council in our meetinghouse.\nIn the year that is now about to close I have traveled 3,424 miles,\nnearly all on horseback. The work of another year is done; and the\nrecord has passed into eternity. As clay, once formed by the hand of\nthe potter and burnt in a kiln can never be reduced to clay again and\nworked over into other forms, so our deeds in life, once done, are\ndone forever. A vase may be broken, it is true, but the fragments are\napt to reveal the form of the vessel from which they came. So the hand\nof jealousy, of envy, of persecution even, may shatter the results of\nour best efforts here; but God will gather up the pieces and be able\nto tell by their appearance and quality that they belonged to a vessel\nof honor in his sight. Seeds sometimes lie a long time in the ground\nbefore they grow and make a blade; so it may be with much of the good\nseed that I and others of our beloved Brotherhood have sown this year.\nBackward springs and other unfavorable states of weather during the\nearly part of the growing season are sometimes followed by rich\nharvests. We do not know what the future may bring forth, but we do\nknow that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. In\nhim I trust.\n\nSUNDAY, January 1. Attend the burial of old Mother Baer, at Brother\nGeorge Kline's. Age, ninety-six years, four months and twenty days.\n\nTHURSDAY, February 3. Perform the marriage ceremony of Michael May and\nJulian Custer at George Riddle's.\n\nAbout this time Brother Kline became deeply interested in the\nconstruction and erection of a bridge across a ford in the North Fork\nof the Shenandoah river. His design in this, however, included more\nthan the avoidance of one dangerous ford; it took in two others. It\nwas equivalent to spanning three bad fords with one bridge. His plan,\nwhich has since been exactly carried into effect, was to cut down the\nend of the mountain in the Gap where it projects into the river, open\nup a good highway through the cut, and thus shorten the distance very\nmaterially and shun two dangerous and ever-shifting fords, one above\nand the other below the cut. His patience and perseverance in this\ngreat enterprise yielded to no discouragements, and he saw the bridge\nbuilt, and the projecting end of the mountain cut down. Like all other\nmen who have embarked in great enterprises above or beyond the grasp\nof ordinary comprehension, he had to combat opposition from some who\nshould, on the score of direct personal interest in the improvement,\nhave been most willing to aid in the work. Brother Kline did not live\nto see his design fully executed, but it has been carried into effect\nwithin the last decade by the construction of a new bridge upon the\nold abutments, and a new road on the very line he proposed. As the\nimprovement under consideration is a very great one, and originally\nundertaken by individual contributions; and as future generations may\nwish to know who the prime movers were, and when the first move was\nmade, the following entry in the Diary will be given here:\n\nFRIDAY, February 25. Attend a meeting of some public-spirited men, at\nSamuel Coots's store near the Gap, for the purpose of agreeing upon\nthe construction of a bridge across the river near the store; for\ncutting down the face of the Gap Rock; for making a new road through\nthe Cut; and for raising funds to meet the same.\n\nSamuel Coots, State Senator from Rockingham County, took an active\npart. Abraham Funk, Benjamin Bowman, John J. Bowman, with many other\nprominent citizens, nearly or quite all of whom have passed away,\ndeserve to have their names enrolled as patrons of the enterprise.\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 8. Attend the burial of Brother David Hollar's wife\nto-day. Age, forty-seven years and five months.\n\nFRIDAY, March 10. Go to Michael Wine's and attend the burial of his\nmother. Age, ninety-three years, three months and fourteen days.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 12. Attend the funeral of Mrs. Wells Hevner in the\nGap. Age, thirty-three years.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 13. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Samuel\nWampler and myself are established in the ministry, and Joseph Miller\nadvanced.\n\nFRIDAY, April 14. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jacob Wine is\nadvanced to the second grade in the ministry of the Word.\n\nMONDAY, April 17. Council meeting in the Lost River meetinghouse.\nJacob Pope is chosen speaker.\n\nFRIDAY, April 21. Council meeting in the Old Garber meetinghouse.\nSolomon Garber is advanced to the second degree in the ministry of the\nWord. Sarah Norman is reinstated to the fellowship of the church.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 26. Attend the funeral of the widow Sister\nCherryholms in the Gap. Age, fifty-nine years. Sister C. was a woman\nof real force of character. Her house was a welcome shelter for the\nBrethren and others who often visited her.\n\nMONDAY, May 1. Attend the funeral of old Sister Evers, widow of John\nEvers. She died at John Hawse's. Age, seventy-two years, three months\nand three days.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 3. Brother Benjamin Bowman, with Sister Catharine his\nwife, and Brother John Wine, with Anna and myself, start to Ohio. We\ngo in two carriages. To such as are not used to traveling in this way\na journey to Ohio and back in a two-horse carriage, over all kinds of\nroads, through all the changes of weather likely to occur at this\nseason, and I may add, among all kinds of people, might look like an\nundesirable undertaking. But for myself I can say I do not dread\nmaking the start. I am best satisfied and most delighted when doing\nsomething for God and humanity. But the company I have on this visit\nmakes the anticipation of it especially pleasant. Brother John Wine is\na live man; cheerful, but ever earnest and sincere; lively, but never\nlight or frivolous. His mind is always inquisitive, seeking for\nknowledge in every line of truth. Hence he asks many questions. If\nyour answers involve any doubt as to their correctness, or fail of the\nclearness he thinks should appear in the instructions of a teacher to\nhis pupil, he will dispute a whole day with you on a single question,\nrather than appear to be satisfied with your answer when he is not.\nWith a mind hard and sharp as flint, he strikes fire out of everything\nhe hits. But he has sense enough, and goodness enough, never to strike\nfire where he has reason to fear there may be danger of causing an\nexplosion. He is the son of Samuel, in the Brush, and brother of\nChristian Wine. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Zigler, in\nTimberville, Rockingham County, Virginia. He now resides on his farm\nabout two miles away from where he was born and raised. He is an\neminently good and useful brother.\n\nBenjamin Bowman is the son of Benjamin Bowman, who settled in\nRockingham County, Virginia, about or very soon after the breaking up\nof the war of the Revolution. This elder Benjamin Bowman had three\nsons,--Samuel, Benjamin and John,--all of whom married, raised highly\nrespectable families, lived and died in the same county in which they\nwere born. These all became members of our Brotherhood; and Benjamin\nis at this time a very active and acceptable preacher of the Word, and\npromises to be a very agreeable companion on the journey we have now\nundertaken together. He is no great talker in the way of conversation,\nbut what he says is generally to the point. Very considerate in\nforming an opinion, and exceedingly careful in reaching a conclusion,\nhe is not likely to be wrong in anything he asserts to be true. By\nmeans of these habits assiduously cultivated, he has built up a\nreputation for reliability which not only aids him in business, but\nstamps the seal of truth on his discourses from the ministerial stand.\nHe will not readily debate a matter you may present to his mind, even\nif his views do not coincide with yours at the time; but after due\nconsideration he will let you hear from him with arguments not to be\nrefuted.\n\nWe stay first night at Celestine Whitmore's on Lost River.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 4. After we were on the way this morning Anna changed\nher mind and preferred going back to Brother Whitmore's. So we took\nher back, and they will convey her home. Travel thirty-three miles,\nand stay second night at Joseph Smith's.\n\nFRIDAY, May 5. Go through Romney, Virginia, and at the end of\nthirty-five miles stay third night at McNaer's.\n\nSATURDAY, May 6. Go through Frostburg, and come to Jacob Lighty's. We\nhave night meeting. I speak on Acts 17:30. TEXT.--\"The times of this\nignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to\nrepent.\"\n\nAthens, the capital of Greece, was a large city. It was noted as the\nchief seat of Grecian learning, refinement of taste, cultivation of\ngenius, and skill in the production of almost everything belonging to\nthe fine arts. It had its philosophers, statesmen, orators, lawyers,\npriests, poets and painters. It had its high and low orders in\nsociety. But when Paul beheld the city his spirit was moved in him,\nfor he saw that it was wholly given to idolatry. Some of the Epicurean\nand Stoic philosophers encountered him and said: \"He seemeth to be a\nsetterforth of strange gods.\" They said this among themselves, because\nhe preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. But they did not\nseem inclined to do him injury as the Jews had done in some other\nplaces, but gave him a chance to speak in the Areopagus, a large\nbuilding in the city called the Hill of Mars, or Mars' Hill. In this\nbuilding Paul preached a wonderful sermon, the whole of which you may\nread in Acts seventeenth chapter.\n\nBut to-night I wish to speak on just one thing that Paul said in that\nsermon, and these are the words: \"God commandeth all men everywhere to\nrepent.\" When we are commanded to do something, we like to know what\nit is we are commanded to do. Now I will tell you. It is to repent.\nBut you may say, \"I do not exactly know what that means.\" I will now\ntell you about all I know of the meaning of the words repent and\nrepentance. The Lord Jesus knew exactly what these words mean, and I\nwill give you his definition. He said to the Jews: \"The men of Nineveh\nrepented at the preaching of Jonah.\" Now let us turn to the book of\nJonah in the Old Testament and see what the men of Nineveh did at the\npreaching of Jonah, and we will then understand what the Lord meant\nwhen he said they _repented_. You must know what Jonah's sermon was.\nIt was so plain that all could understand it, and so short that all\ncould remember it, This is the sermon: \"Yet forty days and Nineveh\nshall be destroyed.\" The city had more than a hundred and twenty\nthousand people in it; and it took Jonah three days to go from one end\nto the other with his message of destruction; but at the end of the\nfirst day \"the people of Nineveh believed God; and when the word came\nunto the king of Nineveh he arose from his throne, and laid his robe\nfrom him, and put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes and said: Let man and\nbeast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yea, let\nthem turn, every one from his evil way. And God saw their works, that\nthey turned from their evil way.\"\n\nNow, notice, when God commands all men everywhere to repent, he means\nfor them to do what the Ninevites did, but in a more spiritually\nenlightened way. They believed God. This is the first step in\nrepentance, as this same apostle says: \"He that would come unto God\nmust believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that\ndiligently seek him.\" The Ninevites had no written word as we have,\nthat gives us intelligent knowledge of God as he is revealed in the\nface of his Son Jesus Christ. All they knew of him was from tradition,\nand what they could see of him in his works. But they believed God,\nand gave proof of it by turning from their evil way. Now, friends,\nthis is just what God commands all men to do. This is what he commands\nevery impenitent man and woman in this house to do to-night.\n\nBut some of you may say: \"I have no evil way from which to turn. I do\nan honest business; I lead a sober life; I am true to my marriage\nvows, and live a moral and orderly life generally. What lack I yet?\"\nLet me ask you: Why do you live in this orderly and consistent way? Is\nit because you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with\nall your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and\nyour neighbor as yourself? If you can truly say that this love is the\nhand that leads and draws you in your good life, I say, Thank God! I\nhave found a brother of whom I am not ashamed. But anything short of\nthis love is short of what God requires, and you with the rest are\ncalled upon to repent. You still have a way that is evil in God's\nsight. That way is the love of self and the love of the world. The\nPharisees were just as particular and careful in regard to their moral\nor outside life as you can ever be; and still the Lord said to his\ndisciples: \"Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the\nscribes and Pharisees, ye can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.\"\nTheir righteousness proceeded all from the love of self and the world.\nTheir ambition culminated in the honor, respectability, credit and\nwealth such a life procured for them; and on this account the Lord\nJesus said of them: \"Verily, they have their reward.\"\n\nBut our blessed Lord says again: \"Except a man deny himself, and take\nup his cross daily, he cannot be my disciple.\" This means repentance.\nIt is commendable in the eye of society of almost every grade to live\na decent, orderly, virtuous life; but if this sort of life be led from\nany motive short of the love of God, what is said of the Pharisees\nmust also be said of this: \"Ye make clean the OUTSIDE of the cup and\nthe platter, but the inside is full of hypocrisy and deceit.\" Now,\ntrue repentance makes clean the INSIDE of the cup and the platter,\n\"that the outside may be clean also.\"\n\n  \"Repentance is to leave\n    The things we dearly love;\n  And o'er our sins to grieve,\n    And seek the things above.\"\n\nAfter meeting we go to David Beichley's, and stay fourth night.\n\nSUNDAY, May 7. Meeting at Jacob Fige's. John 5 is read. Then come to\nJacob Miller's, near Milford, and have night meeting in a schoolhouse\nnear by. Stay fifth night with Brother Miller.\n\nMONDAY, May 8. Go to council meeting at Joseph Lighty's. An election\nfor deacons is held. Stay sixth night at Christian Miller's. Rain this\nafternoon and night.\n\nTUESDAY, May 9. Dine at Emanuel Beichley's on Indian Creek, and stay\nseventh night at Joseph Folger's, near Mt. Pleasant.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 10. Stay eighth night at Beidler's tavern, in East\nLiberty.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 11. Breakfast and dine in Pittsburg, and stay ninth\nnight in Economy.\n\nFRIDAY, May 12. Stay tenth night at Jacob Leedy's, near New Middleton.\n\nSATURDAY, May 13. Get here to my dear Brother Henry Kurtz's, where we\nstay eleventh night.\n\nSUNDAY, May 14. Meeting at Brother Jacob Summers's near by. Ephesians\n6 is read. Brother Benjamin speaks first, and John follows him. They\nspeak of the Christian's armor; that it is not for the flesh, but for\nthe spirit; that it is not for defense against persecution and trials\nin our life here, but for defense against the wiles of the devil; that\nit should be constantly worn, and kept bright by daily use. After\nmeeting the Brethren agree to have a little love feast this evening,\nand a good time we have. Stay twelfth night at Brother Henry Kurtz's.\n\nMONDAY, May 15. Pass through a number of little towns and villages and\nat the end of forty-four miles to-day find ourselves pleasantly\nreceived by my very dear Brother George Hoke, with whom we stay\nthirteenth night.\n\nTUESDAY, May 16. Meeting at Brother Solomon Kiser's. Mark 1 is read.\nThree persons baptized. Stay fourteenth night at Brother Michael\nSprinkel's, near McDonelsville.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 17. Get to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where I have the\npleasure of meeting again the dear family that showed me so much\nkindness two years ago. Stay fifteenth and sixteenth nights here. If\nthe meeting with those we love, and a brief stay with them, can give\nus so much joy here in our imperfect state, what will be the measure\nof our joy when we meet in that world where all is perfection, and\npartings are known no more! \"In his presence there is fullness of joy:\nand at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, May 18. Evening meeting here at Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where\nwe stay sixteenth night.\n\nFRIDAY, May 19. Meeting in River Brethren's meetinghouse, near George\nHarting's. Luke 14 is read. Come to Wooster, Wayne County, and stay\nseventeenth night at John Overholtz's.\n\nSATURDAY, May 20. Meeting in the Campbellite meetinghouse. John 4 is\nread. Evening meeting at Brother John Shoemaker's. John 15 is read.\nStay there eighteenth night. Heavy rain to-day and night.\n\nSUNDAY, May 21. Meeting at Brother Eli Dickey's. Revelation 21 is\nread. Brother Benjamin Bowman gave us some delightful thoughts\nsuggested by these words: \"Behold! I make all things new.\" He said:\n\"This promise is generally thought to point for its fulfillment to the\ngolden day when God's people shall realize in fact what John saw in\nvision,--'a new heaven and a new earth.' I believe that day is coming.\nI believe the tabernacle of God will be with men; that God will dwell\nwith them in that Holy City, the New Jerusalem. But I ask here, first\nof all, whence arises the necessity for making all things new? If the\nexisting order of things is faultless, why this renovation? There must\nbe imperfection, there must be a defect somewhere. Whatever else these\nwords may comprehend, I for one regard them as applying to the church\nas it will then appear, as Solomon describes it, 'comely as\nJerusalem;' the New Jerusalem he means; 'and terrible' in the power of\nits righteousness and truth, 'as an army with banners.'\n\n\"Notice right here the striking similarity of the text to what Paul\nsays. What does my text say? 'Behold, I make all things new.' What\ndoes Paul say? 'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old\nthings are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.' What is it\nto be in Christ? It is to be filled with his truth as a sponge is\nfilled with water when immersed in it. It is to be filled with gospel\nlight as a healthy eye is filled with light in the blaze of a clear\nday. And when the spiritual eye is single, that is healthy, not\ndouble-sighted, our Lord says the whole spiritual body shall be full\nof light. The light is in the body, because the body is in the light.\nI mean just what the Lord meant, the spiritual body, for Paul says:\n'There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.' But he goes\non and says: 'However, that which is natural is first.' This we can\nall see and know. We know that we were not naturally born of God.\n'That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of\nthe Spirit is spirit,' and what is born of the Spirit is the spiritual\nbody.\n\n\"To be in Christ is to be in his love. I was once asked this question\nby an individual who probably wished to puzzle me. He said: 'You\npreach that a man must be in Christ to be saved, and at the same time\nsay that Christ must be in the man. How is this?' I answer by using a\nvery plain illustration. I said to him: When you get uncomfortably\ncool in the shade, and move to where the sun can shine full upon your\nbody, do you not feel its warmth? Now, I said to him, the warmth of\nthe sun is in your body, because your body is in the warmth of the\nsun. Just so we may say it is with us in a spiritual sense. The love\nof Christ enters our hearts when we place ourselves where that love\ncan reach us. Now let me say, by way of digression from my main point\nthat the love of Christ will never enter a man in a drinking saloon or\nin a gambling hall, because it is not there. Such places are as\ndestitute of the truth and divine love of Christ as the darkest and\ncoldest night is destitute of the light and heat of the sun. 'Behold,\nI make all things new.' This is just what the Lord will do in every\nman's mind and heart, spirit and soul, thoughts and affections,\npurposes and their accomplishments, who opens the door and bids him\ncome in. This is the glorious work of regeneration.\n\n\"But, Brethren beloved, let us inquire a little as to whether the\nchurch, our own church I mean, needs to be made over anew, or as we\nmay say, needs to be renovated. Can any brother or sister in this\nhouse say: 'I am just as pure in heart as I desire to be. My faith\nnever grows weak; my love never grows cold. I am as innocent and pure\nin all my affections and thoughts as a little child. I have no\njealousy or envy in my soul. I never get angry, or think of wishing\nevil to any one. I have the spirit of Christ in me in all perfection,\nand have purified myself even as he is pure'? I repeat the question\nwith emphasis, Is there a soul in this house who can truthfully say\nall this? I can answer boldly that there is not, for it is not given\nto man away down in his imperfect state here to have such sinless\nperfection. The most heavenly-minded amongst us have often to mourn\nover our shortcomings; and the holiest man or woman, looking into his\nor her own heart with an eye filled with the light of gospel truth,\ncan but at the best say, with the poor publican: 'God be merciful to\nme a sinner.'\n\n\"But there is a day coming when all things shall be made new, and we\nshall be made new with the rest. I do not want to be understood here,\nhowever, as believing that God will in any sense force his renewing\npower upon any one; or that this renewing power will be enjoyed in the\nworld to come by any but such as earnestly desired it here. I believe\nthat when we get into the other life our eyes will open to such clear\nvisions of the beauty of holiness and the excellencies of heavenly\nlove, all thoughts of evil will be rejected with a repugnance\nsomething like what we would feel here by having the most offensive or\npoisonous substance thrust into our mouth. It is declared concerning\nthe New Jerusalem that nothing shall enter therein that defileth, or\nworketh abomination, or maketh a lie. Nothing shall enter therein that\ndefileth. Our Lord has graciously told us the things that defile a\nman. He says: 'Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,\nthefts, covetousness, wickedness, lasciviousness, an evil eye,\nblasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within,\nand defile the man.' Now, these are the Lord's own words; and they\nenable us to understand just what is meant by the words, 'nothing\nshall enter therein that defileth.'\n\n\"Now, Brethren, when the angels that meet us at the gate of the Golden\nCity shall take of the blood of the Lamb, and, with gentle hands, wash\naway every stain of defilement from the sins here enumerated, and we,\nthus cleansed, find ourselves safe, forever safe, within its blessed\nwalls, will we not shout and say: 'Behold! all things have become\nnew'?\"\n\nStay nineteenth night with Brother Eli Dickey. We are now in Ashland\nCounty, Ohio. Heavy rains to-day, and waters very high.\n\nMONDAY, May 22. Pass through Richland County, and stay twentieth night\nwith Brother Samuel Shaffner, four miles from Bucyrus in Crawford\nCounty.\n\nTUESDAY, May 23. Night meeting at Benton. Subject: \"The Miracles of\nChrist's Healing Power.\" TEXT.--\"And he healed all that came unto\nhim.\"\n\nWe hardly need being told that man is composed of body and soul; that\nthe body is the visible, material part of man, in which the soul,\nman's invisible part, finds its home. Man's material part is but\nlittle superior to that of the rest of the animal creation. It is\nsubject to the same laws. It must be fed and sheltered. It finds\nenjoyment in food and drink, and comfortable surroundings, very nearly\nakin to what we see in the life of brutes. Like them it is subject to\nnatural decay, liable to disease; and like them, must die. But man is\nin possession of capacities and capabilities infinitely superior to\nanything the rest of God's sentient creation enjoys. He has a soul\nwhich is capable of unlimited attainments in the knowledge and love of\nGod, and in the knowledge and love of his fellowman. The heathen\nphilosophers supposed they had done their whole duty to themselves and\nthe world when they could vainly believe that they had realized in\ntheir experiences what they thought a compliance with their favorite\nmaxim: \"Know thou thyself.\" Whilst Christians believe and feel that\nself-knowledge, or the knowledge of one's self, is very important, at\nthe same time they have longing aspirations to know all they can of\nthe Being who created this self, this thinking, reasoning, loving,\nrestless thing within them, called a living soul. Brutes have no\naspirations, no desires of this kind.\n\nRight here we may see what God loves. It was not man's animal or\nbodily life that brought the Lord into our world, for this is not the\nman. It is the soul or spirit within the body that is the real man,\nand all these souls collectively make the world that God so loved that\nhe gave his only begotten Son to save it. God never loved trifles. The\nfact that God loved the world of man is proof that man, as a being\ncapable of glorifying God by reciprocating his love, was worthy of it.\nThis key opens the way to a glimpse of man's high destiny, attainable\nby his taking hold of the Hand reached down in love to lift him up.\nGod's Word is the only book that can give man a true knowledge of\nhimself. It is the only source from which he can learn that he is a\nsinner by his habitual transgressions of the great, law of love that\nwould bind all the units of God's intelligent creation into a\nbrotherhood of ineffable and eternal happiness. It was to redeem man\nfrom this deplorable state, and deliver him from the destroying power\nof sin, that Jesus came into the world. But when he came he found man\nso low down in the darkness of ignorance, so stupid and slow to open\nhis eyes, so benumbed by the chilling power of the love of self, so\ninfested and possessed by evil spirits of hell, that but little\nimpression could be made upon him, except such as could be felt and\nseen by means of his bodily senses.\n\nThese statements, which are true, account for the miracles wrought by\nthe Lord. In working them, however, he had a two-fold purpose. The\nfirst was to arouse the people from their dormant state to one of\nconsciousness that a Being of superior power was among them. This they\nwere made to feel by his healing touch, his cleansing hand, and his\nlife-restoring virtue. And what was the effect of all this? It had\nvery much the same effect in one way that kindness toward children in\nthe way of giving them little presents, and gentleness and tenderness\nin the way of gratifying their bodily desires and wishes, has upon\nthem. They love the one who treats them in such ways. Now, the Lord\nhealed the people. He healed all that came to him, of whatever bodily\nill they were suffering. He fed them, too, and did it all so lovingly\nthat they believed him to be the best and most powerful Friend they\nhad ever known. They followed him in throngs. They felt secure, bodily\nsecure and safe when they were with him. But we must not forget that\nthey followed him, not on account of the words he had spoken to them,\nthe instructions he had imparted, but \"for the loaves and the fishes.\"\nWe almost instinctively say, in our meditations upon these things:\nWhat a pity they could not discover in him something higher to believe\nin and love than the mere power and will to heal their bodily ills and\nminister to their bodily wants! This strong faith in his power and\nreadiness to minister in a miraculous way to their external, worldly\nenjoyments and comforts is what led them to try to take him by force\nand make him their king. Having now given you his first object in\nworking miracles, I turn to the second.\n\nHere a great field for thought opens to our view, from which a volume\ncould be written. Every miracle the Lord wrought, just like every\nparable he spoke, has a double line of truth, an inner and an outer\nsense. These are related to each other as the soul and body are\nrelated. Jesus says: \"My words are spirit, and they are life.\" His\nmiracles, when rightly understood, are the same. \"They are spirit and\nthey are life.\" Their spirit and life enter us through the light they\ncontain. Let us look at one or two with a view to find what spirit and\nlife we can: One Sabbath day Jesus met a man in a Jewish house of\nworship, called a synagogue, whose right hand was WITHERED. Notice,\nthe man's hand was withered. This means that it was dead, just as we\nmean that a plant is dead when it is withered, or so nearly dead that\nits life is almost gone. This man's hand must have been powerless. He\ncould not use it to do anything; and it was his right hand. He could\nnot move a joint of it. It was simply powerless.\n\nBut notice particularly what Jesus commanded him to do. He said to\nthis very man: \"Stretch forth thy hand.\" Does not that look like an\nunreasonable command? The man might have plausibly said: \"I cannot do\nthis. I have not been able to reach my hand to my mouth in the past\nyear. I can not do as you tell me.\" But instead of urging objections\nhe instantly obeyed, for the words, \"Stretch forth thy hand,\" were not\nmore than out of the Lord's mouth when we read, \"And he did so: and\nhis hand was restored whole as the other.\" Now I ask, Did this man\nhave any part to act, or duty to perform in this miracle of healing? I\nanswer, He did; and without his obedient cooeperation his hand would\nhave been left dangling powerless at his side.\n\nIs there not a lesson here? Let us try to gather crumbs of instruction\nfrom it. If you take your Bible and concordance, and hunt up the\nplaces where the expression \"right hand\" is used, you will plainly see\nthat \"right hand,\" when spoken of as the \"right hand\" of God, means\n_power_, the power of God. As applying to man, it means the same, the\n_power_ of man. In this sense the right hand of every unconverted man\nand woman is _withered_ under the blighting curse of sin. But Jesus is\npresent to heal. He is ever ready to heal all who have need of healing\nnow, just as truly as when he was visibly among men. But he cannot\nheal you without your willing consent to obey his commands. He first\nof all commands you to repent, for now \"God commandeth all men\neverywhere to repent.\" The moment you are willing to obey this\ncommand, that moment he will give you the power to obey. Without aid\nfrom the power of the Lord that man never could have stretched forth\nhis withered hand; but the instant he was willing to obey, that very\ninstant he received the power to obey.\n\nAgain he says: \"Give me thy heart.\" But your heart is all withered\ntoo. It is so chilled and blighted by the cold, and damp, and darkness\nof sin, that, like the man's right hand, without help of the Lord, it\nis powerless. But the instant you feel a _desire_ to give your heart\nto the Lord, such desire as the blind beggar had to receive his sight;\nsuch desire as the poor leper had to be cleansed; such desire as the\npublican had that God would be merciful to him a sinner; I say the\ninstant you feel such desire to give your heart to God, that instant\nhe will give you power to do so. It surely was a great relief to that\nman to have his withered hand restored to healthy activity. It may not\nhave been very painful; indeed, it may have been so lifeless that\nthere was not much feeling in it. So it may be with your heart. And\nlet me say to you that if you really give God your heart in faith and\nlove he will so effectually heal it that it will beat with new life,\nand the warm blood of love and truth from his Word will flow through\nit until your greatest joy will be found in doing his will.\n\nStay twenty-first night in Benton.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 24. Stay twenty-second night at Lupton's.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 25. Go to Squire Knapp's and make deeds. Then to meeting\nat Brother Heastand's. Part of John 1 is read. In afternoon return to\nLupton's and finish business with him. Stay twenty-third night at\nLupton's. Fine weather.\n\nFRIDAY, May 26. Stay twenty-fourth night at Brother Jacob Bowers's.\nBeautiful weather.\n\nSATURDAY, May 27. Council meeting at Brother Jacob Bowers's, Jr. Night\nmeeting at Brother Thomas's, where we stay twenty-fifth night. Fine\nweather continues.\n\nSUNDAY, May 28. Meeting at Brother Jacob Bowers's, Sr. Speak from\nMatthew 3. John's baptism was unto repentance. The people came to him\nand were immersed of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. This\nwas their first step in repentance. From this they were to keep on\nbringing forth fruits meet for, or corresponding to, repentance. The\noutside life was to be the exponent of the penitent heart within. He\nalso pointed them to him who was to come after him, that is, Christ.\nHe would baptize them in the Holy Spirit and fire. This was literally\nfulfilled on the day of Pentecost. Baptize one person to-day. Stay\ntwenty-sixth night at Brother Rotebauch's.\n\nMONDAY, May 29. Go westward to Daniel Miller's, Solomon Wine's, Jacob\nMiller's, and stay twenty-seventh night at Samuel Miller's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 30. After meeting we go to Isaac Miller's in Richland\nCounty, where we stay twenty-eighth night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 31. Stay twenty-ninth night at Jacob Miller's.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 1. Visit Daniel Wine's, David Good's, Jacob Earley's,\nDavid Weaver's, where we have meeting; then go to Samuel Earley's,\nwhere we stay thirtieth night. A very fine day.\n\nFRIDAY, June 2. Stay thirty-first night in Tymocaty.\n\nSATURDAY, June 3. Dine in Upper Sandusky, and stay thirty-second night\nat Brother Heastand's. Rain this forenoon.\n\nSUNDAY, June 4. Meeting at Brother Solomon Miller's on Silver Creek.\nFirst Peter 2 is read. Two persons baptized. Evening meeting at Stone\nmeetinghouse, on Honey Creek near David Rupp's. Luke 14 is read. Stay\nthirty-third night at Brother Rupp's.\n\nMONDAY, June 5. Stay thirty-fourth night with Brother Isaac Hartzog.\n\nTUESDAY, June 6. Stay thirty-fifth night with Brother Jacob\nHarshbarger. Fine day.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 7. Stay thirty-sixth night with Brother Cober.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 8. Stay thirty-seventh night with Brother Jonas Kline,\nnine miles from Ashland.\n\nFRIDAY, June 9. Get back to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, eight miles from\nWooster, in Wayne County, where we stay thirty-eighth night. Fine day.\n\nSATURDAY, June 10. Annual Meeting begins. Peter Nead and I speak.\nThree persons baptized. Love feast this evening. Delightful weather.\nStay thirty-ninth night at Brother Kurtz's place.\n\nSUNDAY, June 11. Public meeting to-day. A great concourse of people.\nPreaching at both house and barn. Fine weather continues. Stay\nfortieth night at same place.\n\nMONDAY, June 12. Council meeting is ready for questions. But few are\nhandled. Business goes on slowly. Stay forty-first night at same\nplace. Fine, clear day.\n\nTUESDAY, June 13. This day we progress briskly. Much business is\ntransacted. Very fine weather continues.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 14. Finish business, and in afternoon we come to\nBrother Sprinkel's, one mile from Canton, Stark County, where we stay\nforty-third night. Very fine weather, but somewhat dusty.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 15. Call at Brother George Shiveley's; and have night\nmeeting at Brother Rothrock's, where we stay forty-fourth night. Speak\non John 1. Warm day.\n\nFRIDAY, June 16. Stay forty-fifth night at John Shelly's, five miles\nfrom Richmond, Jefferson County. Fine weather.\n\nSUNDAY, June 18. Dine with Brother Jacob Shideler's and stay\nforty-seventh night with Charles Guthrie, near Brownsville, in Fayette\nCounty, Pennsylvania. Rain to-day.\n\nMONDAY, June 19. Stay forty-eighth night with Brother Michael Thomas.\nRain this afternoon and night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 21. Stay fiftieth night at Brother Daniel Arnold's in\nHampshire County, Virginia.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 22. Dine at Brother Zachariah Arnold's and stay\nfifty-first night in Moorefield, Hardy County, Virginia.\n\nFRIDAY, June 23. Dine at Isaac Dasher's in Hardy County, and stay\nfifty-second night at William Fitzwater's, in Rockingham County,\nVirginia.\n\nSATURDAY, June 24. Breakfast at Daniel Fulk's at foot of Mt. Pleasant\nin Brock's Gap, and then home. On this journey Brother John Wine and I\ntraveled in my carriage 1,083 miles. Brother Benjamin Bowman was not\nwith us all the time. He left us after we got among relatives and\nacquaintances who were not the same, in these respects, to us that\nthey were to him. Otherwise they were the same to both alike, for they\nwere nearly all Brethren. But we met again at the Annual Meeting, and\nreturned home together. We had much pleasant conversation on the way,\nand endeavored to build each other up by giving a religious turn to\nour discourses. They are both clear-headed thinkers. I feel sure the\ntime has been well spent by our mutually improving each other, aside\nfrom the good I hope we have done to others. May our heavenly Father\nbless this happy journey to the present and everlasting good of all\nwho may have heard our public or private words of warning, of\ninstruction, of encouragement to the weak, of confirmation to the\nstrong, is my prayer. Amen.\n\nAnna was safely conveyed home, nicely and tenderly cared for in my\nabsence, and I find her as well as I could expect.\n\nTHURSDAY, July 13. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Carrier\nand Barbara Summers.\n\nWEDNESDAY, July 26. Meeting at Forrer's Furnace. I speak on the\nfiftieth verse of the one hundred and nineteenth Psalm. TEXT.--\"This\nis my comfort in my affliction.\" I have chosen this subject on account\nof the afflictions which some of you have lately passed through, and\nwhich are, I learn, still clinging to others in this neighborhood. As\nI have been called--or sincerely believe that I have been called--to\nadminister medical relief to the sick, and have thus had much\nexperience in the sick room, and by the sick bed, I will venture to\noffer some observations regarding the ways in which the sick should be\ncared for and nursed, that they may be comforted in their afflictions\nas to their bodily feelings. This done, I will endeavor to say\nsomething regarding the ways in which their souls may be comforted.\n\nThe bed for the sick should be soft, but not heating. Nothing can be\nmore regularly and uniformly comforting to the afflicted than a soft\nand easy bed. It need not be costly. Clean straw of oats, cut fine, is\nmy preference over all other materials. To stir the bed, the patient\nneed not be taken out, but gently, very slowly and tenderly, moved to\nthe opposite side first prepared, left there awhile, and then in the\nsame gentle way returned to the front, similarly prepared. Cleanliness\nis next to religion, pure and undefiled, in the sick room. All fumes\nof tobacco or other unpleasant smells should not be allowed for a\nmoment in the sick room. All offensive odors can most readily be\ngotten rid of by ventilation. This can be best secured by opening\ndoors or windows, or both, if necessary. This should be repeatedly\ndone daily in all weathers. At this season windows should be open all\nthe time; but the patient should not be exposed to heavy draughts of\nair. Unnecessary conversation is very distressing to most sick people,\neven though the words be spoken low or in a whisper. Some of you, no\ndoubt, have had experience of this fact. People kindly feel it a duty\nto visit the sick. One does not know that another is going, and each\nbeing impelled by a sense of duty, more go than can be needed; and in\ndetermining who shall return home, and who shall stay, conversations\ntake place that are often very distressing to the patient. I remember\na conversation I had with one of my own patients once, who had just\nshortly before that time recovered from a severe and protracted\nillness. He said to me: \"Brother John, do try to set the people right\nabout visiting the sick. There is so much wrong about it the way it is\ncarried on now that very often more harm than good is done. I\nremember,\" said he, \"one night while I was sick. You had been coming,\nI think, near three weeks, and I was beginning to mend. In the evening\nI felt so much better I thought I was going to rest well and get some\ngood, natural sleep. But about eight o'clock several neighbors came in\nwho got to talking; and seeing that I appeared better they were\nencouraged to keep on, under the impression that I was strong enough\nnow to stand it. Ah,\" continued he, \"they did not know they were\nalmost killing me; for I became restless; and being very weak every\nnerve and fiber in my body seemed to be excited into a state of\ndistressful commotion, from which I did not fairly recover during the\nnext three days. When you came again you gave very strict orders not\nto allow more than one attendant in the room at a time, aside from the\nnurse; and after that I began to mend again and got well.\"\n\nOne thing more, and I will leave this feature of the subject. This,\nalthough last in order, is first in importance, because it is the very\nbasis of recovery. I mean food and drink. Very sick patients, we all\nknow, can take, and require very little; but that little is\nall-important both as to quality, and uniformity as to quantity, and\nexact regularity as to time in its administration. I will say here\nwith emphasis, that in no regard is it more important to comply\npunctiliously with the instructions of an intelligent physician, than\nin the nourishment given the sick. Without nourishment, recovery in\nany case is impossible. How very important, then, that it be rightly\ncomposed and properly administered! Food should be made as attractive\nto the patient as possible. This should be carefully kept in mind when\npreparing it for patients in a state of convalescence or recovery. The\nnerves of the stomach at such time are often very sensitive, and small\nexcellencies in its quality will be highly appreciated, and slight\ndeficiencies as readily detected.\n\nYou remember, I started out with the text: \"This is my comfort in my\naffliction.\" I have tried to give you some bits of counsel as to the\nmeans and ways by which the afflicted may be comforted physically. I\nnow turn to the means and ways by which they may be comforted\nspiritually. But here a difficulty confronts us at the very start. We\ncannot make pathological examinations of the soul's distress, and\nconclude from these what therapeutic agents to employ for its relief,\nas we can in that of the body. In the last we are governed almost\nexclusively by the visible and tangible symptoms; but regarding the\nfirst, we are deprived of all these, and are compelled to rely mainly\nupon the oral testimony of the sufferer himself. I have repeatedly\nbeen called to the bedside of the dying in compliance with their wish\nto receive some comfort, some consolation in their last moments,\nbefore launching out on the unknown deep of eternity. But, alas! with\nthe exception of a few, paid to humble and obedient followers of the\nmeek and lowly Jesus, nearly all such visits have caused me to feel my\nown absolute incompetence to do them any good, and only left me to\nwitness the sun of their life go down in clouds and darkness. But\nDavid says: \"THIS is my comfort in my affliction.\" In saying this he\nmust have in mind some particular idea; some state of feeling\nspringing out of some previous preparation of heart, which he can\nclaim as his comfort in his affliction. The few verses preceding the\ntext give a clew to this very state of mind and heart. Let us look\nover them and see what it was. In verse 44 he says: \"I will keep thy\nlaw continually for ever and ever.\" Verse 45: \"I seek thy precepts.\"\nVerse 46: \"Of thy testimonies also, I will not be ashamed.\" Verse 47:\n\"I delight myself in thy commandments which I have loved.\" These\ndeclarations make manifest David's love for the Lord; and the joy\nspringing out of this love is what he calls his comfort in his\naffliction.\n\nIt was once my privilege, and I can say my happy privilege, to pass a\nnight beside the dying bed of a faithful minister of the Word. His\ndeathless and joyful spirit took its flight from earth about four\no'clock the following morning. He did not suffer much pain, and had\nstrength to express his feelings and thoughts to a limited degree. His\nmind was clear. He was dying of a hemorrhage which no power on earth\ncould check. His comfort in his affliction was so great that from the\njoy and peace in his soul he distinctly said to me, in these exact\nwords: \"This is the happiest night of my life.\" He would sometimes\nsay: \"I love God. I love all his dear people. I will soon join the\nspirits of just men made perfect.\" About four o'clock in the morning\nhe asked to be turned in the bed, and he was gone. Ah, friends, this\nbrother had comfort in his affliction; nay, more, unspeakable comfort\nin death. This is what all may enjoy in a greater or less degree, who\nare laid on beds of affliction. A good life, a life lived in obedience\nto the commandments of our Lord, is sure to bring peace to the soul\nwhen we are in health, and this peace will not leave or forsake us\nwhen affliction or misfortune overtakes us. Our Lord says: \"Peace I\nleave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth,\ngive I unto you.\" Again he says: \"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of\nme, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.\" We take his yoke upon us\nwhen we repent of our sins, believe on his name, love to do his\ncommands, come over freely and fully on his side, and work for him.\nInstead of working for what is perishable, we work for that which\nendureth to everlasting life. We come out of the darkness of sin and\ndeath into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For the wages\nof sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus\nour Lord.\n\nMONDAY, July 31. Harvest meeting at the Flat Rock. David Kline is\nelected speaker.\n\nSATURDAY, August 26. The job of building the abutments for the bridge\nat Coots's is let to contract.\n\nMONDAY, August 28. Attend the burial of Brother Solomon Garber. Age,\nfifty-four years, five months and twenty-nine days.\n\nWEDNESDAY, November 1. On this day Brother Kline, in company with\nJoseph Miller, son of Daniel Miller near head of Linville's Creek,\nstarted on a journey to West Virginia. They got to Jacob Warnstaff's\nfirst day--had night meeting in Bethel meetinghouse, near by; meeting\nat Chlora Judy's, on Mill Creek, next night; meeting at James Parks's,\non Looney's Creek, the night following. I will dress up the skeleton\nof the sermon Brother Kline preached here, as best I can. Romans 14:7.\nTEXT.--\"For none of us liveth to himself.\"\n\nThe phrase \"none of us,\" as used in the text, means _not one of us_. I\nsay this to give emphasis to this part of my subject.\n\nThe social element, or love for society, is deeply impressed upon all\nthe animate world. We feel the truth of a very common saying--\"birds\nof a feather will flock together\"--every time it is repeated in our\nhearing. This expression, in its most comprehensive sense, applies to\neverything having life and volition or the power to will. It is seen\nin the fishes of the sea, in the birds of the air, and in all the\ndenizens of earth, from insects and worms up to the highest forms of\norganic brute life, and in man. This love for society, or company, or\ncompanionship, is so strong that it is the bond of the universe.\nWithout it nothing living could subsist. To make this thought clear to\nyour understandings, let me just call your minds to reflect a little\nupon what the state of things would be in the natural world if this\nlaw of love were reversed in the brute creation. Our domestic animals,\ninstead of feeding together in harmonious and peaceable flocks and\nherds, would instantly turn to fighting and seeking to destroy each\nother. The earth would soon be strewn with the dead bodies of beasts\nand birds, and the waves of the sea would throw drifts of dead fishes\nupon the shore. But, fortunately for man, this love has never been\nperverted in the lower orders of creation. Each kind loves its own\nkind, and seeks its propagation. But man has fallen from this love,\nthe love of his fellowman, into a state of feeling in some respects\nthe very opposite, which is hate. Let the history of the world but\nunfold her page, and the truth of what I have just said will appear in\nlines written with human blood. It is from this, and this alone, that\nhuman laws have been instituted. It is self-preservation. This is the\none single origin and basis of all human law. What protects me from\nthe wrath or cupidity of those who would destroy or devour me,\nprotects you; and inasmuch as all desire such protection, human\ngovernments, and laws with fearful penalties annexed, have been\ninstituted. Right here, in a civil and social sense, the words of my\ntext apply with profound meaning: \"For none of us liveth to himself.\"\nThey apply to every statute in every national code, as well as to\nevery local law in every land.\n\nBut human laws restrain by fear, and God would have all restraint from\nevil to spring from love. The gulf between these two principles is\nimmeasurably wide and deep, quite as much so as the chasm between\nheaven and hell. I said: Human laws restrain by fear. Why does the\nheart murderer not kill? He is afraid that if he kills me, and it is\nfound out on him, somebody else will kill him who feels himself in as\nmuch danger from his bloody hand as I was. Why does the heart-rogue\nnot steal? He is afraid his booty may not balance what it may cost in\nthe way of punishment. So with all criminality. With those who have\nnot the love of God in their hearts, nor the love of their neighbor\nwhich springs out of this love, nothing but fear restrains them from\nthe worst of crimes. But this is a very unhappy state to be in,\nbecause all fear hath torment. Human beings can never be happy in\ntheir social relations, when the fear and dread of each other is the\ngoverning principle in their lives. The heart of man was originally\ncreated for the exercise of love, for perfect love, which knows no\nfear. All the happiness and peace of heaven spring out of love made\nperfect.\n\n  \"There love springs pure and unrepressed;\n    There all are loved, and love again:\n  Love warms each angel's glowing breast:\n    Love fills each shining saintly train.\"\n\nFear, with its long and varied list of torments, primarily springs\nfrom a sense of guilt. We have a clear example in proof of this in the\nthird chapter of Genesis. Immediately after the fall Adam is\nrepresented as saying to the Lord: \"I heard thy voice in the garden,\nand I was afraid, and I hid myself.\" Now, Adam had heard that voice\nbefore; it was the voice of love; but, oh! how changed! The voice\nitself was not changed; but the ear that heard, and the eye that saw,\nand the heart that felt its power, these, _these_ were changed. Ever\nsince that sad day man has been subject to fear, and has sought to\nhide himself from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord God still\nloved Adam, and right there and then gave a promise to save man. That\npromise is in these words: \"I will put enmity between her seed and thy\nseed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.\" This\nwas spoken to the serpent. Christ Jesus our Lord is the seed of the\nwoman. He bruises the serpent's head under our feet whenever we\nsincerely desire him to do so. The head of the serpent stands for sin\nand transgression of God's holy law in all its forms, with the evil\nloves which prompt us thereto. The heel which the serpent shall bruise\nis man's natural body, and the natural feelings incident to him from\nhis connection with this body. Diseases, the infirmities of age, with\nall the pains and anguish of body and mind; yea, death itself, and the\nfear of death, all, all are but the bruises which the serpent, the\ndevil and Satan is inflicting upon the heel of the woman's seed.\n\nBut, Brethren, Christ is bruising the head of the serpent daily under\nour feet. Every temptation to do some forbidden thing, every\ninclination to indulge evil and impure desires and thoughts, fairly\nresisted and overcome, is just that much of the serpent's head, of his\nvery life, bruised and crushed under our feet. Now, it appears to us\nas if we did all this of ourselves, and in our own strength. But this\nis very far from the truth. Jesus says: \"Without me ye can do\nnothing.\" \"I am the way, the truth and the life.\" All the spiritual\nlife, which embraces all pure and holy thoughts, affections, motives,\nwith all the truth and holy love in the Christian's soul, is from the\nLord. Man of himself is nothing but evil, and but for the Lord's\nredeeming and saving arm would forever sink to lower and yet lower\ndepths of ruin. But just turn with me to the twenty-first chapter of\nRevelation, fourth verse, and see to what the Lord offers to exalt\nman. We there read: \"And God shall wipe away all tears from their\neyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,\nneither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed\naway.\" There is quite an excitement over California at this time.\nThousands have left their homes to try their fortunes in the far-off\nland of gold. Some have already perished in the attempt to reach the\nshining Eldorado, and many more may have to suffer the same sad\nexperience. But the Gospel invites the sinner to a city whose gates\nare of pearl, and whose streets are paved with gold, and where the\nsociety is exempt from all the ills of life; for there they die no\nmore.\n\nBrethren, let us live not for ourselves, but for others, as far as\nlies in our power. Our love feasts show our love for one another, and\nour social equality with each other insomuch as we all eat together:\nand our beautiful order in washing one another's feet sets forth our\nreadiness to help one another in the Christian life, for \"none of us\nliveth to himself.\"\n\nSATURDAY, November 4. The two brethren have forenoon meeting at old\nBrother Parks's, and Joseph Miller speaks in a somewhat general way on\nFirst Corinthians 15. In the evening they have meeting at Enoch\nHyre's, and Brother Kline speaks on John 14:6. TEXT.--\"I am the way.\"\nHis thoughts on this passage are so original and instructive that I\nwill endeavor to extend and elucidate them as best I can.\n\nThis passage, said he, comprehends the whole Christ as the Son of man.\nAs the way, the holy way, we may trace and follow his steps, and walk\nin him from the manger to the cross; from the cross to the grave; and\nfrom the grave to his exaltation at the right hand of the Father in\nheaven. Of this way the prophet Isaiah speaks in these words: \"And an\nhighway shall be there, and it shall be called, The way of holiness;\nthe unclean shall not pass over it; ... but the redeemed shall walk\ntherein.\" Is not this a delightful view of Christian life as it was\nexemplified by our Lord! The prophet calls it the highway of our God.\nLike the way of Noah's ark, it is above the tops of the loftiest\nmountains of sin and death and destruction. Like the way of the ark\nagain, it is the way of holiness, for righteous Noah and his family\nare upon it.\n\nBut I wish to call the attention of all here to-night to the\nparticular line of truth and motive the Lord had in mind when he said,\n\"I am the way.\" By thus pointing out the way, and showing that eternal\nlife and happiness are the blessed reward of walking in it, I hope to\ninduce some here to-night to enter it. I might here generalize\nsomewhat by calling your attention to the fact that it is natural for\nus all, when going anywhere, to feel best satisfied when we know the\nway we are on is the right way to where we want to go. It is true,\nhowever, one may tramp along through life over public roads, merely to\nget a subsistence from the fragments he may pick up by the way, and be\nwholly indifferent as to where the road is conducting him. I will not\nsay that such a life is a fair representation of the thoughtless\nsinner's way, as regards all preparation for a future state of\nexistence, but I will ask him if it is not so? But let us\nparticularize.\n\nThe first recorded words that Jesus uttered were spoken by him when he\nwas twelve years old. They were addressed by him to his parents when\nthey found him in the temple: \"How is it that ye sought me sorrowing?\nDid ye not know that I must be about my Father's business?\" This was\nhis first public step in the way we are to follow. We all have the\nsame Father to love and obey that Jesus had, and he is none other than\nthe God who made us. It is his business to fit and prepare us for\neverlasting happiness; and when we are about his business as Jesus was\nwe are reciprocating his love by doing his pleasure. But this was only\nthe beginning. No further record of Jesus is given until about\neighteen years after, when he came to the Jordan to be baptized of\nJohn. But John said: \"I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest\nthou to me? But Jesus said, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it\nbecometh us to fulfill all righteousness.\"\n\nSome may think lightly of baptism, but if it \"became\" the King of\nglory to be baptized in water to fulfill all righteousness, how can\nany one esteem it lightly, who has any regard for his soul? Since he\nhimself is the way, can we rationally conclude that he would do\nanything for a guide to us that is unimportant? He had no sins to\nconfess, it is true; but still he must be baptized to fulfill all\nrighteousness. How important, then, must it be for us to submit to\nthis ordinance, who are all defiled with sin!\n\n  \"Ashamed of Jesus! yes I may\n  When I've no sins to wash away:\n  No guilt to shun, no good to crave;\n  No love to give, no soul to save.\"\n\nBut now I must call your attention to his Sermon on the Mount. This is\nthe most instructive, truth-abounding and love-abounding sermon the\nworld has ever heard. It is a summary of the love, the truth, the\npurity of heart, the humility of soul, the poverty of spirit, the\nhungering and thirsting for righteousness, the forgiveness, the\ncharity, the meekness of the true child of God. Hence our blessed Lord\nsays right at the close: \"Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and\ndoeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house\nupon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the\nwinds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was\nfounded upon a rock.\" I want to tell you right here that Jesus\nfulfilled every jot and tittle of its truth in all its varied and\nminute applications, in the pure and holy life he lived on earth. He\nthus became the way.\n\nI have sometimes been accosted by others on this wise: \"You teach a\ndoctrine of works! You teach that people must do so and so to be\nsaved. I understand the Word to teach that Christians are saved by\nfaith without works.\" I have occasionally answered such accusations, I\nfear, perhaps, in not the true spirit of meekness, by retorting that\nif some professing Christians are ever saved at all it will surely be\nwithout any works on their part. But usually, when I am rightly at\nmyself, or better, when my heart is with the Lord, both in answering\nand preaching, I say, We as Brethren believe and teach that \"faith\nwithout works is dead.\" All good works are done in faith. And no man\ncan believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with his heart, without loving\nhim; because faith is a loving acceptance of all the truth revealed by\nthe Lord to man. Our heartfelt reception of that truth leads to\nobedience, and obedience is good works. For \"by works faith is made\nperfect.\" When he says: \"This DO, and thou shalt live,\" he does not\nlose sight of the loving faith in which it is to be done. When he\nsays: \"So let your light shine before men, that they may see your GOOD\nWORKS, and glorify\"--YOU? No!--\"your Father, which is in heaven.\" It\nis by good works, then, that we are to glorify our Father which is in\nheaven.\n\nAgain to the Sermon on the Mount. I told you a while ago that this\nsermon sets forth the living way, or the living Christ. All the\nparables and miracles aim at nothing higher than to prepare the minds\nand hearts of the people to do, in an enlightened way, the things\ncommanded and taught in that wonderful sermon. Obedience to all the\nordinances of God's house is but a showing to the life and in the life\nthat meekness, that state of heart purity, that forgiveness, that\ncharity or brotherly love, that heavenly mindedness, which shine forth\nin clear light there. But all the good there is in that sermon\nconsists in the doing of it. I may think of loving my enemy, and of\npraying for him, and of forgiving him, but will the thought avail\nanything, unless I carry my thought out in the acts of my life? Our\nLord prayed for his enemies even on the cross. They had nailed him\nthere, so unjustly too; but in the anguish of his distress he said:\n\"Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.\"\n\nOne thought more, and I will close. We must not forget that the Lord,\nby his Holy Spirit, is the life of the way. Of ourselves, and left to\nourselves, we could never enter the way. Without the Lord's power in\nus through his Holy Spirit we can do nothing. This great truth in its\nfullness, accepted and believed in the heart, is the highest\nattainment in faith that man is capable of. The deeper and warmer our\nlove for the Lord is, the clearer and stronger our faith grows; and\nthe clearer and stronger our faith is in him, the firmer are our\nassurances that he is our life. We feel so free, so at liberty to do\njust what we will, either good or bad, that the truth of our absolute\ndependence upon God for every good affection and thought, for every\ngood motive and its attainment, is a lesson we are slow to learn.\nPeter had not learned this lesson when, confident in his own strength,\nhe declared that he would not forsake the Lord. It is this sense of\nour own weakness that leads us to pray. Prayer must proceed from the\nheart. Otherwise it is not prayer, but a mere form of words. The Lord\nwill never help any one spiritually who does not feel the need of\ndivine help. Saul was struck down when the divine light flashed upon\nhim with a radiance above the brightness of the sun; but that light\nonly blinded him. The Lord then sent Ananias to inquire in the house\nof Judas in Damascus for one called Saul of Tarsus: \"For,\" said he,\n\"behold he prayeth.\" Without this prayer Saul would nevermore have\nseen anything. This prayer was the opening of his heart to do the will\nof the Lord, for in it he said: \"Lord, what wouldst thou have me to\ndo?\" I need only add here that the very first thing he was commanded\nto do was: \"Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on\nthe name of the Lord.\"\n\nSUNDAY, November 5. The two brethren had meeting at Isaac Shobe's and\nstayed all night at Jacob Bargdoll's. On\n\nMONDAY, November 6, they had morning meeting at Isaac Dasher's, and\nnight meeting at Nimrod Judy's, where they stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, November 7. They dine at William Hevner's in Brock's Gap, and\nreach home in the evening.\n\nThe editor is making these transcripts from the Diary January 26,\n1899; just a little over fifty years after the entries were made. He\nwas then a young man; and the current of life's forces, like a mighty\nriver, has borne him on its bosom over a large part of the\nterritory--especially in the two Virginias--traveled over and preached\nover and prayed over by our long since sainted brother, Elder John\nKline. He lived to see good results from his labors, but they were not\nstrikingly conspicuous. As the Diary shows, now and then a brother, a\nsister, applies for, and receives baptism at his hands. But we must\nnot overlook the truth that he was breaking the ice of indifference to\nall the claims of religion in the minds and hearts of these people. He\nwas the very first minister in the Brotherhood to begin and carry on\nwhat may be called an aggressive effort to spread a knowledge of\ngospel truth through the present counties of Pendleton, Hardy, Grant,\nHampshire, Mineral, Randolph and Pocahontas in what is now West\nVirginia. Other active and able ministers of that day, a few of whom I\nwill here name, all living in the Shenandoah Valley, would cheerfully\ngo with him; but he led the way. Those whose names I will give were\nBenjamin Bowman, Daniel Miller, Abraham Flory, Isaac Long, father of\nthe very excellent and able preacher Isaac Long, Jr., Martain Miller,\nbrother of Daniel; John Harshbarger, and a little later on Jacob Wine\nand Christian Wine. These are all gone to the heavenly shore, to live\nin the paradise of God. But their works do follow them. They follow\nthem, and will follow them to the end of time, in the form of new\nhouses of worship erected by a largely increased and increasing\nmembership; by an increase of enlightened piety, as exemplified in its\npossessors by their nonconformity to the world and their attendance\nupon the ordinances of God's house. Here, however, we see only the\nbeginning of the good fruits from their sowings. The records of the\nbook of life; the palms; the white robes and crowns; the song of Moses\nand the song of the Lamb will better tell than we ever can here the\nexceeding preciousness and excellence of their works.\n\nTHURSDAY, December 7. Perform the marriage ceremony of Benjamin\nWampler and Anna Driver at Mother Wampler's; also the marriage\nceremony of Eli Summers and Sophia Frank.\n\nSUNDAY, December 24. Get word of the death of Uncle Frederic Kline. Go\nup to his place.\n\nMONDAY, December 25. Uncle Frederic is buried to-day. Age,\nseventy-five years, ten months and fourteen days. Stay all night at\nChristian Garber's.\n\nTHURSDAY, December 28. Perform the marriage ceremony of Michael B.E.\nKline and Elizabeth Rhodes.\n\nSUNDAY, December 31. At home. I have traveled in the year that is just\nat its close 4,411 miles. The year appears very short. When I review\nits labors and toils I am forced to reflect upon the imperfection of\nmy work. I have never delivered a discourse that was satisfactory to\nme throughout. I hardly ever fail to see some lack of thought right\nwhere I wanted to make the truth clear and impressive. Often and often\nthe reflections of my mind, as it were, hear a voice within saying:\n\"Why did you not put it this way? Why did you not think of that very\nappropriate passage of Scripture, which would have fit the place so\nnicely, and have been so expressive?\" I do not suppose that any one\nwill see this little book while I live. After I am gone it may he\nconsigned to some dark closet, with the rest of its kind, as useless\nrubbish. But should it ever fall into the hands of any minister of the\nWord who may be afflicted in his work with thoughts akin to those I\nhave expressed in this review of the year, I beg him to be encouraged\nrather than discouraged by them. I believe they are messages from the\nLord, who constantly seeks our highest good and greatest usefulness.\nSatan, if he could, would induce us to believe that we are all right,\njust what we should be; and in this way inflate us with a profound\nsense of our own importance, and in this pride of heart make us esteem\nourselves greatly superior to all others. How this feeling differs\nfrom that inculcated by Paul: \"Let each esteem another better than\nhimself\"! How different, too, from the words of the meek and lowly\nJesus: \"He that humbleth himself shall be exalted\"! These reviews and\ncriticisms of our works and ways tend to make us more thoughtful and\ncircumspect in the future. We seek to have our lacks supplied, our\nwants relieved, and are induced thereby to apply our minds to the\nstudy of the Word with more vigor, looking at the same time to the\nLord for the enlightening guidance of his Holy Spirit. It now lacks\njust ten minutes of midnight. I will retire with the retiring year,\nwishing to all a good-night, and joyful eyes to behold the dawn of the\nnew year.\n\nTHURSDAY, February 22. Hear the distant report of cannon in\ncommemoration of the birth of George Washington, which is said to have\noccurred on the twenty-second day of February, 1732. It is presumable\nthat those who find pleasure in public demonstrations of this sort are\nmoved by what they regard as patriotic feelings and principles. Let\ntheir motives and enjoyments spring from what they may, they have a\nlawful right to celebrate the anniversary of his birth in any civil\nway they may choose. But I have a somewhat higher conception of true\npatriotism than can be represented by the firing of guns which give\nforth nothing but meaningless sound. I am glad, however, that these\nguns report harmless sound, and nothing more. If some public speakers\nwould do the same, it might be better both for them and their hearers.\nMy highest conception of patriotism is found in the man who loves the\nLord his God with all his heart and his neighbor as himself. Out of\nthese affections spring the subordinate love for one's country; love\ntruly virtuous for one's companion and children, relatives and\nfriends; and in its most comprehensive sense takes in the whole human\nfamily. Were this love universal, the word _patriotism_, in its\nspecific sense, meaning such a love for one's country as makes its\npossessors ready and willing to take up arms in its defense, might be\nappropriately expunged from every national vocabulary.\n\nPerform the marriage ceremony of Isaac Brady and Leanna Hulvey, at\nJohn Hulvey's.\n\nSATURDAY, March 3. Night meeting at John Mongold's on Lost River. I\nspeak from Luke 10:42. TEXT.--\"But one thing is needful.\"\n\nVarious interpretations have been given of this text. Having given it\na good deal of thought myself, from the belief that a right\nunderstanding of the passage is all-important, I will endeavor to make\nclear to your minds what appears to me the Lord's meaning. All of you\ntake time to-morrow to read the tenth chapter of Luke, and you may see\nmany things I will not take time to notice to-night.\n\n\"But one thing is needful.\" If one were to come to each of you\nprivately to-night, and say to you: \"I have plenty of this world's\ngoods to give away, tell me what you need, and I will supply you,\" and\nremove all doubt from your mind of his meaning to do what he said, we\nmight be surprised at the varied answers and statements that he would\nreceive. Possibly--but I sincerely hope there are none such here\nto-night--some might say tobacco, or snuff, or whisky. There are,\nhowever, many things really needed for the support of life in this\nworld, and it is a part of wisdom to know our real needs, and how best\nto supply them. Our Lord, on one occasion, referred to the two most\ngeneral needs of people,--food and clothing,--in which he instructed\nthem not to be forgetful of God in all their efforts to obtain these,\nfor, said he, \"Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all\nthese things.\"\n\nOur Lord does not limit our bodily wants to one thing; so it cannot be\nany worldly good he has in view. It must then be a need above, and of\nvastly more importance than any worldly consideration. On one occasion\nour Lord uttered a self-evident truth in these words: \"He that walketh\nin darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.\" By darkness in this place\nignorance of divine and spiritual things is meant. Again: \"The people\nwhich sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the\nregion and shadow of death, light is sprung up.\" In this passage\ndarkness means ignorance and light means knowledge from teaching.\nSitting in the region and shadow of death is a figure so strong in its\nimport that we hardly know how to show forth its full significance.\nSitting implies an easy state of mind and feeling. The region of death\nsignifies the place where the love of self and the love of the world\nbear rule, and find their gratification and satisfaction in worldly\nenjoyments, and that place is man's depraved and spiritually dead\nheart. The shadow of death signifies that beclouded state of the\nunderstanding which is the inevitable consequence of being satisfied\nto sit in darkness. Is not this altogether a frightful picture of\nman's unenlightened and unregenerate state? But it is a true picture,\nfor it is given by the Lord, who knows what man is and what is in man.\n\nHave I wandered away from my text? By no means. I have held up this\npicture to show that man is so deeply sunk in darkness or ignorance\nregarding himself and God that without instruction in the truths of\nGod's holy Word he does not know and he never would know what he does\nneed. Prior to the discovery of America the native Indian did not know\nthat he needed anything beyond what he then had in a natural way.\n\nWhen the white man came and got acquainted with him he might have\naddressed him in the exact words of my text as applied to his social,\nmoral and civil state and surroundings: \"One thing is needful.\" That\none thing, properly infused and evolved, and in connection with such\ninfusion and evolution therefrom, properly applied to use, would have\ntransformed him from a savage to a civilized state; from temporal\nmisery and wretchedness into the enjoyments of life, liberty and the\nhigh pursuits of happiness.\n\nYou may now wonder what that one thing would have been. One word\nexpresses it all, and that word is EDUCATION. The wonderful gifts of\ndivine goodness, in the shape of latent treasures of coal, iron, and\nthe precious metals; the exhaustless fertility of American soils; the\nsalubrity of its climates; the boundless power of its falling streams,\nall, all these were here for the Indian alone, for hundreds, perhaps\nthousands of years before the white man came. Why did he not use them?\nBecause he lacked the one thing needful, the proper education or\ndevelopment of his mind, the knowledge of understanding the ways and\nmeans of converting the heterogeneous into the homogeneous; the\nuseless into the useful; the ill-formed into the suitable. What the\nIndian lacked is the very basis of the white man's individual and\nnational prosperity.\n\nI have here laid a broad foundation on which I hope to erect a\nsuperstructure of doctrine that may do us all good. I will here say\nthat EDUCATION into the knowledge and love of God's revealed Truth in\nits true relation to man's life is the one thing needful to every\nhuman being. I use the word EDUCATION in its most comprehensive and\nexalted sense, that of preparing the mind and heart for the attainment\nof the highest and noblest ends of life on earth and in heaven. In\nthis sense it takes in salvation with its happy experiences and\nresults. It takes in regeneration, that wonderful and radical change\nin man wrought by God through his Holy Spirit, by which man passes\nfrom darkness to light, and out of death into life.\n\nThe word _disciple_ means a learner, one who is receiving instruction.\nOur Lord had twelve disciples whom he was training in a special way\nfor a special work. He was divinely educating them. He was opening\ntheir minds and hearts as he opened Lydia's heart so that she attended\nthe things spoken of by Paul. He was imparting to them by parables, by\nmiracles, and by private interpretations, and still above all by the\nexamples he set, the means of acquiring this spiritual, this divine,\nthis heavenly education that would carry them through life by his\nhelp, and make them the very pillars and grounds of the truth when\nthey should behold His face no more on earth. This heavenly training,\nthen, or the training of man's mind and heart for a heavenly life on\nearth and for the ineffable enjoyment of that life above, is the one\nthing needful. A deep consciousness of this is what led Mary to sit at\nthe Lord's feet and hear his words. The want of this left Martha to be\ncareful and troubled about many things--things of time and sense. A\ndesire for this high attainment caused David to sing so sweetly these\nbeautiful words: \"One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will\nI seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days\nof my life.\" By dwelling in the house of the Lord David meant with the\nLord's people: and as the Lord is always in his house with his people,\ndwelling in his house is dwelling with him. All, in every age, who\nsincerely desire to know the Lord, to do his will, and enjoy his\npresence, desire to dwell in his house, which is the church of the\nliving God. They desire, like Mary, to sit at his feet and hear his\nwords. They sit at his feet and hear his words when in deep humility\nof soul they hear his Gospel preached, or sung, or prayed; or when\nthey read it themselves.\n\nCan I not prevail on some here to-night to accept Mary's happy choice,\nto choose that good part which shall not be taken away from them?\n\nSUNDAY, March 4. Meeting at Nesselrodt's. John 13 is read. Stay all\nnight at James Fitzwater's, and come home next day.\n\nFRIDAY, March 16. Jacob Ritchey in the Gap is taken with a very severe\nattack of cramp colic. I relieve him speedily and effectually by means\nof active treatment. I found him in a state of almost indescribable\ndistress from the acute pains he had. I decided very quickly, after a\nbrief examination, that the cause of his trouble lay in a spasmodic\ncontraction of the muscles of the bowels. The powerfully antispasmodic\naction of lobelia and steaming caused the nerves to let go their\nabnormal grip, and he was well.\n\nSATURDAY, March 31. Council meeting at Shaver's meetinghouse below\nWoodstock in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Brother George Shaver is\nestablished in the ministry, and Brother Neyhiser advanced.\n\nFRIDAY, April 13. Council meeting in the Brush meetinghouse. Jacob\nMiller, son of Daniel Miller, is elected to the ministry of the Word.\n\nFRIDAY, April 20. On this day Brother Kline, in company with Brother\nBenjamin Bowman, started on a journey to some of the western counties\nof Virginia, now West Virginia. The first day they got to the widow\nMiller's, on Briery Branch, in the southwest corner of Rockingham\nCounty. The next day they went through North River Gap and got to\nHenry Sanger's, in Highland County, Virginia, where they had night\nmeeting. Here Brother Bowman delivered a discourse, which, according\nto the outlines in the Diary, was so pregnant with original thought\ncharacteristic of the man that I will endeavor to expand its\ncontracted form and give it a more readable shape. TEXT.--\"Then said\nJesus to those Jews which believed on him: If ye continue in my word,\nthen are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the\ntruth shall make you free.\"\n\nThere was great diversity of feeling among the Jews in Christ's day,\njust as there is among Gentiles now. Some were flint; others, clay in\nthe hand of the potter. \"The common people heard him gladly; but the\nscribes and Pharisees resisted the counsel of God against themselves.\"\nIf we read the entire chapter carefully it will give us a more\nimpressive view of and a clearer insight into the stubborn hardness of\nthe Jewish heart than any other single chapter that I can now think\nof. The Jews were so wedded to their worldly sanctuary, so in love\nwith the representative forms of worship, that they could receive no\njust ideas of genuine spiritual worship. Let me draw a comparison\nhere. Many people seem to think themselves rich when they have plenty\nof money either in hand or standing out on interest. They think so\nfrom the fact that money represents every exchangeable commodity of\nworldly goods. In it they behold the supply of every bodily want, the\nservice they need and the honor they crave.\n\nThis is something like what the scribes and Pharisees, the elders and\npriests saw in their religion. And these worldly emoluments and\nbenefits are what they feared would be taken away from them, should\nthe great principles of love to God and love to man, inculcated by our\nSavior, be generally received. They said: \"If we let him thus alone,\nall men will believe on him; and the Romans will come and take away\nboth our place and our nation.\"\n\nThe Roman power had a civil regard for the temple so long as it\nretained its dignity as the national house of Jewish worship. Should\nit, however, lose this honor by being no longer needed and used as\nsuch, the Romans would withhold this regard and convert it--as was\nactually done years afterward--into a barrack for soldiers. Where\nwould then be the salaried scribe, the domineering and overbearing\nelder, the rich but hypocritical Pharisee, and the pompous high\npriest? Their place and their nation would be gone. These\nconsiderations, in connection with their inbred conceits that they\nwere the peculiar, chosen and exclusive people of God, caused them to\nreject the Lord. \"He came unto his own and his own received him not.\"\nBut some did receive him, and \"as many as received him, to them gave\nhe power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on his\nname.\" It was to such as believed on him that the words of my text\nwere addressed. The text gave them, and it gives the same to us, three\npromises by the mouth of him whose word is yea and amen.\n\nFirst promise: \"If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples.\"\n\nSecond promise: \"And ye shall know the truth.\"\n\nThird promise: \"And the truth shall make you free.\"\n\nThese promises are all so full of love and truth that a long and\ninstructive discourse might be based upon each one separately, and\nthen much of their subject matter remain untouched. We are told how we\nmay be true disciples of the Lord. A disciple is a learner, one who is\nreceiving instruction because of a sincere desire in him to know the\ntruth. We are truly his disciples when we abide in his Word. What is\nthe meaning of the clause, \"If ye abide in my word\"? Let James, the\napostle of charity, answer: \"If a man be not a forgetful hearer of the\nword, but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his\ndoing.\" For myself, I must say that learning the lessons of Christ is\nvery much like learning the lessons given in almost any other branch\nof knowledge. We send our children to school. Some take delight in\ntheir books, and make satisfactory progress. Others, that have the\nsame opportunities to learn, seem to take very little interest in\ntheir lessons or in the instructions of their teachers, and move on\nvery slowly. Why is this? It is mainly a lack of love for study. One\nhungers and thirsts for knowledge, another does not. But the one that\nloves to acquire knowledge is the one that abides in the instructions\nof his teacher and his books, and he is a true disciple or learner. It\nis very much the same way in the school of Christ. Some hear, obey and\nprofit greatly by what they hear. Such abide in his words. Such are\nhis true disciples.\n\nSome one may ask: \"What are his words in which man must abide?\" I\nanswer, They are all the words he has spoken. \"Man liveth by every\nWord that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.\" Jesus never uttered an\nidle or unnecessary word. All \"his words are spirit and they are\nlife.\" In his last great prayer our Lord lifted up his eyes and said:\n\"Father, sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.\"\nRemember, too, that the Son spake none but the Father's words; for he\nsaid to those very wicked Jews who sought his life: \"The things which\nI heard from the Father, these speak I unto the world.\" Moses, the\nprophets, and the Psalms of the Old Testament; and the writings of the\nNew Testament comprise the entire Word of God. It was of the\nlife-giving power of this Word, Old and New, that the angel said to\nJohn on the isle of Patmos: \"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of\nprophecy.\" All teaching is prophecy; and all teachers of Divine Truth\nare prophets. And as the spirit and meaning of all the words God has\never declared to man in their most exalted sense bear witness of Jesus\nand set him forth as the very life and truth and way, this, therefore,\nis what is meant in what the angel said to John. \"And the Word became\nflesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.\" This Word made\nflesh was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. To abide in his Word\nis to live in him as the way, the truth and the life. In this state we\nare truly his disciples. We will now turn our thoughts to the\n\nSECOND PROMISE.--\"And ye shall know the truth.\" This promise will\nsurely be realized by every one, without exception, who abides in the\nwords of the Lord. It is a promise very much like that other in these\nwords: \"If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,\nwhether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.\" Books have been\nwritten in defense of the truth of Divine Revelation. I have read\nseveral. They are ably written, and with good intentions. But I doubt\nif any unbeliever has ever been converted by any of them. In the first\nplace, unbelievers are not likely to read books on such subjects; and\nin the second place, without a heartfelt desire to know the truth,\nthey would not be persuaded though one should arise from the dead. To\none who loves the truth, the truth bears witness of itself. It is\nself-evidencing in its own light. It bears its own testimony.\n\nI not long since read what purported to be a true story of a man by\nthe name of Casper Hauser, who had been intentionally brought up in a\ndark cave from his very infancy. Up to mature manhood he had never\nseen a ray of light, except what proceeded from the dim lantern which\nhis keeper used in supplying him with food and other things. Had this\nman been told, while in the cave, of the wonderful light of the sun\nand the beauties of the outside world, he would not have been able to\nunderstand what was told him. But if he would have been willing to\ntake the hand of some true friend and be led out into the light, he\nwould not have needed any argument to convince him that what he had\nheard was true. Like the queen of Sheba, when she visited King\nSolomon, he might have said: \"It was a true report I heard, but now\nmine eyes have seen it, and the half had not been told me.\"\n\nLet me say to you, friends, that right here in this Divine Word is one\ngreater than Solomon, whose eyes are as a flame of fire to illuminate\nthe sinner's dark understanding, and whose countenance is as the sun\nshining in his strength to warm and cheer the sinner's cold and\ncheerless heart. That one is Jesus. As the Divine Word, he revealed\nhis glory on the mount, and Peter in the joyfulness of his heart said:\n\"Lord, it is good to be here.\" How often does the true disciple, when\nthe Word is revealed to his heart, in the warmth of its love and light\nof its truth, feel like exclaiming in the same words: \"Lord, it is\ngood to be here!\" But not all know the truth; and we ask, Why is it\nso? In answering this question several things have to be kept in mind.\nSome--but very few in our land--are not in reach of the preached Word,\nare not instructed so as to be able to read it, and are so situated\nsocially as to hear nothing of the Gospel. Some are born deaf, who can\nneither hear nor read. Some are born idiots who are incapable of\nunderstanding. With such ignorance is no sin. But what shall we say of\nthe great army of unbelievers who, in the very blaze of gospel light,\nshut their eyes and, like the Gergesenes, beseech the Lord to depart\nout of their borders. These \"love darkness rather than light; and they\nwill not come to the light.\" This answers the question, \"Why do not\nall know the truth?\" They will not abide in his words. They will not\ndo the truth: \"For he that doeth the truth cometh to the light.\" We\nnow turn to the\n\nTHIRD PROMISE.--\"And the truth shall make you free.\" This is the most\nprecious promise of all. It is just what the truth will do for every\none who knows the truth and obeys it in his life. It will make him\nfree. Like the Jews, some may say, \"We have never been in bondage. We\nare free now, and how can you say, The truth shall make us free?\" The\nLord may answer you on that. The Jews claimed the same freedom that\nyou claim. They said: \"We be Abraham's seed, and have never been in\nbondage to any man.\" But Jesus answered: \"Verily, verily I say unto\nyou, Every one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin.\" You\ndecide now for yourself whether you are a bondservant or a free man.\nDo you commit sin in the love of it? Do you willingly transgress God's\nholy law contained in the Ten Commandments? If so, Jesus says you are\na bondservant of sin. Paul says the same in these words: \"To whom ye\nyield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are, whether of sin\nunto death; or of obedience unto righteousness.\"\n\nAgain: You are commanded to repent and believe the Gospel. You are\ncommanded to be baptized, confessing your sins. Have you complied with\nthese plain precepts of Holy Truth? If not, the seal of bondage is\nstill upon you, and every day you live in sin stamps that seal deeper\nand yet deeper upon your heart. But there is balm in Gilead for you if\nyou will accept it; and there is a physician there for you, if you\nwill but let him administer the remedy. That balm is the heavenly,\nholy, healing Word of the Lord, and that Physician is the Lord\nhimself. Do you ask how you are to take it? Take it in faith, \"for he\nthat believeth is not condemned; but he that believeth not is\ncondemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the\nonly begotten Son of God.\"\n\n\"And the truth shall make you free.\" Thousands on earth and millions\nin glory bear testimony to the truth in these words. A living, loving\nbelief in the words of Jesus; a faith that works from love and\npurifies the heart is the only power that will break the yoke of sin.\nThis faith God is ever ready, through his Holy Spirit, to help you to\nhave. Of yourself you can do nothing; but the very last words Jesus\nuttered on earth were these, \"Lo! I am with you to the end of the\nworld.\"\n\nSUNDAY, April 22. The two brethren had meeting at Doe Hill, in\nHighland County. They took dinner at Joel Siple's, and had night\nmeeting at George Wine's. On the twenty-third they went down the South\nFork to Jacob Stone's and had meeting in one of his outbuildings. In\nthe afternoon they had meeting at the widow Hoover's on the Fork, and\nstayed all night at Dr. John Keister's. On the twenty-fourth they had\nmeeting at Bethel church in the forenoon; got dinner at Jacob\nWarnstaff's, and in the afternoon have meeting at Zion church in Hardy\nCounty. They stayed all night at the widow Peggy Dasher's. Mrs. Dasher\n(quoting from Diary) is a member of the Methodist denomination, and a\nvery kind and hospitable woman. She lives up to her Christian\nprofession as taught by her Discipline. We held family worship in her\nhouse and tried to impress upon the minds of her sons, who are\nintelligent and promising young men, the \"one thing needful,\" the\ngiving of their hearts to the Lord.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 25. They had meeting at Nimrod Judy's. Brother Kline\nspoke from Matthew 18:11. TEXT.--\"The Son of man is come to save that\nwhich was lost.\"\n\nIf man could fairly realize what he has lost through sin; and what may\nbe gained by forsaking all for Christ; in other words, what it is to\nbe lost, and what it is to be saved, he could not rest satisfied to\nremain one moment longer in his sin-ruined state. Like the Philippian\njailer, he would instantly cry out, \"What must I do to be saved?\" Like\nthe people on the day of Pentecost, being pierced as to their hearts\nby what they heard and saw, he would say: \"Brethren, what shall I do?\"\n\"The Son of man is come to save that which was lost.\" It is of the\nutmost importance to know what was lost, so as to know what it is that\nthe Son of man came to save. I will try to tell you this. It is you,\nit is I, it is every human being upon the face of the earth. And are\nall lost? Yes, without an exception. To what extent are we all lost?\nTo the extent of all that is of us--body, spirit and soul. And are our\nbodies lost? Yes, our bodies are lost to all that God intended them to\nbe. Our bodies were never designed to be the abodes of disease and\nsuffering; neither were they intended to be subject to infirmity from\nage. When God looked down upon a finished creation he saw that it was\ngood, yea, very good. Can this be said of our bodies now? Let the\nblind, the deaf, the lame, the countless sufferers on beds of\naffliction, the child-bearing mother, the decrepit consumptive, the\nrheumatic invalid, let these say whether our bodies are very good now.\nAnd how about our spirits? I use the term _spirit_ here in the sense\nof its being the basis of human perception and thought. Are our\nspirits or minds very good? Let those who are trying to learn and look\ninto the secrets of knowledge and science answer this. From the child\nin school to the highest rank in scholarship ever held by any man, the\nsame complaint comes up, that lessons are hard, and what is acquired\nas knowledge is very unsatisfactory.\n\nBut I have touched only the hem of sin's garment in what I have said.\nIf the soul or will of man were still very good, I mean to say here\nthat if man had not lost his love for his fellow-man and his love for\nGod; in other words, if man still loved the Lord his God with all his\nheart and his neighbor as himself, feebleness of body and weakness of\nmind would be matters of small moment. The body is soon done with any\nway; and the mind or intellect is still sufficiently clear for all the\npurposes of life in this world; and when once disengaged from the body\nthat here clogs and fetters it,--as it will be at death,--in the hope\nof being lifted to a higher sphere of perception and thought, the loss\nto man suffered by the fall in these two departments of his being\nwould be comparatively small.\n\nBut man's will or inmost love is the secret spring of life. From this\nall his affections flow; and right here we find his Marah, the bitter\nwaters of his soul. In reading the story of the children of Israel in\nthe wilderness we learn that they came to a place where the waters\nwere all bitter. Brethren, that place is right in our own hearts. Our\nhearts are the springs from which these bitter waters flow in the form\nof \"evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,\ncovetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye,\nblasphemy, pride, foolishness.\" Mark 7:21, 22. What an outflow of\nbitterness! Enough to flood a world to destruction! And this\ndestruction had come, and its arm would have held its power over man\neternally, had not the great Prophet, the Moses of love, come and cast\na tree into the waters whereby they were made sweet. The Lord in his\nWord is this tree. He is the tree of life, whose leaves are for the\nhealing of the nations. His voice comes to us from far: \"I am the Lord\nthat healeth thee; for the Son of man came to save that which was\nlost.\"\n\nIt is of infinite importance for us to know how he saves us, what we\nare expected to do, how we are to work with him and to what extent. I\nwill try to give some light on this from the Word itself. Jesus said\nto his disciples: \"If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not,\nbecause he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the\nnight, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.\" This beautiful\nand striking parable, showing the benefit of knowledge and the\ndisadvantage of ignorance, lights the sinner's way for his first step\ntoward the Lord. Knowledge, which is light from the Lord through his\nWord, is the very first thing every one must receive. The sinner first\nreceives the clay and the spittle applied to his blind eyes. He does\nnot get his sight from this application. When he hears the Gospel with\nsomething of a desire to have his eyes opened he is receiving this\nanointing of his eyes. He must go to the pool of Siloam and wash\nbefore he can have sight. This washing in the pool is the first step\nin that humble spirit of obedience by which the understanding is\ncleared up and prepared to know the Lord. When any sinner gets this\nfar the Lord is sure to find him and whisper in his heart: \"Dost thou\nbelieve on the Son of God?\" Every true penitent sinner, with his eyes\nopen, will answer in heart: \"Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on\nhim?\" Then the joyful response will be whispered again: \"Thou hast\nboth seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.\" The Lord meets\nthe returning sinner in his blessed Word, and there he shows himself\nto him, and there he talks with him.\n\nWater, in many places in the Old as well as the New Testament, is the\nemblem or symbol of Divine Truth. I need not say that without water\nman cannot live. His body is largely composed of water. It is\nconsequently essential as a beverage; and as an ablution,\nindispensable to cleanliness. Reading and hearing the Word of Divine\nTruth from a real thirst or desire to know the truth, is what is\nspiritually symbolized by drinking water. This may be proved by what\nthe Lord said to the Samaritan woman: \"He that drinketh of the water\nthat I shall give him, shall never thirst; for it shall be in him a\nwell of water springing up into everlasting life.\" By the expression,\n\"never thirst,\" Jesus does not mean that there will never be any\nfurther inclination to drink the water of life, but he means that\nthere will in that soul never be any more perishing, dying thirst, for\nthe water of life will be like a spring in the heart that will flow on\nforever from the Lord. It will be the rock in the wilderness that\nsupplied the camp of Israel with water, and that Rock is Christ.\n\nBut again. The sinner's whole inner man is defiled with sin. This may\nbe illustrated by the spots and scales and raw blotches on the skin,\ncaused by the disease called leprosy. This disease affected every part\nof the body; but, like smallpox and some other kindred affections, it\nmade itself mostly visible upon the surface of the body. It gave the\nvictim a horrible appearance, so much so that no one was willing but\nsuch as were similarly afflicted, to go near a leper. But the water of\nDivine Truth will effectually and forever wash away all this filth and\nloathsomeness from the redeemed sinner's soul and prepare his\nspiritual body for that bright array of fine linen, clean and white,\nin which the saints shall be clothed as a fit emblem of their\nrighteousness. Paul calls all this the washing of regeneration. In\nthat great change, without which no man can see the kingdom of heaven,\ncalled regeneration, or the new birth, wrought by God only, the water\nof truth is the means employed. This is so evident that water is\nspecifically named in connection with it in these words: \"Except a man\nbe born of water, and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of\nheaven.\"\n\nAnanias did not forget this when instructing the penitent Saul of\nTarsus; for at the close of all the words the Lord had authorized him\nto say to Saul, we find these: \"And now, why tarriest thou? Arise, and\nbe baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the\nLord. And Saul arose and was baptized.\" Saul's sins were not washed\naway by the water in which his body was baptized, but that water\nsymbolized the truth, the Lord's truth, that does wash away sins. And\nhis being immersed in it in each of the three names, according to the\ngreat commission which the Lord had given some time before, signified\nhis faith in the Word of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy\nGhost. Peter says: \"Baptism is not the washing away of the filth of\nthe flesh,\" but I feel authorized to say that it is the outward sign\nor emblem of the power of divine truth to wash away the filth of the\nsoul. The change in Saul, wrought by this act as the crown of\nobedience, was so great that from this time on he was a new man, and\nhad a new name, for he was called Paul ever after.\n\nBut we must not forget that salvation is all of God. Of ourselves we\ncan do nothing. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. All that man\ncan do is to take the Lord's hand and be led in the way; to open his\neyes to the light, and his ears to the truth, and his heart to the\nlife, in faith receiving, and in life living the precepts that make\nhim wise unto salvation.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 26. The two brethren preached the funeral of Isaac\nShobe's mother. She had passed away shortly before, at the high age of\nninety-four years. They spoke from First Corinthians 15. From here\nthey went to James Parks's and had night meeting. The next day they\nhad meeting at William Parks's; and on\n\nSATURDAY, April 28, they had meeting at Enoch Hyre's in forenoon, and\nat Elijah Judy's at night. They anointed Sister Elijah Judy with oil\nin the name of the Lord.\n\nSUNDAY, April 29. They had meeting at Sister Chlora Judy's in the\nforenoon, and then crossed the Fork mountain to Nimrod Judy's, where\nthey had night meeting and stayed all night.\n\nMONDAY, April 30. They got home. Quoting from the Diary Brother Kline\nsays: \"I love to go among the mountains. The people there seem to pay\nbetter attention to what is said, and manifest better behavior at our\nmeetings than they do in the thickly-settled and more fashionable\nsections of our State. It is true that ignorance and poverty abound in\nsome places; but are the souls of the poor less dear to the Lord than\nthe souls of the rich? On one occasion our Lord referred to the fact\nthat the Gospel was preached to the poor as a proof of its heavenly\norigin. But there are intelligent people living among those mountains.\nAnd in the way of hospitality and genuine kindness, meeting you with a\nsmile and a hearty welcome, they are probably unsurpassed as a people,\nrich and poor alike.\"\n\nThe high regard in which Brother Kline held the people of the western\npart of the old State of Virginia, and the reciprocation of that\nregard by their high appreciation of him and his mission, accounts for\nthe many visits he made among them, and his devotion to their\nspiritual welfare. Nor was his work evanescent. The seal of his\ninfluence was so deeply impressed upon their affections and memories\nthat to-day, after the lapse of fifty years, its stamp is almost as\nfresh as when first made. Nor is this a matter of wonder or surprise.\nThe sermons I have set in order were substantially preached by him and\nother ministers, mostly led into that section by him; and the power of\nsuch discourses, together with the worship and instructions held and\ngiven in families wherever he stayed, had an influence that will never\nbe forgotten. The writer's own personal acquaintance with the people\nliving in sections of his vast district of labor gives him to know\nthat the name of John Kline is still as a household word with many of\nthem. Nor is this all. The indoctrination of these people into the\nbeliefs and practices of Revealed Truth as held by the Brethren was so\nprofound, so clear, so convincing, that they to-day stand abreast of\nothers in defense of these doctrines as at first received, in the face\nof all the isms and religious innovations of the times.\n\nFRIDAY, May 18. Start to the Annual Meeting. Ride Nell. Stay first\nnight at Isaac Dasher's.\n\nOn this journey the Editor can not depart from the simple but\nbeautiful and almost childlike daily entries in the Diary. If they\nappear monotonous to the reader, the Editor begs him to leaf over them\nand find something that will suit his taste better. He must, however,\nsay something about Nell. She proved to be a very remarkable mare\nindeed. For strength and endurance, through cold and heat, in hunger\nand thirst, over mountains numberless and pathless woods and valleys,\non long and exhausting journeys, Nell has had few equals. History has\nnot been willing to drop the name of Bucephalus; and Nell is more\nworthy of a place on its roll. He bore a conqueror for a corruptible\ncrown: she bore a conqueror for an incorruptible crown. His was an\nearthly service; hers a heavenly. The name of Nell, under very\npeculiar and distressing surroundings, will appear again.\n\nSATURDAY, May 19. Meeting at Elijah Judy's. Hebrews 12 is read. After\nmeeting go to James Parks's, and stay second night.\n\nSUNDAY, May 20. Meeting at Patch's church on Looney's Creek in Hardy\nCounty, Virginia. Speak from Acts 2. Dine at John Stingley's. Have\nnight meeting at Jacob Cosner's, where I speak on Hebrews 12, and stay\nthird night.\n\nMONDAY, May 21. Come to meeting at Solomon Michael's. Elections are\nheld. Thomas Clarke and Michael Lion are established; William Michael\nis elected speaker; William George and Thomas Lion are elected\ndeacons. Come to Samuel Arnold's on New Creek, and stay fourth night.\n\nTUESDAY, May 22. Dine at Robert Broadwater's on the Alleghany, and\nstay fifth night at Eli Whetzel's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 23. Meeting and elections. First John is read. John Ogg\nis elected speaker, and Eli Whetzel deacon. Love feast in the evening.\nA little company of brethren and sisters, with the Lord in our midst.\nA time I shall probably never forget. Stay sixth night with Brother\nWhetzel.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 24. Meeting at the Greenville church. Matthew 5 is read.\nIn the evening have meeting in a schoolhouse near the widow Berkley's,\nand stay seventh night at her house.\n\nFRIDAY, May 25. Meeting in a schoolhouse near Daniel Beachley's.\nMatthew 24 is read. Five persons baptized. Stay eighth night at John\nBeachley's near the Berlin meetinghouse.\n\nSATURDAY, May 26. Meeting at the meetinghouse. John 3 is read. Stay\nninth night at Brother J. Beachley's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 27. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Acts 2 is read. Stay\ntenth night at same place. We had much edifying speaking on the\nchapter read. One beloved brother spoke at some length on these words\nin the last verse of the chapter read: \"Having favor with all the\npeople.\" He said in substance: \"Brethren, the having favor with all\nthe people is very pleasant to us naturally, and encouraging\nspiritually, if the favor be of the right kind and obtained in the\nright way. I am here reminded, in the way of a comparison, of what a\ndistinguished statesman once said of the presidency of these United\nStates. He said it is an office that is neither to be directly sought\nnor directly declined. I do not think his statement would be far out\nof the line of true wisdom if applied to us as Brethren, in relation\nto our standing in the eye of society at large. What may be truthfully\nsaid of one brother or sister in private life, in this particular\nregard, may be truthfully said of our entire Brotherhood in a public\nregard.\n\n\"We all know how pleasant it is to enjoy the favor, the friendship and\nrespect of those living around us. The enjoyment from this source has\ngiven rise to the formation of 'harmonies' and 'colonies,' with some.\nSuch establishments are favorable to social enjoyment, no doubt; but\nit is to be feared that segregation in that form may engender feelings\nakin to selfishness, and dwarf the higher impulses to general good.\nBut the favorable regard in which we may be held should not be sought\nas a consideration of the first importance. To serve and please the\nLord should be the first and foremost aim of every brother and sister.\nIf the favor and respect of others meet us in the line of duty, as set\nforth in our doctrines and practices as a Brotherhood of believers in\nand humble followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us regard it as a\ndesirable token of good already done, and a promise of good that may\nstill be done.\n\n\"Brethren, a review of our growth in numbers and influence as a body\nof Christians, with our original and, in the eyes of the world,\npeculiar observances as to ordinances in the church, and deportment\nand customs in the world, is to say the least pleasantly surprising.\nOur name as Brethren is hardly a century old, if I am rightly\ninformed; and what are we now? A legion, not of devils, but of angels\nfor good. And may I not here add the words of my text, 'Having favor\nwith all the people'? I do not think these historic words are to be\nconstrued to mean that the Brethren of that Pentecostal day had no\nenemies; but that they had the favor of the disinterested and\nunprejudiced classes. This is just what I think _we_ have, where we\nare known. There has been a day,--but thank God that day is\npast,--when public opinion, if history be correct, was largely the\nreverse of what it is with us. Vice, then, was virtue; and goodness\nwas criminal. Rebukes of sin and calls to repentance and reformation\nof life were silenced by the martyr's faggot and stake. We cannot\nhere, and we would not if we could, attempt to trace the sublime array\nof causes, both divine and human, that have contributed to the happy\nchange we now enjoy; but sure it is, we now realize the ideal dream of\nthe far-off seer, described in these words: 'But they shall sit, every\nman under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them\nafraid.' We have the favor of the people when we have the favor of the\ngovernment; for the people are the government.\n\n\"Brethren, we have cause for inexpressible emotions of gratitude to\nGod for the favor we enjoy. The outlook is bright; the sky of promise\ncalm and serene. It is said that a Grecian patriot and statesman once\nassumed a very weighty responsibility, which required him to leave his\nhome and State to meet it. He seemed loath to go. He expressed fear\nthat things would not go on in his absence as they had in his\npresence. Finally, however, he secured a pledge from every member of\nthe Athenian court that no change in the order of government and the\nlaws should be made during his absence. He went; but such was his love\nfor his country that he never returned. Brethren, the time is not far\ndistant when I, your humble servant, burning with love for my church\nand people, will have to leave my home and country. Nothing, I say\nnothing, could give me more comfort when I make the start than the\nassurance on your part that you will make no changes in our faith and\nrules of order, _in_ church and _out_, during my absence. Then will I\nbid a joyful farewell to all, feeling that no changes from our present\norder will ever be made, for I will never return.\"\n\nMONDAY, May 28. Our Annual Meeting begins. Questions received and some\nmotions made. Stay eleventh night at same place.\n\nTUESDAY, May 29. Council continues. Good order and love prevail. Stay\ntwelfth night at same place.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 30. The business having all been disposed of in a way\nas satisfactory as we could do it, after prayer and the singing of the\nhymn,\n\n  \"Blest be the dear uniting love\n    That will not let us part,\"\n\nthe meeting closed, and we gave each other the parting hand about 10\nA.M.\n\nHave night meeting at Brother John Ogg's on way home. Speak from part\nof Luke 13, and stay thirteenth night with Brother Ogg.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 31. Stay fourteenth night at Thomas Clark's.\n\nFRIDAY, June 1. Stay fifteenth night at Jacob Cosner's.\n\nSATURDAY, June 2. Meeting at Rorabaugh's on New Creek, in Hampshire\nCounty, Virginia. Acts 10 is read. Get to Enoch Hyre's and stay\nsixteenth night.\n\nSUNDAY, June 3. Meeting at Enoch Hyre's. Part of Acts 2 is read. Polly\nStambaugh is baptized. Cross the mountain to Leonard Brake's, where I\nstay seventeenth night.\n\nMONDAY, June 4. Attend the burial of Frederic Dove in the Gap. Age,\neighty-seven years, two months and seventeen days Stay at Dove's\neighteenth night.\n\nTUESDAY, June 5. Attend the burial of Brother Nasselrodt, near Dove's.\nAge, sixty-one years, five months and twenty-eight days. In the\nevening get home.\n\nFRIDAY, August 17. Attend the burial of Elizabeth, daughter of William\nHevner, in the Gap. She died of typhoid fever. I speak from these\nwords in Psalm 103: \"Surely, man's days are as grass: as a flower of\nthe field, so he flourisheth: ... and the place thereof shall know it\nno more.\" Her place in the home is sadly vacant. We can only bow in\ntearful sympathy with the bereaved family.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 6. Perform the marriage ceremony of William Miller\nand Sarah Shoemaker, and the same for Levi Runion and Elizabeth\nAubrey.\n\nFRIDAY, September 7. This day Brother Kline started on another journey\nto Hampshire County, Virginia. He attended a succession of meetings\nand love feasts both going and returning, as was his custom. He got\nhome September 21, after an absence of just two weeks. He does not\nforget Nell. On the evening of his arrival home he says: \"On the\njourney from which I have just returned, Nell has carried me 221\nmiles. If Martin Luther and John Wesley are correct in their opinions,\nNell may be rewarded for her uncomplaining faithfulness, in a future\nstate of existence. But as we have no assurance of this, I desire to\nreward her in this world as well as I can, for her gentle and untiring\nservice. I think the comfort of brutes generally is not thought of as\nmuch as it should be. Solomon says: 'The righteous man regardeth the\nlife of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.'\nProv. 10:12. Solomon deals out a bit of very cutting sarcasm here, in\nthe subordinate clause of his proposition; but it is fairly merited by\nsuch as are cruel to brutes. People do not, I am sure, regard the\ncomfort of brutes as they should. There are, here and there, noble\nexceptions; but horses labor faithfully for us, and very often the\nonly reward they get is harsh treatment and scanty feeding. The Lord\nhas graciously given to man the supremacy over the brute creation. But\nman should not show his supremacy by acting the part of a tyrant; but,\nlike a wise ruler, 'do justice and love mercy.' Whatever else may be\nbrought against me on the day of judgment, I am resolved, by the help\nof God, that no brute shall there, in fact or figure, rise up and say:\n'You mistreated me intentionally.'\"\n\nSUNDAY, September 30. Attend the burial of William Hevner's son\nHarvey. He died of typhoid fever. His age was twenty-seven years, two\nmonths and four days. It has been a very short while since his sister\nElizabeth passed away. We should weep with those who weep: but our\ndeepest sympathy for others cannot give us a realization of the depth\nof grief felt by bereaved parents and their children. Happy are those\nwho can look beyond the tomb to have their sorrows healed.\n\nBetween this time and the close of the year Brother Kline made only\none long journey. He and Anna went in his family carriage to Maryland\nfirst. After attending a number of love feasts and other meetings\naround Frederic City and Shepherdstown, they went down the Cumberland\nValley beyond Harrisburg, and after a few days' sojourn there they\nreturn by very nearly the same route they went. They were just three\nweeks and two days on this journey.\n\n\nEND OF 1849.\n\nWhole distance traveled this year by me is 3,903 miles.\n\nSUNDAY, February 12, 1850. Meeting at Buck Hill, in Shenandoah County,\nVirginia. I speak from John 6:44, 45. TEXT.--\"No man can come to me,\nexcept the Father which hath sent me draw him.\"\n\nI here note the substance of what I said. My text sets forth the two\ngreat facts which all should know: _man's weakness_ and _God's power_.\nThe first part of the text declares man's absolute weakness in himself\nand of himself. In another place our Lord says: \"Without me ye can do\nnothing.\" In the text he says: \"No man can come to me.\" Had he stopped\nhere we would be left without hope. But he did not stop here.\nImmediately, as if by the same breath of love, he adds: \"Except the\nFather which hath sent me draw him.\" This part shows that if the\nFather does draw a man he can come to Jesus. Now, then, does the\nFather draw? The prophets say he does in these words: \"And they shall\nall be taught of God.\" He draws them by teaching them. In what follows\nwe may learn the power of this Great Teacher. Notice very\nparticularly: \"Every man,\"--this means every human being, whether man\nor woman,--\"every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of\nthe Father, cometh unto me.\"\n\nBut here are things very deep. Our minds inquire to know how the\nFather, whose voice we have never at any time heard and whose shape we\nhave never seen, can teach us. It is through the Son that the Father\nspeaks, for the Son bears this testimony himself in these words: \"I\nspeak not from myself; but the Father which sent me, he hath given me\na commandment what I should say and what I should speak. And I know\nthat his commandment is life eternal: the things therefore which I\nspeak, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak.\" Nothing can\nbe plainer than this that Jesus spoke with authority, the divine\nauthority of the Father, and that he is God the Father manifest in the\nflesh, the Emmanuel--God the Father with us. For further proof of\nthis, turn to Isaiah 9:6, \"Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is\ngiven, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name\nshall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting\nFather, The Prince of Peace.\" Again our Lord says: \"All power is given\nto me in heaven and on earth.\" Paul's teaching harmonizes with this:\n\"For,\" says he, \"in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead\nbodily.\" By the Godhead he means the Divine Head of creation,\nprovidence, redemption and eternal salvation: \"For all things were\nmade by him;\" and as Paul again says: \"In him all things consist,\" or\nhold together.\n\nWe are now prepared to understand how Jesus could know the thoughts of\nmen, and why he needed not that any should testify to him of man, for\nhe knew what was in man. He knew all this by creation and\npreservation, by his power of perception which is boundless, and his\nknowledge which is infinite. Man's body, when viewed intelligently,\nwith its organs of life and motion, is a thing of wonder in our eyes.\nAnatomy reveals in its organs, designs and purposes in their\nstructures and uses which overwhelm us with astonishment. What, then,\nmust the soul be, when its structure and organization, essence and\npower as far exceed those of the body as the man who lives in the\nhouse exceeds the house? For the body is nothing more than the house\nor habitation of the soul. Paul calls it \"our earthly house.\" He says:\n\"In this we groan--it will be dissolved.\" He then immediately turns\nhis thought to the renewed soul or spiritual body, and calls it \"a\nbuilding of God, a house not made with hands.\" All things, then,\npertaining to our souls, being naked and open to the eyes of him with\nwhom we have to do, we may rest secure in the belief that whatever he\ntells us about ourselves is true. He knows just what we can do and\nwhat we cannot do. And it is he who says, \"No man can come to me,\nexcept the Father draw him.\"\n\nBut perhaps some inside this house are saying within themselves: \"Is\nman not free to choose good or evil--to do right or wrong?\" I answer\nthat he is free,--free as the eagle in the air; free as the fox in the\nbramble; free as the lion in the desert; free as birds and beasts are\nfree to comply with the instincts of their natures and the\ninclinations of their wills. Man's freedom is what makes him a\nresponsible being. He is yet more free than the brute creation;\nbecause that is bounded by the limits of capacity. But man's mind is\ncapable of indefinite expansion and elevation in knowledge. Still the\ntext is true: \"No man can come to me, except the Father draw him.\" Let\nme draw a comparison here. A king once made a great supper and invited\nmany to come and partake of it. At the right time he sent forth his\nservants to tell them that were bidden to come, for all things are now\nready. Did they go? No! They all began to make excuses. You see they\nwere free, free to go, and free to stay away. They chose to stay away,\nand in this very way every sinner uses his freedom; he chooses not to\ncome to the Lord.\n\nWhen a man's will or a woman's will is set on something they love\nabove everything else, can they of themselves change their wills? I\nhave known several instances in which a young lady set her affections\nupon a man who was not her equal in any respect, and very far below\nher in general character. I have known the mother of such a lady to\nbend over her daughter, and with tearful eyes entreat her to withdraw\nher affections from that unworthy object and give them to another who,\nin breathless suspense, and with a soul and character and surroundings\nworthy of her, was but waiting to receive them. And did that young\nlady change? Did she withdraw her love from the unworthy object and\ngive it to the other? She did not. Her answer every time was: \"Mother,\nI _cannot_.\" Just in this sense, relatively, the sinner is free. He is\nfree to love most what he likes best, and that is himself and the\nworld. In this state he would forever remain but for \"the grace of God\nwhich bringeth salvation.\" Right here comes in the necessity for the\nchange of heart, the new creation and regeneration, as Paul calls it;\nthe being born again, as the Lord and Peter call it, upon which\neverything depends, and without which no man can enter the kingdom of\nheaven. This is connected with the drawing of the Father, \"for man\nlooketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh upon the\nheart.\"\n\nWhen I was young I could not understand what it is to come to Jesus,\nto be with him, to follow him. I thought I could readily see how\npeople could come to him to be healed, and to be cured of their\ndiseases, and to be fed by his liberal hand, when he was visibly on\nearth in the flesh. But he is no longer here in that form. I was in\ndarkness. My eyes could behold no form which I could approach unto; no\nvisible steps for me to follow; hear no audible voice of comfort to\nencourage, of instruction to enlighten, and of commands to obey.\nWhere, thought I, is he to be found, and how are we to know when we\nhave found him? These and many other similar thoughts occupied my\nmind, until I wondered much why he did not stay when he was here. I\nsuppose that many young but thoughtful minds have wandered, and others\nat the present time are now wandering in this same wilderness of doubt\nand uncertainty. Let me say to you, my dear young friend, that Jesus\nis here as truly now as he was when visible to natural eyes. As God,\nhe is here in his glorified state. To every one who desires him he\nsays in words of warmest love, \"Lo, I am with you alway.\" These are\nhis very words. He is everywhere. He said, just before his death, by\nway of encouraging his disciples: \"I go away, but I will see you\nagain, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away\nfrom you.\" He continued: \"I will not leave you comfortless: I will\ncome unto you.\" But he has promised yet more than his presence to go\nwith all who love him: he declares in words we can understand that \"if\na man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and\nwe will come unto him, and make our abode with him.\" Again he says:\n\"He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit.\" In\nhis last prayer to the Father he says: \"I in them, and thou in me,\nthat they may be perfected into one.\" These promises ought to assure\nevery one of the greatness and the power of the love of Christ; since\nhe loves us so much as to be willing to come and dwell with us and be\nin us forever.\n\nIt is by faith that we come to him. We see him with the eye of faith.\nWe walk with him by faith, not by sight. We love him because he first\nloved us, and gave his life to redeem and save us. All this and much\nmore we learn in his Word. His Word is the Gospel which is able to\nmake us wise unto salvation. Let me exhort all of you, old and young,\nto read and search for its hidden treasures, for therein are contained\nthe words of eternal life. It is the duty and privilege of every one\nto pray. Prayer is the eye that looks to Jesus, and the heart that\nsays: \"Lord, save, or I perish.\" Faith is the hand that lays hold of\nhis saving promises. Obedience is the whole man in active service on\nthe side of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nSUNDAY, March 3. Go to Sellers's schoolhouse. Speak on John 14:6. Dine\nat Felix Senger's; then home.\n\nFelix Senger deserves more than a passing notice. He, with his father,\nJoel Senger, moved to Rockingham County, Virginia, about the year\n1847. Both father and son belonged to the Brotherhood, and each was\nlike the other in devotion to its interests, actively employed. Felix\nestablished a nursery of fruit trees, the second, if not the first,\nestablished in the county. Most of the orchards planted from his\nnursery, after having given the most abundant satisfaction, are now\nvery old or dead. Some trees, though in the decline of life, still\ntell the sweet story of Felix Senger's nursery. They are like some\ngood people, who, though old, can still remember and tell of the one\nwho, though dead, was the means of their being planted in the Lord's\norchard of spiritual fruit trees.\n\nBrother Kline attended the burial services of four aged people in this\nmonth. The first was that of old mother Mills, as he calls her. This\ntook place the fifth. Her age was eighty-one years and eleven months.\nThe next was that of Mrs. John Carr, on the eleventh. Her age was\nseventy-one years. The next was that of Mr. Stern, on the eighteenth.\nHis age was eighty years. The next was that of Alexander Glovier, on\nthe twenty-seventh. His age was seventy-nine years, one month and\ntwenty-four days.\n\nSATURDAY, March 30. Attend council meeting at Shaver's meetinghouse in\nShenandoah County. Samuel Mummert is elected speaker.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 11. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Jacob Wine\nand Jacob Miller are elected delegates to the Annual Meeting.\n\nSATURDAY, April 20. Council meeting at the brick meetinghouse in\nAugusta County. Daniel Brower is established, and Jacob Brower\nadvanced in the ministry.\n\nSUNDAY, May 5. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Romans 6 is read. Joshua\nWampler and wife, Hannah Sites, Mary Miller, Hetty Showalter and Mrs.\nEaton were baptized by me to-day.\n\nTUESDAY, May 7. Perform the marriage ceremony of John Tussing and\nSusan Watkins.\n\nMONDAY, May 13. Visit Mary Wampler, who is very sick. Give her a\ncourse of medicine. Then go to see Christian Fulk in the Gap. He is\nvery sick.\n\nTUESDAY, May 14. Visit Christian Fulk again. He appears some better,\nbut his case is very doubtful.\n\nNOTE.--This brother, after a severe illness, in which he was\nassiduously attended by Brother Kline, was buried June 9 following.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 16. Attend an evening meeting at John Zigler's in\nTimberville. Brother George Shaver is there. He speaks from Acts 2.\n\nSubstance of what he said: The day of Pentecost witnessed the\nestablishment of the first Christian church on earth. The wonderful\nprophecy of Joel received its fulfillment on this day. The sun had\nbeen darkened and the moon turned into blood, or darkened so as to\nappear like black blood; volcanic fire and the vapor of smoke had\nattended the earthquake while the Lord of glory hung upon the cross;\nthe baptism in the Spirit and in the fire was now present; the\napostles were induced with miraculous gifts to speak with other\ntongues; and when Peter and the rest set forth the Lord Jesus in his\nresurrected glory and power, the Jews there assembled, being cut to\nthe heart, cried out: \"Men and brethren, what shall we do?\" The answer\nwhich Peter gave then and there is the true answer to that\nall-important question. I sincerely desire that every unconverted man\nand woman in this house will duly consider the answer, for it may\nredound to the salvation of his or her soul. I will therefore give it\nin the exact words we find recorded. They are these: \"Repent, and be\nbaptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the\nremission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.\"\nNotice here, obedience comes first. The repentance and the baptism\nprecede the gift of the Holy Spirit. God is holy; and the sanctuary\nmust be cleansed before he is willing to set up his glory there. The\nTemple had to be dedicated before the Lord could dwell in it. This\ngift of the Holy Spirit, by which we are to understand his entering\ninto our hearts and making his abode with us, is the beginning of a\nheavenly life in the soul. The fruit of the Spirit, as it appears in\nthe life of its possessor, is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,\ngentleness, kindness, meekness, temperance, brotherly kindness,\ncharity.\n\nThe body of every true follower of Jesus Christ is a temple of the\nHoly Ghost. But I cannot dismiss the subject yet. I have reason to\nbelieve there are some unconverted men and women in this little\nassembly. Were those hearers on that day sinners above all men? \"I\ntell you nay! And except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.\" I\nsometimes think they were not such sinners as many we see around us\nnow. Was it not for these the Lord prayed as he hung upon the cross?\nHear his dying prayer: \"Father, forgive them, for they know not what\nthey do.\" Can this be said of the many who go on heedless of all the\npreaching, and praying and reading that is being done to instruct\ntheir minds and move their hearts? I do not think it can. And it is to\nbe feared that in a coming day the very sinners who go on in sin,\nfacing the very light of gospel day, may be compelled to realize the\nawful truth uttered by our Lord: \"He that knoweth to do his Master's\nwill, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.\"\n\nBut there is glorious news here for every one who is willing to obey.\nThousands of obedient hearts are rejoicing to-night, on earth and in\nheaven, in the happy experiences they have of the presence of the Holy\nSpirit in their souls. This is the good news, this is the Gospel of\ntheir salvation. God is his own witness in every one that loves to\nobey him. \"If ye abide in my words, ye shall know the truth, and the\ntruth shall make you free.\" The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. It\nis the Lord in man as \"the way, the truth and the life.\" \"Ye are God's\nsanctuary: ye are God's building.\" How ineffably exalted is the state\nof that man in whose heart and mind the Lord has fixed his dwelling\nplace! We can not realize the glory that awaits us, when the veil that\nnow hides the inner sanctuary shall drop and disclose to our eyes the\nenraptured vision.\n\nBrethren and sisters, let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due\nseason we shall reap if we faint not. Therefore let us rejoice\nevermore; let us pray without ceasing; and \"in every thing give\nthanks; for this is the will of God concerning us.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, May 23. Perform the marriage ceremony of Christian Runion\nand Diana Estep.\n\nSATURDAY, May 25. Preach the funeral of Elijah Judy's wife. A very\ndear sister whom I lately baptized has left us. But our loss is her\ngain. She was the sister of Enoch and Saul Hyre. She leaves a sad\nhusband and two very fine children, Enoch and Sallie. My prayer for\nthem is that they, with their father, may follow in the steps of their\npious mother and receive her glad welcome\n\n  On the blissful shore,\n  Where partings are no more.\n\nTHURSDAY, July 4. Attend the burial of Peter Driver on the head of\nMuddy Creek, in Rockingham County. His age was eighty-three years and\neight months. He was an honest member of our Brotherhood. His children\nconsisted of four sons and five daughters; and they are now all heads\nof families, doing well, and members of our order of Brethren. Peter\nDriver was a blacksmith. He once related a fact to me which I will\nhere note. \"In my early days,\" said he, \"we knew nothing of binding\nwagon and carriage wheels with a heated tire. I wonder,\" continued he,\n\"that our daily experience in working iron did not teach us that an\niron band or tire is larger when it is hot than when cold. Some may\nhave thought of this,\" he said, smiling, \"but if they did, I guess\nthey were afraid that if they would venture to put on the tire hot,\nthe wheel might be burned up before they could get the tire cooled.\"\nHe was very partial to the German language, and was never known to\nspeak English from choice. Some one once said to him, \"Mr. Driver,\nEnglish people have the same God that German people have.\" \"I believe\nthat; but he speaks to German people in a much plainer way in his Word\nthan he does to English people.\" Of course he could understand German\nbest.\n\nSATURDAY, July 13. Go to Page County. Cross the Massanutton and Peaked\nmountains by what is known as Koontz's Path. Daniel Dovel and John\nHarsbarger are with me. They are very pleasant and cheerful brethren.\nWe spend the night together at Brother William Dovel's.\n\nSUNDAY, July 14. Meeting at Liberty schoolhouse. Isaac N. Walter is\nthere. He is a well-known and very popular preacher in the Christian\nchurch. This is the first time I have ever met with him. He is very\nfriendly and sociable, and will carry an influence wherever he goes.\nHe was at one time a very strong Adventist. He professed to believe in\nour foreknowing the day of our Lord's coming, and announced it as\nbeing very near at hand. Brother Benjamin Bowman told me that on one\noccasion friend Walter announced that he would preach a sermon on the\nsecond advent of Christ, and therein tell the day on which we might\nconfidently expect the Lord to appear in glory, and give the scripture\nevidences on which his proofs rested. This sermon was announced for\nAntioch, a brick meetinghouse belonging to the Christian connection,\nand stood four miles north of Harrisonburg, and not far from where\nBrother Bowman lived. He told me that a large concourse of people was\npresent to hear, and he with the rest. The discourse was eloquent, but\nwith the thoughtful not very convincing. But the day, which Mr. Walter\nhad so confidently set for the appearing of the Lord in glory, passed\nby as all other days pass by, in harmony with all the other notes that\nmake the music of the spheres. Not long after this, the two met in the\nroad. Walter looked a little bashful, but spoke first, and said:\n\"Well, Brother Bowman, I was mistaken.\" \"Yes,\" Brother Bowman replied,\n\"but I had discovered that before you told me.\"\n\nSUNDAY, August 4. Meeting in Elk meetinghouse, in Page County. I speak\nfrom Luke 16:9. TEXT.--\"Make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of\nunrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into\neverlasting habitations.\"\n\nThis is a very remarkable passage of Scripture. My understanding of it\ndiffers a little from that of some of our Brethren, but it is all in\nlove, and each bears with the other's interpretation. I will here give\na brief outline of my view of it. I think the Lord meant to encourage\na very free use of this world's goods in the way of helping the poor,\nespecially those of the household of faith. Through Paul we learn that\nJesus said, \"It is more blessed to give than to receive.\"\n\nChristian people may imitate the unjust steward in this one thing: he\naimed to provide for the future by making use of what was within his\nreach at the present. This may be our Lord's meaning. But he may have\nmeant more. The wealth of some has doubtless been acquired in an\nunrighteous way, while in their unregenerate state, heedless of\nconscience and justice. Such mammon or wealth must be unrighteous,\nbecause unrighteously obtained. Those who have acquired wealth in an\nunjust way, and who afterward repent in heart and see the evil of\ntheir former course, may be deeply distressed, and at the same time\nhave no opportunity to do as Zaccheus did,--make restoration. To such,\nit does appear to me, Jesus would say: \"Let my Father's children have\na share of it. Use it in a way that will glorify him, by helping his\ndear children; and if you fail to be found in the number of those who\nare 'my brethren' at the great day of final accounts, you may still\ncome in as 'the blessed of the Father' and inherit the kingdom\nprepared for you. It will then be my joy to acknowledge you and say:\n'I was hungry, and you fed me; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I\nwas a stranger, and you took me in; I was naked, and you clothed me; I\nwas sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came unto me.'\"\nWhatsoever is done to one of the least of the Lord's brethren he\naccounts it as done to him. Such is the wonderful union and identity\nof the Lord and his people. When Paul was struck down he cried out:\n\"Who art thou, Lord?\" And the answer came: \"I am Jesus of Nazareth,\nwhom thou persecutest.\"\n\nI would earnestly encourage all to go on unto perfection. Then we will\nbe sure of the heavenly inheritance. \"And blessed is she that\nbelieved: for there shall be a performance of those things which were\ntold her from the Lord.\"\n\nFRIDAY, August 9. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize Henry\nSwartz and wife, and Barbara Yount.\n\nSUNDAY, August 31. Meet brethren Daniel P. Saylor and Boyle at\nShaver's meetinghouse, in Shenandoah County.\n\nSUNDAY, September 1. Meeting at same place. The visiting brethren\nspeak to great edification and comfort.\n\nMONDAY, September 2. Meeting at Flat Rock meetinghouse. The visiting\nbrethren are with us, and rivet attention by their able discourses.\nBrother Saylor does not seem to be lifted out of his shoes by the\nencomiums passed upon him. But I suppose he has got used to them.\n\nTUESDAY, September 3. Meeting at our meetinghouse. The visiting\nbrethren with us to-day. They draw large congregations.\n\nTo-day I was somewhat amused at an answer I heard given. Brother Sam\nWampler noticed the deep interest visible in the congregation, and, I\nsuppose, contrasted it in his mind with that manifest on occasions\nwhen none but our home preachers are present. He accosted, in a very\npleasant way, one of the members in these words: \"How does it happen\nthat when I preach you hang your head as if you might be asleep; but\nwhen preachers from a distance come you appear to be all eyes and\nears?\" \"Why,\" replied the brother, \"Sam, when you preach I know it is\ncoming all right whether I hear it or not: but when strange brethren\nget up I do not know what may be coming, and think it best to listen.\"\n\nMONDAY, September 9. This day Brother Kline and Daniel Yount start in\ncompany of each other to Pennsylvania. They went on horseback, out\nthrough the mountains of the western part of Virginia and Maryland.\n\nFRIDAY, September 13, they had meeting at the widow Jacob Snider's in\nthe forenoon, and evening meeting at Brother Jacob Steel's, in Bedford\nCounty, Pennsylvania. On the fourteenth they had meeting at the same\nplace.\n\nSUNDAY, September 15. They had meeting and a love feast at the Yellow\nCreek meetinghouse. On the sixteenth they visit John Deahl's, John\nEschleman's and stay all night at John Brumbaugh's, near Clover Creek\nmeetinghouse, in Blair County, Pennsylvania.\n\nTUESDAY, September 17. They attended a meeting and love feast at the\nClover Creek meetinghouse. John 3 was read. Isaac and George Brumbaugh\nwere established in the ministry of the Word. One person was baptized.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 18. They passed through Martinsburg to Brother\nDavid Allebaugh's, where they had night meeting. Brother Kline had for\nhis subject \"The Importunate Widow, and the Unjust Judge.\"\n\nDIARY NOTES.--We should not conclude from this parable that our\nheavenly Father is compared to an unjust judge who has no regard for\nhis subordinates. This is not at all the point of comparison. We\nshould not let our minds dwell here for a moment, because the contrast\nbetween the character of the judge and that of God is so great that\nthere is no point of similarity.\n\nThe whole lesson, I think, is found in the power of prayer. What moved\nthe judge to grant the widow's request? It was her importunity. But he\ndid this only to get rid of her. It, however, shows what earnestness\nwill do even with an unfeeling man. Here the comparison comes in. If\nan unfeeling man, who has no reverence for God and no regard for the\nwelfare of others, can be influenced to regard the petition of a poor\nwidow, though from a selfish motive, because she will not be put off,\nwhat may we not expect to do by prayer when our Father in heaven is\never ready to hear and answer prayer? He invites us to pray. He says:\n\"Pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in\nsecret, shall reward thee openly.\" We must by no means lose sight of\nthe one great point in the comparison, and that point is the widow's\nEARNESTNESS. Prayer, without earnest feelings of want and dependence\nupon God, is but a form of words, and no prayer at all.\n\nBut let us notice the point in her prayer: \"Avenge me of mine\nadversary.\" Who her adversary was we have no means of knowing, nor how\nhe became her adversary. But we are told who the Christian's adversary\nis. Peter tells us in these words: \"Your adversary, the devil, as a\nroaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.\" The word\nAVENGE means to conquer or destroy an enemy, for the purpose of\nsecuring tranquility to the party avenged. In this sense Moses\n_avenged_ the children of Israel on the Midianites. In the same sense\nAhimaaz said: \"Let me now run, and bear the king tidings, how that the\nLord hath avenged the king of his enemies.\" I think you are now\nprepared to understand what the Lord means by the words: \"And will not\nGod avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him? I tell you\nthat he will avenge them speedily.\"\n\nIt is now understood that the DEVIL, the very vilest and worst of all\ntramps, is the Christian's adversary. But God has promised to avenge\nhim, if he will call upon him in that spirit of earnestness which is\ndeaf to denial, such as the widow had. We must not forget, however,\nthat God, in all he has ever done for man in the way of avenging him\nof his enemies or adversaries, required man's assistance. As Paul puts\nit, we are coworkers with God, and so must we ever be.\n\nLet us now test this matter a little. God is willing to bruise Satan's\nhead under your feet, and thus avenge you of the worst adversary you\nhave ever known. He is at hand, ready, with more than twelve legions\nof angels at his service, if needed. You are sorely tried. You are\ntempted to commit adultery with some one until every nerve in your\nbody trembles from the agony of suspense between conscious right and\nconscious wrong. One deep, fervent prayer from the heart breathed to\nAlmighty God: \"Lord, save, or I perish,\" will avenge you of your\nadversary, will put him to flight, and leave you and God masters of\nthe field. Brethren and friends, this is no idle talk. God will as\nsurely give you the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, as he has\npromised it.\n\nThe Lord says with apparent emphasis: \"Hear what the unjust judge\nsaith.\" There must then be something in it which deeply concerns us to\nknow. Just what I have said is in it, the power of prayer. \"The\neffectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.\"\n\nBut again: You are tempted to do something very sinful, and you seem\nto yourself to try to pray. You feel the serpent's coil about your\nheart drawing tighter and yet tighter, until your spiritual breath\nseems almost gone. I will tell you now just how you have got into this\nfix. You did not look to God soon enough. You put off praying and\nallowed the tempter to twist himself around you in the way he is. Do\nyou ask what you are to do in this case? I will tell you. If you will\njust summon breath and courage to say from your inmost soul: \"God, be\nmerciful to me a sinner,\" your adversary will let go his filthy hold\nof you, and the Lord will set your spirit free. \"God will avenge his\nown elect speedily.\" But they must cry unto him.\n\nI love this word \"cry.\" It carries with it to my mind the cry of an\ninnocent child to its parent, when it fears danger or feels the need\nof something. Brethren, such let our cry to the Lord ever be. There is\nnever any dallying with words in the mouth of a little child. Its\nrequests, though they may not always be wise, are always sincere, and\nsincerity is what the Lord most loves, and hypocrisy is what he most\nabhors. \"Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye can\nnot enter into the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, September 19. They had meeting at a schoolhouse near Brother\nBrumbaugh's. They spent the night at Jacob Burket's. The next day they\ncame to Brother Samuel Coxe's, in Logan's Valley, and spent the\nafternoon in writing letters. I here note an example of Brother\nKline's exactness. He this afternoon wrote a letter to Brother Henry\nKoontz. He notes the main points in the letter. One is that he wants\nBrother Koontz to be at the Flat Rock meetinghouse on December 8, at\n10 o'clock, without fail.\n\nSATURDAY, September 21. They came to Brother Jacob Beck's, and had\nnight meeting in the Baptist meetinghouse near by.\n\nSUNDAY, September 22. _Delightful morning._ This is the first entry\nfor the day. Brother Kline was not unappreciative of the beautiful.\nThis must have been one of those bright and balmy mornings witnessed\nonly in September months, and rarely then. Nature is in her calmest\nmood. Summer is just bidding farewell, with a smile of promise that he\nwill return again, and as a proof of his good will lays all the rich\ntreasures he has gathered for us into the lap of Autumn, who is at\nhand to receive them.\n\nWe have morning and afternoon services in the Baptist church here. In\nthe morning meeting \"The Strait Gate\" is the subject. In the\nafternoon, \"The Departure of Paul.\" Acts 20:36, 37. TEXT.--\"And when\nhe had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all. And they\nall wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him.\"\n\nThe first impression made on the mind upon reading this text is the\ngreat love which these tender-hearted disciples had for Paul. But we\nneed not be surprised at this, when we remember the great love which\nthe tender-hearted Paul had for them. The elders of the church at\nEphesus, and probably many of the sisters and lay brethren, had come\nto Miletus to have Paul take affectionate leave of them before taking\nsail for Jerusalem. He also desired to give them a parting exhortation\nand offer prayer with them on their behalf. The words of the\nexhortation are recorded in the chapter read, but the words of the\nprayer are not. We are not sure that the prayer was audible. It is\npossible to think they all kneeled together and thus prayed with and\nfor each other, but mostly for Paul. From the secret chambers of their\nhearts the still small voice of loving prayer ascended to the ear of\nhim whose throne is heaven, and whose footstool is earth. Be this as\nit may, the prayer was earnest, and the exhortation gladly received:\n\"For they all wept sore, and fell upon Paul's neck, and kissed him,\nsorrowing most of all that they should see his face no more.\" Who of\nus, Brethren, has not prayed at the departure of one we dearly loved?\nAs you take the hand probably for the last time, and give the last\ntouch of the lips, who can withhold prayer--prayer from the inmost\ndepths of the soul? As the receding form fades from sight, how the\nheart swells with emotions of prayer for blessings upon the departing\none, altogether too big for utterance. Such were the feelings of these\nsorrowing disciples at the departure of Paul.\n\nBrethren, the account here given shows the love in which the truth was\nreceived in that day. Paul here says: \"I have not shunned to declare\nunto you the whole counsel of God.\" This means a great deal. Oh, how\nmany, many at the present day fear to declare the whole counsel of\nGod! And it is a sad truth, or at least I believe it to be true, that\nif a minister in almost any of the so-called orthodox churches would\nhave the courage, from a sheer sense of duty, to declare the whole\ncounsel of God in the ears of his congregation, instead of falling on\nhis neck and kissing him at his departure, they would be heartily glad\nto get rid of him. But, Brethren, I am persuaded better things of you,\nand things which accompany salvation. Our love for the truth, the\nwhole truth, and nothing but the truth, is our best evidence, when\nthat truth is lived out in a life of obedience to the Lord's precepts,\nthat we are walking with God in the fellowship of the Spirit. So let\nus ever walk.\n\nMONDAY, Sept 23. They went through Huntingdon City, in Huntingdon\nCounty, Pennsylvania, and got to Brother Michael Bolinger's, where\nthey had evening meeting in a schoolhouse near by, and stayed all\nnight at Brother Bolinger's. Next day they took dinner at Brother\nAndrew Spanogle's, and got to the meetinghouse at one o'clock. Meeting\nand love feast. Luke 24 is read. They stay all night at Brother\nUmbenhaver's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 25. They have meeting at the meetinghouse.\nHebrews 10 is read. Brother Michael Bolinger was this day ordained to\nthe full work of the gospel ministry. May the Lord bless the good\nbrother in his work. They had night meeting at Brother Samuel Myers's\nin Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, where they stayed all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 26. They had a union meeting at Brother George\nKeever's, and stayed all night with Brother Keever.\n\nFRIDAY, September 27. They attended a council meeting before\npreaching. Brother Abraham Rothrock was this day ordained to the full\nwork of the gospel ministry; and Brother Jacob Mohler was advanced.\nThe visiting brethren spoke on the text: \"My kingdom is not of this\nworld.\" Night meeting was appointed, but owing to a violent storm of\nhail and rain no people assembled.\n\nSATURDAY, September 28. They got to Brother Jacob Royer's, in Union\nCounty, Pennsylvania, where they stayed all night. Clear and cool.\n\nSUNDAY, September 29. Meeting begins at half past nine o'clock. Union\nmeeting this evening.\n\nMONDAY, September 30. The vote of the church was taken before\npreaching, and Brother Isaac Myers and Brother John Sprogle were\nordained to the full work of the gospel ministry. They attended a\nnight meeting in a schoolhouse near Brother Christian Shiveley's, and\nstayed with him all night. They are still in Union County,\nPennsylvania.\n\nTUESDAY, October 1. They went to Brother Christian Shallaberger's, in\nJuniata County, Pennsylvania, where they attended night meeting and\nBrother Daniel Yount spoke from Eph. 2:8, 9, 10. He explained the\nmeaning of the word GRACE, that it is the love of God for the\nundeserving of his love. He defined FAITH as being a loving acceptance\nof God's revealed truth: that faith is the gift of God only this far,\nthat he tells man what he is to believe and how he is to believe, that\nthe Gospel of our salvation is what man is to believe; that he is to\nbelieve with the heart, with all his heart: that the new man, the\nregenerated man, is God's workmanship, created unto good works. He\ncarried out all his points very ably, and left a good impression.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 2. They attended a union meeting in Good Will\nmeetinghouse.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 3. They attended a council meeting in the forenoon\nat the meetinghouse. Brother David Myers was ordained to the full work\nof the ministry, and Brother Solomon Seever was chosen speaker. They\nhad night meeting at Thomsonsville, and stayed all night at Brother\nSolomon Seever's.\n\nFRIDAY, October 4. They had meeting in a schoolhouse near Brother\nPool's on the Juniata river; then night meeting at Brother Jacob\nSpanogle's, where they stayed all night.\n\nSATURDAY, October 5. They had meeting in a schoolhouse near by. They\nstayed all night at Brother Peter Long's near Germantown, in Perry\nCounty, Pennsylvania.\n\nSUNDAY, October 6. Meeting in the Methodist meetinghouse in\nGermantown. Brother Kline spoke on Luke 24:48. TEXT.--\"And ye are\nwitnesses of these things.\"\n\nIt is a happy but not uncommon experience with Christians, when\nreading the Divine Word, to receive some new thought, or see some new\ntruth by the reading of the most familiar passages. In this particular\nthe Book of Revelation is like the book of nature. The treasures of\nknowledge in both are inexhaustible; but they do not come to us, we\nmust go to them. \"And ye are witnesses of these things.\"\n\n\"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.\"\n\"The Word was God.\" \"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of\nprophecy.\" These Scriptures, in their most comprehensive sense,\ninclude the all of the divine manifestation in the flesh. The Lord is\nthe life of all the things written in the law of Moses, and in the\nprophets, and in the Psalms. Their spirit, or spiritual significance\nis all confined to the testimony they bear to the Emmanuel, the God\nwith us. Hence \"the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,\"\nvery much as the spirit of man is the life of his body. In the early\npart of his ministry he had told these very disciples that he came to\nfulfill the law and the prophets. He fulfilled the law of the\nDecalogue or Ten Commandments to the extent of every jot and tittle,\nfrom its lowest natural to its highest spiritual requirement and\nsignificance. The prophecies likewise all centered in him, and found\nin him their fulfillment; not, however, in their fullest development,\nfor eternity alone will witness this; but they disclose in him their\nspirit and life. \"Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to\nsuffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance\nand remission of sins should be preached in his name among all\nnations, beginning at Jerusalem.\"\n\nThese eleven disciples, from this time on to do the work of apostles,\nhad been with the Lord in nearly all of his public ministry and life.\nThey knew how he had overcome in temptation; how victorious he had\nbeen in his conflicts with the accusing and fault-finding Jews, and\nhow patient and forgiving he had been in his trial before Pilate and\nthe high priest. They were witnesses of the purity of his character\nand life; of the disinterested love he bore toward all within his\nreach; of the good will toward men manifested by his going about doing\ngood wherever he went. But the point above all other points in his\ncharacter in which all poor sinners are most deeply interested is the\nduty and work he here laid upon these eleven apostles: the commission\nhe gave them, that repentance and remission of sins should be preached\nin his name. They were witnesses of his mercy so often shown to\nsinners of the lowest and vilest character. Did he ever send one away\nempty? If you will read the four Gospels in which are recorded the\nlife of Jesus Christ you may be surprised to see how often he said,\n\"Thy sins are forgiven.\" Once when he was in a Pharisee's house a\nwoman in the city, who was a sinner, washed his feet with her tears of\npenitence, and he said: \"Her sins which are many are forgiven.\" Some\npeople brought to him a man sick of the palsy lying on a bed. And\nJesus seeing their faith said to the sick of the palsy: \"Son, be of\ngood cheer; thy sins are forgiven.\" This man's sins were remitted,\nbecause remitted and forgiven have the same meaning.\n\nI must here call special attention to one point in all the miracles of\nhealing wrought by the Lord, and that point has relation to the cause\nof all our woe. It is the sin of man. To the impotent man who had lain\nby the pool thirty and six years, unable to get in, after being\nhealed, the Lord when he met him in the Temple said: \"Sin no more,\nlest a worse thing come upon thee.\" Paul says: \"By one man sin entered\ninto the world, and death by sin.\" Death of the body is the point at\nwhich all diseases, ailments and infirmities aim; and the death, the\neternal death, of the soul is the point at which all sins aim. \"Death\nis the wages of sin.\" \"And ye are witnesses of these things.\" In\nrelieving insane, idiotic, epileptic and dumb people of the mental\nailments afflicting them, he always removed the cause by casting out\nthe devils or evil spirits as the cause of their troubles.\n\nI know that some people doubt or disbelieve that sin is the cause of\nall suffering. I have met such. They freely aver that this cannot be\nso, because the brute creation suffers, which they say is sinless. It\nis a well conceded fact that brutes are not accountable. They have no\nfuture state of existence. They lack that freedom of the will to\nchoose good or evil, and that understanding to know good from evil,\nboth of which man has in unlimited possession. Still, brutes are\nsubject in a low degree to the very same vile passions, the indulgence\nof which in man becomes sin to him. And why? Because man is destined\nto live to eternity, in another state of existence. If man's existence\nwere to terminate with the life of his body, his sins, although of a\nsomewhat viler character than those of the brute creation, would be of\nno more account. The Lord sent out his apostles, and in their steps\nothers to follow, whose great business it was, has been, and ever will\nbe to tell people that they are sinners; that sin is the cause of all\nthe misery, wretchedness, suffering and unhappiness in earth and hell,\nand that the only way for people to be rid of the multiform evils of\nexistence is to be rid of sin.\n\nSalvation from sin, then, is immensely the most important matter that\ncan possibly engage man's heartfelt attention, as I said at the start.\nHow to get rid of the evil of sin--I mean the love of evil--and how to\ncome into the possession of the love of what is good, and as a result\nof that love lead a good life, is the sum and substance of all divine\nteaching. And why? Because a man's character, whether good or bad,\ngoes with him when he dies. Character is the only thing we do take\nwith us when we leave this world and enter the next. \"He that soweth\nto the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to\nthe Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.\" \"Whatsoever a\nman soweth the same shall he reap,\" is a law as immutable as the law\nof gravitation. Our Lord has mercifully opened up a way, a highway,\nout of a life of sin into a life of holiness. The first step in this\nway, nay, the first step towards it, is _repentance_. This involves a\nvery great change in the state of man's will or heart. Heart and will\nhave the same meaning. Repentance is a change in the affections of the\nheart. It is a change so great that man of himself, unaided by the\nLord, would never make it. It is a change from the supreme love of\nself and the world to love of the Lord and one's neighbor. \"Except a\nman deny himself, and take up his cross daily, he cannot be my\ndisciple.\" Self-denial and bearing the cross are repentance.\n\n\"If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his father, and mother, and\nwife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life\nalso, he cannot be my disciple.\" All these relationships symbolize\nevil affections and thoughts which are to be no longer loved. The\nwithdrawal of the affections from all our inherited and acquired evils\nis repentance. If the right hand be in the way of our repentance, it\nmust be cut off. If the right eye cause us to stumble, it must be\nplucked out.\n\nBut it will not do to leave the matter thus. The quotations and\nreferences I have given are so strong they almost overwhelm us. We\nalmost cry out when we hear or read them, as the disciples did when\nthe Lord had just told them of the impossibility of a rich man's\nentering the kingdom of heaven: \"Who then can be saved?\" But I give\nyou the same answer the Lord gave the disciples: \"With men this is\nimpossible: but with God all things are possible.\" It is the Lord who\ngives us the power to repent. Bartimeus could not see until the Lord\nopened his eyes. But when he called, the Lord heard. So we must call.\n\"And whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.\"\nThis is faith; and I may here add the Lord's words: \"I am come a light\ninto the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in\ndarkness.\" But remission of sins is as sure to follow true repentance\nas day is sure to follow the darkest night. \"Every good tree bringeth\nforth good fruit.\" Remission of sins, and a life of good works, is the\nfruit borne by the penitent man symbolized by a good tree. And what\ndoes remission of sins imply? It implies casting our sins behind us;\nforsaking them; leaving them off, and not looking back. It implies\nputting one's hand to the plow in a new field of life and labor, and\nnever looking back. \"He that putteth his hand to the plow, and looketh\nback, is not fit for the kingdom.\" Looking back with a longing eye, as\nLot's wife did, is sure proof that we have not fairly remitted our\nsins in heart, but that we still love them.\n\nI perceive from the expression of some faces that surprise is felt at\nmy intimation that man remits his own sins. But he does as truly as he\ndestroys the grass from among his corn or the weeds from his garden.\nGod gives him the strength and the will to do both, but man has his\nwork to do. He must be a coworker with God. Would there be any good in\nblind eyes being restored to sight, unless man would be willing to see\nwith them? Or any good in palsied arms made strong, unless they were\nused to do good? Or any good in having the whole leprous body\ncleansed, unless the cleansed man would return to give glory to God?\n\nIsaiah's very first vision of the church called forth that wonderful\nexclamation: \"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your\ndoings from before mine eyes: cease to do evil; learn to do well.\"\nThis, when done, is the remission of sins. It is sending them back, to\nthe rear; while we have the Lord always before our eyes. He said to\nthe blind Pharisees: \"Cleanse first the INSIDE of the cup and the\nplatter, that the outside may be clean also.\" Paul says: \"Let us\ncleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and SPIRIT.\" James\nsays: \"Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye\ndouble minded.\" Does not all this look as if man had a good deal to do\nwith the remission of his sins?\n\nIt is natural, or, rather, it is in harmony with God's order in the\ncreation of man, for him to desire to have a part and lot in all the\nLord does for him. He enjoys most the fruit of trees planted by his\nown hands. A lady appreciates the garden or lawn arranged and set\naccording to her taste, and cultivated by her hands. God mercifully\nfavors us with similar feelings in making good, pure-minded,\ntruth-loving, faithful men and women of his intelligent creation. With\nthis intention he has given man special work and ways of manifesting\nhis will to work with the Lord. The only ordinance of this kind which\nI will call your attention to to-day is that of baptism for the\nremission of sins. It is also called the washing of regeneration. As\nthe Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, the three eternal and\ninfinite essentials of the Divine Trinity, all have part in man's\nrepentance, in the remission of his sins, as well as in the\nregeneration of his will unto eternal life, BAPTISM in water, in each\nof the three names, is enjoined in our Lord's great commission. \"Go ye\ninto all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing\nthem in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy\nGhost.\"\n\nAs an order of Christian Brethren, we hold that a threefold immersion\nof the body in water by a properly authorized administrator is\nnecessary to fulfill the requirement of the great commission. As\nwater, in its highest and divinest significance, symbolizes all the\nholy means by which man is enabled to renounce and remit his sins, so\nbaptism symbolizes his heartfelt acceptance of and submission to those\nmeans. From this it is called the baptism of repentance first, and,\nlater on, as the truth became clearer, it is called baptism for the\nremission of sins. As additional light was still thrown upon man's\nsalvation, a light which Nicodemus could not see, baptism acquired a\nnew significance, described by Paul as \"the washing of regeneration.\"\n\nAlmost unwittingly we now find a threefold significance in the\nordinance. It symbolized first, in the ministry of John, repentance\ntoward God the Father. But after the martyrdom of John no baptism was\nadministered until the day of Pentecost, when it received its full\nsignificance. As Peter had experienced so much of the evil of sin and\nthe joy of forgiveness, it symbolized to his mind the remission of\nsins. He was right. Paul was the unbelieving, educated Jew, whose\nheart was so set against the Lord that after his conversion he felt\nhimself to be a new man, with a new name; and in his letter to Titus\nhe calls it \"the washing of regeneration.\" Thus we have a threefold\nsignificance of the ordinance, as well as a threefold act. Anyone,\nthen, whether fully conscious of the truth or not, says, by submitting\nto the ordinance, \"I have repented of my sins; I have forsaken my sins\nand desire to keep them forever behind me; I desire to walk in newness\nof life. I accept the love of the Father, the truth of the Son, and\nthe power of the Holy Ghost by which I have been taken 'out of death\ninto life,' and from the power of Satan to God; my feet set into the\nway of holiness, and a 'new song put into my mouth, even praises unto\nour God.'\"\n\nThe two brethren had night meeting at John Eby's, where they stayed\nall night.\n\nMONDAY, October 7. They got to Brother David Kinsey's, in Franklin\nCounty, Pennsylvania.\n\nTUESDAY, October 8. They had night meeting at Brother Jacob Rile's.\n\nThe next day they joined company with brethren Christian Long and John\nGlock, who come up the Shenandoah Valley with them to Brother Kline's\nhome, which they reached Saturday, October 12.\n\nOn December 8 Brother Kline started to Baltimore. He went partly on a\nvisit to his relative, Michael B. Kline, who was, at this time, a very\nprosperous commission merchant in the city. Brother Kline spent about\nsix days in Baltimore this time; and whilst hardly any one else would\nhave thought of anything beyond the pleasure of the visit and a little\nbusiness to be attended to, he must have a gathering and preach. He\nmade his voice heard time and again. No doubt many heard what they had\nnever heard before--the truth. On his return home, he stopped in\nWashington City and had a pleasant interview with President Fillmore.\n\nIn the year 1850 Brother Kline traveled 4,070 miles. He preached\nthirty-one funeral sermons. Twelve of these were for persons over\nfifty years of age; seven, for persons between twenty and fifty; and\ntwelve for persons under twenty. He delivered one hundred and ten\nsermons at appointments for preaching, besides the many councils and\nother meetings attended. When at home he was also called to administer\nmedicine to the sick. This service and the ministry kept him actively\nemployed almost the whole of his time.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 9. Perform the marriage ceremony of Conrad Custer\nand Nancy Shoemaker; also the same for George Hulvey and Diana Turner.\n\nTUESDAY, February 11. Perform the marriage ceremony of Jackson See and\nBettie Whitmore.\n\nTHURSDAY, February 20. Perform the marriage ceremony of Solomon Hulvey\nand Catharine Ritchie.\n\nMONDAY, February 24. A fearful storm unroofs part of my barn to-day.\n\nSATURDAY, March 8. Council meeting at Beaver Creek meetinghouse. The\nchurch has under consideration the matter of preparing for Annual\nMeeting to be held at the Brick meetinghouse, near Christian Kline's,\non Middle river in Augusta County, Virginia, to begin Saturday, June\n7, 1851.\n\nSUNDAY, March 9. Meeting at the Beaver Creek meetinghouse. First Peter\n1 is read. Afternoon meeting in Bridgewater, in the Lutheran church.\nSpeak on John 3:29. TEXT.--\"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom:\nbut the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him,\nrejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy\ntherefore is fulfilled.\"\n\nThis is a wonderful testimony, borne by John the Baptist. It at once\nshows the love which that wonderfully great and good man had for the\nLord, and at the same time his own deep humility of heart in his\npresence. And the Lord's testimony concerning John given in these\nwords, \"He was a burning and a shining light,\" is equally wonderful,\nand carries with it the great love he had for John.\n\nJohn had many friends. All held him to be a prophet of extraordinary\ncharacter; and if his popularity had tended to corrupt the honest\nsimplicity of his heart he would not have borne this testimony to\nJesus. But he goes still further in his disavowal of all claim to\npreferment by confessing and not denying that he is not the Christ. He\nsays: \"He must increase, but I must decrease.\" Jesus was the sun\nrising in his splendor; John the moon paling in his light.\n\nThe church is the bride. The Lord is the bridegroom. \"He that hath the\nbride is the bridegroom.\" There is a doctrine of deep interest\ninvolved in John's testimony. It concerns every one of us to know it.\nIt is the relation subsisting between the Lord and the church. This\nrelation is represented as that existing between husband and wife, the\nvery nearest that can subsist between two human beings--the\nunification of one with the other to the extent that they are no more\ntwain, but one flesh. Reference to this relation of the church to the\nLord is to be found in the Scriptures at several places. Isaiah\nprophesying the glory of the true Christian church exclaims: \"For as\nthe bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over\nthee.\"\n\nBut it is consistent and proper for a bride to adorn herself\npreparatory to her marriage. But even for this occasion she should be\narrayed in modest apparel, as becometh saints. But God recognizes the\npropriety of suitable ornamentation, and uses it as a figure in these\nwords: \"My soul will greatly rejoice in the Lord, for he hath clothed\nme with the garments of salvation, as a bride adorneth herself with\nher jewels.\" The garments of salvation beautifully symbolize the holy\nlife of God's saints, and correspond to the fine linen, clean and\nwhite, in which the bride, the Lamb's wife, is arrayed, as described\nby John in the Apocalypse. Her jewels correspond to the divine truths\nof the Word, which ornament a good life.\n\nI will now offer some practical thoughts on what I have stated, so as\nto draw the attention of your minds more closely to the subject. Some\npeople seem to think it a matter of small moment whether one makes a\npublic profession of religion or not. Such seem to satisfy their minds\nby concluding that God knows what is in their hearts, and that the\nchurch has no business to concern itself about them. They think they\ncan live as good and as pure lives out of the church as in it. This\nlast conclusion may be correct, for many do not live very pure or good\nlives _in_ the church. But all this has nothing to do with God's\nestablished order. A man might say: \"I love that lady, and with her\nconsent I will live a virtuous life with her. But I do not intend to\nmarry her after the ceremonial style of most people. Marriage\nceremonies are useless, and with her consent we will just go together\nas husband and wife, and so live; and whose business is it but our\nown?\" In the first place I have to say, that if two could be found who\nwere willing to go together and live in this way, if they were not in\nsome way severely punished, they might thank their good stars for it.\nIn the next place I have to say that such cohabitation would wholly\nsubvert the order of society by giving loose reins to lust which would\nbreak in upon the legal relationships of the social compact to an\nextent that would place us on a social level with the aborigines of\nAmerica.\n\nAnd what would the Lord's kingdom be without a visible church? He\nsays: \"My kingdom is not of this world.\" His kingdom being essentially\ninvisible, it remains a matter of necessity that there be some way for\nmaking its subjects visible to one another as such, and capable of\nbeing recognized and known as such.\n\nOur Lord says: \"The kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation; for\nlo! the kingdom of heaven is within you.\" Now, we cannot look into a\nman's heart. All we can know of a man's heart is from what he says and\ndoes. But the Lord has established an order for the subjects of his\nkingdom. He has proclaimed a law, call it a ceremonial law if you\nchoose, by obedience to which all the subjects of his kingdom on earth\nmay be found out and become known to each other. That law is the\nLord's will made visible in the order of his brethren, carried out in\nthe forms of church organization by means of established ordinances\nappointed by him. The Lord does not want his bride to wander through\nearth's vanities a viewless, inactive, unprotected entity:\n\n  Doing nothing for his cause,\n  Learning nothing of his laws;\n\nbut he wants her to appear \"all glorious within\" and without; \"bright\nas the sun, fair as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners.\"\n\nI have been accused by some of never preaching a sermon without having\nsomething to say about baptism, as if discoursing on that subject\nmight be criminal in their eyes. I can boldly say I do not like to\nclose a sermon without saying something about it, because baptism in\nwater, as the door to the visible church, has so much significance in\nit that I do not feel as if I had fully discharged my duty to the\nsouls of men without it. But I am not altogether singular in this\nrespect. I have some very good company. John the Baptist had _baptism_\nin two of his sermons. Peter the apostle had _baptism_, in two out of\nthree of his sermons. Ananias had _baptism_ in the sermon he preached\nto Saul, and that in a shape altogether too strong for many, as that\nSaul should wash away his sins in it. Philip had _baptism_ in his\nsermon to the eunuch, and Paul had _baptism_ in his joyful\nanticipations of heavenly glory, and calls it the washing of\nregeneration; and in fact he laid strong emphasis on it in his answer\nto the Philippian jailer's question, \"What shall I do to be saved?\"\nBut the Lord's sermon to Nicodemus gives the crown to _baptism_ as the\nvisible birth into the visible church. He calls it \"born of\nwater,\"--internally born of the Spirit, externally born of water. So\nyou see, friends, I have plenty of company in this line of preaching,\nand good company too.\n\nBaptism, as the visible ceremony of union of the penitent, believing,\nloving candidate with the church, and of the church with the Lord as\nhis bride, holds the same rank in its relation to the Divine Law as\nthe ceremony of marriage holds to human law. Both are simple in form,\nyet both are absolutely essential to order and an orderly life both in\na religious and social sense. The ordinance of marriage and that of\nbaptism compare remarkably in another point of view. Both cement a\nunion to be dissolved only in death. Both have the stamp of the divine\nseal, impressed by the Lord's hand, engraven with the words: \"WHAT GOD\nHATH JOINED TOGETHER, LET NOT MAN PUT ASUNDER.\"\n\nNow, friends, let me beg you to take the Lord's way. He invites you\naffectionately to come and take his yoke upon you. Learn to work in\nhis vineyard. Your own heart is a vineyard which the Lord will own if\nyou will but give it to him: and he will help you to keep it clean. He\nwill give you richly to enjoy the first ripe grapes of a good life\nlived in his service. But remember: \"He that is ashamed of me and of\nmy words, of him will the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in\nhis Father's glory, and the glory of the holy angels.\" Then why not\ncome into the church? None are too poor to come. It costs no money or\ngoods. Why not please your King by visibly becoming his subject? Why\nnot honor your Lord by obeying his commands? Why not glorify your\nHusband by publicly taking to yourself his name and living henceforth\na holy and virtuous life in his sight?\n\nTUESDAY, March 25. Aunt Mary Kline, Uncle Frederick Kline's widow, was\nburied to-day. Age, seventy-two years, eleven months and five days.\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 26. Attend the funeral of Giles Devier's little\nchild. It was buried at our meetinghouse. Age, one year, five months\nand sixteen days. It is a pretty thought that angels may gather little\nchildren from the arms of their parents, as love plucks roses from\ntheir parent stems. \"Of such is the kingdom of heaven.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, March 27. Perform the marriage ceremony of Robert Allison\nand Mary Kline, daughter of Joseph Kline.\n\nTUESDAY, April 1. William Smith took leave of us for his new home in\nIllinois.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 9. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. John\nWine is elected speaker.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 10. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Christian\nWine is elected speaker.\n\nFRIDAY, April 18. Council meeting at Lost River meetinghouse. Jacob\nPope is advanced. His work in the ministry is very acceptable to the\nBrotherhood as far as known.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 24. I am sick. Erysipelas right bad.\n\nFor the next six days Brother Kline is confined to his room. Dr. Jacob\nDriver, a very well informed and successful Botanic Physician, is\ncalled to the case. His treatment is so judicious and active that by\nThursday, May 1, Brother Kline is able to ride out. Dr. Jacob Driver\nwas born and raised in Rockingham County, Virginia. He gave rise to a\nnumerous family, and in the autumn of 1852 moved and settled in Allen\nCounty, Ohio. His children all became members of the order of the\nBrethren. His son Jacob is now an active minister in the Sugar Creek\ncongregation in the above County. Dr. Jacob Driver died in Allen\nCounty about the year 1867, deeply lamented by all who knew him. He\nand his wife, in their early days, became members of the Brotherhood.\nHe was a son of Peter Driver, a brief notice of whom has been given.\n\nTUESDAY, June 3. Meeting and love feast at our meetinghouse.\nRevelation 2 is read.\n\nSATURDAY, June 7. Meeting in the grove near the Brick meetinghouse, on\nMiddle river. Many people gathering. Acts 3 is read. From present\nappearances there will be a very large concourse of people at this\nAnnual Meeting.\n\nSUNDAY, June 8. Meeting in the meetinghouse and also in the grove.\n\nMONDAY, June 9. The Yearly Council opens. Take in the questions.\nTransact some business. Good order prevails, and a spirit of love and\nunion abounds. If by these meetings we can foster and preserve the\nunity of the faith and order of our beloved Brotherhood, so that\nwherever we may go among our Brethren we may be able to see eye to eye\nand face to face as to the doctrines we preach and the order of\nChristian life we uphold, our highest aim will have been reached. It\nmay be that as time goes on and knowledge is increased new things will\ncome up demanding consideration; but I sincerely hope and pray no\ndepartures from what we now regard with so much love and unanimity as\nthe will of the Lord will ever take place.\n\nTUESDAY, June 10. All the queries and business items left over from\nyesterday are taken up and disposed of to-day. The Annual Meeting\nbreaks up in good feeling, but with the sad forecast that some present\nto-day will never attend another Yearly Meeting. Be it so. In heaven\nno farewell tears are shed. It is not the parting that makes one sad.\nIt is the how and the where and the when we shall meet again that\nbreak up the fountains of our hearts.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 11. Meeting in the Methodist church in Harrisonburg.\nBrother Daniel P. Saylor spoke on the Great Commission, Matt. 28:19,\n20. He showed great boldness of speech. He shuns not to declare the\nwhole counsel of God. Many were present to hear a sermon from a\nminister of our faith for the first time in their life. I have\nsometimes feared that Brother Saylor's love for souls is at times\nobscured by the severity of his speech in the stand, and by the\nausterity of his manner among the people. Whilst Christian propriety\ndoes set limits to \"becoming all things to all men,\" still, as far as\nconsistency will allow, God's ministers should show great love for the\npeople in their associations with them. Some preachers, I believe, do\nmore good out of the stand than in it. They do this by little acts of\nkindness and little words of love.\n\nBetween the last date above given and the thirtieth day of July,\nBrother Kline preached ten funeral discourses, each of which was\ndelivered on the day of burial. Paul uttered a great truth when he\nsaid: \"It is appointed unto men ONCE to die.\" But only once. If they\ndie a _second death_, it is their fault. The death of the body is the\nonly death ever _appointed_ unto men.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 6. Attend the funeral of Nimrod Dove. Age,\nforty-eight years, eleven months and thirteen days. Nimrod Dove was a\npatient and persevering school-teacher. Some, who are now young, will\ndoubtless remember him gratefully when they are old.\n\nFRIDAY, August 8. Harvest thanksgiving in our meetinghouse. Betty Frey\nis baptized.\n\nSUNDAY, August 17. Meeting in Andrew Chapel in Harrisonburg. Good\nattention. Stay all night at Christian Myers's, near head of\nLinville's Creek. I spoke to-day on Luke 14:10, from this clause:\n\"Friend, go up higher.\" This is what the Lord says to every one who\ncomes to the gospel feast in that spirit of deep humility and\nself-abasement that is willing to take the lowest place. God's people\ngo up higher when they arise to walk in newness of life. When they add\nto their faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge\ncharity. They go up higher as they increase their knowledge of his\nWord, in the love of its saving truth. They go up higher as they love\nGod and their neighbor more.\n\nThe love of self and the world attracts man downward into the foul\npits of vice, immorality, intemperance, gambling, profanity, anger,\njealousy, worldly fashions, and all the forms and phases of evil. God\nwould have men come out of these horrible pits, wash themselves in the\npure water of his Word, and take a lowly seat at his table. Then with\njoy he will say to each: \"Friend, go up higher.\"\n\nThese are the outlines of my discourse to-day. The Editor would love\nto expand the rich thoughts, condensed in these outlines, into an\nelaborate discourse in exact accord with what he feels sure the\nbeloved brother said, but the limits of this work forbid.\n\nSUNDAY, September 21. Meeting in our meetinghouse. I this day baptize\nNoah Frey and wife; Isaac Smith and wife; Widow Dove; Mrs. Bulger and\nBarbara Baker.\n\nMONDAY, September 22. Brother Kline started to Maryland. The Diary\nshows many meetings, councils and love feasts attended. On\n\nFRIDAY, September 26, he assisted at the ordination of Brother\nChristian Keafer to the full work of the ministry. Brother McCleningen\nwas elected speaker. This service was in the Welsh Run congregation,\nnear Brother William Engel's. He speaks of union meetings in which he\nserved, at different places, but does not say a word further about\nthem, as to why they were so called or for what particular object they\nwere held.\n\nTUESDAY, September 30. He attended a union meeting in the Beaver Creek\nmeetinghouse, in which he served; and on\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 1, he attended a union meeting in Welty's\nmeetinghouse, in which Brother Shaver served.\n\nAfter attending several other meetings and making many visits, he\nstarted for home, where he arrived October 5.\n\nTUESDAY, October 28. Attend the funeral of Sister Gibbons. She died\nyesterday at the home of her son Samuel Gibbons, near Luray, Page\nCounty, Virginia. She grew old in years, but the service of the Lord\nwas not old in her heart. She passed from labor to reward at the high\nage of ninety-one years, lacking nineteen days.\n\nWEDNESDAY, November 12. Brother Kline started on another journey to\nHardy and Hampshire Counties. He held a night meeting at James Stump's\nin Hardy; preached the funeral sermon of Brother Solomon Arnold; held\na union meeting at Brother Benjamin Leatherman's; attended morning\nmeeting on\n\nSATURDAY, November 15, at the meetinghouse; and held night service at\nJoseph Arnold's.\n\nSUNDAY, November 16. He had forenoon meeting at William George's and\nnight meeting at Solomon Michael's. He filled six other appointments\nbetween this, and his return home, where he arrived Friday, November\n21. I find extended outline notes of but one sermon preached on this\njourney. These I will here put in as good shape as I can. He delivered\nthis sermon at Jacob Keplinger's, in the Gap, the night before he got\nhome. Jacob Keplinger was a Lutheran himself, and the sermon was\npreached right in a community of people of the same faith. But they\nhad respect for Brother Kline. The religious warmth of his heart and\nthe purity and simplicity of his life won for him the esteem and\nfriendship of people wherever he went.\n\n    TEXT.--The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither\n    shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom\n    of God is within you.--Luke 17:20, 21.\n\nPeople never grow entirely out of their childhood feelings. We\nnaturally incline to value most what our eyes can see and our hands\nhandle. Our natures are so sentient that objects of sense please us\nbest. It is from this that object lessons attract the young. They can\nbest apprehend what their senses can grasp. It is very difficult for\nthe mind to grasp abstract truth. But right here lies the basis of all\ntrue education. The power to comprehend truth in the abstract, to take\nhold of its ramifications as subjects of thought, and reduce them to\norder in the mind, so as to develop and give them concrete form for\npractical ends in life, is education.\n\nThe Pharisees wanted a sign. Even Herod hoped to see some miracle done\nby the Lord. The reply of Jesus to the Pharisees was that \"an evil and\nadulterous generation seeketh after a sign.\" And now they want to know\nwhen his kingdom will come. My text is the Lord's answer. \"The kingdom\nof God cometh not with observation.\" It is not something\nrepresentative, with visible outlines and surfaces that you can\nperceive by means of your senses. It is altogether invisible: it is a\nstate of mind and heart: it has its place in a man's soul: it is not\noutside of you; \"for lo, the kingdom of God is within you.\" In this\nregard the kingdom of heaven is like education. You cannot tell by\nsimply looking at a man whether he is educated or not. And why?\nbecause education is not a thing of the body, but of the mind; and the\nmind or understanding is invisible.\n\nJust so it is with the kingdom of God. It has no connection with the\nbody. In fact the body, with its appetites and passions opposes it.\nFor as Paul says: \"The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the\nSpirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the\nother.\" The kingdom of God, then, has its place in man's renewed heart\nand mind, and can therefore never be a thing of observation. But let\nus look a little further. The most precious and valuable things of\nearth are worthless until brought out into use. Of what good are all\nthe mineral treasures of earth while hidden in the mines? Just so \"the\nkingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in the field.\"\n\nBut our heavenly Father has prepared a body, a visible, organized body\nfor his kingdom on earth, so that it may become active, useful, and in\nevery way promotive of man's highest good on earth and his highest\nbliss in heaven. This body is the Lord's visible church. Like the\nhuman body, it is composed of members, and each member has his place\nand office of service in the body. The church is composed of those who\ndo the Lord's will; and he owns all such as his brethren. On one\noccasion he exclaimed: \"Who are my brethren?\" And immediately he said:\n\"Behold my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father\nwhich is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.\"\nThus the church is composed of such as hold a relationship with him,\nsymbolized by that of brother, sister and mother. It is for his church\nthat Jesus offered that wonderful prayer recorded in the seventeenth\nchapter of John. He there says: \"I have manifested thy name unto the\nmen which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou\ngavest them me; and they have kept thy word.\" The church, then, is\ncomposed of such as keep the Lord's Word.\n\nHe said: \"My kingdom is not of this world.\" Neither is the church,\nwhich is the visible, active, use-loving and use-performing body of\nthe kingdom, of this world. It is not organized according to the order\nof human institutions and laws, but according to God's order. Human\nlaws and customs have really and legitimately nothing to do either\nwith its organization and government or with the admission of members\ninto its body and their retention and conduct in the body. But the\nchurch is _in_ the world. By its being _in_ the world, where sin and\nsorrow and suffering abound; where there is so much pain to assuage,\nso much want to relieve, so much evil to combat, so much ignorance to\ndispel by the light of truth, numberless and boundless opportunities\nand demands are presented for \"the good man, out of the good treasure\nof his heart to bring forth good things.\"\n\nAnd in the world is just where the Lord wants his church to ever be.\nIt is in the church on earth that God's people learn those wonderful\nlessons of self-denial, humility, gentleness, brotherly kindness,\nforbearance, patience, and all other heavenly qualities and graces. In\na word, the church, in its purest form and highest sense, is heaven\nbegun on earth. Hence the blessed Jesus, in the prayer referred to,\nsays: \"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but\nthat thou shouldest keep them from the evil.\"\n\nSince the church is the outward, visible form of God's kingdom on\nearth, it is of the utmost importance that the church give expression\nto and be a representative of the soul and spirit of the kingdom. Paul\nsays: \"The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness,\npeace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.\" The church must be righteous. By\nthis is meant that it must obey the Lord's Word. He says: \"Ye are my\nfriends if ye do whatsoever I command you.\" It is obedience on the\npart of the church that makes any organization bearing that name\nacceptable to the Lord. In the great day to come some will say: \"We\nhave eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our\nstreets.\" But he will say: \"I tell you I know you not whence ye are.\"\nMany others again will say: \"Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy\nname? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many\nwonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:\ndepart from me, ye that work iniquity.\" The lips of man may not apply\nthese terrific words to any whose doom is yet to be disclosed; but all\norganizations claiming to be churches of Jesus Christ will do well to\nsee to it that they obey from the heart those ordinances given by our\nLord both by example and precept. When he pronounces us happy, we may\nfeel sure that we are safe.\n\nLet us now, before we close, look over the ground and see where the\nchurch of the Brethren stands, which it is my privilege to represent\nhere to-night. Jesus was baptized, that is, immersed by John in the\nriver Jordan. We follow his example as further set forth in the great\ncommission he gave. He washed the disciples' feet, giving us an\nexample that we shall do to one another as he did to them. This we do.\nHe ate a supper with them before the administration of the Communion.\nThis we do; and from other scripture authority we feel justified in\ncalling it a love feast. He administered the Communion of his body and\nblood, symbolized by the bread and wine. This we likewise do. Now we\nhave his blessed Word for it: \"If ye know these things, happy are ye\nif ye do them.\"\n\nSUNDAY, December 7. Michael B.E. Kline and wife are baptized at\nTimberville.\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 31. I have traveled this year 3,816 miles, mostly\non horseback; and preached forty-five funeral discourses.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 22, 1852. Attend upon my aged mother. She passed a\ncalculus or stone from the bladder to-day weighing seven ounces and\ntwo and one-half drachms. Its greatest circumference is nine inches. A\nvery wonderful concretion indeed.\n\nTHURSDAY, March 11. My dear aged mother passes away from earth to-day,\nat 1 o'clock. She has been a good mother. I rejoice in the thought\nthat from her bright home in heaven, if saints are permitted to look\ndown upon earth, she can still witness the fruits of her good example\nand influence, manifest in the well-doing of all her children, and\nmost of her grandchildren.\n\nFRIDAY, March 12. Take Anna over to Brother Samuel Kline's, where our\ndear mother now lies a corpse.\n\nSATURDAY, March 13. Mother is buried to-day. Her age was eighty-one\nyears, three months and twenty days.\n\nMONDAY, March 22. This day Brother Kline started to Maryland. As usual\non such journeys, he visited many friends and Brethren, among whom he\nmentions D.P. Saylor, Jacob Saylor, Howard Hillery, Brother Cover,\nJoseph Engle, Philip Boyle, Israel Engle, Brother Rupp, Jesse Royer,\nBetsy Engle, William Deahl, Abraham Deahl, Brother Rhinehart, and\nothers. He preaches and prays as he goes; leaving behind him good\nexamples, good instructions, good doctrines, with prayers and good\nwishes for all. What a life of good works! He returned home Thursday,\nApril 1.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 15. Council meeting at the Flat Rock meetinghouse.\nJohn Neff is elected speaker.\n\nFRIDAY, April 16. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. John Zigler is\nelected to the deaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, April 17. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. Jacob\nMiller is advanced in the ministry of the Word.\n\nSUNDAY, May 16. Attend a meeting in the Campbellite church in\nBaltimore. I meet Brother D.P. Saylor there. He speaks from Heb. 12:1,\n2. Outlines of his discourse. TEXT.--\"Let us lay aside every weight,\nand the sin which doth so easily beset us; and let us run with\npatience the race that is set before us; looking unto Jesus.\"\n\nHe said: The book of Hebrews is, in one respect, the most\nextraordinary book in the New Testament. It sets forth Christ the Lord\nto us in a somewhat new light, and new relation. All the other books\nof the New Testament are mainly occupied in setting forth Jesus as the\natoning Savior. But this book is preeminently taken up with Christ the\nanointed High Priest of our profession. The other books tell what\nJesus has done to redeem the world from sin. This book tells what he\nis now doing to save his people.\n\nIn his admonitions and instructions Brother Saylor beautifully\nreferred to the Olympic games celebrated by the ancient Greeks once\nevery four years. From these the figure of running a race, given in\nthe text, was borrowed. A man cannot run long and well with a load on\nhis back. You have no doubt seen the fabled demigod Atlas pictured\nwith the world on his shoulders. I have often thought of that old\nGrecian representation of avarice, as being something like a true\npicture of many professors of the Christian religion at the present\nday. You see the old myth struggling along with this big round world\non his back, apparently casting his eyes upward at times as if he\nmight be longing to reach the top of Mount Olympus, the home of the\ngods: but alas! his head is bowed and his back bent under the mighty\npressure, and he never got there. It will fare no better with the man\nwho tries to carry this world with him to heaven. The apostle says:\n\"Let us cast off every weight\" that would hinder our progress.\n\nYou know the devil is called a serpent. No sane man ever yet invited a\nsnake to bite him. If one is bitten by a copperhead or rattlesnake, it\nis either because he has gone where he ought not go, or else, if\ncompelled, he was not watchful, but was off his guard. Besetting sins\nare these snakes in the grass and along the hedges. The apostle here\ntakes it for granted, as a thing settled long ago, that the Christian\nhas laid aside his habitual sins. Besetting sins are such as we meet\nor overtake unexpectedly in the way, and like robbers that beset us\nand take our goods, they spoil our peace and take away our joy. The\nbest way for all Christians is to keep out of the way of snakes and\nrobbers.\n\n\"And let us run with patience the race that is set before us.\" In\nanother place Paul says: \"I press forward to the mark for the prize.\"\nHe represents the Christian as running, but not as uncertainly. Not as\nif some one else might beat him and take the prize, and he thereby\nlose it. No, no! In the Christian race there is a prize for every one\nthat runs with patience the race set before him.\n\nBut he also speaks of a _mark_. The language here employed indicates\nthat the _mark_ must be reached before the prize can justly be\nclaimed. This mark is conformity to Christ in spirit and life. \"If any\nman have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.\" \"He has set us\nan example that we should follow in his steps.\" The prize is heaven\nand eternal happiness. God is pleased to give to his children things\nwhich they are incapable of obtaining by their own efforts; but he\nwill not give direct what they are capable of getting by judicious\nmeans rightly applied. It is no credit to any one to depend on others\nfor what he could win for himself. It is so in the Christian's race\nfor eternal life.\n\n\"Looking unto Jesus.\" If you have ever been at sea you noticed the\ninterest with which sailors watched the lighthouses along the shore in\na dark night. This figure may help us in our thought of looking to\nJesus. His word is a \"lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.\"\nFriends, when you look prayerfully to the Lord's Word for guidance in\nyour religious life you are looking unto Jesus. He is nowhere else to\nbe found. But he is always there, and whosoever will look may find him\nthere unto the salvation of his soul.\n\nThey stayed all night at Michael B. Kline's.\n\nMONDAY, May 17. They stopped awhile with Sister Rubicum in\nPhiladelphia; and arrived at the Irving House, in New York City, at\n10:30 P.M.\n\nMen love to honor their favorites. Washington Irving has caused his\nname to be stamped upon the affections of the people of this city.\nIrving collars, Irving hats, Irving signs and Irving attached to many\nthings give evidence of the high regard in which he is held. We will\npass his home on the Hudson to-day.\n\nTUESDAY, May 18. Take the steamer \"Henry Clay\" to Albany, where we\nland at 3 P.M. Kossuth is in the place. A great procession, with many\nother demonstrations in honor of the Hungarian exile, is given. These\nthings are not done for the man personally, but for the cause which he\nrepresents, that of freeing his country from the galling yoke of\nbondage. We have a delightful boat ride up the Hudson.\n\nI must here relate a short encounter which I had with a professed\ninfidel on the boat. He some way came to the conclusion that I was a\nreligious man, and probably a preacher. This led him to approach me\nfor a talk, and he introduced himself in a very courteous and\nagreeable manner. After he had stated his objections to the Christian\nreligion, I asked him if he was absolutely certain that there is no\nplace and state of future punishment. He answered: \"I do not contend\nfor this; but only hold that hell is unreasonable, and that heaven is\nimpossible: and according to Bible description, to me at least, it\nwould be undesirable.\" I answered: \"I suppose you will allow, that if\nthe Bible is _not_ true I will fare no worse after death for having\ntaught its doctrines and the faith of Jesus Christ: and you no better\nfor having denied both?\" \"All this,\" said he, \"is self-evident.\" \"But\nif it so turns out that we both, after death, find that God's Word is\nabsolutely true, which, my dear friend, will fare the better then?\nYou, for having rejected the Lord Jesus Christ before men; or I, for\nhaving humbly confessed him?\" We parted at the landing to meet,\nperhaps, no more until that day when the secrets of all hearts shall\nbe made known.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 19. Get to Buffalo, New York, at 8 P.M. Stay all night\nat the Mansion House. Philip Dorsheimer, proprietor.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 20. This day I enjoy my first sight of Niagara Falls.\nCross on the bridge over to the Canada side and go up to the falls.\nReturn by the bridge and go up to the falls on the American side. Go\nto see the buffaloes; and visit the telegraph office. Return to the\nMansion House and stay there all night. I suppose that all the\nthoughts and emotions which a view of Niagara Falls is capable of\nexciting in the beholder have been so clearly and graphically\nexpressed in prose and verse, so far as lies in the power of words to\nexpress them, that I feel like keeping silent. This, however, I will\nventure to say, that in the sight of such mighty power I felt very\nsmall and weak. How, then, thought I, will I feel when I come in sight\nof the Power that made and moves the world!\n\nCold and snow this morning. But I must remember that I am not in\nVirginia.\n\nFRIDAY, May 21. Take passage on the steamboat \"America\" to Erie; then\non to Cleveland, where we arrive at 5 A.M. Sleep a little. Then, on\nsame boat, to Sandusky City, where we take cars to Tiffin, and from\nthere go to Brother Eversole's, in Hancock County, Ohio.\n\nSUNDAY, May 23. Brother Kline attended forenoon meeting at Brother\nPeter Weant's; and afternoon meeting at Brother Dickey's. In the\nevening he went to Brother Daniel Rosenberger's and assisted in\nanointing a sick sister. Next day they had meeting at Brother Jacob\nKendrick's. On Tuesday, while they were detained at Perrysburg,\nBrother Kline says: \"We saw the fishermen make a haul with their\nseine. While witnessing the adroitness and care with which they\nseparated the bad fish from the good, I was reminded of the parable in\nwhich the same performance is spoken of. The gospel net catches or\ntakes in both good and bad. But the separation of the good from the\nbad cannot take place on earth. 'At the end of the world the angels\nshall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just.'\"\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 26. They take the boat \"John Hollister\" for Toledo:\nfrom there they take cars to Elkhart, Indiana. The two brethren, Kline\nand Saylor, do not appear to have been together all the time on this\njourney; but at Elkhart it seems they got together again and two other\nbrethren with them; for he now speaks of brethren Saylor, Krontz and\nP. Ebersole all going together and staying all night at Brother Jacob\nStudebaker's; and on the twenty-ninth they all go to Jonathan Wylan's,\nthe place of the Annual Meeting. Brother Kline reports a wonderful\nconcourse of people.\n\nSUNDAY, May 30. They have meeting at three places. On Monday business\nbegins. Many queries are placed in the hands of the subcommittees. On\nTuesday the reports of the subcommittees are taken in, and discussions\nfollow freely, but all in a spirit of love.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 2. Business is all disposed of by 3 o'clock, and the\nmeeting breaks up. Brother Kline goes to Michael Waybright's and holds\nnight meeting.\n\nOn his return trip Brother Kline revisits Elkhart, and goes to Dayton\nto Brother Henry Yost's. From there he goes to Cincinnati to see Drs.\nKost and Curtis, with whom he spends a night; thence back to Columbus;\ngoes through the state prison; visits other places of interest; and\nthence through Cleveland and Pittsburg home. He arrived home\n\nSATURDAY, June 12. He reports 2,685 miles traveled from the time he\nleft home till his return.\n\nSUNDAY, June 27. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize Daniel Wampler\nand wife.\n\nFRIDAY, July 2. Write letters to Brethren in Pendleton and Hardy\nCounties to make appointments for preaching. He gives plenty of time\nfor those Brethren to whom the above letters were sent, to make the\nappointments generally known; and allows time for the slow transit of\nthe mails in that day. Brother Kline's successes were never brilliant\nor dazzling, as some men's appear, but they were acquired by methods\nwhich few men are willing to adopt; and achieved by self-sacrifices\nand labors which few men are willing to undergo.\n\nFRIDAY, August 20. This day Brother Kline started to Pendleton County,\nVirginia. From Pendleton he went to Hardy County, and from there to\nHampshire County. He filled every appointment made for him by the\nBrethren to whom he had written on July 2. On his outward way he left\na line of appointments which he filled on his return homeward. On this\ntour he traveled 183 miles on the back of his faithful mare Nell, over\nroads and mountain paths next to impassable. He was gone from home on\nthis trip just two weeks, in which time he preached nineteen sermons,\nattended one council meeting and one love feast.\n\nSuch preaching tours, as this work abundantly shows, were but common\nproofs of his missionary spirit and love for the souls of men. Added\nto this we find a purely unselfish spirit in him. Not long before his\nmartyrdom he told me that if he would have asked for money along the\nlines of his work extending over many years--using his very words--\"I\nknow that I would have freely received it; but I have never asked one\ncent; and, God prospering me in the future as in the past, I never\nexpect to.\" He went on his own expenses, always and at all times,\napparently more ready to give than to receive.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 30. On this day Brother Kline started to\nTennessee. He rode Nell. He went up the Valley of Virginia, stopping\nwith Brethren and preaching by previous arrangements made by letters.\nHe stayed all night with Peter Nininger, and one night with Benjamin\nMoomaw. At both places he filled appointments previously sent on.\n\nMONDAY, October 4. He dined at Jacob Brubaker's. He arrived at Brother\nJohn Bowman's on Friday, the eighth.\n\nSATURDAY, October 9, he had meeting at John Bowman's. It would seem\nthat he had leisure here to jot the outlines of his discourse on that\nday. He spoke from Rev. 2:7. TEXT.--\"He that hath an ear, let him hear\nwhat the Spirit saith unto the churches.\"\n\nThere is a wonderful correspondence of natural things with things\nspiritual. It is this correspondence which makes a good life give\nevidence of a good heart within, and intelligent conduct prove that it\nis the offspring of an enlightened mind. If there were no\ncorrespondence between internal and external things--between the tree\nand its fruit--what would we know about anything? It is from this law\nthat all our Lord's parables and miracles derive their significance.\nWhen he spoke of external, natural things, he wanted his disciples to\nlearn internal, spiritual things. In the text he speaks of a hearing\near. \"He that hath an ear.\" Do not nearly all men have ears? In\nseveral other places the Lord says: \"He that hath ears to hear, let\nhim hear.\" It is plain that the natural ear is not meant; but the ear\nof the soul (by which is meant an understanding mind) is the ear meant\nin the text. But to hear means more than just to understand what is\nsaid. People may understand what they hear or read, and still be none\nthe better off for it. To hear, in a divine sense, is to hearken; and\nto hearken means to obey, or a willingness to obey. The text then\nmeans about this: \"He that understands what the Spirit saith to the\nchurches, let him obey.\" This brings up the question whether or not\npeople of ordinary intelligence are able to understand what the Spirit\nsays to the churches.\n\nLet us turn to what the Spirit says to the church at Ephesus. After\nreviewing the good qualities and characteristics of this church, much\nto their praise and credit, he does not flatter their vanity, by\nintimations or otherwise, to think themselves all right and in need of\nnothing; but \"I have this AGAINST thee, that thou didst leave thy\nfirst love. Remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and\nrepent.\" It is truthfully said \"our best friends are those who warn us\nof danger.\" This is God's friendship for his churches. He shows his\npeople by his Word where they may go wrong, and, if they have ears to\nhear and eyes to see, where they _are_ wrong. _Leaving their first\nlove_ is the charge brought against this church of Ephesus. And it is\nthe only charge. To what extent or degree they had departed is not\ndefinitely said; but they had gone so far that repentance and\nreformation, or the doing of their first works, was necessary that\nthey might be restored to the state they had once enjoyed.\n\nNow it appears plain to my mind, from all the teachings I find\nelsewhere in the Word, that love to the Lord their God with all the\nheart, and love to the neighbor, which is the church, is, and forever\nought to be, the first and only love. The church is the good Samaritan\nthat lifts up the wounded brother who has fallen among the thieves of\ntemptation, and restores him. This love to the Lord and the church is\nthe love from which these Ephesian brethren had fallen. Departures\nfrom first loves are not uncommon in the church and out of it. The\nnewly married couple enjoy a warmth of affection that sweetens their\ncup of happiness and strews flowers all along their pathway of life.\nThis pleasure lasts while their love lasts; but when love dies,\nhappiness dies with it. This accounts for the joyless, pleasureless\nlife of many married partners. First love, alas! departed; the first\nfire all burnt out, leaving naught but the dull ashes of cold\nindifference and burning tears. It sometimes goes somewhat the same\nway with members coming into the church. They run well for a season,\nmanifest a deep interest in the things of religion, but when\ntribulation or persecution ariseth on account of the Word, directly\nthey stumble. Entire churches sometimes lose their first love for the\nLord and for one another. This seems to have been true of the church\nat Ephesus.\n\nThe best way for all is to be sure that the first love is of the right\nkind. I have heard of some coming into the church from motives of mere\npersonal interest. I have heard of one man who confessed, after he had\nbeen expelled, that he got out of the Dunkards all he wanted. Said he:\n\"They helped me out of debt, and that is what I went in for.\" That man\nnever lost HIS first love. His first love was the love of self and the\nworld, and that is the love he carried with him when he was turned\nout. Such examples, however, are rare. As a people we are not often\nimposed upon in this way. But some who come in with the best of\nmotives, desiring to live in the church, to be built up in the church,\nand to help build up the church, may, as I have known instances of the\nkind, lose these good feelings, become discouraged, and altogether\nunhappy. To such, if any of that class are here, I now speak.\n\nAt the start I have to say, I have glorious news for you. The Lord\nsays to us all: \"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of\ngood cheer; I have overcome the world.\" The blessed Savior has\novercome the world for every one of his people. We all have our\ntribulations; but some are better able to bear them than others. The\nApostle Paul says: \"Confirm the strong, support the weak.\" It seems\nstrange to us that any could ever grow weak in his day, when they were\nas yet almost in sight of their ascended Lord, and in hearing of the\necho of his voice. But so it was then, and so it will ever be. But God\nknows our feeble frame. \"As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord\npitieth them that fear him.\" Our Lord, just before his crucifixion,\nsaid: \"I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you.\" This he\nspoke to his sorrowing disciples. This he says to you, and to every\ndiscouraged disciple of his: \"Ye, therefore, now have sorrow, but your\nsorrow shall be turned into joy.\" As he was preparing to wash the\ndisciples' feet it is said of him: \"Having loved his own which were in\nthe world, he loved them unto the end.\"\n\n  \"His is an unchanging love,\n  Higher than the heights above;\n  Deeper than the depths beneath;\n  Stronger than the hand of death.\"\n\nIt is impossible for one human soul to enter fully into the feelings\nof another, so as to realize in all the particulars of experience what\nthe other suffers. But the Lord knows it all. \"He that made the ear,\nshall he not hear? He that made the eye, shall he not see? He that\nmade the heart, shall he not understand?\" He consequently knows the\nproper remedy for all the backslidings, declensions of our first love,\nand all relapses into states of lukewarmness. His prescribed remedy is\n_repentance_, in every case. If you will take the time to read\ncarefully the seven letters addressed to the seven churches of Asia,\nyou will see that _repentance_ is the remedy prescribed in every case\nof failure in duty, weakness of faith, coldness of love; together with\nall the troubles growing out of these.\n\n_Repentance_ is a change of mind. It is a change from wrong feelings\nand affections in the soul to right feelings; from weak faith in the\nLord to strong faith; from weak love for the Lord and the church to\nstrong love. Joy of heart and peace of mind are as sure to follow a\nchange like this as a tree is sure to bloom in spring. Blossoms on\ntrees, other conditions favoring, give promise of fruits. Your joy and\npeace from true repentance, like the bloom on a good tree, will give\npromise of a life full of good fruits. No one need tell me that he\ncannot repent. \"Nothing shall be impossible unto you.\" Who says this?\nJesus says it. Again: \"If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do\nit.\" But again he says: \"Without me ye can do nothing.\" Speaking to\nthe Father, of his disciples, the Lord said: \"I in them, and thou in\nme, that they may be perfected into one.\"\n\nWe are slow to learn the greatest of all the truths God has revealed,\nthe truth that the Lord is personally, in the fullness of his love,\nwisdom and power, in the soul or spiritual body of every one of his\nchildren. \"Ye are God's temple; ye are God's building.\" As the life of\nthe vine is the life of the branches, so is Christ our life. The Lord\nis ever at hand; not only _around_ us, but _in_ us. And he is not only\nable but ready at all times to do us all the good we are capable of\nreceiving from his hand. Say not then, \"I cannot repent;\" for one\nearnest, believing, trusting look to him, with whom all things are\npossible, will cause the tears of penitence to flow down your face in\na stream that will \"make glad the city of our God,\" rebuilt with its\nwalls, in your heart.\n\nBut the Lord tries to encourage his _lost-love_ children with promises\nadditional to those of his presence, love and power. He sets forth\ninducements of a character that surpasses all worldly considerations\nas far as the heaven is high above the earth. Notice some of them: \"To\nhim that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life,\nwhich is in the midst of the paradise of God.\" To eat of the tree of\nlife is to enjoy all the blessedness and happiness of a heavenly life.\n\"In the paradise of God\" is a figure taken from the garden of Eden,\nfor paradise means garden. We sometimes wonder at the folly of our\nfirst parents in disobeying God's commands, and thus bringing upon\nthemselves the disgrace and ruin which followed. But do we not act\nafter the same manner when we disobey the Lord? We as surely deprive\nourselves of the enjoyments of his favor and conscious presence as\nthey did. But through his abounding love in Christ Jesus we can be\nreclaimed and reinstated sooner than they. Thanks be to God, the\nscheme of redemption and salvation is now complete; and we are not now\nrequired to wait four thousand years to have the head of the serpent\nbruised under our feet. Neither is there a flaming sword of\nthreatening vengeance to guard the gate against our return. We are\ninvited to return. The gate is open. Yea, the Lord himself is the\ngate. He stands beckoning, even calling and saying: \"I am the way; I\nam the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved.\" The\nparadise of God, the garden of Eden, is planted by the Lord in the\nheart of every true follower of his. This is a great truth. When we\nare in heavenly frames of feeling we are in a state to enjoy its cool\nshade and partake of its fruits. There the sun does not light upon us,\nnor any unpleasant heat.\n\nHoping that what I have said in much weakness may be made strong by\nthe Spirit of God, unto edification and comfort, I now close. On\n\nSUNDAY, October 10, he had meeting at Brother Christian Wine's. Next\nday he visited David Garst's; and stayed all night at the widow\nBowman's.\n\nHe visited successively, in order, the following named brethren and\nsisters, preaching nearly every day: Daniel Crouse's, John Sherfey's,\nJohn Basehore's, Henry Swadley's, widow Bowman's, John Bowman's, Henry\nGarst's.\n\nTUESDAY, October 19. He started homeward, but stopped at Brother\nMichael Grabil's and attended a meeting in Roanoke meetinghouse.\nAssisted by brethren Kinsey and Brubaker, he ordained Brother\nChristian Wirt to the full work of the gospel ministry.\n\nFRIDAY, October 29. He arrived home safe, after an absence of\nsomething over four weeks. The whole distance, going and returning,\nwas about 600 miles. This he traveled on Nell's back. Good, patient,\nfaithful Nell!\n\nFrom this time on to the close of the year, Brother Kline was mainly\nengaged in the practice of medicine, together with his ministerial\nlabors. On far into the next year the same may be said of his work.\nEver active, no such thing as idleness ever had a place in his life.\nLooking through his Diary, observing the unintermitting activity of\nhis life \"_every day and Sunday too_,\" I am struck with wonder that he\ndid not get tired.\n\nSUNDAY, March 13, 1853. Meeting at the Elk meetinghouse, in Page\nCounty, Virginia. Acts 9 was read. My topic was Saul's conversion.\nThere are three points in the conversion of Saul which I noted\nparticularly in my discourse to-day. They are as follows:\n\nI. Saul's conversion was _unexpected_. II. It was _miraculous_. III.\nIt was _thorough_.\n\nNo event could have been less expected than the conversion of Saul of\nTarsus. Lightning from the clear blue sky, or the breaking forth of\nthe sun at midnight, could not have struck both Jews and Christians\nwith deeper amazement than did the report of the change of Saul from\npersecutor to protector of God's people. But this is sometimes God's\nway. Often does he send us blessings and do wonders when we least\nexpect them. Day breaks at the darkest hour. In the midst of parching\ndryness the refreshing shower comes. The hardest pain is just before\nthe birth. A sleepless night ends in a joyful morning. In this way he\nshows us that the \"excellency of the power is not of men, but of God.\"\n\nIn our religious experiences we sometimes feel prayer a burden;\nreading and meditation a task. We loathe ourselves and wonder how\nJesus can love us. Out of such frames of feeling the Lord sometimes\nsuddenly lifts us, by causing light to break in upon our souls,\nrevealing some new truth, some fresh affection, in which we rejoice.\nIn addition to these instances of unexpected blessings, we sometimes\nsee men gathered into the fold, for whose conversion we had lost all\nhope.\n\nWe need not wonder that Saul's conversion was wholly unexpected. He\nhad shown such hostility to Jesus of Nazareth that no ground for hope\nof any change in him was anywhere visible. His conviction was\ntherefore, in the eyes of Christians, a miracle. But it was so only in\nappearance. The light, above the brightness of the sun, that shone\nupon him, was but the same light that shone from the face of the Lord\nand glistened from his raiment on the holy mount when he was\ntransfigured. John had a somewhat similar vision of the Lord upon the\nisle of Patmos. John was better prepared to receive the vision than\nwas Saul; but even John fell at the Lord's feet as dead. The Lord\nimmediately laid his right hand upon John, and in the tenderness of\nhis love said: \"Fear not.\" These same sweet words fell from his lips\nupon the ears of the three disciples on the holy mount. But Saul heard\nfar different words. A voice sounded into his soul: \"I am Jesus of\nNazareth whom thou persecutest.\" This terrific announcement broke up\nthe sealed fountain of his sinful heart and he cried out: \"Lord, what\nwouldst thou have me to do?\" He was then told to go into the city of\nDamascus, and it would there be told him what he had to do.\n\nNotice the difference. The Lord did not say to him as he had to many\nothers: \"Fear not.\" This seemed to be his cherished phrase to all who\nloved and believed on him. To the women at the sepulcher, these words,\n\"fear not,\" were addressed by the angel. To the church, seen in vision\nby the prophetic eye of Isaiah, the words, \"Fear not, for I have\nredeemed thee: fear not, for I am with thee,\" are tenderly spoken by\nthe Lord. If Saul's conviction had been brought about by human agency\nthrough the preaching of the Word, the adversaries of the cross might\nhave said that he had been persuaded, or bribed with money to change\nhis manner of life. But nothing like this could be said now. The men\nwho journeyed with him could testify otherwise. They saw the light\nthat flashed upon him; but they heard not the words spoken. They were\nnot persecutors of Jesus by intention as Saul was. Like the soldiers\nwho nailed the Lord to the cross, they knew not what they did. But\nSaul knew what he was doing, and the light struck conviction to his\nheart.\n\nConviction is a knowledge of sin imparted by the Holy Spirit through\nthe Word. The light that Saul saw is an expressive emblem of the light\nof revealed truth. Light signifies truth, in very many places in the\nScriptures. Take, for examples, the following: \"The people which sat\nin darkness saw great light.\" Darkness here does not mean natural\ndarkness, but mental or spiritual darkness, which is ignorance. Again:\n\"Every one that doeth evil, hateth the light.\" This was Saul's state\nexactly. He was doing evil, and he hated the light to such a pitch of\npassion that he sought to take the lives of the children of light. But\nit was God's way then, and it is God's way now, to convict and convert\nmen by means of the very thing they hate, which is the Word of Truth.\n\nSaul remained three days and nights in this awful state of conviction\nin which time \"he did neither eat nor drink.\" The anguish of spirit\nsuffered during these days and nights no heart but his own can ever\nknow. His sins were red with the blood of the saints. Doubts as to\nwhat the persecuted Jesus might require of him, with a thousand\nunanswerable questions, harassed his mind. Conviction, or a feeling\nsense of sin, always precedes conversion. Repentance cannot take place\nwithout a knowledge of sin's condemning and destroying power. When\nthis is felt man desires to be rid of sin, and asks what he must do to\nbe saved. This is the first step in repentance. Conversion and\nrepentance, complete, are expressions meaning one and the same thing.\nOur Lord's illustration is instructive: \"When a woman is in travail,\nshe hath anguish; but when she is delivered she straightway forgetteth\nher anguish for joy that a man is born into the world.\" These words\nfrom the lips of Jesus tell us more about conviction and conversion\nthan all else that has ever been written.\n\nWe must notice the kindness in which Ananias approached Saul to\ncomplete the manward side of his conversion and usher in the new\nbirth. He put his hands on him, not roughly, but gently, and said:\n\"BROTHER SAUL,\"--\"and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had\nbeen scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was\nbaptized.\" His spiritual eyes were now open; his sins washed away; and\nout of the baptismal stream he was visibly born into the church a new\ncreature in Christ Jesus, with a new name. I hold the belief that Saul\nchanged his name himself. His old life was now so abhorrent to him\nthat he could no longer bear to hear the name by which he was called\nwhen pursuing that course of life. It was his desire to cast all\nrecollection of it out of mind, and the old name with it. But he never\ndid forget entirely. He calls himself the chief of sinners, and almost\ngets wild with exultation over the mercies of God. Hear some of his\njoyful exclamations: \"Who shall condemn us! Who shall separate us from\nthe love of Christ! O, the length, and the breadth, and the depth and\nthe height of the love of Christ!\" Paul never doubted his conversion.\nHe became as enthusiastic in building up the church as he had been in\ntearing it down. He tried to repair the evil he had done by adding new\nrecruits to the church to fill the places of those whom he had either\ndriven out or caused to be martyred.\n\nBrethren and sisters, here is a lesson for us all. Let us follow\nPaul's example in self-denial, in love for the Brethren, in love for\nthe unconverted, in the love of doing good at all times and in all\nways.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 7. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. David Kline is\nadvanced in the ministry, and John Long is elected to the deaconship.\n\nSUNDAY, April 10. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. George\nHalterman is baptized.\n\nSUNDAY, May 1. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse, in the Gap. Samuel\nSmith is baptized.\n\nSUNDAY, May 8. Meeting at Joseph Glick's. Samuel Good and wife\nbaptized.\n\nMONDAY, May 9. Meeting in our meetinghouse. John Bowman and Daniel\nCrouse are with us, on their way to the Annual Meeting.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 12. This day Brother Kline and Benjamin Bowman started\ntogether, on horseback, to the Yearly Meeting, which, according to the\nDiary, was appointed to meet near William Deahl's. They went down the\nValley of Virginia, and arrived at Brother William Deahl's Saturday\nevening following.\n\nSUNDAY, May 15. _Diary_: There is preaching at three places. We were\nmade to witness a very distressing occurrence to-day in the sudden\ndeath of Brother Daniel Haines's wife. She came into the meeting in\nher usual state of health, and in two hours she was a corpse. Death\nhad done its work upon the body; but it could not touch the soul to\nwhich Jesus had given eternal life. \"Hither shalt thou go, but no\nfarther; and here shall all thy waves be stayed,\" may be applied to\ndeath as it comes to the child of God, as appropriately as to the\ngreat ocean.\n\nMONDAY, May 16. Come to the meetinghouse. Committees are appointed. Go\nto Jacob Saylor's and take in questions. In the meantime preaching is\ngoing on at the meetinghouse as yesterday. We stay all night at\nBrother Deahl's.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 17. Business progresses slowly.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 18. At about four o'clock it is announced that all the\nbusiness before the meeting has been disposed of, and the meeting\nbreaks up, with many farewell salutations and much tender feeling. We\nstay all night with John Waltman, married to Martin Deahl's daughter.\n\nMONDAY, May 23. Love feast at our meetinghouse. A great concourse of\npeople, but good order. The brethren John Bowman and Daniel Crouse are\nhere. They speak to good acceptance.\n\nTUESDAY, May 24. Go to the Tristle meetinghouse. Christian Funk is\nburied. Age, eighty years, three months and nineteen days. He was a\nvery consistent member of the Mennonite persuasion, and suddenly died\nin the meetinghouse, on Sunday before, in the very act of singing a\ndevotional hymn with the congregation. Let us hope that as the song\ndied on his lips here his soul caught its echo in heaven.\n\nSUNDAY, June 19. Go to Philip Ritchey's schoolhouse in the Gap. Speak\nfrom Jer. 7:23. TEXT.--\"But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey\nmy voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people.\"\n\nI said in substance: Man is to-day what he has ever been. \"The carnal\nmind is enmity against God\" now, quite as deep-seated in man's heart\nas when he led his unholy and rebellious people out of Egypt. Man's\nwill now, as then, is contrary to God's will. But God wants to change\nman's will so as to incline it to good instead of evil. God is\ninfinitely blessed and happy, because he is infinitely just and good.\nMan is unblessed and unhappy, because he is unholy and evil. One of\nthe clearest proofs of man's degeneracy is found in his willingness to\nremain in his sinful and unhappy state. Like the man among the tombs,\nhe is ready to cry out, in thought if not otherwise, \"Let us alone!\nwhat have we to do with thee? Art thou come to torment us before the\ntime?\"\n\nThe two great lessons given in the text, are OBEDIENCE and REWARD. I\nwill tell you about _obedience_ first. To make this very plain you\nmust first be told that _obedience_ consists in doing what one is\ncommanded to do. Two things, however, are necessary to make obedience\na duty. _First_, the command must come from a right source; it must be\nbased upon the right authority. _Second_, it must be given in a way\nthat can be understood. The command must be plain. These two things\nbeing established, it is the duty of every one to hear and obey what\nhe is commanded to do. Disobeying good commands is as sure to bring\nsuffering and loss as violating the laws of health is sure to bring\ndisease into our bodies. Let us notice some of the commands which, in\nthe course of our lives, it may be our duty to obey. There is no\ndifference between a law and a command. Every law is a command in\nsubstance, and every command is a law. There are very deep things\ninvolved here, but I will not now enter upon them. Every command is\nbut the expression of the will of the commander; and the will of the\ncommander in every case, when expressed, and compliance with it is\ndemanded, is a law.\n\nAuthority has many grades. There is parental authority, teachers'\nauthority, magisterial authority, legislative authority. All these\ngrades of authority are necessary for our well-being. But no benefit\ncan be derived from authority of any kind without obedience to that\nauthority. The best law can do no good unless it be obeyed. Parental\nlaws, no matter how wise and good they are in themselves, are of no\naccount unless the children obey their parents. It is the same with\nall laws.\n\nPossibly it may not be clear to the understanding of some how\nobedience to God's laws makes man happy. Let us then consider this\nmatter of obedience on a lower grade. Parents love their children.\nParents have much of life's experiences. They are capable of knowing\nbetter than their children can what is best for the children. Now if\nchildren will heed what their parents say to them in the way of good\ncounsel, instruction, and government, love, peace and harmony will\nprevail in the household. Joy will be a constant guest. Happiness will\ncrown the board. Habits of good will be formed in the young which will\nnot forsake them when they are old. In youth the foundation is thus\nlaid for honorable success in later years. Reverse this picture:\ninstead of happiness, discontent; instead of joy, distress; instead of\npeace, contentions and broils; instead of respectability, disgrace;\ninstead of honor, shame. What an amazing difference between the\nrewards of obedience and the effects of disobedience! The good results\nof obedience to good laws are boundless in extent and endless in\nduration.\n\nThis now brings me to the main point of my discourse, obedience to God\nand its rewards. As God is infinitely good, and therefore wills\nnothing beyond the good of his creatures; and as he is infinitely wise\nto know in what the highest good of his creatures consists, it becomes\nman's highest duty and privilege to know what God would have him to\ndo. But inside of all the externals of obedience there must be a state\nof heart and mind conformed to God's will before any works can be done\nacceptable to him. What _is_ this state of mind and heart? It is all\nexpressed in two words,--love and faith. Jesus says: \"If ye love me,\nkeep my commandments.\" As much as to say, \"Do not act the part of a\nhypocrite by putting on the form of obedience with no love in the\nheart.\" He continues the thought by saying: \"He that loveth me will\nkeep my words.\" Obedience, you see, is the proof of love, true\nobedience, I mean.\n\nSome gravely ask, _Which is first in the heart, love or faith?_ This\nquestion is very nearly like that of asking which is most necessary to\nthe growth of plants, heat or moisture? The truth is plain, that both\nare necessary; and both together. Without both together no seed could\nsprout, no plant put forth its leaves. Just so it is with the growth\nof gospel seeds in the soul. There must be love and faith, both. But\nthis is very plain and easy to be understood. No one can believe in\nJesus truly without loving him; and no one can love him without at the\nsame time believing on him. \"We love him because he first loved us:\"\nand faith is but a belief in and joyful acceptance of the words which\ntell us how he has made known his love for us. Out of this love and\nfaith true obedience springs.\n\nWe must notice one particular in our thought upon this subject. It is\na matter of the deepest interest to every one of us. I now state it:\nOur _love_ and _faith_ grow with our obedience. What class of children\nlove their parents most and repose the most confidence in them,\nobedient children or disobedient children? Obedient children, you all\nanswer. Why is this? It is because obedient children receive daily\nrewards for their good conduct in the expressions of appreciation and\nlove on the part of their parents, brothers, sisters and friends. Love\nbegets love. Just so it is with man and God. The Apostle James puts\nthis thought beautifully: \"If a man be not a forgetful hearer, but a\ndoer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.\" How will he\nknow this? By the heart consolations and comforts it brings him. The\nHoly Spirit will bear witness with his spirit that he is a child of\nGod. \"God is not slack concerning his promises.\" When he says: \"Obey\nmy voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people,\" do you\nthink he has no way of letting them know they _are_ his people? Will\nnot a father and mother own the child they love? How much more our\nheavenly Father will own and bless his child!\n\n  \"The opened heavens around me shine\n    With beams of sacred bliss,\n  When Jesus shows that he is mine\n    And whispers: I am his.\"\n\nThere can be no greater enjoyment than the reading of the Scriptures\nwhen we feel that we have complied with their injunctions and\nrequirements, and have a will to do so for ever. It is then the \"peace\nof God which passeth all understanding\" fills the soul, and the mind\nis happy.\n\nThe text says: \"I will be your God; and ye shall be my people.\" This\nis the reward of our obedience. If men would preach from this to the\nend of time they could tell but a very small part of the blessedness\nwrapped up in this promise. People think much of the blessings of this\nlife when they are joyous and cheerful from health and prosperity. But\nin this promise life and health are guaranteed to all eternity. \"He\nthat believeth on me shall never die.\" We are assured that in the\nglory world sickness and pain and death shall be no more. \"I will be\nyour God.\" This means in the way of every good. \"No good thing,\" says\nthe Psalmist, \"will the Lord withhold from them that fear him.\" This\nwill be made clearest in the world to come. \"He is able to do\nexceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.\" \"I will be your\nGod,--not for awhile and then cast you off. I do not repent of my\npromises and gifts. You may make a promise, or give something, or do\nsomething from an impulse of feeling, which you afterwards regret; but\nI am subject to no such weakness.\" In this sense he speaks to us in\nhis Word. He will, if we heed his voice, make of us all \"a people\nprepared for the Lord,\" a converted, obedient, sanctified and\neternally saved and happy people.\n\nSome may regard God as man's enemy. They seem to think there is\nsomething terrible in religion, and the farther away they can keep\nfrom it the safer they are. What a fatal mistake! To be a child of God\nis to be safe and happy. Our heavenly Father feels the love of pity\nfor the sinner. I lately read a very touching account of a lost child.\nThe father went calling, _calling_ the name of his boy. After awhile\nthe boy was found; but his mind was so bewildered and confused that he\ndid not seem to know his father's voice. So it is with the sinner. He\nhas wandered so far away from home, the home of peace with God, that\nhe knows not the voice of the Father. That voice is still calling:\n\"Come unto me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls;\" for \"he came\nto save that which was lost.\"\n\n\"And ye shall be my people.\" We get to be his people by true\nrepentance, faith and baptism. He commands us to repent. He commands\nus to believe on the Son. \"He that believeth the Son hath everlasting\nlife.\" He commands us to be baptized. Obedience from love and faith\nmakes us his people. As Jesus ascended from the waters of the Jordan,\nlo, the heavens were opened unto him, and a voice from heaven said:\n\"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\" This was an\nexpression of the Father's love which he has for every one who, from\nthe heart, will hear his voice.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 19. It is now delightful weather, and Brother Kline is\nthis day on the Great Cheat mountain, filling two appointments at a\nplace which he calls Marsh's. The Great Cheat mountain lies west of\nthe Alleghany proper, and for many miles ranges nearly parallel with\nit. A branch of Cheat river drains the valley between the two. The\npeople in this section are mainly employed in rearing cattle and\nsheep. The lands are well adapted to grazing. But in most localities\nof this country meetings for preaching and other religious services\nare rare, and the Gospel is seldom heard. Brother Kline's heart ever\nleaned toward destitute regions like these. He would say: \"I\noccasionally find one whose sense of sin has so mellowed his heart\nthat, like a ripe apple, he is ready to fall by a gentle touch of\ngospel truth.\"\n\nFRIDAY, July 1. Yesterday I had meeting at Josiah Simmon's, and to-day\nhave meeting at the same place. I speak from 1 Peter 1:19. TEXT.--\"Ye\nwere redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.\"\n\nI tried to set before these dear people the only hope of salvation. I\ntold them about the Son of God; that he was born of a woman, a pure\nvirgin who conceived him not of man, but of the Holy Spirit of God;\nthat his birth was heralded and announced by an angel from heaven who\nnamed him Jesus before he was born, for, said the angel, \"He shall\nsave his people from their sins.\"\n\nWhen he came to be a man about thirty years of age he was publicly\nbaptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan, \"and, lo, the\nheavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending\nlike a dove upon him: and, lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my\nbeloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.\" Jesus lived a life of sinless\npurity, going about doing good, teaching the people the way of\neverlasting life; healing the sick; raising the dead to life; giving\nsight to the blind; hearing to the deaf; cleansing the lepers, and\ncasting devils and evil spirits out of people who were subject to the\nevil powers by which they were possessed. All these things are related\nby the four evangelists. Jesus also taught the people many things by\nparables, in which he set forth his great love for them; what he was\nable and willing to do to save them from their sins, and what it was\nnecessary for them to do to be saved.\n\nBut the Jews would not accept the truth he told them. They were a very\nproud and self-righteous people, and were not willing to be instructed\nin things they vainly believed they understood better than Jesus did.\nHe called on them to repent of their sins. They denied their being\nsinners. He told them he was the Son of God, and that he came down\nfrom heaven. They would not believe this: and just because he taught\nand did things contrary to the way their proud and selfish hearts\nthought right, they arrested Jesus the Lord of glory, took him before\ntheir high priest, gave him a mock trial, and had him crucified. Some\nmay not know just what this means. It means that Jesus was nailed to\ntwo pieces of wood one across the other; his hands were nailed to the\ncrosspiece above, and his feet to the high post that was fastened by\nits lower end in the ground. Thus he hung in agony till he was dead.\nThis was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was done through the\nenvy, malice and hatred of the Jews. It shows how very wicked they\nwere. Some good men who had not consented to the death of Jesus took\nhis body down from the cross and placed it in a sepulchre or vault cut\nout of solid rock. This vault had been cut out of the rock some time\nbefore and belonged to a man of the name of Joseph. This Joseph\nassisted in placing the body of Jesus in his new vault or tomb, and\nthen they placed a large stone at the mouth of the tomb, and the body\nof Jesus was buried. As the pall of that night's darkness gently\nsettled on the grave of the crucified Jesus, the Jews felt relieved\nthat they had now, as they thought, put their enemy out of sight. But\non the morning of the third day after this some women came to the tomb\nto anoint the body of Jesus, and, behold! it was not there; but a\nbright and shining angel of glory was there, who said to those good\nwomen: \"He is not here; he is risen from the dead.\" They could hardly\nbelieve for joy. Soon, however, they, with many others, saw the risen\nLord for themselves, with their own eyes, and never doubted any more.\n\nAll that I have said so far is intended as an introduction to my text.\nMy text says: \"We were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.\"\nThe Lord told his disciples, who were his loving friends, the reason\nwhy he suffered the Jews to put him to death. It was, he told them,\nthat all the things written in the law of Moses and the prophets and\nthe psalms concerning him might be fulfilled. He also said to two of\nthem as they journeyed to Emmaus: \"Ought not Christ to have suffered\nthese things, and to enter into his glory?\" The blood he shed on the\ncross was necessary to his glorification. Without it he could not have\nbeen glorified. The blood of Christ is called the blood of the\ncovenant. Now what is a covenant? A covenant is a union of one mind\nand heart with another. It is literally _a going together_, as a man\nand woman join heart and hand in the _covenant_ of marriage. When God\nand man enter into a covenant they unite and become as one. In this\nunion God loves man with unspeakable love, and man loves the Lord his\nGod with all his heart. Love is what unites. Love unites a husband and\nwife. When this union is perfect, what the one loves the other\nlikewise loves; and when we are in covenant union with our glorified\nLord and Savior Jesus Christ, what he loves we love, and what he hates\nwe also hate. As man enters into a covenant with the Lord he enters a\nstate of salvation from sin, death and hell. But all covenants between\nGod and men must be sealed or made with blood: and whereas a covenant\nwith the Lord Jesus Christ redeems and saves man from death and hell,\ntherefore the blood of Christ redeems and saves man because it is the\nblood of the covenant between him and God.\n\nBut let us carry this thought a little further. Jesus said to the\nJews, \"Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man,\nye have no life in you.\" By blood here the Lord does not mean natural\nblood: he means the blood of the covenant by which we are united with\nhim; the redeeming blood which Peter speaks of in the text. But we\nmust drink it: otherwise we have no life in us. Now how is it possible\nfor any one to drink the blood of Christ? I will tell you. Christ's\nblood is his life, and he says: \"My words are spirit, and they are\nlife.\" His blood, then, is his Word in its spirit and life. Now when\nwe believe what he tells us with our heart, and do what he commands us\nbecause we love him, we are truly _drinking his blood_. When we\nforsake our sins by turning unto the Lord from a heart-felt faith in\nhis Word and belief of the truth he tells us, _we are drinking his\nblood_; his blood, which is his gospel truth, becomes our life. \"And\nbecause he lives, we shall live also.\" \"I am the way, the truth, and\nthe life. My word is truth.\" All this and much more is signified by\neating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus. \"Whosoever looketh\ninto the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not\na forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed\nin his deed.\" God's truth is called the law of liberty. Why? Because\nit tells men how they may become free. It redeems them when they obey\nit.\n\nPeter calls this change from bondage to liberty a new birth. Notice\nhere in the chapter I read: \"Born again, not of corruptible seed, but\nof incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth\nforever.\" We are naturally born unto sin, into the love of things that\nplease our natural sight, our natural appetites and inclinations.\nThrough these we love ourselves and the world to a degree that holds\nus in bondage, a kind of slavery. This is meant by Paul in these\nwords: \"To whomsoever ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his\nservants ye are, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto\nrighteousness.\" Peter means about the same by these words: \"Of whom a\nman is overcome, by the same is he brought into bondage.\" And in the\nbook of Hebrews we read of such \"who, through fear of death, were all\ntheir lifetime subject to bondage.\" Being born again spiritually, into\na new state of heart and life, we are set free from our bondage to\nsin. In this newborn state we love to do the will of God, and love the\ncompany of good people, and desire to be in the church with the people\nof God. The Lord Jesus says: \"If the truth shall make you free, ye\nshall be free indeed.\" It is by and through the truth that men are\nredeemed. \"Verily, verily, he that committeth sin is the servant of\nsin.\" These are the Lord's own words.\n\nBut the worst state any one can be in is a state of bondage in sin,\nwith no desire, no wish or feeling of any kind, to get out of it. This\nspirit of indifference stamps the seal of darkness deeper and deeper,\nuntil the soul loses all desire for anything better. I am just now\nreminded of what I read not long since. A family of the name of\nSlocum, living in the State of Pennsylvania, if I mistake not, many\nyears ago, was visited by Indians for the purpose of plunder. With\nother things they carried off one of the children of the family, a\ngirl several years old. The family was sorely distressed, and every\npossible effort was made to rescue the child. But all in vain. Many\nyears after, when the poor little girl's father and mother were both\ndead, her surviving brother and sister heard of her. They felt\nsatisfied they had been correctly informed, and resolved to go to see\nher, and if possible try to get her back to live with them once more.\nThey went on horseback, and found her a long way off in what was then\nan unsettled part of Ohio. I may be mistaken even here, as to the part\nof the country they found her in. But they did find their sister\nliving among the Indians, and in fact the wife of one of the chiefs.\nShe still remembered some English words. They got her to understand\nwho they were, and they wished her to go back with them to their home.\nBut she would not go. She gave them to understand that she was\n_satisfied_ to remain with the Indians, destitute and comfortless as\nthey were. The last trace of home feeling had left her heart, and with\nit had departed every vestige of religious concern and love for social\nlife. Sad and sorrowing did her brother and sister return to their\nhomes; and to the time of their death they never ceased to mourn for\ntheir lost sister. I have told you a true story; and if it causes the\neye of some tender-hearted mother to grow dim with a tear I say, _It\nis well_. God's children are exhorted to be tender-hearted,\ncompassionate one for another, and to weep with the sorrowing.\n\nBut there is something that should touch our sympathies and bring our\ntears from fountains far deeper than those opened by such stories as\nthe one I just related. And that is the condition which so many are in\nwith respect to the things of salvation. Like the poor woman I told\nyou about, they are deaf to all that is told them about a better life,\nand dead to all that God and man are willing to do for them. It is\nsometimes said of the sick that as long as there is life there is\nhope. So let it be with us in behalf of such. If the lost sister could\nhave been made sensible of the great benefit it might have been to her\nto go back and live in a civilized and religious way, at last she\nmight have consented to go. So let us hope that many, who are still in\nthe bondage of sin and the darkness of this world, may see the truth\nthat will set them free and give them light to repent and live.\n\nSATURDAY, July 2. Cross the Cheat mountain to John Riley's in\nPocahontas County, Virginia.\n\nSUNDAY, July 3. In the forenoon I attend a Methodist quarterly\nmeeting, at which they hold what they call a love feast; that is, they\ntake bread and water; and after preaching they take what they call the\nLord's Supper. They seem to be very sincere in what they do; but to my\nmind they are not consistent in calling a morsel of bread and a sip of\nwine, taken at the middle of the day, the Lord's Supper. I am sure we\nhave no right to depart from God's order in anything appertaining to\nhis church and worship.\n\nIn the afternoon I preach a funeral and baptize John Riley. Dine at\nJacob Yager's on top of the Alleghany mountain, and stay all night at\nAdam Hevner's. Brother Kline got home Thursday, July 7.\n\nSUNDAY, July 10. Baptize Samuel Bowman and wife. Brother and Sister\nBowman give proof of being a good tree by the fruit they bear.\n\nSamuel Bowman lived and died on Linville Creek, not far from Brother\nKline's place. He raised a highly respectable family, very\nintelligent, and some of his children became members of the church of\nthe Brethren.\n\nSATURDAY, July 30. Meeting at Liberty, in Page County, Virginia. I\nspeak on FOREORDINATION and ELECTION. Much has been said and written\non these subjects. It is to be feared, however, that instead of light\nbeing thrown upon them in the way they have been treated, darkness,\nrather, has been added to darkness. No subjects wrongly viewed can\nlook darker; and none rightly viewed can look clearer. The word\nFOREORDAIN means _to ordain beforehand_: and the word ELECT means _to\nchoose_. Some that I have met with, in speaking on these subjects,\nparticularly as they are given in the epistolary writings of the New\nTestament, remind me of fish in a net; they flounder about in the net,\nwhile every effort they make fastens them only the more tightly in its\nmeshes. They read: \"Whom God foreknew, he also FOREORDAINED to be\nconformed to the image of his Son, ... and whom he foreordained, them\nhe also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom\nhe justified, them he also glorified.\" Rom. 8:29, 30. Likewise the\ntext before us: \"ELECT ... according to the foreknowledge of God the\nFather, through sanctification of the Spirit.\" 1 Peter 1:2.\n\nThese passages, with others of a somewhat similar import, do _not_\nteach the foreordination and election of individuals independent of\ncharacter and fitness. A lack of perception of this comprehensive\ntruth accounts for the general misunderstanding of these and like\npassages in the apostolic writings. The doctrine of _election_, as it\nis called, opens out into a very large field for thought and\ninvestigation. It takes in the whole way of salvation from beginning\nto end.\n\n\"God is love,\" and the universe, with all its display of wonders and\napparent opposition of forces and their ends, was created and is\nupheld by the eternal hand, for no other purpose than to make his love\nbe seen and felt by his intelligent creation. Any other view\nchallenges the divine love and reflects discredit upon the divine\nwisdom. All that we know of God is revealed in the truth he has given\nto save man from sin and its consequences. His love, wisdom and power\nare all revealed in his great scheme to build up a heaven of eternal\nglory and bliss for all who desire or are willing to share in its\nblessedness. But God does not work out of order. He works in accord\nwith the love and wisdom which are his essence, and both infinite and\neternal with him. Before the heavens were made, or ever the\nfoundations of the earth were laid, it was the divine purpose to\ncreate intelligent beings to be eternally happy. When God created the\nheavens and the earth he made man in his own image and likeness. Man\nwas happy. But he fell. And God foresaw that man would fall; and to\nremedy the loss and restore man to the divine image again, Christ was,\nas a Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world. In the Divine\nestimation Christ was slain before the foundation of the world; but to\nus, visibly, not until four thousand years afterward. In the divine\nforeknowledge the church was established before the world was made,\nand God _foreordained_ who should compose it, basing this\nforeordination, not on one in preference to another on any personal\nground, but on the ground of fitness as to quality. Foreordination and\nelection have nothing to do with man other than as pertains to quality\nand fitness. The penitent, believing, loving and obeying, humble,\nself-denying soul is _foreordained_ to be one of God's ELECT, now,\nhenceforth and forever.\n\nI now repeat the text: \"Elect ... according to the foreknowledge of\nGod the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit.\" What I have\nsaid harmonizes with this, because the qualified fitness of the\n_elect_ is through sanctification of the Spirit. Our Lord prays for\nall in these words: \"Father, sanctify them through thy truth: thy word\nis truth.\" It is through the truth that men are sanctified, and the\nsanctified the world over and through all time are God's elect,\naccording to his foreknowledge or foreordination, because no others\ncan be. The all-in-all of this great subject resolves itself into the\nsimple fact that men do not come into covenant union with God unto\nsalvation because God elected and foreordained it to be so in their\nspecial behalf as individuals, unconditionally chosen beforehand,\nwhilst others no worse than they are left to go to destruction; but\nthey are elected _according to God's foreordination_ because they have\ncome into covenant union with him unto salvation; and have, therefore,\nthe fitness to be worthy of being so chosen or elected. Their election\nand foreordination are not the cause but the result of the fitness. It\nis foreordained that \"of such is the kingdom of heaven,\" because it\ncannot consist of any other kind.\n\nBut let us turn to Ezekiel's prophecy, 33:11, \"As I live, saith the\nLord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the\nwicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye, ... for why will\nye die; O house of Israel?\" If the house of Israel was of the elect on\nan unconditional basis of salvation, they surely would return at some\ntime, and why such concern? If not, all the calling after them that\ncould be done would not fetch them back, because they were not of the\nelect. This is exactly where the doctrine of unconditional election\nleads.\n\nAgain, 2 Peter 3:9, God is \"not willing that any should perish, but\nthat all should come to repentance.\" If God is not willing that any\nshould perish, why did he not make provision and save all? If it is\npossible for him to save some just because he chooses to do so without\nany conditions, why not save all? I know what the advocates of this\ndoctrine which I am combatting teach: they say God makes his elect\nwilling to repent and turn to him in the day of his power. I ask, If\nhe is not willing that any should perish, why does he not save all? If\nhe wills that all should come to repentance, why does he not give\nrepentance to all and remission of sins? I mention these things merely\nto show the contradictions and confusion involved in the doctrine of\nunconditional elections.\n\nI will here relate what I read somewhere not long ago. A very pious\nAfrican slave was employed in waiting on the guests at a public house\nof entertainment. One of the guests, who was a man of some prominence\nin the world, having been informed of the unaffected Christian piety\nof this poor slave, thought to sport with him. Addressing him by name,\nhe said: \"I want you to tell me whether I am one of the Lord's elect\nor not.\" \"Indeed, sir,\" said the poor slave, \"I have never heard of\nyour being a candidate. If you want a place in the good Lord's service\nyou must go to him and tell him that you are a candidate, that you\nwill accept the lowest place that he is willing to give you, and that\nyou will do whatever he requires at your hands. If,\" continued he,\n\"you come out publicly in this way, I can then tell you what I think\nas to whether you are one of the Lord's elect or not.\"\n\nFRIDAY, August 5. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse. Much good\nsinging, with thanksgiving and speaking suited to the occasion.\n\nSUNDAY, August 28. Meeting at Edom, a village about six miles\nnorthward from Harrisonburg, Virginia. I spoke from 1 Peter 3:18, 22.\nThe first part of this text should be handled with great caution.\nPrecisely what is meant is not very clear. I am told that a critical\nexamination of the Greek text does favor the doctrine that Christ went\nfrom the cross to carry the news of his victorious death to the\nspirits of those who perished in the flood. If it pleased the good\nLord to carry the news of salvation to this throng of prisoners and\nrelease them from their prison, who can say aught against it? My heart\nwould rejoice to think that every being in the universe could and\nwould, sometime, in the course of the ages, be made sinless and happy.\nBut we should never concern ourselves about what God has not revealed.\nIt is our right and privilege to rejoice evermore in the free and full\nsalvation clearly set forth and freely offered in his Word. To the\nunconverted and careless sinner, I here say to-day, as I love your\nimmortal soul, Do not rest your hope of salvation upon anything short\nof a saving faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. If our Father in heaven\nhas provided another way, as some would say, \"by fire,\" I know not\nthat way.\n\nHistory says that\n\n  \"Kings are men to glory known\n  Who wade through fire to a throne;\"\n\nbut a seared and blistered body is a great price to pay for an earthly\ncrown. So I think that \"by fire,\" even if such a thing were possible,\nwould be a very undesirable way of getting into heaven, especially if\nthe fire means \"hell fire.\" Martyrs, it is true, have gone to glory\nthrough fire; but not the fire that burns and sears the soul. It was\nonly that elementary fire kindled by wicked hands around the stake. It\ncould kill the body, but after that there was no more that it could\ndo; and the purified and ransomed soul of the sainted being who thus\nhad suffered could look down from heights of glory upon the ashes of\nhis martyrdom and sing: \"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where\nis thy victory?\"\n\nBut to return to the text. We here note this remarkable language, that\n\"baptism doth also now save us.\" I suppose Peter uses the word\n\"baptism\" here in its authorized acceptation, which is the immersion\nof the body of a believer in water in the name of the Father, and of\nthe Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a properly authorized administrator\nof the ordinance. But in what sense can baptism be said to save us? My\nfirst answer is, It saves us just as the sevenfold washing in Jordan\non the part of Naaman saved that leprous nobleman from being consumed\nby the leprosy.\n\nI will extend my remarks somewhat concerning Naaman the Syrian. He\ncame to the Prophet Elisha to get cured of his leprosy. He was well\nsupplied with valuable presents for the man of God, to be given to him\nin the event of his being healed by him. The prophet of God told him\nto go and wash or bathe seven times in the Jordan. This appeared too\ninsignificant for such a great man as he was to submit to. Besides he\nregarded the waters of Damascus as superior in virtue to the waters of\nthe Jordan, and he started off in a rage from disappointment. But as\nhe was leaving his servants said to him: \"If the prophet had bid thee\ndo some great thing wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather\nthen, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down and\ndipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the\nman of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little\nchild, and he was clean.\" Now, in my view, baptism saves us as this\nsevenfold dipping in Jordan saved Naaman. Not the water, but the\nspirit of obedience, is what saves. It saves us as going through the\ndoor into the ark saved Noah and his family. It saves us as passing\nthrough the Red Sea saved Israel from the host of Egyptians that were\nin pursuit. This passage of Israel through the sea is called a\nbaptism.\n\nAnd what shall I say more? For it looks as if this ought to be enough.\nBut I would like to send my voice around the globe laden with the\ntruth that \"faith without works is dead,\" and that baptism is the very\nfirst outward work of obedience the believer is required to do. This,\nwith the other ordinances of God's house, in connection with a good\nlife ornamented with the fruits of love and good will toward men,\ngives life to faith and proves that it is a living reality in the\nsoul.\n\nSaul of Tarsus was a believing convict;\n\n  \"Borne down beneath a load of sin;\n    By Satan sorely pressed--\"\n\nfor three days and nights, in which he did neither eat nor drink.\nAnanias came to him with instructions direct from the Lord, saying:\n\"Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name\nof the Lord.\" Can we suppose that Saul would have become the happy\nconvert that he was, had he refused to obey?\n\nSome think that baptism is nothing, or so nearly nothing that it is\nhardly worth taking into the account of Christian life. May it not as\ntruthfully be said that faith is nothing, and that repentance is\nnothing, and that obedience is nothing? Where is the difference?\n\nIn all love, with my heart moved in good will toward every one in this\nhouse, I do here say that for the life of me I cannot see how any one\ncan hope for salvation while living in open disobedience to the only\nSavior, Jesus Christ. Can any plead ignorance? From this hour forth\nyou shall not bring that in as a plea for neglect of duty, for I now\nrepeat in your ears the words that fell from the lips of Jesus\nhimself: \"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.\" Have I a\nright to say that you will be saved without baptism? I claim no such\nright. You may say the penitent thief on the cross was saved without\nbaptism. So he was; all things are possible with God; and\nnotwithstanding all that God has said in his Word about baptism and\nits blessed followings, I boldly say to you that if you die knowing as\nlittle about it as the thief on the cross did, with no better chance\nto have it administered upon you and to you than he had, God will\nnever require it at your hands. But from this day on, if not before\nthis day, you are lifted out of the darkness that encompassed his\nmind, and can nevermore plead ignorance. Besides, your hands and feet\nare not nailed to a cross as his were. You are not reduced to the\nextremity of calling for mercy with the last gasp of expiring life.\n\"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?\"\n\nAgain: Hear what was said to the convicted multitude on the day of\nPentecost: \"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of\nJesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift\nof the Holy Ghost.\" Have I a right, has any one a right, to say that\nthese promises would have been fulfilled without baptism? But they\nwere fulfilled, for the same day there were added to the brethren then\npresent, about three thousand souls. Would such addition have been\nmade without a compliance with the terms of admission? But those who\nspeak and think lightly of baptism, whilst they may not see it so, do\nvirtually dishonor the blessed Jesus by their implied belief that he\ndemands something of his people which is of little or no account. They\ninsult him by substantially saying they understand his business better\nthan he does himself. Are any ashamed to be baptized? If there be one\nsuch here to-day, I warningly repeat in his or her ear this saying of\nJesus: \"Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words, of him shall\nthe Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in his own glory, and the\nglory of the Father, and of the holy angels.\"\n\nI have a clear conscience that I am attaching to this subject no more\nimportance than it justly claims in the scale of salvation. When I lay\nme down to die, above all things I desire to feel assured that \"I have\nnot shunned to declare the whole counsel of God.\" I submit these\nremarks to your consideration, with a prayer for the divine blessing\nupon us all to his glory. Amen!\n\nTUESDAY, September 13. Perform the marriage ceremony of Michael Brake,\nof Hardy County, Virginia, and Julia Ann Hevner, of Rockingham County,\nat the home of her father, William Hevner.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 22. Attend a love feast at Abraham Huffman's in\nPage County, and stay all night at Nathan Spitler's. These two\nbrethren give promise of great usefulness in the church.\n\nSUNDAY, October 9. Brother Kline started to Maryland and Pennsylvania.\nI here name the families he visited on this journey, in the order the\nvisits were made: Brother Waltman's, Jacob Saylor's, Widow Baer's,\nJacob Rees's, Jesse Royer's, Widow Rees's, Moomaw's, David Garber's,\nWidow Bofamyer's, Joseph Pontz's, Minich's, Harnley's, Hartzler's, on\nTulpahocken, Daniel Zug's, John Gipple's, Abraham Gipe's, Isaac\nBrubaker's. At this place he stayed the night of Monday, October 24.\nHe reports that a snow began to fall about three o'clock Monday\nmorning, which continued till evening, when it was over a foot in\ndepth. A remarkable occurrence for the time of year, October 24. It\nwill be remembered by many for a time to come. He then visited Abraham\nBalsbach's, Moses Miller's, Allen Mohler's, William Etter's,\nSollenberger's, Engel's, Christian Keffer's.\n\nI now name the places where he attended meetings: Jacob Saylor's\nmeetinghouse, October 13; Pipe Creek meetinghouse, October 14; Jacob\nRees's meetinghouse, October 15; Meadow Branch meetinghouse, October\n16; Brother Moomaw's, October 17; Mount Joy, October 18; Widow\nBofamyer's, October 19; Joseph Pontz's morning, Brother Minich's\nevening, October 20; Brother Harnley's morning, Shafferstown evening,\nOctober 21; Brother Hartzler's on Tulpehocken, October 22; Milborough\nmorning, John Gipple's night, October 23; Isaac Brubaker's, October\n24; Spring Creek morning, Abraham Balsbach's afternoon, October 25;\nMechanicsburg, October 26; Allen Mohler's, October 27; William\nEtter's, October 28; Sellenberger's, October 29; Welsh Run\nmeetinghouse forenoon, Ridge meetinghouse night, October 30.\n\nMONDAY, October 31. Start for home. Brother Kline arrived home safe\nNovember 4. This report speaks for itself in behalf of his energy and\nactivity in the work of the ministry. Such instances of untiring\neffort! Twenty-three meetings attended; and as many discourses\ndelivered, in seventeen consecutive days! Besides, he had considerable\ntraveling to do in reaching these appointments; and never stayed more\nthan one night at the same place! We involuntarily ask, When did he\nsleep? or, Did he never get tired?\n\nTUESDAY, November 15. Brother Samuel Bowman died this morning. I\nrejoice to think he was a sincere follower of the Lord, and that he\nhas left a life record which he will not likely be ashamed to own in a\ncoming day.\n\nSATURDAY, November 19. Night meeting at Prince's schoolhouse, near\nBrother Abraham Huffman's, in Page County. Acts 8:12. TEXT.--\"But when\nthey believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of\nGod and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both\nmen and women.\"\n\nThe dispersion which followed the fiery persecution of the saints at\nJerusalem was productive of good. The scattered apostles, and the\noverseers of the deacons as well, of whom Philip named in the text was\none, preached wherever they went, and many believed. The very steps\ntaken by the enemies of the cross to put an end to its power \"turned\nout unto the furtherance of the gospel.\" In this we can see the\noverruling hand of Providence.\n\nThere is one point in this line of thought which I desire to make\nspecially prominent. This point is the readiness with which believers\nin that day submitted to the ordinance of baptism, and the\nconsequences which were almost sure to follow. The duty of being\nimmersed seems to have pressed itself upon their hearts, and nothing\nshort of obedience to this command could give their consciences rest.\nBut how is it now! Error has done so much to rob this impressive\nordinance of its beauty and significance that many seem indifferent to\nits claims, or ignore it entirely.\n\nThousands professing faith in Christ at the present day go away from\nthe _revival_ singing:\n\n  \"Nothing, either great or small;\n    Nothing have I now to do:\n  Jesus died and paid it all,\n    Long time ago.\"\n\nThis would surely be getting salvation at a cheap rate. There is in\nthis no \"trial of faith, more precious than gold,\" no \"cleansing of\nthe flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.\"\nThis means receiving the crown without bearing the cross. But the\nearly Christians were never soothed with such sedatives. On the\ncontrary, they were admonished to count the cost. Some of the items in\nthis cost were \"_self-denial, no certain dwelling place_,\" _the loss\nof all things, persecutions, fiery trials, bonds, imprisonments,\ndeath_. They were not taught to regard the church as a cradle in which\ntheir spiritual infancy was to be rocked, but as being a camp for\nsoldiers, with stout hearts and strong sinews, ready to do battle for\nthe Lord. They were therefore exhorted to put on the whole armor of\nGod: and their baptismal vow was the act of putting this armor on\npublicly, and their enrollment in the Lord's host, prepared for the\ngreat conflict. They were expected from that hour forth to \"fight the\ngood fight of faith,\" and the battle hymn that flowed out of the heart\nof every baptized believer of that day was, in spirit if not in form,\nthe same that some of us are still ready to sing:\n\n  \"Sure I must fight, if I would reign;\n    Increase my courage, Lord:\n  I'll bear the cross, endure the pain,\n    Supported by thy Word.\"\n\nI would rejoice if I could here, this night, be the means of melting\nthe ice that binds the hearts of some halfway believers, and if the\nangel would trouble the sluggish pool in others. May God help you,\nfriends, to feel a sense of your duty, and, like these honest\nSamaritans named in the text, \"believe the things spoken concerning\nthe Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and be baptized, both\nmen and women.\"\n\nBrother Kline was actively engaged in preaching and visiting the sick\nprofessionally as a physician to the close of the year. He traveled in\nthe year 1853, 4,411 miles.\n\nI find it impossible to trace all the visits to distant churches and\nfamilies made by Brother Kline, and keep this book within the limits\nof a suitable size. I therefore omit much which might be of interest.\n\nFRIDAY, March 3. Council at the old meetinghouse above Harrisonburg.\n\nSATURDAY, March 4. Council closes. Night meeting in Dayton, Virginia.\nI speak from Psalm 144:11, 12: \"Rid me, and deliver me from the hand\nof strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand\nis a right hand of falsehood: that our sons may be as plants grown up\nin their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished\nafter the similitude of a palace.\"\n\nThis is a wonderful prayer from the heart of one who was both priest\nand king of his people. As a priest, David had the care of the\nspiritual welfare of his people; and as a king, the civil prosperity\nof Judah and Israel. The prayer of my text is offered in behalf of\nboth these interests, the spiritual and the temporal. Probably no man\never felt more deeply the truth expressed in his own words, elsewhere\nrecorded, \"Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah,\" than David did.\nThe lofty consciousness, which is the orderly outgrowth of correct\nknowledge of God's love, wisdom and power, and man's utter lack of all\nthese attributes, accounts for the dependence and trust he reposed in\nGod. This called forth the prayer of my text. It contains three\npetitions. The first is _for deliverance from strange children_; the\nsecond, _that the sons may be as plants_ [olive trees] _grown up in\ntheir youth_; the third, _that the daughters may be as corner stones,\npolished after the similitude of a palace_.\n\nDavid comes into the presence of the Lord-as the representative of his\nkingdom. His watchful eye has seen the tracks and his listening ear\nhas heard the steps of strange feet. They are the feet of the\nsurrounding idolatrous nations. He calls them strange children, for\nsuch they are; because in language, manners and dress they give proof\nthat they are not of Judah and Jerusalem, but of Sodom and Egypt. More\nthan this, these strange children are enemies. They would break up the\nself-denying worship of the true God and rob the sanctuary of all its\nsacred garniture. They would corrupt the morals, debase the manners,\nand deprave the tastes of the young. \"Their mouth speaketh vanity.\"\nThey boast of their liberty. Their sinful indulgences are not\nrestrained by law. They are _free_ to do whatever the lust of the\nflesh and the eye may incline them to do. \"Their right hand is the\nright hand of falsehood.\" This figure is very strong. The _right hand_\nin this place is figuratively put for knowledge, wisdom, power, and\nwhatever else they may vainly boast of having. But they are destitute\nof all these. They have no knowledge of that which is good, because\nthey desire it not. They have no wisdom, because they have never\nlifted their minds and hearts to the high plane of desire to do\njustice and judgment. They have no power save that which is of the\nnatural man; and that power, unless properly restrained, is always to\nbe feared. No wonder that he says of these idolatrous, licentious\npeople that \"their right hand is the right hand of falsehood.\"\n\nBut how is the Lord to rid him of and deliver him from the hand of\nthese strange children? By causing fire to fall from heaven and\nconsume them? By causing a flood of water to drown them? Or by making\nthe earth to open her jaws and devour them? No, no; in none of these\nways; for in such destruction of enemies there is no trial of the\nfaith of his people. Brethren, do you know that it is, has been and to\nthe end of time will be the pleasure of our heavenly Father to try the\nfaith of his children? This cannot be done independent of means. Do\nyou know that a tree standing in a stormy place takes deeper root than\none that grows up in a calm, sheltered spot? Do you know that a child\nshielded from every trial, and kept out of the reach of all\ntemptation, will grow up with a very weak moral development? The back\nthat is never made to bear a load will forever stay weak. The hand and\narm unused to toil will lack strength and skill. God does not want a\nkingdom made up of imbeciles. He wants a people strong in faith, who\ncan make a good fight, \"the good fight of faith; lay hold of eternal\nlife;\" and if needs be \"take the kingdom of heaven by violence,\" the\nviolence that resists the devil and makes him leave tracks which point\naway from where his people stand. The track always tells which way the\nfox has gone.\n\nThis strength of faith, Brethren, is included in David's prayer for\nhis people, and he puts it in this shape: \"That our sons may be as\nplants [olive trees; see Psalm 128:4] grown up in their youth.\" We all\nknow that plants, including trees, make their best growth and yield\ntheir best results in the open air, where they are exposed to the sun,\nwind, rain, storm and drouth. And it is there they can receive the\ntillage they need.\n\nYou see how readily this beautiful figure applies to the rearing and\neducation of children. \"That our sons may be _grown up in their\nyouth_.\" Their manhood as to faith, virtue, obedience, wisdom,\nintelligence and piety is largely developed while they are yet young.\nHow many mistakes are made by parents right here! They say of their\nsons: \"Ah, they are young. After awhile they will be through with\nsowing their wild oats, and then I expect better things of them.\" The\nbetter things may come, but David prayed otherwise. He wanted the\nbetter things to grow up with their growth, and strengthen with their\nstrength, so as to be perfect men even while yet in their youth, as\nlambs may be perfect in form and quality before they are fully\ndeveloped into sheep.\n\nBut more. He prays that \"our daughters may be as corner stones,\npolished after the similitude of a palace.\" Many of us, no doubt, have\nseen palaces built of polished stones. David almost breaks me down\nunder the weight of his strong and significant figures. He wants the\nsons of Judah and Jerusalem to be fruit-bearing trees with strong\nroots struck deep into the ground. But the sphere in which the\ndaughters are to move, the part they are to act, the place they are to\nhold in the social and religious life of the church and the world, is\ndifferent from that of the sons, and so he uses a very different\nfigure. They are to be corner stones, polished and set into a palace.\nCorner stones, from the ground to the roof, are those upon which the\nstrength and beauty of a building greatly depend. A defect here mars\nthe appearance and detracts largely from the permanence and value of\nthe structure. David wants to see the daughters strong and solid as\ncorner stones, in faith, virtue, wisdom and all else that helps to\nmake a woman strong: and at the same time polished with all the\nrefinements of taste, modesty, beauty, gentleness, tender-heartedness\nand love.\n\nSince God has specially endowed woman with large capacities for\ndeveloping these powers and graces, let her look to it that they be\nnot suffered to lie buried in a napkin, or perverted to the idolatrous\nworship of the goddess of fashion. The plastic and pliable temperament\nof woman tends towards making her an easy prey for the tempter, when\nhe approaches her with smiles, bearing in his hands jewels of gold,\nbraided hair, and costly apparel. She is lured the same by the giddy\nrevel and the fashionable dance--trusting, thoughtless, happy child;\nready for almost any pleasure that makes the cheek to glow and the eye\nto sparkle with delight!\n\nMothers, be patient, watchful and wise in training your daughters.\nWithhold from them no good thing, but teach them to shun the ways that\nare \"the ways of hell.\" Fathers, be mild, but firm in training your\nsons into habits of sobriety, temperance and abstemiousness from all\nbad habits. Pray with them and for them, and if possible teach them to\nfeel that there is something better than the life and purer than the\nlove of this world. May God bless the young people of our land and\nmake them the pillars of his truth, is my prayer.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 13. Council meeting at the Mill Creek meetinghouse.\nBrother Isaac Long is elected speaker, and Christian Hartman deacon.\nBrother Isaac Long gives promise of great power in the Word. He has a\nvery good voice for both speaking and singing. I do not wish to attach\nundue weight to this most wonderful gift of God, but when the head is\nstored with knowledge and the heart with the love of truth, the human\nvoice is one of the great means by which God makes known the saving\nvirtue of his Word.\n\nFRIDAY, April 14. Council meeting at the old meetinghouse. Brother\nJohn Thomas is elected to the deaconship.\n\nSUNDAY, April 30. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Samuel Wampler and wife\nbaptized.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 11. Perform the marriage ceremony of George Wine, son of\nSamuel Wine, and Lydia Good, daughter of Jacob Good.\n\nMONDAY, May 22. This day Brother Kline starts to the Annual Meeting.\nHe gets to Cumberland on the twenty-third, where he meets Brother E.K.\nBeachley, who takes him to his home. The same evening he attends a\nlove feast at a meetinghouse near by.\n\nFRIDAY, May 26. He attends a union meeting at the Middle Creek\nmeetinghouse, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.\n\nSATURDAY, May 27. He has meeting near Brother David Lichty's. I will\nclothe the skeleton of this discourse as best I can. Acts 10:34, 35.\nTEXT.--\"Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive\nthat God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that\nfeareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted of him.\"\n\nIt required a miracle to convince Peter that any besides Jews were to\nbe favored with the Gospel. But a man of his stamp of character, hard\nto be convinced, resolute even to drawing the sword in defense of his\nfriend or faith, is not likely to be imposed upon by false\nappearances, nor deceived by unreliable promises. Just such a man\nJesus needed, and just such a man Jesus chose to be foreman in his\nlittle band of disciples. But when all doubt was removed from Peter's\nmind, his faith became to be a part of himself. Its roots branched out\ninto every part of his nature, and permeated his entire self. Well\ncould Jesus say of the TRUTH which Peter so nobly confessed, and to\nwhich he so nobly adhered in the later years of his life by a _faith_\nthat bore the test of fire: \"Upon this rock will I build my church,\nand the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.\" Such faith ever\nhas been and ever will be the foundation on which his church stands.\n\nBut now Peter clearly sees that the Gentiles are \"fellow heirs with\nthe Jews,\" and equally entitled to the right of becoming members of\n\"the household of faith.\" \"God is no respecter of persons: but in\nevery nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is\naccepted of him.\" Neither social, moral nor political caste, nor age,\nsex, color nor condition impose any barrier to God's acceptance. Peter\nwas taught this by his vision; and this is the meaning of the text.\nBut whilst God is thus impartial, we must not forget that his\nacceptance of any and every one depends upon their acceptance of him.\n\n\"_He that feareth God._\" I will say something on this. A\nmisunderstanding of this may do serious harm. Let me first say that\nour heavenly Father, God, is not a despot or tyrant. There is no\nelement in his nature or essence that in the slightest degree savors\nof despotism or tyranny. Jesus says: \"He that seeth me seeth the\nFather: the Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared\nhim. And from henceforth ye have both seen the Father and know him.\"\nJesus was also called Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is, \"God\nwith us.\" Do we, then, desire a correct knowledge of God the Father?\nLet us acquaint ourselves with his Son Jesus Christ, and we will have\nit, for he came to do the will of the Father. This was his explicit\nwork; and he accomplished it, for he says in his last great prayer:\n\"And now, O Father, I come to thee, having finished the work thou\ngavest me to do.\"\n\nNow I ask, Did Jesus ever show anything else than good will toward\nmen? Is there not manifest love in every act of his recorded life? Did\nhe not go about doing good? Did he not say: \"No man hath greater love\nthan this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my\nfriends, if ye do whatsoever I command you\"? God's love is seen in the\nlife work and words of Jesus.\n\nNow, then, in what sense is Jesus Christ to be feared? In the very\nsense in which his disciples feared him. But this was not in the sense\nof being timid or fearful of his presence. On the contrary, they\ndesired to be with him and near him, for they felt secure in his\npresence. They could take hold of his hands and see the nail prints,\nand the spear mark in his side. John leaned on his breast at table,\nand the women took hold of his feet. His word of comfort was: \"Fear\nnot,\" and he often repeated this in their ears. \"Be not afraid; it is\nI.\" In all this we see the heart of our heavenly Father, for \"the Son\nis the express image of him.\" In what sense, then, are we to fear God?\nOnly in the sense of fear to go counter to his will. \"Perfect love\ncasteth out fear.\" The redeemed saints and angels who stand before his\nheavenly throne in perfect love know no fear of God, \"for fear hath\ntorment.\" But we, who still grovel on earth battling with the world,\nthe flesh and the devil, have cause to fear offending his righteous\nand holy will. But this only when we are tempted to leave some duty\nundone or to commit some actual sin. As long as we walk in the good\nway of love, faith and obedience we have nothing to fear. To all such\nJesus ever says: \"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good\npleasure [delight, joy] to give you the kingdom.\"\n\n\"_And worketh righteousness._\" It is in order now to speak on this\npoint in the text. We know that God is just, \"and there is no\nunrighteousness in him.\" The prophet Daniel in his confession said: \"O\nLord, righteousness belongeth unto thee.\" To work righteousness, then,\nis to do the righteous will of the Father. All works of righteousness\nhave their origin in supreme love to God and subordinate love to man.\n\"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself\" covers the ground. It is\nvery much the same as that other saying of Jesus: \"All things\nwhatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto\nthem, for this is the law and the prophets.\" This command comprehends\nall the possible relations of men with each other. It takes in the\nsocial, moral, civil, commercial, national and religious relations of\nthe human family in all time; and when a man's conduct in these varied\nrelations is governed by the Lord's golden rule, he is working\nrighteousness in the eye of God and is accepted of him. \"_He that\nworketh righteousness_\" takes in every human being that lives a good\nlife. But no one can live a good life without help from the Lord.\nJesus says: \"Without me ye can do nothing.\" Cornelius had help from\nGod. He feared God. He worshiped God. He was a devout man himself, and\nall his house had the same reverence for God. He had also heard of\nChrist, especially of the witness borne by the Holy Spirit, at his\nbaptism, and that of the Father acknowledging his divine sonship.\n\nBut Cornelius needed instruction in matters pertaining to the\nordinances of God's house. His knowledge and faith were sufficient for\nthe purposes of living a good, righteous life. He was a man of prayer.\nHe also possessed that element of goodness which Paul says is greater\neven than faith, and that element is _charity_. Notice, the angel said\nto him: \"Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up as a memorial before\nGod.\" The angel included nothing else. In our acknowledgments of\nregard and favor in the behalf of any one we refer to one's character\nand standing in the eyes of men. But the angel made no such reference.\nFrom this we may learn what God loves most in his people, and that is\nLOVE. The love of Cornelius for God was manifested by his prayers.\nLoving, faithful, trustful prayers are the proof that we love God: and\nkindness, gentleness and goodness toward others, the proof that we\nlove our neighbor. This was manifest in his alms.\n\nBut the Lord wanted Cornelius to arise and mount a higher plane in the\nlife of righteousness: a high plane of holy intelligence and knowledge\nrespecting himself and his people. The Holy Ghost falling upon him and\nthe rest brought with it the illuminating power, in verification of\nthe Lord's words: \"The Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my\nname, he shall teach you all things.\" This inflowing power, teaching,\nquickening, regenerating the soul, is what Jesus means by a man's\nbeing born of the Spirit: and in its order and connection \"the washing\nof regeneration,\" the water baptism, the water birth into the church,\nfollows. Cornelius was baptized, and all the devout members of his\nfamily with him. This is the last mention that is made of him. Very\nsoon after this time that fearful persecution of the saints arose in\nJerusalem and Judea, which resulted in their dispersion to foreign\ncountries and places, so that Cornelius may never have enjoyed the\nprivilege of having the remaining ordinances of feet-washing, the\ngospel salutation of the kiss, the love feast, and the holy Communion\nof the bread and wine administered to him and his house. As no church\ncould be organized at the house of Cornelius at that time, these\nordinances had to be postponed. In truth, their introduction and\nobservance must always be guarded with care, lest they be abused and\nperverted, as they were at Corinth some years later. But of this we\nare sure: \"If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted of a man\naccording to that which he hath, and not according to that which he\nhath not.\"\n\nI cannot close without a few reflections on what has been said. When\nCornelius was told what to do, he did not hesitate a moment. Forthwith\nhe sent for Peter. When Peter came he received him with joy, and would\nhave worshiped him in devout solemnity, had Peter not instantaneously\nrejected his approach. When the inflowing baptism of the Holy Spirit\ngave him and those with him the new birth of the Spirit, they were\nready to receive the water birth by baptism in water. The water was\nnot forbidden, because no opposition to the Gospel had as yet arisen\nin Cesarea.\n\nNow, friends, here is an example worthy of imitation. Let me prevail\nin my appeal to you in behalf of your immortal souls. \"To whom much is\ngiven, of him they will require the more.\" Much is given you, my dear\nfriends who have so attentively listened to me to-day. \"He that hath\nears to hear, let him hear.\" To hear is to obey. \"He that knoweth to\ndo his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many\nstripes.\" \"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole\nworld, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for\nhis soul?\" These \"words are spirit and they are life.\" \"Learn of me,\"\nsays the best friend on earth, \"and ye shall find rest unto your\nsouls.\"\n\nSUNDAY, May 28. Love feast at Forney's. Christian Schmucker is\nordained to the full work of the ministry.\n\nTUESDAY, May 30. Love feast at David Summers's. An election is held.\nBrother David Royer is elected speaker; and Daniel Newcomer and David\nSummers deacons.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 1. Love feast at Brother Joseph Royer's, nine miles\nnorth of Canton.\n\nSATURDAY, June 3. Stay all night at Brother Nathan Stern's.\n\nSUNDAY, June 4. Come to place of Annual Meeting. Breakfast in the\nshed. Six persons baptized.\n\nMONDAY, June 5. Form committees, and begin to take in queries. Stay\nall night on the ground.\n\nTUESDAY, June 6. Begin the discussion of questions. Get through with\nthe slave question by noon. All night on the ground.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 7. Get through with business by eleven o'clock, and\nthe meeting breaks up.\n\nSUNDAY, July 23. This day Joseph Miller and I start to the counties of\nPendleton, Hardy, Randolph, Pocahontas, and Highland. I ride Nell.\n\nThese two brethren were absent on this journey precisely three weeks\nto the day. I fear it would be tedious to the reader to trace them day\nby day and step by step through all the ways they went. Not a day\npassed in which they did not fill one appointment for preaching, and\noften two. Brother Kline felt at home among the mountains. He had a\nlively appreciation of the sublime in nature; and more than once does\nhe note the grandeur of some mountain's lofty summit over which he\npassed; the majestic power of some falling stream; or the awful\nsolitude of some deep forest. It was mainly a timbered country through\nwhich they passed. The regions traversed by the Alleghany mountain\nproper were in that day still in a state of nature; and the scattered\ninhabitants very nearly in the same state. Many of them live very\nremote from any railroad or other public highway.\n\nAt a private house, in Randolph County, he says: \"Extensive forests of\nvery tall and straight timber which would be exceedingly valuable for\nbuilding and other purposes, could it be gotten to market, cover large\nsections of Randolph, Pocahontas, Tucker and other counties further\nwest. But as time goes on population will increase; and after awhile\nthe urgent demands for the timber and other productions of these\nregions will cause roads to be constructed for their transportation to\nmarkets. We should not be backward in our efforts to secure permanent\nfoothold for the truth as we hold and practice it. Many here cannot\nread for themselves; and it pains my heart to find how poorly they\nhave been instructed in the things pertaining to the way of salvation.\nThe small amount of preaching they hear is not often of an instructive\ncharacter. It appeals to the feelings, but does not inform the mind.\nThis I learn by conversing with them. They are told to believe, it is\ntrue; but what their faith is to lay hold of, and what the Lord\nrequires them to do that they may serve him acceptably, is not made\nclear to their minds. It is not to be inferred that all are on the low\nplane of intelligence I have described. There is here and there an\nexception. But the exceptions are rare. And in our preaching we aim to\nspeak, as did Paul, 'as to babes.' As to natural capacity, and their\ncapability of attaining to high intelligence in the things of men and\nGod, things human and divine, under the hand of adequate instruction,\nI regard them as being equal to any people in our State.\"\n\nThe two brethren continued in the company of each other throughout\nthis journey. They got home Sunday, August 13.\n\nFRIDAY, September 29. This day Brother Kline starts to the counties of\nHardy and Hampshire. He visits Isaac Dasher's, James Parks's, William\nMichael's, Adam Cosner's, Henry Cosner's, Joseph Arnold's, John\nLeatherman's, Samuel Arnold's, Adam Michael's, Michael Lyon's, Solomon\nMichael's, Jacob Cosner's, Martain Lantz's, Enoch Hyre's, Isaac\nShobe's, Chlora Judy's, Peggy Dasher's, and James Fitzwater's. He got\nhome Thursday, Oct. 12, after an absence of two weeks. He rode Nell. I\nbeg the kind reader to pardon the entry of the foregoing list of\nnames.\n\nThe Editor will here tell a short story of what really took place very\nrecently. He happened to be at the house of one of his friends, and in\nlooking through his library he discovered a very old copy of the life\nof Isaac N. Walter, who had been dead over forty years. He remarked to\nthe lady of the house: \"I see you still have on hand a copy of the\nlife of Isaac N. Walter.\" \"O, yes, and that is the most precious\nvolume to me in all the library. You see from its appearance that it\nhas been handled very freely. Mr. Walter used to come to our house,\nand whilst papa was not a member of his church he and papa thought a\ngreat deal of each other; and whilst I have but a childhood\nrecollection of him, reading that book carries me back in thought to\nthe old home place where I was raised, and calls up the thousand and\none pleasant memories of my early days.\" Thus she went on; and very\nsoon opened to the place where the date of one of Mr. Walter's visits\nto her father's house was given. She could no longer restrain her\ntears, but excused them by saying: \"You know a woman never forgets her\nfirst love, and that is the love of her childhood home.\"\n\nOn this trip Brother Kline baptized Josiah Simons and James Hilkey,\nOctober 7.\n\nSUNDAY, October 15. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize eleven\npersons to-day. They are Noah Rhodes and wife; Frederic Kline and\nwife; George Wine and wife; Susanna Showalter; Jacob Sanger; John\nMcKee; Catharine Fink, and Polly Wampler.\n\nSUNDAY, October 22. Meeting at the Lost River meetinghouse. Matthew 28\nis read. Philip Fitzwater and Catharine Sowder are baptized.\n\nSUNDAY, October 29. Meeting at John Glick's, in Shenandoah County.\nAfter meeting I baptize John Glick and wife. Stay all night at John\nNeff's.\n\nSUNDAY, November 12. Meeting at our meetinghouse. This day I baptize\nJohn A. Showalter; Mary Kline; Mary Kesler; Anna Hoover, wife of\nEmanuel Hoover, and Mrs. Fogel.\n\nSUNDAY, November 26. This day John Bowman and I take a steamer at\nAlexandria and attend a Methodist church in Washington City. After\nlooking around at the gorgeous displays of artistic ornamentation in\nthe structure and finish of the building itself, and being comfortably\nseated in a pew cushioned with silk velvet, with my feet resting on a\nBrussels carpet, I was ready to hear. The first thing I heard was a\nsort of chant, with organ accompaniment. But I could only now and then\ndistinguish a word chanted; so I could not say amen to their giving of\nthanks. Next came the reading of the twenty-fourth Psalm. Being a good\nway back, I could not hear distinctly, but knowing the Psalm by heart,\nmemory served where hearing failed. This was more satisfactory. Next\ncame the musical interlude, and the opening prayer followed. I hardly\never criticise a prayer; but when that prayer was through with it did\noccur to my mind that if it were to be suddenly answered none would\nprobably be so much surprised as the preacher who offered it. A\nfamiliar hymn was now sung, and many in the congregation joined their\nvoices in the song. This was very enjoyable. Next the sermon. The\npreacher used fine language, and ornamented his discourse with flowery\nsimilitudes and opposite figures. Such eloquence as flowed from his\nlips to-day, other things being equal, does not fail to attract large\naudiences. But when I took a view of the congregation, and beheld the\ndisplay of fashion everywhere visible, I could not suppress the\ninquisitive reflection as to what John Wesley would think of that\nbeing a congregation of Methodists, could he suddenly appear among\nthem. Would he own them? And would they own him in his plain dress and\nold-fashioned ways? And then the thought--what if the next hundred\nyears bring on as great a change in our Brotherhood as the past\nseventy-five years have unfolded in the Methodist society! But here I\nlet the curtain fall upon my thoughts, to hide them from my sight, for\nI cannot endure the prospect of such a change.\n\nI aim to cultivate a spirit of forbearance toward all denominations of\nprofessing Christians; but I am forced to conclude that in this place\nthe sons of God have fallen in love with the daughters of men; that\nthe church and the world have shaken hands in a mutual agreement to\nlive together in peace.\n\nMONDAY, November 27. At 5 o'clock we take the train for Baltimore,\nwhere we arrive at 6:40 P.M. Stop at Globe hotel.\n\nTUESDAY, November 28. Attend to business in the city, and in the\nevening go to Michael B. Kline's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, November 29. At 8 A.M. meet Brother D.P. Saylor at the\ndepot, and take cars for Philadelphia, where we arrive at 12:30 P.M.\nDine at Brother John Kagey's; then come to Morristown, and from there\nto Brother John Umstead's, where we stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, November 30. Come to Brother Isaac Price's, and then to\nBrother David Fricke's, where we stay all night.\n\nFRIDAY, December 1. Come to Price's meetinghouse. Make arrangements;\ntake the voice of the church touching the grievance; close our\nmeeting; come to Brother Peter Hollowbush's; stay all night and\nprepare our papers.\n\nSATURDAY, December 2. Come to the meetinghouse again. Brother D.P.\nSaylor speaks in the forenoon, and in the afternoon we present our\npapers and try to settle, but great commotion follows, and we close\nthe meeting. Come to Brother John Price's; stay all night. Night\nmeeting. Speak on John 10:9.\n\nSUNDAY, December 3. Meeting at the meetinghouse again. I speak on 1\nPeter 1:22. TEXT.--\"See that ye love one another with a pure heart\nfervently.\"\n\nScientific moralists teach that man's _love_ is his _life_. They\nsupport this statement by what they regard a self-evident truth, that\nsuch as a man's love is, such is his life. The wide field for\ninvestigation to which this line of thought leads, presents many\nplausible arguments in favor of the doctrine they hold. For one, I can\nand must confess that I have never been able to look deep enough into\nthe human soul to find out just what the principle of life is. Neither\nis it important that I should know. But there is One that does know.\nThat One needs not that any should testify to him concerning man, for\nhe knows what is in man.\n\nBrethren, you all know to whom my thought now turns. I mean our Lord\nJesus Christ. And let the life principle, the heart principle, the\nlove principle be one and the same or not, it is he who says of men:\n\"By their fruits shall ye KNOW them;\" not doubtfully, but surely. The\nlife record of every man, written not with pen and ink on paper, but\nwith the finger of God on the tablet of his memory, will be the basis\nof his adjudgment to hell or his acquittal to heaven. For \"a good man\nout of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things;\nlikewise an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth\nforth evil things.\" \"And they that have done good shall come forth\nunto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the\nresurrection of damnation.\"\n\nMan is created for society. He cannot be happy without it. If it would\nbe possible for us to conceive of a world inhabited by but one human\nbeing, with all hope of society forever banished, if that human being\ncould ever think at all, it would only be to wish himself dead. All\nour affections and thoughts are so intimately connected with the\naffections and thoughts of others as to derive all the zest of their\nenjoyment from this source alone. We enjoy the pleasures of the table\nmost when those we love enjoy them with us. This feeling is so\ninwrought in the character that when any we specially love are absent,\nwho we may fear are not faring as well as we, the reflection mars the\nrelish of our food. This is what should be. But the length and breadth\nof social enjoyment is exactly commensurate with the length and\nbreadth of social love. The man whose heart is so small as to be able\nto take none but the members of his own family in the grasp of his\ncontracted regard can have a meager enjoyment of life. He is somewhat\nabove a brute, but very far beneath the dignity of a man; and, worst\nof all, destitute of the spirit of Christ. \"He that loveth not his\nbrother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?\"\nAnd this thought brings up my text: \"See that ye love one another with\na pure heart fervently.\"\n\nBrethren, if I could impress these words upon your hearts in a way and\nto a degree that would be adequate to their importance, I would return\nhome in the happy reflection that I had been instrumental in doing a\nwork by which God is glorified and my Brethren saved. These words\nencompass the whole ground of salvation. Inside this compass of\nbrotherly love is salvation, and nowhere else. Say what you please,\nlove is what saves man after all. Some say faith saves, and so it does\nwhen it is quickened and filled with the warmth of brotherly love.\nOtherwise, though it be strong enough to remove mountains, as Paul\nsays, it is nothing. Faith without love is a dead faith. Devils have\nthis kind, and tremble. This dead faith may be compared to ice which\nis water as to substance, but worthless as to form. Frozen water may\nbridge rivers; and a frozen faith may bridge some of the streams of\nearthly life; but it will never bridge the stream of death and land us\nsafe in heaven.\n\nBut what is to be understood by brethren loving one another with a\npure heart fervently? I am afraid that if I attempt to tell what\nbrotherly love is, and how it is to be shown, I will only darken\ncounsel by words without wisdom. There is not a brother or sister in\nthis house who does not know what it is to love another with a pure\nheart fervently. I will, however, venture to say a little under this\nhead, by way of drawing our minds to think more closely upon it. I\nwill say, first, that when one brother loves another with a pure heart\nfervently, he tries in all ways and at all times _to do his brother\ngood, and no harm_. This love fills the mouth with good things and the\nhands with blessings.\n\nBut the text implies that this love can be increased, that it may grow\nardent, burning, by the use of right means, or suffered to grow cold\nby neglect. There can be no doubt of the truth of this. In all man's\nrelations to this life, experience shows that love may be fostered by\nkindness, or frozen by unkindness. This last remark reminds me of a\nconversation I had with a United Brethren preacher whom I chanced to\nfall in with in one of the western counties of Virginia. Speaking of\nhis work, and the number of converts he reported at different meetings\nhe had held, led me to ask how they were doing since then. He replied\nthat a goodly number appeared to continue faithful; but he added that\nsome had burnt out by unholy fire, and that others had frozen out by\nunholy frost. I afterward thought this to myself, that here was the\ncommingled fire and hail which John, in his apocalyptic vision, saw\nfalling from the same cloud. Ah, Brethren, let us beware of the unholy\nfire of evil passion, anger, malice, wrath, strife, that would burn\nand consume our love for one another; and on the other hand avoid all\nfeelings and expressions or other manifestations of contempt, or\nneglect, or unkindness that would freeze it to death.\n\nThis brings me now to speak of forgiveness. You have read the story,\ntold by our Lord, of the debtor who owed the ten thousand talents, and\nwas forgiven the debt; and how he afterward treated a fellow-debtor\nwho owed him a hundred pence; and how the first debtor was delivered\nto the tormentors because he would not forgive his fellow-servant. \"So\nshall also my heavenly Father do unto you,\"--says our Lord--\"if ye\nforgive not every one his brother from your hearts.\" Brethren, you and\nthe Lord for it. I this day wash my hands clean of your blood as I\nrepeat in your ears these words of love and warning: \"If ye forgive\nmen their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But\nif ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father\nforgive your trespasses.\"\n\nWhen I was yet a boy in Pennsylvania, before we moved to Virginia, my\nfather very strictly forbade me playing marbles on Sunday. I obeyed\nhis orders for some time; but one Sunday, when father was at church, a\nneighbor's boy came to our house and persuaded me to play with him. I\ndid it reluctantly. The play did not amuse me as usual. But I\ntransgressed all the same; and in the very act my father saw me on his\nreturn home. He called me to come to him. Expecting chastisement, I\nwent with trembling steps. I never had felt so unhappy in my life.\n\"What were you doing?\" he asked. I burst into tears. \"Are you very\nsorry for what you have done?\" I nodded and wept assent. \"Come a\nlittle nearer to me.\" I went; and he then drew a handkerchief from his\ncoat pocket and gently wiped away my tears, saying at the same time,\n\"I feel sure, Johnny, that you are very sorry for what you have done,\nand I forgive you with a kiss.\" Ah, Brethren, if I had never known\nsorrow before, I had never known joy till after that kiss. In itself\nit was but the contact of lips; but its power went to my heart; and I\ncan say here solemnly that I had never loved my father before as I\nloved him after that. Love is what conquers after all. Love is the\nroot and the offspring of happiness. There can be no happiness without\nlove. Therefore, Brethren, \"see that ye love one another with a pure\nheart fervently.\"\n\nAfter meeting I go with Brother David B. Kline in his carriage, and\nhave night meeting in a schoolhouse near his place. Snows all this\nday.\n\nMONDAY, December 4. Travel thirty-five miles to-day in Brother George\nGipel's wagon to his house. Snowing and blowing all day. Snow\nwonderfully drifted. Stay all night at Brother Gipel's.\n\nTUESDAY, December 5. Get into Brother Gipel's sleigh and go to meeting\nat Brother Brachtbil's. From there come to Brother Jacob Wanger's,\nnear Jonestown, to night meeting. Speak on Rev. 3:21. [This sublime\ndiscourse is withheld for want of room.] Stay all night at Brother\nBrachtbil's. Wonderful blowing of snow continues. Roads blockaded very\nmuch.\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 6. Brother John Kline near Millerstown takes me in\nhis sleigh to meeting near his house. Speak on John 14:6. Night\nmeeting at his house. Speak on Revelation 22. Stay with him all night.\nStill cold and stormy.\n\nTHURSDAY, December 7. Write a letter home, and one to Michael B.\nKline, of Baltimore. Stop at Jacob Frantz's, and get to Samuel\nRoyer's, near Myerstown, for dinner. Afternoon meeting at the\nmeetinghouse. Stay at David Zug's all night. Snowing and blowing\ncontinues. Very cold.\n\nFRIDAY, December 8. Meeting at Brother George Bolinger's. John 10 is\nread. In afternoon come to Brother Samuel Hilsman's. Visit and help to\nanoint a sick sister. Come to Brother John Gipel's. Night meeting.\nSpeak of John 14:6.\n\nSATURDAY, December 9. Come to David Zug's. Meeting. Speak from Hebrews\n2.\n\nSUNDAY, December 10. Meeting at Christian Longenacre's. Speak on Luke\n1:77. Night meeting at the widow Eby's.\n\nMONDAY, December 11. Visit Aunt Anna Hershey. She is very weak. Dine\nat Abraham Hershey's. He takes me to Mount Joy, to Henry Kurtz's,\nwhere we have night meeting. Sup at David Sharlocher's, and stay all\nnight with Brother Kurtz.\n\nTUESDAY, December 12. Dine at Brother Jacob Rinehold's, and take the\neleven o'clock train in Lancaster for home, where I arrive Friday,\nDecember 15.\n\nIn the year 1854 Brother Kline traveled 6,463 miles. I feel sure that\nit is safe to say that every mile he traveled was in the direction of\nsome good object. Here is something for every one to think on: Do all\nthe steps of my life tend in the direction of some good object? Are\nall my motives pure, sincere, honest, fit for the eyes of the world,\nand, above all, fit for the eye of God?\n\nSATURDAY, March 31, 1855. Attend council meeting at the Brick\nmeetinghouse in Augusta County. John Brower and Abraham Garber are\nelected to the ministry, and Enoch Brower and Levi Garber to the\ndeaconship.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 5. Attend council meeting at the Beaver Creek\nmeetinghouse. Martain Miller is ordained; Daniel Thomas forwarded; and\nJoseph Miller, of Thorny Branch, elected to the deaconship.\n\nFRIDAY, April 6 and SATURDAY, April 7. On these two days I vaccinate\nsixty-three persons.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 19. Attend council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.\nJacob Spitzer is elected to the ministry, and Felix Senger to the\ndeaconship.\n\nFRIDAY, April 20. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Abraham Knupp\nis ordained; Christian Wine forwarded, and Martain Wampler elected to\nthe deaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, April 21. Attend council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jonas\nEarly and Abraham Neff are elected to the deaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, May 12. This day Brother Kline and Daniel Thomas, in company\nof each other, start to the Annual Meeting on horseback. The meeting\nopened Monday, May 28. They consequently had two weeks before them to\nspend on the road, and this time they took up in traveling and\npreaching by the way. They went first to Hardy County, where they\nfilled appointments at different places on the South Fork, South\nBranch of the Potomac, and North Fork. They then crossed the Alleghany\nmountains over into Randolph County, where they held a number of\nmeetings. The Diary reports Brother Daniel Thomas as taking the lead\nin preaching at nearly all the appointments. And well was he worthy of\nthe honor. Few men are ever endowed with better natural abilities for\npublic speaking than was Brother Daniel Thomas. His voice had the rare\npower of making every word he uttered to be distinctly heard all over\na large audience, without any apparent effort on his part. Besides, it\nwas musical. The hearer went away with its expressive inflections and\ncadences still sounding in his ears. But his voice was not his only\nforte. He had a mind as full of sanctified wit and quick perception as\nan egg is full of food. A clear thinker, a cogent reasoner, and I may\nadd, full of love and the Holy Ghost, it is not a matter of wonder\nthat he excelled. What he might have achieved had he lived to an\nadvanced age, God only knows. His death was caused by an attack of\npneumonia. He left a comparatively young family. In the view of the\nwriter, who was intimately acquainted with him, the church of the\nBrethren has never been called to give up a brighter or better man. He\nis not _lost_. He has only moved away to the better land.\n\nThe following discourse was substantially preached by Brother Daniel\nThomas at the dwelling house of Elijah Judy in Hardy County, Virginia,\nnow West Virginia, on the evening of\n\nMONDAY, May 14. _The parable of the sower_ is his subject. He said:\nThis parable, viewed in its natural or most obvious sense, is so\neasily understood that it would be a suitable lesson for a primary\nschool reader. At the same time it holds within its grasp a fund of\nspiritual instruction which, being received into the mind and heart,\nfills both with light so clear as to illuminate many an otherwise dark\nportion of Revealed Truth. To my mind this parable is the link\nconnecting the two ends of the great chain of God's work and man's\nwork in both the natural and spiritual life of man.\n\nThe Holy Land, as it is called, where our Lord was born, and where he\nlived and died, comprised three small districts of country called\nJudea, Samaria and Galilee. These districts, each about the size of\nsome of our Virginia counties, lay along the eastern shore of the\nMediterranean Sea. Their gusts of rain, with their lightning and\nthunder, came from the west as ours do. The south winds came loaded\nwith warmth to them as ours do to us. On the eastern border of this\nland was the river Jordan, a stream just about as large and swift as\nyour South Branch of the Potomac. Near the northeastern corner of this\nland lay the beautiful Sea of Galilee, about three miles in breadth,\nand from four to six miles in length. It was on this sea that our Lord\nstilled the tempest. It was on the surface of this sea, that he was\nseen walking as on a smooth pavement.\n\nIn our Savior's day the Holy Land was an agricultural country. The\nfarmers raised wheat and barley. These grains are often mentioned in\nthe Scriptures. But they had few fences in that country. The roads ran\nthrough farms and fields with no sign of fence on either side. If\nsheep or cattle were turned out to graze, they had to be watched by\nmen or boys called shepherds. I have been thus particular in my\ndescription of this land to enable you the better to understand the\nparable itself, and its higher or spiritual meaning. But farming has\never been but poorly done in that country, and patches of briars and\nother filth were suffered to grow. These were sown with the rest of\nthe field, and instead of being dug out were plowed and harrowed over.\nNo concern was felt about the seed likely to be wasted. The sower\nopened his hand as freely in crossing the highway or the patch of\nbriery ground as anywhere else. Even those sections of the field which\nshowed no depth of soil on account of underlying rock were treated\nlike the rest. What a site for a parable! But what is a parable?\n\nA parable is a statement of some fact literally or possibly true in\nthe natural world, and used to represent some spiritual truth. It is\nthe correspondence of the external or natural meaning with some\ninternal or spiritual meaning that makes any parable to be what it is.\nThe parable before us in its external or natural sense teaches nothing\nbeyond what we may learn by the sight of our eyes every year. If it\npossessed no hidden meaning, no secret of life, it would be no holier\nthan a similar statement in an agricultural paper. This is just what\nour Lord meant by these words: \"It is the Spirit that quickeneth. The\nflesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you are spirit,\nand are life.\"\n\nI think you are now prepared to derive some benefit from the internal\nsense of the parable before us. It has ever been a great question as\nto what man is required _to do_ to be saved. If we were to go by what\nis generally preached at what are called _revivals of religion_, we\nwould only need to say we believe in Jesus Christ, then manifest some\njoy in the new experience, get up, perhaps, and tell how we feel, and\nwe are ready to be counted in the list of new converts in full\npossession of eternal life. This experience corresponds with the\nexplanation given of the rocky places: \"This is he that heareth the\nword, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in\nhimself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution\nariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.\"\n\nBut here the query very naturally arises: \"Are such to be lost? Is\nthere no hope for these rocky-ground, thorny-ground and wayside\nhearers?\" I say such need not be lost. There is salvation for such as\ntruly as for any, if they avail themselves of the proffered gifts. It\nis wrong teaching, together with the influence of bad examples and bad\nhabits, that has made them to be the kind of ground they are. Here is\na lesson for all. Parents, if you desire your children to become good\nground, train them up in the way they should go: and when they are old\nthey will not depart from it.\n\nThere is another all-important truth bearing upon this connection of\nmy subject; and that truth is that \"our Father, God, is the\nhusbandman.\" He is the great Farmer of souls, and \"with God all things\nare possible.\" It is a thing of very common occurrence, inside the\ndifferent denominations, for their members to backslide, as they call\nit. This is not because they could not continue faithful, but it is\nfrom a lack of the true knowledge of God, and a want of reliance upon\nhim, and looking in prayer to him. The divine teachings are very clear\non this point in the Christian's life. If an individual will repent,\nbelieve the Gospel, and be baptized for the remission of sins, leave\noff, that is, shun and forsake all evil ways and deeds as sins against\nGod, he has the blessed assurance that he will be led into all\nnecessary truth. Notice this: \"If any man will do his will, he shall\nKNOW of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of\nmyself.\" Again: David says: \"Light is sown for the righteous, and\ngladness for the upright in heart.\" And Solomon says: \"The path of the\njust is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the\nperfect day.\" And our Lord applies the prophecy of Isaiah: \"The people\nwhich sat in darkness saw a great light.\" He was the great Light which\nthey saw, but they saw him and heard him by going to him.\n\nThere can, I think, be no doubt that some have stronger temptations to\nevil than others. Bad habits, encouraged by long indulgence and\nfostered by strong natural appetences, are hard to get rid of. But the\nfaith that worketh by love, and purifieth the heart, gets strong\nenough to remove these mountains of sin; yea, strong enough to enable\na man even to _hate_ his own sinful life.\n\nI have known men to reason and conclude from this parable that God is\npartial. They speak on this wise: \"If the different kinds of ground\nsymbolize or represent the different natures and dispositions of men\nwith respect to believing and obeying the Word, then all have not an\nequal chance for salvation. If a man (say they) has no better show for\nbringing forth the fruits of righteousness in a good life than the\nrocky or thorny ground has for bringing forth a crop of wheat or\nbarley, he can have no show for salvation at all.\" This argument\nappears plausible at a first view. And in the estimation of those who\nlook only upon the surface of things it is convincing. The first point\nof error with those who reason in this way is to be found in their\nbelief that God has made this difference among men. But the entire\nhistory of man, as given in the Bible, shows that men bring upon\nthemselves these varied degrees of opposition to what is pure and\ngood. \"God made men upright, but they have sought out many\ninventions,\" says the prophet. Of course he means inventions of evil\nthings. An apostle says: \"Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and\nworse, deceiving and being deceived.\" The natural tendency of man with\neverything of earth is downward. The loveliest garden, by being\nneglected, will get full of weeds. The most highly improved breeds of\ndomestic animals tend toward degeneracy and deterioration as to\nquality, unless carefully guarded. Man is no exception to the rule. It\nis only by watchful care that one generation of people becomes wiser\nand better than the generation that preceded it. Our Lord would oft\nrepeat such expressions as these: \"What I say unto one, I say unto\nall, Watch.\" \"Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning.\" \"He\nthat hath ears to hear, let him hear.\" \"Watch and pray, lest ye enter\ninto temptation.\"\n\nThere is no heart so stubborn hard but that the softening power of\nDivine love can mellow it; and there is no soul so full of the thorns\nand briers of evil passions and bad habits, but that the sanctifying\npower of the truth can cleanse it. Jesus came not to call the\nrighteous, but sinners to repentance. They that be whole need not the\nphysician, but they that are sick. God is able to do for all who look\nto him for help, exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think;\nand in Christ he is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto\nGod by him. No case of leprosy was ever beyond the power of the Lord\nto cleanse. No blindness was ever too dark for him to remove. No palsy\nwas ever too dead for him to quicken into healthy life. No fever was\never too burning for him to cool. No demoniac was ever so insane or\nepileptic, under the power and in the possession of even a legion of\ndevils, but that he could have them all cast out and the possessed one\nsit calmly, be clothed and in his right mind. Nothing is impossible\nwith God. The good-ground hearer brings forth fruit unto perfection\nbecause he looks to the Lord, through his blessed Word, for help. This\nhelp comes through his obedience to its holy precepts and commands.\nGod cannot help any one who continues to live regardless of and\nindifferent to the precepts of his Holy Word.\n\nIn a modified sense the same laws govern in the spiritual world that\ngovern in the natural. As it is impossible for God, according to his\nestablished order, to give you a rich and remunerative crop of corn or\nwheat from a field covered with briers, thorns and weeds; just in the\nsame measure in a spiritual sense is he unable to give you happiness,\npeace of mind and joy in the Holy Ghost while you continue in a life\nof sin. \"He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap\ncorruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap\nlife everlasting.\"\n\nBrethren and sisters, it may be that some of you fear, at times, that\nyour heart is no better than a bed of rock; or that it is full of\nthorns; or that it is hard and poor as the beaten road. But such\nself-examinations give evidence that the Holy Spirit is in your hearts\nand that he is carrying on a glorious work of grace there. \"Blessed are\nthe meek.\" \"Blessed are the poor in spirit.\" \"He that humbleth himself\nshall be exalted.\" \"God resisteth the proud; but giveth grace to the\nhumble.\" Be not discouraged. Our Father is the great husbandman, and\nhe knows just how to treat every kind of ground, just what to do in\nevery heart. Then let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season\nwe shall reap if we faint not.\n\nThe foregoing sermon was preached by Brother Daniel Thomas May 14.\nBetween this and the following Sunday he preached every day once or\ntwice. Brother Kline jotted down one other discourse which he\ndelivered on Saturday following, which I am compelled to omit for want\nof room. On\n\nSUNDAY, May 20, they had forenoon meeting at Josiah Simon's. This day\nBrother Kline baptized Joseph Summerfield and wife, Mrs. Workman, and\nJane Hilkey. In his quaint way he adds: \"God calls, and some still\nanswer. All glory to him.\"\n\nSUNDAY, May 27, finds the two brethren at the place of Annual Meeting.\nThey attended meeting in Wine's barn; and also report meeting being\nheld at the same hour in the meetinghouse. He does not give the name\nof the meetinghouse where the Annual Meeting was held this year, but\nsays that he and Brother Daniel had lodging at Brother Umbenhaver's\nthe first night.\n\nMONDAY, May 28. Annual meeting begins. Take in questions, form\ncommittees, and set them to work. We stay all night at Brother\nSpanogle's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 29. Go to place of meeting. Discuss and dispose of nearly\nall the queries to-day. We stay at Brother Umbenhaver's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 30. Go back to place of meeting and get through; preach\nawhile; and after dinner we start from Brother Andrew Spanogle's\ntowards home. We get to Matthew Wineman's, where we stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 31. Stop awhile with brethren Michael and Jacob\nSollenberger; then by Mercersburg and Clear Spring to Sister Nipe's,\nwhere we stay all night.\n\nFRIDAY, June 1. Through Martinsburg and Winchester, Virginia, to\nBrother James Tabler's where we stay all night.\n\nSATURDAY, June 2. Get to Brother John Neff's, in Shenandoah County,\nand on\n\nSUNDAY, June 3, get home. On this journey Brother Daniel Thomas and I\ntraveled together on horseback 466 miles. Our horses became so\nattached to each other that they could not bear separation. At any\ntime, when out of sight of each other, they showed almost\nuncontrolable restlessness and dissatisfaction. I may add here that\n_one_ of their riders at least was very similarly affected toward\n_his_ companion by the way. The attachment of our horses was that of\nmere instinct. It was generated through the sense of hearing, seeing\nand smelling. But our attachment sprang from higher and more interior\ncauses, such as none but the people of God can understand and\nappreciate. It has its place in \"the hidden man of the heart,\" and\nsprings from the unity of our faith and the spirituality of our love.\nDeath ends the attachments of poor brutes; but the love of Christians\nfor each other rests on a foundation that death cannot destroy. Even\nhere, in our imperfect state, love fills life's cup with joy. How\nineffable, then, must be the joy of the redeemed in glory where love\nis perfect and life is eternal!\n\nFrom the last date given to the thirteenth day of September Brother\nKline was called to engage with considerable activity in the practice\nof the medical profession. There was much sickness in his own and\nadjoining neighborhoods. His death record was very small in proportion\nto the number of his patients. This fact alone establishes his success\nas a medical practitioner. The writer has been a careful and candid\nobserver of the different methods and medicines employed in the\ntreatment of the sick for a period of _fifty_ years, and he ventures\nto give it as his impartial verdict that the course of treatment of\nthe sick, medically, pursued by Brother Kline and the other physicians\nof his school, was attended by as small a death rate as that of any\nschool in the profession in his day or since. In addition to this,\nconvalescing and recovered patients were rarely heard to complain of\nany _after_ effects of the disease or medicine. Brother Kline was\noften heard to speak of this. He would say: \"Our patients do not\ncomplain of rheumatism, weak joints, broken down nerves,\nrapidly-decaying teeth, impaired hearing or generally enfeebled\nconstitutions. We give no medicines which can leave any injurious\n_after_ effects.\" But, after all, his heart was set on the ministry of\nthe Word. He regarded the life and health of the body as incalculably\nsubordinate to the life and health of the soul. This consideration\nincited him to untiring activity in preaching, praying, exhorting,\nsinging, and to whatever else might instruct, comfort and encourage\nthe child of God, or warn the sinner of his danger and bring him to\nChrist.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 13. This day Brother Kline, in company of Martain\nMiller, starts on another journey to some of the western counties of\nVirginia. He of late years begins to take company with him on these\ntrips. In the earlier part of his ministry he would often go alone, I\nguess because no one volunteered to go with him. You remember Brother\nDaniel Thomas was with him on his last trip before this. Now Brother\nMartain Miller goes. Martain Miller was a brother of Daniel Miller,\nnear Greenmount, Virginia. He lived near the Beaver Creek\nmeetinghouse, in Rockingham County. His election to the ministry of\nthe Word, his subsequent advancement, and his ordination are given in\nthe Diary. Whilst he was not regarded as a minister of great power in\nthe stand, his influence in the councils of the church at home and\nabroad was felt and acknowledged. A man like Elder Martain Miller, of\nready and deep perception, can quickly arrive at just and wise\ndecisions, which the man of ordinary mind might never be able to\nreach. Hence the worth of such men as leaders in the realm of thought.\n\nIn the year 1862 W.C. Thurman began to preach the second advent of the\nLord as near. He subsequently became so bold in the expression of his\nbelief as to name the day on which that greatest of all events might\nconfidently be looked for to take place. As Thurman at that time was a\nunit in the Brotherhood, and allowed to vent his soul breathings in\nthe church buildings of the Brethren, some, even among the thoughtful,\nwere deeply impressed with the probability of his conjectures being\nwell founded. The writer was present when the following little\nincident took place, and remembers it with distinctness. It was at\nGreenmount meetinghouse. Brother Martain Miller had led in preaching\nthat day, but had made no allusion to Thurman. After meeting broke up\nsome of the Brethren privately asked Brother Miller what he thought of\nThurman's doctrines. He shut his eyes, gave a very significant but\nnegative shake of the head, and after a brief pause said: \"Do not\nregard them. They will in due time prove their own fallacy. You cannot\nconvince Thurman that he is wild by any argument; but in a short while\nhe will be convinced without argument.\"\n\nOn the evening of the last given date, Brother Martain Miller spoke\nfrom Matt. 7:13, at Zion church in Hardy County. From the outlines in\nthe Diary I give the substance of what he said, as nearly as I can.\nThe reader should know that none of the sermons herein given cover the\nentire ground of the discourse. They only aim at the main points. It\nis the purpose of the Editor to present these in spirit and word as\nnearly like the same in which they were originally delivered, as can\npossibly be done. His familiarity with the sermonic style, manner,\ngeneral lines of thought, doctrinal views, education and general\npreaching power of nearly every minister represented in this work\nenables him, as he thinks, to do this with at least some _approach_ to\njustice. Without such knowledge, this work would never have been\nundertaken by him.\n\n    TEXT.--\"_Enter ye in by the narrow gate._\"\n\nOur Lord Jesus Christ came into the world with but one end in view.\nThat end is the raising of man to himself. This end is the burden of\nhis mediatorial work, the center of his mediatorial prayer. From his\nheart on the eternal throne, wafted down to his people on the divine\nbreath, hourly comes and is felt the power of his prayer: \"Father, I\nwill that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that\nthey may behold my glory which thou hast given me.\" This brief prayer\ncomprehends the divine end of all things--_man's salvation and God's\nglory_. The miracles wrought by our Lord, the parables spoken, the\ntruths uttered, the victories gained in temptation, the rich tokens of\nhis love given, all, all had as their great end man's salvation and\nGod's glory--\"that they might be with him where he is.\"\n\nThe only answer to the great question why the Lord did all this for\nman's salvation is found in his own words: \"God so loved the world.\"\nAnd he loves it no less to-day than when the Son was born and the\nangels of glory were chanting their love song of \"good will toward\nmen\" in the ears of the shepherds and above the manger in Bethlehem.\nBut with all of God's good will to seek and save that which was lost\nhe is able to save only such, and no others, as desire to be saved by\nhim. If it were possible for him to save man and elevate him to heaven\nindependently of any cooeperation on man's part, then all would alike\nbe saved, for God is no respecter of persons. But it would be quite as\npossible to compel or force any one to understand and love what he\nnaturally hates, or to follow with enjoyment and delight a way of life\nhe does not love, as it would be to save a human being without the\nconsent and cooeperation of his mind and heart.\n\nThe scribes and Pharisees gave evident proof of the truth of the old\nmaxim: \"Convince a man against his will, he is of the same opinion\nstill.\" The Lord proved before their eyes his heavenly mission and\ndivine character; their minds must have been convinced. But their\nwills did not favor the convictions of their minds; that is, they did\nnot love the truth that was forced upon their minds, and so they\nrejected him. It is from this element in the constitution of man's\nsoul or spirit that he must become as a little child, or he cannot\nenter the kingdom of heaven. Becoming as a little child is what is\nmeant by being born again, without which no man shall see the kingdom\nof heaven. We all know a little child is innocent, teachable; because\nit is not lifted up in the pride of its own intelligence, nor\nconfirmed in a belief of what is not true from a love of what is not\ngood. Every one who enters through the narrow gate, and pursues the\nnarrow way that leads to life, is willing to be led by the Lord. It\nmay not be clear to the mind of every one what is symbolized by the\n_narrow gate_ and the _narrow way_. I will try to tell you.\n\n_The divine truth of God's Word_ is the narrow gate. It admits of no\nincrease, and it allows no diminution. He that addeth to or taketh\nfrom the words of the prophecy of this book (the Bible), God shall\ntake away his part out of the book of life. This is a fearful warning\nto all who would seek to make the gate and the way of eternal life any\nbroader than it is laid and settled by the Word of Life; and a similar\nwarning to any who would desire to make the gate and the way appear so\nnarrow as to discourage and dissuade others from entering. I said the\nnarrow gate is the truth of God's Word. But what is the narrow way?\nThe narrow way is the daily life of every one who lives according to\nthat truth. This leads to life eternal, because it leads to God. But\nthe gate and the way will do no one any good unless it be entered and\nthe way followed. And God compels no one to enter in opposition to\none's own will. Entrance is not of compulsion, but of choice. Life and\ndeath are set before the sinner's eyes. The Bread of Life and the\nWater of Life are placed within his reach. The Lord calls, saying:\n\"Why do ye spend your money for that which is not bread; and your\nlabor for that which satisfieth not? Come ye to the waters: and\nwhosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.\"\n\nBut some may ask: \"What is it to enter in at the narrow gate, and how\nis the sinner to know when he is entering?\" I answer that when the\nsinner obeys God's holy truth from the heart he is then entering in by\nthe narrow gate. His obedience must be to God's Word, not to man's\nword. Obedience to man's word takes man through the wide gate into the\nbroad road that leads to destruction. Repentance towards God and faith\nin the Lord Jesus Christ are the two steps that take us in spirit\nthrough the narrow gate. But these two acts and exercises of the mind\nand heart mean immensely more than is generally imagined. Many seem to\nthink that repentance means no more than simply to confess that one is\na sinner in a sort of general way, and that faith is simply a\nconfessed belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. But God's Word\nteaches far otherwise. I will here quote some of our Lord's sayings\nwhich apply to repentance: \"Except ye be converted, and become as\nlittle children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.\" This\npoints to repentance. Again: \"If any man will come after me, let him\ndeny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.\" Self-denial is\nrepentance; and every true penitent goes through the narrow gate with\nthe cross on his shoulder, because the cross symbolizes the divine\ntruth upon which the love of self and the love of the world is\ncrucified. I am not afraid to repeat in your ears the words of Jesus.\nHe has left them on record, that all who will heed them in the meek\nand teachable spirit of a little child may be lifted out of the mire\nand filth and darkness of a sinful life into the glorious liberty of\nthe children of God.\n\nIf salvation is anything it is everything. This world, with all its\nfleeting show and short-lived pleasures, is nothing in the comparison.\nSalvation, or the life to which the narrow way conducts us, is so\nglorious, so ineffably exalted above the loftiest conceptions of the\nhuman mind, that the prophet Isaiah could justly say: \"Since the\nbeginning of the world none have heard, nor perceived by the ear,\nneither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared\nfor him that waiteth for him.\" Brethren, friends, we know not fully\nwhat is prepared for all who wait upon the Lord, that is, who do his\nwill. But Jesus tells us that he is gone to prepare a place for us,\nand that he will come again and receive us to himself, that where he\nis there we may be also. We shall enter into his joy, the joy of the\nLord. He will come to every one of us at death. He will then raise our\nredeemed souls into the life of heavenly bliss; for he is the\nresurrection and the life of every one that loves him. It is the\nprivilege of every one to enter into life through the narrow gate. But\nI cannot enter for you, nor tread the narrow way, nor obtain a crown\nof glory for you. This is your own individual choice, your own\nindividual work--nay, it is the Lord's merciful, loving, gracious work\nin you, for without him you can do nothing. But when you believe in\nhim and love him with all your heart, he finds a resting place in your\nsoul, and he then comes to be to you individually \"the way, the truth,\nand the life.\"\n\nThe next eight days were almost entirely occupied in filling\nappointments previously made through letters from Brother Kline. We\nhave to wonder a little when he found time to write them. But he was\nhis own secretary on gratuitous service, and he never even so much as\npresented a bill for stationery or postal expenditures.\n\nFRIDAY, September 21. This day finds the two brethren at Union\nmeetinghouse, in the Barker settlement, in Barbour County, Virginia.\nBrother Miller spoke at this meeting from John 3:7. Space alone\nforbids the insertion of his plain, practical sermon to-day. They\nfound, as usual, a hearty welcome here; and in truth the same may be\nsaid of every place they visited. And why not? Even these primitive\npeople were quick to perceive and appreciate the good will with which\nthey had come. Besides, they made themselves sociable and entertaining\nin the families under whose roofs they found shelter. Brother Kline\nhad an inexhaustible fund of information gained by reading and\ntraveling, and he was not reserved in the way of keeping it all to\nhimself. Brother Kline was what may be called a good conversationalist.\nHe did not flood your attention with words, nor bore you with tiresome\nnarratives of great exploits in which he was the hero. He would tell\nyou of sights he had seen, and experiences he had had in traveling and\notherwise, in a way that would so absorb you in the _narrative_ that\nyou lost sight of the man. He always aimed to exalt his _subject_ and\nnot the speaker. This was true in his preaching as well as in his\nconversations.\n\nSATURDAY, September 22. They came to Brother Elias Ovel's for dinner.\nIn the afternoon preaching in the meetinghouse and love feast at\nnight. Brother Miller served.\n\nTUESDAY, September 25. They had meeting at Brother Peter Feiga's. An\nelection was held in which Samuel Feiga was elected speaker, and\nTobias Moser deacon. They staid all night at Thomas Clark's.\n\nBrother Kline got home from this journey Sunday evening, October 7.\nBrother Miller got home the next day. They were gone three weeks and\nfour days.\n\nMONDAY, December 31. At home. I have this year traveled, mostly on\nhorseback, 4,286 miles, and preached forty-two funeral sermons.\n\nSATURDAY, January 5, 1856. At home. Cold; snows very fast all day.\n\nSATURDAY, January 12. Snows all this day again, very fast. Sleighing\nis likely to be fine for a while; a rare occurrence in our State.\n\nSUNDAY, January 20. Snows all this day, again. The snow is now very\ndeep, and as it is not drifted sleighing will be surpassingly fine.\n\nMONDAY, January 21. Brother John Zigler of Timberville dies very\nsuddenly this morning, at the age of sixty-nine years, two months and\ntwenty-seven days. This is county court day in Harrisonburg. I am told\nthis evening by some who were present, that there were hundreds of\nsleighs of all shapes and sizes to be seen in the streets. So far as\nmy knowledge extends, a scene like that has never before been\nwitnessed in Harrisonburg. The roads in all directions are in a\nsurpassingly fine condition for sleighing. The roads are all paved\nwith crystals more valuable than all the diamonds that have ever shone\nin the crowns of kings.\n\nFRIDAY, February 29. Council meeting at the Brick church, in Augusta\nCounty. To-day we discuss the question of the propriety of making a\nmove to more generally propagate the Gospel. Most of the brethren and\nsisters present seemed to be heartily in favor of the move. One\nbrother, John Harshberger, said: \"If the Gospel is _not_ true, let us\neat and drink like other beasts, for to-morrow we die; but if the\nGospel _be_ true--and thanks be unto God, for we know it is true--it\nis worthy of all acceptation; for it is the power of God unto\nsalvation to every one that believeth. But how can any one believe in\nhim of whom he has not heard? And how can any one hear without a\npreacher? And how can any preach except he be sent? I am in favor of\ntrying to do more in every way than we have ever yet attempted, to\nspread the good news of salvation.\n\n  \"'Salvation! let the echo fly\n    The spacious earth around,\n  Till all the nations 'neath the sky\n    Conspire to raise the sound.'\"\n\nBrother Benjamin Moomaw, Brother Nininger, Brother John Harshberger\nand myself were appointed a committee to draw up a memorial on the\nsubject, to place before the next Annual Meeting.\n\nSATURDAY, March 1. Council continues. The subject of divorce and\nadultery is considered to-day. It is decided to send it to the Annual\nMeeting, as also a query on proposition to district the churches, and\nhave general council meetings in those Districts. It is also\nunanimously passed to have lamps in our meetinghouses. Pass some other\nminor questions, and council breaks up.\n\nSUNDAY, March 2. Meeting at the same place. Brother Benjamin Moomaw\nspeaks on Heb. 5:8, 9. He is a man of great power in the Word. I\nregret that I cannot recall to memory all that he said, but I will\nhere give a condensed outline of what I remember. These are the words\nof his text: \"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the\nthings which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author\nof eternal salvation to all them that obey him.\"\n\nThis is a remarkable passage of Scripture. It deals primarily with the\nhuman nature of Christ. It is in this nature, the Divine humanity,\nthat God manifests himself to man. This humanity brought with it the\ninfirmities to which flesh is heir. This same apostle tells us that\nJesus Christ was \"tempted in all points like as we are, yet without\nsin.\" Innocence, freedom from all sin, is the orderly following of\nobedience. In this happy consciousness he challenges the whole\nSanhedrim to convict him of sin. They could not do it; and Pilate\nacknowledges before the infuriated mob: \"I find no fault in this man.\"\nFrom the part of the text, \"yet learned he obedience by the things\nwhich he suffered,\" we are rather to understand that he learned or\nREALIZED _the blessedness of obedience_. In his own words: \"He came\nnot to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him.\" In his\nlast great prayer with his disciples he says: \"And now, Father, I come\nto thee, having finished the work thou didst give me to do.\" These\nwords portray his immaculate righteousness.\n\nBut let us look at some of the glorious testifications borne by the\nFather to the honor of the Son. Let us turn to the first public act of\nhis manhood. I guess your minds all turn at once to the scene of his\nbaptism. Here are the pellucid waters of the Jordan coursing their way\nto the Dead Sea. \"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John\nto be baptized of him. But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be\nbaptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus said, Suffer it to\nbe so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.\" This\nrighteousness is the righteousness of obedience. And notice, a few\nmoments later, the glory and honor with which it is crowned. The\nopened heavens, the dove-like descent of the Spirit, the Father's\nrecognition, \"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,\" must\nhave thrilled his heart with joy unspeakable. In this instance he\nrealized the blessedness of obedience; and the hearts of many since\nthat time have been made to thrill as they have gone up out of the\nwaters of other Jordans, with kindred joy.\n\nWe now turn to his temptation in the wilderness. Here, our Lord,\nduring forty days and nights, suffered all the privations and all the\ntemptations arising therefrom, which man is capable of suffering. But\nnever for one moment did his heart or hand swerve a hair from the line\nof perfect obedience to his Father's will, even in the darkest hour.\nAnd how did it turn out? Why, he resisted the devil, and the devil\nleft him; and, behold! angels came and ministered unto him. Brethren,\nhave you ever thought of the precious food these angels brought to the\nexhausted human nature of our Lord? He ate and drank with angels from\nthe skies. They poured the spiritual oil of joy and comfort into his\nburdened soul. They brought fresh tokens of his Father's approval; and\nwe read of no more sore conflict with the powers of darkness until the\n\"last hour.\"\n\nSome of us have, possibly, passed through trials, in a small way,\nsomewhat akin to those endured by the Lord. We all know our own\nindividual experiences best. For one, I can say right here that I am\nno stranger to temptation. The adversary of God's people has never yet\ncounted me out of the number he seeks to seduce. I confess he does not\ntry me at all times alike; but he does seem to come every time when I\nam the least prepared effectually and instantly to repel his assaults.\nIf in preaching I happen to get off a fine thought or good sentiment\ndressed out in a becoming attire of words, he tries to flatter my\nvanity by making me believe that I am a great somebody. Brethren in\nthe ministry, how is it with you? I see from the nods you give, that\nyou have had similar experiences. At such times Herod's awful doom\nflashes over me--how that in the midst of a beautiful oration he fell\ndead, and right away was alive with worms consuming his body, and all\nbecause he gave not God the glory. This generally gets me rid of him\non such occasions. At other times he comes with promises of worldly\nhonors, saying to me that if I will enter the arena of politics I may\ncount it as sure that I will be lifted to offices of honor and rich\nemoluments, for, says he, \"the whole scheme with all its workings is\nin my hands, and to whomsoever I will, I give it.\" At such times I\nbaffle him with this Scripture: \"Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God;\n_and him_ ONLY _shalt thou serve_.\"\n\nJesus is now glorified. He is exalted higher than the heavens, far\nabove all principality and power. He is invested with all power in\nheaven and earth; so that in him all things hold together, and the\nintegrity of the universe is preserved. He is the head over all things\nto the church and has become the Author of eternal salvation unto all\nthem that obey him. All things are now in his name and unto his glory,\nso that now he that honoreth the Son, honoreth the Father.\n\nCan it be that this is the same Jesus who but a few years ago humbled\nhimself to be baptized in the Jordan, suffered the temptation in the\nwilderness, wept at the grave of Lazarus, went about doing good, being\nhomeless, with no place where to lay his head, a man of sorrows and\nacquainted with grief? Only a little while ago, and the midnight\nstillness of Gethsemane is gently broken by the words: \"Father, if it\nbe possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not my will, but\nthine be done.\" The spirit of obedience abides with him in full\nmeasure even in this trying hour; and if not uttered in words, it is\ndeclared in act: \"Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.\"\n\nOne more trial awaits him. It is his last and great conflict with the\n\"king of terrors\" and the powers of darkness. Will his spirit of\nobedience and his resistance of sin bear the strain of this final\ntest? Glory to his blessed name, it does. He says: \"The prince of this\nworld cometh, and hath nothing in me.\" Ah, there is our salvation. The\nprince of this world found no place in his sanctified heart.\nThroughout his trial before the Jewish, as well as civil authorities,\nhe was the same. No change from that meekness and lowliness of heart\nthat characterized his whole life was visible now. He even bore his\nown cross; and I sometimes think that he voluntarily laid himself down\nupon it, placed his hands and adjusted his feet for the nails; for he\nhad said before: \"I lay down my life of myself: no man taketh it from\nme. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.\"\nThe nails are driven. The foot of the cross, with Jesus upon it, is\nfirmly fixed in the ground. The sun has veiled his face; and darkness\nbroods over the land. With a loud voice he cries: \"It is finished,\"\nand he gave up his spirit. This is the consummation of the suffering\nby which the Captain of our salvation was perfected, and by which he\nobtained all power in heaven and earth.\n\nI can imagine there was now a shout of joy and a high jubilee in\nheaven, and a growl of disappointment and defeat in hell. His body is\ntaken from the cross. Not a bone of him is broken. Joseph's new tomb\nbecomes its receptacle. Not long does it remain there. The bands of\ndeath are loosed, and the glorified Lord forsakes the tomb. \"Ought not\nthe Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his\nglory?\"\n\nNotice, further, the glory and honor with which his obedience is\nrewarded. In addition to the declarations bearing upon this subject\nalready quoted, I here add what Paul says to the Philippians:\n\"Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name\nwhich is above every name: that in the name of Jesus every knee should\nbow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory\nof God the Father.\"\n\nWe have now before us in the person of our Lord and Savior Jesus\nChrist an example of perfect obedience. We have also noticed some of\nits rewards. But when we attempt to speak of the rewards of obedience,\nthought and language both fail; for heavenly bliss is ineffable, and\ncelestial glory eternal. Christ's glorification is past comprehension.\nEye hath not seen, nor ear heard. But let us rejoice greatly this day\nin the excellency of this knowledge of Christ. \"He is able to save to\nthe uttermost all who come unto God by him.\" \"He has become the author\nof eternal salvation to all them that obey him.\"\n\nMy brother, my sister, do you ever question your spiritual state,\ndoubting as to whether you are a child of God or not, wondering in the\nobscurity of your mind as to how you stand in the sight of God? I do\nnot think any one need be in doubt as to this matter. Are you living a\nlife of obedience to Christ? Let us see. You surely have been\nbaptized. As baptism was his first public act, for you to follow his\nexample and walk in his steps it became you to submit to the same\nordinance expanded and illuminated as to its significance and use by\nhis subsequent teachings. This you did, and you did it in the true\nspirit of obedience and love. You are no hypocrite, I am sure; for the\nhypocrite never examines himself. He totally lacks the goodness and\nsincerity and honesty that lead to self-examinations. The hypocrite\ndoes not _love_ the house of God. He does not breathe freely in an\natmosphere of prayer. His highest ambition is to make a fair show in\nthe flesh, to secure some personal aggrandizement through his formal\nprofessions.\n\nYou do not belong to this class. You feel in your heart that you love\nJesus, and often weep that you do not love him more. This very love\nshould assure your heart that you are a child of God, for \"love is of\nGod, and God is love.\" You cheerfully, and in love for the Brethren,\nstoop to follow his example and obey his command by taking part in the\nordinance of feet-washing. You eat the Lord's Supper as nearly after\nhis example as can be known, in honor of him, and partake of the\nCommunion of the bread and wine in remembrance of his broken body and\nshed blood. In addition to all this you hate the inborn corruptions of\nyour fleshly mind. You sometimes sing from your heart's pure depth:\n\n\"I hate my own vain thoughts that rise, But love thy law, my God.\"\n\nAnd to you one of the most pleasing contemplations of heaven is\nfounded upon the assurance that there will be no sin or sorrow for sin\nthere, nor sinful thoughts. You even here rejoice many times, in the\nsweet foretastes of that happy state. When you meet the loving eyes\nand friendly hands of brethren and sisters here assembled for worship,\nyou feel a delicious calm and a holy peace in your soul. It is at such\ntimes and on such occasions that you realize just what the apostle\nmeans by what he says of the experience of some heavenly-minded\nChristian brethren and sisters who lived and felt eighteen hundred\nyears ago very much as you feel now. Identifying himself with them, he\nsays: \"We have all been made to sit together in heavenly places in\nChrist Jesus.\" \"Be thou faithful unto death, and God shall give thee\nthe crown of life.\"\n\nAt the close of this edifying discourse we sang the old hymn beginning:\n\n  \"How happy are they who their Savior obey--.\"\n\nPrayer was offered, meeting broke up, and Brother Moomaw and I went to\nMichael Whitmore's for dinner; then to Valley meetinghouse in\nafternoon, where he spoke from Acts 26; and stayed all night at Daniel\nGlick's.\n\nMONDAY, March 3. We anoint Brother Daniel Glick this morning. He is\nvery low in sickness. Come to Dayton to afternoon appointment, where I\nspeak from John 1:29. Stay all night at Samuel Koontz's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 19. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.\nBenjamin Miller, son of Daniel Miller, near the head of Linville\nCreek, is elected to the deaconship. I feel that the right brother was\nchosen, and entertain large hopes for his future.\n\nFRIDAY, April 4. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Brother Samuel\nZigler is elected to the deaconship. We might have selected a man of\nmore words; but I am persuaded that one of purer mind and heart could\nnot have been found. Brother Benjamin Bowman stays all night with me.\nThis evening he related to me a remarkable dream he had had not very\nlong before. To use his own words, as nearly as I can give them, he\nsaid: \"I dreamed that I had died, but found myself consciously awake\nin the land of departed spirits. My own father met me. I knew him. The\njoy with which he received and welcomed me I cannot describe. My next\nexperience was along a stream of very clear water. It did not appear\nto be a very large stream, but its remarkable character impressed me\nas singular. It flowed gently. It was not swift, but glided smoothly\nalong, uphill and downhill the same. Its speed never varied, and this\nunaccountable characteristic struck me with surprise that waked me.\nThis is my interpretation of my dream,\" said he: \"The clear stream of\nwater represents what the Christian should be. Its transparency\nsymbolizes the clear thought and intelligent understanding that he\nshould have respecting himself and his life. Self-knowledge should\nenable him to see himself in clear light. This knowledge leads to a\nclear understanding of his relation to God and man, and reveals\nwhether that relation is what it should be, or otherwise. The uniform\nflow of the stream uphill and down, which so surprised me, symbolizes\nthat inward peace of mind and gentle flow of heavenly affections which\nconstitute the Christian's happiness in life. Though he have his _ups_\nand _downs_ in life, his inward peace gently glides along. 'In the\nworld ye shall have tribulation; but in me ye shall have peace.' One\nmore thought. It is not natural for water to run uphill. Nothing short\nof divine power can make water run uphill in an open channel such as\nthis had. This symbolizes the love and mercy of the Lord in our being\nkept by his hand in these inwardly calm and heavenly frames of\nfeeling. Brother John, I never felt better from a dream in all my\nlife.\"\n\nSATURDAY, April 12. Council meeting at Shaver's meetinghouse, in\nShenandoah County. Brother John Brindle is advanced.\n\nSUNDAY, May 4. Meeting at Nathan Spitler's schoolhouse, in Page\nCounty. Hamilton Varner and wife, and John Huffman's wife are baptized\nto-day.\n\nMONDAY, May 5. This day I start to the Annual Meeting, which is\nappointed to meet about fourteen miles from Freeport, in Stephenson\nCounty, on the extreme north border of Illinois, and about three miles\nfrom Brother Young's. After being exposed to many dangers and\ndetentions, and one wreck on the way, I arrived safe at the place of\nmeeting on\n\nSATURDAY, May 10. Stay at Brother Young's first night. A great\nconcourse of people on the ground.\n\nSUNDAY, May 11. We have a very fine day. Preaching at several points.\nAn immense assembly to-day.\n\nMONDAY, May 12. Meeting is organized. Committees formed. Go to rooms\nand take in queries. Stay all night on the meeting grounds. Rain all\nday and cold.\n\nTUESDAY, May 13. Begin to discuss questions. Rain all day and night,\nand unpleasant. Stay all night on the meeting grounds.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 14. Continue the discussion of questions. Close at half\npast five o'clock. Stay again on meeting grounds. Although we have\nsome differences of opinion among us on minor points of order and\nusages, I am happy to know that in all great matters of doctrine and\npractice we are one. Whilst the meeting was in progress I was made to\nthink of what Solomon says in the book of Proverbs about the locusts.\n\"The locusts,\" says he, \"have no king, yet go they forth, all of them,\ntogether in bands.\" We have no human king over us as pope, cardinal or\nbishop, with self-assumed authority and dignity; yet we hold together.\nWe acknowledge allegiance to but one king, and he is out of human\nsight. He is the King of glory. But of him we can say with an apostle:\n\"Whom having not seen we love; in whom, though now we see him not, yet\nbelieving, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.\"\n\nOn my way home from the meeting I visited Peter Fesler's, Jacob\nMiller's, Samuel Freys's, Allen White's, Absalom Painter's, William\nMason's, John Strough's, John Miller's, Joseph Funk's, George\nHoover's, and John Snideman's, all in Indiana. I also preached at a\nnumber of points in Indiana and Ohio.\n\nSATURDAY, May 24. This evening David Bowman and I get to Abraham\nAerbach's in Ohio.\n\nSUNDAY, May 25. Go to Bowman's meetinghouse, where I speak from\nHebrews 12. Dine at David Miller's, and stay all night at Isaac\nMiller's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 27. Night meeting at the meetinghouse near Peter Nead's.\nStay with Brother Nead.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 28. Meeting at the same place. Sup with John Varner.\nStay with Isaac Miller.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 29. Meeting at Reipsam's meetinghouse. Love feast this\nevening. Stay with Philip Grabil till one o'clock in the night, when\nwe start for Springfield to take cars for home. Stop over a few days\nin Hampshire County, Virginia, and arrive home safe on Thursday, June\n5.\n\nTUESDAY, June 17. This day I am fifty-nine years of age. When I was\nyoung my ambition led me to hope that I might some day attain to\ndistinction in the world, and leave an imperishable name. I own with\nshame before my God, that my heart was full of vanity. I now thank him\nthat he has led me to know and feel myself but a poor sinner redeemed.\nI am wholly dependent upon him for all that I am or ever shall be.\nLord Jesus, may I live to glorify thee, and thee only. I believe thy\ntruth. I trust thy love. May thy glory be the end of all my efforts in\nlife, and thy love the propelling power in all I do. Hallowed be _thy_\nname, not my name. _Thy will_ be done, not my will. Give me grace thus\never to pray and to walk humbly before thee.\n\nFRIDAY, August 22. This day Brother Kline left home for another\njourney to the counties of Hardy and Randolph. He spent several days\nin Hardy County, preaching among the Brethren and friends on the South\nFork, South Branch and beyond.\n\nSUNDAY, August 24. Meeting at Bethel in forenoon; in afternoon at\nJacob Cosner's. TEXT.--3 John seventh verse. He has given us but a\ntouch of what he said here. I imagine his heart somewhat overflowed\nwith gratitude to these kind-hearted people in return for the love\nthey showed him. He read this third epistle of John to them; and I\nhere append the substance of part of his comment on it:\n\n\"There are great blessings in store for those who through love to the\nLord lodge and feed his ministers. The love of Gaius in this regard,\nwas spoken of in the church. This letter was written to him. In the\napostle's days as now, many went forth bearing the precious seed of\nGod's Word, almost wholly dependent upon the charity of brethren and\nfriends to the cause, for food and shelter. They were encouraged to go\nin this humble and trustful way by the recorded words of the Lord,\nthat 'the laborer is worthy of his hire.' We learn from the context,\nsustained also by the other evangelists, that food and lodging is the\nhire the Lord had in view. To encourage all to the duty as well as\nprivilege of kindly receiving his ministers and even his righteous\nbrethren who might not be ministers, he left on record these words:\n'He that receiveth a prophet (minister) in the name of a prophet,\nshall receive a prophet's reward. And he that receiveth a righteous\nman in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's\nreward.' And he sublimely crowns all those who tender their love in\nthis way with the words: 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least\nof these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' How faithfully these\ntokens of love for the Lord and the Brethren were kept by the early\nChristians, Paul with others abundantly testifies. However, to avoid\nslanderous accusations which might be hurled at him by the adversaries\nof the cross, he did not always avail himself of the proffered good.\nBlessed are they who watch for and lay hold of opportunities to do\ngood in this way.\"\n\nMONDAY, August 25. Meeting at Greenland. Thomas Lion baptizes one\nperson to-day. Stay all night at Thomas Clark's.\n\nTUESDAY, August 26. This day, after meeting, I baptize James Abernathy\nand wife.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 27. Meeting at David Feige's on the pike. Afternoon\nmeeting at West Union. Stay at Benjamin Beachley's.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 28. Ride twenty-nine miles to-day. Dine at Peter\nBolyard's and stay all night at Henry Wilson's.\n\nFRIDAY, August 29. Meeting at meetinghouse. I baptize W. Oval and\nwife. Water is two miles distant. Afternoon meeting at same place.\nSpeak from last chapter of Revelation.\n\nSATURDAY, August 30. Come into Randolph County. Dine at Samuel\nPerkeypine's, and stay at Brother John Skidmore's.\n\nSUNDAY, August 31. Meeting at Josiah Simon's. After preaching have a\nchurch council. Brother Charles Burke is forwarded to baptize; and\nBrother Josiah Simon is elected to the Word. Brother John Skidmore is\nelected to the deaconship, Stay all night at Brother Burke's.\n\nMONDAY, September 1. Meeting at Levi Wilmot's. Speak from Matt. 7:21.\nAs I have time this afternoon will outline my discourse for future\nreference.\n\nThe Editor gives these outlines in the best shape he can put them as\nfollows:\n\n    TEXT.--\"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter\n    the kingdom; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in\n    heaven.\"\n\nThis passage of Scripture means a great deal. It draws a sharp line\nbetween the false and the true in religious professions; between empty\nformality on the one hand, and loving obedience on the other. It is a\nvery easy thing, and requires no previous preparation of heart by\nself-examination, for very wicked and thoughtless people to call upon\nthe Lord in times of great danger, or in seasons of distress. Some\nyears ago a very thoughtless and irreligious family near my home lived\non the bank of a certain stream. Suddenly, after a great rain, their\nhouse was surrounded by a flood of water that threatened its\ndestruction. They knew not what to do; and in their fright and\nconsternation they began to call on the Lord for help. He may have\nheard them, for the house did not go. When the flood had passed away,\nand they felt that they were again secure, they had no further need of\nthe Lord, and continued to live just as they had lived before.\n\nOften have I heard of wicked people, when thrown prostrate upon beds\nof affliction, calling upon the Lord, and even promising that if he\nwould raise them up again they would do better. But how often does it\nturn out that such promises are either wantonly disregarded or\nthoughtlessly broken! But why is this so? What is the cause? I will\ntell you. Such prayers and promises do not proceed from a right\nmotive, and they do not aim at a right end. Self is the beginning and\nthe end of all such prayers and promises. And when self is again made\nto feel easy by escape from danger, or recovery from sickness, there\nis an end of prayer, and promises are forgotten. But such as I have\nnamed are not the only class included in our Lord's meaning. If we\nread carefully we may see that some who desire to make a fair show in\nthe flesh love to stand on the corners of the streets that they may be\nheard calling on the Lord, making long prayers, that they may be seen\nof men. Of such our Lord says: \"Verily, they have their reward.\" Here\nagain the love of self and the world is the beginning and the end.\n\nThere is one more class justly belonging to the number of those\nalready described. This is a sad class indeed, although probably no\nworse off than some others. I hope no one here will ever be found in\ntheir number. You may read about them in the twenty-fifth chapter of\nMatthew's Gospel. They are called the \"foolish virgins.\" We all know\nthat a virgin is an unmarried woman who has kept the integrity of her\nvirtue unbroken. The ten spoken of in the chapter are virgins in a\nfigurative sense. They are so called because in appearance and\nprofession they were not defiled with the world. They all had lamps.\nDavid says: \"Thy word is a LAMP unto my feet, and a light unto my\npath.\" Each one had this _lamp_ according to their understanding and\nuse of the Word. All denominations of Christians claim the Word as\ntheir lamp or guide through the darkness of this world. But lamps\ndiffer greatly in almost every imaginable way,--in form, size,\nmaterial and illuminating capacity. Much also depends upon the sight.\nIf the sight be diseased, not good, the same lamp that shines brightly\nto one may be darkness to another. \"If thine eye be single, thy whole\nbody shall be full of light; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body\nshall be darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness,\nhow great is the darkness!\"\n\nThe foolish virgins had lamps, that is, they professed faith in God's\nWord, but their faith lacked the oil of love; it was not made perfect\nby works in life proceeding from love to God and their neighbor. Oil\nin the Scriptures stands for love. Priests and kings had to be\nanointed with oil as a sign or emblem that they were to perform their\nofficial duties from love. Hence the light that is fed by pure oil\nbeautifully symbolizes the truth that shines in the Christian's life,\nwarm with the love of God; but the light that comes from a wick in a\nlamp destitute of oil symbolizes the life of the hypocrite, the vain\nprofessor. It may burn for a little; but it will soon go out and leave\nhim in eternal darkness. The wise virgins represent those who make a\nprofession of faith in the light of truth and in the love of it. These\ngo in with the Lord to the marriage feast. But the foolish virgins\nfind the door shut. They call, \"Lord, Lord, open to us.\" But he\nanswers by saying: \"I know you not.\" \"Not every one that saith unto me\nLord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth\nthe will of my Father which is in heaven.\"\n\nI recently heard of a preacher who had attended one of our meetings.\nIf I remember rightly, a good deal had that day been said on the\nimportance and value of good works. I think that one who had spoken\nthat day went so far as to quote these words of the Lord: \"Every good\ntree bringeth forth good fruit.\" Good works are good fruit, he had\nalso said. He had quoted this passage too: \"Every tree that bringeth\nnot forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.\" Evil works\nare evil fruit, he had also said. And I feel sure he had quoted these\nwords of the Lord: \"They that have done good shall come unto the\nresurrection of life: but they that have done evil, unto the\nresurrection of damnation.\" The friend who told me had ridden a part\nof the way home with the preacher before referred to, and in speaking\nto this friend he said: \"These Dunkards are odd people. I occasionally\ngo to their meetings, and every time I _do_ go I am sure to hear of\n_works_! WORKS! as if works were necessary to salvation.\" In answer to\nthe friend who communicated this to me, I said: \"I hope the _Dunkards_,\nas he called us, will always be odd people in this regard, so long as\nit is written: 'He that doeth good is of God; but he that doeth evil\nhath not seen God.' 'A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit:\nneither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. By their fruits ye\nshall KNOW them.'\"\n\nBrethren, let us think closely upon the closing words of my text: \"He\nthat DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven.\" An apostle says:\n\"This is the will of God, even your sanctification.\" Sanctification\nmeans _holiness_, and holiness means conformity of heart and life to\nGod's Revealed Truth. The heart cannot be conformed to God's Revealed\nTruth when the life is conformed to the world and sin. \"No man can\nserve two masters.... Ye cannot serve God and mammon.\" Jesus prays for\nall that believe on him through the Word: \"Sanctify them in thy truth.\nThy word is truth.\" We occasionally hear of some \"_professing\nsanctification_.\" From what I have been told, those making this\nprofession mean by it that they have attained to a state of sinless\nperfection. This is a state to be devoutly wished, for it is the state\nof the spirits of just men made perfect. Nothing shall enter that holy\ncity where they dwell \"that defileth, or worketh abomination, or\nmaketh a lie.\" In this city of light and love no sin is found.\n\n  \"Those holy gates forever bar\n    Pollution, sin and shame:\n  For none shall have admittance there\n    But followers of the Lamb.\"\n\nAll the descriptions and references to heaven found in the divine Word\nimply that it is a place and a state where the will of God is the\nsupreme law of life. \"Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the\nfootstool of my feet.\" \"Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is\nGod's throne.\" As heaven is God's throne, his will is the universal\nlaw for all, and that law is love. I can think of no state so blessed\nand happy as that where every one of the \"multitude which no man can\nnumber\" \"loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and his\nneighbor\"--every one of the assembly--\"as he loves himself.\" And from\nthe Lord's Prayer it is to be inferred that his people on earth should\naim at the same state of perfection.\n\nLet us examine this for a moment. Notice the very first petition after\nthe address: \"Thy kingdom come.\" Is the significance of this petition\nto be limited merely to the introduction of the kingdom of heaven into\nplaces of this world where it has not yet been established? It includes\nthis, of course; but is this all? I think not. Now the next petition:\n\"Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon earth.\" Whilst these two\npetitions have a general significance, they have a most personal\napplication to the heart and life of every one offering them. We\nsometimes wonder why the Lord's Prayer is so short. It is so because\nthe all of heaven, and the church on earth, is comprehended in doing\nthe will of our Father who is in heaven as subjects of his kingdom.\nAnd the aim and end of Revealed Truth from Genesis to Revelation is to\nteach man how to acquire the power to do this, and how to do it,\ntogether with the promises of eternal rewards for doing it. And until\nour understandings are so filled with the knowledge of the glorious\ntruths of God's kingdom, and our hearts with the love of doing his\nwill that we can make no further progress in knowledge and wisdom, and\nno additions to the warmth and measure of our love by reason of our\n_sinless perfection_, we have daily need to offer this prayer.\n\nGospel and church ordinances are all important. In my view they hold a\nrelation to every true Christian in the lines of example, power and\nuse somewhat like that which the harness has to a draught horse. The\nhorse has to be first trained to the draught by means of the harness;\nand when trained he draws by the same means. Entering the church in\nthe Lord's appointed way--inwardly, through repentance towards God and\nfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ; outwardly, by a threefold immersion of\nthe body in pure water, the beautiful emblem of truth, in token of our\nbelief in the blessed trinity of God--is simply putting on the harness\nfor work in the Lord's vineyard. It is also the act of putting on the\nChristian soldier's armor and entering the service. But of what use is\na helmet, sword and shield to an idler in the camp? Of what account is\nharness, unless the horse that carries it is trained and made willing\nto use it?\n\nThe apostles all speak much of _charity_, which is love to others\nfilled with a desire to do them good. This love is of God; for our\nLord was filled with it as \"he went about doing good.\" It is this same\nlove or charity in God that has brought salvation to man. Paul and\nPeter often call it _grace_, but it means the same thing. Moses and\nthe prophets mostly use the word _mercy_; but it also means the same.\nThese three words, _love, grace, mercy_, in their true sense, are\ncomprehended in the word CHARITY, which, as an attribute of God or a\nconscious feeling in man, is the love of doing good in the desire to\nmake others good and happy. If _charity_ were made the life and spring\nof man's love universally, peace and happiness would be the universal\norder of man's life on earth. Millennial glory would crown humanity,\nand the knowledge of the Lord would be its princely attire. Then the\nwolf of worldly rapacity, having lost its power, would dwell with the\nlamb. The leopard of crouching deceit, having been deprived of its\nteeth and claws, would lie down with the kid. The young lion, tamed,\nbut his courage and strength reserved by being regenerated, would feed\nwith the calf; and the little child of innocent will and teachable\nunderstanding would lead them.\n\nBut \"the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until\nnow.\" We can not know fully all the blessedness to be realized by\ndoing the will of our Father in heaven. But this we may be assured of;\nit will prepare us for that higher life whose brightest glory and most\nexalted happiness is comprehended in the welcome that all such as do\nhis will are sure to receive: \"Well done, good and faithful servant;\nenter thou into the joy of thy Lord.\"\n\nAfter dinner Brother Joseph Arnold and Michael Lion come with me, over\na very rough track, to Abraham Summerfield's, where we stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, September 2. In the forenoon preach the funeral of old Mrs.\nSummerfield; and in connection with it that of the child of Washington\nSummerfield. In the afternoon we have meeting at old man Summerfield's\non the Dry Fork of Cheat river. Washington Summerfield and his wife\nand soldier White's wife are baptized to-day. Stay all night at John\nPennington's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 3. Dine at Widow Cooper's on the Alleghany\nmountain, and stay all night at Isaac Carr's on the North Fork.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 4. Meeting at Carr's. Come to Enoch Hyre's and\nstay all night.\n\nFRIDAY, September 5. Meeting at Hyre's. German W. Deadenborn is\nbaptized to-day. Come to Sister Mary Judy's; stay all night.\n\nSATURDAY, September 6. Meeting at Sister Judy's. Brother Thomas Lion\nis with me. Come to Peggy Dasher's; night meeting at Zion.\n\nSUNDAY, September 7. Meeting at Henry Moyers's, in the Gap. In evening\nget home.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 11. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Decide\nthe question as to what the churches here in the slaveholding States\nshould require of any slaveowner desiring to come into the church. A\nvery delicate matter to act upon in the present sensitive condition of\npublic feeling on slavery. But it is the aim of the Brethren here not\nto offend popular feeling, so long as that feeling does not attempt\nany interference with what they regard and hold sacred as their line\nof Christian duty. Should such opposition arise, which I greatly fear\nwill be the case at no distant day, it will then be seen that it is\nthe fixed purpose and resolve of the Brotherhood to \"obey God rather\nthan men.\" It was decided in council that every slaveholder coming\ninto the church must give up his or her slaves as property; and yet\nnot turn them off houseless and homeless, but allow them to remain,\nand labor, and be fed and clothed as usual, until suitable and lawful\nprovisions can be made for their complete emancipation.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 18. This day Brother Kline started on a journey up\nthe Valley of Virginia, to the counties of Augusta, Rockbridge,\nBotetourt, Roanoke and Franklin. As usual, he was mounted on faithful\nNell's back. The reader need not be surprised to be told what the\nwriter heard Brother Kline tell about the somewhat remarkable sagacity\nof Nell. She not only had her favorite places to stop at, but she had\nher favorite roads to travel on. And it was not uncommon for her rider\nto be forced into a mild but resolute contention with her, when he\nwished to leave a road she had repeatedly traveled before.\n\nBrother John Brower accompanied him from Augusta. Saturday, the\ntwenty-eighth, they crossed the Natural Bridge and got to Sister Sarah\nGrabil's, where they met Brother Crumbaker. Sunday, the 21st, they\nattended a love feast at the Valley meetinghouse, and stayed all night\nat Brother Nininger's. Monday, the 22nd, they attended meeting again,\nand stayed all night at Brother Benjamin Moomaw's. Next day they dined\nat Brother Daniel Kiser's, and stayed all night at John Brubaker's in\nRoanoke County. On this trip they visited or stayed over night with\nPeter Crumbaker's, James Hayden's, Joseph Howard's, Joseph Weddell's,\nChristian Bowman's, Daniel Neff's, Abraham Flory's, Abraham\nBarnhart's, Jacob Miley's, Wendell Sites's, and Jacob Stover's. He got\nhome Friday, October 10.\n\nOn this journey Brother Kline attended nine meetings for ordinary\nservices, and six love feasts.\n\nFrom this time on to the close of the year Brother Kline was actively\nemployed either at home or abroad. He made one trip to Page County. He\nand Brother Solomon Garber took a journey through the counties of\nPendleton, Randolph, Upshur, Highland, and returned through Augusta.\nThey held eleven meetings in the eleven days they spent on this trip.\nSeveral were baptized; and they met with kind receptions everywhere\nthey went.\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 31. This year I have traveled six thousand miles.\nMay God forgive all I have said and done amiss, and accept to his own\nglory all that I have done well. Amen!\n\nSATURDAY, January 17. A snowstorm sets in this evening.\n\nSUNDAY, January 18. A terrific and very cold snowstorm has been raging\nall day and all last night. Thermometer down to zero all day.\n\nMONDAY, January 19. Terrible snowstorm continues till evening. Snow\nconsiderably drifted; but probably enough snow on the ground if evenly\ndistributed over its surface to make a depth of over two feet. Get\nthrough reading \"The Prince of the House of David.\"\n\nMONDAY, February 2. Very cold to-night. Thermometer ten degrees below\nzero.\n\nFRIDAY, February 5. A general thaw.\n\nSATURDAY, February 6. Go to Broadway to see the river. Tremendous\nbreaking up of the ice--tearing almost everything before it.\n\nSATURDAY, April 4. Brother Jacob Wine and I attend a visit council\nmeeting in Page County. Elections are also held. Brother Nathan\nSpitler is elected to preach the Word; and John Huffman is advanced to\nbaptize and perform the ceremony of marriage. Gideon Toben is elected\nto the deaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, April 18. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jacob Wine is\nordained. John Neff is advanced to the second grade; and Abraham Neff\nis elected to preach the Word.\n\nSUNDAY, April 26. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Romans 6 is read.\nPhilip Emswiler and John Toppen and his wife are baptized by myself.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 13. Go to John Lowry's to converse with him and his\nwife on the subject of religion.\n\nTUESDAY, May 19. Considerable snow to-day; but on low-lying sections\nof country it melts almost as fast as it falls.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 20. The Blue Ridge, and the mountains on the west side\nof the valley are all white with snow.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 21. This morning the tops of the western mountains are\nstill white with snow. The oldest weather records I have heard from\ncontain no account of snow so late in the spring as this anywhere in\nVirginia.\n\nFRIDAY, May 22. Peter Fesler and wife are with us here at my home. We\nare all made to feel glad by their company.\n\nFRIDAY, June 5. Go to John Lowry's to discuss some of our doctrines\nwith Jacob Stirewalt and Socrates Henkel, Lutheran preachers from New\nMarket, Virginia. It was no part of my aim in this private talk with\nthose preachers to work any change in their settled opinions regarding\nthe subjects of our controversy. I long ago learned that the\nconversion of a theological sinner from the error of his ways is\nhardly to be hoped for in any case. When the truth is loved for its\nown sake it is not hard to find; and it is readily perceived when\nfound. It is then the pearl of great price for which a man will sell\nall that he has to obtain it as his own. Luther was no doubt sincere\nin much that he taught: but men may be sincere in holding very\nerroneous dogmas, because of their being so deeply rooted in their\nminds and their minds being so confirmed in them that it would be\nalmost like parting soul and body to give them up. It was said of\nLuther, by one of the later reformers, that he cut a large piece out\nof the Pope's pontifical robe as he left the Vatican, and kept it all\nhis life as a sacred relic. This is of course highly figurative, and\nnot to be understood literally; but to mean that he incorporated many\npapal errors in his subsequent teachings. My object in meeting these\npreachers at this place was to comply with the request of the family\nfor me to do so. Friend Lowry and his wife did not appear to see the\nlines of truth and duty very clearly; and as they seemed desirous of\nlearning the way I thought it important for some one to present the\ntruth on one side, to oppose the error that was likely to be poured in\nfrom the other side. The whole thing reminded me of what I often\ndo--give medicine to counteract disease.\n\nSATURDAY, July 25. Visit, medically, George, and Noah Shoemaker's,\nJoseph Shoemaker's, William Miller's; and am hurriedly called to James\nFitzwater's. He has been bitten by a copperhead snake. I succeed in\nrelieving urgent symptoms; and by evening he is almost free from pain.\n\nSATURDAY, August 1. Go to Orkney Springs.\n\nSUNDAY, August 2. Have preaching at the hotel. My subject is\n\"Righteousness, Temperance, and a Judgment to Come.\" My audience was\ncomposed of hearers from far and near; and almost all classes, as to\nintelligence and social standing, were represented. A man like myself,\nwho only occasionally strikes such a crowd, hardly knows how to adapt\nhimself to the situation. If he lets himself down to the comprehension\nof the illiterate, the highbred city folks may say: \"He is beneath his\ncalling.\" And if he lifts himself up to their standard of\nappreciation, the unlearned go away without being able to say amen to\nwhat they have heard. I decided, however, to follow the example of\nPaul before Felix and Drusilla. He _reasoned_ of righteousness, _etc._\n\nIn the forty-fifth Psalm David says: \"Thy throne, O God, is for ever\nand ever: the scepter of thy kingdom is a scepter of righteousness.\nThou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness.\" A scepter is a kind\nof staff borne by kings as an emblem of their authority. It is a\ncomfort to know that the scepter of Jehovah, as King of the universe,\nis a scepter of righteousness. We could never know that God is\nrighteous, and that he loves righteousness, except by being told in\nhis Word of Truth. This world does not give unequivocal testimony to\nthe righteousness of God. The wicked bear rule, and the nations\ntremble. Evil often overcomes good, and wrong triumphs over right.\nDisease or accident lays the good man low in death; while the wicked\nnear by is left to exult in the strength of his arm. I say it is\ncomforting to know, in the midst of these apparent contradictory\nevidences of the just government of the world, that God is\nnevertheless righteous: and although iniquity largely bears rule and\ncarries the day, God still hates wickedness. God does not acquiesce in\nthe injustice and wrong that is being perpetrated in the world. He\nmerely permits it; and he permits it for the reason that he can not\narrest and put an end to it without destroying man's freedom. Man is\nfree as to his will and understanding--free to believe what is false\nand to do what is wrong. But he is just as free to believe what is\ntrue and to will what is good. This freedom is what makes him capable\nof being reformed and saved.\n\nIt is self-evident that righteousness, which is right doing from right\nwilling, is the basis of all true order and happiness in earth and\nheaven. \"God is love,\" and he therefore loves righteousness because it\nis good, and hates wickedness because it is evil. But man has fallen\nfrom his primeval state of righteousness, and therefore he is not in a\ncondition of mind and heart fit for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,\nnor capable of enjoying the divine presence in the society of the pure\nand good. Righteousness and holiness are related to each other very\nmuch as the fruit is related to the tree that bears it. Holiness\ncorresponds with the sap, fiber, life and whatever else makes the tree\ngood; and righteousness corresponds with the fruit the good tree\nbears; and \"without holiness no man shall see the Lord.\"\n\nBut probably no subject in the line of human thought has given rise to\nso many different opinions as the subject of how righteousness is to\nbe attained. The Jewish leaders and representatives in our Lord's day\nupon earth were very exact in their outward lives. They kept clean the\n_outside_ of the cup and of the platter. Their external conduct was\nordered to a rigid conformity to divine law. They endeavored to\nestablish a righteousness of their own; and to all human appearance\nthey succeeded; for the Lord himself said to them: \"Ye make clean the\n_outside_\"--as vessels may appear clean _externally_. He also compared\nthem to beautiful monuments of marble sculptured after the highest\nstyle of art and polished to shining perfection, set up over the dead.\nBut of this very class of men he said: \"Except your righteousness\nshall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall\nin no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.\" This proves that the\nrighteousness which they had was not the righteousness of the kingdom\nof heaven.\n\nSelf-respect, or self-love, inclines almost every one, except the very\nabandoned, to make a show of righteousness; that is, they want others\nto think they are living right lives. No man who holds himself up to\nrespectability is willing to be called a thief, or a liar, or an\nadulterer, or any other thing that is vile. He may be any or all of\nthese, yet he is not willing that it should be known, or even\nsuspected. Even _he_ desires to make a fair show in the flesh.\n\nOthers, again, who make no profession of religion, but who yet believe\nin a supreme God and a future state of existence, desire to be\nrighteous before God and man. They are not like the scribes and\nPharisees, who attached virtue and merit to their rigid observance of\nthe ceremonial law of ordinances in their religion. These that I now\nspeak of are simply good moral men, who are honest in their dealings\nand careful of the conduct of their lives generally. These do not\nreally desire to make any display of their righteousness. They wish\nrather to be esteemed for their real worth; and not for any fancied or\nspurious excellencies. They desire to live _above_ the just reproaches\nof men, and the condemnation of God. They persuade themselves to think\nthat their righteousness is all that God can require.\n\nBut the most numerous of all the classes that seek after righteousness\nis composed of those who trust in the righteousness of faith.\nRighteousness or justification by faith was the password of the\nReformation. Martin Luther, misapplying Paul's utterance that \"a man\nis justified or made righteous by faith without the deeds of the law,\"\nset a large part of Europe going with the impression that salvation,\nin the highest sense, is attainable on the easy terms of merely\nassenting to the statement that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Many\npassages can be adduced from the epistolary writings in plausible\nsupport of this theory of salvation. Although it is incomprehensible\nhow the righteousness of Christ can be applied to each individual\nsinner on the bare ground of his merely giving assent to the doctrine\nof the atonement through the merit of Christ's death upon the cross,\nstill it is the leading dogma of what is popularly called orthodoxy.\nBut I must confess before all present this day that I have \"not so\nlearned Christ,\" nor Paul either. \"Not every one that saith unto me,\nLord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom, but he that DOETH the will of my\nFather which is in heaven.\" At the close of his sermon on the Mount,\nin which is given all necessary instruction and encouragement for\nliving a righteous life from holy love in the heart, the Lord Jesus\nsays: \"Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and DOETH them, I will\nliken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock.\" And he said\nto Peter: \"Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of\nhell shall not prevail against it.\" The rock is the great TRUTH that\nJesus Christ is the Son of God. This truth involves every good\naffection and thought and work of man. It takes in and requires\nobedience to every divine command, and compliance with every divine\nprecept. When any one complies with these conditions of salvation\nthrough the faith that sees and knows that God's Word is true because\nit is understood and must be so, he is righteous in the sight of the\nLord, and necessarily in a state of salvation. He is then to \"let his\nlight shine before men, that others seeing his GOOD WORKS may glorify\nour Father in heaven.\"\n\nFor want of time I must pass over the subject of _temperance_, to say\nsomething about \"a judgment to come.\" And right here there are all\nsorts of ideas and conjectures. But of all the subjects in the\nuniverse, that involving the judgment is the most momentous to man;\nbecause it is there that his eternal destiny will be disclosed to him,\nas to whether he shall be an angel of heaven or a demon in hell. And\nwe shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. It is not to be\nwondered at that Felix trembled under the weight of this great truth.\nGod's Word will be the basis of judgment. Says our Lord: \"He that\nrejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him:\nthe word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day.\" As\n\"man liveth by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,\" so\ndoes every word of his truth point to that great day for which all\nother days were made. All the parables and miracles of our Lord, full\nof instruction as to heart and life, point, like so many guideposts,\nto this great central truth of man's experience and existence.\n\nBut, friends, let us imbibe no erroneous views and impressions\nregarding the judgment to come. Let us not regard it as being an\noccasion for the display of God's wrath; but let us rather look upon\nit as the sublimest manifestation of his love. Draw a comparison here.\nGood human laws are not a terror to the good. A jury is impaneled. A\ncriminal is arraigned before it. Testimony is received and evidence\ndrawn from it respecting the innocence or guilt of the accused. The\nbalance of testimony is altogether in his favor. He is acquitted. That\ntrial is a joy to that criminal, because it sets him right as to\ncharacter before the world. But suppose he is found guilty. Is it a\njoy then? It is not. It is a grief. Why? Because his sin has found him\nout. His real character is laid bare. But in their consignment of him\nto the punishment prescribed by law, do the jury and the judge act\nfrom wrath? They do not, but from a love of good will to all. The law\nthat condemns may have the appearance of wrath to the condemned; but\nnever to the innocent.\n\nJudgment and reward will be according to works, and never according to\nprofessions of faith, except where the professions are genuine, and\nlead to good works from the love of doing good. I have met with some\nwho have manifested dread in contemplating the majesty of that great\nday, the day of \"a judgment to come.\" I feel warranted in making the\nassertion that no one whose purpose in life is to do the will of our\nFather in heaven has any just ground whatever to dread the coming of\nthat day. Justice never condemns the innocent. Just and wise laws are\nnever a terror to the good, and such are all the laws of God. In the\nbook of Revelation we read of those \"who had gotten the victory over\nthe beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number\nof his name, saying: Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God\nAlmighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.\" These all\nexulted in the prospect of a judgment to come, because they had gotten\nthe victory over the adversary of their souls and were ready for trial\nbefore the King of saints whose ways are all _just_ and _true_. I once\nread of a criminal who was deeply distressed at the near approach of\nhis trial. A friend endeavored to soothe his agitated feelings by\ntelling him that justice would be done him, and that he consequently\nhad no cause for fear. But the criminal was honest enough to confess\nto his friend that JUSTICE was the very thing he was afraid of. I have\nno doubt that this very same fear was what made Felix tremble before\nPaul.\n\nThe Son of man, on the judgment seat, will be the very same in every\nparticular that he is now on the mercy seat. \"Jesus Christ is the same\nyesterday, and to-day, and forevermore.\" \"The heavens shall depart as\na scroll; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up; but thou art the\nsame.\" By viewing him now as he is on the mercy seat we may see what\nhe will be on the judgment seat. The trembling waters of Galilee\nbecame a pavement under his feet, and his disciples were thrown into\nconsternation by this miraculous approach of the Lord. But he\ninstantly dispelled their fears by the assurance: \"It is I; BE NOT\nAFRAID.\" Peter, James and John on the holy mount feared as they\nentered the cloud and saw his glory; but he most tenderly said to\nthem: \"FEAR NOT.\" John, on the isle of Patmos, beholding the glory of\nhis unveiled face, \"fell at his feet as dead.\" But he laid his right\nhand upon him and said: \"FEAR NOT. I am he that liveth and was dead;\nand, behold! I am alive forevermore.\"\n\nThese thoughts lead to the further consideration that there will be no\narbitrary or despotic power exercised in \"the judgment to come.\" \"My\nwords shall judge you in the last day\" is given by our Lord as the\nstandard of judgment. Is there one here who desires to know how he\nwill bear the searching ordeal of that day? If there is, let me say to\nsuch a one, you can decide that question here in this world for\nyourself. You have the Lord's word for this. \"Verily, verily, I say\nunto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me,\nhath eternal life, _and cometh not into judgment_, but hath passed out\nof death into life.\" To hear is to hearken, and to hearken is to obey,\nfrom a right faith in God. If you believe that this book which I hold\nin my hand, called the Bible, is the revealed truth of God, and from\nthe heart are willing to obey its precepts under a sense of love and\nduty to do the will of your Father in heaven therein revealed, and\ncontinue faithful unto death, you have the assurance therein given\nthat the judgment to come will be a day of triumphant joy to your\nsoul. But if you come short of this you can have no such assurance:\nand I am compelled to repeat in your ears these terrific words of an\napostle: \"If we sin willfully, after that we have received the\nknowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins;\nbut a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,\nwhich shall devour the adversary.\" To sin willfully is to refuse to do\nwhat we know to be the will of God our Father in heaven.\n\nI said awhile ago that judgment and reward will be according to works.\nLet us now turn to some of the proofs in confirmation of this\nassertion. They drop from the lips of our Lord without the least show\nof any design in him to _establish_ a great principle. The principle\nhad been established as an element of divine order before the Son of\nman came into the world. It is a truth so simple that even little\nchildren comprehend it. If a little child that has been taught any\ncorrect ideas about salvation and heaven be asked a question like\nthis: \"Who go to heaven?\" it will at once answer with childlike\nsimplicity: \"Good people go to heaven.\" If further interrogated as to\nwho good people are, it will say: \"People who love one another and do\ngood.\" It is a truth intuitively known that good people are saved and\nhappy, and bad people lost and miserable.\n\n\"This is the judgment, that light is come into the world, but men\nloved darkness rather than light, because THEIR DEEDS WERE EVIL. Every\none that doeth evil hateth the light ... lest HIS DEEDS should be\nreproved. But he who DOETH TRUTH cometh to the light, that his deeds\nmay be made manifest, because THEY ARE WROUGHT IN GOD. If ye know\nthese things, HAPPY ARE YE IF YE DO THEM. He that hath my commandments\nAND DOETH THEM, he it is that loveth me ... and I will love him, and\nwill manifest myself to him; ... and will come to him, and make my\nabode with him. He that loveth me not KEEPETH NOT MY WORDS. Ye are my\nfriends, IF YE DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU.... I have chosen you, ...\nthat ye should bring forth fruit, AND THAT YOUR FRUIT SHOULD REMAIN.\"\nI must drop a word of comment upon this last quotation. By fruit\nremaining it is to be understood that it goes with the child of God\nthrough the judgment into heaven, and remains to eternity. In\nRevelation we read these words: \"Blessed are the dead which die in the\nLord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from\ntheir labors; AND THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW WITH THEM. A book was opened,\nwhich is the book of life: and the dead were judged according to those\nthings which were written in the book, EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO THEIR\nWORKS.\"\n\nI might continue this multiplication of scripture passages to a much\ngreater number, but time forbids. Every passage I have quoted bears\neither directly or indirectly upon the judgment to come. It remains a\nthing of choice with every intelligent human being, whether he will be\nprepared to face the shining judgment throne with joy, or quail before\nit in terror. The Lord says to all: \"Seek ye my face.\" What a blessed\nresponse it would be for each one to answer as did the young Prophet\nSamuel: \"Thy face, Lord, will I seek.\"\n\nTUESDAY, August 18. Brother Kline and Jacob Wine have night meeting at\nNimrod Judy's, in Hardy County. The conversion of Saul is their\nsubject. Acts 9.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 19. They have meeting at John Judy's on South Mill\nCreek. TEXT.--\"God is a Spirit.\" John 4:24. They speak on the\nspiritual nature of true worship, and prove that ordinances in\nconnection with all the externals of worship, to be acceptable to God,\nmust be but the outward evidences of internal realities. They stay all\nnight at John Judy's.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 20. This day they have two meetings: forenoon at\nIsaac Judy's; afternoon at Michael Mallow's. Stay at Adam Mallow's.\n\nFRIDAY, August 21. Two meetings to-day. Forenoon at Bethel\nchurch--dine at Peter Warnstaff's; afternoon at Warnstaff's tanyard.\nStay at John Davis's in Hardy.\n\nSATURDAY, August 22. Meeting at Zion church on the South Fork. In the\nafternoon cross the Shenandoah mountain into Brock's Gap.\n\nSUNDAY, August 23. Meeting at Keplinger's chapel, where they meet\nBenjamin Bowman and Solomon Garber. A joyful surprise. Brother\nBenjamin Bowman speaks from Luke 8. He speaks mostly from these words\nof the eighteenth verse: \"Take heed how ye hear.\" From the outlines I\ngather that he followed very closely the lines of thought here briefly\nexpressed.\n\nHe said: Hearing may be that of mere sound. Brutes hear in this way. A\nhorse, near the stand, may hear a sermon, but it will be that of mere\nsound to him. I have known of _people_ hearing somewhat after the same\nmanner. They can tell nothing, and seem to remember nothing of what\nthey have heard. Some hear to criticise the preacher's style of\nexpression, including his language, modulation of his voice, and\ngestures. Others hear as the Pharisees and Herodians tried to hear\nChrist, \"that they might catch him in his talk;\" and like the scribes\nand Pharisees, \"laying in wait for him, to catch something out of his\nmouth\" with which to accuse him. But these are not the only profitless\nhearings which the God-loving and soul-loving minister of the Gospel\nhas to mourn over. The lives of some _prove_ that they hear mainly\nfrom a desire to make others think that they have great respect for\nreligion and the Word of God. They go to church and hear, but heed\nnothing. \"By their fruits shall ye KNOW them.\" If people were rightly\nto obey the injunction of my text, all such heedless and profitless\nhearing would be at an end.\n\nBut how is the injunction of the text to be obeyed? And how is one to\nknow when he is obeying it? The command means that the hearer shall\n_take heed_. This means \"WATCH.\" What must he watch? \"HOW HE HEARS.\"\nThe text has relation, not to WHAT ye hear, but HOW ye hear. It does\nnot point to the subject matter or the manner of the address, but to\nthe end _for_ which and to the spirit _in_ which it is heard. If the\nheartfelt desire of the hearer is to learn truth, that he may be\nenlightened and given to see the way of eternal life, he may feel\nassured that his hearing is acceptable to God. He will then not be a\nforgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, and such a one shall be\nblessed in his deed.\n\nIt is enjoined upon all to hear _intelligently_, for this belongs to\nthe _manner_ of hearing. No one can hear a sermon understandingly\nwithout some previous knowledge of the subject matter of the\ndiscourse. To acquire this knowledge every one should read and study\nthe Word of Divine Truth. It is able to make all \"wise unto\nsalvation.\" Intelligent knowledge of the Scriptures can be acquired\nonly by patient study of them: but when they are studied to the\nillumination of the understanding, the truth, like water in a well,\nrises up into the understanding and meets you. We sometimes hear it\nsaid of one who listens attentively and intelligently, \"He seemed to\ndrink in every word spoken.\" This, I think, is what the Lord means by\nthese words to the woman at the well: \"He that drinketh of this water\nshall thirst again: but he that drinketh of the water that I shall\ngive him, shall never thirst; but it shall be in him a well of water\nspringing up into everlasting life.\" To hear the truth attentively and\nunderstandingly is to drink it in, as we drink water when we are\nthirsty.\n\nWhat I have said, however important it may be to know, does not cover\nthe entire ground comprehended in the text. I must show you another\nelement which must exist in the _manner_ of all right hearing. That\nelement is _discrimination_. Without this, how is the hearer to know\nwhether the truth or its opposite is being preached? The comparison\nmay lack adaptability in some of its points, but I have heard it said\nthat some hearers are like young birds in their nest, ready to swallow\ndown anything put into their mouths. Such as hear in this way lack\n_discrimination_; that is, they do not discern the difference between\nwhat is true and what is false. This is particularly the case with\nsuch as have been trained to regard what their own denominational\nministers preach as being the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but\nthe truth. I am aware that some may just now be saying in their minds:\n\"You Dunkard people are the very ones to whom your words most justly\napply; for I know of no people who take so great pains to instil this\nvery belief into the minds of the young as you do.\" I can truthfully\nsay that such charges are not strange to me. But with all due respect\nfor such as differ from us in religious faith and practice, I do say\nthat we, as a denomination of Christian brethren, acknowledging no\nteacher but Christ, no authority but his Word, have no will, wish or\ndesire to lead the truth and thus pervert, ignore or misapply any part\nof it; but our will, wish and desire is to be led by the truth. And I\ndo not in my heart believe there is one member of our Brotherhood who\nwould desire to instill into the mind of his or her child any belief\nor practice not sustained by a plain \"_thus saith the Lord_.\" In this\nvery way the power of _discrimination_ is developed in the minds of\nour young people, so that when they hear or read they do not question\nwhether this or that that they hear or read has for its authority the\nMethodist Discipline, the Episcopal Prayer Book, or Lutheran\nCatechism; but they at once perceive that it either has or has not the\nsanction of God's Word. We are taught that in a spiritual sense no one\nis to be called rabbi. \"Be not ye called rabbi; for One is your\nteacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the\nearth; for one is your Father in heaven.\" How the mind might expatiate\nhere in making historic disclosures of the times and ways in which\nthis plain command of our Lord has been violated! Hearing the Word\npreached, and the hearer not able to discern truth from falsehood, has\ngiven to priestcraft nearly all of its power; because priestcraft,\nunsupported by the common people, could never have risen into power.\nIf the common people had been wise enough to take heed _how_ they\nhear, they never would have suffered themselves to be imposed upon as\nthey have been.\n\nI now take up the last but not the least element in the _manner_ of\nhearing. That element is _sincerity_; which I define to be a heartfelt\nlove for the truth. Paul puts it \"Receiving the truth in the love of\nit.\" The person who hears the truth lightly, thoughtlessly, carelessly\nis not instructed by it. The same is true of one who hears with\nprejudice against the truth. He refuses to be instructed, because he\ndoes not love the truth he hears. Let me use an illustration here. Two\nmen once happened to meet at my house, one a Presbyterian and the\nother a member of no church. After dinner the subject of feet-washing\nwas broached. After we had all talked awhile about it one of the men\nasked me whereabouts in the Bible it was to be found. I turned to the\nthirteenth chapter of John's Gospel, and he then asked me to read it\naloud. I did so. These two men listened attentively, so, at least,\nthey appeared to me. The Presbyterian friend very modestly gave it as\nhis opinion that the command is fully met by acts of hospitality, and\nreferred to the reception which Abraham gave the three angels who came\nto his tent as proof of the correctness of his conclusion. Very little\nmore was said about it at that time. The two men, soon after, went\naway together; and I had little or no conversation with either of them\nfor probably nearly a year afterward. But it so turned out that the\none who was not a professor of religion came to my house again, and\nshowed a desire to talk on the subject of feet-washing. I was ready to\nanswer such questions as he proposed; and he very soon expressed a\nwish to know if I remembered having once read the thirteenth chapter\nof John's Gospel to him when on a call at my house. I told him I did\nremember it. \"Your reading of that chapter,\" said he, \"struck my mind\nwith so much force that I could not rid myself of the impression it\nmade. I never, until then, knew there was anything so plain in the\nScriptures, and so easy to understand. I had always thought the Bible\nwas a book of dark sayings, unintelligible to any but the learned; and\neven in their hands doubtful as to its true interpretation. Since then\nI have been reading it, especially the New Testament part of it, and\nfind so much that I can understand that I begin to love it.\" I have\nonly to add that this man soon applied for membership in our church,\nwas baptized, and manifested enthusiastic delight in obeying the\ncommand, \"So ought ye also to wash one another's feet,\" at the first\nlove feast he ever attended.\n\nIn connection with the case I have just described, the two men spoken\nof heard with different ears. The ear of the first was so modified by\nprevious indoctrinations that it could almost shut itself in and\nbecome deaf or callous when the plain truth was read: the ear of the\nlast was open to take in the truth; and the mind, being free from\nprejudice, received the truth from the love of it. \"Blessed are the\npoor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\" The Lord\nincludes all such hearers as the one I have just described, in the\npromised blessing.\n\n\"Take heed HOW ye hear.\" In speaking on this text so much comes before\nmy mind that it is difficult for me to stop. I must say something to\nthe unconverted sinner. The Lord says to you: \"Repent, for the kingdom\nof heaven is at hand.\" This means that you should turn away from your\nsins and enter the kingdom of heaven. \"Let the wicked forsake his way,\nand the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return unto the Lord,\nfor he will have mercy upon him; and unto our God, for he will\nabundantly pardon.\" And Jesus says: \"Whosoever cometh unto me, I will\nin no wise cast out.\" To come unto the Lord is to hear his Word with\nfull purpose of heart to understand it, see its truth, believe it and\nobey it. I beg every unconverted person in this house to ask himself\njust now: \"How do I hear what the preacher has just now said? Do I\nhear it with a thoughtless, careless ear? If I do, what is to become\nof me? Can I bear to hear the voice from the judgment throne say:\n'Depart, ye workers of iniquity, into everlasting fire'? Would I not\nbetter 'seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while\nhe is near'?\" O, that all might hear aright, repent and live, for with\nthe Lord there is plenteous redemption; and he is able to save to the\nuttermost all who come unto God by him.\n\nSUNDAY, September 6. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse. William Miller\nand wife, and Andrew Lamb's wife are baptized.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 24. This day finds Brother Kline and Solomon\nGarber in Randolph County, Virginia, nearly one hundred miles from\nhome, holding a meeting. Both have come on horseback. They hold a\ncouncil meeting with the Brethren assembled. Joseph Houser is elected\nto the deaconship. After meeting Brother Solomon Garber baptizes Mrs.\nHouser and Diana Bainbridge.\n\nSATURDAY, September 26. They have meeting in meetinghouse near Josiah\nSimon's. Matt. 5:13 is the text. Brother Solomon Garber spoke first;\nand the Diary notes are so suggestive of original thought that I give\nthem in a somewhat expanded form. TEXT.--\"_Ye are the salt of the\nearth._\"\n\nJesus spoke by parables: and we are told that without a parable spoke\nhe not. My text is a parable. But what is a parable? A parable is a\nway of teaching in which natural objects are used to represent or\nsymbolize spiritual realities. It is a way of comparing natural things\nwith spiritual things. This way of teaching is based upon the\ncorrespondence existing between natural things and spiritual or\nheavenly things. Thus: a natural birth corresponds to a spiritual\nbirth; natural water, to spiritual water, which is divine or heavenly\ntruth. Wind, which is air in motion, corresponds to the presence and\npower of the Holy Spirit. Now notice, Jesus said to Nicodemus: \"If I\nhave told you earthly things, and you believe or understand not, how\nshall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?\" Nicodemus could\nnot understand how earthly things could symbolize or represent\nspiritual things. Hence he asked: \"How can these things be?\"\n\nI have tried to find out as nearly as possible what the word SALT is\nused to represent, as found in my text. I have searched many books for\nthis one thing alone. But after all my investigations I am compelled\nto rely upon my own judgment, and decide the matter for myself. I\nnotice, however, that salt is often spoken of in the Bible. All the\npriestly offerings had to be salted with salt. There must, then, be a\nhigh and holy significance in its use in this way.\n\nElisha succeeded Elijah in the prophetic office. Elijah had been\ncarried up to heaven in a chariot of fire, and Elisha had just\nreturned from the scene and sight of his master's glorification, and\nwas at the city of Jericho. And the men of the city said unto Elisha:\n\"Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, ... but\nthe water is naught\"--worthless, not fit to drink. And Elisha \"went\nforth unto the spring of the waters, and cast salt in there, and said,\nThus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters.\" To my mind these\nbitter waters of Jericho symbolize the truths of God's Word, as these\ntruths appear to the mind and affect the taste of the unconverted man.\nRead the Bible to the man who has no relish, no love for its truth. Is\nit not to his soul like the waters of Jericho--\"naught,\" or nothing?\nThese men of Jericho are all around us, and you may find opportunities\nto prove what I have said. I have repeatedly tried it. I have read\nchapter after chapter of the divine Word to unconverted men, sometimes\nto my own work hands who I knew cared nothing for religion, and whilst\nthey would not tell me to my face that they cared nothing for it, I\ncould find out by others, and by their own after lives that what they\nheard was to their souls as the waters of Jericho were to the men of\nthat city. But when the salt of pure love for the Lord, and the desire\nto leave off and forsake all sinful indulgences and worldly pleasures\nby leading a new life in doing the Lord's will, enters a man the Word\nbecomes sweet and precious to his soul. _The waters are healed,\nbecause the man is healed._\n\nThe twelve disciples, particularly, were, at the time our Lord spoke\nthe words of my text, the very embodiment of all the virtues of heart\nand life which make the Word of the Lord sweet to the soul. To such\nthese beautiful words in the Song of Solomon apply: \"He brought me to\nthe banqueting house: he stayed me with flagons of wine: he comforted\nme with apples: his banner over me was love: yea, and HIS FRUIT _was\nsweet to my taste_.\"\n\nNow, to bring my text to something like a practical head, I must say\nto every unconverted soul here: You must put the salt into the water\nof God's Word for yourself. If you look to the Lord, and ask him to\ngive you eyes that you may see, and ears that you may hear, and a\nheart that you may understand, you will also receive all the salt you\nneed to heal the Word and make it healing to your soul. But if you\nneglect and despise or reject the offers of God's love, the very thing\nthat he has prepared for your eternal joy will be everlasting\nbitterness to your soul. For one to know his duty and not at the same\ntime do it exposes him to the danger of being converted into a pillar\nof bitter salt as Lot's wife was. She could not give up her love for\nthe world. She knew that she must not look back with longings for the\nSodom of the sinful life she had left; but she did look back, and her\nawful fate is brought to mind by our Lord as a warning to all:\n\"Remember Lot's wife.\"\n\nBy the words of my text, then, the Lord meant that the disciples\nrepresented the charity and faith that sweeten and give to every word\nof Divine Truth a gracious reception into the heart and life. In this\nhappy love the Christian sings of the Word of Life in the beautiful\nsentiment of an old hymn:\n\n  \"Yes, thou art precious to my soul;\n    My transport and my trust:\n  Jewels to thee are gaudy toys,\n    And gold is sordid dust.\"\n\nAnd when the disembodied soul shall awake to the full realization of\nthe truth which shone so dimly here, the love for that truth will be\nsevenfold as the light of seven days all in one, which means fullness\nof joy and pleasures forevermore.\n\nSUNDAY, September 27. This day Brother Solomon Garber leaves\nme after meeting, to attend to some appointments ahead. I stay to\ndebate with a Methodist preacher. In the afternoon I baptize Sister\nHouser. Stay all night at Brother Pirkey's.\n\nTUESDAY, September 29. In the afternoon meet the Methodist\npreacher at Israel Methodist church. But I am sorry to say that\ninstead of going into a discussion with me on baptism and other\nordinances of God's house he suffered himself to run into an absurd\nabuse of us, as if we might be doing much harm by our close adherence\nto the teachings and examples of Christ and his apostles. I can pray\nthe Lord to have mercy upon him, and to open his eyes; for I was led\nto believe, from what he said, that he had never read or thought much\noutside of the Methodist Discipline.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 30. Meeting again in meetinghouse near\nBrother Simon's. Speak on John 3:7. I baptize Brother Samuel Channel.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 1. Get Nell shod. Come to the Barker\nsettlement. Night meeting at Wilson's.\n\nFRIDAY, October 2. Night meeting at Enoch Johnson's.\n\nSATURDAY, October 3. Meeting and love feast at Brother Henry\nWilson's. Stay all night at Brother Elias Oval's.\n\nSUNDAY, October 4. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Take the\nvoice of the church. Brother Henry Wilson is established. Brother\nElias Oval is advanced; and Brother William Oval is elected to the\nWord.\n\nMONDAY, October 5. Visit Elijah Skidmore; dine at Brother\nBurke's; visit Joseph Workman; and come to Brother Simon's in the\nevening. Brother Michael Lion, Brother Thomas Clark, and Brother\nMartain Cosner are there when I arrive. I probably will never forget\nthe pleasure of meeting those brethren there and spending the night\nand next day with them. Our love for each other here is a sweet\nforetaste of the joy of heaven.\n\nTUESDAY, October 6. Come to Brother Levi Wilmot's. Preach the\nfuneral of Brother Powers's wife.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 7. Dine at Abraham Summerfield's. Then to\nWilliam Adamson's at the mouth of Seneca Creek, where I stay all\nnight.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 8. Dine at Daniel Judy's. Stay all night at\nAdam Ketterman's on top of the South Fork mountain.\n\nFRIDAY, October 9. Get home.\n\nSUNDAY, October 25. Meeting at Hoover's schoolhouse. I\nbaptize John Lamb and wife, and Mary Hoover.\n\nSUNDAY, November 1. This day Brother Kline and Jacob Miller\nare together at a meeting in a place called Powell's Fort. This is a\nvery singular conformation of country. It is entirely surrounded by\nhigh mountain walls, with the exception of one notch or outlet for\ndrainage and a road. It is about twenty miles south of Winchester,\nVirginia. Some well-to-do people live in this secluded abode. It is\nlikewise the point to which it is said that Washington had resolved to\nretreat, with his army, rather than surrender to the British, in one\nof the dark periods of the Revolutionary War. On this visit to the\nFort Brother Jacob Miller baptized three persons.\n\nFrom this time to the close of the year, Brother Kline was mostly\nemployed in writing his \"Apology and Defense of Baptism.\" He finished\nthe work on the thirty-first day of December. In the year 1857 he\ntraveled 3,967 miles.\n\nFRIDAY, February 5, 1858. Attend council meeting at the Old\nmeetinghouse. Brother John Thomas is forwarded; Joseph Early is\nelected to preach the Word; and Benjamin Byerly is elected to the\ndeaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, February 27. Council meeting at our meetinghouse.\nBrother Samuel Zigler is elected to preach the Word.\n\nMONDAY, March 8. This day a snow falls about one foot in\ndepth.\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 10. This day completes the fortieth year of\nmy married life.\n\nFRIDAY, March 26. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.\nGeorge Wine, son of Samuel Wine, and John B. Kline are each elected to\nthe deaconship.\n\nMONDAY, May 10. Brother Kline and Martain Miller, in company\nof each other, start to the Annual Meeting. On the following Friday\nthey arrived at Brother J.P. Ebersole's, Ohio.\n\nBetween Saturday, May 15, and Friday, May 21, the two brethren in\ncompany of each other attended four meetings, and visited families as\nfollows: Abraham Ebersole's, Daniel Rosenberger's, Jacob Leedy's,\nJonathan Dickey's, Michael Baserman's, Jacob Miller's, Samuel\nMiller's, Daniel Miller's, Abraham Miller's.\n\nFRIDAY, May 21, after dinner, they go to Lima and wait for\nthe train, which does not come in till ten o'clock at night. It had\nrun off the track near a place called Forest. The Diary note says: A\nman was killed here by the western train while we were waiting. He got\nbetween the woodpile and the cars. Death overtook him without a\nmoment's warning. If unprepared to die, how sad the thought of his\nbeing launched into the \"eternal deeps\" of misery and despair! My eyes\noften turn with sorrow to the hopeless condition of those who live\nwithout God in the world. How men and women of common sense can be\nsatisfied to live year in and year out, on the verge of ruin, is a\nmystery to me. A glow of enthusiasm often enters my soul, in which I\nfeel as if it would be an ineffable joy to me could I send my voice\nall over the land in tones of thunder repeating:\n\n  \"Stop, poor sinners, stop and think,\n    Before ye further go!\n  How can ye sport upon the brink\n    Of everlasting woe?\n  On the verge of ruin, stop!\n    Now, the friendly warning take:\n  Stay your footsteps ere ye drop\n    Into the burning lake.\"\n\nAnd to those whose attention might be arrested by such a call, as they\nwould turn their ears to hear, would I love to say, pointing\nheavenward: \"Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the\nworld.\" \"Look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved.\"\n\"For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.\"\n\"Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth on\nhim may have everlasting life.\"\n\nWe arrive at Fort Wayne quarter past one A.M. After breakfast take\ntrain to Delphi; then go in hack ten miles to place of Annual Meeting.\nPreaching in afternoon. Revelation 5 is read. Brother J. Quinter\nspeaks on the chapter. We take supper on the meeting grounds and then\ngo to Brother John Flory's to stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, May 23. A very great concourse of people on the\ngrounds. I speak from Revelation 5, the same chapter spoken from\nyesterday. Some rain to-day. Stay all night at Brother John Flory's\nagain.\n\nMONDAY, May 24. This morning much rain. Committees are\nformed. Take in questions. Form subcommittees. Go to Brother Young's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 25. Discuss questions. Much rain. Waters high.\nStay all night at Brother Flory's again.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 26. Discuss questions. Get through about two\no'clock. Come to Delphi on a wagon. The sky partially clears up\nto-day. We have night meeting in Delphi. Brethren John Wise, George\nHoover and myself speak on Romans, first chapter.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 27. Get back to Jacob Miller's near Lima. Clear\nto-day.\n\nFRIDAY, May 28. Meeting and love feast at meetinghouse.\nEphesians 2 is read. Stay at Daniel Miller's.\n\nSATURDAY, May 29. Get to Brother John P. Ebersole's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 30. Meeting in meetinghouse near J.P. Ebersole's.\nBrother Quinter speaks from Hebrews 6. In afternoon I speak from\nHebrews 2. Stay all night at Brother Daniel Rosenberger's.\n\nMONDAY, May 31. Meeting and love feast at same place. Matthew\n19 is read. Rain in morning; clear in evening. Stay at Brother\nEbersole's.\n\nTUESDAY, June 1. A beautiful morning. Take breakfast at the\nmeetinghouse. Have service. Read a farewell address, which I here\ncopy:\n\nBrethren and sisters in the Lord, dearly beloved: Our greetings for\nthis time have been exchanged, and the atmosphere of love in which we\nall have so freely breathed and moved since our first meeting together\nmust soon be exchanged for the atmosphere of the world. Our blessed\nLord meant a great deal when he said: \"I am the door: by me if any man\nenter in, he shall be saved; and shall go in and go out, and find\npasture.\" In meetings like this, and others we have for some while\nbeen attending we feel that our spirits and souls and bodies are\nvisibly and experimentally in the fold, with the Great Shepherd in our\nmidst. We are \"made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ\nJesus,\" warmed and cheered by \"the Sun of Righteousness.\"\n\nBut the duties of life lay upon us the necessity of breaking up and\ndeparting to our business and our homes. We must \"go out,\" out among\nthe elements of the world, and do our part valiantly in the great\nconflict of life--the conflict that forms our character and decides\nforever whether we shall reign with saints in glory, or be captives\nof hell. Let us, brethren and sisters, be cheered with the Lord's\npromise, that even _out_ of the fold we shall find _pasture_,\nsomething to increase our love for the Lord and for one another, and\nstrengthen our faith. How tenderly the Lord speaks to us, as though he\nregarded us as his little children! \"I will not leave you comfortless:\nI will come to you.\" \"And lo, I am with you to the end of the world,\n... until I receive you unto myself, for where I am, there shall ye be\nalso.\" \"In the world ye shall have tribulations; ... but be of good\ncheer, ... in me ye shall have peace.\" In giving to each other the\nparting hand and the holy kiss tears and good wishes are not out of\nplace. Connected with these a word of comfort to the feeble-minded, a\nword of encouragement to the brother or sister of weak faith, a word\nof gentle admonition whispered into the ear of the erring, a word of\ncaution to the rich, lest they be exalted and trust in their uncertain\nriches, a word of approval and commendation to those who, like\nBarnabas, are full of good works, may do an amount of good which\neternity alone can reveal.\n\nAnd now, brethren and sisters, farewell. Be steadfast, unmovable;\nalways abounding in the work of the Lord; inasmuch as ye know that\nyour labor is not in vain in the Lord.\n\nCome to Carey for two o'clock meeting. Sup at Dr. Joseph Myers's. At\none A.M. take train for Columbiana. Sup with Brother Quinter. Stay\nwith Brother Henry Kurtz. Fine weather yesterday and to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, June 6. Get home.\n\nFrom this time on to the first of August Brother Kline was mostly\naround home. He wrote many letters to prominent brethren in nearly all\nof the States in which the Brethren had, at that time, representative\nmen. He also preached some funerals, for people die even in summer;\nand death claims all seasons for his own.\n\nFRIDAY, August 6. This day he and Brother John Wine start to\nthe northwestern counties of Virginia, and cross over into Maryland\nand Pennsylvania. _Regularly_, they have meetings every day. They\nvisit Nicholas Leatherman's, John Leatherman's, and Samuel Arnold's in\nHampshire County, Virginia. They visit David Beachley's, John C.\nLichty's, and Elias K. Beachley's; also Jonathan Kelso's, David\nLivengood's and Franklin O. Livengood's, all in Maryland. We next find\nthem at Brother Flanigan's, on Hughs's river, where they stay all\nnight.\n\nSUNDAY, August 15. Meeting. Speak on the Great Commission.\nRoger Davis and wife baptized. Meeting in the afternoon. Continue on\nthe same text. Stay all night with Brother Martain Cochran. Fine\nweather.\n\nMONDAY, August 16. Meeting at Slab meetinghouse. Speak on\nJohn 4: 29. Dine at Brother Cochran's. Sup at Brother Roger Davis's,\nand have meeting at early candlelight. Brother John Wine speaks from\nRom. 1: 16.\n\nTUESDAY, August 17. Get back to Oakland.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 18. Meeting at Thomas Clark's. Speak from\nMatthew 12. Meeting in afternoon at Isaac Hays's. Martha and Mary, or\nthe _one thing needful_, was our subject. Stay at Brother Lee's.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 19. Meeting at Greenland, in Hardy County,\nVirginia. A woman from Germany, in Europe, is baptized to-day. Dine at\nSamuel Barbee's, and stay at James Parks's. The two brethren had\nseveral other meetings by the way, and on\n\nMONDAY, August 23, they reached home.\n\nFRIDAY, September 24. Meeting and love feast at our\nmeetinghouse. Andrew Crist and wife, Silas Turner, and Catharine\nShowalter were baptized to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, October 17. This day Christian Shoemaker, George\nRodecap and his mother, and William Ford and his wife were baptized.\n\nMONDAY, October 18. Brother Kline started on another trip to\nMaryland. Among the names of those whom he called on, or passed a\nnight with, we notice Samuel Zimmerman, Jacob Saylor, Sister Jordan,\nPhilip Boyle, John Roop, John Bowman, D.P. Saylor, William Nipe, Peter\nGrassnicker, Daniel Rickerd, Jacob Wolf, and Mrs. Nipe.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 20. Love feast at Beaver Dam. Fine\nweather, and a large gathering of people. Much brotherly love, and\ngeneral good order.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 21. Meeting at the Pipe Creek meetinghouse,\nand one at night at New Vinson.\n\nFRIDAY, October 22. Meeting at the Meadow Branch\nmeetinghouse.\n\nSUNDAY, October 24. Love feast at the meetinghouse, near\nBrother William Nipe's. Large gathering and fine weather.\n\nBrother Kline attended several other meetings on this trip; and on\n\nSUNDAY, October 31, he reports himself at the Flat Rock\nmeetinghouse, in Shenandoah County, Virginia, replying to a discourse\non feet-washing delivered shortly before by J.P. Cline, a Lutheran\npreacher of the same county. In his reply Brother Kline proves himself\n\"a master of his bow: his arrows never miss.\" I here present some\npoints in this reply:\n\nFriend J.P. Cline made feet-washing \"a household or hospitable rite.\"\nBrother John Kline's main point in reply to this was, that bathing or\nwashing of the whole body in water, as also the setting out of bread\nand wine before guests, was likewise included among the rites of\nhospitality in the East and also in southern Europe. If feet-washing\nis to be discarded from the list of church ordinances on this ground,\nwhat becomes of baptism and the Communion? Can they, logically, fare\nbetter?\n\nFriend Cline's next point was, \"that feet-washing has a spiritual\nsignificance, that the example given by the Lord is complied with and\nobeyed when we, in humility and love, do works of charity.\" In reply\nto this, Brother John Kline merely asked the question: \"What\ndenominations of professing Christians exhibit the deepest sense of\nhumility, and show the warmest affections of charity, those that\nobserve feet-washing as an ordinance of the church, or those that\nreject it as such?\" \"It is not for me,\" said he, \"to answer this\nquestion. I leave it to the consideration of all.\"\n\n\"What I do, thou knowest not now.\" \"This declaration of our Lord,\"\nsaid friend Cline, \"clearly discards feet-washing from being a church\nordinance.\" In reply to this Brother Kline said: \"I would like to ask\nfriend Cline if he claims to understand all the meaning and\nsignificance of water baptism and the Communion. If he does lay claim\nto such attainments in the knowledge of what God has not clearly\nrevealed in his Word, he must have had access to information from\nwhich all other honest men have been debarred. Before friend Cline's\nargument against feet-washing as a church ordinance can have any\nweight, on the score that we do not clearly see all that is intended\nto be signified by it, consistency does require him to show the full\nmeaning and significance of baptism and the Communion of the bread and\nwine. It is self-evident that the argument which rejects feet-washing\nfrom the list of church ordinances, on the ground of its not being\nfully understood as to its entire significance, with equal power\nrejects and discards baptism and the Communion from being ordinances\nof the house of God.\"\n\nIn this brief report of Brother John Kline's sermon on this occasion I\nhave but touched some of the points in his argument, gathered from the\nDiary, and from a personal conversation with him afterwards. He wound\nup with the Fable of the Clock and the Sundial, as follows:\n\n\"The Town Clock claimed that it ought to be highly respected. 'Look,'\nsaid the Clock, 'at my beautiful face, and the exquisite delicacy of\nmy hands. My head, too, internally and externally, is a perfect model\nof scientific exactness and mechanical skill. You should depend upon\nwhat I say. I run with regular steps, and strike the hours of the day\nas I run. You should hear ME. Look at that broad-faced,\nflat-headed sundial away down there. It has not a word to say.\n_I_ am going to strike now. One--two--three! There--how musical!'\nBut when this bombastic speech was ended, the sun broke forth, and the\nDial only smiled to show that the boasting clock had not told the\n_truth_ by some hours. The thirteenth chapter of John is the\nLord's sundial on feet-washing. Probably, after all, the best way to\ndiscuss this question with any one would be just to read in his\nhearing the thirteenth chapter of John.\"\n\nSUNDAY, November 21. To-day we have our first meeting in the\nnew meetinghouse at the Plains. Hebrews twelfth chapter is read.\n\nFRIDAY, November 26. Start for Pendleton and Hardy Counties.\nStay all night with Brother Jack Ratchford and his son Hugh Ratchford,\non top of the Shenandoah mountain, where we have an evening meeting\nfor prayer and exhortation. Cloudy and cold.\n\nSATURDAY, November 27. Come to Peter Warnstaff's. No meeting\nappointed. Clean John Pope's clock. Fix Mrs. Warnstaff's clocks, and\nstay there all night. Snows to-night.\n\nSUNDAY, November 28. Meeting at Warnstaff's tanyard. Speak on\n1 Cor. 1:30. Dine at Peter Warnstaff's. I am always refreshed by\nvisiting this worthy and intelligent family, composed of Peter\nWarnstaff, his sister Susanna, and their widowed mother. I can never\ndepart from their house without breathing a prayer for blessings upon\nthem. Night meeting at Lough's church. Speak on John 14:6. Stay all\nnight at Joel Siple's near the top of the South Fork mountain. Joel\nSiple is raising an intelligent and industrious family.\n\nMONDAY, November 29. Come to John Borer's on the South Mill\nCreek. Preach his wife's funeral. Meet Brother Michael Lion and\nBrother Martain Cosner there. We all stay over night at Brother John\nJudy's.\n\nTUESDAY, November 30. Meeting at John Judy's. The two\nbrethren Cosner and Lion speak to good acceptance, on John 3:14. Come\nto Isaac Judy's, and stay all night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 1. Dine at Manasseh Judy's. Manasseh Judy\nalways meets me with a pleasant face, such as makes me feel at home in\nhis house. After dinner, fix his clock, and cross the mountain to John\nDavis's, in Hardy County. Night meeting at Zion church. Stay at\nDavis's all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, December 2. Spend most of the day at the widow\nPeggy Dasher's. In evening go to Nimrod Judy's, where we have night\nmeeting, and spend the night.\n\nFRIDAY, December 3. Get home.\n\nTHURSDAY, December 23. Perform the marriage ceremony of John\nDriver and Rebecca Kline, at the house of her father, David Kline, at\nhalf past three P.M.\n\nFRIDAY, December 31. I have traveled this year 5,674 miles. I\nam at home, at the home of my life in the body; but I am not at home\nas to the life of my spirit.\n\n  As on the verge of life I stand,\n  And view the scene on either hand,\n  My soul would here no longer stay.\n  I long to wing my flight away.\n\n  Where Jesus dwells I long to be:\n  I long my much loved Lord to see:\n  Earth, twine no more about my heart:\n  It is far better to depart.\n\nSATURDAY, January 15, 1859. Get Howell's \"Evils of Infant Baptism.\" I\nregard this as a very instructive work on the subject indicated by the\ntitle.\n\nSUNDAY, February 13. Attend the burial of Christian Kratzer. Age,\neighty-six years, three months and twelve days.\n\nSATURDAY, February 26. Attend a meeting which was held to-day, to\nelect directors for the establishment of an academy, to be known by\nthe name of \"Cedar Grove Academy,\" near my place. John J. Bowman, John\nZigler and Daniel Miller are elected.\n\nSUNDAY, March 6. Attend meeting in Sangersville, Augusta County,\nVirginia. Brother Daniel Thomas replies to Soule's sermon on \"the\nmodes and subjects of baptism.\" Friend Soule is a Methodist preacher\nin high standing with his denomination. He argued on the ground that\n\"whilst the New Testament does allow immersion in water, and favor the\nbaptism of adults, it does not cancel the validity of the rite when\nproperly performed by pouring or sprinkling, either in the case of\nadults or infants.\"\n\nBrother Daniel Thomas, on this occasion, exalted the truth by\nappealing \"_to the law and the testimony_.\" He proved _baptism_ to be\na positive term as to its signification; that the word BAPTISM, with\nits derivatives, has a specific and not a variable sense. He likewise\nestablished the great truth that all the good of obedience consists in\ndoing what one is commanded to do. He showed that \"to obey is better\nthan sacrifice, and to hearken is better than the fat of rams.\" Any\ndeparture from the command vitiates the obedience, no matter how\nprofessedly honest the steps of that departure may be. He here quoted\nPeter's words: \"Baptism is not the putting away of the filth of the\nflesh.\" It does us no more good physically, said he, than would be\nderived from bathing or immersing the body in water without any\nreligious motive connected with it. It is one's conscious obedience in\nsubmitting to the rite, that gives \"the answer of a good conscience\ntoward God.\" Can little infants realize this? These premises being\nestablished, and after clearly stating the duty of all who desire to\nobey to find out what they are required by the Lord to do, he brushed\naway the mass of \"wood, hay and stubble\" which his antagonist had\npiled together, and erected an impregnable turret of \"gold, silver and\nprecious stones\" on the solid rampart of Divine Truth. Brother Daniel\nThomas carries a heart as pure and kind as I have ever found within\nthe breast of any man, and a head as clear as I have ever seen upon\nthe shoulders of any man.\n\nAfter meeting Brother Daniel Thomas and I dine at Brother John\nSanger's, and have evening meeting at Pudding Springs meetinghouse. I\nspeak from Heb. 12:25. Stay all night at Brother John Driver's. Fine\nday.\n\nMONDAY, March 7. Dine at Jacob Zigler's, and have night meeting in\nJennings's Gap. Stay all night at David Adams's.\n\nTUESDAY, March 8. Morning meeting at same place. Speak on Jude third\nverse, \"the faith that was once delivered to the saints.\" I have\nsomewhere read that the faith, or rather the doctrines, upon which the\nfaith of the saints reposes, has never _but once_ been delivered to\nthe saints, that since Jude's day it has been so much perverted, and\nso much mixed up with the opinions and doctrines of men that the\nsaints never more have it declared unto them exactly as Jude\nunderstood and believed it. But I do not think exactly with that man.\nChurch history does disclose lamentable departures from the true\nfaith; and we witness the same, with their evil results, in our own\ntimes; still God has had, even in the darkest hours of the Christian\nera, \"a people prepared for the Lord.\" I believe that what he said to\nElijah he might have said at any time since: \"I have yet left unto me\nseven thousand in Israel; all the knees that have not bowed unto Baal,\nnor worshiped his image.\" We still have \"the sure word of prophecy\nunto which we do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a\ndark place;\" and that word of prophecy is the Bible.\n\nSomething like this was the introduction to my discourse this morning.\n\nNight meeting in Churchville. Speak on John 1:11, \"He came unto his\nown, and his own received him not.\" His coming was not to their minds,\nnor according to their expectation. If earthly glory had been the goal\nof Christ's ambition, and he had promised them a large amount of stock\nin it, his welcome, on the part of the Jews, would have been sounded\nand sung from Dan to Beer-sheba. Jerusalem would have been illuminated\nin honor of him, and banners would have waved in praise of him. But\nhow different from all this were the surroundings of his coming! Born\nin a stable--and if a certain poet _has_ beautifully and truthfully\nsung,\n\n  \"The manger of Bethlehem cradled a King:\"\n\nstill is his \"kingdom not of this world;\" and the King, instead of\nhaving the \"right royal part,\" is \"meek and lowly in heart; a man of\nsorrows, and acquainted with grief.\" And no wonder. The cross stands\nbetween him and the crown. \"His own\" could not understand this; and\nonce he was rebuked by one of his disciples for making mention of the\nfact. They could not comprehend the spiritual character of his\nkingdom--that love was the throne and righteousness the scepter. The\nJewish race, which are meant in the text by \"his own,\" were not\nprepared for the kingdom of heaven, and on that account they \"received\nhim not.\" May there not be some in this house to-night who feel toward\nJesus as these Jews felt? If he would confer upon them a large share\nof wealth, honor and power, would they not willingly accept him? I\nimagine he would be the very sort of King they would like to govern\nthem. He would be the man for them. When such are told that worldly\nwealth, honor and power are not the foundation of the Lord's reign on\nearth and the glory of the heavens, and that these must be forsaken in\nheart as the chief good by all who would follow him, they shrug their\nshoulders, shake their heads with a down look and a half-suppressed\nsmile of unbelief, and say: \"Not yet awhile.\" Self-denial is the exact\nopposite of self-gratification. But our Lord declares that \"except a\nman deny himself, he cannot be my disciple.\"\n\nBut you want to know something further about _self-denial_. First, I\nwill say that it does not require any one to give up anything that is\nfor his present or future good. Love is at the bottom of all the Lord\nsays respecting it. He requires man to give up nothing but what is\nopposed to man's present and eternal good. But I find it very\ndifficult to get people to realize that the only way to be happy is to\nbe good. And the only way to be good is to love the Lord our God with\nall the heart, and our neighbor as ourself.\n\nIn the second place, self-denial is the giving up of all bad habits\nand the suppression and removal of those evil states of mind and heart\nout of which bad habits grow. When one is tempted to do evil, that\nmeans to take strong drink that causes drunkenness, or to take God's\nname in vain, or to steal something, or defraud someone, or to kill,\nor to commit adultery, or to wish evil to some one, or to tell for the\ntruth what one knows is not true, self-denial for Christ's sake, stays\nthe hand from doing the evil and restrains the heart from desiring to\ndo the evil. This is the self-denial taught by our Lord, and this is\nthe cause of the Jews not receiving him.\n\nBut self-denial with the enlightened Christian goes still further and\nsuppresses all sense of pride or desire to appear above others. This\nfeeling was often checked by our Lord. He told his disciples always to\ntake the lowest seat when invited to a feast; that to be his disciples\nin the true sense and become prepared for the kingdom of heaven, they\nmust have the meek and teachable spirit of a little child. With all\nthis and more, the enlightened Christian is not desirous of being\nconformed to the world. True self-denial forbids all conformity to the\nvain and useless styles in dress which are ever changing in the\ncircles of fashionable society. I will here relate what I once heard a\npreacher tell from the stand. He gave it as a fact that really\noccurred; but it appears plain to my mind that the incident proceeded\nmore from a desire to amuse than to reform; nevertheless it does show\nthat fashions, long ago, were probably subject to as frequent changes\nas at the present time. This is it: A man who had several grown-up\ndaughters in his family was going home, apparently in a great hurry,\nwith a fashionable headdress or hat for each one, which he had just\npurchased at a shop in the city. On his way he met a friend who seemed\ninclined to exchange courtesies and a few words with him. But he\napologized for being in a hurry by holding up the hats he had bought\nfor his girls, saying as he went: \"I must hurry home, or they will go\nout of style before my daughters get to try them on.\"\n\nFriends, the Lord claims you for his own--all of you. \"Ye are his\npeople, ye his care; your souls and all your mortal frame.\" Ye are his\nby creation and providence. Say, will ye be his by salvation and\nredemption? He comes to you. Will the next century write the same sad\nhistory of your case that stands recorded of the Jews: \"He came unto\nhis own, and his own received him not\"? Will this be the story? I hope\nand pray that it may not be. But it remains for you to decide this\nquestion. It remains for you to reject or to accept. If you receive\nhim not, what then will your portion be! Think of it. But if you\nreceive him, he will put you on the side of eternal salvation and give\nyou power to become the sons of God, being born of God. God himself\ncan do no greater thing for any one than to make him his son. What he\noffers you here this night exceeds all the wealth and pleasures of\nthis world, as far as the light of the sun exceeds the light of that\nlamp; nay, more, for the sun itself shall be darkened, but the soul\nborn of God, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, shall be\neternally safe in the possession and enjoyment of an inheritance which\nis incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Repent,\ntherefore, and believe the Gospel, that your sins may be blotted out\nin this season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 9. Meeting again at Churchville. \"The Great Prophet\"\nis my subject to-day. Dine at Brother Props's, and stay all night at\nBrother Zeyk's.\n\nTHURSDAY, March 10. Morning meeting at Mt. Pisgah and night meeting at\nWhite Hall. Stay at Brother Joseph Harshbarger's.\n\nFRIDAY, March 11. Our District Council begins at the Valley\nmeetinghouse. Business is disposed of very satisfactorily and\npleasantly.\n\nSATURDAY, March 12. Get through. Dine at David Wampler's, and stay all\nnight at Isaac Long's.\n\nSUNDAY, March 13. Meeting in meetinghouse morning and night. A\nbeautiful day and night. Stay at Samuel Kline's.\n\nMONDAY, March 14. Stop awhile at Noah Bowman's. Dine at Joseph Wine's.\nCall at Joseph Good's. Get home in evening.\n\nSUNDAY, April 3. Meeting at Ritchey's schoolhouse, in the Gap. Dine at\nBrother Philip Ritchey's. Stay at Adam Baker's.\n\nThe writer will here relate a conversation he had with Sister\nCatharine Frank, who was a daughter of Philip Ritchey, who lived very\nhigh up among the mountains of Brock's Gap. Brother Ritchey's was a\nfavorite stopping place with Brother Kline and other ministering\nbrethren traveling that way. Sister Catharine Frank was buried on\nWednesday, February 4, 1891. While on her deathbed the above-mentioned\nconversation took place. In this conversation she expressed herself\nready and eager to depart. At the mention of Brother Kline's name her\ncountenance and voice gave evidence of deep interest. \"Ah,\" said she,\n\"I never will forget that man. He was as dear to me as my own father.\nHe first led me to think about my soul and my Savior. Often and often\ndid I hear him preach, and pray, and sing in our old schoolhouse. And\nI do not think,\" continued she, \"that I ever saw him leave that house\nwithout first taking all of the young people in reach by the hand one\nby one, and saying something in a low voice to each one. I do not know\nwhat he said to others; but I know, as if but yesterday, what he\nwhispered to me. It was this: 'Do not neglect the salvation of your\nsoul: _it is the_ ONE THING _needful_.'\"\n\nTHURSDAY, April 14. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. Brother\nJacob Miller is ordained.\n\nSATURDAY, April 16. Dine at Michael Wine's; call at Noah Lamb's; then\nhave council meeting in Hoover's schoolhouse. Stay all night at Isaac\nShoemaker's.\n\nSUNDAY, April 17. Meeting in Hoover's schoolhouse. Emmanuel Rodecap is\nbaptized.\n\nSUNDAY, June 5. This morning I am at Manasseh Judy's, in Hardy County,\nVirginia, on South Mill Creek. My eyes behold what they have never\nbefore witnessed, viz, a killing frost in June. The corn which, up to\nday before yesterday, was vigorous in its growth and generally over a\nfoot high, is this morning frozen to the ground. The heading wheat is\nfrozen stiff. Forward grass is greatly damaged. Vegetable gardens will\nall have to be reset. What may be the effect of this frost upon the\nliving of the people, or how far it may extend, I know not. It may be\nthat the Lord is pleased to make this an occasion by which his people,\nin more favored parts of our land, can add greatly to their \"crowns of\nrejoicing\" by ministering out of their abundance to the necessities of\nthis blighted region.\n\nFrom Manasseh Judy's I go fourteen miles down Mill Creek and across to\nEnoch Hyre's on the South Branch of the Potomac, and all the wheat\nfields and corn fields in sight of the road look very much as if they\nmight have had a shower of boiling hot rain. So nearly alike are the\neffects of extreme cold and extreme heat upon vegetation.\n\nMONDAY, June 6. Meeting at Enoch Hyre's. I speak with a weight upon my\nmind. If all had strong faith it would be different. But the faith of\nsome is weak, and many have very little or no faith at all. When\ncalamities come, like the one that now broods over the land, it is\nsomewhat difficult to make those of weak faith still feel that God is\nlove, and that he makes all things work together for good to them that\nlove him. I can do no more in the way of comforting these people than\nto point them to the promises of the divine Word. These are man's only\nassurance that God is supremely just and good and that he can do _no\nevil_. The Psalmist David said: \"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not\nwant.\" He likewise says: \"I have been young, and now I am old, yet\nhave I never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.\"\nBut it is only the eye of faith that can see the light behind the\ncloud. If necessary, God can make the barrel of meal and the cruse of\noil as unfailing now as in the days of Elijah the Tishbite. My faith\nin him is sealed with a seal that I hope will never be broken.\n\nAttend an afternoon meeting at old man Parks's. Stay all night at\nJames Parks's.\n\nTUESDAY, June 7. Meeting at Bethel. Speak from Mark 4:24. Afternoon\nmeeting at Jacob Cosner's. Speak from Hebrews 6:4, 5, 6, 7.\n\nThese words have a fearful sound, and much thought should be given to\ntheir interpretation; and they should be well considered and due\nself-examination gone through before any one presumes to apply their\nterrific meaning to himself. After much study and research, I am led\nto believe that they apply specifically to the apostate Jews. The\nrejection and crucifixion of Christ was their great sin. \"His blood be\non us and on our children,\" they cried. They invoked and accepted the\nguilt of his cruel death. But God, in that mercy which endureth\nforever, was willing to forgive even this sin upon their repentance\nand faith. The veil was removed from the eyes of some. They \"were\nenlightened; they tasted of the heavenly gift,\" which is the Lord's\npardoning mercy. They were made partakers of the Holy Ghost; they\ntasted of the good Word of God; they felt the powers of the world to\ncome; that is, they were impressed with a belief in a future state:\nand all these expressions summed up together mean that they became\nChristians.\n\nBut some of these Christians departed from the faith. They stumbled\nand fell. In this act they rejected the Christ the second time, and\nput him to an open shame. This, in God's sight, was just the same as\ncrucifying him afresh. They had crucified him once, and were forgiven,\nbecause they did it ignorantly in unbelief. But now these that have\nbeen enlightened to the extent described in the text cannot be excused\non the ground of ignorance, because they were enlightened to know what\nthey were doing. Their rejecting him must therefore be a deliberate,\nwillful act. Can any one ever repent of what he has done deliberately,\nunderstandingly, premeditatedly, and with clear knowledge of all the\nfacts in the case? Paul, at least here in the text, says that it is\nimpossible to renew these apostate Jews to repentance.\n\nBut let none of us, brethren and sisters, be unnecessarily alarmed at\nthe text; but let us rather repent, if we have sinned, and draw near\nand yet nearer to our blessed Jesus and only Savior in a loving and\nfaithfully obedient life. We need not fear that he will ever cast us\noff. \"Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast off.\" The\nChristian's only danger lies in his casting the Lord off: not in that\nhe will reject us, but in that we reject him. But, beloved Brethren,\ntake courage. Ye do not feel, I know ye feel not, to cast off your\nLord and say to him: \"Depart from me, for I desire not the knowledge\nof thy ways!\" Ye rather say: \"Come, Lord Jesus.\" Come into my soul.\nFill me with thyself:\n\n  \"Take my body, spirit, soul;\n  Only Thou possess the whole.\"\n\nThis is just the way he wants you to feel. He wants you to give\nyourself wholly to him. He also says: \"Rejoice evermore: pray without\nceasing: in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God\nrespecting you.\"\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 8. Meeting at Greenland. Speak on the \"Great Supper.\"\nDine at Solomon Michael's; visit Michael and Thomas Lion's; stay all\nnight at James Hilkey's.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 9. Come to the Pine Swamp. Dine at William Abernathy's,\nand stay all night at John Abernathy's. Fine day.\n\nFRIDAY, June 10. Meeting at William Abernathy's. In afternoon pass\nthrough Bloomington, and on to William Broadwater's, where I stay all\nnight. Cold and cloudy day.\n\nSATURDAY, June 11. Frost again this morning. Come to David Beachley's\nfor dinner; then walk to meeting and back. Meeting at Miller's barn.\n\nSUNDAY, June 12. Meeting in three places: in the Elk Creek\nmeetinghouse, and in Miller's two barns. In the house I speak on\nExodus 14:13. I here give the text, and some of the leading thoughts\nin my discourse: TEXT.--\"And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not,\nstand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to\nyou to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see\nthem again no more forever.\"\n\nNo father, in seeking to quell the needless fears of his child, could\never use words more tender and pathetic than these. They flow right\nfrom the heart, even from the heart of our Father in heaven. I often\nthink how appropriately they might be addressed to a dying saint.\nThese Egyptians, the temptations from our old nature, which, like\nhounds upon our track, are constantly trying to overtake us, will all\nbe left behind as soon as the eyes are closed in death. \"Fear not;\nstand still; and see the salvation which the Lord will show to you\nto-day: for the Egyptians whom you see to-day, you shall see them\nagain no more forever.\" Precious words would these be to one sick at\nheart of sin and suffering, and longing to be freed from their power.\nBut these words may instruct us who are still healthy and strong, and\nhold our places in the ranks to perform our part in the battle of\nlife.\n\nThis text has been criticised by some as being opposed to progress.\nThe command to \"stand still\" is the mark at which the criticism has\nbeen aimed. But those who talk and think in this way fail to observe\nthat the Lord did not say this to the hosts of Israel until after they\nhad done all they could do, and gone as far as they could go. And when\nthey then became fearful, and in great danger of being seized by a\npanic, and scattered to the four winds, he gave them the wise counsel\nand glorious promise found in the text. Its great lesson to us is\nimplied rather than expressed.\n\nFIRST. _We are to do what God commands, and go where he leads the\nway._ This should be our aim at this our Annual Meeting. I sometimes\nfear that we do not think and act with an eye to spreading the Gospel\nas we should. It is not the way for us to stand still before our part\nis done. In this and adjoining States, many, in various sections, have\nnever heard a genuinely true gospel sermon. Why could not these be\nconverted to a true faith and life as well as others? To be saved,\nthey need the same Gospel that we have. I am daily encouraged in my\ntravels by finding some in every section who have already received,\nand others who are ready to receive our doctrines and practices where\nthey have been faithfully preached by us. And how can they help it!\nThe straight line of truth is easily followed. Truth, when rightly\npresented, is not hard to see, because it lights up everything. It is\nlike the pillar of fire that illuminated the whole camp of Israel\nthroughout the darkest night. But error is never bright like truth. It\nis like a cloud before the sun. And I am not sure but that the\napocalyptic vision of hail and fire mingled with blood was a symbol of\nthe perverted doctrines that are now being showered upon the people\nfrom the clouds of error that float over the land. We may be too\nslack. The Lord expects us to do our part. It is only when we have\ndone this that we have a right to stand still. I sometimes stand still\nby the bedside of the sick, when I feel that I have done all that I\ncan do. Sometimes, after having exhausted all arguments and\ninducements at my command to lead a sinner to repent and turn to the\nLord, I stand still. But I have no right to stand still so long as\nthere is one afflicted body capable of receiving help, or one unsaved\nsoul within my reach. \"There is a sin unto death: I do not say that\nyou shall pray for it.\"\n\nSECOND. After having done all we can do, we are quietly and calmly to\nleave results with God. All our fear, and chafing, and anxiety pass\nfor worse than nothing. When our nearest and dearest ones are at the\npoint of death no amount of agony and tears, with wringing of hands,\nor convulsions even, can avail anything. The very best we can do in\nsuch cases is to stand still.\n\nBut one thought more. Let us, dear brethren and sisters, stand on safe\nground. We may stand, and \"_stand still_,\" on very dangerous ground.\nThe only place where it is ever safe to stand is on the Rock of Ages,\nthe Rock which is Christ. Poised on this Rock, we need not fear. No\nearthquake will ever shake the Rock of our salvation.\n\nVery fine weather to-day. Stay at Daniel Miller's.\n\nMONDAY, June 13. This morning organize the Standing Committee, and\ntake in queries. Get through forming subcommittees by three o'clock.\nStay at Daniel Miller's. Rain to-day.\n\nTUESDAY, June 14. Subcommittees get through reporting to-day. Very\npleasant weather to-day. Stay at Miller's again.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 15. Work through by quarter past two o'clock. Go back\nto David Beachley's; get Nell, and Brother Daniel Thomas and I come to\nBrother Broadwater's and stay all night. Some rain to-day.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 16. Dine at Brother Samuel Arnold's, and have night\nmeeting at Susanna Arnold's. Brother Daniel Thomas speaks from the\nfirst Psalm. As a propagator and defender of our faith he has few\nequals in the Virginia arms of the church. We stay all night at\nBenjamin Leatherman's. Fine day.\n\nFRIDAY, June 17. Dine and feed our horses in Moorefield, and get to\nNimrod Judy's, where we stay all night.\n\nSATURDAY, June 18. Get home.\n\nSUNDAY, July 24. Go to Ritchey's schoolhouse, in the Gap. Isaac\nRodecap's wife is baptized. Dine at Philip Ritchey's, and have evening\nmeeting at Addison Harper's. A few references to the life of Brother\nAddison Harper may not be out of place here. The Editor was intimately\nacquainted with him. Brother Harper's early life was largely passed on\nthe Atlantic ocean as a sailor. He settled in Rockingham County,\nVirginia, in the later years of his life, and openly avowed his\ndisbelief of holy revelation. A few years prior to the date above\ngiven he was honored by the people of his county with a seat in the\nVirginia State legislature. When the Rebellion broke out in 1861 he\nraised a company of Confederate volunteers and served as their captain\nthrough the war. Very soon after the surrender, when worldly ambition\nhad succumbed to the direful state of the Southern people, his mind\nseems to have sought for something more enduring than aught the world\ncould offer. He turned to religion with the honest purpose of seeking\nto learn if _that_ might have in it such proofs of its genuineness and\nreliability as would give better hopes to his soul than those which\nhad so sadly disappointed him in life. One day as he and I were riding\ntogether to attend a meeting in which we both took part, I asked him\nto tell me the secret of the power that had made him a minister in the\nchurch of the Brethren. Said he, \"It is all traceable to two great\nfacts: first, the humble, peaceful, moral and charitable lives of the\nmembers; last, the simple and unperverted truths they teach.\" \"Without\nthe first,\" continued he, \"the last would have made no impression on\nmy heart; but the proofs they gave of their _honesty_ in the _first_\nled me to believe there must be _truth_ in the _last_; and the more I\nlearn about it, the more I am convinced that I was right. Johnny Kline\nrepeatedly preached at my house before the war, but I paid very little\nattention to what he said. I always admired his earnestness, and the\nsimplicity of his manner, but beyond these I paid him but little\nrespect outside of the civilities of common decency. But now it is\ndifferent. I would willingly part with all I have to enjoy but one\nhour's conversation with him, to but tell him how I now feel toward\nhim in my _new life_, and how much I now appreciate what I then could\nnot understand.\"\n\nSATURDAY, August 6. Love feast at Michael Wine's, in the Gap. Absalom\nRodecap and wife are baptized by Jacob Miller. Fine day and evening. I\nofficiate at love feast. Brother Martain Miller is with us, and his\nfeelings are very deeply moved as he proceeds in his discourse.\n\nThe Editor will here add what a very dear sister, now gone to heaven,\ntold him shortly before her death. He read to her the above note in\nthe Diary, and all at once her face beamed with the happy recollection\nand she exclaimed: \"I was there at that love feast, and Brother\nMartain Miller grew so warm and so happy in his theme that he got from\nbehind the table, came out into the middle of the room, and spoke as\nif talking to each one personally.\"\n\nWe stay all night at Andrew Turner's.\n\nSUNDAY, August 7. Meeting at Hoover's schoolhouse. I baptize David\nHoover.\n\nMONDAY, August 29. Last night the sky presented a very wonderful\nappearance. It was luminous with a scarlet light nearly throughout the\nentire night. What it may portend I know not. People may brand me\nsuperstitious, but I can not resist the impression that this, with\nother signs, betokens the shedding of blood in our land.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 31. Daniel Thomas and I start on a journey to the\nwestern counties of Virginia. Stay first night at Nimrod Judy's, and\nhave night meeting at Zion. TEXT.--John 15:3.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 1. Meeting and love feast at John Judy's on South\nMill Creek. Speak on John 14:6.\n\nFRIDAY, September 2. Meeting at Martain Wise's, near the Upper Track.\nPsalm 19:7, 8.\n\nSATURDAY, September 3. Cross the Branch mountain to William Adamson's\nat the mouth of Seneca. Seneca is a small stream from the east side of\nthe Alleghany mountain falling into the North Fork of the South Branch\nof the Potomac. The scenery at the mouth of Seneca is probably\nunsurpassed by any in Virginia. The perpendicular walls of solid rock\nhundreds of feet high present a scene of surpassing grandeur. Night\nmeeting at the meetinghouse on Seneca. Subject, Luke 24:46, 47. Stay\nall night at the widow Cooper's. Brother Daniel Thomas is very much\nimpressed with the sublime sights we witnessed to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, September 4. Meeting at 10 o'clock. Subject, 1 Cor. 1:18.\nCouncil in the afternoon. Asa Jarman is elected speaker, and\nWashington Summerfield deacon.\n\nMONDAY, September 5. Meeting at Abraham Summerfield's. Stay all night\nat Brother Levi Wilmot's.\n\nTUESDAY, September 6. Cross the Alleghany mountain; dine at Brother J.\nSimon's; call at Samuel Pirkey's; and stay at Charles W. Burk's in\nRandolph. We passed through extensive forests to-day of beautiful and\nmajestic timber, comprising wild cherry, tamarack, sugar-maple and\nother kinds of trees which invite the woodman's axe. The means for\ntransportation alone are wanting to make this an immensely profitable\nlumber region.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 7. Go back to Brother Simon's for dinner and have\nnight meeting in the meetinghouse. John 15 is read. Heavy fog this\nmorning, but a fair day follows.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 8. Meeting again at the same place. Same subject\nwe spoke on yesterday continued to-day. Brother Daniel Thomas is a\nhost. He possesses the rare ability to adapt his words and thoughts to\nthe mental states of these plain-minded people. \"Milk for babes;\nstrong food for men,\" seems to be his rule. And a wise rule it is. I\nhave to guard against \"inordinate affection\" for him.\n\nFRIDAY, September 9. Still in Randolph County. Dine at John Simon's,\nand stay all right at Henry Wilson's. Pleasant weather.\n\nSATURDAY, September 10. Meeting begins at one o'clock. Love feast at\nnight. Fine day and evening. Jacob Nickolas is elected to the\ndeaconship.\n\nIt may interest the reader to be informed that the two brethren are\nnow, and for some days have been, in a sparsely settled region. High\nmountains separated the habitable valleys. Great progress has been\nmade, and is still going on, in the upbuilding of the social state of\nthese people, as well as the improvement of the country. Those living\nin the highly cultivated States of our Union can hardly bring their\nminds to realize the conditions in which these people lived at the\ntime that Brother Kline and Brother Thomas were laboring so faithfully\namong them. Let me sketch a picture of the average house, its\nsurroundings, and its occupants: It is a log house, built up by\nnotching the ends of the logs so as to fit together at the corners,\nand rises high enough to make one full story below and a half story\nabove. A huge chimney of stone is built up on the outside, with the\nwide fireplace inside. The chinks between the logs are filled up with\na mortar composed of clay and straw. The chimney is supplied with one\nextra small flue at the side of the large flue, and at the bottom of\nthis small flue, about four feet above the hearth, is a small opening\nfor light. This light is produced from the burning of small pieces of\nrich pine knots placed in the small opening, and as one piece burns\nout another is inserted, the smoke from the pine, the meanwhile, being\nall carried off through the small flue. Above the door of entrance\nantlers in pairs may be seen carefully fastened to the side of the\nhouse, as evidences of success in deer hunting. And more than once did\nthe two brethren ministers feast on venison in the present journey,\nfor it was the chosen season for deer hunting. When the house is\napproached by a stranger, the father, if present, stands near the door\nwith a doubtful look, as much as to ask within himself: \"Who can that\nbe, and what is fetching him here?\" He has, however, a kind heart\nunder a rough exterior. His wife is diffident at first introduction,\nbut gain her confidence by true Christian behavior, and you find the\nheart of the true woman in her. The children retire upon a stranger's\nfirst entering the house: but let him show a love for them; let him\nlearn their names and ages as one by one they make their appearance,\nranging in this respect according to the different degrees of\nbackwardness and modesty with them; let him notice them with loving\nlooks and gentle words, and they will soon play with his watch-chain,\nand ask him what it is for.\n\nI have now given an outline sketch of many a family in these\nmountainous regions, in whose hearts Brother Kline never failed to\nfind a welcome, and in whose house a home. He loved the people and the\npeople loved him. But all this has passed into history. The church has\nnever had but one Johnny Kline, and it can never have another. Even if\nborn, the conditions for his development, and the sphere for his\nlabors, have both passed away. The Editor is happy to feel that he, by\na wonderful providence, has been made the humble instrument by which\nthe life-work of a great and good man has been snatched from the jaws\nof oblivion.\n\nSUNDAY, September 11. Meeting at Brother Henry Wilson's. Luke 13 is\nread. Night meeting at Brother Jacob Nickolas's, in his house.\nSubject, Rom. 13:11, 12. Stay there all night. Very pleasant weather.\n\nMONDAY, September 12. Come to Philippa, in Barbour County. Stop at\nDavid Kline's. Dine at Peter Reid's. Afternoon meeting at Peck's Run\nmeetinghouse. Acts 3 is read. Stay all night at Philip Dupoy's. Fine\nday.\n\nTUESDAY, September 13. Come to Brother Joseph Houser's, two miles from\nBuckhannon. Meeting and love feast. Matthew 20 is read. Fine day and\nevening.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 14. Meeting. Subject, Acts 2:37, 38. One man\nbaptized. In council Jacob Houser was elected speaker, and Brother\nHess deacon.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 15. Come to Wilson Osborn's on Middle Fork river.\nAfter dinner, cross the mountain to Valley river; stop and stay all\nnight at William Kern's.\n\nFRIDAY, September 16. Cross Cheat mountain, thirty-five miles, and get\nto Brother John Riley's, where we stay all night.\n\nSATURDAY, September 17. Wonderful rain last night. Waters higher than\nthey have been in a long time. Meeting at Liberty meetinghouse.\nSubject, Luke 24:46, 47. Stay all night at Adam Hevner's. Cloudy and\nmisty, but waters partly run off.\n\nSUNDAY, September 18. Sky almost clear this morning. Promise of a fair\nday. Meeting again at Liberty meetinghouse. Subject, \"The Great\nCommission,\" Matt. 28:18, 19, 20. Come to John Riley's, where we stay\nall night. Clears up beautifully to-day. Our congregations have not\nbeen large, but they have appeared to pay attention to what has been\nsaid. A preacher of Brother Daniel Thomas's power cannot fail to\nimpress an audience. He enjoys the rare ability of analyzing and\narranging his subject matter in a way that makes its presentation easy\nto be understood. I have observed a very important truth, and I am\nlearning its lessons more and more every day, that people can be\ninterested only in what they understand. Uneducated people, and\nchildren even, will listen with attention to what they understand.\nPaul perceived this truth. Hence he said: \"I would rather speak five\nwords with the understanding, than ten thousand in an unknown tongue.\"\nPaul got at the very root of the truth, for his remarks imply that no\nman can make a thought clear to the mind of another unless it be first\nclear to his own mind. \"If the blind lead the blind, both will fall\ninto the ditch together.\"\n\nMONDAY, September 19. Dine at Adam Hevner's; come to Greenbank, to\nDunmore post office; then to Shenaberger's, but we cannot get across\nthe river. We then go five miles down the river and cross on a bridge\nover to Knapp's Creek, and stay all night at William Harper's.\n\nTUESDAY, September 20. Afternoon meeting near Harper's. Subject, Heb.\n12:12. Stay all night at the widow Harper's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 21. The widow Harper and Abraham Rankin are\nmarried this morning. Meeting at Andrew Harold's in Mt. Vernon.\nSubject, Matt. 7:21. After dinner we cross the Alleghany mountain to\nAlexander Gilmore's, on Back Creek. Night meeting at Green Hill. John\n1 is read. Stay all night at John Divner's. Much rain this morning.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 22. We return to Gilmore's and get our horses,\nhaving walked from there to Green Hill and back to Divner's. From\nGilmore's we cross over to Jackson's river, and have meeting at Valley\nChapel. Brother Daniel Thomas preached to-day. His subject was 1 Cor.\n1:8. Go with James Terry and take dinner with him. Night meeting at\nValley Chapel. Subject, \"The Conversion of Saul.\" Stay all night at\nJames Terry's.\n\nFRIDAY, September 23. Come to new meetinghouse on Stony Run. Preach\nthe funeral of Robert Gwynn. Subject, Heb. 9:28. Dine at David\nStephenson's. Come to Godlove Hindgartner's; night meeting; subject,\nMatthew 11, three last verses. Fine day.\n\nSATURDAY, September 24. Morning meeting at Hindgartner's. Subject,\nMatthew 7, last paragraph. After dinner preach the funeral of old man\nRobinson's wife. Subject, 1 Peter 1, last three verses.\n\nSUNDAY, September 25. Meeting again at Hindgartner's. Subject, Heb.\n12:14. I could wish that thousands could have heard Brother Daniel\nThomas to-day. As he spoke of the holiness without which no man shall\nsee the Lord, setting forth in strong and clear light what it is to\nlive a holy life, tears of penitence fell from many eyes.\n\nMONDAY, September 26. Come across to Liberty meetinghouse, on the Bull\nPasture river in Highland County, Virginia. Subject, Luke 8:18. Dine\nat Dr. Pullen's; then come to Amos Deahl's on the Cow Pasture river in\nthe same county and stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, September 27. Come by way of the Calf Pasture river, in\nAugusta County, to the pleasant home of Brother Daniel Thomas, who\nseems very well pleased to find himself at home again and all well,\nafter an absence with me of four weeks to the day. In Isaiah 52:7 we\nread these words: \"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of\nhim that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth\ngood tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion,\nThy God reigneth.\" These words prophetically set forth the Lord in the\nbeauty of his holy life and good will toward men. His feet symbolize\nhis outward life. This was beautiful in the highest degree. No angry\nword, no impure thought, no covetous feeling, no revengeful motive, no\nunholy desire ever found a place in his heart; but, instead of these,\ngentleness, goodness, meekness, kindness, temperance, mercy,\nforgiveness, and charity, or universal and unvarying good will toward\nmen, characterized the whole of his good life as the outflow of his\ngood heart. In respect to these graces of our Lord, Brother Daniel\nThomas sets an example worthy of imitation. In the four weeks we have\nspent together I have not heard a word from his lips that I thought\nunwise, or seen an act of his body or hands that I thought not good.\nThis is my testimony of him in secret before God.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 28. Get home.\n\nSUNDAY, October 2. Meeting and love feast at the Lost River\nmeetinghouse. Acts 3 is read. Brother John Harshberger officiates at\nlove feast. Stay all night at Jacob Mathias's. Pleasant day and\nevening. Brother Daniel Thomas and Brother John Harshberger in their\nrelation to the work of the church remind me of the relation which the\nlead-horse bears to the off-wheel horse in a team of four. Each has\nhis place: the one as much needed as the other; varied in talent and\nusefulness, yet working together, the load goes on beautifully, and\nthe roughness of the way is forgotten.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 5. Meeting and love feast at our meetinghouse.\nGreat concourse of people present. Christian Keffer, of Maryland, and\nDavid Long are with us. Fine day and night.\n\nSATURDAY, October 15. Brother Kline and Brother John Harshberger\nstarted in company of each other to the Piedmont counties on the east\nside of the Blue Ridge mountain. How long they contemplated staying\nthere, the Diary does not say. The first appointment they expected to\nfill was met without a congregation. It had either not been properly\ngiven out and circulated, or the people did not wish to come.\n\nBrother Kline preached one sermon on this trip, at a place called Good\nHope, in the county of Madison, Virginia. But from the spirit of the\nDiary more than from its direct letter the inference is clear that the\nname belied the character of the place, and that instead of Good Hope\nit should be Bad Despair. His subject was Rev. 14:6, \"I saw another\nangel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to\npreach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and\nkindred, and tongue, and people.\"\n\nThe selection of this text shows a lofty sense of propriety in Brother\nKline. He was here among a people largely opposed to the views and\nfeelings of the Brethren on the slave question which was, at this\nparticular time, fearfully agitating the public mind. But the above\ntext was at once a passport in his hand to go \"with the everlasting\ngospel\" in his mouth to preach to every nation, and kindred, and\ntongue, and people. It showed at once that his mission was love, and\nthe end peace. Many preachers in the South about this time adopted the\nfollowing motto: \"Keep politics out of religion; but put all the\nreligion you can into politics.\" This means: Pour the pure water of\nLife into the cesspools of wickedness and deceit to cleanse them. This\nis worse, if possible, than giving what is holy to dogs, or casting\npearls before swine. It is as \"the sons of God going in unto the\ndaughters of men, and bringing forth _giants_--\" giants of iniquity.\nIf every man and every woman in our land were filled with godliness,\npolitics, in its popular sense, would vanish. Governments would\ncontinue, it is true, but the spirit of their administration would\nmake duty their joy, and love their law.\n\nFinding little encouragement in these parts, the two brethren soon\nstarted homeward through Page County, stopping one night at Brother\nHamilton Varner's, and one night at Brother Isaac Spitler's, where, at\neither place, they could again enjoy the breath of love and the\nheartbeat of peace.\n\nSATURDAY, December 31. At home. In this year I traveled 3,929 miles,\nmostly on Nell's back. Good, patient Nell!\n\nWEDNESDAY, February 29, 1860. Up to this date there is nothing of\nspecial interest in the Diary. It is mainly a record of visits in the\nway of medical attendance upon the sick; matters relating to the\nchurch; meetings attended, and neighborhood items of business looked\nafter and settled. Brother Kline assisted Brother John J. Bowman in\nsurveying lands. He also wrote wills and deeds, making himself useful\nin almost every way in which an active man of eminently practical good\nsense can serve his neighborhood and country. I here give his entry in\nthe Diary for this day exactly as it stands, word for word:\n\n    \"WEDNESDAY, February 29. Go to Benjamin Miller's. Old Sister\n    Miller is buried; seventy-four years, five months and ten days\n    old; buried at Myers's graveyard. Preach at Green Mount; dine\n    at Jacob Miller's; then come by Strine's home; rain in the\n    afternoon.\"\n\nThe Editor was present at this funeral, and very well remembers some\nof Brother Kline's words. He said that instead of being distressed or\ngrieved at the departure of one whose measure of life was so full of\nthe good works of faith and love, thereby showing eminent fitness for\nheaven, we should rather rejoice. He spoke of the wisdom and fortitude\nwith which she had borne her separation from her husband, the dearly\nremembered Elder Daniel Miller, years before. It is true, said he, her\nchildren cared for her with all the tender assiduities that love could\nsuggest; they still could not completely fill the place of the one who\nshe had fondly hoped would be the earthly comforter of her declining\nyears. She lived and died with her youngest son, Benjamin Miller, who,\nat this time [1899], has the oversight of the Green Mount church. She\nwas the mother of eighteen children. Sixteen of these grew up to\nmanhood and womanhood. Six of her sons, viz, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,\nJoseph, Benjamin and Frederick, were put into the ministry, and all\nserved the church acceptably. Most of these are now fallen asleep. But\ntheir children are filling their places; and how long this remarkable\nsister may continue to work in the vineyard of the Lord, through her\nchildren and children's children, time only can tell.\n\nI well remember that Brother Kline, on this occasion, was the first to\nrise. After a few brief but appropriate remarks, he lined out that\njoyful old hymn:\n\n  \"There is a land of pure delight;\n  Where saints immortal reign....\"\n\nAt the close of the singing he led in prayer, and the burden of his\nprayer was thanksgiving for the glorious hope set before us in the\nGospel. He then delivered a brief but feeling address suited to the\noccasion; and Brother Benjamin Bowman, after giving some interesting\nfacts connected with the Miller family, closed the church services.\n\nTHURSDAY, March 15. This day Brother Kline spends in Washington City.\nHe visits the Representatives' chamber, the Senate chamber, the Patent\noffice, and other places of public interest. His business, however, is\nat Alexandria, in connection with the Manassas Gap Railroad Company.\nHe is in attendance at a meeting of the officers and stockholders of\nsaid company in the city of Alexandria to-night; makes his report of\nthe amount of stock in said company which Rockingham County is willing\nto take; hears it accepted, and next day returns home. Brother Kline\nwas deeply interested in this company's road. It is the same which now\npasses close along by his place; but he did not live to see its\ncompletion.\n\nTHURSDAY, March 22. Council meeting at the old meetinghouse above\nHarrisonburg. Brother John Flory is elected to the Word, and Joseph\nGood to the deaconship. Dine at William Byrd's and at night attend a\nlecture on feet-washing in Dayton, Virginia. Stay all night at Brother\nSolomon Garber's.\n\nFRIDAY, March 23. This day Brother Kline, in company of Brother\nSolomon Garber, starts up the Valley of Virginia, on horseback, to\nthe District Conference appointed to meet at the Valley meetinghouse,\nin Botetourt County, on Friday, March 30; distant from Brother Kline's\nhome somewhat over one hundred miles.\n\nSATURDAY, March 24. Dine and feed at Brother Samuel Zink's; then on to\nBrother James Sprous's, five miles beyond; and from there to meeting\nat Chestnut Grove, two miles distant. Subject, 1 Thess. 5:9.\n\nBrother Daniel Brower, of Augusta County, joined company with them\nabout this time. On\n\nSUNDAY, March 25, they have meeting at Carr's Creek meetinghouse, and\nstay all night at Brother Danner's.\n\nMONDAY, March 26. They stay at Brother William Runnell's.\n\nTUESDAY, March 27. They have meeting in Hampton schoolhouse; dine at\nJonas Hill's, and have night meeting at Rapp's church. They stay all\nnight at Mathias Rapp's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, March 28. Stay all night at John Pursley's.\n\nTHURSDAY, March 29. Dine at Sister Sarah Grabeil's, and stay at\nBrother Peter Nininger's.\n\nFRIDAY, March 30 and SATURDAY, March 31. They attend conference at the\nValley meetinghouse. On\n\nSUNDAY, April 1, they attend meeting at the church, and dividing out\ngo to other appointments in reach.\n\nMONDAY, April 2. They start homeward.\n\nSUNDAY, April 15. Brother James Turner is very sick. I wait on him\nto-day.\n\nSUNDAY, May 13. Meeting at Ritchey's schoolhouse. Hebrews 4 is read.\nStay with James Turner all night. He seems a little better.\n\nThis is the last night that Brother Kline ever stayed with Brother\nJames Turner. On\n\nMONDAY, May 14, he took leave of him and started on his way to the\nAnnual Meeting in Tennessee, never to see Brother Turner's face again\nin this world, for in his absence Brother Turner died.\n\nTUESDAY, May 15. Arrive at Brother Benjamin Moomaw's, where I stay all\nnight.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 16. Call at Brother David Plain's; then to meeting at\nBethel. Subject, John 14:24. Dine at Brother Moomaw's. Sup at Jacob\nBonsack's: then to night meeting. Brother Jacob Miller speaks. His\nsubject is the General Epistle of Jude, his discourse being made up of\nremarks upon the spirit and general scope of the epistle. Stay all\nnight at Daniel Kiser's. Fine weather.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 17. Arrive at Brother John Lear's, who meets us at the\nUnion depot. Stay all night with him.\n\nFRIDAY, May 18. Meeting at Knapp's Creek meetinghouse. Matthew 5 is\nread. Dine at young Benjamin Basehore's. Then to meetinghouse again.\nSubject, \"The Pure River of the Water of Life.\" Revelation 22. Stay\nall night at Peter Basehore's.\n\nSATURDAY, May 19. Come to Joseph Bowman's; then go to Jonesborough,\nWashington County, Tennessee. Dr. Alpheus Dove is located here, and I\nspend the day and night with him.\n\nSUNDAY, May 20. Stop at Conrad Basehore's. Forenoon meeting at the\nValley meetinghouse. Matthew 11 is read. Dine at Brother Conrad\nBasehore's. Meeting in afternoon. John 3:7 is my subject. Sup at\nBrother Joseph Bowman's and stay there all night.\n\nMONDAY, May 21. Visit David Bowman's, Daniel Bowman's, Sears's, and\nget back to Joseph Bowman's for dinner. Toward evening go to Brother\nDaniel Crouse's, where I stay all night. Fine weather.\n\nTUESDAY, May 22. Meeting in Brother Henry Swadley's barn. I give a\ngeneral talk on the fifteenth chapter of John. Stay all night at\nBrother David Garst's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 23. Come to Henry Linaweaver's; dine at Brother Samuel\nMiller's, and in afternoon have meeting at the Seceder's meetinghouse.\nSubject, \"The Great Prophet.\" Stay all night at Brother John Nead's.\nFine day.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 24. Afternoon meeting at Brother Benjamin Basehore's. My\nsubject, Matthew 11, last three verses. Stay there all night.\n\nFRIDAY, May 25. Stop at Emmanuel Arnold's. Meeting in the Limestone\nmeetinghouse. After meeting, deliberate in committee on the best ways\nand means for a more extended and general spread of the Gospel. All\nthe members of the committee seemed to be impressed with the\nimportance of the matter under consideration. All agreed that it is\nnot contrary to gospel order for the church to help such preachers as\nare not able, from poverty, to do what their ability as ministers\nwould enable them to do, if they could spare the time from their work\nat home to go more. Many fields are still white unto the harvest. The\nLord may be to-day saying: \"I have much people in this city,\" or in\nthis place. By this he means, ready to accept salvation and become his\npeople whenever the door of the church is fairly opened up to them.\nStay all night at Brother David Clepper's.\n\nSATURDAY, May 26. Meeting at the meetinghouse. D.P. Saylor, H. Koontz,\nand James Quinter all speak. Ephesians 2 was read. In the afternoon\nPeter Nead spoke to a very large and attentive audience.\n\nSUNDAY, May 27. A very heavy rain comes up to-day about meeting time.\nWe nevertheless have forenoon and afternoon services in the\nmeetinghouse. Stay all night at Brother Michael Basehore's.\n\nMONDAY, May 28. Gather at the meetinghouse. Organize. Take in\nquestions: discuss some of them. Fine, delightful day. Stay at Brother\nEmmanuel Arnold's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 29. Get through with the business at three o'clock.\nBrother Quinter and I come to Jonesborough, where he delivers a sermon\nin the Presbyterian church. Subject, Rom. 1:17. TEXT.--\"_The just\nshall live by faith._\"\n\nThis text was Luther's sword. With it he slew more of the enemies of\nthe Reformation than Samson slew of the Philistines with the jawbone\nof an ass. The text readily suggests two questions.\n\n _I. Who are the just?_\n\n_II. What is faith?_\n\nThese two questions being clearly answered, the grand copula, upon\nwhich the meaning and force of the text depends, is readily understood\nas to the quality of the life which it involves. It evidently means a\ngood life, a holy life, an obedient life, a humble life, a pure life\nout of a pure heart. It means that the just or righteous shall live a\nlife conformed in all respects to the character of that state of heart\nin which love to God holds dominant rule, and subordinate love to man\nprompts to a life of vital charity.\n\nI. _Who are the just?_ The just, in the sense of the text, are those\nwho are righteous, and who desire to grow more and more righteous in\nGod's sight. Men may be righteous in their own sight, and very\nunrighteous in God's sight. And precisely the reverse of this: they\nmay be great sinners in their own sight, and just or righteous in\nGod's sight. This last state was Paul's experience when he pronounced\nhimself \"the chief of sinners.\" He felt that he was righteous or just\nin God's eye; but in his own eye, enlightened by the Word and Spirit\nof the Lord, he was vile. This consciousness gave vent to many\nexclamations such as these: \"O wretched man that I am! who shall\ndeliver me from the body of this death?\" Again: \"For I know that in\nme, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing.\" On the other\nhand, the Pharisee, who stood praying in the temple was righteous in\nhis own view of himself, and \"thanked God that he was not as other\nmen\"--a sinner like unto them, he meant, of course. This line of\nthought suggests another question:\n\n_How are men to become righteous or just?_ \"For the scripture hath\nconcluded all under sin.\" This same apostle tells us that \"we are\njustified [made righteous] by faith; ... for with the heart man\nbelieveth unto righteousness.\" Probably no passage of Scripture has\nbeen subject to worse misconstructions than this one. It has been made\nto teach that a mere declaration of faith in Christ procures the\ninstantaneous forgiveness of all sin, passes the sinner out of death\ninto life, makes him a regenerate child of God, and gives him an\ninalienable title to citizenship in heaven. But I have not so learned\nChrist, nor do I understand Paul to teach anything like this. I do not\ndeny that a sincere and heart confession of Christ is a step, the\nfirst step, to these heavenly blessings; but I do deny that Christian\nperfection rests upon a naked confession of him by the mouth. The\nthoughtless sinner does not know Christ. He has never in heart so much\nas asked the question: \"Who is he, Lord, that I may believe on him?\"\nGod has never been in all his thoughts. \"The world knew him not,\" and\nthe world knows him not now. When one, then, is suddenly wrought upon\nby some influence as was the Philippian jailer, by which, in his\ndistress, he cries out, \"What must I do to be saved?\" the answer that\nPaul gave is exactly the right answer. \"Believe in the Lord Jesus\nChrist, and thou shalt be saved.\" And this leads to my second and last\nquestion:\n\n_What is faith?_ I will here give Paul's definition. We come to God by\nfaith. \"And he that cometh unto God\"--or to Christ the same--\"must\nbelieve that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently\nseek him.\" Faith must, then, be the very first step in the direction\nof receiving good from the Lord. We see striking examples of this in\nthe life of Jesus on earth. What brought the throng from all\ndirections that attended and even pressed him? It was faith, the\nbelief that he could do them good. But it was not spiritual or\nheavenly good they sought so much as bodily good. Jesus reminded them\nof this in the words: \"Ye seek me, not because of the miracles,--\" not\nbecause you desire proofs of my divine power to save your souls from\neternal death,--\"but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled.\"\nBut true faith, the faith that saves the soul, the faith by which the\njust shall live, is _a loving acceptance of the Word of God; every\nword that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; for by this doth man\nlive_. And how does man live by it? By obeying it, by making its\nprecepts the rule and guide of his life. By faith the Word becomes \"a\nlamp unto his path.\" \"It is as the light that shineth more and more\nunto the perfect day.\" All who believe the Lord's words, as contained\nin our New Testament, because they love their truth, and from the\nheart desire to live,--this means, order their lives and conduct by\nthem,--believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And these have the promise of\neternal life: \"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only\nbegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but\nhave everlasting life.\"\n\nThese were the leading thoughts in Brother Quinter's discourse to-day.\nWe stay all night in Jonesborough with Dr. Alpheus Dove.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 30. Go back to the meetinghouse where the Annual\nMeeting was held; arrange some matters left back in our hands; then go\ntogether to Brother Jacob Nead's, where we stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 31. Start homeward.\n\nSUNDAY, July 22. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse in the Gap. Brother\nSolomon Garber is with me. Mark 12 is read. Dine at the widow James\nTurner's, and go to James Fitzwater's, where we stay all night on our\nway to some of the western counties of Virginia.\n\nThe counties to which the two brethren were going are included in West\nVirginia, which, as is well known, was organized a State during the\nRebellion. The people living among the mountains are generally\nhospitable, and much attached to the scenes of their childhood and\nthat wild freedom of nature found in the mountains that surround them.\nThe motto engraved upon the State Seal of West Virginia is very\nexpressive and appropriate, and in Latin reads thus: \"_Montani liber\nsemper sunt_.\" Translated, it reads thus: \"Mountaineers are ever\nfree.\" The people are noted for the attention with which they listen\nto the preaching of the Gospel. Brother Kline often spoke of the\npleasure it gave him to preach in these sections, because the Word was\nreceived with so much readiness. His success among them proved this.\nThey were devotedly attached to him; and it is questionable if in any\npart of the Brotherhood deeper grief was felt over his martyrdom than\nthat which filled the hearts of the brethren and sisters and friends\nin West Virginia.\n\nMONDAY, July 23. Cross the Shenandoah mountain over to the South Fork,\nand have meeting at Zion, in Hardy county, 2 Corinthians 5 was read.\nDine at Nimrod Judy's, and in afternoon have a small gathering at\nLeonard Brake's on the Fork four miles below Zion, for social prayer.\nWe then cross the Fork mountain to John Judy's, on South Mill Creek,\nwhere we have night meeting, and stay all night. Attended three\nmeetings to-day; and traveled thirty-three miles on Nell's back across\ntwo very high mountains.\n\nTUESDAY, July 24. Meeting at Isaac Judy's, about four miles higher up\non the same creek. Brother Solomon Garber spoke from Luke 24:26,\n\"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his\nglory?\" He spoke with much clearness and order in his mind. After\ndinner we traveled by way of the Upper Track, across the South Branch\nmountain, sixteen miles, to Solomon Harman's, near the North Fork.\nStay there all night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, July 25. On this journey Brother Kline has noted the\ndistance traveled over between one point and the next in most cases.\nThus: Come to William Adamson's at the mouth of Seneca (five miles);\nthen to Seneca meetinghouse (two miles); find a congregation; speak\nfrom John 3:14, 15, 16. Come to Jesse Harper's (two miles); dine; then\nto widow Cooper's (eight miles); stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, July 26. Meeting at widow Cooper's; subject, Luke 14; dine;\nthen have meeting at soldier White's. Subject, 1 John 3:4; then come\nto Abraham Summerfield's, where we stay all night. Fine day.\n\nFRIDAY, July 27. Come to Levi Wilmot's (sixteen miles), and have a two\no'clock meeting. Subject, Matthew 5. Stay there all night.\n\nSATURDAY, July 28. Cross the mountain to Leading Creek to Charles\nBurke's (eight miles); and after dinner have meeting at the\nmeetinghouse (two miles). Council meeting continues till evening. Stay\nall night at Brother Simon's.\n\nSUNDAY, July 29. John 6 is read. Brother Solomon Garber speaks from\nverses 44 and 45. Council meeting again; considerable discord; get\nthings partially settled by evening. Stay all night again at Brother\nSimon's.\n\nMONDAY, July 30. Come to Burke's again. Stay all night at Brother\nWilson's; fine day, but river high from yesterday's rain, and fords in\nbad condition and dangerous.\n\nTUESDAY, July 31. Come to Middle Fork of Cheat river (eight miles),\nbut find the river past fording, and have to go round by the bridge\n(five miles), and on to Brother George Yager's (five miles), where we\ndine; then to the meetinghouse, where I speak on John 14:6. We then\ncome to Peck's Run. meetinghouse and speak on Rev. 3:20, \"Behold, I\nstand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the\ndoor, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.\"\nStay all night at Philip Dupoy's. Much rain to-day.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 1. Afternoon meeting at Houser's (ten miles); speak\nfrom John 3:16. Stay all night at Houser's. Fine day.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 2. Meeting at ten o'clock, and love feast in the\nevening. Luke 14 is read. Brother Solomon Garber baptizes Mrs. Jacob\nNeff. Fine day and night. The love feast to-night is a healing balm to\nour hearts.\n\nFRIDAY, August 3. Council meeting at Houser's meetinghouse. Joseph\nHouser and Joseph Michael are forwarded to baptize, perform marriage\nceremonies, and do other work within the defined limits of their\ndegree in the ministry. Come to Brother George Yager's (ten miles),\nwhere we stay all night. Fine day. I baptized two persons to-day.\n\nSATURDAY, August 4. After dinner come round by the bridge (six miles)\nto Middle Fork (five miles), to Union schoolhouse (six miles), and\nhave meeting. Subject, John 14:16, 17. Stay all night at William\nWilson's. Clear and warm day.\n\nSUNDAY, August 5. Very heavy rain throughout the forenoon. Start at\none o'clock to Union meetinghouse (seven miles); have meeting.\nSubject, Mark 4:24. Go to John Skidmore's (five miles), where we stay\nall night.\n\nMONDAY, August 6. Come to Josiah Simon's (four miles). We have meeting\nat the meetinghouse. Make remarks on the general scope of Hebrews 4,\nand particular remarks on the thirteenth verse. Counsel after meeting.\nJosiah Simon is forwarded to baptize. We stay all night at Levi\nWilmot's (six miles).\n\nTUESDAY, August 7. Dine at John Wiat's; then to Abraham Summerfield's\n(eighteen miles) to meeting. Subject, Titus 2:11, \"For the grace of\nGod that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men.\" Stay all\nnight at Thomas S. White's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 8. Come to Seneca meetinghouse (twelve miles). Luke\n14 is read. Dine at Elburn's; stay all night at Ely Bland's (eight\nmiles). The entire time between Thursday, July 26, and the above date\nwe have spent in Randolph County. We are now in Pendleton County.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 9. Come to Circleville on the North Fork of the South\nBranch (seven miles). Meeting in Circleville. Subject, Hebrews 12:1,\n2, 3. Dine at Samuel Sollenberger's. Afternoon meeting. Brother\nSolomon Garber speaks from Heb. 2:1, 2, 3. Stay all night at Solomon\nPharo's.\n\nFRIDAY, August 10. Come to Brother Noah H. Lamb's. Meeting at Friend\nRun schoolhouse (eight miles). Subject, John 1:11, 12, 13. Dine at\nNoah H. Lamb's. Meeting at schoolhouse again. Brother Solomon Garber\nspeaks on conversion and baptism. Nine persons are baptized, viz, Noah\nH. Lamb and wife, Henry Elyard and wife, Ban Lambert and wife, Elias\nWimer and wife, and John Wesley Lambert. Fine day but warm. Brother\nSolomon Garber's remarks on conversion were very searching. It is\ndifficult to see how any one, after hearing such a discourse with an\nunderstanding mind, could be self-deceived. I have great hopes in\nregard to the genuineness of those who have been baptized to-day. His\nremarks on baptism were necessarily brief, but pointed and clear. We\nstay all night at Henry Elyard's.\n\nSATURDAY, August 11. Come to John Hammer's on the South Branch, a few\nmiles below Franklin. Have meeting at the home of Jacob Hammer.\nSubject, Acts 10. Dine at Jacob Hammer's. Meeting in the afternoon.\nSolomon Garber speaks from James 1. Stay all night at John Hammer's.\nFine day.\n\nSUNDAY, August 12. Come to Mountain Grove (four miles). Speak on John\n3:4, 5, 6, 7. Dine at John Eye's. Afternoon meeting at Lough's church.\nBrother Solomon Garber speaks from 2 Cor. 5:17. Come to Joel Siple's\nwhere we stay all night.\n\nMONDAY, August 13. Rain last night and this morning. Come to Peter\nWarnstaff's (seven miles), take dinner with him and his kind mother\nand sister; and at three o'clock start to John Fulk's, on top of\nShenandoah mountain (eight miles), where we stay all night.\n\nTUESDAY, August 14. Stop awhile at Philip Ritchey's; dine at Philip\nBaker's: and in evening get home.\n\nMONDAY, December 31. Cloudy this morning. Snow eleven inches deep. I\nwork at my sleigh. Clears up prettily this evening. I have traveled in\nthe year 1860, 5,686 miles; married five couples; preached twenty\nfunerals, ten for children under ten years of age, one between ten and\ntwenty, two between thirty and fifty, two between sixty and seventy,\nand five above seventy.\n\nTUESDAY, January 1, 1861. The year opens with dark and lowering clouds\nin our national horizon. I feel a deep interest in the peace and\nprosperity of our country; but in my view both are sorely threatened\nnow. Secession is the cry further south; and I greatly fear its\npoisonous breath is being wafted northward towards Virginia on the\nwings of fanatical discontent. A move is clearly on hand for holding a\nconvention at Richmond, Virginia; and while its advocates publicly\ndeny the charge, I, for one, feel sure that it signals the separation\nof our beloved old State from the family in which she has long lived\nand been happy. The perishable things of earth distress me not, only\nin so far as they affect the imperishable. Secession means war; and\nwar means tears and ashes and blood. It means bonds and imprisonments,\nand perhaps even death to many in our beloved Brotherhood, who, I have\nthe confidence to believe, will die, rather than disobey God by taking\nup arms.\n\nThe Lord, by the mouth of Moses, says: \"Be sure your sin will find you\nout.\" It may be that the sin of holding three millions of human beings\nunder the galling yoke of involuntary servitude has, like the bondage\nof Israel in Egypt, sent a cry to heaven for vengeance; a cry that has\nnow reached the ear of God. I bow my head in prayer. All is dark save\nwhen I turn my eyes to him. He assures me in his Word that \"all things\nwork together for good to them that love him.\" This is my ground of\nhope for my beloved brethren and their wives and their children. He\nalone can provide for their safety and support. I believe he will do\nit.\n\nWEDNESDAY, January 30. Write a letter to John Letcher, Governor of\nVirginia, in which I set before him in a brief way the doctrines which\nwe as a body or church, known as Brethren, German Baptists or\nDunkards, have always held upon the subject of obedience to the\n\"rightful authority and power of government.\" We teach and are taught\nobedience to the \"powers that be;\" believing as we do that \"the powers\nthat be are ordained of God,\" and under his divine sanction so far as\nsuch powers keep within God's bounds. By _God's bounds_ we understand\nsuch laws and their administrations and enforcements as do not\nconflict with, oppose, or violate any precept or command contained in\nthe Divine Word which he has given for the moral and spiritual\ngovernment of his people. By _government_, to which we as a body\nacknowledge and teach our obligations of duty and obedience, we\nunderstand rightful human authority. And by this, again, we\nunderstand, as the Apostle Paul puts it, \"the power that protects and\nblesses the good, and punishes the evildoer.\" The general Government\nof the United States of America, constituted upon an inseparable union\nof the several States, has proved itself to be of incalculable worth\nto its citizens and the world, and therefore we, as a church and\npeople, are heart and soul opposed to any move which looks toward its\ndismemberment.\n\nThis is in substance what I wrote to John Letcher, Governor of\nVirginia.\n\nI likewise attend Abraham Shue's sale: The candidates for seats in the\nConvention to meet in Richmond were on the ground, actively speaking\nboth publicly and privately. Mr. George Chrisman, one of them, a man\nof preeminent wisdom in things relating to government, publicly avowed\nhimself opposed to secession on the basis of both principle and\npolicy. \"On the ground of principle,\" said he, \"secession violates the\npledge of sacred honor made by the several States when they set their\nhands and seals to the Constitution of the United States. On the\nground of policy,\" continued he, \"the secession of Virginia will\nculminate in the breaking up of her long-cherished institutions,\ncivil, social, and, to some extent, religious.\"\n\nFRIDAY, February 1. Write to John T. Harris, our representative in\nCongress. Beseech him to do all he can to avert the calamity that now\nthreatens us, by pouring oil upon the troubled waters until the\ntempest of passion abates. I esteem him as an incorruptible patriot at\nheart. May the Lord guide him and all the other lawmakers of our land.\n\nSATURDAY, February 9. Martha Kline, wife of John B. Kline, dies very\nsuddenly to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, February 10. Funeral of our dear sister, Martha Kline, at our\nmeetinghouse. TEXT.--\"I have fought a good fight; I have finished my\ncourse; I have kept the faith.\" Age, twenty-eight years and eight\ndays.\n\nFRIDAY, April 5. Council meeting at our meetinghouse, William Summers\nand wife, Harvey Fifer and wife, Sophia Fifer, Sally Wampler and Sally\nHelbert are to-day baptized by Jacob Miller. A terribly malignant type\nof diphtheria has recently made its appearance in the Shenandoah\nValley and is now invading our immediate neighborhood. Four of Andrew\nCrist's children are now dangerously ill with the disease. Some in\nother families have died; and others are sick. The outlook, both as to\nhealth and peace, is very disheartening. But we are admonished in the\nDivine Word not to fear. The people of God have a better portion than\nthis world can give--\"an enduring substance, which death can never\nreach.\"\n\nSUNDAY, April 7. Attend the funeral of Christian Shoemaker in the Gap.\nHis age was about eighty years.\n\nSUNDAY, April 21. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Great excitement on\naccount of secession and war movements. The volunteers are being\ncalled out to enter the field of war, and God only knows what the end\nwill be. There is great commotion everywhere in the realm of thought\nand sentiment, men's hearts failing them for fear, the sea and the\nwaves of human passion roaring.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 2. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. I this day\nbaptize Isaac Kline, Lucretia Spitzer, Joseph Wampler and wife,\nRebecca Driver, Anna Kline and John McKee's wife.\n\nFRIDAY, May 3. Go to Nimrod Judy's on the South Fork, where I stay all\nnight.\n\nSATURDAY, May 4. Snow this morning. Have meeting at Jess Mitchell's.\nSecond Corinthians 4 is read. Stay all night at John Davis's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 5. Meeting at Jacob Collers's on the Shenandoah mountain.\nLuke 10 is read.\n\nSUNDAY, May 12. Perform the marriage ceremony of James Fitzwater and\nCatharine Showalter, at the house of her father, Brother Anthony\nShowalter. I then attend meeting at the Brush meetinghouse, and after\nmeeting witness the baptism by Brother Jacob Spitzer of Mrs. Beahm,\nMrs. Henry Frank, Mrs. Hottinger, and two of Michael Showalter's\ndaughters.\n\nFRIDAY, May 17. At home calmly enjoying the company of Dr. Jacob\nDriver, of Allen County, Ohio.\n\nThe Editor was intimately acquainted with Dr. Driver; and as he and\nBrother Kline were lifelong friends and in later years of their lives\nbrethren, a brief reminiscence of Dr. Driver will here be given: Jacob\nDriver was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, about the year 1801.\nHis parents came from Pennsylvania, and their baptism into the church\nof the Brethren is noted in this biography. About the year 1838,\nJacob, their eldest son, became very strongly impressed with the\nrational and logical arguments given by Dr. Samuel Thompson in a work\nwritten and published by him entitled: \"GUIDE TO HEALTH.\" This guide\nindicated and represented the way from sickness back to health as\nbeing very short and easy to find, exempt from dangers and free from\ndoubt. Jacob Driver entered the field of medical practice, and his\nsuccess in that line added enthusiasm to his faith, by which as time\nwent on, mountains were removed. He soon deservedly acquired the title\nof \"Doctor;\" and although not conferred by a medical college, still\nthe title of \"Doctor of Medicine\" has rarely been conferred by diploma\nupon a man more worthy to hold it, or borne with the honors of better\nsuccess. His removal with his family to Allen County, Ohio, in the\nautumn of 1852, was deplored by many families in Rockingham, who had\nlearned to depend upon him as their most trustworthy medical adviser.\nHe died in Allen County about the year 1867, leaving an excellent\nlineage of sons and daughters, among whom Jacob, his youngest son, is\nnow an active minister in the church of the Brethren. The ties of\naffection which bound the hearts of Brother John Kline and Jacob\nDriver into an inseparable union were those of a double brotherhood:\nbrethren in church, and brethren in medical practice.\n\nSATURDAY, May 18. Dine at John Bowman's above Harrisonburg, and stay\nall night at Daniel Thomas's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 19. Meeting in the Beaver Creek meetinghouse and at two\nother places near by. A very great concourse of people on the ground.\nThe spiritual peace and composure of heart, however, usually manifest\nin the Brotherhood on all former occasions of this kind, is sadly\ninterfered with now by the distracted state of our country. But the\nweather is pleasant, and we hope to have a good meeting. Preaching in\nthe meetinghouse to-night, and also in Dayton, Virginia.\n\nMONDAY, May 20. The Annual Meeting opens to-day at Beaver Creek\nmeetinghouse, in Rockingham County, Virginia. First, organize for\ncounsel; take in questions; have public preaching in forenoon. \"Much\npeople.\" In afternoon form subcommittees. Some rain and mist to-day.\nStay all night at Martin Miller's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 21. Proceed with business to-day; work through four\ncommittees. Cool but pleasant day. Stay all night at Isaac Miller's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 22. Get through with business by eleven o'clock, and\nthe Annual Meeting breaks up, most of those present from the North as\nwell as from the South carrying away with them heavier hearts than\nthey ever before have borne from a meeting of this kind. Many prayers\nwere offered in the course of its progress in the behalf of our\ncountry. The Shekinah of God's care may be gloriously waving over our\nheads now, and we not able to see it. The Red Sea is before us, but\nJehovah will part its waters for us to go through unharmed.\n\n  When Egypt's king God's chosen tribes pursued,\n  In crystal walls the admiring waters stood:\n  When through the desert wilds he led their way,\n  The rock relented, and poured forth a sea.\n  What limits can Almighty Goodness know,\n  When seas can harden, and when rocks can flow?\n\nSATURDAY, June 1. Go to Jesse Mitchell's, in Pendleton County,\nVirginia, where I stay all night.\n\nSUNDAY, June 2. Meeting at Jesse Mitchell's. Speak from 1 Cor. 1:17.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 6. Attend the burial of Brother Samuel Myers near the\nhead of Linville Creek. His age was forty-six years, eight months and\neight days. He leaves a widow and comparatively young family to battle\nwith the ills of life. May God bless and keep them as he only can.\n\nSATURDAY, June 8. Dine at Philip Baker's on way to Pendleton County.\nStay all night at George Cowger's on the South Fork. Delightful\nweather.\n\nSUNDAY, June 9. Go to Brother Hughey Ratchford's on the Henkel\nmountain to see his sister Hannah, who is very sick of typhoid fever.\nGive medicine, and leave some for her and for Hughey's wife who is\nalso sick. Come back to John Fulk's on the Shenandoah mountain where I\nstay all night.\n\nMONDAY, June 10. Call at David Hoover's, Michael Wine's, Widow\nTurner's, and home.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 13. Meeting for fasting and prayer at our meetinghouse.\nMatthew 5 is read. Fasting has been observed from remote antiquity, in\ntimes of sorrow and mourning from afflictions and national distress.\nWe have no direct command in the New Testament to fast, but we believe\nif it is done in the spirit of deep humility before God, with\nconfessions of sin and heartfelt desire to draw nearer to him in our\nwalk and conversation, our fasting to-day will not be a meaningless\nservice in his sight. Paul was \"in fastings oft.\" These he observed to\nkeep under his body, lest after having preached to others he himself\nshould be a castaway. In regard to fasting in my own case, I can say\nthat it strengthens my heart, and nerves my spirit to resist\ntemptation. My love and faith and virtue are confirmed. Let us fast,\nnot in appearance only, but in heart.\n\nSUNDAY, June 16. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize John Walker,\nJane and Frances Sherkey, John Grimm's wife, and Mrs. Clemm.\n\nTUESDAY, June 18. John Wine, Jacob Spitzer, and Christian Wine obtain\nlicense from our County Court to perform marriage ceremonies.\n\nTUESDAY, June 25. Stop at Philip Ritchey's; dine at John Fulk's;\npreach at Bethel church, in Pendleton County, and stay all night at\nPeter Warnstaff's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 26. Dine at Joel Siple's; go to Lough's church, but\nfind no congregation; come to Martain Wise's (John Bond's) and find a\ngathering of people for night meeting. Speak from Second Corinthians\n5. Stay all night at Martain Wise's.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 27. Meeting at Isaac Judy's; speak from Rev. 3:20.\n\"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.\" Stay at Judy's all night. But\nlittle else than war seems to be talked about or thought about. It\nseems to be everywhere much the same. The Lord looks compassionately\nupon his people. He knows we are but dust. \"As a father pitieth his\nchildren, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.\"\n\nFRIDAY, June 28. Preach at Philip Kesner's; funeral for Michael\nRatchford's child. Stay all night at John Judy's.\n\nSATURDAY, June 29. Meeting at Jacob Collor's. Subject, John 1:11.\nNight meeting at Zion on the South Fork. Stay all night at Silas\nHenkel's on top of the mountain.\n\nSUNDAY, June 30. Stop at Hughey Ratchford's to see Sister Hannah and\nHughey's wife. They are both mending towards convalescence. From there\nI go to William Davis's in Sweedlin Valley; find a gathering, and\nspeak from Matthew 5, first thirteen verses. Dine at Jesse Mitchell's,\nand in evening preach the funeral of Sister Elizabeth Freed, whom I\nhad baptized just four weeks before. Subject, 1 Peter 1:24, 25.\n\nMONDAY, July 1. Dine at Philip Ritchey's; then home.\n\nTHURSDAY, July 4. This evening, about seven o'clock, a wonderful\nappearance was witnessed in the sky. A succession of meteoric balls of\nfire flew through the air, apparently from west to east; attended by\nreports in rapid succession very much resembling those of heavy pieces\nof artillery and quite as loud. Some think this may be a providential\nmockery of the pageantry and pride displayed on each succeeding\nanniversary of this day over our national greatness which has now, for\na time at least, departed.\n\nSUNDAY, July 14. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize John Driver\nand wife, Catharine Myers, Christian Zimmers and wife, Brady Ann\nParker, Mrs. Fahrney, Ruthy Light, Bettie Miller, Susie Kline, Saloma\nSmith, Martha Jane and Sarah Catharine Swartz, and Martha McMullen.\n\nSUNDAY, July 21. A very singular panic struck our part of the Valley\nthis afternoon. A report of negroes breaking out and committing\nfearful outrages flew as on the wings of the wind. Women were\nfrightened and men dismayed. It was, however, soon discovered to be\nfalse.\n\nSUNDAY, October 20. Diphtheria is raging. In the past three weeks I\nhave preached four funeral discourses for children between two and\nfour years of age. But parents have better promises for the children\nthat are taken than for those that are left.\n\nSATURDAY, November 9. Brother John Wine and I go to the South Fork.\nPreach funeral for William Ratcliff's child. Age, two years, four\nmonths and thirteen days. Stay all night at Christian Dasher's.\n\nSUNDAY, November 10. Meeting at Jesse Mitchell's. Brother John Wine\nspeaks on Jude, third verse. We stay all night at Samuel Trumbo's.\n\nTHURSDAY, November 21. Attend the burial of old Mother Wine, the\nmother of Christian, John, Michael, Samuel and George--four preachers,\nand one, Michael, deacon. Her age was seventy-one years, eight months\nand sixteen days. A woman of great usefulness in her community as a\nhelp in sickness, she will long be remembered. My subject for\ndiscourse was Rev. 14:12, 13.\n\nSUNDAY, November 24. Attend the burial of Hannah Zimmers, wife of\nChristian Zimmers. Funeral services at Pine Grove meetinghouse. Her\nage was about fifty-seven years. TEXT.--\"For here have we no\ncontinuing city, but we seek one to come.\" Heb. 13:14.\n\nIt is a blessed assurance which the Divine Word gives the afflicted\nand dying children of God, that they have \"a city which hath\nfoundations; whose builder and maker is God.\" From the fact that the\ncity has foundations we are clearly authorized to infer that it rests\nupon the immutable love, wisdom and power of God. It is not the\nbaseless fabric of a dream. There is reality about it. Imagination did\nnot construct it, for its builder and maker is God. This city is the\nNew Jerusalem, so beautifully described in the last part of the book\nof Revelation. The foundations of the WALL of the city are there\ndescribed. There are twelve foundations, each of stone, and some of\nthem more precious than diamonds. The city itself is built of gold,\nand its streets are paved with the same. I often rejoice in the hope\nset before us; but not the foundationless hope of good from this\nworld. Slaughter and blood are the order of the day here now. We have\nat no time much to hope for from this world, but there is nothing to\nhope for now. We should rather rejoice than be grieved over the\ndeparture of God's children. They are safe. Beyond the reach of\nsuffering, temptation and sin, they are safe in the city of God, where\nno sickness, nor sorrow, nor pain, nor death can ever reach them more.\n\nSUNDAY, December 8. Meeting at Turner's schoolhouse, in the Gap.\nCatharine Fulk, daughter of Philip Ritchey, is baptized by me. Dine at\nthe widow Peggy Turner's, and stay all night at David Hoover's.\n\nFRIDAY, December 13. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Brother\nMichael B.E. Kline is elected speaker, and Brother Noah Rhodes deacon.\n\nFRIDAY, December 20. Write to John Hopkins, to John C. Woodson, and to\nCharles Lewis. I can but entreat these men to stand in defense of our\nBrethren, and try to devise some plan by which they can be exempted\nfrom the necessity of bearing arms. I feel sure that if we can be\nrightly understood as to our faith and life, there will be some way\nprovided for their exemption. The Brotherhood is a unit, heart and\nhand against arms-bearing. These things I make known to these men;\nnot, however, in any spirit of defiance, but in the spirit of meekness\nand obedience to what we in heart believe to be the will of the Lord.\nMany have already expressed to me their determination to flee from\ntheir homes rather than disobey God.\n\nSUNDAY, December 29. Meeting in our meetinghouse. The two ministering\nbrethren, John Huffman and Nathan Spitler, both from Page County, are\nwith us.\n\nMONDAY, December 30. Write to General Jackson and to Charles Lewis.\n\nTUESDAY, December 31. Traveled this year 3,930 miles. Preached\nthirty-eight funerals. Baptized about fifty converts.\n\nWEDNESDAY, January 1, 1862. At this time medicines were scarce and\nphysicians in the army. As a consequence of this the demands for\nBrother Kline's professional services as a physician were largely\nincreased. The Diary for this year shows an almost incredible amount\nof labor performed by him in this line. He was called to go twenty\nmiles to see patients on Lost River. He also treated patients in\nPendleton and Shenandoah counties, and many in Brock's Gap and in his\nown and adjoining neighborhoods. He had no day of rest. In connection\nwith all this labor and responsibility, the Brotherhood looked to him\nfor counsel and comfort on every hand. At the same time he wrote many\nletters, not only to distant Brethren, but to men in civil and\nmilitary place and power.\n\nSATURDAY, February 15. He wrote a letter to John Letcher, at the time\nGovernor of Virginia; another to Secretary Benjamin, and one to\nCharles H. Lewis. His leading object in all his correspondence with\nthese and other men in high civil and military positions was to\nacquaint and as far as possible familiarize the minds of these men\nwith the true idea as to who the Brethren are, what they have ever\nbeen, and how they have come to regard arms-bearing as they do.\n\nThe correspondence we are now considering may be regarded by some as\nhaving been a small thing. Some may say: \"It is a small thing to write\na letter to the President of the United States, or to a member of his\nCabinet, or to a member of Congress, or to the Governor of one's\nState.\" A small thing, no doubt; in itself quite as small as to write\nto any one else. It may be said that the greatness of all such\ncorrespondence depends upon the magnitude of the subject involved. Let\nus look at the subject involved here. We see some thousands of the\nmost devoted Christian people the world has ever known standing in\njeopardy; not one of all their number seems to know what to do. Their\nsituation at this time reminds one of Israel camped on the mountain\nbeside the valley of Elah, in hearing of the guttural defiance of the\ngiant. At this critical hour, when something must be done, when some\nspecial but heretofore untried effort must be put forth to avert the\nimpending destruction, a MAN of the Brethren, unassuming in all\nrespects, about five feet seven inches in height, heavy-set, with a\nlarge but symmetrical face, hair down to the neck beautifully parted\nfrom the forehead across the middle of the head, voluntarily sets to\nwork in secret through the mails to see what can be done. God only\nknows the full measure of Brother John Kline's service and influence\nin this way. It is a true saying that \"to succeed is the best proof of\nsuccess,\" and subsequent events show that Brother Kline fully realized\nthis proof. As a humble observer of the movements of that day, and\nwith a tolerably clear recollection of them, the Editor can only\nexpress his belief that Brother Kline's correspondence, with his other\ninfluence, contributed largely toward the enactment of the Confederate\nprovision by which all the members of regularly organized Christian\ndenominations or churches which have from their earliest establishment\nuniformly taught and practiced as one tenet of their faith\nnon-arms-bearing and nonresistant principles, shall be perpetually\nexempt from all military duty to the Confederate States of America, or\nto any state belonging thereto, upon the payment of five hundred\ndollars to the person duly appointed to receive the same, for every\nmember so exempted, and otherwise subject to military duty under\nexisting orders.\n\nThe above is not the \"Law of Exemptions\" in exact words, but it is\nthat part of it which was made for the Brethren, in _exact sense_.\n\nSATURDAY, April 5. This forenoon I am about home. In the afternoon I\nam taken to Harrisonburg and put in the guard house. My place is in\nthe large jury room of the court house, up stairs, with others who are\ncaptives with myself. Rain this evening.\n\nSUNDAY, April 6. Rain and snow all last night, and continues on so all\nday. Have preaching in our captive hall. My subject is \"Righteousness,\nTemperance, and a Judgment to Come.\" I aimed at comforting my brother\ncaptives and myself with the recollection that Paul was once a captive\nlike ourselves, and that in this state of imprisonment he preached\nupon the text which I have selected for this day. I said:\n\nBrethren, if any have cause to tremble, we have none. Those should\ntremble who seek to lay obstacles in the way of others who aim to do\ngood and no evil. As a rule, prisoners are nervous and sometimes\ntremble when taken into court: but judges are proverbially calm and\nself-composed. Hence the old adage: \"As sober as a judge.\" But this\norder is entirely reversed in the case of Paul before Felix. Here we\nsee that Paul is calm, collected and self-possessed, and that Felix is\nfirst nervous, and soon trembles all over. In this trial it appears\nthat the judge is convicted of guilt by the prisoner himself, and that\nthe prisoner shows himself clear. But this is not the only case in\nwhich an innocent criminal has stood before a guilty judge. Felix had\nnever heard such a sermon before. All that he had ever heard were most\nprobably eulogistic in character, and spoken in praise of the Roman\nemperor and his subordinates. Felix was one of these, and it was\nnatural for him to appropriate quite a large share of this praise to\nhimself. But he did not find a eulogist in Paul. Panegyric had no\nplace in Paul's earnest nature. Life and death, holiness and sin were\nsubjects of moment too great and too real to be trifled with. If Paul\nwould have stooped to flattery he might have quickly obtained his\nrelease, because Felix and those following him in office confessed\nthey found no cause of death in his case. They kept him bound merely\nto please the flattering, deceitful Jews.\n\nHe reasoned of righteousness first. And this logic was all new to\nFelix, who had never thought of righteousness or justice as being the\nend and object of government. Herod was a pretty fair specimen of\nthose Roman rulers or kings as they were sometimes called, and the\nunrighteous cause for which he had the head of John the Baptist cut\noff manifests the measure of his regard for justice. If history be\ncorrect, Felix was not much in advance of him in this respect. He was\ngovernor of Samaria at this time, and his headquarters and home were\nat Cesarea on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It was in this same\ncity that Paul defended himself so heroically before Festus and\nAgrippa. Paul is silent as to the course of reasoning employed in\nbringing his threefold subject to bear with a weight upon the mind of\nFelix. We may reasonably conclude that his first point was the\nrighteousness of civil government; contrasting the corrupt and\nperverted ideas of rulers as they then existed in their minds upon\nthis feature, with what they ought rightfully to be. In this\nconnection he did not fail to make occasional home thrusts similar to\nthe one made by Nathan when he said to David: \"Thou art the man.\"\n\nIt is a newly-discovered truth that the Bible reveals the only true\nbasis of civil government. That basis, from its lowest bottom to its\nhighest level, is love, or \"good will toward men.\" Government founded\nupon any other basis is tyranny or despotism, the exact form being\ndetermined by the depth of bondage and slavery into which the governed\nare willing to be pressed down, and by the will of the rulers as to\nhow low they are inclined to press them. The Constitution of the Roman\ngovernment contained no trace of love. It was all force. History\nabundantly shows this. Neither justice in the administration of its\nlaws, nor temperance in the demands and exaction of tributes, nor a\njudgment to come when accounts would be settled, was once thought of.\nThose in power knew nothing and thought nothing about any day of final\nretribution.\n\nIt is not very probable that Felix was made to tremble by anything\nPaul may have said concerning civil government. The mind of Felix was\ntoo firmly fixed in his own ideas of civil righteousness to be deeply\nmoved or disturbed by anything a prisoner might say upon that point.\nHis execution of Roman law according to his views of righteousness in\ntheir administration was satisfactory to his sovereign at Rome; and to\nplease him, and thereby secure perpetual tenure of office, was the\nheight of his ambition. The cause of his trembling must then be found\nin another quarter, or the adversary may say that Felix, just at that\ntime, happened to be taken with an ague chill, which Paul mistook for\nthe nervous agitation which he supposed to have been induced by the\npower of his discourse.\n\nFelix was a pagan. His religion, if he had any belief at all in the\nsupernatural, was idolatry. Paul did not appeal to his affections, to\nhis emotional nature, but to his rational part. He _reasoned_ upon his\ngreat subject. We may justly conclude that he proceeded in a way\nsimilar to that which he took in addressing the Athenians on Mars'\nHill. \"The God whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.\"\nAnd he set him forth in a rational light. He told them about God's\nrighteousness. He told them that God had appointed a day in which he\nwould judge the world in RIGHTEOUSNESS by that man whom he hath\nordained, and of whom he hath given assurance or proof unto all men in\nthat he hath raised him from the dead. This man was Jesus Christ the\nLord. Here, also, he spoke of a JUDGMENT to come. And it becomes a\nthing self-evident that a judgment to come is the main fact upon which\nall moral and religious truth depends for its power over the hearts\nand lives of men. Take away from man all fear of accountability in a\nfuture state, and his bestial appetites assert their sway. \"Let us eat\nand drink, for to-morrow we die\" gives loose rein to every passion,\nand lust holds high carnival.\n\nFor our instruction here, it may be well to speak upon the subject of\n_righteousness_. What is it? Righteousness is obedience to law. This\nis its most general meaning. This is its human sense. In its divine\nsense it is obedience to the laws of God. Wherein the laws of men\ndepart from the laws of God obedience to their laws is disobedience to\nGod's laws. Here arises a conflict in which each individual may decide\nfor himself which he will do, the will of men or the will of God. The\ndecision of the apostles was \"to obey God rather than men.\" By this\nobedience they stood righteous in the eyes of God. To be sinners in\nthe sight of men gave them no distress, so long as they felt sure of\nbeing righteous in the sight of God.\n\nJesus is called Christ the righteous. He is set forth in the Word as\nthe only example of perfect righteousness the world has ever had, for\n\"he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.\" He challenged\nthe Jews with the question: \"Which of you convinceth me of sin?\" They\ncould bring up no charge. Sin is the opposite of righteousness. It is\nsin, or the love of sin, which is impersonated by our Lord in Matt.\n10:28 as a monster of awful power: \"And be not afraid of them which\nkill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him\nwhich is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.\" The version of\nthe same matter as given by Luke is terribly sublime: \"Fear him, which\nafter he hath killed hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto\nyou, Fear him.\" Brethren and friends, this is the only power we have\nreal cause to be afraid of, and this is the enemy of all\nrighteousness. And this enemy is right in ourselves. We need not go\nfar to find him. Paul calls him by way of eminence as well as age \"the\nold man of sin,\" \"the first Adam,\" \"the outward man,\" because he loves\nwhat is outside of us, fleshly enjoyments. Sin, or the love of sin, is\nthe power that destroys both soul and body in hell. Righteousness is\nwhat saves; or, rather, righteousness in heart and life is salvation.\nIf we look to the Lord in faith and prayer, by which I mean, if we\nlove his Word and believe it with our heart, so as to make it the law\nand guide of our life, at all times and in all ways, we are sure of\nsalvation; for it is through righteousness, as well as through much\ntribulation, that the saints shall inherit the promises. In the\nRevelation we read of a great multitude which no man could number, as\nstanding before the throne. What a high standing they have! But by way\nof preparation for that honor they washed their robes and made them\nwhite in the blood of the Lamb. The robe of each was and is his\nwedding garment. The Lamb is the Lord's Word, and the blood of that\nLamb is the spirit and life of that Holy Word infused into our souls\nand made effectual unto our salvation, by living a life of heartfelt\nobedience to his holy precepts.\n\nMONDAY, April 7. Rain and snow with sleet come down all day. Room very\ndamp and cold, with insufficient fire. Several brethren come to see me\nto-day.\n\nTUESDAY, April 8. Rain and snow continue as on yesterday. Our room\nvery uncomfortable.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 9. Still cloudy, with rain and snow. We have some\npleasant conversations in the prison, with books and papers. But all\nthe public prints are so filled and taken up with war that they give\nme but little enjoyment. The minds and spirits of nearly all the\nprisoners are so broken down by the state and prospects of the country\nthat interesting and instructive conversations can hardly be held.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 10. The following beloved brethren and dear sister\ncame in to see us to-day: John Zigler, John Wine and Christian Wine,\nBenjamin Miller, Joel Senger, and Catharine Showalter, daughter of\nBrother Jacob Miller and wife of Brother Jackson Showalter. The sight\nand presence of these brethren refreshed us much; and the dear sister\ncarries sunshine with her wherever she goes. Last night and this\nmorning regiment after regiment passed through town on their way down\nthe valley in the direction of Winchester.\n\nSUNDAY, April 13. We have meeting to-day. I speak from Matt. 11:28,\n29, 30: \"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I\nwill give you rest: take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am\nmeek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls: for\nmy yoke is easy, and my burden is light.\"\n\nMONDAY, April 14. To-day our two brethren, John and Joseph Cline, are\nreleased from imprisonment, and start for home to-night.\n\nTUESDAY, April 15. I am not well. The dampness of our room and the\nlack of comforts in the way of bedding and fuel have given me a cold\nfrom which I am very hoarse to-night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 16. There is talk that we are to be removed to New\nMarket. The talk is correct. We leave here at twelve o'clock, and come\nto Bethlehem church where we stay all night. This church is between\nnine and ten miles northeast of Harrisonburg on the valley pike\nleading from Staunton to Winchester.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 17. Start for New Market; but after getting on two\nmiles hear the cannons at Mt. Jackson. We turn and go back to\nHarrisonburg. News comes of the retreat of Jackson's army. Front of\nthe Federal army at New Market. Jackson halts for the night at Lacy\nSprings.\n\nFRIDAY, April 18. Great excitement and confusion in town. General\nJackson with his army passes through in his retreat, and the Federal\ntroops are hourly looked for. Gabriel Heatwohl, Joseph Berry and\nmyself are released from the guard house. I dine at Samuel\nShacklett's; then walk out to Samuel Niswander's three miles, and ride\nfrom there to Jacob Miller's, where I stay all night.\n\nSATURDAY, April 19. Brother Benjamin Bowman brings me on my way home\nnearly to Christian Wine's. I walk the short distance to Brother\nWine's; get a horse of him, and come home.\n\nSUNDAY, April 20. Easter. Cough very bad.\n\nWEDNESDAY, April 23. Federal cavalry through here now. Brother Daniel\nMiller was taken last night by Confederate scouts.\n\nFRIDAY, May 9. Preach the funeral of Sister Polly Summers. Age,\nseventy-seven years, one month and sixteen days.\n\nTUESDAY, May 20. Preach the funeral of Sister Polly Holsinger. Age,\nseventy-seven years. Three sisters in our church buried so close\ntogether in time, and all so nearly the same age!\n\nMONDAY, May 26. Sister Debby Bowman is buried to-day. I attend. Age,\nforty-two years, eleven months and twenty days.\n\nTUESDAY, May 27. Preach the funeral of Mrs. Stern. Age, fifty-six\nyears, three months and twenty days.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 29. Start to the Annual Meeting. Dine at James\nFitzwater's in the Gap; sup at Nimrod Judy's on the South Fork, and\nstay all night at Jacob Mongold's on the South Fork mountain.\n\nFRIDAY, May 30. Get my pass at Petersburg; dine at James Parks's; and\nstay all night at Martain Cosner's, in Hardy County.\n\nSATURDAY, May 31. Get to Thomas Clark's at three o'clock, and stay\nthere all night.\n\nSUNDAY, June 1. Go to meeting at Brother Rinker's. Speak from Romans\neighth chapter. Meeting again at three o'clock. Speak from John\nseventeenth chapter. Stay all night at Brother Rinker's.\n\nMONDAY, June 2. Come to Oakland in the morning to take the train\nwestward, but cars are behind time. Get to Bellaire after night. Stay\nthere all night, at Eagle Hotel.\n\nTUESDAY, June 3. Get to Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, at three\no'clock in the afternoon. Stay all night at Brother Henry Yost's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 4. Visit Christian Forrer's. Go about through the\ncity. Then start, and get to place of Annual Meeting in afternoon.\nStay all night at Brother Billheimer's.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 5. Visit Solomon Stoner's; then to Farmersville, and\nback to Stoner's.\n\nFRIDAY, June 6. Visit Mary Trissel's. From there go to Abraham\nAerbaugh's. From there go to meeting at Brother D. Miller's. Speak\nfrom Heb. 3:9. Fine weather.\n\nSATURDAY, June 7. Come to the place of the Annual Meeting. Preaching\nin forenoon and afternoon. Fine weather. Come back to D. Miller's.\n\nSUNDAY, June 8. An immense concourse of people. Meeting in five\nplaces, forenoon and afternoon. Fine weather continues.\n\nMONDAY, June 9. Commence taking in questions. Queries all get in\nto-day. In evening I go to Brother George Miller's, and have a night\nmeeting. Fine weather; clear and pleasant.\n\nTUESDAY, June 10. Discuss questions. Fine weather continues. Much love\nand good feeling generally. Go to Salem and have evening meeting. I\nstay all night at Brother David Zigler's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 11. Meeting continues. Get through with the discussion\nof questions by quarter past three o'clock. Close in the usual way;\nand many hands and lips are met which may never meet again until they\nmeet where farewells are no more. Stay all night at the widow Benjamin\nMiller's.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 12. Go to Dayton. Visit Brother Abraham Young's. After\ndinner go to Midway and stay there all night with Brother Henry\nZimmerman's.\n\nFRIDAY, June 13. Get to Pittsburg in the night.\n\nSATURDAY, June 14. Dine at Abraham Myers's, and stay all night at\nMartain Myers's.\n\nSUNDAY, June 15. Love feast at the Middle Creek meetinghouse. John 1\nis read. Stay all night at Jacob Miller's near by.\n\nMONDAY, June 16. Come to Daniel Miller's at Mechanicstown. Stay all\nnight.\n\nTUESDAY, June 17. Love feast; part of John 14 is read. Fine day. Stay\nat Brother Miller's again.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 18. Council meeting. The case of Peter Myers and John\nFiga was brought up and settled. Come to David Beachley's and stay all\nnight.\n\nTHURSDAY, June 19. Come to Frostburg in time to take the train to\nOakland, where I stay all night.\n\nFRIDAY, June 20. Come back to Brother Clark's in a hack, where I find\nNell, having left her with Brother Clark. The poor brute seems glad to\nsee me. I will never forget Brother Clark's kindness to me and Nell.\nStay with him all night.\n\nSATURDAY, June 21. Visit old Sister Parks and pray with her. Dine at\nHyre's, and get to Brother John Mongold's on the mountain where I stay\nall night.\n\nSUNDAY, June 22. Get to Brother William Fitzwater's in the Gap for\ndinner, and get Nell shod. This was a thing of necessity, as one of\nher shoes had come off crossing the mountain, and she was getting\nlame. Come to Brother Michael Wine's, where I stay all night.\n\nMONDAY, June 23. Get home.\n\nSUNDAY, August 24. At John Mongold's on the South Fork mountain.\nPreach Absalom Whetzel's funeral. Age, twenty-three years, eight\nmonths and twenty-one days.\n\nMonday, August 25. Preach funeral of Isaac Rorabaugh at Adam Mallow's.\nAge, nineteen years, three months and twenty-one days. Stay all night\nat Jacob Hevner's.\n\nTUESDAY, August 26. Forenoon meeting at the widow Henkel's. Afternoon\nmeeting at George Cowger's on the South Fork. Stay there all night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, August 27. Forenoon and afternoon meeting at Jesse\nMitchell's. Jesse Mitchell is appointed minister of the Word, and\nHughey Ratchford is elected to the deaconship.\n\nTHURSDAY, August 28. Stop at John Fulk's on top of the Shenandoah\nmountain, and get home in the evening.\n\nSATURDAY, September 6. Attend the burial of Michael Homan. Age,\nsixty-five years and eight months. He was a highly respected citizen\nof our community.\n\nSUNDAY, September 7. Am called to preach the funeral of Evaline\nAubrey's child at the home of her father, William Hevner. Diphtheria\nis raging. It almost rivals the sword in its destruction of life. The\nsword cuts down the men in middle life, and diphtheria cuts down the\nchildren.\n\nSUNDAY, September 21. Meeting on the South Fork mountain. Old mother\nKesner, Jane Kesner and Jane Rorabaugh baptized by me. Stay all night\nat young Philip Kesner's.\n\nMONDAY, September 22. Have night meeting and stay all night at the\nwidow Henkel's on top of the mountain.\n\nTUESDAY, September 23. Meeting at George Cowger's on the South Fork.\nAfter dinner I visit Jacob Hevner, who is sick, and stay with him all\nnight.\n\nWEDNESDAY, September 24. Cross the mountain to Jesse Mitchell's, and\nin the evening hold a love feast. We are disturbed by Southern scouts\nwho are present under the pretext of hunting up deserters from the\narmy. Stay all night at Samuel Trumbo's.\n\nTHURSDAY, September 25. Cross the Shenandoah mountain to Crab Run.\nCouncil meeting. Dine at Brother Isaac Whetzel's, and stay all night\nat Brother James Fitzwater's.\n\nSATURDAY, October 4. Attend love feast at Beaver Creek meetinghouse.\nStay at Martain Miller's.\n\nSUNDAY, October 5. Meeting at the Beaver Creek meetinghouse. Speak\nfrom John 14:1, \"Let not your heart be troubled.\" Peace is the exact\nopposite of trouble. And Jesus says: \"Peace I leave with you: my peace\nI give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not\nyour heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid.\"\n\nTo bring this subject to bear with due weight upon your minds I will\nspring this question: Did our Lord ever utter a precept with which it\nis impossible for man to comply? Wisdom and love answer with one\nvoice: He never did. \"_Let not your heart be troubled_\" is a precept.\nIt flows out of that fatherly love which ever warmed the Savior's\nheart. \"Having loved his own, he loved them to the end.\" The Lord\nneeded not that any should testify to him of man, for he knew what was\nin man. He knew the uttermost of human power both to understand and\nobey his precepts and commands. He therefore knows that we _can keep_\nour hearts from being troubled. But man of himself can not do this.\nOur Lord's words, \"Without me ye can do nothing,\" apply as truly to\nkeeping the heart from being troubled as to any other human effort. In\nthis as in all else pertaining to natural and spiritual life, we must\nbe coworkers with God.\n\nMONDAY, October 6. Stop at Daniel Thomas's; dine at Jacob Thomas's;\nvisit Solomon Garber's; and have night meeting in Dayton. Stay all\nnight at Dr. Abraham Sager's.\n\nTUESDAY, October 7. Attend a love feast at the Old meetinghouse. Stay\nall night at John Bowman's above Harrisonburg.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 8. Go to see my old friend, Joseph Funk, and\nsucceed in bringing about a better state of feeling on his part toward\nme. He became reconciled. He had been somewhat ruffled in his feelings\nby my \"Strictures and Reply\" to his published writings on baptism and\nfeet-washing. Dine with him; then home.\n\nSATURDAY, October 11. Meeting and love feast at the Lost River\nmeetinghouse. Stay all night at Celestine Whitmore's.\n\nSUNDAY, October 12. Meet at the Lost River meetinghouse. In council\nMoses Myers is elected speaker. Stay all night at John Basehore's.\n\nMONDAY, October 20. Dine at John Fulk's. Have night meeting at Jesse\nMitchell's. Stay there all night.\n\nTUESDAY, October 21. Have night meeting at George Cowger's. Stay there\nall night.\n\nWEDNESDAY, October 22. Morning meeting at the widow Henkel's. Night\nmeeting at George Kesner's. Stay there all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, October 23. Forenoon meeting at Isaac Judy's. Stay all night\nat Manasseh Judy's.\n\nFRIDAY, October 24. Go to John Judy's; then to D. Henkel's and to\nSolomon Hours's, and back to John Judy's, where we have meeting. After\npreaching we repair to the clear water of Mill Creek, and I baptize\nseven persons. Stay all night at Jacob May's.\n\nSUNDAY, November 2. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I this day baptize\nten converts, whose names follow: David Rhodes, Daniel Zigler, George\nMoyers, William Fifer and wife, J. Crist and wife, Mary Whisler,\nRebecca Trissel, and Katy Showalter.\n\nSATURDAY, November 15. Council at Green Mount. Benjamin Funk and W.C.\nThurman regularly elected and put in as ministers of the Word.\n\nSUNDAY, November 16. Meeting at the Plains meetinghouse. Harrison\nDaugherty and Anna Prophet are baptized by Samuel Wampler, while I go\nand baptize Harvey Elger.\n\nWEDNESDAY, November 19. Go to Katy Mullen's. Her sister Diana and her\nmother are both buried in one grave at Rader's church. Jacob Stirewalt\nand I speak on the occasion from Rev. 14:13. Age of Diana, fifty-three\nyears; mother, seventy-one years.\n\nFRIDAY, November 21. Preach the funeral of Mrs. William Hevner in the\nGap. Age, seventy-first year. A kind and good mother in her family,\nand a friend to me has she been.\n\nTHURSDAY, December 4. Go to Henry Neff's; draw money for the brethren;\ngo to Harrisonburg and to Solomon Garber's.\n\nFRIDAY, December 5. Council meeting at Beaver Creek meetinghouse.\nDaniel Thomas is ordained. Stay with him all night.\n\nSATURDAY, December 6. Come to Harrisonburg; fix matters of business\nwith the Confederate government agent; pay over money for the\nexemption of brethren. Come home; cold day.\n\nTUESDAY, December 16. Go to Harrisonburg; attend to seeing that the\nbrethren get certificates of exemption as provided by the Confederate\nCongress.\n\nWEDNESDAY, December 31. I have traveled in this year 4,791 miles;\npreached fifty-six funerals; nineteen for children under five years of\nage; thirteen for children over five and under ten. Diphtheria has\ndone a fatal work. Five for persons over ten and under twenty; three\nover twenty and under thirty; one over thirty and under forty; fifteen\nover forty years of age.\n\nTHURSDAY, January 1, 1863. Meeting of thanksgiving to the Lord for his\nkind affection toward us in our meetinghouse. I have somewhere read\nthat in the reign of one of the sovereigns of Great Britain, when the\noutlook of the kingdom was very dark and threatening, one of the\nking's advisors proposed appointing a day for public thanksgiving in\nall the churches throughout the realm. The king answered the\nproposition by saying that he could see nothing for which either he or\nthe nation had cause for special thanksgiving to God. The minister\nresponded by saying that the king and the nation both had great cause\nto thank God _that things were no worse_. The king yielded and the day\nwas set. The Christian people assembled; the preachers recounted the\nblessings still left in the nation's store, with the rich promises of\nGod to provide for the future as things should be needed, and there\nwas a day of thanksgiving in England the like of which is not often\nseen.\n\nIt has been my experience, Brethren, and I think I have heard some of\nyou say the same, that prosperity does not always make people most\ntruly thankful. Great success in business is apt to foster a feeling\nof independence. Men may forget God. It was in the days of Israel's\nprosperity in the goodly land of Goshen in Egypt that they forgot the\nname of the God of their fathers. When God appeared to Moses in Horeb,\nhe had to tell him from out the burning bush what his name was, and\nalso by what name he should make him to be known to his brethren in\nEgypt. Some of the deepest heartfelt expressions of gratitude break\nforth in times of misfortune. A brother once told me that he was away\nfrom home when his barn was struck with lightning and burned to the\nground. At his return he beheld nothing but the smoking destruction of\nhis gathered harvest. But when his children came running to meet him,\nand he saw them all safe, and their mother standing in the door\nunharmed, he burst into an expression of thanksgiving, which, he\nconfessed to me, surpassed every other emotion of joy he had ever\nfelt. Our best experiences come to us when we are made to realize\nproperly the good that is still left us.\n\nWe must look upon our exemption from army service as one proof of\nthose interpositions in behalf of his children which our heavenly\nFather has promised, and which he is constantly fulfilling. \"The\neffectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.\" God has\nnot called us to prayer in vain. He invites us to come boldly to a\nthrone of grace. Does he do this otherwise than with a will to hear?\nAnd the apostle's exhortation is: \"In every thing give thanks,\" for\n\"all things work together for good to them that love God.\"\n\nLet our offerings this day be from the heart; and probably the best\nproof we can have that they come from the heart is a willingness and\ncheerful readiness to give of our substance to the needy poor. We must\ndivide out, Brethren, to those who have, on account of the war\npressure, been unable to provide for themselves. Think of the\nbarefooted, half-clad and half-fed children in our land! I do not\nundervalue what you have already done. I know you have done much; but\nwe should not feel that the burden of duty has all rolled from our\nshoulders so long as there is one needy brother or sister or child in\nour land. Brethren, I speak from my heart when I say that the church\nhas never before enjoyed such an opportunity to grow rich, as the\npresent offers. I mean rich in good works; rich in treasures laid up\nin heaven; rich in her title to an eternal inheritance in heaven,\nwhich our Lord calls \"_the true riches_.\"\n\nSATURDAY, January 17. Buy of Samuel Shacklett (a merchant in\nHarrisonburg) one bolt of cotton cloth or muslin for Mary Hoover, for\nwhich I pay seventeen dollars; and four bunches cotton yarn for which\nI pay thirty dollars. This shows the measure of confidence reposed in\nthe Confederate Government.\n\nWEDNESDAY, February 4. Visit General Jones's camp at New Market in\nbehalf of some of the soldiers.\n\nFRIDAY, February 13. Attend the burial of our dear sister, Mary\nFrances, wife of my nephew, John Kline. We did all we could for her;\nbut that dreadful destroyer, diphtheria, would have its way, and in\nmuch anguish of heart we submit. She was a lovely and tender plant;\ntoo tender for this world. Her age was twenty years, ten months and\neight days.\n\nSUNDAY, February 22. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Matthew 22 is read.\nBrother Benjamin Funk speaks. He and Brother Benjamin Driver were with\nme last night. Snow fell last night and to-day about ten inches deep.\n\nSUNDAY, March 8. Jacob Silvins's little son Jacob is buried to-day.\nThis is the third one of his children I have helped to bury within the\nlast two weeks.\n\nTUESDAY, March 17. I am at Nimrod Judy's. I this day had a chance to\nsend a letter through the lines to Brother George Hoover, of Indiana.\n\nSUNDAY, March 29. Preach funeral for three of Brother See's children.\nYoungest, two years, five months and five days old; next, six years,\nten months and five days; oldest, nine years, five months and sixteen\ndays. They died of diphtheria.\n\nTHURSDAY, April 2. Attend the Beaver Creek council meeting. Joseph\nMiller is elected to the ministry of the Word, and Daniel Miller to\nthe deaconship.\n\nFRIDAY, April 3. Council meeting at the old meetinghouse. Joseph\nBowman and Joseph Harshberger are elected to the deaconship.\n\nSATURDAY, April 4. Council meeting at the Mill Creek meetinghouse.\nIsaac Long is ordained, and Noah Flory is elected to the deaconship.\nStay all night at old Daniel Wine's.\n\nSATURDAY, April 18. About one o'clock this morning Abraham Funk came\nfor me. A man by the name of George Sellers met with the very sad\naccident of having his leg broken. He had been in the Southern army,\nand with a company of others who, like himself, were trying to make\ntheir way to places within the Northern lines, and thus be out of the\nreach of further molestation, he met with this misfortune. It happened\nin this way: he was one of a company that was just leaving Abraham\nFunk's by previous arrangement, about eleven o'clock in the night.\nNear Abraham Funk's house, about two miles west of Broadway, the road\nruns along the North Fork of the Shenandoah river, where the bank is\nprobably one hundred feet high, and very steep. This part of the road\nlay directly in the line of the company's route, and, unfortunately,\njust as they got into the road, right at this very steep place on the\nbank of the river, an alarm of \"Rebel scouts\" seized the whole\ncompany, and all together they went down to the river's edge, none\nseriously hurt except Mr. Sellers, who had his leg broken. I made a\nframe this morning to hold the fractured parts in place, and hope he\nmay do well. We are keeping the whole matter a profound secret to save\nthe life of a good man. He was taken back to Abraham Funk's, where he\nis at this time receiving treatment in secret from me.\n\nSUNDAY, April 19. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Epistle of Jude is\nread. Abraham Glick is with us, and likewise Solomon Sherfey, of\nTennessee. Go to Abraham Funk's. George Sellers is doing well.\n\nSUNDAY, April 26. Meeting at the Elk meetinghouse, in Page County,\nVirginia. I speak from Heb. 2:3. TEXT.--_\"How shall we escape if we\nneglect so great salvation?\"_\n\nI always feel embarrassed when I attempt to speak from this text. The\nsubject is so vast, and the matter so important, that my best efforts\nfall far below the just demands of my theme. Nothing can properly be\nsaid to be saved which has never been lost or in danger of being lost.\nAnd in every case where anything is saved, the greatness of the\nsalvation depends upon the value of the thing saved, together with the\nmeasure of effort and sacrifice required to effect it. Some years ago\na very destructive fire was raging in the city of Pittsburg. A\ngentleman, who claimed to have been an eyewitness of the fire, related\nthe following incident to me. He said the firemen had just rescued a\nfamily from a burning building, and thought they had all out, when one\nof the rescued ladies looking around screamed out, \"O, save my\nBessie!\" \"Where is she?\" was cried out. \"In the north room up stairs!\"\nA noble-hearted fireman, almost exhausted, risked his life to rescue\nwhat he of course supposed to be a child; but what was his indignant\nsurprise on reaching the room, to find that the missing \"Bessie\" was\nonly a pet cat! The enraged fireman kicked the cat and cursed its\nmistress. But his feelings would have been different had Bessie been a\nlittle child softly sleeping in its cradle. This incident may help us\nto realize the truth contained in the statement already made, that the\n_greatness_ of any salvation depends upon the _value_ of the thing\nsaved as well as upon the effort and sacrifice made to save it.\n\nIt is plain that man's salvation is the subject of the text. But is\nman lost? And if lost, in what sense is he lost? We read in Matt.\n18:11, \"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.\" It is\nman's _life_ that is lost--natural or bodily life, and supernatural or\nspiritual life. But is man's bodily life lost? It is, \"for death hath\npassed upon all men.\" The sentence of bodily death: \"It is appointed\nunto man once to die.\" \"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou\nreturn.\" If any supposes the death of the body to be a small thing,\nlet such a one go to a well-filled graveyard and pass one hour in\nserious meditation in this silent city of the dead. Let him think of\nthe tears that have fallen there, of the sighs of anguish that have\nreluctantly escaped from broken hearts. Let him think of the innocent\nbeauty and loveliness that lie buried there, of the hopes and the joys\nthat have been driven from the heart by the hand of the destroyer; and\nthen let him ask himself if \"the wages of sin\" is a thing of small\naccount. Let his mind run a little further, and he can but see that\nthe graveyard's solemn tale to the end of the world must be yearly\ntold. Death here writes his name anew every passing season in the\nfresh mounds raised above the dead. And not only so, but the voice of\nreason whispers into the ear of every passer-by the solemn word, \"This\nplace is waiting for you.\"\n\nNow, an apostle says: \"It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we\nknow that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see\nhim as he is.\" And another apostle, as if commenting on this passage\nsays: \"He shall change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like\nunto his glorious body.\" I now ask, Does not this show that the\nsalvation in the text is truly _a great salvation_? But I have as yet\nbut touched the hem of the garment. And, indeed, in our low and\ncontracted state of mental power here we are barely able with our\nhighest and broadest reaches of thought to lay hold of more than the\nhem of salvation's garment. \"Heaven is his throne, and the earth is\nthe footstool of his feet.\" What the footstool is to the throne, nay\nto him that sits upon it, such are our highest and purest conceptions\nto the salvation which the Lord has provided. \"Eye hath not seen, nor\near heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to know what\nGod hath provided for them that love him.\"\n\nI stated that man's life is lost. I have said something about the\nbodily life that is lost by sin. I now turn to say something about the\nspiritual life that is lost by sin. Paul says, and I am sure he means\nwhat he says: \"To be carnally minded is death.\" Now, what is it to be\ncarnally minded? Or, in other words, what is the carnal mind? Paul\nanswers in a general way, that it is ENMITY against God. Such a degree\nof enmity that all who are carnally minded cannot and do not love God,\nnor take pleasure in his service. Life is love; and love is life. The\nspiritual _life_ that is lost by sin is what Jesus came to redeem and\nsave, and this life is man's love. Man's LOVE is perverted. It is\nturned away from the Lord God and the neighbor, and directed to self\nand the world. And when a man loves himself more than God, and the\nworld with its sinful lusts and pleasures more than he does his\nneighbor, he is carnally minded.\n\nNow let us turn to the Lord's words. In the Gospel recorded by Luke a\ncertain lawyer is represented as asking the Lord this question:\n\"Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?\" Jesus said unto\nhim: \"What is written in the law? how readest thou?\" He answering\nsaid, \"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with\nall thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and\nthy neighbor as thyself.\" Jesus said unto him, \"Thou hast answered\nright: this do, and thou shalt live.\"\n\nBrethren, does not this look like the key to salvation? Does it not\nopen the door to a view of eternal life and blessedness? Our Lord\nsays: \"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.\"\nWhen any one gives his heart to God in love like this, I think he is\nin a saved state. And is it not a great salvation? Perfect love of\nthat which is good is perfect peace, because it drives evil from the\nheart, which is the cause of all human misery. But the Lord, and the\nLord only, can change man from darkness to light and from death unto\nlife. He is the only Savior. He saves man by his Word and Holy Spirit.\nHe stands at every man's door and knocks. If any man will open the\ndoor, he will enter that man's heart and dwell with him forever; and\nChrist in the heart is salvation and eternal life.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 14. Go to Abraham Funk's. George Sellers is nearly well,\nand in fine spirits. At half past five o'clock I start to the Annual\nMeeting. Stay all night at Jacob Wine's.\n\nFRIDAY, May 15. Dine and feed at Newman's furnace. Then go up through\nthe Trout Run valley, cross the Church mountains and get into the Lost\nRiver valley near the place where the river disappears at the base of\nthe mountain. Stay all night at Landes's. I have seen no scouts or\npickets to-day.\n\nSATURDAY, May 16. Get dinner at Jonathan Flory's, and stay all night\nat Abraham Miller's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 17. Stay at Brother Abraham Miller's all day. Have\npreaching in the afternoon. Stay all night again.\n\nMONDAY, May 18. Cross the Potomac river at Old Town; go up the\ntowpath; pass through Gibbontown near Flint Stone, and get to Abraham\nRitchey's, where I stay all night. Traveled thirty-three miles to-day.\n\nTUESDAY, May 19. Get to Henry Hershberger's in Snake Spring valley,\nwhere I stay all night. Twenty-eight miles to-day.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 20. Get to Brother Adam Snoberger's before dinner; but\nspend balance of day there and in making a few calls. Have evening\nmeeting at the meetinghouse one mile away. Speak from John 10:9. Stay\nall night at Brother Snoberger's.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 21. Come to Samuel Snider's; then to council meeting at\nmeetinghouse; and after dinner come to Brother Daniel Snoberger's at\nYellow Creek, where I stay all night. Fine day. It is ten miles from\nBrother Snider's to Brother Snoberger's.\n\nFRIDAY, May 22. Meeting at the meetinghouse. Subject, Hebrews 1. After\ndinner go to Brother Leonard Furry's. Night meeting at the\nmeetinghouse. I speak from Rom. 1:16. Stay at Brother L. Furry's all\nnight. Fine day.\n\nSATURDAY, May 23. Come fourteen miles to Clover Creek Meeting there in\nforenoon and afternoon. Stay all night at Brother Dellinger's.\n\nSUNDAY, May 24. Meeting at three places to-day. A delightful day as to\nweather; and should be enjoyable to all in the way of good speaking.\n\nMONDAY, May 25. Commence taking in questions in afternoon. Cloudy all\nday. Stay all night at Brother Dellinger's.\n\nTUESDAY, May 26. Discuss questions all day. Cloudy all forenoon, but\nclears up in afternoon. Stay all night at Brother John Brumbach's.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 27. Discuss questions, but get through with business by\ntwo o'clock; and the Annual Meeting breaks up. I come to Brother\nDaniel Snoberger's, where I stay all night.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 28. Go to a store at Enterprise and buy a few articles.\nAfter dinner come through Snake Spring valley and across Bloody Run to\nJesse O'Neil's, where I stay all night. Fine day.\n\nFRIDAY, May 29. Come six miles to Chanyville; then eleven miles to\nGibbon; then two miles to John Deacon's where I get dinner and have\nNell fed; then twenty miles to Brother Abraham Miller's in Hampshire\nCounty, Virginia, where I stay all night. Fine day.\n\nSATURDAY, May 30. Come ten miles to Souer's, where I dine and feed;\nthen five miles out to the pike, and eight miles to North River; then\nthree miles to Brother Wilson's, but to get there have to ride two\nmiles out of the way to pass unmolested. Stay all night at Brother\nWilson's. Rain to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, May 31. Come twenty-two miles to Nimrod Stradaman's, where I\ndine and feed; then sixteen miles to James Fitzwater's, where I stay\nall night. Fine day.\n\nMONDAY, June 1. Come ten miles to Michael Wine's; get dinner, and in\nafternoon cross the mountain and get home.\n\nIt may not be out of place to call the reader's attention to several\npoints of special interest connected with this journey of Brother\nKline to this the next to last Annual Meeting it was his privilege to\nattend. Let the reader think of the distance to be traveled over in\ngoing and coming--three hundred and thirty-four miles--all on the back\nof his favorite Nell. Over a good road, in a time of peace, with\nplenty of familiar friends by the way, such a distance with a good\nhorse would be but a delightful recreation to one accustomed, as was\nBrother Kline, to horse-back riding. But a great part of his way lay\nthrough a mountainous and thinly-peopled country, with only a path in\nsome places to direct his course; and, worst of all, he did not know\nwhere he was safe from arrest, as army lines at this stage of the war\nwere almost constantly changing. How great, then, must have been his\nlove for the Brethren! Where can another man be found to compare with\nhim in fearless resolution to do what he believed would be pleasing to\nthe Lord and the Brethren, whom he loved more than he did his own\nlife! Neither was he encouraged by the Brethren at home to go. They\nadvised him not to go. But his heart was fixed; and his loving soul\nwould have been filled with melancholy sadness to have stayed at home\nand thought of the warm hearts and kind hands he might have met by\ngoing. He would rather see his Brethren and die, if necessary, than\n_live_ without the sight.\n\nFrom the time of his return from this journey to the close of the year\nhe did not venture far from home in a northern direction. On the\ntwelfth day of August he and Jacob Wine went on the yearly visit prior\nto the visit council. They had to go to the counties of Pendleton and\nHardy, as the members in those counties were included in the district\nover which Brother Kline was one of the overseers. They held visit\ncouncils over there, and on their return home the two brethren were\narrested and taken before the military authorities on the eighteenth\nday of August, 1863. Brother Jacob Wine came home with Brother Kline\nto Brother Kline's house. They had been there but a short while when\nthey were both arrested. They gave a satisfactory account of their\nbusiness in those two counties, and were accordingly released. On the\ntwenty-fourth, just six days after the previous arrest, he was picked\nup again and required to give account of himself. This he did in a\nhumble, truthful way, and was again let go. The following is on the\nlast page of the Diary for this year.\n\nIn this year, 1863, I have traveled 4,260 miles, all on horseback. I\nhave preached thirty-eight funerals: _fourteen_ for children under\nfive years of age; _eight_ for children between the ages of five and\nten years; _six_ for persons between the ages of ten and twenty years;\n_three_ for persons between twenty and thirty years; _two_ for persons\nbetween thirty and forty years; _two_ for persons between forty and\nfifty years; _three_ for persons over eighty years of age.\n\nIn the last five and one-half months of our beloved brother's life, or\nthat portion of it which he lived between the first day of January,\n1864, and the fifteenth of June, the memorable day of his death, are\nnot very full of interest. By this it is meant that the state of war\nin Virginia, together with the hopeless condition of the Confederacy\nand the demoralizing tendency of that condition upon the soldiery of\nthe land, raised insurmountable barriers in the way of activity on his\npart. We find him mostly at home, save that he was much called to see\nthe sick and preach funerals in his immediate vicinity.\n\nSUNDAY, May 1, he attended meeting at Green Mount for the last time.\nHe preached from Luke 19:7. The Editor was present, and still retains\nsome recollections of his line of thought; so that by means of these,\ntogether with the Diary notes of this discourse, a tolerably just\nreproduction of it may here be given. He seemed to be more than\nusually pathetic in his delivery. In one of his tender appeals he\ncaught the writer's eye, and he can never forget the irresistible but\nrefreshing flow of tears that followed.\n\n    TEXT.--\"_And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he\n    was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner._\"\n\nThe Bible is a unit. The sum of its love and truth culminates in the\ndeclaration that \"the Son of man came to seek and to save that which\nwas lost.\" The portion of the chapter read in your hearing, which\nimmediately precedes my text, is a sufficient introduction to it. The\nhistory of Zaccheus therein given is, or should be, familiar to all.\nBut my text may comprise some instructive and comforting truth to us,\nwhich we, like those who attended the steps and heard the words of the\nLord in the flesh, may not so readily apprehend.\n\nThe disciples were deeply impressed with the sinless purity of their\ngreat Teacher. But they did not as yet understand the character of his\nmission. They could not rid their minds of the thought that his coming\nwas for the purpose of establishing, in some way, they knew not how,\nan earthly reign of power and glory which would eclipse all that earth\nhad ever beheld. Hence we read that at one time they wanted to take\nhim by force, and make him a king. At another time the mother of two\nof his disciples interceded in behalf of her two sons that the one\nmight sit on his right and the other on his left in his kingdom. What\nsublime visions of worldly glory she had; and how deeply were her vain\nimaginations rebuked! \"Ye know not what ye ask.\"\n\nThese considerations aid us in our efforts to apprehend the character\nof the impediments and obstacles in the way of our Savior's glorious\nwork of love. And here springs up a thought which I will dwell upon\nfor a little. I can not avoid the belief, forced upon me as it is by\nwhat I see daily and have seen, that men do not widely differ now from\nwhat men were in our Lord's time in the flesh. They do not love his\nunqualified declaration--\"My kingdom is not of this world\"--any better\nnow than men did then. National greatness, in which the rich and\npowerful may bear oppressive rule over the poor and weak, is the\nheight of their ambition. Such are not willing to eat and drink with\npublicans and sinners. Things unseen and eternal are out of sight to\nmortal eyes. Men doubt the declaration of the Bible that:\n\n  \"Beyond this vale of tears,\n    There is a life above\n  Unmeasured by the flight of years:\n    And all that life is love.\"\n\nIt is this unbelief that fosters their love for the world and for\nthemselves. And the pride of heart that naturally goes with the love\nof self is not willing to stoop to what is not highly esteemed among\nmen. It is not hard to see from the words of my text that there was a\nvery large measure of self-pride still clinging to the hearts of those\nwho composed the crowd now in attendance upon our Lord on this his\nlast journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. They thought it a stoop in\nhim, and out of place that he should condescend to go to be guest with\na man that is a sinner. It is plain from this that they did not know\nthemselves. Like the Pharisee, they justified themselves, and were\nready even to thank God that they were not like other men. But our\nLord came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. And\nwe should notice that by sinners he means such as _feel_ and _know_\nthemselves to be sinners. Jesus adapted himself to the _felt_ wants of\nthose he came to save. He had no sin-forgiving words for the\nself-righteous. He had no blessing for the proud in spirit. He had no\npromise for those who exalted themselves.\n\nI love to contemplate this glorious feature of our blessed religion.\nThe docile, teachable disposition of the little child, coupled with\nthe honest confession of Peter: \"I am a sinful man, O Lord,\" is the\nlow plane of feeling upon which the Savior enters the soul. It was\ndeclared by a prophet respecting his first advent into the world:\n\"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be\nmade low.\" Mountains and hills in this passage signify the proud and\nself-exalted desires and lusts of the wicked man, which are to be laid\nlow because such states of heart and life forever oppose themselves to\nthe meekness and gentleness of Christ. But the principle of humility,\nsignified by a valley, is to be exalted: not that humility exalteth or\ncan exalt itself; but this truly humble state of mind prepares man to\nreceive the Lord's saving truth, and this exalts a man. \"He that\nhumbleth himself shall be exalted.\"\n\nFor myself, Brethren, I can say with the Apostle Paul, that \"in me,\nthat is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present\nwith me, but to do that which is good is not. For the good which I\nwould I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.... I\ndelight in the law of God after the inward man: but I perceive a\ndifferent law in my members, warring against the will of my spirit,\nand bringing me into captivity to the sway of sin in my members.\" Paul\nhere speaks of the inward man, and of the members or outward man. This\ntakes my thought to the tabernacle in the wilderness. It had an outer\ncourt and an inner sanctuary. The tables of God's holy law were placed\nin this most holy place. It was right in this most holy place, over\nthe mercy seat, which was the golden cover to the ark that contained\nthe tables of the law, that Jehovah had his dwelling place. It was\nthere he talked with Moses. The outer court was for offerings, and\nserved as a place for the confession of sin and its forgiveness.\nBrethren, I am glad to think we are like this tabernacle, that we have\na most holy place, an inner sanctuary, in the inmost of our heart,\nwhere Jesus has his dwelling place with us, and where his voice alone\nis heard. In this holy of holies we feel his love, and it is there we\nsee his face. It is there that he appears to us the fairest among ten\nthousand, and the one altogether lovely. It is here that we sing:\n\n  \"Jesus, I love thy charming name;\n    'Tis music in mine ear;\n  Fain would I sound it out so loud\n    That earth and heaven might hear.\n\n  \"Yes, thou art precious to my soul;\n    My transport and my trust:\n  Jewels to thee are gaudy toys,\n    And gold is sordid dust.\n\n  \"I'll speak the honors of thy name\n    With my last fleeting breath:\n  And, dying, clasp thee in my arms,\n    The antidote of death.\"\n\nBrethren, this is what I have gained, it is what you have gained, it\nis what we all have gained by placing ourselves in sight of the Lord\nas he was passing by. In itself, it was a small thing that Zaccheus\ndid. The tree which he ascended was not hard to climb; he was nimble,\nfor he _ran_ on before; and it did not take him long to climb, for he\nhad not much time. But in motive the act was great, because it was\ndone to get a sight of Jesus the Lord. The Lord knew this, and knew\nalso that his motive was not one of idle curiosity, but honest desire\nto see him and to learn something more concerning him. And see how he\nwas blessed. Although he was looked down upon as being a sinner, and\nfelt in his heart that he was a sinner, still the blessed Savior\nregarded it not out of place for him to go and be guest with him, and\ncrown the occasion with the joyful annunciation: \"This day is\nsalvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of\nAbraham.\" All who believe in the Lord from the heart are sons of\nAbraham, and heirs of God according to the promise.\n\nNow, when any one goes to church to hear the Gospel preached, and\nthereby to learn something about the Lord that he may have knowledge\nof Jesus, he is doing in effect just what Zaccheus did. The same may\nbe said with regard to reading the Divine Word. It matters not how\ngreat a sinner he may have been. No one now is likely to be a greater\nsinner than was Mary Magdalene out of whom seven devils were cast; and\nyet the Lord could say of her: \"Her sins, which are many, are\nforgiven, for she hath loved much.\" A dying saint was once heard to\nsay: \"Hunt up all my sins; pile them mountain high; one breath of\nfaith sweeps them all away; and the more I'm forgiven the louder I'll\nsing.\"\n\nAh, brethren and sisters, we can rejoice that the Lord condescended to\nbe a guest with us poor sinners. He proclaims salvation to every one\nof us. And inasmuch as he has come in to sup with us and we with him,\nlet us hold him by the feet, ever welcome to our hearts, and he will\nabide with us forever.\n\nIt is in a feeling of unavoidable sadness we now approach the closing\nweeks of Brother Kline's life. We will now, with great care, trace his\nsteps going to and returning from the last Annual Meeting he was ever\npermitted to attend.\n\nFRIDAY, May 6. This is the day on which he started. He stayed the\nfirst night with Reuben Regelman, then living in the head of what was\nthen called Germany, a remote section of Brock's Gap, and so called on\naccount of the number of original German people who settled there near\nthe close of the Revolutionary War. Regelman lived in a deep mountain\nretreat, just in the line of what appeared to Brother Kline his safest\nroute.\n\nSATURDAY, May 7. This day he crossed the Shenandoah mountain by a\nnear-cut pathway, coming down into Sweedlin valley, in Pendleton\nCounty. He next crossed the Sweedlin mountain by a pathway, at the\nfoot of which flows the beautiful mountain river called the South\nFork. He followed this stream about two miles through a deep gorge\nbetween Sweedlin mountain and the South Fork mountain, and got to the\nwidow Nelly Henkel's on top of the latter mountain in time for dinner.\nFrom there he went to Sister Mary Bargdoll's on the South Mill creek,\nwhere he stayed all night. He was now fifty miles on his way. He\nreports the weather as being very pleasant so far.\n\nSUNDAY, May 8. This day he visited Enoch Hyre's. From there he went to\nold Brother Parks's. He then stopped on his way to read and pray with\nold Sister Parks, who was entirely blind. From here he went to Brother\nMartain Cosner's, where he had afternoon meeting, and preached from\none of his favorite texts, the Lord's invitation to all, given in\nMatt. 11:28, 29, 30. He stayed all night at Brother Cosner's. All the\nfamilies he visited this day were then living northwest of Petersburg,\nin Grant County, West Virginia. He reports another beautiful day. He\nis now sixty-nine miles from home.\n\nMONDAY, May 9. This day he had meeting by previous arrangement at\nAndrew Cosner's, six miles further on in the direction of his route.\nHis subject was 1 Cor. 15:1, 2, 3. From here he went to Brother Thomas\nClark's, fifteen miles further on, where he stayed all night.\nBeautiful weather continues.\n\nTUESDAY, May 10. From Brother Clark's he went to Oakland, a station on\nthe B. & O. R.R., thirteen miles from Brother Thomas Clark's. Here he\ntook the train at 9:30 P.M., and Nell had rest. She had carried him on\nher back one hundred and four miles in four and one-half days. Short\nstages, but terribly hard roads a large part of the way. He arrived at\nBellaire at half past six the next morning. He started for Dayton,\nOhio, at seven, and got there at five in the evening. He stayed all\nnight at Brother Henry Flory's.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 12. From here he went to a love feast at the Cave Creek\nmeetinghouse, but is silent as to how he got there. The second chapter\nof Hebrews was read. He stayed all night at Jonas Garber's. He says:\n\"There was frost this morning, but a delightful day.\"\n\nFRIDAY, May 13. He took the train at Brookville station, seven miles\nfrom Brother Jonas Garber's, and arrived at Hagerstown, near the place\nof the Annual Meeting. He stayed all night at Brother Samuel Eiler's.\nAnother fine day.\n\nSATURDAY, May 14. He reports meeting at the meetinghouse and a great\nconcourse of people. Also, a little rain to-day.\n\nSUNDAY, May 15. Preaching at six places. A wonderful gathering of\npeople. Night meeting in Hagerstown. A little rain to-day. I stay all\nnight in Hagerstown.\n\nMONDAY, May 16. To-day the Annual Meeting organizes for business.\nForms subcommittees; takes in queries; holds its session in\nmeetinghouse. I stay all night at old Brother Eiler's. A little\nsprinkle of rain to-day.\n\nTUESDAY, May 17. Discuss questions all day. Good order prevails. I am\nglad to witness the dawning of intelligence in the minds of our\nyounger brethren in the ministry. We must keep up with the demands of\nthe age; not in the vain show of worldly fashion and love for things\nnew; but in our desire and power by the use of all divinely-appointed\nmeans to commend the truth to every man's conscience by making it to\nshine in all directions more and more unto the perfect day. I am glad\nto see the zeal manifest in our younger brethren, and at the same time\nequally glad to find it tempered with moderation.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 18. Finish business at half past eleven o'clock. After\ndinner go to Brother James Wyatt's, where I stay all night. Also visit\nthe widow Sister Hardman.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 19. Come to Hagerstown and dine at Brother Brown's. I\nthen take cars to Andersontown, and come to Brother Peter Fesler's,\nsix miles away. After supper have night meeting in Columbus, where I\nspeak from Acts 4:13. Stay all night with Jeremiah Clemmens.\n\nHaving been more than usually impressed at our meeting with the\nimportance of Christian brethren making their conversations and lives\ngive testimony to the sincerity and intelligence of their professions\nof faith in Christ, I resolved to turn my discourse to that bearing,\nas much so as I could. With that view I took these words: TEXT.--_\"And\nthey took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.\"_\n\nA very plain and self-evident truth comes to mind at the opening of my\ndiscourse to-night. It is this truth, that no one can converse\nintelligently upon any subject he does not understand, nor accomplish\nany work of art without some previously acquired skill to do it. To\ncomply with the demands imposed upon every human being by these\nfundamental and stubborn realities, all the means of education for the\nmind and training for the body are provided. Man stands alone and\nsingular in this regard. Birds can sing and build their nests without\ninstruction; and bees can form their delicate cells of wax without a\nguide.\n\nIt is also a well-recognized fact that the pupil gives evidence of the\ncharacter and ability of his teacher, in all the lines of science and\nart. In the knowledge and practice of the things pertaining to man's\nspiritual life on earth it is just the same. All that man does from\nconscience, from what he believes to be his duty to God and to man,\nthis he calls religious. If his faith and life are firmly based and\nestablished upon the Rock of God's eternal Truth, it can be known at\nonce who has been his teacher, and knowledge can be taken of him that\nhe has been with Jesus.\n\nI do not wish to reflect particularly here upon the lack of evidences\nof this kind among professing Christians generally, nor do I wish to\nreflect censure upon the teachers under whose auspices these\nprofessions have been made; but I do say, and am sorry, that from the\nconduct and life of many professors of religion it would be hard to\ntell certainly that they were not Mohammedans or disciples of\nConfucius. But banishing all fancy and superstition, and ignoring all\nreligious forms and ceremonies, there is a way of making the truth\nknown that one has been with Jesus. The key that opens to this\nknowledge is wrapped up in these words of our Lord: \"_By this shall\nall men know that ye are my disciples_, IF YE HAVE LOVE ONE FOR\nANOTHER.\"\n\nLet us notice how this love was shown by Peter and John. I name them\nhere, because they are connected with my text. There lay a poor\nbeggar, lame from his mother's womb. He was but little noticed, save\nas he was looked down upon with contempt. He asked an alms of Peter\nand John as they were about entering the temple. Peter might justly\nhave said: \"I have nothing in the way of silver or gold to give you,\"\nand have thus excused himself from all further trouble about the man.\nBut he did not treat the poor and impotent beggar in this way. He said\nto him: \"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.\"\nBut this was not all. \"He took him by the right hand, and LIFTED him\nup.\" He was not only ready to instruct, but he was ready to HELP, and\nthat with his own hands.\n\nBut I have not told all. The two disciples took to themselves no touch\nof credit for the lame man's being made to walk. Their love for the\nLord, and their desire to do good by publishing the news of his\nhealing and saving power, had so filled their hearts that there was no\nroom in them for any of the love of self and the world. Had they been\nso disposed they might have taken to themselves great credit for what\nthey had done. They might have indirectly favored the impression that\nif the Lord was at the bottom of the miracle they were at the top, and\nvery important factors in it. But the conduct and temper of the two\ndisciples was far from anything like this. When the people ran\ntogether, greatly wondering, Peter said: \"Why marvel ye at this? or\nwhy look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness\nwe had made this man to walk?\" He then directed the attention of the\npeople to the crucified, risen and glorified Lord, to whose power and\nlove they ascribed all the honor.\n\nIt is known without telling that such humility of heart and exaltation\nof the Lord is not natural with man. People of all grades, even the\nenemies of the Lord, take knowledge from such as manifest this spirit\nof love and meekness, that they have been and are with Jesus. In his\nlast conversation with his disciples he lifted his eyes to heaven and\nsaid: \"Father, I will, that they whom thou hast given me be with me\nwhere I am, that they may behold my glory.\" This prayer must have a\npresent fulfillment in every one of the Lord's people in this world,\nin order that they may have a future realization of it in the world to\ncome. To be with the Lord is to abide in him and he in us. \"Abide in\nme, and I in you.\" This is the crown of all blessedness. This is the\ngolden altar of sweet incense: the brightly burning lamp that lights\nthe way through the door into the marriage feast.\n\n  \"Forever with the Lord:\n    Amen! so let it be:\n  Life from the dead is in that word;\n    'Tis immortality.\"\n\nTo be with Jesus is to be with him in affection and thought; to love\nwhat he loves, and to believe what he teaches. One may be with Jesus\nin place, and yet be very far from him in spirit. This was exemplified\nby Judas. He sat at the same table with the Lord, but his heart, his\nmind and feelings were very far away. At that very time he was\nplotting his destruction, for Judas was a devil from the beginning.\nEven Peter, just a little while after that, caught by the Lord's eye,\nwent out and wept bitterly. It is not, therefore, a local or personal\nnearness which the Lord has in mind when he prays that all whom the\nFather hath given him may be with him, but a nearness of heart, in the\naffection of love, and the obedience of faith.\n\nBrethren and friends, let me say to you, that it is the _duty_, and\nnot only the duty, but the highest attainment of Christian liberty, to\nbe with Jesus and to give knowledge to all around that one has not\nonly been, but now is every day with Jesus. True godliness, however,\ndoes not desire to make a display of itself; it seeks no prominence in\nthe world; neither does it aspire to receive the applauses of men. It\ndoes not ride upon the tempest of religious disputes, nor clothe\nitself with the whirlwind of fanatical excitement. But, like the\nDivine Spirit from which it springs, it speaks in the still, small\nvoice of tender compassion and love. Like its Lord, it enters a house,\nthe house of the humble, contrite heart, and would have no man know\nit; but it cannot be hid.\n\nNow, Brethren and friends, I have only touched some of the chords in\nthe beautiful anthem of my theme. I now leave it with you, hoping that\nyou may learn every note in it; and by the sweet music of a good life\ndelight the ears and warm the hearts of all who hear its rich\nharmonies. Possibly you may never see my face or hear my voice again.\nI am now on my way back to Virginia, not knowing the things that shall\nbefall me there. It may be that bonds and afflictions abide me. But I\nfeel that I have done nothing worthy of bonds or of death; and none of\nthese things move me; neither count I my life dear unto myself, so\nthat I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have\nreceived of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the grace of God.\n\nTHURSDAY, May 19. Come to Hagerstown and dine at Brother Brown's.\n\nFRIDAY, May 20. Visit Sister Molly Clemmens; dine at Brother Jacob\nFesler's; sup at Brother Peter Fesler's, and by request have meeting\nagain in Columbus to-night. My subject is Matt. 7:13, 14. Stay at\nPeter Fesler's all night. Warm and pleasant day.\n\nSATURDAY, May 21. Visit Andrew Fertig's, where I stay till after\ndinner. I then come to Middletown; and from there to Fall Creek\nmeetinghouse, to Brother David Miller's meeting. John 14 is read. I\nspeak upon the spirit and general scope of truth comprehended in the\nchapter. Jacob Fry and wife are baptized. I then go home with old\nBrother Jacob Miller, and after supper go to Brother David Miller's,\nwhere I stay all night. Fine and warm day.\n\nSUNDAY, May 22. Visit Absalom Painter; he is sick, and I think poorly.\nAttend meeting at the meetinghouse. John 3 is read. I speak upon the\nnew birth, the most important matter that can possibly engage the\nthought and occupy the heart of man, inasmuch as without it, there is\nno salvation. Dine with Jacob Miller, who is a son of George Miller.\nIn the afternoon visit Joseph Funk's and from there I go to George\nHoover's where I stay all night. A fine but warm day.\n\nMONDAY, May 23. Stay at George Hoover's till after dinner. In the\nafternoon call at Joseph's and John's, and visit the Sulphur Springs.\nNight meeting. Speak from First John, second chapter, last part of the\ntwenty-ninth verse: _\"Every one that doeth righteousness is born of\nhim.\"_ A righteous life is the proof that one is born of God. Charity,\nwhich is the love of doing good, is the child of the new birth. This\nleads to righteousness or justice in all our dealings with one\nanother. I can not love my brother and at the same time seek undue\nadvantage of him, or try to cheat him in any way. The same is true in\ndealing with those outside the Brotherhood. This righteousness shuts\ndown the gate upon the stream of all evil affections and lusts,\nbecause it springs from that love which forever whispers in the heart:\n\"All things, whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even\nso to them; for this is the law and the prophets.\"\n\nStay all night at Brother Yost's. His wife is Brother Hoover's\ndaughter.\n\nTUESDAY, May 24. Take cars at seven o'clock and get to Richmond at\nnine, and to Higgin's Station at eleven. From there I go to Brother\nNead's, five miles away; and after dinner to meeting at the\nmeetinghouse. Speak from Rom. 1:16, 17. After meeting come to Brother\nJoseph Miller's, where I stay all night. Much rain this afternoon.\n\nWEDNESDAY, May 25. Go to Arebaugh's meetinghouse. Love feast. John 1\nis read. Stay all night at Brother Kensel's.\n\nThis is the last love feast Brother Kline ever attended. Tender memory\nwill drop a tear as she looks into his loving eye and sees him take\nhis last farewell and leave his last loving kiss on lips that his will\nnever touch again. But we should remember that thirty-five years have\npassed since then. Many who took the parting hand on earth then, have,\none by one, since then, taken the meeting hand in heaven: \"For God is\nnot the God of the dead, but of the living.\"\n\nTHURSDAY, May 26. Come to Dayton; buy some articles; dine at Brother\nHenry Yost's, and also sup there. Take cars at half past six in the\nevening and arrive at Columbus soon after nine. Stay there all night.\n\nFRIDAY, May 27. Get to Oakland in the evening, and stay all night at\nRogan White's tavern. Two hundred and eighty-six miles from Columbus\nto Oakland.\n\nSATURDAY, May 28. Come to Brother James Abernathy's in a hired hack,\nten miles; and in afternoon come three miles to Brother Thomas\nClark's, where I have night meeting and stay all night. Fine day.\n\nSUNDAY, May 29. Come to Brother Zachariah Hendrick's, where I have\nmeeting. Speak from John 1:17. In afternoon come through the mountain\ntop to Sister Eve Idleman's, where I stay all night. Frost this\nmorning.\n\nMONDAY, May 30. Visit our old and blind Sister Parks; read for her and\npray with her. Come to Enoch Hyre's and stay till after dinner. I then\ngo to Brother John Judy's, where I stay all night. Leave appointment\nto preach his deceased wife's funeral on Sunday, June 26.\n\nTUESDAY, May 31. Call at Philip Kesner's; at Samuel Kesner's; cross\nthe mountain and call and get dinner at George Cowger's; then stop\nawhile at Philip Emswiler's; exchange a few pleasant words with friend\nPeter Warnstaff as I pass by his house; and get to Brother John Fulk's\nin evening, where I stay all night. Fine, pleasant day.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 1. Come by Michael Wine's; dine with him; then come\nacross the mountain home.\n\nFrom this time to the memorable day of his martyrdom there is nothing\nin the Diary demanding special notice. Notice has already been taken\nof his calling at George Cowger's on the South Fork in Pendleton\nCounty, West Virginia, on his way home from this his last journey. At\nMr. Cowger's, while at the dinner table, he said: \"I am threatened;\nthey may take my life; but I do not fear them; they can only kill my\nbody.\" This they accomplished.\n\nWEDNESDAY, June 15, 1864. He went to a blacksmith's shop a few miles\naway from home; had Nell shod; and on his return was killed by, it is\nsupposed, some concealed person or persons on a ridge of timber land a\nfew miles away from home. Some account of his funeral has already been\ngiven in the introduction to this work. His body, when discovered,\nshowed that it had been pierced by several bullets. But a smile rested\non his face. The writer's own eyes witnessed this. It may be that this\nsmile was the reflection of the joy that thrilled his soul as he\nstepped out of his broken tenement of clay into the presence and light\nof his Redeemer. Stephen's living face was as the face of an angel.\nBrother Kline's dead face was the face of a saint--no, not the face of\na saint, but the face of the earthly casket in which a saint had\nlived, and labored, and rejoiced; and out of which he stepped into the\nglories of the eternal world. Amen!\n\n\n_He Died at His Post._\n\n[Said to have been composed by Brother Kline on the death of Joseph\nMiller, who died while on a visit to Ohio.]\n\n  Away from his home and the friends of his youth\n  He hasted, the herald of mercy and truth,\n  For the love of his Lord and to seek for the lost\n  Soon, alas! was his fall, but he died at his post.\n\n  The stranger's eye wept that in life's brightest bloom\n  One gifted so highly should sink to the tomb;\n  For in order he led in the van of his host,\n  And he fell like a soldier, he died at his post.\n\n  He wept not himself that his warfare was done,\n  The battle was fought and the victory won,\n  But he whispered of those whom his heart clung to most,\n  \"Tell my Brethren for me that I died at my post.\"\n\n  He asked not a stone to be sculptured with verse;\n  He asked not that fame should his merits rehearse;\n  But he asked as a boon when he gave up the ghost,\n  That his Brethren might know that he died at his post.\n\n  Victorious his fall, for he rose as he fell,\n  With Jesus his Master in glory to dwell.\n  He has passed o'er the stream and has reached the bright court,\n  For he fell like a martyr; he died at his post.\n\n  And can we the words of his exit forget?\n  O, no, they are fresh in our memory yet.\n  An example so brilliant shall not be lost;\n  We will fall in the work, we will die at our post.","title":"Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary: Collated from his Diary by Benjamin Funk","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":194254}